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A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep…
Except none of them came true when she dreamed because it just wasn’t reality. She could fix that. In fact, she would fix that! She tossed coins in fountains, plucked dandelions and blew their seeds into the wind, spent hours looking for a four-leaf clover, heck, even waiting desperately for a shooting star to bless her with her bigger pieces of wishbones in hand! So far? No dice. No Shooting star! Could you believe it?
So… she was making do with something… smaller. Artificial, if you would. And, no, just because fireworks were man-made didn’t mean that her wishes wouldn’t be granted. She had just one tiny wish, just a single one!
As the fireworks exploded above the crowd she found herself trapped in, Nene clasped her hands together, closed her eyes as tight as she could, and wished with all her heart.
Please let me get a boyfriend! Just one! It doesn’t matter if we break up in the future as long as I find my prince today!
Okay, so maybe she had more than one wish. And maybe it was a tall order. But, God, please have mercy!
Nene miiight have been expecting a hottie to maaaybe sweep her off her feet now and get her away from the sweaty crowd. It was hot, she felt like packed sardines, the heat might be making her dizzy. She was just a little impatient, was all.
Please, please ,please. Just one wish! Maybe a few more, actually… Ten? Eight is a nice number… No, seven! I’ll settle with seven! And it won’t be a ‘give me an infinite amount of wishes’ kind of deal! I swear!
“Do you truly swear?”
An impish guy was looking at her. Literally. An upside down, tiny fellow was floating, grinning, and answering to her thoughts. Did she mention he was tiny? Because he was pocket-sized and already hard to take seriously.
Nene’s vision was swimming, and it wasn’t because she’d gone cross-eyed trying to focus on this… thing.
“I take offense to that.” Nene flinched when she realized she’d spoken aloud. He righted himself and bowed dramatically. “My name is Hanako, local angel at your service.”
She fainted. Not from shock, mind you. It was definitely the heat. Yes, the heat had left her hallucinating and now she was getting her rest. Maybe her prince really will sweep her off her feet and bring her to safety now.
“Wakey wakey, Sleeping Beauty.” Something small was patting her cheek. “Aw, do you want a true love’s kiss? I can do that.”
Ah, a kiss from her prince. Her prince, who sounded suspiciously like the made up angel who scared her to sleep. The made up angel… who was going to steal her magical first kiss!
“No!” Nene bolted upright, smacking her face on something boney. “Ow…”
“She’s aliiiiive!!!” Hanako giggled. “Glad to see you up and ready. It’s almost time for school.”
“What?” Her door swung open.
“Oh, Nene!”
“Mom!” Nene snatched the floating being beside her and chucked him into the trash bin by her desk. “How’d I get back here?”
“You walked back?” Her mother shook her head fondly. “Are you still half-asleep?”
“What? But I fainted during the festival…”
“Did you, now? Are you still feeling sick? I can call the school if that’s the case.”
“No no no, I’m okay! I’ll get ready for school now!” Nene jumped out of her bed and ran towards her closet. “I’ll be out in a few!”
“Alright, if you say so…” Her mother began to close the door. “Breakfast’s already set on the table.”
“Thanks, Mom!” Nene beamed. Her smile disappeared the moment her door clicked shut. “Now then.” She turned to the trash bin.
“Not changing yet? You’ll be late~ ...Um, Yashiro? Care to explain why I'm trapped under a glass?” Hanako hopped onto the paper that she wordlessly slid under his feet. “Where are you— AAAAaaaahhhh…..!”
Out the window he went. Nene felt a stab of guilt as she remembered how far of a fall it was from her apartment. It was quickly buried under the rationalization that he could probably float his way to safety. This was self-defense! Right, she couldn’t have a peeping tom here, that just wouldn’t do!
“Nene, you’re going to be late for school!”
“Coming!”
In hindsight, she should have just called in sick.
“That was so rude! You devil! Evil! Heartless monster!”
Ignore… Ignore…
“How could you toss someone out the window? An angel, no less!”
She was imagining things… This wasn’t real…
“And here I was going to grant you your wish!”
“Really!?” Oops, she was getting odd stares. “Do you mean it?” she whispered.
“Well, yeah! I meant it! I’m not going to grant your wish now!”
“Sham of an angel… lame… so uncool…”
Shooock— Hanako hung, defeated, on her head. Nene plucked him off with a sigh.
