By Gina-chan

~Prologue~

Sora sat outside with her mother, a warm spring breeze causing sakura blossoms to gently fly around.

"Sora, there's something I want you to have," her mother said. Sora watched her intently. Her mother reached inside her shirt and pulled out a pendent, with a red orb dangling on the end. Her mother pulled it from around her neck and put it around Sora's.

"Mother…you've always worn this pendent. I can't have it," Sora protested.

"Keep it. It's of no use to me anymore," her mother replied. Sora glanced down at her watch.

"Mother? It's time for me to go school," Sora said. Her mother nodded.

"Keep it safe," she whispered, as Sora walked out the back gate to school.

"You're mom gave you that?!" exclaimed Arashi, Sora's best friend. Arashi was looking over Sora's new pendent, inspecting everything.

"Yea. It's the one she never took off. And then today, she suddenly just…gave it to me," Sora explained. Arashi let go of the pendent.

"Hn…why do you think she wore it for so long? Maybe it was a present from your dad to her," Arashi suggested. Sora's mother never mentioned her father, who had been absent all of her life. Sora could never find the right time to ask about her father. Arashi knew this too, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut.

"Who knows?" Sora shrugged. A school bell rung, signaling only five minutes till school started.

"Well, we'd better get to class," Arashi said, as they started walking into the school building.

"See you at track practice," Sora said, as they went their separate ways.

Hitomi Kansaki placed her hand around her neck, where her pendent had been hanging for so long. She felt naked without it, like a part of her was missing. But after she couldn't make her trips to Gaea any longer, she knew it was time to give the pendent to her daughter.

"Ooo! Sora! Look over there!" Arashi giggled, poking her friend, who was tying her shoes. Sora looked up to she who Arashi was pointing at. Her stomach did a flip-flop as she found herself staring at Daichi, an upperclassman. Daichi had applied to a college in America, and would be leaving next year. Many of the girls in school were disappointed. Daichi had short, dark brown hair with bangs that hung down on the side of his face, almost getting in the way of his eyes.

"Sora! He-loo!" Arashi said, waving a hand in front of her face. Daichi looked over at them, and grinned a smile at Sora. Sora blushed, and looked away.

"Oooo! Sora's got a crush!" Arashi giggled again, dancing around her friend. Sora finished tying her shoes, and hopped off the bleachers, and down onto the track. Arashi followed, stopping her little dance.

"Girls! You're running first!" the coach yelled. All the girls made their way to the starting line. Sora and Arashi were next to each other.

"Good luck Sora," Arashi whispered to her friend, who was trying to beat the school record, which was set by her mother.

"Ready…Set…GO!" the coach yelled as the girls started running. Sora quickly ran in front of the rest of the group. She was running faster than she ever had before…she knew, this time she would beat the record…

Then, suddenly, it stopped. Sora was no longer running on the track, but standing face to face with a boy, around her age. She stared at him. He looked remarkably like Daichi, except for the red and black uniform he was wearing.

"W-who are you?" Sora gasped, still staring at the stranger.

"I bet you wish you knew, bitch," he spat, staring straight back at her, with his black eyes. Black wings sprouted out of his back, as Sora promptly fainted.