Chapter Text
When Yuu woke that morning, he wasn’t expecting to see yet another group of angels being sent down to Hell without him. He stood there outside his home, watching with his mouth agape, bedhead still messy from his slumber. His eyes were wide with shock, and he paused to rub the sleepiness away from his eyes before looking back up to make sure that he wasn’t just having another bad dream. No, it was true—the warrior-angels were lined up in neat rows with their weapons secured to their belts, the golden metal shining bright and promising in the sunlight. After hearing encouraging cheers from their families and friends gathered along the main road to the Gates of Heaven, they began to march full-force ahead.
That morning, Yuu had jerked himself out of bed as quickly as possible after hearing all the ruckus, wondering what was going on. He was a little bothered, since he was trying to get as much rest as possible. It was important that he got his sleep, since two days from now, he was going to be sent down to Hell with his fellow soldiers and finally kick some demon ass!
Guren had promised him that when the next division was sent, Yuu could be part of them. At last, Yuu would be able to prove himself as the best warrior-angel there was, and he could finally get Guren’s approval. It was all he dreamed of, since Guren constantly insisted that Yuu wasn’t fit for battle, and Yuu was dead-set on proving him wrong. He couldn’t wait to slice his golden sword through the slimy black bodies of the monsters far below, to vanquish the evil that prowled beneath their feet and protect the universe from their nefarious deeds. That was Yuu’s purpose, what he lived for, what he strove to spend the rest of his immortal life doing.
Clearly, Yuu realized that now, he was too late to join them—and no one had woken him up!
After a powerful command was barked out by their archangel, the angels all let out a battle cry and started running towards the opened gates. Yuu gawked in disbelief, wondering if this was just a bad nightmare he was bound to wake up from. The soldiers all charged, their wings flaring out behind them in preparation for flight, and as they reached the other side of the gates, they dipped beneath the clouds in a flash of astonishing light. Stray feathers fluttered up into the sky, sparkling with their divine power, sending chills down Yuu’s spine. His own feathers ruffled and he felt an ache in his bones to fly, to follow them, to join their amazing crusade.
He had to go—it was his purpose. Those demons had murdered his family and taken away everyone that mattered to him. Awful memories haunted Yuu on the daily, of his beloved family’s tiny bodies strewn about the room, wings broken and feathers soaked with blood. He would never forget the way the demons crunched on their bones, how their hideous fangs were coated in the blood of the people he had loved the most.
The only people who ever loved him back, the only people that made Yuu feel like he belonged somewhere… were all brutally devoured by demons. Yuu was the only one to survive, and he could never forgive himself for not being there when they needed his protection the most. Yuu needed his revenge to make up for the biggest failure of his life, the worst mistake he had ever made by being absent when the demons attacked. He knew no other way to atone for the loss of his family, and so he decided that he must kill every last demon in the universe. He wouldn’t stop until he had Satan’s head in his grasp. Their wickedness needed to be stopped once and for all, and Yuu would be the one to spearhead the entire war—but he couldn’t do that standing on the porch in a t-shirt and sweatpants, barely conscious after a deep sleep.
This was the fifth time now that he had begged to join the army, and Guren finally said he could go with the next division—but he told Yuu it was in two days from now, not today!
“Wait!” Yuu desperately blurted out without thinking, now lunging forward and taking off into an unsteady flight. He zipped over the crowds below and he could care less about how he looked. He just knew he had to join them, no matter the consequences. As he flew, he balanced himself to try and pick up speed, his wings tucking close to his body as he torpedoed towards the quickly narrowing gap between the massive gates. The wind blew his hair back as he came rushing towards that slim exit, which was now growing thinner and thinner in order to block off the rest of the angels from leaving their homeland. He was so close now, and if he went just a little faster, he could make it and join the army like he always dreamed—
“Oi, brat!!”
The breath was knocked out of Yuu as he suddenly slammed into another, larger angel, and an arm grabbed him around the waist and yanked him away from the gates he was so close to flying right through. Yuu let out a choked gasp from suddenly being stopped mid-flight, and his wings flapped furiously in an attempt to break away. He realized that it was Guren who was grabbing him and keeping him stuck in place, and so he struggled even harder, kicking angrily against Guren’s legs.
“Let me go, let me go!” Yuu demanded, watching with despairing eyes as the gates were drawn in closer and closer. “The gates are closing, I gotta go! Dammit, Guren, let me go!!”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Guren retorted furiously, and his grip on Yuu’s waist tightened harshly and suddenly. Yuu wheezed and cringed from the pain, the rush of adrenaline starting to fade as despair took over instead. All the fight drained from his body as he watched the gates finally click shut, the metallic gears shifting into place automatically and sealing anyone else from leaving Heaven until the next division was dispatched months from now.
Months! Yuu would have to wait months now until the next devision got to go, and he was totally stuck here, doing nothing besides his stupid schoolwork! Did Guren really expect him to study for the rest of his life? He was old enough to fight, dammit, and if his classmates were able to enlist in the army, then why couldn’t he? They didn’t need revenge like Yuu so desperately needed, it didn’t make any sense as to why he couldn’t go already! They could spend all day learning the Word of God, but Yuu didn’t care about reading some dusty old texts, he needed to actually make a difference or else more innocent angels would die at the vicious claws of the demons. Yuu’s eyes burned with frustrated tears, knowing that his chance had slipped right through his fingers yet again, and he finally pulled out of Guren’s arms now that his hold on Yuu had loosened.
No way. No way, no way, no way! That bastard Guren totally lied to me! Yuu thought vehemently as he wiped his building tears away. He then spun around and glared at Guren, his brilliant emerald eyes ablaze with fury. How could he hold Yuu back from his dream like this!? He knew exactly why Yuu wanted this, why he needed this. How cruel could he be to stop Yuu from finally getting his revenge? It just wasn’t right!
