Her eyes went large when she saw and felt another arm and leg landed on her body, somebody apart from her and Yamapi was on the bed too. She spun around, not caring if she woke Yamapi up with her action, and had to stifle a gasp when she saw Tegoshi lying beside her, definitely awake and dangerously close.

Tegoshi propped an elbow on the pillow, rested his head on his hand and smiled at her. “Maki-chan, Ohayo.”

A long silent moment passed before realization hit her, here she was in an unfamiliar room, lying on a bed that wasn’t her own and being sandwiched between two guys that she met barely 2 weeks ago. She did the first thing that came to her mind, she screamed.

Tegoshi’s hand covered . “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed. “Do you want the other boys know that a girl as here?”

She blinked once, twice, then all the things that happened last night came flooding back to her, but the last thing she remembered was that Yamapi was sitting on the floor, not like this, him lying on the bed beside her and definitely, there was no Tegoshi with them last night.

“Are you now okay?” Tegoshi asked and when Maki nodded, his hand went down to release .

She was just wondering why nothing- not even a single image flash in her mind since Tegoshi was almost hugging her when Yamapi stirred from her other side, making her realized that Yamapi was still there with them.

Yamapi’s arm tightened around her waist. “What’s wrong?” his voice husky from sleep but his eyes were still closed.

“Nothing,” it was Tegoshi who answered him and his eyes immediately flew open. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I slept here.” Tegoshi said; flopping back down to bed and hugging Maki close.

Maki watched how Yamapi’s eyes narrowed as his arm drew her closer to him, away from Tegoshi. “You don’t usually sleep here.” Yamapi said.

“And you too, this is Massu’s room.” Tegoshi retorted back, “and where do you want me to sleep? Ryo-chan, Nao-chan and Erika-chan were sleeping in my room.”

“At the floor?” Yamapi suggested, gritting his teeth together.

“Eh? You want me to sleep on a cold and hard floor? What a heartless person.” Tegoshi said, pouting and hugging Maki ‘even’ closer.

“Why didn’t you sleep with Shige? He was alone in his room.” Yamapi snapped back.

“And leave you with Maki alone? No way.”

“Guys, I can’t breathe.” Maki said.

Tegoshi and Yamapi looked at her and they both loosened their grip on her body. Maki freed herself from the tangle of arms and legs, and moved as far as possible away from the two guys on the bed.

“Okay,” Maki said, breathing hard. “Why were you two sleeping with me? Don’t you have your own rooms here, since this is your own dormitory?”

“Like I said, my room was occupied by Ryo-chan, Nao-chan and Erika-chan. Both Yamapi’s and Ryo-chan’s room were destroyed that’s why they can’t sleep there.” Tegoshi said.

“Destroyed?” Maki asked. She looked at Yamapi but he avoided her gaze.

“Ah!” Tegoshi exclaimed, pointing at the clock hanging on the wall.

Maki looked at the clock too and uttered a curse; it’s already past noon.

“Maki-chan, language please,” Tegoshi said from the bed as Maki dashed around the room, getting her things up while trying to fix her hair and rumpled clothes.

“Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

“Because you’re too cute when you’re sleeping, I was busy watching you sleep that I didn’t notice the time.” Tegoshi said but he was not looking at her, instead he was smiling cheekily at Yamapi who’s sending him daggers through his eyes.

Maki stopped and stared at the two boys on the bed, something was amiss here.

“Aren’t you two going to school today?”

Tegoshi looked at Yamapi who answered her. “Nah, maybe not, we’re still catching some sleep.”

Maki looked at him for a long time, she can’t help but notice his pallid features. It’s the first time that she had seen him like this and Maki had to admit that she’s a little bit worried.

“Jyah~ we’ll talk later ne,” she said. Yamapi nodded at her while Tegoshi smiled.

She looked worriedly at them for a long time that Yamapi had to smile reassuringly at her.

“You have to leave now before anyone sees you. The dorm is always empty at this hour.” Tegoshi said.

