Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

       "We should get moving. It's been long enough."   

      She didn't feel like opening her eyes. The softness of her surroundings invited her to hang around for a little longer. Keep 'snoozing' for just a few more minutes.

     "Sister." He repeated with a softer voice, trying to wake her up as gently as he could.

      She sighed deeply, although she wasn't quite sure he could hear her. Her dislike of that word, that particular dissapointed intonation that seemed to always come with it: "Sister",  hadn't gotten less over the years. What was supposed to evoke familiarity made her feel like she had just made of a mistake of some sort. But that wasn't the fault of the word itself as much as her own. Even with all these thoughts running around her head, it was her duty to get up.  
  
     "Forgive me, Brother. I'm taking too long again."   

 ‌‌‌‌     Sister got off the "ground" ‌and stretched her wings in an exaggerated manner, finally opening her eyes. Her gaze met her "brother's" hazy white form, who gave her an empty expression, as per usual. Her surroundings were of a calm, unearthly white, with no separation from "the floor" and "the sky". She called this abstract plane home, as Brother and every other angel also did.

        At least moving around would have guaranteed her some newer scenery, she thought. That's something she had always enjoyed, having a defined form always felt so much more comfortable than just being melted with her spiritual plane.  

     "There's been a sighting of unusually high demonic forces around a human school." He robotically told her, his blank voice echoing around her head.

      'School places' were always breeding grounds for demon, Sister couldn't help but wonder what had happened to this one in particular that it required the intervention of two angels? Heaven was known for treating even the smallest imp as a grave problem that must be dealt with, but to her even this context seemed a bit absurd. She almost wanted to dismiss the task and to lie down again, if not for the idea that human schools were always just so fascinating. It sure was an exciting change of pace from her boring, usual angel activities. Seeing humans in their natural habitat was something she always looked forward to, and schools promised a lot of humans, all in the same place at the time. A sort of forbidden dream come true for her.

      Seeing the sudden interest in her grow, he pedantically added:   

     "We've discussed this before, Sister. You know too well not to approach humans unless the matter is truly urgent. Please don't make this difficult for the both of us. I would rather not deal with the consequences."  

      Brother sighed, looking both annoyed but also truly concerned for her well being. He was always like that. Sister was sure that he was ashamed of her sometimes, even with the most minor things. She felt her own "name" weigh down on her shoulders again as she looked down at the "ground" in shame.

     "Apologies.. I will do my best.." Sister muttered.

      She got off the ground and waited for the space around her to materialize as Brother pulled out a scroll out of thin air and started running his fingers along the fine lines of words printed on the manuscript golden-edged manuscript.   

     "Here.“ He said in his usual monotone voice.  

      Before she could even blink, she found her ghostly figure in a random crowd of human beings, their heavy bodies walking thru her self unbothered.‌ She stretched her wings and rose up above the heads of the walking people. The noise of humankind's machines and voices, their weird, grey buildings decked in intricate symbols and canvases made her thoughts quickly jumble up. The change from the spiritual plane to this one had been far too sudden for her.    

     "The coordinates were not exact. We need to search for the 'School'. Announce me if you sense anything."  

        Her Brother's voice rang inside her head with no trace of his figure present. She disliked it when he did that; suddenly disappearing and leaving her in the dust. His hurry was excessive, was it really that had he no time to talk to her 'eye to eye'? It didn't seem like he or other angels put much importance on that in general, but she quite liked seeing him in 'person'.    

      Sister sighed and began aimlessly floating around, trying to clear her thoughts and get on track with the mission. It proved difficult as her attention kept being tested by the busy world around her. A particular human structure quickly caught her eye, one decked in colorful lights. It was intricately carved inside one of the huge human constructions called " a building". There were tons of them in the place, along with many busy automobiles. Many people were lined in front of a building as she casually flew right through them. They all seemed in such a hurry to get in. Entering the room was weird, her surroundings transitioning from the warm outside light of the sun to the unusually cold, bright lights of the interior. It reminded her of the spiritual plane, only instead of pure nothingness around her she was surrounded by actual objects, neatly placed on tall shelves, busily checked and looked at by the many humans inside.

      Humans seemed intrinsically drawn to the items. Sister curiously watched as they reached for the colorful boxes and quietly inspected them. She knew that they represented food for them, or just usual things they needed. She had seen such places before; they were called "stores“, probably because they stored things. She eventually let her feet touch the ground lined with white tiles, eager to see everything from a closer angle.

      It felt different than the ground she had found herself on a couple of minutes ago. Smooth. Cold. Much like a bunch of repetitive groves. The world of the humans was so full of textures and details she could have never fathomed. It made the inside of her body gently spin around in confusion with every little thing she encountered, touched, and heard.  

      She walked like a human towards where most of the people seemed to be heading. There she found another line leading to a huge, black moving "table" of sorts. People put their objects on it and another person put it in a bag and handed it back afterwards. Then they exchanged money. She was familiar with the concept, as money was a common source of sin. She wasn't quite sure why people couldn't just have things without an exchange taking place. Why couldn't everyone have a box of whatever they wanted? And why would they have to suffer if money ran short? She guessed it could have been sort of like how angels were; if they didn't do good work they'd face punishment. But angels weren't like humans. They were perfect creatures, incapable of sinning or not doing their work. It all seemed so tough. And complicated. And it could all be simple for the humans if they just abolished the source of sin and decided to all do their work. She couldn't understand why they would complicate themselves further.
 
     The angel felt herself sink deeper in her theories about humankind. Some high ranking angels knew about the intricacies of humanity, but she was nothing but an inexperienced newbiw. For a second, a stray thought crossed her body: the desire to be allowed to learn such things, but the idea quickly sent a shock thru her body which made her shudder. That had undoubtedly been a sinful thought. She knew better than anyone that it was not her place to question what she was allowed to know and do. She wasn't even supposed to be in the store, listening to the human chatter and beeping noises of the manmade machines. She wondered again why humans needed machines for so many things. She understood transportation, but what could a machine possibly accomplish in this place? Maybe they used it to keep track of money, she correctly assumed. Humans were obsessed with it, so surely the machines had to also be tied to that obsession.   

     "Sister. I have found our place of interest." His cold voice interrupted her thoughts, tearing thru the background noise of the human world. ”The reports were correct... this location feels very negatively charged, but it might just be the overwhelming human presence. Hurry up and we'll adopt physical bodies to further investigate. I can feel my wings getting shattered by all these grating human noises as we speak."    

      Even if she couldn't see him she still felt Brother's annoyed expression bounce around her consciousness. It seemed to be an emotion he expressed often around human related tasks.   

    "Thank you. I'll be on my way, Brother."   

      She awkwardly lifted her feet up from the cold floor tiles, letting another busy person walk right thru her. She phased right thru the walls of the building and rose high above the ground, so high all the structures that seemed big earlier were now just so tiny, all the people walking around reduced to nothing but dots. Even up there it was a very different sight than Heaven or the spiritual plane she often took rest in, always moving and full of depth and details she could barely wrap her head around.   

      Sister closed her eyes and let herself be guided towards her brother's presence. She felt her form moving without any direct intervention, as it naturally dragged itself closer to him. All angels had a link of sorts with one another, but theirs was different. They had been together since the beginning, and he felt like an extension of her in some sense. Even if they were so different, she struggled imagining life without his monotone voice and worried sense of self. And she definitely thought she'd be an even worse angel without his regular interventions.

      The angel began to wonder if he felt the same about their connection. They never really spoke of such things to one another, for some reason.
  
      She opened her eyes to discover she was slowly approaching a tall, wide building with many levels and windows, full of humans walking in and out what appeared to be its main entrance. They were particularly loud, filling the surrounding barren land with screaming and yelling, which made Sister cringe a little bit. However, she still felt a growing sense of excitement as she got closer and closer to her objective.

      Sister wondered why the place was surrounded by some greenery but the other buildings she had seen were all crammed together. Maybe the large amount of humans the place seemed to attract enjoyed having a greener space to spend time in. Or maybe the human's would soon build in the free space as well. She thought the latter thought to be particularly sad for some reason.

        Following her senses, she gently flew down to a single tree behind the school, in the yard, fluttering her wings as her feet reached the fuzzy ground. The plants on the soil were cut short and sporadically covered in typical human waste; bottles, containers, pieces of clothing and various man made "instruments". The sight made her both sick of the creatures’ carelessness but also curious about their origin.

      For a second, she wished she could have stopped and been allowed to rummage through the sporadic pieces of trash, just out of pure curiosity for the details she might learn about mankind. She shrugged the thought off and approached her brother, who was resting his back on the tree, facing away from the school building.

     "Finally." He said, exhausted. "Shall we begin? I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible." The angel avoided her partner’s gaze, instead staring out in the distance.

    "Oh Brother, why cant you take some optimism in finally doing different things?" She twisted her head like a puppy, her voice playful.

      He glared at her then scoffed, seemingly not amused by her enthusiasm. "You know that I don't like taking a physical form. It boggles my senses."

     "Why did you suggest taking one, then? Can't we just fly around?"

     "We will need to ask the humans if they've noticed any unusual activity, as much as I hate to face anyone not of my kind. It's protocol. Demonic forces are mumbled up by all this noise, don't you think?"

      Sister closed her eyes and tried to feel for any unearthly forces. She couldn't really tell if anything was off so she just nodded.

     "Yes.. I guess demons have been getting better at ensuring their survival nowadays. I've read of times where they just walked around the earth with no worry. Watch out for any particular human aggression or activity; they might have already possessed some victims or started some other conflict." Brother finished. He started looking around. The surrounding area had calmed down, as a part of the people had left the perimeter earlier, even though the buzzing of human life could still be felt thru the concrete walls of the building.

      After making sure no human was watching, he materialized his form with a small flash of light. Brother took the shape of a human male, more juvenile in appearance. He now had glimmering blue eyes with shoulder reaching straight, unnaturally cold blond hair. Humans wore clothes, so he had made sure to mimic them by wearing a pair of dark blue pants and a very plain white shirt. He was tall, with a lanky and almost androgynous build. His fair skin seemed normal enough to Sister, but would have been abnormally white for anyone else. Still, the disguise had worked well enough the little times he had used it so he never really thought of adjusting anything. It was the angel's idea of the optimized human shape to achieve peak interest and general beauty standards in the area they were in. Perfectly adjusted to protocol guidelines by angels much more knowledgeable than both of them. It was also said that humans treated others by appearance, a concept foreign to shapeless angels. As such, Brother's form presented no obvious imperfections, not even the ones expected from a human. 

        Brother started awkwardly shuffling his feet around, getting used to the feeling of an actual physical body, using the trunk of the tree as a support for his new found weight.

        Sister chuckled at his misfortune and closed her eyes. She took her form as well, that of a human female very similar in appearance to Brother's. She also had blue eyes, although much duller in appearance, warm blonde hair and much more realistic white human skin, although still very much on the super fair side. She wore a white t-shirt and a long blue skirt, well below her knees, along with thigh high socks of a very light color. She adopted a slim physique with broad shoulders and minimal curves, mirroring her partner's. Sister also struggled to keep herself standing straight, as she fell to the ground with a slight 'ompf!', landing on her rear end and almost rolling around on the ground. She let out another series of chuckles, definitely considered far too emotional for any angel. As she tried to get on her feet again, she could feel Brother’s eyes fixating her.

    "YoUu...StoPH.." He mumbled. Brother wasn't yet used to creating actual sounds in the air of the physical plane rather than just talking telepathically, so it proved a great hassle for him to communicate efficiently.

     "S-Sorry.." She mumbled back, wiping her grin off her face. "It juas..." She coughed and contracted her face 'muscles' in an attempt to gain better control. "Its...juats.. diffe... differe..." Sister groaned in frustration. "UNUJUAL. It's unusual, I mean.. It made me l-laugh.. Apologies."

      Brother scoffed at her reply then slowly started walking away from the tree. He didn't manage to take more than a couple of steps as he tripped on his own legs and collapsed to the ground with a thud. Sister got herself  the grass for good and drunkenly walked towards him. He looked mad, such a rare emotion to see on any angelic being's face.

     "This is far too... emotional" He slowly whispered. "Why is it ... us dealing with... these." He groaned as Sister helped him get up by dragging him by his hand.

     "There there, Brother..." She mumbled emphatically. "It shouldn't take all that long.."

 Brother let out a groan as he clung himself onto Sister. Linked togheter, they started slowly making their way towards the entrance of the school.

Chapter Text

     Sister guessed that the huge entrance on the front of the building had to be where all the humans got in. It looked much more different than what she had seen while in the air. Everything was much bigger, for a start. She casually approached the red bricks of the outside of the building and began touching them; they had a coarse texture their grooves reminding her of the tiles in the store. She took a couple of steps, moving her hand along the glass of the main door, for now held shut. It felt glossy... yet sturdy. She gave it a light knock, which made a resounding noise.

     "What are you doing?" Brother inquired. It was obvious that he was trying to act proper and control his emotions as well as possible, but his somewhat unsure nature could still be felt in his voice. Sister didn't really get as to why he was trying so hard to hide such things from her, probably because that was expected of them. But they were still new angels, so she guessed it wasn't yet natural. That's why her efforts fell flat a lot; such things would come to her, eventually.

     "Sister? Why were you knocking?" Brother asked again, visibly more agitated. He came right by her side and looked her deep in the eyes, with an aggravated look.

     "Apologies, I got lost in my thoughts again." She replied lowering her gaze. "I’ve seen that people knock when they see entrances, right?"

     "That's…" Brother stopped in his tracks and tried to hide his confused face. Physical bodies were naturally more prone to displaying emotions, even if they weren't made of actual flesh. These reactions definitely ticked him off, she could tell. Brother took a deep sigh and continued, now as blank faced as ever:
 
     "I think they do. It doesn't matter. We should enter normally" He stared at one of the doors, obviously still closed. He started spreading his hands across it until he tocuhed a small metal lever he, for some reason, hadn't noticed before.

     "Ah. You see? I think I need to pull this to activate the opening mechanism. "

      Brother suddenly pulled on the door with immense strength, causing the handle to fly out of his hand and hit the sidewalk with a metallic noise. They both stared at it in confusion.

     "What went wrong?" Sister asked.

     "I don’t know! I just did the logical thing. Is it broken?"

      Sister gently gave the door a push, which opened wide with a resounding creak.

     "Brother, don't beat yourself up! This is clearly correct!" Sister said enthusiastically. "And now to close it you have to put it back, I think!"

     "Very interesting. So this is like a sort of key? I'll keep it and when we leave I’'ll make sure to close it back."

      Brother picked up the door handle and made it disappear into thin air.

     "Can't you store things in your physical body’ clothes?" Sister asked as she stepped into the school, pointing at his pant's pockets.

     "Why would I do that? It's much easier to do it the normal way."

      She shrugged as she entered through the now broken door. The school was full of different things Sister couldn’t quite recognize. The building seemed to have multiple sets of stairs starting from the entrance hallway. She guessed that they had to lead to the upper parts of the building, above the ceiling that she was staring at. It had lights just like the ones in the store; she deduced that humans seemed to very much enjoy lit up places. Seeing her intensely staring at her surroundings instead of focusing on the task at hand, Brother whispered to her:

     “Don’t get too focused on all of these details. We’re here to investigate demonic forces; not human structures.” He sternly instructed.

      She nodded in response and fixed her gaze on what was in front of her instead. The main building  seemed to diverge into a big corridor filled with bulky red doors. Where did they lead to? Why were the doors so slim? They looked far more like an oversized chest, but why did they have a door? All these questions ran inside her head as she rapidly approached one of the bigger lockers.  Curiously, she began knocking in its material much like she had done with the door. It sounded hollow on the inside.

     "Is this a door?" Brother asked, his feet shuffling against the floor tiles as he caught up to her.

      "I’m not sure. I don’t think there's a room behind it." She tried to peek through the vents of the locker door. "It's all dark inside as well, which seems unusual for a human room. From what I can tell I think it's an empty containment module of sorts, though I cant see much through these thin windows." She mechanically reported back to him.

     "Why would a door lead to an empty container? Maybe it's a door to a room with no lights.." He scoffed as he began shaking the locker and pulling on its handle. "Strange.. this door doesn't work either." He carefully fitted his fingers inside the vents and pulled hard on them, until the metal bent and warped under his hands with an array of impossibly loud metallic screeches that echoed throughout the empty corridor. 

     "Brother! Be gentle! I don’t think we're supposed to damage the goods of humans like this!" She pleaded, her arms frantically waving around her.

     "It doesn’t matter, partner.. This will help us in understanding this cursed place and getting rid of the vile forces!" He mumbled, slightly grinding his teeth, still pulling on the door.

      With one final pull from Brother the locker fell with a resounding thunderous noise, almost crushing the angels in the process. Luckily, they both dodged it with ease at the last second. The locker now at his feet, Brother stared at the dirty wall that the locker had left exposed, utterly flabbergasted.

     "Huh? So.. this was no door?" He flipped the massive locker on its back with another loud metallic thud and took a better look inside.

     "Ah... it’s a chest of sorts like you said.. full of human junk. " He said, embarrassed, as he picked up some human books and threw them out of the locker in disgust.

     "I told you not to mess with it so much! Now someone has no chest!" Sister said in a condescending tone.

     Brother seemed unphased by the realization that he had just ruined some random kid's locker. He slowly got up, his feet still feeling uneasy.

      Right as he did, a shattering noise began echoing from the ceiling, engulfing the entire building.

     "What is the..." Brother yelled, trying to cover the noise.
  
      A bunch of actual doors they hadn't noticed before flung open and hundreds of humans began pouring out of them. More came from the upper levels, as the whole school became polluted by loud human steps and chatter. Sister began feeling like she was out in-between the buildings again, the previously quiet space quickly becoming overwhelming again.

        A small crowd of teens began forming around the two angels and the fallen locker, curiously whispering among each other.

     "Woah. Did this randomly fall?" One of them asked.

     "No, I tried to pry it open." Brother snarked, seeming disgusted by the interaction. Sister lined up behind him, curiously looking around the sea of teens. She had never been so close to actual human teens before and as such had absolutely no idea how to act around them.

        They all were softly speaking to one another, some giggling and some looking worried. They all looked so diverse, of different complexions and outfits, different voices and behaviors. She felt overwhelmed by their presence. Was she supposed to say anything to them? Were they going to hold Brother responsible for his destructive actions?

     "Oh man... I don't know who you are but if you're the reason that thing fell down you'll be in a heap of trouble!" Another voice chimed in.

     "Why is that?" Brother asked, crossing his arms in response, clearly aggravated.

     "You don't know who this locker belongs to..?" A random girl asked with a condescending ton

     "Why would I? Is it of any importance?"

     "Dude. It's literally the school's bully compartment. Are you new here by any chance? A random transfer?" Someone else chimed in. Sister struggled to keep up with all the people that spoke and she could tell Brother was also having a hard time as he kept moving his head around to keep up with the suddenly switching directions of human voices.

     "A bully? Transfer? What does that mean?" Brother asked, seemingly growing more annoyed by the minute. His answer seemed to flabbergast the teens, although some did burst into laughter.

     The group of humans randomly broke up as another human, a tall and bulky male, made his way through them. He came closer to the locker than all of them, staring down at it in shock.

 
      "WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!?" It yelled with a deep voice, staring right at Brother.

      The surrounding humans took a couple steps back, creating a sort of safety perimeter between them and the newcomer.

     "Is this 'school bully'?" Brother asked the obviously infuriated boy. He seemed physically bigger than the others. Sister thought to herself that maybe he belonged to a different specie of human.

     "ARE YOU FUCKING DENSE?" The school bully pushed Brother, who immediately stumbled and fell down to the ground, as he wasn’t yet quite used to walking around.

     "I don't care who you fucking are, you hippie!" He continued. "I'll beat the ever living CHRIST out of you!"

     The mention of His name tensed up the angels. Was the situation escalating this fast that the human felt the need to bring up religion?

     "Please, do not take his name in vain! There's no need for it!" Sister said as she jumped between herself and Brother.

      She immediately received a punch to her face, which almost sent her flying. It wasn't painful, but it was the shock that had made her stumble to the ground. Everything around her seemed to get jumbled up together; the noises, the faces of the humans staring down at her, the screams of the bully, the overwhelming heat of the bodies surrounding her. Half-lying on the floor, she hid her face in her palms, trying to make it all go away. 

      How come she had fought imps with ease before, but a single push from a human was far too much to handle? She felt her face burning up and consequently started panicking even more. Why was it doing that? Did the human impact harm her form in some way? Was the damage that severe? She felt something leaking from her eyes.Was that blood? But it made no sense, because she didn't have any. Although at that moment she wasn't quite sure of what she knew and didn't about herself.

      As she was spiraling, she suddenly felt something gently touching her shoulder, which made her jump up in surprise.
      Insitinctively, she looked up at whatever had touched her, but the blurriness in her eyes made it hard to see anything. Trying to distinguish from the many moving shapes of her environment, she could eventually faintly make out a human face staring down at her. The angel tried to scoot away and clumsily stand up by herself but she placed another hand on her shoulder and gripped her gently, stopping her attempts.

     "Hey. Calm down. I wanna help you. Let's get you out of here, okay?"A feminine voice clearly spoke down at her, her firm voice cutting through the loud yells she was surrounded with.

      The girl took her hands off her shoulders and instead offered Sister her own. She took it hesitantly, fluid still leaking out of her face. The human's hand was warm, but in a good way. That stray thought seemed to had calmed her down for some reason. She was gently pulled up by the girl and they both began making her way through the crowd of people that had gathered around the locker. Sister could feel the other human's forms touch against her as the girl lead her away from the center of the altercation.  Wordlessy, she calmly dragged her along the loud and busy hallways. Sister couldn't see her face, just the back of her head as she stumbled around, feeling herself fixated by many curious eyes as she followed the girl.
        After what felt like an eternity of walking, they entered a very white and cold room, filled with doors and peculiar white bowls. The place was much more quiet and dark; the coldness reminding Sister of her of the spiritual plane. It inexplicably calmed her down; Sister could feel her entire form exit its tensed "fight-or-flight" state, her senses slowly going back to normal.

      The human girl let go of her hand and went into one of the stalls, from where she brought up a small piece of soft looking paper.

     "Here." She said with a calm tone as she handed it to Sister.

      Sister took the paper in her hand and looked up at the person. She quickly noticed something peculiar at her. The girl had long blue hair styled in two ponytails and murky gray eyes. She had no idea humans could have blue hair, especially one of such a strong color. Or was it more green? She really couldn't tell.

      "Hey?" The girl spoke again, gently waving her hand in front of Sister's frozen face. "You're staring a bit" She said, embarrassed. "Is everything okay?"

     "Your hair... Is it blue? Or green?" Sister mumbled, still very much fixating her. 

      The human girl chuckled nervously, obviously not expecting such a question.

     "Oh, wow... Uhm...Well it's supposed to be teal... Are you okay, though? Are you hurt?" She asked again, her normal, brown looking brows furrowed with worry.

     "Teal? What is... teal?" Sister asked almost automatically, her head tilting to the side. Her demeanor suddenly became calm and inquisitive, in strong contrast to the earlier messy state she had displayed.

      The human looked at her in disbelief. "It's... a color. A mix of blue and green, I guess…" She shrugged, looking away.

      Sister's eyes grew wide. She didn't know there were more colors than the ones of the rainbow, much less that they could be ‘mixed’ together. She hadn't really thought about such things before.

     "Were you born with it? It must be a miracle!" The angel remarked enthusiastically. "I've never seen such color on a human before! Are you of a different species? Can humans have blue skin as well?" Sister dropped the piece of paper as she clapped her hands together in excitement.

      The girl looked almost flabbergasted at the angel's sudden change of attitude, as she desperately tried to form a response.

     "A-Are you okay? Did you hit your head really hard?" She sounded very worried as she leaned in closer to take a look at Sister's forehead. The angel took a step back in response but nevertheless continued to feverishly reply.

     "I can't hurt my head from that, please have no worries!" She smiled, without really meaning to. "But your hair! Please tell me more about how it works!"

      She suddenly took a big step forward and curiously grabbed a thick strand of the girl's ponytail, bringing it closer to her face. The girl flinched in response, causing Sister to loosen her grip and let the strand fall from her hands.

     "Hey ouch...my hair! What's up with you?" She said as she took a couple of steps back. The stranger seemed mad and.. scared? Sister wasn't sure why as she had meant absolutely no harm.

    "I'm very sorry, I wasn't aware of such rules! I’m new to this school!" She felt herself panic and her face burn up again. "I just wanted to see it from a closer angle that's all... I think it's very interesting and-and I'm fond of such things!" She sounded almost desperate, she herself not quite sure why she was saying all the things she was saying. 

     The human looked at her confused, as she continued to run her fingers through her own hair, the motion seemingly calming her down.

     "It's alright.." The girl mumbled "I forgive you...just please ask me next time."

     "Thank you." Sister sighed relieved. "I will... but.. now please tell me this-- Do your relatives also have blue hair or..."

       "Hey y'know, I have a better idea!" The girl nervously cut her off. "How about we go to the school nurse and then I can tell you all about my hair?"

     "What’s a school nurse?"

     "A doctor. She'll see if you got hurt. You're acting very weird." The girl spoke with worry in her voice, her brows furrowing again as she looked at Sister head on.

     "A human cure? But..." Sister wanted to explain that there was nothing wrong with her, but she felt as if the human wouldn't have been very happy to hear such things. Besides, she really wanted to know what was up with her hair. Rationally, she came to the conclusion that checking out the doctor wouldn't be so bad in the end if it meant she'd learn more about her weird hair.

     "I'll... gladly go with you then." She said. "But I must assure you that I'm fine, I've suffered worse falls!" She smiled as wide as she could. 

      The human replied with a smile of her own, a forced one, followed by an equally awkward chuckle.

     "Alright then. Follow me."

Chapter Text

      Sister was sat down on a chair, right in front of a big solid door decked in human inscriptions and ornaments. She looked as the human girl curiously inspected a big sheet of paper dotted with fine print stuck to said door.

     "Alright... There's no nurse for now; she's on break. But she should come back in about 10 minutes.. I guess we should wait." She concluded as she slumped on to a chair next to the angel.
 
     "What do all the inscriptions say?" The angel asked without lifting her gaze from the door. This was her chance to finally get a glimpse into the written language the humans used.

     "You... can't read?" The girl gave her a funny look.

     "Where I'm from, we don't use such symbols." She said, fiddling with her fingers. While not entirely a lie, Sister was quite clearly avoiding telling the whole truth. Obviously all humans knew how to read, so she had to pretend to know a language of her own as well.
  
     "Ah! You must be a transfer student then, right? What country are you from?" The girl's eyes lit up as if Rin's excuse made perfect sense.

     "Uh..." Sister tried to desperately think of a human country, but she had never really learned any. She wasn’t quite sure of what the place she was in right now was called either.

     "The... Holy Grounds?" She mumbled, with an unsure voice.
  
     "Oh.. so... Israel?" The girl replied. "That makes sense, I don't think they use the Latin alphabet there much. And that whole...'His name' thing." She nodded, seemingly convinced by Sister's half baked lie. "Then, how come you can speak English so well?"

     "Everyone...does... this is how I usually talk.. I guess I can also communicate..differently..but only with those of my own kind- I mean country!" Sister wracked her brains around. She was begining to dislike lying more and more but wasn't quite sure if she should explain the concept of heaven and angels to a random human. A subtle strike to her stomach urged her not to.

     "Well it makes perfect sense! So you speak English and your mother tongue… alright!" The girl gave her a calm smile. Sister found her demeanor unusually sweet for a human.

     "Uhm so- I never really caught your name.." She continued. "I go by Miku! Hastune Miku, if you want to be exact."

      Miku offered Sister her hand to shake. The angel grabbed it with the both of her hands, gently holding it inside her own. Altough her hands felt slightly cold and moist weirdly enough, she liked the overall warmth of the human, feeling it echo around her arms and up her body.

     "Huh woow.. your hands are cold! You're... supposed to shake it, by the way." Miku said reluctantly.

      Sister gently jerked their hands from side to side, only letting go when she felt the girl starting to force it out of her grasp.

  
     "Ha ha-" Miku let out a forced chuckle, awkwardly flicking her hand away from Sister, as if it  the interaction had somehow caused her physical pain. "I guess shaking hands is a western thing to do?" She wiped some sweat off her brow and arranged her bangs into a nicer shape. Sister was struggling not to fixate her face as she did, being the first time she was so close to a human, so she shifted her glance at the English inscriptions layered all over the doo. Even though angels also used written language, it looked much more different than the human one. A random thought popped up in her head; the idea that maybe one day she could learn this human language. It quickly filled her with a sense of joy, which in turn made her knee bounce up and down in a rhythmic fashion.


     "Sorry... I still didn't catch your name." Miku abruptly broke the silence.

     "My name?" Sister chirped.

     "Yeah, what others call you." She raised her eyebrows again.

      Sister wasn't quite sure how to explain her issue to Miku. Angels didn't have names, if they needed to talk about someone well... they could just understand from the context, as angels communicated without actual spoken words most of the time. If Sister thought of someone then whoever was talking to her would just understand who she was referring to. She furiously rubbed her temples trying to think of an explanation to give Miku,  wondering why all human things need to be so complicated.

     "I'm... not referred to by any name you could understand, I'm afraid." Sister eventually replied as she lowered her gaze to the ground.

     "Oh! Would it be hard to pronounce? I don't speak any other language besides English. Well I did try to take up Spanish but I never really got anywhere.." Miku drifted off. "If you'd think using your original name would be too hard for me you can just pick an English one! A lot of foreigners do so; it makes things a lot easier for both parties."

     "Get a hu-..Uh- An English name?" Sister repeated back at her, almost like she couldn't  not believe the words coming out of her mouth. Was it allowed for angels to have and use names? Especially human ones? She thought of names as inherently evil as demons had plenty of names which she knew not to speak of...but so did humans. In fact, humans felt quite attached to their names, as Miku offered her's quite early on. Sister couldn't help but ask herself if she could she really get along with humans while nameless.

     "I... don't know any English names.." The angel meekly replied.

     "That's ok! I can give you some common examples! How about Mary?"

      Sister's eyes widened in shock. The Holy Mary had never existed, but she was tied to the idea of faith and the angel felt as if taking her name would have somehow been an even greater insult to the Heavens.

     "No! That name I can't take!" She replied with a terrified look on her face, the problem of defying Heaven suddenly weighing heavy on her shoulders. Her eyes quickly darted across the human symbols resting on the doctor's cabinet door. A few, very big and colorful characters attracted her eyes as she got up and pointed right towards them.

     "How about these! This will be my name!" She exclaimed. 

      Miku awkwardly glanced back and forth between the poster Sister had stuck her finger on and the angel's enthusiastic expression.

     "That says... 'sharing'... sharing isn't a name." She chuckled nervously.

     "Huh?"

      Sister glanced at the word, and found a similar looking one underneath it.

     "How about this one?" She stuck her finger on another thick set of letters, right below the first one.

      Miku chuckled yet again and gave her another worried look.

    "That... that says 'caring'... 'Sharing is caring' " She laughed. "It's a lame thing adults say to young kids, it's not really a name."

      Sister took another good look at the words. They seemed so similar, their endings virtually the same.

     "Ring. Wait. They both say 'ring'? Is 'Ring' a name?"

      Miku shook her head.

     "How about... Rin? Wouldn't that make more sense? If you really don't want to have an usual name, I guess." The human suggested.

     "'Rin' isn't a name?"

     "Well... not in English... but it could be in some other language. I guess anything could be a name as long as it's not too confusing." Miku shrugged. 
     
     "Huh. So I can be named Rin?"

     "Sure, I think it sounds cute." Miku smirked, giving her a little wink.

     "Cute..." She quietly repeated to herself.

     Rin began walking around the front door back and forth, quietly muttering something to herself, until she stopped in front of Miku and unexpectedly grabbed her hand.

     "Nice to meet you, hastunemiku! I go by...Rin!" She said as she started wiggling their hands back and forth.

      Miku let out a chuckle and politely started shaking Rin's hand back, in a correct manner this time.

     "You can just call me Miku. And hello, Rin!"

      Hearing her name come from someone else's mouth sent a sudden shock through her system. Was it Sin she was feeling? It had been wrong for her to choose a name after all, her insides quickly twisting, making her pull her hand back and suddenly shake her head. Seeing the sudden panicked look on her face, Miku asked worryingly:

     "Hey? Are you okay? We really should get you checked by that doctor."

      The girl quickly pulled up her phone. The sight of human technology seemed to bring Rin back to her senses, quickly making the weird feeling in her body go away.

     "Is that an electronic device?" Rin asked, curiously peaking at the small rectangle the girl was holding.

     "Huh? Yeah it's my phone." She replied. "I want to check the time."

     "What else can it do?"

      Rin's question was met by silence. The girl frowned at her device and promptly shoved it back in her skirt's pocket.

     "Weird... It's been more than 10 minutes and the nurse hasn't returned yet."

     "That is a lot of time for someone to go missing?" Rin asked. 

     "Yeah, especially for someone who should be at their job." She looked down at her phone, worried.

      Rin sat back down next to Miku and took a small break to feel her surroundings. The constant buzz of human energy had drastically calmed down. There was no human near them or behind the door of the nurse's office, although the room seemed full of a hard to grasp, peculiar energy. She choked it to the cause being the amount of ill humans that came in everyday needing a cure. Mass human sickness was known to sometimes read as negative energy, as most plagues and such were usually caused by demons.

     "Didn't most of the people in the school leave? Why would the nurse be here still?" Rin inquired after a small amount of silence.

     "Well classes did end but some kids always stay behind for extracurriculars- Wait... Weren't you new here? How do you know that? Did someone tell you the timetable by any chance?" Her suspicious looks scanned Rin up and down.

      Rin involuntarily shrugged. She wasn't quite sure why she did it or what it meant exactly, although it did send the message to Miku.

     "Alright...whatever. Maybe the nurse entered through some other door or didn't leave for her break in the first place..." She stood up and started walking towards the door.

     "There is no doctor in that room." Rin coldly stated.

     "You can't really know that." Miku replied. She knocked once. Nothing. She knocked again and received no response. She tried the door; it was open.She cracked it open and took a small peek inside. "Ah...You're right." Closing the door behind her, Miku gave Rin a weirded out look.

Rin's "angel senses" suddenly started tingling, giving her the impression that something was deeply wrong about the situation. 

     "We should leave." The angel spoke with worry, gripping her own knees.

      Miku sighed, disappointed. "No, I think you really need to see a doctor. Even if there's none here, I think you should still see someone! Do you have your parents' phone numbers?" The human asked, obvious worry in her voice. 

     "No, I don't."

     "Alright, do you have any siblings? A sister? A brother?"

      Rin's "heart" sunk inside her chest. She sprung up from the chair, legs shaking and immediately started babbling, teary eyed.

     "B-Brother! Oh, I forgot about Brother! How could I do such a thing?! Oh, how could I possibly be this incompetent?!" Rin felt her face heat up as her emotions began to overwhelm her again.

     "Wait, please don't panic! Don't worry, we-"

      Rin closed her eyes and desperately tried to locate him. Quickly sensing him, she was mortified to sense just how weak his signal was, barely being able to feel his angelic energy. Something bad had happened for sure.

     "Hey! Please listen to me, are you ok?" Miku suddenly spoke out again.

      Rin opened her eyes and looked at Miku, who was desperately trying to calm her down.

     "I have no time, I'm sorry! I need to find Brother!"

      Rin made a mad dash for the main hall, ignoring Miku's pleas to come back.

Chapter Text

        Rin found herself in front of the fallen locker, the last place she had seen Brother. She closed her eyes and tried to locate him again, but something kept her senses from accurately from doing so. Every time she tried to focus her thoughts got jumbled up, making it impossible to for her to decide what to do next.

    "How could I be this stupid..." She whispered as she let herself fall down to her knees. "Why did we even come here..."

      Rin let out a sob. It scared her so bad she almost jumped. She wasn't quite sure why she had made that sound or why it was there. "Emotions" had been plaguing her all day, it seemed.

      Heavy echoing footsteps suddenly interrupted her sulking. She felt her entire body slowly being crushed by the presence of something vile, with every inch that it came closer to her she could feel herself tense more and more. The angel finally got on her feet. She sensed a demon, the exact direction from the one she had just come from.

      It finally emerged, peeking from around the wall, and glared at Rin with a smirk. There was quite a distance between them, but even so the angel could see that it had possessed a human victim, an adult female dressed in weird white attire. Was this a teacher of the school? Then, it finally clicked. That had to be the school nurse that Miku desperately wanted her to see.

     "Look who I found! The name's Y'VeNi! " It shouted with a thunderous voice. "Speak it if you got the guts, slave." 

     "You're a fool if you think anyone ever falls for that." Rin spat out. "Why must you shout your name out like that? Have you no shame?"

      The demon seemed shocked at her talkative nature, its ominous shape flickering slightly as it replied.

     "Oh? You're chatty, ain'tcha'? Well, now that we're face to face I can tell something is funny about you... Can't say the same about your companion though; one of the blandest angels I've ever seen. And weakest, really. " Rin felt herself engulfed in despair once again. What had it done to Brother? The thought made her form shudder.

      Sensing her fear, it bared its monstrous teeth, cramped inside the mouth of the human. Even though demon-angel interactions took place in a plane closer to the one of the spiritual, Rin still felt as if the illusions that the demon was portraying using the body of the woman were “real”.

     "Rin! You found the nurse!"

      Rin turned her back to see Miku running towards the nurse.

     "Oh I'm so glad, I tried looking for you in the teacher’s lounge but... it doesn't matter.Let me tell you what happened earlier! My friend over there..."

      Miku started talking to the frozen nurse, unable to feel the demon possessing her in the slighest.

     "Rin?" It let out a mocking thunderous laugh, which Miku seemed unaware of.

      Rin felt something inside her grow bigger, her wings feeling ready to burst out of her skin.

     "An angel with a name? Now that is quite hilarious. Well, Rin...You're quite the gem. How about you tell me how you want this to go down? I don't have the time to waste."

      It was giving her a chance out of the fight. Rin wanted to jump in the fight and get it over with, but she hesitated. Miku was in the middle of all this, carrying a conversation with the possessed human, which was barely replying, the demon's attention mostly focused the angel. She had to get Miku to safety. Maybe with Brother at her side they could've somehow diverted its attention away from the human, but Rin knew that he couldn't intervene. He must have been tied up somewhere, weakened after the fight. Rin was alone.

     "Leave. Leave this place and hurt no creature, human or angel." She screamed with a powerful voice.

     "Rin? What the fuck are you yelling at?"

      Rin looked back at Miku, meeting her horrified face. She had forgotten that she wasn't in angel form; her voice could still be heard by humans. Her chances of surviving the demon while in physical form were low, but she was afraid that suddenly sprouting wings would boggle Miku's minds beyond repair. Protocol forbade such things for a reason. The more things she had to account for in the situation the more the angel felt herself grow even more weary of the situation. 

     "Oh wooowww..." The demon yawned mockingly. "I see you've decided to be boring. What a shame. Well, now that you mention it, I might just harm some humans as well.“ It laughed drily. ”Y’know, originally I would have been fine with just the other feathery scum but I guess this will do."

      The “nurse” grabbed Miku by her arm forcefully and pulled out a long butcher’s knife from under her coat. This direct attack seemed to register to the human, as she started desperately squirming around and yelling, clawing at the arm of the possessed woman. She was screaming for help, shaking every fiber of Rin's body as she did.

     The angel let her wings out and dissipated her physical form, lunging straight at the demon. The overwhelming presence of her aura knocked it out of the human body, now taking its true form. A humanoid male carrying one katana was the only thing Rin managed to see before it threw itself at her, knocking her down.

      She desperately tried to get herself back up and try to fly away, but it quickly stuck its sword into her left wing, pinning her to the ground. Sharp pain flew right thru Rin's body instantly. Rin hissed, covering her face with her arms as it menacingly loomed over her, it's arm raised above it's own head, prepared to punch her square in the face.
 
      Right at that moment, something flew towards its head, distracting the monster as he turned away to out curse in anger. Rin used the moment to surround its neck with her hands, desperately trying to strangle it. Surprised by the unusual way that the angel was fighting, it started desperately clawing out shreds of her body. As Rin continued to press, she could feel its neck pulsing under her force. This was a situation she could win. She just needed something hard to pierce it with, like a knife, but her hands were full. Thus, almost instinctively, she opened her mouth and threw herself at its neck, biting right into its throat, pulling massive chunks of its body at once as it screamed in pain.

      As the demon's physical form started to waver, she used her final efforts to reach inside the gooey creature and pull out a small, red gem. With its life force draining away, it looked down at her with it's bulging eyes full of fear and confusion.

        With a final twist of the "tissues" embeding the gem from Rin, the demon's body dissipated into thin dust, erasing its gory remains off Rin's body and the surrounding area.

      She let herself completely fall to the floor and lie flat, as pain was stabbing every inch of her arms.The angel was groaning and panting in pain; her surface been severely damaged. She quickly looked at herself only to realize her wounds were more shallow than what she would have expected, only being almost a complete cut through some places, although her wings looked quite rough. Her wounds still hurt massively though, even in her angel form. This had been her first true fight against a dangerous demon, and she had fought it alone. Even so, it all felt quite weird. Almost as if peeling away at its body had been too easy for a demon that scary looking.

       "What the fuck was that?"

        Rin jumped up in surprise, only to be met by more pain starting to race through her body. She raised herself off the floor and looked at Miku, who was sitting down next to the passed out nurse, holding her phone tightly in her hands.

       "Am.. I dreaming? There's no way in hell that was real! What the fuck!!" She frantically waved her hands around, pointing at the place the demon had just turned to dust in.

        Rin's mind went blank. "You… you can see me?" She mumbled in disbelief. The angel got her body off the ground with a groan.

        Miku frowned. "Wh- Of course I can see you! I saw all of that! Who do you think threw that phone at the…. thing’s head! What even was that? Are you okay?  Why are you...glowing? Y-You seriously look like a piece of swiss cheese, what the hell!" The human fixated the angel's wings with her terrified gaze. "What's with those…things? Why aren't you bleeding? Are you some sort of… other wordly being or what? " Although she came off as standoffish, her trembling voice had a hint of curiosity that Rin failed to detect.

        The angel wasn't quite sure what to do as her mind began spinning again. Humans were never supposed to be able to see angels, but she guessed that the demon physically dragging her into battle must have changed the balance of the energies that usually operated in such processes. She furrowed her brow. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do when a human witnessed angelic events. She knew of angels with jobs in the "clearing minds" department, who helped minimize the impact of beings exposed to a strong demonic presence, but even those cases were quite rare. Truth was, from what she knew, angels and demons were naturally protected from their true forms by their normal inner works, as human brains tended to mask their sparring matches automatically from the world.

