Curtains up.

The echo of civilization hummed in his eardrums, rolling around a subconscious person driven by habitual movements. Worn black sneakers padded softly into the concrete sidewalk, spinning towards the only park in Tokyo. No footprints, no indentation of this person's crossing remained over the smutty gray concrete. A chameleon to multitudes of people, he traipses down the lonesome stretch of crowded city streets.

But he's here today for a new reason, and he spots her walking briskly down the opposing sidewalk. She laughs into the cell phone in her hand, her blue eyes twinkling like sapphires under the blonde wisps of hair dancing in her face. The glaring sun overhead glimmers off her golden locks, causing a glowing effect all around her. Pristine white teeth shimmer behind her full pink lips, still pouty with childishness.

This girl was an angel. An epiphany of innocence, light, and beauty, all the things an angel bore. He'd known it from the first time he'd seen her, from the helping hand she'd extended to him despite the circumstances. She did not judge, nor scorn, she only shone with brilliance. She was truly an angel.

He had to crush her. Slowly.

Like the lamb himself, this girl was too forgiving, too saintly, and too perfect to be allowed existence. True, she had her bad points, but her imperfections only seemed to add to her charm, to her beauty. He simply had to strip her of these things; first her love, then her trust, and then her innocence. All of it would be his, and then he'd take her tainted soul and break it.

He paused at the park entrance, ten feet's distance from the swings, and watched the angel stop at a crosswalk. A brunette child on the swings was swaying, back and forth in a huge arch, and humming. The song was familiar, he almost wanted to join, but instead he silently listened to her young voice sing out the lyrics.

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

The light changed, she stuck her cell phone in her purse distractedly and pushed her sunglasses into her hair. Her steps were timed, cautious, unaccustomed to grace or poise and trying to adjust, but she paused on the curb and smiled at a black-haired toddler with its mother. There was that damned saintliness, he wanted to break it right there. He wanted to kill the little twerp right before her and see how dark he could make those sparkling blue eyes.

As she turned to walk in his direction, he stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled slowly into the park. She passed him by without a glance, and he backtracked to watch her stride down the sidewalk, chin up and smile in place. She made such a thin, delicate little target. She would be his.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream

She entered the local flower shop, and he almost cackled. How ironic, the angel and the kittens. His eyes glinted as he wandered back down the street, away from his angel and the girl on the swings. For now, he would watch, and he would learn. Soon, soon his plan would become reality. Soon her innocence would be tainted.

Life is but a dream

Curtains down.

xXx

Nineteen year old Usagi Tsukino pushed a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses up into her blonde hair, effectively pushing her bangs from her eyes. Though still adjusting to the shortness of her new look, she and her boyfriend, Mamoru, both agreed it was an improvement on her ridiculously long pigtails. Her blue eyes shimmered as she watched a mother playing patty-cake with her toddler, imagining herself and Chibiusa.

After the battle with Chaos, it had been very hard for her to adjust. The last few years of high school had been the roughest in her life, with Mamoru in college at Harvard and her parents finally buckling down on her to improve her grades. If it hadn't been for the senshi's support, she might not have made it through. Now, Mamoru had just come back to Japan and she was happier than ever.

The black-haired child looked over at her and stared, somehow in awe at the sight of her. Usagi smiled warmly at the youngster, but she only stared back, her mouth slightly open, and soon the mother caught on to what had her daughter so enthralled. The two shared a grin before Usagi turned, continuing on her way.

The thought of Chibiusa had boosted the blonde's mood that much more, and she nearly skipped towards her destination; the local flower shop. As it were, all of the senshi agreed to have a period of normalcy before Crystal Tokyo was born. Mamoru agreed they should prolong their engagement until she was twenty-one, and though she hated to wait that long, she realized they would be together no matter what.

In the mean time, Usagi sought out employment to keep herself busy and satisfy her shopping needs. As she though it over, she'd so happened to waltz by a lovely looking flower shop with a 'Help Wanted' sign in the window. Later she'd come to discover that the position had been sought after by the entire girl population of the local high school, and during her interview she'd realized why.

