*Notes: This chapter ended up being over 6000 words without me realizing it. I want to establish the girls life before I throw it into chaos. Which will be happening soon.

Also, I don't Rei. Just need to put that out there I swear!*

Chapter 5: Real Emotions

(yes I stole that from FFX2, don't sue me)

Usagi seemed to get though her school day pretty easily. During her morning classes, no teachers called on her to answer any questions, none also decided to have a surprise quiz to torture their students. Lunch went by without causing any problems as well. Minako happily dominated the conversation with her future as an idol, with Ami constantly reminding her this will stay a dream is she slacks in school. Makoto brought them some treats to try out that she made at work. She was able to eat just enough to not worry her friends. This was exactly Usagi needed. Easy peace. But the deserts in her stomach began to turn as she realized that her last class of the day was English with the terrifying Ms. Harada. Ms. Harada was notorious for having high standards of what her students were expected to know and making students cry if they did not meet her expectations in her class. She even caused Usagi to break down in sobs at the beginning of her first year when she picked her to answer a question on the board in front of everyone (and Usagi was definitely not paying attention up to that point). Usagi was the first student to cry that year, but she definitely not the last one to. The only student she seem to never scream or get angry at in class was Ami.

"Don't worry Usagi. She really is a nice teacher." Ami tried to comfort her.

"Easy for you to say! She adores students like you!" Usagi whined as they walked down the halls.

"I have to admit. She isn't exactly 'warm and fuzzy.' But just try to follow along at the very least. Then she can't get too angry at you" offered Makoto as she placed a comforting hand on Usagi's shoulder and have her a soft squeeze.

"I guess," Usagi said defeated."

"It's like they say!" offered Minako "If you don't survive this, you'll never survive anything!" said Minako happily, causing Usagi, Ami and Makoto to stop in their tracks and sweat drop.

"Minako, I'm positive that's not how it goes," Ami informed her softly.

"Oh? Then how does it go?" she asked turning to her blue haired friend.

But before Ami could answer, the bell rang, informing then they had two minutes to get to Harada's class. They all quickly rushed through the hall and entered their classroom and sat among their classmates, still talking in their small groups. But all went quiet and they all ran to the desk fast when the door slide open revealing Ms. Harada. Usagi swore the temperature dropped whenever she entered the room. Ms. Harada walked to the desk, she turned her head, watching the room with her glasses striking the light at the right angle to hide if she was looking at anyone in particular. She then told the students the page number to open of their textbooks. Taking Makoto's advice, Usagi did try her best to keep up and follow along, although she definitely got lost at some parts. Someone must have heard her prayers as she was not called on today and only a small handful of students burst into tears, but none of them were her. Thank god. Soon, the bell ran, meaning school was over and after school clubs began. Usagi smiled.

"Tsukino! Please stay behind!" Ms. Harada voice rang loudly across the room.

"Well, I'm dead," Usagi thought.

Everyone else was able to pack up and make their way to their afternoon clubs, Usagi internally groaned in frustration as she shoved her books into her school bag and waited for her classmates to disperse. Her friends gave her sympathetic looks as they passed. As the last student exited the class, Usagi stood up and walked to where the teachers desk sat. She was never held back after school, so she feared what was going to happen to her at the wrath of Harada. She was more scared than she ever was in middle school with Ms. Sakurada (Now Mrs. Kawano as of last year. Good for her!) Usagi decided she would try to be strong, not to cry, no matter how angry she got.

"Take a seat Tsukino." She said as she pointed to the chair beside her desk.

"IM SORRY!" cried Usagi as she gave her a low bow, already on the verge of tears. So much for being strong. She didn't even start criticizing her and Usagi was already ready to cry just so she could get out of the classroom.

"Ms. Tsukino, why are you apologizing?"

That question caught Usagi off guard. She looked up to see Ms. Harada sitting in her seat in a relaxed position, and her face didn't hold any angry, just confusion. Quickly, Usagi wiped her face of her watery eyes and tried to hold onto whatever dignity she had left.

"Be-because I-I must o-of upset yy-you," Usagi replied, her voice shaky.

" Ms. Tsukino, have I ever waited until after a class to tell students that they were disappointing me?" Ms. Haraka asked with a raised eyebrow

"Well, no I guess not." Usagi answered her voice steadier than before.

