Author's Notes: So I revised this chapter but its not that much different. Just a couple little tweaks.

Coffeehouse Conversations
By Alternative Girl
Chapter one: The Meeting

Her alarm clock blared in her ears to wake her at exactly 6:10. She slammed on the sleep button and awoke seven minutes later to the incessant beeping once again. She rose from her bed, turned off the alarm, and prepared to go through her morning routine. Every day it was the same: wake up at 6:17, take a cold shower and brush teeth, get dressed, and then leave her house at 6:58 to go to the coffeehouse down the street for a cup of coffee - black - and a cranberry muffin.
She was annoyed by the humdrumness of her entire existence.

She entered the coffeehouse - her coffeehouse, as she had come to think of it, since she was there every morning. She walked up to the counter and didn't even have to order, the workers there knew her so well. Her muffin was handed to her as a cup of black coffee was poured and she handed the cashier the $4.23 it cost. She grabbed her things and proceeded to sit at what had become her table. She had started sitting in the comfy chair in the corner of the coffeehouse since the first day she had been and hadn't left that table since.
Her books were placed on the table in front of her and opened to the work she should've been doing, but she couldn't help but ponder the meaning of her life. She was a twenty-one year old student at Tokyo University who's entire day was always routine, always constant, never spontaneous. She hated that. Once, just once, she wanted something weird and exciting and out-of-the-ordinary to happen to her.
She stared down at her books and decided it was time to get to work.

Her alarm clock blared in her ears to wake her at exactly 6:10. She slammed on the sleep button and awoke seven minutes later to the incessant beeping once again. She rose from her bed, turned off the alarm, and prepared to go through her morning routine.

She was early. It was Wednesday, meaning luncheon for the infamous five. They had all grown up together, meeting when they were all seven. Since going off to college, and inevitably going their separate ways, they hadn't seen much of each other. So they met every Wednesday. At one o'clock. No exceptions. The only way to get out of going was if one of their eyes were bleeding or someone was dying. She sighed. This was just another aspect of her life that was so predictable. She arrived every week fifteen minutes early. She was always the first one to get to the small café. She would order an iced tea and sip it until the others got there. First Ami would arrive, talking quietly on her cell phone about her internship duties at the hospital. She would sit, say, "I have to go now. I will call you after lunch. Bye." Ami would turn to her and smile. Ami would open her mouth to speak but be interrupted by Makoto and Minako coming through the door laughing and chatting about some hot guy they had just seen. They would sit as Rei would walk through the door and say, "Ready, set, gossip!" and the gossip fest would begin, focusing mostly on the success of their relationships and the lack of Usagi's.
She ordered her iced tea. It came as Ami walked through the door. She sipped her tea as Ami sat and said, "I have to go now. I will call you after lunch. Bye."

Her alarm clock blared in her ears to wake her at exactly 6:10. She slammed on the sleep button and awoke seven minutes later to the incessant beeping once again. She rose from her bed, turned off the alarm, and prepared to go through her morning routine.

Classes were over for the week. It was Friday and she was tired. She had been working and studying all week and so all she wanted to do was go home, eat whatever leftovers were in the fridge, take a long hot shower, and curl up on the couch watching stand up comedy until she fell asleep.
When she got to her house, she almost kicked down the door. She stumbled into the hallway, slipped off her shoes, and headed for the kitchen. She dug around a little in her fridge and found half a sandwich from her lunch on Wednesday. After eating and a shower, she got into her pajamas and sat in front of the television. She didn't know why, but it seemed that if she was going to fall asleep watching television, stand up comedy was the only thing she could fall asleep too. She switched the television on and flipped through channels for a little before landing on stand up comedy. She did that every week too. She didn't know why all of a sudden her life was suddenly so boring to her, but everything she did now annoyed her. Everything was so predictable. Even the comedian. It was a rerun. She had seen it quite a few times before, more times than she would be willing to admit.