“But if you do grant me my wish, you’re the coolest angel ever.”
“Heck yeah!” The irony of an angel saying that… “Alrighty then, here I go!”
“Wait, already!?”
“The sooner, the better.” Hanako nodded. “So, what was your wish again?”
“A little different from her initial wish, but then again, if he was asking, that meant he probably forgot she had grander things in mind.
“Who’s the lucky guy?”
“You,” she snorted.
“Really!? Okay then, here I—”
“—wait it was just a joke—”
“—go!!”
There was a flash of bright light. When her eyes fluttered open, Nene was met with the most unwarranted looks of scorn by her peers.
“There she goes again…”
“Always deep in her unrealistic fantasies…”
“Doesn’t she know she’s being noisy?”
Why was everyone looking at her now? They rarely did that on the walk to school! Had she really acted as weird as she feared just now?
“Don’t worry,” a voice from behind her reassured the growing crowd. Could it be…! Minamoto Teru was looking at her! “I’ll get rid of that pest.”
End her now.
“What. Did. You. Do.” Nene leered after running away with the angel in tow. Hanako looked mighty pleased with himself.
“I mean, I granted your explicit wish. By having everyone hate you, you’ll see that I’m the only one who cares—”
“That’s straight up manipulation! That’s awful! Turn everything back, now!”
“But I already granted your wish…” Hanako pouted.
“Some angel you are,” Nene clenched her fists, “Who’d want everyone to hate their crush just for attention? You jerk. I hate you.”
Eyes watering, Nene began to hiccup and wail. Her sobs echoed in the narrow alleyway she’d taken refuge in. Hanako panicked.
“I’ll reverse it. I’ll fix it! So please, don’t cry.” He tried getting the girl to look at him to no avail. “I’ll do it properly next time!”
Nene kept crying.
Hanako thrust his hands above his head. A light far gentler filled their vision. When Nene regained her senses, she was alone on the street, mere minutes from being late for class.
“Better hop to it, Yashiro.” Hanako settled himself down on her shoulder. “You didn’t wish to be excused for your tardiness, after all.”
She ran like her life depended on it.
Quite frankly, Nene was terrified by whatever witchcraft Hanako had performed. She was going to go against a dream to achieve another. That was to say, no more sorcery.
“Magic!” Hanako corrected her when she brought it up on the walk home. “Why are you making it sound so evil?”
“Gee, I wonder.”
“But how else are you going to get that guy to like you back? Wait, I never did find out who—”
“Never mind that!” Nene waved him off, literally. Hanako humphed as he avoided her hand.
“Well, how else am I supposed to help you? No magic means no instant fix.”
Nene sighed. Truly, she wanted to have a quick fix. If magic could simply solve all her woes, she’d choose it in a heartbeat. She had chosen it. She’d gotten a taste of it and she didn’t like it one bit.
“Don’t you have something more,” she gesticulated vaguely, “normal?”
“Uh…” Hanako snapped. A worn book dropped into Nene’s hands. “The tried and true method?”
No. Just. No.
“I know where this is headed. I’ll fail at them and make a fool out of myself. My future will be doomed!”
“Relax, how bad can it be? Nobody remembered what happened earlier, remember?”
“So you’re saying you’ll make them forget if I mess up?” she asked, hopeful.
“...No.”
“So you’re saying I’m naturally forgettable.”
“Not necessarily…?”
“You’re dead to me.” Hanako’s flinch went unnoticed. “Okay, we’ll just put that wish aside.”
“I never said I’d grant you more than one wish.”
“You didn’t even grant a wish.” Nene pointed out.
“I did reverse one, so…”
“I didn’t explicitly wish for that. You just went with a command .” They locked themselves in a staring contest. Hanako broke eye contact first.
“Fine,” he grumbled, “So, what’s your one wish that I can grant. Without magic, apparently.”
“Um… give me more wishes?”
“No.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask…” Nene looked at him slyly. “Give me… ten more wishes.”
“What? No!”
“Nine?”
“No more than one!”
“Eight!”
“The holy symmetrical number…” Hanako mumbled reverently.
“I’ll take that as a yes!”
“I didn’t say yes!”
“You just did.” Hanako tried wiping the smug look off Nene’s face.
“One more and that’s final.”
