In the second installment of this classic seven-volume shojo manga (female-oriented Japanese graphic novel) series, the primary themes are sex, shame, and alienation. The strongly gifted but extremely naïve medium Subaru Sumeragi aids a childhood friend who, by falling into a months-long sleep, avoids admitting she was gang raped. Subaru also continues to wonder about the motives of Seishiro Sakurazuka, the apparently friendly veterinarian who has taken a romantic interest in Subaru?and who is related to a clan of psychically-powered assassins. Meanwhile, Subaru's sister Hokuto uses her own magic--and her kind heart--to aid a foreign prostitute being pursued by the police. The illustrations are in the usual Clamp style: heavy on the cute outfits and unnaturally good-looking characters. Both the art and the storyline add to the foreshadowing and the tension that slowly builds throughout the series. Printed in its original Japanese right-to-left orientation, the front of the book includes a foldout color insert, and the back has a glossary and sound effect index.