Her fellow employees were gorgeous. Not just your average 'walk by, sigh at his hotness, and move along'. The kind of guys that the whole 'love at first sight' bit proved true for, with melting smiles and mesmerizing eyes. The reason she'd been chosen for the job is because, frankly, she was the applicant not interested in staring at her fellow employees more than working. In fact, she was engaged, so there was no danger in that department.

She called hello as soon as she entered the shop, Koneko No Sumi Ie. The blonde boy at the counter smiled brightly at her, the only person at the shop close to her age. As she placed her purse on the counter and pushed her cell phone all the way inside, she smiled back at him.

"Hullo Omi-kun." She greeted, tucking her purse under the counter and grabbing her work apron. After she put it on, she pulled her sunglasses out of her hair and let the blonde locks fall around her face.

"Hi Tsukino-san," Omi replied, earning an annoyed glance from Usagi as she put her sunglasses away.

"Omi-kun, I've told you over and over to call me Usagi. Yohji-kun, how many times have I asked Omi to call me Usagi?" She called to the other side of the shop, where Yohji was watering flowers distractedly.

"Two hundred and twenty-seven times, everyday you've come into work." He replied, sending Usagi an amused glance over his own sunglasses, which he rarely bothered to remove, even indoors. Usagi stared at him strangely for a few minutes before laughing lightly.

"Well, it seems I've got some sort of a stalker. I had no idea you felt that way, Yohji-kun." As she said this, the blonde gave a dreamy look at Yohji, trying her best to keep her face straight.

"Oh, but Usagi, your beauty has ensnared since the first time I saw you." Yohji drawled dramatically, taking the younger girls hands in his. The two high school students in the store started giggling at the spectacle. When Usagi had first started working at the flower shop, the local high school girls had despised her, and blatantly at that. After a while though, her infectious personality got to them, and the fact that she was engaged helped a little, too.

"Get to work." Usagi looked over at the red-head known as Aya, and bowed in apology. Yohji turned and continued watering flowers, muttering something to himself. The blonde stifled a giggle, before taking the orders from Omi. At first, Aya had appointed her to the register, but after a few weeks they discovered the rabbit's true talent: flower arranging. So now, that was what she mostly did, and she enjoyed every minute of it.

"By the way, where's Ken?" Usagi asked suddenly.

"Soccer," was Omi's one word reply, and the blonde nodded her understanding. She'd seen Ken play soccer once, and she could tell from watching him that it was his favorite thing to do. As her mind wandered elsewhere, she began humming to herself.

It didn't take her long to finish the first order, for it was a simple arrangement. She carried the vase in her arms, planning to store it behind the counter where Omi could deliver it later, when she caught sight of a man in the window. He had a patch covering one eye, but the other was staring right through her. Its golden hue made him seem almost...demonic.

"Omi, do you see," but as soon as she made to point out the man, he was gone. Omi looked at the frozen girl, concerned.

"Usagi?"

"There was a man in the window, just now, did you see him?" The blonde asked, turning to face Omi. He shook his head negative, taking the flowers from her hands as he did so. "He was staring right at me."

"Can you blame him?" Yohji commented flippantly, winking at her. Usagi smiled lightly, and made to go back to work, with the strange man still on her mind.

xXx

Ack, new story! I'm working on Forbidden Dreams right now, but I was deterred by this because I'm simply in love with it. I don't know exactly how well I portray the stalker-ness, but I do try. If you're a fan of Weiss Kreuz, it shouldn't be hard at all to identify the creepy stalker guy. Yes, there will be romance. No, it's not a Usa/Mamoru, though I am working on one of those...undercover. It's a one-shot.

Anyway, this is a...what would you call it? Ah, a teaser. Yes. So review it, or there will be no more. How sad. And I promise to work on FD more now...but some reviews for this might help me move faster. -hint hint-

♥SachiNyoko♥