3Forever and Ever
Chapter One: An Unexpected Visitor
What is this? This pure whiteness?
Little globes of white were floating quietly down onto a ground already covered in white.
The girl extended her hand to the globes. One fell onto her finger. She stared at it.
Looks like snow. Soft snow. But the snow was warm.
She looked up and stared at the unending scene of white. That pure untouched blanket of white shining ever so brightly.
A sudden noise. Gentle yet lively.
The girl turned.
Feathers. Pure white feathers. Feathers floating among the snow…feathers attached to something.
Attached to what?
Wings. Strong, delicate wings.
The snow glowed brighter. So blindingly bright. She squinted against the light. Everything is so bright.
From the brightness a figure emerges. Who is it?
A boy. That light brown hair. Those warm green eyes. Those were the only things not white.
Those feathers were his. Those wings belonged to him.
He extended his hand. It glowed warmly. Welcomingly.
She reached towards it. Towards those warm, welcoming hands.
Their fingers touched…
Beep… beep… beep…
The girl awoke. Her hazelnut eyes squinted against the morning light. Reaching towards her alarm clock, she pressed down once and all was silent.
Slowly becoming more clearheaded, she began to contemplate what she had just experienced.
That dream. The same dream that she's been having for three months now. It was always the same scene of white. Each time, she came closer to that figure in white. But it was the first time that they had ever touched.
She looked at her fingers- they were a bit warmer than usual.
What could her dream mean?
Looking around, her eyes stopped at the shiny red digits displayed by her alarm. She had been sitting there for ten minutes!
Scrambling out of bed, she hurried into the bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she found that her mahogany hair was a mess. After combing her hair and brushing her teeth, she walked back to her room and changed into her school uniform.
When she entered the kitchen, she had on a short-sleeved blouse under a dark pink sleeveless vest. Around her neck was a bow that was tied with a thin red string. Her skirt was dark pink as well, extending to her knees.
"Good morning, mom." The girl said as she took her seat at the table. In front of her was a plate of eggs and ham.
"Good morning, Chiyumi." The girl's mom replied, setting down a plate of toast.
Grabbing a piece of toast from the table. Chiyumi asked, "Where's Akari?"
"Oh, don't you remember? She has judo practice today."
"Oh yeah… forgot. Anything from dad?" she bit into her toast.
"Not yet. Soon though."
Chiyumi's dad is an archaeologist. Having to travel around the world, he is rarely home to spend time with his family.
"Okay."
After finishing her breakfast, she began to set off towards school.
The sky outside was a clear blue. Walking through the streets, she couldn't stop thinking about the person in her dreams. That soft brown hair and those reassuring green eyes. She'd certainly never seen him before… so who was he?
Before long, she had arrived at her school. Although it was still a little early, the place was a bit noisy from all the various morning practices being held. With time to spare, she headed towards the small gym.
Pushing open the door, she looked up just in time to see a girl with long brownish red hair throw her opponent to the opposite side of the gym. The boy fell to the floor. A few seconds later, he stood up and walked over to the girl.
Bowing his head, he said. "Thank you."
The girl bowed back and they both walked off the mat.
Grabbing a towel, the girl sat down and wiped her face. It was than that she noticed a girl standing beside her.
Looking up, she smiled. "Hey, Chiyumi. What's up?"
"Hey, Akari. Fierce as usual I see."
The little sister's light brown eyes sparkled. "You should have joined. Judo is really fun!"
"Nah. Not with you as the leader. That would be suicide."
"Come on. I'm not that mean."
"That's what you think. Well, I better get going. See you around."
"Bye."
By the time she reached the door of her classroom, the clock read 8:54, signalling that it was almost time for classes to begin.
Before walking up to the door, she spotted a boy leaving the room. His blonde hair swished gently with the breeze created by his movements and his blue eyes shined with an air of calm and confidence.
Chiyumi could feel her cheeks becoming hot as she stared at her crush, the person who she had secretly liked for the past three years.
Turing his head, the boy spotted Chiyumi, standing in the middle of the hallway, silently staring. He smiled.
"Good morning, Chiyumi chan."
Snapping out of her hypnotic state, she quickly made a reply. "Ah…um… good morning, Chihiro kun."
Responding to her stumbling words, he gave a little laugh. "You're always so funny, Chiyumi chan." Walking past her, he gave her head a little pat. "Well, I'll see you in a bit."
Her cheeks turning a nice scarlet, she couldn't help but feel a bit fuzzy inside as she watched him walk away.
Opening the door, she was immediately greeted by her friends.
"Yumi-chan!" A girl with long black hair waved to her in a seat next to the window. In her hair was a red hair band.
