Yes, I'm back again, and with another new story. I promise, to all of you who have read my other stories, they will eventually be finished. This just needed to be started. So, enjoy, and here is chapter one of Ways of Life.

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a single thing, except for the plot line. Please, please don't sue me.

"We need to find her," the blue clad woman said softly. "Without her, Tokyo will never be truly safe. We must find the leader, and the Princess."

The woman in orange nodded slightly, her face hidden behind a red mask, her long blonde hair held back in a red bow.

"I agree, Mercury," she commented idly. "Without the Princess, we're doomed."

Violet eyes narrowed, and the red suited soldier tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well, I think we've been doing just fine on our own," she snapped. "Who needs a whiny Princess and a leader for us? Haven't we been defending the place well enough?"

"Mars, you know that's not true," a gentle voice reprimanded her. "It's our duty to protect the Princess. We can't let her be hurt."

Mars nodded her head in a grudging acknowledgement.

"Well, Mercury? Do we know anything else right now?"

The blue haired warrior shook her head.

"All I can say for certain is that she's somewhere in this town. We're getting closer, guys; we just need to keep looking."

With that said, the four soldiers drifted off, fading away into the darkness as the sun began to rise over Tokyo.

"Bye, mom, I'm gonna be late for school!" A voice yelled, and then the sound of a door slamming was heard, and Ikuko Tsukino shook her head with a grin. Suddenly, a look of panic crossed her features, and she held up a brown paper bag.

"Usagi, wait! You forgot your…"

A blonde blur suddenly appeared in front of her, and within seconds the paper bag was out of her hands.

"I'd never forget my lunch!" Ikuko's daughter replied.

"Yes, I know," Ikuko replied wryly. "But now, if you don't get a move on, you will be late for school."

Glancing at her watch, the girl shrieked and flew through the door, leaving her mother shaking her head, a grin on her face.

'That girl,' Ikuko thought. 'She'll never change.'

With a hum, she turned around and headed to the stairs.

"Shingo!" She called. "Time for school!"

'I'm late, I'm late, I'm late,' Tsukino Usagi chanted in her head as she made a mad dash down the sidewalk. 'Oh, Mrs. H is gonna kill me!' She groaned at the thought of her teacher, and increased her speed.

'I can't have detention again!' She wailed internally. 'Mom will flip! And dad… I don't even want to think what he's going to--' "Oomph!"

Rounding a corner, she collided with what seemed to be a large brick wall. With a small scream, she landed hard on the ground, and tears formed in her eyes.

"Ow, ow, ow," she muttered quietly, standing up and brushing off her uniform, and bending to gather her spilled book bag.

"Well, if you'd watch where you're going, maybe you wouldn't have run into me," the wall she'd run into drawled.

'Wait a minute,' Usagi thought, a frown on her face. 'Walls can't--' With a startled gasp, her eyes grew wide and she stood upright.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She apologized. "I was late for school, and I didn't see you, and--'

Looking up, she came in contact with the most gorgeous pair of dark blue eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.

Set in a lightly tanned face, and framed with raven black hair, he was easily one of the handsomest men Usagi had ever come across.

'Much better than any Idol,' she mused lightly.

"Calm down, Odango Atama," the voice said coolly, interrupting and dashing any further nice thoughts that Usagi had been about to think. "No damage was done… at least, none to myself."

Usagi's cheeks puffed out in indignation, and she planted her hands on her waist.

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" She demanded.

The boy, 'no, man' she corrected herself, smirked, looking down at her.

"You heard me, Odango," he replied.

"Why, you little--!" Her sentence was cut off as a bell suddenly began to toll, and her face dropped. "Now look what you made me do! I'm late to school, and it's all your fault!"

"My fault?" He raised his eyebrow in surprise. "If you hadn't run into me, none of this would have happened, and I could be safely on my way, and you on yours. But instead--"

"Instead you had to get in my way, and therefore, I am now late, and it is entirely your fault," Usagi finished for him, and bending down, picked up the last of her school books and dashed off, leaving a very stunned person behind her.

"That was interesting," Chiba Mamoru murmured to himself as he walked down the sidewalk, heading into the arcade, the incident with the blonde haired girl replaying over and over in his mind. "And yet, I feel like I know her from somewhere."

"Like you know who from somewhere?" The voice of his best friend, Furuhata Motoki asked.

"Mm. A little blonde haired girl," Mamoru replied, "with the weirdest hair style ever. Two little round balls on the top of her head like this" He balled his hands into fists and placed them on his head, one to either side, "and pigtails hanging down from them."

Motoki choked back a laugh.

"Ah, so you had a run in with the famous Tsukino Usagi, did you?"

"Oh, it was a run in, alright," Mamoru stated with a wry grin. "She ran directly into me. And do you know, she had the audacity to tell me it was my fault?"

Motoki's eyes widened, and be burst into laughter.

"U-Usagi told you… told you… Oh, Kami!" He sputtered, banging his fist against the counter top, tears of mirth running down his cheeks.

Mamoru glared at his so called best friend.

"It's not funny," he sulked. "She accused me of making her late to school, and ran off without so much as another word."

Slowly Motoki's laughter died down, and he managed a rueful grin towards the dark haired man.

"G-Gomen, Mamoru-san," he said apologetically. "That's Usagi for you."

"Mm. Usagi, eh?" Mamoru tested the name carefully on his tongue, a slow smile spreading over his face.

