"Umm...Ma'am... Ma'am??" The young brunette air hostess gently nudged the redhead with her hand to wake her up from her slumber. Her eyes glanced up at the grey empty seats at the back of the aeroplane. The aeroplane was almost empty, as there were only ten passengers on board, on their way to London.
Her eyes lingered on the few sleeping passengers at the back and then in a swift, her eyes rested back on the sleeping passenger in front of her. The redhead who was fast asleep- did not show the slightest reaction to the air hostess' attempts to wake her up. Her closed eyes looked peaceful, as her chest rose up and down rhythmically. Nervosity began to fill the brunette's chest as she had no other option than to wake up her passenger. The trolley next to her was standing still with a few food plates on it. Giving out a small sigh, the air hostess decided to wake up the redhead again, this time applying a little more force in her nudges and in her voice.
"Ma'am" She called out, her hand clutched on the red head's shoulder and shook her. "Excuse me, Ma'am!"
Akane felt a little pain in her eyelids as she tried to open. She groaned at the sensation she felt in her eyelids like they were stuck to her eyeballs and were now being peeled off. At first, all she could see was a blue blurred image and she frowned. After rubbing her eyes, she realised that the blurred image she saw, was of the shot glass of the aeroplane that showed the view of the blue sky, mixed with the white floating clouds. She had never seen anything like that before and had the strongest urge just to open the glass and put her hand outside to feel the clouds. Of course, that wasn't possible.
Then she turned around the other side to look for her source of disturbance, a timid figure standing beside her. She had a glossy shade of dark brown hair that was tied up in a loose bun and her clothes were dark blue in colour, like the other air hostess on that plane. "Ma'am?" The brunette choked out the word one last time, her voice tightened up like guitar strings.
"I- I apologise for disturbing your sleep Ma'am.... but your meal is r-ready" She shuttered, trying to look at her passenger's face as she spoke but only succeeded on keeping her eyes on the ground the entire time. Her last experience with a cruel lady passenger was very bad and was successful in making the air hostess nervous in front of every passenger.
Akane stared at her trembling reaction for a while. She had a small fair face with dimples on each side of her nervous smile she was flashing at her. And then, Akane smiled.
The air hostess raised her head little to check since she couldn't hear any mocks or complains thrown at her, but a wave of slight surprise and relief washed over her as she saw the smile on the young redhead's face.
"Thanks a lot.... umm...." Akane's words hung up in the air as she trailed her eyes around on the uniform in search of the brunette's name. Her eyes landed on the silver metal plate pinned on the opening of the woman's breast pocket, with the name 'Suzanne' carved in bold black.
"Suzanne." Akane completed with a bright smile which made Suzanne rest assured and confident that she was serving a better person this time.
She kept the white plate of food and a bottle of water in front of Akane. Before walking away she placed and a pair of chopsticks a small bowl of soy sauce next to the plate and turned away, attending another passenger in the back.
Taking a sip of water, Akane checked out her food again before taking a small bite of it. Her meal for that day was Sake-zushi (Kyushu style sushi), her rice topped with shrimp, sea bream, octopus, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and shredded omelette. Dipping her sushi in the soy sauce she started chewing, devouring the heavenly taste the food offered her.
After she finished eating, Suzanne came by again and took away the empty food tray, leaving Akane alone once again. She tilted her head to her left like before, to see the amazing view outside. Even though most of her life was spent more than two-hundred kilometres above the earth, she had never had the opportunity to see the amazing combination of the green, blue and brown the earth offered.
Beautiful... She thought as she rested her head on the always shut window glass, the soft colours awing her. Too bad. She said in her mind. Zel can't enjoy this.
"Tell me, what is it that I cannot enjoy?"
The sound of a deep and irritated male voice resonated in her head like echoes in an empty cave, which made Akane chuckle helplessly.
"Oh well, I was just pitying your current state, you know. That you can't enjoy the beautiful view." Akane answered him back within her own mind. "Why watch that view when I am the view." He replied, mixing the tone of arrogance with his own manly one. Whenever Zel wasn't in his human physique, he used to become a part of Akane's soul and mind. Generally, that was how every one of her kind used to work with Dokushinjitsu. Akane could almost imagine him giving her that playful grin he usually used to give her.
Zelion a.k.a Zel was the type of a person who would throw you down on the floor- very hard, have a good laugh and then would extend his arm to help you get back on your feet, only to fall back on the ground with you. And it was very hard to hate him for that because you knew that you would start laughing as well.
He was the type who was bursting with stupidity while arrogance made up his brain. He was never afraid to speak his mind out and loved facing challenges. But above all the reason Akane had chosen Zelion as her partner was because he was never afraid to back out to protect the people he cared for.
He had a unique personality towards the group of important people in his life and he would go to any lengths to protect them. And she was proud to have someone like Zelion.
"Hey, hot-blooded woman. Are you still there?? Or did the aeroplane crash because of your weight??" Zel, who was clearly bored and had no other form of entertainment, teased her.