“What did you think you were doing?” Guren scolded harshly, his eyes narrowed challengingly. “Trying to charge into their formation without a single weapon on you? You’re dressed in your pajamas, for God’s sake, Yuu!” Guren gestured angrily at Yuu’s appearance, and Yuu only glared harder as he balled his hands into defensive fists. “You haven’t even trained and you would have gotten yourself killed out there! You have no experience with a demon!”
“Well how will I ever get experience if you won’t let me enlist!?” Yuu snapped right back, his wings flaring out indignantly. He thrust his nose up into Guren’s space, standing up on his tiptoes to try and intimidate Guren by bringing their faces closer together. “I’ll be stuck here for the rest of eternity at this rate! What’s your deal!? You let that damn telephone pole join the army, so why not me!? What am I—” Yuu’s voice trembled a bit as he went on a little weakly, “what am I doing wrong?”
Guren’s expression seemed to change from wrathful to a bit more sympathetic in that moment. He looked closely at Yuu’s eyes, which had begun to water suddenly, and parted his lips to respond. Before he could say anything, Yuu ashamedly turned away and wiped at his eyes again, praying no tears had begun to fall. He stubbornly stared at the clouds beneath their feet instead, sniffling once or twice, the sound echoing too loudly in the space around them. The crowds had begun to disperse, the murmurs growing more distant as people glanced at the emotional scene that Yuu had caused.
“Listen, brat…” Guren sighed, now reaching up to rub at his temple. “Joining the army at your age is like suicide. Kimizuki had his reasons for enlisting that I approved, but trust me, he got hell from me first. I didn’t just let him waltz up and hand him a weapon, alright?” Guren crossed his arms over his chest authoritatively. “Only special exceptions are made for training—”
“You said I could go!” Yuu interrupted vehemently, his vision watering all over again, but he couldn’t stop himself. His hands trembled and he grit his teeth together, attempting to get a bearing on himself before he continued on. “I asked you if I could go next time and you said yes! Why would you lie to me like that when you know I’ve been waiting for this my entire life? When I’ve—” Yuu cut himself off as an emotional sob worked its way up into his throat. He hung his head and hissed out, “When I’ve lived for nothing but this, all these years…”
Guren studied his face for a moment, letting the silence settle between them. Yuu refused to meet his eyes, too ashamed to look back up at him, too embarrassed to face the truth: that he was a failure, unable to be the warrior he wanted to be so badly. Guren let the awkwardness stretch out for a few more heartbeats before he let out a sigh. “Yuu, listen to me. You misunderstood what I actually told you.”
“What?” Yuu furrowed his brows as he looked up suddenly, unaware of that possibility. He misunderstood? How could he misunderstand something about his future that was so important and so vital to his future? There was just no way he would mistake Guren for saying anything other than what he had been dreaming of. He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it… you’re not lying again, are you?”
“What I said was that I’ll let you leave Heaven two days from now,” Guren stressed, “and then you got all sparkly-eyed, said ‘really!?,’ and then bolted away with your imaginary tail wagging before I had a chance to explain what I meant. It’s your fault for assuming that meant you were going to join the division down to Hell, of all places!”
Yuu felt his face burning hotly with embarrassment from Guren’s description of his dog-like reaction to the news. He huffed and pouted a bit, then glanced pointedly to the side as he forced himself to get over his initial hurt and focus on Guren’s proposition. After a heartbeat, Yuu looked back up reluctantly, now willing to listen to what Guren had to say. “So? What else would I even leave Heaven for if not to kill some demons?”
Guren deadpanned. “Wow, you really don’t listen in school.”
Yuu felt his cheeks redden further as he grew defensive. “Well, excuse me for not thinking about my pointless lessons when I just want to kill demons! It’s my purpose to become a warrior-angel, you know that!”
“Go get dressed and pack a bag,” Guren said rather than acknowledging Yuu’s passionate declaration, much to Yuu’s dismay. Instead, he nodded back towards the direction of Yuu’s home. “Meet me back here in an hour. We’ll have enough time to talk before you go.”
“Wait, you’re letting me go today?” Yuu asked with wide, astonished eyes. “I thought you said two days from—”
“Yeah, yeah, now go get your things before I change my mind,” Guren dismissed with a wave of his hand. Yuu watched, awestruck as Guren turned away from him. Guren took a step into the air, his large black wings flapping and bringing him up farther away from Yuu. He must have heard the way Yuu ruffled his feathers and took a step forward, for he then called out over his shoulder, “Don’t follow me, I’ve got work to do.”
Yuu knew better than to push his luck with Guren, so he sighed and lowered his wings, deciding to do exactly as the archangel ordered.
By the time Yuu was back at the gates, he was surprised to see a large, familiar chariot right in front of them with a bunch of people climbing up onto its seats. The chariot was hooked up to a few bright white pegasi, all snorting and stretching out their wings as they rubbed their hooves along the cloudy ground beneath them. It was one of the many chariots that went in and out of Heaven every day, one that was used for commuting elsewhere, though Yuu never bothered to figure out where they went or why.
“Alright, see that chariot over there?” Guren nodded towards the chariot. It was large enough to seat what looked like about ten or so angels. Yuu studied it for a moment as he waited for an explanation. Guren said, “You’ll be taking that every day down to Earth.”
Yuu gawked and whipped his head towards Guren so quickly that he nearly made himself dizzy. “Wha—Earth? I’m going down there!?”
Was Guren just messing with him!? Earth was… well, it wasn’t Heaven, but it wasn’t much better than Hell, either. Down there were humans, who were like their own breed stuck between angels and demons. Yuu had no idea what they looked like, but he knew a few things about humans from stories he heard during his childhood. Sometimes, they were well behaved and their spirits ended up in Heaven with all the angels, but other times they were cast down into Hell and tormented by demons for the rest of their miserable existence. Yuu knew there was more to the story, that things were more complicated than that… but the mere thought of interacting with living, breathing humans had Yuu seizing up with disgust.
