Title: Overture
Author: Amarylis Cemetery
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: All Sailormoon characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Toei, etc.; this piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
Pairing(s): Usagi/Mamoru
Word count: 2102
Feedback: Would be lovely. But I'm not going to hunt you down if you don't.
Summary: AU, U/M Aware of her status but not of her past, Usagi struggles against the Dark Kingdom, unwilling to allow the senshi into her heart. Will she succeed on her own, or will she be forced to accept their help - and their friendship?
Notes: Again, beta-ed by Nell. This was more of a filler chapter, and to introduce more characters. Usagi will seem out of character for reasons that will be explained in later chapters, as well as many other changes. Just take it with a grain of salt, please. Anyway, I tried to incorporate what I know of Japanese school systems into this, but if I'm insanely wrong with any of it, don't hesitate to tell me. I wasn't able to find much on the subject, and I wasn't entirely sure what classes they should be in, so. Again, chew me out if I made a moron of myself. (As far as I know, 'A' is the most advanced class, and either 'C' or 'D' is the least. I believe that they would be in year three, but I'm not certain.)

Chapter Two:
Friend

Usagi made it to the junior high building with three minutes to spare, then stopped by her locker to change her shoes and drop off a few things she didn't need (like a toothbrush - how did that get in there?). After that, she rushed off to her classroom, in room 3-C, and slid into her desk before the bell rang. Her teacher, Haruna-sensei, stared at her in shock, and she gave the redhead a sheepish smile.

The day flew by, though not nearly soon enough for Usagi's tastes. Before she knew it, it was time to leave school, and there was an orange glow cast over the school grounds. She eagerly awaited the upcoming winter break, even though it wouldn't come for a few more weeks. She sighed, exiting the classroom and heading back to her locker to put on her street shoes again and pick up the miscellaneous items she'd left there. Usagi passed by a blue-haired girl on her way out, and smiled at her; she couldn't recall seeing the girl before.

The girl looked surprised, but smiled back shyly. Usagi paused mentally, before making up her mind. It wasn't as though she had any pressing issues until later that night, so...

"Hi!" Usagi greeted cheerfully. "My name's Tsukino Usagi."

"Hello," the girl returned, still bashful. "My name's Mizuno Ami. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Mizuno-san," Usagi returned with a bright grin. "What class are you in?"

"Ah," Ami replied, uncomfortable. "Three-A. But," she continued hurriedly, "I'm not really smart. I just test very well." Usagi laughed, and started leading Ami out of the building.

"If you're smart," she assured, "that doesn't bug me, okay? Actually, I could probably benefit by hanging out with more smart people." Her voice was wry, and she rolled her eyes dramatically. As she was about to look at her new friend again, she spotted a black cat sitting on one of the sidewalk railings, waiting by the school gates. "Hey, look at that cat! Is it yours, Mizuno-san?"

Ami blinked and followed Usagi's line of sight. "Oh," she responded, "that's Luna. I found her the other day."

The cat, Luna, stared fixedly at Usagi, and she barely suppressed a shudder. She knew cats were sharp, but this one was just unnerving. She couldn't tell if it was just the light of the setting sun, but it looked like Luna had gold glittering on the top of her head in a very familiar shape. Usagi immediately felt suspicious, but then smacked herself mentally. Being suspicious of a cat, of all things! She laughed at herself, and Ami gave her a curious look.

"Eh," Usagi cast out for a reason for her laughter, "I was just remembering when my little brother, Shingo, pulled on this black cat's tail, and it attacked him. He was so badly injured, my parents took him to the hospital." She smiled slightly. "It's funny now, at least." Out of the corner of her eye, Usagi could swear that Luna bristled, but she just wrote it off as an overactive imagination.

Luna jumped off of the railing and leapt over to Ami, jumping onto the girl's shoulder. She kept staring at Usagi, and the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach grew.

