Part One:

13 August 2005

Usually, when Usagi woke, it was a slow process. Never being for getting out of bed before her mother dragged her out kicking and screaming, she would bury herself further under the duvet a plushie cradled in her arms and will herself to fall back into her dreams… but not so this morning.

As soon as she became consciously aware that she was awake, she bolted completely upright, and discarded the aforementioned plushie to the floor beside her bed, the duvet following in quick succession. A smile played over her lips as she thought of her evening with Mamoru and the prospect of their first o-bon together as a couple.

Closing her eyes again, this time to savour the memory of the precious evening together and the fact that now, after a very difficult year, the mission and everything connected with it was all behind them and she could get back to being just another normal teenager. The photographs that were stuck to her mirror and the walls all around her room accentuated this. In them were Usagi and her friends on various days out, some with Naru-tachi as well, but mostly just the five of them. Each photograph symbolised yet another precious memory, a treasure that could withstand the test of time.

Reaching out for her bedside cabinet, Usagi plucked up one such photograph and her smile widened. The photograph was of her and Mamoru standing outside the Tsukino family home. Usagi, typically, was beaming at the camera and waving. Mamoru looked on, his gaze slightly cast at her antics rather than the camera, a faint smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Times were so peaceful now. All Usagi ever had to concern herself with was getting a passable grade at school and deciding upon what she would like to do when she finally left. The latter needed some serious consideration but, in all honesty, Usagi hadn't given it too much care. Why should she? She had always assumed that, come her eighteenth birthday, she would get married to Mamoru as she had always dreamed.

Marriage was a big step, or so Rei-chan had warned, but Usagi didn't care. All she wanted was to be with Mamoru and she would do anything to keep that dream alive.

Setting the frame back down, carefully, her thumb gently gliding over Mamoru's face as she did so, Usagi hurriedly went over to her wardrobe to select her outfit for the day. Today was a Saturday, thus no school and she was supposed to be meeting with her friends later at the Hikawa shrine to help decorate it for o-bon, hence part of the reason for her disappointment that her Chouchin weren't perfect. She just knew that Ami-tachi would make beautiful lanterns like her mother's and her imperfect attempts would stand out like sore thumbs.

Selecting her white love rabbit jumper and blue denim skirt, Usagi resolved to ask Ikuko for some extra practice before she met with Rei-chan and the others.

Leaving her pyjamas discarded on the floor after she had changed, Usagi picked up her brush, wincing as it snagged in a small knot in her usually glossy black hair. Setting it down again, she began to tease this out with her fingers, being careful not to pull strands out completely and finally, after many painstaking moments, she had worked through the worst of the knot and was able to brush the rest out without causing herself any discomfort.

Working her hair into her trademark pigtails now took less than ten minutes seeing as she had long since mastered it into a fine art. This caused her to smile fondly as she recalled the sleep over that the Senshi had held in honour of her fifteenth birthday earlier that year and how they had tried out her hair in various styles, copying most of them from a magazine.

All done, she set her brush back down, blushing to herself when her stomach rumbled, reminder her of her hunger. She couldn't smell the pancakes that her mother usually prepared for her, which puzzled Usagi slightly. Wondering if perhaps Ikuko had gone out early and left her daughter and son to fend for themselves, Usagi turned to the door but, as she did so, she heard a thud behind her.

Whirling back around she scanned the pale pink carpet, searching for the source of the noise. Her wandering gaze located it quickly enough. Her photograph of her and Mamoru had fallen off the bedside cabinet and lay face down on the floor.

Kneeling down to retrieve it, Usagi was suddenly reminded of that strange incident with the glass the night before and, for some reason, she felt a shiver run down her spine as she turned the frame over. Gasping softly as she gazed upon it, Usagi was stunned to find a crack, almost two millimetres thick in the glass, which ran across the happy couple, almost obscuring their smiling faces completely.

Her hands shaking, ever so slightly, Usagi flipped the frame over again and undid the back, pulling the photograph free. Another cry of dismay escaped her lips then. The line had somehow travelled through onto the photograph itself.

"How?" Usagi whispered, suddenly feeling a little afraid, "How can this be possible?"

Troubled, she bit her lip and slipped both the offending items into the drawer. It wasn't too much of a drama, she told herself. Her father had the negative for the photograph so obtaining a replacement wouldn't be that hard… but… how had it cracked that badly when it had just fallen onto a carpet?

Shaking her head, Usagi didn't really want to be alone anymore, for unexplainable reasons, and hurried downstairs, calling for Shingo. It was her mother who answered, her voice sounding strangely subdued.