"Please sit down." Ms. Haraka asked again, but this time, her voice was softer than Usagi had ever heard before. Placing her bag next to the chair, Usagi sat down, smoothed her skirt as she did and looked up at her teacher.

"Ms. Tsukino, I asked you to stay behind to see how you were doing." She finally told her.

"How I'm doing?" Asked Usagi confused. "Fine. I mean, my grades are not Ami level, but I think I'm still passing, right?"

"I'm not talking about your grades." Harada informed her as she removed her glasses.

"If not my grades, what else would I need to discuss ma'am?" Usagi asked her.

"In the past few months I've noticed that you've become quieter, you don't have the same energy you once had and are famous for. Other teachers are saying you're finally maturing, but I'm worried there more going on." Harada told her.

Usagi was shocked that she noticed anything like that in her. Honestly she thought her teachers would only worry about her failed tests and nothing more. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest as she gripped her skirt in her hands. Quickly thinking, she put a big smile on her face.

"There is nothing to worry about." She deflected

"You say that, but you're griping your skirt so hard your knuckles are turning white." Harada said pointing at Usagi's hands. Usagi quickly released her fist once they were pointed out and paced them behind her so that Harada couldn't see them. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment, her heart rate got even faster, and her body began to shake slightly. She knew Harada could see it, but thankfully said nothing about it.

"Ms. Tsukino," Ms. Harada asked leaning forward in her chair to look Usagi in the eye. " If there is something going on that is making things hard for you, it would be in your best interest to talk to someone about what's going on."

"Nothing is going on," Usagi answered too quickly to sound casual and standing up from her chair. The more this conversation went on, the more her body felt unsettled. The fact that her teacher noticed her change despite her best to hide it was something Usagi weas not ready to address with anyone, not even her own mother. How could a teacher who doesn't even remember what happened a year ago help her deal with something she couldn't even imagine in her wildest nightmares

"Okay Ms. Tsukino. I won't push it anymore." Ms. Harada answered softly as she reached for her work case. "But if there is something you would like to discuss, anything at all…"

"I have to go. I have Manga club." Usagi interrupted her, as she reached for her school bag and brought it to her chest to hide her heart, thinking Ms. Harada could definitely hear it.

"Of course. Have a good afternoon." Harada told her. Once she got the okay, Usagi quickly rushes out of the classroom and runs down the hallway. Ms. Harada sat at her desk for a moment before she continued to clean up before going home. Her gut instinct was correct. Something was going on with her student. However, all she could do was offer her an olive branch of help to her. It was up to Tsukino to grab it.

Needless to say, after her talk with Ms. Harada, Usagi skipped Manga club. She did intend to join, but by the time she reached the classroom, her heart was still pounding, her breathes were shallow and she could feel her mind struggling to focus. A sudden feeling of claustrophobia got to her and she couldn't stand in the building. Knowing going to club wouldn't help, she ditched and ran down to her shoe locker. She can meet up with her friends once they were done with their clubs and Minako finished her idol training. Quickly getting her outside shoes on, she threw her uwabaki's messily back in her locker and ran from school. Once outside the school gates, Usagi took in a few deep breathes and allowed the cool breeze cooling herself off. Leaning against the fence and let her head roll back until it touched it as well. Closing her eyes, she felt the warmth of the sun all over her. She made the right choice. Her friends might not see it that way, but she knows she did.

"Usagi! You're not in club?!"

Luna's voice caused Usagi to gasp as she turned to face her feline companion. Placing a hand over her heart.

"Luna you startled me. Yea, I didn't go becau….."

"That is incredible irresponsible of you to skip out of your club responsibilities," scolded Luna as she jumped into a ledge so she could be eye level with Usagi.

Usagi's got tensed and gripped her bag tightly. "I know Luna, but…."

"Tell me you didn't skip just so you could go eat treats at the crown," Luna asked in an accusatory tone.

"No!" Usagi said trying to defend herself. "After classes were done…."

"Then there is no reason for you to be outside and not in manga club. I swear Usagi, every time I think you're maturing, you do something like this that shows you're not ready for all your responsibilities!" Luna continued to scold her, unaware that Usagi was beginning to shake slightly as her head falling to hide her eyes from her.

