Oani

[Prologue-Ch 1-Ch 2]
This story is currently in progress.

[Prologue]

"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...Angels don't die...Do they?
A tear streamed down his face unwillingly. He had to be strong in front 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 wept 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 coughs 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 just barely 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-..."

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.

Her crimson blood seeped through her delicate white robes, a whisper of the bitter battle won just moments before...
Her right arm was held out, and her face was leaning towards Tekkun's chest...Her eyes...Her eyes were so blank, so mute...and her mouth...still open in a slight gape..A final protest against death cut off in grim silence...

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.

[Chapter 1]

"Hhmmpph..." Tekkun grunted as he dumped the last of the moving boxes in the middle of the bareroom. 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 in front 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 a damned 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 to him. She stood in front 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 some days 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 handkerchief 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 how. 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.

[Chapter 2]

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.

Without a second thought, 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. All the warmth seemed to rush to her cheeks. What madness had driven her to run like that?
He helped her up wordlessly. She let her weight depend on her left leg, leaning 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, not 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?
"You best be resting." He advised her as he put her down as gently as he could on her feet, a hand encircling her waist. She nodded quietly as she let a hand rest on his shoulder. They stood like that for what seemed ages. Tekkun felt his face grow hot, but cast it into the wind unnoticed like a passing thought.