She nodded at them both before she went out of the room.

~~~~

Tegoshi was right, the boy’s dormitory was empty at this time; Maki didn’t meet anyone when she walked the empty corridors. It was so quiet; she can’t hear anything, not even a single thought-

Wait, she’s hearing something, a murmur, a melodious murmur that she can’t understand the words of. She followed the sound and it led her to a nearby closed door. The door was unlocked; she pushed it open, just a tiny crack and peered inside.

She saw Naomi, Ryo and Erika sleeping together on the same bed, so this must be Tegoshi’s room. Straining her hearing, she discovered that the sound was coming from Erika. She tried to understand the words, but she really can’t.

She closed the door silently and stood in front of it for a long time, contemplating something. If she remembered it correctly, Naomi and Erika was sleeping in Yamapi’s room last night, then why they’re here, and with Ryo too?

Tegoshi mentioned that both Yamapi and Ryo’s room were destroyed; his room was just next to theirs. Looking to her right, she noticed two other doors, the one to the farthest right leads to Ryo’s room. Maki was sure of that since she’s been there last night. She turned the knob on Ryo’s door but it was locked, she can’t help but notice how cold it was. Even for a doorknob, it was strangely cold and slightly moist too. Looking down, she saw water seeping from under the door. The next door, Yamapi’s room, was in the same condition too.

Maki took a step back and stared at the two doors, wondering what happened at the time that she was asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maki went first to her own room, changed her clothes, and though she already knew that she missed half of her class, she still went to school.

The canteen was crowded and bustling with activity by the time that she arrived there. Maki spotted Ayu eating her food alone at the corner.

“Maki,” Ayu exclaimed upon seeing her. “Where have you been?”

“What do you mean by where I have been?” Maki asked as she sat at the chair opposite of Ayu’s.

“I’ve been looking for you this whole morning. I went to your room and you’re not there, I even went to your classroom and your classmate said that you’re not there too. So, where have you been?”

“Uh… at my classmate’s room, we finished some projects that are due today.” Maki lied. “Why were you looking for me?”

“Nothing,” Ayu said. “I just wanted to tell you about my dream last night.”

“Dream?” Maki asked absent-mindedly. She took the glass of juice from Ayu’s tray and drank the contents of it. She was mightily hungry; she still hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

“Tegoshi slept with me.” Ayu said almost loudly.

Maki choked on her drink. She’s not really paying attention to what Ayu’s thinking and her words shocked the hell out of her.

“What?” Maki coughed, wiping the side of with her sleeve.

“I said I dreamed that Tegoshi slept with me.” Ayu said, laughing at Maki’s reaction.

“What do you mean by he slept with you?” Maki asked, trying to refrain herself from thinking unnecessary thoughts. If Ayu only knew whom she woke up with…

“I dreamed that Tegoshi sneaked to my room, carried me to my bed and hugged me all night.”

“That’s all?”

“Sadly, that’s all.”

Maki heard the disappointment in her tone and thoughts, Ayu wanted ‘more’ though.

“What a sweet dream ne~” Maki said though she doubted if it was really a dream. Its Tegoshi, maybe he messed up with her memories again. She’s going to ask him about that later, if he did go to Ayu’s room last night before he met Aoi.

“Ne Maki, have you heard about the commotion that happened in boy’s dormitory?”

Maki’s hand froze halfway from taking Ayu’s food as she stared at her friend.

“Their fire alarm rang early this morning, maybe around 5, scaring half of the boys in there but it turned out that there’s no fire and it was only a false alarm. Someone must’ve played a prank on them.”

Maki lowered her hand, she didn’t hear the alarm maybe she was dead asleep at that time.

“But you know what?” Ayu continued. “Someone, a first year, saw a smoke coming from Nishikido’s and Yamaa’s windows this morning, before the alarm rings.”

“What?” Maki asked, aghast.

“Though some of my classmates, who’s in the same corridor with Nishikido-kun and Yamaa-kun said that they didn’t see or smell any smoke in their corridor, so it must be that first year’s hallucination ne~” Ayu looked at her shocked expression and laughed. “What? There’s no fire, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“It’s just that they’re my classmates ne~” Maki said, trying to smile. She wondered what really happened. Ryo’s gift is fire, that would explain the smoke coming from his window but no one really saw the incident- ah, it must be Tegoshi, Maki mused. But what about the strange cold she felt on the doorknobs earlier, and the water that was seeping under their doors?

Then it all clicked- Naomi.

Yamapi said that Naomi’s gift is ice. So then, Ryo, whether accidentally or not, set fire on his and Yamapi’s room, and Naomi put it out, that would explain why Tegoshi said that their rooms were destroyed. Tegoshi erased the memories of the people who saw the fire but why, on the first place would Ryo set fire on his own room?”

“Maki,” Ayu prodded her with her chopsticks. “Are you listening to me?”

