Nightmares of a Paper Crane

Author's Notes: Alright, my first fanfic! Sorry if I'm not very good… I'm just one big TWEWY fan of JoshXNeku, but you won't be seeing any of that here, sorry JoshXNeku fans! Plus, my vocabulary is half on English, half on Chinese, I only know certain words for each; if I misuse any words, make any stupid mistakes, or suddenly switch from ultra-descriptive to lame, please don't rant at me and forgive those mistakes! I appreciate constructive criticism and any comments, no matter how simple. So… thanks for listening to this weird warning and taking a look at my fanfic! I'm quite a dreamer and have thought about writing this for some time now! Always wanted to start one, I-

…

Bad me! *slaps*

Sorry for wasting all that space and time… Better get this story started, huh? Enjoy~!

EDITED: Fixed for names and other little mistakes...

Disclaimer: Nope, I do NOT own TWEWY. Never have, never will, but always dreaming that I could be a part of their world…

Prologue: Moon Rise Song

The sound of folding paper echoed throughout the room accompanied by a light-hearted humming. In the dim light of the torches, a girl sat at the table, folding paper cranes with multicoloured paper. A blue one here, a red one there, then yellow one plopped next to them on the smooth wood. Moonlight pushed its way through the clouds to shine fitfully into the room, trying to peek at the interior design. The sound of folding paper stopped as did the humming as the moonlight reached out and touched the small figure at the table. A playful smile crossed the girl's lips as she glanced at the moon, looking at it through the open window with red, swaying velvet curtains.

"Cheeky little moon… Hee hee… Taking a sneak peek at me?" the smooth and young voice rolled from the girl's tongue like water over stones; so sweet, playful and enchanting that it seemed to draw the attention of all the objects in the room. The flames from the torches on the walls danced a little closer and the wind shifted to blow a gentle breeze into the room, enough to make the girl's plain, white dress flutter. The girl hopped off her chair, leaving the cranes on the table except for the small, black one currently in her hand. She danced onto the balcony, a hand grasping the railing lightly. The light cast a heavenly glow onto the girl, her features now visible as she held the crane up to the moon, smiling joyfully and leaning over the edge.

A girl, looking no more than eleven, was there, hanging onto the balcony as she tried to touch the moon, black paper crane in a thin, bony outstretched hand. She looked thin, somewhat malnourished, but, at the same time, radiated a glow of life. Her facial features were sharp yet gentle: a small nose, a set of pink, child-like lips, a small chin, delicate ears, and mismatched eyes. Those eyes. They were… intense. They were like whirlpools of gold and blue as they caught the moonlight and threatened to absorb the poor silver circle in the night sky. On the left, her gold eyes made her black pupils stand out in a somewhat foreboding way; on the right, her eyes were like ice, a piercing, cold gaze with immeasurable depth. Her long limbs were still as she kept her pose, offering a black paper crane to the moon, and her long, silky black hair flapped like a cloak behind her.

The sharp cold didn't seem to bother her. Instead, it seemed to make her happier. The wind threatened to blow her small form off the edge of the balcony railing at any second, but she held on tightly, not giving the gale a single chance in the fight. Her skin was pale in the silver light.

A flutter of black disappeared into the night as the stars silently watched the black crane ride away on the gale. A boat with a message, a peaceful ambassador of the heavens, a fragile creature among the rough waves of the wind, a single, lonely black rose falling as the silver blinking stars let it fall…

...

Neku snapped back into reality as something descended in front of him and between Hachiko's doggy ears. The black object stayed there for a while before a small breeze knocked it off balance, completely drawing the teenager's attention. The orange-haired boy hesitated before picking up the object and unfolding it. A battered piece of black paper was soon resting in his hands, exhausted from the journey. The teen had his usual sleeveless shirt with a funnel-shaped collar and an indigo stripe outlined with gold going down the middle, a yellow sweatband on his left arm, and white shorts held up by a loose-fitting belt. The shoes, black with an indigo stripe outlined in gold, shone, new, but the same as before. His headphones were nowhere in sight though, nor was his mp3 that he usually wore around his neck.

Squinting at the faint silver words, Neku grew curious quickly, not sure what about this battered letter interested him. The silver lines scribbled in cursive on the paper seemed to react to Neku's presence as they caught the light, becoming more readable.

The Fiery Dawn will return
Marks of hatred it shall burn
The Stars and the Moon
Listen to the Night croon
Without patience they fight
Leading to the rise of what is White
But not all Light is pure
A Falling Dusk shall bring the Cure
That the Sun regrets banishing
For that Cure shall prevent it from Vanishing

This is a rose that is black. It must be kept safe. Whoever is out there, please take care of it for me. Something this important to my heart, I don't think I'll be able to take it if we completely part.

~Sincerely, -

P.S. Whatever you do, please keep it safe. I'll be grateful. Very.

"…" Neku was confused, dumbstruck, baffled. He shrugged, trying to make out the name that he hadn't been able to recognize before. After a while of using his gaze to burn holes in the paper, he made out thin silver lines that read 'Kurohane Akama' and then, next to the English letters were ones that were very familiar to him. Japanese characters that translated those English ones into his own language.

黑羽 赤間*

Neku frowned and shrugged before carefully folding up the piece of paper and sliding it into his pocket. Then he turned, hearing someone call his name. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme and Eri were waiting for him not too far away. A smile flashing across his face, the teen waved back before running off to join them. All is well… Wherever you are, Josh, I wish you could join us… Guess I'll just wait a tad longer for you, huh? The teen thought as he caught up with his friends. Cheerfully hanging out, the group began to walk away, chatting their troubles away into the wide sky, letting them soar away over Shibuya.

But all was not well.

Author's Notes: So, yeah, that's the Prologue… BTW, * is literally translated into 'Black Feather – Red Space'. I just had to add that… I'm not exactly too sure about the way those characters are written since I was using traditional Chinese to type instead of Japanese…