Chapter One: Falling

Darkness. Cold. Where was she? Her body shivered against the icy temperature. Somehow, she knew she wasn't safe here. She tried to get away, but she couldn't. Her legs remained frozen to the ground. Suddenly she saw a figure coming towards her. He was tall, with long, flowing silver hair. He seemed to glow, penetrating the darkness. She squinted to see his face, but she couldn't make it out clearly. Slowly he approached her, and drew his sword from his sheath. She couldn't understand why, but for some reason, she didn't feel afraid. Finally able to move her legs, she closed the distance between them, all the while staring at his sword. It also glowed, but differently from the man. As she reached out to touch the cool metal, she felt herself fall backwards into the abyss. She tried to scream but no sound managed to escape from her lips.

Chikako awoke with a start. Slowly sitting up, she looked around. She was in her room, lying on her bed. She rubbed her forehead, thinking about her dream. She'd been having the same one for about a month now. Everytime, the man came, and when she managed to get close enough to study the sword, she woke up. Why the hell did her dream self want to see that damn sword so much anyway? Rolling her eyes, she threw back the covers, and got dressed into her school uniform. Running a brush through her long, ebony-coloured hair, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her almond-shaped eyes, were slightly puffy and had bags under them, from lack of sleep. Oh well, not like anyone would notice.

When she came downstairs, she could hear her mother snoring away another hangover on the couch. Ever since Chikako's father had left four years earlier, her mother had started to drink and have strange men come calling at all times of the night. She slept all day, leaving Chika in charge of taking care of the house, but soon there wouldn't be a house if her mother couldn't find a job to pay the bills. Chika had a part time job, but that only brought in enough for the few groceries in the fridge. The rest of her time was spent at school, trying her best to get the top grades.

Sighing, Chika walked into the living room, and picked up the empty bottles, and emptied the half full into the plant next to the window. When she was done, she recycled the bottles, and picked up her bag.

"Goodbye, Mom," she called, opening the door. The only response was her mother's snoring.

The school day passed uneventfully. She went to class, did her work, ate her lunch alone, and did more work. No one ever talked to her. She was an outcast, someone who shouldn't even breathe the same oxygen as them. The reason? Chikako could channel spirits. She'd been able to since hitting puberty. And though she hadn't even told her own family, people could sense something strange about her, and that was why her classmates ignored her. She sometimes wondered if it was also why her father had suddenly left his family, and started a new one.

When she was young, Chika had learned how to fight with sais, which were long, sharp daggers used in ancient martial arts. She was seventeen now, and very adaptly skilled at using them. She carried them with her everywhere, for protection. With the world full of creeps, most of whom came to her house to be with her mother, she wanted to make sure she could defend herself.

As she walked to her job after school had let out, Chika let her mind drift freely. Immediately it returned to the dream as it usually did. Who was the man? What did the dream mean? Shaking her head to rid herself of these thoughts before she started work, she reached the cafe where she worked, and entered through the back door. She quickly got changed into her work uniform. Coming out of the change room, she almost ran into some one.

"Gomen nasai," she exclaimed, glancing up. When she did, she saw a smiling face. It was her co-worker, Ken-san. He was the only person she knew that didn't ignore her existence. In fact, he tried to help her out whenever she was having problems with something. He was always offering to tutor her in subjects she was struggling in, or giving her some of his lunch.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. She blushed slightly under his gaze.

"Hey you two!" yelled another waiter, as he rushed into the kitchen, "Get to work!"

"Yes sir!" Ken mock saluted the man, who just glared at him. Chika tried to suppress a giggle, but couldn't. He always made her laugh. She grabbed her apron and notebook, and went to take the order of some customers that had just walked in.

"Konnichiwa," she bowed, "What would you like?"

Chika walked home, exhausted. It had been unusually busy, and Ken had left early, saying he had some things to take care of. She'd been kind of disappointed. Ken always made work fun. Not to mention a spirit had tried to contact her while she was serving customers. She hated it when that happened. Her miko powers weren't very well developed, so her body would begin to shake uncontrollably and she would feel faint. Even if she had allowed the spirit to speak to her, it would have taken a lot of her energy. Fighting it took even more energy. Her employer, Asamoto-san had noticed, and sent her home early because he thought she was sick.

Trudging up the stairs to her house, she opened the door, to be assaulted with the sounds of people moaning and panting. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she quietly closed the door, and sat on the steps to wait until they were finished. Her mother disgusted her. Chika was surprised that she hadn't contracted a STI yet. After about five minutes, she heard the door open.

"Chikako-chan? What are you doing here?"

Chika felt her stomach wrench, as she turned around. Ken stood there, hair slightly tousled, looking confused. She tried to say something, but her throat was too dry.

"Chika, dear," her mother came to the door, "You're off early."

Chika looked back and forth between them, feeling more pain than when her father had left. Feeling tears well up in her eyes, she stood up suddenly, turned, and started to run blindly. She heard Ken call after her. She just ran faster. She could hear him chasing after her, yellling at her to stop. She looked behind her, noticing that she was beginning to lose him.

She looked forward to see that she had darted into the middle of the street, and a car was screaming toward her. The driver slammed on the brakes, but he was too close. She stood, frozen to the ground. Her body began to feel strange. It shook, and was racked with pain. The tires screached as they tried to slam to a stop. At the last minute, she braced herself for impact. But instead, she felt herself falling.