A little orange bird flew into a room. He landed a boy's head and peck it. The boy swat the bird away and sat up. He let out a yawn and rubbed his right eye.

'What is it...?" he asked the bird.

"It's time to get up for school!" the bird chirped. 

"Ugh..." The boy went back under his covers.

The bird just flew over to him and kept pecking on his head until he took the message. The boy got out of bed and got ready for the first day of school. He left his room and joined breakfast with his family. He then left for school with his three brothers and sister. When they got to school, the boy could see his two friends standing by the school gates.

"Eric, Jeremy," the boy said as he approached them.

"Morning, Yami," Eric greeted the boy.

"Are we in the same class?" Yami asked his friends.

"Yep," Jeremy replied. 

"Good." Yami looked relived. These were the only people could stand while at school.

The three boys then headed into the school.

Kimiko groaned as a pillow hit her square in the face.  She sat up and glared at her younger brother, Haku, who was looking at her innocently sitting on his bed across the room.  The only indication of his guilt was the lack of a pillow on his bed.

"What was that for!" she yelled.  

"Mom told me to wake you up for school," he said with a shrug.

"So you threw a pillow at me?" she asked incredulously. 

He shrugged before standing and heading towards the door.  "She didn't tell me how to wake you.  Looks like it worked."

He disappeared behind the safety of the door before she could react. If only he had his own room.  Then she could lock the door whenever she felt like it.  But no, money didn't allow for a three bedroom, and her mom was not going to make him sleep on the couch like Kimiko suggested back in the beginning of middle school.

Kimiko glanced at the clock before throwing on a quick change of clothes and heading to the kitchen to grab a protein bar before heading out.  Her mother had already left to take Haku to school; not that family breakfasts were common occurrences at her home anyway.

Kimiko headed towards the school, debating on whether or not to skip. It was the first day.  There was really no reason to be there.  All the teachers just droned on about their syllabus and lesson plans that were pretty much identical other than the occasional mentions of the subject matter.  It was a waste of time, and anyone who could read didn't need an entire class period devoted to nothing but introductions.

No sooner had she entered the school did she walk right into someone as they stopped in the middle of the hallway.  She opened her mouth to say some not too pleasant things to the idiot who decided to stop walking, but the kid quickly stepped aside to reveal what appeared to be one of the school's resident bullies picking whatever poor sap that happened to catch his eye.

Kimiko narrowed her eyes as she saw the target and swiftly delivered a fist to the side of his jaw.  His target, Sang Ihara, was Kimiko's summer school tutor turned semi-friend who agreed to tutor Kimiko free of charge while researching the minds of troubled youth (or something like that).  Despite how arrogant her motives sounded, they had hit it off pretty well so Kimiko couldn't just let her get beaten up.

The junior, or maybe senior, turned on her and she barely escaped a push backwards into the lockers across the hall.  "How dare you!" he yelled.

Kimiko rolled her eyes.  "Juniors who have nothing better to do than beat up freshmen deserve to be punched," she said simply, motioning for Sang to follow her as she made what she thought was a good exit.  The fact a teacher was pushing their way through the now gathered crowd was a good reason to stop while she was ahead at this point.  She didn't want another pointless lecture from her mom.

"Thanks," Sang said as the walked past the clueless teacher and down the closest side hallway.

"No problem," Kimiko said, "You just really need to learn to defend yourself."

Sang shook her head.  "I'm not a fighter," she answered.  Then she continued, completely changing the subject, "We're in the same class this year." 

Kimiko stifled a sigh.  She definitely couldn't skip after coming in the building now.  Sang would not let her.  "Cool.  Let's go then," she said, wishing she'd found a way to stay home today.  Sang nodded and they headed to their classroom.

Yami sat in the back of the classroom with his friends. He had a window seat. Eric was in front of them had his seat facing him while Jeremy was off to the side. The three of them were enjoying a conversation about a new video game until a girl came over to them. Her name was Katie and she was a popular girls from their middle school. 

"Hey, Yami," she spoke. She had a fake smile across her face. She had a crush on Yami.

"Oh hi, Katie.." Yami mumbled. He wasn't a big fan of this girl. 

"I'm so glad we ended up in the same class this year. I hope we get to know each other more."