Akane rolled her eyes at his dumb question and sighed. "One more stupid question and I'll make sure you remain inside my head forever." Zel snorted, not making any attempts to conceal his annoyance. "Alright, woman. You win. I don't wanna spend my whole life in your stupid head." No matter how annoyed she was, she couldn't help but smile.
She could picture him again. Zel with a (cute) pout on his face and his hands folded in front of his chest, looking away from her. She couldn't help but smile at the conversation which was taking place in her head with him.
She was enjoying her own time, smiling and watching the view outside when she suddenly started feeling odd. Not in any way. Just an odd feeling on the back of her head. Like she was being watched.
She turned her head towards her right, trying to figure out if there was anyone watching her. But most of the seats were empty and her eyes soften as they fell on a person sitting across the aisle, in the same row.
Akane's breath hitched as her eyes fell still on the person she was looking at. He was one of the most beautiful humans she had ever come across her whole entire life. She only had a view of him from the left side but, she could make out that the man who was dressed in a black suit had broad shoulders and long legs, making him look like some celebrity. His gaze was held by the laptop he was working on, while his long fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard.
In short- he was everything which every man ever dreamt of having. The only peculiar thing about him was that he had his eyes covered in black glasses and his skin- he had a very pale skin, which was really, out of place. She had never seen any human with skin that pales before.
That's odd. "What's odd?" Zel asked her immediately. It took some time for Akane to give him a reply, she still had her eyes on the man across her. "Oh, nothing." Zel remained silent for a second as if he was still doubting the reply he had got from her. But then he went back to irritate her.
"Akane, when will this aeroplane land?" "Approximately, in another twenty minutes." She said to him, as she realised that she had been behaving like a stalker. She shifted her gaze on the back of the grey unoccupied seat in front of her and tried hard to forget about the pale-skinned guy. And eventually, her thoughts drifted to Minako.
Minako Hanakasi was Akane's adoptive mother, a kind lady in her late 50s, living not quite far away from the waters of Tokimeki Beach in Osaka. She was a businesswoman with shiny and straight grey hair and had a few wrinkles on her aged face, but her petite body never failed to amaze Akane.
Minako had lost her husband twenty years back in an accident, leaving her childless. But seven years ago- one day, while taking her usual morning stroll on the seashore, she had found Akane lying unconscious by the water on the beach, the waves splashing back and forth against her cold body.
Without any further delay, she took Akane to her house and changed her out of her tattered yukata. Except for her name, the widowed woman did not get to know a single thing about the scarlet-haired girl.
And from that moment she decided to take care of her as her own daughter and taught her about the art of business, as Akane grasped the content about it quite quickly.
That was the first thing she had learned ever since she stumbled on earth, and that was quickly turned to burning passion of making her own name in the world of business.
Akane learned that Minako was the kind of a woman who possessed a great wealth of her own but never used it for any bad purpose in her own entire life. And that was why Akane loved her so much.
Suddenly, one of the air hostesses had started speaking and her voice was being heard on speakers, announcing that they had arrived at the London City Airport. Akane realised how quickly the time had passed and joined the two metal ends of the straps around her waist and sat back, allowing herself to relax.
"Zelion?"Akane called out his full name, her voice echoing against the walls of her own mind. And she got a response from him. "Hm?" Her voice showed some resistance before she asked him her question. "Are you happy?"
Zel- whose face wasn't visible to anyone at the moment, showed a sign of confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Akane let out a sigh and answered him, "What I mean is that, are you happy here, with me?"
She knew well that Zel had understood the question which she had thrown towards him and in a matter of seconds, she found herself getting lectured in her own brain by him.
"For God's sake Akane! Why do these thoughts enter your head?" She sat there in silence, not uttering a single word while the aeroplane was landing on the runway.
Zel sighed. "Akane I am happy, here with you. You are more than just my partner to me and you know that, don't you?? We know each other inside out. Wherever I may be, but if it's with you I'll never be troubled by you. It's our job to protect each other. That's what we were made for, remember?"
If it was necessary, then Zel would also turn into an old Buddhist to get Akane's senses working back on the track again. This genuine and caring side of Zel, which was always hidden under his cool and stupid layer, was very rare to see and somehow it managed to bring peace back into her.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before forming a relieved smile on her face. And this managed to bring a smile on Zel's face too. "Yea, you're right. I am probably over-thinking." She said to him unbuckling her seat belt.
"Anyway Zel, the airplane has landed, and I can't wait to show you London. So, wait till I get into my apartment, alright?"
"Yes, Ma'am." He replied, shaking his head. Akane stood up and put both her arms up, stretching the all the tiredness out of her body. She had a black leather jacket on her so after pulling the jacket a little closer to her body, she stretched out her hand on the shelf above her seat to retrieve her black suitcase.