"Luna, Please just listen…" Usagi tried again

"How can you act this way when you know your future is coming soon? You think manga club is hard, you'll soon be ruling the earth. You need to start growing up and not run away…"

"LUNA!" screamed Usagi loudly enough to finally get not only Luna attention, but also a couple of strangers passing by. They gave the Usagi strange looks before moving away fast so they would not get caught looking at the strange girl.

Luna was absolutely shocked that Usagi screamed at her in public, especially in anger. She had never heard her do that before. Lunda took a second to collect herself, ready to tell off the teenager for yelling at her but stopped when she finally took a look at her. Luna didn't notice the blonds change in demeanor or body language, but now it was clear as day. Why did Usagi look so broken? Luna took a small step towards Usagi, only to have Usagi step away from her as she wipe away the tears that stained her cheeks.

"You're not listening to me! You just keep accusing me!" said Usagi not hiding her anger, which was very new to Luna. Usagi wasn't an angry person, at least not like this kind of anger. It was raw, deep and worrisome.

"Usagi, I'm…I…." Luna said started, but found she was at a loss of words. It scared her that Usagi reacted this way. She was right though, Luna was just accusing Usagi.

"Go away." Usagi told her and quickly walked away before Luna had time to respond. Luna stood where she was watching Usagi walk away from her. Now she was seriously worried. Usagi was always a very happy person, always willing to talk out any miscommunication she has with people in her happy bubbly personality. Luna knew she was in the wrong by accusing her, but this reaction was something else entirely. Quickly, she jumping off the wall and running towards Minako's house. She needed to talked to Artemis.

Usagi's walk soon turned into a run and she quickly found herself in the park. Stopping to catch her breath, Usagi collapse onto a park bench and placed one arm over her eyes while her other dangled over the side with her bag in hand. She shouldn't have screamed at Luna, but she got so angry at her accusations without even bothering to listen to her. Why do they always jump to conclusion about her? They never do that with the Minako or any of the other senshi. It was always just with her. It only made her more upset. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she let out a frustrated growl as she angrily threw her school bag onto the ground as hard as she could. Her anger didn't subside. It was just burning now in her chest. Usagi was not use to anger staying with her this long. She placed her face into her hands as she tried to calm herself. All of a sudden, she felt a soft hand rest on her shoulder, forcing her to look at who as touching her.

It was Michiru.

"Are you alright Usagi-chan?" the grown up senshi asked in her sweet soft voice. The wind gently blowing her dress and sunhat.

"Michiru. I'm sorry. I must look a mess." Usagi said quickly as she began to rub her face to rid any anger that could still be seen. Michiru smiled at the moon princess and sat beside her.

"It's alright. You do looks like you're quite upset though." Michiru softly spoke to her as she took her free and into hers.

"I am. I had something of a fight with Luna not long ago. She wouldn't listen to me and I ended up exploding at her. I didn't wait for her to respond to my reaction." Usagi told her embarrassed.

"Oh dear. Well Im sure if you calmly talk to her this all can be resolved quickly." Michiru said, her voice filled with wisdom.

"But I don't want to talk to her." Usagi resorted looking down at her feet.

"Why not? She is your trusted advisor." Michiru asked confused.

"Because she just accused me of being irresponsible without even knowing the story!" Usagi said angrily as she stood up, shocking Michiru. "Everyone thinks I'm just an immature child who doesn't give a damn about the future! But that's all I think about! I know the time is approaching and everyone keeps telling me what they expect, but never asking me how I feel about it!"

"Usagi," Michiru said softly, making her look her in her eyes and she gently guided her back to sitting down. "How do you feel about the future?"

"Honestly? I'm scared I'm not ready." Usagi confess to her. "No one thinks im ready so why should I think it?"

"You know that's not true. Of course we think you're ready to be Neo Queen Serenity." Michiru told her.

Usagi quickly removed her hands from Michiru's and stood up, looked at her "Are you saying this because you actually believe those words, or are you saying that just to calm me down?"

Michiru was shocked by Usagi's words. She had never spoken to her like that even before they both knew they were senshi. But the worst pat it, Usagi was right. Part of her was just saying this to calm Usagi down. She does believe Usagi will be a great Queen of the future, but it would be wrong to say some didn't had their doubts. Usagi was just 17. She was still a teenager with emotions on high.

