Emerald Wings

Prologue

         Waves crashed, off in the distance.  She stood outside of an old barn, waiting.  She couldn’t remember why she was waiting, though.  It all seemed like a dream to her.  Faintly, she heard whimpering, but she couldn’t tell where it came from.  Suddenly, she heard a noise from inside the barn. Even though she was standing in broad daylight with the sun shining down on her, it somehow seemed dark and cold.  Goosebumps covered her arms.  With a will separate from hers, her feet started to move toward the barn.  She could not make her body obey her will; it was as if she were not apart of herself.  Her hand reached out for the barn door.  For some crazy reason, she was afraid of what she would find.  The door creaked loudly as she opened it.  Pitch black.  It was completely dark inside. 
    A torch appeared in her hand.  Now, she knew it was a dream.  The girl walked inside, holding the torch in front of her.  The noise was coming from the last stall.  As she walked slowly toward it, her fear began to build until she was trembling all over.  She reached the last stall, her hand already reaching for the latch.  The stall door made no sound as it opened.  The girl noticed, thought it was odd that this particular stall’s hinges would be oiled.
    Something was moving in the dark corner of the stall.  She moved closer, the torch’s beam falling on the corner.  A pale, beastly monster crouched down with something in its clawed hands.  It was her cat.  Blood was smeared around the monster’s mouth.  The torch fell from the girl’s hands, its beam of light going out.  Her mouth opened and—
    The teenage girl awoke screaming.  Her carrot colored hair strayed from its plait only to be pressed up against her head with sweat from the girl’s face.  The light switched on; her mother was standing in the doorway, her robe askew.
    “Is it the same dream?”  Her mother seemed irritated.
    “Yes.” Her voice was hoarse from screaming.  Leo, her cat, jumped into her bed and snuggled down onto her legs.
    “Well, just forget about it and go to sleep.” She turned around and left the room.
    “Okay.”  Despite her mother’s advice, she was kept up by thoughts of the dream.  It disturbed her; she had a feeling it foretold something awful.  Unfortunately, she was right.                    


Coming home from a social event down the street, a woman walked around the corner and stopped.  It was the dead of night and a man was standing right in front of her.  He was staring at her as if he knew her.  She didn’t know what to do.  As she glanced up she realized her house was only a block away.  At the same moment, the man grinned.  As if he could read her mind, he stepped to the side to let her pass by.  She walked straight past him, her gaze glued to the front.  A moment later she reached her house.  Quickly, she unlocked the door, stepped across the threshold, and closed the door sharply.
         Leaning against the closed door, Hanata breathed a sigh of relief.  Without turning on the light, she headed towards her bathroom, undressed and took a shower. Afterwards, she made herself a plate of sweet and sour chicken with steamed rice on the side.  She ate her food slowly, enjoying it to the fullest extent.  She loved to eat. There were so many tastes in the world, and she wanted to try as many as possible.
         Later, as she was trying to squeeze some work in before bed, she caught herself thinking about the stranger.  Weirdly, she couldn’t get him out of her head.  He wasn’t an ugly man, in fact, he was quite handsome.  His eyes were jewel green, his hair was long, black, and looked as if it could have been made of silk.  His teeth were straight and white.  He had an aura of strength despite his leanness.  She knew he was tall, because she’d had to crane her neck to look at his face. The pallor of his face wasn’t sickly; it was more of a lack of sunlight.  Hanata did not usually sit around thinking about men.  Her work took up most of her thoughts, and time.  She was surprised, and disturbed, to find that she couldn’t stop thinking about the stranger.
         She decided to turn in for the night; she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him in her head.  The moment her head hit the pillow, she was dropped into a deep slumber.  Her dreams were of a green eyed, dark haired man.  The very same man was watching her sleep from outside her window, thinking she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.                                                                                                                        
         The next day, while she was working, she felt that someone, or something, was watching her.  That isn’t possible, she thought to herself.  Hanata created mangas (graphic novels) so she was able to work out of her house.  So how could it be that anyone could be watching her?  And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

