[Ikamishu]

Book One, Page one

"Tekkun...Are you leaving me..?"

"Ani...Ani Please... I'm sorry..I'm so sorry..."

He lay his left cheek against her right, his arms cradling her ever so gently. His hand supported
her head gingerly, careful lest it fall and lose her...No...he couldn't...She couldn't go...
A tear streamed down his face unwillingly. He had to be strong infront of her. He had to tell her
that he would never ever leave her...nor would he let her leave him. There in his arms, his Ani
shuddered, and he weeped as her silver-tinged hair trembled with her fragile body.

"Tekkun...please don't cry..." A frail smile and a faltering twinkle shone in her golden, orange-
hued eyes before heavy coughings mixed with her bright crimson blood took her over forcefully,
and her body curled up in the painful strain. He gripped her tighter in fright.

Something cold lay delicately on his lips, and he jerked his eyes open. When had he squeezed them
shut? His eyes followed the finger tip to the skinny, weak, and helpless arm of Ani.
Oh ye Gods...He loved her then...He loved her more than he ever had... He felt her finger trace
his lips and soon he felt her hand softly holding his left cheek.
He closed his eyes and concentrated his whole being on feeling her hand next to his face.
His heart pounded harder.

"Tek-..kun..I..I lov-..I.."

Her voice weakened. Suddenly Tekkun jerked forward and his hands gripped her in panic. His face
was ashen, and pain-stricken as he shook her incessantly. She was leaving him...! No!! He shook
her in short, but violent jerks, and tears -Oh! The merciless tears...
They flooded and clouded his olive green eyes.

"Ani no!! ANI!!!!!" Came his agony filled shouts, anguish shrouding his trembling heart.

Silence took over as a pool of blood formed beneath them, Ani's relaxed finger barely touching it.
Her right arm was held out, and her face leaning towards Tekkun's chest...Her eyes...Her eyes
were so blank, so mute...and her mouth...still open in a slight gape..As if she was surprised and
was about to utter something in silent protest.

A hand roughly took him by the shoulders and pulled him up to his feet, making him drop Ani.
He cried, and reached out in hopes of catching her. He was only held back effortlessly as figures
swooped down on Ani, beautiful Ani..They caught her, and Tekkun choked on his sobs as he saw a
gently glowing hand close Ani's empty eyes.

---

"Hhmmpph..." Tekkun grunted as he dumped the last of the moving boxes in the middle of the bare
room. His footsteps echoed in distant emptiness against the wooden floor as he reached for his
lighter from his pant pocket. He gave the waiting boxes a neglectful glare as he slammed shut
his front door behind him, smoke arising from his cigarette. His glance fell to the short flight
of stairs ahead of him, then to the ever-greening grass that waved at him as if laughing.

'Yeah. Go on laughing.' He thought bitterly, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to breath out
the smoke. His job took him everywhere, and he'd followed it. And why not? What was the point of
resisting? His gaze turned to the sky in rue, then held his breath as his gaze dropped to a
little blue ball that ran down the small private street infront of his lawn and caught the
laughter of children and their joyful shadows. He hastily, but reluctantly, turned his head to his
left, trying to forget the mixture of rainbow auras that seemed to rise out of the children in
all their joyful play. He ached to feel their happiness, the innocent happiness he remembered.

"Tch..." He rubbed the cigarette butt on the brick stairs holding him up and watched as the last
of the embers died away. That's when he saw her.

She was definitely shorter than him, with her flowing blonde hair that fell to her graceful waist.
He squinted against the burning Sun of the annoying Summer days and saw that she was carrying
something by the handle with both hands. Whatever it was, it had a lot of lumps and looked pretty
ugly.

'Women.' He thought to himself again and spat to the ground. Let one get to you and you know you
are doomed forever with an unbreakable damn curse. Much to his annoyance, he saw that she was
heading towards him. He watched her as she walked up his newly-paved drive way and walk boldly
along the stone path and walk to him. She stood infront of him now, just before the brick
staircase. The staircase wasn't very high anyway, only two steps. As he stood there, looking at
her, she stared at him right back in the eyes. With a pang in his chest he watched her clear,
lavender eyes blink so innocently at him. Why? Why was she here? Why was she smiling at him?

"Well what the hell do you want?" He spat out his words impatiently, but faltered slightly when
he realized he failed to frighten her. She only smiled at him and raised her right hand in a
wave. She wasn't frightened at all. Why? Other women who ever bothered ran with fright whenever
he said those words, spat the words into their hopeful faces. He let a frown take over his face
to hide his surprise in failure.

She never let her eyes leave his. As she looked up at him from the bottom of the stairs on top
of the stone path she felt something squirm in her stomach and felt as if she was knotted inside.
He was different some how from all the other new comers. His dark brown hair flickered a bit
with the passing breeze and the breeze let her glimpse a pair of clouded emerald eyes that
longed for something.