       "And… you saw it, as well?" Rin gasped, clutching her wounded arms.

        Miku nodded. "Only after it really started twisting my arm. That-thing was so fucked up..” She grabbed her head as if remembering the events somehow hurt her greatly.

        Rin sighed. Miku might have been too up and personal in the first place to truly be able to gloss over everything. It wasn't uncommon for demons to take human hostages while in battles as to try to swaid angels from engaging in extreme combat, but in those situations protocol demanded everything to be carried with minimal concern for human life. Thinking about it now, it was wrong to maybe kill innocent creatures just because they were stuck in the middle of a fight between two extra terrestrial forces. The rules never really told her there could be a human survivor after a scenario like the one she experienced, and yet here she was, staring down at the confused Miku and the nurse she was still holding in her hands.

       "I… You weren't supposed to see that." Rin mumbled as she stepped a little closer towards her.

       "That much I can tell." Miku said as she held the wrist of the nurse. "She has a pulse." Seeing the mild confusion on Rin's face, she reiterated: "She.. Her heart's beating she's not dead…" 

        Rin already knew that, as she could feel that the womans body hadnt stopped emanating heat. "It's rare for humans to survive possessions, but I guess she'll be fine now." 

       "Should…I call an ambulance? Get her to a hospital?" Miku suggested, her voice still trembling.

        The angel shrugged. "You could, they'll probably catalogue it as some human illness." She said with a deadpan tone. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I imagine it must have been a lot." She approached Miku, the girl stepping back a little as a reaction. "I don't know if… I should do or say anything regarding this." 

       "To…To who? T-to your boss?" Miku babbled.

        Rin noded. "To Heaven, yes. This is my first time doing such high risk missions…" She trailed off.

       "I promise I won't tell anyone! You dont have to worry!" Miku said with genuine worry for in her voice. "Besides, its you who you should be worried about, that thing really got a bite out of you!" 

        Rin smiled. Even in such a dark scenario the human managed to find a way to say something funny. She considered getting someone to wipe her memory, but she quickly rebutted the thought. For some reason she didn't want to erase everything that Miku knew about her. And she didn't want to tell anyone about today either, as she had no concrete idea what that would mean for the girl.

       "Now… I'm not gonna go to bed and wake up not remembering all of this right?" Miku shakily asked with a hint of humour in her voice. 

        Rin actually wasn't sure. She knew that human brains tended to easily gloss over such events, as they usually couldn't comprehend them easily. But to what extent Miku would forget the demon? She had no idea. 

       "I.. don't know? Maybe you will. '' She said with a bit of regret in her voice.

        Miku nodded. "Well.. if this is the last time we meet then... Uh… It was nice knowing you, Rin. Now I think I should call for some help. Do you wanna stay here and try to explain to officers how we just happened to see this poor woman collapse on the floor?" She asked, her voice still shaky.

        Rin smiled. "I …I think I've meddled enough with human business." She quickly dissipated her form, to the surprise of Miku who began desperately looking around for her. After a few moments, she shook her head a couple times and took her electronic device out of her pocket.

        The angel closed her eyes. She had to find Brother at any cost. She tried sensing his energy. Unlike before, she managed to find a small trace, to which she promptly shifted her body to.

        When she opened her eyes, she was met with a heavy looking brown door, enscirptioned with other human symbols. 

       "Sister!" A voice desperately shouted from inside the other room. It was Brother's.

        She let her form pass thru the door as her "heart" started pounding. Inside the tiny dark room he was surrounded by human objects and cabinets. She found him, tied with a bunch of spikey ropes; a trademark of the demon arsenal. His eyes widened as he called for her again, this time with immense enthusiasm. Rin started tearing away at the chains and ropes holding Brother down as he began muttering.

       "Sister! I cannot believe you found me… There's a demon! A huge-"

       "I know." Rin abruptly cut him off, only to start biting away at Brother's chains, spitting little bits out as she went along. She could feel his distate for her unorthodox methods bouncing around her head in the form of a light headache but she kept on going at it anyways. Having sharp points in your body really proved useful sometimes.

       "You could summon a knife…" He began lecturing her. Even in his weakest state he was still quite a handful to deal with. And very much an elitist of how angels were supposed to act. 

        Rin ignored him and finally tore the last demonic thread that was tied to him, only to reveal a battle damaged Brother. Long sword slashes and puncture wounds "decorated" his physical form, their hollow and dark forms clashing with the absolute whiteness of his skin. He was in pretty rough shape, rougher than Rin, but nowhere close to perishing overall. 

       "Did he ambush you?" Rin asked as she began awkwardly tearing bits of string that got stuck inside her teeth.

        Brother nodded. "I did my best to fight it but the chains… Ugh! And the incentive teasing…I didn't even get to see it's face properly, but I sure heard it's annoying voice! Why can't they act normally?" He furrowed his brows and closed his eyes, exhaling dramatically. Sister wasn't used to seeing Brother so… full of life.

       "But we have more urgent matters to tend to." He continued. The angel glanced up and down at his partner. "It seems you had a… difficult encounter as well. Your wings seem to be quite damaged."

        Rin finally took a moment to look at herself. Her body  looked similar to Brother’s, only her scars were mostly concentrated around her arms, almost disturbing their shape in some areas. Her wings were missing a lot of feathers as well, especially the one that had been punctured by the sword. Even so, such a demon should have been quick to tear her completely to shreds. 

       "We need to get some reinforcements for that thing. I think we should catalogue it as a level V, correct? I can't believe something like that would be this close to humans."

       "It didn't kill anyone though so that's all that matters…" Rin quietly muttered as she plucked a bent feather off her left wing.

        Brother was clearly somewhat surprised by her statement. "Well… That's good but I'd say it's more important that WE got out of this alive. You remember the chain of importance, don't you?" He said with a hint of snobbishness in his tone.

       Rin mumbled as she was trying to straighten her stray feather using her fingers: "The Stability, Heaven, Superiors, Equal Angels, Inferiors, the earth, humans, all other animals… plant based matter.."

       "See? Objectively, you won't get persecuted if some humans get lost in the… process. What matters is Stability. If it takes 100 people to eliminate one powerful demon…" He drifted off, but his tone still rang around in her mind.

        Rin let her feather fall to the ground, watching it elegantly twirl around as it hit the floor and vanished.

       "I understand." She said as she still fixated the spot on the floor where the feather had landed.

       "Let me call for backups, we need to resume searches…" 

        Out of nowhere, Rin let the little gem return to her hand, holding it against Brother's, now shocked, face. She felt his form physically start shaking and growing smaller, before he finally started mumbling some words.

       "W-What.. A Demon Core? Th-…You did that?"

       "Yeah. I had some luck." She shrugged.

       "H-How?!"

       "Something distracted it and I was able to get some hits in." She shrugged. Her "stomach" twisted in reaction to this lie, almost like it made her want to puke up the rest of the story as well. Especially the parts about the human.

        Brother's mouth was left open as he quietly took the round gem from her hands and started turning it around on all its sides.

       "But… It did damage YOU as well! How come you weren't completely destroyed?" He said, with worry in his voice.

       "It… monologued a lot… Must have been one of those demons of Pride, I suppose." Rin felt a small part of herself twist around as she kept stringing lies across.

        Brother visibly cringed at the mention of the P word, but was otherwise very attentive to her. He believed every word she was saying. 

       "Then.. I'd say category V is a little much? That's the only logical explanation…I… Must have just been…distracted while…Ah … Of course!… I must have exaggerated. What other class of demon has a Core? IV would be a match in some contexts, right? Well it must be that…" He frantically talked to himself.

        Rin remained silent. It couldn't have been class IV. No demon that weak could ever posses a human. Only demons above IV were capable of such things. She assumed since brother never got a good look at it he never really had the time to analyze whether or not the demon was possessing anyone. Or maybe it had struck Brother before getting its claws on the poor nurse. She wondered if the woman had recovered from her encounter. She wondered if Miku was okay, and the thought made her tense form relax just a little bit. 

       "No matter what it was," Brother abruptly changed the subject, "your work was undoubtedly impressive today. "He finished with a little nod of his head. "I think our superiors will be fond of this news. I shall write to them the instant we get out of this place!" He said with unusual pride and joy in his voice.

        Rin smiled as her body gave her a final, weak, stab in the abdomen. She quickly dismissed it as her form begging for some rest.

Chapter Text

       "We should get moving, right?"

        She groaned. Rin got herself off the "ground" with a lot of difficulty. She was back in the vast, white emptyness that she called home; it's calming and quiet nature seemingly created only with the purpose of dragging her back to "bed". It only took a moment for her to remember all of what had happened yesterday. The human form she had taken. The demon. The human girl. She looked down at her body, which was now completely healed from her wounds. If angels had one thing easy it was dealing with physical pain. It took a lot to truly cause long term pain to an angelic being and Sister had been lucky enough to only suffer "short-term" damage so far.

        She looked up at Brother, who was sporting an uncharacteristically nice demeanor, a barely perceivable smile on his face. Rin could only deduce that her conquest from the other day had greatly humbled him. The angel felt as if this was the first time she was truly appreciated, and that filled her with self appreciation. It was a strange new feeling for her.

       "Greetings. I got news from our Superiors via scroll. It came in not too long ago." Brother said in his usual formal and plain way of speaking.

       "Wow… what does it say?" Rin mumbled, still somewhat groggy.

        Brother let his arms fall besides him and began reciting what he had read off his paper, eyes closed.

       "We have successfully received the information provided by the Angelic Unit of Low Level Action composed of…"

        Rin felt her mind slipping away as per usual. Sure, she might have outmatched a demon in battle, but that didn't mean she was suddenly a fan of all the fancy words and papers that were used to communicate the simplest things. Recognition was nice, but something inside her didn't care for it as much as she thought she would have. Her thoughts slowly made their way back to Miku. She really wished she could see her again. She wished she could learn even more about humankind, like she did yesterday, rather than be stuck listening to a scrip she had heard a million times before. And most importantly, she was dying to know if the human still remembered her after the entire demon deal. Rin felt as if the human was somehow special; her quick thinking during the battle, her reaction to the angel being so calm and logical. Had it been a case of her mind not comprehending the situation? Regardless, she was clearly different as she had been the only one to help Rin from her earlier 'school bully' situation out of so many bystanders. And her care for Rin had gone way beyond that, even offering her the visit to the human nurse. The angel couldn't quite name the emotion she was getting from remembering all of yesterday, but it was a sort of warmth and gratitude that pushed her to want to return the favor somehow.

       ".....From what We have gathered, further investigation is required to take place in the same area as the day prior. Considering the fact that the demonic presence was of a lower specified threat, backups will not be sent unless urgently asked for by the angels in charge of this operation. The perimeter will be scouted by the appointed angel unit until 3 consecutive day of no demon presence are reached. We demand reports of the situation at the end of each day, as per usual. Any demonic remains must be destroyed before beginning a new operation. " Brother finished. 

       "Wow…We've never received such a long message before! That means we did well, right?" Rin asked. She was desperately trying to hide her enthusiasm, her wings gently fluttering around her. Not because of the praise but because she had the opportunity to see Miku again. She couldn't wait to go back to the human school.

       "Yes. Oh… and let's not forget about this. We don't want that thing coming back."

        Brother handed his partner the small gem that the demon had left behind. Rin took it inbetween her fingers. It was warmer than yesterday, gently illuminating her fingers with a red glow. Demon Cores were the last chance at survival for a demon, although not every one of them dropped such objects. It was mostly something common in stronger demons, not lower ones such as imps or hellhounds. If left alone for long enough, the gems would always "grow back" into the monster that had dropped them. To avoid such things, protocol demanded destruction of all Demon Cores; it was the only definitive way to make sure that the enemy was dealt with forever. 

        Rin had never smashed a Core before. She gently started pushing on its surface, but she unexpectedly found that it was tough and didn't crack easily. A sense of nausea suddenly overwhelmed her as she tried pushing down on it again. She… was trying to kill a thing. A defenseless thing. Mindless imps..they were different to her. Everything felt different in the heat of battle. 

         She had never before needed to kill something that wasn't directly harming her in the moment. She thought about how the demon almost hurt the humans and tied Brother up. Her grasp tightened, but she still wasn't able to do it. Even though the demon would not have missed a beat to kill her, she wasn't able to do the same. Maybe, because she was a new angel, it was still hard for her, she thought. 

        Sheepishly, she handed it back to Brother, speaking with a strained voice. "I'm…still tired from yesterday. Can you do it for me, please?" 

        Brother looked back at her, quite clearly shocked. It was "tradition" for the angel that had slain the demon to also destroy its Core. Even so, he looked more worried about the implications that Rin straight up wasn't willing to finish the job.

       "I… Of course…If you say so." He muttered. Brother grabbed the gem in his hand and immediately clenched it into a fist. He opened it back up, only to see that the stone hadn't suffered more than a little crack.

       "Ugh… It must have gotten harder to break with time. We should have done this yesterday. " He sighed and clenched his fist again, this time with so much force that the space between them began to buzz.

        A small cracking sound was heard, muffled by his hand, and quickly enough red sand began falling from in-between Brother's fingers, dissipating into nothingness as it left the proximity of his fist. Brother rubbed his hands together to get rid of the remaining sand with a swift motion.

       "Ah.. I see what you mean now." He nodded, speaking in a more lighthearted tone. "This was not as easy as I would have expected it to be…" He said, gently shaking his hands around. "Now we should get going."

        Rin and Brother had made their way to the front of the school again. Taking human forms had been much easier the second time, but he in particular still had some issues with walking. The angel felt the back of her neck tingle as he stared at her from behind, her more natural gestures outshining his clumsy and shaky walk.

        Since it was earlier in the day, a lot more people were coming into the building in bigger numbers; the angels desperately trying to follow the crowd's flow. A human bumped into Brother, which made the angel stumble around then scoff with a shake of his head, sending his unnaturally blonde hair swirling around.

        "Ugh…" Brother sighed telepathically to his partner. "So crowded these humans are…" His voice rang around her consciousness as she replied with a physical smile. Even though the overwhelming presence of human bodies was a little bit hard to adjust to, Rin was definitely taking it way better than yesterday.  Being next to humans was tiring as they made a lot of noise and all around just acted so unexpectedly, but she was starting to grow fond of the experience. Her body felt like an empty vessel which reverberated the nearby chatter and laughter into her very soul, giving Rin the weird sensation of belonging.
        Periodically, she glanced around the groups of people surrounding her, trying really hard to spot any glance of turquoise hair. She ultimately came up short. A part of her was starting to worry, thinking that she'd never see Miku again. If enough time passed, surely the girl would just forget her. And that thought saddened Rin.

        The angels finally got inside the school, the flow of students around her becoming less and less intense. With a little more space to breathe, Rin could feel the cold tiles underneath her "shoes", along with the dynamic sounds of human voices and movements echo around the long room. She glanced back around the busy entrance, only to be met by a couple of strange looks coming from some standing kids that seemed to have deliberately stuck near the door, staring daggers at them both. Not sure what to make of them, she looked at Brother for guidance, who was unfortunately doing his own thing, overstimulated by all the sounds and movement around him.

       "Yo, punk!" One of them shouted, a male. Brother was still not used to interacting with humans, so he didn't realize that the call had been addressed to him as he kept staring around him, clearly lost in thought.

       "Chick! Tell your boyfriend to get his head in the game!" He yelled again, followed by a bunch of snickering from the other teens.

        Rin gave Brother a quick hand signal to pay attention to his surroundings, and they finally approached the three teens. Before he could say any formalities, Brother was met with a swift kick to the ankles from the guy that had yelled at him. It comically failed to move him in any way, the humans leg awkwardly stopping right into his foot. Even so, the angel was visibly flustered by the human's attempt at violence. He opened his mouth to speak, but was swiftly interrupted. 

       "You got a lot of balls coming into this school and wrecking crap! Do you even know who you just got in trouble with? When he'll come back to school tomorrow you cretins are going to be the new clowns of the highschool! " Another of the teens spat. The third human, a girl with weirdly pink hair and twin drills chuckled loudly, making Rin turn her attention to her. The teen suddenly approached Rin, as the other two humans backed down a little bit. She instantly felt her heart racing. It was another weirdly coloured human! She looked her up and down in enthusiasm. She was dressed in all black, sporting a black leathery skirt and multiple chains attached all around her hips. She had neon striped thigh high stockings, seemingly heavily damaged from prolonged use. She wore a simple black shirt with plenty of tears in it, which left most of her abdomen bare. Her neck was decorated with yet more chains and a device Rin had seen only on dogs before. The ways in which humans decorated themselves never failed to amaze her, and this one in particular looked so different from everyone else.

       "Excuse me! Your hair is quite pretty!" She said with an excited tone. "Do you perhaps know Hatsune Miku? She also has…"

       The girl's amused expression suddenly shifted into an annoyed one, her eyes narrowing into slits. Her eyes seemed unnaturally red, but Rin reckoned if humans could dye their hair they could probably change their eye color too. Still, her stare made something inside her shudder. 

       "Something about this specimen is… off putting…"  Brother told her telepathically, somehow reading her mind.

        She looked back at him and noticed his worried and concentrated look as he stared right at the girl in front of him.

       "It's the hair! But I met someone like this the other day, I know it seems off at first but it is natural for humans…You see, yesterday I…." Her communication with him was cut off by the girl fnally answering with a high pitched, loud, snobbish tone:

       "I do know that bitch, we share some classes. She thinks she's so cool, but in reality she's just kind of a geek, just like you probably." She snickered. She swooped in and grabbed Rin by the chin, lifting it up slightly, which made Rin's eyes widen in surprise. She felt Brother place his hand on her shoulder and his stance suddenly changing into a dynamic fighting one. The girl leaned into the angel's ear and seductively whispered:

       "You're so bad at your job~" She giggled, then aggressively pushed her chin out of her hands. Her nails intentionally grazed her face, leaving a faint red line behind.

        Rin jumped, automatically covering the small irritated scratch with her hand. No human thing should have been able to do something like that to her. To actually meaningfully disrupt her form.

        She took a step back and looked at her with shock. She hadn't checked for demonic energy. Both her and Brother had forgotten, lost in the chaos of the intense human presence. But even so, standing right in front of her, it seemed unusually faint, almost non existent. Rin couldn't tell if what she was feeling had any base in reality or not.

        Before she could really do anything, the bell rang and all the humans quickly started moving around and forming crowds yet again. The "teen" winked at Rin and the angel unexpectedly heard her voice inside her own head, humming with an sweet voice "The humans I hang out with call me Teto… Maybe later on you'll learn one of my other names." She had suddenly vanished into the crowd, leaving only her shrill echoing voice inside Rin's head as a signal of her presence. 

        Brother quickly pulled her aside, his hands firmly gripping into her as waves of humans continued to walk past them. 

       "WE.ARE SO … INCOMPETENT!" He whispered angrily as he hid his face inside his palms. "That was 100% a demon! Oh, we should just be demoted already! It was right in front of us and we both froze! We should have just taken it out before it vanished..."

        Remembering what had happened yesterday, Rin blurted out: "N-no ! I don't think fighting in front of humans is the key!..." Seeing the confusion on Brother's face building up, she reiterated: "I mean, humans can clearly see her! She was literally just sitting with them in here! We should wait for a better moment to take action." 

        Brother looked around the hallway. By then everyone but them had left. He furrowed his brows and sighed loudly.

       "You're…right. Fighting in broad daylight would bring a lot of complications to the situation. Do you think it will just show up again? I mean, we couldn't even feel its demonic energy until it was right in our face! I have never heard of a demon capable to hide its energy so well… you reckon it might be an imp of some sort?"

        Rin shook her head. "Imps are mindless, they couldn't just talk to you like that, right? And even they are full of obvious demonic energy. "

        A weird silence fell between them. Neither of them really knew what to do.

       Looking down at his feet, Brother meekly suggested. "Maybe… we should call for backups. Although it was our error for not checking beforehand." He sighed in frustration. " I REALLY don't want my higher ups to know of this. This would be such a waste of angelic force too." 

        Rin really didn't want any backups. She was afraid that another set of angels walking around would keep her away from seeing Miku, which she was still determined to do. Especially since the demon clearly knew who she was. She bit her lip. She decided it would be best to ask for reinforcements only if the situation really called for it. 

       "You're right, I think we should just try to manage this ourselves for a while . I suppose… What kind of strong demon would hang out around humans? Not to mention that she ended up fleeing. I think this was just a tease of sorts. We shouldn't let ourselves get scared so easily."

        Brother nodded, seemingly convinced by her argument. 

       "Then, we need to track it down. Do you reckon it's in one of the human rooms now?"

       "Well, she did seem eager to stay around humans so I'd say that's the most probable place. Should we split up? There's a lot of places to check." She chirped.

        Seeing him cringe from her suggestion, she rapidly added:

       "Oh well… uh.. we could just stay near one another! That way, even if something happens, we can be quick to act."

        He sighed. "No, last time it was my mistake for being so distracted." He closed his eyes dramatically, as if his previous blunder had greatly hurt him somehow. "It'll take too long if we're both checking the same place at the same time. We should split up and you'll let me know if you find anything. Will you take the upper level?" 

        Rin nodded.

Chapter Text

        She found herself in front of a big door, the first of the floor. Besides it were countless human lockers, each filled with various things. The angel gently traced her fingers around the cold steel of the compartments. It was shiny, one of them looking particularly so. Actually it looked so much shinier than the rest that Rin couldn't help but wonder if it was actually a different material that had been placed on top of the regular red one. She approached the locker in question from the side and glanced at the suspiciously reflective surface; a mirror. Right as she got up close, a human face suddenly jumped at her from seemingly nowhere. Shock suddenly jerked her back away from the person, until Rin gave it another good look and realized that it was just her reflection she was running away from. She let out a relieved sigh and then stared back at the mirror. A young human girl, with blue eyes and short, light blonde hair looked back at her; a sweet yet puzzled look. 

       "How… weird.. that I've never seen it like this before." She hummed to herself. 

       Carefully, the angel stepped closer, giving herself a better look at her face. Her front hair covered most of her eyes, in a matter which she quickly realized was probably unnatural for humans. Rin had over time  noticed some habits of humans related to their appearance. One of them was that they never had hair or other things completely cover their eyes, as they needed them to see. She hurriedly grabbed her bangs to the side, parting them to the left. Magically, the hair stuck exactly how she wanted it to. The simple act of changing her appearance made her feel a weird sense of excitement. Rin began looking at herself from all the possible angels, analyzing her nose and chin, and even bringing her hands up to her face to quickly study them. The angel noticed how smooth they all looked. From the little she had seen, human skin was full of texture, but her's was.. blank. She remembered how Miku had little holes in her skin, along with countless dots and wrinkles that only showed up when she made a certain expression. It suddenly made Rin feel empty inside, her expression losing the joy it just had. What she once thought was a great disguise now seemed nothing more than a poor recreation of something she wasn't. 

        She thought back at the pink haired demon, how her clothes were intricate and her hair so lively coloured and styled. Rin glanced at her own uniform, plain and unnaturally wrinkle-less as ever. Strangely, she wished for at least one thing to differentiate her from all the others. Miku had blue hair. The demon a very cool outfit. Even random humans she passed by that day had at least something that stood out a little bit about her appearance, like a nice bag or maybe shoes. She couldn't help but wonder if her lack of accessories was somehow secretly shooting the credibility of her disguise in the foot. 
        For her, and definitely for her mission's sake as well, she decided she had to change that. The angel closed her eyes and desperately tried to think of something to add to her outfit. Maybe the dog device she had seen on the demon? She wasn't sure how that'd look on her, nor had she the chance to really study it. Perhaps some different shoes? But she hadn't really seen that many up-close and she wasn't sure how they really looked like in the first place. She glanced down at her shoes, a boring muted brown sack lazily layered over her "feet". In some sense, they were her feet as she had nothing inside the pretend footwear. There was never any need for it. Rin desperately tried to remember how human feet looked like, although she wasn't quite sure if she had even seen feet before.

        The angel sighed, and went back to messing around with her hair, making it stick up in different ways. Her physical form was easy to control, but for some reason she never really thought of doing it in such a manner before. She had to admit that there was a sort of fun to it, even when the changes she made were minimal. 

        While in the middle of giving herself curly split ends using her fingers, one of the class doors opened. Rin twisted herself towards the sound of the creaking door, looking in the distance. A tall girl with blue ponytails exited the classroom, hurriedly walking away towards the other direction. She hadn't noticed her, as she was quickly typing on her phone as she walked.

       "Miku!" Rin yelled in excitement.

       The human quickly flung herself around, with a shocked expression on her face. Before she could muster anything, she was met by Rin's face right in front of hers.

       "Oh I'm SO glad we met again!!!" Rin shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air.

        Miku took a step back and quietly shushed her, with a smile on her face.    

       "Hey, hey! Shhh… Be quiet… It's not recess yet. I just wanted to…uhh.. go to the bathroom." She said, as she shoved her phone inside one of the pockets of her shirt. 

       "Still, Uh.. I'm glad I met you." She continued, giving Rin another warm smile. "A part of me was convinced that yesterday was a hallucination of sorts, y'know?" She awkwardly rubbed her arms.

        Rin nodded frantically. "Of course, of course!" Her demeanor suddenly changed, becoming more serious. "I apologize for what I put you through last day. It was really dangerous."

        Miku furrowed her brows as if she was trying to remember something. “Well...I don't think it was that bad now, right? It's all kinda hazy but...Oh but the nurse is fine too, she woke up before I had to call for anyone! But anyways, uh, I've never lived through anything this exciting before!" The girl seemed weirdly positive about her experience. 

        Seeing Rin's bewildered face, Miku quickly reiterated. "You could call me a small adrenaline junkie… But just with some things. I'm aware that I don't look like one, though. "

       Rin automatically glanced up and down at Miku. She wore a long skirt decorated with small patterns, and a simple buttoned up shirt. Her wrists were the only part of her outfit that truly seemed out of place, as they were adorned with all kinds of bracelets of all colors: plastic beads, fabric strips, multiple silver accessories and a lot of rubbery loom bracelets. Rin wasn't quite sure what all of her weird accessories meant in relation to the word "adrenaline junkie". Almost sensing her curiosity, Miku spoke again:

       "Oh right you don't know all that much human stuff, right? Well, these are called bracelets! You wear them on your arms, usually…I don't like what my family forces me to wear for school so I just dunk some of these in my bag and put them on when I arrive here.

        She curiously reached her hand out to her wrists and started poking and pulling on the bracelets. Miku let her, as she continued to speak. "So...you said that you're an angel, right?" She suddenly asked, her voice shaky with excitement.
   
        "Yes." Rin replied without taking her gaze off her bracelets.
        
       "Wow...No way this is real!" She shrieked. "I-I can't believe that God is actually real! That's, like, huge! I feel like I should start repenting, you know? I've never been that faithful of a person…" She trailed off, though she seemed to eagerly await Rin's reply.

        Still amazed by her bracelets, Rin answered almost absent mindedly. "Oh well...What you call God, or Jesus, or The Holy Spirit isn't real…Not in the way you've been taught." She said, gently moving some of her bracelets around. A small one adorned with small orange fruits had peaked her interest. "It's true that these energies exist and they are to be respected, but they're not very preoccupied by what human beings are up to…More like… If the universe is balanced…and those kinds of things." She trailed off. The different textures of the bracelets seemed to fry her brain a little bit, as she uncovered more and more hidden beneath each other. It almost seemed as if the human had no actual skin on her arms to speak of.

       "Oh…" Miku sighed, seeming almost disappointed. "So there's no Hell or Heaven?"

       "There is. But it's not for you to go to after you die."

       "Then, what comes after death?" The human asked.

       "Hmm… We don't really know… But most probably just… the recycling of your life force into something else…" Rin hummed as if she was explaining something much more basic. Her mind was more preoccupied with studying the girl's bracelets.

       "Reincarnation?" 

        Rin nodded as she finally let go of Miku.

       "Yes. That's what probably happens to angels too." 

        Miku looked at her, puzzled. 

       "So… if you're a horrible person in this life, you get off scot free? No judgment of any kind?"

        Rin shrugged. "What you do in this world isn't really anyone's issue, as long as it never interferes with the flow of energies."

        "Flow… of energies?" The girl's head fell to the side slightly.

        "Good and Evil. Demons emit pure Evil energy, and we Good one. Your chaotic actions can attract demons and accentuate their activity. But you by yourself don't really influence all that much."

        Her friend looked deflated. "Wow… so, really, there's no…not even karma?" For some reason this particular fact seemed to greatly confuse the human.

        Rin looked at her in confusion. She was unfamiliar with the term. 

       "Nevermind…Can we go somewhere else? Someone will catch us here and I don't want that to happen." Miku gently touched Rin's shoulder as she started walking forward. The angel quickly followed, their quick steps echoing around the corridor.

       "Sooo by your rules… Let's say I'm a mass murderer and I kill like… I dunno…20 people and their dogs." She started. "You're saying nothing would happen to me if I died? Genuinely nothing? Wouldn't that be super bad energy feeding the demons, all the murders I'm committing?"

        Rin pondered. "We're not allowed to interfere with humanity, even if it makes our fight with Evil harder. It's Angelic Code."

       "Why's that?"

       "It's…it's the Rules! I'm sure there's logic to them. I'm not a thinker, I just do what I'm told." The angel could feel herself getting uneasy. Her stomach turned again.

        Miku smacked her lips. "And uh- what you're doing now is in the rules as well?" She gave her a little awkward laugh.

        The angel let out a small whine and covered her face with her hands briefly. She really was a bad angel. And she had definitely overshared. But a part of her wanted to keep Miku interested in her, even if it meant spilling secrets no human was supposed to ever find out. 

       "I'm… already too far gone, aren't I?" She mumbled to herself. She wondered why it hadn't occurred to her yet to simply stop talking to Miku about such sensitive information. Usually, something inside of her would've naturally urged her to act angelically, but it seemed like this time it just didn't activate all that well. Like the hunch she felt when she got her name. Maybe she wasn't breaking any rule after all. But that seemed like an unlikely thing.

       "But, like, back to my scenario." The human had sensed that what she had said struck a sensitive cord. "Have angels never gotten in the business of humans? Ever?"

       "Uhmm… I think… there were some instances where we got involved. In major wars, I remember. Conflict must come to an end eventually and humans aren't all that good at it. I think most wars occur because of insanely high demonic energy, not that it's always the case. So.. if some of those go too far...then yes, otherwise it can get a bit tricky to continue our fight"

        Miku suddenly took a left turn and they continued their walk on a narrower corridor.

       "And if humans are generally so unimportant then, where else do you fight demons?" Her tone was polite and lively, almost like she was interrogating Rin about the contents of a novel rather than the innerworkings of the universe.

       "Demonic forces get quite abstract and that's not really something I'm familiar with. But most of our war against them is actual fighting, happening in dimensions accessible only to high ranking angels and powerful demons. What happens here impacts what the armies are doing lightly… but the fight is always so tense even a little bit of work here in this realm can turn the tides around." Rin felt how the words flowed out of her mouth without her even wanting to.

       "So, then, why do you still care this little about humans?" Miku asked.

       "Because it's way easier to just eliminate earthly demons on a usual basis then just…fix whatever problem the humans are having. Most of us aren't very familiar with how you work."

       "Haha...that much I can tell." The human said with an ironic tone of voice.

        Miku opened a random big door and stepped inside of the room, a bathroom, much like the one Rin had seen the other day. The girl quickly glanced around the stalls, checking for any other humans.

       "There's no one here, you can relax." Rin stated firmly.

       "Woah, you can really feel that? How…" Miku looked at her in amazement. .

       "Well…Heat is relatively easy to sense." Rin said as she darted her eyes across the room, checking to see if her judgement had indeed been correct.

       "Woah! That's like… some Superman typa'stuff!" Miku let out another awkward laugh.

        Rin didn't know what a 'Superman' was but felt the appreciation in her tone. She smiled and Miku smiled back.

        Rin took another moment to look around the bathroom. It was relatively dimly lit and covered with cold tiles. The mirrors of the place almost invited her to change her shape again. The floor had sporadic wet puddles and was also sporadically dirtied with thin papers. When she thought about it more, she realized that she had no idea what was inside of the stalls.

       "What… do you do here, more exactly?" Rin asked Miku, looking back at her.

       "Oh yeah I guess it's your turn to ask obvious questions, ha…" The girl trailed off and averted her gaze from Rin's.

       "Well… Uhh…You know that humans… well… after they eat… and drink they like…digest it and…" She seemed embarrassed about explaining such things.

       "Right. I think I've heard. Living animals eat and then that food gets turned into energy and …." Rin realized she didn't know what came afterwards. She had just assumed everything broke down inside the body.

       "Yeah and after that….Some remains… Uh… we …put them in those bowls… More like, there's a hole and it exists out of there..Ugh! This is so embarrassing" Miku said, closing her eyes as she cringed deeply.

       "It does make sense I suppose. I don't see why that wouldn't happen." The angel shrugged.

       "Yeah I know but still… it's taboo." She shrugged, a disgusted look on her face.

       "What's that?"

       "Something humans don't talk about because it brings them shame."

        Rin's eyes lit up. "Oh! So when they do something embarrassing? And then, don't bring it up to save face, right?"

        Miku smacked her lips. "Mmhh..No. I'd say it's more something no one talks about… like sex, you know?

        She nodded. "Yeah, but why? Aren't these things natural?" 

       "Well, they definitely are but we just don't like talking about them you know? Feels weird." She cringed again.

        The angel nodded. Humans proved themselves strange, but Rin couldn't help but also find them interesting. 

       "So… you're back in here." Miku spoke again. "What for…?" She trailed off, curiously looking at Rin.

        Rin sighed, as Miku had reminded her of the quest she was currently ignoring.

       "Demons. Again. Today one showed up in me and Brother's faces..." She frowned.

       "Who's 'Brother'?" Miku randomly interrupted her.

       "Oh…My partner! Angels work in pairs usually. Today a demon showed up and we couldn't even feel its demonic energy. It looked just like a human..well..maybe a bit weird looking." She fiddled with her hands. "Oh!" Rin's eyes suddenly sparkled in amazement. "I asked them if they knew you and they said they do."

        Miku's expression changed to one of confusion and amazement. "Huh? A demon knows me? Jeez, I thought they were like… rogue or something. You're saying this one goes to our school?"

        Rin nodded.

       "No way! How did they look like?" Miku looked at her eagerly waiting for her answer.

       Rin started recounting what she could remember best from her encounter. "Well… Pink hair with two very curly ponytails to the side and torn up clothes…" 

        This description seemed to instantly shift the human's demeanor into an angered one. Miku let her head fall back with a sudden uncontrolled groan.  

       "I know that whore, Jesus….I mean she was always kind of an ass but, like, literally a demon? Goddamn." She rubbed her arms. "Well I really don't know what to say of her.. She's like a standard bully type of character, only her clothes are very cool…" She trailed off, trying to rid her voice of the admiration she felt for her sense of fashion. "Her name's Teto and she has like this group of bullies following her around, she's their sort of leader? I'm pretty sure the kid's locker your brother knocked down yesterday was a part of that gang, no wonder you're in trouble now." She let out a huff of air, amused.

       "Brother is not my actual brother. That's just the title we use. I could also say… partner." Rin quickly corrected her.

       "Ah. Right…" Miku nodded. "Is that all you have to say after that huge exposition dump?" She giggled.

        Rin raised her shoulders. "Well, those words don't mean much to me. I could already tell she was friendly with humans. I doubt actual humans could hurt me even if they tried, but it's weird that she spends so much time with them that'd she pass as a student."

       "Maybe there's more demons in her gang?" Miku inquired.

       "Possibly, but demons tend to be solitary. They really don't like being bossed around by someone. But this Teto character sure seems… unusual. Most demons don't think highly of humans and I doubt they'd want to spend time with them." Rin's deadpan tone echoed around the empty bathroom.

        Silence fell between them.

       "She did mention you, though." Rin continued. "She called you…'bitch'. I assume that's a hurtful word."

        Miku scoffed. "Ugh! Of course she would… We don't have much shared history, but I did get my special dose of insults from her some years ago…Something about how I don't have friends…Which is not true! I have some friends! And she hates all my hobbies too, she thinks she's cool but she's like such a low life! Urgh!" Miku averted her gaze from Rin's, choosing to stare at a wall instead. Obvious anger could be seen on her face. Rin was drawn in by the girls change in attitude, feeling as if she was getting to know more and more of her by the minute.

       "You don't have many friends?" The angel felt puzzled. "But you're so nice! You helped me out of that confusing disagreement yesterday! And I'm telling you all these… unusual things that I really shouldn't be telling to a mortal, but you're reacting so normally! If this is unlikeable human behavior then… then those bullies must be horrible!" She reached out and grabbed Miku's shoulders, pulling the human closer to her. The angel fixated her dully coloured grayish eyes, with a serious look on her face.

       “Ah..uhh” Miku chuckled as she awkwardly took a step back and brushed off the spot where Rin's hands had been. “You really shouldn't grab people so suddenly. It's quite rude, y'know.” 

       “Oh. Apologies..” Rin awkwardly murmured. She felt Mikus' bodyheat become stronger for a few moments from the stress of the situation. It seemed like Rin might've misjudged the human's level of familiarity. But she had never had to befriend anyone from scratch before so it was not like she could've known any better.

        Things got quiet between them again as Rin pondered what next step would be seen as socially adequate for the situation. 

       “Uh...So yeah not all good people have friends. I mean, Teto is quite literally, like, a demon and she has plenty of friends.” Miku said with a slightly exasperated tone. “Do you have any friends?”

        Rin shook her head. “Angels don't have friends like humans do. We have higher ups and partners, and we do Heaven's bidding…” She trailed off. “What do you do with friends anyways?” 

        Miku looked around. “Maybe talk inside a school bathroom with?” She snorted, her tone slightly ironic. 

        Rin's eyes widened. “You really think of me as a friend? Is this what friends do?” She excitedly clasped her hands together.

        “Well. Friends do all kind of stuff together so I guess this isn’t thaaaat weird. And...Yeah I do think you're my friend. Or at least an...acquaintance. My standards are low.” Miku let out another small awkward laugh.

        Slightly misunderstanding Miku's tone, the angel felt her chest explode with joy. She couldn't believe that a human would really consider her a friend. She excitedly reached to grab Miku again, only this time stopping halfway and choosing to just do a swirl instead.

       “Wuu…!” She said, somewhat loudly, as she spun herself around.

        Miku snickered. “Do you mean “Woah?” or “Woo!” ?

        Rin stared at her for a moment. “I guess the second! Woo!” 

        The girl woo'd back. She laughed and instinctively grabbed one of her ponytails, fiddling with her long hair.

        This motion seemed to instantly attract Rin's attention, as she stepped closer again and fixated her hair. It was made out of countless little strands, all of slightly different shades of blue. Some of them were perfectly straight while some trailed off, giving the ponytails a slight fuzzy appearance.

       “Oh, right, you were super fixated on my hair right?” Miku took her ponytail and gave it to Rin, slightly twisting her head to the side and leaning inward. 

       “Yes! I was ‘fixated’!” The angel took a big step and found herself too close for Miku's comfort again. Before she could readjust Miku put one of her hands on her shoulders and kept her in place.

       “You can lean closer when it's obvious that I want you to…Although this is a tad close .It's fine, you'll get used to personal space eventually, I won't take it to heart.” She finished, taking her hand off her shoulder. 

        She had never been so close to a human before. She stared at Miku's face, getting another glimpse of the numerous dots and crevices her face had. Almost unaware, the angel touched her own face with the tip of her fingers. It was all smooth. Almost like the tiles of the bathroom, but less firm. Her hand went through her hair, which acted more like an uniform blob of synthetic fiber rather than actual hair. She brought a strand to her face: it lacked all of the details that made Miku's hair so interesting. Thinking hard about it, she and made numerous fibers appear  When she ran her thumb thru them they twisted and turned, slightly breaking away from their form in a manner she found fascinating.

       “Uhm…So… My hair's no longer cool now?” Miku suddenly interrupted the awkward silence. It had been quite a long minute since Rin had last said anything. 

       “Ah! Sorry!” Rin jumped, as if woken up from a trance. She leaned in to look at Miku's hair. It looked soft to the touch.

       “Can I…touch it?” She asked, almost shyly. She wasn't sure what exactly counted as rude or not.

       “Sure. Go for it.” Miku shrugged.

        The angel curiously grabbed the ponytail, and wanting to bring it closer to herself, tugged a little too hard on it. 

       “Ouch!” 

       “I'm so sorry! I-I thought hair didn't hurt? Don't you cut it with scissors?” She let go of the pony tail and flailed her hands dramatically.

       “No.. you just pulled on it. The hair itself doesn't hurt but it's attached to the head and if you pull on it hurts my head.” Miku explained. She rubbed the side of her head for added effect. “Try to be a bit more gentle with it.” She smiled awkwardly.

       Rin noticed the intricate way in which hair originated from the head. She leaned in closer and touched her scalp, gently digging her fingers into the girl's hair. She felt the human's temperature rise again, her heart began beating very fast; as if she was running and her eyes widened in surprise.

       “Oh! I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you again? Ugh...I'm so bad at this!” She took a step back and looked at Miku's face, which was now bright red. Knowing that she had messed up the angel let out an exasperated sigh.

       “No don't worry, it didn't hurt! It was just a bit… Uhmm ...Up and personal?” She fiddled with her ponytail and looked to the side, embarrassed. “There's some parts that you can't touch unless you're close to someone.. I mean. You gotta have a closer relationship with them..”

       “You're saying we're not good enough friends?” Rin said, deflated. 

       “No it's more like.. This isn't a friend thing. Or I guess it can be but it's very personal.”

        Rin looked at her in confusion. Humans had so many unwritten rules, and none of them made sense to her. Rin couldn't quite understand why was it okay for her to touch the lower hair but not the one on the head.

       “Sorry, Miku. I don't know of these things… Angels never touch one another like this.” She said, looking back at Miku's face. Her cheeks were still a pale shade of pink. 

        Miku gave her a flustered smile. “I guess I should settle some boundaries? You don't get to touch me here, here and here at all.” She pointed at her breasts, her lower area and posterior. 

       “Why?”

        Miku furrowed her brows. “It's uh… remember that taboo thing I mentioned?”

        Rin noded.

       “It’s kinda like that. Only your cool lover boyfriend can touch your boobs” She said as she gesticulated a round motion close to her chest, with a silly smirk on her face.