Nene sighed. “One…”
“Yeah—”
“—plus six more!” Nene pouted at his scowl. “A real angel would grant a lot of wishes.”
“Real angel…” He slumped his shoulders. “Fine. But nothing complicated.”
“I wanna be popular.”
“That’s complicated.”
“Give me a boyfriend?”
“Unless you want the guy in front of you— which you’ve made very clear that you don’t— then that’s not simple enough.”
“What’s the point of having an angel who can’t grant wishes when summoned…” Nene raised brow. “You sure you’re not a genie, though?”
“Definitely not a genie, do I look like I’m trapped in a ring?”
“Lamp.”
“There’s a ring in the original story too.” He stuck his tongue out at her. Nene grumbled. “Come on, there’s gotta be something simple enough that you desire. Humans all have simple desires.”
“Humans aren’t that simple.” Nene crossed her arms. Hanako looked at her, unamused.
“Wanting love is a simple desire.”
“And yet you can’t even grant that.”
“Hmph…! I think we’ve established that we can’t get along, so I”ll take my leave.” Hanako hopped away with a shrug. “Maybe there’s a more cooperative human out there that I can work with.”
“You’re a real jerk.” Nene huffed. “Good luck finding that someone. In fact, I hope you don’t find someone.”
“Who’s the jerk now!” The angel called back as he hopped down the empty street. Nene glared daggers into his back.
“Still you and you know it, you fake angel!”
He did not respond back.
One day. She only knew Hanako for one day and already she was feeling lonely. He seduced her! An incubus! Him, an angel? Not with that impish charm! It wasn’t even charm, come to think of it!
“Ugh, I can’t believe it,” Nene grumbled. School had been normal. After school had been boring. She didn’t like the bickering but this loneliness was ridiculous! Nene sighed as she buried her face into her arms. She slumped into her seat. “I’m boooored…”
“Poor you. Need some devilish charm to light up your day?” A voice cooed above her.
“No, not you,” Nene replied without missing a beat, “just the fact that the Minamoto Teru spoke to me.”
“He insulted you…?”
“Because of you!” Nene paused. “Why and how are you back here again?”
“Magic,” he said spookily. Nene rolled her eyes. “We’re bonded!”
“How do we un-bond? How do I return you?”
“But after all we’ve been through.” Hanako pretended to wipe a tear away. “Getting here was no easy task, you know? Asking for directions made you look weird and acting sick barely helped that one time. The world is too big and cruel…”
“Come again?” She asked lowly. Hanako looked unperturbed, much to her chagrin.
“I possessed our body that night. How else do you think you got home?”
“That is wrong on so many levels…” Nene frowned. An angel with that kind of skill and lack of restraint? No way! She pointed at Hanako determinately.
“Look here, if you’re gonna aim to be a good angel, we gotta make sure you do good things. I’ll help, of course.” Heaven knows what he would do if she didn’t supervise. Nene pulled a piece of paper out of her desk and scribbled an outline of Hanako, labeling the top of his head with ‘GOOD’ and his feet with ‘BAD’. “I’m going to color this in whenever you do something good. Once you’re completely filled in, we can say you’re a real good angel. We’re gonna make you the best angel!”
“How?”
“I’m glad you asked. Usually, I’d tell you to help others but seeing as you came back to me, I’m going to assume things didn’t work out for you alone. Can others even see you?”
“Some, but not all—”
“So, let’s find people who can see you, the people you can help directly. Worse comes to worst, you’ll just have to use me as a middleman.”
“But I mean, I have been helping you—”
“No magic.” Nene tapped her pencil against her desk. “Any questions?”
“Do I have to—”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t even finish my sentence.”
“Operation: ANGEL! Let’s go!!!”
“Are you even listening?!”
First thing’s first, she had to set some ground rules.
“No magic.”
“No magic, “ Hanako parroted unhappily.
“No possession.”
“Technically, that’s ma—” He shut his mouth upon her glare. When he opened it again to speak, he repeated, “No possession.”
“No skipping on a job because you don’t like it for some reason.”
“What are you? My boss?” Nene narrowed her eyes. Hanako swallowed thickly and said, “No playing hooky.”
“I think that’s good for now…” Nene scratched her head for any ideas on how to proceed. “So… let’s find someone to help?”
“You really didn’t think this through, did you?”
