Foolish Games

Usagi has been yanked from one city to the next for her father's ambitions since childhood. When they end up in Tokyo and her father enrolls her in the elite Infinity Academy, she is on a collision course with failure. Haruka is a loner surrounded by people who don't really know her, but something about Usagi makes her want to be close to someone. The relationship progresses until tragedy strikes and difficult choices must be made. (AN: this is my first Usagi/Haruka fic, be kind and review!)

Chapter One: Class

"Usagi!"

Usagi grumbled sleepily and rolled over, cracking an eye toward her open bedroom door. Her mother was standing there, an apron tied around her waist and a spatula in hand, the picture of domestication. Usagi pulled her pillow over her head. "Gimme ten more minutes. My alarm hasn't even gone off yet."

"Oh no you don't!" Her mother exclaimed, whipping the blankets off her daughter and snatching the pillow from her head, oblivious to Usagi's surprised complaints. She opened the gauzy white curtains and pulled up the blinds, bustling around the cardboard boxes that were stacked in haphazard piles throughout the entire room. "Your alarm went off ten minutes ago and if you don't get up now you'll be late for your first day at your new school." She picked up some dirty clothes, draping them over her arm and waited until Usagi had pushed herself out of bed and shuffled to the connected bathroom, her long blonde hair trailing behind her. "Your uniform will be on your bed when you get out of the shower."

She heard Usagi grunt through the door and the sound of running water before she turned to get the new uniform from the ironing board in the kitchen.

The hot water finally woke Usagi up and when she stepped from the shower her uniform was on her bed as her mother had said it would be. Of course, anything her mother said would come to pass always did. She dressed quickly and was glad the dark green plaid skirt had been washed before she had to wear it. It wasn't exactly made of the softest material and she grimaced at herself in the mirror, pulling at the folds of the skirt until it was lying relatively flat. The blouse wasn't much better but at least it was short sleeved and didn't look like a paper bag. Her hair took longer to do, she pulled it up into her regular odangos, the rest of her hair falling over her shoulders and brushing against the backs of her calves. It was ridiculously long but her mother had made her promise years ago she wouldn't cut it until she turned eighteen. Looking at herself in the mirror as she clasped her star necklace around her neck, she wished that her eighteenth birthday was closer than a year away.

She sighed and with one last glance, grabbed her brown leather book bag and clomped down the stairs. Her mother was back in the kitchen baking something but she looked up and clasped her hands together in delight when Usagi sunk into one of the kitchen chairs at the table. "Usagi! You look darling!"

Usagi rolled her eyes at her mother's choice of words. "Not exactly the word I would have chosen, especially on my first day of school in yet another new town."

Her mother sighed sympathetically and leaned against the counter. "Darling, I know how difficult it is for you to adjust each time we relocate but this promotion your father took…he really needed it."

"Mother, he didn't need it, he wanted it. Just like he's wanted each and every other promotion that has taken me from one side of the world to the other." She stood up, ignoring her mother's protests and walked to the front door. "Maybe for once you would both think about me and what I need, instead of being consumed with status and money!" She slammed the front door behind her and stormed down the front walkway.

It was sunny out and already warming up. She sighed and turned onto the main road, which was lined with pretty trees and tidy trash bins. Other teenagers were walking in pairs and riding bicycles and motorists sped along. Shops were beginning to open up and a small lady opening a tea shop bowed slightly and smiled, her eyes disappearing in wrinkles when Usagi walked by. Usagi tilted her head back and smiled, her anger already wearing off despite how long the emotions had been eating away at her. It had been nearly her whole life. When she was six her father had accepted his first promotion which had uprooted her and her mother from the comfortable suburbs of Tokyo and landed them in Paris. After that she had moved at least once a year from major city to major city in all parts of the world. No one could say she hadn't traveled.

She sighed. It really wasn't her mother's fault and she tried to ignore the irritating feeling of guilt that was beginning to settle uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. Her mother had been nothing but supportive and sympathetic through all of the moves. Usagi sometimes forgot that her mother left behind as much as she did each time they moved. It was easier to blame her mother for the constant moving. Her father was never home and when he was, he was either in bed sleeping or in his office preparing for the next big meeting. He had aspirations to climb to the top of his company and eventually be the leading man in the industry and the way he moved, Usagi didn't doubt it would happen. How many more promotions between then and now though…she sighed again, and let her book bag hit the front of her thighs.