       “So for romantic partners? Ah, so it's related to lust?” Rin rubbed her head, confused.

        Miku turned red again. “I mean.. Lust is such a posh way to put it but sure, I guess it's that.”

       “Have you felt lust before? What is it like?” Rin innocently asked with a slight twist of the head.

       "Aren't you like an angel? Shouldn't you be a puritan?” Miku scoffed with slight embarrassment in her voice.

       “Well, what you call lust doesn't really carry that much of a negative connotation to me. Lust is a sin that can attract demons, but it's usually not that big of a deal. Mostly because it's rooted in your physical biology. I don't really care for lust because it's a primal emotion and it doesn't affect me in any way. I think the proper term is something like...arousal?” She scratches her head in an almost comical manner.

       “Are you saying some sins are worse than others?”

        The angel noded and averted her gaze to the mirrors, looking at herself thru them. “Sloth, Lust and Gluttony are quite weak. Most serious demons nowadays don't even associate themselves with them, much less seek to cause them in people. Pride, Envy and Greed are pretty serious but the worst is definitely Wrath. Wrath is dedication to getting your way by using the most evil of acts. The worst demons have Wrath related features. Wrath is also usually used to cause massive turmoil in human societies, such as wars.”

        Miku looked at her in disbelief. “I still can't believe all of this is real. Can you smell sins or something? Track them down?”

       “No, but demons can. They are attracted to deviant human behavior."

       “And you said that they hone sins…somehow?” 

       “Some demons get their demonic energy from manipulating humans. They seek out humans that are prone to committing certain sins and posses them to spread even more hatred. Chaos feeds demons in a way that Heaven doesn't really understand. It doesn't have to be human chaos, but it isn't uncommon.”

       “So that's what the demon from yesterday wanted to do? Create chaos in school via the nurse?”  Miku looked as if she was trying her hardest to complete a puzzle she could barely see the pieces of.

        Rin shrugged. “I can't know for sure but that's probably why. Sometimes demons torment for fun. They treat humans as playthings.”

       “And how come we…can't tell who is possessed and such?” Miku's face turned a bit more serious, as if her constant world alternating questions were starting to truly sink in.

       “Luckily, most demons' influence on humans is rather mild nowadays. So called bad luck, illnesses, random fits of anger. But some demons cause massive harm to humans. Murderers and people of a highly corrupt nature are more often than not demon controlled. Demons also cause things to break down, weather to go south and so on.” Rin spoke as she looked the girl straight in the eye.

       “So, demons are causing global warming?” Miku asked with a cheeky smile. 

       “Oh no. That one is on your people.”

        They both laughed. 

        The door of the bathroom suddenly bust open. Rin instinctively jumped in front of Miku, both taking a couple steps back. Rin could feel Mikus' heart beating faster as the human girl lightly grabbed onto her shirt from the behind. 
        Much to both of their surprise, there was no one there, the doorway greeting them with the empty corridor.

        Obviously it had been the work of a demon, that much was clear to Rin. No human could've snuck up on them without the angel sensing their heat beforehand.

       “Hello cutie~” A deceptively sweet voice purred softly from behind them. 

        Both of them jumped up in surprise and Rin quickly turned around, with Miku still attached to her back. 

        Teto, the source of the voice, was lazily leaning against one of the frames of the bathroom stalls. Her gaze jumped from Rin to Miku rapidly, her head unmoving.

       “Notice how I didn't say cuties, though. Hatsune, you're as crusty as ever.” She let out a dry laugh, which didn't seem very genuine.

       “Oh come on! Get a life!” Miku said grinding her teeth as she suddenly started making her way closer to Teto. The angel instinctively grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her to her side.

        Rin quickly looked back at Miku, then back at Teto. 

       “You only came here to insult my friend and torment us! With lies! What is your deal?” She says as she straightened her back, trying to command some more authority out of her pretty small figure.

        She could feel Miku getting redder again, out of embarrassment. 

        Teto let out a classic evil laugh. 

       "Your friend?  So fast? Wow, now that's rich. Last time I checked, angel and human interactions were forbidden…isn't that right, Rrrrinn?” She rolled the r's of her name with massive satisfaction.

       “That's none of your business, devil!” Rin snarled.

        "None of my business? You barge into my school and start messing around with my high schoolers and it's somehow not my buisiness? I'm lucky she'll forget about all this in a day or two." She pointed at Miku, letting out a mocking laugh.

       “What are you here for?” Rin snarled again, her brows furrowing further.

        The demon rolled her eyes and sighed. “So formal. I'm not here to duke it out…well I am! But that's because you'll leave me no choice.” 

        Rin pushed Miku further back and adopted a serious fighting stance.

       “Woah there Goldilocks, I'm not gonna kick the shit out of Hatsune, no matter how annoying she may be.”

        Rin suddenly relaxed a little bit, her gaze still as piercing as before.

       “Yeah, Einstein, if I wanted to I would've long ago! Why do you think I hang out with a buncha teens? Cause I wanna beat em' to a pulp? That's low, even for demon standards." She shook her head, grinning.

       “Then.. What is your business in this school?” Rin said sternly.

       “Eh. I just kinda hang.” Teto said with a shrug. “Can't I have a social life? Have you seen adults? All they do is work and whine. Kids throw other kids into trash cans and shit. I'm here for that.” She grinned again, but it faded fast. “Can I finish what I was saying?”

        Nodding with a frown, Rin allowed her to keep talking.

       “Alright. Here's my deal for you, Goldilocks. We fight outside of the school. Now or tomorrow, I don't really care. Regular fight, whatever you want. I'd appreciate it if was only you since I was nice enough to give you such a good deal.”

        Rin stared her down for a brief moment. Behind her she could feel Miku shuffling around.

       “How do I know it's not a trick?” Rin asked with immense doubt in her voice. “What do you get out of this?”

        Teto shrugged. “Goldilocks, if we fight now, when there's less than 5 minutes left till recess, people are definitely gonna get…What's a nice word for it…Obliterated? I don't want that. You don't want that right? You seem to care for your little friend, I doubt you're indifferent to the other students. We take the fight somewhere else. Good for you, good for me, good for Hatsune over there.” 

        Miku gave Teto an ugly look and prepared a retort which Teto prompted cut off.

       “I kinda like your guts, Miku. At least you got that going for you.” She laughed as she stepped inside the bathroom stall and slammed the door closed. As momentum quickly opened the door again she was gone, leaving Rin and Miku to stare dumbfounded at the singular toilet.

        Rin closed her eyes and tried to sense demonic energy. She didn't feel anything, even when approaching the toilet. A sense of dread engulfed her as she stared down at her reflection in the bowl of water.

       “Wait…So…You're gonna fight her? Like how it was yesterday?” Miku approached from behind, slowly shuffling her legs. “I mean, I don't like her at all but she's been in this school for quite some while and she hasn't done anything actually straight up evil! Nothing drastic has ever happened here, like a murder or big theft.” She paused and grabbed her hair, twiddling a big strand between her thumbs. “Look, I don't claim to be good at this demon stuff but to me...It just seems like she enjoys highschool I guess? Specifically being a bully? Obviously it's not saintly behavior but its not like she's actually harmed anyone. Maybe she feels threatened by you guys? She didn't seem that eager to fight.”

        Rin shook her head and turned around to face Miku. “No, she must be dealt with. There's no such thing as a ‘mild’ demon’, she can't stay here, even if she's not being outright horrible. It could be that she's working behind the scenes. She probably feeds off the negative energy she gets from bullying. ”

        She met Miku’s gaze. Weirdly, the human looked saddened.

       “I thought she was horrible to you! Why are you defending her?” The angel retorted, quite obviously riled up.

        Miku looked at her with disapproval. “No one deserves to die for something as menial as being a highschool bully…Not to mention the most she did to torment me is call me dumb names…That's…not that unusual anyways.” 

       “There's more demon bullies in this place? And they all pick on you?” The angel felt herself grow even more frantic at the thought of the demon situation growing into something bigger.

        Miku gave her a weird look. “What? No! At least I don't think so? Didn't you say it yourself that humans kinda suck…or at least implied it?”

        Rin blinked really hard and let out a sigh, her shoulders slouching as she did. 

       “But.. I can't just not fight her. She invited me! Not to mention that… Brother is also here. What will I even tell him? That the demon asked me to a duel and that I just…refused?” She slouched harder, bringing her hands to her face and covering her cheeks. She felt her heat rise a little bit as her body twisted in confusion.

        The bell suddenly rang, breaking the tight air between them. 

        Miku put her hand on Rin's shoulder, causing Rin to lower her hands and look at her. 

       “I'll come with you! Maybe you can…talk it out? See what she's about?” The angel tensed up furrowing her brows and fixating Miku's eyes. “Well, okay, you know she won't hurt me right? She just said that she doesn't want to. And you know, maybe if she sees that you like humans this much she'll… emphasize or something!” Miku said with a smile as she took her hand off her shoulder. 

        Rin closed her eyes, trying to channel her heat to the coolness of the floor. She got so easily overwhelmed in the human world, it really made it hard to think. She looked down at her poorly thought out shoes and fiddled with her hair. What was she to do? While her gaze was down there, her mind started wandering in menial places again.  Miku's shoes suddenly came into her field of vision, and she couldn't help but wonder why they had small strings attached to them…

       “Alright… You can come but…If I tell you to leave you need to, understand? I don't know if Brother will be there or…” She trailed off. She raised her head as she sensed the footsteps of other kids rapidly approaching the bathroom.

        Miku gave her an apologetic smile smile. “Okay, I got it. You got one hour starting now by the way.”

        Rin cringed at the mention of her deadline. 

        The human girl twisted around on her ankles and left as other human girls entered the bathroom chatting. She gave Rin one last look. “Thanks for listening to me, Rin. See ya later.” Miku let the door open as she quickly hurried off to class. 

        Rin let out a sigh as a group of human girls started loudly chatting behind her.

       “Gosh girl I love your skin! What's your routine?” One of them suddenly asked, tapping her shoulder. “It's like literally perfect.” She spoke with an exaggerated accent, which she couldn't help but find a bit grating compared to Miku's quieter voice.

        Rin gave her an empty stare and looked around the bathroom, confused. She had no idea what most of the words she had just said meant.

       “Uh…Well… I clean myself with water..?” was the best excuse she could come up with.

        The other girls let out thunderous laughs and the girl closest to her clapped her hands in amusement.

       “I wish!”

        Feeling deeply embarrassed by her lack of understanding for the situation, Rin quickly left the bathroom and started making her way across the busy corridors.

Chapter Text

        The quietness of the school garden was a nice change of pace for Rin. She had found her way to the tree where she and her Brother had shifted their forms and neatly sat herself under it, staring into nothingness as she tried to make sense of her current situation. 

       “Brother…” She sighed.

        Her fingers grasped the grass under her, leaving a moist sensation in her palms. Even though textures usually dizzied her, this one was proving quite pleasant. She looked down at her hand, and plucked a handful of grass out of the ground. 

        It was weird for her actions to actually impact her surroundings in any way. She had no idea why she had done it, but it felt good, like the action itself scratched an itch inside her that she didn't know of before. 

        She relaxed her fingers and watched as the grass fell down, releasing a pleasant organic scent. 

        Rin curled up into a little ball, resting her chin on her knees. Involuntarily, her hands tucked at her long skirt to better fit her changed position.

       “Come to think of it…Miku's skirt also looks like this. I'm glad I at least got something right about human attire.” She thought out loud. The sound of her own voice followed by no reply made her feel funny. It had been the first time she was alone for so long in her physical form, so at least there wasn't anyone around her to hear her embarrassing mistake. Thinking back on it, she probably said a lot of things out loud to Miku that she didn't mean to say. 

        The realization made her rub her temples. Human communication was so hard to keep up with. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't understand how humans thought so many things things without saying them. Were they capable of thinking and talking about different things while talking to others? Rin wondered if they also messed up sometimes, saying things out loud that they would've rather kept private.

       “Sister!” His voice suddenly echoed inside her head, disrupting her focus.

       “Brother! Hello?”

       “Have you found anything ? Did you manage to track the demon down?” He asked, worried.

        Rin sighed. She thought about telling him the truth, but she chose not to. She needed more time to think. “No. I haven't found her yet.” Her stomach twisted as she hugged her legs closer to herself.

       “Ah…Of course. You would have let me know.”

        Rin bit her lip and cringed a little bit.  Of course she had lied to him a couple times before, but not about anything this severe. 

       “I'm…not doing much better. I actually made my way into the city because I overheard some of the students the demon was with earlier talk about ‘going out’. Considering its delinquent status, it's not wrong to assume it'd be outside of the school perimeter, right?”

        Brother's unsure voice showed that he was clearly out of his depth, a feeling Rin wasn't quite yet used to him displaying. She replied, cautiously. 

       “It makes sense… I'll let you know if I find anything. I'm still in the school so I guess I'll stay here.” The air around her vibrated softly as she continued to speak to him.

       “I was going to propose the same to you, I'm pleased we think alike. It's the mark of great angels.” He said with slight cheer to his voice. “I'll make sure to keep you updated with the situation.”

        She didn't reply further. Rin sighed and grabbed another fistful of grass. Now she had to wait about an hour for Miku to show up and hopefully solve the demon thing that way. She plucked the grass out again. 

        Fighting wasn't out of the question. But she didn't want to. Even though her first demon spar had gone very well for the circumstances she definitely didn't want to push it, especially since she had just pushed Brother out of the situation. Teto wasn't an opponent she felt like she could take on her own, especially since the battle would have to take place on school grounds where she had a clear advantage. But on top of all of that Rin had another, much more selfish reason for not wanting to spar with Teto.

        She relaxed her fist, letting the grass fall again from her hand.

       “I…don't want her to hate me…” 

        Rin used her other hand to pick the remaining grass blades stuck to her palm, lazily flicking them off. She sighed as she drifted away in thought again. What where the chances that Miku would still want to be friends with someone she perceived as a killer? 

       “Are you talking about me?” A sharp voice suddenly snarked at her, sending a shock thru the angel's system. 

        Rin jerked herself around, meeting eyes with Teto, who was menacingly standing above her, next to the tree. 

       “You really need to stop saying stuff out loud, idiot. I heard literally everything.” Teto looked down on her, with an amused and belittling expression.

       "Agh!” Rin quickly sprang herself up on her feet, but was unexpectedly caught by her shoulders by Teto, who pushed her back down quite harshly.

       “Relax! We haven't started yet! Jeez.” The demon sighed as she plopped herself next to Rin, keeping a nice distance between them. “I said one hour” she continued “We have like 40 minutes left, alright?” 

        The demon picked a blade of grass and bit on it, revealing a set of fangs, a sight Rin wasn't a particular fan of. The demon lazily let herself lay down, using her arms to rest her own head as she looked up at the tree's leaves.

        Rin, still tense, quickly shook her head in disbelief. 

       “Well- If you said that we aren't starting now then why are you here?” She asked with an annoyed tone, thinking that Teto was trying to play some sort of trick on her.

       “Why am I here? Why are you here?” Teto replied with an equally bad mood.

       “Well…!!” Rin mumbled to herself. “I don't…know where to go…I just sat down here!” Not the most convincing excuse, but it was true.

       “Couldn't you follow your little friend to class? Though I wouldn't blame you, class is a total drag.” She said as she spat the grass out of her mouth. “I was gonna skip and go to town today but some nosey angel decided to fuck up my schedule…” Teto snarked, seemingly even more aggravated than before. 

       “You…You offered! For us to fight!” Rin threw her hands up in the air.

       “Yeah right, like you were just gonna let me go off scot free, you think I popped out of the ground yesterday?”

        Rin opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. Teto wasn't wrong. As an angel, she wasn't supposed to just let her go. Because she was an aggressive, killer demon and her natural enemy. A threat to both Heaven and humans. But as she glanced at the laying 'killing machine' again, Rin felt conflicted. Teto didn't seem to be any of those things, at least for now. Furthermore, she had even tried to talk to Rin outside of battle. In a way, it really did seem like she was doing her best to avoid the conflict. But why? Was it because she knew she was in a worse position fighting two angels? Or was it more like Miku had said, that she was just trying to live her life? Her seemingly contradictory nature was disorienting to Rin. 

        For the first time in a while, she really didn't know what to say. She wanted to fight her and get it over with, but it was just so weird how familial Teto was with her. How was she supposed to fight someone who was sitting down next to her right now? Someone who…hadn't caused any actual, serious harm, as far as she knew.

       “Have you…ever killed anyone…anything?” Rin asked, sheepishly. Sure, her question was dumb and she had no way of knowing if Teto would even be truthful to her but it was worth a shot.

        She could feel Teto's gaze suddenly burn a hole in the back of her neck. However, she didn’t immediately reply, setting in a heavy silence between the two.

       “Why do you even care...only demons obviously. And I think I sent a kid to a hospital once, but that was ages ago. He was fine in the end.” Remorse could clearly be felt in her angry voice. “Why are you asking me dumb shit like this? Are you tryna see if I'm bullshitting the 'liking humans' bit?” She huffed.

       “Demons? For what reason?” Rin ignored her last remark. She knew that demons often fought with each other, as they were mostly rogue beings, but she wasn't sure why someone like Teto would have any reason to go out and kill demons. Maybe she was an actual threat after all. She felt her fists clench and her ‘muscles’ contract until she remembered the regret her reply had also held when talking about that injured human.

        Again, Teto wasn't quick to talk back.

       “Well uhh, you know everyone's looking for some turf to call their own; this school is mine. If I wanna keep it I gotta fight for it, although I can't say the competition is too fierce.” She let out a forced snort. Silence fell between them again as Teto preoccupied herself with looking into the distance some more.

       “Someone who is in the gray like me gets picked on a lot.” She said, with a deadpan voice. 

        Rin wasn't sure what that meant. As far as she knew and cared, all demons were bad. There was no black or white to it.

        Almost as if she had read her thoughts, Teto continued. “Most demons fight for something. They belong to a group or, if they're hot shit, maybe they're even like actual warriors. I don't care for all of that. It gets real ugly.”

        With a quick jerk of the head, the demon suddenly stared at her with blood red eyes. Her expression was blank. “I can't always tell with you feathery guys...Maybe you get me.” Relaxed tone and empty expression; it sort of sounded like she was testing the waters with Rin.
        The angel wasn't quite sure what she meant. She had never heard of “the grey zone” or demons who didn't believe in what other demons did. However, she was sure of one thing; that demons caused destruction. It didn't matter in what form. Was Teto really insinuating that her biggest sin was…tormenting highschool kids? Even so, Rin didn't quite get what that had to do with her.

       “I…don't get you. I don't know what you mean.” Rin replied with a cautious, stern tone. 

        Teto sighed and lazily stretched her body, seemingly going back to her usual sense of self.

       “Okay Goldilocks, I see you're new with the angel stuff. Let me be blunt then. I'm not being very demon-y right now because I'm not tearing you, an angel, to shreds. Which I've done before, by the way.” She said with pride in her voice, as she bared her fangs with a wide smile, seemingly on purpose . “You're not being very angel-y right now because you're not tearing me, a demon, to shreds. Not to mention the lying you just did earlier to your partner.” 

        Rin twisted herself back to look at Teto, meeting her sharp red gaze. The demon had a slightly amused expression, seemingly not intimidated by Rin's stare.

       “Not to mention your little friend.” She purred, this time revealing a truly evil grin. 

        Rin stared her down some more, her brows furrowed. She felt…angry. Or at least she thought she did, because she had never felt actual anger before now. Maybe annoyance or instinctual aggression in the heat of battle, but never anger. She couldn't tell why she was angry. Maybe because Teto was lying? But she wasn't. Maybe it was just her inherent way of speaking. The dismissive explanations and scary smirks, the boasting about tearing angels to shreds. But those hadn't riled her up as bad as the last comment. Was it more that Rin was angry at her own actions, as the demon presented them? The thought made Rin's insides squirm again. 

        Rin averted her gaze into the ground, and plucked some more grass. Teto… was right. She really wasn't being too angelic. In her actions or thoughts. Everything she did was against code she had always known. She still lied to Brother. She had befriended a human. She was chatting with a demon.

        Seeing her torment, Teto unexpectedly added in a softer tone: “You know… humans are the main reason most stray…both angel and demon. There's no shame in that.” She shrugged.

        Rin felt her figure stiffen. Maybe she didn't know as much about demons as she thought she did but she did know one thing: she was not a traitor. Teto was just trying to get under her skin, she thought. 

       “Are…Are you calling me a fallen angel?” Rin said, furiously plucking the grass beneath her. She felt her heat grow and her eyes water again. 

        Teto burned another hole into the back of her neck. “Well. Seems like that to me, Goldilocks.” She let out a chuckle. “No use in denying it, right?” 

        Rin felt tears coming down from her eyes, rolling on her cheek. She was reminded of yesterday, when Miku was there to hand her the tissue and calm her tears. 

        The human and her green blue something hair was the cause of all this. Yet Rin couldn't be mad at Miku, just at herself. She had heard so many horrible things about the fallen angels from her higher ups that it was basically coded into her very being not to end up like one. Fallen angels were rogue beings, as bad as demons, angels that had betrayed Heaven. As such they had no protection in the world, they were hunted down and eliminated on sight by Heaven and to picked apart by demons. They were truly the lowest form of being, even below demons. Nothing was worse than betraying Heaven. Nothing was worth it to Rin. Especially not for a human she barely knew.

       “You're here…to torment me… and… drag me down and-” She started sobbing loudly. “You want me to be like you! You want me to abandon Heaven so I can be easy prey!” She wiped her tears off with her palms, looking furiously at Teto.

        In return, the demon looked uncomfortable staring down at the broken down Rin. She awkwardly scratched her neck as she looked away. “Fuck…I didn't tell you to befriend that Hatsune chick! Nor lie to your angel dude, honestly I fully believed this would be a one on two, man!” She said, raising her tone aggressively. “If you wanna fight me so bad, bring it on!”

        Teto jumped up on her feet and adopted a fighting stance, keeping her legs spread and her arms flexed close to her body. 

        Rin looked up at Teto through her tears. She didn't know what to do. Fighting Teto would've been easy to engage with and it would've been the correct thing to do. It was her chance for repentance. Even if she lost, she'd die a rightful angel. And if she didn't, the highschool patrols would eventually end and it would all go back to normal.

        She clumsily got up and stared Teto down as the demon stretched out its menacing bat-like wings and thin, pointy tail. She flexed her hands revealing claws, turning them into a fist which she threateningly pulled back close to her face. However, Teto didn't do much more besides that. From her behavior it seemed like it was letting her have the first strike. The angel briefly looked down at her shaky hands. She was in no shape to fight. And she struggled to really get her "adrenaline" pumping hard enough to justify starting a battle in her state. 
        Calling for Brother would've been the next rational step to do but something inside her felt as if that was wrong to do. Even though Teto was a demon, she had had the courtesy of giving Rin a fair fight. Even now, she was clearly stalling. An extraordinary thought crossed Rin's mind: Was it really possible that a demon could... not want to fight? Heaven hadn't prepared her for that scenario. 

        Rin felt herself soften again. 

        Heaven. Was Heaven wrong about earth? Demons: all evil. Humans: all unimportant and dispensable. Heaven. The endless void in which she lived. The boring tasks she had been stuck doing for higher ups for all her life. The dull conversations with Brother. The monotony of angel meetings. Her endless existence, spent doing mostly nothing. Counting records. Which she was bad at. Sending out information scrolls. Which she was particularly horrid at. Patrolling the human realm was the closest she had ever gotten to actually living and feeling anything. Even her current predicament, sent something thru her system, complex emotions she had never felt before then.

        The couple days spent in this high school amounted to more than she had ever lived or experienced in her entire hundred year life. The conversations with Miku, no matter how short, were her most fun memories, as silly as she felt thinking about it. The only thing she had a drive for was the human world, as confusing and overwhelming as it was.

       “What are you waiting for?” Teto finally broke off her chain of thought with a snide remark. “You're so indecisive it's driving me nuts!” 

        Rin remained silent, looking down at her feet.

       “You wanna be a good little angel girl or not!?” She barked. “You can't have both worlds, that'd be a first!”  

        Rin looked at her with an empty stare, as she relaxed her body. She couldn't do it. No matter how much Teto edged her on, she just couldn't kill a demon who seemed...nice. A demon who seemed more on the fence about violence than her.

        Teto's words spun around her head. Rin wondered again if it would really be such a sin to want to live a little amongst humans. A punch to her gut confirmed the feeling. She lowered her gaze to her feet again, fixating the grass beneath her. Tears suddenly started rolling off her face and onto the grass. She didn't want to fight and make Miku sad. She didn't want to lose her only chance to find out more about the earth.

        Remaining standing for a couple more moments Teto sighed, plopping herself with a thud on the ground again. She rubbed her temples and then muttered some curse words under her breath.  

        Heavy silence fell between them again, as Rin cried soundlessly.

       “You're clearly very...conflicted. You know, we can have a truce, as much as I'd rather not have you here.” Teto let out a sigh. “If you wanna come here and frolic, that's none of my business…”

        Rin looked at Teto, who was aggressively pretending to do something with one of the belts of her skirt. She felt her tears starting to dry up.

       “All I need you to do is keep that other scum away from my business, alright? You just let me be. And I let you be.” 

        Rin wiped her face with her hands in disbelief. 

        “Why are you offering me this? You clearly don't like me so why don't you just get it over with?” She sighed angrily.

        Teto finally let her belt go and looked her in the eyes. “I don't like watching people sob.” She rolled her eyes annoyed, and then continued to speak. “Besides…that demon you got rid of yesterday had been on my back for decades. That's the only reason he was here, to find me and duke it out.”

        She let out a small laugh. “I'm not bad at fighting, don't get me wrong, but there was a solid chance he would've fucked me up bad.” 

       “Then how come I dealt with him so easily?” Rin felt herself becoming stiff again. Were some demons just naturally weaker against others? 

       “Well. Obviously you don't know this but us gray zones have an easier time against the other party...I assume you were quite the surprise with him too. With how you act and all of that. But the cost of being different that it gets you to be pretty much killed on sight by anyone on your team. With demons it's not so bad; most demons kind of do their own thing to begin with but with angels…” She let herself drift off. “You have a lot of guts…Even if you don't look like you know what you really want. I guess I can still respect that.” She added as she looked Rin in the face and gave her a tiny sad smirk.

       “So who am I to make an already cosmically shit existence even harder, right? And since you got rid of that ass for me too…" She shrugged. "Don't get me wrong if you ever wanna go back to being a goody angel I will definitely sink my claws into you, but if you just do your thing then I'll gladly do mine.” She finished

        Teto came closer and extended her hand to shake Rin’s. It seemed like such an unnatural gesture from the rowdy demon, until it finally clicked for Rin. The demonic energy emanating from Teto's hands was just the same as all the contacts she had signed over the years in Heaven.

       “A contract? These can be done between-”

       “Yup. It doesn't have much binding power obviously but you know. It can't all be rogue bullshit in the world, right?” 

        Rin shuddered.

       “So…If I shake hands with you I…” 

       “You leave me alone. Your brother included. Don't worry,  I'm pretty good at hiding myself as you have seen.”

       Teto smiled proudly. “And I obviously leave you guys alone too.” She added.

        Rin stared at her hand in disbelief for a couple seconds. Was this really the correct choice? Was it too late to call Brother?

       “Come on, I'm being generous, just go ahead and do it.” Scoffing, she started egging her on.

        Rin fearfully grabbed her hand and shook it in the manner which she learned from Miku. 

       “Awesome, whatever.” Teto rubbed her hands onto her shirt as if they had been dirtied by Rin's presence. “Well have fun wasting your angelic powers with…Hatsune out of all people ...Haha!” She let out a snort, her mood seeming much more relaxed. 

        She twisted herself on her heels and started walking away from the tree, towards the school building when she randomly stopped, and turned back to look at Rin.

       “Let me give you a piece of advice.” She said, “Even if you're torn...find out how to hide your angelic power as soon as you can.”

       “What? Why?” 

       “So you can do what I do. Be really fucking hard to find.”

        Teto grinned. “Obviously if any angel catches you doing this you're toast but I'm sure you'll be careful with it, right? Think of the possibilities. Not even your dear companion will be able to tell where you are, unless he's standing right in front of you.”

        Teto looked at Rin in amusement and then turned her back on her again, getting ready to start walking again.

       “W-Wait!” Rin yelled after her. 

       “Hah? What is it?” She yelled back.

        Rin came closer to Teto, which visibly tensed the demon. 

       “If…I report that there's no demon here anymore…In a couple days I'll be assigned another mission…”

        Teto stared down at Rin.

       “What do I gotta do with that?”

       “I..” Rin hesitated. “How…often are demons at this school? You said not too often?”

        She shrugged. “Yeah. I'd say I see maybe one every month or so? Most of them aren't here to stay. Not to mention they're mostly imp low lives”

        Rin let out a sigh. “I don't know if that's good enough for me to warrant staying here…by the higher up's standards I mean.”

        If she wouldn't bring any Core home today and stopped looking for Teto, she would definitely only have 2 days left to see Miku and the human world in such detail. She didn't know how soon she'd get another mission like this, and even if she did eventually she'd still definitely never see Miku again. If she was sure the school was safe from Teto then there was no harm in spending some more time looking around, Rin thought.

        Teto inspected Rin head to toe, obviously plotting something. 

       “Oh I see...Interesting. What if you had caught me today?”

       “Huh?”

       “Obviously you didn't and you're not going to. But let's say you brought back a Core. Would it make them, I don't know, make you come here more often?”

        Rin thought about it. Two powerful demons in a row would have meant at least a week or two of supervision. The realization made her chest grow with excitement. 

       “Yes! At least for some time…But…” Rin's good demeanor started to waver. “How am I gonna get a Core if I'm…” She looked at Teto with a mix of confusion and helplessness.

        The demon sighed. She took a couple moments to look at Rin and then rolled her eyes. She materialized a purse in which she started rummaging.

       “Huh? What are you doing?” Rin said, puzzled. Out of all the reactions she would've expected Teto to have, this had not been one of them.

        Teto had a small pained expression as she dug her arms deeper into the ridiculously small purse. Garbage started flying out, soda cans, random papers and wrappers, all ending on the ground, which made Rin cringe a little bit. It seemed that the demon possessed less desirable human traits alongside her demon ones. 

        The demon's face suddenly softened and she let out a little chuckle.

       “You know, you're pretty cute when you're all pleading and desperate like that.” 

        Not knowing how to take her words, Rin felt herself grow a bit warm in the face. 

        She finally took out her arm out of the seemingly bottomless purse, revealing a closed fist. It dropped to the ground and disappeared as Teto stepped closer to Rin.

       “Look here.” She opened her fist. 

        It was a demon core. Small red and shiny, no bigger than a large marble. 

       “Huh!! You're- How do you have that?!”

       “Relaaaax….Listen. Keeping demon cores means you have something to harness your energy from…Useful hmm? I keep the ones of the demons I've defeated, every demon worth its salt does this.”

        She took Rin's hand and placed the core inside it. 

       “Turn this in. Pretend it was me. Keep on party-popping with the humans. Good?”

        Rin slowly nodded in disbelief as she analyzed the small core inside of her hands and stared at it as if it was about to explode. 

       “It was from a …How do angels call it? Class 5 or something? Real pain in the ass. But I'll kinda miss him.” She said with a sad sigh. 

       “Tier V is more than enough…Thank you Teto!” Rin finally looked up from the core, smiling at the demon.

        Rin froze a little bit as she realized that she had just uttered Teto's name. Feeling her change in attitude, Teto quickly replied,  waving her hands dismissively.

       “Oh, no way you actually still believe in the name stuff right? It's so old fashioned really. It doesn't do shit either.” 

        Rin had been taught that uttering a demon's name made its power grow or attracted its presence. All angels knew the same.

       “I know some demons still do it but it's literally just to intimidate you old heads. They know it works. I do it too.” She let out a cackle. 

        Rin looked down at her hands again, embarrassed. She could barely wrap her head around that fact that some demons were not evil, much less the fact that names seemed to hold no power. Something inside her started to doubt what she had learned in Heaven, a thought so unnatural it reddened her face again from confusion.

       “Don't worry, it's gonna take about a day or so for it to reform. You can go and show it to your partner for extra cool points.” She laughed.

        The school bell rang. It was the end of class. Rin felt the students inside the school start moving around and chatting. 

       “Finally, well, I guess we're finished here, right?”  Teto said with a smirk. 

       “I'll see you around. From afar obviously.” She quickly spun herself around and started walking towards the school building, quickly entering via an open window, which didn't seem to attract much attention from the regular humans. Rin lost track of her presence as she got lost in the sea of school kids. Teto really did seem a regular at the school.

        She looked down at her hands. The small demon core glistened in the sun, its beautiful nature so contrasting to the ugly demon it originated from. The angel closed her hand again and let her arm fall next to her body. Her body felt unusually heavy, like it was made from steel rather than its usual nothingness. 

        Rin slowly returned under the tree, and sat down using its trunk to support her back. Her tired mind drowned out the miscellaneous human sounds that came from inside the school. 

       “I'm…” She stopped herself as she realized that she was thinking out loud again. 

        She sighed. Was Rin really going to go down this path? 

Chapter Text

       “Rin!” It was Miku's voice.

        The angel raised her head with much difficulty. The human was hurriedly approaching her, her heavy backpack waddling side to side on her back as she took big steps, panting.

       “I got here as quickly as I could, I-…”

        Her face had large sweat droplets on it. She hurriedly wiped her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. The human looked down at Rin, who was still resting under the tree, and quickly fixated her closed hand. The small sparkle of the core seemed to had caught her eye. 

       “Are you okay?” She sheepishly asked.

        Rin nodded. Words felt hard to muster. 

        The human's demeanor seemed to relax a bit. Even so, she was still tense. 

       “What is that in your hand?”

        Rin lazily showed her the core, lifting it up in front of her face. 

       “Didn't…the demon from yesterday also have one of…” She looked at Rin, fearful. 

       “Did you…” She continued, looking alarmed and betrayed.

        Rin let out a heavy sigh.

       “No, Teto and I did not fight. She said she'd leave me alone if I did so too.” Rin let her hand fall next to her body, clutching the Core into her fist again. The angel looked down at her legs and the grass. “It was resolved peacefully.”   

       “Woah! Really? Oh wow that's great!” Miku said with a big smile as she sat next to Rin, letting out a big sigh of relief. “I was afraid you had completely wrecked her to be honest.”

        She searched for Rin's gaze as the angel was still staring down at the ground. Her brows furrowed. 

        “Is everything alright? Did something go wrong?” She scooched closer to Rin. “What's with the little demon gem then?”   

        Rin remained silent. She felt her eyes burn up again, yet no tears formed this time. What was she supposed to say?

       “She gave me this Core so I could turn it in as ‘proof’ that I have slain her, so I could be given more time to patrol this school.” 

       “Oh so that's like a demon's life source sort of thing? Who is that then?”

        Rin shrugged. “Some demon she bested in battle a while ago. At least that's what she said.”

       “That's nice of her then, no? Giving you extra time like that” Miku said with a smile. 

        Rin turned her head to look at her. She seemed genuinely happy and relieved. Rin made the Core disappear into thin air, the same way Brother had done with the door handle the day before. 

        The angel hugged her knees, hiding her face in the space between her legs and torso. She felt like she wanted to disappear. Looking at Miku made her feel like she would explode. 

       "Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?”

        Rin felt a warm hand cautiously touch her hunched back. She felt the human's heat slowly sink into her form and echo around herself. For some reason this made her even more emotional. 

        The angel didn't immediately reply.

       “I…I haven't been here for long and yet I've managed to break pretty much every rule angels have…” She said, her voice muffled. 

       “Oh, the talking to human's part?” 

        Rin nodded. 

       “And not fighting Teto too, I assume”

        Rin nodded again.

       “Well, maybe what you did wasn't right from the point of view of…whoever is your higher up but…” She trailed off a little bit as her hand gave Rin a small pat on the back. “But I’m glad you didn't tear Teto to bits today, even if she deserved it. Angelically speaking” Miku had an optimistic tone, yet she remained serious,

        Rin sniffled. The girl was being so nice, even if she had no idea of the implications of her actions.

        The school bell rang again. Miku looked towards the school building, and then back at Rin, who had raised her head for a little bit to look at her. “Don't worry, I can stay a bit more.” She gave her a warm smile, as Rin resumed her position. None of them talked for a little while. She could hear Miku shuffling around and taking off her heavy bag, which made a lot of noise as it touched the ground.

       “And I'm glad we're friends too, you know. Even if that's not allowed.” Miku finally spoke. She let out a small chuckle as she instinctively reached for one of her loose hair strands and started splitting it into smaller hairs in-between her fingers

        Rin felt her eyes burn even more intensely. The sensation was strange and new, making her face itch. She rubbed it in anger. Feeling the human staring at her made her even more nervous, and she was sure that her expression was worried. 

       “I've been so dumb…I've been walking around these days and it never once hit me that I'm breaking angelic code! Because I…” She finally looked up, staring straight up at the leaves of the tree.

       “It never once felt wrong, I mean- I had moments of doubt but it never once really hit me! I got so caught up in all of it and I…”

        She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows.

       “Because I guess I just chose not to think about it…” Rin dug her hands into her face, which would’ve hurt a lot if she had been human

        Miku flinched at the sight, but kept her hand firmly on the angel’s back. “Hey, I'm sure there's a way out of this, you shouldn't-”

        Tears started forming inside the corners of Rin’s again. Her face felt unbearably hot, like nothing she had felt before,

       “No! If I'm caught I'm-” She shuddered so hard Miku flinched her hand off her back. She dug her hands into her hair and she let out a heavy, shuddering breath. 

       “I'm going to be…terminated for sure.” Her voice trailed off.

        Miku leaned in closer, terrified. The air between them had suddenly turned very thick, almost like it was heart to breathe. Rin could hear Miku’s heart start to pound rapidly as the human's breathing stopped for a moment.

       “Terminated? Wait, hold on. Like, killed? They're going to… kill you?

        Rin nodded as she let her head rest on her knees again. 

       “It's…pretty likely to happen. I've never been good at remembering all of the Angelic Code but…” Her already muffled voice lost its emotion, becoming emotionless; almost robotic. 

       “Section 6. Human interaction. Any sort of human interaction that isn't strictly necessary for the mission that the angel has been assigned or doesn't serve a protective purpose to the humans is prohibited. Taking on a human form just for interactions with humans outside of missions is forbidden. Maintaining long term relationships with humans is prohibited, even if it might be deemed beneficial to the greater cause. Engaging in human activities should be avoided as much as possible and only achieved when absolutely necessary and kept to the most minimum possible. 

        Rin took a deep, shaky sigh. “All of these offenses are punishable depending on the severity…Some forms can…they…definitely…are considered treason..and…”

        It wasn't the first time Rin wasn't able to finish reciting The Code, but it was the first time that crying had been the reason. She tried to stop herself, but the tears kept coming. She hugged her knees harder, trying to find some comfort.

       “I’m..I’m so sorry Rin I never knew it was this serious i thought…” Miku sounded shocked and scared. She quickly put both of her hands on Rin's back in a sort of side hug. “I-I thought It'd be more like a slap on the wrist not…That severe.” Her body was getting exceedingly warm. 

        A long moment of heavy silence, broken only by Rin's sniffles followed. 

       “But…so far nothing has happened, right? Like, nobody knows?”

        Rin nodded with a sniffle.

       “So…I guess we just won't see each other anymore, right? And it'll go back to normal.”

       The angel raised her head. The back of her neck felt stiff and weak; her head heavy. 

       “Yes…I could just not turn in the Core and…In a couple days I'll be out of here..” She sighed.

        Miku rubbed her back a little bit before going back to her initial position. “See, that's good!” She gave Rin a sad smile. “Maybe you'll be able to drop in every once in a while?” She chuckled.

        Rin shook her head. “My missions are always in widely different places. Next time I come to earth it could be on a whole other continent. Not to mention…A lot of years would probably pass.”

       “Oh yeah, that's right, you must be like hundreds of years old right?” The human's question seemed to have the intent of distracting the angel.

       “Around 100. It's somewhere in the records.”

        Even though she was expecting the answer, Miku was still taken aback.

       “Woah, you're so old! And to think I'm barely inching towards 17.” 

        Silence fell between them again. As Rin's mood stabilized, Miku gave her face a final good rub as she finally let her legs straighten and rested her back against the tree. 

       “And…You've probably done a lot of things too, right? 100 years is quite a bit of time.”

        Rin shrugged. “I can't remember half of it.”

       “How so?” 

       “Angelic duty is pretty boring. And abstract. Most angels do it no problem but I've never….” She stopped herself. Even though she had made the realization not too long ago, it still felt wrong to say it. “I guess I was never fond of it. But I didn't know any better.”

       “What was it like? If… you think I could understand. “

        Rin furrowed her brows and started thinking about what exactly she had done until now in her life. 

        Introduction courses, which taught her the code and how to do her work. Practice. Those took quite a while. She remembered doing lots of paperwork. Most of the angels worked in that field. She did some organizing. And what she had done most recently: going out in the human world. Most of her tasks had been boring and uneventful, only resulting in her finding imps at best or nothing at all most of the time. But she still remembered this time best. She remembered the first time she had to use her human form, to ask for directions. It had been so awkward and clunky, but she remembered the thrill that came along with it. 

       “Well…In Heaven there's a lot of information that has to be organized…When someone finishes a mission they need to send a scroll back with what they did and someone else needs to catalogue it into a sort of system…I did most of that for my life; organizing that is.”

       “Paper work? For most of your life?”

        She shrugged. “Maybe 80 years?” 

       “80!?!?” Miku yelled, outraged. “God, that's like! A human lifespan! Nothing but papers?”

        Rin looked at her. The human's eyes were wide open in surprise.

       “Uh…Yeah I just did papers… I read what was on them and got the information necessary…”

       “And…They never gave you any free time?”

        Rin shrugged again. “Angels only need recovery time if they dispense big amounts of angelic energy, which usually only happens during fights.”

        Miku's arms seemed to suddenly fly towards the sides of her head as she let out an elongated “whaaat?”. Her face was even more shocked than before, her mouth slightly agape.

       “So you did NOTHING but paperwork for most of your life… with no breaks?”

        Rin nodded. The concept wasn't weird or foreign to her. It was just how it was.

       “Oh, God no that's! Horrible! You're telling me you didn't have anyone to talk to nor any hobbies to do? You didn't even get out every once in a while to, I don't know, breathe some fresh air?”

       “Well I did talk to Brother every once in a while…Not that I remember what about. And no, I don't have any hobbies. Or need for fresh air. Or...air of any kind.” Rin fiddled with her fingers again. 