"In here, Usagi"

'In here' was the lounge and Usagi ran into the room, now very much aware of how fast her heart was beating. There was something in Ikuko's voice, almost shock and puzzlement mixed in together with a little anger.

As Usagi entered the lounge, her gaze fell upon what Ikuko and Shingo both were staring at in disbelief.

The lounge itself was spotless, as Usagi and Mamoru had left it the night before, except for the multicoloured pieces of paper that littered the carpet.

It took a while for Usagi to register just what she was seeing and when she did she let loose another little cry of dismay.

The Chouchin all lay in ruins. Torn to pieces and thrown carelessly all over the floor. Nothing else was touched… it was just the Chouchin.

"Shingo!" Usagi cried, rounding angrily on her younger brother. He took a step back at the edged fury in her voice and protested his innocence.

"Usagi. Can you explain this?" Ikuko asked softly.

"No" Usagi lowered her gaze. When Mamoru had left she had gone straight to bed, the Chouchin had all been neatly arranged in the windowsill. "I don't understand…"

Ikuko, sensing her daughter's genuine upset, decided not to press the matter and left the room, muttering something about making some more that day. Shingo also followed their mother from the room and now only Usagi remained staring at the carnage. She bit her lip as, again unexplainably, tears sprang into her eyes. The Chouchin represented far much more than o-bon to her. They represented her happiness of spending that evening with Mamoru. Happiness that now lay in tattered ruins.

We can make more lanterns…

It was not just the lanterns. Usagi's thoughts now turned to the photograph… that and the glass…

For Aino Minako, her singing had long since been an escape from her reality and now, even in the harmonious times which followed the Dark Kingdom's defeat, she still found it to be so. Of course now her life was no longer the endless struggling and burden of the past life and finding her true self buried beneath the Senshi of Venus that she had once been, yet still she sung with all her heart whilst her mind wandered among the dreams and visions that still had a grip on her heart.

Normally, because of o-bon, the studio in Shibuya should have been closed but her new single, 'I'm here', was due out in a week and Minako wanted to get it recorded now in order that she could start the publicity for it.

She now took her work very seriously, perhaps more so than she had done a year ago. Singing, she had long since decided, was what she had been born to do. It had now quickly become her life and she wanted to give it her all, after all she had no way of knowing when her fame would come to an end, as may teenage idols often discovered this end came too soon and Minako wanted to say that she had enjoyed every single moment of it.

Now, as she finished her song, Minako replaced the headphones and stepped out of the recording booth, smiling at the technicians approving nods and taking the cup of coffee that was offered to her before slipping out of the room completely, ignoring the curious looks that a couple of workers gave her as she sat down upon one of the plastic chairs a little further away from the booth.

Taking a sip of the coffee, Minako grimaced at the taste, always hating that instant stuff and she set it down at her feet without another thought. It was half passed ten now. She was supposed to be meeting Usagi-tachi at the Hikawa shrine in half an hour to help her friend get ready for the o-bon festivities that were often held at the shrine. The four Senshi were attending on the last night, but Usagi was set upon spending o-bon with Mamoru.

At this, Minako smiled slightly. She had never dreamt that she would approve their relationship as she did now. In fact she was a little envious of them. They had the courage to defy the fate that had been decided upon before they were born. They had the courage to face the sorrow of all that had been and overcome it.

Before the end, Minako had been unable to see this courage and thought it only foolishness. Now, after seeing them together, she knew how wrong she had been and how much she had put into making things right again. Hence, the copy of her new album, not even available in the shops yet, was sitting her handbag – a present for Usagi as Minako knew that she still had a lot to make up for.

She started slightly as she felt someone sit down in the chair beside her, jogging her from her thoughts and giving her cause to look up to meet his gaze.

Minako often saw many people, even during o-bon, at the studio and a few had been seated beside her before but usually they were just faces, easily forgotten, but he held her attention long passed the point of politeness and she had to look away.

She estimated that he was a few years older than Mamoru, possibly 21 or 22. His hair was black and came down to almost shoulder length in waves. He had no fringe, but some longer strands of hair brushed into his eyes, causing him some irritation as he gently brushed them aside. His eyes were a light brown and sparkled a little mischievously when he noted how uncomfortable she now appeared. He wore a pair of pale blue jeans and a white shirt, with a black shirt pulled over the top, the first three buttons undone. He wore one silver stud earring in his left ear and had a silver chain with the kanji for light engraved upon it around his neck. He smiled slightly as her gaze met his own once again and the easiness behind this action caused Minako's heart to start beating a little faster than normal and she shifted her position in the chair slightly, almost unsure as he spoke.

