“Maki, please lower your voice.” Koyama whispered.

The canteen was so crowded and noisy with students that no one paid attention to them. But Maki lowered her voice nonetheless. “But what happened to him?” Maki whispered back. “Is he okay?”

“Yamapi is okay.” Koyama said. “But last night he almost drained all his energy in healing Tegoshi that’s why Ryo didn’t let me him to go to school today so that he could rest. He and Ryo are sleeping in my room right now.”

“What about Tegoshi? Is he alright?”

“He’s okay for now.”

“For now?”

“The curse is getting worse and worse.” Koyama said worriedly. “We must find a way how to break it, the sooner the better.”

Before Maki could ask more, she saw Erika Sawajiri passed by the canteen’s entrance, her hair flowing behind her as she walked; her eyes were strangely black. “Is that really Erika?”

Koyama followed her gaze. “Yeah, it’s her. Why are you asking?”

“It’s weird.” Maki said. “Her eyes are black and I’m hearing a strange sound coming from her… like some sort of music…” She turned and saw Koyama was gaping at her. “What?”

Koyama cleared his throat as he straightened in his seat. “Erika Sawajiri ne… well she’s a half-moonchild.”

“A what?”

“Half-human. Half-moonchild.” Koyama clarified for her. “Tegoshi told me that Erika’s father is a human. She’s human at day but moonchild at night, maybe that’s the reason why her eyes are black because it’s still day time… last night it was silver…”

Maki stared at her almost empty plate while Koyama sipped his drink.

“So it’s possible for a moonchild and a human to marry?” Maki asked suddenly.

Koyama’s eyes were twinkling with mischief when he looked at her. Maki felt her cheeks burning.

“If a human can accept that ‘her’ partner-to-be is some kind of creature called moonchild then it’s possible.” Then his voice went serious. “Actually it’s forbidden in our laws but it’s impossible to oppose a moonchild when he’s in love, that’s why some people do it secretly.”

“Impossible to oppose?” Maki sensed that that phrase was kind of weird.

Koyama laughed nervously. “I hope you never ask that.”

“Why?” Maki asked.

“Maa~ they said that when a moonchild fall in love they tend to become… uhm… possessive?” said Koyama uncomfortably. “I don’t know anything about it. I’ve never been in love.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

Koyama looked like he wanted to hide from her. “It’s a good thing if the other person is in love with him too, but it’s bad if the other person didn’t reciprocate the feelings…”

“What will happen?” Maki pressed him on further.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been in love.” Koyama repeated in a very small voice. “I only hear things.”

“Then what are the things that you heard?” Maki asked.

“Why are you keeping on asking me that?”

“I’m just curious.”

Koyama’s small eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me you’re in love with-“

“I said I’m just curious.”

“Nishikido-kun said that Yamapi slept in your room-“

Maki stuffed a large piece of meat into Koyama’s mouth. He choked.

“Tegoshi’s in the clinic right?” Maki said as she stood up, her cheeks a bright shade of red. “I’m going to visit him.”

Koyama’s giggles followed her down the hallway.

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

Maki was climbing the stairs when she heard it- again. A melodious murmur, it was loud enough for her to hear but the words were still unrecognizable… it’s like singing to her in a hushed whisper… Erika was just near her.

The sound was coming from above; Maki quickly climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a landing. Following the sound, she turned around a corner… and saw Ayu emerging from the clinic; head hung low as she closed the door behind her. She looked so troubled that she didn’t notice that Maki was there.

Maki watched her leave, her heart aching for her. She was about to follow Ayu when she heard a pair of voices coming from the inside of the clinic; it was a boy and a girl talking. Maki also heard the low murmuring which meant that Erika was inside the room.

“… should’ve wiped her memories before she left this room.” The girl said.

“But I promised Maki I wouldn’t do that to ‘her’ anymore,” the boy said and Maki recognized the voice as Tegoshi’s. “Don’t worry. Ayu only know that I have some kind of strange illness.”

“But that’s still dangerous.” The girl said heatedly. “She’s a human.”

“I don’t want to break my word to Maki,” Tegoshi said, “and I think I can handle Ayu…”

There was a long pause and Maki hesitated if she’s still going to visit Tegoshi or to follow Ayu… Then Tegoshi spoke again.

“Erika, last night when Yamapi-kun showed his wings, why did Maki-chan cry like that?” Tegoshi voiced the question that’s been plaguing her since last night; Maki moved closer to the door.

“You saw that too, right?” Tegoshi prodded on when Erika still didn’t speak.

“There’re only two white-winged creatures in this world right now,” Erika said softly, “and one of them is Yamaa-kun. Guess who the other one is?”

“Who?”

“The Moon Goddess.”

“What?”

