The bright moonlight of a warm summer's evening drifted in from the broken windows and onto the floor of the student council office, causing the shadows in the room to portray three figures in the moon's lighting.

Suoh clung tightly to the lifeless body in his arms. His saddened eyes gazed down at the pale and handsome young boy laying across his lap, and he reached down with his hand and brushed a few golden locks from his face.

"Nokoru..." Suoh let his voice trail off, deciding that words couldn't even begin to express his feelings at the moment. He sighed and looked up into a pair of silvery eyes. The owner of those eyes tried to smile his usual bright smile, but it had dimmed greatly.

"He'll be back," Akira whispered, "he has to come back, right? He can't stay gone..."

Suoh hung his head of navy blue hair, and shut his eyes angrily at the thought of his Kaichou even /being/ gone. He had never left him before...not like this...it left him so cold and alone. Nokoru had been his closest friend, one of the only people who knew him for him. One who had kept him feeling bright during the darkest of moments. One who he could trust.

One...
/His/ One...

The one he chose to protect forever as part of being a Takamura...but it wasn't only because of that. He would die for his Kaichou any day. Save him from all the people who had time and time again tried to take him away and exploit the little genuis' high athority, power, and wealth.

Akira watched Suoh with great interest. He knew both his senpai friends had always been together. Akira admitted to himself that he had wished to have such a close relationship with somebody before. But he never got jealous. He was inspired. He had never known the true value of their bond, but knew that it must have been something that not even death could sever.

"Suoh..." Akira spoke, afraid that Suoh was thinking about too many things concerning Nokoru. He wasn't sure that he could handle this death. A Takamura rarely out-lived their charges. It was dangerous for the Takamura to witness their One's death. But Akira knew nothing of the ninja relationship, and only considered their friendship to be amzingly strong and unique.

Suoh wondered momentarily what it was like to be dead. For a split second, he wished he could follow after him, but realized that that wouldn't be what Nokoru wanted him to do.

And that made him feel so helpless.
If only he would have sensed the shot coming...if only he had seen who it was...

But his ability to detect this tradgety made him wonder what was wrong with him. He had spent his whole life training; becoming more aware of his surroundings. And in just a few seconds, the window shattered, and Nokoru fell, even before Suoh had sensed /anything/.
Suoh closed his eyes at the horrid memory.

Akira's silvery eyes misted. /Now what will happen now that he's dead?/ he thought sadly. He brushed the ebony locks from his face and again spoke to his friend. "Suoh," he spoke in a more determined tone. Suoh lifted his head, the starlight gone from his golden eyes, and was about to answer when a voice spoke up.

"/He had to die...he had to die for Kamui.../"
"Hinito?" Akira's eyes widened. She had spoken to them before about the Day to Come, but they had not heard of her since. She was a dreamwatcher, one who foretold the possible future. She had explained about what was to happen in the future, and left them with reassuring words, telling them that they would play a role in the fate of the Earth. At the dreamwatcher's words, Suoh felt his anger rise.

" 'Had to?' " Suoh growled.

"/I know what Imonoyama San means to you, Takamura San, and to you as well, Ijyuin San. But it was meant to be that he would be killed today. That doesn't mean he has to stay dead forever./"

But Suoh refused to let Hinito's words make him feel at ease in the situation. "You know nothing," he snapped, more fierceness in his words. He was frustrated, alone...he only wanted his best friend back.

"Suoh!" Akira cried, surprised at his tone. Suoh sighed and looked away. Then he spoke to Hinito. "Does that mean he'll--?"

"/He will be with you soon/", she spoke to them, /"Some must die so that others will be born. It is the way of destiny, and no one could stop it./"

"Help Kamui how?" Suoh demanded, responding to her earlier statement. He felt angry that his Kaichou had to die because of someone else. Akira rested a hand on Suoh's shoulder in an effort to calm his friend's temper.

"Does that mean that because Kaichou died, Kamui was..."
"/Yes./"
Suoh looked down at Nokoru once again, then up at Akira.

"/Explaining such things isn't necessary. All that matters is that he is on his way home. The three of you must watch over each other for that day./"

Suoh looked down at the slight stirring below him. Nokoru's blue eyes fluttered open and looked up to a pair of gold eyes above him. He smiled slightly, then his smile faded at the expression Suoh wore.

"S-Suoh...why are you looking at me that way?" Nokoru paused, as Suoh's eyes welled up with tears. In a softer tone, Nokoru smiled slightly, and said, "I promised that I'd never leave you behind." With those words, Nokoru sat up and hugged Suoh.

"K-Kaichou...?" Akira asked as he knelt down next to them. He joined them in their reunion, and the three became the Elementary Division Student Council of CLAMP Campus once again.