Arita Aki is only 16 years old. She is a girl who has seen much beyond her years, and has known what many her age have never thought of even in their wildest dreams. She has heard things as a child that can only be heard by elders. She has kept secrets that, once exposed, can wipe her out from the face of the earth and heaven in seconds. All the bad she has seen, all the bad she has heard. Many of the good remains unknown to her and she yearns to discover what the good the world has on store for her. Even though leaving the life in which she has been raised in for the first years of her life will not be easy, she strives to try to be what you would call "normal": falling in love, raising a family, and working. Yes, this is what she wants the most: to fall in love.

This, unfortunately, won't be easy. She was blessed with a kindly and witty personality, good enough to charm anyone. Alas, she developed an ugly face as she matured, full of red little demons that spread faster that chicken pox on a hot day. The only beauty of her face is her smile. Her eyes shine and sparkle, the light sky blue color of her eyes lighting up like fireworks in the dead of night, and after, her moist soft lips twist into a gorgeous smile that will melt your heart. She is kind and scholarly, but often has anger and resentment in her heart. Deep down, she loves everyone, but betrayal hurts. Scars never truly fade away, even after several lifetimes. She will try her best not to fall into the attractive trap of betrayal again. Her last betrayal was a close friend of hers. She loved her like a sister she never saw. She put all of her love into her, and all of her energy. One day, it all came crashing down on her. Her friend stabbed her slowly, speaking quietly and diligently, taking pleasure from every tear that fell from her watery blue eyes, and chuckling softly when her heart would break, piece after piece. When she left her life, she had barely scampered up all of the scattered pieces from her soul when her heart fell in love again: with a boy. She doted on him so much he hated her a gave her such a cold shoulder she would turn into ice, day by day, untill she couldn't thaw her heart no more with self-made passion. She left him behind to start a new life. She lived secluded for four long years, learning herself and training herself to control her desires and instincts, and the beating of her heart. After years of training, she finally felt like facing the world again, now much more mature and experienced. She found a place she could call home for a few years, a job she could call enjoyable for a few months, and a library where she could seclude herself once in a while to amass knowledge about her suroundings. She read books as a child, which now will help her tremendously. She had a quick understanding of things very important ever since she was very young, which made her have a splendid imagination. She could look at a leaf blowing away in the breeze outside of the window and imagine that that leaf carried special genetics which could bring chemical reactions to whoever touched it, and then the individual would have been passed on the genetics and therefore have supernatural powers. Even after all of this, her imagination couldn't help her now... she needed to find love. That was the only thing missing. She knew that the self-made passion would not last for long.

She needed fireworks to lighten up her life.

A voice told her the answer she needed:

She needed A Knight in Shining Armor.

An infant crying.

A woman screaming hysterically.

A man laughing menacingly.

A girl dropping down to her knees..

For she has seen something

She will never forget ...

Arita woke up with a start. The alarm was ringing and ringing, and it suddenly gave up and dropped down off the nightstand. Sweating profusely, Arita got out of bed. Realizing the time based on the hot rays of the sun, she began to rush to get things in order. Grabbing her bags, fixing her hair and lunch, she ran out the door as if someone was chasing her. Perhaps she wasn't far from the truth - she was most certainly running from her demons in her sleep. She ran as fast as she could to her job. She was five minutes late. Her new boss was very cross with her.

???

Being late on the first day of work is unacceptable around here. You will have to work an extra half hour, and next time a whole hour. Understand?

Arita

Yes ma'am. I am very sorry for the inconvenience.

???

It's Miss Madison to you, Ms. Aki.

Arita

Yes, Miss Madison. I will get to work promptly.

Miss Madison

Not promptly, right away! The Chairman's son is coming on Tuesday, and we don't have all day for promptness!

With that, Miss Madison walked off, chest full of pride and arrogance. I don't believe she knows what promptness even means. Arita got back to work quickly and found on her desk four piles of thick folders. Several of her co-workers were gone, and only two remained in the office. Sighing, she put down her bag and got to work. Her fingers worked earnestly, drumming quick as lightning on the keyboard, as the piles of paperwork declined by the hour. By lunchtime, there was only two folders left. Eating was only a matter of a few seconds, unlike her lazy co-workers who returned to the office only to gossip about rich guys and ladies getting dumped by a specific man called... I don't quite remember, because that's not the focus of this story quite yet. Arita finished all of her work and decided to leave early. As all the women around her whispered and giggled, she walked into Miss Madison's office to ask for early leave. Surprised but impressed, Miss Madison allowed her to leave. She was very pleased. As Arita walked home, she noticed a small, fragile shadow of a young child in an abbey.

