For some reason the light in some streetlamps were out tonight, wrapping the whole place in semi-darkness; the trees on either side of the road were making scary shapes against the red sky.

Ayu blinked, stopped short and looked up at the sky; it was indeed red, blood red.

Ayu shook her head; according to her science lessons the sky would sometimes be the color of red at dawn or at dusk when the sun rise or set, sending rays to the… wait- Ayu looked at her watch, 43 minutes to midnight.

A shiver ran down her spine and she stared up at the sky again, it still remains undeniably red.

It felt like she had seen this before, like a déjà vu…

“The sky is beautiful ne~” a sweet voice suddenly said.

Ayu almost jumped from shock and she looked wildly around.

A girl was standing on the other side of the road.

A very beautiful girl that looked oddly familiar, her long black hair and dark red dress was swaying to and fro with the wind. She was looking back at her with a small smile playing on her lips.

“Eh?” said Ayu lamely. Was she the one she’s talking to? Ayu looked around; there are only two of them in this place.

The smile on the girl’s lips became more pronounced as she sauntered towards her, stopping just shy of her comfort zone. “I said the sky is beautiful, isn’t it?” the girl said.

Ayu blinked and looked up again at the blood red sky. “I think it’s strange. Why is the sky red at this time?”

“The Night is angry because her enemy bared its wings tonight.” The girl whispered.

Ayu instantly brought her gaze back to the girl. “Excuse me? What did you say?”

She flinched when smooth but cold fingers touched the side of her face; the touch was light and brief but it stirred something inside her and Ayu felt cold sweat forming at her back and at her palms. Ayu stared at the girl’s hands then back to the girl’s face, becoming more and more bewildered by this stranger’s actions.

The girl just smiled and started to walk away, leaving Ayu confused than ever before.

“Wait,” Ayu called out to the girl. “Have we met before?”

The girl stopped and turned to look at her. “Have we?” the girl asked.

“I don’t know,” Ayu said, “but you looked kinda familiar.”

“Maybe you just forgot about it?” the girl said, tilting her head to the side and smiling sweetly, almost mysteriously, at her.

Ayu racked her brains but she can’t remember anything related to this girl. Then she noticed that the girl started to walk away again.

“Wait,” Ayu said again, “what’s your name?”

“Why?”

Ayu felt herself blushing. “N-nothing,” she said, “I just wanted to know your name, I might remember you and… you seemed like you know me.”

“’He’ doesn’t want you to remember me.” The girl said, “and this might be the last time you’re going to see me, so what’s the use.”

“Eh?” Ayu said. The girl’s words clearly registered to her mind but Ayu can’t quite get the meaning behind her words and who the hell is the ‘he’ she’s talking about.

Then suddenly, the girl laughed, a soft melodious sound but it sent chills down her spine. “My name is Aoi.” The girl said softly, almost a whisper but the wind seemed to carry it and Ayu heard it clearly.

Ayu gasped when large drops of water pelted down from the sky and she quickly searched inside her bag for her umbrella and by the time she got it, when she looked up again, the girl was gone.

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

It was raining hard by the time Ayu entered her school premises.

If it’s dark in the road, it is much darker in here; all the lights were out and the only thing that guided her way was her familiarity with the place and the dim profiles of the trees and buildings.

She was about to turn to a corner that will lead her to her dormitory when she heard a sound that brought her up short, frozen to where she was standing. Somewhere in the darkness, among the trees, a voice was speaking.

Ayu moved closer to where the sound was coming from.

The voice was very low, and so stumbling and broken that it was unrecognizable. It was an instant before she even caught the words and realized that it was not speaking to her.

“I’m sorry,” it said in an agonized whisper, “I’m sorry Mother. I’m so sorry, I failed you…”

Then Ayu heard the hitch in his voice and the sound of body falling to the ground.

“My Goddess,” it said in a pained voice, “My Maker, please make me able to bear this…”

Ayu felt herself shaking when she recognized the voice, she can’t believe it… can’t imagine that… it’s him…

The grocery bags fell from her grasp and landed on the ground with a loud ‘clunk’.

“Who’s there?” the voice said sharply, almost dangerously.

“It’s me,” Ayu said, her voice shaking, “It’s me. Tegoshi, are you alright?”

“Ayu?”

“Yes, Tegoshi, where are you?” Ayu said, dropping her umbrella and groping her way forward in the darkness. She soon got drenched by the rain but she didn’t care, her mind was clouded with worry and fear.