“The Priestess used to say that the Royal family was the descendant of the Goddess, her real children from her mortal lover. Her blood runs in their blood. Yamaa’s wings are the proof of that. And when he bared his wings last night, it’s like he showed a bit of the Goddess to us. Tell me, did you feel something when you saw his wings?”

Tegoshi took a long time to answer that. “Admiration… then envy, like I wanted it. I think that’s the one that triggered the curse in me…”

“If it affected you, imagine what it can do to Maki.”

Tegoshi groaned like a pained animal. “Why can’t we just tell her-“

“No!” Erika vehemently said. “We already talked about this right? I thought you already understand how dangerous it would be for her.”

“But it’s hurting her!” Maki heard Tegoshi’s voice broke. “You saw how she cried last night right? It would lessen her sufferings if she knows the truth.”

“Please Tegoshi,” Erika said pleadingly. “It’s the least thing we can do to protect her. Yosuke is still alive and he’s searching for her. You know he won’t stop until he kills her. The fewer the people who know about this, the safer she will be.”

Maki’s eyes widen in fear. Kill her?

“It’s just hard.” Tegoshi said, his voice breaking with each word. “I miss her so much.”

“I miss her too.” Erika said. “I promise I would find a way how to turn her back and how to break that goddam curse on you and on her. I would do anything to save the both of you…”

“C-can we at least tell Yamapi-kun about this? I know he would understand and he might help us to-“

“Definitely no.” Erika said sharply. Her tone changed so suddenly that it startled Maki.

“Why not?” It seemed like Tegoshi was shocked too. “He has the right to know. We are living under his care. I didn’t tell him then about Maki because I don’t know what happened to her but now-“

“I don’t trust him anymore.” Erika said quietly.

“What?! If it’s about the fight yesterday-“

“You don’t understand.” Erika said, her voice shaking. “Can’t you sense that he and Nishikido are hiding something?”

“I do.” Tegoshi said. “But so what if they have a secret? We are keeping our own.”

“What if their secret can harm Maki? What are you going to do then? Can you protect her?”

“What do you mean?” Tegoshi said in a very low and dangerous voice.

“Last night, when I came here after Yamaa healed you, I felt that there’s something wrong.” Erika said. “I sensed some kind of strange spell in the air… around you… it was not right… like it was twisted…”

“What do you mean?” Tegoshi repeated, more dangerous than before. “That Yamaa-kun meant us harm? Are you trying to break my trust in him?”

“I’m not saying you can’t trust him.” Erika quickly said, “I just want you to be careful. We can’t tell him anything not until we know what he’s hiding and make sure that whatever it is, it wouldn’t harm Maki.”

There was a long silence. Then, “What time is it?” Tegoshi asked.

“Almost one in the afternoon.”

“You need to go-“

“Wait Tegoshi,” Maki heard Erika say. “Please be more careful. L-last night before it rained, the sky turned red. You know it’s a bad omen. The last time it happened-“

“-was when almost all the people in the Palace were killed. I know.” Tegoshi said coldly. “But if you don’t move right now, you’re going to be late… and I wanted to be alone.”

Maki heard the scraping of chair against the floor. She hurriedly went to the next room and hid. Then there was a sound of door opening then closing, followed by footsteps on the hall.

It was a few moments later that Maki realized she was shaking.

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

Maki abandoned the school. She had to think.

She knew skipping her classes was a dumb thing to do but right now she didn’t care. She needed to go away from the school, away from those moonchildren or else she would go crazy.

Maki slipped past the gates and out onto the main road. Eventually she found herself leaning against a very large tree, a long distance away from the school. Above her, leaves rustled with the afternoon breeze. Maki closed her eyes breathing heavily as she tried to calm her heart… and racing mind.

So she was right, Tegoshi really did know something about her… and not only him, Erika too. They knew the reason why she was like this, why she can hear people’s thoughts and why she’s experiencing strange things. They knew the truth and they’re hiding it to protect her from Yosuke, the guy that Massu said that brought the curse on Tegoshi and Kusano… and maybe her.

And Yosuke was searching for her and wanted to kill her, but why? For the life of her, she can’t remember meeting him or any guy whose name is Yosuke…

Wait- Tegoshi?

Did he do something to her? Did he erase her memories too, like what he did to Ayu?

Then Maki remembered the way they talked about her. They said they missed her; it’s as if they have known her before. And the tone that Tegoshi used when he spoke about her, it’s like he cared about her…

So, if Tegoshi erased her memories then what about her ability to hear people’s thoughts? Why did she have it? Who gave it to her?

Then in the silence, Maki heard footsteps approaching. She opened her eyes.

It was Yamapi, coming down the road from the school. “Maki?”

Maki pushed herself away from the tree as Yamapi drew nearer.

“What are you doing here?” said Yamapi, smiling. “Why are you not in class?”

Maki went rigid with fear. ‘There’s something wrong,’ she thought as her heart started to beat rapidly again.

