Chapter 1: Visions

Koaru's eyes snapped open as he sat bolt up in his bed, sweat dripping from his brow and face as he whipped the covers off of his body. Breathing heavily, he ran his hand over his face, trying to slow his pulse.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked out loud, leaning forward and placing his hands on the bed to support himself. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and let himself fall forward on his bed, feeling exhaustion pulling him back towards sleep. As he felt his senses start to fade, a small knock on his door snapped him back into the moment. Raising his head, he heard a second knock and, with great effort, pushed himself back up and slipped off of his bed, grabbing his house robe and quickly throwing it over his shoulders and wrapping it around his body. Walking to the door, he opened it a small ways and stared out into the empty hallway, seeing no sign of anyone. As he started to close the door, a small amount of pressure against the it caused him to look down. Little Rini was pushing against the door, rubbing her eyes as she looked up at him. Smiling, Koaru opened the door and scooped up the little girl, then shut the door and carried her over to his bed, setting her down beside him as he sat down.

"What's wrong, Little One?" he asked, forcing himself to smile. With a big yawn, the little girl stretched and looked up at him.

"I was going to ask you that." she said in a sleepy voice. Koaru felt his heart skip a beat, wondering how much noise his nightmare had caused him to make. Looking into the eyes of the little girl, his niece from the future, he felt the old concern that he had felt when they had first realized who the girl was, and what she had said to him. "Now I know what my Uncle looks like...I've never met you before...No one knows where you are in Crystal Tokyo."

Smiling through his discomfort, Koaru pulled Rini onto his lap and gave her a small hug, to which she curled up and put her hands on his arms, closing her eyes and smiling softly.

"I just had a bad dream," he said, stroking her hair. "Uncle just had a little nightmare."

"Okay." Rini said as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. Koaru smiled as he watched his niece sleep, her breath coming slowly and gently. Standing up, Koaru carried her to his door and opened it, heading into the hallway and towards Serena's open door. Stepping inside, he sighed as he saw that his sister's pajamas were running high on her torso, her blankets strewn all across the bed, none actually covering her. Carefully stepping over Luna's little bed on the floor, Koaru set Rini down on the bed beside Serena and reached over the two girls, grabbing the blankets and yanking them over top of the girls. Quickly tucking the blanket around Rini, he turned and headed back to his room, shutting Serena's door as he left.

Re-entering his room, Koaru sat at his desk and set his head down on the wooden surface, dropping his arms over his head, knocking a few things around on the desktop. Lifting his head, he felt his heart beat slow as his eyes locked onto a face down picture frame. Reaching forward and lifting it back up, he fought back tears as his eyes locked onto the picture of himself and the girl of his dreams, Amy Mizuno. His arms were wrapped around her upper torso, his face shining in one of the few true smiles that he ever let others see. She had her hands resting on his arms, her eyes shining brightly in the sunlight, her gentle smile breaking his heart; the same way it had the first time he had ever laid eyes on her. Setting the picture back face down, Koaru sat up and wiped his eyes.

"Damn I messed up," he said shakily, remembering that the reason Amy had left him was because of his stupidity and selfishness. It had been two months since then. Rini had come back to see them a week ago, and she had been the first one to call him an idiot for letting Amy leave without a word. Smiling slightly, he silently agreed with the little girl's opinion.

"AAAAHH! I'M LATE AGAIN!!"

Koaru's eyes snapped open as Serena's voice ripped into his mind. Sitting up slowly, he realized that he had fallen asleep at the desk, his hand resting on the picture frame. Turning his eyes to the clock on the wall, he saw that he had less than ten minutes before school started.

"Ah Fuck Me!" he shouted, standing up and rushing to his dresser, grabbing some clothes and rushing out the door, hopping down the hallway as he pulled his pants on, passing Serena as she bolted out of her room and tripped on the stairs, soaring down the last three steps and crashing flat on her face. Koaru leapt over her, yanking his pants fully onto his body and landing right in front of his shoes. Quickly slipping into them, Koaru pounded out the front door, Serena following close behind.

"Koaru!" she shouted in shock behind him. "Why are you running late?"

"I slept in! So sue me!" he shouted, not wanting to hear his sister's annoying questions with the way the day had started so far. With a sigh of frustration, he turned at a corner and headed to his school, wanting avoid the chance of bumping into Amy by following Serena's route.

Serena sighed in disapointment as she stood outside the classroom, once again late for class. Staring at the floor as she leaned against the wall, she closed her eyes as she heard a pair of footsteps in the hallway. The footsteps paused, and a familiar voice spoke.

"Late again, Serena?"

The blonde teen looked up to see Koaru's ex and one of her dearest friends, Amy Mizuno. As usual, the storm blue haired teen girl was carrying several text books. Slowly Serena nodded, the shame of the fact weighing on her heart.

"Even Rini was up before me, although Koaru slept even longer than I-" Serena stopped talking as Amy suddenly started walking away. "Amy?"

"Sorry Serena," she said as she rushed away. "I need to get back to class."

Serena watched her friend vanish down the hall, feeling that maybe she had said too much by mentioning Koaru. The two hadn't talked since the break up, and if they were ever in the same room the two kept their eyes locked on seperate walls for the entire time.

"I hope that they won't stay like this forever. Who knows what will happen if a new enemy attacks," she said, lifting her eyes and looking out the window at the morning sky, watching a couple of birds take flight from a nearby tree, taking off into the sunlight.

Out in the hills overseeing the city, a young man broke through the treeline and stared down on the city; a ruksack over one shoulder and a suitcase in hand. Gazing down at the huildings below, he smiled as he felt small pulses of energy in the morning air. Sighing as he looked into the sky, he began his desent into the city, his golden hair waving around his head as he bounded down the hillside.