[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

A quiet breeze was gently rustling the tree's leaves. The little girl looked up, her dark deep eyes full of sadness. She was frail, the outlines of her shape almost transparent. Her long hair wasn't touched by the wind. There was nothing of the usual childish innocence in her expression. She whispered :

"Why should I do this ?"

A clear crystalline voice answered :

"Aren't we friends ? Haven't I let you come to my domain ?"

The little girl's face lit with the ghost of a smile.

"Yes, you let me stay in the forest. You protected me against the angry spirits..."

The little girl looked down from the high branch on which she was standing, and watched a young man coming into the park and sitting on the old swing on which she had played so often before. The young man's emerald eyes were empty, as if the pain, sorrow and hatred emanating from him were too strong to be expressed. As if his soul had been swallowed by feelings too fierce for a human heart to bear.

The little girl looked at the young man during a long time, unmoving, silent, the breeze flowing through her, and finally looked up again.

"I will do what you asked of me..."

As no answer came, the little girl slowly glided down the high tree she had been perching on.

The young man suddenly lifted his head, as if feeling the approach of the little girl, surprise flashing briefly in his eyes, but never eclipsing the pain or hatred warring within.

High in the tree, a shadowy hand leaned on the trunk. As the young man's surprise subsided, a whisper was lost in the breeze :

"Forgive me... But there is nothing else I can do..."

Below, the little girl climbed on the swing next to the young man's and began swinging, talking all the while, wistfulness written on her face. The young man looked at her, a faint light of interest coming at last to his eyes.

"And it will not be enough..."

The shadowy hand's fingers clutched on the trunk briefly, and then disappeared.

A cold wind was blowing in the streets. It had been raining for almost a week. A week without the sunlight. The street lamps flashed as they were automatically turned on. They were the only thing which allowed the rare passers-by to know the night was falling. A young man was waiting at a crossing for the traffic lights to change. His long dark raincoat seemed an unadequate protection for the bad wheather, but he apparently didn't give a damn. His eyes betrayed no emotion, but the hard set of his jaw revealed the turmoil of feelings he kept hidden inside. He looked up at the skyscrapers, his eyes uncaring of what they were seeing, ignoring the shadow half-dissimulated in the angle of a middle-sized building's roof.

The young man sighed, tired of waiting for the lights to turn green. Suddenly, he tensed and whirled around, his right hand shooting out to catch something in a movement so fast it was a blur. His fingers opened to reveal a beautiful pink sakura blossom petal. Something like hatred flashed in the young man's deep emerald eyes, and a feral smile lit his face. His hand closed into a fist, and crushed the fragile petal.

"You seem happy to see me, Subaru-kun..."

The soft voice seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at once. The young man's smiled widened.

"I am... I have been waiting for years to make my wish into reality..."

A tall and slim shape suddenly materialised a few meters away from him in a swirling cloud of sakura petals. The man was dark. He wore a raincoat which could have been the young man's twin, unless it was the other way around. The newcomer looked at the defiant young man during a long time, and then took off his glasses, revealing a blind right eye. A soft smile came to his lips as he said :

"To avenge your dear sister's death, isn't it ?..."

The young man laughed shortly.

"So, you haven't forgotten after all..."

The young man's eyes burned with anger, hatred, sorrow and something even stronger. His hands were closed tightly in fists.

"After all these years during which you hid yourself from me..."

The other walked slowly up to the young man who didn't react, as if subjugated. A hand reached out and gently cupped his chin and a whisper broke through the silence.

"Forget you ?..."

The dark man chuckled soflty.

"Forget you... my prey...?"

He looked almost lovingly down at the young man, and suddenly bent towards him and brushed his lips to his in the mocking sketch of a kiss. The young man didn't move, looked helplessly at his enemy who laughed happily. Once the silence came back on the empty street, the man smiled fondly.

"How could I forget the prey who believes it can hunt its hunter ?"

Suddenly, the young man shook his head, as if freeing from a spell the other would have cast on him. He stepped back and said furiously :

"Enough ! Stop playing with me ! Why have you decided to show yourself Sakurazukamori ?"

The other man's smile widened.

"To end the hunt Subaru-kun... To claim you."

As he ended his phrase, the street and skyscrapers vanished to be replaced by a strange mist. The young man shook his head.

"I am not the naive and trusting child you betrayed and tortured years ago... You will not have me..."

The young man's voice rose in a soft chant, and as he released his spell the mist was blown away by a strong gust of wind.

"You will not trap me in your illusions again."

The other didn't answer but began to chant as well. As some kind of shield rose around the young man, the immense bay window of the closest skyscraper blew, and myriads of shards rushed towards him. The sharp glass tore the immaterial barrier, and the young man cried out a deep cut opened in his left flank. Blood fell on the street, making a strange, unreal echoing noise. Suddenly, a flock of white birds appeared from nowhere, surrounding the other man, and attacked as the young man began chanting again, ignoring his wound. Surprise marked itself on the face of his enemy, and for the first time a look of uncertainty passed in his eyes. The birds struck him and his voice rose in command. The wind howled, and darkness engulfed the place.

The street was empty. The traffic light turned to green, but no pedestrian crossed. From the roof of a building, a shadow went on watching.

End of the Prologue.

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