Archive of Our Own

It always took a person a few hours to reach Vertigo Highrise when coming all the way from the Diamond City. Not only does a person have to go through the Outer Wall and the Yaramo Transit, but traveling through the regions themselves takes some time. The distance between the transit and the city filled to the brim with neon lights was a long one, but the train connecting these two regions was fast enough to compensate the journey’s length.

But it was good to be back here again. Well, not entirely, but there was someone who was likely looking forward to seeing Ku again. Said person’s hopes would soon be revealed to be for something, as the sounds of Kimii’s concert grew louder. Someone else also looked forward to seeing the popstar again.

Entering backstage, as per the Doctor’s request to use it, alongside the fact the concert’s main entrance point was already closed, Ku noticed that Kimii was already there, her eyes sparkling up on seeing the Knight entering.

“Ku! Back! Again!” Kimii’s enthusiasm was something that could be heard from miles away. Before Ku could react , though , the Doctor looked at her. “Er… Ku, can I speak to you for a moment?” Ku turned around and faced him, “Er… sure! I think Kimii-” The Doctor looked impatient. “Er yeah I’m coming.” Kimii had been coloring her “hat” even before Ku came by, having the idea of making a mask in her own image to try and warm the Doctor up to the Knight. She happened to come by as she was finishing up the coloring. Before she could look up, The Doctor started chatting with Ku further away . Someone else, however, stayed behind. It would be a shame to see Kimii’s enthusiasm fade after noticing Ku disappeared from the scene just like this without waiting for her, after all. Kimii looked up from the mask, proud of her work . “I finished hat! Look! Look!” She held the mask up to what… looked to be Ku…? 

She placed the “hat” onto their head. Kimii had earlier attached a elastic band so the mask stays attached to Ku’s head. The “hat” itself was a mask that looked like Kimii’s face. She lowered her hands and stood, proudly admiring her work. In her peripheral vision, she noticed “Ku” was slightly see-through… and outlined… and had a diamond on their chest? Kimii inspected the impersonator. “Kimii confused? Ku not Ku? Where Ku? Where my Ku?”

Kimii noticing the change in Ku’s appearance was something that couldn’t have been avoided in a case like this. Now that it was brought up, she was… Actually owed an explanation, as the change was quite drastic.

“The Doctor asked to speak with her not that long ago. Given how he sounded, it was a conversation that could not have waited for a later date.” The Voice Beyond took off the mask that was put on their face just a moment ago. Its coloring was a little messy, but it was still an adorable thing to look at. They couldn’t help but give an amused smile before putting it back on, letting it rest on their forehead for the time being. It was intended to be for Ku, after all - it would be wrong not to return it to the person the mask was made for. Kimii looked at at the impersonator with curiosity in her eyes. “Who are you? If not Ku then who?” Coming up with a plausible explanation would be an issue, especially on the go. Lying wasn’t something in their nature, yet they had to come up with something, anything, if they were not to break Kimii’s wonder.

“...” It wasn’t the best they could say in this situation, but still better than leaving it at nothing. “You could say we are a kind of a ‘guardian angel’ to her.” Kimii looked amazed, “Guardian angel…” she mumbled to herself as if committing it to memory. “What is… “Guardian angel?” Of course, this was something that had to be predicted when coming up with this kind of lie. “You could say a ‘guardian angel’ is a figure that watches over a person, if we are to explain it in the simplest terms possible.” She kept the wondrous expression, “Wow… You watch… you watch Ku?”

“That would be one way to explain it, yes.”

Kimii looked puzzled and examined them. “But… why look like Ku?”

Holding up the act was something they would struggle with long term, but… The Voice Beyond couldn’t deny it. It was quite fun to attempt making up a believable story at times. “We, as in, guardian angels, can take on many forms. It truly depends on one’s preference. Some will take on the appearance of the person they are watching over.”

“Does Guardian Angel like… being Ku? Or does Ku like you being Ku? Kimii confused…”

“Our forms can change, if the situation calls for it. Whether the human we are protecting likes it or not is a personal thing for them, however they may not have any control over what calls for us to take on their appearance.”

“But... Why you Ku? Why you like being her ?’

“Sometimes, the circumstances cause a guardian angel to take a form they do not particularly enjoy taking on. Many of us will find it to be wrong to take on a human’s form.” 

“But we do experience what the human we are watching over does, if we would ever so wish to join them in their life directly. This has led us to being aware of your existence, and…” How did they even come up with all of this on a whim was beyond them even now when they were elbows deep into this story. “Some guardian angels grow fond of others ‘their person’ interacts with, which may lead them to do things they otherwise would never think of doing. One of such actions being what we did; taking on her form to still allow you to do what you wanted to do.”

They held the mask in one of their hands. “We will return it to her, if that was something you were going to ask.” 

Kimii looked happy to comply. “Okay! Will Angel tell Ku Kimii met them?”

Unfortunately the answer would be quite disappointing. “...We really are not supposed to speak of us meeting others directly.” 

“Ooooh… is… secret? Kimii can keep secret!” She gestured a finger to her mouth as if zipping it closed. 

They weren’t used to hearing their own laugh, but an amused chuckle was something they had to spare.

“You could say that it is one.” Kimii smiled. “Hehehe… secret… Kimii will keep. Kimii… Kimii promise!” She held up her pinkie as if expecting a “pinky promise”. 

The Voice Beyond could barely keep their composure at this gesture. But who were they to deny a young person a pinky promise? They locked their pinky with Kimii’s pinky , turning this into a full-term promise. Kimii smiled cheerfully as she retracted her hand from the promise.

By now, the conversation between Ku and the Doctor would have ended. It would be a good idea to head back. The Voice Beyond spared Kimii one last smile before making their way towards the Doctor’s office, noticing her wink back at them in the corner of their vision. 

As soon as they walked down the stairs, there was no trace of them anymore as they left everyone’s sight.

Sorting through her items, Ku counted the amount of leftover Credits she had on her. Should be enough to support Citria’s business and still have some left. But before that, the Stewardess was likely not going to cut her any slack this time around either. She’s done it a few times already, though; it’d still be a challenge, but going against 1-04 would be easier now that she was accustomed to her attacks.

Like she thought, it didn’t take her much time to get past the Stewardess guarding the rooftop. It all came down to her experience gained over time, really; the gear improvements since their first fight was just another thing. Passing through the rooftop, the glowing treasure chest upstairs was already waiting for her. Sometimes Ku found herself thinking, where do these treasure chests even come from? Must be of the Walls.

If anything, it was good to have some kind of a reward for taking care of the region. If only that so-called “Fast-Rolling Room Cleaner” was not a chambered shotgun. In nearly all cases of those, Knights who got their hands on one of these said they are “worse than if you just gave a five pellet spread buckshot to Jerico and asked him to add three more pellets to the spread”. Alongside the unfortunate shotgun, there was a mask in the chest, similar to Kimii’s face in its appearance. Kimii would probably be glad to see that she kept it.

As Ku put the mask away in her inventory, between some harder surfaces to make sure it wouldn’t get damaged during the rest of the journey, she noticed the faint yellow glow on her wrist turn brighter, alongside a familiar voice ringing in her mind.

“If Kimii was to ever ask us of a ‘guardian angel’... We would appreciate it if you were to play along.”

“I know.” Ku spared a light chuckle. “Sure, I will.”