A BEGINNING OF A HAPPY ENDING

Chapter 1

"TAKUTO!" I called to him as loud as I've yelled since my last concert as Full Moon. He turned around and looked at me, a blank yet surprised expression on his face. I stood on my feet, I didn't know how this was happening, but it was definitely him! "Takuto," I said his name again as he started to walk towards me.

"Farewell, Mitsuki." Meroko spoke into my ear, kissing my cheek before flying off to the blue sky.

"Meroko? Meroko!" I called her name, feeling overjoyed at what she had done for me, yet sad that this was good bye. "Thank you, Meroko!"

"Meroko?" Takuto spoke, he stood a meter away, his brows furrowing puzzled; he held a beautiful white feather in his fingers. Then his eyes widened, seemingly recognizing me.

"Takuto…" I repeated in a softer tone, my eyes tearing uncontrollably.

"Mitsuki…" he said my name as he stared at me. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly around his waist, closing the distance between us. He hugged me right back.

"Mitsuki..!" he laughed loudly as he spun me around, while still hugging me excitedly.

"How is this possible? I thought you would become a ghost!" I cried.

"I-I don't know, I remember the concert- I was disappearing and a girl with pink hair… she helped me, and God allowed me to be a human again. I had been in a coma, this whole time, that's why I could never become a full shinigami. I wasn't really dead." He told me as he held me by my shoulders and looked at me with his strong gray-green eyes.

"That girl who helped you was Meroko, I'm sure of it! Do you not remember her?" I asked.

"I know I was a shinigami for a while, but everything about that time is all a blur to me now. All I know is that I'm here now and that somehow I've found you."

"I cried a lot when I woke up after the surgery and you and Meroko weren't around… I thought I'd never see you again. It was like Eichi all over." I said as I cried some more. He wiped away the tears and kissed my forehead.

"I will never leave you again, so don't cry, shortie." He said as he smiled gently at me.

"I'm just so happy, I can't stop!" I said smiling sheepishly. He held my hand and weaved his fingers with mine.

"Come on, I should walk you home. You just got out of surgery, right? You should rest." He said as he started walking me back towards the direction I had come from. I blushed a little realizing that I'd completely forgotten about the now barely noticeable scar on my throat.

"But you seemed like you were going somewhere, I don't want to make you late!" I said.

"That can wait, I was just exploring the town. I rented an apartment a couple of blocks from here and was hoping to get back to my music soon."

"Wow, that's right, you were a famous singer before! I can't wait to tell Miss Oshige and Doctor Wakaoji and Grandma- me and Grandma have been getting along very well now and I moved into the main house." I talked on and on excitedly as we walked back to my home.

"Mitsuki! Where were you? We were worried when you ran off all of a sudden, your friend Madoka had to leave after dropping by some flowers for you without any explanation!" Grandma scolded at me as soon as Tanaka let me through the front door.

"Oh no, I-I'm sorry!" I said as I scrambled for an explanation in my head.

"Well, as long as you're safe, it's fine. Just warn me next time, please." She sighed with a slight smile.

"Yes ma'am!" I agreed with a bow of apology.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho! And who might this handsome young man be, Mitsuki?" Tanaka cut in as she glared suspiciously, her reporter stance evident as she held her mini notebook and pen in her hands.

"This is my dear friend Takuto Kira, he walked me home just now. Uh, and this is my grandmother and our housekeeper, Tanaka." I introduced blushing since I already knew that Takuto knew them even though they didn't know him.

"Nice to meet you!" Takuto said respectfully as he bowed.

"Well, why don't you come in for some tea? Doctor Wakaoji and Miss Ooshige are here, I'm sure they'd be glad to meet you too." Grandma invited him in as she smiled.

"Really? Doctor Wakaoji and Oshige came? I didn't mean to worry everyone so much!" I said apologetically as we walked in and took off our shoes at the entrance.

"Takuto! Is that really you?" Dr. Wakaoji said in surprise when he saw us walk into the room. Both he and Oshige looked shocked as they sat on the floor around the table with their steaming teacups.

"Hey, long time no see..." Takuto said awkwardly. There was a three-seconds-long silence and then we all broke into laughter over the craziness of the situation, except Grandma and Tanaka who probably had no idea what was going on.

Oshige and Dr. Wakaoji said their goodbyes to us for the night and we agreed to get together again soon and talk (we couldn't ask all the questions we wanted to because we didn't want Tanaka and Grandma to think we were crazy when we talked about shinigami and ghosts).

"I should probably go now, it's getting late and I want to be on your family's good side, if you know what I mean." Takuto said with a chuckle as he scratched the back of his head with one hand and held his guitar case and backpack with the other hand/arm.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see each other sometime again…" I said a little sadly because I didn't want him to go. He looked at me worried.

"What's wrong Mitsuki? You seem a little disappointed." He said with a slight smirk on his face.

"What are you, a sadist? It's just that I… I'm afraid that when I wake up tomorrow this will all have been a dream. And that you'll still be gone…" I said with an attempted laugh to make it seem like no big deal. He looked at me seriously and pulled me into his arms, his things dropping to the floor.

"I promised to protect you, that promise is real. Somehow I am here, and I intend to make the best of this new chance at life. So don't worry, I'm here to stay." He murmured, his smooth lips brushing against my ear. I squeezed my eyes shut and remembered the last time we were alone like this in my house. When I opened my eyes, Takuto was looking into my eyes intently, a reassuring smile on his face. I nodded and felt my face get warmer as I blushed pink. He leaned in closer, his face less than an inch away from mine. I could feel his warm breath on my lips.

"Mitsuki-chan, would you and Takuto-san want some snacks?" Tanaka popped in suddenly through the sliding door, making Takuto and I jolt apart.

"Uh-! Don't worry Tanaka, he was just leaving now so-!" I stammered as I stood stiffly as a statue.

"Y-yes! Please tell Kouyama-san thanks for having me!" Takuto added as he blushed bright red and grabbed hold of his things again.

"Oh, well alright! It was nice meeting you!" Tanaka said as she left the room and slid the door closed again. We let out a loud sigh of relief and laughed when we looked at each other. Takuto started to open the door that led to the yard and out to the entrance gate. He stepped down onto the ground and then turned to talk to me.

"Mitsuki, how would you like to spend the day with me tomorrow? I could use someone to show me around town…" he asked bashfully, his eyes looking up at me and a wry smile flashing at me.

"Of course I would!' I responded eagerly without thinking. He blushed a little and smiled wider.

"Great! I can pick you up around two o clock?"

"That'd be perfect! It's a date."