Serena sighed as she sat at her desk in school, rather bored with the whole affair. School was starting to get to the point where she was just tired of it, simply going to get out of the house, away from the pitying, and often hostile, stares of the servants. The kids at school weren't much better, and she ended up eating lunch alone more often than not. The bell rang, signalling the end of the day, and Serena stood, packing her things quickly and moving to leave the classroom. A few students cornered her, a male and a female. They were twins, living in the same area that she did. The male, named Kuro, spoke first.

"Where you going Serena?" he asked, a sneer crossing his lightly tanned face. His ebony hair matched his sister's hair, as did his brown eyes. The two looked almost normal when compared to Serena's abnormally pale skin, silvery-blue hair, and crystalline blue eyes. She sighed and stopped short, knowing she wasn't strong enough physically to shoulder past them. The female, named Yuuko, pursed her full lips together in a sort of pouty face.

"Oh look Kuro-nii! She doesn't want to answer you! Shall we make her?" she asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"I'm just going home you two," Serena said quietly, looking down at the floor. She had no desire to explain more bruises and bumps to her mother, who couldn't understand why Serena refused to stand up for herself. "Please, just let me leave." Her tone was rather subservient, especially for someone who had a much higher social standing than the twins. Kuro pushed uncomfortably close to her while Yuuko just stood back, a smirk on her face. Serena found herself trying to back up, but met with a desk behind her, so instead, just seemed to shrink in on herself.

"I don't think that we should," Kuro said menacingly. Serena almost just curled up in a ball on the ground, but just then, a teacher walked in.

"Aki! Yoruba! All three of you, get out of here and go home!" he said. He moved to the chalkboard to begin erasing it, keeping a close eye on the trio to make sure that they indeed left.

"Fine, we have cram school anyways," Yuuko huffed, pulling her brother with her.

"Tomorrow Serena! We'll talk tomorrow!" Kuro called from down the hallway before facing forward and following his sister to their cram school. Serena bowed to the teacher, as big a show of gratefulness as anyone got from her at all anymore, and exited the school, heading towards home. Before she was halfway home, a soft snow began to fall, which struck her as strange, seeing as how it was July. The snow itself though, was strange as well. The flakes were red, and upon contact, they seemed to wilt the plants around her. But Serena, being rather unhappy and not really paying attention to the things going on around her, didn't notice. Soon, she reached the final street before her home, and without paying attention to the crossing light, she started to cross.

"Look out!" called a male voice. Startled, Serena looked up, just in time to see a truck bearing down on her. There was no time for her to move out of the way, or for it to stop. In another instant, she had been tackled to the ground, strong male arms holding her, so that she wouldn't get scraped against the sidewalk. "Are you an idiot?!" She flushed, scrambling away from the man, and blinked in awe, seeing his handsomeness. Black hair, held back in a loose ponytail, framed his face, and eyes as blue as the sky above stared at her in indignation as he brushed dirt off of his uniform. He was wearing a postal uniform, and it seems that his bike had been smashed by the truck. The driver was hopping out of the door, coming over to yell at her. The man who had saved her started to gather up the letters that had fallen out of the bag slipped over his head and across his chest. Serena took a quick glance at the trucker before giving a small bow to the dark haired man and dashing off, her face flushed from the exertion and the embarrassment. "Hey!"

Hayate shook his head, wondering why that girl needed to get away from the scene so fast. He stood straight to find himself face to face with the trucker.

"Where did that girl go? I wanted to have a few words with her!" the man growled. Hayate sighed and shook his head, pushing past the man to grab his ruined bike.

"Looks like she's long gone, so I wouldn't try to find her." The trucker seemed as if he were going to hurt Hayate for an instant, but instead, he merely got back into his truck and drove away. Hayate got to the sidewalk and looked around to make sure no one was watching anymore, then found his way into an alley. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and disappeared in a flash of light blue light to his home of Leafeania.

Serena made it home without further incident, and with a sigh of relief, closed the door behind her. A servant appeared silently by her side, waiting for her to hand off her schoolbag. Serena held on to it instead, ignoring the servant as she climbed the stairs to her room. The servant cast a worried glance after the young mistress, noticing the dirt all over her, and scurried off to find her mother. Before Serena had relaxed in her room for more than five minutes, her mother burst through the door.

"Serena!" the overbearing woman called in a sing-songy voice.

