Prologue

The methodical resonance of hurried steps, loud banter, and honking automobiles, frothed its way into massive blue holding the sun in the sky. The air was especially chilly this morning as it managed to freeze even those who were bundled like mountaineers. The citizens swarmed like ants around the city streets and crosswalks as they made their ventures to the hot coffee and warm food kept inside the coffee shops and diners. As time incessantly ticked along, the many faces and figures of the people blurred and melded together becoming one color, one face, one body of massive gray. Amidst the fast moving, turbulent heap of arsenic, two hues stood out conspicuously, adding a dash of color to the otherwise gray sea.

A man, with spiky hair the color of a tangerine, awkwardly slumped along the sea, shouldering past anyone who dared step in his way. His hair was a disheveled mess on his head and his face contorted and twisted itself into a hardened frown at his brow and ugly scowl at his lips. His faded black sneakers stomped upon the sidewalk, propelled by long muscular legs wrapped in classic blue jean pants. A navy peacoat protected his slumped torso from the chipping cold as a knitted muffler wrapped and weaved itself tightly around his neck. His tall, muscular frame rudely bumped and shouldered its way through the crowd, almost racing to reach its destination.

A woman, with sandy brown hair, strolled down the avenue, attracting the stares of those she passed. An innocuous smile greeted those who looked upon her, compelling them to a gentle nod or a hurriedly blushed hello. The dusty grey in her eyes twinkled softly in the morning sun as a pretty pink color set in her cheeks from the frosty weather. Her neck was draped in a lavender scarf as her coat billowed behind her, giving her the ethereal look of a Greek goddess. Dark denim jeans hugged her legs and sleek beige boots insulated her feet from the chill. White gloves enveloped her hands and a large tote bag hung from her shoulder as she gracefully wandered down the street, saying her grievances to those she bumped into, eliciting a jovial smile or daring blush from each personality.

The grumpy tangerine and elegant grey were approaching the busy avenue from opposite directions. The woman pulled from her bag a neatly folded map and inspected the item as she tried to find her designated location. The man aggressively moved forward, not bothering to excuse himself for the shoulders he ran into or for the persons he nearly knocked over. The woman, so absorbed in her task at hand paid no attention to the man rampaging toward her and the tangerine did not care to move to avoid hitting the woman, Like a train colliding with an obstruction on its track, the tangerine struck the unassuming grey, knocking her to the ground as her map flew from her hands and the contents of her purse fell onto the pavement.

The man stumbled over the woman before he caught himself and stopped his fall. The man brushed and readied himself to leave the woman there on the street before he saw the pretty color of her hair and the pained look on her face. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt pass over his being for thinking about leaving her on the street to pick up her belongings and carry on her way. Her map settled itself at his feet before he quickly squatted and began to pick up the contents that had fallen from her purse as she recovered from her fall.

'Ouch,' she thought repeatedly as the stinging in her bum flared then subsided. She squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and seeing a young man with spiky crayon orange hair hurriedly picking up her belongings before his deep chocolate eyes met with her sparkling grey irises.

His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the beautiful countenance of the woman he knocked over. A slender, feminine bone structure, rosy cheeks, a perfectly sloped nose, full pink lips, and the most beautiful set of arsenic eyes he had ever seen filled his vision. Long sandy hair shaped her face and the slight dishevelment it added to the allure she exuded. He quickly looked away as he felt a hot blush rise to his cheeks and whispered his apologies as he finished picking up her belongings and stood, his nervous hand tightly gripping her bag. He offered his hand to her as his scowled face stared down at her.

The world around her stopped as she looked at the strange hue of the man's hair and into the oceans that were his eyes. The curious stares of those looking at them as they walked down the avenue became blurred and peripheral. The uproar of the city quickly became background noise as the beating of her heart and the sound of her breath filled her ears. The world faded to black and slowed as the only thing she could recognize, could hear and see was this man squatting in front of her. She stared unabashedly into his sparkling chocolate depths and it was only when he abruptly looked away that she noticed so. She heard his whispered apologies but paid no mind as the bright hue of his hair filled her eyes. She stared ardently at his tresses, feeling the sudden want to entangle her fingers in his hair. He stood and extended his long slender arm to her as his hardened handsome face stared down at her.

She blinked once, twice, three times before his gesture registered in her mind. She smiled nonsensically as her skinned tightened and two dimples on each cheek peeked at the tangerine. She gingerly took the lean hand of the man and her eyes shone with childlike awe as they passed over his countenance. "Orange!" she whispered to herself as she stared. She suddenly felt herself being pulled up by the man and clumsily stood on her feet as the he held and steadied her.

"Are you okay?" he asked somewhat abruptly, his deep voice caressing her ears like velvet.

She answered yes, a bit too quickly, and smiled endearingly at him. She was so enthralled by his look that she didn't realize her tightened grip on his hand or the way she was staring at his face with no shame or shyness. It wasn't until a warm blush appeared at his cheeks as he looked away from her and nudged her with her purse that she had realized she had been shamelessly gawking at him and holding onto his hand with somewhat of a death grip.

"Uh…um…y-you dropped this."