Working on Earth was no better than cleaning up the trash! Yuu didn’t sign up to look after these pathetic beings, he wanted to make a real change in the world and get rid of the demons! Yuu felt offended that Guren was even suggesting that he got on that chariot and he scowled, immediately turning around to walk back home.
“Nevermind, I’m fine studying the rest of my life,” Yuu remarked dryly as he took a few steps away, fully intending to go back home and forget he even bothered asking Guren to leave Heaven. “Thanks for the opportunity, but I’m just gonna go and— wahh!”
Yuu was yanked back by the collar of his shirt and plopped right back in place where he was standing before. Yuu glared stubbornly at him, his arms crossed over his chest as Guren chided, “Not so fast, brat. This is what I’m offering you. You wanna kill demons? Earth is where you start.”
“Hah?” Yuu looked at Guren with disbelief. “Are you kidding me? There’s no demons on Earth!”
“Idiot…” Guren clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Since you can’t listen in class, I’m sending you down there to see for yourself how angels and demons are born. Do you even know where you came from?”
Yuu’s mind blanked. He had no idea. He stammered, “W-Well—”
“I thought so,” Guren muttered, cutting Yuu off with a grimace. “Go, get on before they leave. Oh, and take this, it’s your pass in and out of the gates.” Guren placed a gleaming brooch in the shape of a star into Yuu’s palm. “But don’t even think of trying to use it to leave with the next division. It only works as a commuter pass on this chariot. If you miss the chariot back up, you’ll just have to find somewhere to stay on Earth for the night. Empty houses, hotel rooms, et cetera. Everyone’s done it at least once, it’s not the end of the world, you won’t die if you miss the chariot back tonight.” Guren then shoved Yuu’s back, pushing him towards the chariot and sending him staggering. “Bye-bye.”
“Wha—what am I even going to do down there?” Yuu asked as he whirled right back around, still confused by the turn of events. To his shock, Guren was just walking away after that, wings stretching out in preparation to fly. He showed no indication of answering any of Yuu’s questions, despite the way Yuu rambled them out after his retreating form. “Oi, Guren! Why won’t you explain more? Am I just supposed to waste my time wandering around aimlessly? I’ve never been to Earth before! Guren!! Oiiii!”
It was no use. Yuu let out an exasperated sigh and gave up in favor of looking down at the ground. He glanced hopelessly at his palm, where he held the sparkling star-shaped brooch, and examined the little piece of jewelry. As he tilted it from side to side, the various arms of the star shone under the gentle sunlight and reflected a dazzling golden yellow. Yuu decided to pin it to his shirt before he lost track of it, and once he did, he was startled by the whinnying of a pegasus. He turned around, his heart jolting with surprise at the mighty winged horses now tossing their heads back, looking as if they were about to take off.
Shit, I’ll miss it at this rate! Yuu jerked into motion, flapping his wings quickly to take off. He zipped towards the chariot, praying he got there before they closed the doors, his heart hammering wildly. Luckily, he made it inside just in time, and with a relieved sigh he settled down onto the last open spot inside the mighty structure.
A moment later, the chariot began to move and Yuu watched ahead with anxious eyes. The Gates of Heaven opened up wide and Yuu held his breath with anticipation. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but he never left Heaven until now and had no clue what was beyond those gates. Now that he was going, he felt a little queasy, and he tensed up as the pegasi began flapping their mighty wings to take off into flight.
The girl next to him seemed to notice the way he froze up, and Yuu glanced at her self-consciously, praying that he didn’t look stupid for gripping onto his seat with a deathly-tight hold. He gulped and loosened his gasp, cheeks burning with embarrassment as she giggled and folded her hands neatly over her lap.
“First time?” she curiously asked, her brown eyes glinting knowingly. Her grin was sly and playful, immediately making Yuu feel defensive, and he couldn’t help the way his wings ruffled up and pressed close against his body.
“Why do you know that?” Yuu responded wearily, his gaze trailing over to the sky— nope, nope, bad idea, bad idea, awful, horrible idea, I have no idea where I am —then snapped his attention back to the lavender-haired girl, his throat feeling tight with anxiety. He tried desperately to appear like he was cool and collected, but when he felt a trickle of sweat rolling down his temple, he swallowed nervously, realizing that his image was likely already shattered.
“I’m Shinoa,” she introduced herself with a small, bemused grin. “I’m a regular here, and it’s obvious you aren’t. You look like everyone does on their first commute down to Earth!” She tilted her head and leaned a little closer, causing Yuu to scoot away with a small, stubborn frown. “So, who are you? Why are you going down? I saw you with the archangel Guren and you seemed pretty close.”
Yuu debated answering any of her questions at all, not wanting to have to interact with a stranger during this confusing and unfamiliar journey, but he realized with a small sigh that he had nothing better to do. He was trapped here, and rather than getting nauseous from the flight pattern of the pegasi or worrying about what the Hell was going on around him, he might as well entertain the short, nosy girl beside him.
“I’m Yuu,” he said gruffly and stubbornly looked aside. “Guren pretty much raised me. I don’t actually know why I’m going to Earth since he... he didn’t really tell me what I’m supposed to do.” His voice had trailed off to become a mumble by the end, and Shinoa gazed at him for a moment before letting out an airy little laugh. Yuu immediately glared at her and hissed, “What’s so funny about that?”
“Nothing, nothing!” Shinoa continued to giggle, her eyes twinkling with mirth as she waved her hand around in the air dismissively. “It’s just… you’re like a virgin, Yuu-san! An Earth cherry boy! Hahaha!”
“Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you anymore if you’re just gonna mock me!” Yuu didn’t realize that he raised his voice a little too high until other angels on the chariot glared at him, causing Yuu to snap his mouth closed and slouch shyly against his seat. He grumbled to himself about being stuck on this ride next to someone so vulgar and annoying, but Shinoa didn’t seem to care and continued to talk to him anyways.
