An Angelic Apparition

“ Have you heard? It is said that whenever you make a wish that comes from the bottom of your heart, your wish is carried to God and a guardian angel is sent to grant it. “

“ You don’t say! Can we ask for anything? Can it be anything we desire? “

“ Yes, it can be anything, like money, or even a boyfriend, you name it. “

“ Then I might as well hurry and make a wish. I wonder what angel they’re going to send over. “

While the girls were gossiping among themselves, Sakura Fambrose, a plain-looking girl with glasses, walked past them. Carrying her school books, she entered the school library and stopped at a shelf; then, suddenly, she beamed joyfully.

“ The next volume has come out at last. “

She beamed even more as she picked from the shelf her favorite shoujo manga, “ Featured Dreams.” As she sat on the bench and opened the first pages, she exclaimed slightly before reading the pages, “ I’m excited to discover the newest adventures of Kou and Julietta. “

Whereas, in the Angel Realm, an angel whose looks couldn’t be described by words due to its exquisite appearance feature was peacefully enjoying a piece of work he found rather intricate and interesting. Spending all his time doing just that, one day, one of his colleagues approached him and asked, “ Don’t you have anything more amusing to do? “ The angel approaching him was Christopher and his physical characteristics were those of a nature kind of individual, with featured green hair as green as the forest and green eyes just as limpid.

The angel in front of him answered him bluntly, “ Reading is a very important job to do and I think if you understood it as much as I did, you wouldn’t be saying this. “

“ A very important job? Please clear my lantern. “

Angel Christopher asked bluntly, and the response he received to this was, “ You discover numerous things through readings and discover yourself at the same time. You should seriously consider reading something one of these days. What do you say? “

Expecting a positive response, Angel Christopher said, “ That is something that someone who has nothing better to do would say. Unlike you, I have lots of things to do, among which is granting the wishes of my human. What about you? Can you say the same? “

—

At the sound of those words, the angel's expression turned sour before changing again in the span of an instant. Looking at his colleague, he said, beaming like an innocent child, “ My human is very capable and doesn’t require my assistance. I’m glad, however, that your human keeps you occupied all the time. I’m sure you’ll rise in the station soon if this continues. Keep up the good work! “

Returning to his reading, Christopher walked away, annoyed. As soon as he was out of sight, the angel’s focus left the book he was eagerly reading.

At the same time, in Tokyo, Sakura Fambrose who was done reading the newest volume of her favorite shoujo manga was looking for the follow-up volumes on the shelf, but no matter how much she searched and searched, she couldn’t find them anywhere.

“ Where could they be? Did someone rent them before me? “ She internally exclaimed.

Noticing the confusion now harbored on Sakura’s face, a librarian approached her and asked, “ Young lady, you seem troubled about something. Is there anything you might need my help with? “

Retracting her focus from the shelf, Sakura stared at the librarian in front of her. Showing her the shoujo manga she was holding, she eagerly exclaimed, “ I’m looking for the follow-up volumes of this shoujo manga, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere on the shelf. Could someone have rented it before me? “

Listening to her plea, the librarian slightly grinned before Sakura and said, “ Let me check in the system for you! Would you mind coming with me? “

“ Yes, of course! “

Following the librarian, she waited for good news while she checked the system through her computer for any follow-up volumes of “ Featured Dreams.” After a minute and a half of checking up on things, the librarian got back to Sakura and the response she gave her wasn’t one she expected to hear at all.

“ Sorry, young lady, but the fifteenth volume of ‘Featured Dreams’ seems to be the last one currently released. Maybe you might want to check out another title. “

Although disappointed that she couldn’t obtain the 16th volume of “ Featured Dreams", she thanked the librarian for the help provided before silently walking out of the library. Once she was outside, she screamed internally, “ What am I going to do now? I can’t wait that long. Who knows when the 16th volume will come out in stores? “

Returning home that day, Sakura looked online for information about the author and “ Featured Dreams” upcoming conclusion, but she couldn’t land on any relevant information that might give her a lead. All she found on the net, however, was a sudden hiatus announcement without any given cause as to why.

“ A hiatus announcement with no return date? What am I to do now? I could look up other shoujo manga to check out, but there isn’t one better than ‘Featured Dreams.’

While internally screaming, her hands unexpectedly clicked a website. When she looked up and was about to close the desktop, she read the insignia, “ Do you have dreams and wish to make them come true? Send a message through this box and your call will be heard! Don’t waste time and grab your chance at a better future! “

“ What is this joke? As if all it took was a wish to make our dreams come true—--- “

Not paying attention to the insignia, Sakura closed her desktop and went to sleep soon after eating.

At the same time, in the Angel Realm, there was a whisper in the background, “ She ignored me again for the nth time. Will there ever come a day when she’ll acknowledge my existence? “

The following day, Sakura returned to the library on her break time to check out new titles, but she didn’t find any interest in other shoujo manga and sighed sadly. About to leave yet again, the librarian who aided her last time stopped her, “ Young lady, would you be interested in the light novel version of “ Featured Dreams? “

“ The light novel version of “ Featured Dreams? ”

“ Yes, there’s a light novel version for the shoujo manga. Would you be interested in checking that out? “

Stopping in her tracks, Sakura’s interest came back as she nodded before the librarian. “ Then come with me! “

Following the librarian, she directed her to the novel section where she landed straight on the light novel version of her favorite shoujo manga.