"Buzz of, Katie," Yami spoke harshly. 

The popular girl just flipped hair back and went back to her desk.

"I know she's annoying, but you could try be nice," Eric spoke up.

Yami shrugged. "She just wants to be my girlfriend because my family is rich. So why should be a nice?"

"Because maybe more people would approach you."

"Pfft. They're all like her."

Eric sighs. He then heard the classroom door slide open. Eric glanced over and saw two girls walk in. "Look over there."

Yami and Jeremy noticed the girls. Yami looked puzzled. "Yeah so?"

"I've never seen them before."

"They probably went to a different middle school," Jeremy said and looked back at his friends.

"And this matters..?" Yami asked still baffled.

"New prey!" Eric laughs. "I can work my charm on them."

Yami rolls his eyes. The bell then rang warning that homeroom was about to start. Jeremy and Eric returned to facing forward.

Sang and Kimiko entered the room together just as the bell was about to ring.  Kimiko glanced around the room at the open desks and found two near the window.  They were in the front of the room (probably why no one had claimed them earlier), but they were also the only two seats that were even remotely close to each other.

She tapped Sang on the elbow and motioned towards the desks before walking straight to the desk closest to the window.  She wanted to be able to glance out when she inevitably lost interest in whatever the teacher talked about.  

The bell rang just as Sang sat next to her, and the teacher entered the room a moment later.  It was funny how teachers could be late, but students got in trouble if they entered right as the bell was ringing.

The moment the teacher opened his mouth to lunchtime, felt like one giant lecture that melded together as syllabuses always did until the lunch bell finally rang.  True to form, Kimiko's mind had wandered and Sang had to nudge her with her elbow to indicate the bell was indeed for lunch rather than the next teacher's spiel.

Kimiko stood and they headed towards the cafeteria.  "I wonder if this school has anything better than our middle school..."  Kimiko murmured. 

"Probably not.  Most schools have the same type of food. I need to stop at my locker.  I packed my lunch today. I have some extra food if you want some."  Sang answered.

Kimiko nodded, "That would be great." She really needed to make the effort to stay on Sang's good side. Any food was better than cafeteria food.

After a quick stop at Sang's locker, they entered the chaos of the lunchroom.  The food lines already stretched to their capacity as what seemed like half the school waited to be served.  Meanwhile the tables were quickly filling with the lucky students who either packed or had arrived at the front end of the crowd.  

Thankfully, there was a halfway empty table that had plenty of room for them at the end.  They quickly made their way to the empty space before anyone else could claim it and sat down to enjoy Sang's packed lunch.

Yami and his friends were standing in line for food. As they to get end of the line to pay Yami realized that he forgot to bring money for food. After begging Eric to buy his lunch, the three friends search for a table. Sadly all the tables were taken, but Jeremy was able to spot a table with only two girls sitting at it.

"Do you think they'll let us sit with them?" Jeremy asked.

"Of course," Eric replied with a small smirk. He then strolled over to asked the girls if they could sit with them smoothly. Yami just rolled his eyes as Jeremy held back at a laugh.

Kimiko's eyes narrowed as a boy she didn't know approached them.  He looked like he was from a fairly well off family. Probably not someone who would try to bully people.  So why was he approaching?

"Good afternoon ladies.  My name is Eric and..." he said.  She already didn't like him.  

"What do you want?"  She asked.  

Sang gave her a swift elbow nudge to the and then spoke up. "What my friend meant to ask is how can we help you?"

Kimiko glared at Sang while snapped out some mild confusion and turned to talk to Sang specifically.  "Well, my friends and I were looking for a place to sit and noticed your table was the only one with open space. Is there any way we could sit with you?" 

He motioned to his friends as he said this.  Kimiko opened her mouth to reject them, but Sang beat her to the answer, "Sure.  There's plenty of space.  I'm Sang and that's Kimiko.  Don't mind her attitude.  She takes a while to warm up to people."

"Sang!"  Kimiko protested.

Eric just laughed, "That's fine.  Thank you."  He waved his friends over, and suddenly their table of two was invaded by three boys that Kimiko didn't care to get to know.

Yami took his seat which was across from the girl name Kimiko. Eric and Jeremy sat beside him. Eric made sure he was the one facing Sang. Yami could tell that Eric took great interest in her. Yami just kept to himself and started to eat his lunch.

