Chapter One

Sky

Prologue:

Three shadows stretched across the floor in tendrils of black. They overlapped each other in silence, a silence so temperamental that being within its very presence caused skin-trembling unease. But with these three beings that created the shadows, there were no trembles, only stony faces and inscrutable eyes. They wore long cloaks of black, with hoods and draw strings, and could easily be slipped off from the arms. Each seemed to look the same as one another, as their faces were devoid of emotion, and their lips were all tightened with grim. The atmosphere was eerie, the air heavy with a silent, sinful anger.

"This is very rare." one of them said, his voice blank, dead. Half-moon spectacles lay against his nose, his dark eyes snapped with some kind of venom for but a moment, before receding back to emptiness.

"I guess there's really only one thing to do. We cannot allow this to continue. One tip on the balance, and it could all crumble to pieces. You know what to do."

There was a synchronized monotone chorus from the other two men, "Yes."

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"Class, this is our new student all the way from China, Xian Li, make sure to treat him well."

Light filtered in through the windows, and with it, specks of dust swirled in an errant array of colors. Swirling moats of red, green, and blue, just in the right moments where they caught the shimmering rays of the sun…dreamy green eyes watched them with interest, barely hearing the voice that addressed the classroom. Her mind was elsewhere. While her body sat silently and docile in that chair, at that desk, in that room, her mind spiraled outwards, flying up into the sky, reaching, touching… Nina smiled.

"- the free seat behind Sakamoto-san…Sakamoto-san!"

Nina looked up. Her crystalline gaze flickered to the teacher, and the reverie was shattered like glass.

"Y-yes, Mr. Iwate?" her voice was surprised, higher than usual.

There was a collection of snarky giggles from the classroom. Nina's eyes narrowed considerably, and she felt her fingers clench at the edge of her desk. She didn't like to be laughed at, but with her spacey behavior at times, it was inevitable.

Her teacher did not look impressed. He would get frown lines if he kept that up, "Sakamoto-san, I let you get off for being late this morning, but pay attention in class. You're showing rudeness to our new student. Is the window really that interesting?"

More interesting than what's going on in here…Nina thought boredly. She didn't say anything though.

Mr. Iwate sighed heavily, but he was used to Nina's behavior, so he didn't press it, "Anyway, Xian-san -"

"Li," the boy interrupted quietly, but still well enough to be heard. It almost sounded as if speaking was a strain for him.

Mr. Iwate did not contradict, "Li, then, please take a seat. We'll continue on with our studies on algebra."

As Li approached, Nina raised her eyes up to get a look at him. It was the polite thing to do, so she smiled as she did so. His brown hair shagged into face slightly, and had a messy look to it. She searched his face, but the moment her eyes met his darker ones, something seemed to pass through her in a short instant. She felt her eyelids tremble. It was like a torrent of wind blowing through her bloodstream. Inside her very core, it suddenly seemed as if she was awaiting something. Warmth? Was that what she was waiting for? But it never came. There was a strange tugging in her chest, and yet...it disappeared.

Had she imagined all of that? Nina blinked rapidly, and watched as Li halted for a moment, before hesitantly smiling back at her and taking his seat. She put her chin in her right hand, twirling her pencil with her left. It would probably be best not to mull over it. If she did, she'd be frowning more than Mr. Iwate.

Well, that was weird…

Eventually, Nina began shutting the teacher's voice out, and resumed her eyes to look out the window. The sun shone brilliantly, and the clouds moved gently. Nina sighed wistfully. If she could have but a piece of that sky...it sounded like a strange thing to wish for, but the sky was so free, so stunning. Nina often felt she'd give anything if she could just be like it, even if a little. What an odd thing to be envious of. Nina snorted, and despite her wishes, her eyes veered sideways, almost trying to get a better look at Li, even though he was behind her.

In an almost timorous manner, and as nonchalantly as she could manage, Nina shifted her head to look at him. But he looked at her looking at him, so she jumped slightly and felt her face flush shades of pink and delicate rose petals. He flashed a smile at her. Nina smiled back slightly.

"Um, Li...-kun, right?" she asked him quietly, she'd feel silly if she suddenly turned around, "Do you speak Japanese?"

"Yes." he replied. Nina waited for more, but he said nothing. They stared at each other, the teacher's voice in the background only seemed to make it more awkward.

"Oh..." she mumbled feebly. She considered asking him more questions. Anything to break that silence. Anything to make him say something more then "yes". But the teacher had his eyes on her now, and she didn't wish to be scolded. So, with stiff shoulders and a last polite smile, she turned her back on him.

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"Isn't that new transfer boy good looking? His eyes were so dark and deep…"

"Dark and deep…you mean like chocolate pudding?"

"Well…I guess that would be one way to put it...aha…"

Nina fell in beside her two best friends, Kurumiya Gin and Irie Fuuko. Nina was not surprised to hear Gin speaking that way, she was a bit boy obsessed. However, all that Fuuko seemed to have on her mind was food. Together, the three were an interesting trio, as they described Nina herself to be dreamy and kind, but also quite stubborn and had a bit of a temper. Nina wasn't always sure how she felt about their analysis of her, but she usually didn't make her own comments about it.

Gin sent a sly smile her way, and Nina tensed, "Ah, Nina, you lucky girl. He sits right behind you."

"Y-yeah…" she replied, pushing a strand of light brown hair (on the verge of being a dark blonde) from her eyes.