       “And…the other angels like doing all of this?” 

        Rin thought about it for a bit. She had never heard any angel complain about their given task, maybe just Brother when he had to take a human form. And she had never heard of an angel not doing their job either.

       “Well, Brother seems to like it fine enough. I think he actually prefers it over all the human stuff. But we all do as we're told.”

       “Geeeezz…” Miku dramatically leaned backwards and plopped herself on the grass, similarly to the fashion that Teto had done earlier. “I didn't know you guys were like- actual robots! You could've fooled me honestly, you're so full of life. No wonder you like it here so much.”

       “What's a robot?” Rin felt a bit of her old self come back up again. 

        Miku stood up again, and looked at Rin.

       “A robot is a machine that humans make to do things for them. Usually it's things humans find boring, hard or dangerous.  When you call someone a robot, you call them devoid of emotions or desires, because robots just do as they're told. “

       “That sounds pretty correct. I guess we are like robots.” Altough she found the concept interesting she couldn't help but be a bit saddened by how well she matched the description of the term.

        Miku fixated Rin a little bit, raising her eyebrows. 

       “You…don't seem like that to me. Actually I'd say you're, like, the opposite. You're very full of life. As in emotional.”

       “Ah…” What most angels would have probably seen as a pretty ugly insult made Rin blush a little bit. The thought that she really did have something that the humans did too made her feel happy. 

       “Well, I've been told a couple times that I make a pretty poor angel.” Her demeanor soured again. “Sure, I did my work but I was always slow because I…never liked it. When I did come down on earth I was always so preoccupied with the things around me that I usually lost track of my goals very quickly. And when I talk to other angels, they scold me for my tone. They say I'm not serious enough…” She trailed off. 

       “I'm surprised I even got assigned missions among humans honestly. Most angels that are perceived as bad never even leave the paperwork stage. Now it's more like…90% of it is paperwork and the rest is earth stuff.” She sighed. “I've never thought about it till now but I guess my job really is boring. And I suck at it too…”

       “So what if you suck! Your job also sucks!”

       “My job keeps your kind ,amongst many other creatures, from not getting tourtured to death by demons.” Rin said snidely. Sure, maybe her existence was boring but at least she did... something good for others. 

       “Yeah, at the expense of your sanity! Maybe the others like it but it's clearly not for you!” Miku seemed more scandalized by the moment.

       “I can't…not do it.”

        Silence fell between them.

       “If you leave Heaven, you're considered a fallen angel. And then you get tracked down and eliminated.” Rin said, coldly.

       “Can't you get...not tracked down?”

        Rin felt her core stiffen. That was what Teto said earlier. ‘Hiding her presence’. But would it really work against Heaven? She wasn't really sure what the procedure was, as that was information only the higher up angels knew. 

       “I…don't know. There's probably a way. But I don't want to be a traitor.”

        Silence fell between them as Miku seemingly struggled to take in the information.

       “Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. You don't need to actually straight up leave, right? You said you have a couple weeks left, maybe you should just lay low and…continue what you've been doing?”

       “I…” Rin bit her lip and furrowed her brows. She felt tears form again. 

       “No, no, I get it, you don't wanna betray Heaven. It's probably hardwired into you, right?”

        Rin nodded as she looked off into the distance. The man made buildings adorned the setting, each so different and yet similar. She could faintly hear the sound of the man-made machinery in the distance. She wanted to see more of it up close, maybe even have Miku tell her about it.

       “I don't want to…but the earth…And humans they're…” She looked back at Miku. “They're like nothing else I've ever seen! And I just wish I could spend all my time here!” 

        Miku nodded. “If I were stuck in bureaucracy hell I think I'd also learn to appreciate the beauty of life.” She let out a small giggle. 

       “I just…I don't know what to do. I don't want to go back but I don't want to betray Heaven…or Brother. Sure he's…nothing compared to the little I've seen of the human world but he's still dear to me!” 

       “80 years of paperwork really binds two people together huh?” Miku said with an ironic tone.

       “I don't think that goes for most. I don't know if he feels the same, really.” Rin fiddled with the strands of her hair. “That's why having a friend is so amazing to me! I never realised that relationships can feel so…interesting.” She sighed wishfully. “Is it bad that I want to discover all the human relationships there are? That I want to have friends that talk to me about…stuff! Like we are now, my conversations with you are the longest I've ever had with anyone, ever!” She closed her eyes. “And they're so interesting.  I feel like I could talk about anything and it'd still be worthwhile!” 

        She looked at Miku, who was staring at her with an amazed expression. She looked up and down at the human and let out a small laugh. She looked at her clothes; an ensemble of folds and threads that moved with every move that she mad. Her gaze found her shoes, and the question about the threads tying them together popper up in her head again.

       “Even looking at you now I feel like…it's more interesting than all of the years I spent doing paperwork at once.” She sighed, lowering her gaze. “How am…I supposed to go back to that?” She was no longer angry or distressed. She was just sad. 

        Silence fell between them.

       “You know…humans have a saying it goes ’Follow your heart’.”

       “Is that like sharing is caring?” Rin's expression perked up a bit. 

       “Yeah it's the same thing. Only this one means you should follow…well your feelings!”

        Rin crooked her head to the side “Follow…feelings? Your heart?”

       “It's a metaphor; for humans the brain is analytical and you know, following it means you're going to do the best possible thing logically speaking. “

       “And I shouldn't follow that?”

       “Well, in this case you should follow your heart, which is like; your feelings. Your brain, well uh, what you know like angelic stuff? That's the brain in this situation. So if you follow it sure you don't risk anything but you won't really be happy, won't you? So if you follow your feelings instead, which tell you to keep on doing human stuff, sure it won't be logically the best thing for you but…Sometimes you need to do what you want to do.”

        Rin was deep in thought. Doing what she wanted to do. A foreign concept to her. That she had only very recently disobeyed for the first time.

       “Living doesn't only mean…soulless work. To humans at least. Living is about doing what you want to do as well, following your dreams and passions, taking risks..” She paused. “Though I agree the risk usually isn't death...But you understand what I'm saying, right?”

        Rin sheepishly nodded.

       “As far as I'm concerned, your heart is the one of a human. Metaphorically, I mean. Something inside yourself clearly drives you towards this. Even if it's wrong from an angelic point of view, from my point of view, I think its wrong to live like you do! I wouldn't want to do paperwork for the rest of my existence. And I definitely wouldn't wanna be stuck with people who think less of me because of things I can't control.” She looked at Rin, whose cerulean eyes stared deep into her's, the angel seemingly absorbing every one of her words.

        Rin could feel herself tear up.

       “But why? Why aren't I like an angel? A-And more like a human? I wasn't made a human!....I-I don't get it.” She slouched against the tree again.

        Miku was silent for a little bit as she thought of the best reply to give.

       “Sometimes, humans don't fit in with other humans either. The same way you don't fit in amongst angels. I guess angels can be outcasts too.”

        Rin sniffled. 

       “Humans… they can also not fit in?”

        Miku’s face formed a warm smile.

       “All the time! In different ways, sure, but a lot of us don't fit in either!” She took a little pause. “I know it's not the same but, I don't really have friends and I struggle with a lot of things normal humans don't struggle with. And sometimes I think less of myself for it but- what am I supposed to do? Completely change myself? I can't not be true to myself…I'd just be miserable.”

      The angel looked at her, amazed. She couldn't believe it, that someone as kind as Miku could struggle with being human. And that she seemed completely fine with the fact.

       “Humans can be…whatever they want to be…” Rin quietly came at her own conclusion.

        Miku nodded. “I've never thought of it like that but, yeah. You can be awful, you can be good, you can be shy…you can be a lot of things! Obviously all have certain consequences to them but...you get what I mean.

       “I do…” Rin sighed. “That's so amazing.” Melancholy drenched her voice, a feeling that felt so unnatural coming out of someone like her.

        Silence fell between them as Rin dwelled on Miku's words.

       “I want to be like that…if it's possible.” Rin suddenly spoke. Her voice was small and frail, almost like she was cautious of her own thoughts.

       “Well, it's your decision to make. I just think you deserve to, you know, live a little.” Miku said with a warm smile.

        Rin fell silent again. She really didn't know what else to make of the situation. Nor did she really feel like she had the processing power to do so. The stress of the day had caught up to her, making her feel tired. 

       “I'll…think about it..” 

        Rin felt Miku's warm hand touch her back again.

       “Mhmm….” She unknowingly let out a small hum of pleasure.  She, somehow instinctively, let her heavy body fall next to Miku, seeking more of her comfort. When her head hit the girl's thigh she sprang up, remembering what Miku had said about personal space.

       “Don't worry, I don't mind.” She said with a small yet awkward smile. 

        Rin dragged herself upright and sat next to Miku, using her as support. She rested herself onto her shoulder and purred “Humans are so warm…” She felt Miku's face heat up.

       “Haha yeah…Comes with being a mammal I guess. I just love making heat.” She let out a chuckle as she started fiddling with one of her bracelets. “You're really cold, I assume all angels are like that?”

       “Mhm…Heat means power so…Typically I only get hot when I'm using angelic powers and such...” Even though she hadn't fought anyone, Rin felt just as tired. Like she could just dissolve her physical form and take a break for a couple of days. It seemed that heavy emotions had the same effect on her as a battle with a demon. It made sense; it had been the first time she really questioned her existence and purpose like that.

        She lazily opened her eyes, looking at Miku's legs. The girl had scrunched the long skirt closer to her mid waist when she first sat down, revealing her long legs along with her curious shoes.

       “Hey…I've been meaning to ask.”

       “Sure!” The girl chirped.

       “What's with those…threads on your shoes.” Rin pointed towards them. 

        Miku let out a hard laugh, her shoulders bouncing motion making Rin's head fall off her shoulders. She awkwardly twisted herself to look at Miku, her expression slightly panicked.

       “Was that-”

       “No, no, relax. Hah…No it's just funny. And you know after all that tension…Hah.. I guess I should've expected it from you.” She let out a couple more laughs. “They're shoelaces. Some shoes have them. You tie them and the pressure holds the shoe together on your foot.” 

        For demonstration's sake, she bent her knee and brought her foot closer to Rin. The human undid the existing knot, and did a brand new one.

         “I made this one a bit more loose, you see how it's more wobbly on my foot now?” She raised her foot above the ground, giving her entire leg a little shake. The shoe did in fact move more, being seemingly unfit for walking.

        Miku put her foot on the ground again, and redid her shoelaces as they were before.

        Rin looked down at her “brick foot”. Their sight seemed to annoy her more and more each time she looked.

       “Next time I'm forming, I'll give myself cooler shoes…” She whispered. 

        Miku let out a snort. “Oh, I wish I could do that. You should definitely get these though!”

        She hurriedly took her phone out of her skirt's pocket, and started tapping away at the screen.

       “These! I'd love to have these!”

        The human excitedly put her phone up to Rin's face. It was an image of a ridiculously long pair of fabric shoes, about knee length, tied with equally ridiculously long shoelaces.

       “Woah, I had no idea shoes could be this long!” The angel leaned in closer to the screen. “I'll definitely get these, they're so …. shoelaced!” 

        She felt her feet wiggle a little bit. “How come you don't have a pair?”

        Miku shrugged. “My parents won't allow it. They think they're ugly. Not to mention not really school appropriate.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that anyone could tell with this skirt.”

       “You don't like your skirt?” 

       “Oh god no, it's so not my thing. I'd love pants way more. Or at least something shorter. This thing is too goddamn long, it trips me at least once a day.” 

        Rin looked puzzled. “But I thought humans were free to choose anything?”

       “Yes, but they are also free to choose to tell other humans, who they have influence over, to do what they say.” She said, a bit soured. “But it's okay, I'll move out soon anyways.”

        She let out a sigh and looked at her bracelets again.

       “I saw that you liked this bracelet earlier.”

       “Hm?”

        Miku showed Rin her arm, and pointed to one of the bracelets. It was the bracelet Rin had poked earlier in the day, the one with orange charms.

       “Ah! I did like it, yes. They're fruits, right?

        Miku nodded as she started undoing the small mechanism on the bracelet. 

       “Oranges. You know, like the colour. They taste…well…like oranges. Maybe I'll bring you some if…” She trailed off as she finally released the bracelet from her arm. “If you come by here again.”

        She turned towards Rin, with the bracelet in her hand and offered it to her.

       “You can have it! If you want it, of course.”

        If Rin would've had her wings out, they would've definitely started fluttering in excitement.

       “Oh of course I want it! It's so colourful, can I really have it?” She said, carefully grabbing the bracelet and flipping it around, studying all its charms. 

        Miku giggled, pulled her sleeves back and stretched out her arms forward as if to say “I got more than enough”. 

       “Sure, people give each other bracelets all the time.

        She helped Rin put it on her right hand. The angel excitedly shook her hand, causing the beads to hit each other creating a cheerful, light metallic sound.  

       “I love it…Thank you Miku!” She said, as she looked at the human girl.     

        The school bell rang again. Miku hurriedly looked at the school building and then back at Rin.

       “You know, I can skip another class if you want, I can just lie and say I was sick or something. Since humans have free will and all.” She chuckled. 

        Rin sighed sadly. “I'm glad you're willing to do that for me but I think I should get going. I'm honestly surprised that Brother hasn't come back yet, I think he might've gotten a bit overwhelmed with the city.”

       “He's outside of school grounds?”

        Rin nodded. 

       “Yeaouch. Not a smart move. I've been living in this place my entire life and even I get lost sometimes.”

        The angel giggled. “Yeah, I should go save him; he's not too good with human stuff.” Rin said, getting up. She was dizzy and her head still felt heavy but otherwise she was fine.

        Miku grabbed her backpack and got up on her feet. Rin had to look up at her a little bit, since she was a bit taller. She had never noticed till now.

       “Well, Rin, I hope you'll figure out what to do.” Miku said, averting her gaze, while she was clumsily playing with one of her hair strands again. “Just…be careful alright? You're like really nice and all...”

        She looked at Rin with a worried expression, yet she gave her a small smile.

       “Yeah… I will.”

       The sounds of human chatter coming from inside the school filled the air between them. 

        “I'm…”

        “Oh yeah, sorry” Miku said awkwardly as she got her heavy bag on her back again.

        Rin smiled. “Goodbye, Miku.”

        Miku waved with a smile. “Goodbye Rin…See ya around!”

        Rin popped her wings out of her back, and gave them a couple good flutters. Before she could take off, she heard a shocked gasp behind her.

        She looked back at Miku, who was standing a couple feet back, seemingly taken aback by the suddenness of the long, hazy wings.

       “Ah…I forgot to dissolve my form. Usually just bringing up my wings is enough to make humans lose track of me but I guess after yesterday it's…a bit hard to ignore for you.” She let out a chuckle. 

       “Hahh…yeah…” Miku said, amazed. “This sure feels hard to ignore…”

        Rin let out a giggle, her voice reminiscent of bells as she jumped into the air and flew away. 

Chapter Text

        As she flew in the air, looking down at the city above her, Rin started feeling nervous again. She had to lie to Brother again and she wasn't quite sure how to package it. If Teto would have attacked her, why wouldn't she have called for his help then? Why would she casually come to him, announcing that the fight was over and expect him to have no objections? 

        She closed her eyes and thought harder about how to go about it. She quickly came up with an improbable scenario: what if something had stopped her from communicating with him earlier during the battle? That was something that could excuse her randomly showing up after the battle had ended. The angel quickly remembered some of her training on demons: some of them had the innate ability to disrupt angel signals so as to confuse and separate larger groups of them. While Teto didn't seem able to do such a feat, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Brother would believe it. 

        She let herself fall for a good hundreds of meters, landing on a busy sidewalk on all fours, like a cat that had just fallen out of a tree. Getting up, she struggled not to lose her focus with the countless human beings walking through and around her. Sighing, she started preparing her speech to Brother inside her head. It was proving quite difficult; she never had to lie this deeply before and her mind was still proving quite tired. After she managed to sketch out the basics of what she had to say to him, she looked down at her perfect ghostly form, devoid of any apparent battle-struggle.

       “I shouldn't forget about this…” She mumbled.

        Rin summoned a small knife, which she quickly aimed at her chest. Her form was neat and tidy; she didn't look like she had just won a fight with a demon. It was really important that she was able to sell the act to Brother, otherwise she might've gotten herself into even more trouble. She used the knife to painlessly disrupt her form in multiple places, simulating battle wounds as well as she could, then roughed up her hair with her hands. Her translucent pale white body gained multiple cuts running through it, similar to the ones she had gotten from yesterday's demon. Indeed, she looked a lot more battle-damaged now.

        Rin let out another heavy sigh as she started mentally calling for Brother.

       “Brother! Hello?”

       “Yes!” His response was immediate, and his tone worried and alert. “Did you find anything?”

        Rin bit her lip. She put on her best worried expression, even if he couldn't see it. “I-Yes, I did! The demon i-it attacked me and…” The fakeness of her tone made her cringe, Rin quickly wondering if Brother would even fall for the lie.

       “Oh my! I'm coming over to you right now!” He gasped.

        Apparently it had been genuine enough for Brother.

        He quickly materialized himself next to her, hurriedly flinging his head and body around, desperately trying to catch sight of what had harmed Rin. 

       “Where is it?” He panted, then stopped his frantic searching to take a better look at Rin. “Did it get away?” 

        This was Rin's signal to resume her act. “N-no! It attacked me in the school and I tried to call for you but… something stopped me from doing it! Even after it was over I still couldn't so I decided to go look for you normally!” She put on a scared expression, or well the most scared expression she felt she could fake.

        Brother stared at her in shock for a couple seconds. For just a moment, Rin really thought that he wasn't going to buy it after all.

       “So … it has communication disturbing abilities.” If she would've had easily visible eyebrows in this form, they would've definitely been shot up in shock. She knew angels were programmed to inherently trust each other very deeply, but she had no idea Brother was capable of being this gullible.

        He continued. “That's very unexpected. Splitting up was a clear error on our part!” Brother took a small pause, almost as if he wanted to say something else as well. “But you know…the protocol states that if communications fail you're supposed to remain on site, right? You shouldn't have come looking for me.” He lectured her in his usual stern tone, although he didn't seem too upset at the apparent blunder. 

       “I…uh…” Rin hadn't even thought about that. She wasn't sure if she even remembered hearing of such a thing. It sounded like such a niche scenario. However, she was grateful that Brother was willing to provide her with some believable faults in her story. 

       “I kind of…I got very caught up and I forgot…Apologies.” 

        Brother nodded solemnly, seemingly accepting her apology. 

       “What's important now is that we find the demon, where was the last time you saw it?” He continued, with a hurried tone. 

        Rin did the same shtick as last time, materializing the Core and showing it to Brother, who was again shocked, his “mouth” agape.

       “Again?! That's quite impressive!” He grabbed the Core, feeling it around his hand, almost as if he was checking to see if it was truly real.

       “I-It was pretty hard. The fight I mean.” She let out a flustered laugh. 

       “I can see that.” Brother took his eyes off the Core for a bit, giving her a quick glance up and down. He handed the Core back to her. “Well, it really seems like you have these under control, that's very good.” Brother quite obviously was still taken aback. “And I guess in the end splitting up was good because…” His face suddenly became serious again. “While looking around, I felt so much demonic energy around here. We seriously have to report it back.”

        That last remark made Rin tense up. She really hoped that Brother's new found data wouldn't resort in more angels getting called to investigate their site. That would definitely ruin her chances of seeing Miku again. 

       “That's pretty bad…” She sighed, trailing off.

       “We should go now.” Brother said with a warmer tone of voice. “I'll write the report while you rest, and we'll continue tomorrow. I assume we'll be spending even more time here.”

        Rin quietly nodded. She still couldn't quite believe that Brother had fallen for the lie. A part of her expected him to suddenly lash out at her, and call her out on her bluff. But that never happened. He dissolved his form, returning to their liminal plane which they called home. The entire interaction really ended almost as it had begun. She quickly followed suit. It was nice to finally take a break from it all.

        Laying down in the abstract plane, her tired subconscious seemed to relax at first. Rin thought she'd get some “sleep”, but before long the question about the human world started bugging her again. Rin didn't know what she was going to do about it, though one thing was certain; she'd definitely have her stay extended. Rin knew that there was no avoiding that now with Brother's extra report.

        Even though a part of her wanted to return to her heavenly ways, she still couldn't contain her joy. Brother buying her lie gave her a bit more confidence that she could really have her cake and eat it too. Just one more week or so, and then of course she'd go back to how things were. 

        If she would've had a physical form she would've definitely looked quite smug. It seemed like a good deal, best of both worlds. Sure, she had been quick to completely dismiss her training but at least she'd get to both enjoy her time with Miku and protect her from demons. A new thought popped up inside her head: maybe getting along with humans was excusable if it meant she could defend  them better. Maybe this was just the way Rin was supposed to go about her mission, even if it slightly contradicted the heavenly imperative of not interacting with humans unless necessary.

        Although thinking more about it Rin realised that by not killing Teto she had, still, ultimately failed her mission. She waved the thought away. Teto was clearly a special case, and the other demons were sure to be much more “scream and fight”. And Rin was good at fighting with those. To her, Teto could easily be ignored until some other angel inevitably dealt with her.

        She was feeling quite satisfied with her situation, until, almost as if to torment her, another thought reemerged. Rin couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't like Brother and all other angels. Why couldn't she just fit in and do as she was told? Guilt started washing over her again, the familiar feeling from earlier. She quickly came to the only logical conclusion she could reach: there was something intrinsically wrong with her, something outside her control. Her lack of joy in menial angel activities. Her interest in what was not angelic as a whole. Maybe sin was tempting her all along.

        But she had been made this way. For as long as she could remember, her duties had been nothing but a drag. She kept working and working, convinced that one day it would all just click, but that day never came. Until this particular human episode, Rin had just kind of learned to accept it; to accept a life she found no interest in, to keep working for the sake of maybe one day reaching higher duties she'd hopefully find more interesting. It wasn't how most angels saw it, but Rin had no other way to go about it. 
   
        This reminded her of what Miku had said earlier. That not all humans fit in. Miku said about herself that she was an outcast, and yet she had no trace of sin in her body.

        But Rin wasn't human. And she couldn't have been made wrong on purpose; all angels were designed to be perfect beings. And yet here she was. Rin couldn't help but wonder if, maybe, she had been lied to about that. Just like she had been lied to about the existence of "not evil" demons.

        The thought made her stomach turn. That Heaven could lie. Maybe Heaven just didn't know any better. Maybe she was a mistake so rare that not even Heaven could foresee it.

        …

       “You know…humans are the main reason most stray…both angels and demons.” Teto's shrill voice rang inside her head.

        If she were to believe Teto, this wasn't uncommon. Her situation wasn't rare. Even though the thought should've brought her comfort, it only made her even more anxious, her guts squirming the more she thought about it. 

        So it really was just clear cut treason she was participating in. She felt herself overcome with dread. The sudden switch ups between “This is fine.” and “I'm a sinner!” made her feel dizzy, like her being was getting shuffled and reassembled at its very core.

        No matter how much she tried to find an excuse for herself, she really was a sinner. Whether she was made like that or not. Maybe it was her burden to live out the rest of her days in an existence she didn't like.

        But it was so damn hard. To really give up her desire to see more of the earth. 

        She felt her mind become hazy. 

       At least everything would come to a close soon. Even if enforcements didn't arrive, her time spent at that particular school would inevitably run out and she'd be forced to move on. She wasn't quite sure that she believed herself either. But she couldn't just go to the school and not see Miku; that thought just went against her entire being. So, naturally, she just had to wait it out. And then she'd be forced to make her final decision. Which Rin obviously thought of as just repenting and moving on with her duties.
        But right now she was so tired that she felt like resting for centuries wouldn't be enough for her. 

        Her mind was finally starting to calm down, or maybe the tiredness had finally won, and she let herself drift away into “sleep”.

       “Have you finished your duties?” A familiar, thunderous voice rang inside her mind.

       “Hu-...Pardon?” She replied, clearly taken by surprise. 

        The vision was hazy, so much so that at first she wasn't sure where exactly she even was. Her own voice sounded like it was so far away from her own body, like it wasn't even her who was speaking. 

       “The report.” The voice of the other angel stated blankly as Rin could feel it look down at her.

       “Ah…Well…” She averted their gaze, twiddling her fingers as she thought of what excuse to say.

       “Stand up straight when you're talking to superiors. Hands alongside your body. This is basic courtesy.” Their voice rang inside her head. They weren't angry persay, but definitely ticked off.

        Sister stood up from her desk and looked at them. Their form was pretty hazy, common for higher ranking angels who didn't see much value in wasting energy on projecting a detailed shape. However Sister could still vaguely read their expression: stern and disappointed. 

       “The report.” They said again, in the same tone.

        The angels next to her began shuffling around, clearly intimidated by the presence of their higher up.

       “I…Here.” She quickly grabbed the bit of endless scroll she was currently writing on and gave it to the other angel.

        They read it in silence, quickly rolling more and more of it as they soon reached the empty part of the manuscript.

       “You're about 7 hours behind. This is unacceptable. We're fortunate to still have the original records. You know very well that everything that is on those scrolls needs to be organized and classified into the main record.”

        Sister felt her head lower itself in shame. 

       “Look at your superior.”

        She quickly lifted it back up. Their "expression" had not changed. 

       “You need to keep up with the pace that's expected from you. We are in a constant state of war; there is no room for incompetence. If you can't do this simple task then how are you expecting to serve Heaven?” Even though they had asked a question, their tone rang monotonously inside her head. Almost as if Sister wasn't even worth angering themselves over.

       “Go back to work.” They put the main record scroll back on the table and then started making their way down the endless corridor of desks and busy angels quickly writing away at their own never ending scrolls. 

        Sister sat back down and sighed. Her angel "desk-mate" to her right side moved her chair a bit further away from her's, almost as if she was trying to add salt to injury. On her left; Brother, who had witnessed the scene so many times he had long stopped reacting to it. He just kept writing away, skillfully unrolling multiple scrolls at once to find the needed information. Every once in a while he pulled a bit more of the long scroll from its compartment, a large box attached right to the front of the common desk, giving himself an even more endless scroll for him to write on.

        Sister looked down at her desk, pushing back the already written part of the main record into its own compartment under the table until she undid the superior's meddling. More fresh paper. Not that it ever ran out.

        Another angel placed a new scroll on her desk. She did the same for everyone, quietly making their way down the rows of desks. Everyone but her got around three scrolls. She received only one.

        So obviously word of her incompetence had gotten out to the distribution angels as well, not just her higher ups.

        She sighed. 

        She grabbed one of the scrolls she had been working on before off her desk and started reading it.

       “Angelic Unit of Medium Action 507-122 comprised of 3 Angels supervised by Archangel $%#* reports its following findings:

        Performed check-up of demonic forces in the quadrant A-357-099 of the continent of the Southern Americas. Upon closer inspection 3 demons have been found. Supposed to be Tier V and two of Tier VI. The demon of the lower tier has been eliminated by the Archangel. 

        Backup units are being requested. Archangel has stated the need for at least 2 more angels. Requesting permission to continue the pursuit and eradication of the remaining Tier VI demons by the Angelic Unit.

        Report finished.”

        Below was the reply from Heaven.

       “We have successfully received the report provided by the Angelic Unit of Medium Level Action 507-122 supervised by Archangel $%#*. 

        From what We have gathered, more troops would be considered adequate for the situation given. They will be sent out to the given location and should arrive by the time this message reaches the unit.

        Considering the fact that the demonic presence was of a high specific threat, We ask that updates be sent regularly about the developments that may occur.

        We demand reports of the situation at the end of each day. The operation will continue until all demonic forces are annihilated.

        End of response.”

        The scroll continued on. The demons were found and killed but an angel was injured. Archangel was requested to be transferred to another unit. More demons were found in the same area. Different Archangels were assigned to the group. Gained a couple extra angels too.

        By the time the report had finished, Sister had already unrolled a good couple meters of paper. It wasn't unusual for reports to get this wordy, as units typically just kept spotting more and more demons or anomalies.

        And since Heaven was so thorough…

        She picked up her pen and started jotting down on the main scroll.

       “Unit: Medium Level Action 507-122.

        Supervisor's presence: Affirmative

        Supervisor : Archangel $%#*

        Involvement of angles of a second rank or higher: Negative…”

        .....

        She felt her mind starting to drift away again. She tried to focus her brain back on the information but it all just mushed together inside her head. Sister couldn't help but wonder why on earth she had to note down every little detail and either affirm or deny it. 

        She looked at Brother again. His focus and attention to detail was mesmerizing, his fingers expertly writing with such speed that he made it seem like he was merely gliding his hands across the paper. For a second she wished to have even half of his writing abilities. Even so, she returned to her work.

       “Sister?”

        She looked to her left. Even though it was his voice, Brother wasn't talking to her. He was still diligently writing away.

       “Is everything alright? I got a response from Heaven.” His voice rang inside her head again, his form not moving.

        Rin quickly realised that she was still “sleeping” and for whatever reason her brain decided to give her one of her bureaucracy related mishaps to chew on. Like her current predicament wasn't bad enough.

       “S-Sorry. Give me a second.” She mumbled.

        She materialized her angel form and opened her eyes. She was laying on her abdomen on the soft “ground” of the abstract plane, with Brother looming over her, a scroll open in his hands. He looked a bit worried.

       “The reply from Heaven came. Let me read it to you.”

        Rin wanted to let out a groan, but she stopped herself. No matter where she went, "dream" realm or not, the Heaven reports seemed to follow.

       “We have received the…” Rin let out a quiet yawn. She would've definitely rested for a little longer if she could. She resented how her resting moments had been wasted on reliving unpleasant memories. Absentmindedly, she fluttered her wings as she was laying on the ground. waiting for Brother to get to the more interesting part of the report.

       “...Since the demonic presence was of a lower specified threat…” Rin almost let out a gasp. So Brother was still cataloguing the clearly Tier V demons as Tier IVs? He really had no faith in her abilities. Which was bad because she really wanted those extra 2 weeks to spend with Miku. She sighed.

       “...Extra units will not be sent out. However, because of the reported increased demonic activity around the perimeter of the original's mission location, We heavily encourage that the surrounding area be checked as well. 

        We have decided that the radius of action be increased to 4 kms (2.48 mi) around the pre existing zone. Splitting up as to cover more land is suggested, although it is recommended that an angel be present at the grounds 0 of the operation at all times…”

        Rin could feel herself burst with excitement at hearing the news. Obviously Brother wasn't going to want to take the human school, since he hated the human proximity and noise and he would want to search the city more, since he could do his job mid-air as well. But Rin couldn't help but wonder why Heaven didn't send out more angels to aid them. Was it because Brother had reported the demons as being not very dangerous? 

       “... Because of the enlarged perimeter of action and the decision to not send extra units to help, the time of the mission will be extended to a week. If no demon activity is reported during this week then the mission will be declared complete and successful.” Brother finished.

        A week. For a Tier IV demon? Rin didn't quite get it; she had obviously read about similar situations in her century of doing paperwork, but protocol usually demanded that the unit receive extra members to finish the job quicker, not just an absurd amount of time.

       “That's….good but why do you think that they're not sending anyone out to help?” Rin asked. “Isn't it a bit weird to cover that much land just to deal with some Tier IVs?

        Brother looked a bit taken aback by the question, almost as if questioning a heavenly order was outside of his mental capabilities. 

       “Well. I suppose usually it would make sense to send more units to get it over with fairly quickly but…” He drifted off. “I think Heaven is going through another low point again, and they don't have many angels on hand.”

        Rin twisted her head. “Why do you think that?”

       “This scroll took more than a day to come back. Usually this only happens if the staff is overworked. Which obviously happens when the war gets particularly bad; they don't reply immediately to non urgent matters.” Brother looked a bit worried as he recounted basic information Rin already knew. He hurriedly let the scroll disappear into thin air as he stared at Sister. It was common for Heaven to struggle sometimes, and Rin had lived through plenty of times of "bureaucratical overwork", but it still seemed to trouble Brother.

        Rin shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. According to what he had said earlier, she had slept for about a day. But she was still so tired, like that dream had sucked some of her lifeforce again. She finally got up on her legs to face Brother.

       “I propose that I take the human school and you the perimeter.” He said with a serious tone.

        Rin really hadn't expected that.

       “But…I thought you didn't like the school?” Feeling the need to make herself sound less disappointed, she quickly added: “Maybe a change would be good but…I wouldn't want to make life harder for you like that.”

        Brother raised an eyebrow. “It's true that the city was much more pleasant to check than the school. But I don't think it's fair that you do all the heavy lifting. Obviously the highest demonic presence is in the human school.”

        Rin felt herself grow slightly desperate.  “I think that it's best that we do the task we are best fit for, for maximum efficiency. You know I get easily distracted with the city, last time I didn't even find the school! It's better if I have a closed off place to check, I think it's harder for me to get lost like that.”

        She gulped. This was getting stressful. She was so close to seeing Miku again, and yet Brother was making it difficult.

        He stared at her. 

       “I don't like it that you've been ambushed two times by demons. Obviously you've dealt with the threat remarkably well but you appear to be quite tired. I wouldn't want you over exerting yourself. “ Even though his tone was slightly cold, she could feel a smidge of care in it.

        She looked back at him, intensely. “I've been doing so well in the school, I don't want to mess it up with the city.”

       “You won't mess it up.”

        She felt herself grow even more desperate. “Brother…Please! All my life I've been so bad at this but now I'm finally doing something!” This wasn't completely untrue. “Please, I just wanna serve Heaven!” This, probably was. At least in some part.

        Surprised by her sudden emotional intensity, Brother backed down. “Alright, alright! I see that you're very…dedicated.” He looked at her suspiciously. 

        Rin couldn't contain herself and grabbed him by his shoulders, which surprised him greatly. “I just want this mission to go well. You're so good at scouting, I didn't even feel any demonic presence as I was flying around in the city. If anything, I'm just a  big demon magnet.” She pouted.

        Brother quickly brushed her hands off of him. 

       “Don't say that, you did very well, Sister.” She could feel him give her gave her a rarely seen smile. “I'm sure the mission will continue to go well.”

        Silence fell between them. Rin almost couldn't believe that she had managed to sway him. If she weren't right in front of him, she would have definitely started zooming around in excitement. 

       “So..”

       “Ah..Yes! We should get going, right?”

        Brother nodded. 

       “A day has already passed. We really shouldn't waste more time.”

        Rin couldn't disagree with that. Her tiredness seem to mysteriously vanish as she thought about seeing Miku again.

Chapter Text

        They were under the tree in the school yard again, not in their human forms yet. Brother was meticulously describing his scouting plan to her, as he usually did. Truth is Rin wasn't following much of it, as she was busy thinking of what clothes to materialize her form with. It was proving quite challenging because she had never really paid much attention to human clothing. She had Miku's ridiculous shoe idea down, but when she tried to think of anything else all she could come up with were vague ideas rather than well defined pieces of clothing.

        She did remember a type of short pants she had seen on a woman she interrogated once pretty well.They were short and tight to her body, with a cute leather strap holding them at her waist. Rin thought that they'd be a nice change from the loose skirt. She also remembered seeing a variety of hats, as she was usually flying above humans. But she didn't recall seeing any school-humans wear hats, so maybe teenagers didnt like doing it. Or it was somehow forbidden to wear in the school. 

        This is where Brother interrupted her thoughts. 

       “Sister?” 

       “Ah! Sorry…I was listening!” She looked at him apologetically.

        He stared back at her with a mix of disappointment and tiredness.

       “What you need to remember is to call for me whenever you feel something going wrong; if you wait for the demon to show itself  there's a chance it will attack you before you can tell me.” He said with his somewhat usual high and mighty tone. Nothing in the code spoke of such a measure, but it seemed like Brother was very eager to get on the demon action alongside Sister.

        She nodded.

       “I will be scouting the city, if I find anything odd I will make sure to call you.” 

        She nodded again, much like a child.

       “So you understand?” He looked at her, seeming slightly confused. Brother knew what nodding meant, but protocol instructed that all angel communication happen as verbally as possibly, to avoid misunderstandings. And while Sister did occasionally use….other parts of herself to communicate to him, she seemed weirdly not talkative today.

       “Oh…Yeah, affirmative!” She chirped.

        At least she didn't seem too tired.

        Brother quickly got off his feet, and started fluttering his wings.

       “Good…I'll get going now.” He said, hovering above the ground. “Remember what we talked about, you-”

       “Oh yes yes!” Sister had the impulse to wave at him but stopped herself last second. “I remember, have no worries!”

        Brother flew away, far beyond her field of vision. 