         He was watching her from a tree standing outside her window.  The old myths about sunlight being harmful to vampires weren’t true.  At most, it was a mild annoyance which he avoided as much as possible.  Most of the weaknesses that vampires were supposed to have weren’t accurate.  Neither were some of their strengths. The immortality came in handy, though.  At least, he thought so, because Tamasaki had always been afraid of death.
         Tamasaki had studied the woman for months after he had first seen her at an anime convention.  He had wanted to know what a con would be like.  She would make a perfect mate for him, and a good mother.  The previous night had been the first time he had allowed her to notice him.  Her fear had been palpable.  Her gorgeous, frightened amber eyes had shifted from him to her house, right behind him.  Amused, he had let her pass.  Watching her emotions was like reading a large print book, for him.  She’d hurried to her house, deliberately not looking at him.  Afterwards, he’d climbed up the same tree he was standing in now, to watch her sleep.
His thoughts coming back to the present, Tamasaki watched the woman through her window.  At the moment, she was completely focused on her work.  Her flaming red hair was falling over her face.  There was a small wrinkle of concentration between her thin eyebrows.  Tamasaki found himself chuckling at her mannerisms.  Even though he was having fun watching her, he had several more important things to do that day.  He leaped from the tree, brilliant emerald wings unfolding, and flew in the direction of his home.           
                                                                                                   
         Meanwhile, Hanata was engrossed with her work.  The deadline was in a month and she needed to finish the artwork.  Some of the expressions were giving her trouble, so she decided to give herself a break.  It was lunchtime anyway.  At least, that was what her frogs were telling her.  They’d been croaking incessantly for ten minutes.  Hanata gave them a batch of flies and decided to have some miso soup, steamed vegetables and rice, and also some lemongrass tea.  Her chopsticks were poised over her rice when the doorbell rang.
“What is it now?” she muttered to herself.  When she opened the door, no one was there.  She looked down and noticed a blood red rose in an elegant sea-green vase.  Immediately, her thoughts went to the strange man with the bright green eyes.  Could he be the one who put the rose on her doorstep?                               
                                                                                                   
         He watched her open the door from the same oak tree he had been earlier.  Was she thinking of him?  He was sure that she was.  She had just stepped into her work room.  Her lunch was left uneaten on a table while the vase was placed on a window perpendicular to the one he was looking through.  She frowned and touched the blossom cautiously.  The gesture concerned him, quite a bit.  Then, she sat down to eat her lunch. Her way of eating was completely economical, small bites, alternating between each group of food to keep the meal in balance.  She took an occasional sip of tea in between bites.  There were no wasted movements.  After lunch, she got right back to work.  She glanced at the rose often while she was working.  He decided to make sure that everything was okay at his home.  His dark green wings unfolded and he winged off through the sky.  Flying was a lot faster than driving.  On the way home, he stopped at a store to purchase a toy
         When he walked through the door, a small boy rushed into his arms and almost knocked him over.  Haruka was very happy to see him.  The ten-year-old boy was an orphan, who’d had a considerably rough life before Tamasaki found him on the street a few years ago.  He was small for his age, but he made up for it with large amounts energy.  Once dull, his eyes were now a clear and sparkling aqua.  His red hair was once grungy and damp, but now it was soft and curly.  His face had not always been clean.  Dirt and grime form years of homelessness had been washed off, showing freckles over small nose.
         The child pushed back from the embrace and looked up at Tamasaki.  He was staring; he knew there was a present for him.  Soon enough, Tamasaki grabbed the bright, red fire truck that he had left on the porch.  Haruka snatched the toy and, with a shout of joy, ran off to play with it.                                                            
         It had been a few days since the rose-on-the-porch incident, and Hanata was frustrated.  She was still having a problem with some of the expressions. Even though she rarely had this kind of a problem, they were a pain in the neck, literally, when she did.  She would have to call her editor for an extension.  A few extra days would be needed to take away the pressure of reaching the deadline, and would give her some breathing room.
         “Damn it!” she yelled.  The doorbell ringing did not help the situation at all.  Stomping her way through the house, she went to get the door.  She wrenched it open and stopped, stunned.  Like before, there was no one at the door.  She looked down as she turned to go back into the house, and was shocked even more.  Lying on the porch was a bouquet of crimson calla lilies, wrapped in bright green tissue paper.  Again, she thought of the man she’d come across a few nights ago.  Was it him again? Her gut told her that it was him.  She picked up the bouquet and went inside to put it in a vase.  She put the lilies in her work room as she had done with the rose.  She remembered that she needed to make a call, and decided to do it before she forgot.          