"By the way," Eric continued on. "I'm Eric and this Jeremy and Yami. I believe we're in the same class."

"We're are," Jeremy spoke up not letting Sang reply. "Did you guys go to a different middle school? We don't recognize you two." Eric just gave Jeremy a look. He just returned it with a little smirk.

Yami just sighed and started to pick at his food. He didn't care that these girls went to a different school. They have the potential to be like the others. Greedy.

"I think we did," Sang replied. " But to be honest I never pay attention to boys at our school. My novel had all of my attention."

"Oh? A writer?" Eric looked impressed. "What's it about?"

Sang eyes lit up and she started to explain her huge novel to the boys. Yami on the other hand just drowned out the rest of the conversation. Then suddenly he felt someone's arms wrap around his neck. 

"Yami!!" the voice sang. 'Why don't you come and eat lunch with me?"

Yami jumped and turned to see it was Katie. He just stood up so she would let go of his neck. "Katie, go away."

"Oh, come on. You know want to join me. I brought my own lunch. We can share."

"I said go away."

"Fine. I have it your way." She just flip her hair in his face and walked away. Yami sat back down in his seat and stabbed his food with his fork.

Eric just patted him on the back. "She'll leave you alone some day."

"The key word is some day..." Yami mumbled to himself in anger.

Kimiko inwardly sighed. Of course the one person she sort of liked hanging out with had attracted three guys that she wanted nothing to do with. And by the looks on both Sang and Eric's faces, these three were going to eat with them more often. Who knew an introverted nerd like Sang could attract a guy?

Her only consolation was one of the guys looked just as unhappy as she was. Yami (was it?) was picking at his food with no intention of speaking. Good. Maybe he would abandon his friends to eat elsewhere next time.

The thought was instantly killed when some girl (obviously popular and used to getting what she wanted, slung her arms around his neck and tried desperately to get him to join her. Kimiko glanced up, rolling her eyes as the girl stormed off, enraged. What a bitch...

"I could always punch her in the face.  That would get the point across," Kimiko murmured, not meaning to say it out loud.

All eyes focused on her.  Sang looked almost happy that she was actually joining a conversation. Kimiko looked down in embarrassment and started picking at her food. Maybe they would drop the conversation and she could eat the rest of her lunch in peace.

Yami couldn't help, but laugh at Kimiko's comment. "Believe me I would if I could,but her dad is friends with my dad. I rather not get into serious trouble." Yami then grabbed his tray and stood up. "I'm not really hungry. See you guys back in class." He left the table and tossed his lunch into the garbage. Eric was probably mad at him for wasting his money, but Katie put him in a foul mood. He left the cafeteria and headed up to the roof top. Seem like a good place to take a nap.

Kimiko smiled at Yami's laugh. Maybe this guy wasn't too bad; not that she wanted to be friends with him. She wasn't really interested in making new friends. Sang was an exception mostly because she didn't give up. She could tell Yami was not interested in making such an effort.

She watched in disinterest as he got up and left. That didn't seem like a bad idea now that everyone else at the table was chatting again with Eric seeming upset by Yami's actions.  She finished the last of the food Sang had given her and also stood. She gave Sang a small nod before heading out of the cafeteria.

She considered skipping the rest of the day and headed toward one of the school's side exits, but there was a teacher standing guard nearby. Cursing under her breath, she headed back to the still empty classroom and grabbed her CD player from the bag that she would have left behind for Sang to take. It was super old but she couldn't afford an mp3 player.

Class resumed a little while later and she hid the CD player conveniently in her desk with the earphones coming up through her uniform and inconspicuously sitting in her ears. The day went by with none of the teachers noticing or caring while Sang occasionally gave her a dirty look. Finally, it was time to go home.

"I can't believe you spent half the day with earphones in and nobody noticed. You could have missed something important," she said as they stopped at Kimiko's locker.

Kimiko shrugged. "I doubt it.  It's only the first day. All they did was hand out papers and go over their subject."

"Still, you can't do that every day. You'll never improve your grades if you ignore what the teachers are saying."

"You're missing the point, Sang. I don't care," she said as she shut her locker and started walking away.