“ You’re right, there is a light novel version. “ Looking up the cover, the name of her favorite author was inscribed on it.

While opening up the pages, the librarian added, “ The light novel is the official version, and volume 20 will come out next month. “

!

At the sound of those words, Sakura was confused. “ I don’t understand. The shoujo manga is on indefinite hiatus, so why is the light novel continuing? “

Instead of answering her question straight away, the librarian brought her the shoujo manga of “ Featured Dreams” and handed it to her. “ Why did you bring me this? “ She asked to which the librarian gave an immediate response, “ Look up the cover and you’ll understand everything! “

?

Taking the shoujo manga off her hand, Sakura’s attention was directed to the cover and she read, Original Creator- “ Wing123”, Art by “ Zero, Story by Deborah D.”

“ I can’t believe this. “ Sakura exclaimed after reading everything. “ She’s the original creator, so why is her work drawn by other people? “

“ Maybe she wanted to focus on the novel and following her wishes, a team was put forward for the manga adaptation, or something else. “ The librarian gave a subtle answer to Sakura who said without an ounce of hesitation in her tone, “ I have no clue why Wing-Sensei decided to handle things this way, but had it been me, I wouldn’t have allowed others to take over my work. “

Later that day, Sakura returned from school with the first five volumes of the light novel version of “ Featured Dreams.” Right after she was done with dinner, she started reading the first volume and through it, she found instances that were never mentioned in the shoujo manga. Even though it was her first time reading a light novel, she found the one she was reading especially enjoyable and easy to understand. That night, she finished the first two volumes before heading to bed.

The day after was Saturday and as there was no school due to it being the weekend, Sakura finished up the remaining three volumes of “ Featured Dreams. “ At the end, she mumbled, “ I can understand through reading the first five volumes of the light novel why she wouldn’t give it up. Even though this was my very first time reading a light novel, I understood Wing-Sensei’s world through the characters and their story even more than I did in the Shoujo manga. “

“ A work so amazing might not have taken so much time to craft in full detail. If I could write like wing-Sensei, then I—-------------------- “

Stopping her thought process, she mumbled, “ What am I thinking right now? How could I come up with a story this amazing? Only Wing-Sensei could craft a storyline this great, I could never do the same, but what if I tried at least? It won’t hurt to try, right? “

Attempting to write something as a try, Sakura opened Microsoft Word on her desktop, but the moment she was to write something, she froze up on the spot. “ I don’t know what to write at all. I have no clue as to what I could write about. “

Suddenly recalling her childhood right at that very moment, Sakura sadly realized how lonely she’s been since she was a little girl. Never having anyone to call a friend or parents who would care for her and teach her things as they were always on business trips, Sakura was cared for and raised by nannies her parents employed until she was of age to take care of herself without anyone’s assistance.

The only solace that always accompanied her through her lonely existence was shoujo manga she would read and fill up her empty self. During the sixteen years of her life, Sakura has been occupying her time with two things, reading and studying.

Once the recollection was complete, Sakura thought of closing the tab, but once again she unexpectedly ventured into the same website as last time. “ Not this website again? What does it want from me? “

“ If I knew about basic emotions, I might be able to come up with a proper story to write, wouldn’t I? “ She mumbled and stared at the screen in front of her.

“ All I have to do is write something inside the box and it’ll automatically happen? “ Sakura wondered internally as to what to do. Staring at the light novel of her favorite shoujo manga, she clicked the box and wrote something random as a means to test its functionality.

“ There’s no way this will work. I’ve long passed the age to believe in fairy tales. “

Two days later, when Sakura headed to school, she heard students whispering among themselves yet again. “ You know about the wish I made to have a boyfriend, it happened. This is magical. “

“ And I wished for a new cell phone last month and here it is in my hands. “ Another student was overjoyed.

While walking past them, Sakura internally exclaimed, “ If angels truly exist, they must have nothing better to do than to grant such silly wishes. “

Being the first to arrive in her classroom, Sakura sat on the far back seat, waiting for others to arrive. With less than twenty minutes remaining, Sakura attempted to write something inside her notebook, but nothing was coming to mind. “ I’m truly not good at this. “

Five minutes later, students started to arrive and they soon filled up the classroom after a while. The lecturer arrived soon after and classes officially commenced. Three hours later, when her break time hour finally arrived, Sakura ran to the library to return the rented volumes of “ Featured Dreams” so she could rent out the follow-up volumes, but something unexpected happened.

The librarian who would always be at her desk was not there. Not only that but as soon as she entered the library, the doors behind her suddenly shut themselves. The lights became dim and Sakura started to panic, unable to understand what could have been going on right at that moment.

“ What’s happening? “

Closing her eyes instinctively, she prayed for things to return to normal. The moment she opened her eyes next, her sights landed on the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. A beautiful young man flying above her head with featured blue hair and ocean-like eyes as blue as the deep sea, his unmasked beauty threw Sakura off her pedestal.

Gasping to find the right words, she asked, “ Who are you? “

Grinning as innocently as a child, the angel in front of her introduced himself, “ I’m your guardian angel, Kaito and I’m here to grant your wish, Sakura Fambrose. “