Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights to respective owners.

A/N: Just a silly little Coffee AU that I saw on Tumblr and I thought I would try it? Thought I should start dabbling here and there so it's a short story and it's already planned out but it's very much a side story for me since I have lots of writing to do here and there!

"at the local coffee shop, there's a chess set set up in one corner of the shop and every morning i move one piece. later in the day, someone else always moves a piece too. i'm dying to know who i'm playing against." I just tweaked it a little so hopefully it still will be enjoyable! So let me know how the first chapter went and if you liked it, review, I always love hearing from you guys! Enjoy!

Chapter One

"I hate grad school, it's like the ninth circle of freaking hell!"

"Usagi relax-"

"I will not relax! I will never relax until I get the damn Master's degree that I need!"

Rei snorted into her coffee mug, "Well if you keep going in the same way you are now, that might be in the next 10 years."

"Rei! That's not helping any!"

"And Usa, you really need to calm yourself," Minako chimed in, sipping at her mocha, "You're stressing me out about your stressors and I have enough stressors to stress about so I don't need your stressors adding onto my own stressors. You see what I'm stressing here?"

Usagi grew bewildered, her eyes darting this way and that trying to flesh out the sentence. "Uh, y-yea."

"Okay good, moving on from your problems," the golden blonde finalized, taking a sip of her drink. "Plus you for sure will pass your classes. I mean not well but you'll pass."

"Oh yea, totally," Rei agreed with a nod of her dark-haired head. "Odango here will just get over the failing line and into passing freedom. Just barely but she will."

The said failing blonde let her head slam onto their table. "You know I really wish Ami and Mako could have made it because they seem to be a whole lot more pep-talky then you guys."

Both the blonde and dark-head across from her gasped. "We're hurt," they said in unison.

Finally the pig-tailed blonde's name was called out from the counter, the sound being able to slice through the loud conversations happening in the busy coffee shop and reaching her ears. The addict of coffee briskly left her table of friends to kiss the barista who had made her latte in such a speedy time.

With merely a look of thanks that included a big smile and kind eyes to the tall man, Usagi swiped the cup from the wooden counter, trekking past jittery people in line to get back to her talking friends. She just barely caught the next topic change: Minako's upcoming wedding.

She sat down with giddy as her blonde 'twin' began her spiel of how her dress shopping was going. "Ohhhh yes, shopping and clothes I can talk about!"

"Well obviously," Minako rolled her eyes playfully. "Who couldn't? But anyway I think I'm going shopping again on Saturday so what you guys say? Another fabulous episode of shopping with the gang?"

Rei was already checking and confirming her busy schedule while Usagi frowned even more. "I can't. I have a huge test that day guys. I can't fail or else the devil will drop me."

"Professor Shiro isn't that mean, you're complaining about a man in his 80s for god sakes Odango!"

"You sure?! I swear he was 120. Thought I saw a picture of him in World War I…"

Rei massaged the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes, "Usagi…"

"No Rei! I was nothing but nice, as usual, to him all year and all I got was some snooty comments and dirty looks as if I killed his damn cat!"

Minako gave her a look, "Well you almost did-"

"Who the hell brings their cat to campus in the first place?! And how the heck am I supposed to see the thing in the road while I'm driving?! And furthermore, he's a bad pet owner for letting the thing run free!" Taking a more than aggressive swig of her latte, the normally cool headed blonde let fume steam out of her ears.

"Mannnn…," Minako drawled out, "You really need to get out more. I can just see all your auras just"- she made her hand imitate an explosion -"everywhere."

"Thanks Mina," Usagi dryly replied, setting down her foam cup. "I just guess everything's been going wrong for me."

"Oh honey," Rei rested her hand on Usagi's, "The guy was a jerk and didn't deserve you."

The blonde half-laughed with a somber look on her face. "Apparently he deserved two other girls. Five times."

Minako threw her hands up with a look of disbelief, "I told you I can make it look like an accident Usagi! Just lend me 7,500 yen and it's a done deal. You can even add extras like they can slice off his-"

"Minako!"

"-finger," her head cocked to the dark-haired woman in a pantsuit. "What did you think I was going to say?"

Rei shook her head. "Nothing."

A shrill noise made them all jump in their chairs as Minako fumbled with her designer purse, rummaging around to find her ringing phone. After finally finding it with a "AHA", the bubbly blonde packed her things, saying there was a huge dispute at her job over which fabric to use for the upcoming fall line, and quickly farewell as she half-jogged in her orange stilettos to the front door.

Even Rei eventually left too; she has a new trial coming up in the next few weeks that has to go through the Police Chief.

So once they promised to meet again next week, agreeing on a time and place, Usagi watched her friend's back as she left through the double doors of the hip and trendy coffee shop.

The twenty-four year old propped her head up with her hand, bringing her cup to her lips with the other, and observed the usual customers to fill her boredom: the gaggle of high-school girls ordering iced drinks, an attractive businessman chugging his black coffee, a man in his 50s scanning the menu board with squinted eyes, the irritated coffee addicts waiting impatiently in line.

The coffee shop had been one she had been going to for a few years, since her freshman year of university if she recalled correctly. She had grown up with some of the regulars at the shop, even some employees who had stuck around long enough.