She told him all about her job. Shinoa was sent to Earth in order to protect a special human, one that she found by the wills of fate, and become their guardian angel. Yuu wondered if that was his job, but Shinoa talked about her role as if it was something very important and spiritual; Yuu doubted he would have been sent as a guardian angel without being told beforehand. He was left wondering what else there was for him to do, and his mind was still spinning with endless questions when the chariot parked itself on a cloud and came to a halt. Surprisingly, the journey wasn’t very long.
Yuu stood up once the other angels started getting off the chariot. He assumed they were somehow on Earth already. He didn’t get how this experience was going to be any different than traveling to a new city in Heaven, and from what he could see of his surroundings, it was pretty damn empty—there was nothing at all around besides a bunch of scattered clouds. He frowned as he stepped onto the plushy clouds and gazed around.
With a start, he realized most of the angels were already gone. Where the Hell did they go? Yuu gaped, glancing up and then down and— holy shit!!
Yuu nearly fell off the cloud once he looked down, his head spinning with the breathtaking sight beneath his feet. There, way down below at a breathtaking distance… was a sprawling metropolis, a world made of shining silver and concrete, sparkling and buzzing with all sorts of foreign sounds Yuu had never heard. He felt his stomach drop with unease and he backed away from the edge of the cloud, terrified at the height and already fearful of how he was expected to get down there.
“Yuu-san, all you have to do is jump!” Shinoa said, for she was the last one on the cloud left with him. Yuu whirled around, tempted to make a desperate jump for the chariot to take him the fuck back —but the chariot was already lifting into the sky as the pegasi began to fly, carrying away Yuu’s last chance of escaping this strange task he was given. Yuu let out an exasperated groan, his wings slouching against his back defeatedly.
“No way in Hell I’m gonna jump from here!” Yuu retorted, now turning to face Shinoa while pointing angrily down below. “Even though we have wings, that’s fucking terrifying! Are you crazy? Why would you jump from this height!?”
“You’re just supposed to trust yourself, Yuu-san!” Shinoa insisted. She took a dainty step towards the edge of the cloud as she added, “Watch me!”
Well, Yuu tried to do just that—one minute, Shinoa was standing there as she stepped over the edge of the cloud, her wings flaring out behind her… and in the next, she became a blurry shape and entirely disappeared right before Yuu’s eyes. He gawked and blinked a few times, wondering if he really just saw that happen—but it was true. Shinoa was nowhere to be found, and now Yuu was all alone, stranded on this random cloud above what must be Earth!
“Fuck my life,” Yuu muttered to himself, wondering why everything on this cursed day seemed to be going wrong. He took a deep breath and decided he had no other choice but to do exactly what he saw Shinoa just do and try to vanish into thin air. He just had to pray that the same thing would happen to him. Maybe by sheer force of will, Yuu would disappear and end up on the world far beneath the clouds without a scratch.
But this was not true—it was not true at all! There was a step Shinoa must have forgotten to tell him, because Yuu was suddenly falling faster than he ever had, a total disaster torpedoing down to the ground, screaming and flailing helplessly. Panic seized Yuu entirely and he could do nothing but scream as he zipped towards the world far below at an astonishing speed.
I have wings, right, I have wings! Yuu managed to think of something to do rather than freak out and accept his eternal death, and so he began flapping his wings wildly, trying to get a hold of himself. Even as he caught the wind under his feathers, he continued to fall, as if being sucked down by a massive power much stronger than he could ever be. He even started to spin out of control, the wind blinding him, the noise of the world growing louder and louder the closer he got.
Yuu let out another scream once he realized he was even closer to Earth, his heart hammering wildly. Now that the shiny roofs of the metropolis below were gleaming brighter and clearer to see, he cringed and tried to brace himself for impact. It wasn’t much help—Yuu yelped and cried out as he slammed against a few hard surfaces, bouncing off of them until he collapsed into a heap of rotten garbage, all bunched up in shiny black bags inside a large container.
Yuu laid there for a moment, groaning from the aches in his bones, his wings twitching weakly from where they were skewed out. Feathers that had gotten yanked from his body fluttered about and collected delicately atop the heaps of waste he found himself lying on. They gently twirled in the breeze until they were carried away, providing such a peaceful, delicate image to accompany Yuu’s string of hissed curses and whimpers.
“Ahahaha! You made it!”
Yuu’s eye twitched irritably as he heard the flowery laugh of Shinoa not too far away. When he focused his blurry, spinning vision, he looked up and saw Shinoa balancing on the edge of a rooftop high above his head. She grinned amusedly at his haggard appearance, though she held a hand over her mouth as she gasped from surprise.
“Wait, don’t tell me, you don’t know how to transport yourself?” Shinoa’s eyes rounded with shock. “Did you really just fall from all the way up there only to land in a dumpster? Ahaha, what bad luck you have, Yuu-san!”
“No one told me anything!” Yuu seethed, finally finding the strength to sit himself up. His body ached with pain and he winced with every movement, and the stench surrounding him was awful! What the Hell was he sitting in? Yuu gagged a little and rolled over so that he fell out of the so-called “dumpster” and landed roughly on the cold, hard ground. “How was I supposed to know what to do?”
“Hmmm? All you have to do is imagine where you’re going, close your eyes, and take a leap of faith. Everyone knows that.” Shinoa flared out her wings and flashed a smile at him. “I thought we were taught that in school! I guess you weren’t listening, then? Anyways, ta-ta, Yuu-san! I have to go! Good luck~”
Yuu glared at her, his temple throbbing with the exhaustion of the day even though it had only just begun. At first, Yuu simply wanted her to go away, so he just looked away with a roll of his eyes. Though once she was just barely out of sight, Yuu suddenly gaped and yelled, “Wait, Shinoa! When does the chariot come back?”
Luckily, Shinoa must have heard him, for her distant voice called out the answer he needed, “Sunset!” Once her voice faded away, Yuu was left alone, sitting in this smelly ally with ruffled feathers and scratches on his arms and legs. Now that he had finally caught his breath, he got to his feet and looked around nervously. He tucked his wings close to his body as he surveyed his surroundings.