The next instant she was brought to a halt by a pair of hands that grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Please leave,” Tegoshi said.

“Eh?” Ayu said, her hands settling on his chest, “b-but are you alright? You sounded-“

Ayu felt it when the flesh beneath her palms heaved and the next thing she knew Tegoshi crumpled to the ground.

“Tegoshi! Tegoshi! Are you alright?” Ayu knelt beside him; amid her panic-stricken shouts Ayu can still hear his heavy breathing and the sudden gasp for air.

“Tegoshi,” Ayu said, almost on the verge of crying; her hand finding its way on his back. “What’s happening to you?”

Tegoshi tried to sit up only to fall down again, curling in a fetal position. From what she can make out of him in the darkness, Tegoshi seemed to be in a lot of pain.

“W-wait, I’m calling for help.” Ayu stood up but Tegoshi caught her hand and pulled her down towards the ground. She slipped and almost fell on top of him but she righted her position and sat beside him.

“Don’t,” Tegoshi said; his voice raspy, “its okay.”

“It’s not okay.” Ayu almost shouted again, “look at you-“

Ayu felt trembling fingers touched her face, “Its okay,” Tegoshi said, “it will pass soon.”

“It will pass soon?” Ayu repeated and then she started to panic. “You mean you suffered this before? Do you have some kind of illness? Are you-“

The trembling fingers went to her lips, silencing her, before his hand gently fell down to her lap. Ayu was forced to sit there in silence, waiting for his breathing to come back to normal, waiting for him to say something, anything that could alleviate her worry and fears. Different horrible thoughts and questions flooding her mind, and the darkness and the rain made it worse.

“Tegoshi,” Ayu began tentatively, “I think it will be better if we go inside first. The rain might make your illness worse.”

“No,” Tegoshi said. “Not now, I don’t want ‘them’ to see me like this. If you want you can go now, you can leave me here.”

“No,” said Ayu flatly, “I’m not going to leave you like this-“

But before she could even finish her sentence, she heard Tegoshi gasped in pain, felt Tegoshi’s body heaved again and Ayu caught him before he fell to the ground. “Please, let me call someone…”

“Please don’t.”

If his words didn’t stop her, the cracking in his voice certainly did.

Tegoshi let himself fell in her arms, his head resting on the crook of her neck. “Please, don’t,” he repeated.

Then Ayu felt something trickle down on the side of her neck, exactly to the place where his head was, it’s different from the rain because while the rain was ice cold that ‘something’ was warm.

Then it followed by the shaking of his body.

It dawned upon Ayu that whatever he was suffering was not only physical pain. “Tegoshi, what’s wrong?”

His voice broke when he spoke. “I miss my sister.”

Ayu froze; it’s the first time she heard him talked about his family.

Then Tegoshi moved; his next words surprised her as much as it confused her. “I miss you too.” He whispered softly in her ear.

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

Maki listened to the soft pattering of the rain as she lay fitfully on her bed. She can’t sleep even though she’s feeling tired and empty.

The things that she saw… and felt earlier disturbed her mind.

Where did the feeling come from, that envy?

It was so great that even now, Maki still trembled upon remembering it. Never once in her life did she wanted or thought to have wings like them, like those Moonchildren, even when the time she first saw it, the wings of Ryo and Koyama, she ran away from them; scared to see a strange thing like that. Then why when she saw Yamapi’s wings did she felt a great envy like that? It’s as if she wanted to tear those wings away from his back.

And then, Tegoshi, he was a little bit strange. She had grown accustomed to his cheery self and she was surprised to see him like that. He probably saw her crying but he didn’t even ask her why. With the way he acted, Maki had a feeling that he knew something, he just didn’t want…. Or can’t tell her.

The sound of the heavy rain lulled her tired mind; her thoughts began to run together like a dream and soon sleep claimed her……..

The woman with silver hair, the one she always saw in Tegoshi’s memories, was watching her; the woman’s lips were curled into a loving smile.
Maki ran after her but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how fast she ran; she can’t seem to reach her. The woman was drifting away, it’s like the wind was carrying her, away from her grasp. Maki tried to call out to her; to not to leave her, to stay… but the woman just looked at her sadly before she slowly faded away.

Someone was softly caressing her face and Maki opened her eyes, expecting the woman to be there at her side but it was Yamapi's face she saw, looming over hers.