The girl next to her greeted Chiyumi with equal enthusiasm. Her dark blue hair was tied up in a high ponytail and half her bangs were clipped to one side.
"Good morning Hana-chan, Yuki-chan." Chiyumi greeted as she walked towards her friends.
"How are you today?" Hanako asked, twirling a strand of black hair in her fingers. Her purple eyes always seemed to be shining with mischief.
"Oh, you know. Same old, same old." Chiyumi replied, stopping in front of Hanako's desk.
"I saw Chihiro kun walk out right before you came in…did you talk to him?" Hanako asked, her eyes gleaming mischievously.
"…sort of." Chiyumi couldn't help but blush again.
"Ha ha. You're so funny. I just love messing with you."
At this, Yuki smiled too. "Hey, at least she said something back to him."
"You mean you heard me?"
"Well, I was at my desk putting away my stuff just a while ago and I happened to hear your little voice." She teased, pointing at the desk across the room, which was located right beside the door.
"Oh no." Chiyumi groaned, covering her face. "I can't believe you heard that. Was I that bad?"
"Relax Yumi chan. You're getting there."
"Sigh… I'm trying…" Chiyumi said as she slumped to her desk, which stood beside Hanako's.
Resting her chin on the top of her desk, she started thinking about her life. Everything had been the same for quite some time now, and she was starting to realize that her life wasn't all that exciting at all… It was, as most people would say: dull. Going to school, going home, finishing up the homework… there was nothing to disrupt that steady routine. Maybe it was the steady streams of tests that prevented her and her friends from spending more time together. She didn't know. All she knew was, she wanted change. Something inside her told her that there needed to be something more in her life. But what could that something be?
At this point, the bell rang and class began. All was the same as yesterday and the days before that: the lessons from the teachers, the assigning of more homework. There was nothing unexpected or surprising out of the usual. All was as unchanging as the revolution of the sun's journey on earth. She looked out the window at the sky. If only there was something different…something even the slightest out of the ordinary…that would have satisfied her.
As the day ended, signs of life in the school dissipated and Chiyumi continued her routine, walking home alone today as Akari stayed after school for kendo practice.
Moving along the road home, all was strangely quiet. The silence seemed foreign to her and also somehow unnerving, causing the trees to appear hostile as well as they waved their branches menacingly, casting dark shadows across her path.
As she quickened her pace, she was suddenly surrounded in a shroud of darkness, the sun's warm rays muffled out by the vast thunderclouds covering the sky.
Before she could react, a dark shadow approached her from behind at an immeasurable speed. Turning around, all Chiyumi could do was gape at it awestruck. As the shadow loomed closer and closer, towering over her, she attempted to move her legs, but it was as though they were frozen in place, immobilizing her, and thus making her vulnerable to the sudden presence.
Sensing the overwhelming feeling of danger, Chiyumi willed her legs to move. But the coldness brought about by the shadow had already enveloped half her body. As quickly as it came, the shadow swooped down upon its prey, missing her slightly as her legs finally gave way and she fell to the ground.
Before she had a chance to recover from her fall, the shadow lunged again, this time certain that its target could not escape. Chiyumi raised her arm, shielding herself from the impending blow, positive that the last seconds of her life were about to be lost forever. She closed her eyes and waited for the end… waited there… Nothing happened. Did it already come? Was she dead? If so, it was painless. She was glad of that. But something didn't seem right…
A blinding light caused her eyes to open suddenly. Squinting through the brightness, she thought she glimpsed a pair of soft white wings emerging out of the light. Unable to believe the scenario that was happening in front of her eyes, she lowered her arm and stared in amazement as a figure emerged from between the wings. His light brown hair slightly covered his eyes, but she was sure she saw the emerald green that came from them.
Spreading his wings apart, he lifted his right arm away from his body. In those moments, a bow that seemed to be made of light formed in his right hand. An arrow made of equally blinding light took shape in his left hand. Pulling back the string of light, the light from the arrow seemed to increase and as the arrow flew towards the black shadow, a terrifying scream seemed to erupt from it. As suddenly as it had appeared, the darkness was gone and resurfacing was the sky that seemed to have turned orange with the passing of time.
Looking at the street, Chiyumi found that the boy with wings still remained where he was, looking back at her with those warm green eyes. The only thought that appeared in her mind at that moment was a question that she already knew the answer to…
"Who are you?"
The boy from my dreams…
End of Chapter To be continued…
A/N: Just a further note, the first chapter is basically a prologue introducing all the major characters...cough almost all. The story will start to pick up from here on. Anyway, I intend this to be more humorous, so look forward to the next chapter!