Gin's smile fell away into an exasperated groan, "You didn't notice at all, did you?"

"I didn't say that…" she muttered. And in a weird way, Nina had noticed the Li.

Gin shook her head, "I don't know what to do with you."

Nina opened her mouth to say something, but Fuuko broke in childishly, "I really want ramen!"

Gin's mouth was dramatically wide as she spoke, taking on the role of a tired mother, "Yes, yes, we can stop at the ramen shop on the way," she glanced to Nina, "You coming?"

Nina hesitated, but shook her head, "I better head home, or else I'll never get the algebra homework done. Thanks, though."

Gin's forget-me-not blue eyes gained a concerned look, and Nina looked away, "Well, alright... Call me later?"

Nina nodded, and watched as Gin took a hold of Fuuko's wrist and headed down another street. She smiled brightly and watched their forms grow smaller and smaller, waving gently until they were out of sight. Nina's smile fell and her hand dropped, her face gaining an uncharacteristic frown. She sighed and tucked a few rebellious locks of hair behind her ear.

"I really wanted ramen, too," she muttered to herself, darting down a side street leading to her home, "Why is it that I always have homework when Gin and Fuuko never do?"

Nina knew the answer, it was because she hardly did any work in class. She always got caught up in her daydreams, and the sparkling temptation of gazing at the sky, and the honey swirling sun, and cotton-candy clouds... Shielding her eyes with her hand, creating a small shadow over her face, Nina tilted her head upwards. It really was beautiful. Why was it that so many people took the sky for granted?

Nina shrugged to herself, and was about to begin her walk once more, until something golden caught her eye. The sight of it made her eyes water. It spiraled downwards, like an ethereal shooting star, except slowly gaining a dignified shape. And, like staring directly at the sun, it was painful to look at. Nina skittered backwards, her lips trembling with disbelief. An unearthly breath of wind just about knocked her to the ground, and she found herself briefly crying out from shock. The gust caught at her hair, tossing it about, tangling it and twisting it. Her clothing billowed around her petite frame. She used her arm to cover her face from the oncoming force. Nina squeezed her eyes shut. But as suddenly as it had began, the wind died down and calm reigned once more...or, somewhat.

"I hate doing that."

Did she imagine that whining, bell-sounding female voice? Her eyelashes drifted against her cheek lightly, softly, almost caressing, and light crept into the darkness that her closed eyes brought.

"Yeah, well...You can stop clinging to me now, Shana." was the irritable reply to the remark.

"But I like this."

"Let go, you idiot!"

There were sounds of mild struggling, and then silence again. Nina didn't dare open her eyes. She didn't dare open them... but she couldn't resist the yearning to see. Slowly, her eyelids cracked open, and they watered against the unwelcome lighting. She blinked a few times to adjust. Before her stood two beings clad in strange cloaks that fell around them in dark fabric. As the voices predicted, it was one male and one female. Nina stared blatantly.

"Is that her? She's cute!" the female cooed, her long perfect eyelashes batted dramatically, and her pale blond hair streamed past her ears and porcelain neck, falling neatly to just below her well angled shoulders. She had perfectly angled cheekbones, model worthy, with a slight, healthy flush beneath her fluid eyes.

The boy paused before replying, "Yes, that should be her."

Nina felt her eyes slowly revolve to look at the face that came along with the voice.

His hair was fire, it flamed with a life of its own, while his eyes were a gold...yellow? Nina settled on amber. Amber-gold.

What attractive looking people... Nina couldn't help but think to herself absentmindedly.

The female scrutinized Nina with eyes like ice, her skin glowing faintly of pale moonlight, "...Rokuda, what's wrong with her? She's just staring off into space. Is she stupid?"

At this, Nina felt her temper flare to life, even though the concept of her being 'stupid' was actually quite debatable in some areas, "I am not stupid! Why are you talking about me as if I'm not right here? Who are you?"

Nina breathed heavily, but Rokuda and Shana just stared at even more, with odd, perplexed looks on their faces. The blond was openly gaping, even. The tension was unbearable. The sun beat down on her head, and a bead of sweat touched her lip gently, before trailing down her cheek and dripping off her skin, like a tear. Nina wanted to say something more, but her lips seemed to be locked together. Was she afraid?

It was the male who finally spoke, his voice rough and boyish, "You can see us?"

What is going on here?

N/A: Ah, well, I imagined this chapter coming out better, but... Erm, there you have it! This story was originally inspired by the Chinese legend of how people are connected by the red string of fate. And the person you are connected to is the one would would marry. Unmei no Ito translates into Thread of Desiny. Or Fate. Either or. If you haven't figured it out, the story is based in Japan. Tokyo to be precise, but it'll mention that in the next chapter.

What is going on will also become a bit more clear in the next chapter as well, but if you want to know all the big secrets, you'll have to wait for later chapters, which will come as soon as possible~

Oh, and for translations...um..."kun" is a term you could use to address a boy, usually with boys you're more familiar with, but I had Nina use "kun" for Li, as he told the teacher to address him as Li. You noticed the teacher addressed Nina as "Sakamoto-san". In Japan, people usually refer to people they are not familiar or close to with by their last names, and "san" is for politeness. Of course, all of these terms are subjective and depend on who is speaking, but I'm just stating the general idea.

Any other questions, leave a review or message me! Actually, leave a review anyway, it makes me feel good inside. : )

Ja ne (see you later) !