         Picking up the phone, Hanata dialed her editor’s number.  It rang several times before he picked up.  No doubt he’d glanced at the caller id, and was making her suffer for the fun of it.
“Yes?”
“Hey, Taka”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I need an extension for the volume I’m working on.”
“Why?”
“I’m stuck on some of the artwork.  I need some breathing room on the deadline.”
“Will a week do?”
“Yes, that’s fine.  Thanks.” That would be more than enough to finish the manga.
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Now that she was done with that, she’d work on an idea for another manga that she’d been toying with.
                                                                               
On the other side of town, Taka was just sitting back down behind his desk.  In front of the desk was a potential client for Hanata.  They were trying to work out the details of the contract.  Mr. Sakanoma wanted to transform his novel into manga format.  Hanata could be working on this project for a while, so Taka wanted to make sure that she got the better deal.
“So, Mr. Sakanoma, how long is your novel?”
“Roughly 700 pages.” His stoic face gave away nothing.
“You do realize that it will be several volumes long, and would take a very long time to finish if it is created in manga form, right?” Taka grimaced as the words fell from his mouth.  Hanata could possibly refuse to take the job if she thought that it would take too long.
“Yes, and I would like to be able to watch over the progress of the transformation very closely.”
“That part might be a bit hard to work out, but I’ll see what I can do.  Also, Miss Yamashita will not be able to start for about a month.  She is currently working on another project.”  A flicker of something showed on Mr. Sakanoma’s face.
“That will be fine.  I am a very patient man.”
“Then all that needs to be done is to draft the contract, and look over it with Miss Yamashita.  You’ll need to come back to meet with her at a later date.”
“Very well.”
“I believe our business here is done for now.”
“Contact me when you need me to come back.  Good bye.”  They both stood up.
“Good bye.”  With that, Tamasaki Sakanoma turned around and walked out the door.                                                                                          

A few minutes later, he was flying through the air.  Tamasaki started to make a list, in his head, of things to get done before Miss Yamashita started on his novel.  He couldn’t decide if he wanted to introduce himself to her before the next meeting or not.  Meeting her before hand would make it so that she wasn’t surprised, but letting her find out at the meeting would be so much more amusing…and could end up making her hate him.  Was it worth the risk?  Yes, he decided, it was.  It occurred to him that he hadn’t thought of what to do with Haruka.  What should he do?  Leave Haru at home, or take him along?  He figured he had a month to decide so he could push it aside.  Dilemmas sure make time go by quickly, he thought as he landed in front of his home.  Haruka stepped out of one of the doors lining the hallway when Tamasaki walked in the front door.  It was as if he could sense when the man was near.  The nanny walked out of the room Haru had come out of; she was carrying a few crayons in her hand.  Tama realized that if Haru had school then he wouldn’t be able to come to the meeting.  He walked up to the nanny, who was also the housekeeper.
“I will most likely be having a guest come and live with us in about a month.  I want one of the guest bedrooms in mine and Haruka’s wing prepared before then.  Perhaps the Rose Suite.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.”                                                            
                                                                                         
She was late for the meeting with the new client.  She had finished the manga she had been working on, two days ago which was four days ahead of schedule.  Earlier she had been doodling on her arm, and it had made her feel calm.  Most people would have been feeling rushed in her situation.  She knew that she would be even later, because she needed to stop and wash her arms even though she had a long sleeved shirt on.  Taka wouldn’t have minded the drawings, but she didn’t know how the client would react to them.  She was riding the subway, mainly because she didn’t have a car.  Affordability was not the problem.  She didn’t think that money should be wasted when there was an alternative solution.  Material items were not a thing she put much stock in. 
As she walked through the receptionist office, or waiting room, she realized that she was almost a full half-hour late.  Walking right past the receptionist, she took Taka’s private elevator to his office.  While in the elevator she took a moment to straighten up her appearance.  She patted down her hair, and pulled down her sleeves.  There were red marks on her arms; the doodles took more scrubbing than she thought they would.  Apologies were already dropping out of her mouth as she walked off the elevator, adjusting her sleeves.
“Sorry, Taka, I got distracted by a---,” turning to see the client.  She fainted on the spot.