Maki instantly moved backwards; all traces of sleep were gone as she stared at the man before her. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you.” Yamapi said; there’s a worrying look on his face. “You’re crying in your sleep.”

Maki sat up and felt her cheeks, it was indeed wet. “I didn’t notice it.”

“Bad dream?”

“Not really,” Maki said as she moved further in the corner, wrapping her blanket tightly around her body, “by the way, how did you get here?”

Yamapi pointed the slightly open window. He was calmly sitting on the floor… her floor as if there’s nothing wrong with the fact that he just went to her room uninvited.

“Don’t you know how to use the door?”

“Doors are only for humans. ‘We’ find it more exciting to use the windows,” Yamapi said, smiling, “especially if we are using our wings.”

Maki tensed when she heard the word ‘wings’; she caught a glimpse of those wings… his wings again in her mind and her stomach lurched when she remembered her ‘evil’ thoughts about them.

Yamapi saw the look on her face. “Maki, are you okay?” he asked as he moved closer. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Maki said. She felt herself….. No the urge to hurt him was gone.

Yamapi reached out to hold her hand. “Maki~” he said in a tone that clearly said that he knew better. The grip on her hand tightened and the heavy feeling in her chest was slowly fading away; he’s soothing her pain.

“I saw you guys earlier,” Maki said, “with your wings.”

Understanding dawned upon Yamapi’s face. “Were you scared?”

“The first time I saw them, yes” Maki said, “but they’re beautiful, especially yours.”

The smile that Yamapi gave her made her heart to flutter. “Why didn’t you join us when you already saw us earlier?”

Maki froze; her heart beating rapidly in her chest, but now for entirely different reason.

“Maki?”

“You- you were already leaving then, I don’t want to disturb you,” Maki lied, “and I met Tegoshi.”

“Oh,”

“He said that you’re going to do something about Aoi.” Maki felt the urge to add.

“Yeah,” Yamapi said. “We went to the house where Erika said Aoi was hiding but it was empty by the time that we arrived there.”

“You mean…”

“Yeah, she’s still out there, waiting for the right time to strike again.”

“Ne~” Maki began.

“Yes?”

“You promised that you’re going to tell me everything right, about you guys?”

“I did?” Yamapi playfully asked. “So, where do you want me to begin?”

“From the very start,” Maki said, “what are you?”

His lips curled into a very amused smile. “Me?” he asked, “I’m a moonchild.”

“It would help a lot if you would explain it further right?”

“Just like what it says, I’m a child of the Moon.” Yamapi said. “The Moon Goddess is our Great Mother, our Maker.”

“Moon Goddess?”

Yamapi nodded.

“What about your enemies? Ryo called them the- the Hollow-“

“Hollow People,” Yamapi finished the sentence for her. “We called them the Hollow People because they are empty inside, they don’t have a heart.”

“Who made them?” Maki asked.

Some strange emotion appeared on Yamapi’s face but it was brief and Maki didn’t quite get it. “I don’t know. All we know is that they appeared at the very time of our beginning and they started to hunt us down since then.”

“Maki, what’s wrong?” Yamapi asked when Maki went unusually silent.

“I’m just thinking.” Maki said. “If you guys have a real Goddess, if you guys were really her children then why can’t she help you at your time of need?”

Yamapi looked quizzically at her.

“Massu told me what you guys went through, how your enemies hunted you down, how they killed you families and friends. Why your Goddess can’t help-“ Maki stopped, “I-I’m sorry, that’s not what I m-mean-“

“I understand, we’ve been asking that to ourselves too ‘did our Great Mother already abandon us?’” Yamapi said. “But you see the Goddess only show herself to the Priestess. Even after our King died, the rest of us still managed to live in peace then because our Priestess is alive, we still have connection to the Goddess but when our enemies killed the Priestess too, that’s when our world turned upside down, nobody can stop our enemies from hunting us down.”

“Tegoshi is the son of the Priestess right? I know, Koyama told me.” Maki said.

Yamapi looked at her sadly. “The Goddess wouldn’t show herself to him, he’s cursed. He can’t be the Priest.”

“There might be some hope still remaining for you guys right?” Maki said.

“Yes, there is.” Yamapi said. “If we can break the curse.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Maki said, “it's you; Koyama said that you are their Prince. You can be their King.”

Maki would never forget the look on Yamapi’s face when she said those words- it’s like Tegoshi’s expression when she tried to touch him- it’s full of pain- and something else, something that looks like regret… or anger…

“I can’t,” Yamapi said, “and I don’t want to be the King.”