"But you should care. You're smart enough to get somewhere in life if you apply yourself. I can tell just by tutoring you," Sang insisted as she followed.

"Look, Sang. I don't feel like hearing it today. I'm going home now. See you tomorrow." 

Kimiko left before Sang could say another word. It annoyed her how nosy and naggy her friend could be. She just wanted some peace and quiet on the way home. No thoughts on her future. 

As she walked down the street, she made the quick decision to walk through the park. It was nice and peaceful, and she could stop and think if she wanted. Yes, the park sounded like a good plan.

At the Ookami household Yami's father was sitting in his chair sipping some tea. A little red bird flew over over to him and landed on top of the chair. Yami's father glanced over at him and the two stared at each other.

"Time's up?" Yami's father asked the bird. 

"Yes, sadly," replied the bird. "She's already planning an attack. I can sense a birth of a demon."

"I see.." Suddenly they both heard the front door opening up. Yami's father glanced over and saw his kids walking down the hallway. He noticed Yami was missing. He stood up and approached his daughter Ryoko. "Where's Yami?"

Ryoko shrugged. "I'm not sure he disappeared after lunch. I couldn't find him anywhere after school."

Her father just sighed and looked back at the bird. "Go find Yami and try to have stop that demon before it attacks."

The little bird nodded and flew out of the living room window. As he soar through the sky he could sense a demon's presence coming from the park. He decided to go check it out.

Kimiko sat on a swing in the park, her eyes wandering towards the sky. She didn't feel like going home yet. Maybe she should have stayed with Sang and gone over to her house. There wasn't any homework on the first day so she wouldn't have been forced to study. Oh well.

He eyes snapped from the sky to search around her as a strangely cold breeze blew past her. Something seemed off... But what? Then she realized it. The birds and insects had gone quiet. As if they had sensed something. She stood from the swing and headed swiftly towards the park entrance. The chill down her spine would not subside.

She never made it to the entrance as another blast of wind, this time strong enough to throw her into a nearby tree, rammed into her. "What the hell...?"

That was when she saw it coming towards her. The beast was slightly taller than her and looked like a mix between bird and man. It sneered at her, lifting an arm and swiping it towards her. Kimiko gasped in pain tiny scratches began cutting into her arms and legs.

"Hey, run to your left! Into the trees!" A voice shouted from somewhere above her. Kimiko didn't need to be told twice as she forced her way out of the wind attack and into the trees. She stopped to catch her breath a moment later, her eyes scanning the woods for the owner of the voice.

"Oh, thank goodness I found you in time," the voice said.

Kimiko turned to see a red bird on a branch nearby. "What...?"

"No time!" the bird said and suddenly a wand appeared in its talons. It flew down to hover in front of her with the wand stretched toward her. "Take this, now. That demon will not leave you alone until you defeat it."

Kimiko blinked, staring at the bird and the wand in confusion.

"Take it!" The bird said again, impatiently. Kimiko could hear the thrashing of the beast making its way through the woods as they spoke.

"This can't be happening..." she murmured while quickly taking the wand. Power seemed to surge through her as it touched her fingertips.

"Now repeat after me. Lunar power, transform."

"Ok... Lunar power, transform!" The surge of power Kimiko felt before was nothing compared to the power that flowed through her veins at that very moment. It was almost overpowering, and she wavered as a bright light flashed in her eyes. Then the light was gone.

The bird almost looked like it was smiling.  "You have awoken, Guardian Luna."

Kimiko wasn't paying attention to the bird at that point. She was too busy paying attention to the fact her school uniform was replaced by a short lavender dress and boots. Her hair had also changed color to an unnatural blue. Her mind was not sure how to comprehend this.

Then, there were no time to comprehend it. The creature was suddenly there in front of her its cruel eyes trained on hers. "Quickly, Luna. Use the Shining Lunar Beam," the bird called from beside her.

"How do I do that?!" she cried as she dodged the monster's next attack. It's not like she had a weapon.

"Call out moon staff. You can use the attack when the weapon appears," he answered flying with her.

"Moon staff!" she yelled. A larger version of he transformation wand suddenly appeared in her right hand as another attack from the demon bowled her over. Kimiko rolled onto her side and forced herself up as the creature rushed toward her.