"Hello Mother," Serena said in a flat voice, rather sick of her bursting in without knocking. Mayune huffed and put her hands on her hips. Her bubblegum pink hair, still long and luscious, was now pulled back into a semi-bun, as she had been outside directing some yard clean up. Her sister, and Serena's aunt, Mawata, followed behind. Her short aquamarine hair was hidden behind a bandana, as she had actually been helping in the yard.

"Serena, Mayune is just worried about you," Mawata scolded gently. The two frowned and exchanged a look when Serena didn't respond. They'd seen the red snow outside, and given their past, knew what it meant. Himeno was no longer around, and therefore couldn't advise them about what to do, but they knew that at some point they would need to take cover. The last time this had happened, the mansion had nearly been destroyed.

"Mother, I am fine. I just fell on the way home," Serena said, standing and walking over to her closet. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She disappeared into the closet. It was huge, a gift from her mother to her on her sixteenth birthday. It held all of her clothes, and an upright piano. Changing into an outfit that she felt more comfortable in, she sat on the piano bench. She adjusted her pants, fixed her t-shirt, and sighed. "Why do they insist on tormenting me…?" she muttered, thinking about the twins that subjected her to brutal torment and treatment every day at school. It didn't matter when, or where on the school grounds, but they always did. Slipping her feet into a pair of warm slippers, she slipped on a hoodie and padded out of the closet, and down to the kitchen. Grabbing a couple of buns, fresh from the oven, she put butter on them and then put them on a plate, grabbing a soda as well before returning to her room upstairs. Inside of her, the creature stirred, causing her heart discomfort. She groaned softly and leaned against the wall, the soda in the pocket of her hoodie as she clutched her chest. A servant scurried by, rather frightened of what might happen. The feeling soon passed, and Serena continued on towards her room, reaching it without another incident.

The woman sat on her throne, an evil smile playing about her purple painted lips. Orange sherbert colored hair blocked her face, hiding burnt orange eyes. A purple dress enveloped her voluptuous figure, and as she stood, the sound of silk rustled in the still air.

"It has begun. I knew she was the one. I've known since she was born. How could I not?" The woman's voice sounded like a purr, and all around, creatures made rustling sounds, growling sounds. "The larva that I planted in her heart when she was a babe is now starting to drain her. Oh, her Leafe is delicious…" In the mirror that stood before the woman, a reflection of Serena's room wavered, instead of the woman's reflection. "I hope that the Leafe Knights find her soon. I would love to take their Leafe too…"

Hayate looked around at his friends, his brothers.

"The red snow has started to fall. She has finally made her move. I don't know why it is now, after all these years, but we must find the Pretear," he said, his tone full of heaviness.

"I would have thought that you of all people wouldn't want to find her," piped up a masculine voice from Hayate's side. Kei, golden hair cut short and amber eyes serious, looked around. "After what happened with Himeno…"

"Don't say her name," Hayate said, cutting Kei off. Kei looked taken aback, but nodded.

"Hayate, how are we going to find the Pretear this time?" Sasame asked, frowning in confusion. "The Princess of Disaster said that she'd make it impossible for us to find our next Pretear."

"It's simple! We just go on dates with all the pretty girls in town!" Mannen exclaimed, with a nod of agreement from Goh adding to his suggestion.

"I hardly think that that would help us…" Hajime groaned, shaking his head. Shin sighed and sat back in his chair, wondering exactly WHY Mannen decided he needed to go on dates.

"I think we should just go about our work and try to find her from there," Hayate said. "Otherwise, we'd all be kicked out of town, or at least put in jail."

"That's a given with those two running around," Kei said bitterly, jerking a thumb in the direction of Mannen and Goh. The two made to protest, but Sasame stood, fulfilling his role as mediator.

"Stop. Let's go. If we take too long, then Fenrir will win. We can't have that," he said. The others nodded and all left in a burst of light, respective to their element. Hayate sighed and looked at Kei, who, for some reason, had remained behind.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Will you be able to forgive her?" Kei asked, referring to Fenrir. "Because unless you do, this whole world is doomed." With that, Kei left in a flash of golden light. Hayate sighed again, looking down.

"Unless I do, everyone is dead. But I don't think I can…" he muttered, before leaving as well, the light blue flash of light the only indication that he had done so.

