Okay, this time an Ai Kora story... Why? ...I don't know, I just decided to do it... But due to the lack of entries for this fandom, I probably won't be updating this very much, just when I have enough time to, or if by any chance it happens to get any supporting reviews.

Things to know for this story are:

1. The pairing shall be Hachibei x Ootori.

2. I'm not very good with writing perverted people, so Hachibei's personality will be quite different.

And...

3. Until I get more of a feel for how this story will go, the chapters won't be that long. Perhaps about one thousand words or so...

I don't think I have anything left to say, so let's get started!

Prologue

Past Events

March 16th 2001

It was late in the day, in the mountains, where a small girl was training by herself. She was punching mannequins which were being stood up by thick, sturdy sticks. She was still fairly young, so she couldn't offer much damage for the dummy, but nonetheless her skills were quite impressive for someone of her age. Hours were spent on top of the mountain, as she did a multitude of exercises, presumably without anyone watching her. However, that wasn't the case, behind one of the trees, a young boy was staring at her as she quickly moved from one training session to the next.

It was quite easy to see that he was the same age as her, if not then ever so slightly older. He stood there in fascination at her movements, it was surprising how quick and flexible she was. He was so caught up in watching her, that he hadn't yet noticed that he was making his way towards her. However his moving was quickly spotted, and the girl was already making her way towards him at a rapid pace. By the time he had noticed her coming towards him, he was already on the ground, pinned and unable to move freely.

He tried to turn his head, and switched his gaze to the girl who was currently, sitting on top of him, preventing him from escaping. She opened her mouth to speak, and he was surprised when he heard it, "If you don't wish to die, tell me who you are." Despite her actions thus far, and the threatening words that left her mouth, he couldn't helped but be captivated by the light and calming voice. But he wasn't currently in the best position to listen to it without care.

Not hearing anything come from him, the girl asked again, expecting an answer this time, "Were you not listening? I told you to tell me who you were, or you can die." She once again spoke threatening words, with a soothing voice, but the boy wasn't about to ignore the question for a second time, so, he opened his mouth to answer.

"M-My name is Maeda Hachibei..." She wasn't expecting him to answer as calmly as he did, was he not aware of his current position? Or was he simply an idiot with a death wish? Though regardless of his reason, she decided to continue with the interrogation.

She held a tighter grip, as she began to speak again, "What are you doing here? This land is not accessible to outsiders such as yourself." Once again, Hachibei couldn't help but be calm once he heard her voice, so he once again answered her with a composed voice.

"I was wandering through the woods and I got lost, then I began to follow some sounds that I heard, and I ended up here and began watching you." She tensed up slightly at the thought of a stranger watching her as she trained, but seeing as he wasn't a threat, she stood up, allowing him to stand up as well.

He smiled at her, to which she just turned her head in the other direction. There was still something that confused her, so she decided to investigate a little more, "So, Maeda, why were you so calm? Were you not scared that I would kill you?" She began to look at him again, and noticed that his smile hadn't faded yet.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the answer she received wasn't quite what she was expecting, "Not really, I mean sure I might have been, but your voice was very soothing, I couldn't help but remain calm." She was now confused, she couldn't understand how the voice of someone ready to kill him would compose him.

She continued to look at him with a confused expression as she continue to question him, "My... Voice? What do you mean by that?" He nodded to her, refusing to let his smile fade, even as he answered her.

"It's because it sounded nice! You have a wonderful sounding voice... Ehm..." He wasn't sure how to address her, since he had yet to ask for her name.

The young girl was caught slightly off guard, and a small blush plagued her face as she cast her eyes downward, and answered his unasked question, "Ootori... Kirino... Is my name..." She spoke with a quiet tone, but just loud enough for the boy to hear.

Hachibei had an excited look on his face as he grabbed her hand, and began to speak, "Alright! Then Kirino, do you want to be friends?" The fact that he both took her hands into his, and spoke her name in such a familiar way, caused her former blush to deepen, but she couldn't keep herself from nodding.

He gave her a cheerful look as he spoke to her in an equally cheerful voice, "Okay, then from this day on, the two of us will be friends Kirino!" Kirino nodded, and gave Hachibei a small smile.

She was slightly confused at how a friendship was born from an interrogation, but it didn't really matter, they were friends now, and for her he was the first friend she had made in her secluded life. And just maybe, before she knew it, it had bloomed into something slightly more...

Aye, so that's it for this chapter! Again, it was slightly short, but meh... What are you gonna do? Well if you read the thing through, feel free to let me know what you though. The fandom is quite low in popularity, so hopefully this story will help out... And hopefully anyone still reading can also help out with making it more popular as well... Ah, and in the next chapter, will be in the present time, so feel free to look forward to that as well if you enjoyed this chapter! Well, not much I feel like saying... It is just the prologue after all.. Well, thanks for reading, drop a review if you want, and help with the fandom! ...Yep... ... ...

~Ciao