"I don't have time for this." He started to turn, reaching for his door knob. He wasn't a zoo
animal. He didn't move into this town to be stared at by stupid women with beautiful lavender
eyes and tempting blonde hair.

'Wha..!' He realized what he was thinking and mentally slapped himself, hard. No women was worth
the trouble, or worth considering. Who the hell did she think she was anyway, walking up his
drive way like that, and the ston-

"Oh, please wait!" She spoke so suddenly, as if icy cold water was poured on top of her. He
stopped and turned to face her, slowly. He eyed her expectantly. What was the matter with her?
She chided herself in her mind and gave the best smile she could manage. "I'm Hiroko Tsurai,
and on behalf of your new neighbors on this blessed street, I'd like to say welc-"

"Forget it." He growled, and she stopped abruptly. He turned quickly and stepped inside his house,
careful to slam the door in her face. He trudged upstairs to what he would call a bedroom later,
mentally screaming at himself to ignore the blue aura of sadness coming from the woman outside
the door.

He let his head fall to his hands and held himself in a pained, crouched position and could not
fall asleep on his make-shift bed of blankets and crude pillows until he felt the aura subside.
Why...?

Every morning, whether it was sunny or rainy, her aura would be back. Each time a wave of
white-ish pink would take him over as he crouched in his blankets, feeling her presence outside,
her aura of undefined hope. Every time she came, she'd stay all day, and the aura never faded.
On somedays it was stronger, weaker on others.

She wasn't going to give up on him. After 15 years of greeting new neighbors ever since she was
14 years old, she had never seen such eyes. Something cried out to her in those emerald green
eyes, though no visible tears had fallen. She was 29 and she thought she had seen everything
in the world to be content by herself, safely tucked away in a neighborhood where no thieves
roamed, no rapists threatened the alley and no drug dealers thrived in secret by night. But
everyday as she clutched the basket of fruits covered by a hankerchief to her chest as she stood
on those steps, she knew she couldn't give up. Something was new. New in her life.

But not even she could change the arrival of Fall and the month of September, and her job called
her away, back to the room full of children, to teach them wonderful secrets of the world, and
to teach them who they were in that tiny elementary school's classroom.

He no longer felt the lingering of the aura that plunged him to confusion on his doorsteps each
morning and throughout the day. Leaves had begun falling, and the green grass of the Summer fell
to the grace of gold, subjecting to Mother Nature. Somewhere inside he ached, but he knew not
where or what. Something just burned and refused to be put out, not by tylenol, advil, cold water,
certainly not by exercise. As he left his dojo where he was a martial arts master each afternoon,
he found himself lost in thought as he watched children cross the street just to avoid "that
mean creepy guy". On such occasions he found his feet leading him to a nearby elementary school
where a bell would wail and laughing children would come pouring out.
Then, in a tiny, pitiful excuse of a window, he saw her again.

Book One, Page 10

Sighing, she gathered her books and shoved them into her bag. Soft pelting noises filled the
world beyond the window and she looked up to find rain descending. Remembering she left her
umbrella in the house, she walked out of the classroom, thinking about the wet walk home.

Down the stairs she went, and she looked up to look at the school entr-...
She stopped and for a moment, she couldn't breathe, as if something had slammed into her chest.
There he was.

She ran to him the best she could in her high heels and just as she reached him, she tripped.
"Ah...crap.." She muttered to herself before she took her ankles gingerly into her hands. Her
leg gave a tremble and she knew she had sprained it. Groaning in pain, she grabbed her bag and
groped around for the school gate, looking for support.

A hand took hers. As pain spasmed through her ankles, she gasped, remembering that he was there.
He helped her up wordlessly. She let her weight depend on her left leg, depending on his hand.
They looked at each other for a minute before he spoke.

"You're hurt." And it took her a moment to figure out what he had said. She couldn't help but
look into his clouded, emerald green eyes and try to figure out what the eyes meant. She saw them
in her dreams, at work...everywhere...Why...She shook her head roughly to shake those thoughts
out.

"I'll..I'll be okay.." She murmured, surprised to find that the way she'd respond to his first
kind words so weakly. She hung her head in shame at herself.

"Here." He took off his waterproof trench coat and put it over her head and around her. She gaped
slightly, looking up at him. "You can't walk home anyway like that." She felt lightheaded as he
lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest,
and felt as if her head couldn't get any hotter.

He didn't know why he was doing the things he was doing. All that he knew was she was wet, and
injured. And...he hit himself mentally for even thinking it. Her presence gave him a sense of
comfort. He felt the warmth of her aura, a soft white and peach-ish aura...Aura of trust. Somehow,
holding her like that in his arms, knowing she was depending on him...He felt sort of a thrill
inside. Why?! He shut her out...that first day. Why now did everything have to be different?
What drove him so?

[more later]

[Butters]

I like it,its diffrent. Cant wait to find out more about it.

