Chapter One: The Offer

A large TV near the train station flickered on. An announcer with a theatrical voice began to announce the start of some kind of tournament. Simultaneously a train pulled into the station as a long bell rang out. The doors of the white train opened and people piled out. As they exited most eyes got caught by the humongous TV. Soon a crowd formed-all of them staring at the two little people fighting on a bright white layer.

Everyone who was on the train stopped to watch the fight between the two angels. Most of them had seen the fight before, it had taken place a year ago, but they still became entranced by the colors and the feeling that came when watching the game. Unnoticed by anyone a girl around fourteen with dark purple hair scowled. She flung her school bag over her shoulder, turned on her heel, and left the crowd.

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Sakura Ohkawa looked out the tinted glass of the train window. From memory she could easily tell that they were almost to the train station. Sakura stashed away her book in her bag and placed the bag on her lap. The scenery abruptly changed into city. The train then slowed and screeched to a stop, a few passengers groaning at the loud drilling noise. Sakura could hear a muffled ring from outside, and then the doors automatically flew open.

As all the people around her stood up, so did she. Sakura was glad for the small roof over her head. The sun was blinding, the light sneaking through the open wall leading to the outside. Even with the light blinding her, Sakura was really glad it was sunny. The past couple days had been unusually rainy. She had gotten stuck at her friend's house because the rain was coming down so hard that she couldn't walk home. The small patch of land near the entrance of the station was filled with sparkling wet grass, but the dull mud ruined the whole scene.

Finally in the sun Sakura stretched, her muscles sore fro being cramped in the tiny train seat. As she started to walk home she found a large group of people watching that huge TV Sakura always found as interesting. It was constantly playing news or funny commercials. It broadcasted sports tournaments along with other things. Before she could see what was playing a huge wave of people forced her to the center of the crowd. Sakura squeezed out of the two people she was stuck between. She to stand on her tiptoes in order to see the screen because a tall man was blocking her view. Having to move over to the side a bit she finally got a glimpse of what was on.

When she saw what was on the screen she couldn't help but frown. It was that stupid Angelic Layer again. Sakura couldn't stand to watch anymore. She had hated Angelic Layer for a long time now, for reasons she never told anyone. Her family had guessed the reason a while back, but they never spoke a word. Sakura couldn't even stand to think about Angelic Layer, it just caused pain. Fed up with it she slung her bag over her right shoulder, turned around, and left the suffocating crowd of people.

When she got out she almost broke into a run, but she knew she would just draw attention to herself. Instead she walked as fast as she could until she was far away from the large crowd of people and the Angelic Layer fight. Her leg muscles hurting forced her to slow down, her calves burning. Turning on to another street she saw a white booth with a man in front of it, asking questions to the crowd in front of him.

"Next question listen closely. A man hung himself, underneath him was a puddle of water. The only other thing in the room was desk on the opposite wall which was too far away to stand on. The ceiling was also too high for the man to hand himself properly. Yet there was nothing in the room the man could of stood on, so how did he hang himself?" Sakura heard the man ask this as she pushed her way to the front of the crowd. When no one answered Sakura spoke up.

"He stood on a block of ice." She answered; her brother had told her this one before. People around her went "Oh." When they finally got it.

"Correct!" the man shouted, "Get two more right and you can answer the drawing for a mystery prize."

"Now on to the next question. This one's a little harder. Mr. John took his wife to a war movie. During a loud scene when guns and bombs were going off Mr. John shot his wife. No one noticed and Mr. John left the theater with his wife without getting caught. How'd he do this?" What Sakura wanted to know was why the questions were so depressing.

"Because he shot her during a part when guns were going off, and he didn't shoot her in the right place to kill her so she could walk out." An adult somewhere behind Sakura said.

"That's the most common but incorrect answer. Any other guesses?" The man asked the crowd. Sakura could've heard crickets from all the response she heard from the crowd. Sighing, she answered:

"They were in a drive-in movie theater." The man laughed heartily and gave Sakura a small piece of candy.

"Correct again! One more for this teen here and she enters the drawing! Let's try one more and see if she can get it right! Two men witnessed a robbery. Mr. Adams was very trustworthy and said the thief's description along with that he was wearing sunglasses. Mr. Rutherfield was just as trustworthy and matched Mr. Adams description. A tall lanky white man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes. The detective pulled Mr. Rutherfield aside for more questioning. How did the detective know Mr. Rutherfield was lying?" The time Sakura was stumped. They were both just as trustworthy, but the detective knew Mr. Rutherfield was lying, but how?

"C'mon folks. Think about what I said carefully." The man spoke out after a minute's silence. Sakura thought about the description and then the answer hit her like a bullet.

"The man was wearing sunglasses. Mr. Rutherfield couldn't have known the color of the thief's eyes if he was wearing sunglasses!" Sakura answered excitedly.

"Once more correct! Come on over here and fill out a slip!" Pleased with herself Sakura bounced happily up to the booth and filled out an entry form. Then the man gave her a ten dollar gift card to a local bookstore.

"The drawing will be in a couple of days. We'll call you if you win." He told her, giving Sakura a friendly pat on the back. Sakura left the crowd with a smile on her face, her morale increased by a lot. It took her a minute of walking to realize someone was following her. She turned around nervously, but the man didn't hesitate to come right up to her. Surprisingly he slipped a card in her hand. He was dressed rather professionally, looking important, sort of like a lawyer.

"Wha?" Sakura asked, puzzled beyond anything.

"Hello there. I work with the Angelic Layer Company. I saw how intelligent you were back there and I was wondering if you wanted to test our new prototype angel-the male model. With your smarts you could go far in the Angelic layer world. I'm assuming you're going to say yes so I'll become your man-."

"No." Sakura interrupted.

"Right. No is something we can take care-wait what? HOW? No wait- why? Don't you want to be one of the first to play with a male Angel?" he asked, completely confused.

"I hate Angelic Layer." Sakura said, turning away from the man and walking home. The man was stunned.

"W-well. Just call the number on the card if you change your mind!"

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A/N: The first chapter of my new story. I know it's kind of short, but I only have a little bit of time left before I have to leave for cheerleading tryouts. I'm so nervous, I really want to make the High School squad. So I really hope you'll enjoy this new story from BrookeLong!