Tsubasa no Tenshi 1- Practice

"Let's see…from here I need to go…" I turn the paper around in my hand and sigh. "I'm hopelessly lost. I told Oujirou-oniisan that I'd get lost. Oh!" I go across the street from the station and into the store. I locate the counter and look around. It's a nice place. "Excuse me, I'd like to rent a layer for an hour."

"Sure thing. Do you have an Angel Card?" I nod and pull it out. The girl scans it and gasps. "Mihara…Ai-san…?" I nod and she hands me the card back. "Number 3." I nod and head to that table. No one's here. I shrug and pull my Angel out of my bag. It's a good thing that Oka-chan sent my things to Onii-san's place already. I also pull out my CD player and put in the headphones. I sit down and put on the headset, pressing the button and turning on the layer.

"Tsubasa-chan, shine with the light of Heaven." I toss my doll into the layer and she lands softly on tiptoes, poised like a ballerina. I make sure the right CD is in the player, The Nutcracker, and nod, pressing play. I concentrate and Tsubasa moves with the perfect and precise movements of a ballerina. Perfect. Someone is watching me, so I make Tsubasa stop mid plies and pause the music.

"Can I help you? Oh no! Not you!" I stare at the guy and the little girl with him. "Ichi…"

"Urusei! Icchan desu." I roll my eyes.

"Onii-san, henna desu ne (you're weird)." I stand up. "What do you want?"

"It's pretty crowded today."

"Why do you have an annoyingly large stereo with you?"

"Well, for Training." I laugh.

"You're practicing?"

"No! For this girl."

"Oh, how rude of me. I can't imagine you doing anything normal, Icchan-oniisan. Watashi ha Mihara Ai desu. Yoroshiku."

"Ah, Suzuhara Misaki desu." Suzuhara? I raise an eyebrow.

"Anyways, it's really crowded here today, think you can share the layer?" I shrug and pull out my wireless headset.

"In that case, I'll practice using this. Tell me you brought decent music."

"Of course."

"Decent to you is completely different than my idea of decent." Ichiru presses play and I roll my eyes. "So tacky. Go away. I'm sure you have things to do. I'll take care of Suzuhara-san." Ichiru nods and leaves. I sigh in relief and reach into my bag, for my CD case. I hit stop on the stereo and change out the CD, to something more to my tastes, but still good for practice for someone that isn't a ballerina. I push play and turn on my wireless headset.

"What's your Angel's name?"

"Ah, Hikaru." I nod.

"That's a nice name. This is Tsubasa. Have you practiced or played before?"

"Once. I won."

"Did you practice beforehand?" She shakes her head. Figures. She must be related to that person. "Okay, put Hikaru in the layer and make her do the same movements as Tsubasa." She nods and does as I asked. This is a private room, so I can move around as I please. I match the beat and move on my own. "Right, right, left, right, spin, clap. 1, 2, 3, 4." I stop moving myself and watch Tsubasa and Hikaru. Both are moving the same, but Hikaru is behind a beat. "Next is the spin."

"Right. Um, how is this practice?"

"Timing. Hikaru is a speed type. Even if you can move fast, in a fight if you don't have the right timing, you don't stand a chance. Let's try again and see if you can keep from missing that beat." Suzuhara nods and I start the song over again. We go through it again and finish perfectly.

"I did it!"

"Yes, you did."

"What was that that your Angel was doing earlier?" I make Tsubasa go through a bit of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

"This?"

"Yea."

"Ballet. I usually practice with music from various ballets instead of this stuff that Icchan listens to."

"Why did you call Icchan-san 'onii-san'?"

"Because…I know him and it seems a fitting thing to call him." Obviously, he doesn't want Suzuhara to know who he really is.

"There you are. Nee-chan, I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I told you I'd get lost. My hour should be almost up, so I was about to head out again and see if I could find my way."

"Practicing? Which one are you doing today?"

"I was using the Nutcracker. But then…it's so crowded, I've been practicing with Misaki-san."

"Fun. Can I join you?" I nod and look at Suzuhara. She nods as well and Oujirou puts his Angel in the layer, putting on a headset. "When did you get a wireless headset? They haven't been made yet."

"You know me, I was working on it." I press play on the stereo and all three dolls start dancing in synch.

"I'm Mihara Oujirou."

"Suzuhara Misaki desu. Anno…"

"What?"

"You two have the same last name…" Oujirou and I look at each other.

"Yea. We do."

"He's my older brother."

"Huh? Ai-san…how old are you?"

"I just turned thirteen. Why?"

"I thought you were in high school…"

"She is."

"Urusei, Oujirou-oniisan!"

"Actually, she's about to graduate high school. She's a genius." I put him in a head lock, it's the same for Tsubasa and his Angel, Wizard. "Hey! Okay, how the heck?" I let go of him and Tsubasa mimics the movement. "Okay, how'd you do that?"

"Do what? Oh, Tsubasa copied my movements at the exact moment. You like it? That's part of the new design."

"Anno…"

"Oh right, you were wanting to practice, Misaki-san."

"Then we'll shut up and go through it again." I press play and we make the dolls dance through again. At the end of the song, Oujirou picks up Wizard and I take Tsubasa.

"We should get going. See you around, Misaki-san." I get my CD out of the stereo and put back in the one that Ichiru had in it before. I pick up my bag after putting my things back in it and leave after Oujirou. We head outside and to a building.

"You really are a genius. How did you manage to make a headset that not only sends out waves wirelessly, but also allows you to control the Angel without thought, but movement?"

"I was experimenting with making the regular headset wireless and when I tested it out, it ended up making Tsubasa mimic my movements. I have to concentrate more to keep her from sitting still while I'm not moving." We go inside the building and up to a high floor.

"It's about time you got here!"

"I got lost on the way and got sidetracked."

"Dinner's ready. You two get cleaned up. Oujirou, show your sister to her room." We nod and Oujirou takes me down the hall.

"Is he always like that?"

"Father? Yes. Always. Even though he has nothing to do with anything around here except bills." I sigh and we get to a room. "Here's your room." I nod and go inside. I put my bag on the bed and look around. It's simple, like a college dormitory, with boxes of my stuff scattered around. I open a box and start putting books on a shelf. It's mostly manga. I can't do this all night. Dinner's ready. But I'm not hungry. I sigh and change into a clean outfit before leaving my room and locating the dining room.

"Good of you to join us, Ai." I roll my eyes and sit down.