Prologue - Meatballs and Modems

~*~*~
Author's note: 

Italics denote thought and/or dreams

~*~ around a character's name denotes their point of view. I change
P.O.V a lot in this fic. For example, ~*~Mamoru~*~ is from his point
of view.

******

~*~Mamoru~*~

I was sitting at the bar of the Crown Arcade. I was thinking about
the strange dreams that I've been having lately about the Moon
princess and the silver crystal. As I daydreamed, I absentmindedly
swirled my swizzle stick in my near empty cup of cappuccino. (AN: Do
cappuccinos even come with swizzle sticks?)Motoki stood nearby, wiping
the counter.

Motoki interrupted my solemn reverie. "So, you'll never guess what
next Tuesday is."

I smiled. Motoki's banter was a welcome interruption to my confusing
thoughts. "I don't know."

"Come on, guess!" pestered Motoki.

"Yom Kippur?"

"Nope."

"The beginning of Ramaddan?"

"Nope."

"The Chinese New Year?"

"Nope."

"I give up. What is it?" I asked.

"My one year anniversary with Reika."

I snorted derisively. "Oh, that."

"What was that for?"

"Sorry. I'm happy for you two, really." I said, forcing a smile.

"Come on, Mamoru, haven't you ever been totally sprung about a girl?"
asked Motoki.

"Nope," I replied. 'Except in my dreams'

Motoki blinked. "Come on, with all of your female admirers at Azabu
you must have someone in mind."

I rolled my eyes. As if I really needed to be reminded about the
gaggle of swooning women that greeted me every time I set foot in the
prestigious high school known as Azabu. "Not me. I guess....nobody's
really caught my eye yet."

In the background, we heard Usagi pounding at the latest Sailor V
game. "NO FAIR, DAMMIT! I JUMPED! THIS MACHINE IS RIGGED!" she
declared, then marched from the abused machine to the bar, taking the
seat next to mine.

"Ooh, that stupid game makes me so mad!" Usagi fumed.

"Calm down, Meatball Head. Don't have a coronary!" I cracked, waiting
for her face to crinkle up the way it usually does when she's angry at
me.

"Oooh! How dare you! I don't know what a coronary is, but I'm sure I
wouldn't want one from you! And my name is Usagi, not Meatball Head! 
U-S-A-" she started

"M-E-A-T-B" I continued.

"Oooh! You JERK! I don't need this from YOU! I'm out of here!"

Motoki and I watched as she stormed out of the arcade, Motoki shaking
his head, me chuckling softly.

"Well," said Motoki, "Now I know why you aren't having much luck with
the ladies. They think you look real good, all right. Then it's open
mouth, insert foot!"

"Hmmph." I said, finishing my cappuccino. "Well, I've got to get
going myself. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

~*~Usagi~*~ 

I marched right out of the Crown Center arcade. Oooh, the NERVE of
that creep, Mamoru! Why does he always torment me! What have I ever
done to him?

I continued fuming all the way to the Cherry Hill temple, where Ami,
Rei, Minako and Makoto had gathered to study. Even though Rei doesn't
go to the same school as the rest of us, she figures she can still
benefit from Ami's smarts. I swear, Ami's IQ must be in the 3000's or
something. 

I hastily opened the door. Everyone was huddled around a box of
chocolate chip cookies. I smiled. Food had always managed to
brighten my mood.

"Hi Usagi," said Rei. "What took you so long?"

"I just stopped at the arcade for a quick Sailor V game," I said,
making my way towards the food.

"Oh. Well, hurry up and get ready to study for the French test," said
Ami. 'That's Ami for you. Strictly business.' I thought, as I sat
down next to Makoto.

"Mmmmm, these cookies are delicious, Mako-chan."

"Thanks! I made them yesterday." Makoto beamed.

"So, did you see you-know-who at the arcade?" Mina asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"You know, Mamoru." she said.

"Oh, THAT guy." I said, setting into a sulk.

"Oh, come off it, Usagi," said Makoto, elbowing me in the ribs. 'Ouch'
I thought. 'That girl doesn't know her own strength.' "You know he
has the hots for you."

"WHAAAAAAT?" I yelled, spewing out my mouthful of cookie. Rei, Ami and
Mina busied themselves wiping cookie pieces off their faces.

"Whatever," I said, recovering. "You know I can't stand that jerk."

"Riiiiiiiight." Rei said. "You know, when a guy picks on you like
that, it only means one thing."

"That he's an absolute jackass?" I asked.

"I'm with Rei," said Mina. "It means he likes you! How romantic,"
finished Mina, sighing.

"That can't be," I said. "He's so mean to me."

"OK then. Let's get back to studying, shall we?" said Ami.

I readily agreed. I didn't like where that conversation was headed,
anyway.

"Oh," said Ami, "Usagi, are we still on for our Internet tutoring
session at 7:00 tonight?"

"Yeah," I said. Evil Ms. Haruna and her stupid homework assignments. 
I swear she's from the Negaverse, or something.