She could here the voices at first, if not the words.  She wondered who was leaning over her.  Oh, that’s right, she fainted.  It was most likely Taka and the client.
She started to pick up the words.
“Is she alright?”  The person sounded familiar, it was probably the client.
“I think she’s coming around.”  That was Taka.
“I hope I didn’t scare her.”  Why would he scare me, she thought, is he really scary looking?  She couldn’t seem to remember.
“She probably just forgot to eat something.  I don’t know why, though.  She loves to eat.”  Like that would ever happen, she thought.
“Perhaps, she was working too hard.”  He seemed concerned.  Why would he be concerned, she wondered.  Oh, duh, I’m lying on the ground, unconscious, for all he knows.  Suddenly, she remembered who the client was; her eyes snapped open.  Anger was already showing on her face.  She pushed both men away from her.
“I’m fine.  I had a big breakfast, and I finished my last job two days ago, four days ahead of schedule.” Her glare pierced the client’s eyes.  He took a step back as if she had stricken him.  Her focus turned to what Taka was saying.
“You are not fine, Hana.  You just passed out a few minutes ago, if you hadn’t noticed.  Sit down; I’ll get you a glass of water.” He fussed over her like a mother hen before turning to pour a glass of water for her.
The client stood to one side, observing everything with an amused expression on his face.  Suddenly, he looked down at his watch and grimaced.  He seemed to have remembered something very important.  It was obvious that he needed to be somewhere, but he stood patiently and waited for Taka to finish.  Hanata noticed and pushed her agent away, almost spilling the water in the process.
“Taka, I think that the client has waited long enough.”  She nodded towards the other man.
“Oh.  I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting.” He turned to apologize to the client.
         “It’s not a problem, but I believe that introductions are necessary,” he gestured towards Hanata.
         “Right.  Hanata this is Tamasaki Sakanoma, Mr. Sakanoma this is Hanata Yamashita.”
         “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Yamashita.”  His voice was smooth as he bowed low.
         “The same for me, but I believe that we’ve already met before.”  She stared at him, willing him to admit it.  When he did not, she remarked, “At night, on the sidewalk in front of my house.”
         “I’m afraid I don’t follow where you’re going with this.”
         “Oh come on, I know you remember. It wasn’t that long ago, a little over a month.  You were staring at me in a creepy way.”  Hanata was incredulous that he was lying about the encounter, and she knew he was lying.                              
         “I see. I believe I know what you are babbling on about, but my experience of the event was quite different.  As I recall, I was walking along a sidewalk, and a most beautiful woman walks around the corner of a building.  Her beauty was so great that I had to take a moment to catch my breath.  The woman was, of course, you, and you mistook me for a dangerous person.  I could see the fear on your face clearly, and decided not to express my feelings and, possibly, frighten you more.”          
         “Oh…,” she blushed profusely, stuttering to get her words out.  “I-I think that y-you should have said something.  It was c-creepy the way you stood there.”  Then, as if she hadn’t thought about it a lot, she asked, “It was you that left the flowers on my doorstep, wasn’t it?”
         “Yes, I wanted to convey my feelings, but I did not want to frighten you.”  He seemed sincere.
         “I'm sorry to interrupt, but could we possibly get back to business?”  Taka looked anxious and confused.
         “Of course,” said Tamasaki.  With that the trio sat down, Taka behind his desk and the other two in front of it.
         “Now, Mr. Sakanoma wants to be able to oversee your progress if you take the job, Hana.”                                                                      
         “Oversee? How?”
         “Well, he wants you to live stay at his home for the time it takes to complete the project.  That way—“
         “You know I can’t, Taka; I have to take care of my frogs, and I don’t work outside of my home.”
         “In that case,” Tamasaki interrupted, “I will have to come live with you, along with my adopted son.  Speaking of which, I need to pick him up soon, so could we hurry this up.”
         “Now, wait just a minute!  You will not live at my house; I barely know you.”
         “I’m sure we can discuss this tomorrow.  For now, I must get going.”
         “You won’t just brush me off.”
         “Very well, you’ll have to come with me then.”  He grimaced, trying to remember if he had driven to the meeting, or not.  He tuned to the agent.  “Thank you for your time.”  Then, he walked out the door with Hanata uttering protests behind his back.  Taka was left with a confused expression on his face.                                                            