"Please sit down next to me." Michiru asked her in a sweet tone. Usagi took a deep breath and sat next to the water senshi again, not looking her in the eye due to embarrassment and shame. But Michiru wasn't having any of that, using her hand, she gently brought Usagi's face up to look at her and gave her a smile was usually reserve just for Hortaru.

"Everyone has their doubts and fears. It foolish to pretend we don't. Even Haruka, Setsuna and I worried we are not good or strong enough at times to keep you, our princess safe. But those thoughts are not true. Don't let those thoughts tell you who you are. You are the princess who saved the world more than once. And there is still time before you ascend the throne. You might not feel ready now, but when the time comes, you will be Neo-Queen Serenity. Do you understand what I'm saying." Michiru asked with a smile.

Unfortunately, Usagi started feel even worst. She knew that Michiru was saying, and that she was trying to make her feel better, but to Usagi, it sounded like she was talking about Serenity and not Usagi. Everyone always talked about Usagi and Serenity like they were the same, but only Usagi really felt like Serenity and herself were two very different people. Afterall, Serenity was the graceful princess of the fallen Moon Kingdom and she was, as her friends would often say, clumsy crybaby Usagi. Taking a deep breathe, Usagi looked at Michiru's hopeful face and realized if she didn't say something, She would begin to worry about her. Which would lead her to telling Haruka, which means Haruka would tell Setsuna, who will tell Hortaru and then all the outer senshi will become worried for Usagi. Usagi forced a smile on her lips and placed her hands over Michiru.

"I think I do." lied Usagi calmly. "Thank you Michiru. I hope I didn't worry you. Guess I'm having a bad day."

"We all have those every now and then." Michiru said with a small laugh. "But I'm glad your mind is clearer now than it was before."

"Yea it is." Usagi lied as she stood up and checked her watch. She needed to go meet the others at the café. "I have to go. I'm meeting the inner senshi at crown." She reached for her bag and gave Michiru one last big smile. "Thank you Michiru-san!" Usagi called to her as she ran towards the crown waving.

Michiru smiled as she waved to her princess run towards her other guardians. Once Usagi was out of sight, Michiru's smile instantly dropped. Usagi lied to her. That was a huge red flag. Not because she lied in general, but because of how easy it was for her to lie when she wanted her to be honest. Why would Usagi lied about being okay? And how long has she been doing this? The sound of a car honking broke Michiru's concentration and she turned to where the sound was coming from. It was Haruka in her sport car. Michiru ran over to where her lover's car waited her, the engine humming softly. Michiru leaned into the driver's side and gave Haruka a sweet kiss before moving to the passenger side. Once she sat down with her seat belt on, she turned to Haruka and saw her giving her a look.

"What the matter?" asked Michiru

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Haruka said back with a small flirt in her tone, something she can't get rid of when she is around Michiru.

"Nothing's the matter, why would you think so" asked Michiru.

"Your kiss," Haruka said matter of fact. Michiru was found out.

"Only you would know the difference in how I kiss you," she whispered as she intertwined her fingers with Haruka's.

"Now come on. Tell me what's going on." Haruka gently asked as she brought her kiss closer to Michiru but was shocked when Michiru placed her finger between them.

"It's about Usagi-chan" Michiru confessed.

"What? Is she okay?" Harika asked, now completely worried.

"I don't think so," Michiru said in a distant tone as she told Haruka everything that happened between her and their princess.

By the time Usagi reached the café, the other inner senshi were there waiting for her. Putting a smile on her lips like she did with Michiru, she ran over to her friends.

"Sorry everyone!" she said in her usually energetic tone

"It's okay Usagi." Ami said taking off her glasses and putting her book down. Usagi couldn't figure out what she was reading since it was in English, but it had a picture of two hands holding an apple on the cover, so it must be about gardening she reasoned.

"We did however order, so you're gonna have to wait for Motoki-san to come back around," Makoto said with a smile

"How come you guys didn't wait for me?" Usagi asked with a little pout lip.

"Oh please Usagi! We didn't know if you were gonna be 5 minutes of 5 hours late. It's not our responsibility to make sure you get here on time after clubs!" Rei said with bite in her tone. Makoto and Ami side eye each other. Despite everything Usagi and Rei have been through, they still consistently bicker among one another, although it seemed like Rei was starting a lot more of the arguments nowadays.