* * * * *
It was the last period of the school day. I was staring at the clock,
daydreaming about how I was going to spend my weekend. I'll start off
with a trip to the arcade. Gotta check out that new Sailor V game. 
'Too bad that creep Mamoru is always there' I thought.

Sure, he was cute. Gorgeous, actually. I'll admit that he has nice,
silky black hair and the body of a Greek god. It's too bad that
gorgeous bod came with such a repulsive personality. Ever since that
day I threw that test paper at him, I've suspected that he actually
gets some sick kind of enjoyment out of watching me suffer.

I've seen him wearing the school uniform of Azabu, a couple of times,
with three pins on the lapel of the blazer, indicating that he was in
his senior year. Azabu is this ultra preppy school that only the
smartest of the rich kids go to. When I get stuck in detention, which
I often do, Ms. Haruna's always going on about how SHE should have
been teaching at Azabu, not "catering to a bunch of nitwits" but she
was passed over for someone else. The principal, Mr. Iyamoto, decided
to post a list of Azabu's test scores in front of the main entrance,
supposedly "to inspire our students to greatness." Next to the test
scores is a poster with a picture of Mamoru in uniform smiling, and
the text below it says "You too can go to Azabu." Mamoru's test
scores are always on top of the list. Even when he's not around, he's
rubbing his superiority in my face. What a creep.

"Usagi. USAGI!"

My thoughts on Mamoru were interrupted by Ms. Haruna's angry voice and
a class full of giggling students.

"Can I get your attention back to Earth, please?"

"Hai, Haruna-sensei" I said.

"Anyway, as I was saying, any new method of communication greatly
influences the culture. The Internet allows people to communicate
from all over the world. Your assignment is to go to this link as
practice, then reach out to a kind of person you would never talk to
in real life. Then write a ten page paper, double spaced..."

I groaned. 'Ten pages? There goes my weekend.'

Ms. Haruna glared at me and continued. "....about how the Internet has
affected the way you communicate." 

'The Internet? As in computers?' I thought. 'I HATE computers!'

As Ms. Haruna finished speaking, the bell rang, signaling the end of
the day.

"Normally, I'd keep you in detention for daydreaming AGAIN in my
class, Usagi," started Ms. Haruna, looking straight at me, "But I have
a date tonight." she finished, fluffing her hair.

I sighed with relief.

"But that doesn't let you off the hook," she said. "I want you to try
extra hard on this assignment. You have 12 pages to write."

"Yes, Haruna-sensei," I said, walking to the door.

Ami, who was waiting at the door, said "I heard about that assignment. 
I think I could help you with it. What kind of modem do you have?"

"Modem? What's a modem?"

Ami sighed. "Never mind. If you want to come over to my house at
7:00 tonight, I could help you get started."

* * * * *

Mom dropped me off at Ami's house at 7:00. No sense in being late, I
had thought. My jaw dropped as I saw the huge mansion known as the
Mizuno residence. Still in awe, I rang the doorbell.

"Hi Usagi." Ami greeted me in sweats instead of her school uniform.

"Hey Ames."

"I have some snacks for you in the computer room. Come with me," said
Ami.

"'Kay" I said.

After being guided through a long hallway, we arrived at the study. 
Inside the room, a large tray greeted me. On it was celery, carrots,
broccoli, and a bowl of dip in the middle.

I sat in the chair in front of the computer, frowning. "All healthy
stuff."

"Yes, of course," said Ami. "A healthy body equals a healthy mind."

"I'm plenty healthy," I muttered.

"Okay. Let's start our session, shall we, Usagi?" asked Ami.

"Sure," I said unenthusiastically. 

"Double click on that icon at the top of your screen."

I moved the mouse over and did what she said. A box opened up on the
screen.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Type in the password. It's 'bubbles'"

"Bubbles? Seriously, Ames," I said, looking for the "b" key.

"I know, it's cheesy. But it works. My mom doesn't use the computer
much, because she's always on call."

"On call? Is she a doctor?"

"Yes. I hope to be a doctor someday myself." Ami said, smiling
wistfully.

Immediately, the computer let out a strange series of beeps.

"Aagh! What the heck is that?" I screeched, jumping out of my chair.

"Relax, Usagi. It's just the modem. It uses the phone line to call
another computer and hook us up to the Internet."

"Oh," I said, calming down. A few minutes later, another box popped
up.

"That's the home page," said Ami. "What's the link to where Ms.
Haruna wanted you to go to?"

I handed Ami a sheet of paper with what looked to me like gibberish
written on it.

Noticing my difficulty typing, Ami typed in the link and hit return. 
Ami then directed me to an email account, then into a chatroom, then
asked "What do you want your screen name to be?"

"Huh?"

"A screen name is how people know you on the Internet."

"Oh. Moon bunny," I said.

Ami typed in what I said, then stepped aside. "Congratulations,
you're ready to surf the web."