Thus the words from a street-corner fortuneteller echo in Mikage Aya’s mind… and proceed to irritate her the rest of the evening as she belts out a song as “The Amuro Namie [famous j-pop singer] of Sarashina High School.” It’s the day before her and her twin brother’s, Aki’s, 16th birthday and they’re enjoying their evening hanging out with their friends at a karaoke bar. Aya works off some steam that built up as a result of the unsettling fortune and she and Aki part ways from their friends, promising to get together the next day to celebrate their birthday. On the way home, Aya is overcome with heroics when she witnesses a purse-snatching and runs in pursuit of the thief. She manages to wrestle the purse away and stretches out to catch it… but she realizes too late that the purse went flying off a bridge and she is bound to fall onto the road below! As she falls, she is overcome with strange images flashing through her mind as she realizes she is safely floating down… only to land unscathed directly in the path of an oncoming car! With no time to react, Aya stands helpless until a mysterious handsome man grabs her and dives out of the way of the car just in time. *doki doki* Aya may be in love! ;)
At home, the twins’ parents inform them that they will be going to their grandfather’s house after school the next day, and despite the twins’ whining that they already promised a birthday celebration with their friends, their parents relentlessly hold their ground. That evening, Aya and Aki have a talk about the odd events that happened earlier, during which Aya states that she wishes there was more excitement in their boring, mundane lives. (*note to self: if I ever become the star of an anime/manga series, be careful what I wish for…*)
The mood is inexplicably somber when Aya and Aki arrive at their grandfather’s house the next day; they discover many of their aunts and uncles silently dressed in black gathered around a table at which Aya and Aki are put at the head. Their grandfather summons for their gift and Aya blushes as she recognizes her “savior” from the car the day before as he bears the gift for the twins. They open it to find a mummified hand! Aya is overcome with images of blood and for a few brief moments her eyes narrow, as if possessed by another being… but she remains unharmed. Aki, on the other hand, is overcome with pain as cuts made by nothing envelop his body and he faints to the floor. Aya begs her aunts and uncles to call an ambulance for Aki. Her grandfather insists that Aki will be taken care of because he will bring unity to the Mikage family but he asks that Aya let go of him because “it is you who will be the one to die.”
Why does Aya’s family want to kill her and why is her brother one her family values so much? How does Aya get out of this? Just who IS Aya’s “savior” and why was he working for the people who want to kill her? Check it out yourself and find out!

Note: All quotes are from my personal translation of the French manga.

Mikage Aya/Ceres Aya is a “typical teenager” who unfortunately gets caught up in the drastic history of her family when she is realized to be the direct descendant of the Mikage family’s Tennyo ancestor, Ceres, and thus can be inhabited by Ceres at times. Her life is thrown upside down and she is separated by her family, but luckily taken in by Aogiri Suzumi, her brother-in-law, Aogiri Yuuhi, and a funny lady nicknamed Q-san, who know about the Mikage family’s history and have some special powers of their own. At first overwhelmed by everything, Aya grows to mature over the story as she learns to work together with Ceres and try to help her fufill her goal. Mikage Aki/”Shiso” Aya’s twin brother and the more soft-spoken of the two, Aki always had a special spot in his heart to protect his “little” (not by much) sister. His life is thrown terribly off course at the same time Aya’s is when he is realized to be the direct descendant of another important figure in the Mikage family history… one that puts him in direct conflict with his beloved sister. As the story progresses, Aki slips more and more away as the other being within him takes control of his body (at least Aya retains control over herself a great deal of the time) and forced him to do terrible things to the person he cares for the most. Power-hungry and as angry as Ceres herself, Aki as “Shiso” (“the ancestor”) provides a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Tooya An amnesiac who can’t even remember his last name, he awoke one day with the single word in his mind “Mikage.” He works for the Mikage family in return for the promised information of who he is; it is only when he meets Aya that he realizes he’s known her somewhere before and his inner turmoil begins: does he do what the Mikage want him to do (at first destroy, later capture Aya) or vow to protect her? How DID he know Aya before and who is he really? Tooya spends the great part of the series discovering the answers to these questions, and when he really does realize his history, becomes an integral part of the mystery of the Mikage family’s past.