Title: Popular

Pairing: Rei/Ami, Michiru/Haruka, Makoto/Minako

Rating: R, NC-17 in later chaps readers… this has been edited for ‘legal’ submission)

Warnings: femmeslash

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Sailor Moon. No money was made for this fic.

Genre: Romance

Summary: What if there was no need for any of the senshi to be awakened? What if they could all just spend their lives like normal teenagers? What if Michiru was the most beautiful, popular girl in school? Michiru has everything going for her. She is getting good grades. Her art is perfect. She has her eye on the football captain, and she is captain of the Bubblegum High Cheerleading squad... but who is that new, mysterious looking student that everyone is talking about?

Notes: If you read, please REVIEW.

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It was a perfect day. The first day of school. Everyone was excited. Michiru had been chosen captain of the cheerleading squad at the end of the previous year and she was more than ready to try out her new position. Being only a sophomore, this was a great honor for her. No sophomore had ever been chosen captain in the history of Bubblegum High. Usagi, Ami, Minako, and Makoto were excited too. This was their first year in real high school. Usagi had talked Ami in to going out for the cheerleading squad. Tryouts were this afternoon. The entire school would be watching. Michiru walked up to the group of freshmen and smiled sweetly.

"I heard you girls will be trying out for my squad," Michiru said. She handed flyers to the four freshmen. "I am looking for the best girls, but I want a large enough squad for us to go to tournament this year, so really try your best. I have big ideas for this year's squad."

"Thanks," Usagi said. She was so excited to be meeting Michiru. "It is really great to meet you. Wow." Everyone knew Michiru was the best at everything. She was an amazing cheerleader and she played the violin like none other. She had already published five poems, and she had made several public addresses in front of the town council and the mayor. She always stood up to speak her mind even when there was no one else behind her.

"And you are?" Michiru asked with the same bright smile and sweet voice. She flipped her hair with one hand and looked the girl over.

"I am Usagi," Usagi answered. She was very pretty with long blond hair. Even if she had nothing else going for her, she looked the cheerleading type. "This is Ami, Makoto, and Minako." The other girls were equally as pretty. They seemed a bit shy, but that was nothing they couldn’t overcome. Shyness wasn’t a wanted quality in a cheerleader, but maybe a position on the squad would help bring these girls out of their shells. Michiru couldn’t even remember a time that she might have been shy.

"Great to meet you girls," said Michiru. "You will look great on the squad. So do your best and make it look good. It is a really tough squad to become a part of. My girls are tough judges and we will be the ones picking the new girls." The four girls nodded and headed into the huge school building. It towered before them like a menacing giant, but the new freshmen were too excited to worry about the troubles that high school could bring.

"Michiru!" a girl ran up to Michiru and hugged her. "Hey captain! How was your summer?"

"It was great. So are the rumors true? I heard there was a great looking guy roaming around the school yard," Michiru said with a smile. The other girl nodded.

"You should see him. He is great," the girl replied. She was about the same height and weight as Michiru, but her hair was darker.

"Well, Tyara, you better point him out to me," Michiru answered with a bright smile. She had always gotten what she wanted so she knew this wouldn’t be a problem. What guy in his right mind would choose another girl over Michiru?

"There he is. Walking up the steps. Isn't he dreamy?" Tyara asked. Michiru turned around and looked at the person walking up the steps. Everything she had ever wanted. Sandy blond hair, not too thin, built nicely, handsome all around. "If anyone has a chance, it will be you. I hear he is into track, just like Jason. I wonder if he will join the football team."

"He looks a little scrawny for football," Michiru answered seriously. "Sure he has muscles, but his overall figure is a little well, feminine. Maybe he will join the cheerleading squad. We need all the guys we can get." She let her eyes wander over every inch of the new boy. He was perfect cheerleading material.

"True," Tyara agreed. "Look out. Here comes Jason." Tyara stood her ground and set her face with the most irritated look she could muster.

"Hey sweetie," Jason said. He put his arms around Michiru's waist and kissed her on the head. "We have been playing these games for a while, why don't you just give in and date me. It's what cheerleaders do."

"Let me think about it," Michiru answered. "Come by tryouts tonight and we will talk." Jason nodded and reluctantly left her. It was no secret throughout the school that he had his eyes on her. To tell the truth, it was rather embarrassing for him that she kept ignoring his advances. Cheerleaders and football players always dated. That was the way it had always been, but Michiru was ignoring the high school rules. Yes, it was indeed embarrassing for Jason. "Come on Tyara, we better go or we will be late."

Michiru's first class was chemistry. The hot new kid that the whole school was talking about was sitting right next to her. Michiru wrote him a note and threw it on his desk when no one was looking. He didn’t seem particularly interested in what it said and was reluctant to read it at all.

"I am in track. I have no interest in cheerleaders or their... performances," the boy said with plain disgust. Michiru was disappointed and angry. No one ever rejected her. This boy would be hers before the week was out. She would have him wrapped around her little finger. Little did he know that the more he resisted the harder she would have to try.

The rest of the day went fairly quickly for everyone. Michiru was extremely excited to get to tryouts and test her new leadership abilities. She had total control over an entire squad. Whatever she said would be cheerleading law this year. It was exciting. She walked into the gym, thinking no one else would be there. There was someone standing against one of the walls. It was the boy from chemistry. He slowly walked over to her.

