Mystery Man
Sakura's eyes fluttered open, the sunlight peeking through the blinds. After the days of harsh rain there hadn't been a single cloud in the sky, they had rained themselves dry. Sakura turned over in her bed, snuggling against the warm covers trying to remember what day it was. Her mind was blank, it was too early for her to remember anything, so she turned to her ever trusty clock. The little flashing letters in the corner said it was Monday. Sakura hugged her knees to her chest trying to soak in the last moments of warmth before she walked out into the cold of her room.
As she sat up into the breathtaking cold air Keito hopped from her pillow to her lap. Ever since the interview Sakura had been ignoring him as much as she could, doing her best to keep calm. Still, every morning he was right there, resting next to her on the pillow. His face reminded Sakura that she had promised to bring him to school today. Her classmates had seen her on television and had begged and begged her to bring in Keito, and on Saturday morning they had worn her down enough for her to agree.
The interview had changed a lot of things. There were rumors about the sudden disappearance and how all six Deus had been avoiding them. Every time Sakura had left the house she could always hear a reporter creeping in the bush behind her, waiting for a moment when they would be able to catch her off guard and be able to talk to her. Monday had been a total disaster with the reporters sneaking into the school after following Sakura there. Kenichi was now escorting her to school making sure no one was following, and most had given up by now.
Sakura reluctantly changed, wishing desperately she could cut school or get sick, break a limb, anything. School was the last place she wanted to go to right now, with everyone bugging her about her stupid angel and the press trying to get in. Keito was following her around as she got ready, looking ecstatic that he was going to see the walls outside Sakura's room. Sakura sighed and finished tying a ribbon in her hair and grudgingly placed Keito on her shoulder before walking out of her room.
She could feel herself blanking out as she walked down the stairs, her body moving automatically while her mind seemed to leave her body. She wasn't even aware she had even said hello to her family eating let alone start eating her food. She munched slowly on her food the taste buds not reacting making it seem like she was eating air. Keito jumped off her shoulder and sat down next to her plate, smiling up at her.
The sight of him brought Sakura back down to Earth with a large crash. She had looked at him many times before, but now a block of fury rose in her throat. She kept her face emotionless, but as she picked up Keito her arm was so close to throwing him against the wall or something that would make him stop smiling at her.
She put Keito on her shoulder and stood up so forcefully she almost knocked her chair over. Her family looked up at her with surprised.
"I'm going to school." She announced, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Wait Sakura, you'll need me to go with you." Kenichi said, starting to get up even though his plate was barely touched.
"No." Sakura said forcefully, and then rushed out of the house. She slammed the door behind her and the bushes behind her rustled loudly. Sakura stopped suddenly and glared into the bushes, and gave them a good kick. A man with a camera fell out of them and once he caught sight of Sakura's glower he took off like a bullet.
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"Kya! Saku-chan he's so cute! Can I hold him, please!" Hinako was the first one to get to her after Sakura had come inside. She hadn't even had a chance to switch her shoes yet. Sakura quickly handed him over without any hesitation or apprehension. Hinako ran up the stairs to the classroom with him. Once the other girls came in and saw Hinako running away they quickly rushed after her. Sakura changed her shoes and silently followed in the shadows of the other girls, walking with a heavy heart.
She shut the sliding door to the classroom and saw all the girls in her class making one big circle around Hinako who was still holding Keito.
"Hinako-chan! He can move on his own, let him go and let's see what he can do!" one of the girls suggested.
"Hai." Keito was set free and looked up at the girls and smiled, then gave them a peace sign. Every girl in the classroom squealed loudly the second the teacher came in and walked over to the desks to see what was going on. Normally she didn't allow angels in the classroom but once she saw Keito she became as infatuated as the giggling girls next to her.
The boys were also starting to form around the girls interested in the moving angel. The final bell rang but no one seemed to notice except Sakura, not even the teacher. She rested her head on the desk looking out the window at the city seeing a plane talking off. Sakura wished she could fly away at that moment and never come back, leaving Keito behind.
Another teacher came into the room and cleared her throat. The teacher came back to attention and gave the students such a look that they were sitting in their seats in less than a second. Keito hopped onto her desk and sat down happily, swinging his legs back and forth.
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Sakura was able to escape the school from her classmates with the help of her friend from Armritsar, Lakhi. Lakhi had moved to Japan in grade school, and at first Sakura and Lakhi were worst enemies. Sakura's brother helped patch them over and they became best friends. Sakura was getting worried though because Lakhi's parents were thinking about moving back to Armritsar and not coming back.
Sakura rushed out of the school and looked up at the school seeing her classmates hurrying down the stairs trying to catch up to her. They had mobbed her and Keito again during lunch so Sakura and Lakhi locked themselves in a closet to eat. Sakura looked around in panic, trying to think of which way to go. Next thing she knew she was being shoved into a car by Mr. Tayoma, who locked the door once he got in.
