Title: Angel's descent
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One is shaped by one's surroundings. Even the strongest rock cannot defend against nature's corrosion.
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Following the outline of the person in front of me, I trudged through the brightly lit corridor leading to the classroom.
Inquisitiveness had always been a weak spot for me. Ever since the time where memories would persist in my mind instead of fading away instantly, I recalled myself being perpetually curious about anything and everything. I would bombard the butler or the first person I caught sight of with questions pertaining different aspects in life. With oft, I had found the answers given to me unsatisfactory and sketchy at best. I knew that it wasn't done on purpose, but the notion of receiving shallow and cursory answers irritated me to no end.
Many a time I tried to ask my tutor questions in regard to life in general. Her response was always just a "you'll know it soon, Miya-sama." or an "It can't be explained that easily, Miya-sama." This, in fact, riled me more than the usual answers I obtained from the servants. Afterall, they didn't have much of a high level of education nor the free time to ponder over such questions.
As I grew older, the knowledge I had gained about politics and history led my curiosity to greater heights. Father, in order to maximize the learning I receive, had arranged for me to have different tutors for the various subjects that I had to study. There wasn't a day where less than four tutors could be spotted passing through and fro the mansion. Discussion with the teachers had become one of my favourite pastimes in the pursuit of studies, but nonetheless, there were still many queries that I had which were left unanswered. Those issues I had were often written down in a handy book which I brought everywhere and pondered upon whilst I take a walk around the surrounding greenery.
Once, I had spotted a chocolate-haired woman sitting on a branch of the oak tree near the mansion's gate during one of my thoughtful saunters around the house. I was eight at that time, and eight was always when any child would be curious about everything. Despite knowing that talking to strangers was dangerous, I had to ask how she had managed to slip through the camera-monitored gate.
Casually, I walked to beneath the boughs of the tree and looked up, calling to her.
"Hello, may I help you? Are you lost?"
She peered down at me, and ignored me blatantly. Sounds of fingers pushing against the laptop's keys could be heard as she continued her typing. Upon a closer inspection, she looked to be almost fourteen instead of the woman of twenty that I'd assumed.
I settled down upon the thick roots of the ancient oak, humming peacefully to myself as I waited for her to give me a better answer. Having nothing else to do, I took out my notebook and flipped through the pages, trying to conclude some of the answers to the questions on my own.
As I was just getting lost in a world of my own, the chirpy sound of her voice came floating into my consciousness.
"What are you doing?"
"It's nothing much."
I heard the scrap of rubber against the bark of the tree as she slid down the trunk and landed beside me. I felt the warmth of her presence as she stood behind me, her head hovering over my shoulder as she peered at what I'd wrote in the book.
"How do we know what's pink? That's a really strange question to ask. Pink is just pink, that's all."
"That is why I'd told you that it's nothing much."
Turning away from her, I continued scribbling down some more questions that occurred to me while searching for the answers.
"You're really a weird girl."
"You are one yourself too." I replied dispassionately, trying not to show the interest I had in her.
She scrambled to the front of me, still clutching her laptop in one hand, as she extended the other to me.
"I think I like you. I'm Corona, just Corona. I'm a professional hacker."
"Himemiya Chikane. Welcome to my house of boredom, Corona-san."
"Forget the –san, just Corona will do. Wait a moment… did you say that this was your house?"
"Yes, I did."
"Wow… I thought it was just a huge office for some company that could do with my profession. You sure it's a house?"
"Dead sure."
I took her offered hand and shook it.
"I see… well, princess, you couldn't possibly have a job for me, do you?"
"I'll take you to my father. Perhaps I could persuade him to give you one."
"Oh, ok. Thanks!"
"…by the way, princess. I like your sense of humour."
"Pleasure."
It sure feels different entering the house with two when I'm sure that I left as one.
Corona had been my steadfast friend ever since that day. She was a wanderer who depended on her computer skills for survival. Unlike the me who had been holed up in the house for as long as I could remember, she was out there in the world. With some manipulation, I managed to convince father to let her stay in the house with me, serving as my tutor in technology and hacking. These skills, though slightly underhanded, were a necessary evil in the harsh world of business that I doomed to survive in. Together, we often caused grievances to the household staff, especially when she was in one of her famous 'mischief' moods.
After all, how fun can it be to pick up feathers corridor after corridor?
"Gokigenyou, Himemiya-san."
The crisp voice of a passing teacher interrupted my thoughts, bringing me back to the reality I was still walking behind Sayoko-sensei.
"Gokigenyou, sensei."
It didn't particularly disturb me that every teacher here in this school knows me. Father had been a long time sponsor for many of the school projects that needed funding. As a result, I have always been invited by father to be his partner whenever he comes for the annual school ball.
"It is good, Chikane, for you to mingle with other people once in a while."
That had been his exact words – excuse, really – whenever I tried to refuse the invitation.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
The teacher's heels clicked on the well-polished floor of the walkway.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
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Those eyes… eyes which held that luminescent shade of blue with a tiniest hint of ethereality. Those were eyes which held a shadow of sadness within its lonely depths… but yet, they possessed that glint of humour which lurks teasingly beneath those seemingly serious eyes.
They were so blue… just like the colour of the ocean… no, they were more intriguing than the gentle waves sloshing against the shoreline…
Eyes so similar to the ones I saw in my dreams… eyes of an innocent angel.
"Class stand."
I felt the cool fingers of Mako-chan prodding my shoulder, bringing me out of my temporary muse. It was only then that I realized that Sugira-sensei had entered the room. The clatter of chairs against the wooden floor followed her movement as everyone stood up and prepared to greet her.
"Psst… Himeko, you've been in a daze ever since we got here. Are you sure that you're alright? It was quite a fall, you know, even if you did land on Souma-kun."
Shaking myself mentally as I tried in a futile attempt to get the image of her out of my head, I stood up with the rest of the class and waited for the cue, cringing slightly due to the loud noise made by my clumsy movements.
"I'm fine, really. Mako-chan, you're being too much of a worry-wart…" I whispered back to her.
"Class greet."
I bowed together with the rest of my classmates.
"Good morning, Sugira-sensei."
"Good morning class, everyone please settle down. I have some matters at hand to address."
I sat back into my chair, thinking that it was one of the days where Sugira-sensei would drone about etiquettes and rules of the school again.
Nevertheless, it was only up till the moment where Sayoko-sensei stepped into the room.
The angel was before me again.
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A/N: Yup, sorry for the slow updates. I've FINALLY caught a couple of plotbunnies a few days back, but didn't have the time to type it out till today. As usual, reviews would be greatly appreciated as they really help a lot in the capture of the rebellious plotbunnies.
P.S – Didn't have time to look through much for errors, do point them out if you see them.
-mutters to myself- study study study… grah.
Hoho.. thanks, Naolin! Oh ya, the first 10 chapters or so will probably be easing in the main plot and focusing on various characters and introduction. The way I look at this, it's going to be a pretty long story with many chapters, especially as I usually type short chapters. x.X Hope you readers out there don't get bored xD