Another story!!! Huzzah!! *cloudie dances*

Well, this is an alternate universe story…so don't hurt me!! In this one, Hatoru is around…but she's older than in the manga and anime. Yeah, and there's an enemy that a friend of mine made up in here to create the drama/ create plot complications. As for Michiru and Haruka, they aren't going to make an appearance in this one…at least I don't think so…

Um…yeah. Enjoy – oh, and please don't forget to review!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

the used

Chapter 1 – "a meeting"

~*~**~*~*~*~*~

"Hey Usagi, wait up!"

The blonde girl turned around to see whom had called to her. It was bright – almost too bright for her liking. Usagi raised one hand to shade her eyes while she searched for a familiar face.

Kino Makoto caught up to her friend, a little out of breath. She flipped her long auburn ponytail over her shoulder and smiled. "What brings you over this way?"

Usagi sighed. "More note taking for my research paper…" The petite blonde noted the surprise in Makoto's features when she mentioned the words 'note taking' and 'research'.

"Wow…you're really taking this paper seriously," commented the taller girl. Usagi's cheeks flushed a little and Makoto quickly reassured her friend, "Not that that's a bad thing, Usagi-chan."

"So, what brings you to this part of Tokyo?" asked Usagi, "I thought you finished your paper a few days ago."

Makoto nodded. "Well, it's not for research." The two began walking again and Mako continued with, "Actually, there's this new girl in town. She's starting classes at our school on Monday, and I volunteered to show her around parts of Juuban and around the school."

"That's pretty nice of you," remarked Usagi, "considering you don't have a lot of free time…"

"Yeah, between everything that's going on," Makoto agreed, "there isn't a lot of spare time." The tall girl stopped in the sidewalk and considered what she had just said. "Wow…I wonder how this is all going to work out…"

Usagi stopped as well and tried not to sweatdrop. "You mean you haven't figured that out yet?"

Makoto shook her head in negatation. She smiled and said, "Well, I haven't even met her yet. She may already have someone to show her around."

"Usagi, do you want to come with me to visit the new girl?" Makoto suddenly asked. "That is, if you want to put off your studying for a few more minutes."

The blonde girl smiled. "Sure. That sounds great!" Usagi did a catlike stretch with her arms and nearly swatted a nearby pedestrian. "I'd love to meet someone new."

*~~*~*~*~*~*

The two girls reached the apartment complex where the new student was supposed to be living. It was fairly new, still partially unpainted. Some of the name/number plates were missing on the doors Usagi and Makoto passed as they headed straight for the second floor.

"She lives in number 301," Makoto said as they glanced at the numbers.

"What's her name?" asked Usagi. "You keep referring to her as 'she' "

Makoto paused to look at a piece of paper she held. "The new girl's name is Tomoe Hatoru. She's from somewhere in northern Japan."

"Did the school give you any more information?"

"No, why?" wondered Makoto.

Usagi shook her head. "Never mind." That's strange…no information about her other than her name. "Here it is," she said a moment later, pointing to the silver name plate on the door. As Usagi repeated the name in her head, a strange feeling of familiarity overcame her. How is she familiar? Usagi wondered. I've never met her before.

Makoto's knocking disturbed Usagi's musings. Her knock was answered by a young girl – one that looked too young to be in high school. If this was Hatoru, she had a certain strange beauty in her short dark hair, creamy skin, and deep purple eyes.

"Are you Tomoe Hatoru?" wondered Makoto.

"Yes," came the response. "Are you two from the high school?"

So she knew they were coming after all. Usagi nodded.

"Hold on," Hatoru said as she stepped out into the hall. She shut her apartment door behind her. As if to offer an explanation, she said, "My cat likes to sneak out."

Usagi flashed her an understanding smile.

"What do you need?" asked Hotoru.

"We just wanted to get to know you better," Makoto answered, "Maybe show you around school or Juuban if you wanted."

Hatoru brightened a little and gave a grateful smile. "Sounds good. If you would like to be friends though, I'm afraid I'll have to know your names first."

Makoto smiled back. "I'm Kino Makoto." She held out her hand, which Hatoru shook lightly.

