I woke up in the middle of the night when I heard a scream pierce the air. I looked around the room frantically and realised that Luna was not on the bed. I was about to get up when I heard a soft coughing coming from the floor on Luna's side of the bed.

"Sorry, Ryo." Luna coughed. She rose up from the ground with her eyes looking weary and a hand to her head. "Fell off the bed. My bad."

I watched her in disbelief as she tried to find a comfortable position on the bed. "I thought something serious had happened." I said.

"I'm sorry, Ryo." Luna repeated with an apologetic look on her face. "I don't know what happened... I just kind of rolled off the bed."

I went back into the bed slightly irritated, my mind still fuzzy from being asleep mere moments ago. "I don't know how you can fall off a bed in your sleep." I said with my back turned towards her.

She didn't say anything.

"You could've at least not screamed." I muttered almost to myself as I drifted back to sleep.

When I woke up again, it was to the sound of the alarm ringing. It was morning and this time, Luna was really gone. I turned off the alarm and looked around for Luna but to no avail. I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room and was greeted by the scent of breakfast.

"Morning!" Luna smiled from the dining table. She was with Akane and Eiji who were just about to finish eating.

"Hey, Ryo! About time you woke up!" Eiji said between mouthfuls.

"Luna said not to wake you up." Akane added.

"Yo..." I said looking at Eiji. It was an awkward sight to see him eating so casually with Luna and Akane whom he had never talked to before but I guess Eiji didn't really care as long as there was free food on the table.

"Man, Ryo! Does Luna cook like this for you everyday? The food is delicious!" Eiji said, placing down his bowl with a satisfied look on his face. "I should come over here everyday!"

"Um. No, you shouldn't." I replied. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Luna looked at me with a suspicious look and Eiji nodded carelessly as he finished off his bowl. We walked to a place in the room where we couldn't be heard.

I gave him a look of disbelief. "What. Are. You. Doing?" I said emphasising each word.

Eiji just laughed it off. "Luna is a nice girl, you should treat her better instead of thinking up of delusions about her all the time."

"We were supposed to find out information from her!" I exclaimed in a quiet voice. "Not spend the night with her and Akane then eat breakfast with them like nothing is wrong!"

"Come on, Ryo. Don't be such a party-pooper." Eiji said apparently not taking me very seriously. "I've talked to Luna and there is no way she can be an Ashen, or whatever it is that you said she was. She doesn't even look like she can hold a knife!"

"Fine. But I was going to show you the evidence that she wasn't normal." I said.

"Then show me." Eiji said. He smiled. "In the meantime, don't you think Akane is very pretty?"

I dropped my mouth. "What happened to Kyoko?" Kyoko was the girl that she was seeing on Valentines Day when he had introduced me to Yumi.

"I got tired of her." Eiji said waving me off. "You can't expect a guy to stick with only one girl during the prime of his youth."

I shook my head. "Just make sure you don't get too close to Luna."

"Don't worry, I know she's your girl." Eiji laughed.

"I mean with the whole Ashens thing going on." I explained hastily. "We shouldn't come to this house anymore."

"I thought you wanted to protect Luna?" Eiji said. "How will we find out more about her and keep her safe if we don't keep seeing her?"

I stopped and thought about it. Eiji had a point there.

"We should just hang out with Akane and Luna more now. Even at school." Eiji continued. "That way there would be a greater chance for Luna to slip and expose herself if she really is this Ashen thing you are talking about."

"Right..." I nodded.

"Besides," Eiji said. "If we do it this way, you get to investigate more about Ashens and you can protect Luna at the same time. While I get to know Akane more."

"Eiji..." I said scratching my head. "Akane... she's-"

"Ah! Look at the time!" I heard Luna cry from the kitchen. She was washing the dishes and looking at the clock. "Ryo, you better hurry up and eat otherwise we will be late for class!"

I tried to finish my sentence but Eiji patted me on the shoulder and winked. "You should start eating before Luna gets mad."

He walked over to talk to Akane at the couch and I grudgingly went to eat the breakfast Luna had cooked. The first bite surged my appetite and I ended up wolfing down the food in minutes. When I was done and Luna had cleaned everything, we made our way to school in what feels like a very long time.

Somehow we got to class on time and Eiji suggested that we all sit together which Luna agreed to enthusiastically. I sat down at the seat closest to the window and sighed as Eiji, Luna and Akane joined me. I could see everyone in the class looking over startled by the sudden new arrangement. There were whispers going around.

We had some time before the class started so I sat idly staring out the window trying to avoid unwanted attention. Luna was preparing her notes and Eiji was talking to Akane.

"Were you born in Tokyo?" Eiji asked Akane.

"No... I was born in Kyoto." Akane answered stiffly.

"Wow." Eiji wooed smiling at her, but it didn't seem to have an effect on Akane. "I'm mixed blood. Father from America and mother from Japan but I was also born in America with my father."

There it was. Eiji's ace card. Usually girls would be dancing in his palm at this point but Akane merely nodded slightly as a sign of acknowledgement. She was completely uninterested and I felt myself laughing inside, almost feeling sorry for him. Eiji looked bothered by Akane's response but he didn't give up.

"You have lovely skin, were you raised in Kyoto too?" Eiji said, still smiling as he leaned over to grab her hand.

Akane moved her whole chair away with a push of her leg. She gave Eiji a disgusted look as though he had offered to slit her wrists and I chuckled to myself. Eiji glanced at me with genuine confusion on his face. He wasn't expecting the reaction he was getting from Akane. He was spoilt by the countless number of girls that would throw themselves at him over his foreign background and blond hair. This was going to be a good lesson for him.

"A-anyway," Eiji coughed, trying to take the conversation in a different direction. He shifted his seat. "You and Luna are really good friends, right?"

"Yes," Akane replied almost instantly. "I was the first one to introduce Luna around the school when she exchanged here."

Eiji smiled, relieved that he finally found something that perked her interest. "Yeah, I know! You guys are always sticking together!"

"That's cause we're best friends!" Akane said, almost too proudly but Eiji paid no heed. "Luna is the prettiest girl in the school so sometimes people get jealous at me since we are always together but Luna always sticks up for me!"

Luna yawned.

"I remember this time Luna-" Akane paused and looked at Luna.

"Yes?" Eiji said.

"Nevermind..." Akane said, her voice trailing off.

Eiji was about to press on about the topic when the teacher entered the classroom and everyone fell silent. I sat up trying to look like I was paying attention as it appeared it was going to be a long day.

"Good morning, class." The teacher said fixing his desk, his head remained down.

"Morning." The majority of the class replied in unison.

I yawned.

"Is it true," I heard a voice calling from the back of the class. "There's going to be a new transfer student?"

Excited whispering broke out in the class and I saw Luna raising her head from the desk which was unusual. I didn't really care about any new transfer student so I kept my eyes on the sky outside. I had enough on my mind to worry about than trivial matters. I wondered if I would ever find out more about Ashens from Luna.

"Yes, it's true." The teacher answered, finally raising his head. "In fact, she's here right now."

He looked over towards the door at a person standing outside. "Please come in."

I still had my attention on the window and my head was drowned deep in thoughts. If Luna said she was a weak Ashen it would explain why she appeared to have emotions towards me. But the only problem was whether or not I could trust her.

"Everyone, please welcome Mayu."