"I saw you recording a few minutes ago. You are very talented." His voice was smooth and deep, giving Minako the impression that he originated from one of the Prefectures surrounding Tokyo rather than the City itself.

Judging from his words, Minako would have assumed that he had no idea of whom he was speaking too, but the intense look in his eyes clearly said that he knew very well who she was. Minako wondered, fleetingly, what it was he wanted from her and answered with:

"I didn't see you"

He laughed softly, and indicated the coffee by her feet, "Who do you think gave you that coffee."

Minako blushed. She hadn't seen him… she hadn't even registered that he existed and, looking at him now, she wondered why ever not.

Forcing away her embarrassment, Minako answered him with: "So you're the culprit."

He laughed again, "I take it you stars don't like instant then?"

She shook her head and he continued, "Well then. I know a place round the corner that sells the posh stuff."

"Are you asking me out?"

"Don't be so presumptuous. I merely said I knew of a place. I didn't say that I would like you to accompany me."

Minako's blush deepened, "Then why are you talking to me?"

He must have sensed the disappointment in her voice as he put her out of her misery by saying: "Baka, of course I would like you to join me for a coffee."

Minako again glanced at her watch. She had to meet Usagi-tachi in twenty-five minutes but surely she had time for a quick coffee before then? Reasoning this to be a 'yes', Minako confirmed that she had time to join him, not wanting to sound too keen.

"But before we go anywhere you have to tell me your name" she reminded him as they started to walk down the corridor together.

"Shimura Hikaru" was his reply.

Shimura Hikaru and Aino Minako she couldn't help but turn over both of their names in her mind and how well they seemed to fit together.

Stop it Minako ordered herself. She had only known him but five minutes and already she had hopes of something more between them.

It is just a coffee, Minako firmly told herself. Just a coffee and nothing more.

When Usagi arrived an hour late at the Hikawa Shrine, Makoto and Ami were already there and a beautiful selection of Chouchin were set on the tatami matting nearest the window. In the centre of the room a fire burned brightly as usual and Rei tended to this, dressed in her full miko attire.

Seeing the lanterns caused Usagi to recall the ripped and torn ones in her own house and thus the smile quickly faded from her face and Ami caught her on this.

Usagi felt more than a little foolish in telling them what happened and left out the parts about the glass and photograph completely. Even so, it didn't stop Makoto from raising the possibility that the Tsukino household had a poltergeist.

Ami hurriedly rebuffed this, after seeing the frightened look on Usagi's face and hurriedly suggested that there was a rational explanation.

"Perhaps Shingo did destroy them?" Makoto proposed finally, although the tone in her voice gave away how unconvinced of this she was.

"Maybe" Usagi sighed and sat down between her two friends, "But why would he do that? It's not in his nature at all."

"Did you see anything, Luna?" Ami asked the plushie in Usagi's arms. Luna shook her head and explained that she had been asleep upstairs all night and had not heard a thing.

"Strange" Makoto mused out loud, "Perhaps a stray dog got into your house?"

This theory seemed just as unlikely and thus they turned to Rei, who had been sitting quietly at the fire throughout this discussion.

"What do you think, Rei-chan?" Ami enquired.

"The spirits are restless this time of the year" was the response that they gained, "You all know the true meaning of o-bon as well as I"

Ami and Makoto nodded whilst Usagi looked a little confused. Rei sighed and added for her slower friend's benefit:

"O-bon is the time when the spirits of all our ancestors are called back from their ohaka and return to the family home to be reunited with their loved ones and then, on the last night families use Chouchin to guide their spirits back to the afterlife once again."

Usagi nodded, now recalling the true meaning of o-bon and feeling a little foolish for having forgotten she said:

"So you're saying that my poltergeist could be a dead great uncle of mine?"

Makoto and Ami giggled slightly at this and Usagi blushed. "Well that's what you're saying, isn't it, Rei-chan?"

The miko shrugged her slender shoulders, "I don't know. O-bon is a very important time of year, especially for ones who have lost someone close to them. I would like to think that all spirits who are called back into this world use their time for good and not evil."

Rei-chan's mother… Rei must take comfort this time of year as, for a few days, she gets to feel closer to her mother once again…

"Are there evil spirits?" Usagi then questioned, knowing better than to show Rei such pity in front of her friends.

Rei nodded, "Spirits are a reflection of who a person was in life. Death will not change them. If they died with pain or hatred in their hearts then these are the emotions that they will feel when called back by their families."

