Chapter 1

He woke with a start, sitting up so quickly that he became entangled in the various blankets and sheets on his bed. As he struggled to get the material off, he fell off the bed with a loud thump. Cursing under his breath, Ryou finally managed to get the sheets off his head, and as he stared drowsily around his room he scratched his head.

Getting up with the blankets drawn around his shoulders like a cape, Ryou walked over to his window and looked out across the way to the still abandoned house next door. Shaking his head and wondering why he'd had such a nostalgic dream, Ryou was about to just get back to bed when there was a light tap at his door.

"Ryou?" her voice called softly, as another light tap punctuated her words. "Ryou, are you okay?"

Shuffling over to his door, the young man opened it to reveal Akari, who stood there looking at him curiously as she pulled up a sock. He stared at her uncomprehendingly until the thought hit him that she was up too early and he whispered, "What are you doing up so early? School's not for another hour and a half!"

Akari just gave him a smile before adjusting her skirt height a little and saying, "What else do I do in the mornings?"

Ryou just shook his head before shutting the door and heading to his dresser to grab some clothes. There was no way he was about let Akari go off by herself, even though ever since they'd been young she'd insisted on going on her own into the woods. As he pulled on his shorts, he smacked into the wall and cursed again. A laugh from the hall told him that Akari was waiting outside his room , and he hurried to finish changing so that they could get going.

"Seriously Akari," Ryou complained as they trekked through the woods, "I don't know why you keep coming out here every morning. There's nothing here."

Akari didn't answer, and Ryou continued to grumble under his breath as he followed her through the woods and down the path. The light reflected down through the trees, and just as he was getting ready to tell her that the two of them needed to head home for breakfast, she came to an abrupt spot.

"Here." She said quietly.

"What?"

"Here! This is the spot I keep seeing in my dreams!" Akari insisted, gesturing around the wood as if in doing so it would help her remember everything about the dream. Ryou looked around, noting the trees, the small moss covered statue, and the tunnel nearby. Turning to his distraught friend, he said gently, "Akari, it's just a dream."

"No, it has to be something more…why else would I keep having the same dream over and over?" Akari insisted, her eyebrows pushed together as she concentrated. Seeing her making such a frustrated face, Ryou sighed before poking her in the forehead and chiding, "If you make a face like that it'll stick that way."

Akari made another face before saying, "I don't know…it's like that dream is trying to tell me something. Maybe it's about where I came from…" She frowned, and Ryou immediately felt bad for teasing her instead of trying to comfort her. He hadn't forgotten how she'd shown up one day and had seemed to have no recollection of her life before, other than a vague memory of some mythical creature and a crumpled piece of paper with an address on it.

Her first week living in Ryou's house had been painful reminder that she knew nothing, what with Kei and Akira constantly asking questions about a man named "Haku" and a woman named "Chihiro." Poor Akari hadn't been able to tell them a thing, and as a result had been completely miserable.

While Akari muttered something to herself, Ryou felt a chill go down his spine as wind blew from behind and towards the nearby tunnel, as if urging the two teens to go inside. With a wary look at the dark entrance, he grabbed Akari by the arm and murmured, "C'mon, let's head to school. This place gives me the creeps."

Halfway up the hill to school, Ryou and Akari found themselves confronted by Rita, Ryou's twin sister. She stood in the middle of the path, blocking the way as she stared down the two of them. Neither Ryou nor Akari said anything, the three teens just watching each other with cautious eyes until Rita sighed and said, "You two weren't on another one of those morning dates, were you?"

"Rita!" Akari said with a blush, "They're not dates and you know that perfectly well!" Rita just laughed before ruffling Akari's hair, teasing the shorter girl mercilessly. As the two girls argued and laughed back and forth, Ryou followed behind them, giving a long sigh as he did so. Staring up at the trees that lined the hillside, the teen chewed the inside of his lip, wondering exactly when he'd started wishing that Rita's words weren't JUST words; how he wished that he and Akari went on dates!

Of course, Ryou was so busy sulking to himself that he failed to notice Akari glance back at him, her cheeks still pink at Rita's teasing. The long haired girl eyed her friend, taking in how tall he'd gotten and how much bigger he'd become since all those years ago when they were both little eight-year-olds. Akari was jolted out of her staring at Ryou when Rita pinched her roughly.

"Ow!" Akari complained, before blushing even more furiously at Rita's knowing look. With a long, loud sigh, Rita looked over her shoulder at her brother before winking at Akari and letting go of her friend, claiming loudly that she wanted to catch up with her friends. As Rita left the two behind, Ryou fell into step with Akari and the two walked up the hill in silence until Ryou brought up their trip to the woods again.

"Do you really think there's something out there?" Ryou speculated, edging closer to Akari as he said so. Akari hesitated, then frowned before complaining, "Well, I suppose it COULD just be a dream but all the same…"

When she shivered at the memory of her dream, Ryou edged even closer, and then avoiding looking at her put his arm around her shoulder. As he pulled her closer to him in a comforting, one-arm hug, he turned completely red and said in a gruff voice, "We'll figure it out. Don't worry."

Turning red again herself, Akari blushed and snuggled into his side before murmuring, "Yeah."

At the top of the hill, the two were greeted by the sight of other teenagers all streaming into the same building. Girls laughed in groups, swinging their bags in a carefree manger while boys murmured low to each other and leaned against lockers and walls.

Akari turned to say something to Ryou when he ruffled her hair fondly. When she looked up at him again, his cheeks were tinged pink as he muttered down to her, "I'm going to go put my stuff in my locker. Hurry up so we can go to class together."

With a smile, Akari hurried off, all thoughts of her dreams forgotten as she looked forward to her school day.