"Classmates can be just as a scary as the press. And from what I've heard these students go over the top when it comes to Angelic Layer." He said turning on the car and driving away just as Sakura's classmates came out the door.
"Uh yeah." Sakura mumbled.
"Do you have your angel with you or do we need to stop by your house first?" he asked her, turning left and stopped at a red light.
"I have him with me."
"That's really good, or we would have been late anyway."
"Late for what?"
"You'll see."
Mr. Tayoma parked the car in the back of Piffle Princess near the employee entrance. He got out and opened the door for Sakura and she started to get out. A news van went past and parked on the side of the building.
"Get down." Mr. Tayoma said, blocking her from sight of the van. The people inside the van got out and took out cameras and went inside the building. Mr. Tayoma looked over his shoulder to see if everyone was out and inside. He sighed and stood up straight, looking at Sakura who was a little ruffled and at that moment Keito who hopped onto his owner.
"What was that about?" Sakura asked fixing her hair.
"It seems someone kicked one of the head reporters out of a bush this morning and now the press are having a major field day about it." He gave her a look and Sakura bowed her head.
"Oh. Sorry." She whispered.
"It's alright but we have to some damage control. They think you're some violent, crazy girl now."
"How are you supposed to fix that?"
"Don't worry I've fixed worse things. They were stalking you also so we can use that to counter the harsh articles." Another news van pulled into the parking lot. Mr. Tayoma jerked his head towards the building and they bent over and ran through the rows of cars and into the building, shutting the door behind them and panting heavily. They caught their breath for a moment before Mr. Tayoma led her up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway. Sakura saw the opening to the main room where it was packed with people and news teams waiting around with their cameras ready.
"How am I supposed to sneak you around that? There's no way we could get into the room where we need to go without you being spotted." Mr. Tayoma whispered, pulling Sakura with him behind a support pillar. He took off his hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm, than his eyes flew open.
"Hide your hair under this and put on my jacket. My daughter also uses these colored contacts and I always have some on me just in case. If they see you don't have blue eyes and shorter-looking hair, the news teams will think you're just a look-a-like." Sakura didn't even get to blink as he shoved the hat and jacket into her arms and Mr. Tayoma began to dip the contacts in the cleaning liquid. She put on the jacket and tried to neatly tuck her hair under the hat, but when her manager handed her the green contacts she stopped.
"I've never put on contacts before and I'm terrified of sticking things into my eyes."
"It's for thirty seconds as we cross the room. I could help you put them in if you need."
"Uh, no. I-I can do it." She turned away and forced herself to put the contacts in, her eyes stinging and watering. Mr. Tayoma took Keito and put him in his bag and took the first step into the crowd. Sakura tried to follow, but rubbing her eyes while following somebody in a huge crowd was difficult. Sakura could hear whispers all around her because she was making quite a spectacle of herself with her wet eyes.
"Hey is that Sakura Ohkawa?"
"No the hair is too short, but it looks like she's crying."
"How sad!"
"She's following that man."
"Maybe he made her cry!"
"Is he her dad?"
"Maybe an older brother?"
"Maybe she has a much older boyfriend?"
"Yeah, and he broke up with her and she's trying to keep them together?"
"Eww. No way, that's nuts."
Sakura and Mr. Tayoma got into the right room and Sakura gladly closed the door behind her and leaned on it, shutting the group of girls that was staring at her. Sakura's eyes were swimming with tears and many were running down her face. She took out the contacts and rubbed her eyes with the edge of Mr. Tayoma's jacket.
"I'll take care of those." Mr. Tayoma said, and Sakura placed the contacts in his hand. When her sight was clear Sakura saw four other people in the room looking at her. She knew they were the other Deus's but she didn't know anyone by name. The door behind her shoved open and it flung Sakura on the floor, and the last girl and her manager fell on top of her.
"This is not my day." Sakura mumbled behind gritted teeth. She struggled to get up from the weight of the two people on her. Mr. Tayoma took her hand and helped stand her up straight. The girl and her manager stood up wobbly and Mr. Tayoma locked the door behind them. They could now hear shouts coming from behind the door, the shuffling of chairs and news teams shouting instructions to each other.
"That was Haru Watase who went in there!" a male voice shouted.
"Mai-chan that was Sakura!"
"That guy must have been her manager then!"
"You're right Kimi-chan!"
"Shh Alya-chan! Maybe we can hear them talk!"
"Are the others in there?" a different voice said.
"They must be!" a male voice said. The door handle jiggled as sometime tried to get inside the room. Sakura backed up fearfully away from the door and almost tripped over a chair.
"Okay everybody please move away from the door!"
"Sir no one is allowed in that room without permission!"
"Piffle Princes is closing early!"
"Everyone has to leave now!"
"That is a private meeting!"
"Young lady you have to go!"
Some of the workers were trying to hold off the crowd.
"We'll have to get the bodyguards." One of them said loud enough for Sakura to hear.
"Bodyguards, we need bodyguards!" she asked Mr. Tayoma.