"Rei-chan! You're such a meanie!" Usagi said taking a step forward and pointing at her. Internally though, Usagi really was hurt by her words. Rei always knew how to make her hurt. Sometimes Usagi even wondered if Rei even liked her with how she's always putting her down.

"No time for you two's daily fights! We gotta know the juice!" Screamed Minako as she jumped over to Usagi and pulled her into the booth alongside her.

"The juice?" Usagi asked confused.

"The tea, Minako. Gossip is called the tea, not the juice." Rei said face palming at her other blonde friend.

"Juice! Tea! It's all beverages! Now tell us what happen in the witches den after we all left!" Asked Minako to Usagi with big eyes

"Minako! That is very inappropriate to ask Usagi that! Its none of yours or our businesses!" Ami scolded her, shocked she had the nerve to even ask

"But Usagi survived her on one piece! How can you deprive me of such knowledge that I could use in said future?!" Minako said dramatically as she flung herself over Ami's lap like she was a fainting cough, causing Ami entire face to go completely red.

"Sorry Mianko, but I have to agree with Ami on this. That was a conversation between Usagi and Ms. Haraka. If you wanna survive her, I suggest you take up Amis study offer." Joked Makoto that caused Minako's face to contour like she was in pain and cry out dramatically.

"Oh boy, sounds like someone needs her double chocolate milkshake right about now," Motoki's voice broke into the group as he appeared with the girls drinks and snacks. "Usagi! You want your usual strawberry shake with extra whipped cream?"

"Thanks Motoki," Smiled Usagi. Once the others got their stuff, Motoki was about to head back to the kitchen, but stopped when he saw Ami's book. "Hey, you're reading the same thing my sister's reading. She really likes the main vampire character."

"VAMPIRE CHARACTER?!" Usagi, Makoto, Minako and Rei cried out as they all crowd around a scrambling Ami trying to hide her book.

"Please change the subject." Ami begged to her friends as they eyed her suspiciously.

"Right! Back on topic! Come on Usagi. Please tell me what happened!" Minako begged her senshi twin as she cuddled up to Usagi and gave her puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not really comfortable talking about it Minako." Usagi confessed to her uneasily, wanting her to drop the topic.

"Oh please! We know why she was kept back. Obviously she's failing her class again!" Rei chimed in as she took a sip of her Cherry milkshake.

"That's not what happened." Usagi said frowning.

"Really? So you expect me to think that a teacher kept you after class to what? Give you a high five? Don't make me laugh!" Rei teased with a laugh. Usagi started to feel uneasy, her hands got clammy and her heart began to beat loudly in her ears, just like how she felt with Luna earlier.

"I mean, come on Usagi. You're a terrible student! You never study, you constantly fall sleep any chance you get, and you never show up for school on time!" Rei continued as the table rolled their eyes at the potential fight. Minako looked over at Usagi and saw that her friends demeanor change. She knew she had to take action

"Okay Rei, that's enough. Jokes over" Minako said trying to defuse the situation.

"Unless they change the class to napping and pigging out! Then you would be s star student!" Laughed Rei not listening to Minako's warning.

"Rei, drop it." Mianko tried again, this time with more force that caught the attention of Ami and Makoto.

"Seriously? You know I'm right. How is she supposed to be a queen if she can't even pass high school?!" Rei said back side eyeing Usagi to see her reaction

Usagi's hand were tightly gripping her skirt again as Rei public shamed her, despite Minako and Makoto trying to make her stop. Her head began to cloud, and her breathing started to get short and shallow. Sweat started to form on the back of her neck as her cheek went red with embarrassment. Soon, Motoki retuned with Usagi milkshake and arrived in the middle of Rei's taunts. He saw Usagi in her state and carefully placed her milkshake Infront of her.

"Hey, Usagi-chan. You okay?" he asked her softly like an older brother would talk to a younger sister.

"It's fine. Don't worry." Usagi said weakly to Motoki as she took the drink into her hands but didn't take a sip of it. He didn't believe a word of that. But because he was working, there was little he could do to stay and stop this from getting worse. Soon, another table needed him, and he was forced to walk away.