He nervously stuttered through his words as he pulled his hand from hers and handed her bag and map back to her. He couldn't help but wonder why she was staring at him like that; it was making him even more uneasy than he already was.

Maybe she was upset about him knocking her over and having her belongings go everywhere? A pang of guilt ensued. But if she was she surely didn't exude a hint of animosity. Perhaps she was staring because she liked what she saw? Absurdity; no one ever did that, at least not to him. He mused that the reason she was gawking was because, like the rest of the general population he had become accustomed to, she was in grotesque awe of the ugly tint of his hair, or his tattooed frown or etch-a-sketch scowl. He was never a contestant in the looks department and was far from a gentleman; therefore someone as beautiful and sophisticated as her couldn't possibly be attracted to someone as simple and ugly as he.

He quickly turned away from her, attempting to start again on his trek before a slender hand stopped him. He heard the silky voice of the woman hurriedly shout and turned toward her, surprised by the urgency in her tone.

Before she knew what came over her, her hand shot out to grab the man as he turned to leave and her voice flowed from her throat. "Wait!" she heard her voice echo in her ears but didn't quite understand what she said. As the man's eyes nervously locked with hers she lost all words that had fluttered here and there in her mind. She briefly saw the people gushing around her, as if the man were a barrier keeping the ocean from engulfing her. She had to think of something to say if she wanted to keep him here for a little longer didn't she? She just couldn't demand that he stop without any justification.

"You…" she said, quite unsure of where her thoughts would take her. She paused and rapidly searched her mind for anything to say, something that would make him speak again. She remembered why they even happened to collide with each other and a bright smile lit her face. She let go of his arm and hurriedly dug through her purse searching for the item that caused her obliviousness. A childlike ah-ha! escaped from her vocals as she pulled out a slightly crumpled map and began to hurriedly unfold it.

"You…you wouldn't happen to know where Haibisukasu Street is, would you?" she spoke quickly as she pointed to the map and smiled at the man.

A moment passed before her words registered in his head and another before he responded. "Yea…" he said as he took the map and briefly looked at it. He didn't comprehend what he saw; all he could focus on was the eyes of the woman, of her tender voice, and her slender hand. He blinked once, twice, forcing himself to comprehend what was on the map before momentarily looking up and seeing the wave of people grunting at him as he and the woman stood still on such a busy avenue.

"We should get off the street," He said as he turned to her and saw the nonsensical up and down bobbing motion of her head. He gently grabbed her wrist and led her into one of the covered patios of the many café's that lined the boulevard. He quickly found the street she was looking for and pointed it out for her, telling her how to get to the street from their destination.

His voice sounded smooth like chocolate milk as he spoke to her. She was enthralled by the mysterious character she had just met and at this moment would've done almost anything to have a casual conversation with him. His odd colored hair, his hardened frown and scary scowl; she couldn't help but to think that he had a strange cuteness about him. It was something about him that told her he wasn't as mean as his countenance would imply. Maybe it was the way he boyishly whispered his rushed apologies, or the way his chocolate eyes twinkled in the morning light. Maybe it was the way he effortlessly pulled her from the ground and held her so she could steady herself. At that moment she could feel the heat pouring off his body, maybe even more so because it was such a chilly morning. It wasn't heat from nervousness or anything of the sort. No, it was as if he had liquid fire running through his veins meant to keep others warm.

After he finished explaining how to her how to get where she needed to be, he handed her map back and gave a slight nod of his head, signaling his departure. She quickly started repeating the instructions he gave her, stumbling over her words and mixing them up as she talked. A perplexed look dragged its way onto the man's face as she smiled warmly at him, managing to elicit a heated blush.

"No," he said somewhat unsure, leaning back toward her to show her the proper directions on the map. He was so confused by her. There was no way she could be remotely interested in him, so why did she seem to want him to stay? Did she just want to mock him? Anger flared through his being then quickly subsided. Was she trying to get a good look at him for the police if she went through her purse and found things missing? No, she didn't seem like that type of person. So what was it then, why did she seem to want him to stay? 'No, she doesn't want me to stay, I want to stay' he thought. It was true, he was enthralled by the beauty she was and by the atmosphere that was her. He wanted to stay and talk with her before he was to be on his way. But he pushed away his secret desires and decided he would leave her be.

He finished showing her the directions and couldn't help but look at her side profile and feel a bit of scorn toward her. She was probably on her way to coffee with her friends and would be sure to tell them of her meeting with him. They would probably laugh at his expense and make jokes for a long time to come. As she was still looking at the map, comprehending the information he gave her, he stealthily back away and disappeared into the sea, his orange head bobbing as he walked amongst the crowd.

She was so mesmerized by his voice and so caught in her own thoughts as she stared blankly down at the map that it took her a moment to come back to the world, and another before she realized that the warmth she felt dissipating from the man disappeared. She wanted to thank him for being so nice and helping her (and maybe she wanted to buy him coffee for his good deed) but when she looked up he was nowhere to be found. Her breath caught in her throat as she twisted and turned, looking for the bright tint of his hair but it was nowhere in her line of sight.

What greeted her was the tumultuous rolling sea of gray, swaying to and fro in the morning light.