“Why?”

Yamapi smiled sadly at her. “You have your own troubles already. I don’t want to burden you with mine.”

“How can that be a burden to me?” Maki asked, confused. “I’m just asking you why.”

“Sometimes knowing too much hurts, Maki.” Yamapi said in a heavy and pained voice. “Trust me, you better off not knowing what it is.”

As much as Maki wanted to know more, she also knew when to stop. “Okay.”

Then the whole room was filled with awkward silence.

Yamapi was the first one who broke it. “Ne, Maki?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I sleep here?”

“Sure… wait, WHAT?”

Yamapi’s mood suddenly changed because he was now smiling beguilingly at her. “You see, I don’t have a room at the moment. Ryo-chan destroyed my room early this morning.”

“Oh yeah, Koyama also told me that,” Maki said, “He said that Ryo and Erika fought this morning but he didn’t know the reason why. You were there right? What happened? Why did they fight?”

“Erika made Ryo-chan angry by saying that I’m useless.” For some reason, Yamapi was still smiling when he said that.

“Why?” Maki asked, shocked. “Why would she say that?”

“She said that when I told her I don’t want to be their King.”

“Oh,”

“So can I sleep here?” Yamapi asked; his soft brown eyes looked imploringly to Maki’s black ones.

Maki’s face became stern. “It’s Ryo who destroyed your room, why don’t you sleep with him?”

“Ryo-chan’s room was destroyed too,” Yamapi said, “and he’s not going to sleep tonight, he volunteered to guard the school.”

Maki was undeterred. “Then sleep with Tegoshi.”

“He hogs the bed.”

“Koyama?”

“He moves a lot when he sleeps.”

“Shige?”

“He talks in his sleep.”

“Massu?”

“His cleanliness unnerves me.”

Maki looked at him coldly. “We slept in his room last night.”

“And now he’s mad. He said that his room was messy when I tried hard to clean it before I left.” Yamapi said, “Please Maki, promise I wouldn’t do anything, I will just sleep here.”

Maki let out a deep sigh. “Okay, you can sleep at the floor…” Yamapi’s expression was like that one of a kicked puppy and Maki felt like she had just kicked one. “Okay! Okay! You can sleep on the bed.”

The smile that Yamapi gave her was the brightest smile she had seen just yet and he proceeded to lie down next to her but not before Maki placed a pillow between them. Without any other word Maki lay down on the bed, facing the wall, her back to him.

Nobody spoke for a long moment, every now and then Maki would move, restless; it felt strange to have someone sleep with her on the same bed.

“Can’t sleep?” Yamapi asked.

Maki turned to look at him, and then she saw that his eyes were still closed. “Yeah.”

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?” Yamapi said, the corner of his lips twitching into a smile.

“No,” Maki said flatly, then her voice turned softer, “but can you hold my hand?”

Maki flushed when Yamapi opened his eyes and stared at her. She just realized what she had just said. “I- I mean- b-because it’s peaceful every time you touched me ne~ I can’t hear the buzz of other people’s mind.”

Yamapi quietly reached out and took her left hand, bringing it to his side, near his lips.

His thumbs drawing small circles on the back of her hand and Maki closed her eyes, letting that little gesture soothed her.

She was already drifting to sleep when he spoke again. “Maki?”

“Hmm?”

“You want to know why I don’t want to be a King, right.” Yamapi asked softly; his thumb stopped moving.

Maki opened her eyes and was greeted by his soft brown ones. “Yes.”

“There are so many reasons why I don’t want to be one.” Yamapi said as he looked deeply into her eyes, “and one of those reasons is once I become a King, I’m forbidden to marry a human.”

_____________________________________

a/n: sorry for the delay... something came up at my job... gomenasai...

i think i just give so many hints here... hope its not so confusing... and hope you still enjoy this

some questions will be answered on part 3.. in which i haven't written yet ^_^ *getsbrick*

oh.. and i just wanted to tell that Pains and Lies 3 will be the last chapter........

of the first arc of this story... ^_^
which also means i reached the first half of this fic.. yey!!! *dances around*
WHAT?? first half??? half??
yes.. i'm sorry to tell that this will be a very looong and complicated fic.... hope you still continue to support this fic.. ^_^

and in case your wondering what is wrong with tegoshi.. its the curse.. ^_^

thank you all for the support and comments and all.. thank you so much...

^_^