Based on the folktales "Princess Kaguya" and "The Rabbit on the Moon."

Page 1 ~ Bamboo Cutter

A long time ago in ancient Japan, a house stood in the middle of a bamboo forest. Residing in that house was an unmarried man, who would often venture out into the forest to cut bamboo and sell it on the market for a living. Nakamori Ginzou was his name. He was known by the other villagers to be a bit hot-tempered, but respectable. Although, little did everyone know just how lonely he was. His wife had passed away young and he hadn't felt the need to remarry. It was just him, his house, and his bamboo. Nothing else. At least, not until that one fateful day...

There wasn't anything special about the beginning, it was just your average sunny day. Nakamori was out and about, chopping up bamboo as usual. However, As he watched the bamboo tree fall to the ground, a bright glow caught his eye. "What the..."

He bent down to the height of the bamboo stump of the tree that just fell, and what he saw before him was a small and very beautiful goddess-like doll child, wearing a royal blue kimono. Gently, he picked her up and held her in his hands. "A gift from Heaven?"

He knew how lonely he was, and he figured that Heaven might have finally given him the child he had always wished for. It was then that another glow started to envelope the doll-like child, and transformed her into a normal little girl, no more than five years old. She was fast asleep, and she seemed to be clutching something in her hand. It was a blue sapphire with unknown origins.

It was then and there that he made the vow to protect her always, and even still, he would never forget the day when she became Nakamori Aoko Kaguya. That is where our story begins...

A lone girl, not even a decade old, stood at the front of the palace by the fountain. She wasn't waiting for anyone in particular, she was just bored and had no one to play with. It was a pretty lonely place up there, with hardly any kids her age. All she could do was look at her reflection in the fountain water and watch as petals floated down from the nearby sakura trees.

What caught her eye next was the sight of a remarkably large sakura flower on a stem, purposely making itself a part of her line of vision. Holding that flower was a boy her age, with messy brown hair and big indigo eyes. His most notable feature was two rabbit ears coming up from his head.

"Hi." He greeted all chipper.

Surprised, although happy, she smiled. "Hello."

"Why are you just sitting there?" The rabbit boy asked, curious.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's just a good way to pass the time."

He tilted his head. "Really? Look's boring."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

He changed the subject from there. "Hey, aren't you the princess?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and who are you?"

Smiling proudly, he bowed. "I am Tsuki no Usagi. The Rabbit on the Moon. But my real name's actually Kaito."

Gently, she smiled and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you Kaito. I am Princess Aoko Kaguya."

Her eyes opened up for the first time since night, and like that, her day began. Aoko, now sixteen, sat up in her futon and rested her head in her hand. "That dream again..."

She had been having the same dream every night since she had turned sixteen. She would always find it strange. It was strange, because it seemed too familiar to her for some reason. And that boy. That rabbit boy was a figure who always seemed to appear in these familiar dreams of hers. Her dreams were blurry, so she couldn't remember much about them, but he was always there. That strange but familiar boy. Moving her dreams aside, Aoko got ready for the day.

In order to help her father, she had started her own business in the market, where she would sell her paintings. She was unbelievably talented, and everyone in the village admired her artwork. She would mostly paint scenes of nature from her second floor balcony, but the scenes that she loved to paint the most were of nighttime scenes, especially ones that involved the moon. She didn't know why, but the moon was always able to put her at peace. It was serene enough to make her want to fall asleep, and sometimes, when she was struggling with something, she would come outside and watch the moon, and her mind would end up cleared.

The people in the village thought that she herself was especially beautiful, and young men would often ask her father for her hand in marriage, although he ended up rejecting all of them. Aoko felt that her heart already belonged to someone, but she could think of who that might be. Either way, she promised herself that she wouldn't marry anyone except for the person who held her heart.

As expected, her father had already gone to cut bamboo, seeing as the first floor was empty, so she proceeded out to the market to buy food. Their income was pretty good nowadays and they made enough to eat proper meals and occasionally buy luxury items.

It was funny, whenever she asked about her birth, her father always told her that she was found in a bamboo stem. Aoko thought it was just a joke he would tell when she was a kid, but she was older now, and he still didn't change his story. But that was ridiculous, no one was just born from bamboo, right?

Stepping out of the forest, Aoko made it to the market. There were stalls aligning the streets, and people were either buying or selling. Aoko loved how the market was always so lively and vibrant. Not to mention that people always sold the most interesting things. She even knew some of the sellers, like daughters of the Mouri and Koizumi families, as well as the daughter of the Toyama family from Osaka.

She walked down the streets looking at various items and it was tempting enough just to buy some of them, but she had to stay strong, because her goal was food. She internally kept trying to tell herself that, but she stopped as soon as she saw a single stand. The stand was just like all the others it seemed, but what really caught her eye was the stuffed rabbit on display.

It was cute and fuzzy, and it didn't really cost much at all. Well, even if she bought it, she would still have enough for food in the end. And so, Aoko went ahead and bought the stuffed rabbit, and her normal life went on, but little did she know, it would change real soon.