Trying to brush off the bad feeling, she turned to Ami and asked, "Mizuno-san, do you have anything to do this afternoon? I was going to head over to the Crown Arcade, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

Something in Ami's face brightened at the invitation, and she nodded. "I'd like that very much, Tsukino-san."

Pulling Ami along, she started down the street. "Call me Usagi, or Usagi-chan, okay? Tsukino-san is too formal." She grinned back at Ami. Ami smiled in return.

"Then feel free to call me Ami or Ami-chan, Usagi-chan."

"Sure thing, Ami-chan!" Usagi cried, dutifully ignoring the cat that situated herself in Ami's arms. She hadn't let up one bit on her constant watch over Usagi, and though she tried her best to ignore it, nervousness settled in her stomach.

Suddenly, she felt herself tumble to the ground, rolling onto her left. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Ami asked worriedly, leaning down to peer at her.

Usagi waved her off and laughed. "Yeah, yeah, no problem. I'm really clumsy, so this happens all the time." She grinned, inwardly relieved that she only fell on her good arm, rather than her bad one. "Don't worry. I probably tripped over a crack or something in the sidewalk." She jumped back onto her feet and pointed down the street, then cried, "Onward!"

It wasn't very long until they reached the arcade, and Usagi strolled inside, a happy look plastered on her face. Ami entered in after her, much more unsure than the blonde, who instead tugged at Ami's arm to make sure she followed. Absentmindedly, she reached into the bag at her side and searched around for spare change. Instead of turning toward the game booths, Usagi kept heading towards the counter, and lifted her eyes from her bag to meet those of a fellow blond.

Grinning, Usagi pushed Ami in front of her. "Motoki-kun!" she cried, the smile on her face wide. The blond man beamed in return. "This is my new friend, Mizuno Ami," she introduced, gesturing to the girl beside her. "Ami-chan, this is Furuhata Motoki. His father owns the arcade."

Ami waved at Motoki with a hesitant smile. "Hello," she greeted softly. He gave her a reassuring smile, setting down a glass and the rag he'd been cleaning it with.

"And just who is that?" he asked kindly, leaning forward to peer at Luna.

Ami shifted, "Ah, it's just my cat, Luna."

"How'd she get that bald spot?" Motoki inquired curiously, gesturing to the crescent-shaped patch on the cat's head.

Beside her, Ami coughed nervously. "I'm not sure," she confessed, "I only just found her a few days ago. I tried looking for her owner, but she's a little determined to stay with me." She gave the cat an amused glance, and Luna's fur puffed out.

Usagi's eyes narrowed, and the crazy thought that Luna understood entered her head. Except, she reminded herself, that's not really possible.

Unless, a small part of her spoke up, Luna's an agent sent by your enemies.

Internally, Usagi laughed. Yeah, right. Still, she was going to keep a closer eye on the discerning animal, since her paranoia was getting the better of her. She felt slightly annoyed, though; she hadn't been paranoid before becoming Sailormoon. Well, that didn't matter anymore. That was the past, and this is the present, she chided.

"-gi-chan?" Something was poking her shoulder. Usagi blinked in surprise. "Usagi-chan?" Motoki asked again, finger prodding her arm. "Are you okay?"

Usagi rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I was just spacing a little." Mentally, she shook herself, disturbed that she'd tuned them out like that, when she'd just resolved to pay more attention to Luna. She glanced over to the cat, and found eerie yellow eyes staring back.

Looking for a distraction, she glanced around the room, then snapped her fingers. "Ami-chan! Have you ever played Sailor V?"

Ami froze, then shook her head slowly. "No..."

Beaming, Usagi started steering her towards her usual console. "It's my favorite game," she informed her classmate. "You just have to try it!" She turned her head to look back at Motoki and winked. He shook his head, grinning. "Motoki-kun, do you think you could bring us something to drink?"

"Sure," he called back. "The usual?"