“You totally thought this through, didn’t you?” Hanako whispered accusingly as he ducked behind her.
“You!” The boy in front of them pointed at the angel fiercely. “You’re the guy who used magic to alter people’s behavior and memories, aren’t you? My brother’s told me all about it.”
It was Minamoto Kou, a rowdier, more wolf than prince kind of guy who could perceive Hanako. And hated him, for the matter.
“I’m trying to help him become a better angel and was wondering if there’s anything we can help you with,” said Nene. Kou looked as confused as he did guarded.
“Angel? That guy? After the stunt he pulled the other day?”
“He swore not to use any magic,” she reassured him. “Right, Hanako?”
“Yeah! So don’t go threatening me with that weird staff of yours, you pup!”
“Hanako!”
“You bast—” Kou froze when Nene reached over her shoulder to grab Hanako. The angel struggled futilely in her grip.
“He will help you.” The boys didn’t know who she was referring to. They pointed at each other slowly. “Yes. You will help each other.”
They tried to protest. She wouldn’t have any of it. She asked Kou once more if there was anything she and Hanako could help with. He hesitantly said baking. So they baked at school. Apparently, Kou had changed plans from macarons to something more simple. The end result?
Possibly poisonous cookies. Nobody tried them, truth be told.
“If we tried making donuts, I’d totally have made sure it was edible,” said Hanako. The humans looked at him doubtfully. “It’s true!”
Hanako: 5% Good Angel
“Yashiro, I think you seriously need to reevaluate your life decisions.”
“Don’t be such a baby.”
“Yeah, we already have one baby in the house. We don’t need another.”
“I’m tinier than her! How am I supposed to look after her!?” Hanako gestured to the little girl combing her hair diligently in front of a mirror. Nene rolled her eyes.
“You can focus on entertaining her.”
“Honestly, I don’t know if I can even trust him with that.” Nene grimaced as her classmate Akane eyed the angel up and down.
“Yashiro, did you just agree with him?”
“And you don’t?” She looked at Hanako expectantly.
“...Rude.”
“Anyway, I have work to do back at school, so I’d appreciate it if you can look over Mirai for a couple of hours.” Akane waved goodbye, but not before pointing his fingers from his eyes to Hanako. Hanako growled.
“And now, he’s gone.” Nene watched her classmate from the window. “Lucky for us that he can see and tolerate you.”
“You’re kidding, right? This is going to be impossible!” The angel threw his hands in the air exasperatedly.
“Pssh, don’t be so dramatic. How hard can it be?” asked Nene.
“Will we be charged for property damage?”
“You mean you. I can’t pay for anything. And probably not if she’s the one who destroyed everything, right?”
Chaos would be an understatement. Carnage would sound too much. But if the room looked nothing like it did before they came over, would it really be inadequate to call it that?
Toys were scattered across the room, typical for children who refused to clean up. Clothes hung and lay everywhere, normal for people who had a fashion show. But having them broken, torn, and strewn even across the walls? For beds to have broken head posts, curtains to drape over the sleeping child, and other furniture to somehow be tossed across the room?
“Am I a bad angel?”
“I don’t think being good or bad would have made a difference.”
Mirai, the cause for this mess, had the gall to laugh in her sleep, peaceful and aware of what had transpired.
“We should clean up…”
There was almost nothing salvageable. The pair were in tears by the time they pushed the furnishings back in place and put everything away. The room had an oddly cozy feeling to it despite the wreckage.
“Hanako.” The angel looked away from the kitchen playset they’d just put away to face Nene properly. “Teamwork makes the dream work?”
“This was nothing but a nightmare,” he laughed. Nene joined in soon after.
“Well, this is a mess.” Their laughter was cut short by a flat observation.
“Akane!” We didn’t mean to—“
“—honestly, that girl is—“
“—she was too quick—“
“—should’ve put her in time out—“
“—but we cleaned up! The damages though…”
“How does she have that much energy?! Did you leave us knowing what she’d do?!”
Akane sighed. “I should have told you this before but there are a few things you should know about Mirai. First of all, she’s dumb. She loves eating and grooming herself. She’s got energy for days. And she’s dumb.”
“What are you trying to say?” Hanako snapped his fingers impatiently.
“You should’ve just bribed her with food.”
“As if we could leave to find something once she started throwing things around!”