Facing the creature she yelled, "Shining Lunar Beam!"  Light instantly shot from the staff, piercing the demon's heart. The demon cried in pain as the light swallowed it and it burst into dust in front of her eyes.

Kimiko's eyes jumped from the dust to her staff and back in confusion before she fell to her knees in exhaustion.  "What just happened...?"

The bird landed beside her. "Sorry for the lack of explanation. I am Aidan, the guide to the Celestial Guardians. You have been chosen to take the role of Guardian Luna to protect the world from demons like that one."

"Chosen? By who? And how do I change back to normal?"

"Chosen by fate. Usually the guardians continue through the same family line, but the previous Guardian Luna was lost in battle... Anyway, to change back you will yourself back to normal and the transformation will end," Aidan answered.

Kimiko willed herself back to normal as she let the information process. "And if I don't want to risk my life fighting demons?"

"Then the world, your loved ones, and you will be in constant danger. The demons won't care if you accept your destiny or not. They will do whatever they can to kill you."

Kimiko's eyes narrowed, "So I have no choice?"

Aidan nodded, "Fighting is the only way."

Kimiko did not like that answer. She shook her head and turned away from him, heading back toward the park exit.  "This is crap. I'm going home." She continued walking despite the bird's protests, her mind filled with thoughts of what she should do.

Yami sat up and found himself still on the school's roof. He it took a second to realize he slept through the rest of the school. He stood up and headed to his classroom to grab his bag. Yami slowly walked down the hallway making sure a teacher wouldn't spot him. He entered the classroom and walked over to his desk. When he grabbed his bag, he felt a strange a presence.  Yami looked up and out the window. He had a bad feeling about this. He then placed his bag on his shoulder and made his way home.

When he arrived home, he heard his father calling for him. Yami entered the living room and saw his father sitting in his chair. "Hey, dad.."

"Yami," his father said his name again. "Where were you? Ryoko said you disappeared for rest of the day."

"I fell asleep on the school's roof.."

"I see.." His father was trying to keep his cool. If he yelled at him then Yami would not hear him out. "Just make sure you don't do it again."

Yami raised his eye brow. He found it odd his father wasn't scolding him. "What do you want?"

"Might as well come clean," his father replied. "Shadi has awaken and it's time for you to become Guardian Sol."

Yami frowned at this.


"Aidan was looking for you," his father continued you on. "A demon was created and was unleashed on the city." His father stood up and walked over to the window. "Judging by your reaction and the demon's presence being gone, Aidan must have discovered the new Guardian Luna."

"I guess they are a capable of fighting on their own," Yami finally spoke up. "I'll be in my room." Yami turned to go back into the hallway. He had no intentions of becoming Guardian Sol.

"Yami!" His father followed. "I'm sorry, but you still have to become Guardian Sol! It takes two people to protect Earth."

Yami stopped walking and looked back at his father. "No means no!" He then ran up the stairs and slammed the door, when he entered his room. His father remained at the bottom of the stairs shaking his head.

Kimiko quietly shut the door to her home, hoping not to be noticed by her family. She needed time to process what had just happened without interruption. She smiled when it appeared no one was home. Who knew where her mother or brother actually were, but she didn't really care at the moment.

She grabbed a snack from the pantry and headed to her room. She plopped onto her bed and let her mind wander to the events of the park. She had been minding her own business when some monster attacked her. The scratches on her arms and legs were proof that that actually happened. Then some talking bird lured her into the woods, gave her a magic wand of sorts, and told her to transform. She rolled the wand over in he hands. No way to explain that either. It had to have happened... Then she transformed and beat the monster and the bird told her she was to take over the position of a Celestial Guardian...

She shook her head throwing the wand to the ground. "No way. Things like that don't happen," she muttered. There had to be a better explanation for what she was remembering.  And yet... 

'Then the world, your loved ones, and you will be in constant danger. The demons won't care if you accept your destiny or not. They will do whatever they can to kill you.'  Aidan's words replayed through her mind. 


How many people in this world did she really care about? Her mom, her brother, Sang, herself... Would it really matter if she refused to fight and was killed? Did she care about the world?


She looked at the wand on the floor. "Damn it..." she muttered as she retrieved it and rolled it over in her hands again. It looked like she just gained an alter ego with enemies. Great.