"Of course!" Usagi laughed, and turned the corner, the counter disappearing from her view. Once she'd found the game, she sat Ami down in the seat, choosing to sit in the booth next to her so she could give her tips. "Okay," Usagi started, "This is how the game works..."

By the time Motoki arrived with Usagi's milk shake and Ami's soda, Ami was on the sixth level, blazing through the game. Usagi was surprised that the girl was so adept at the game, but she was rather good at it, too. Well, now that she was a senshi, anyway.

"Wow!" Motoki handed the girls their drinks. "Mizuno-san, you're really good that this game. I thought you said you'd never played?"

Ami blushed, and tried to hide it by sipping her drink. "I haven't," she assured him. "It's really fun," she directed to Usagi. "Your tips have really helped." Usagi laughed.

"I'm sure you would've done just fine without me breathing over your shoulder." Usagi pulled out her change bag from her briefcase, and took out the correct amount of yen to pay Motoki. "Thank you, Motoki-kun," she said, smiling, before sucking on the straw in her milk shake. "Ah! It's super-thick today!" she cried, wincing as it wouldn't come out of the straw and instead started using it like a spoon. Indignant, she ignored Motoki's snickering, and focused on the game screen again.

"Okay, in this level," she instructed, "Sailor V needs to save a bunch of kids from a you-monster," she corrected herself quickly, "And the boss is a giant clown-like thing, that spits fire from the top of its hat. You can dodge the attacks with down-B, and the only attack that really works on them is Crescent Beam, okay?" Ami nodded, and Luna's stare seemed to intensify. She scowled at the cat. "You know, Ami-chan, I love animals, but Luna really creeps me out."

Blinking in surprise, Ami swiveled around in her chair, picking up Luna, and whispering to the cat quietly. Usagi watched them, and an almost human look of indignance crossed Luna's face. She opened her mouth, but Usagi couldn't hear anything, not that she needed to. The cat seemed to be talking back to Ami angrily, and made a gesture towards Usagi with her paw, and the girl in question just kept eating her milk shake, trying to appear like she wasn't trying to eavesdrop. It was times like these that Usagi wished she had her super-hearing that she possessed when she became Sailormoon.

Then Luna let out a loud meow, nearly startling Usagi in its volume. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ami wince and put the cat back down. She turned back to Usagi with a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry," Ami apologized, "but Luna's a bit antsy around strangers." Usagi smiled in understanding, but inwardly thought that if there ever was a lie, that was it.

"Well," Usagi sighed, "there's not much we can do about that. Maybe she'll warm up to me if she's around me more." Ami looked surprised. "So, do you want to meet up here again tomorrow? I mean, I can't stay any longer - I have something to do tonight," she said, voice full of regret. "But this afternoon was really fun. I'd like to do it again."

"I," Ami started, before giving Usagi a strained smile. "I liked it, too. Maybe we could meet up again."

"Great!" Usagi clapped her hands together. She rummaged around her bag a bit, before taking out a scrap of paper and a pen. "This is my phone number," she informed Ami as she wrote. "You can call me whenever. I probably won't be doing anything." Possibly, a small part of her mind said dryly. Usagi ignored it.

Handing the paper to Ami, Usagi stood, grabbing her bag. "I wish I could stay, but I really have to go," she said apologetically.

Do what? she asked herself. Other than run away, anyway. I thought I was done with that.

Patrol, she said. I have to patrol. I'm not running away; I am done with that.

With a goodbye wave, Usagi left the arcade, unfortunately not missing Motoki's confused look, nor the calculating gaze of Ami's chilling cat. She shuddered as she walked down the street, feeling somehow upset by Luna. She wouldn't muse on it, though. She had work to do.

That thought in mind, she began to race down the streets of Juuban, blonde tails of hair waving behind her like ribbons. The feel of the wind calmed her, and she began to smile as she dodged between other pedestrians, laughing as she made a game of it. Usagi shut her eyes briefly, reveling in the whipping air on her arms and face, and was shocked when she abruptly stopped.