Chapter Text
The unforgiving winter wind cut through the layers of clothes Yosuke was wearing. He shivered and hugged himself as he trudged through the snow. It was up to his knees, making it difficult to walk. He cursed his luck as snow was picked up and swirled around him. His home couldn’t be too far from where he was, he thought.
Yosuke turned down a path and kicked the snow to the side as he moved. He was getting hungry. He grumbled and made a wrong turn thanks to a flurry of snow getting in his eyes. Down the trail he went. It felt like an eternity passed. In reality it was minutes. Vague silhouettes of trees hidden in dense snow made everything look the same.
His foot bumped into something. Yosuke yelped and crashed facedown into the snow. He whined as he took a moment to rest there, despite the snow touching his face.
“Hey…” a voice whispered.
Yosuke lifted his head and looked around. His fight or flight response kicked in. Except he did neither fight nor flight. He froze.
“Oh great, I’m hearing things…” Yosuke muttered.
“Hello…?”
Yosuke quickly got up after hearing something for the second time. He looked around but all he could see was a hazy white. The snow picked up again and Yosuke shut his eyes. He felt around blindly. His hand brushed against something soft. This made Yosuke yelp and he tumbled backwards, falling to the ground.
The storm started to calm down a bit and Yosuke opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around. Luckily visibility had gotten better and he could see around him within 10 feet. He noticed a shape on the ground. There was an imprint in the snow next to Yosuke’s own. It looked human at first glance. When Yosuke got a closer look it seemed like someone made a snow angel beside him. This spooked him and he scrambled to his feet.
“I-I must be hungry!” Yosuke surmised as he looked at the snow angel imprint. “Being hungry and tired leads to hallucinations!”
The snow angel imprint shifted a bit. Yosuke laughed nervously as he stepped backward. Footprints started to form and were leading right to him. Yosuke threw his hands up in surrender.
“Whatever this is, I give up! Please don’t eat me! I don’t taste good!” Yosuke whined.
Before his eyes he saw someone. It was a man with silver hair and eyes staring back. Yosuke’s eyes widened and he spouted off a couple questions.
“Who are you?! Where did you come from?!”
“My name is Narukami,” the man said very calmly. Something behind him fluttered a bit. “I was next to you this whole time.”
Yosuke shook his head and realized he had something draped on his upper arm. There was a silver chain. At the end of it was a teal and deep blue gemstone in the shape of a heart.
“Uh, what is this?” Yosuke asked as he looked at the gemstone.
“That is a gem,” Narukami replied.
“I can see that…” Yosuke sighed. “Where did it come from?”
“I gave it to you. I forgot you can’t see me without it.”
“I need a gemstone to see you?”
Yosuke took the gemstone and set it in the snow. When he looked up, Narukami was nowhere to be found. This prompted Yosuke to reach in front of him, his hand brushing against something soft.
“I’m still here,” Narukami said in response. “Oh, be careful of my wings. They are a bit sensitive.”
“Wings?” Yosuke asked incredulously. He picked up the gemstone and Narukami appeared. “Wait, you do have wings!”
“I told you.” Narukami chuckled and flapped his wings.
“What are you? Some kind of bird?”
“I’m no bird. I’m an angel. Don’t you see the halo?”
“There’s a halo?” Yosuke asked in disbelief. He got a closer look and could see a glow. “It is hard to see everything right now in the snow.”
“Then let’s find shelter,” Narukami suggested.
“I’ve been trying to do that all day…”
“Then I will help you. Keep that necklace. That way you can still see me.”
Yosuke blinked and put the necklace on. “It looks a bit girly.”
“You don’t have to wear it. But then you won’t be able to see me.”
“I can just do this,” Yosuke said as he tucked the gem in his coat collar. He blinks. “Where did you go?”
“I’m here, I promise,” Narukami replied. “You can’t see me because you hid the gemstone. It puts out energy that reacts to the one I have.
“At least you come with instructions…” Yosuke sighed a bit and took the gemstone back out, letting it rest at the end of the chain. “I guess it looks cool.”
Narukami comes back into view. He smiles and flutters his wings. “Come on, we should get moving.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be in this snow anymore than I need to. Hey, do you know where to go?”
“I do not.”
“So you don’t come with instructions after all…”
“Very few,” Narukami replied with a small smile.
The two started to walk despite Yosuke not knowing where they were going. There was an awkward silence between the two. Yosuke was still trying to process what had happened up to this point. A trip back home had become an unexpected encounter. He was a bit hesitant walking beside a complete stranger. But there was something about Narukami that made him feel trustworthy. He claimed to be an angel and there was some proof of that.
Yosuke looked at his gemstone and then glanced over to see a similar one on Narukami. Both of the gems were cut and polished into hearts. Both had their own uniqueness in swirls and patterns.
“What are these gemstones anyway?” Yosuke asked.
“Azurite,” Narukami replied.
“Where did you get them?”
“I just woke up one day with them.”
Before Yosuke could ask any more questions, they come across a small cabin. Narukami put a hand on the door knob. Yosuke looked at the angel with disbelief.
“Wait, we’re just going to break in?” Yosuke asked as he glared a bit.
“No, this is my cabin,” the angel replied as he opened the door.
“You just leave it unlocked when you go out?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“There are many things wrong with that!” Yosuke retorted as he pushed past Narukami and pulled him inside. “You really should lock the door. Burglars can come in and steal everything you own!”
“I don’t have too much to steal.”
Narukami gestured to the room they were in. There was a simple two person couch, recliner, two wooden cabinets, a matching wooden shelf, table, TV stand, and a small TV.
“This is it?” Yosuke asked as he walked in further. He sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness there’s a kitchen.”
“Do you like to cook?”
“Sometimes. I’m not too good at it though.” Yosuke laughed a bit nervously and quickly changed the subject. “Is there a bathroom and bedrooms here?”
“Of course, silly.”
“Then this place isn’t so bad. If it was just a living room I would be more concerned.”
Yosuke locked the door and looked over at Narukami. The angel just shrugged and gave a deadpan stare. The awkward silence accompanied by the stare got a bit much for Yosuke. He quickly walked over to the couch and sat down. Narukami just stood there.
“You know you can sit down, right?”
Narukami walked and sat down next to Yosuke. The brunet blinked and turned his head. Getting a facefull of soft feathers in the process.
“Your wings are hogging up the couch.”
“Are they that big?”
“Somewhat. You don’t have a sense of personal space, huh?”
Narukami just shrugged as Yosuke sighed. The brunet scooted away to give them both space. This prompted the angel to stretch his wings.
Yosuke huffed as the feathers ended up in his face once again. “Careful with those.”
“It feels good to stretch.”
“Well, do it over there.”
“I don’t feel like getting up right now.”
“You’re such a weirdo. Why are you here in the first place?”
“I’m weird?” Narukami asked, eyes widening a little.
“You truly are. I’ve never met an angel. So come on, tell me why you’re here.”
Narukami smiled and folded his wings back so Yosuke could see him properly. He picked up a leather bound book off the table and opened it up.