"Sakura wait until the crowd dies down then we'll talk about it alright?" Sakura crossed her arms and sighed. The noise from outside the door lessened a bit but it was still strong. It was about ten or fifteen minutes before all the noise went away and the workers left to lock all the doors. The tension had been building up in the room and everybody began to loosen up. Mr. Tayoma plomped down in a chair and hung his head back in exhaustion.
"So now we have bodyguards?" Sakura asked again.
"For good reasons. We didn't want to tell you because we didn't want you to think that your lives had changed this much." The other male manager spoke up now, adjusting his glasses.
"Our lives changed so much we need bodyguards?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Yes. For a while now Angelic Layer has been losing its edge. People get bored of things rather quickly, and Angelic Layer has become one of those things. It's hard to keep people interested with the same old-same old, and now so few people are even coming to watch the tournaments. Only recently has the interest sparked again, that's all because of the male angels. Because of the male angels Angelic Layer is more popular than ever." The man finished.
"And?" Haru asked. The manager sighed, running his fingers through his blond hair.
"And of course the Deus of each angel would be just as big of a hit. There's no way of telling what people would do. Take an example, the reporters following to school was a big problem. We secretly asked male members of each family to take you to school, so you would have no idea that the bodyguards were actually the ones scaring off the press. There was one who slipped through this morning, as you know Sakura, and the guards went bully on him big time." Mr. Tayoma finished for the other manager.
"How many guards are there for each of us?" one of the littler boys asked. He looked no older than seven and had sandy blonde hair. The other male manager was his manager, and the boy looked a pale and frightened at the moment.
"One for now, but we may have to add more and they'll have to be with you and not hiding in secret."
"Is it really that bad?" Sakura asked frantically.
"It is that bad Sakura. We never imagined people to go this crazy about it. We just wanted to keep Angelic Layer alive for a few more years."
"You certainly got your wish at the price of out freedom." Sakura mumbled incoherently.
"Why are we here?" one of the girls asked.
"We were originally planning on testing your abilities, but due to everything I'm guessing we'll send you home now." The male manager said.
"I think that's best."
"So you drag us all the way down here just to take us home!" Sakura asked vigorously.
"Yes, Sakura. Even if you fell up to it I don't think everyone else is up to it. We also have to do other things, like I still have to do some damage control for your stunt this morning." Mr. Tayoma said, standing up. For the first time Sakura a real glint of anger and impatience in his eye. It was terrifying.
"Fine." She answered, his stiff tone loosening up. Mr. Tayoma unlocked the door and a man in a casual suit.
"Aah sempai, good to see you."
"Same to you Ritsuka." The man responded.
"Do you need me to do something?"
"Ritsuka I would like to talk to you, and I'll have Shiwahara drive Ms. Ohkawa home."
"Hai." Mr. Tayoma replied. The others began to file out and another man with a black suit and mustache signaled for her to follow him. Sakura gave a desperate look to her manager before reluctantly following the stranger. The door closed behind them and the room became darker and the air quieter.
"What is it about?"
"Sakura, she always seemed familiar."
"You know her?"
"I think so, but she doesn't seem to remember me."
"You've met her before?
"Yes, but it was a while ago."
"But, what about her?"
"I realized something about her and why she changed so much. I was hoping if you could share some more insight on it."
"I'm sorry, you probably know more than I do."
"I should've guessed. But Ritsuka…"
"What?"
"Don't give up on her. She seems like a person who can really get under your skin and make her someone who you truly despise." Mr. Tayoma seemed a little shocked at this, but nodded anyway.
"I won't." he replied sternly.
"Good, let's leave then." The two left the room and went separate ways. Mr. Tayoma sat down in his hot car and turned it on. His set his bag down on the seat next to him, then turned on the air conditioner. He heard a rustling coming from the bag and unzipped it. There was Keito very ruffled looked, and ecstatic to be out of the stuffy bag.
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A/N: Finally updated. I'm not going to go into a rant about how different it from my original idea, even though it has, and just try and ignore that. Because I'm lazy I don't put up disclaimers. So I figured I should just in case.
Disclaimer: I do not own Angelic Layer, the awesome CLAMP does. I own Sakura, Ritsuka, Keito, Kenichi, Mine, The other male manager, Sakura's mom and dad, Haru, The little boy, the bodyguards, the mystery man, the guy with the 'stache, and all the others. I don't really own Lakhi though. If you've watched Pride and Prejudice you'll see she's a character there and I just tweaked it a bit so she could be Sakura's best friend. The Ohkawa name actually belongs to one of the members of CLAMP also if names count for anything. Nothing else important to mention. Probably the longest disclaimer I've seen so far, but I could most likely find a bigger one.
There we go. Gotten that off my mind, now I just have to do one for My Tennis Angel.
ATTENTION: There is going to be a crossover from another story that some of you might be familiar with. Keep reading to find out what it is, it's gonna come up within the next few chapters!