“What?”

Ayu sighed. “You’re not listening.”

“I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

“I said that some boys from our class also said that last night, they heard a girl scream in their dorm.”

Maki turned red. “A girl?” she asked though she perfectly well knew who that girl was.

“Yup! A girl,” Ayu said, pointing her chopsticks at her, “and they said that the scream came from Nishikido-kun’s room.” Pause. “Ne~ Maki what do you think?”

Maki took a piece of carrot from Ayu’s plate and put it in . “Think of what?” she asked, calmly chewing her food though she felt shaky inside.

“Why would that girl scream? Do you think they’re doing some-“

Maki heard Ayu’s thoughts before spoke it and her hand moved in its own accord to smack Ayu on the head.

“What?” Ayu said, rubbing the spot where Maki had hit her.

“Don’t meddle with other people’s business.” Maki said though her cheeks were burning red.

“I’m not meddling, I’m just wondering.” Ayu said, pouting.

Then Ayu went unusually silent, her brows knotted together as she stared down at her almost empty plate.

Maki listened to her stream of thoughts; Ayu was worried because Tegoshi didn’t show up in class today and he was close to Yamapi and Ryo, and his room was just next to theirs and somehow, though she didn’t know the reason why, Ayu was slightly worried about Yamapi and Ryo too.

Ayu raised her head and saw that Maki was watching her. “What?”

Maki smiled. “Nothing,”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment Maki left the room, Tegoshi’s demeanor changed, his cheeriness all gone, Yamapi too, his exhaustion became even more evident, his features even paler than before.

“Why did you let me sleep?” Yamapi asked his voice weak and heavy as he sagged down to bed.

Tegoshi shifted in his position so that he’s face to face with the older man. “Because it’s clear that you needed some rest.” He said

“Ryo-chan?”

“Still asleep, they’re not going to wake until much later today.”

“And you made him sleep with Erika? Are you nuts? After the fight this morning, you still made them sleep together. What are they going to do when they wake up, kill each other?”

Tegoshi smirked. “No they wouldn’t, I made sure of that when I made them sleep this morning.”

Yamapi smiled in spite of himself. “Sometimes I wonder if everyone of us here were under your control. Your gift is scary.”

“I don’t really like using my gift to them, especially to Ryo-tan but you know that earlier, I had to.” Tegoshi said then he looked straight to Yamapi’s eye. “And I would definitely not use it on you, even if I wanted to.”

“Oh, really?”

“I owe my life to you. That’s the least thing I can do for all the things that you’ve done for me. Anyway, it would be rude if I use my gift to the ‘prince’ ne.”

Yamapi just smiled and closed his eyes.

A long silent moment passed, neither of them talked. Tegoshi, believing that Yamapi already fell asleep, started to get out of the bed but then Yamapi suddenly spoke. “Ne~ Tegoshi,”

“Hmm…” Tegoshi looked back at the older man whose eyes were still closed.

“I’m sorry about what Ryo-chan did.”

“No, I should be the one who must apologize. Erika-chan was rude to you this morning.”

“She was right though, I’m useless.”

“Stop saying that!” Tegoshi said angrily. “You’re not useless. We all owe our lives to you. I hate it when you say that.”

Yamapi opened an eye and threw a pillow right to Tegoshi’s head. “How dare you to snap back to your ‘prince’.” He said but with a smile on his lips.

Tegoshi started to laugh as he threw the pillow back to Yamapi.

“Where are you going?” Yamapi asked as he watched Tegoshi walked around the room.

“Since the two most powerful moonchildren were currently indisposed right now, the lesser minions needed to guard their little kingdom ne,” Tegoshi said, rummaging inside Massu’s cabinet.

“You’re taking Massu with you?” Yamapi asked when he saw Tegoshi took one of Massu’s weird t-shirts.

“I need to, since he’s the only one who’s immune to Aoi’s powers ne.”

“Then I would leave everything to you, for now.” Yamapi closed his eyes. “Please take care of Maki for me.”

“Even if you didn’t say it, I definitely would.” Tegoshi whispered. If Yamapi heard him, he didn’t show any sign. He still hadn’t told the truth to Yamapi yet, about Maki being his sister.

“What about Naomi-chan?” Tegoshi asked his voice louder this time. “She heard everything. Want me to do something about it?”

“It’s up to you.”

Tegoshi let out a loud sigh. “Should I make her forget about Ryo-tan too?”

Yamapi was silent for a long time before he spoke up. “Just like Ayu? What for?” Yamapi said his voice heavier than before.

“I’ll still think about it then,” Tegoshi opened the door but he stopped and he looked at the older man. “Ne, can I ask you something?”

Yamapi didn’t speak, his eyes still closed as he lay motionless on the bed but Tegoshi knew he’s still awake.

“Why you don’t want to be the King?”

“Tell me, why you don’t want to be the Priest?” Yamapi asked him instead, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“Because I’m cursed and I’m not fit to be one.” Tegoshi answered.

“Then I’m not fit to be the King too.”

“Why? But you lead us well, you-“

“Leading well doesn’t mean you’re going to be a good King, Tegoshi.” Yamapi said; his eyes still closed.

