Ok, this is my first attempt at a romance fic, or should I say pseudo-romance, so be gentle! Anyhow, you know this is gonna get wierd so I shouldn't ever bother saying so (haha)

Anyhow, enjoy!

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Sometimes we experience things that are easily and immediately explained. Other times, experiences leave us baffled, looking for an explanation that may or may not be there. The occurances themselves may turn us for the better. They may also be detrimental to our lives and other portions of social interaction and the like. How we, as people, take these experiences is the driving force of how we comprehend the world. Regardless, enough of my blabber. I shall let the tale of one lonely girl, namely Kaori Aida, describe just how intertwined we are with the universe. As recounted by the Cosmic Eye of the Universe, the Eternal Codex of the Heavens, I present to you:

Sensorium

Astronomy club had run overtime. The hour was becming late and the sun was setting, putting the sky into an orange cast. Kaorin exited the doors of the school with her friend Chihiro close in tow.

"Man, I thought that would never end!", griped Chihiro.

Kaorin shrugged. "Yea, it seemed like Shiro would never come to a decision."

Both girls smiled as they walked into the fairly deserted street towards their respective houses, which lay in the same general direction. As they walked they chatted about things that any normal girls their age would. Gossip, romance, pressures from peers and parents. Although kaorin played into the whole relationship talk she never quite came to the point of admitting her true feelings for Sakaki, her one 'true love' as her diary entries tended to say.

The sun sank lower on the horizon and the sky dipped into the beginnings of inky blackness. Waving and saying her goodbyes, Chihiro trotted off down a side lane to her home leaving Kaorin to walk alone into the night.

Up ahead Kaorin noticed the road blockaded by orange striped barricades and men in neon orange reflective vests and hard-hats digging a hole in the street.

'Damn construction work.', Kaorin thought. Then she remembered a side path that lead around the street being worked on and deposited the traveller only a quarter mile from her home.

Trotting to the side of the construction, she stepped down an alleyway that lead to the forest path. Stepping onto the cleared path amongst the trees, she shivered for a moment due to the rapid drop in temperature and the general creepiness of forests in the nighttime. The light was fairly dim. Luckily, the trail was fairly straight in nature.

'Creepy but...relaxing...kind of', Kaorin reassured herself.

The forest was filled with the various noises of insects buzzing, birds letting out their final chirps of the day, and a few less explainable sounds. One of these, which sounded like a vicious scraping, caused Kaorin to freeze in her tracks, heart pumping.

The sound emerged from a collection of wild bushes along the side of the trail. Kaorin's eyes wandered towards the source until she noticed a dark silhouette rising from amongst the trees. It was generally humanoid in shape, but the malicious looking talons on the ends of its fingers and the bone-like crest running down its back certainly wasn't human.

The beast continued to emit strange scraping sounds from its throat as Kaorin slammed her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming and bolted quickly from the scene, hoping that the creature had not seen her. She picked up speed as she noticed streetlights through the trees ahead of her. As she finally emerged onto pavement once more a baleful cry echoed through the trees behind her. Breaking into a second bout of cold sweat she summoned up enough energy to complete the run home.

She stood outside the door to her home for a moment to catch her breath. She didn't want anyone to question why she was breating hard, much less did she want to explain what she had seen. Questions were the last thing she wanted at this hour.

'No one will believe me.'

She managed to make herself look as well-kept as possible before entering her house. Her mother met her at the front hall.

"Oh, glad to see you're back Kaori, I was getting worried. Did the club run overtime or something?"

Kaori nodded in confirmation.

"Ok then. Dinner is almost ready.", her mother said as she returned to the kitchen.

Kaorin, in turn, went to her room and tossed her books to the ground in a pile. She lay on her bed and tried to find something that would distract her mind from the reoccuring thoughts of the strange beast. This was especially uncomfortable because everytime she pictured the creature a series of chills would run through her body so strong that all her muscles would cringe. She picked up the lastest issue of her favourite romance manga anthology to take her mind off the memory.

Kaorin sighed as she read the romantic tales and replaced all the characters with Sakaki and herself. She wished inwardly that somehow, someday she could tell Sakaki how she felt.

"Kaori! Dinner!" broke her reverie.

That night Kaorin slept fitfully. The image of the beast still fresh in her memory. She desperately hoped that the construction crews would be gone by the next morning.

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On the way to school the following morning Kaorin was distraught to see that the construction was still occuring and that she would have to take the forest path again. She dreaded the thought, but she had no other choice. Swiftly she made her was around the bend and stood before the terrible path, nearly hyperventilating.

'If I run...I'll be ok.', she reassured herself.

Gulping down a lump in her throat she closed her eyes and ran full speed onto the path. With her eyes closed to block out any sense of being scared she ran...straight into someone's back.

"Oww...", she said as she sat on the ground.

"Are you ok?", came a voice from above her.

Standing quickly, Kaorin bowed to the unknown man she had inadvertantly run into.

"I'm fine. I'm very, very sorry. Please forgive me.", she pleaded.

"It's alright. Just watch where you're going next time.", the boy smiled.

The boy looked to be around Kaorin's age. He wore the boys uniform for her school, letting her know that at least they were going to the same place. It was his eyes though that really caught Kaorin, they had something about them that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"O..Ok! I'm sorry!", she said and bowed once more.

The boy smiled his quaint smile once again.

"I guess we go to the same school.", he said, indicating her uniform.

"Yes...I guess we do.", Kaorin sputtered out.

"Are...you ok?", the boy asked.

"W...What?", Kaorin asked.

"You're shaking. Are you ok?"

Kaorin hadn't even noticed she was shuddering. The fear of encountering the beast coupled with the shock of colliding with the boy had caused her to break into uncontrollable fit of shaking.

"I'm fine.", she said, flashing a weak smile.

"Would you..like to walk together? I'm new to the school so...I'd like to make some new friends.", the boy asked.

Kaorin smiled, feeling safer in general with someone to walk the forest with.

'Besides, he'd protect me if that thing came back.'

Startled with her own thoughts, she shook it off as fictitious thinking.

"My name is Katsu by the way.", the boy said smiling.

"Oh, nice to meet you Katsu. I'm Kaori."

"Nice to meet you too Kaori. I like that name, it's very cute.", he said blushing a bit.

Kaorin in turn blushed.

'My name isn't cute! Why does he think that...', she told herself.

"C'mon Kaori, we better get going. You never know what might be in the woods.", Katsu chuckled.

'That's what you think...', Kaori thought.

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Kaorin with a BOY!??!??!?!? (buildings fall, waves crash, sun quickly implodes into a black hole, etc.)

Anyhow, it can only get better from here right!?

-peace

-Jay