~Painful Smile~

Warning:
The following content is rated OT for mature scenarios, and is NOT recommended
for readers under the age of sixteen.

Disclaimer:
All content is intellectual property of Yukiru Sugisaki, Dentsu, and Tokyopop.
The author: Rubedo, the Crystal Blood; claims ownership in no form,
and writes with full permission of the administrators of ff net.

Prologue...
Gale Break...

The roof was silent and cool in the heat of early summer. Traffic by the far-off bridge twinkled effervescently, while the suburban streets around the school were deserted. A flight of birds passed overhead, swirling over one another as they traded the lead position. Daisuke Niwa followed them with his eyes.

A soft breeze played across the small of his baby face, rustling his red hair in the sunshine. He imagined himself to be flying among them, even spread his scrawny arms as if he were with them. As he watched, the birds grew ever smaller, until he could see them only as a period in the sky to end his thoughts. He began to feel the grooves in the stone tiling, running his smooth, white fingers over the rough and dry surface.

Time to think, and time to act: Two things that Daisuke Niwa did not have. A bright, blue cloudless sky loomed overhead. He wanted to reach out and ripple its surface. The waves would start small, but would grow outwards to consume everything. And yet, they would leave that same, silky mirror of nothing. He could not reach it to find out. His arms were too short.

It was a breathless zephyr now, a passing fancy. His soul was blank. The canvas he had been given was riddled with incoherent scrawls, images and shapes of nameless entities that had left their impressions on him. And Daisuke, with his unbroken innocence, had taken to repetitively etching out his corrupted tokens all over the windows and walls. The windows were tinted now with the color of his haphazard memories. He tried to make sense of them, rattling the invisible cage he had locked himself inside, snaking his hand through the bars to try and touch the light. The breeze shifted abruptly.

"You can't reach it. Try the moon first, it's closer."

He closed his eyes and inhaled. A pungent scent of artificial strawberry wafted to his nostrils. He sighed and stirred the air with his fingers, as if trying to disperse the aura. The young girl closed the door behind her and stood over him. He slowed his breathing and stilled his body, hoping to give the intruder the impression that he was asleep.

"Sensei was wondering where you were, and sent me out to get you."

It was tempting to snore, but Daisuke withheld himself. The breeze picked up into a mild gale. As soon as the smell of her shampoo faded away, he found himself yearning for it again. He licked his lips absentmindedly. It was enough of a tip-off.

"I know you're awake. Let's go back to class already." She kicked his shoulder lightly, hoping to get his full attention.

"If you expect me to open my eyes, you should at least hide your panties," he told her.

"And if I'm wearing spandex?"

"Does that mean it's alright for me to look?"

"I might slap you, you know?" she giggled.

He opened his eyes and studied her face. She was firm and well-bodied, but with skin so pale that she had an air of frailty, although that wasn't much coming from him. Her short brown hair was parted midway along her face, so that he could see unobstructed her soft, brown eyes. "You would have done it by now," he told her quietly.

"Fair enough," she replied, kneeling down to put on a semblance of moral decency, "Can I assume you don't believe my 'Don't Kill the Messenger' story, either?"

Daisuke again closed his eyes and assumed an expression of absolute apathy. "I certainly don't believe you now," he explained.

She started to laugh. "Ah," she murmured, "Fair enough, then. But I really am here to tell you something."

"Oh?"

"Yes, but you wouldn't believe me."

"And why is that?" he sat up, genuinely interested now, if only to a minute degree.

The gale broke into a gentle breeze. Amidst the calm he could catch only traces of her strawberry shampoo. He stood up, almost at the exact same moment as she got on her feet. They faced one another, one in idle amusement, the other in idle bemusement. But then, she seemed to understand.

"I love you," she said aloud, smiling.