"But tell me, Mamoru, what did you say to her to make her act that way? The Usagi I know is sweet and caring; she'd never say something like that unless you purposely insulted her."

Mamoru smirked.

"I called her Odango Atama," he replied smugly.

Motoki's eyes widened in shock, and another fit of laughter over took him.

"You called her what?" He shrieked.

"That's right," Mamoru responded, a grin tugging at his lips. "I don't think she appreciated it too much, either."

Motoki shook his head, his shoulders heaving with laughter.

"N-No. She wouldn't, Mamoru. Her hair is her pride and joy, and she doesn't take kindly to people making fun of it. I wouldn't be surprised if she holds a grudge against you."

Mamoru's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Her? Holding a grudge against me for calling her a name? If anyone has the right to hold a grudge, it's me! She ran into me, Motoki! I could have been hurt by that whirlwind!"

"Hurt? By Usagi? Are you kidding me, Mamoru? That girl is so tiny she couldn't hurt a fly, much less you!" Motoki looked at him critically. "I'd say, any damage that came out of your run in was done to her, and not you."

Mamoru spluttered in disbelief.

"That girl is like a hurricane!" He shouted. "She could have hurt me! And if not me, it could have been someone else! What if she had run into a child at that speed? Or a little old lady? Or an animal? Or--"

"Well, it's a good thing she didn't, isn't it, Mamoru?" Motoki cut him off, his green eyes sparkling with amusement. "As it is, no damage was done, and everything is fine. Now, take your coffee, and get out of here. You're going to be late to class."

Looking down at his watch, Mamoru gaped in astonishment.

"Oh, Kami!" He cried. "I have ten minutes before I need to be there!"

Grabbing the cup of coffee from Motoki, he threw him a grateful smile.

"I'll be back at the usual time," he called over his shoulder as he headed to the door. "We'll continue this conversation later."

Motoki just shook his head in amusement.

"Ah, it's such a relief to be out of detention!" Usagi groaned slightly as she walked down the steps of the school, breathing in the fresh air.

"Usagi-chan!" A voice called, and instantly a smile spread over her face.

"Naru-chan!" Usagi called happily, running over to greet one of her best friends.

"So, how was detention?" Naru asked, a smile glittering across her face. "And what exactly made you so late this morning? You never told me."

Usagi's face grew dark at the thought.

"It was this intolerable man," she fumed. "I ran into him on my way to school, and when I apologized, he called me… he called me Odango Atama!" She finished.

Naru's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, Usagi! I'm so sorry!" She cried. "What an ignorant, pig headed jerk!"

Usagi nodded her agreement.

"But let's not talk about him anymore. Anyways, I'm starving. Wanna stop by the arcade and pick up something to eat? I wanna talk to Motoki-onii-san, too. I haven't seen him in awhile, and I miss him."

Naru smiled knowingly.

"Ah, yes. You do have a crush on him, don't you, Usagi? You can't keep it from me!"

Usagi's cheeks flushed red and she shook her head frantically.

"No, no, no, Naru! I don't like him like that anymore. And besides, he's with Minako, remember? And they couldn't be happier. Speaking of which, we need to find Ami and Rei. They were supposed to be waiting for me right out here, and we were all going to go to the arcade." She frowned, looking around, until finally she caught sight of a petite, blue headed girl.

"Ami!" She called. "Ami, over here!"

The blue headed girl looked up, and a shy smile crossed her face as she shut the book she'd been reading, pulling her reading glasses from her face.

"Usagi-chan!" She exclaimed. "Where have you been? It's nearly four thirty," the genius reprimanded gently.

Usagi's face turned red, and she looked down.

"Gomen ne, Ami-chan. I had detention."

"Again?" Ami's eyebrow rose slightly, though her light blue eyes twinkled with amusement.

"It wasn't my fault this time!" Usagi exclaimed frantically. "It was this pig headed man's, and if he hadn't got in my way, I could have been here on time!"

Ami laughed.

"Don't worry about it, Usagi-chan. Rei, Makoto, and Minako headed over to the arcade already, so we'll meet them over there. Oh, hi, Naru-chan." Ami said.

"Hi ya, Ami-chan!" Naru replied with a friendly smile.

"Well, are you guys ready to go?" Usagi asked them, shouldering her book bag once more.

"Hai, Usagi-chan!" Ami and Naru replied as one, and together the three headed over to the arcade.

"You're late, Usagi."

Rei pushed back a piece of her long black hair, violet eyes narrowing at the blonde headed girl as she walked into the arcade.

Usagi glared right back, and stuck her tongue out.

"If it wasn't for an arrogant jerk, I wouldn't have been late, and wouldn't have gotten detention," she replied defensively.

"Oh really?" A voice asked from behind her, and she turned around, her breath catching in her throat as she made contact once more with those beautiful eyes.

"You!" She gasped out.

Well, there it is. The first chapter of this brand new story. Or those of you that have read my other ones, I promise, I'm still working on them. I just wanted to start this one; it popped into my head, and I decided that I had to get it down on paper, and I was just having so much with it, I couldn't stop! So, the other stories will continue; Truths of Love is coming to a close, and Cursed Flames is just beginning, so check them out if you want. This story will go on, too; I already have a plot in mind as to what is going to happen, so please, read on. Thanks for all your support! Questions and comments are gladly appreciated. Love to you all!

Lady Tsukino