Usagi closed her eyes and tried to not hear what she were saying anymore. Her body was so uncomfortable being here and she wanted to run away from this all . Her breathing got shallower where Usagi was struggling to catch her breathe. But all of a sudden. Usagi could hear Rei berating her.

"You've got nothing to say Usagi? I'm surprised you're not crying and making a scene! Sometimes I wonder if you are ever gonna be ready to take over as future Queen " Rei teased

All of a sudden, Usagi slammed her milkshake violently onto the table, causing a lot of the drink to splash out on to the table and onto her hands. Her friends suddenly went quiet, looking at her with wide eyes and leaning away from Usagi. The entire café was not completely silent as strangers looked over at them. This was too much. How many times must people not listen to her? Suddenly, Usagi stood up, not looking at any of her friends as her face was red with embarrassment and her eyes glazed with unshed tears. Grabbing her bag without cleaning up any of the mess she created, she bolted from the café and ran down the street, weaving through the crowds of people before she vanished past the end of the window.

"Good job Rei! This is all your fault!" Minako said breaking the silent tension between the inner senshi.

"My fault?! I wasn't the one who slammed their milkshake on the table and caused a public scene!" Rei fought back as she crossed her arms

"You triggered it! I told you to stop and you wouldn't shut up belittling Usagi!" Minako said angrily

"I wasn't belittling her! It just how we banter!" Rei defended, but as she looked at the abandon milkshake, she was losing confidence in her argument.

"Does this," Minako said pointing at the mess of a table "Look like banter? You said something that upset her worse than you usually do!"

"No I didn't! Right Makoto?" Rei turned to Makoto, who alongside Ami, was sitting uncomfortably in the booth as both tried to clean up the mess.

"Sorry Rei, but I agree with Minako. You pushed it to this point. You should have stopped when Minako told you to." Makoto said in a calm voice, but it was still laced with anger.

"Ami?" Rei asked desperately

All Ami would od was shake her head no and she used napkins to clean the shake and push the remains back into the cup. Giving up, Rei let out a sigh and slumped in her chair. Guilt began to eat at Rei. Usagi and Rei's relationship wasn't like the others. They looked and acted so differently, but people would always say that the way they argued reminded them of how sister would fight. But no matter how badly they fought, they always made up and comforted one another. Rei never admitted to anyone, but she liked that Usagi and her had that sisterly bond. She guessed that even sisters push it too far. But she really didn't push her that far this time. She said this stuff before and Usagi would always fight back or just dramatically cry, never violently slam her drink into the table with such force, Rei was shocked that glass was still in one piece. This was different.

"You're right. I should have stopped. I'm sorry" said to her friends as she quickly wiped a tear from her eye.

"These things happen Rei. Usagi will forgive you." Mai said softly with a smile once the table was somewhat clean.

"But I don't understand why she reacted this way. She's never ruined a milkshake before." Rei pondered.

"Honestly Usagi doesn't usually have much of a milkshake left to ruin. She used to chug it when Motoki puts it down." Makoto said bring her thump to her lip as she began to think.

"Maybe I'm being paranoid, but has Usagi been acting differently?" Rei asked.

Th senshi took a moment to actually think about their princess and how she was, or if there was a change.

"She has slimmed down a bit." Ami confessed as she took out a notebook "Last time I checked, her cheeks have slimmed down, and her shirt has been loose on her arms and shoulders."

"You kept track of Usagi's weight?" Minako asked side eyeing her blue haired friend.

"Originally no, but I've noticed how she not eating as much at lunch as she used to. I got worried so I started making notes." Ami confessed showing them her notes.

"That's very sweet though if anyone else heard that, it would come off as creepy." Said Makoto with a sweat drop as she took a peek.

"She's not as energetic as she use to be as well," chimed in Mianko. "She doesn't talk too much to me during class like we use to and her eyes seem duller than usual."

"You're not supposed to me talking in class!" Ami said surprised.

"And you're not supposed to have a creepy weight notebook in your bag! We're both in the deep!" Minako fired back with a smirk, instantly making Ami go quiet.

"Should we be worried?" Makoto asked the group.

"Absolutely."

They all turned to see Motoki standing by their table with a washcloth to remove the sticky remains of the drink from the table. He was eyeing all of the as if he caught them in a secret.