“That doesn’t excuse the fact that this room is a mess.” The guests winced. Akane merely shrugged. “It’s no biggie, though.”
“What?”
“The old man is loaded. Everything here can be easily replaced.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier? Were you trying to scare us?” Nene whined. Akane side-eyed the angel beside her.
“No real reason?”
“Hanako, what did you do?”
“Don’t look at me! This is the first time I’ve met him!”
“Okay, then, what did you do in your previous life?”
“You believe in that stuff?” They boys asked in unison. Nene flushed red.
“Anyway, if there’s nothing else to do, we’ll be taking our leave!“ She pulled Hanako by the leg out of the room with her. “Buh-bye!”
“Thanks, though.” Akane’s shout echoed down the hall. Hanako and Nene shared a smile and high-fived each other.
Hanako: 15% Good Angel
“Isn’t he a cutie,” cooed Aoi. Nene blocked her friend from petting the angel. “Nene?”
“For your safety,” Nene replied vaguely. Hanako huffed, his breath tickling the palm of her hand. “But is there anything we can help you with?”
“How has he done with cooking?”
A terrible memory of charred cookies and foul odor caused Nene and Hanako to shiver.
“I’ll take it as not so good,” Aoi giggled. “Alas, that’s the only thing I need help with at the moment.”
“We’ll do it,” Hanako jumped up immediately. Nene shot him a questioning glare. “We’ll try to be more careful?”
“If we failed the cookies then what in the world can we do that’s even simpler than that?” Nene sighed and rubbed a temple. Aoi waved her concerns off.
“We’ll keep an eye on him. I wanted to try making donuts today.”
“Donuts! We definitely won’t mess it up, right, Yashiro?” Hanako cheered and hopped around the counter. Nene raised an eyebrow.
“You mentioned this before, but is that your secret skill? Fail at cooking everything but donuts?”
“No,” he said honestly. The angel was already turning the tap to wash his hands. “I just like them a lot.”
“What flavor?”
“Home made.”
“So, plain?”
“That’s perfect, then.” Aoi began pulling out the necessary ingredients as she continued, “I wasn’t planning on making it flavored.”
“Can we do it,” Hanako asked with gleaming eyes and an innocent smile. Nene felt her uncertainty waver.
“Yes, we can.”
“Wa~h…!”
The donuts…! They! Were!
“Perfect…” Hanako began to sob, the spots of flour dashed on his cheeks now stuck from tears.
“Don’t get snot on them!” Nene pushed the plate away from his grubby hands. Hanako shook his head.
“You don’t understand, Yashiro. Getting your snot and drool on it marks your territory!”
“Despicable! Disgusting!”
“Now now, it’s fair to stake your claim over your cooking.” Aoi pushed the plate back in front of Hanako. “Our little helper can get his fair share.”
“Fair. Fair share, Hanako.” Nene squinted as Hanako pulled himself on top of one donut. Don’t go eating the entire plate.”
“Your lack of trust wounds me.”
And that lack of trust was warranted. There were no more donuts for the girls once Hanako had his fill. Nene was miffed. Aoi was smiling the entire time.
Hanako: 18% Good Angel
“And you can put that right there…”
Nene let the stack of books down onto the table with a heavy thump. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with a sigh, she looked over to her partner. “Think you can reach the table in five minutes?”
“As if… I… need… five…! Minutes!” Hanako zoomed head first into the wall, the magazines he’d toted over his head falling into an unorganized pile with a flop. Nene clapped politely. “Thank you, thank you…”
“Next, can you take the books from the nonfiction section and sort them out?”
“Tsuchigomori, was it? Isn’t this a lot of work for volunteers? Are you sure you’re not just slacking off and handing kids your work?” Hanako scowled at the teacher who chose to ignore them. Nene had taken out a few books from the nonfiction section before looking over the books more thoroughly.
“Wait a… Aren’t these already in order?” She turned to face her teacher incredulously. “Have you been messing with us for the past hour?”
“Ah, finally caught on, have you?”
“You’re a horrible teacher! You should be fired!” Hanako stomped his foot on the magazines he’d painstakingly carried across the room. Nene nodded.
“This is child labor! And unfair!”
“All I did was give you the work you asked for,” Tsuchigomori shrugged. “A true angel would find it in their heart to forgive me, anyway.”