         Shit, he thought, I didn't drive.  Tamasaki raised his hand to flag a cab.
        "Get in."  His words were curt, even cold.  Hanata found herself obeying without hesitation.  "I'm late. Take us to Rokkaku Elementary."  Without another word, he leaned back in the seat.
        "I won't be content with whatever you decide to draw.  It is my desire to be there for every part of the project.  Therefore, we will be living together for the duration, one way or another."
        "Why do you insist on this?"  The look on her face was pleading.  "Can't you take into account my feelings?  Do you realize what this does to me, what it will do to me?  If I take this job, I will be forced to live with a strange man for an indefinite amount of time.  It will ruin my reputation.  People will think I'm sleeping with you."
        "No one's forcing you to take the job. You can opt out of it, if you so choose."
        "No, I don't have to take it, but it is a great opportunity for my career.  How would feel if you were in my shoes? If you were required to live with a client to do your job?  How do you think i feel?"  Her logic was completely sound, but Tamasaki refused to budge.  For a brief second, a flicker of emotion flitted across his face.  Hanata barely noticed it, and instantly became suspicious.  What was he hiding from her? What did he fear? Was it even fear that she saw?  Hanata was very confused.
        “What’s wrong? Why are you acting this way?”  Tamasaki remained silent.  “Fine, if you won’t compromise, then I won’t take the job.  I was doing fine before it came along so I don’t really need it.”
          “You can’t do that!”
         “Watch me.”
         With a heated oath, he turned to face her.  “Fine, then.  I’ll come over everyday in the morning, and leave in the evenings.”
         “We need to refine it, but that’ll work for now.”  The cab pulled up to the entrance to a school, cutting off any more conversation.  A small boy was waiting on the curb, staring at the sky.  He was alone.  As Tamasaki opened the door, a smile softened the planes of his face.  “Haruka.”  A breath out of his mouth, but the boy still heard it and turned his face from the sky at the sound.  He rushed to Tamasaki’s side.  There was a puzzled expression on the boy’s face.
         Hanata stepped out of the cab and caught the boy’s attention.  Suspicion mischief showed themselves in his eyes.  He obviously wondered who she was, and why she was there.  She was so shocked at the sight of man and boy that she didn’t notice the change of expression.
         “Miss Ayame, this is my son, Haruka.”
         “Nice to meet you, young man,” she crouched down in front of him.  He twitched and inched closer to Tamasaki, hiding part of his face.
         The three of them got into the cab, Tamasaki in the middle like a barrier between the other two.  Hanata gave the driver her address.  It was a silent ride to her house.  When she stepped out of the cab she hesitated.
         “Well…I’ll be in touch with you.”
         “Yes, and I with you.  Goodbye…Hanata.”  She walked up to her door, the sound of the cab taking off behind her.  A bad feeling settled into her gut.

         Dammit,  he silently cursed himself, dammit, dammit, dammit!  Haruka sensed that something was wrong.  He knew better than to talk.  When Tama was in one of his mood, you were liable to get yelled at if you talked to him.  Tamasaki was fuming.  How could she?!  Didn’t she know the kind of danger she was in?  Of course, she didn’t.  She had absolutely no clue.  That was the way he wanted to keep it, if possible.  And it was exactly the reason he had compromised on living with her during the project.  Though, he would have preferred it if he were with her at all times.  It didn’t matter.  Not really.  He was still going to watch her at all times, he would just be doing it without the comfort of a bed, like he’d already been doing it for the last few months.
         The cab pulled up to his home.  Tama got out and gave Haru to the already waiting nanny.  He was in no state to play with Haru himself, and he knew it.  With his temper, he might have ended up hurting or, at the very least, scaring him.  Locking himself in his study, he settled in for a long night of paperwork.

         Meanwhile, Hanata was involved in a very painful phone call from her mother.  “Really, I’m fine.  It’s just been a hectic day, that’s all.”  The same thing happened every time her mother called.
         “No, you will not come over to visit…and I do not need a man in my life.  My life is perfectly fine.”  She gritted her teeth.
         “I know you worry (I hear about it every time you call), but there’s no need for you to be concerned.  I’ll be fine.  Alright?  Okay.  Bye.”
         She hung up and grabbed the new novel she’d been getting ready to read before her mother called.  Turning lights off on her way, she went through the house to her library.  No need to waste power.  She’d almost gotten to the library when she heard the creak of a floorboard she always automatically stepped over.  As she turned, a shadow lunged out of the darkness.  Her body was thrown against the wall.  Vision growing dim, she tried to get a good look at her attacker.  With a faint sound, she slumped into unconsciousness.