[-Chapter One-]

"Hikari…"

The warning whisper came out of the shadows, but it still sent chills up my spine. Makoto—my Koto—did that to me. He made me nervous for no logical reason, which I didn't appreciate. I considered myself a tough person, and the thought of being nervous over Makoto, who I had thrown in mud puddles when we were ten, was completely insane. Then I would remember the way his voice sounded, the perfect way that his shoulders sloped, and…

"Kari, what are you doing here?"

I shifted out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Koto—a lean mass of muscle fiber that seemed to be perfectly sculpted, somehow—did the same; I could see his muscles working as he moved. He came to a stop and his bare chest shimmered in the silver glow of the moon. He had a slight tan from the few outside activities that he had to partake in, and yet somehow he was all strength. It was one of the many puzzles about Koto—WHERE did he get those muscles from?

"I could ask you the same question," I pointed out.

"Not really, seeing as this is my front yard."

"This is the village common," I corrected him. He folded his arms over his chest.

"And you live nearly a mile outside of the village."

I was finding it hard to argue with him, but I did my best. It failed horribly. "Okay, so I needed to take a walk. I had… this freaky dream." He closed the distance between us in two strides and enfolded me in a hug. I relaxed into it for a minute, my head on his collarbone, before I pushed him impatiently away. "I'm not five years old, Makoto." Of course, my nose and my heart wanted more—he smelled like peaches and soap. I knew I must have smelled like dirty peasant to him.

"You are to me." His voice had a teasing note to it, which I hated a lot because it made him all the more attractive.

"Thanks," I said sourly, sticking out my tongue. He flashed that crooked little smile at me, the one that made my heart sputter and then try to restart itself. "So, what are YOU doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep," he answered. Koto ran his fingers through his chocolate-brown hair, which messed up his Half-Warrior's Wolf Tail; but as I studied him in the moonlight I decided that Koto could pull it off. "I'm kind of worried about Arisu."

My lip involuntarily curled into a sneer at Arisu's name. She was my best friend in the entire world, and we'd both gotten crushes on Makoto at the same time. The difference was, her dreams had actually come true. Our friend had reciprocated her love, while I was left alone to shiver in the cold. I actually shivered, a side effect of the moon's presence. While I liked seeing Makoto however and whenever I could, I would have infinitely preferred seeing him in the sunlight. The sun gave me strength and made everything brighter. The sun was happier, and the sun didn't seem as distant as the moon.

"Why the heck are you worried about Arisu?" I demanded.

Makoto opened his mouth to answer, glanced at me, and then shut it for a moment. Finally, "I'm not sure. She seems kind of angry with me."

"It's because you go camping all the time," I reminded him. "Why don't you just skip the whole thing and stay here? She misses you." Hastily, I added, "I miss you too, Koto."

"Kari," he sighed. His hand came up to toy with a small lock of my hair sadly, as if he was looking at it for the last time. "Everything is so simple with you. There isn't any room for doubt or indecision." I watched his beautiful brown eyes flash in the moonlight and realized that Makoto didn't know me at all. In that moment I was more insecure and indecisive than I had ever been in my life. "But I have to go camping. How else do you think that I can build up my muscle?" Just like that, the sadness was gone and he was grinning again.

"You're not that strong," I snapped.

"Really?" He lifted one eyebrow, something I'd always wished that I could do. "Then tell me, Hikari, how can I do THIS?" And he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Put me DOWN!" I screamed. My head was starting to ache and he was starting to spin around, which didn't help the situation. Desperate for something to hold on to, I latched my hands around his waist. I shut my eyes, locked my lips, and pretending that I was somewhere far away. Somewhere that smelled like peaches and soap…

My feet hit the ground again and I let my world stop spinning before I forced my eyes open. "You just disturbed the rest of five law-abiding citizens," Koto chided me in a mock-serious tone.

"Any citizen who's actually law-abiding doesn't deserve to sleep," I scowled. I was already in a strange mood from the spinning, and then he had to go bring up those ridiculous LAWS that plagued my existence… This meeting was not going at all how I'd imagined it. "And don't think that just because you're a little older than me—"

"Two months," he corrected me.

"Whatever. You can't just push me around like that."

"I thought I was swinging you." There was that smile, playing around his lips. But I wanted to be ANGRY… I turned around and stuck my nose in the air.

"Don't talk to me."

"Come on, Kari…" Koto pleaded. Without a sound, he was suddenly very close, his words floating around my ears. "Don't do that." I tried to ignore him and turned away. "Please?" he asked, and even though I heard the laughter in his voice I felt myself breaking. All it took from him were two well-placed fingers in my side and I burst out laughing.

"No," I said as firmly as I could, and pushed myself away. "I'm still mad at you." We both knew it wasn't true, but I couldn't let him win like that. So I ran back home, the entire mile, leaving Koto to stand alone in the moonlight.

A/N: And here is the first chapter, yay :) So now we have a name for our disturbed dreamer, Hikari. And we have a love triangle... cliche cliche cliche! Apparently when I was in high school I was a fan of such cliches. If they bother you, I apologize, but it's important for Hikari's development as a character.

As an aside, I will be going to Europe for the next week or so. Accordingly, it will be about... two weeks before I post a new chapter. Hopefully anyone who is reading this will enjoy it, and be patient enough to stick around. ¡Adios! :)