Part 6: Closer

"A picture worth a thousand words." as the old proverb states, Sasame was now a firm believer of the old wise man's tale. A proverb wouldn't lie of such things. Just by first impression, you could tell whether a person is good or bad. One quick look at her, Mina was a good person with a heart of gold and she was quite pretty for a girl in her age. Not because her beauty that attracted him to her, it was her acceptance and kindness to people. Her strength, believe and faith in others that makes her define who she is today. She was unique in her own way, her true beauty that lies within herself is worthy of his respect and admiration.

"Admire?" Sasame mused out loud. He seemed to be getting too sentimental each day and a little too old for having this silly, fantasy crushes on a high school student. The aspect of involving himself with human relationships would be too risky and less likely for him to get hurt again not after he'd been through with Takako. To deny himself with love, he would be incapable of his emotions but his heart yearns for something far more…

The fact remained that there was a slight attraction just couldn't be ignored if he wanted too.

"You must be Mina Aino." He heard himself speak but then his hesitated. It occurred to him that he never properly introduced himself. His thoughts became too preoccupied thinking about this girl which never happened to him before!

She was unusually quiet for a moment, gazing deeply into his blue eyes. Her eyes were unreadable as he tried to asses her reaction. He was afraid that he may have offended her with his rudeness. And then to his astonishment, her whole face lit up in a cheerful smile. "Finally, it's nice to meet you Sasame." She greeted, sounding ecstatic and happy meeting him for the first time.

Again, this girl was even more surprising than she appeared to be. No introduction was necessary since they already knew each other's first name basics. Prior to this meeting, they haven't seen each other yet except that he was a well known celebrity here in town for his radio show, "Sasame's Words Gate." Assumingly, she knew him before or through Himeno and he found out about her through her friends here at the tournament whom he met earlier.

He laughed. "Likewise. Assume to say, there's no need for formal introduction since we know each other first hand." Courteously, they both reached out to shake their hands at the same time. As their hands briefly touched, sparks flew. The initial contact from her shocked him causing a prickling sensation on his skin.

"Wow, too much excitement for one day." She joked, rubbing her two hands together. Her eyes glimmered mischievously.

He smiled. "Are you alright?" He asked her politely and she gave him a brief nod of her head. Although, he didn't mind she was slightly flirting with him. He was used to the attention from his devoted fans. Though, she seemed to be more clever and dynamic young lady that he ever encountered.

"There is more to it than meets the eye." Yes, he was profoundly intrigued and curious about this mysterious girl. He too felt the unexplained source of energy emitting from her, strangely similar to Himeno's power.

"Is something the matter?" He noticed a baffled look on her face.

"Red snow?" She questioned, peering closely at a tiny red snowflake that fell on the palm of her hand.

"What?" Sasame's head shot up. Above him, a number of red snowflakes ominously appeared from the ceiling and it rained down on them.

"Princess of Disaster!" He gasped in shock, quickly scanned around the gymnasium. He too saw his friends' troubled expression but there was no sign of her…

"Damn all of them!" Himeno's captain cursed, muttering to herself incoherently. She was cowering in a corner, her back leaning against the wall careful not to detect her presence to the Leafe Knights. Suddenly, a dark cloud of energy burst within her and a tall woman dressed in a billowing gown appeared. The girl fainted and dropped to the floor unconsciously.

"You're despicable," The woman spat, looking down at her "victim" with such cold, hatred in those red eyes. She had a long flowing hair down to her ankles and fully clothed in a dark royal gown befitting like a majestic queen. A reminiscing of the past ruler named Queen Beryl, a powerful evil queen that destroyed the Moon Kingdom a thousand years ago. For long bitter sixteen years, she was imprisoned inside the Fenril tree by those Leafe Knights. But now she was back in the land of living, to take her claim of vengeance and vowed to destroy those who stood in her way. She was no longer, the gentle and naïve Takako in the past and unknowingly Sasame's lost love. Granted with new powers than the former Prétear that she had been once, she was called Fenril, Princess of Disaster.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. Her anger was now in full rage. She had spent precious time and energy executing this plan to alienate Himeno away from her classmates and eventually her best friend, Yayoi until this interference came along.

Mina Aino, the proclaimed star player and captain of volleyball team from Juuban High School.

She shook her head in disgust. Why should she let some ordinary human girl stoop to her level? "She would pay dearly for this!" She said maliciously but her hand wouldn't stop trembling…

Part 6 ends/to be continued