... screaming hysterically ...

She quickened her pace, her heart thumping louder with each step.

... an infant crying ...

She finally reached the abbey. There was a well dressed child covered in blood and bruises, who was crying. Bent over the child was a tall man with muscular arms and a strong figure. In his hands he clutched a gun. His deep voice commanded authority, but the words were inaudible. As he prepared to pull the trigger, Arita let out a scream that could wake the dead from their graves. She gave the big man a smack in the head with her bag and punched him in the stomach. He fell down, groaning. Knowing he would wake up soon, Arita got picked up the kid and made a run for home. At home, she patched up the kid, and gave him some warm soup. In a hoarse voice, the child began to speak.

???

Thank you Miss.

Arita

It's quite all right. Are you feeling a little bit better now?

???

Yes, thank you. What's your name?

Arita

My name is Arita. What's your name, child?

???

Michael.

... My baby! Michael, don't die! Don't take him! ...

Arita

Oh.. nice.. name.

Michael

You are all right yourself, Miss Arita? You look like you've seen a ghost!

Arita

It's nothing. Come, let's get some rest. There is only one bed, I'm sorry.

Michael

It's alright, I'll feel much safer when you're by my side!

Arita

You are a very cute little thing! Come on, now. Try to rest your eyes.

It was quite a sight to behold. A little child covered in bruises of all colors and sizes cuddled against a weeping young woman who couldn't fall asleep, her heart tearing apart with every heartbeat. At last, in the dead of night, you could hear peaceful breaths coming from the quiet home. But another sound could be heard ... the slamming of a car door and a loud and desperate knock on the window.

… Please don't leave!… I'm sorry…

… sobs …

A loud pound could be heard the door. Arita woke up with a start. During the little time that she had slept, she had broke into a cold sweat. She jumped out of bed quickly, but not so abruptly as to not wake up the child. She changed him to something quickly, and fixed her hair. The knocking louder and louder by the second. She rushed to the door and saw a middle-aged man and a very young man, probably only 3 years older than her, worried expressions written all over their faces. The middle-aged man seemed like he was about to faint any minute, and the young man looked so desperate that he appeared as if he was about to die! She could sort of guess why they were at the door so that's the child's room to that. Then again, if the child did belong to them why were they looking after him and the first place? She had found him alone, at the mercy of some kind of gangster. Perhaps you didn't have a mother to look after him… Ay… but it wasn't her business, so why should she go into something that's not even her business? Oh and don't forget the time it was at least 3:00 in the morning, or earlier. All she wanted to do was get some sleep so she could go to work the next day.

Arita

What is it that you want so early in the morning?

Middle-aged man

It appears as as if you have taken - no! kidnapped, my grandson, and I want him back!

Young man

All I'm asking for is the child. I'll let you go if you give me the child. If you don't give me the child in the next 5 seconds, I'll make sure you lose your job and you have a horrible reputation in the city.

Arita

Number one, the child was alone in an Abby at the mercy of some guy with a gun, okay, so I did what a regular human being would do and brought him home and took care of him. He had no identification on him, so I couldn't return him to his parents I was planning on doing it tomorrow, but I suppose you want him now. I mean that's what you said. You're going to disturb his sleep, you know.

Young man

At the mercy of what? Who would have the nerve to do that? Are you lying?

Middle-aged man

I don't believe she's lying, and besides we should thank her for saving him. Besides, she's right. He doesn't have identification on him. Let's just leave some guards here, and let him stay the night, and in the morning, we'll take him home. What do you say, son?

Young man

I suppose it's a good idea. But have guards everywhere in the house.

Sighing, Arita left the two men talking. I'm trying to get some sleep but throughout the rest of the night, or may I say, early morning all she heard were loud footsteps up and down up and down all around the house. At 7:00 in the morning, she woke up and tried to get ready for work, but there were at least 10 pairs of eyes staring at her every move. Needless to say, it was difficult to concentrate. She had a very high fever of one hundred point four degrees, and she really didn't want to go to work, but she had to, otherwise she would lose her job.