So far, it was… vaguely similar to Heaven. These human creatures seemed to live in a parallel world to the one inhabited by angels, building the same kinds of structures and inhabiting cities of their own. But from what Yuu could see, they had significantly more… depressing materials. The floor beneath his feet was cold and stony, nothing like the fluffy clouds Yuu was used to walking on. There was no pleasant strumming of a harp or the sweet scent of flowers carried along a constant springtime breeze—all Yuu could smell was pungent waste and moldy food.
Crinkling his nose, Yuu decided to leave the ally, rushing towards the gap between the buildings ahead of him. He didn’t think much about it, but the moment he emerged from the ally, he froze up, completely stunned at the sight before him.
There were creatures all over the place, walking in straight lines down what appeared to be the Earth form of roads. They looked like wingless angels, having the same kinds of bodies, but they didn’t dress in all-white or even gold—no, they wore all sorts of odd colors of fabric, and their skin didn’t shimmer with the divine power of God. They looked like bland, listless angels, and Yuu realized with a jolt in his heart that these things must be humans.
Yuu gasped as a human almost walked right into him, but right before their impact, Yuu leapt up into the air and out of the way. His heart skipped from fright, but the human continued walking through the spot where Yuu was just standing as if nothing had happened at all. Yuu nervously hovered there for a moment, floating at a small distance just above the ground as he watched the human pass him by. Yuu’s wings flapped noisily, and a feather or two fell from his back, but no one looked at him.
Considering the lack of pointing and gasping at his ability to fly, Yuu realized that no one could see him. Feeling lost, Yuu gulped and glanced around, his head spinning with confusion. He was sent down to Earth to do something, but what was it? What could Guren possibly want him to do in a place where no one could see him? Yuu didn’t get it. He had no idea what else to do but start following a random human, for though he knew he wasn’t here to be a guardian angel like Shinoa, he had to do something. He wasn’t going to accomplish a single thing by floating around.
Yuu flew aimlessly above the crowds as he observed the world beneath him. He did this for some time and listened to conversations, learning quite a few things about humans and their society, their technology, and their ways of living. He was bothered by the gross scents of smoke, of gasoline, of litter and trash on the streets. There were unpleasant sounds like the shrieking of breaks, the startling honks of cars and arguments of people on the phone with one another. Hours passed of Yuu witnessing the world, of processing his surroundings, of perching atop streetlights and watching the people walk around below.
Then, he saw something strange. Yuu was exhausted already, but in his sleepy daze, he caught sight of an oddity. A man passed below the streetlight Yuu was currently balanced on, and clinging to his back was something tiny and black—something that was looking around deviously, something that had gleaming, evil red eyes.
Yuu’s heart jolted. That was unmistakably a demon. It was the size of Yuu’s palm, but he could see it clear as day. His blood began to rush with excitement and fury. What was a demon doing here on Earth, clutching onto a human who had no idea what was attached to his back? Yuu stared at the little black creature for a moment, frozen and unsure of what to do next, and he watched as the demon parted its tiny jaws and exhaled a burst of fire.
As soon as the flames ignited, the man suddenly reached out and grabbed onto the arm of a woman. She immediately spun around and began to yell, clearly distressed, and he tried to grab the bag that was on her shoulder. The other humans watched the encounter with gaping mouths and wide eyes, too shocked to stop what was happening. After punching the woman to send her reeling backwards, he took off running with her bag in his grasp. The demon was letting out little delighted cackles as it was carried away, and Yuu felt his blood boil.
That demon was making its victim, an innocent human, do something evil! Yuu’s wings flared out aggressively and he let out a battle cry, immediately leaping from the streetlight and zipping through the air after the runaway man. His eyes narrowed furiously at the demon, all of his desire for revenge against demonkind now seizing his body and making his heart pound wildly in his chest.
When he collided with the thief, he sent the man sprawling onto the sidewalk. He left the human there to be dealt with by his own kind. Meanwhile, Yuu grabbed the demon by its thin, wiry neck and yanked it off the man. He carried the demon up into the air above the crowds, his eyes ablaze with his hatred. He squeezed the wretched creature in his hands with all his might, watching as it squirmed and screeched angrily.
“You don’t belong here,” Yuu snarled, his hold tightening. “Rot and never fucking return!”
The demon in his grasp snapped and crumbled with an unholy shriek—in an instant, it turned into dust and faded into nothingness. Yuu released his grasp and examined his empty palm, watching as the last flakes of its essence were burnt away like parchment set on fire. By the time it was all over, Yuu looked down below and saw a few humans dressed in uniform taking the man away. The woman had her bag and was surrounded by other humans who looked at her with concern.
To the humans, it looked like the man tripped and was caught red-handed. They had no clue that Yuu was involved in stopping the crime and a demon was the cause for the man’s nefarious actions. Now that the excitement of the chase began to fade away, Yuu went back to his streetlight and lost himself in thought.
That demon was small—oddly small. Yuu knew he was only a child back when the demons had murdered his family, but he remembered them vividly and he spent his time studying how to kill them. Demons were large, slimy, scaly black creatures with knobbed spines and treacherous claws. Their eyes were red and they breathed fire from their fanged mouths, their tongues were forked and they shrieked like banshees. They were of various sizes, but the smallest one Yuu had ever seen before this day was comparable to a large wolf.
To find a demon so tiny, especially in a place like Earth, was strange to say the least… but that brought Yuu to his revelation: demons had to grow in size, just like angels. He never considered it before, but they must start tiny and grow into beasts in accordance with the more evil they commited. Did that mean they started out on Earth, festered on the evil deeds they forced humans to commit, and then grew to their terrifyingly large size? It would make sense, considering what Yuu had just seen, but he needed to find more of them before he could see if his hypothesis was true.