Her sapphire eyes took the time to appreciate the familiar homey and boho-chic atmosphere of the establishment: chalkboards placed everywhere advertising new drinks and sales, wood paneling mixed with metal, tall wooden tables with metal stools, the open upstairs that housed a small balcony, polished wood flooring, little figurines and statues of animals resting at every open space…

It was so familiar and she closed her eyes to smell the amazing scent of her one true love: coffee. And probably her only love in life.

Usagi's eyes flew open and a face of disgust crossed her features. Love was something she always failed in and the last relationship was no exception unfortunately. All her friends were all happy and full with their lives; two already married, one was engaged, and Rei was in a longtime relationship.

They all even had their lives figured out while she was still stuck in freaking grad school trying to accomplish her masters degree in sociology. ('Usagi sweetie you really should go back to school to exceed at social work!') She was a lost bunny in school.

….And love. The hopeless romantic always had no one. All. The. Time.

Birthday party? No plus one. Wedding? Singles table. Valentine's Day? Impatient waiting of the next day for the discounted chocolate.

The frowning blue-eyed woman shook her head. 'Eck, you know what? I like being single! Less stress and I live my life free especially since I'm still young.'

Of course, as if the fates were toying with her, Usagi's eyes landed on the next customers in line, a husband and wife apparently, the gorgeous woman cuddling her swollen stomach.

Her heart leaped, the edges of her mouth contorting into more of a sad frown than an angered one. She wanted a family and love, that was no question but somehow all the love stories she always heard from friends and families about finding their soulmates, she wondered if one day she will ever get the opportunity to share the same whimsical tales.

But the long string of failed relationships wasn't exactly good material to put on a dating profile.

With a long sigh, Usagi grabbed her bag from the floor and grasped the to-go cup in the other manicured hand, standing up from her table in the bustling shop full of coffee frantic citizens. But something made her pause.

The chess board set up on the lone table in the back of the shop, squashed in the corner. You could practically see the spider webs and dust scattered on it but nevertheless the curious blonde sauntered to it with interest.

The first years she came here, elderly men would always sit at the table, playing numerous matches of the legendary game but overtime, the coffee shop drew to a more younger audience so they slowly came less and less. The teens and college students who started coming were far more invested in their smartphones and never bothered to show interest in the classic game board.

Usagi smiled down at the white and black checkered board, the small pieces situated on both sides and the thin wooden container that would hold the captured pieces.

Remembering the numerous competitions and lessons Ami always did back in their teenage years, the blonde stretched out her pointer finger and slid a white chess piece to an empty square.

Her blue-haired friend used to drill into her head how each move you do was like a new move in life; you had to calculate it and everything affects you or the people around you in some way.

Usagi may say that chess was something she didn't exactly hate (her favorite part was yelling out 'checkmate!' and Ami always telling her that it wasn't a checkmate yet) but it was something that she always admired, the psychology Ami had put on it making her hopeful.

Maybe with the mere move of the chess piece, her life will be affected too, for the better if she's lucky.

Another wistful smile to the dusty board, Usagi walked to the door and left the shop.

"Ms. Tsukino, how can you be so irresponsible in forgetting your rescheduled test! I never ever had such a careless student in my classes, never ev-"

Usagi sprinted through the streets of busy Tokyo, nearing Tokyo University, her papers and notebooks fruitlessly being plunged into her backpack as the sound of her professor's soon-to-be words echoed in her scrambled mind.

'Stupid alarm clock that glitches out on the biggest days of my life!' Her sneakers were blurs as they hit the pavement of the sidewalk. She had to make it to the test and was sure the only excuse that Professor Shiro would accept was her death.

So when she saw the coffee shop sign up ahead, the dark-circled, sleep deprived blonde nearly performed somersaults.

Entering the much warmer setting, Usagi tugged at her over-sized Tokyo-U sweatshirt to gather more protection and heat from the colder temperatures of autumn that kept wafting into the shop because of the doors.

Standing in line she flipped open her notebook, scanning the facts and notes into her mind, praying that she would at least get a pass on the test today. She bit her lip looking over the lines and lines of her chicken-scratch writing, flicking her bed head hair behind her ear.

She snapped her notes shut as she came up to the counter, barely giving the barista a glance as she was already busy with rummaging for her wallet. Mindlessly ordering her usual and giving her name, Usagi hastily dropped the yen into his outstretched hand, a little flushed at the fact the bills were crumpled and messy.

Averting her eyes, she whipped open her notebook again, studying the last bits of information she needed. It was hopeless, Shiro's notes were a mess and all over the place! Even through her writing, his facts still were horrible and not at all helpful.

"It's an easy subject and these tests should be easy in my opinion"- 'YEA THAT'S BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE ANSWERS AND YOU STUDIED THESE THINGS FOR LIKE TWENTY YEARS! I'M A FREAKING GRAD STUDENT TRYING TO GET HER MASTERS EVEN THOUGH SHE NEARLY FAILED BOTH UNIVERSITY AND HIGH SCHOOL!'

"Tsukino Usagi!"

With a grateful smile, the frantic blonde snatched the cup away from her usual barista guy's hand and had already turned when something, the same something, caught her eye.

It was the chess board again.

But her lips parted a little and her eyes widened to basketballs. She thought it was a trick of the mind, or maybe the sleep deprivation or the stress, maybe it was just an accident? But it was too clear to mean an accident. It was precise and calculated.

And even as her wrist watch buzzed alerting her to the test time beginning, Usagi couldn't stop her staring of the playing board. Something had been changed.

There was two pieces moved now.

To be continued…