1 Chapter 1: The Moon Child

In the heart of the Kyoto region, there was a city that had been the most important foundation for all magic practitioners all over the world, and in that very city, a girl named Tsukiko could be found sleeping in her home. It seemed to be quite a peaceful sleep as well, that is until, one could see drops of sweat trickling down her face, which wore a pained expression. She was also muttering incoherent words and strings of jumbled sentences constantly flew out of her mouth, as the the pained expression she wore progressively got worse and worse when suddenly, her eyes shot open. Tsukiko stared at the ceiling, still looking as frightened as ever. In a haze, she got out of her bed and made her way to the bathroom to rinse her face. She did so with shaky hands. "How silly of me", she said. "My hands are shaking so much over a dream".

She continuously tried to tell herself over and over again that the things she saw were only a figment of her imagination and they'd never happen in real life. She had to, after all, it was anything far from pleasant. Some of you may be wondering what she had dreamt of, what dream could a person shake so much and for so long. Well, to put it simply, it was a dream that she feared could soon become a reality, and if it did, all her loved ones would be in grave danger and it would be her doing. 

After her continuous effort to calm herself down, she finally managed to stop shaking, though the fear she felt still lingered in her heart. She sat herself down on her bed and thought about a lot of things. She thought about her parents and how they were kidnapped, her brother, her friends and also how she would constantly remind herself to always think about them and if she can, protect them. Tsukiko was well into the process of thinking when two crisp knocks were heard. She immediately paused her thinking and stood up to open the door. The only other person living in this huge house was her elder brother, Hirano. He was the only person Tsukiko had relied on for a very large span of her life starting from the day her parents were kidnapped.

She still remembered that day well. Tsukiko was five years old at the time, and her brother was ten. Both their parents, being very famous magic users and all, were invited to a very important gathering to discuss some pressing matters. Though at first, they weren't going to attend this meeting since they had two children who needed to be looked after, they ended up going after both Tsukiko and Hirano convinced them saying that they could take care of themselves. So, the couple left various instructions for the children, hugged them and set out for the meeting. The children patiently waited for the arrival of their beloved parents, but they never came back. Feeling quite worried, the two children tried calling their parents but it went straight to voicemail. "Brother, where are mommy and daddy?", Tsukiko asked with tears in her eyes. Hirano didn't know as well but he tried to comfort his sister by telling her that they were probably fine and that there was nothing to worry about. As he continued his attempts at making his sister feel better, he heard sounds coming from the living room. Tsukiko had left the TV on when she was watching cartoons. Strangely enough, there weren't any cartoons playing at that moment. The TV stations had changed from the cartoon station to the news station and his parents were on the news. And that's when the brother and sister knew that their parents had been kidnapped.

They both started to cry, though Tsukiko's cries were much louder and they got so loud that the house began to shake. As her cries grew louder and louder, Tsukiko started to levitate off the ground and all the furniture in the house followed suit. Hirano was frightened. He had never seen his sister act this way. Although scared, Hirano knew he had to help his sister so he tried everything but nothing worked. He was beginning to feel hopeless as the cries grew louder and his sister wasn't getting any closer to the ground. Just then, he got an idea. Using all the floating furniture, the 10 year-old boy climbed higher and higher until he reached his sister. He hugged her very tightly and began to sing very softly to her. The tune he sang was melodious and very clear, meaning it was clear enough for his sister to hear. Soon, she ceased her crying and floated back down along with her brother and all the chairs, tables and whatnot and the very dangerous and alarming situation had been handled.

The pair of siblings hugged each other to sleep, thinking about their parents, crying quietly and praying for their safety.

That was 10 years ago. The search for their parents was still going strong and both Hirano and Tsukiko would always try to look for their parents. Everyone around kept telling them to prepare for the worst, but they both stubbornly continued to search for their parents every sinlge day.

Back to the present, Tsukiko opened the door for her brother and hugged him. Feeling a bit surprised, Hirano patted her back and asked with a warm smile, "What's wrong Tsuki, did you have another bad dream?". She nodded and looked up at her brother with eyes that seemed apologetic. Hirano simply hugged her again and said, "You don't need to apologize for being scared of a dream, it's perfectly normal". Tsukiko hugged her brother back "I know, but I get frustrated with myself every time it happens. Brother, is there any way I can stop being so scared of these nightmares?". Hirano released her from his hug and thought for a moment before smiling once more. "There is. Tsuki, all you have to do is is smile and have courage, and all your worries and fears will melt away". Tsukiko, though not fully understanding what her brother meant, sincerely promised to do so. Hirano smiled and patted her head. "That's the spirit, now get ready for school. You wouldn't want to miss your first day of a new school year". Tsukiko nodded with a smile and immediately went back to her to get ready for school. She combed her hair, brushed her teeth, washed her face, put on her uniform and stood in front of the mirror for a while, checking to make sure she looked clean and pristine until she was finally ready for school. 

Rushing downstairs, she waved her brother goodbye and set out for school with newfound confidence. She had only one thought in her mind ; "I'll smile and smile, until my cheeks hurt!"