His smile drooped when he saw her face. “Maki, what’s wrong?”

Maki took a step back, looking around them; there’s no one here apart from the two of them, nobody here to help her…

“Maki?” Yamapi said, taking a step forward.

“Who are you?” Maki said, her voice barely above a whisper, taking another step away from him.

“Maki are you alright? Can’t you remember me? It’s me Yamapi.”

The moment he said those words, Maki knew what was wrong. “No, you’re not him!” Maki said shrilly before she whipped around and took off at a full run, which lasted all of five seconds. Something caught her hair and before she knew it, she was lifted in the air and slammed in the nearest tree. She was still wincing with pain when a hand closed tightly around .

Yamapi’s face appeared mere inches away from hers. “What do you mean when you said that I’m not him?” he said in a very menacing voice.

Maki stared at the man before her, her body trembling with fear. His face, body and voice belonged to Yamapi but she knew he was not him. She can hear his twisted thoughts… and Yamapi wouldn’t do this to her. “You’re Aoi.” Maki gasped.

The fingers tightened, Maki choked-

“Yamaa-kun?” a voice said.

They both turned around and saw Naomi gaping at them; she was clutching a black leather jacket in her right hand.

Maki used the opportunity to kick her attacker viciously in the shins. He released and doubled up in pain.

“THAT’S NOT YAMAPI!” Maki shouted. “Quick! Do someth-“

But before Maki could even finish the sentence or Naomi could even move to protect herself, Yamapi- no, Aoi took something from her pocket and hurled it straight at Naomi.

Maki stood transfixed with horror as she watched Naomi staggered backwards. The jacket fell from her grasp as she clutched the knife that was stuck between her shoulder blades. Maki saw a black liquid dripping from the knife.

Then she felt, rather than heard, when a presence went behind her. A pair of cold arms wrapped around her body when her attacker embraced her from behind. “You’re interesting,” Aoi used Yamapi’s voice when she spoke, “for a human.”

And before Maki could do anything else, she felt a prick at the side of her neck and everything went black.

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

Naomi saw it when Maki fainted in his arms. She tried to move but the searing pain in her left shoulder stopped her; she sagged, dropping to one knee and gasping with pain. When she looked up again, she saw Yamapi smiling disdainfully at her… or was it really Yamapi?

“Who are you?” Naomi asked through gritted teeth.

As an answer to her question, his form shimmered and blurred then a moment later, a beautiful girl in red dress stood where Yamapi’s body was standing earlier; she was holding Maki’s limp body in her arms. It was the same girl who attacked Tegoshi before.

“You only have five minutes left to live and the poison would kill you.” The girl said coldly as she lifted Maki’s body in her arms. “Enough time for you to go to that school and tell the other moonchildren that I’ve got their human-friend. If they still want to see her alive, tell them, Yamapi must come to the place where he first saw me. Alone.” With that, the girl left, running to the woods, carrying Maki with her.

In one last rush of strength she had not known that she possessed, Naomi pulled the knife from her body and threw it aside. She picked up Ryo’s jacket from the ground and used it to staunch the blood from flowing from her wound; hoping that Ryo wouldn’t be so angry with her for ruining his jacket.

She felt the poison crawling in her body. It felt like her blood was on fire, hindering her to use any of her powers nor could she even bare her wings to fly. Naomi bit her lips against her pain as she ran towards the school.

The school gates were open and there’s no one in sight but Naomi heard the faint buzz of students as the classes were still going on…

She needed to find someone… anyone…

Naomi can’t feel her left arm anymore, her movements sluggish and her vision was getting blurry… then she saw the faint outline of someone running towards her.

“Help,” she gasped. “Help… Maki…”

Then her knees buckled under her and all the buildings and the trees were blurring and rushing together into merciful darkness.

Ryo, flinging himself down, was only just in time to catch her as she fell.

_________________________________________________

a/n: and this is the end of the firs arc~ whew~

what can you expect in the second arc of the story?? hmmm... more about the Hollow People (oh yes.. there's a long story about them too), Yamapi and Ryo's past, Shige's awesome-but-complicated Gift... and uhm.. uhm... *stared at the poster* yes.. Ikuta Toma....

and maybe the Moon Goddess might make an appearance too ^_^

if you guys are still confuse about some aspects of the story... maybe you can check chapter 17 again ^_^

to ally: sorry if i did that to Naomi... i'm kinda deprived of ryo/naomi lately... (can you now pls pls pls finish that one shot??)
and you're guess about shige's gift is the closest... i think he have the most awesome gift ever... so awesome that he can't control it (and that is Shige fail number 30000000001) ^_^

to junryou: i heard about that book... but i haven't read it yet... (do you know that you just mentioned shige's gift somewhere there... in your comment?) ^_^

and to the rest of the people who commented... thank you soo much... pls support this fic until the end... (hope i could finish this)

-eliseer