"Sorry, but I am not interested in pom-pom waving and giggly girls," he said bluntly. He threw the note on the floor and started walking away. Michiru grabbed his arm. She wasn’t going to be put off this easily.

"At least tell me your name," Michiru said, flashing her sweetest smile and a slight puppy pout. This always melted the hearts of boys. Hopefully it would work on him where the rest of her charms had failed.

"Haruka," the boy answered roughly. He clearly didn’t want to be bothered with this right now, but he found it difficult to just walk away.

"Well, Haruka," said Michiru. The name flowed from her tongue like it was the sweetest candy in the world, "at least stay for a while and watch. You never know. You might like it." Michiru really did have a way with words and intonation. Through her skill she could bend almost anybody to do her will.

"Anything for you," Haruka said dryly. Michiru pulled out a chair for Haruka and Haruka sat. Michiru ogled for a while until the other cheerleaders came in. He was very well built, but not as much as a boy should have been. Maybe he just didn’t want all the muscle that so many high school boys boasted. His build gave him a uniqueness that no other high school boy possessed. It was slightly feminine, but strong nonetheless.

"OK, I want last year's squad sitting behind that table. Score sheets have already been laid out," Michiru said. "I will be teaching our victims a cheer and we will see how well they do it. Now remember, we need at least 25 members to go to tournaments so try to pick the best, but remember that everyone can be taught. Go change." She looked at Haruka and smiled. "I have to go change, but I will be right back." Haruka nodded and still looked thoroughly uninterested. Michiru walked to the dressing room with her best sashay.

In about 5 minutes everyone was in the gym. Michiru looked amazing in the cheerleading uniform. Haruka couldn't stop staring at her as she stretched. He watched every move as Michiru taught everyone else the tryout routine. Track started in ten minutes. Haruka hated to leave, but he had to be there to get the star spot on the team.

"Usagi, you're up first," Michiru called. Haruka walked up to her.

"It was fun, but I have to go now. I have track," Haruka said. “Sorry, Princess, but they aren’t going to give me a spot if I don’t show up.” Michiru looked disappointed as Haruka walked away. At least she had gotten him to come. She wanted him to try out for the squad, but it was obvious that that was not going to happen.

"All right, Usagi. Whenever you are ready," Michiru said with her best smile. She went and sat down next to Tyara. The girls watched Usagi do the routine. She had plenty of spunk and definitely enough pep, but her coordination was a little off, but it wasn’t anything the squad couldn't change.

"Thank you, Usagi. You may go home now. We will get back to you in a while," Michiru said. They sat through a couple of terrible routines. Once Ami got up there, everyone was excited. She had just learned the routine and she didn't miss a beat. She was an excellent gymnast and she even threw in a few of her own moves.

"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say Ami is a definite?" Michiru looked at the existing squad. They all nodded. "Well, Ami, welcome to the squad!"

"Thanks!" Ami was happy. She was a little worried about how this would affect her schoolwork, but it felt good to be the first new girl on the squad. They accepted Minako and Makoto at once too. By the end of the night, the squad was up to twenty-four boys and girls. They had four to choose from, and Usagi was looking like the best out of those.

"We can teach her," Tyara suggested. "Do any of you girls know Usagi?"

"I do!" said Ami. Makoto and Minako nodded in agreement. "She is a klutz, but she is a fast learner. She has her heart set on this squad. I am sure she will be willing to put forth the hard work it takes to be a cheerleader."

“Usagi doesn’t normally like hard work or commitment,” Makoto said honestly. “However, this squad is the only thing she has talked about all summer. I am sure she would be able to stay focused on this at least.”

"OK," Michiru picked up her cell phone and called Usagi. They talked for 10 or 15 minutes and then she hung up. "She says she will be more than happy to be on our squad!" The rest of the squad cheered and then went to change to head home. It had been a relatively long day. Michiru was on her way out when Jason blocked the doorway.

"Jason," Michiru said. "Where were you?" Jason was leaning smugly against the doorframe. She hated that look he gave her. He was such a sneak and he was so intolerable. She knew he only wanted to date her to keep up his image. He had no real concern for her. He said he had feelings for her beyond the status symbol, but Michiru never felt that he really had feelings for her. She knew that he was embarrassed because she had been rejecting him for so long.

"Sorry, the guys held me up," Jason answered. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Jason smiled at Michiru and brushed her face with his hand.

"I was going to make you a deal," said Michiru, "but there is no need for that now. Even though we were never officially a couple, we will now officially never be a couple."

"What? Why?" asked Jason. Michiru pushed past him.

"You lost your chance by proving to me that your guy friends are more important than a promise to a girl," said Michiru. "Besides, there is some new meat I want to check out."

"You mean Haruka right?" Jason asked. Michiru stopped in her tracks. She looked at Jason and he had an evil grin. "Well, it just so happens that I know something about Haruka that only Haruka knows."

"What?" Michiru asked. "Is he gay?" That seemed to be the obvious choice. It would explain Haruka’s feminine appearance.

"I'm not sure I understood you," said Jason. "Well, I'll see you later, my sweet." Jason smiled at Michiru and walked by her. Tyara came out of the gym and stood next to her.

"What was that about?" Tyara asked. She looked a little scared. "Why was he talking about Haruka? What is wrong with Haruka?"

Michiru shrugged and walked to her car. "I don't know, but I am going to the track meet tomorrow. You better come too." Tyara nodded. They each went home to get some sleep. The track meet was at 6 am.