Yuu spent the rest of his day encountering these tiny demons clinging onto humans, watching with disgust as the humans attempted the most awful deeds under the influence of those wicked creatures. Yuu interrupted a kidnapping, a robbery, and stopped the abuse of a whimpering, starving dog. He noticed that the animals reacted to his presence, for they were able to sense and see that he was there. The animals always cowered in fear when Yuu snatched the devils from their human’s backs and crushed them in his grasp. Sometimes, he threw them to the floor and stomped on them until they ceased to exist. The demons varied in size on a scale from a leaf to about a small cat, and Yuu had a harder time killing the bigger ones. With enough force, he was able to break their spines and turn them to dust.
By the end of the day, Yuu was exhausted. He couldn’t believe all of the awful things these humans were doing, and to be fair, they were under the influence of demonic power—still, the fact that they were unable to sense the demons or do anything about getting rid of them gave Yuu even more work to do. He couldn’t believe that their moral compass was so skewed, so shattered that they didn’t think about the evilness of their actions until Yuu killed the demon attached to them.
Why are there so many!? Yuu felt like no matter how many demons he found and killed, he continued to find impossibly more demons, all cackling and leeching off the souls of these weak, helpless human beings.
Once Yuu was back up in Heaven, he was too wiped out to talk about his day with Guren. He had seen and learned about too much evil. With a heavy heart, Yuu went straight to bed and slept like a rock into the next day.
***
Yuu finally came to the conclusion that he hated his new job.
Yes, he technically got to kill demons, but they were puny little things and Yuu wanted to wield a sword and slay the real threats to the peace and harmony of the universe! Instead, he had to deal with the stinky human world and watch them turn into greedy, selfish and cruel people. Sometimes, Yuu saw the humans act out in awful ways without a demon clinging to their backs. Seriously, what was that all about? Yuu couldn’t wrap his head around it. Why would they do such abhorrent things without the evil energy of a demon hanging over them?
So there he was, groaning and sighing to himself as he trudged through the streets of a mostly-empty city early in the morning, irritably grabbing demons off of people’s backs and crushing them in his fists like always. One benefit of the job was that his wrists were now extremely strong, but that was about it. He barely got a thrill out of destroying the little fuckers anymore.
Stupid Guren, condemning him to the demon-killer equivalent of being a janitor. He knew he could be a soldier, he just knew it. He was strong enough and Guren was holding him back for nothing. Yuu angrily kicked a can that rolled towards him along the street, then glared at the person who noticed it start randomly rolling with no visible cause for its random movement. The person began walking faster, nervous by the bizarre sight. There was hardly anyone around and the sudden clanging of a can might have frightened them.
Yuu was about to turn a corner when he heard a sudden crash and the unmistakable sound of shards of glass clattering onto the pavement. Rather than continuing on, he turned around, let out a bored sigh, and approached the shop which just had its window shattered. It looked as if a brick was just thrown inside.
The target of the thrown brick was a flower shop, and Yuu’s brows furrowed with confusion when he rushed inside the shop through its open door, which was propped by a potted plant. He looked around quickly for the perpetrator of the crime, but there was no one—they must have thrown the brick as they ran by. Yuu clicked his tongue, then turned back to dart out the door. He was about to leave and pursue the one responsible when he heard a softly-spoken, “Wait, don’t go.”
Yuu froze up and whirled around. He spotted someone crouching down behind a few rows of plants, clutching his quivering arm. Yuu watched his yellow sweater sleeve slowly turning red as it was soaked with dark, quickly-flowing blood. The human kept his head lowered, showing nothing but brown hair to Yuu as he winced. He squeezed his wound and hissed, “Ow, ow, ow…”
The human was hurt! Yuu’s wings flared out suddenly and he looked around alarmedly, trying to see where the other person was that he was talking to.
… but there was no one else in the shop. Dazed and confused, Yuu turned and looked back at the human.
His breath caught in his throat. The human was looking directly at him.
“S-Sorry, I kinda can’t risk moving or I’ll bleed more,” the human said with a nervous laugh. His olive-green eyes glistened with an apology as he offered Yuu a weak smile. “And there’s no one else here, so… I need your help here. I’m the only one working today—ah, of course this would happen...” He paused with a forlorn sigh and miserably added, “It’s probably because I’m the one working today.”
“You—you can see me?” Yuu stammered, pointing to himself dumbly. Was this guy actually a human if he could see Yuu? Questions raced through Yuu’s mind, and he immediately tucked his wings behind him, suddenly self-conscious about how large and strange they probably looked to the florist. Even though he tried to hide them, his wings were too big to be shielded by his body, but it was an attempt.
“Yes, it’s complicated, I’ve always been able to see ghosts and spirits—ouch—but uh, c-can we stop the bleeding before we keep talking?” The human smiled sweetly, but his expression was strained with the pain, and Yuu instantly sprang into action. Right, this human couldn’t heal as quickly as an angel. He needed help and fast.
“Where do you keep first-aid supplies?” Yuu asked quickly, looking around as he did. The human didn’t even get a chance to answer before Yuu spotted what he needed and rushed to the back of the shop. He found the familiar red box with a cross on its side, then snatched it off the wall and came over to the crouching human. He wasted no time in opening the box and rolling the human’s sleeve up so he could see what was wrong.
“There was glass stuck in my arm, so I pulled it out and it started bleeding like crazy,” he told Yuu with a small, awkward laugh. “I probably should have waited, now I’m just a bit lightheaded, aha…”
“Don’t laugh about something like that!” Yuu snapped as he gathered up the proper gauze the human would need for his injury. “You humans have mortal lives, you know! Stuff like this can kill you in an instant! Here, hold out your arm.”
“I guess you’re right, uhm…” the human blinked at Yuu with a tilt of his head as Yuu began winding the gauze around his arm. “Mr. Angel?”
“M-My name’s Yuu,” he answered with a bashful flush bleeding across his cheeks. He paused for a moment, then continued to wind the gauze around his arm, taking notice of how thin and soft his arm felt compared to Yuu’s own. Humans were truly so delicate. There was a brief pause before Yuu snapped out of his daze and continued on, “But yeah, you’re right, I’m an angel.”
