.: Prologue :.

. . .

He watched from a distance. The vision of mystery flashed briefly every time a car passed and obstructed his view. She was perched under an iridescent spotlight, her pale dress catching the chromas as the breeze tugged softly on the hem. Dark silk draped off her shoulders, allowing a generous view of skin and some loose curls curtained around her face while the rest fell in long waves. So much hair...what colour was it? It may have been brown but it was hard to tell under the wash of so many neon lights.

This was the third night he'd seen her, and he always found her in the exact same spot. He'd been searching and searching for the one and after stumbling upon this girl, he couldn't help but think she was perfect. He sighed a little. This was weird. What he was doing was creepy. But he wasn't dong anything damning, was he? There was nothing wrong with having some coffee from the local cafe at the exact same time she'd be there. Right?

He'll eventually have the guts to just go and ask her. Maybe they'll have a nice chat first. He really wanted to get to know her. He wanted to find out what colour those eyes were; why they were always downcast. Sometimes he thought she looked kind of sad.

He swallowed, felt around his pocket for some money, and scanned his surroundings to make sure she didn't catch anyone else's attention. It was clear. This puzzling damsel could be all his tonight. He just had to give himself a push forward.

Their gazes locked as he crossed the street and brought himself over, only parting when he timidly brought the bill into view. She nodded and gave him a captivating smile, which he returned upon discovering her eyes were a charming shade of gray. Were they gray? It was hard to determine since she was still under the tinted lights, but he was able mark the foreign traces in her features.

She motioned for him to follow her into an alley and led him away from all the city noise. As he stared at the back of her head, he rummaged through his mind for something to talk about.

"So uh...what else do you do? I mean besides—do you have any hobbies?" For goodness sake, his friends were right. He was hopeless.

"I had many hobbies."

Had? Did she mean to say that? He considered asking, but eventually decided to ignore it. "What kind of hobbies?"

"Reading."

The short, simple answers weren't helping with his increasing nerves, but he figured he should keep on trying. Not all mysteries were easy to crack.

"I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself first. My name's Eiji. A-and you are?"

"Ritsuka." It was a pretty name, but it didn't suit her.

"Well, Ritsuka-san do you have any recommendations?"

This time she didn't reply right away, but instead pondered for a bit before saying, "...Winged Resilience."

He thought she wouldn't say anymore, but a second later her voice suddenly sounded a bit livelier as she went into further detail. He discovered it was a fairly successful novel by a not so famous wordsmith who, as Ritsuka strangely but solemnly pointed out, had perished many months ago.

"What's it about?" Eiji could honestly care less about books or dead authors, but he was entranced by Ritsuka's sudden momentum in the conversation. He hoped to heighten the mood with his question. Her voice was velvet, but it sounded like music when she was happy, or at least content. It made him smile. Thank goodness it was dark, otherwise if she turned around then she'd see that he was as red as a poppy in a white bouquet.

"It's centered around an angel, Alto, who was banned from heaven."

"Woah. What'd he do that was so bad?"

"He relished in setting cities on fire and watching the world burn."

Eiji let out a small chuckle. "Doesn't sound like much of a hero."

"He's actually the villain, but I like to call him him the hero of his own story."

The conversation began to die after that, but Eiji revived it with the occasional inquiry about her other hobbies.

"I used to study theater and playwriting." "I was also a painter, before." "I once indulged in some woodworking." Used to, was, once. She was so spirited talking about things she so obviously enjoyed, but she kept referring to her life as if it were in the past.

She just didn't belong, he thought. She seemed far too tame, far too refined to be where she is. Perhaps she fell on hard times and this was all she could do to make it by? He considered the idea of helping her out after their 'business' was done, and it almost led him to having second thoughts about the whole endeavor until she suddenly stopped. He almost rammed into her, but luckily he caught himself just in time.

Eiji squinted as he looked about, finding that they were at the back entrance of rather old, neglected building. "Is this where you live?" He questioned, looking at her with pity.

She shook her head and told him it was simply a safe and private place to do business.

The alleys were already quite dark but there was even less light once the door closed after them. Only the moon offered it's glow through a dusty window. It made the situation feel a bit...romantic? He blushed and ridiculed himself. As if good romances had this particular kind of start. Although, his hopeful side told him it wasn't impossible.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught her slipping off her shawl. He turned around quickly, a bit embarrassed, and tried his best to undo the top of his pants with shaky fingers. Tonight would be his first time with a girl, but he was a bit relieved knowing he'd spend it with a gentle little thing like her.

He heard some rapid movement behind him right before a pain rippled through his back and sent him falling on his knees. It took him another thrust of a blade to realize he was being stabbed. He tried to scramble to his feet, but the wounds made him weak and the sudden weight on top of him prevented any chance of crawling away. He cried out as he felt the knife plunge into his back, piercing flesh and bone, until his screams faded into whimpers. The last thing he heard was her soft voice, sobbing and uttering something he couldn't quite catch until his very last breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."