Innocence
Chapter One
She sat on the winged chair quietly, her smiling blue eyes never leaving the platform in front of her. The headset she was wearing shined slightly in the light, the eyes behind it quiet and watchful. Caramel locks cascaded from the edges of the headset in a messy, but somewhat cute fashion. On the stretch of transparent matter in front of the girl stood a tiny doll clothed in vibrant, red material which sparkled slightly in the glow from the setting sun. The serious look on the little figure's face matched that of her dues, the well-known four time Champion of Angelic Layer, Misaki Suzuhara.
"Let's go, Hikaru," whispered Misaki intently, as she mentally guided her Angel through a difficult waltz routine that matched perfectly the lively music coming from a stereo, which happened to be placed on a stool beside the shining layer.
The piano's delicate sound gently guided Misaki and Hikaru through the dance and, successfully, the pair finished, with a final step from Hikaru and a vibrant smile from her friend and dues. Misaki was about to pull off her headset when she felt a hand grab hold of her shoulder.
"Naa!" she screeched, jumping up and turning around in one clumsy motion. The Champion fell forward and was caught in a gentle hold by arms clothed in white. Misaki looked up and blushed very brightly when she saw two laughing, cobalt eyes staring back at her intently. Oujirou Mihara stood before her, clothed in a white dress shirt and khaki pants, looking handsome and elegant as usual.
"O-Oujirou-san!" she squeaked softly, backing up into the Layer, which caused her to trip and fall once again.
"Konnichiwa, Misaki-chan," greeted Oujirou in a soft, deep voice as he offered a hand to Misaki, which she grabbed on to hesitantly and pulled herself up.
Dusting herself off, she tilted her head slightly in question at him.
"I thought Icchan needed you this evening, Oujirou-san?" she asked, confused as to why he was here. Ichiro Mihara usually didn't let his younger step-brother skip important meetings or events, and when one did so, the pentalty could turn out to be quite severe(but in a quite humourous way as well, even though it was Ogata who usually ended up taking the punishments.)
"We finished early, and I decided to come visit you," Oujirou smiled, looking at Misaki in a loving way which caused her to blush and turn away to look towards Hikaru.
Even after four years of being with Oujirou, Misaki was still incredibly shy, especially for her 16 years. He had only ever kissed her once(not including tiny pecks on the cheek) and it had almost made her faint. The Champion sometimes became upset with herself because of this, and she wished she could hold Oujirou's hand without her face turning a lovely shade of crimson. Still, Oujioru had told her many times that he found her innocence extemely cute, and that it was one of the many things that made him love her as he did.
Oujirou interrupted Misaki's thoughts by placing his large hand over her tiny one. She looked over to him as he began to speak.
"You're free tonight, ne Misaki-chan?" he questioned politely, looking her over.
"Hai, Oujirou-san," she replyed, turning to remove her headset and take Hikaru out of the Layer. After she had accomplished these tasks, the 16 year-old girl turned to her signifigant other and asked him why.
"Well, I made reservations at a resturant in Yokohama. It's actually quite a lovely place. I thought that maybe you would like to go with me, then perhaps take a walk around the city." His gentlemanly smile made Misaki's insides burst with butterflies, and she smiled, accepting nervously.
"Hai, Oujirou-san, I'd love to go to dinner with you. Thank you." The Champion bowed to the Prince, who smiled and offered a hand. Misaki placed her hand in his, and her cheeks filled with deep color as Oujirou intertwined his fingers with hers. She placed Hikaru carefully in her bag and let Oujirou lead her out of the building towards Tokyo Station.
"Oujirou-san, that was an excellant dinner!" Misaki exclaimed happily, looking up at the Prince of the Layer and beaming. "Much better than anything I could ever hope to cook!"
"Hai, Misaki-chan, it was. But your cooking is amazing. You make a delicious omelette," he replied in an amused voice, his eyes softening slightly at her joy.
After a delicious dinner, the couple had strolled around the city for a few hours. A light snow had begun to fall, and Oujirou wrapped Misaki up in his fuzzy, blue scarf to keep her from getting too cold.They ended up sitting on a bench in the park, Misaki leaning against Oujirou's chest with his arm wrapped around her narrow shoulders affectionately. There were few people out in the park, even if it was only 7 PM, so Misaki did not mind the gentle display of affection.
Remembering something, the tiny girl reached inside her bag to pull out Hikaru. She looked at her Angel and smiled, hugging her close. Oujirou watched this quietly, and reached into his jacket to pull out his Angel, Wizard. He placed the blue Angel on Misaki's arm, next to Hikaru, and smiled at his love.
"I'm going to go buy us something from a vendor. You sit right here with Wizard and Hikaru, Misaki-chan," he proclaimed with a quiet voice, and rose to walk behind a building and to a vendor whom was selling delightfully warm drinks such as hot chocolate and coffee.
The Champion of Angelic Layer smiled to herself, her insides melting like snow inside of her belly. The evening had been absolutely perfect.
"Nothing can go wrong now, ne Hikaru-chan, Wizard-chan?" she questioned to the silent Angels. Misaki blushed when she noticed that Hikaru was leaning against Wizard. They seemed to be asleep in each other's arms, and it looked so right. A giddy smile covered Misaki's face, and she hugged Hikaru and Wizard close, closing her eyes and leaning against the bench.
"Hello, Misaki Suzuhara."
A slurred voice rang out uncomfortably close to the Champion, and her eyes snapped open fearfully. Misaki glanced around, holding the two Angels in her arms closer in a protective way.
"W-Who's there?" she whispered, shivering slightly. "Icchan?"
"Oh, it's only me. Just someone who would like to meet you very much."
A large, staggering figure appeared in front of the bench and Misaki could just make out the features of a drunken man who towered over her, mere inches away. The frightened girl could smell the stong scent of alcohal flowing like water from the man's countenance. He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled crookedly.
"Now, now, little bird," he crooned softly, bringing his wet lips to her cheeks in a messy kiss. "I only want to say 'hello'."
Misaki tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat. She couldn't make a sound, however much she wanted to call for help, for her Prince to come and save her like he was supposed to. Her eyes widened and her breathing became severely laboured and the man began stroking her thigh underneath her skirt.
"Shh," he whispered to her, "Little bird, do not be frightened by me."
"Ou-Ouji..." Oujirou's name died on Misaki's lips as her attacker began tosteal her innocence.
A/N: Wow, I'm surprised I actually wrote this. I had been thinking about the concept for awhile now, but
I never really put it into words. It's going to get very angsty later on...I know Angelic Layer definitely
isn't what you'd call a depressing work, but I thought maybe this would be something to write. :P