"And I'm Tsukino Usagi," added Usagi. She too held out her hand, and Hatoru shook it as well. When she did however, the feeling of familiarity grew stronger. What is going on? Why do I feel like this moment has happened before?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day, Usagi met her friends at school. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't really followed up on her original study plans of the day before.

"Usagi, I'm surprised your mom didn't ground you for not following up on your plans at the library," remarked Ami.

"Well, it's not as if – " Usagi began, but was cut off by Rei.

"Her mother should be used to this kind of behavior by now," the raven-haired girl cut in, "I knew this new Usagi wouldn't last long anyway."

"Thanks for putting words in my mouth," Usagi said dryly. "As I was saying, it's not like I was purposely skipping out on studying. Mako-chan and I went to meet a new girl who is supposed to start school here today." She looked over at Makoto, who looked deep in thought. "Right Mako-chan?"

No response.

Minako elbowed the tall girl standing next to her. It jolted Makoto out of her thoughts and back into reality again. "Uh…yeah, sure Usagi-chan. 

Rei rolled her eyes. Usagi resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Rei and instead folded her arms. Minako and Ami gave one another a warning look as they sought other places to sneak off to if necessary.

Makoto again lost herself in her thoughts.

Minako noticed and waved her hand in front of Makoto's line of sight. "Mako-chan?" Another wave with no response. "You okay?"

The worry in her friend's tone snapped Makoto out of her daze for the time being. "Yeah, just a little tired."

"That would make two of us," muttered Usagi. It's hard to sleep when you can't shake off the feeling of familiarity in the presence of a complete stranger.

Makoto heard Usagi and asked, "What'd you just say?"

The intensity of her tone surprised the four other girls. "It was nothing," replied Usagi.

Rei opened her mouth to say something when Minako elbowed her. Directly in front of the girl's little circle stood Hatoru.

"Hello!" Usagi greeted her.

"Hello," returned Hatoru. "It's nice to see both of you again."

Makoto realized she had forgotten to greet the newest addition to the group. "Hi," she said casually, "I would like you to meet my friends."

"I'm Mitzuani Ami," began the blue haired girl. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Aino Minako," Minako greeted the shy girl.

"And I'm Hino Rei," finished Rei. The priestess felt her sixth sense screaming at her…something about this girl… Rei suppressed the feeling it left. That feeling…of familiarity? Yet, at the same time an underlying emotion was there as well. The priestess couldn't put a finger on what it was, however Rei was sure of one thing: the second emotion wasn't a good one.

Hatoru nodded unconsciously. "I'm Tomoe Hatoru. It's nice to meet all three of you."

"Hey Usagi," a new voice said, joining the conversation. It was Umino, who fiddled with his glasses when an uncomfortable silence filled the air.

"Hello Umino," Usagi responded after a few seconds. She looked over to catch the gaze of her friends, but few had valuable reasons. Ami gave Usagi a look – to remind her to introduce Umino to Hatoru. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being rude." The blonde girl gestured to Umino saying, "Hatoru, this is Umino. Umino, this is Hatoru."

The shy girl managed a faint greeting. Both Makoto and Usagi noted the unexpressed emotions playing on Hatoru's face. There was nervousness, fear, and loathing?

Umino noticed the tension that sprung up from a dead and dying conversation. "I hope you defy the odds and learn something here, Hatoru."

The small, dark haired girl smiled warmly, all the previous emotion draining from her face. She laughed slightly. "So do I."

Umino glanced at his watch and proceeded to excuse himself. Something about building a hamster house for the science teacher…(AN: dumb…maybe cloudie will take dumb hamster joke out. *sweatdrops*)

The bell rang in the background.

Hatoru hesitated before asking, "How did the five of you meet? Makoto was explaining that some of you went to different schools."

Minako suppressed a sly smile. "I guess you could say we met by accident."

"Actually, most of us ended up in the same junior high," elaborated Ami, "Rei was the only one who went to a private school." The blue haired girl favored Minako with a glare.

The final bell rang, and the girls finally noticed that they were alone in the halls. As they scattered to their classes, Rei muttered, "Kami have mercy! My attendance record is going to be just as bad as Usagi's if we keep this up!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That's all for now! Please review, I'll be eternally greatful!

-cloudiko