After a few moments, Yuu secured the gauze in place and let out a small sigh as he looked down at the bandaged wound. “There. Oh, and this might help a little…” Yuu placed his hand over the human’s arm carefully and summoned a bit of his power, just enough to make his palm glow golden and soothe the wound in the human’s arm. Where their skin touched, it tingled warmly, and hopefully some of the pain the human was feeling was eased away by Yuu’s hand.
“Thank you, Yuu-kun,” the human sighed with relief, his eyes glistening as he looked up from where Yuu’s hand had just helped heal him. “It hurts a lot less now! Ah, and my name is Yoichi. I’m sorry for making you stay and help me—”
“Hah? What are you apologizing for?” Yuu interrupted as he furrowed his brows. “Your shop just got attacked! You’re lucky I was nearby! Otherwise, I don’t know what you would have done. This street is deserted at this hour in the morning!”
“I guess you’re right,” Yoichi amended with a small laugh and a tilt of his head. He then gingerly got to his feet and looked around, his lips still curved up in a smile despite the sadness and fear evident in his expression. “Wow, the damage is a bit worse than I thought… the peonies fell over, too.”
Yoichi stepped over to a few broken pots, but Yuu felt a pang of alarm stab at his chest. There was broken glass and shards of shattered ceramic pots all over the floor! Why was Yoichi walking around as if he wouldn’t hurt himself again? He watched nervously until Yoichi went to step around the broken pot, but right beneath the sole of his shoe was another large chunk of pointed, deadly-looking glass.
“Careful!” Yuu called out, and without thinking he rushed forward to grab Yoichi’s shoulders and tug him back. The smaller human had his back pressed against Yuu’s chest from this abrupt action, and Yuu felt his soft hair tickle his cheek and jaw as he swiftly leapt backwards, carrying Yoichi away from the danger. He only let go once they were far from the mess, setting Yoichi down onto his feet gently. Yuu’s heart pounded from how nervous he just got, but also upon realizing the human smelled like the fields of blue irises that grew not far from Yuu’s home up in Heaven.
Why would a human smell so sweet, and most of all, just like the flowers that spotted the fields of another world located high in the sky? Yuu’s heart was racing and he blushed as he stepped back, murmuring a quiet ‘sorry’ as he did.
“No, don’t apologize, I wasn’t looking where I was going so I’m the one that should say sorry to you,” Yoichi corrected. He then focused on the shop’s counter and quickly walked over to it, as if he just remembered something important. Yuu followed Yoichi with his eyes to see what he was doing and watched as Yoichi grabbed the phone. He gave Yuu a polite smile and said, “I need to report this to the police.”
“Right!” Yuu blurted out, realizing his work here was probably done and he was expected to leave now. Even though Yoichi dialed the number and began to talk, Yuu lingered in the shop hesitantly, constantly glancing out the broken window with a nervously fluttering heart. It was possible that the attacker could come back, so it was best for Yuu to stay and make sure Yoichi was safe until the police arrived.
That, and… Yuu had never encountered a human who could see him before, one that smelled so sweet, one that had a dazzling smile that could rival those of his own kind. He didn’t want to leave, not when he finally had someone to talk to on this wretched planet. Maybe Yoichi knew something about the demons in this world and why some humans were so cruel without demonic influence. Yuu nodded to himself—he could use that curiosity as an excuse to explain his reason for staying around Yoichi. After all, that sounded more professional than ‘I just want to.’
That was why Yuu stuck around, keeping Yoichi company until the police appeared. That was why he stood behind Yoichi as he talked about the attack and heard his quiet, shameful admittance that the brick was likely thrown when Yoichi was working alone because he was openly gay. That was why he ended up protectively following Yoichi back to his apartment, forgetting that Yoichi could not only sense his presence, but see him until Yoichi reached his door and then turned around with an awkward smile.
“Um, Yuu-kun…” Yoichi let out a nervous laugh as he slid his key into his apartment. “I appreciate all of your help, but I don’t want to keep you any longer… don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Ah—” Yuu suddenly took notice of the time, and with a sinking feeling in his gut, he realized that the sky was twinkling with stars. Sunset had passed long ago, and Yuu was stuck on Earth all night long. He felt embarrassed that he lost track of time so easily, so enraptured with the discovery of Yoichi after the incident that morning that he stopped doing his job all day. “Um. About that…”
Yoichi looked at him questioningly as he twisted the knob of his apartment, then pushed it open. Instead of going inside, he stood there in front of his open door and awaited Yuu’s response.
“I… I can’t get home now,” Yuu admitted as he lowered his eyes shamefully, his face turning red with humiliation. “I missed the last chariot of the day back up to Heaven…”
Yoichi paused for a moment as he processed Yuu’s embarrassing news. Yuu closed his eyes, wanting to curl up in a ball and die—for fuck’s sake, how could he look so stupid in front of a human—but then he heard a small huff burst from Yoichi’s lips. He snapped his eyes back up, watching with shock as Yoichi broke down into a full-blown fit of laughter, his eyes sparkling with mirthful tears.
“W-What’s so funny?” Yuu stammered defensively, though he felt his face grow hotter. Nevermind the fact that Yoichi’s laugh was probably the cutest thing Yuu had ever heard. “Hey, you know I have nowhere to sleep tonight, right? Cut me some slack!”
“Just come inside, Yuu-kun,” Yoichi insisted as his laughter calmed down rather than giving Yuu a chance to deny his offer. He kept the door open and waited, then glanced over his shoulder with a welcoming smile at Yuu—Yuu, who was just standing there, shell-shocked with his face as red as a tomato. He gestured for Yuu to follow him with a jerk of his chin. “What are you waiting for? Come on!”
Yuu gulped and followed Yoichi inside after that, trying to be mindful of his wings as he shut the door behind him. Yoichi welcomed him inside and Yuu took his time peering around, interested in how Yoichi arranged his home and what objects he had sitting about on his shelves and countertops. It wasn’t all that different than how Yuu lived or how any other angel lived up in Heaven. Yoichi’s space was cozy and simple.