Serena groaned as her heart started to ache again. It was the weekend and she was on her way to the park, forced out of the house by her mother and her aunt. The strange red snow from the day before had stopped falling, and taking that as a sign, Mayune and Mawata had sent Serena on a stupid mission to get crepes from the park. Scuffing her tennis shoes against the pavement and shoving her hands into the pockets of her pants, she shambled along, rather upset that she had to be outside on such a glorious day. She would much rather be inside, playing a game on the computer or something. Ever since the day before, she had been having pains in her heart, and she felt weak and drained. She hated it, and right now, she was hating her mother and aunt for forcing her to go on this trip. Stumbling, she caught herself before her face hit the pavement. The sound of laughter made her look up and grimace.

"Hello Kuro-san, Yuuko-san…" she said quietly.

"What was that? I didn't hear you," Kuro said, putting a booted foot on her back. He must have just come from riding the horses on his family's property, the helmet under Yuuko's right arm confirming that assumption.

"I said hello to you both," Serena mumbled, knowing that they had heard her both this and the previous time.

"Oh yes, you did, didn't you? And why are you out and about? I thought I told you that I didn't want to see you wandering about on the weekend," Kuro chortled. It was a petty sort of rule that he'd made up, just to make sure he had more things to torment her about.

"My mother and my aunt sent me out to fetch them some crepes from the stand in the park…" she muttered, still pinned underneath Kuro's boot. Yuuko giggled, shrill and annoying. Serena dared not to try to get up, knowing her heart was weak as it was, what with the pain and all.

"They sent you? They must think of you as a common servant," Yuuko simpered. "And I can't think of a more incompetent one than you." Kuro laughed, digging his boot even more sharply into her back. A small grunt of pain escaped her, which caused him to dig in his heel more.

"Uncomfortable Aki-san?" he asked with a faux amiability and subservience. Knowing that no matter how she answered, he would still make it worse, Serena sighed and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Slightly…" she whispered. Yuuko's annoying giggles turned into outright laughter as Kuro seemed to put all his weight onto the foot that was digging into her back. Her little gasps of pain turned into whimpers as she started to struggle, fearing he would crush her.

"Hey! Get off of her!" a voice shouted. The weight was suddenly removed from her back, but Serena remained on her hands and knees, her heart thudding painfully in her chest as she took several deep breaths, trying to make the pain in her heart go away. A hand on her shoulder made her heart skip a beat, eliciting a groan of pain from her, and the hand quickly moved away. "Are you okay?" the same voice asked, only this time, it was definitely closer. Looking up, her breath caught in her throat for a second, and the amber eyes just inches from her face seemed to grow more concerned. "Really, you seem pale and I'm starting to think you need to go to the hospital."

"No, no, I'm fine," Serena hurriedly said, getting ready to stand. The golden haired man before her held out a hand, offering to help her up. As their hands met, a shock of… Something… went through her, and her heart seemed to stop for a moment. Though it restarted almost as quickly, she went even paler, and the man abruptly let go of her hand, causing her to fall forward. Having already stood up, she fell against him, sagging slightly, trying to catch her breath.

Kei blinked in shock. Something in her had drained some of his Leafe, but the reaction was that of the Pretear. What was going on? When she fell against him, he immediately caught her, holding her, trying to figure out why she seemed so weak.

"Hey, ma'am, where is your home?" he asked. The girl looked up at him with eyes that seemed to be the same as Hayate's, but more crystalline.

"Uh, yes. I live in Awayuki Mansion," she whispered. Kei felt his stomach drop. There? No wonder she seemed slightly familiar. This was the child that Himeno had taken from Hayate, their child. Now that the Knights were reborn after being massacred in the battle against the new Fenrir, Hayate was merely a few years older than this girl. "Would you mind helping me back?" the girl asked, her voice sounding no where near as strong as it should. "My heart is hurting, and I'm sure Mother is worried about me by now…" Kei nodded, still rather dumbfounded. He helped her back to the mansion and up to her room. After laying her down in her bed, he turned, getting ready to leave. She'd passed out about halfway there, and so he'd had to rely on servants to help him find where her room was. Apparently, the servants had let the mistress of the house know he was there with her daughter.

"Hello Mayune, hello Mawata," Kei said quietly, looking at the stunned women before him. The two clearly recognized him, even if he was younger and had a different hair style.