Prologue

The birds are singing too peaceful in the month of January. I can't believe that few months from now... I'll be entering university. My boring life will now be more boring. Ordinary days will now start in putting up hectic schedules to me. I had to admit it, for me, Yoshinaga Shinjiro, the son of popularity here in Osaka needs to act cooler and smarter, but come think of it, no one told me to do that so. I just feel that the only problem was that it wasn't myself who was wrong, it's the name I'm involve with.

This wouldn't have been such a tragedy for me if my friend Zen didn't left me alone making all the paperworks done for this coming homeroom exams. It all started with a non-sense conversation.

"Hey dude! Check this out!" Zen started breaking my concentrated mind on my work.

"It is a mythical picture found in the seashore of Amia last week!" I wanted to answer him but my mouth is only going to answer with sense of facts and not of a fancy imagination.

"They said that this picture is taken when Prince Hata died in a battle and a goddess saved her life!" he shouted.

I looked at him with confusion. "What the hell Zen! Stop this noise! And who the heck is this Prince Hata? And do you really believe in a goddess? I mean... Hello?"

I don't want to hurt him because Zen really believes in some ancient stories and mythical creatures but he is really a bother sometimes.

"All right," Zen paused a little raising an eyebrow.

"You're so MEAN!" he shouted so loud like the whole school will hear his awful voice.

"Hey-hey Zen! Quit blabbing like a baby. You're disturbing Shin-my loves here." Dan joined our conversation. He is my ever mature friend who always makes Zen stops whenever he overdoes it.

"D-Dan! He is fighting me! He doesn't believe in the story of this picture!"

Dan groaned. "Zen I am the History master here in this school. There is no Prince Hata listed in my vocabulary. He didn't exist at all!"

I know he's sounding like a hardcore serious guy, and to a degree, that's a little bit true, but mostly it's not. Dan Ashley became my friend when I went in New York, 4 years ago and I didn't expect that he'll study here too.

"Hmm... Okay? You, Shin? Do you believe in a goddess?" Zen asked me with a sharp voice.

I didn't expect that question since my grandpa told me an old stories about goddesses. I know that people like me should believe since it upholds something in my family's name and reputation but it never caught my interest, so I simply answered, "NO."

They both laughed at me like my answer is so funny. "What?" I glared at them.

"I can't believe that Shinjiro of the family of Yoshinaga don't believe at all." said Zen.

"Yeah, me neither." Dan added.

Yoshinaga here, that, blah-blah... I want to change my name. Making this senseless and pointless conversation longer will just make my head grow smaller so I just need to ride their trippings to make them stop, "HO-HO-HO."

Against my will, I smiled to them. My friends just go crazy whenever they want to be but I am least lucky because they're my friends. After hurdling and struggling many obstacles in high school life, I guess with them, I'm being Shinjiro, the one who doesn't fail to bring Zen to detention. Ha-ha! Maybe I do sound evil, but they have more devilish attitude than me.

After few more minutes we came back to work, Dan returned in his own cybercrimes and Zen and I continued the paperworks, but it is the least I expected... Zen's stomach starts to ache when we are already in the 50% process of it.

"Uhm... H-hey. I need to go in the bathroom." he excused with a creepy looking smile. But seriously, that smile means he will never return. Since I've been harsh on him, I'll let him go, I think I could finish this on my own.

After two hours of almost dying, it's time for me to go home and thank God I finished all the work by myself, I think I deserve to have soda today. I first went up to a temple to give glory to all the spirits living there. Its been a tradition in our family to always remember, "Good luck is for a good man."

"Whoa..."

I never expected going here. The temple of Zaido is just crushed but who cares, this is the nearest temple in my school and "Once a temple, always a temple!" so I did close my eyes and threw a coin in the pond and I wished, "Please give me some miracle!"

Suddenly, the wind just blew cooler, and it felt so relaxing. But, I also felt like there was someone watching me. The soda machine was just 20 miles away from the temple so It's not making me more tired. It's something that really makes my throat more and more thirsty and I can't wait for it to be quenched. My favorite soda 'Yocan'; bubbly water filled with real lemon and orange bits, bursting with mindawakening spirits of lemon and orange.

"Mr... Is this yours?"

"Huh?"

The wind suddenly blew hard that I closed my eyes for some seconds because specks of dust entered my eyed and irritated them and because of that, the soda can I was holding fell. My eyes (when I opened them) scanned the girl in front of me, from toe up to the head. She was wearing a cream colored dress which is up to the knees, and she was barefooted. Her shiny jet-black hair was swaying with the wind, and her caramel brown eyes was so stunning while looking at me. I thought that I was daydreaming, I picked up my soda asking her, "Yes? Miss?" She's so beautiful that I became so speechless.

"Is this yours?" she asked while walking closer to me.

I stepped backward because she's holding the coin I threw in the pond, making my heart pound, little by little.