        She let out a sigh of relief and then squealed to herself. Rin then started sprinting towards the school, trying her hardest not to trip on the uneven, bumpy lawn.

~~~~~~~~

        Rin entered the highschool wearing what could only be described as a not very school appropriate outfit. She had very long, knee high black shoes for a start. Coupled with a pair of tight grey shorts, she was really rocking an outfit that would make Teto blush.

        Her t-shirt was the same as before, plain white and not too form fitting, seeming a little bit out of place when compared to the other articles of clothing. The orange charm bracelet dangled on her arm as she skipped along the empty hallways of the school. She felt large quantities of human heat emanating from the other side of the walls.

       “Ohh…Right, It's probably class time now.” She pouted, as she looked around the corridor. There were so many details she hadn't noticed before now: decorated lockers, posters, human garbage on the ground. The walls were of a matte, yellowish white colour with no accents to them. The floor was of a sad blue, clearly weathered by all the years of getting stomped on by various people.

        She stopped next to some lockers, and looked around. A big human disk, mounted right on the wall, told her the time with its monotonous ticks. She correctly deduced that it was counting seconds, which meant the characters on it probably told her how many had already passed. Characters which she could not read. The short needle of the clock was pointing to the fourth character on the clock…or was it the third? Where exactly was she supposed to start counting from if the characters were arranged in a circular fashion?

        She sighed. So she had to wait for the humans to leave their classrooms to find Miku.

       “Oh well, I've done so many years of paperwork! I'm sure a couple minutes spent here will go by in no time!” She said out loud, with a hint of overconfidence. 

        She let her back rest against the wall. It was cold, with an unpleasant rough texture. Rin had noticed that man made constructions were regularly unpleasant, cold and unmoving. Contrasted to nature or humans themselves, which was squishy, very varied and warm.

        Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

        The monotone sound both comforted and annoyed her. She closed her eyes. Humans really liked counting time. Which made sense, their time on earth was so limited. Not even reaching a century, it seemed so very limited to her. Of course with an existence this short, and this fragile, you'd want to make every second count. 

        If humans lived so little, why was Heaven so indifferent to them? Wasn't it cruel to let creatures this vulnerable die, just for the sake of killing a few more demons? She remembered Brother's reaction, when she told him that no humans had been hurt in her first demon fight. Uncaring, almost scolding her for even daring to think about it. 

        She felt herself become slightly emotional. Sure, maybe humans didn't matter in the grand scheme of the war between Heaven and Hell, but why was everything in the universe about that? Why couldn't some angels be tasked with protecting humans, not just studying them from afar at best?

        That should've been the job of Principalities. They were the only rank allowed to access all the knowledge known about humans. Even so, very little of the Principalities actually worked with humans,  keeping track of big chunks of humanity, like countries. The rest were either supervisors for Units or for Heaven's other workers. She shuddered. She remembered her earlier “sleep” memory, the Principality berating her for the shoddy work. She couldn't really differentiate between all the times she had been scolded.

        She sighed, and started playing with her bracelet, flipping its charms around with her other hand. 

        During her instruction, when she had first heard of the angelic ranks, she dreamed of becoming a Principality. She dreamed of working with humans, even though she never quite understood in which manner Principalities actually did human on angel stuff. But becoming a Principality meant centuries or millennia of flawless hard work; and even then only the best of the best were considered for the promotion.

        But she was definitely the type to remain a simple angel, the lowest rank, forever. Not to mention she had never even been good at that either.

        Her face began to heat up again. Thinking about Heaven made her remember the current predicament she was in.

        Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

        She sighed and looked at the clock again. One of its needles had moved, but not by much. It was weird to think of time as something that you waited eagerly to pass, rather than just a measurement for how much work you've done. 

        Tick. Tock.

        The sound was definitely starting to grind her gears. She had to find Miku, and give herself a little excuse to no longer think about the system she was currently spitting in the face of.

       “Oh, right.” The angel mumbled. She hadn't checked for demonic energy at all. She closed her eyes, and tried very hard to look for it. Nothing. She tried even harder, feeling her senses cover almost half of the building. Nothing above her, nothing to be felt. Maybe the other part of the building would've been worth checking too, but she didn't feel like doing it. She remembered what Teto said, that demons weren't really a common occurrence in the school and while she wasn't eager to believe her, she had to admit that the demon hadn't really seemed to lie to her.

        She started aimlessly walking around the hallway, until she noticed that all the doors had a little window on them. Rin quickly peeked inside one classroom. Lots of teens were sitting down at small desks, looking at the teacher who was writing on a big white board of sorts. She hurriedly looked at all that she could see, but couldn't spot Miku. 

       She dissipated her form and went through the door. She got a good look at the back of the class too, but Miku wasn't there either.

        She phased through the back wall and ended up in another classroom. Similar scene. No Miku.

        Rin did this a couple more times, until she had checked all the classes in the corridor. 

        “Hm…Where could she be? Maybe upstairs?” She said to herself, petting one of her wings.

        She let herself float upwards, like an underwater air bubble making its way towards the surface. 

        Another hallway, very similar to the first one. She looked through the window of the closest class to her. Miku was right there, in one of the first seats. 

        She felt overjoyed as she frantically started waving to her friend, which Miku obviously did not notice. 

        “But I thought she could see me like this?” She pouted. Rin took her physical form again, and resumed her frantic waving. This time, one of the teens did actually notice her, staring back at her in confusion. Rin awkwardly pointed towards Miku, but her friend's classmate didn't seem to get what she wanted to say.

        Another student also stopped writing, awkwardly looking at her, which finally seemed to register to Miku. Her gaze met Rin's, her eyes widening in surprise.

        She quickly raised her hand and asked the teacher something, then she hurriedly left her desk and came towards the door.

        Before Rin could say anything, Miku quickly closed the door behind them, then dragged Rin away from her classroom, and in front of some lockers.

       “You came back!” Miku said, with a quiet yet excited tone. “You didn't show up yesterday and I thought…” She drifted off.

       “Oh, don't worry I was just resting!” Rin said in her usual, loud tone of voice. She was quickly shushed by Miku.

       “Don't be so loud! I'm supposed to be taking a bathroom break right now. My teachers gonna hear you.”

       “Sorry…When is your class over?” 

        Miku looked around her, searching for a clock. Her gaze found a near identical one to the clock downstairs. 

       “Like 30 minutes. It barely started.”

        Rin felt herself deflate. Suddenly, 30 minutes felt like forever. 

       “And how long can you stay after you need to go to another class?”

       “Well it's the lunch break so it's gonna be around an hour.” 

        Rin felt the energy coming back to her body. “Oh that's good!” She said, before she realised that she was being too loud again. “Sorry…” She looked away with a guilty expression, cutely twiddling her thumbs. 

       “But couldn't you see me earlier, when I was first waving? I thought you didn't need to see my human form now.” She continued. 

        Miku looked a bit surprised. “Oh so it wasn't just some light flickering! I did see something in the corner of my eye, but I was very focused on my work so I kind of dismissed it until the other kids started whispering about it. Sorry” 

        Miku let out a quiet giggle and looked the angel up and down.

       “But like, woah, no way! You really got those shoes, ha ha!” She took a step back to get a better look at her outfit. “Those shorts are nice too, really makes the boots stand out.”

        Rin giggled, doing a little twirl. “I like it too, it feels very…different!”

       “Oh it sure is, but if you wanna keep on walking around here you definitely need to cover up.” Miku said with a sad sigh.

       “Why?”

       “The school has a pretty strict dress code. And you're definitely breaking it like so bad right now…” 

       “Ohh…” Rin didn't really know what to say. She had no idea why her outfit could be considered bad. 

       “Well why? And what's gonna happen to me? I don't study here, I don't think they can do anything.” 

        Miku shrugged. 

       “I think it's better to just pretend you're a student here though, if you just tell people that you're some rando you'll probably get kicked out.”

        Rin didn't really understand why she wasn't allowed in the school and why Miku was making such a big fuss over it.

       “But it's still so cool!” Miku said with admiration in her voice. She came closer to Rin, and bent down to get a better look at her shoes. Rin had never seen the top of Miku's hair before. She noticed that the beginning of her hair was a different colour than the rest, a way more natural brown.

       “Why is some of your hair brown?” Rin said, struggling not to touch her scalp. 

       “Huh? Oh, I don't remember if I told you but my hair is this colour because I dye it, and when it grows it obviously grows back brown, not teal.” She said, self consciously touching the top of her head. She stood up again, looking down at Rin, who seemed amazed to have finally found the secret behind the human's odd hair.

        She chuckled. 

       “Well I for one I'm glad that you're so short if it means I can be a bit sloppy with my dye work.” She said with a snort.

       “I'm short?” Rin said, confused. She had never thought of herself as human and as such she didn't really spend time thinking about her height. Especially since she could change it at will too. 

       “Well I am above average…” Miku said with a smile. “But you're definitely short, I mean I'd be surprised if you made it over 155 (5.1ft) !” 

       “And how tall are you?”

       “Like 167 (5.5 ft) ? I haven't checked in a while.”

       “But when ...In Heaven they told us this is the average height for humans! I took it because it's important not to look very out of the ordinary, that's protocol. “

        Miku laughed.

       “Man, maybe 100 years ago. Or in some other country.”

        Rin thought about it really hard. Protocol on human forms almost never changed, and she remembered Brother reciting the height and weight limits not too long before starting the human highschool mission. So either he had forgotten something or the records hadn't been updated in a long time.

       “Well…Don't take it the wrong way, it's not that I mind. And obviously short people exist. But some people will definitely baby you, or not take you seriously.”

        Rin looked at Miku again, intensely. “Why?”

        The human shrugged. “I dunno, people do that kinda stuff. Guess it makes you look a bit childish and all, with the big eyes too?”

        Rin gasped again.

       “My eyes are big? But-”

        Miku interrupted her with another shush 

       “They're not, like, unbelievably big but they're definitely… noticeable.” She said looking away, flustered. 

       “Will humans pick on me for that too?” The angel said, feeling discouraged.  

       “No, no. People don't really pick on your eyes, I mean I guess they can but big, blue eyes are like the beauty standard I'm pretty sure.” She looked back at Rin.

        Rin felt herself becoming more and more confused.

       “So wait, do I look odd to humans or not?”

       “Oh definitely not. Sorry if the height comment made it seem that way. I think you look very…” Miku stopped herself. “...nice.”

        Rin felt unreasonably bothered by Miku's pause. 

       “Just nice? Or did you mean to say something else…” She pouted, then let out a short sigh. “I'm not good at this human stuff, you'll have to help me fix my appearance.”

        Miku became warmer as she started frantically looking for her words. “Well no I didn't mean to insult! You really look , like, really good. I wouldn't doubt that you were human one bit!” 

        Rin looked away from Miku and then back at her. She started playing with one of her hair strands.

       “My form needs to attract the least attention, but look human. It needs to also be appealing so humans are inclined to help me out if I need it.”

       “Well obviously it works because I dragged you away from that bully a couple days ago.” Miku said cheekily. “But if you're trying to lay low then those boots are not really doing it.” She let out a giggle.

        Rin looked down at her feet.

       “I guess I can ignore that part then.”

        She let her back rest on a locker with a small thud.

        Miku followed suit.

        “But really, if you want me to look like anything…” She started playing with her bracelet again. “You know I can do it, right?”

        Miku looked at her with a confused expression. “Why would I want that? You look great as is.”

        Rin shrugged. “Maybe you like… other features more. I don't really care what I look like, it's fun to exercise the whole changing form thing.” She shuffled her feet.

        Miku looked at her dumbfounded, her face warm.

       “Well uh…obviously I'll be your friend no matter what you look like. But it's really cool that you can shapeshift. Can you change your voice too?”

        Rin nodded. “Yeah, I can change anything. I can be a male too.”

        The human cringed. “Oh that's so weird to think about. You're , like, so girly.” She let out a chuckle. 

       “Girly?” 

        Before Rin could ask more about what Miku had meant, a loud voice interrupted them, echoing around the hallway.

       “Hatsune! What are you doing here? You should be in class!”

        Rin suddenly jerked her head around. A female teacher was rapidly approaching Miku, from the opposite end of the hallway. Her loud, tall shoes made a repetitive, loud sound against the floor, which Rin was angry at herself for not noticing earlier.

        The teacher came up to Miku, and looked her up and down. 

       “I…” Miku started talking, but was swiftly interrupted. 

       “Nuh uh!” The teacher looked at her angrily. “I didn't expect this from you! To be hanging out with such a…”

        She glanced over to Rin, who was looking at her in a pretty relaxed fashion, still resting on the locker.

       “....delinquent! What's your name, young lady?”

       “Rin.” She said with a smile, seemingly not fully grasping the gravity of the situation. 

       “Oh, so you think this is funny? What's with those ridiculous shoes? And the shorts? Do you think this is some sort of…night club?”

        Before Rin could ask what a night club is, the teacher started talking again, in the same loud tone of voice. 

       “Detention for both of you! No lunch break! Come with me now!”

        Miku sighed as she started walking behind the teacher. Rin quickly followed suit, her footsteps blending with the sound of the teacher's loud shoes. While she didn't really intimidate her, Rin could see that she obviously had power over Miku. The thought of creating problems for her friend made her upset, much more than the idea of “detention”.

       “I'm sorry if I got you into trou-” She suddenly spoke in a normal tone of voice. 

       “No talking!” The teacher barked at Rin, as she twisted her head around to glare at her menacingly.

       “Don't worry.” Miku whispered back after the turned her attention away from Rin. “This one's on me, I should've kept better track of time.” She gave Rin a defeated smile.

        Rin sighed and Miku gave Rin a small pat on the back as they kept following the teacher.

Chapter Text

     “Wait here.” The female teacher pointed towards a couple of uncomfortable looking plastic chairs neatly arranged right next to a big, old looking door decorated with posters. Two female teens were already seated next to one another, leaving 3 empty seats for Rin and Miku to choose from. They were whispering and giggling non stop.

        Miku sat down at the very end of the row, closest to the door and Rin right beside her. 

        The teacher was agitated, looking through her pockets and bags for something. It was at this time that Rin had actually stopped to take a good look at her. She had a short haircut, both her hair and eyes brown while her complexion was still about as light as Miku's. She wore a darker red suit which was pretty tight to her body, with white and black accents. It seemed to Rin that the adults didn't seem to share the same dress code as Miku and the other teens.

       “Ugh! Wait here, I forgot my keys in my office.”

        She quickly gave the other chattering teens a look, and asked “What are you girls here for?”

        One of them answered. “Oh we're waiting for the principal, he…”

        Before she could finish her sentence, the woman dismissively waved her hand for her to stop and then started walking back from the corridor she came on, her shoes’ loud clacks becoming less and less defined as she got further away.

        The girls went back to chatting. If Rin would've paid attention to them, she would have definitely been able to tell what they were talking about. But she was much more focused on the giant wooden board in front of her, full of fliers and meticulously scribbled papers. It seemed that humans also loved paperwork, much like angels. 

        The light flickered, making the already small corridor seem even more claustrophobic. It seemed that with the exception of “detention”, people didn't really seem to come to the lowest level of the school. 

        Miku spoke, whispering: “That's Meiko, she's the vice principal. She hands out detention like she gets paid for it…”

        The other girls started laughing loudly, which made Rin look at them. They were both snickering: clearly they had been looking at her for quite a while.

        “...And those shoes…God! What was she thinking..!”

        Rin decided to ignore the conversation, although she felt a great desire to interject and explain her motives for wearing the clothes she did. It seemed that Miku was right, the other humans really did take notice of her shoes and were judging her for it.

        She felt Miku lean in closer to her, almost as if she was trying to shield herself from the gaze of the other girls. Rin got the message and tried to puff herself out a little bit, but her small size didn't really cover much of the taller girl.

       “What's detention anyway?” Rin asked after a while of silence.

        Miku shrugged. “Eh you know, just kind of sitting in an empty classroom with the teacher. You're not allowed to talk to anyone or do anything. It's just kind of boring.”

        Rin couldn't really understand why that kind of punishment would be necessary. 

       “So why would you need time in a room with nothing to do?”

        Miku shrugged again, playing with a strand of her hair. 

      “Dunno…They want you to think of what you've done and you know…If they make it really boring you won't wanna do it again.” She started splitting her hair into more strands and then waving them in between one another.

        Her hands seemed to put Rin under a trance. Her long nimble fingers moving fast and with precision, the motions of her fingers lifting certain bones from under her skin; humans looked eternally complex to her.

        One of the teens busted out in laughter again, which made Miku shrivel up in her seat.

       “What are you doing?” Rin whispered again, leaning even closer to look at her hand. 

        Mikus face warmed up again as she let go of her hair. 

       “Braiding my hair.”

       “Why?”

        Miku took a deep sigh. 

       “I don't know, it just feels good.” She seemed slightly ticked off by Rin.

       The angel gently grabbed her by her upper arm. 

       “I'm so sorry that I got us in this! I never meant to!” Her voice finally above a whisper. “I swear I won't do it again.”

        The laughing between the other two girls resumed again, louder.

        Rin had to stop herself from looking back at them.

       “It's fine, Rin. I mean it.” Miku looked out at the corridor, almost like she was waiting for Meiko to come back. She also scootched further away from Rin, making the angel let her arm go.

        Rin felt truly rejected. It was clear that Miku wasn't in a talkative mood, and she definitely thought it was her fault for it. She slouched in her chair, still looking over at Miku, who was facing away from her, now toying with her bracelets.

        Without meaning to, her “brain” started listening to the other girls' whispers. 

       “I mean, and 7th grade! Like wow that was literally such a new low. Remember that one time some girl asked her out and she actually fell for it?” The girl let out a loud cackle.

        The other replied: “Girl, that was like so…! How do you even fall for that?”

       “Riiight?” 

       “She's like such a lesbo it's unreal. God, at least if she dressed good.”

        They both laughed again.

       “Hey at least she's not like her little friend…You seriously don't know who she is?”

       “I've genuinely neverrr seen her before!”

        One of them took a little peek at Rin, who was pretending to play with her bracelet.

       “I bet it's like… her lesbo girlfriend that she snuck in. Although I think that's giving her waaayy too much credit.” They were getting increasingly louder, to the point where Rin was sure that Miku could hear them. She glanced back at her, Miku was cuddled up in her chair, still playing with her bracelets with her back at both Rin and the other girls. She was warm, and Rin noticed that her heartbeat was quite fast. The lightbulb was buzzing, the other girls’ minute movements starting to create a whole new cacophony of sounds as well. 

       “Ugh…” She rubbed her temples. Rin had messed up her sense of hearing and was now hearing…everything. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the cold wall, trying to “recalibrate” it. In Heaven everything was almost soundless, even the papers she spent her entire lifetime hurriedly shuffling around barely making any noise. But the earth was full of sounds, and it wasn't uncommon for angels to become confused and forget what noise level they should limit themselves to perceiving.

        The laughs were causing her to lose focus, as they seemed impossibly loud in her state.

        She opened her eyes and looked at the girls, and while they didn't immediately notice one of them did stop talking when she met her gaze. 

        Rin just stared at her. Heaven had taught her that humans took staring as offensive, as most animals did, and she was trying to see if that were true. She furrowed her brows a bit for an added serious effect.

        Both of the girls stared back at her, before they awkwardly broke off the stare off. They went back to quiet whispering.

       “What was that?”

       "I got no idea, she's so weird.”

        One of them pulled out her phone, starting to swipe away at its glass. The other girl look curiously, occasionally pointing at the device and snickering.

        Rin looked back at Miku who was still stuck in the same position. 

        So obviously what the girls had said was hurtful, and Miku had likely heard them. While she wasn't sure how much exactly, Rin did feel like their words were the main cause of her upset state. She had to admit that she didn't really understand most of the conversation, but she could definitely perceive its mean tone. It was clearly about Miku and her in some part, and while she personally didn't mind the weird comments she had to admit that the sections about Miku seemed much more mean-spirited and personal. 

        Something about asking out. Something about how the human dressed. Something about a “lesbo”.  

        Rin had never heard the word before, nor did she think that she had any chance of deducing it on her own. She thought about asking Miku, but she was still looking quite upset.

        The sound of Meiko's shoes finally came back.

        Rin leaned closer to Miku and whispered.

       “She's coming back.  I can hear her loud shoes.”

        Miku finally let her bracelets go as she chuckled. “You mean heels?” She looked back at Rin, and to the angels her eyes suddenly seemed different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. 

       “Heels. Yeah.” Rin looked away. 

        Meiko popped out of the end of the corridor, hurriedly making her way to the girls, keys dangling in her hands. 

       “Oh yeah, here she comes.” Miku said in a tired tone as she straightened her posture on the seat.

        Meiko had a pretty angry expression on her face, this time solely fixated on Rin. She finally stopped in front of the door and unlocked it. She let the door open wide. Miku walked in but before Rin could follow suit, Meiko placed her arm in front of her.

       “You. Are you sure you learn here?” Her expression looked serious. 

        Rin glanced over at Miku, who was looking at her terrified from inside the classroom.

        “Uhh…Yes…?” Rin wasn't really sure what to say. She remembered what Miku had told her; to pretend that she did. 

        “Really? What classes did you have today?”

        Rin felt Mikus' gaze burn a hole on the side of her neck.

       “Uh…Mathematics…”

        Rin could hear Miku slap her face with a groan behind her. 

        Meiko raised an eyebrow, seemingly almost amused.

       “Really? Who is your teacher?” 

        Before Rin could even think about the question, someone dragged her away suddenly and placed themselves in between her and Meiko.

       “Woah there Meikoo! Relaaax, she's one of my girls!” It was Teto, who had seemingly been in the classroom this entire time. The thought made Rin sick to her stomach. 

       “Oh that much I can see.” Meiko replied, annoyed. “But she's definitely not from this school!”

        Teto turned her head around to look at Rin. She smirked.

       "Look at this blondie, you'll love it.” She turned her attention back to Meiko who was looking more and more enraged by the second. 

        The demon suddenly snapped her fingers and Meiko's expression went blank. She hurriedly dragged her from the door frame, and closed the door. Meiko looked almost like she was lifeless, barely being able to wobble around on her own two feet. Teto sat her down on the nearest chair as she cackled.

        Rin felt herself stiffen and her body prepare itself for combat. She looked for Miku, who was still in the middle of the classroom, looking shocked. She hurriedly made her way to the angel and stood behind her.

        Teto pet Meiko's head in a childish manner, slightly messing up her bob. She looked back at Rin, who seemed less than amused about the situation. 

       “Or okay, maybe you won't!” She scoffed. “But look, if you wanna live among humans you gotta learn to pull some strings!” She said, resting her elbow on the top of the woman's head. “Forging a whole damn identity takes forever, so until then you gotta get by, ya get me?” 

        Rin finally spoke. “You…you cleared her mind?” 

       “Huh? Ah, no. She's just gonna do what I say now.”

       “But she looks like…a zombie?” Hatsune interjected behind Rin, her voice fearful.

       “Hmmm…Kind of. But don't worry she'll snap back.” Teto said with a cheerful tone, from which a smidge of sadism could be felt.

       “This is so wrong,” The situation was finally starting to sink in for Rin. This was a human who had their autonomy taken away by Teto. “You need to let her be normal again!” She started walking towards the demon.

       “So she'll hurry up and kick you out of here? I'm doing you a service goldilocks! Look, it's really not that deep, I'll just tell her to think that you're a student here and she won't cause you any more trouble!” Teto rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Angels are so damn sensitive, even a little rebel like you still sees everything in black and white.” She scoffed.

        Before Rin could say anything else, Miku intervened, taking a step forward. “So…she'll do what you say now?”

        Teto nodded with a smug look on her face. “Yup, basic demon stuff. Not like angels can't do it either though.” She gave Rin a cheeky wink, which angered her even further. 

        She looked back at Meiko and snapped her fingers again. The woman's head slowly looked up to Teto as she slowly stood up. The demon pointed at Rin. 

       “This is….” Teto took a pause. “What's your name again?”

        Rin hesitated, but Miku answered for her. “Rin.”

       “Just Rin?” Teto said, annoyed.

        Miku looked at Rin. “Humans have two names. Their own and their family's. My family name is Hatsune.”

       “Ah…” Rin wasn't quite sure what to reply. She ran into the same problem as a couple days ago; she wasn't quite sure what name to pick.

       “Fine, whatever.” Teto sighed. “Meiko, this is Rin. She learns here. She's a student here. She shares classes with Miku Hatsune.  She's a new transfer. You will go now and look for her transfer papers. Come back later.” Teto finally finished her orders to Meiko.

        The vice principal did not immediately react, but it didn't take long for her to start walking towards the door. She left the room, closing the door behind her. The sound of her heels clacking against the floor slowly got fainter and fainter.   

        Teto pulled out her phone and mindlessly started walking towards her seat at the back of the glass. She sat down with a thump as she let out a “You're welcome!” in a mocking tone.

       “Wait. So she's just gonna be like… a mindless slave all day?” Miku finally asked, her tone confrontational.

       “What? Nah, not really. It kind of wears off pretty soon cause I didn't drill into her real hard. She'll go look for those papers and snap out of it eventually.” Teto said, still not lifting her gaze from the screen. “But she'll probably think blondie is a student now cause she'll vaguely remember looking for the papers so…” She tapped away at the screen. 

        Miku looked back at Rin. The angel wasn't quite sure what to say. Obviously she liked that the school predicament seemed to have been put to rest, but the idea of demonic mind control still didn't sit right with her. Miku sighed. 

       “I say we let it be.” She said as she got closer to Rin. “She's clearly done it before so…” The human drifted off. The angel decided to trust Miku's judgement. 

       “But who is going to watch us during detention?” Rin sheepishly asked.

        Teto laughed from her seat, hitting her desk with her fist.

       “Haah...! Oh wow, no way you just said that. You know she'll be back eventually though, right? Whatever, I'm just so glad you gave me an excuse to get her out of here, she hates it when I text.”

        Miku scoffed. 

       “Excuse? What excuse do you need?”

        Teto finally put her phone down, rolling her eyes.

       “I try to maintain a moral compass, thank you very much!”

       “But bullying is fine?” 

       “Oh not that type of moral compass more like…not over using my powers on humans. You know, it kind of takes the fun out of it.” She said with a smirk.

       “But why are you here if you could just leave?” Miku asked, with a hint of curiosity in her tone.

       “Huh? Didn't you hear? I try to play by human rules you know, makes the good parts all that much better. Plus, a guy of mine was also supposed to be here today but I guess he chose to ditch…”

       “But what are you guys in here foooorr?” She quickly added, with a shit eating grin. “I can see blondie came back to try out some new boots today. Sick fashion taste…Those would look so good in hot pink y'know…” The demon looked Rin up and down with an expression that Rin could only interpret as predatory. “But you Hatsune? Did they walk in on you smooching a-”

        Miku unexpectedly exploded. 

       “No! I was just out in the hallways during class! Why is everyone so on my back today? Urgh!” She stomped to the closest seat she could find and sat down furiously.   

        Teto giggled and went back to scrolling on her phone.

         Rin was still standing up. Even though she didn't know what to make of the situation, she decided to not let Teto make things worse by giving her more attention.

         She looked over at Miku, who was furiously tapping her fingers on the table. The vice principal issue could wait; her friend needed her more.

         She cautiously sat down at the desk closest to Miku, even dragging it a bit closer. The girl was looking somewhere off into the distance, not really paying attention.     

        The human's state reminded of her own just a day ago. Sad, confused. Definitely angry. She sighed, Rin wasn't quite sure what to do to help her friend. She tried to think about what Miku had done. Talking, mostly. Just Miku talking had been enough, even if it had been a very long talk.

        But she wasn't quite sure what the problem was, or how to ask about it, especially since it seemed very sensitive.

        She looked around herself, seemingly looking for answers. The classroom was mostly empty and not particularly tidy. Even though the windows let inside a nice light, most of them were covered by blinds, the main light source coming from the weak ceiling light bulbs.

        The big desk in front of the whiteboard was full of other files and papers, which she assumed belonged to Meiko.

        She looked down at her own desk, which was scribbled with different doodles and inscriptions. She ran her hands over them, their texture rough, leaving small bits of sand and wood on her fingers. 

       “Hey, Miku. What does this say?” She leaned in closer to Miku, who was still looking pretty bummed out.

       “Huh? Ah, I forgot you can't read.” She said, and leaned in closer to Rin's desk. The human let out a little giggle. 

       “‘Fuck’” She had a small grin on her face. “It's a classic.”

       “Ah, that's a curse word right?” Rin asked, confused. She didn't really seem to get the joke. “Or why would someone write that on a desk?”

        “It's like slang for intercourse. Remember that taboo stuff I said? Taboo stuff can be funny.”

        Rin furrowed her brows. “But I thought taboo was the opposite? That it was uncomfortable?”

       “Hm…It really depends. It's an art you could say.” She gave Rin a sad little wink. Rin didn't really get what that was supposed to mean either.

       “Oof…Maybe I'd understand human stuff better if I could read and write…” She said, placing her head onto the desk, defeated.

       “Oh you know,” Miky suddenly seemed to perk up a little, “I could teach you the alphabet. It's not that hard and maybe you'll pick it up eventually.” 

        Rin lifted her head to look at her. “You think I can do that?”

        Miku shrugged with a smile. “We won't know till we try, won't we? Plus, you said you did angel paperwork, I'm sure this stuff is gonna be way easier.”

 She got up and went up to the big desk in front of the whiteboard, coming back with a piece of paper and a writing utensil, which she both  placed in front of Rin. The human paper seemed so small compared to the long scrolls she was used to.

       “This is a pen. Paper.” Miku said, as she started writing something down. “This is my name!” She started going over it letter by letter, pointing to the letters she was spelling out.

       “Eitch. Ey. Tee. Ess. You. An. Em. I.  Kay. You. Hatsune Miku!” 

        Rin wasn't really sure what to make of it. You? An? Kay? 

       “Uh…So what do these mean?” She said, scratching her head. 

       “What do you mean? It's just sounds.” 

       “Ah. Well, in my language every character means something…I guess it also has a reading too. Are you saying these are all sounds…Or is this just how names are?”

       “Oh no, it's all sounds! You read the sounds and you get the word from it. What you're describing sounds more like Chinese frankly.” 

        Rin had no idea what Chinese was. 

       “Maybe I started off too hard, this is the alphabet.” Miku quickly scribbled a lot of simple characters on the paper, in pairs. 

       “These are high case letters and these are lower case letters. Higher case letters are used for the beginning of sentences in writing or for names. Lower case letters for the rest of the stuff.” 

        She pointed to the first letter. “ 'Ey'. Like in…”

        Rin quickly added. “Like in ‘hey?’”

        Miku looked at her, confused. “Uh… maybe…'hay'…But I meant to say…” She quickly wrote something down.

        “Apple.  Ey, Pee, Pee, El, E.” 

        Rin shook her head, confused. “But when you say ‘apple’ you don't say ‘eypple’! So, do these characters have different readings? How do I know which is which?”

        Miku looked at her confused. “Oh…yeah some of them are read differently. It's pretty hard at first but you get used to it. Let me read the alphabet out to you."

       “Ey, Bee, See, Dee, E, Ef, Gee….” The human started reciting the sounds, in a certain rhythmic fashion. “You think you can remember some of these at least?”

        Rin nodded. She had done harder tasks. “Ey. Bee. See(...)Exs, Why, Zee.” 

        The human looked quite shocked. “Wow, that's really good! It usually takes kids quite a bit to learn their Abc's. You think you can read this word?”

        She wrote something down, beginning with one uppercase letter.

       “Ar. I. En. That's probably my name, right?” 

        The human nodded. “You think you can write it?”

        Rin had to admit that she hadn't paid too much attention to the human's stroke order when she had first written down the alphabet, but she tried copying the letters as best she could.

       “That’s so nice, it looks almost identical to my handwriting!” Miku stated in awe. I think you have great potential Rin. She gave the angel a little pat on the back. The angel felt proud, but still a bit confused. 

       “But I still don't really get all of those readings. Is there maybe another alphabet song: where Ey is Ah ? And Ar is like… the sound in Rin?”

       “Uh…” The human looked a bit confused again. “You just kinda learn them as you go I'm afraid. Maybe I could find you something online with all the sounds a letter can have.”

        Rin shrugged. “I could also just listen to a text and follow the words. It would take a lot but I'd definitely get the basic words down fast.”

        Miku laughed in disbelief. “You'd need like…superb visual memory for that! But it's definitely a good exercise…”

        Before Miku could continue her sentence, Rin once again picked up the pen and quickly wrote down, in the same font she had seen a few days ago:

       “Sharing is caring.” She said out loud. “Es, Eich, Ey, and here it actually sounds like it. Er, I, En, Gee, I, Ess, See, Ey, Ar, I, En, Gee.” She recited, using her pen to sound out each individual letter. 

        She looked at Miku who was staring at the paper in shock. “Okay.. Wow.. I could never remember a font that well. No one could, I mean.” 

        Rin felt herself blush a little bit. “Ah no…I'm actually not even that skilled with writing. I've always been so slow…” She tapped the pen against the paper.

       “Woah well if you're bad then… I don't even know!” She started scratching her head. “So you said you used to write with uh… angel characters? Can you show me some?”

        Rin wasn't quite sure if humans could register angelic characters but she gave it a try anyways.

        She wrote from right to left, the characters composed of simple yet very stacked together strokes of all kinds: loops, circles, squares and simple lines too, all connected which made it look a little like cursive. As such, angelic looked like actual scribbles to Miku.

        Rin pointed to the final word of the sentence. “Miku. This language has no simple sounds like your English, so for your name I took two characters that read like this and I united them together with this symbol.” She made a bigger copy of the aforementioned symbol. Miku tried looking for it in the initial sentence but failed as all the characters were too jumbled together for her to understand them.

       “There's a lot of “Mi” words, but I chose this one because it means kind and I…”

        Saying it out loud suddenly made Rin feel self conscious, her face blushing again. “Yeah…That's how my language looks like.”

        Miku let out a sigh, smiling. “That's so cool but it looks so complicated…No wonder your visual memory is so good. Oh, you'd be so good at drawing I think!” Miku grabbed the pen again and doodled something. It was a circle surrounded by other circles, from which stemmed a long line. The girl added an extra pointy circle to the line. 

        Rin mindlessly grabbed the pen herself and drew it too. “What does it represent?”

        Miku looked at her confused. “It's a flower!” 

        Rin tilted her head, looking up at Miku. “Which?”  

       “I don't know! Any flower!” She took the pen from Rin's hand, and drew another flower, this time with more petals. Then she drew a flower with a spiral center and spines on its leaves. 

        Rin drew a circle. She had never really seen flowers before, especially not up close, so she wasn't sure how to continue. Not wanting to just copy Miku's, she looked outside for inspiration. The blinds blocked her view of the trees, but she did find that the windows had a small shelf under them, with plenty of pots. While most of them seemed old and plant-less, one did have a flower, a weirdly shaped purple one, with long stalks and wide leaves. To Rin it looked almost alien, although she wasn't quite sure how most flowers looked like up close either.

        She drew it exactly as she saw it. It was a bit challenging at first to fit everything together. The pot proved to be quite difficult, as it had both leaves and roots covering most of it, but she still found it fun. How come in all her decades of holding a pen she had never thought of drawing?

       “Oh that's the orchid from the window ! How cute, you're so talented!” 

        Rin smiled. She absentmindedly drew a smaller, more simplified orchid next to the one she had just copied. Somehow, the simpler task proved more challenging. 

        The angel wrote under her drawing. 

       “O..r…” She wasn't quite sure what came next. 

       “See, Aytch, I , Dee.” Miku gently helped.

        Rin sighed. “I don't mean to be rude but your language is a joke.” She quickly completed the word. 

        Rin's complaint must've been too loud, because Teto started  suddenly laughing from the back of the class. They had both forgotten about her. “What are you two talking about? Man, that's so true though, English is such a bitch!” She cackled, going back to mindlessly using her phone.

        Miku looked back at her, annoyed. She went up to the big desk again, and took another piece of paper and another pen. She sat down and started doodling something, resting her head onto her left hand. She started with a circle again, so Rin thought she might draw another flower again, but she quickly followed with some different lines: a long one stemming from the circle and four smaller lines, each attached to the big line.

        She then gave the circle two dots and a curve. Then she added two long blobs starting from the same circle and going down. Rin wasn't quite sure what it represented. She looked at Miku, who was still looking down at the paper, her side profile gently contoured by the little light that did manage to slide through the blinds. Her figure looked relaxed, her eyebrows slightly raised as she doodled away. 

       “Haah..” Rin let out a sigh, which made Miku look at her.

        Embarrassed, Rin looked at the paper, which now had another similar drawing next to the initial one. Only this one was smaller and the lines around its circle were more like triangles. 

        Miku tapped the drawing with her pen, waiting for a reaction from Rin. Seeing her confused face, she added a couple more complex shapes to the second figure, made of ovals and…

       “Oh! Oh that's me! That's me with wings!” Rin jumped out of her seat, almost toppling her chair over. “So the other one is you, I see it now!”  She picked up the paper and looked at it more closely. The angel was fascinated by how quickly the drawing had turned from nonsense to a crude representation of her and Miku. It seemed that humans had a lot of pre established simplified drawings that they used with another. Rin was eager to see more.

       “Can you draw an animal?” Rin handed the paper back. “A human style animal!” She said with enthusiasm in her voice. She could faintly hear Teto groan in the background, which she ignored. 

       “Which animal?” Miku said, looking at her amused.

       “What? So…for the flower it doesn't matter what type but for the animals…I need to specify? Okay, draw a dog!”

        Miku quickly drew down a very crude dog, with uneven legs and small spots covering its body.

       “I can see it!” She clapped her hands together in enthusiasm. “Bird! Do I need to say which?”

        The human shook her head. She drew a simple stroke, which looked a lot like the letter V from the alphabet. Initially, Rin was a bit stumped. Miku looked up at her with a cheeky grin. 

       “Oh…These are faraway birds! That are flying! I get it, sometimes when I'm up high I see them too!” 

        Miku also proceeded to draw a more detailed bird, resting on a perch.

       “Hah…” Rin picked the paper up again, bringing it close to her face. She studied it more carefully than she had any angel manuscript before. There was an energy in the drawings that she couldn't really explain, the human power of taking something that existed and making it into something else, so different but that still made so much sense. The angel wondered if she could ever reach such a level of creativity. Some of it was clearly taught, but how much exactly?

        Miku giggled at the angel's childlike amazement. Rin sat down at her own desk and feverishly tried recreating Miku's drawings. She made another dog, with more spots. Then another one with none. Then a dog with bigger ears. Then a bird with a smaller head. More flying Vs. Another stickman which she gave squiggly hair and demon wings to.

        She lifted up her gaze from the paper, not sure of how much time had passed. Miku was playing with one of her bracelets again, clearly lost in thought. While she looked less sad, it did seem that the problem from earlier was still bothering her.

        In her slightly erratic state, Rin finally decided to put her worries aside and talk to Miku about it. 

       “You look a bit upset.” She said with a careful tone.

        Miku looked at her, surprised. 

       “It's about those hallway girls right? You said…you didn't mind the detention..” Rin asked with a worried look on her face.

       “No I don't…I mean it's not ideal but…” She awkwardly scratched her arm, talking very softly. “You're right, they're the main reason I'm , like, so messed up. I guess they reminded me of some bad stuff.” 

        Rin nodded. “I understood that they were bad mouthing you but I really didn't get what exactly they were saying.” She tried her best at being gentle.

        Miku's face became even sadder. “It's just bully stuff…I get it a lot sometimes.” Her gaze broke off from Rin's. She towards the back of the class, where Teto was. She was still seemingly not paying attention. 

       “Oh, whatever. Not like she doesn't know.” Miku hung her head and started messing with her bangs. After a short while she started whispering.

       “So…A while back…Like a couple years ago I got outed and…Sometimes people pick on me for it. It used to be, like, way worse, but now I just kinda stay away from most people honestly so…even if they talk about me I don't really hear about it.” She looked up at Rin as if she had just confessed something horrible, her gray eyes seemingly looking for forgiveness.   

        Rin twisted her head to the side. “Outed? So they found out you did something wrong?” Rin whispered.

       “I….I told someone that I'm gay and they went out and made it, like, public drama…” She hung her head again, her hands rhythmically stroking her ponytail. “It was so… stupid of me honestly.” Her hands stopped. She brought them down to her face, and buried it inside them. Miku gave her face a good rub then she looked up at Rin again.

       “Gay?” Rin had no idea what the word meant.

        Miku's face cringed as she awkwardly looked away. “Right…Homosexual?”

        Rin felt like the second word was a bit more familiar. She tried really hard to remember where she had heard it before. A presentation about the demons of lust. How they usually took on the form of the opposite sex of the human they wanted to lure in, but how there were exceptions. 

        She remembered now, homosexuality meant humans that were attracted to same sex humans. It would've explained what the hallway girls were talking about. She wasn't sure if that's what Miku had meant for sure, or why that might cause any sort of problem in between her peers to begin with. 

       “So…They think that's bad?”

        Miku nodded, seeming a bit surprised. “They don't like you if you’re ugly, they don't like you if you're a nerd, they don't like you if you're not like them in all ways shape or form. But they hate you if you're gay.” Miku's tone turned from sad and apologetic to angry.

       “Why?” 

       Miku shrugged.

       The angel knew of the human's tendency towards division, she had experienced snarky comments from girls she barely knew herself, while not even being a student of the school. Even so it was so mind numbing to her that Miku would go through so much pain over something that the angel hadn't even thought about before.

       “Don't sweat it blondielocks, humans are weird with who they pick on. Partners are like, such a big deal too. Personally I don't care all that much.” Teto said from the back. “If the slur they call Hastune is funny I'll say it too. Hell, I'll call anyone a-”

        Rin got out of her chair. “How could you be like this!? This is clearly so sensitive! I really thought you were better than this!” She started making her way towards Teto, who also stood up from her desk.

       “Relax, Hatsune hasn't seen any serious bullying in ages! She's just being dramatic, humans are like that.”

        Rin felt her head explode with anger as she approached Teto more and more. All of the feelings she had felt a couple days ago seemed to resurface, all of them seemingly stemming from Teto. Even though the demon adopted a fighting stance, the situation still seemed uncomfortable for her.

       “What kind of low life are you that finds pleasure in bullying humans, encouraging others to do what you do?”

        Teto grinned. “The same type of low life that finds chit chatting with humans while she's supposed to be serving heaven fun.” 

        Rin pushed her and Teto almost lost her balance. Teto tried pushing Rin back but the angel grabbed her arms, digging her nails into her. 

       “You think you can get away with anything, just because I didn't sink my daggers into you a couple days ago?”

       “Ugh…You're crazy! Get your hands off me! I've done nothing but help you! Remember what deal we made?”

        Rin cautiously loosened her grip, letting Teto go.

       “Look, fine, I'll get off your little Hatsune's back. But seriously who do you think I am? Some saint? I hang out with high schoolers for fucks sake!” Teto backed away, looking Rin up and down. She stared at her hands, who now ended in claws much similar to the ones the demon used to conjure herself. 

       “You're like so fucked up, remind me to never get into like an actual fight with you.” She said, repulsed. 

        Rin looked down at her own hands, then back up at Teto. “I lost my…I'm sorry.” She had to admit that she was still a bit on the edge about Teto.

        The school bell rang, meaning that lunch had finally finished. Meiko still wasn't anywhere to be seen.

       “Whatever, I gotta bounce anyways. Cya later, love birds” Teto started walking towards the door, skilfully making her way around the numerous desks. 

       "But what about the teacher? Are you sure she's coming back?” Miku asked her, worried. 

       “Dunno.” Teto stopped in front of the door as she dialed a number on her phone. “Probably…Hey! You ditched me!” She suddenly started screaming into her device. Her loud voice could still be heard as she got further and further away from the class.

        Rin made her way back to her desk and let herself fall into the chair. Her outburst made her feel tired just like yesterday.

        The human awkwardly looked at her. “I appreciate you standing up for me y'know…But I don't want you sticking your…uh…hands in anyone who calls me names.”

        Rin shook her head. “It's not that I'm usually like that…It's just that she has me on edge. She's still a demon after all. Look what she did to that woman! I bet she's never coming back.”

        Miku sighed. “Well yeah but it did save you from a sticky situation. And she did it out of her own volition too. Sometimes it's about actions rather than words.”

        Rin scoffed. “But her actions are messed up. Even if she's not like, pure evil she's still kind of evil.”