[Cheng]

Butters, on Aug 18 2005, 07:01 PM, said:

I like it,its diffrent. Cant wait to find out more about it.

Ah...so...violent! O_O

But I really like it. However, I really need a character information section to each of your stories. It's usually...like...2-3 chapters of your stories before I figure out who's who. (Unless I already know who's who)

After that though, WOW. Plot twists in the prelude! How...interestingly awesome.
But I'm confused as hell.

Keep it up. I'll tell you when I'm not confused anymore. xD

[Merc]

Leave it to you to write a gripping love tale riddled with sorrow and violence. I wouldn't be wrong in assuming a little piece of you goes into your writing, would I?

I really like the way your train of thought takes your works, and this one is definetely no exception. I LOVE IT! If it were a woman I would marry it and call it Susan.

Please continue writing, I dunno where I would get my inspiration if you stopped. :3

[Cheng]

Merc, on Aug 18 2005, 09:23 PM, said:

Please continue writing, I dunno where I would get my inspiration if you stopped. :3

I know where I'd get mine. >:]

...
Oh, not there! My god why do you think like that??

[Merc]

Penthouse Forum letters don't count, Cheng.

[Ikamishu]

Cheng, on Aug 18 2005, 08:16 PM, said:

Butters, on Aug 18 2005, 07:01 PM, said:

I like it,its diffrent. Cant wait to find out more about it.

Ah...so...violent! O_O

But I really like it. However, I really need a character information section to each of your stories. It's usually...like...2-3 chapters of your stories before I figure out who's who. (Unless I already know who's who)

After that though, WOW. Plot twists in the prelude! How...interestingly awesome.
But I'm confused as hell.

Keep it up. I'll tell you when I'm not confused anymore. xD

xD I assume you're referring to Lethe and the Salvation..

Lethe and Salvation were really for people who knew each other a lot in-game and there fore I took the liberal assumption that the readers would be RO-knowledgeable already seeing as most of my readers were already playing RO and knew each other.

But this story is completely new and as the beginning of all stories, you must meet the character, and should know their names after having met them...
There are many ways to introduce a reader to the names of the characters, I usually take the indirect route and have a dialogue and use another character to call upon a character etc etc, but this time I took the direct route and just pointed who they were..

But you see it's still a preview of the introduction book and you have yet to discover their fate. ^__^

[Cheng]

Quote

...
But you see it's still a preview of the introduction book and you have yet to discover their fate. ^__^...

THEIR fate? So...the girl is alive. The prologue is either a nightmare from the guy, or an event that happened (maybe a vision), but due to unknown events the girl lives. It'll be one of those love stories with lots of plot twists.
That is what I gathered from the story and your comments.


So...how close was I to what you actually have planned?

EDIT-69 Posts. I feel like this is a special event.

[Ikamishu]

Cheng, on Aug 18 2005, 11:01 PM, said:

So...how close was I to what you actually have planned?

Whether the girl is alive or not is for you to think about but for me to decide. When I write my stories, no one knows what will happen in them, and nor do I until the moment I sit to write it.

So how close were you? Maybe close..Maybe totally off.

[Nakai]

i always like these kind of stories. (hmm.. is it just me or does that sound totally off? -talking about the sentence i just wrote)

back on topic:

You have a very nice "hook" (stupid english teachers won't get out of my head -sob-). Can't wait for the Prologue to appear

[Ruki]

Cheng, on Aug 18 2005, 09:28 PM, said:

Merc, on Aug 18 2005, 09:23 PM, said:

Please continue writing, I dunno where I would get my inspiration if you stopped. :3

I know where I'd get mine. >:]

...
Oh, not there! My god why do you think like that??

..lol
man shariku, youre so inspiring me to finish my 2 yr old fanfics :/

[Rue]

I'm very interested.....can't wait to see more soon....

[Chipmunx]

Heheh, I like this, Ika. It's beautiful how we feel the bond between the two main characters. I cannot find anything to fault you on this time, Ika. Congratulations!

[PURPLE KNIGHT STAMP OF "ME-LIKEY"]

[chiknman]

hehe sorry so late to post here, I like it so far sharu keep it goin

(psst dont forget to save it somewhere this time )

[Ikamishu]

There, book one, page one all done.

[Cheng]

Wow...makedane.
My English teacher would let me skip everything for a year if I could write like that.
But all I can do is doodle. What a shame.

I like it. No plot as of yet, but the characters are really getting...well...character. The detail overwhelms the mind...*mind collapses upon itself*

Too...much...
Keep it up. /no1

[Rue]

...Interesante...I'm quite drawn to the story...half expecting "things" & such...
Hiroko Tsurai...that name reminds me of something in the back of my mind for some odd reason...

[Lute]

Whoo~

o.< Good story. Well writen and detailed. Now if some of the slaughtered trees in my English class were more like this...

[Nakai]

woo reminds me of some stories i have read throughout my life xD

Keep up the great work

[Ruki]

Nice.