The Way
                         Part One
                 Phase One: Aggresions
                     By: Sailor Jes
                e-mail: Sailor Jes@aol.com

Hi, all!  well, I've finished my first fanfic "Always Watching You" (read
it!) and have begun the intro to the next one.  However, I'm not sure that I
want to continue this fanfic so I'm relying on your opinions of this one to
make my decision whether to continue this or not, so PLEASE drop me a line
and tell me what you think!

A few notes on this one:

It exists in an altered Sailor Moon timeline.  I made Usagi, Mamoru, etc.
all 16 years old, in the second year of high school (there are only three in
Japanese high schools), and in the same class.  Unfortunately, Rei does not
come in for a very long while, as she does not attend Juuban High.  Despite
all this, I've changed only a tad of the character's personalitlies.  As
you'll notice, Usagi is a good student!  (I did this for a very specific
reason, crucial to the plot.)  Otherwise, most things are the same.  Oh, I
got the idea for this fic from two places: a line from Act 5 of my previous
story, "Always Watching You," and the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M.
Montgomery (a lot of the events in this fic are parallel to that series.)
If you have a chance, read the Anne series.  It's terrific.

Enjoy!  And don't forget to e-mail me!  (Sailor Jes@aol.com)

Jessi

*****
"War is like love, it always finds a way."
                                        -Bertolt Brecht
*****

The door to Year 2-Class 2 at Juuban High School swung open and Principal
Uematsu poked his round, bald head into the room.  He entered, strode over
to the teacher, Ms. Ito,  and began whispering something in her ear.  Every
so often, Ms. Ito would nod or utter an enthusiastic "uh-huh."

"I wonder what ol' Uematsu's doing in here?" whispered a classmate to Chiba
Mamoru, from across the aisle.

Mamoru shrugged indifferently and continued rolling his pencil back and
forth on his desk.  His eyes looked up to the empty desk on his right.  The
desk where his best friend, Furuhata Motoki, used to inhabit.  That is,
until he moved away.  Now, there was just a deserted desk.  Mamoru continued
rolling his pencil boredly.

Finally, Ms. Ito turned and faced the curious students.  "Class, there will
be a new student joining us-"

Principal Uemastu walked over to the slightly-open door, made a beckoning
gesture, and indicated for the person to enter.

"-Her name is Tsukino Usagi.  She just moved here so I hope you will make
her feel welcome."

Some boys in the back of the room snickered when they saw the strange girl's
even stranger hairstyle.  She wore the dark blue and white uniform like the
other children and held on protectively to a black breifcase.  Mamoru raised
an eyebrow at this most unusual girl who had just graced the room with her
presence.  He wasn't exactly sure how he should feel about her.  He knew she
would be sitting in that abandoned seat next to him and, like a defensive
lion, he wanted it to remain uninhabited, in memory of his friend.  On the
other hand, he was thrilled by the prospect of one of the most beautiful
girls he had ever seen, sitting right next to him.  Beautiful?  No, he
reconsidered, beautiful wasn't the word.  Pretty?  Cute?  Attractive?  No,
they really couldn't describe her properly either.  There was something
about this girl-what's her name-oh, yeah, Usagi.  Rabbit.  She reminded
Mamoru of a rabbit with that peculiar hairstyle and those large, wondering
blue eyes like he had never seen before from anyone.  Exotic, maybe?  That
wasn't it either.  Well, Mamoru would just have to discover more about this
peculiar being who was standing so shyly in front of the class.

"Tsukino-san, I believe there's a desk right next to Chiba-kun over there.
I'm sure you'll do fine in this class.  The principal told me you were
top-rate at your old school."

Usagi smiled nervously and nodded, bowed to her new teacher, and turned and
faced the class. She clenched her briefcase tighter as she walked down the
aisle of unsmiling eyes that inspected her as if she were a piece of meat.

*All so unfriendly,* she thought.  *I don't believe I'll ever be freinds
with any of them.*

When she finally arrived at her intended desk, Usagi smiled politely at the
boy who would be sitting next to her.  And then her heart missed a beat.
With jet black hair that hung boyishly in his mysterious saphhire eyes, this
boy appeared different from other boys in the class, from any she had ever
seen, actually.  His eyes, Usagi felt, mirrored her own uncertainty and
surprise.  It was like he wasn't looking *at* her but rather *into* her;
like *he* knew what she was feeling.  It made Usagi uncomfortable and her
eyes faltered under his.  Turning her gaze away, her cheeks flushed a
horribly embarassing shade of pink.  No boy had ever caused this kind of
reaction from Usagi.

As indifferent and affected as her smile had been, Mamoru found his stomach
jump a little.  He had to know more about this elusive, new girl.  He took
his opportunity when Ms. Ito resumed her lesson on the Trojan War.

"Psst," he whispered loudly.  A few classmates turned their heads and
noticed his antics but Tsukino Usagi scribbled in her notebook furiously.
Mamoru thought maybe he should be paying attention, too, since history
wasn't his forte, but it was so painfully boring and this girl was spoiling
his concentration.

"Psst," he said a little louder.  A pretty blonde girl sitting two rows away
named Aino Minako frowned and put her finger over her lips.  Shut-up!

Mamoru was frustrated now.  He would get this impertinent little Usagi-girl
to pay attention to him, darn it!  After all, he was Chiba Mamoru,
heart-throb of Juuban High!

"Psst, Odango Atama!"

That fired up Usagi's attention.  She turned her head slowly and asked in a
low voice:  "What did you call me?"

The spiteful look her face reflected left his speech completely paralyzed.
"Uh...Odango...Atama?" he replied unsuredly.

"Don't call me that ever again!" she retorted and then proudly refixed her
attention to the lesson.

He swallowed hard and waited a few seconds for his heart to stop pounding
out a salsa rythm.  Regaining his backbone once more, Mamoru narrowed his
eyes.  How dare this new girl give him the cold shoulder!  Didn't she know
who she was dealing with?

"Hey, Odango Ata-"

She looked at him with fire in her eyes.  "I told you not to call me that-"

"Tsukino-san!" snapped Ms. Ito.  "I don't care how smart you were at your
old school, you must pay attention in class!  One more outburst and you'll
be standing in the hall!  And you as well Chiba-kun!"

Mamoru lowered his eyes and said nothing.  Usagi turned a thousand shades of
red and looked down ashamedly.  "I'm very sorry, Ito-sensei.  It won't
happen again," she stumbled.

Ms. Ito turned her back to the class and resumed her lesson, leaving the
students gawking at a most embarassed Usagi and Mamoru.  Slowly, Usagi
narrowed her eyes and glared at this rude boy who had humiliated her, on her
first day at a new school nonetheless!  Hatefully, Mamoru returned the gaze
and straightened up in his chair, pencil in hand, with a new-found
determination.  If it was a battle this Rabbit-girl wanted, then it was a
battle she would recieve!  *I'll show you, Tsukino Usagi, that you messed
with the wrong person!*  And he began taking notes furiously on all he could
about Greeks, Trojans, and their infamous war.

Stay tuned...
****************************