She did not have many things to carry from Japan to London, so the only bags she had with her was her grey messenger bag and a black Travelpro suitcase. So, it wasn't such a hassle for her to carry her things around.
When she stood up, she had noticed another man next to her, trying to get his luggage down. Akane realised that this man was sitting in the seat behind her. He was dressed in Puma casuals and head curly locks of brown hair covering his front eye.
He was a good-looking fellow. But he fell in the good looking-but-strange-category. Again. For some reason, Akane was getting very bad vibes from the man and felt that he kept watching her now or then from the corner of his eyes. Her guts and mind were already giving her red signals until it came true.
The man stopped pretending to do his business and immediately dashed for Akane's messenger bag that hung from her right shoulder. Akane gasped at the sudden events taking place.
She had all her important files and cash in her messenger back and losing them now on the aeroplane would be the last and worst situation she would ever choose.
The man just grabbed her bag from her and turned around to make a run for his life when suddenly he was pulled back by a manly hand which had grabbed hold of his collar. The other passengers on the aeroplane were already calling out for the air hostesses.
Akane's eyes were glued to the man whose face couldn't be seen since he was preventing the thief from running. There were other men in the plane who had worn the black colour suit, but she quickly recognised the man in front of her like it was an involuntary action.
And when he turned, she found her self staring back at the most beautiful pair of eyes. And as Minako said to her once, a person's eyes usually told a lot about their character.
But, the man in front of her had greyish eyes with a tint of silver in it, like the iris were made of the moon itself. She had never seen a person with those type of eyes before and therefore, she wasn't able to say anything about him at all.
But one thing was certain about him. He was strange. She saw that he had raised his hand and was holding something in it. My bag. And in less than a second, she broke the eye contact with him and took her bag back from his hand.
He had an unfathomable and unreadable expression on his face and she couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind. "Thanks," She said, softly. They were both staring at each other for some few seconds when the air hostesses came and interrupted them with an apology to Akane.
Akane just nodded and went back to get her suitcase, while the thief was being taken away. The man also turned and went to get his things, but not before ending his and Akane's meeting with a grin.
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The radio had changed to another song called 'Highway Don't Care' by Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift while Akane rolled down the windows of the car.
The driver was driving at a constant speed as the lady beside Akane started to speak to her." I hope you had a good journey, dear." Akane paused for a while, thinking about the events that took place on the aeroplane.
The thief and the man with moon eyes had been dancing around in her mind for some time and she was beginning to get frustrated for trying to figure out about that mysterious man. "Yes, it was good, Mrs Bradford." She lied, turning her face to her.
Mrs Elizabeth Bradford was a lady living in her mid-70s. She was stout, and her grey short hair fell above her shoulder. Even though Mrs Bradford was living in the last stage of her life cycle, she was as energetic as a five-year-old child. And that made Akane like her the moment she saw her.
"Oh please, dear! Call me Elizabeth." Mrs Bradford said to Akane, flashing her a bright smile. Akane gave her a small smile in return and looked outside the car window again.
Primrose Hill was more than everything Minako had told her about. There were buildings lined up one after another, joined, with small café shops decorating them in the ends. The buildings were yellow and other light colours, which had set up a calm atmosphere in the surrounding.
Not to mention the park nearby, topped the area's beauty. The car came to a stop outside of a building at the very end. The balconies of the apartments were visible on the light-coloured building as they got out of the car and Akane walked near the set of stairs as Mrs Bradford said something to the driver before walking near her.
"Isn't Primrose Hill lovely?" She exclaimed while they had started climbing the stairs. Mrs Bradford didn't look like she had any problems at all in climbing the stairs. They had reached the first floor where wooden doors were carved in different patterns which made them look beautiful.
The building was owned by Mrs.Bradford as she used to rent rooms to people. It was one her many forms of the source of incomes. When Minako had told her about Akane coming to London, she offered her to rent the room in her building.
Elizabeth had stopped in front the third last door and turned to Akane with an excited smile. "This is it. You're apartment" The door had a design carved in it like the other doors over there. It was a design of small petals, being blown away by the wind.
"Elizabeth, it's lovely," Akane said to her, staring mystically at the door. Mrs Bradford just smiled looking at the girl's expression and handed over the keys to her. "Here are your keys, Akane." Akane just thanked her and went back to staring at the door.
Mrs Bradford continued," Do you want me to show you the apartment??" She folded her hands, looking at the redhead with kind eyes. "Oh no, Elizabeth. I'm fine on my own. You can go back now."
Akane answered placing her hand gently on Mrs Bradford's arm. They both smiled at each other before giving each other a small, warm hug. "Thanks a lot, Elizabeth." Akane, who couldn't stop smiling said to the kind lady.
Elizabeth nodded and said a quick goodbye before turning her back and leaving from the place.
Akane inserted the key in the keyhole and gave it a quick turn, pushing the door open. When she opened it, she just stood there, staring at the place in awe.
"Whoa" breathed a soft voice against her neck, which sent shivers down her spine.
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