An Angel’s Dangerous Smile

Prologue

The Primeval Forest of the village of Narusawa in Yamanashi Prefecture – I don’t think it’s more that a shout away from the even more famous Mt. Fuji – but it’s just separated from the working world. It has a feeling (atmosphere) of fantasy to it, almost like the forest where the Ewoks from “Star Wars” lived – or something like that.

Mr. Fuji is of course a great place for sightseeing, and on weekends and the like hordes of people crowd up the place – but people really don’t make the trek to the Primeval Forest.

Well, that can’t be helped… at least you’d expect that it couldn’t be helped.

But on the other hand, the enormous roots of these trees seem to coil themselves out of the ground, so much co that you can’t really tell which roots go to which trees as you come into the forest. On top of that, you lose your bearings the further you step into it.

Because of this, the place is a well-known place for suicides, the lady at the souvenir shop on the road leading up to it was telling me – she looked at me with some doubt and for some reason I was agreeing with her…

But while she did look at me with doubt (why I don’t know) you would think as if I was going to crowd up the forest, but the truth is the problem was my lousy friend the Manga Artist. Hatta Kazuya’s request… Man! To go to a place to take nude photos.

Hatta’s story was that there was a nudist village in this Primeval Forest. Ah, well, truth is, it was the story in the Manga he drew.

But, why, if this angling for a story isn’t true, why was I brazenly doing this? You might ask.

In other words… Kasuga Kyousuke, 22 years old, always seems to get tolled up into some kind of troublesome event.

“Eh? You can’t do tomorrow?”

Upon finding out about Hatta’s request for me to go photo shooting in the Primeval Forest, those were the words that came from Madoka’s mouth. That was yesterday.

Truth is the next day, today, I had promised a date with Madoka.

“My fault, I’m so busy. That idiot Hatta doesn’t have the time to collect the data, so he says. When I went to America I borrowed money from him, didn’t I? I haven’t yet paid him back, so I couldn’t refuse…”

I couldn’t tell her I was going to film nudists, could I?

“But if I remember right…doesn’t Hatta-kun’s Manga already have something about this?”

“Ah…ha ha… ‘I’ll forgive you’ he said it’s called.”

“Something perverted, I suppose.”

“Uh… ye… yes.”

“Although, what’s the relation to the Primeval Forest?”

Sting!

“Ah, um, er, well, things like the scenery – he’d want to use that, certainly? A ha ha… I really don’t know though.”

“Hmm…” Ayukawa Madoka showed that she really didn’t completely trust Kasuga Kyousuke with the look in her eyes.

“Wha… What? Madoka?”

“I wonder if I should go to.”

“Huh? No! No way!”

“Why? Why----? Ah, Kyousuke, are you hiding something?”

“Don’t be stupid. What are you saying? I have no reason to, do I? Madoka, this is work. Work! On top of that it’s a place famous for lots of suicides. Madoka, if anything you should refuse.”

“Eh…..”

“Wha… What?”

“You’re a pro…”

“Hey, hey, Ma, Madoka…”

This laugh of “It can’t be helped” came over Madoka’s face, and she entwined both her hands around my neck. I held her close about the waist and kissed her a bit hard. I took in a deep breath of the sweet smell of her long black hair.

Just then the thought suddenly hit me of “you’d better come back” and that made me feel a bit uneasy.

…However, so that Madoka wouldn’t see this I shook my head “what do you mean by that?” and struck it from my thoughts.

“Yatto!”

I held onto my camera bag and jumped onto a root the size of an electric pole. I looked back at the path that until now I had been able to walk.

At the foot of Mt. Fuji had been a sign marked “Fugakufuuketsu”, and I had walked under this only entrance to the Primeval Forest. But already I couldn’t see it.

I could faintly hear the song of some far away small bird – of course you’d think I would hear the nearby people or the sound of cars on the nearby highway, but I couldn’t hear them at all. And before I knew it fog had rolled in. Even though there was a lot of time left in the afternoon, while I looked around the field the visibility got worse.

I pulled my favorite Canon Camera from my bag, and it suddenly occurred to me to set up a camera position and start shooting. I had just looked through my finder when suddenly my field of vision was completely covered by fog. I lost my balance and my foot slipped.

“Ah!”

Because of this danger, I dropped my camera. However, instantly… you could say accidentally, anyway I smacked my head into one of those roots, and as I grabbed on to my camera and held it to my chest I fell on my ass.

Then… “Wait… hold on… what’s this?”

As I stood up quite the spectacle appeared before my eyes.

As before, a thick fog blanketed the Primeval Forest. But I could now make out something fading in and out of sight across the way through the slowly flowing fog.

It was too big to call a pond… too small for a lake… let’s call it a lake. The surface of the lake reflected a brilliant sunlight.

And a bit closer to me, a lone female was bathing in the cold water. On top of that, her tummy… er, ah… she was stark naked!

“Ah, er… um…”

I was suddenly led into a trouble spot, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. Even though I still had my camera, I just stood there spaced out.

Her hair was short. Her milk-white skin seemed transparent (pervert!) shining from the silver water, her not-quite-fully developed body when she moved, came together as sexy. Age… 13 or 14 or so (man, this 22 year-old is acting too much the old man…)

She was having fun, laughing and playing in the water. But… with a whiff she noticed my presence and swung around to face me… The both she and I at the same time said “eh?” as our eyes went wide.

I knew this girl.

Well, not exactly THIS girl. No doubt about it, this girl I just met was… Hiyama Hikaru… In other words the 13 year-old Hikaru-chan!

“Hi… Hikaru-chan?”

Then, upon hearing my voice Hikaru-chan’s answer was certainly not what I expected.

“Kyadaa! Kyadaa! You’re Darling! Aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

This Hikaru-chan, as I suspected, this Hikaru-chan didn’t know me.

To Act I