        Miku nodded. “I agree, she's a bitch. But she could be helpful to you. Sometimes you gotta put aside your personal morals to get further in life.”

       “I guess….” Rin picked up the pen again, giving her stickman Teto two big angry eyebrows. Somehow this made her feel like she had gotten her revenge on her.

       “And she ruined that moment too, I'm sorry for asking while she was here.” Rin continued.

        Miku dismissively waved her hands. “It's fine, I'm honestly surprised she didn't say more. And it's good that you asked now, I don't think I would've said much without a bit of pressure on me.

       “Why?”

       She shrugged. “I'm just like that.” 

       The outside noises  slowly started disappearing. Class was going to start soon.

       “She's still looking for those papers huh…” Miku sighed. “If she doesn't come in like 5 minutes I say we leave, I don't wanna get another absence.” 

        Rin nodded. She started copying down the human characters again, trying to form words she had seen before on billboards and posters with them. 

       “But you don't think I'm…” Her voice was shaky. Rin looked up at her.

       “Huh? Like bad? Or weird? Of course not.” She gave her a warm smile. “ I think I've only heard of homosexuality like once before, and nobody told me it was bad. I don't think any angel cares, really. Teto didn't seem to either.” She went back to her Teto drawing and retraced her eyebrows, making them even thicker.

        Miku let out a shaky breath. “It's just like the church hates it and you're a whole damn angel…!” Before Rin could open her mouth Miku finished her sentence.” And I know you're not representative of that kinda stuff, which is still kind of wild to me but….you know.” 

        She groaned. “My parents are like church fanatics. Really big ones. It's part of why I dress like a damn grandma.” The human pulled on the collar of her shirt, as if it suddenly started suffocating her. 

       “And they don't like the gay thing?” Rin asked

       “Oh, no man, not at all. And they don't even know about me being a lesbian, and trust me they're never finding out either.”

        Miku started tracing her fingers along her scribbled, carved desk.

      “But I don't get who wouldn't like girls.” Rin suddenly started talking, her tone light and cheery. “Human females are so much nicer. Males are just kind of tall. I really like how girls look more, I think it's because they put more care into it.”

        Miku gave her a confused expression. “You can…. like humans?” 

       “Huh? Well, like that I can't…Romance and sexuality are just a means for procreation, which clearly isn't coded into me. But I can definitely admire them in an aesthetic way!”

        The human continued to look at her, in a way that seemed both amused and offended. 

       “You know, when angels work in pairs and they have to take humans forms it’s always encouraged that they choose a female and male one…I wanted the female one so hard! Brother never really got it because to him it's really not that important but to me it felt like that's who I was!” Rin finished her little speech as if it somehow qualified her to the same level of woman enjoyment as Miku.

        The human let out an empathetic “Mhm.” She was mostly amused by Rin's barebone and mostly superficial understanding of gender. “You look like a girl when you're like…an angel too though? And he calls you Sister I assume?”

        Rin nodded. “Lower ranking angels can choose between a female or male appearance. It doesn't impact anything, but it's a nice way to differentiate yourself I suppose. Most do go with something neutral though, especially when they advance to a higher rank. Me and Brother are quite an exception. I guess he took on a more masculine form to counteract my…Well I wouldn't say femininity…”

      “I get it, he's just kind of a killjoy.” Miku said with a hint of irony in her voice. “But you still wouldn't mind looking like a boy, right?”

       Rin shook her head. “Not really, but I like it more like this.”

       “You're lucky, when humans don't feel like the gender they've been assigned it really sucks. Worse than being gay frankly.” Miku said as she looked towards the door again. “It's pretty hard to change your appearance as a human, especially in that sort of way.” 

        Rin blinked at her sympathetically. “I can see that you'd rather express yourself differently, but your parents are in the way.”

        Miku let out an elongated “Yuuup”.

        Meiko suddenly burst into the room. 

       “Ugh! I forgot about you girls! I'm sorry, hurry off to class now-I'll write both of you a note!” She hurriedly grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and started writing on it.

        Rin and Miku exchanged looks.

       “But what happened?” Rin suddenly interrupted Meiko's scribbling. 

        The woman sighed. “Ugh, I was looking for something but I forgot why! My memory is so bad sometimes, just when I thought it was starting to get better. Here you go.”

        She handed Miku two small papers. “One for you and one for Rin. Now I better not catch you two dilly dallying outside again! And you,” She looked at Rin. “You better leave those boots and shorts at home from now on. Teto is such a bad influence! And on a new student too..” She trailed off. “Hurry off now, get back to class!”

        Meiko hurriedly made her way out the room, presumably towards her own class. 

        Miku and Rin got out in the corridor and started making their way to class.

       “Hey but…you're not actually coming right?” Miku stopped in her tracks after a couple steps. “Maybe Meiko thinks you learn here now but I severely doubt the other teachers also do. And they'd definitely ask questions.”

        Rin shrugged, seemingly carefree. “Well they'll ask Meiko and she'll tell them about me.”

       “But she seemed like such a mess! You really think she's gonna be able to give them a convincing speech? I really wouldn't push it.”

       “Uhm…Maybe you're right.” Rin looked down at the floor, her cheerful attitude gone. “And they won't like my shoes either I assume.”

        Miku giggled. “Definitely not. I say you wait this one out, okay?”

        Rin nodded. She still looked quite down. The thought of waiting for one hour for Miku made her feel nothing but dread. 

       Seeing her upset state, Miku went in for a quick apologetic hug, which Rin unexpectedly clung on for a little too long. The angel rested her head on Miku's shoulder, even after Miku attempted to take her arms off her.

        She said, almost purring. “Well maybe you like that I'm short cause you can…dye your hair less often but I like that you're tall cause this is really comfortable…” She immediately felt Miku's face heat up very hard.

       “Oh haha…thanks Rin but…I gotta go now though.” The human awkwardly said, patting Rin's back in a friendly manner, trying her hardest not to touch her neck to Rin's head.

        Rin groaned as she finally unstuck herself from Miku.“I flustered you again, I'm sorry!” She said, looking up at her apologetically. Her big blue eyes and genuine expression made it hard for Miku to actually mind the whole interaction. 

       “It's okay, no worries.” She said with an awkward smile, looking away. “You s-should come with me to class! But obviously you shouldn't enter with me.”

       Rin's face relaxed as she heard her request. “Oh, alright! Let's go then!” A couple more minutes with Miku was a win for her.

       She hurriedly started walking, with Miku steadily behind her.

       “So what shoes should I get if not these? What's more school appropriate?”

        Miku didn't initially reply. “Well no heels and no boots that are way above your ankle I'd say. No weird colours. Brown, black, grey white…Something like that.” She said as they started making their way up the stairs.

       “Hmmm…I don't know any shoe styles though!” Rin said with a dramatic sigh. 

       “You could use your invisible angel form to look at what others are wearing. And you can choose from there.” 

        Rin let out a dramatic gasp. “That's so true! I've never even thought about it. Good, now I know what I'll do while you study!”

        Miku giggled. “You know you could crash by my class too, just don't be too disruptive. My grades are low enough as is.” She said with a small self deprecating laugh.

       “No, today is outfit day! I'm gonna look around for outfit ideas!” She said, cheerfully. 

       They finally arrived at Miku's classroom. It seemed that the teacher had already started. She looked over at Rin, still a bit red.

       “Alright! I'll see you in a bit, good luck with your searching!” She gave Rin a thumbs up.

        Rin nodded as she gave Miku a cheeky smile. “I'm gonna out fashion everyone in the school! While still abiding by the dress code!”

        Miku giggled as she entered the classroom.

Chapter Text

        Rin entered the last classroom she had yet to check in her pursuit of fashion. She quickly looked around, mostly searching for human girls. While on her adventure she steadily realized that, to her dissatisfaction, it seemed like most humans didn't dress too interestingly in school, though girls seemed more likely to wear cooler clothes. Even so, most teens wore nothing but hoodies, loose fitting clothes all in boring shades of grey; at most maybe some pastel colours for the girls. If the clothes weren't loose and uninteresting they were almost always tank tops, shorts or different variations of those things. 

        Right now Rin had settled on a pleated skirt reaching her knees, of a light, warm, purplish grey with yellow accents, a pretty short sleeveless white button up shirt with small, lacey edges on which she would style a light orange cardigan, copied exactly as it was from a girl she saw earlier in the day. She also decided on a small decorative yellow scarf that she had seen on a female teacher, tied into a cute bow around her neck. Rin had also come to the realization that she should probably clip her bangs to the side with an actual object, rather than just defying the laws of gravity by lazily “sticking” them out of her face like she had done a couple days ago. So she decided that some white clips would be good to have as well

        When she really thought about it, she could barely believe that she started the week barely knowing anything about humans, and that now she was secretly studying their clothes and mannerisms up close with no care in the world for anything else.

        Before her mind could return to her issue of angelic betrayal, her eyes finally locked onto something interesting: a girl with a fabric band of sorts on her head. When Rin came closer to inspect it, she realized that the band had a pink bow attached to its side. 

       “Oh wow! Now I gotta have this!” She took a mental note of the item, as she started fluttering her wings with enthusiasm. She looked more closely at another girl, wearing copious amounts of jewelry around her neck. 

       “Maybe I could get a neck bracelet like this girl…” She hummed, deep in thought. She scanned the human up and down, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the human wore an interesting piece of clothing on their ankles, looking very similar to her scarf in nature, only it was of a woven texture, scrunched up above her shoes. 

       “Ohhh….!” She leaned in closer, instinctively grabbing at it. Her hands phased through the girl's leg, which made her shudder and quickly move her legs in another position. 

        The bell rang as Rin was still thinking about her newly acquired information. Everyone in class quickly got up and started moving around, walking through her floating form. The room was quickly filled with sounds of human chatter as Rin started making her way to Miku's class, phasing thru walls and crowds of students. 

        She found Miku still in class, hunched over her desk writing down something even though most of her classmates had already left. Rin approached her from behind, and forgetting that she was still in her angel form, she greeted her as she normally would.

       “Hi Miku~!” Rin attempted to give her a pat on the back, although her hand didn't quite manage to actually touch her friend.

        Miku turned around confused, then locked eyes with Rin, who was floating above her, her face uncomfortably close to her head. She instinctively backed away, still on her chair.

       “Jeez, you scared m-” Before Miku could finish her sentence, she looked around at her remaining classmates who were now staring at her confused. 

        She let out an awkward chuckle as she went back to scribbling, her cheeks red from embarrassment. 

       “Hey? What happened?” Rin pouted, confused. 

        Miku didn't reply, although her back did seem to tense up further in response. She suddenly stopped writing and tapped at her notebook's page.

        Understanding that the message was for her to see, Rin phased thru her to see what she had written, which made Miku shudder horribly. 

       “What are you doing?” She whispered very faintly, rubbing her arms as if she were suddenly very cold. “Look…” She said, tapping the open notebook with her finger.

        Rin tried to read her handwriting, spelling it out as she went along. 

       “Dee…Ohh, En…Tee, Oh is that ‘don't’? Alright… Tee…” 

        Miku let out a sigh as rested her head into her hand.

       “Ayy.El.Kay….” Rin was suddenly interrupted by Miku waving her hand dismissively. “Don't worry about it.” She whispered. 

        The last person in class finally sat up from their desk and started making their way to the door, giving Miku a weirded out expression as they left the room. They closed the door behind them with a thud, almost as if they were trying to add further insult to injury. 

       “I can't reply if others are looking, it just sounds like I'm talking to myself!” She finally twisted herself to look back at Rin, who was seated on the table behind her, looking down at the human. Even though Miku could see Rin, her form was still weirdly hard to focus on and blurry. The only parts of the angel she could somewhat clearly make out were her poorly detailed face and her large wings, which she had neatly folded along herself. Everything else was a barely defined white haze, that she could only really make the general outlines of. She also seemed much bigger than regular Rin, definitely taller than Miku by quite a bit, although it was quite hard for her to tell exactly how much it was. 

       “Sorry, I didn't think about it!” Rin seemed to let her head fall to the side in a sort of playful shrug. Even though she was close to Miku her voice felt far away, yet very concentrated inside her head, much like loud whispering in her ears. 

        Rin looked at her, and although she could see her expression change, Miku still wasn't quite able to see her features well enough to tell how the angel was feeling. She looked away, suddenly aware of the weird situation she was in. Her brain seemed to suddenly short-circuit, overwhelmed by Rin's true form. Until now, she had been mostly "human" in her head; a cheerful, socially stunted angel, running away from her, albeit, pretty important responsibilities. Somehow, the cutesy and sanitized image seem to suddenly not make sense in her head anymore. It all kind of hit Miku all at once; that she really was a being she could barely comprehend, merely masquerading as something more digestible by her brain. That she actually had no idea what Rin was even capable of. That this wasn't some cute fantasy where the supernatural beings are merely humans with cool superpowers or unnatural hair colors. That her friend was as far as she could tell, a shrieking ball of white energy.

        Even though she had seen Rin like this on their first meeting too, fully in her angel form, she still couldn't really tell why her reaction was so different now. The last time she had seen Rin like this her head was too filled with adrenaline to even remember all these details. She didn't remember much of the demon fight in general, either. The more she tried to think about it, the more her brain seemed to want to fight it. It seemed that any full display of her true being beyond just mere hints at her angelic form completely escaped Miku's comprehension.

        Miku let out an awkward chuckle, trying to calm her nerves.
       "Well uh, talking is gonna be a struggle- no? Can't you like…read my mind or anything? Since you still don't really know how to read letters…” The thought of mind-reading both enticed and scared Miku. 

        Rin's form seemed to brighten somehow, her wings fluttering slightly. 

       “Angels read each other's minds all the time, but I never thought about doing that with a human! I don't know if I can but-” She leaned in closer to Miku, presumably while on all fours, which made the human flinch again. Having Rin so close in this form meant fogging up her entire field view with incomprehensible white. She closed her eyes. 

        Miku suddenly felt a sharp pain inside her head. 

       “Ouch! What are you doing!” She rubbed her forehead, even though the pain was rooted way deeper inside her brain.

       “It's not that? Alright, let me try this…” 

        Miku felt a sudden ringing inside her ears, followed by one of her legs suddenly jolting up uncontrollably. 

       “Man! Stop it!” She said, surprised and slightly angry. “Are you sure you know what you're doing?”

       “I think I almost got it though.” Rin said with a calm voice. “Can I try again, one last time?”

        The human felt conflicted, her heart beating fast. She avoided Rin's gaze, choosing to stare at the floor instead. 

        She sighed, still rubbing her forehead.

       “But what exactly are you doing?” Miku asked after a couple moments of silence.

       “Oh well, I'm trying to see if I can somehow correlate your brain's electrical signals to thoughts…It's kind of hard though there's lots of little electrical charges in there…”

        Miku looked at her dumbfounded. “Obviously! It's a brain! How on earth could you do that?” 

        Rin appeared to shrug again. “I don't know, but I think I have an idea. Only you can hear my voice, right?”

        Miku nodded. “As far as I can tell.”

       “Then maybe I can follow those electrical signals the other way around, like I do to talk to angels. Can I try again?”

        Miku reluctantly nodded.

      “This chick is gonna kill me.” She thought.

        Rin's voice spoke again. “No I'm not! Look, I think I got it.”

       “You actually heard that?”  Miku jumped out of her seat . 

       “Yeah! Think of a colour.”

        The human felt scared beyond belief. If Rin could read her mind, what other things could she find out about her?

       “You're not really thinking of one, are you? Or did I just lose the signal?”

       “I-I'm not, no.” Miku thought again . “What exactly can you hear?”

        Rin looked at her intently. “If you said anything before now I couldn't really make sense of it. It's pretty jumbled up, it seems like you need to really focus on it for it to work.” She sighed. “A bunch of stray thoughts at once go by way too fast for me to read.” 

      “Alright…” Miku felt a bit relieved by the realization. Even though she was still hesitant, curiosity was starting to get the better of her. She quickly thought about something random. An image of a dog popped up in her mind.

       “Oh, I can see that you're recalling something but…” Miku felt her brains shake around as Rin was seemingly still toying with the frequencies. “I can't really tell, talk inside your mind like you'd talk to me.”

       “DOG .” She said, as if she were self monologuing. 

       “Ah! Alright, I can hear you!” Rin finally seemed to stop her meddling with Miku's brain, leaving a faint sense of pressure inside the human's head. “I can sense that you didn't like that, your heart's beating like crazy.” Her tone sounded apologetic.

        Miku nodded, as she looked at the white haze she called her friend. “So now it stopped?” She finally spoke using her voice.

        Rin nodded. “If this works like it does between angels then you can feel when I wanna talk to you, and you need to actually think of words to say to me clearly for me to hear them. If you're not concentrating enough I can't really hear it.”

       “So you can’t spontaneously read my mind?”

        Rin seemed to shake her head. “Nope, I can't do that with angels either. You can feel that I stopped right?”

       “Yeah, there's a weird feeling in my head but it's going away.”

        Rin sighed with a pout. “I'm sorry, I promise I won't jumble your brains around unless it's really necessary!”

        Miku wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire thing. Sure, mind reading was cool in fiction but in reality it proved to cause a lot of ethical concerns. Not to mention the medical aspect of it as well. Was it really ok for Rin to “mess around” with her brain like this? Even so, it seemed that Rin was mostly well intentioned, and pretty limited with her abilities, which reassured Miku a bit. The possibilities that came with it weren't completely lost on her, although the thought of being the angels guinea pig didn't sit too well with her.

        The angel awkwardly rubbed her poorly defined head, roughing up the silhouette of her hair strands. “You know this is pretty out of hand for me too, and I've been mind reading conversations all my life!” She said, with an awkward laugh. “I'm glad you can at least hear me quite easily though.”

        Miku awkwardly looked at the door as the bell rang and the chatter from the hallways began to quiet down. She definitely didn't want to have someone else walk in on this invisible conversation

       “Oh but I didn't show you my outfit!” Rin said, dramatically. “Do you really need to go now?”

        The human bit her lip. She felt like she needed a break to process everything, but she didn't really have the heart to tell Rin off, especially since she seemed so well intended. 

       “Well… I do have PE next so I guess I can take a couple minutes off…” She awkwardly said, still avoiding directly looking at her.

       “Woo! Alright, I'll make it quick I promise!” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

        Miku awkwardly waited outside the stall Rin locked herself in. Manifesting her form didn't usually take that much time, and she could've easily done it in class, but Rin felt like putting in a bit of a show that day.   

       “-And this neck thing I got from a teacher…!” 

       “A scarf?” Miku asked, her voice unusually lacking in enthusiasm. 

      “Yes! That! And this….” Rin's high pitched, usual voice echoed around the empty bathroom. However, Miku wasn't really hearing most of what she was saying. The experience from before felt like it was slowly slipping away from her, leaving her with only a bare recollection of feelings and emotions. She could remember the vague idea of what had happened, similar to the fight with the demon, but when she tried to recall specific words that had been said or any details about how Rin had actually read her mind she came up pretty blank. All she remembered was that it felt awkward and that she really needed to spell everything out for it to work. And that Rin was in reality a weird, shapeless white thing beyond her comprehension, not just a cute super powered girl like the ones she had seen in movies and comics. The thought left a sour taste in her mouth, killing her overall mood. 

        Rin flung the door of the stall open, revealing the new outfit to her friend,

       “Woah!” Miku seemed to once again forget what she was upset about. “That looks very nice, I really like the ribbon you got on top of your head! Looks like a cartoon character.” 

        Rin smiled at her, giving her a cheeky wink. Looking at her joyful face somewhat reminded Miku of her predicament. 

       “I know right! Hah, human inventions are like- so cool!” She said as she walked around with wide steps, in an exaggerated manner,her bow bouncing up and down dramatically. 

      “And what are these called by the way?” She pointed towards the fabric above her white shiny shoes.

      “The thing above the loafers? Ankle warmers, I think.” Miku said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

        Rin's eyes widened in surprise. “That makes sense, I didn't know ankles could be cold!” She started spinning around in circles around the bathroom again.

        Miku let out a small chuckle as she whipped out her phone to check the time. The 5 minutes she had given Rin had long passed. 

       “Do you need to go?” Rin said as she awkwardly came closer to Miku, looking at her phone's screen. She had a sad sulky face, with her hands behind her back. 

       “Yeah, sorry.” Miku said as she put her phone away.

        She could feel Rin's blue eyes fixate her as she turned her head around to look towards the exit of the bathroom.

       “Say…What is ‘Pee-E’? Could I come maybe? I promise I won't try to mind-talk to you or anything!” 

        Miku cringed as Rin reminded her of the interaction again. 

       “I guess you could…” She said, not fully convinced. “It's just exercise outside and I'm not participating anyway…”

       “Why?” Rin asked. 

       “Uh…It's private.” Miku said, embarrassed. 

       This was code for Rin to stop asking her about it. “Oh, alright! I'm happy I can come!” Rin gave her a big smile, although her eyes seemed a little sadder than usual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

        A male teacher suddenly approached her and Miku as they sat on the sidelines of the football field. He came over to Miku first, with a notebook and pen in his hand. His demenour seemed tired and bored to Rin, which seemed strange for a teacher to her.

       “Name?”

       “Hatsune Miku. Time of the month.”

        He quickly scribbled something down in his notebook with a groan, but to Rin's surprise he didn't seem to even notice her as he quickly turned around and left, heading out onto the field.

       “Huh? So I can just be here? Did he not see me?”

       “Oh no he did, it's just he doesn't care as long as you're not from his class. There's usually a bunch of kids here at any given time, and they only leave if Meiko gets on their back about it.” Miku didn't look at Rin while she was talking, choosing to stare out into the distance, at her classmates who were busy running around.

        Rin looked around her. The weather was warm and lovely, a part of her wished she could run around with Miku's classmates as well, even if the plasticky playing field was much less interesting than the trees and neatly kept plants surrounding them. 

        She looked at Miku, who was now on her phone, mindlessly scrolling through a lot of pictures. Rin could feel a sort of tension between them, and she was sure that it was because of the incident from earlier. The angel started playing with her bracelet, unsure of what to say.

        Rin sighed, she really wanted to just enjoy her day with Miku for once, but it seemed like something always had to get in their way. First the detention and now this, Rin felt like she was truly a pretty bad friend all around.

       “Hey….I'm sorry that today is so...messy. And I know that mind reading stuff wasn't nice..” Rin finally broke the silence between them. “I just…I promise I really wont do it, okay?” 

        She thought about grabbing her arm, but then remembered how she had flinched away earlier while they were waiting for Meiko to come back. Miku looked at her, her expression confused rather than angry like Rin had expected. 

        The human put her phone away as she sighed with a small smile on her face. “I had fun in detention y'know?" She drifted off. "But, yeah, that mind reading thing was really weird. I guess what really freaks me out is that like…I can't really remember most of it.” She said, gently rubbing her temples as she slouched forward. “Like I can't really recall how you did it or how you look when you're not like this…” She gave Rin a quick look. “But I know that it was like…kind of weird.”

        The angel felt deflated. Of course Miku found her true form weird and incomprehensible, that was one of the reasons she was trying so hard to fit in and look human. She knew that humans found it hard to interact with things that didn't look and act like them. Rin mentally slapped herself.

       “I know, I'm sorry I didn't wanna freak you out. And I'm not surprised you can't remember much of it, the human brain kinda struggles with this stuff. That's why angels take human forms, you know…” She drifted off. 

       “Yeah, I can remember everything else but the brain reading thing and that time you fought that demon guy, that's also really blurry. Even though I'm pretty sure she…or he..grabbed me at some point.”

        Rin nodded. “I'm sorry, I promise I won't do that again.” She looked at Miku, desperately. 

       “It's just there's like…I guess I never really sat down to really think about all this angel stuff you know? Like obviously I sort of did but it's way different when you…can read my mind and you don't look like this.” Miku's demeanor seemed to lighten as she spoke more and more about it. “I just kinda forgot you aren't actually human, in a way. It feels kinda silly to say out loud.” She laughed awkwardly.

        Rin couldn't really get it. How could Miku know that she wasn't human yet also still not know at the same time? Was it that Miku somehow felt more than just confused by her weird form?

       “Nothing about how you look now screams angel, you know? That's what I'm saying, it's like the difference between appearance vs your true nature, I guess.” Miku said, twirling a strand of her hair, with an almost melancholic tone.

       “Ohh…I do get that…” Rin seemed to think about what Miku had said deeply. So it wasn't just about the scare, but about the implications as well. That Rin would never actually be human, and thus incompatible with her. The thought made Rin immediately sulk, her posture slouching and her head hanging lower than usual. 

       “But don't worry, Rin. I won't stop being friends with you or anything. “ Miku brushed one of her hair strands behind her ear using her hand. “I still think you're like…really cool. Even if I'll never really be able to, like-, really get it. And I can't deny that there is a sort of cool factor to it. It's innate."

        Rin's demeanor rapidly started returning. Miku seemed to cheer up seeing her as well. “Really? Yay!” She clapped her hands together as she scooched closer to Miku. 

        Miku giggled. “See, when you're like this over-expressive teenage girl it's so weird to think that you're also like- a powerful angel thing, you know.”

        Rin felt somewhat flattered. “No, well…powerful is too big of a word! But I do get where you're coming from…Hmm…”

        The human grabbed her phone again, quickly tapping away.

       "Hah, yeah. Maybe you'd need some like, cultural context as well." She showed Rin a drawing, seemingly of a human baby with bird wings.

       “This is what humans think angels look like. I think this one's called a cherub?”

        Rin's eyes widened in surprise as she jerked herself backwards, away from the phone. “A Cherub? No way! I have never even seen a Cherub, and they're so powerful! No self respecting Cherub would actually look like that! Where'd you even get this from? Some demon propaganda?”

        Miku giggled at Rin's sudden feverish rant. “You guys actually use these ranks too? Cherub and such?” Her eyes sparkled with her usual hint of curiosity. 

        Rin nodded. “The Third triad: Angels, that's me, Archangels, Principalities. We do the paperwork and earth stuff. Second triad: Powers, Virtues, Dominions. They're the main soldiers in the battle between Heaven and Hell. Third triad: Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphs. They're the best, most powerful warriors in Heaven, and they also run angelic trials and meetings. Seraphs decide everything important in heaven. And cherubs are like, their second in command so obviously they wouldn't look like that.” Rin ended her feverish exposition dump with a disgusted look on her face as she pointed at Miku's phone again.

        The human let out a sound of amazement. “Woah, so how do humans know about these? I can find all of this stuff online! Well, more like the names.” She showed Rin an article closely detailing every type of angel and its mention in the holy texts. 

        Rin shrugged. “Maybe some fallen angel told someone all of this and they misunderstood it?” 

       “Here it says that the first triad ‘adores God directly…’?” Miku read out loud.

       “What? No? What would that help with?” Rin scratched her head. “Also God isn't…really a thing.” She quickly added. 

       “So we did make that one up?” 

       “Well, if by God you mean a representation of the force that created the universe, or a force of good, then no. But if you mean some guy who…made the earth and wrote a book for you guys with do's and dont's…yes..” Rin awkwardly scratched her head. “I guess God is ‘The stability’”.

        Miku obviously looked quite confused. "So what's that, law and order or something?"

        "In the Universe, yes. The demon and angel war, the earthly tasks, the organization of Heaven; it all sees fit that the forces of evil remain in balance with the ones of good."        

        Her friend slowly blinked at her, then let out a little chuckle. "I can't believe this is actually real- it sounds just like science fiction! A war with demons..." She took a little pause.

       “I mean, you get what I mean though right, don't you? You're so different from anything I've ever known." Miku continued. " I can understand wars and the like but...I guess the actual extent of it is hard to grasp. Your form seemed to boggle me hard enough." She awkwardly fixed her bangs. 

        Rin nodded. “I do understand that maybe humans have written about similar concepts before…As for my form, maybe I need to tone myself down a bit? Maybe add some ridiculous wings on my back, to aid in your understanding.” She said seriously. 

        Miku let out a laugh. “I think I'm good, I'm pretty sure I kind of got over-” 

        Before Miku could finish explaining to Rin really didn't need to go ahead and form some wings on her back, the angel had already done it. She got up excitedly, then turned her back with a spin, revealing two small round white wings, no bigger than half a meter in diameter. They flapped around, almost with a mind of their own, perfectly mimicking the movements of a bird's.

        Unlike the wings Miku had seen before on Rin, these ones were well defined; much like the one she'd expect to see on a real bird: they had long, soft looking, seemingly natural feathers arranged in careful layers. Where the illusion seemed to falter a little bit was at the origin point of the wings; they looked as if they were merged into the shirt itself, rather than organically coming out through a hole of some kind. Even so they looked almost…real. Without really realizing, Miku stretched her hand out to touch them.

        Rin turned herself around again, her wings wide spread behind her, making Miku retract her hand back into its original position. 

       “Look! How's this? Comprehensible?” She looked at Miku with her characteristic charming smile. 

        The human nodded, obviously still speechless. 

        Seeing her lack of comment, Rin's eyes suddenly seemed to darken with worry. “Does this boggle you? I tried to make them look very realistic, but I admit I've never really had to do so before.”

        Miku shook her head enthusiastically. 

       “N-no! It looks very good, almost like a moving movie prop! Only…realer…” She fiddled with her fingers as she looked up at Rin. “Your other wings I could barely make out their form…or yours for that matter. It was all just kinda…white. Can I touch your wings?” 

        Rin nodded, sitting down next to Miku, leaning forward in a sort of manspread position which gave the human good access to her back.

        She carefully touched the feathers with her fingers; first the shorter ones at the root of her wings, grazing her hand along it as she reached the very tip. Then the girl carefully stretched her wing back and forth with both of her hands, much in the same way an ornithologist would do with a real life bird. This seemed to eventually fluster Rin, as her wings quickly tucked themselves back into their normal position.  

       “Oh, sorry! Are they sensitive or something?”

        Rin looked at her sarcastically, her cheeks slightly rosy.

       “Where'd you get that from? No, but you also felt like this when I got all up in your face about your hair…!” She let out a dramatic, melancholic sigh, almost like her personal space related mishaps were a far away memory and not a still somewhat regular occurrence.

       “But I don't mind it though,” She said with a low hum, as she suddenly spread her left wing again with a soft flapping noise, gently hitting Miku in the process. "Just gotta get used to it."

       “Now that you mention it." Miku said with a sly tone. "I guess this could be my revenge for that time you dug thru my scalp! Mwuahaha!” She said, letting out a dramatic fake laugh as she started rapidly pinching Rins feathers with two hands, almost like she was trying to tickle her. The soft feathers gently bent themselves under the pressure of her fingers, although they seemed to pop right back into shape the second she let go of them.

       “Eek!” Rin flapped her wings away again, creating a loud sound as they slapped against her body. She gave Miku a flustered look as she patted down her own wings. 

       “Hehe. They're very cool though. And you're right, this is so much more angellike. My brain is like, super comprehending this right now.” She said with a smirk

        Rin gave her a sort of resigned smile. “I'm glad this helps, I don't want you to forget that I'm not human; it's gonna be real weird if I have to fight in front of you again.” 

       “Well I sure feel ready for it now!” Miku said with another chuckle. “But can other humans see them? Your wings, I mean.”

        Rin hadn't really thought about that. “Umm…! Let's see!” She quickly stood up from the bench they were on, ready to sprint towards Miku's classmates, who were still out on the field.

        Miku grabbed her by the hand before she could dash off. “Wait, if they can see it then what are you gonna pretend they are? You gotta have a lie ready.”

       “Ohh…You're right, wings must look so weird on humans! What should I say?”

        Her friend seemed to think about it for a little bit. “Well it's a bit too late in the year for it to be a Halloween costume but…Oh maybe you could pretend you're a cosplayer? You can say these are your cosplay wings and ask them what they think about it. If they can see them that is.” 

       “What's a cosplayer?”

       “It's someone who dresses up as characters from shows or games.”

        Rin wasn't sure what "games" or "shows" were and how they could have humans in them. “Why would you wanna look like someone from a game? Isn't just that a normal person?”

        Miku almost seemed to take offense to this statement. “Not always! And because it's cool!" The human crossed her arms. "Oh but I totally forgot, you've never actually seen a fictional character before, right? Like a movie or something?”

        The angel shook her head. “Is that a story thing? I know humans make up stories for entertainment.”

       “Yeah kinda, I'll show you sometime. It's so fun, you'll see.”

        The idea of seeing a human movie gave Rin a new boost of energy. She started sprinting towards the two teens closest to her, who were seemingly passing a ball to one another, quickly covering the pretty big distance with a fast and jumpy run, which made her look like she was almost flying across the field.

        When one of them saw her approaching from afar they stopped passing the ball around, giving each other a puzzled look, then staring right at her as she came closer to them. It seemed that humans were very fond of judgmental looks in general. 

       “Hello! Say, what do you think about my cosplayer wings? Do they represent my character well?” She said, as she turned her back on them, pointing at her wings.

       “Uhhh….” A male voice quickly answered her cheerful question. “What wings?”

        Rin gave them a good flutter, which didn't seem to register to the human boy either. 

       “Is this some joke?” The other butted in. 

       “Nope!” Rin said, cheerful. “Thank you for your input!” She started running away, towards Miku, who was looking at her whole interaction from the safety of the faraway bench.

       “Woah, slow down you're way too fast! That's like, half a field in a couple seconds! No normal teen could run like that!” Miku said, her face the usual mix of amazement and confusion. “What did they say?”

       “Oh they can't see them at all.” Rin said calmly as she sat back down next to Miku.

       “But I can?” 

       “Well, they are a part of my angel form, which you can see, only it's like- repackaged. So it makes sense that you'd be the only one able to see them.” Rin gave her a cheeky blink.

       “Oh haha, I'm so damn special.” Miku said amused. 

       “You are! Humans are pretty hard to get along with from what I’m getting, but you're so nice to me!” Rin said, her voice reminding Miku of sweet chiming bells even more than usual. “All the humans I've seen so far have been like! So rude!” She crossed her arms dramatically. “ They look at me weird and they gossip about me right in my face; that guy even asked if I was joking when I was clearly not.”

        Miku let out a chuckle. “Well, Rin, I agree teens can be a pain but you're also avoiding social rules like the plague. Really, only you could go up to someone and ask them if they can see something or not.” 

       “I'm avoiding social rules? How? I'm never rude or anything.”

        Her friend let out a sigh. “It's not just being rude. It's complicated, you gotta know what you can ask and when you can ask it... Trust me you don't wanna get into it.”

        Rin scooched closer to Miku. “I do! I wanna be friends with more humans if possible! I don't wanna seem weird to them.” 

        Miku gave her another amused look. “You don't?”

        She nodded. “Don't worry though, you'll always be my favorite!” Rin grabbed her arm, gently shaking it. “You're like the best earth guide ever!” She said, getting all up close in her face.

       “Haah..Yeah..” Miku awkwardly tried to look away. “Well that's the first and only time I'll ever get this compliment, huh?” She chuckled. 

       "I was lucky to find someone so willing to explain all these details to me-" Rin continued. "Like how to read and what to wear... and the touching stuff!" She finally let go of Miku's arm. 

       “Well I don't think you'll ever quite master personal space, but as long as you don't grab random people by their arms you'll be fine.”

        Seemingly not getting that the comment was directed towards her, Rin nodded enthusiastically. “So strangers can't be touched at all? Even if I need to help them?”

       “Oh no, if someone fell down or something then obviously you should give them a hand. But in general people don't wanna be touched by strangers. Would you like it if a human came up to you and started touching you?”

       “I wouldn't m-” Before Rin could really finish her sentence she realized that she probably would've. She thought about the mean girl's comments from earlier; how they didn't really hurt her, but they definitely felt unpleasant to hear. She tried to imagine one of them touching her shoes while laughing, which made her cringe a little bit.

       “Well I guess it depends. I definitely wouldn't mind it as much as you do, I like touching.” 

       “I can see that.” Miku laughed. 

      “There's no touching in Heaven…I don't just mean between angels, nothing really has a texture. I guess the scrolls feel a little bit like human paper but even then it's…So different! Everything on here is so full of feelings and temperatures…” She took a little pause as she stared out into the distance. “Most angels don't really like it, and it's definitely overwhelming sometimes, but I think it's really special.”  Without really thinking about it, her hands started caressing the wooden bench she was sitting on, feeling all of its grooves and splintery edges. 

       “Sorry if I touch you too much.” Rin started fiddling with her hair. “You seem to not like it when I do it sometimes.”

        Miku let out an awkward giggle. “Yeah well…You know it's a lot of things but you're also…like really cold?” 

        “Ah, yeah! You have told me. Does that feel unpleasant?”

        The human scratched the back of her neck, looking into the distance again. “Uh…I guess it's just a bit jarring.”

       “I'll fix it!” Rin said with determination in her voice. “What's your internal temperature?”

        Miku didn't really seem prepared for such questions. “Uh…I don't know? But I think the exterior matters more here?”

        Rin nodded her head in acknowledgement, like Miku had just shared with her a piece of valuable ancient knowledge with her.

       “Can I grab your hand again? I'll just try to match your's.”

        Miku quickly became flustered again. “Ah…Sure…!”

  The human messily rolled her sleeve, exposing her bare arm. Rin grabbed her by part of the forearm that wasn't completely covered by bracelets, wrapping her hands tightly around her. 

       “Hm…I'd say 37C? That's pretty high.” She squeezed a little tighter. “Oh, or maybe 39C?” 

       “You got a built-in thermometer too? Ha ha…” She awkwardly arranged her bangs with her free hand, avoiding Rin's gaze. 

       “Oh, yeah. It's useful for demon encounters. Demons tend to make humans or their surroundings hot, so if a place is unusually hot then that could indicate demonic activity." Rin's tone acquired a informative, cold nuance, specific to when she was usually talking about angel related things. "I didn't have to learn it or anything, it's just second nature.” 

        Miku could feel Rin's hands rapidly turn from cold to warm. then she gently let go of her arm

       “Usually I only dispense heat if I'm fighting or very emotional, but I can also generate it if I want to.” 

       “How?” Miku said as she clumsily pulled her sleeve back down.

       “Heat is just friction between molecules, and I’m not made of organic matter so I can just…Uhh…” Rin put her hand to her chin, seemingly trying to think of a way to explain it better. 

       “No, I think I get it. You're just moving sentient matter?”

       “Something like that!” She chirped happily. “So if I make the matter I'm made out of frictions against itself then I'll also generate heat! Is this a tad too warm?”

        Rin suddenly pulled her shirt up, almost uncovering her ‘boobs’ in the process. Miku almost covered her eyes instinctively, but seeing that Rin had no intention of flashing anything inappropriate at her, she settled on just intently fixating her lean, bare abdomen.

       “Uh…” 

        Rin looked at Miku calmy, as if this was the most normal thing ever, seeming almost confused at the lack of reaction from the human girl.

        Miku suddenly seemed to come to her senses after she gave her reddened face a little rub.

       “Won't you tell me?”

       “T-tell you what?” 

       “If my temperature is too high. I wouldn't wanna burn you by accident. “

        Seemingly not being able to muster any words, Miku finally grabbed Rin's shirt from her hands, pulling it down. She quickly grabbed one of Rin's arms, rolled her sleeves and then mechanically stuck her palms to her forearm.

       “You're good, Rin. What on earth was that random strip session about?” She said with an awkward laugh. 

       “Well I reckoned you'd get a better feel of my temperature from a wider surface area…Plus my core tends to get way hotter than the rest of my form.” 

        Even though her explanation seemed reasonable Miku still seemed flustered by the exchange. 

       “Still, don't just show people your bare stomach like that. That's pretty inappropriate.”

        Rin adopted a sad pouty face. “Sorry…I guess I should've thought about it.” She let out a sad sigh as she childishly kicked her legs up and down. “But you know I can't actually show you anything inappropriate, right?”

        After a couple moments, Miku seemed to recover from the incident, Rin's words finally sinking in.

       “Wait, yeah. You don't have a…” She looked away, slightly embarrassed. “Any parts or…?”

        Rin shook her head.

       “No boobs either?” Miku had her mouth agape.

       “Not really, no. Just some spheres to give the illusion, you know.”

        Miku nodded her head in acknowledgement, still looking quite . “What a life you live, miss Angel. Blonde haired blue eyed, literally like a doll, with none of the disadvantages humans come with.” She sighed although her tone was clearly humorous. 

       “But why would those things be bad?” Rin said, as she brought both of her legs up on the bench in a sort of squat.

       “You got a skirt on! You're gonna flash everyone!” Miku suddenly raised her tone. 

       “Flash everyone? " She looked around. All the other teens were either still out on exercising or sat on the bleachers on the opposite side of the field. "But with what?” 

       “It’s the idea! You gotta sit normally or with your legs crossed.” Miku exemplified by elegantly crossing her legs. Rin followed suit. 

       “Oh I got what you mean..." Rin copied Miku's pose. "I kinda liked the squat more though…” The angel said with a pout.

       “Haha…gotta wear pants for that then.” She laughed. 

       “Humans love to cover up a lot.” Rin suddenly remarked. 

       “Oh, well I guess it depends. Some people really like going tits out.” The girl said with maybe a hint of envy in her voice.

       “If you could, would you dress more scantily?” The angel looked at her, struggling to imagine Miku in any clothes that didn't hide most of her form. A part of her was curious to see more of her friend, although she correctly assumed that it would be very inappropriate to ask.

       “Oh man, I don't even know!” She laughed. “I've always been dressed like a damn nun, I'm kind of afraid I'll never be able to dress in any other way…” Her fingers gently started picking at her bracelets as she spoke. “But I'd definitely show some leg at least. I envy your skirt, I think you look so good.” Her little rant ended with a sigh.

        Rin smiled at her reassuringly.

       “When will you be able to dress how you want?”

       “Dunno. When I turn 18?” She shrugged. “That's like, in an year or so.” 

       “Oh! How exciting! So highschool is almost over?”

        Before Rin could start bombarding Miku with more questions, noise coming from the field started catching her attention again. She looked out into the distance at the other students. 

        Miku's peers suddenly started organizing themselves in a big circle around their teacher. Seeing this, the human sighed.

       “PE’s almost over. God, I so don’t wanna go to English class, my teacher's a bitch.” 

        Rin looked at Miku with sad eyes. “So I gotta wait another hour again? What will I do? That's a lot of time!” 

       “Hmm…you could maybe look around town." The human hummed as she thought more about it. Her eyes suddenly lightened. "But hey, aren't you supposed to be doing your job. Looking for demons or whatever?"

        The angel looked at her dumbfounded. She awkwardly scratched the back of her head, feeling a bit silly that she had managed to forget such an important detail of her life.

       “Well…Yeah but I already did a scan of the school and it was fine…” She drifted off. Rin knew that Miku probably didn't really understand what her job was, but she had definitely gotten the part about her slacking on it.

       “Maybe you should, I dunno, do it again? Seems like it could fill up some time.” She let out a little chuckle. “Besides, you don't wanna ditch heaven completely, right?”

        She shook her head. “No…” Her wings fluttered a bit, almost as if she was trying to shake off some unwanted thoughts off her mind.

       “I do feel kinda guilty about just laying around, what would Brother think of me if he knew...?" The thought made her shudder. "I think I should go see if he needs help; he's out checking the city.”

       “Wow! So he didn't get lost yesterday?” 

        Rin giggled. “Haha, no. I think he actually likes it more like this. Flying around the city I mean; it's much more impersonal. When you gotta enter buildings or such usually its advised to take a human form to gather witness evidence. He hates doing that, but I obviously much prefer it.” The school bell rang.  Rin got off the bench, preparing herself to take off and go find brother. Miku also got herself up with an ‘oomf'. 

       “Will I see you again today? I don't think I can hang for too long but, I'd love to see you during the breaks.” She said with hope in her voice. Rin was glad that after everything Miku still seemed to still really like her company. 

       “Hm…I don't know…Brother might insist I stick around for longer, I hope he doesn't…But I'll definitely be back tomorrow !” Rin's wings involuntarily flapped around in excitement. 

       “But tomorrow's the weekend! I won't be here, y’know? 

       “Huh!? You have days where you're not at school?” Rin's eyes grew, her eyebrows arched in surprise. 

        Miku shook her head, amused. “I'll see you on Monday then, that's in two days.” 

       “Huh!!!?? Two whole days?” Rin would have fainted if she were capable of it. Instead she sat back down on the bench, devastated. 

        Miku let out a small giggle. She then started shuffling her feet closer to Rin, causing the angel to look up at her.

       “You know, my Sunday is free though.” The girl started playing with one of her hair strands again, wrapping it around her fingers in a seemingly nervous fashion. “We could like- totally hang out you know?” Her gaze seemed to playfully avoid Rin's, almost like she was trying to play a bit dumb.

       “Oh…! Yeah! Where would we go though?” 

      “Well the school's locked up during the weekend so clearly not here, so we can just hang out in the city! I know lots of cool places.” 