Her alarm clock blared in her ears to wake her at exactly 6:10. She slammed on the sleep button and awoke seven minutes later to the incessant beeping once again. She rose from her bed, turned off the alarm, and prepared to go through her morning routine.

Her coffeehouse was unusually busy that day. She had to wait a few minutes before she could be served, but as soon as she got to the front of the line, her order was immediately placed in front of her and she went to sit at her table. She was slightly annoyed to find that there was someone else in her chair. A quick surveillance of her coffeehouse found that all the tables were taken. She looked back to her table and saw there were two empty seats, so decided she might as well sit down.
She walked over to her table, turned to the intruder and said, "Do you mind if I sit here? All the other tables are taken."
The man looked up and smiled, "Of course not, angel."
She sat down and tried to ignore the looks the man was giving her. Pulling out her books, she turned to the page she was supposed to read and started taking notes. The man was still looking at her which annoyed her to no end. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and said, "Can I help you with something?"
"Well, I was just wondering, did it hurt?" the intruder replied.
"Did what hurt?"
He smiled again. "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
She rolled her eyes and looked down to her work again. The man was obviously not put off that easily and continued with the pick-up lines, making her slightly uncomfortable. Just as she was about to leave and get away from the intruder, a dark-haired man walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the check.
"Hey honey," the new intruder said. "Sorry I was so late."
She was confused for a moment, then she kissed him back. "It's okay."
The pick-up-lines man mumbled something before walking away. As soon as he was gone, the dark-haired man turned to her and put out his hand. "Chiba Mamoru."
"Tsukino Usagi." She shook his hand.
He smiled. "Nice meeting you." She nodded.

She decided to take a walk. It was Wednesday. The time was twelve forty and she was not going to be the first to arrive for lunch. She wanted some kind of change. This was a small change, it was stupid, but it was a change. So she walked past the café. She turned right at the next block, knowing that otherwise she would run into Makoto and Minako on their way to lunch. She didn't run into Makoto and Minako, but she did run into someone. She started apologizing but was quieted by a laugh. She looked up to find amazing blue eyes focused on her and a quirky grin making her smile as well.
"Well, imagine running into you again, honey," he said with a wink.
"Kon wa, Mamo-chan," she said with a sexy smile.
He laughed. "Mamo-chan, eh? I like it, Usako." He grabbed her hand. "Come on." He started leading her away and it never crossed her mind that she had other plans.

They had been walking for awhile. "Mamo-chan, where exactly are we going?" she asked. The idea had finally occurred to her that she didn't know where they were going.
"I'm hungry, it's lunchtime, I figured we could get some food." He smiled at her again. "I have a friend that owns this great burger place. It's got games too. I think you'll like it."
"I better. I'm starving." Her stomach growled a little as if to prove her point. She blushed as he chuckled. "Extremely starving in case you didn't hear." They laughed.
"I get the point." They turned another corner and stepped through a pair of sliding glass doors that chimed. A man looked up from behind the counter and gave a little wave to Mamoru. He waved back and led her to a booth.

They talked constantly throughout lunch. Making jokes, telling stories, and just saying random comments. Usagi hadn't had so much fun in so long that she savored every minute spent with him. She had learned so much about Mamoru during their lunch that she felt like she had known him her entire life. She felt so comfortable around him that she felt like she could just tell him her deepest, darkest secrets and she wouldn't regret it or even give a second thought that he might tell someone. It felt good to trust someone that much.

She had gotten home late. After lunch, they went to a movie and the carnival. He had won her a huge stuffed bunny, promising one day he'd get her a real one. They went on the ferris wheel, the super loop, a haunted house ride, a little kids ride involving a spinning strawberry, and then ended with going through the fun house. They had bought a disposable camera before entering the carnival and they took weird pictures throughout the day. She couldn't wait to get the film developed. She smiled the entire day and found herself not being able to stop while she got ready for bed. She even fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

Meeting was just the beginning of their relationship…