“A true angel wouldn’t forgive you for this injustice!” Hanako shouted with Nene cheering him on in the background. Tsuchigomori let out a sigh.
“Have it your way. Once you’re done you’ll be twenty four percent ‘good angel’ or whatever you wrote on your paper.”
“How did you know about that?” Nene huddled with Hanako in fear. They cowered when faced with a growing smirk.
“Who knows? Maybe I have my ways of finding your darkest secrets. Wouldn’t that make you more careful with how you treat me in the future?”
“You monster,” squeaked Hanako.
“Now, get going. If you’re not going to do my job for me then I have no use of you.”
“So you do admit to being lazy!”
“Fake teacher!”
“Horrible librarian!”
“Ahh, I get it, I’m a monster! Now be quiet in the library and take your leave now!”
“Shh!!!”
“You kids are insufferable.”
Hanako: 24% Good Angel
“Sooo… You want me to tell you something you can do for me so the little guy can be a good angel?” Lemon scrolled through his phone without looking up. Hanako and Nene shared a look.
“Yeah, so is there anything we can do to help, or…?”
“Yeah, get me some lemon soda from down the street, I guess.”
They came back in ten minutes with his drink.
“Anything else?” asked Hanako. Nene nodded beside him. Lemon didn’t pay them much mind until his stomach growled.
“Oh, you’re still here? Can you grab me some lunch? I’ve been craving burgers recently. You guys can grab something to eat too, I don’t mind waiting for you to finish eating first.”
“This Lemon guy seems a little too uncaring after finding out angels exist,” Hanako whispered as they went to the nearest fast food restaurant. Nene shrugged.
“Anything he finds out of the ordinary, he takes in stride. Most of the time, he’ll try to snap a picture.”
“He doesn’t even seem interested in getting help from an angel either. He’s a weird one.”
“I’m curious, actually.” Nene mumbled just for Hanako to hear as she entered the fast food place. “What dictates who can and can’t see you?”
“I honestly have no idea myself. I haven’t been able to leave home until recently.” Hanako frowned. “Maybe only those with sharp senses can see us.”
“Not to bring myself down, but I don’t exactly have the best sixth sense…” Nene quickly made her order and walked to an empty booth before resuming her conversation. “Why am I different?”
“You made a wish, right? We’re pulled to those wishes. Whether we answer them or not is an entirely different matter, though.”
“So, if I hadn’t made that wish, I’d never have met you? I wouldn’t have been able to see you?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Nene let that sink in, brows furrowed and nose scrunched at the bitter thought of never meeting such an interesting character. They might not have done anything momentous, but the memories of trying to make him a better angel was treasured all the same.
“I don’t think I like the idea of not meeting you.”
“Banter too fun to let go? Angel too handsome to ignore?” Hanako said in a sing-song voice. “I’m loved!”
“Your pride sure doesn’t seem angelic…”
“I have a healthy amount of self-confidence.”
“Sure, whatever you say.”
Their twenty minute lunch break was spent peacefully. Tucked in a quiet corner, Nene didn’t need to fear being seen as weird for talking to herself. After she’d finished her fries and tossed her trash away, she let Hanako take his favorite spot on her shoulder and skipped back to where Lemon was waiting for them, food in hand.
“What else can we do to help?” Nene asked as she gave him his lunch. Lemon hummed, using his phone with one hand and holding his food in the other.
“Help me with my homework?”
“Define ‘help’,” Nene asked skeptically.
“Tell me the answers?”
“You’re asking an angel to help you cheat?” She said, exasperated. Lemon shrugged.
“I mean, I got nothing else for you.”
“So you’re saying we’re excused.”
“Basically.” Her classmate finally looked up from his phone. “By the way, how long are you planning to go with the angel story?”
“What?” Hanako gawked. Waving his hands in front of the human’s face did nothing to capture Lemon’s attention.
“It’s not a story…” Nene pointed at Hanako and then gently gripped her hand around his body. “Can’t you see him?”
“Nope,” said Lemon, popping his ‘p’.
“You just gave us stuff to do without questioning it?”
“Might as well.” Lemon made a half-shrug. “If you’re not making it up, that means I helped. If you are making it up, I still got what I wanted.”
“Boy, you weren’t kidding when you said he takes things in stride.” Hanako said loudly, relishing in the fact that what he said wouldn’t be heard by the person in question. Nene shook her head.