        Rin felt herself buzz with excitement. Sure, she loved the human school. Even so she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was getting a pretty limited and sterile experience of the human world. The prospect of getting to see and understand actual human life in detail seemed like a dream come true to her. 

       “Yay!” Rin did a little jump, which definitely ended up being a tad too high up for any non athlete to be capable of. 

        Miku chuckled. “I'll see you on Sunday at 14:30 or so, in front of the school gates.”

        Before Rin could enthusiastically agree, she realized that her time related dilemma was back; she had no idea how to read any clocks around her.

       “Uh…How does fourteen thirty look on….one of those time dials?” 

       “You mean a clock? Oh, like this.” 

        Miku quickly scribbled on her phone using her finger four characters, which Rin correctly deduced as being numbers.

       “There's a lot of clocks around town, so just check one of those if you arrive too early somehow. You can also ask a bypasser too.”

        Rin nodded as Miku's classmates started leaving the field, lazily forming small groups and chatting their way to class. 

       “Bye Rin! Can't wait to see you!” Miku waved at her with a friendly smile. 

        Rin waved back at her as she watched the girl start walking back to the main building. Even though she took the same path as most of her colleagues, she seemed to keep a healthy distance from them. The angel kept staring at her until she finally entered the school, still walking by herself. 

        She let out a little sigh. Miku seemed really lonely in comparison to all the other students, and so stressed by their presence. Was it that her status as “gay” really made her this much of an outcast? Were teenagers really as mean as her friend made them out to be? Or was her loneliness a combination of other things as well? Even though she couldn't quite really tell, she felt the intense need to be there with Miku, so that she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. And so that she could learn even more about the earth. 

        Rin dissipated her form, returning to her usual hazy white body. With a swift jump, she spread her wings and started flying up in the air.

Chapter Text

       “What are you doing here?” Brother barked up at Rin as she swiftly landed next to him, in the middle of a busy sidewalk. Even though his form was regularly phased thru by the bodies of passing humans, it did not seem to distract him from his anger with her. 

       “Huh? Ah, well I did check the school and nothing abnormal came up so I thought maybe I could join you for a bit?” She looked at him apologetically, his unusually aggressive tone catching her by surprise. Anger wasn't one of the traits Brother displayed often, usually settling on irritation at best. 

       “For a bit? I didn't ask for any help though?” Brother's demeanor changed from mad to confused, his voice gradually going back to it's monotone self.  “If I would've needed help I would've asked for it, you shouldn't waste your time tracking me down.”

        Rin shrugged, which made him raise his eyebrows in confusion. It's not like the process had been too difficult for her; his energy had always been easy to sense, to the point where she could usually just teleport to his position most of the time. But lately she found that she preferred actually flying to just mechanically shifting her form around from one coordinate to another. The human city had a certain charm from above that she couldn't stop herself from indulging in. It definitely offered her the element of surprise as well, since he couldn't really sense her coming as swiftly as if he would have when she teleported. Although he clearly wasn't fond of that fact.

       “Are you sure there's nothing in the human school? How can you be? All the demons we've found were there. Maybe you're tired, I should go and check for myself sometime…” For some reason, Brother still seemed eager to patrol the school instead of Rin, which immediately put Rin in a bad mood. She had really hoped not to deal with this issue anytime soon again, but her partner seemed insistent.

        She felt her wings rapidly flutter with slight annoyance.

       “Do you not trust my abilities? I've been doing really well!” 

        Before Rin could continue her quarrel with him, Brother quickly interrupted her, his voice unusually emotional, seeming shocked and slightly disgusted. 

       “What did you do to your wings?” He quickly stepped closer to her, getting a better look at her back.

       “Oh…” Rin had forgotten to change her wings from the smaller, Miku friendly pair, into her regular angel ones. When she had materialized them in her human form, she hadn't actually realized that they were still her regular wings, in her mind the two being completely separate from one another. Although it should've been obvious in retrospect, since the other humans besides Miku couldn't see them .

       “You know not to meddle with your form. That's against The Code!” He said, sternly. “Why would you give them all this unnecessary detail? You know I should report such matters…” 

        With his words echoing around her head, Rin felt as if the ground had been pulled from under her. She couldn't actually believe that he had said that, although she had definitely had it coming for quite a while. Her mind immediately spiraled, rapidly listing all the crimes she could be accounted for. Human interactions. Demon fraternizing. Inappropriate form shifting. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure why it was against code to change angelic forms, but she faintly remembered that it had something to do with telling apart angels from demons at a glance. Even though the more she thought about it, the less sense the explanation seemed to make for her now. Her head started spinning faster and faster. At one point she forcefully shook her head, and realizing how guilty she must've looked, she quickly mustered up an apology.

       “Sorry…It won't happen again” She quickly sprung her wings into the air, and changed them back to their usual, long and poorly defined hazy form with a swift flap. Even though his gaze softened, he still didn't seem content with the resolution of the situation. Rin didn't feel completely out of the woods yet, her mind still reeling.

        He said, still staring daggers at her,

       “I really think I should take the human school next time.” He continued. “I can't help but believe that it's somehow a bad influence on you.” His usually emotionless eyes turned into narrow slits. Rin felt her heart sink, anxiety quickly getting the best of her.

       "If we agreed that I'd have the school and you'd have the town, then it should be like that!” Her mild outburst seemed to confuse both of them.

        Surprisingly however, Brother didn't continue the conversation. He looked at her with surprise and then he furrowed his brows and let out a heavy sigh, shutting his eyes dramatically.

       “I don't get your insistence on seeing that place, nor do I think its appropriate. We'll talk about it later. But do stay with me today.” Even though he was upset his eyes seemed to express another emotion as well: something like fear or pity. Rin wasn't quite sure.

       “Okay…” She sheepishly looked down at her feet, finding the sight of her ghostly angel body weirdly unfamiliar. At least Brother wasn't completely out for her blood. But she couldn't bare to look at him either, not even his limbs or body.

        Brother looked at her as if she were a stranger, his piercing gaze stabbing right through her. She couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes, for the fear that he could somehow peer into her soul and realize what a traitor she was.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Without really meaning to, Rin found herself staring at a building with big, open windows, from which a bitter, spicy smell originated from.  More specifically, she was staring at the people inside who were neatly seated in various pieces of comfortable furniture. Their indistinct chatter, combined with the music and miscellaneous sounds humans made while moving around seemed to put the angel under some sort of pleasant trance. The place, which seemed to be a shop, had a cozy, warm feel to it; it's walls decorated with big colourful paintings and multiple pieces of thematic decorations. Her gaze eventually fell on a woman close to the window, who had multiple clips in her long, red hair: they resembled geometric shapes and symbols, much like the ones Miku had drawn on her paper earlier in the day. The sight of a cartoony, pink flower charm necklace at the woman's neck gave her wings a life of their own, as they fluttered enthusiastically. Rin felt as if pattern recognition was the best drug there is.

        The angel continued to watch, with her palms stuck to the window in a childish manner, as the woman lazily reached for a cup, barely lifting her eyes from the book she was reading, and took a big sip from it. Her long, coloured nails piqued her interest, adorned with so many charms and colours that Rin was completely sure they were made out of plastic. 

       “Hmm…I've definitely seen coloured nails before…” Rin hummed to herself.  “Maybe I should give myself some too…” She looked down at her hands, desperately looking for the detail they once displayed not too long ago. She tried to imagine herself, in her human form, with long nails like the ones of the woman, but her mind unexpectedly brought back images of her hands piercing Teto's arm. A strong shudder was sent through her back, making her “heart” start racing. Maybe The Code was right about some things. Maybe the freedom to change your form did bring angels closer to the demonic. She remembered the time she clawed and bit thru the first demon, and his surprised face at seeing such a thing happen in front of him. To him.  

        She looked up at the window again, fixating the woman once more, who had now put the cup down.

       “....I do want that clip though.” She said, as she gently stroked the palm of her right hand with her fingers, as if she was trying to rub nonexistent dirt off them. 

       “Sister?” Brother's voice suddenly rang through her head, setting her free from her trance. She quickly turned around to face him, her eyes meeting his questioning expression. 

       “Did you find something? You've been staring inside that building for quite some time.” 

        Rin mentally smacked herself for not noticing him earlier. For how long had he been watching her? 

       “Uh…No I haven't.” She awkwardly looked away. “Sorry, you know how I am sometimes.” If she would've had a physical form she would've probably blushed in embarrassment. 

        Brother's expression was of an odd neutrality, almost like he hadn't even heard her. “Come along now, we still have this area to check.” His usual, bossy and demeaning tone seemed to bother her more and more since she had befriended the kinder and more pleasant to be around Miku. 

        As Rin started walking after him she couldn't help but look back at the shop with the wide windows, wishing she would get to visit it with her friend one day. 

        After a couple minutes of silent walking, Rin could feel herself go insane from being alone with her own thoughts for too long. Why the sudden change in attitude from him?  Was he trying to ignore her weird behavior, even though he had just threatened her with a report? She fixated his back as he hurriedly walked around the street, mindlessly walking thru people in a straight line, with his head mechanically turning around to scan every area. How come he could see everything that she could see, and have so little interest in it? How could he walk by so many shops and people, and not even take a minute to stop and really get a good look at all of it. Why did the human world only seem to register to her and her only? 

        Suddenly, almost as if he had heard her thoughts, Brother dashed onto the main road, phasing thru multiple speeding cars. He stopped in the dead center of the traffic, getting down on his knees to stare at something on the ground. 

       “Hey! Wait!” She quickly followed suit.

        Hard man made concrete, slashed open like a flesh wound, right down at her feet.

        Cars drove seamlessly across it; marking it clearly as being of demonic origin. The gap was actually composed of more holes and scratches, spanning on for more than a meter. Rin also bent down to take a better look. There had clearly been an initial point of impact, marked by a deeper crater, followed by marks that seemed to result from swinging the object around.

       “This is definitely a demonic weapon of some kind.” Brother ran his hand along it carefully.

       “But it's so…big?” She shuddered. The holes were big, about the size of her head if not deeper in certain places and the other scratches in the ground were also deep and wide enough for Rin to stick her fingers into.

        Brother got up from his knees, as he stared down at the hole. 

        “A demon with a weapon this big…Why would they use it here? Has any other angelic unit been dispatched without our knowledge? Did a confrontation occur?” 

        For some reason, she doubted his theory. Something like demon on demon spars seemed much more plausible to her.

        "Well, maybe it was fighting other demons?"
        
        He scoffed, as if she had just said the most ridiculous thing possible. "You can't know that. Besides, I've been scanning this area for days and I can surely confirm there's been no other demonic activity besides this." 

        Rin looked up at him, and without really thinking about the intent of her words she replied: "So... this one just spawned out of thin air then? Maybe there's more demons here and you just haven't caught on to it."

        Brother looked down at her, seemingly taking great offense to her words. "Are you calling me incompetent?" 

        Not expecting the sudden angry reaction, Rin immediately starting apologizing. She couldn't really blame him for taking her comment like that, but a part of her had sort of meant it. How could a demon so big escape him? Was it a Teto situation? But why would someone who is "in the gray" like Teto is go around slashing concrete? And why would her theory of a demon fight be thrown out as so ridiculous? Was it because it made him feel even worse at his job?

       “I need to report to Heaven; maybe they'll send extra information or…” He drifted off, clearly trying to take his mind off Rin's comment. But she knew what he wanted to say was help from another angelic unit. Was he really that scared of the demon? Or had her comment really hurt his ego that bad?

        She stared down at the gnarly holes again, his position suddenly seeming much more rational to her. Even so, the thought of extra angels wandering around and keeping her accountable for her people-staring made her uncomfortable. Rin was surely one of the worst angels there ever was, and at this point she was tired of pretending she wasn't. She closed her eyes, and her mind went back to the shop, her imagination creating a scene of her and Miku drinking whatever the red haired woman was drinking earlier. Maybe she was a bad angel, but at least she had a good friend to be there for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Rin woke up, for the first time in her life without Brother asking her to do so beforehand. As she got up, misty clouds clung to her form as she stretched and looked around. Not that there was much to see, especially without him in the picture. The lack of detail surrounding her, which once comforted her greatly, now seemed to bore her more than anything. She desperately tried to touch the misty white shapes around her, looking for any sort of stimulation she could get, however she was quickly disappointed when her hand phased right thru them. Not even the “floor” was truly solid either, as she could easily just stick her feet in it and let herself fall down endlessly. 

       “Ugh…” She rubbed her face angrily. The last day had been uneventful after the discovery of the torn up road. That is to say, it had been extremely boring. Yet Brother still insisted that they patrol around together, around the city, looking for whatever demon caused the damage, his sour attitude persisting throughout the entire day. It seemed to her that the discovery of the marks had furthered his desire to keep Rin close to himself, or at least gave him a good reason to. 

       “I'm not some…little human girl…” Rin sighed as her wings furiously slapped the air around her. Thinking about spending a full day with her killjoy partner exhausted her beyond belief, especially after the scare he had given her. He did however, not mention anything of her behavior in the report he had sent yesterday, although he had seemingly asked for more backups. His omission of her not very angelic attitude seemed to fuel something inside of her, the wish to do as she saw fit; the desire to check the school by herself that day, without telling him. Besides defiance, it had become a force of habit for her, as Rin herself didn't necessarily believe she'd find any demon running around. There was definitely another more obvious motive as well though; for the first time in her life, Rin felt the need to rebel against Brother personally, even if it was in an insignificant way. She almost wanted to find a demon there, and to come back with it's core in her hands, victorious. Rin felt a new sort of emotion with this realization; malicious defiance.
        The angel also couldn't help but feel as if the annoying behavior from the day before were only the beginning of something worse to come from him. When she thought about how life with him might be from now on, filled with petty arguments and hand holding, she started to feel suffocated, as if his mere existence somehow could somehow keep her from being happy. 

        Brother had never been particularly exhilarating to be around with, but yesterday's events just seemed to prove further to Rin that she really didn't fit at all in the angelic system. Because that meant listening to Brother, who had spent the entirety of his previous day bossing her relentlessly. She couldn't stare at anything while he was around, as he'd get upset about it. She couldn't walk away too far from him, because he'd immediately follow after her. For some reason, Brother had morphed himself into a sort of self appointed boss of hers. Somehow even more so than before. She wasn't quite sure why, maybe because he thought she was incompetent? Even though she had fought multiple demons before by herself? Maybe he thought she was lying about what she was doing in the school, hence why he mentioned the report.

       “Ah….” Rin's head suddenly hung low. There was a slight chance that he was more onto her than she had initially thought, considering the comment he had made yesterday about the “bad influence”. He might've realized what Rin had been doing all along at that school. A wave of dread started engulfing her; she really had to be more careful with these things. Thinking back on it, her attitude with him really did start to change very quickly after she met Miku, his weird tonal shift suddenly matching her's very well. Even so, how could she be expected to put up with him after finally proving to herself that she could actually deal with demons, that she wasn't weak like he thought she was? And how could she stand his boring, stuck up demeanor when every other being she had met until that point, both aggressive and friendly, had so much more…life to them? The times she had clearly avoided telling him the truth, the little squabble they had over the school situation, her criticism of him she had accidently voiced; they were all very unlike how she was before. Not that she had never wanted to contradict him before, but more like she never actually thought about doing it. To her, it seemed that until recently she was living her life through a sort of fog that kept her from saying anything remotely defiant to anyone. And under that fog of perfect passiveness, he was a perfect angel and she wasn't, and all she could do is strive to follow his example.

        But she didn't want to be a perfect angel anymore. And she definitely had the power to complain and desire now. She didn't know what she wanted to be, frankly. But she knew that she really wanted to visit the school today, even if it meant defying Brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Leaving without telling her partner felt seriously wrong to Rin, and even though nothing inside her body seemed to poke her for the decision she had made, her “heart” was definitely racing as she flew around the city. The thought that, since he wasn't technically her higher up, there was nothing in The Code to really hold her accountable for the crime of doing her job by herself brought her a small wave of comfort.

        She swiftly landed in front of the school gates, which were, as Miku had correctly told her, locked shut. It was early in the morning, the sun barely having risen and the air still quite cold. Rin swiftly phased herself through the cold metal gates and started walking around the yard. She noticed that the grass had small droplets of water on it, but as she curiously bent down to take a look she found that her hands quickly phased through the ground. 

        A sigh escaped her, ready to accept her fate until she remembered that she could just change her form. Rin swiftly did so, and dug her hands through the grass as a reward. It felt cold, more so than the air around her, especially since her form actually had some heat to it now. Before she could run around the yard some more, the previous anxiety that had pent up in her body quickly brought her back to her senses. She needed to check the school, preferably quickly, so that she could return to Brother without him knowing of her little trip. Keeping her defiance in the shadows would've been ideal for her situation, allowing herself to cool her nerves and save face with Brother as well.

        The angel started walking again, towards the main entrance. Although her “heart” was racing, she somehow found the flow of comfortable, low risk adrenaline sort of fun. Compared to the century she had spent essentially rubbing papers and nothing else, this small walk felt like a dream come true for her senses. 

        She quickly got to the main entrance which was, as expected, shut.

       “Oh…Can I get in if no one has unlocked it yet?” She murmured to herself.

        Before she could fret about not having a way to unlock it, she noticed that the door actually lacked a handle, unlike the other entrances she had seen in the building. A small laugh escaped her as she remembered the day Brother had pulled on it with too much force. Apparently he had never returned it and nobody had bothered to replace it since then. The pleasant memory she had about Brother soured her mood further.

        She cautiously entered the dark, empty building, gently shutting the door behind her. The main entrance corridor was just like it was on the first day, wide, not very decorated and mostly used as a way to get to other parts of the school. Before she could really take in the atmosphere of the place, a sinister laugh echoed throughout the school. It had a sharp shriek to it, unlike anything human Rin had ever heard before.

        Her body froze. Was it even human? She quickly shut her eyes to check. An unmistakably demonic energy, definitely not too far away from her, started fogging up her senses. Was this the demon who had destroyed the concrete? What was it doing here? Why was it laughing? 

        She hurriedly started tip-toeing to the place she had heard the laughing from, one of the smaller hallways of the school where she had spent her detention with Miku, her steps wide and floaty. She slowly approached the demonic energy, making her way through different locker filled corridors, each step filling her with more and more dread. The angel quickly found herself at a corner, which she stopped at, sticking her body as close to the wall as possible.

       “Oh wow! You were so right, it's so unsubtle!” The unfamiliar voice laughed again, now followed by another. Even though the subject of mockery was vague, Rin could definitely feel the insult had been directed towards her. There was no turning back, Rin had to continue on further now. After a couple moments the angel finally peeped around the corner, trying to get a better look at whatever was there.

        At the very end of the hallway, the same one her and Miku had waited for detention on, Teto and a demon she had never seen before were seemingly chatting, as if they hadn't even noticed Rin. Teto, who was leaning against the wall, quickly raised her gaze to look at her, who was still peeping at them, her body frozen in shock. 

       “Hi blondie~” She said with a disgustingly fake tone. “Hatsune forgot to tell you there's no classes today?” The other demon, seemingly also a female, looked up at her. 

        Rin fixated her, shocked. This was the first time she had gotten a good look at an actual, "not in the grey" demon like Teto, and it was safe to say that her mere presence made Rin want to shrivel up and disappear off the face of the earth. She was taller than both her and Gumi, with unnaturally bright skin, which shone weirdly in the dark hallway, with equally bright green hair. But what was more damning was her weird outfit and accessories; a pair of compact ,red, glasses, tightly fixed to her face, unlike regular seeing glasses Rin had seen in humans. Her clothes were seemingly a combination of muddied latex and leather and she wore multiple layers at once; a black leather jacket, a skirt and pants too, making her look like a walking closet. Her outfit didn't lack the complementary spikes and high knee boots that Teto also had. Unlike Teto, the demon proudly displayed its large, bat-like wings, although she seemed to lack horns or a tail. What was most worrisome to Rin though was that she seemed to have a belt with a pistol clung to her waist. The sight of the weapon made Rin take a step back and hide behind the corner again.

       “Come join us, Rinnie!” Teto said with an obnoxiously sweet voice. “Why so quiet, cat got your tongue? We were just talking about’cha!” 

        The other demon laughed at her, seemingly amused by Teto's mockery. Rin couldn't take her eyes off her, and especially her opaque, blood red glasses, which made her look alien and cold. What guarantee did she have that she wouldn't attack her the second she got close?

        Almost reading her mind, Teto added. “Oh she doesn't bite, don't worry. At least not while I'm here.”

        She nodded, and made a crossing motion around where her heart would be. “If Miss twin drills is here then I'll play nice.” Her snark was sinister, and hardly seemed trustworthy to Rin.

        However, she had no choice but to put her faith in Teto. She cautiously stepped closer until there was only around a couple meters between them. Even though the other demon was trying to play it cool, she was definitely not comfortable with the situation, her eyebrows furrowing hard.

       “This is Gumi” Teto continued. “We're like… acquaintances.” 

        Rin cautiously nodded, not saying a single word.

       “Jeez, you're so stuck up. She just said she won't do shit if I'm here!” Teto scoffed. 

       “But if I ever see you outside of today it is every man for himself.” She quickly added, in a low, quiet tone, which made Rin shudder.

       “Stop trying to play the intimidation card, god you look like a walking trashcan! Not to mention you barely come by here to begin with.” Gumi turned her head to look at her, clearly upset. 

       “Whose side are you on?” 

        Teto shrugged with a shit eating grin. “The non bullshit one. Don't mind her being so tense Rinnie, she's had bad encounters with angels.” She said as she dramatically turned around to look at Rin.

        Gumi stared into the ground, or at least seemed to since Rin couldn't really see her eyes.

       After a couple moments of silence, Teto loudly sighed.

       “Jeez Gumi, lighten up! Look, we got a cute little angel all to ourselves.”

        Rin didn't appreciate the comment, as she gave the pink haired demon a nasty look.

        However Gumi's demeanor did seem to lighten a little bit. “You sayin I can shoot her then?” She said with a small grin which made Rin shudder.

        Teto shook her head. “Well, no but like, come on, she's so fun to annoy. Give it a shot…Without a gun!” 

        Gumi shook her head and Teto scoffed again.

       “Ugh okay, I'll do it myself. Hey Rin, nice wings! Whatchu change them for? So that lady Hatsune can ogle at ya better?” The joke didn't really seem to land, as Rin didn't find it sufficiently insulting, and Gumi seemed too out of it to really give it any thought.

       “Who is this chick Hatsune? The human worth falling for? Seriously, I'll never get these feathery idiots.” Gumi started messing with her hands, picking at a pair of fingerless gloves Rin hadn't noticed till then.

       The angel felt herself stiffen again, somewhat taken by surprise by Gumi's rude remark.

       “Oh yeah they're like- totally girlfriends.”

       “That's so gross. Humans are gross.” She started looking around, as if she was searching for a way out of the conversation. 

        Teto rolled her eyes, as she probably felt the comment was also aimed towards her.

       “I mean, to fall just for some thing that's gonna die in less than a century? You know what brothels are, right?” She finally looked up at Rin again, her eyebrows arched and her mouth forming a small smirk.

       “She doesn't wanna do it for that, you have like literally no common sense with these things!” Teto's annoying voice chimed in. “Sex is only good if you possess someone, and her moral compass is all too high and mighty for that.” 

        Rin felt completely at a loss, her lack of reaction seemingly fueling Teto's desire to poke even more at her.

       “I like your little fit, you look so posh now it really fits the whole blue eyed perfect blonde thing ya got going on.”

       “Huh?” 

        Gumi let her head hit the wall she was leaning against with a small thud.

       “Kasane, either you tell her to leave or I'm gonna dip. I'm not gonna watch you diss another… human diddler with stupid insults, like you're somehow better than her.”

        Rin felt herself become hot with anger at the mention of the “human diddler” accusation, but before she could butt in Teto started screaming. 

       “Hello? My life choices are my life choices, Gumi! If you don't like it then you can just get outta here!”

        Gumi laughed mockingly. “Don't get so worked up, you gotta have some pride in your… high schooler life…” She let out a dry laugh. “Really, a life of being on the run from everyone just so you can call some kids names? You know, I'll never get you. To give up your form too, now that's rich.” 

        Teto grabbed Gumi by the hem of her shirt, bringing her closer to her face. Although the action was violent in nature, Gumi didn't seem too phased.

       “I live life how I want to live it! Now either you shut up and take it or no more hints for you! The precious form you're making fun of me for dropping is your number one intel provider!” Gumi's face seemed to darken, as she pushed Teto off her, seemingly disgusted. 

       “Fine, whatever. But get this thing out of my face already.”

        Teto sighed really loudly. “Okay, okay I will! Jeez!” 

        She started making her way up to Rin, who immediately tensed up again. 

       “S-She said you're not here much!” Rin suddenly spoke out to Gumi, who seemed to require an immense amount of force to aim her gaze towards her. 

        The green haired demon slowly tilted her head upwards, defiantly.

       “Right.”

        Rin gulped down.

       “Yesterday…I was out on patrol with my partner and we found some…demonic scratches in the ground.” 

        Teto's eyes grew wide in shock as she turned around to look at Gumi. 

       “I'm not one to wield around swords and the like…That wasn't me…” She said after a couple seconds of silence.

        With this, Teto seemed to finally come out of her shock, who made her way back to her demon friend.

       “Holy shit! She's here? We're so fucked man! You gotta stay here and deal with this bullshit with me; she'll tear me to shreds!” Teto pleaded with Gumi, who shook her head with a small grin on her face.

       “Sorry Teto, not my monkeys, not my circus. Just hide until she inevitably leaves, you don't have to be that dramatic. I doubt she's out for your guts specifically. Besides, we should let it deal with it, right?” She looked at Rin with a smile which seemed genuinely sadistic. 

        Teto let out an angry groan. “But she's gonna get killed, I mean we need a professional in here! Come on, there's gotta be some reward on her name, she's literally psychotic!”

       “Not as far as I know. And even if there was, I’m not risking my life for that.”

       “What a bounty hunter you are!” Teto got up close in Gumi's face.

       “Who is this demon you're talking about?” Rin finally butted in, garnering a pitiful look from Teto and an annoyed one from Gumi.

       “Oh man, it's gonna hit you so hard!” Gumi said with an uncharacteristically excited voice. 

        Rin looked at Teto in fear, seemingly searching for a better answer than that from her.

       “Uh…It's a chick called Mayu…She wields an axe and that's kinda all we know.” Teto scratched her head, almost as if Rin's question had caught her by surprise. “She's a famous bounty killer and also… really into torturing the hell outta angels.” Rin's eyes widened. She had heard of sadistic demons before, but the thought of actually encountering one made her blood run cold.

        Gumi nodded. “Even though she only has a demon form, her presence is very hard to feel coming. Most of the time she attacks by surprise too.” She readjusted her glasses, which gave Rin a small look of the skin under her eyes. It looked unnaturally red and scarred.  

        Rin felt the soul fully drain out of her body. A demon so strong that it had a reputation among hellspawn for being so sadistic. And her and Brother were supposed to defeat it by themselves, with no help.

       “Honestly, you've got like no chance, blondie.” Teto started slowly shaking her head. “You're better off hiding until she goes away.”

       “I-I can't! My partner, he'd surely still want to fight!…That would mean leaving him behind, and then he'd…” Even thinking about it made Rin feel sick to her stomach.

       “It's either a dead angel or two dead angels.” Gumi scoffed. “Besides, aren't you supposed to have fallen? You really need to learn to adapt; it's not unusual for Heaven to throw newbie angels at very powerful demons and call it a day.” 

        Rin let out a sigh. “I can't just leave him.”

        Gumi smiled. “Oh well, you know, I think that's great. I really recommend that you go ahead and get yourself killed too.” Gumi started menacingly walking towards Rin, the angel quickly taking a couple steps back. To her surprise, Gumi just mindlessly walked past her, barely grazing her, and then calmly walked out the school, phasing thru a wall. Teto let out another loud groan. 

        “Ugh I hate when she does that! You really pissed her off.”

        Rin looked at her puzzled. “Sorry?”

       “Whatever, we were mostly done anyway. Don't take it too personally, she's got reaaal beef with angels." She made a quick pause to look around, as if she still expected Gumi to be nearby. "You saw her eyes...right?"

       The angel nodded. Was she implying that her wound was of divine nature? Rin wasn't even aware that demons could be scarred like that, seemingly for life. She wondered if it worked the other way around too.

       "But for real now blondie…” Teto's face suddenly turned serious. “You gotta get some backups going on or something.”

       “I don't think they'll send any; Heaven's going through a bit of a low point right now.” Rin sighed in defeat.

       “Riiight, yeah I think I've heard. Well, then I suggest you get the hell out of here for a couple days.” Teto leaned back against the wall. “She loves to hunt angels out in particular, especially the lower ranks. I wouldn't be surprised if she already caught your scent.”

        The angel looked down in despair. 

       “Hey man, cheer up! If you make it out alive I'll give you a little gift.” Teto gave her a little blink.

        Rin tilted her head to the side, curious. "Why?"

        With a weirdly sweet and all knowing tone, Teto gave her an unexpected reply. "You know blondie, I know things haven't always been good between us, but let me be the bigger person for once, kay?"

        If Rin would've had more gall inside her body she would've definitely objected to the statement. Instead, she settled for a more neutral question. "And what is the gift?"

       “No questions! Come on, something to keep you motivated Rinnie. It's hard to see you down like this.” She made a fake pouty face, which in a normal context would have probably made Rin roll her eyes.

       “Thanks…I guess.” Rin awkwardly rubbed her arms.  

       “Anything for my favourite angel~” She blew out a kiss, and then also started making her way across the hallway, in the same fashion Gumi had done earlier.“It'd be a shame to see you go so soon, Hatsune is gonna sulk even harder if you get blown to bits.”

        Rin's facial reaction to her words must've looked silly because it prompted Teto to laugh at her. “It's so funny how you're already so attached even though you're still walking around pretending to serve heaven.” She giggled, her voice echoing around the hallway as she got further and further away.

        “You're a real treat, goldilocks.”     

        Teto finally stopped her teasing, the sound of her steps gradually getting further and further away from Rin, who didn't even bother to look at her as she walked away. 

        Her body felt heavy, overcome by dread, which was pushing her limbs down. She felt the need to sit down and think about what she had just learned and how she should go about it, so she let herself squat down on the cold ground.

        Surely, if Brother and her could just find the demon before she did they'd be able to efficiently take her out. Another idea popped into Rin's mind; what if the demon would somehow be like Teto? Although on further thought, the reactions from Gumi and Teto seemed to disprove that theory. It truly felt a little bit hopeless. But she had no way out of it, the thought of running away and letting Brother be torn to shreds drove her mad. Nobody deserved that kind of fate. And even if she did run away and he didn't die fighting the demon, she still couldn't return without him clocking in on it and reporting her. Her final hope besides the demon being weaker than Gumi and Teto thought, was that somehow Heaven would send out an extra angelic unit, although Rin felt like that would've been unlikely to happen. Maybe if she would've told him about how dangerous the demon was he could try to really insist on it, but then she'd have to somehow magically explain where she had gotten the information from. Not to mention the long term issues that extra angels would pose to her newly acquired lifestyle.

        She sighed and got back up on her feet. She had to get to Brother, and see if she could somehow persuade him to patrol some other place; maybe she could convince him to have the school, which was much smaller than the city and more unlikely for the demon to suddenly go to. Or maybe his plea from yesterday for another unit would come true, and they could all defeat the threat together. The idea of courageously fighting alongside her other kin made her reminisce about the more carefree days of her life, when she still had aspirations of becoming a good, Heaven fearing angel.

        Another, heavier sigh escaped from her, seemingly dragging all her energy out with it.

Chapter Text

        Convincing Brother about any sort of changes taking place in their schedule had proved mostly unsuccessful for Rin. Weirdly enough, he even denied taking her role of patrolling the school. Instead, he had adopted a much more annoying position: doing whatever he wanted, without much input from Rin. Not that it had been a reached consensus between them, but more a deduction she had gradually made from his behavior the past couple of days. Brother spent most of his time away from Rin, barely checking in with her, and just generally being pretty quiet about the situation. He who was always so eager to think the steps of his plan out loud now barely gave Rin any instructions about how she should go about her day. Even though it was suspicious coming from him, Rin had no choice but to comply, and as such spent her Saturday patrolling around the city. As per usual, it had been hard to not get distracted by all the human commotion, but a heavy thought running inside her head allowed her to focus on her task better than she usually would: Mayu. 

        Rin hoped that day that she could find any traces of her, maybe get a head start of sorts in their inevitable confrontation or some more evidence to present to Brother and subtly portray to him that the situation seemed pretty severe. But instead, she found nothing. No weird presence, and no weird slashes in the ground either. If she wouldn't have known better, she would've assumed that the place was completely clean of demons (which obviously wasn't true). 

        Both to her relief and annoyance, Brother had indeed called for backups via scroll by himself, without her having to completely spill all the information she secretly knew. But as she woke up on Sunday, her head heavy from stress and restless ‘sleep’, she found him reading the scroll above her with a worried look on his face. 

       “No reinforcements…” He quietly whispered, his brows furrowing as his eyes quickly darted across the papyrus. 

       “Ah…” Rin couldn't help but feel guilty at the fact that she might have been putting them both in danger by not fully disclosing the gravity of the threat to Brother. But how was she supposed to do such a thing, what lie could she make up? How could she present everything she knew while omitting her meeting with Teto and the weird bounty hunter, and make it all make sense?

        While she was trying to think about what else to say, he quietly began speaking again. 

       “It was mentioned that it's currently impossible to send any reinforcements for threats we are not 100% sure about. It's probably the low point again; they need all troops on serious matters…We should expect demon activity to get worse.” Although she wasn't quite sure how he had reached that conclusion, Rin was too busy feeling scared about the prognosis of their situation to give it much thought. Heaven wouldn't send any help. They'd have to face Mayu alone unless they could somehow prove she was still in town, and of a significant threat to them. 

        Seeing her worried face seemed to soften Brother a little bit.

       “I appreciate your care and attention for this demon, and while I'd also want some reinforcements, I think you're exaggerating the threat of a situation a little.” He said as he looked down at her with a blank expression. “We haven't found any evidence to imply that our target could actually be very dangerous; not to mention it's possible that it has already left.”

        Rin sighed. Maybe he was right. Maybe Mayu had already left and all of her anxiety was for nothing. She looked up at his white hazy form; something inside herself made it hard for her to actually look at him directly, her eyes choosing to focus on the space behind him.

       “Yeah…You might be correct.” She finally replied after a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        As Brother didn't give her any “orders” on when and where to patrol, Rin decided to walk around the more residential part of town aimlessly, her thoughts still jumbled up. It wasn't until she passed by a group of particularly loud human teens sitting down on the sidewalk that she realized something.

       “Hey…sorry!” She quickly materialized her form behind them. “What day is it today?” 

        The humans quietly exchanged weird looks with each other, until one of them finally spoke. “ Uh…Sunday?” 

        Rin smacked herself square in the face upon hearing the reply, which made them all jump up in surprise. 

       “Ugh, I knew it! And the time?”

       “It's like.. 2:43…” 

        Rin dashed like her feet had suddenly caught on fire and jumped into the air, spreading her wings and taking into flight. As cold air swooshed through her form, she couldn't help but mentally slap herself again and again. The last couple of days had been so hectic; her tense situation with Brother, the Mayu dilemma, and the demon bounty hunter, that she had completely forgotten about Miku. Arguably the main reason she was in this situation to begin with.

        She clumsily crashed head first in front of the school gates, still closed just like the day prior. After she awkwardly got up and quickly stared around she came to a scary conclusion: No one was there. She was alone, only accompanied by the miscellaneous sounds of the trees and vegetation around her. Rin felt her legs go numb as she awkwardly tried gathering her thoughts. Had Miku already left? Was it that late? 15 minutes didn't seem like much to her, but maybe there was some human etiquette at play. Maybe by being late even by 15 minutes she had secretly offended Miku, and now they'd never be friends again.

       “Hi Rin!” A familiar voice chirped from behind her.

        Rin jerked herself around. There she was, Miku. Seemingly not upset about the situation. Looking at her with a slightly awkward smile.

       “No form yet? Well, that's okay, you're kinda hard to miss.” She said, looking up at Rin. The human started rummaging through her shoulder bag, one similar in shape to the one Teto had. Rin quickly noticed that her entire outfit seemed different today, which reminded her about what Miku had said earlier; her form.

       “Ah…Sorry! I just flew in.” Rin quickly changed her form to the one she had made during school a couple days prior. Everything seemed fine except her hair.

        Somehow, like it suddenly had its own conscious, it refused to stay put in a neat manner, breaking away from her already present clips and well defined twirly strands, giving her haircut a poofier and more erratic texture. 

       “Haha, yeah you do kinda look like it.” Miku pulled out a water bottle from her bag from which she took a couple of sips. “Pretty hot for April huh? But it is so nice outside.” She hummed as Rin created more hair clips for her wild hair, unwillingly copying the ones she had seen at the coffee shop woman.

       “Oh! Those are cuuute! Hearts do fit you pretty well!” Miku stepped closer to her, as Rin awkwardly laughed in reply, roughing up her uncooperative hair. If it wasn't gonna be neat today it might as well have been rowdy by design. 

       “Sorry if I was late by the way.” Rin finally looked at Miku, feeling a bit embarrassed by her lack of preparation for their meeting. 

        The human girl shrugged. “No worries, I think we both arrived at the same time actually. I didn't say you had to be here at 14: 30 sharp, well mostly because I came by bus and those are so slow sometimes.” She chuckled. 

        Much appreciated by Rin's tired nerves, Miku quickly took the lead and started talking. First about the weather, how it was so warm and nice outside. Then about breakfast, apparently she was a big fan of scrambled eggs. Then about how she had accidentally overburnt her toast, and many other things Rin wasn't completely familiar with. She seemed a different person outside of school, much more confident and talkative than her already pretty communicative self. Miku went on and on about how her day had been, making sure to answer Rin's questions when she had any. The experience felt both exhilarating and healing for Rin, her previously heavy head gradually clearing up the more she listened to Miku speak about small human things. 

       “And today my sister was so annoying- Oh yeah, I have a sister. Two actually.  A younger one, her name's Neru and an older- Haku. I'm the middle child.  So anyways, Neru's like 14 right? God, she's been so fixated on some boy band-”

       “What's a boy band?” 

       “Bands are just a name for when musicians come together to make music, so a boy band is a band of boys making music. Only when you say it like that it actually means they make music for a girl audience, and they get obsessed with them as well rather than just with the music. So I have no idea where she found these guys but…” 

        Rin felt her head soak up all the information she was given as they walked along the empty, shaded sidewalk. She looked around at the scenery, every little space of greenery glistening in the sun, the trees alongside the road gently swaying in a cold spring wind that the angel could occasionally feel on her face. It wasn't that she hadn't experienced pleasant weather before, but this was her first time truly taking it all in.

       “-And mom sees the poster and she says it's so dumb and that their music is brainwashing her, and obviously I don't wanna get involved but that's a pretty lame argument, right? And I tell her it's just a phase and it'll pass, but my parents are so annoying about things like that, they hate pop culture. Did I tell you when I was younger I was really into some vampire movies and God-! That was a nightmare! Every day I had to shove those DVDs in some other place because when my mom saw them she just went insane-...” Rin wasn't sure what most of the final phrase had meant, but Miku was speaking with such fervor that she felt stopping her to ask questions would've somehow upset the girl. And there was something special about seeing her ramble on and on like that, with an energy Rin hadn't really seen from her before. 

        They finally stopped next to an empty metal bench with a big sign next to it, which Miku quickly explained was a bus stop before resuming her daily anecdotes. 

       “So…how does the bus work?” Rin finally interrupted Miku after a while. 

       “Ah! Sorry, you're right I'm rambling! I'm just excited; I haven't been out with anyone in like a super long while.” Her face flushed a little bit as she awkwardly clutched her purse again, her demeanour returning to the one Rin was a bit more usual with. “So…The bus is a big car you can step into and it only stops at bus stops…So when you wanna get somewhere far away you take a bus that you know stops close to where you wanna get.” 

        Excited. Miku was excited to be with her. That was what was different about her that day. Rin felt something inside her grow, similar to Miku's excitement. Not really understanding that the moment for such a display of emotion had passed, she suddenly sprung out her arms towards Miku.

       “I'm also happy to be here! It's always so fun to talk with you~” Rin prepared to take a big step closer to Miku until she remembered all the personal space talks she had gotten lately. So she settled on just flapping her wings excitedly. She looked at Miku, the angel's face bright and cheerful, her eyes back to their usual sky blue colour she had lost during the last couple of days. “I've had such a hard couple of days…” Her demeanour suddenly soured again, her eyes seemingly darkening as she spoke.

       “Oh, sorry I didn't even ask! Is everything going okay?” Miku's brows furrowed in worry. “You did seem a bit quieter today but…I also talked a lot.” 

        Rin nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Rin had managed to tell Miku most of the information about her less than successful weekend before the bus came, but for the sake of the other people not giving her strange looks, she decided to stop her exposition dump while they were in the vehicle. Her friend's reactions to her story ranged from sympathetic to surprised, particularly about the implications of a demon bounty hunter. Even if Miku couldn't really help her in any way, Rin was glad that she had talked to her about it. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

        Inside the bus, it wasn't particularly lively; the humans there were quiet elderly people and adults heavily preoccupied with their phones. Rin couldn't find herself a seat, so she decided to remain upright alongside Miku. That was until the bus started moving again, which quickly sent her wobbling around. Miku apologetically instructed her to hold onto the bars that the vehicle had all around it, and Rin embarrassingly complied, earning some judging looks from the people around her.

        The vehicle had a strange, stale smell which didn't particularly entice Rin, but the thought of being in the bus, watching the traffic from inside it, made her feel excited.  There was some fun to be had in the dully coloured vehicle, even if most of the people in it didn't seem to share her energy. Watching the cars move along the bus gave Rin a similar feeling to flying, although on a much smaller scale, and seeing the different human buildings and how they gradually changed as they kept going seemed almost mesmerizing to her. 

        Miku quickly continued talking about small things to Rin; the apparently pretty bad traffic outside, the one time she fell asleep on the bus on her way to school, and many other things. The angel stayed close to her so that she could hear her whispering over the loud sounds of the moving car, occasionally butting in with questions of her own. 

        With every stop, the bus gradually became very crowded as it went deeper into the city. Rin felt herself get slowly squished together with Miku by the boarding passengers, her face starting to burn from stress. Their bodies were almost touching, and she was definitely closer than Miku would've usually liked. Weirdly enough, her friend seemed completely fine with the matter, her gaze seeming relaxed as she looked around the bus.

        It seemed like almost everyone was packed inside and sharing the same predicament as Rin, which the angel assumed was probably why Miku didn't seem to mind. Rin sighed in relief, which made the girl look down at her. 

       “You're getting the exclusive public transport experience, Rin.” She chuckled, her eyes closing slightly as she smiled.