Usagi shuddered at the thought of having such a spirit in her home and Rei picked up on this, "Don't worry" she smiled reassuringly and handed her friend some of her Chouchin "I am sure that there is a reasonable explanation as to what happened this morning. Take some of my lanterns to decorate your home."

"Arigato" Usagi smiled, shyly and was glad when the rice paper screen slid open again and the fifth member of their group entered the shrine.

"You're late" Rei commented as Minako paused to take off her shoes before kneeling down the other side of the fire, to Makoto's left.

"So was I" Usagi pointed out meekly in a bid to divert this confrontation. Even now, Rei and Minako often argued, possibly never being able to see eye to eye on things.

"I thought the recording session finished early?" Rei continued to push the matter but Minako appeared to be in good humour and answered that 'yes, it had finished some while ago'.

"I was with someone," she added which heightened Usagi's interest.

"With someone?" she asked, still a little shyly as she was still in awe of her idol friend.

"A male someone?" Makoto joined in and even Ami appeared a little curious. Makoto was the only one of them, apart from Usagi, to have a proper boyfriend and they were all surprised that Minako had shown no interest in the opposite sex at all in the last year, despite numerous guys asking her out on dates, and she had refused all of them.

"It's nothing" Minako shrugged.

"You can't tell us that and then blow it off as nothing," Makoto pointed out. "What is his name? At least give us that much."

"His name's Shimura Hikaru" she answered at last, "He's working at the studio during o-bon. He helps out the technicians. We met when he gave me a coffee."

"Kawaii!" Usagi declared, glad to have something else to focus on, "Did you get his phone number?"

Minako nodded, and couldn't help but smile.

"And you really like him?"

Again she confirmed this with another nod. This greatly pleased Usagi, especially when she considered how aloof Minako used to be and now, after a year, this was finally a way to get to know her idol better and she said as much to the star.

"What do you mean?"

"Usagi. What are you planning?" Rei demanded.

"Well" Usagi continued, "Mamoru and I are going to the cinema tomorrow morning. You can call Shimura-san and we can have a double date."

"I only left his side ten minutes ago!" Minako declared, more than a little taken aback by the full on attitude of her friend, "I can't call him now."

"Why not?"

"Because" Minako shook her head, "I just can't."

"It is a bit soon," Ami pointed out, "Minako-chan will call him later."

Minako readily agreed to this and Usagi was forced to let the matter drop. Still it didn't stop her from being pleased for Minako.

After all that she's been through, she deserves some happiness… we all do…

Usagi then let out a delighted squeal as Minako presented her with her new album. Her fears of this morning now long forgotten once more.

For Mamoru, it was getting late when he finally pulled up outside his apartment block that evening. Checking the florescent LCD screen of his watch confirmed this suspicion. It was late, nearing midnight. That was twice in a row he had returned late to his apartment. The first time being the time that he had spent with Usagi and second owing to the fact that he had gone to see a cousin on his mother's side who lived in the neighbouring Yamanashi Prefecture. Unknowingly, like Rei, Mamoru often thought of his parents around o-bon. They had died when he was younger and he barely remembered them, but that didn't make the pain go away completely. Seeing his cousin again had reminded him of this, thus he had declined their kind offer of staying with them for the duration of the Buddhist Festival.

Usagi was so excited about them spending o-bon together and Mamoru felt that it would be selfish of him to go racking up the past again. It was painful, yes, but it was something that he could live with… especially if it meant keeping Usagi happy.

Parking his motorbike, Mamoru walked up the entrance of the apartment and punched in the door code, smiling at the reassuring click that the door made as the code was accept and he pushed it open, suddenly being plunged into complete darkness.

Mamoru frowned, realising that the bulb in the hallway must have gone, but this was no matter. He edged his way round to the stairs and flicked the light on there and instantly the hall was lit up in an artificial glow.

Knowing better to take the elevator in the night on his own, Mamoru started up the stairs, being as quiet as he could so as to not wake his neighbours.

His apartment was on the second floor and it didn't take him long to get there. He was tired, his eyes were aching slightly and he could sense a headache forming between his temples.

Pausing outside the door as he fished his key out of his back pocket, Mamoru suddenly thought of the events in the Tsukino household last night.

"Usagi? What's wrong?"

"Nothing" she shook her head quickly, before adding, "You'll think I'm being childish."

"No" Mamoru answered, a little intrigued now, "Tell me."

"Well" she chewed apprehensively on her lower lip, locked in thought before continuing, "I put the glass down here" she indicated the counter where its remains now laid. "It fell off on its own accord."

Shaking his head, Mamoru wondered why he dwelt upon it so. He had found an explanation for what had happened and it was not something that he would normally think twice about.