“You sure are… something… Well, uh, I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“M’kay. Bye.” Back to his phone he went.
Hanako: 24% Good Angel (?)
“You know,” Hanako started as he watched Nene update their progress. Sixty-nine percent, he noted with a snicker. “These numbers make no sense. Why not round to seventy?”
“Don’t tell me you think helping me wash the dishes and making more of a mess is worth more than five percent. Nene quirked an eyebrow. Hanako coughed.
“I like nice rounded numbers?”
“Who was the one to find humor in his angel score?”
“That’d be me,” he admitted guiltily.
“Exactly.” Nene nodded smugly. Her expression fell into something more contemplative next. “You know, I think we should celebrate you going over fifty percent.”
“Not because of the sixty-nine?”
“Don’t make me subtract your score.”
“That’s your subjective opinion. I think I’m pretty close to being a full, one hundred percent authentic ‘good angel’.”
“Yeah? Then you should have no issue granting my original wish, right?”
“I trained to become a good angel who doesn’t rely on their magic,” he said, backpedaling under the guise of the solemn (albeit it fair) truth.
“Well, how about you try—”
“You still haven’t granted her wish yet? You could do it without breaking a sweat, what gives?” Hanako froze. Nene froze. A voice so similar to Hanako's, the only difference being its childishness, laughed from above them. “Then again, you’ve been lying to her this entire time, haven’t you?”
A poof, and then a boy identical to Hanako appeared mere inches away from Nene’s face.
“Hi, hi, hi! I’m Tsukasa, your real angel sent to grant your wish!”
Nene pointed between him and Hanako. “But—”
“Amane got to you before I could! He’s always been selfish, you know. Guess that’s what makes him a devil!”
Amane, Hanako, whatever he went by, winced. Nene only entertained the observation for a second before her feelings took hold of her.
“You lied to me?” she whispered. Hanako tried smiling at her reassuringly. It felt more like a stab to her heart than a bandage meant to ease her concerns. “Why are you smiling?”
“I might have hidden the fact that I’m a devil—”
“—No duh—” Tsukasa’s laugh was stifled when Hanako sent him a withering glare.
“—but everything about wanting to be a good angel is true.”
“But you still lied .”
“What did you want me to say? ‘Hi, I’m a demon who’s trying to do good, honest! Please help me earn my halo’—”
“You think you can still become an angel after lying for so long!?” Nene slammed her hands on her desk, ignoring the sting from the impact. The boys watched as she heaved with pent up anger.
“Nene, are you all right?” Her mother called from outside her room.
“Yeah, sorry! I was playing a game and overreacted!” The way she effortlessly lied made her feel even worse. Nene took a deep breath and slumped her shoulders. “I’m going to take a walk.”
Alone , everyone knew.
“I’ll be quick.” She closed the door behind her softly. She smiled at her mom weakly. She took her walk slowly. When she came back, no one was there to greet her. Neither the angel nor the devil stayed to see her.
She hadn’t noticed it then, but when she finally plucked the courage to toss away her good angel chart, she found all the progress erased with a giant ‘X’ drawn over her mini-Hanako. She felt sick.
Come morning, she asked her mom to call the school saying she wasn’t feeling well.
All things considered, missing three days of school wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t exam season, the lessons were easy to follow by herself, and three days were much better than the time Aoi skipped school after Nene joked about going after Akane.
Still, it felt a little awkward walking around school without Hanako. She’d approached so many of her classmates and had made Hanako’s existence no secret that her noticeable shift in mood was off-putting and easy to guess the reason for.
“Are you feeling sick?” Aoi asked during a lecture. Her eyes darted around Nene’s vicinity, clearly looking for the angel who disappeared. She made no mention of his lack of appearance. “Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?”
“No, I’m good,” mumbled Nene. “I’m fine.”
Who was she kidding? She wasn't feeling fine at all.
Being alone really sucked. And yeah, she might have put her walls up around her friends, but they would still be there for her when she was ready to open up again. Those little runts who could possibly be twins? They came and went and unfairly took a piece of her with them. She loathed the fact that she even let them in the first place, Tsukasa especially.