It was best to not get attached to anyone or anything. It made the inevitable leave much more difficult and the friendships she made never seemed to weather the trial of time and distance. It would be decidedly tougher to not get attached this time though. They were back in Tokyo and she was enrolled in the prestigious Infinity Academy, something that gave her father thrills. He very proudly informed her on the plane that getting her into the school had been extremely difficult because of her poor grades and lack of extraordinary talent but that he had been able to convince the dean that they were in need of some new facilities. So he had donated an exorbitant amount of money just so she could attend a school she was vastly under qualified to attend. There was no doubt in her mind that she would be a disappointment to him, as he had told her that he expected her to excel at her studies and come by some latent talent for art or music or sports.

She snorted, remembering his infuriated look when she'd calmly told him she planned on failing her classes and spending her extra hours doing drugs in the park. Her mother hand intervened and she'd gotten away with nothing more than her father's irate yelling and her mother's pleading looks.

Usagi's thoughts were interrupted when someone bumped into her shoulder roughly and she stumbled. She barely caught herself and the palms of her hands stung. She looked up to see a tall blond guy running off, a burgundy jacket tossed carelessly over his shoulder. He didn't even glance backward when she pulled herself to her feet and yelled "Jerk!" at his back.

"How rude." She muttered, rubbing her palms against the wool of her skirt. Scowling, she glanced at her watch and nearly shrieked. School started in less than five minutes! She took off running, dodging other pedestrians and bicyclists with less skill than the boy had. Six minutes, two skinned knees, a bloody palm and a ripped skirt later, Usagi shoved her way through the front door of the deserted Academy halls. Chest heaving, she thought she would have a minute to maybe find a ladies room and collect herself but two pairs of eyes found her as the door slammed shut behind her.

Usagi froze, her hand half way through straightening one long pig tail, and the other bloody one clutching her book bag with a death grip.

A tall guy with a mess of sandy blond hair was standing casually in front of a petite red head with a clip board. Both were dressed in the school uniform and both looked more cool and collected than Usagi knew she looked. She cleared her throat uncomfortably and tried to detangle her fingers from her length of hair. "I…I'm new." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she felt like smacking herself in the forehead. She sounded like an idiot.

The guy's eye brow arched up until it was hidden by his tousled bangs and his slate blue eyes flashed with amusement. Usagi felt her mouth go dry. He was one of the most attractive guys she had ever seen. Subtle muscles were apparent under his shirt and his face was amazing in a feminine way…he was probably a model…Usagi felt heat pool in her cheeks when she saw his eyes run over the length of her body.

"You look like you tangled with someone before you got here." He remarked, his voice a sensual caress that closed the distance between them. Usagi swallowed and tried to collect herself. His voice was enough to throw her off though and when he took a step and held out his hand, she nearly dropped her book bag and threw herself into his arms. "My name is Haruka Tenoh."

Usagi stared at his outstretched hand, wondering at his feminine name before she transferred her bag into her other hand and slipped her hand into his. The touch of his skin against hers was a shock and her arm tingled pleasantly.

Haruka raised an eyebrow again. "And you are…?"

Usagi jumped, her face turning crimson. "Usagi Tsukino. I'm new."

Haruka laughed, the sound sending shivers down Usagi's spine. "So you said."

If her blush deepened anymore she would look like a tomato. "Oh…yeah. I've had…"she reclaimed her hand and waved it in the air before finishing lamely, "a really bad morning."

"Well, it's about to get worse." A harsh voice cut into Usagi's embarrassed haze and the red head strutted over, her green eyes snapping. She looked at Usagi with distaste and Usagi wondered what she had done wrong…

"I'm giving you both a detention. Tardiness is not something that is tolerated by Infinity Academy, Tsukino." The girl turned her nose up and managed to look sophisticated as she peered at Usagi down it. "I have no idea what you had to do to manage to get enrolled here but I imagine it must have taken a lot of money. Regardless, you were late and now you will stay after school for the rest of the week to appreciate the differences in class between yourself and the rest of us…whom actually deserve to be here."

Usagi's ears burned with humiliation and she bit her lip to keep from lashing out at the snobby red head, her hands clenched to her sides. She refused to let this girl belittle her. Her father had paid a kings ransom for her to attend this stupid, elite school and she would be damned if anyone made her feel as if she didn't deserve to be there.

Usagi straightened her back and tilted her head, her cerulean eyes hardening and her lips curving into a mocking smile. "What I may lack in natural talent I make up for in class and personality…neither of which you seem to possess, which is more the pity for you." She walked away, her heels clicking on the tiled hallway, hips swaying in defiance, leaving two people to stare at her back.

Well, let me know what you think!