"Bye, Kiku-san!" Chie called and raced out the door.

"Hold it!"

Kikuko grabbed Chie's hand and dragged her back inside.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kikuko asked.

"Uh, practice."

"Clean the attic first."

"Huh? But why?" Chie whined. "Why can't Ku-chan do it?"

"Because she cleaned it last week. And maybe if you hadn't been so busy gossiping with Riku-chan, you would've finished it yesterday. Now march!"

Chie sighed and climbed the stairs. When she opened the attic door, she found it clean and bright. Even the skylight had been cleaned, so the morning sun shone in brightly. Sasaya was on the floor, sifting through some boxes.

"Ku-chan?"

Sasaya looked up with a smile. "Hi, Chie. I was just looking for something."

"Really? What is it? Maybe I've seen it."

Sasaya shook her head. "Never mind. Oh, I did find this, though."

Sasaya held up a silver locket on a thin, gold chain. The locket was in the shape of a four leaf clover.

"How pretty!" Chie exclaimed.

Sasaya smiled and walked behind Chie.

"You can have it," she said as she was fastening it on Chie's neck.

"Thank you!" Chie said. "You're the world's best sister!"

"Uta, the little redhead's here!" Kikuko called. "Give him some bread! Oh, and Riku-chan's here, too."

"Coming!"

Chie ran downstairs. Sasaya watched her.

"If she missed even one step, she'd tumble down three flights of stairs. If she fell, she'd break her neck."

Sasaya gasped at the morbid thoughts.

"What's going on? Who said that?"

"It's me, Shikatsu. You remember me, don't you?"

Sasaya started feeling sleepy. Very sleepy.

"Stop it," she said and grabbed onto the wall for support. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone!"

"So, you were with him two days ago? Why? Any special reason? Or special feelings?"

Sasaya frowned. "You're thinking . . . about hurting Satoshi . . . and Chie, aren't you?"

"Now why would I do that?" The strange voice laughed. "Go to sleep, Shikatsu."

Sasaya collapsed.

Kikuko looked at the clock. It had been hours, but Sasaya hadn't come down from the attic.

"Niwa-chan, go fetch Saya-chan for me," she said.

Daisuke looked up. "Huh? Me? Why?"

"Try speaking in complete sentences first. Yes, you, and why, because you've been here for hours eating bread. One day, you will turn into a bread loaf yourself for eating so much of it."

Daisuke laughed sheepishly. "Okay, where is she?"

"Upstairs in the attic. You'll have to go down to the basement first. Find the door that says attic and go up those stairs. Careful, though. They're old and rickety."

"Okay."

The stairs were indeed old. The basement was just an ordinary basement, filled with stacks of boxes holding worthless junk, but the stairs were another story. They were actually a large, winding staircase that made one dizzy just to look at the top. The wood was smooth and clean. Etched into the wood were little scenes: two girls playing, a boy and a girl planting flowers, a school scene, and several others. It was then that Daisuke realized he had never given the sketch back to Chie. For some reason, he hadn't been able to let go of it.

"Ryoyu-san, Ekisha-san wants you to come down . . . stairs."

Daisuke paused for a while and stared at the person rummaging around the boxes. The person stood up and Daisuke realized it was a girl. A cute girl with short, golden ringlets and honey brown eyes that gleamed with a yellow light. She wore a white, gauzy dress with golden ribbons sewn into it.

"Who are you?" Daisuke asked. "Where's Ryoyu-san?"

The girl smiled prettily. "I'm sorry. Sasaya isn't home right now. Can I take a message, Dark?"

Daisuke gasped.

"It's Sumiko!" Dark said.

"What? Sumiko?"

"Yeah. Quickly, change into me and fast!"

Before Daisuke could move, the girl grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him slightly off the floor. Daisuke flinched as her nails dug deep into his flesh.

"I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself," she said sweetly. "I'm Sumiko Sana Shinchu. Interesting name, no? What's yours, little one?"

"Uh, um, Dai-Daisuke."

"Daisuke. What a lovely name for such a sweet boy. I believe it means 'great helper'. Now, be a good little boy and carry this message from me to Chie. Tell her that Sasaya is going on a little trip. And when she comes back, bad, terrible things will happen. And warn Sasaya's little crush, the one she likes most of all."

"Who?"

Sana laughed sweetly. "You'll figure it out. And if you don't, oh, well. Just know that if you fail, I'm going to do something very bad to you."

Daisuke paled. "What?" he managed to eek out.

"I'll reach into your chest and rip out your heart. They say that the younger the victim, the more the heart beats and that's how I like it. Then I'll cast your soul into the darkness so you will wander in a void where nothingness exists. Do you understand me now?"

Daisuke stared up at Sana's face. He couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth. Sana herself seemed so sweet and nice, but her words painted a different image. A darker image.

"Can't you move?" Sana asked. She let go of one of Daisuke's shoulders and held up her bloody fingernails. "Would you like to see what I could do to you with one fingernail?"

"Let him go!"

Sana turned around and dropped Daisuke on the floor. Daisuke scrambled to get away from Sana. Kikuko grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her.

"Get out of here," she said. "And make sure that Uta doesn't come back here after practice. Make her go to Riku-chan's or your house. Just keep her away from here for a long time. And try acting normal. Pretend none of this happened."

Daisuke nodded and ran down the stairs.

"Well, well, well," Sana said. "If it isn't the faded chrysanthemum? How has life been treating you, Kikuko?"

"How dare you?" Kikuko snapped. "How dare you come back and in Saya-chan's body no less?"

"It won't be hers for very long. You see, Shikatsu knows what I mean when I call her that name. She's very polite and obedient. You raised her well."

"What do you want? Why have you come back from beyond the portal?"

Sana smiled and her golden wings popped out of her back. "You'll see in due time. Bye-bye!"

With that, Sana broke through the skylight and left. Kikuko sighed and watched the broken glass fall to the ground.

"Poor children," she whispered.