Unlocking the door and stepping inside, Mamoru flicked down the light switch and, as with the hallway, nothing happened. Sighing, he slipped fully inside, pausing only to hang up his jacket and remove his shoes as he made his way to the front room.

The door swinging shut behind him, gave him cause to jump slightly and for this Mamoru berated himself. He had never feared the dark, even as a child, and he hated himself for even being a little apprehensive now.

Trying the front room light and finding that had gone, too, gave him cause to decide that it was most probably a fault with the fusing in the building. He had a flashlight under the sink and that would have to do until the Managing Agents could call out an electrician in the morning.

Stumbling around blindly, he managed to find his way into the kitchen, the full moon shining in through the window giving Mamoru some light.

He set his keys down on the table and was about to kneel down to open the cupboard when the door behind him slammed deftly shut.

Leaping up, Mamoru whirled around, panic biting away in the back of his mind, obviously accentuated by the dark.

"Who's there?" he demanded and then felt rather foolish. There was no one there. That door was always swinging shut during the day… still he had thought that he had kicked the doorstop into place behind him…

"Baka" Mamoru told himself, as he suddenly became aware of every little sound. The traffic outside, the steady drip of the tap in the bathroom that he had forgotten to turn off properly this morning before he left and the wild beating of his own heart.

His panic was giving him cause to make shapes out of the dark, imagining the room teaming with these creatures.

Why am I even panicking? I'm nineteen! I have lived alone for years! This is irrational!

Summing up courage without consciously willing it, Mamoru turned around, putting his back to the door and he knelt down beside the cupboard once more. Opening the doors and leaning forward, he saw the outline flashlight as he hoped he would. Mamoru was just about to reach for it when he felt it.

The hairs on the back of his neck started to tingle and, this time, he was sure that it was not his imagination as he sensed something behind him. His breathing deepened, as though something was sitting on his lungs and crushing the air from them. Sweat started bead on his brow and his entire body started to shake.

He froze, one hand still poised over the flashlight, as this 'presence' grew nearer. He could hear the soft clink of shoes on the tiled floor, the gentle breathing and an overwhelming sense of terror that gripped him whatever it was continued to approach him, silently, unseen eyes trained on the back of his head.

It was strange as he was expecting the room temperature to plummet, but the atmosphere remained warm and almost reassuring, despite the… the creature that Mamoru felt sure was standing just behind him. Being unable to see, he strained every other sense and he began to be aware of a voice whispering incoherently in the dark.

At first the whispers were soft, like rain falling in May, but they gradually grew louder, penetrating Mamoru's mind like nothing he had ever felt before and he was forced to release the flashlight in order that he could cover his ears in an attempt to block out this sound.

As he raised his right hand, his skin brushed something warm. He recoiled, twisting sideways and sprawling on his back on the kitchen floor. As he hit the tiles, Mamoru fought furiously to right himself, kicking out at this unseen enemy as he did so.

Scrambling to his feet, he darted backwards, desperately searching the darkness as the whispers died down completely. Then he felt it. Soft breath on the back of his neck.

Mamoru whirled around again, catching a wild glance in the window behind him as he did so and, for a fleeting second, he thought he saw the silhouette of a human being standing behind him, one hand slightly outstretched as though beckoning him.

Bolting from the kitchen, Mamoru slammed the door behind him, locking it before darting into the bathroom opposite and desperately pulling on the light cord. The light flickered on just as he also locked that door.

Pressing his back against the wood, Mamoru exhaled deeply, as he slowly slumped down until he was sitting behind the door, unable to move as fear paralysed every limb and kept him from doing anything else.

No matter how stupid and irrational his behaviour might seem, nothing was going to make him open that door again… not until morning…

She moved with a careless grace… an attitude akin to the being that she had once been. On the surface pure, but beneath her lurked something much darker. Her presence could light up a darkened room. Her compassion was just as great as it was false.

Crocodile tears would fall from those light brown eyes; her pain radiating from her soul would allow you to know her empathy.

Yet this was a façade. She could truly not care for anyone more than him. She guarded him almost jealously, allowing nothing and no one to come between them. Innocence wasn't so pure… if anything it served to belie her true face.

Only true evil could die with hatred in ones heart and this burning desire did not come from death. This desire came from the knowledge of what should have been. All that was sacrificed and nothing was gained in return. She held the gift of life between her fingertips. Tantalisingly it had been close and then it was snatched away.

She took everything and gave nothing; that was the kind of person that she had always been. Now there was nothing left… nothing left but retribution.