Nene was walking past a fountain when a shine caught her eye. Coins littered the floor of the fountain. She absentmindedly fiddled with her pocket for her own coin. It couldn’t hurt to try, right? Hanako said they were drawn to her wishes. Surely, this would catch their eye. At the very least, she wanted to get some answers, maybe even get a wish granted for her troubles.
Nene flipped the coin into the fountain. It sank to the bottom with a plop, joining the other coins in the growing pile below. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
I wish for both my angels to visit me. Soon , she added after some thought. Maybe during the weekend.
Just another day of waiting, at any rate. But honestly, she was already feeling at peace.
Hanako looked exceptionally hesitant when he greeted her. She’d just gotten back from shopping, and was ready to wait for their arrival, but it looked like she didn’t need to for Hanako. Tsukasa, on the other hand, was still missing.
“I thought I said both of my angels.”
“He said he got bored.” That absolute sham of an angel. How in the world could he be one? “He sends his regards, though.”
Nene sighed. “Should have expected things to go wrong.” She sat on her bed and asked, “Can I ask my questions?”
“Yeah,” Hanako squared his shoulders. “Go ahead.”
“Uh, I guess we already know how and why you lied but I still don’t get how a devil can become an angel.”
“God told me. He told me if I was able to do good, he’d consider it.”
“God, huh…” Nene frowned. “But how much good? How does he measure it?”
“Dunno. That’s why I’ve been trying to find as many people who need help as possible.”
“Lying to them wouldn’t count as ‘good’, though.” Both people sighed. “Why do you want to be an angel so bad, anyway?”
“Because what better proof of redemption is there after killing your brother?” Tsukasa giggled as he manifested beside Hanako. Nene faltered. “Can’t say I wasn’t looking forward to it, though!”
She really couldn’t understand this guy.
“But if you were looking forward to it, why was Hanako condemned?”
“Maybe he asked for it,” Tsukasa shrugged. “I wasn’t there and he won’t say.”
“Okay, but if he asked for it, why does he want out, now?”
“Maybe he got lonely?”
“Yeah, no, that still doesn’t…” Nene glanced at her first angel. “Why are you blushing!?”
It was true?! He was just lonely!?
“If I’d known you were stuck to me because you were feeling lonely, I would’ve been more willing to help…” grumbled Nene.
“Good for you, Amane.” She looked up to see Hanako hiding his face in his hands with Tsukasa slapping his shoulder proudly. Hanako was cute when he was embarrassed. She kind of wanted to see that embarrassment again.
“Do you mean it?” asked Hanako.
“Have I ever lied to you?” The devil had the audacity to pretend to ponder it.
“No,” he finally said. “For better or for worse, you’re an honest girl.”
“Not like she had many chances to lie to you, anyway.”
“Tsukasa, don’t ruin the moment.”
“Do you still want to be an angel?” asked Nene, carefully.
“I don’t know,” Hanako replied slowly. “Because as I see it now, being an angel or a devil is the same thing. The only difference is how people see you, and how they react. But…”
“But…?”
“I don’t really care about that, as long as I can be with you.” Her heart was filled with warmth. Nene smiled.
“I have no issue with that. I wish that you’ll stay by my side. She turned to Tsukasa, albeit unsure. “I don’t mind if you stay too. It’s a nice opportunity to get to know my original angel.”
Hanako paled as Tsukasa twisted his head to face him with a grin. Nene chose to blissfully feign ignorance at the scowl directed at her.
“Lucky us, huh, Amane? We can stay together now!”
“Yeah, lucky…” Nene ignored them as she pulled the angel status chart she’d put away during Hanako’s absence out of her desk. After a minute of work, she nodded in satisfaction.
“By the way, they’re having another festival soon with a fireworks show to end things off. Do you want to go together? There’s bound to be some wishes to be granted there.”
“I hope they’re simple,” said Hanako.
“I want them to be fun!” Tsukasa added.
Nene laughed. “Considering the nature of this celebration, I think there’ll be a lot of wishes right up your alley. Now then, I think it’s time for a snack. What do you two want?”
“Donuts!” They left the room excitedly, the wind from an open window causing some papers on Nene’s desk to flutter. Kept in place by a pen was the chart Nene had worked on. The ‘X’ had been erased, as had the ‘GOOD’ and ‘BAD’ at the head and toes of the angel. The outline had been filled in, with one word and number scribbled out and replaced.
Hanako: 100% Good Devil