Tegoshi stood at the door, staring at his friend for a long time. When he still didn’t get any answer, he silently left the room without any other word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the end of the class, Ryo, Yamapi and Koyama still didn’t turn up and Maki was worried. She wanted to speak to any of them but she’s scared to go back to the Boy’s Dormitory now. She’s curious to what happened when she was still sleeping.

She was just getting back to her own room when she spotted Koyama outside the window, sighing in relief; she dashed out of her dorm.

Maki found him sitting under the shade of a tree and talking to… birds. Yes, Maki has seen that right, Koyama Keiichiro was talking to a dove on his shoulder and that’s not all, birds of different colors and sizes surrounded him, some were perching on the branches, others were at the ground and they all seemed to be listening to his very words.

Maki stood a great distance away from them, motionless, afraid to disturb them but Koyama saw her and with just one nod from him, all the birds flew away. Koyama smiled and beckoned her to come to his side.

“Is that your gift? You can talk to birds?” Maki asked as she approached him.

“It’s not just them…”

“… all the animals then,” Maki guessed. She sat beside him and Koyama grinned at her.

“Sugoi, what were you saying to them?”

“I’m just asking them about the whereabouts of Ryo-chan. I just wanted to know if he’s alright.”

Maki’s heart started to beat up faster. “Why? Where is he? He’s just sleeping when I left-“

“Don’t worry,” Koyama said, “the doves saw him. He’s okay and he’s already heading home.”

“Why? Where did he go?”

“He brought Naomi back to her place,” Koyama said. “Just to be sure, in case that Aoi might attack her next.”

“Where are the others?”

“Tegoshi, Massu and Shige are patrolling the grounds, Yamapi is still sleeping.”

“Is there something happened to him?” Maki asked. “He’s a little bit off color when I left him this morning.”

Koyama avoided her gaze. “He was just tired that’s all.”

“Tired from what?”

“Well, you know, he and Ryo-chan were up all night and…”

“And what?” Maki said. “Tell me what happened. Ayu said something about a fire in Nishikido’s room.”

Koyama laughed nervously. “I thought Tegoshi already erased the memories of the people who saw that incident.”

“Koyama,” Maki said, a little bit stern this time.

“It’s almost likely that Ryo-chan was the culprit ne~” Koyama nervously flicked a stray twig on the ground.

“Why?” Maki stressed the word, looking intently at Koyama’s face who’s still avoiding her eyes.

“Well, it seemed like Ryo-chan and Erika-chan had a fight ne.”

“What!”

Koyama flinched at the loudness of her voice. “Lower your voice, someone might hear us.”

“Then tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know, it’s just that when me and Massu came into his room, we saw that Yamapi was restraining Ryo-chan while Tegoshi stood in front of Erika. Ryo’s room was already on fire, it even spread to the next room, Yamapi’s room. Luckily, Naomi was there and she helped us stopped the fire before it grows. Tegoshi erased the memories of the people who saw that incident.” Koyama looked at her shocked expression and smiled reassuringly at her. “Don’t worry, they’re okay. Tegoshi made them sleep and Yamapi healed their injuries. That’s the reason why Yamapi was exhausted ne.”

“But why did they fight?” Maki asked, still shocked at what happened.

Koyama avoided her eyes again and went silent.

“Ne,” Maki tugged at his sleeve.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you…”

“Please,”

Koyama looked at her eyes for a long moment and sighed. “Erika said something about Yamapi that made Ryo-chan angry.”

“What do you mean?”

Koyama mumbled something.

“Koyama, I can’t hear you.” Maki said, she’s getting a little bit impatient now.

“W-well as you know,” Koyama said nervously. “Ryo-chan was of a warrior blood and Erika is a Maiden, someone that belonged to the Temple. The warriors always have an issue with the people from the Temple before, so it’s not surprising if those two fought each other-“

“Koyama,” Maki interrupted him, looking at him sternly. “What did Erika say?”

Koyama flinched under her gaze. “I’m not really sure but it has something to do with Yamapi’s past.”

“What about his past?”

“Well actually, they fought over Yamapi’s and Tegoshi’s past.”

“Tell me.”

Koyama stammered. “W-well you see- actually I’ve only known that this morning and-“ Koyama stopped and took a deep breath. “Okay, Tegoshi and Yamapi, well- they’re the two most important people in our race right now.”

“Huh?”

“Well, Tegoshi is the son of our late Priestess.” Koyama paused, breathed deeply, “and Yamapi is our Prince.”

_____________________________________

a/n: sorry for the long wait... this was supposed to posted last week but i got sick... before stained hearts i got sick then after posting that i got sick again... so i'm really sorry for the long wait...

and after a long time.. koyama's gift is out ne... next will be shige.. ^_^

and i would like to apologize if i skipped the Ryo/Erika fight ne... because its too hard to write... gomen ne..

and this chapter was written under the condition of me being sicked... so please forgive any mistakes or confusion in here...

hoping that you'll like this one... ^_^