"Motoki-san ! How long has you been listening?" Rei asked embarrassed.

"Long enough. If you guys are worried about her, you need to talk to her. Sitting her and guessing isn't going to solve this faster. This might make you end up at the wrong conclusion." He told them with the wisdom of a man many years past his age. "If you guys go now, you can probably catch up with her. Don't worry about the check. You can pay it another time since this is kind of an emergency."

"He's right." Makoto said standing up looking at him with admiration and a small blush on her cheeks. "Thank you Motoki-senpai! We all needed to hear that. Let's go!"

The girls quickly gathered their belongings and ran for the door shouting a thanks as they pasted. Motoki was glad that those girls care enough about each other to make things right after fighting. They were like heroes to one another.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say they ran out of like the sailor senshi" he joked to himself as he began to clean up after them.

Usagi ran for who knows how long, but once she was out of breath and gasping for air, she knew she had to stop running. She leaned against a wall and allowed her body to just fall to the ground. Today was the absolute worse! Her nightmare woke her to a terrible start and now people either tried talking to her like they really knew her troubles or talked to her like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Usagi felt lost and alone. She shouldn't have made another scene, this time with her friends. Nothing Rei said was anything different from the bickering they had in the past. But she reacted badly. Motoki was probably angry at the mess she made and that he had to clean up. She rubbed her now red eyes to see where she ended up. To her surprised, she was Infront of her old junior high school. How did she end up here?! Getting to her feet, she looked at the building with nostalgia. How has it been so long since she was a normal girl? Usagi sometimes forgets that before being sailor moon, she was normal .

"Usagi?"

Looking at the direction of the voice, she saw a female high school student standing there. Usagi didn't recognize their uniform, but she did recognize the student.

"Naru," Usagi gasped as she stood up and walked over to her. It's been so long since Usagi talked to Naru. And Usagi knew it was her fault. Since she had become a sailor senshi, since she found the other guardians and created their group, since realizing she was Princess Serenity and the future Neo Queen Serenity Usagi found herself with less and less time to hang out with non senshi friends, which includes her Junior high best friend. They used to do everything together, attached at the hip her mother would say. Guilt began to build up in her chest as Naru smiled at her. "It's been a while."

"Yea it has." Naru said as she rubbed the back of her head. "To be honest, I didn't even realize we weren't at the same high school since the last time we really saw one another was Junior high." She said pointing at the school next to them.

"I didn't realize either." Usagi said softly as she lowered her head to allow her bangs to cover her eyes. "I'm sorry Naru."

"Hey. People get busy and sometimes friendships drift. It's not your fault." Naru replied.

This only made Usagi's guilt worse. Because despite what Naru was saying, it was her fault. She allowed their friendship to drift because Usagi prioritized her inner senshi's friendship over theirs. And Naru was there when she first became sailor Moon, she was the first person she saved from the Jadeite energy stealing plans. Usagi didn't realize until now, but she missed their night phone calls about their crushes, she missed them messing about and talking about their dream weddings and their future husbands, she missed when Naru would help distract herself from a terrible grade. It was probably too late, but Usagi wanted to try and reconnect with her.

"Hey Naru," Usagi asked as she took a step towards her. "I know we haven't spoken in so long and you don't have to say yes to this to not hurt my feelings, but do you want go to the crown and play the Sailor V video game like old times?"

"Well I actually have a study date with Umino today," Naru mentioned as she checked her watch, but then looked up at Usagi and smiled. "But I'm free this Saturday if that works for you."

"Saturday is perfect! Let's meet up at 11. Is that okay?" Usagi said excitedly.

"Yea! That works for me! I run off now, but I cannot wait for Saturday!" Called Naru with a smile as she ran off to meet with her boyfriend while waved to Usagi.

"Me too! See ya then!" Usagi called back as she waved back and kept waving until Naru was out of her eyesight.

For the first time today, Usagi had a real smile grow on her lips. She was absolutely excited to be able to hang out with her old best friend again after so long of neglecting her. Usagi knew this wouldn't fix everything, but this was a step in the right direction. Usagi was Sailor Moon. She was Princess Serenity and Neo-Queen Serenity. But she was also Usagi, and she would make a life for Usagi before it was gone.

End of Chapter 5