“Ah, Gekkoin!” Yuu turned around at the sound of Yoichi’s delighted voice. He stood there in the middle of Yoichi’s living room, watching curiously as Yoichi scooped up a fat, bristly white cat. He giggled and leaned forward to press his nose against the tiny pink cat nose in front of him. The cat purred loudly, its whiskers tickling Yoichi’s rosy cheeks as Yoichi laughed, “I’ve missed you too!”
Yuu gulped as his face reddened, his heart thumping harder and louder against his chest. There was something so precious about that moment that caught Yuu off guard, making him want to cherish it, to cherish Yoichi more than anything else. He felt a pull in his heart to step closer, to encase Yoichi in his arms and wings, to keep him shielded from everything bad in the world.
But then, he snapped out of his daze as Yoichi set the cat down—supposedly named Gekkoin—and looked back at the bright green eyes that met his own. The fluffy cat crept towards him apprehensively and Yuu stayed still, not wanting to frighten the animal. He was inhuman, after all, and Gekkoin could see him, too. Carefully, Yuu knelt down and extended his hand, clicking his tongue at the cat encouragingly. After hesitating, Gekkoin padded up to him, sniffed his finger, then let out a purr as he butted his head into Yuu’s palm.
“Ahh, he likes you!” Yoichi exclaimed with a broad smile. “Gekkoin tends to be really scared of people… well, then again, you’re not my usual guest.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a bubbly laugh, then turned around to face the kitchen. Yuu continued petting and scratching at Gekkoin’s head, stroking the spot behind his velvety ears with a small smile. Yoichi called out, “Would you like something to drink, Yuu-kun?”
They spent the night in Yoichi’s living room, talking over some cups of tea about nothing in particular. Yuu felt bad for intruding, but Yoichi insisted it was fine and that having an angel here would help him feel more at ease ‘about everything going on.’ Before Yuu had a chance to ask what that was all about, Yoichi quickly changed the subject, keeping a defensive smile plastered on his face.
Yuu worried about that answer, but he kept his distance apprehensively all while keeping an eye on Yoichi as much as he could. Eventually, Yoichi could barely keep his eyes open, and Yuu insisted they went to bed before Yoichi overexerted himself. Yuu was comfortable on the couch and decided to sleep there for the night, and after saying goodnight, Yoichi went to his room.
As the night ticked on, Yuu felt unsettled. There was something wrong about this space, something… strange. There was a tense energy surrounding Yoichi’s room, and Yuu couldn’t help but to get up and hover by his door, listening against the door for anything alarming. God forbid a demon came in and tried to latch itself to Yoichi, Yuu would be sure to crush the everloving Hell out of that thing.
Instead of hearing the spitting and snarling of a demon, Yuu heard something else equally as upsetting. His heart sank when he made out the distinctive sounds of sniffling and whimpering.
Wait, is that… Yoichi? Yuu listened closely and confirmed his suspicions—it was true. Yoichi was crying. Yuu held his breath and stood there, unsure of what to do next. He should probably go lay down and mind his business, but there was no doubt that Yoichi was upset over what happened that day. He probably was terrified for his safety. Plus, Yuu overheard Yoichi’s apologies to the flower shop’s owner; he felt responsible for the damages and likely worried about losing his job because of the hateful attack. Yuu bit his lip—he didn’t know who committed the crime, so it wasn’t like he could go make the asshole pay for what he had done.
But there was something Yuu could do. Decided, Yuu tapped his knuckles on the door and waited for Yoichi to answer him. Gekkoin was peering at him from down the hallway, his eyes glinting in the dim moonlight shining through the window. Despite Yuu’s knock, the sniffling and whimpering from the other side of the door didn’t cease but seemed to only get worse. Now feeling more fearful than ever, Yuu decided to open the door and peer inside.
“Yoichi?” He called out softly, his brows tense with concern. His hand balled up in a fist, ready to fight a demon in the event that one was in there, tormenting Yoichi in his sleep.
Luckily, there was no demon to be found. Yoichi was curled up on the bed weeping, just as Yuu had expected, and his eyes were clenched shut. He must be dreaming or having some sort of nightmare, and Yuu felt his heart sink. He couldn’t leave Yoichi like this, all on his own, crying throughout the night after such a stressful day. That was what pushed Yuu to enter the room and close the door behind him. He climbed onto the bed and laid down beside Yoichi, his heart aching at the sight of the trembling human before him.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Yuu whispered despite knowing that Yoichi couldn’t hear him. He scooted closer, then wrapped his arms around Yoichi and pulled him into his embrace. Yuu stretched out his wings, folding them neatly behind Yoichi’s back and surrounding him entirely in a cocoon of warm, soft feathers. Yoichi clutched onto Yuu’s clothing and sniffled, but his hyperventilating seemed to slow down. As his breathing steadied, Yuu smiled against his hair with relief.
Yuu knew he wasn’t sent down to Earth to become a guardian angel for some human. He felt more important than that, like his purpose was for the greater good. He wanted to be a savior to the universe. He still wanted to crush demons, to end their reign of terror once and for all, to become the strongest warrior-angel there was and claim Satan’s severed head. He wanted his revenge, and he was determined to accomplish this all one day.
But for now, he knew he could prevent some evil by protecting what was good. The boy in his arms, now soundly sleeping and nuzzled against Yuu’s chest, was undoubtedly going to become an angel one day. Yuu didn’t understand how he knew this, but he just did. It was like another voice had whispered it to his subconscious, like someone told him the truth that was staring him right in the face. Yoichi was special and Yuu could sense it from the get-go.
He would protect Yoichi with his life if he had to—because somehow, he knew that they would end up fighting demons together, side-by-side. Yuu had a hunch, and he was stubborn enough to insist that his hunches were never wrong. Yoichi was destined to be by his side, to be up in Heaven with Yuu, to be in his arms as he was right at that moment.
Yuu was sure of this much—it was fate.