       “It's pretty overwhelming…There's so many people- I think someone stepped on my foot earlier?” She hurriedly looked down at her shoes as Miku let out an amused laugh. 

        As Rin was looking down, she noticed that Miku was wearing different shoes than usual. She glanced up at Miku; the angel hadn't even truly realized that she was wearing completely different clothes than what she was used to. A pretty plain white dress, long just like her usual skirt but scrunched up at her waist to reveal more of her legs, paired with a pretty saturated purple cardigan, whose sleeves were also pretty scrunched up, forcefully revealing her many mismatched bracelets. What really caught Rin by surprise about the pretty conservative clothes was just how much they revealed Miku's skin. Even though the dress had buttons going up to the base of her neck, Miku seemed to have left most of them undone by purpose, letting the heavy buttons drag down the fabric in a sort of messy V shape. Rin wasn't used to seeing this much of Miku's neck, furthermore, she could see a bit of cleavage too, and while nothing more was shown, she was sure that if the girl would bend down she'd definitely get to see more than she was supposed to. Because of her height, her face was basically right next to her chest, which only made Rin more irrationally anxious about the situation. She knew that looking and touching that area was forbidden, and she obviously didn't want Miku to get upset at her. So in order to masterfully avoid the situation, she decided to simply awkwardly twist herself around 180° and look out the window instead.

        A sudden bump in the road made Miku lose her balance and trip into her shorter friend, accidentally touching most of her breasts into the back of her head in the process. Miku awkwardly excused herself as she briefly used Rin to regain her balance. She was glad Miku couldn't see her face at that moment.

       “Sorry…Did I step on you or was that someone else? We're getting off soon anyways.” She said, apologetically.

        The angel felt happy at the prospect of getting out of the crowded bus before the situation could get even more awkward. 

        When they got off, Rin was surprised to see herself in front of a gated garden. Is that where they had been going? She realized that she hadn't even asked Miku about where the bus was taking them. She was truly kind of a mess today.

       “Oh…So we're gonna see the park now?” Rin looked up at Miku, her excitement quite apparent. 

       “Ah! No, well, I mean unless you wanna. Personally, I was thinking more of going to a cafe, but we gotta go through the park to get there anyways.”

       “I saw a cafe yesterday!” Rin squealed. 

        Miku gave her a friendly smile. “Well, I can't know if it's the same one but I guess we'll have to find out.” She finished with a cheeky blink. 

        She seemed so charismatic today. 

       “It's a really nice park, you'll see. Especially this time of year.” Miku talked as she started walking towards the entry gate. 

       “I've seen parks before, they're always so lively.” Rin sighed melancholically, which seemed to take her friend by surprise.

       “Really? How come you of all pe- well…angels…You know what I mean; How come you had the time to wander around parks before?” 

       “My first mission on earth was to find a particularly big hellhound pack and I had to ask around cause we just couldn't find them-”

       “Wait. Hellhounds? Like…demon dogs?” Miku stopped in her tracks, right before entering the park, as she gave Rin a questioning look.

       “Oh, yeah sort of!” Rin continued walking until her feet hit the irregular gravel of the garden's pathway. She shuffled her feet around with a sort of grating noise, twisting her legs deeper into the pile of small rocks. 

       “Hellhounds aren't like normal demons; the ones you've seen. They can't think or have goals or morals and they mostly influence animals, although they can obviously affect humans too.” Rin started walking alongside Miku as she finally got enough of kicking around the sharp pebbles. “The ones I just mentioned had possessed some dogs if I remember correctly…They had weird foamy mouths and were barking around. It was really weird for them to be so many in one place, and that's why we got sent down. So I asked a random man if he had seen any sort of weird dogs and he pointed me towards a park, it must've been a more tropical region because the plants were so abundant and colorful! I remember Brother scolding me for taking so long to look at some flowers…But they were so pretty! Bright pink and they sort of flow down towards the ground.” Rin sighed wistfully.

       “Hellhounds give dogs rabies!?” Miku stared at her surprised.  

       “Well, not always! But that time it was. I felt sorry for the dogs, can this ‘rabies’ be cured?” She looked up at her friend, who shook her head with a disturbed look on her face.

        Rin's attention was quickly stolen by a long patch of pretty purple flowers at the edge of the pathway, cutely guarded by their own tiny decorative fence. They were small and short, almost hugging the ground, with big multicolored petals; whiter towards the centre and gradually becoming more purple on the edge.

       “Wow! These are so cute! What plants are these?” She said as she bent down to get a better look at them

       “They look like pansies, but I'm not really a plant person.” Miku answered from behind her. 

       “And these?” Rin pointed towards another set of arranged flowers, very tiny with many petals and puffy yellow centers, who were sporadically placed between the pansies. 

       “Uhh…I have no idea.” Miku awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. 

        Rin got up and crossed her arms dramatically. 

       “See, that's the problem with you humans! You're surrounded by endless beauty and you don't even bother to look at it. Do these plants even have a name?”

       “They definitely do, I just don't know it. Not everyone's a botanist, you know?” She laughed.

       “They should be though! If I had a human life, I'd learn about all the plants…” Rin looked up at the sky in determination.

       “Do you even know how photosynthesis works?” Miku gently poked fun at her as they resumed walking through the park. 

        Rin's eyes gained a sort of sparkle to them as she got up on her tippy toes and fluttered her wings. “ Ha! Yes, actually!  It's part of the beginner course on all things earth! Photosynthesis is the mechanism plants use to feed themselves! It requires sunlight, nutrients from the soil, and water!”

       “But what makes plants green?” Miku cheekily asked, her smile both curious and playful.

      “Uhh….Uhmm…” Rin fell deep in thought. She definitely hadn't learned that. Her course on all things earth had been all encompassing, but not very deep. So while she knew things like how weather worked or the basics of animal life, that was pretty much it. Just bare essentials. Even someone like Miku, who clearly showed no interest in flora or fauna, knew much more than her, who loved it so much. Could she really love something she barely understood? Or was it more a sort of fake, instinctual appreciation for nature as a concept? 

       “It's chlorophyll, it's what makes plants green. It absorbs light for photosynthesis. Only plants have it.” 

       “Wow, what does it look like?” Rin's wings started fluttering again as she got closer and closer to Miku. 

       “Haha, you can't see them with your naked eye. You need a microscope; it's a tool that makes really small things look big. But I guess they look kinda like beans...It's hard to describe.” Miku instinctually opened her purse, looking for her phone. 

       “Wow! Human science is so so cool!” Rin spun around again as Miku smiled at her. 

       “You're so full of whimsy.” Miku firmly put a hand on her, stopping the angel from her erratic movements and inevitably tripping onto something. 

      “Maybe these things are menial to you, but just put yourself in my shoes! 80 years of reports… God knows who did God knows what and they require this and that- should we approve? Wow…and then a reply too!” Rin looked as if she was slowly going insane recounting what her daily life had been until recently. “And-and I come down here and you tell me that THIS thing?” She said, as she grabbed a nearby bush and shook it emphatically. “-Has little things in it that make it green and also make it photosynthesize? And whatever else it can do? This plant right here has more diverse information than all the reports I've ever read!” Rin sighed forcefully as her little rant reminded her of her current ongoing demon issue. “What's this one called?” 

        Miku shrugged again. “It's like a bush, man. It's bush-shaped.” 

       “Bush.” Rin repeated like a small child hearing a curse word for the first time.

       “I'm sorry to hear your job sucked that much, like, that much I did gather but it really seems to have…sunken in for you, no?”

        Rin nodded, her expression changing into a tired one. She was starting to understand Miku's initial shock at the concept of spending eons on nothing but paperwork. And she was definitely starting to find it absurd too, now that she had many other experiences to compare it with. 

       “I definitely don't want to do reports again. Maybe something different but…that's not up to me.” She said as she awkwardly rubbed her arms. “Obviously I'd wanna keep doing what I'm doing and I'd wanna stay here…” 

       “But you can't, right?” Miku completed her thoughts as Rin nodded in confirmation.

       “Let's not talk about it, please.” She suddenly said as she rubbed her forehead and slapped her small wings against her back.  “I'm having much more fun talking about bushes. “ Even though the reply made Miku laugh, Rin had meant it. 

        Any time spent with Miku, any time spent in the human world, all of it was time well spent to her.

Chapter Text

       “I can't believe it! It is the same café!” 

        Rin hurriedly started running as soon as she saw the building in the distance, clumsily trying to avoid hitting the nearby passerbys, while Miku gave the people Rin inevitably pushed around a quick apologetic look. The always crowded city center wasn't the ideal place to run around, but the angel didn't really seem to care about such things at that moment. Physicality was still a concept that was not above being discarded at Rin's slightest whims. 

       “Well…” Miku began as she finally caught up to her friend, who had quite impractically sat herself right in front of the store's glass door, her wings doing their usual flutter as she excitedly looked inside. “Huff…huff…It's new and I saw online that they have a buncha cool stuff and I thought-…huff..” Miku let out a lot of heavy, breathy huffs as the unforeseen chase had drained pretty much all her stamina. It was true that she wasn't quite the athletic type, but the angel's pace and energy would've been sure to tire just about anyone.“ -We'd drop by and see how it is…” Finally finishing her sentence, she gently pulled Rin to the side by her shoulders and opened the door.

       “What a coincidence!” Rin beamed as she followed Miku inside. “And to think that I wanted to go to this exact place too~” 

        The sight of the interior finally seemed to stop the angel's ever racing thoughts. Just like she had seen from the outside, it was cozy and well lit by the rays of light the large windows let inside. Instead of the regular ugly chairs and desks she had seen in school, the furniture of the café seemed much more comfortable and pretty; lots of cushions, rounded corners and a lack of scribbles on the tables left her with a good impression of the place. Numerous smells Rin couldn't quite recognize besides being “bitter" and “flowery” gave the air a charm of its own, alongside loud, lively human chatter and music. She was so enthralled by the location that she didn't even realize it when Miku started speaking to another human, dressed in more formal clothes. 

        Her friend quickly pulled her away to the back of the shop, following the other formally dressed human. While almost all the tables were occupied, this part of the restaurant seemed more spacious and less detailed, also noticeably more yellow in colour, due to numerous lamps scattered around the place. Miku quietly sat down at a two person table as the same human from before brought them two thin books labeled "menu" and then went right back to serving the other customers.

       “Well the back is cool too, no?” Miku said as she started flipping through the menu. “Ohh, look, they got lots of teas.”

        Rin followed suit and sat down, straight across from her friend. She picked up the menu and started quickly scanning through its glossy plasticky pages. Before long she was hit again by the realization that she could not read any of the words, thus making the small booklet useless to her.

        Miku must've noticed her disheartened look as she suddenly took her bag down from her shoulder and started rummaging through it. She got out a couple of thin, colourful books and then hung her bag on the back of her chair. 

       “Obviously I've never taught anyone to read from scratch before, but I know a lot of people learn languages using comics. I looked through some of my sister's older stuff and I thought maybe you'd like these. And even if they're of no use to you, uh, linguistically I think you'll at least like the drawings..”

        She handed Rin three novels, each adorned with colourful yet flimsy covers. Rin curiously picked one and quickly spelled the title out loud.

       “G-A-R-F-I-E-L-D. Is that a name?” 

        Miku smiled. “Yeah, Garfield. It's, like, about this funny orange cat…He's very moody and he hates Mondays but he loves food, especially lasagna.” 

        Rin could feel her eyebrows raise in confusion as she looked back down at the comic in her hands. The sight of a cartoony orange animal, a cat according to Miku, greeted her with a cheeky grin. How could a cat hate a day of the week? What even was lasagna? And could a cat even grin like that?

       “But…If it's a cat…That's an animal. How can it do these things? Dislike…Mondays you say?” Rin curiously started flipping through the pages, only to become immediately confused by the many squares the story was categorized in. Another peculiar thing was that all the characters had bubbles with text next to them, which she assumed represented some kind of dialogue. Was there an order she was supposed to look at them? And were there multiple stories or just a single big one?

       “It's a cartoon cat, silly. Cartoons can do anything, yeah maybe real cats don't care about Mondays but a cartoon character can! That's what makes it funny and interesting, if it was just some human it wouldn't be comedic because...duh-! No human likes Mondays! But Garfield doesn't actually go to work so it's like…” 

        As she went on, Miku seemed more and more unsure of whether her explanation of what made Garfield humourous really made sense to Rin. 

        Nonetheless, the angel's curiosity was more than piqued, as she started flipping through the pages. Even though she still couldn't read it, the drawings did have a cute appeal to her. She couldn't quite make out what every character was supposed to be at first, but she quickly realised that besides the cat there was also a human, and another beige animal that the grumpy Garfield really seemed to dislike. A random panel of Garfield giving him a good kick made Rin even more curious about what exactly the other creature had done to anger him.

       “What is this animal supposed to be?” She pointed at it as she handed the book back to Miku.

       “Oh! That's Odie, he's a dog. Haha, I guess I can see how it'd be hard to recognize.” 

        Not very convinced by the answer, she took back her comic and analyzed the image of "Odie" again. Comparing it to Miku's attempt at drawing a dog it seemed much more…clean and well defined. And definitely more expressive. But it still looked nothing like a real dog, though Rin agreed that she could see the artistic vision.

       “And Garfield hates Odie for no reason, which is kind of sad honestly, but sometimes characters being mean can be funny.” The girl continued chatting cheerfully as she picked up her menu again.

       “How could something like a kick be funny?” Rin awkwardly turned the comic upside down in an amusing manner, as if that would've secretly given her more answers. “I've been kicked plenty of times and it's never been amusing.”

       “Well, yeah, a real kick sucks. But a cartoon kick is funny because it's exaggerated and it doesn't actually hurt anyone. You laugh at the situation because usually it's absurd.”

        Rin flipped thru a couple more pages until she found a couple of panels without much text. The first one was the same human from earlier, sitting next to a snoozing Garfield. The second, a continuation of the first: Garfield getting up and seemingly cuddling up next to the human. Rin liked the image, because the thought of a cat wanting to be pet seemed cute to her. She hurriedly darted her eyes to the next panel. Then unexpectedly, Garfield violently scratched the poor guy to shreds, ending the comic with a third panel of a smirking Garfield, saying something. Feeling that the joke was lost on her mostly because of the language barrier, she shyly asked Miku to read it out loud to her.

        “That's what he gets for getting all up in my space.” Miku said in a lower tone, seemingly trying to mimic what an old grumpy tom might sound like, then laughed and gave the comic back to Rin, who was obviously still confused. 

       “Well, you've never had a cat but they do this sometimes; they come up to you and they look like they want to cuddle but they actually don't and they nd up scratching you. And it's funny because Garfield here got up by himself to annoy Jon, so why is he also the one scratching him? You get it? It's like a contradiction.”

        Rin was starting to get it, at least in theory. So cartoon characters had both humanoid and animal traits, and to understand what they were going through meant knowing how those animals worked in real life. She sighed. None of what Miku had just told her seemed even remotely familiar to her. Sure, she knew what a cat was but she had no idea how it actually acted around humans. Come to think of it, she had no idea why humans kept cats around anyways. Were they useful like dogs? But the comic seemed to paint a different picture, that of a much more cruel animal. Was Garfield just particularly mean, or did he just act like the average real life cat?

        The angel couldn't hide her disappointment with herself. The feeling that she had made so much progress in understanding humankind in the past week was quickly replaced by the realization that she had barely scratched the surface. Even something as simple as drawings with words above them were still so complicated to her. How was she ever supposed to catch up on all this knowledge she was obviously missing? Was every human text this based on lived human experience? Would it all be inaccessible to her forever? Or would it just take a lot of time and a lot of living amongst humans to truly ‘get it’? She couldn't even begin to imagine how much time that'd take.

        Rin sighed, slightly closing the book with a dejected look on her face.

        “Hey, don't worry. Garfield can be kind of abstract, I agree. If you learn how to read you'll be able to understand things with plot and those make sense in a vacuum too.” She gave Rin an empathetic smile. “I mostly thought you'd like to look at the pictures.” Looking away from Rin, she shrugged with a guilty look on her face.

       “Oh, I do like them.” Her voice gained an smidge of cheerfulness as she looked back down at the comic. The vibrant colours and simple characters were fun to look at, and she especially liked seeing their various facial expressions and actions. One drawing that especially stood out to her was a picture of a house with a little garden and fence. There was something cute in how humans illustrated things around them, simplifying and giving them a whole new charm and vibe.

       “I just wish I could read, humans use written language a lot it seems.” She sighed again.

       “Yeah, I don't really know how you can go about it. I think you'd like audiobooks but you don't have a phone, right? Maybe I could try to help with reading after class but I'd have to look into it a little. It's a pretty difficult thing to teach.” 

        Rin shrugged. “If I hear a word and associate it with how it's written then that's all I need.” She quickly flipped through the book and pointed at a word. 

       “That's how you write ‘apple’, you showed me a couple days ago. I remember it still, when I looked over the book it immediately popped into my vision.”

        Miku scratched her head in slight disbelief. “Well, maybe you just remembered it because it's distinct? But I don't know, maybe angels can really learn like that. I guess in that case it's as simple as someone reading out loud to you. Wanna test it out?”

        Rin gave a nod and Miku awkwardly got up and dragged her chair next to Rin's. Then she began reading the comic out loud, explaining what the various shapes of bubbles meant, along with the sound effects and other symbols that seemingly only existed in comics. 

        It still didn't make much sense to Rin in the beginning, but the comedic aspect the human had mentioned in the violence and dialogue between the characters was slowly starting to sink in for Rin. Not every story had made complete sense to her even with Miku's help, but she did gradually start liking seeing the characters act, even the rude Garfield. After a solid forty pages or so, Rin felt as if she had started noticing repeating words and making sense of the writing on her own, so she asked Miku to give the book back to check her progress.  

       “Garfield thinks: My New Year's….”

       “Resolution.”

       “My New Year's resolution is to be a kinder person.”

       “That's so good!” Miku cheered excitedly.

        The next panel showed Garfield smacking Jon across the face with a newspaper.

       “Garfield thinks: Thank God I'm a cat.” 

        She had to admit that the situation was humorous. A small chuckle escaped her as she quickly looked at her friend.

       “Oh I get it, he won't be kind because he's not a human.”

        Miku nodded. “Yeah! And for a cultural note, New Year's resolutions are wishes people make on the new year. Usually they want to better themselves and hope the upcoming year will give them a fresh start, but most don't actually keep their promises. I guess that makes it even funnier in a way.”

        Rin nodded. “Did you make such a wish this year?”

       “Oh no, I'm not one to wish for things, I think it's a bit absurd…” She awkwardly scratched her arms. “But some people really do take it seriously. 

       “Excuse me.” A spunky female voice from behind them made Rin jump up in surprise. Twisting around on the chair she was met with the sight of another formally dressed human. “Can I get your order, girls?” 

       “Ahh!” Miku suddenly dragged her chair back to her place and hurriedly picked up the menu. “Sure, uh, can I have jasmine green tea?”

        The waitress quickly wrote down her order on a small notebook. “Not one for coffee? We have some great blends, maybe your friend wants to give them a shot.”

        She gave Rin a hopeful look, who quickly shook her head in reply. 

       “Nothing for me. I don't drink.”

        The waitress playfully chuckled as she grabbed the menus from the table.

       “Hey, no need to word it like that, I didn't offer you a beer or something. Besides, we don't sell alcohol to minors. But you gotta get at least some water, no?” The was she was saying it with such a fake smile made the angel believe that she was a bit insistent for a stranger. 

        Rin shook her head again., maintaining her demeanor. “No thank you.”

        The waitress shrugged and left, letting Rin resume her reading.

       “By the way, what's green tea?” Rin asked after a couple of pages. As expected, the book seemed to completely enthrall her. Even if she still couldn't understand most of the words, her brain was slowly starting to make sense of the way sounds were usually linked with one another, letting her casually piece together words Miku hadn't read to her before. 

       “It's like a drink made from leaves, like the leaves of the tea plant. It has a nice taste, I could give you some if you want. I could ask the waitress to bring you an empty cup.”

        Rin finally put her comic down for good. “No no, I can't drink.”

       “Oh yeah…I forgot…” Miku let her back rest on the backrest of the chair, seemingly starting to fidget with something under the table. “But…hey! I've definitely seen Teto eating and drinking before. And I know she's not an angel but you guys are kind of similar, right? Maybe she found a way to do it?”

        Rin fell deep into thought. Human digestion wasn't something she was knowledgeable in, but she was sure the processes were far too complex for Teto to just be able to copy via changing her form. 

       “Hm…Well I don't know how she did it or if she's just faking it. The only way I can think about doing it is creating a hole inside your form and connecting it to your mouth, so that it looks like you're consuming food.” 

        Miku looked at her with a shocked expression. “So where would it go? Does she just throw it back up when no ones looking?” 

       “I don't know how she does it, but if that's how she goes about it then yeah.” Rin crossed her arms, deep into thought.

       “But can you even taste things? Or smell?” Miku leaned in a bit, clearly becoming more and more intrigued by the conversation.

       “I can. They're both useful senses for missions. Taste less so, but I do sometimes have to taste stuff to check that it's not actually something else. For example, blood doesn't always smell strongly, and when it dries it loses that bright red colour, but it always tastes metallic.” 

        Miku let her head rest against her hand. “That's kinda hardcore when you put it like that…Have you ever tasted blood?”

       “Luckily no, but I've been instructed on how to do it.”

       “So, going by that you could definitely taste tea too, right? Maybe just a bit?” 

       “I can try!” Rin chirped. “You said it's made from leaves, and I think leaves are nice. I didn't know you could eat plants in that way too.” 

        Miku chuckled. “You can do a bunch of things with plants, well not all, obviously. Humans can't actually eat most of them.”

        Rin nodded. “That I know. I wonder how humans even managed to find out what was good to eat and what wasn't. Before technology and such…”

        Before Miku could reply, the waitress returned, placing a plain white teapot in front of Miku, along with two small cups. Then she unexpectedly leaned down and whispered something to Miku, who quickly turned red and started frantically buttoning up her shirt.

       “Five minutes should be fine. The tea pot is hot so be careful.” The waitress hurriedly left again, not giving either of them any more attention.

        Seeing that Miku was still bright red and messing with her shirt even after she had left, Rin couldn't help but ask.

       “What did she say?” 

        Miku gave Rin a quick awkward look as she finally finished buttoning her shirt. Almost as if to calm her nerves, she started pouring some tea for herself. The water was steaming hot, filling the air with a sweet, herbal aroma. 

       “Uh…She told me maybe I should button my shirt…That it looks a bit much…” Water splashed around the cup unevenly, jumping onto the table before being quickly wiped away by a frenetic Miku. 

       “Oh, isn't that kind of rude? I thought it looked fine.” Rin said as she picked up the tea pot for herself and lifted up its lid, getting hit squarely in the face with a wave of flavorful steam. Not really knowing what to do with it, she quickly put the lid back on and placed the pot in the middle of the table.

       “Uhh… Well…I think she was right actually, it was kind of revealing.” Miku tried to pick up the tea cup but was immediately burned by the steaming water inside it. “Jeez, where did they get this water from?  A geyser?” She said, shaking her hands in the air, trying to cool off the tips of her fingers.

        Rin curiously crooked her head. “But didn't you mean for it to be a bit revealing? Or did you forget to button it up?”

        Unexpectedly, Miku's head suddenly jerked up as she let out a groan. 

       “No like…Look, I don't wanna go tits out necessarily but everything I have is so loose and- Not to mention it's so hot outside too!” Her face seemed to turn that characteristic shade of pink again. “I didn't actually think anyone would think it's that weird but I guess it does just kinda look like I forgot to button up.”  

        “Then, couldn't you just tell her it was on purpose?” Rin asked again.

   “Oh no, if it looks this weird then I might get strange looks from people.” She shook her head. “She was probably just trying to look out for me. Besides, it's fine, I'll just have my neck strangled for today.” Another sigh escaped her as she picked up the tea cup by its handle this time and started blowing into it. 

        Rin understood the situation, but still didn't really know what to say to comfort her friend. 

       “You can't buy other clothes, right? Because of your parents.” 

        Miku drily replied, as she was still blowing into her tea.  

       “Bingo.”

       “So…religion wants humans covered, right? That's why you gotta dress like this. Why's that?” 

       “Well, religion wants mostly women covered. And it's because they think men can't control themselves.” 

       “Oh yeah, a carnal thing?” 

       “Yup. But ,like, it's obviously dumb! You've seen plenty of girls walking around in shorts and tank tops and nothing is happening to them! It's just some bullshit rule my parents follow because they're too brainwashed.” 

        Feeling that the discussion seemed to upset Miku, Rin thought of changing the subject.

       “Is the tea drink good?” She suddenly chimed in, her voice light like the sound of bells.

       “I don't know, it's still way too hot. But my guess is it's not gonna be great since green tea needs way cooler water to brew. It'll probably be bitter.“ She sighed. “I could do it better at home frankly, I had higher hopes for this place. But coffee shops always get tea wrong because they mostly serve…well… coffee.” 

      “Bitter isn't good right? Can I try?”

      “No way, you're gonna-” Miku suddenly stopped. “Oh right, can you get burned by this?” 

        Rin shrugged. “Not really. How hot did you say this water is?”

       “Like maybe 90°C?” 

        Rin almost let out a chuckle. “I'll be fine.”

        Miku passed her the cup, and curiously looked on as Rin took a small sip and closed her eyes.

        The drink was hot, yes, but the temperature was not even close to provoking discomfort, much less damaging her. It didn't have much of a taste, although the heat made it hard to tell. Keeping it inside her mouth seemed to rapidly cool it down, she felt the liquid quickly approach room temperature and the warmth starting to travel down her body. Even then, it didn't taste like much. But it was definitely bitter, almost lacking the herbal scent it had when the waitress had first brought the pot. 

   She quickly spat the liquid back into the cup, handing it back to Miku who hesitated at first, then took it with a weirded out look.

       “You're right, it's just kind of bitter. Does taste a bit like a plant, but it's very faint. Could definitely be a bit sweeter maybe.” She said as she scratched her chin. “Did smell pretty nice though, especially in the teapot.”

        Miku wordlessly nodded as she stared down at the cup in her hands, as if it had been somehow cursed by Rin's presence.

        Looking at her Rin soon realized that the action of spitting the tea back was probably unnatural for humans, and began frantically apologizing. 

       “Wait, I shouldn't have done that right? It's probably unhygienic- Well….” She drove off. “I don't have any bacteria in my body or something like that, if it makes you feel better.” 

        Miku looked down at the cup and then back up at Rin a couple times.

       “You know, when you say it like that I guess there's no reason I can't have it, right? Besides, even if you had saliva, people have been drinking stuff with other people's spit in it for ages.” She chuckled. “Look, you even cooled it down for me too. You're like a schoolgirl shaped heat conductor.” 

        She cautiously took a sip, which almost instantly furrowed her brows. 

       “Bleh. It's so bitter.” She put the cup back on the table with a look of disgust on her face. 

       “If you come to school on Monday I'll get you some tea I brewed at home and you'll see it's much better.” 

        Rin nodded in entuziasm. “If you don't mind! And I'll make sure to spit it out somewhere else.” She cautiously added. 

        Miku chuckled. “It's fine, don't worry about it. Definitely don't do it with food, though…”

        She poured another cup, the water still steaming, and handed it to Rin.

       “Here, if you hold it, it might cool down faster. The longer it sits the more bitter it's gonna get so I might as well drink it all quickly.” 

        Rin grabbed the tea cup and surrounded it with both of her hands. The heat of the liquid rapidly started making its way from the walls of the container into her arms, giving her a nice sensation of heat radiating around her body. It reminded her of the first couple of times she had been touched by Miku, back when her form used to be much colder.

        A weird silence fell between them as Miku started looking around, seemingly searching for a conversation starter while Rin was stuck acting like her personal beverage cooler. Her gaze finally stopped moving, fixating at some faraway point to her right, eyes slightly unfocused and her brows furrowed. Rin was starting to worry that she might've made the situation weird with the whole spitting tea back out thing, until Miku spoke again.

       “You know, it just kind of hit me in the bus as well but like- isn't it funny how we barely know each other?”

        Rin's eyes widened. Why would she say such a thing? 

        Miku was objectively the person she knew most about. What she liked to dress as, what her family was like, what people thought of her and many other things she didn't know about anything else, not even herself.  She could name more things about Miku than she could about Brother for sure, especially when it came to personality. 

        Before Rin could voice her concerns, Miku quickly added.

       “Like, what I mean is that you know some very uhh..Personal things about me.” Seemingly embarrassed, her gaze fell to the side. “And I obviously do about you too, like the whole angel dilemma thing? Even though we just met a week ago.”

        The angel nodded. “And does that bother you?” She put down the cup, which was now well at room temperature. 

       “No! It's more like…We kind of jumped through some of the initial steps people usually go through when they meet someone for the first time, right? Like I can name your inner struggles and I've seen you like… in pretty vulnerable positions and that like, goes for you too, and yet I don't think I can name your favourite colour or something like that…”

       "I don't have a favourite colour, I've never thought about it.” Rin felt herself grow sad at the realization that what Miku probably wanted from her was more character than she probably had. 

       “Well, when you put it like that…” Miku suddenly drove off. “But you get what I mean, right?” 

        Rin nodded half heartedly. 

       “We need a proper introduction to one another, like they do for when a new kid joins the class or something like that. “

       “Oh…Alright.” 

        Rin nodded again, hesitantly. Introductions were familiar to her, but she wasn't sure they were on the same page about what information they should present. Stating your rank and current task didn't seem like a “organic human relationship” thing to Rin, so she decided to just let Miku talk instead.

       “Well, here's what I'd say if we had met more uh…normally! I'm Hatsune Miku, you know that, I'm 17, I think you know that too. I love music and Tv shows, I guess comics and manga too sometimes. My favourite colour is teal, again you could probably tell.” She lowered her head slightly and pointed at the top of her scalp.” My favourite drink is tea, but I like some types of coffee too. Uhm…I guess I can dig a bit deeper with you, right? I don't have many friends, but I'm pretty awkward sometimes, so it's probably better like this. Oh! I'd love to become a singer someday, or at least an instrument player. I'm pretty good with the piano, although mom makes me play a lot of boring songs.” 

        As per usual, Rin wasn't quite sure what to make of the information. It was interesting, and she understood most of it, but she didn't necessarily know exactly what to say. Was she supposed to answer the same questions? Or just keep asking Miku things? She tried really hard to think of stuff to ask about, but nothing really came to mind.

       “Uhmm…What's manga?” She suddenly perked up.

       “It's like comics but they're from Japan- You know, the country.”

       “Oh! What does it look like?” 

        Miku quickly pulled out her phone and showed the angel a picture; it looked much like Garfield in the sense that it was also divided into squares, but instead of colour everything was black and white, and the human characters also seemed much more detailed, their eyes particularly large and hair weirdly extravagant. In a sense, they sort of matched what Rin had expected human beings to actually look like before she came down on earth and found out that almost everybody dressed in the same dull way.

       “And what's with the letters? That must be another human language, right?” 

       “Oh yeah, that's Japanese. But I read all my manga translated, obviously.”

        Rin looked at the text in disbelief. Every character seemed different and much more complicated than the alphabet she had been learning from Miku.

       “Does every character mean something else? Like in angelic script?” 

        Miku took her phone back and gave the characters a good look. “I'm pretty sure, yeah. It's very hard to learn because of that.”

        “Wow! That's so much more convenient! Well, at least for me. After I'm done with English I'll definitely look into this one. And, what was the other one you mentioned, Chinese?” 

        Miku nodded. “I say you'll like Chinese lots with how you're currently learning English. You'll get it done in no time.” She laughed. 

       “And you mentioned an instrument…Piano was it? How does it sound?” 

       “Ah! Listen to the song in the background, that's a piano song.” Miku enthusiastically answered.

        Rin took a moment to separate the ambient music from the quite jarring human sounds, her mind gradually eliminating almost everything besides the song. It had a nice sound, very relaxed and yet very neutral in a way. While it was quite slow paced, the piano still seemed to produce a wide arrange of sounds of different intensities that flowed together seamlessly. The song filled Rin with a warm feeling, the lower sounds giving a cozy vibe that was accentuated by higher, sharper notes which created a flow of sounds which contradicted each other in a pleasant way.

       “-And you should see some real music…” Rin's focus was quite abruptly broken by Miku shoving her phone in front of her face again, the device displaying a small video of a man playing the instrument. The audio was much less clear, but she could easily tell that the piece was more dynamic and harder to play, since the man had to move his hands around a lot to get those sounds out of the instrument. 

       “You play it by pressing the tiles, right? How does that even work?”

        “It has some big chords inside that black box, and every time you press a key there's a little hammer in there that pushes one of the chords and creates a specific sound. I'd show you but the piano I have at home is electronic, so I just hope you get what I mean…hold on…” Miku promptly showed her a picture of the inside of the instrument, explaining to Rin how the chords worked again in more detail. 

       “That's so interesting! But it seems hard to remember, right? And you gotta move your hands so fast too.” Rin sighed in amazement. 

       “Oh haha yeah it's definitely not easy, but I really like it. I think it's very fun to see your hard work gradually come along and form a song, you know? The practice can get pretty grueling though…” Her enthusiastic expression was replaced by a pained one for a split second. “But it's such a beautiful instrument!” She continued, a certain sparkle in her eyes Rin didn't see too often from her.

       “What's your favourite song?” 

        Miku gasped. “That's so hard! I have a lot! Both on the piano and in general; I'll have to make you a playlist- Ah… " She suddenly paused. "You think you'll be getting a phone soon?”

        Shrugging, Rin sighed. It seemed that the phone was an essential tool for humans, and while she did not necessarily see that much use in it, it was obvious that her relationship with Miku would've probably benefited from having one.

       “I never thought about it…You need money for a phone, right? How could I get money?”

        Miku gave her a wise nod as she started looking around the room, thinking. 

       “Well phones are quite expensive but it's nothing a couple months of part time can't afford …But I don't know who'd hire you because you don't have any papers or…you know….experience. “

       “Papers? Like documentation?”

       “Yeah…Birth certificate, ID, passport…all that kinda stuff. You can't just spawn them out of nothingness either.”

        Rin looked down at her lap, upset. Yet another thing that was keeping her from truly embracing the human experience. Besides the other obvious elephant in the room. Everything seemed to be one step forward and two steps back for her, and it was really starting to drag her spirits down a little bit.

       “But Teto has a phone, so maybe she does have some papers somehow? Or…what if she stole it?” Miku giggled. “It's probably the second.”

       “Maybe it's the mind control too? Not that I can do that or that I want to…!” Rin quickly added.

        Miku looked slightly confused for a moment before she let out a loud ‘Ahh!’

       “I forgot about that whole Meiko thing, wow. I guess it also falls under demon shenanigans the human brain can't comprehend, right?” She awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “I do forget she's like- literally a demon sometimes, it's kind of insane.” Instinctively, she started petting one of her twintails. “And even with your wings sometimes I forget you're actually…It's still kind of sinking in, I guess.”

        Miku took a long sip from her tea, clearly trying to get as much as she could down in one go. 

        Gulping down in a quite messy manner, she then spoke again.

       “Y'know what would help the whole angel-human disparity thing? A human introduction, like the one I just did.”

        Feeling a little desperate, Rin laughed nervously. “Well…I can't say I wouldn't like to do that but I just don't know what I'd say about myself that you don't already know…” She paused. “For angels, introductions aren't that useful. Sure, you gotta state your purpose and boss usually but that's kind of it…I didn't even use to have an actual name.” She glanced around the shop, her gaze falling on a painting on the wall behind Miku. It was a small drawing of a dense forest, seemingly from a warmer part of the planet. She sighed melancholically.

       “I'm Rin, just Rin. No family name. I don't have any hobbies, unless you count…wandering around the earth as one.” She lazily let herself lean across the table. 

       “You seem to like drawing.” Miku enthusiastically added.

        Rin shrugged. “It was fun, and I'd like to do it again, but I don't know if it counts as one. You talked about playing instruments for years, I don't think anything I've ever done out of my own volition even comes close to that level of dedication.” She slightly furrowed her brows, as if she had just been reminded of something unpleasant and sighed again.. “I don't eat or drink, so I can't have a favourite meal or beverage. Although tea seems nice. It reminds me of plants; and I really like those.” She trailed off, her voice slightly more upbeat. “All I can think of right now is things I want to keep doing, not things I've actually done. I want to keep going to school, I want to keep drawing, I want to see more plants. I want to see more of…anything really.” Her thumb lazily started tracing the picture of the smug Garfield in front of her. 

       “Y'know, now that I put it like this- I haven't really been living, haven't I? I don't know if it makes sense but-” Her thumb suddenly stopped its repetitive motion. “It's like I was born a week or so ago, and now I'm just kind of crawling around on the floor, trying to get my footing.”

        Feeling that the human had been staring at her, she lazily lifted her head off the table to look at her. Miku's expression was bizarre; surprised but also calm. Understanding and somehow also slightly lost. Could someone like her, who had been living in this world for 17 years, truly understand what it was like to go from an existence spent doing nothing to an existence where she could do anything? She almost looked afraid to even interrupt her, was it because she couldn't comprehend it or because she wanted Rin to keep talking?

       “And you know until recently I thought I'd surely go back but… The more time I spend doing…literally anything else… even touching grass and fighting for my life for Heaven's sake, even the pain I feel here makes it all seem…worth it somehow.”

       “No, I think I get it.”

        Rin looked up at her friend again, this time standing up properly.

       “Honestly for someone who has spent like 100 years doing nothing but paperwork you're adapting really well! Okay, sure you just spat a mouthful of tea back into my cup like a couple moments ago but-” Rin could feel herself grow a bit hot from embarrassment as her friend reminded her of the pretty obvious blunder. “You're not human, none of this is hardwired into you yet. And taking that into account, you're absorbing things so fast! Take my word for it, in a month or so you'll be unrecognizable from a real school girl, Rin.”

        Miku spoke with so much energy, her face widening into a clear, full smile, a smile that brought her a moment of comfort. The angel could feel her head fall down into her hands, as her insides started to squirm a little bit.

       “I really mean it, you know! If you wanted to, you definitely could-...”

        Rin shook her head, her face starting to burn hot inside her palms. Her hands were burning hot. Her entire body was burning hot.  Her mind was both clear and completely a mess at the same time. But knowing what her friend wanted to say seemed to completely send her system into a frenzy she hadn't felt since her quarrel with Teto. 

       “Don't play with my feelings like that, Miku.” Rin sighed, rubbing her face furiously. “It's touchy…you knooww..” Letting out a small laugh she desperately tried to hopefully divert Miku from the small reaction her words had sent through her system. For both her sake and her friend's, she needed to stay calm. Their hangout was going far too nice to be ruined with something like that.

       “I'm sorry Rin, obviously you can do what you feel you gotta do…” The sound of Miku rubbing her hands awkwardly somehow made their way to Rin who was still more or less only looking at the floor beneath her with lowered eyes. 

       “I know the stakes are like…basically…yeah….” She trailed off again. “We'll always be friends, okay? I'm so lucky as to have had a literal angel choose me as their earth guide.”

        Rin let out a surprised chuckle, grateful that the girl was happy to change the subject. “How so? There's so many angels and they're all the same, if anything you're the one that's special.” 

        Something in Miku's mood shifted slightly as she heard her words, going from energetic and lively to flustered. 

       “What? Pfftt- No! I'm not at all interesting, honestly I could've been anyone!” She waved her hands around in a dramatic and disregarding manner.

        Rin's mind was quick to form a reply, even in its jumbled state. Something along the lines of “No, Miku! You're actually so interesting! Look at all the stuff you do!” But for the first time in…probably ever…Rin felt it would be more interesting if she just kept her mouth shut. Looking at Miku, who was still battling her horrid cup of tea, she lazily leaned in a little bit and rested her head in in-between her palms.

       “And why do you say that?” She smiled. The reply made her think a little of Brother and his condescending behaviour, but before she could really dwell on the thought Miku started speaking again, seemingly even more flustered by Rin's sudden change in attitude. 

       “Wh- Uhh…” Her eyes quickly darted from Rin to her cup, which was now filled with a cold, light brown liquid. 

       “Well…I don't know…I guess there's people my age that do a lot more cool stuff, you know? Like they drive and drink and party… those kinda things.”

        Rin shrugged, which was a bit hard to do with her face resting in her hands. “Maybe that'd be fun, but I wouldn't know. What I meant is that I don't think anyone else but you would've really stopped to help me. Or at least nobody else seemed to have that impulse besides you.”

        Taking another sip from her cup, Miku replied in a more confident voice: “Oh, yeah. Teenagers are dicks, I agree. Well, most people are. I didn't really think about it from that point of view, but obviously what you're saying makes sense…”

        The angel nodded. 

       “Well…I guess in that way I guess I am special…Which is sad- people should be more quick to help.”

       “I also mean all the other stuff, like how eager you were to tell me all about all these obvious human things! Sure maybe your memory is kinda foggy on the dangerous details-” Rin cringed thinking about if Miku would actually want to be friends with her if she could've properly realised the things she was actually living through. “-But you know! I still think most people would be a tad more concerned about it.” She finished with a reassuring grin.

        Miku thought for a little bit, but seemingly abandoned what she was going to say for a nod instead. “I never thought I'd actually do all of this stuff either, but I guess it was just too interesting. Plus, you were so into it- it would've just been kind of rude, right?” The girl chuckled lightly.  “Honestly it kind of all feels like a fever dream. With the first meeting I remember going home and mostly forgetting about you, though obviously it sort of came back to me when I saw you again…I'm just lucky my mind won't let me dwell on the bad parts for too long, right?” She poured more tea for herself. “But I do remember everything we do together really well-” She continued. “And I can think of all our conversations too, even the ones relating to angels. It's just the form stuff that I have an issue with.” 

        Rin's wings fluttered, almost as a response to Miku's words about her form.

       “Like, I'd be lying if I said you didn't sort of … plague my thoughts a little bit. I mean- I was so hyped to see you today.” She looked away almost as if her words made her self conscious. 

       “Obviously me too! I've never done any of this before!” Rin gleamed with joy

       “Well that goes both ways, right?” She chuckled. “Not everyday you get to sit down and teach an angel how to read…And the not so complicated rules of brewing a simple green tea.” 

        Suddenly reminded of her unappetizing drink, Miku began pouring herself yet another cup. The flow of liquid was pretty weak at this point, so she tilted the teapot more than usual, causing the lid to fall into the cup and splash her and the table with liquid. 

       “Ah! The lid! Ugh! Can't believe I just did that.” Quickly putting down the now empty tea pot, she grabbed a couple of tissues from her bag and started wiping away at her dress, which had gotten wet with quite a considerable amount of tea.

       “I don't want this to stain, my mom's gonna kill me- I'll go and wash it off in the bathroom, can you clean the table for me?” She said as she handed Rin her packet of tissues. 

       “Sure thing.” 

        Miku got up with a loud push of her chair, and quickly made her way to the front of the restaurant. 

        Smiling a little for herself, Rin diligently started wiping away the tea. Most of it had landed on Miku, so her job didn't take more than a couple seconds, which left her with plenty of time to think.

        She decided to take another look at the comics, her gaze stopping on a different one; it had a colourful cover with many weirdly dressed human characters, which also seemed to be flying in mid air somehow. Confused on what exactly the cover was supposed to represent, she quickly searched for the title: bold red lettering on a yellow background was probably it. She could make out the second word  “man”, as she had seen it earlier in “Garfield”. But the first proved a bit more challenging. Thinking of other similar looking words, she mentally went through a couple ways it could be read until she realised that it was most likely “Super”. But what exactly made this man super? Was that his name, or just a description of him?

        Something slammed her head into the table with a thunderous thud, knocking her out of her physical form. Sharp pain immediately followed, pulsing throughout her body. Not because of the impact itself, but because of the grip the thing had on her. It had to be a hand. And even in her frozen, shocked state, its coldness was very familiar to her.

Chapter Text

        Before she could even react in any way, his thunderous voice barked down at her, his hand keeping her head pinned down with a strengthening grip. 

       “You have the right to remain silent until your prosecution.” He hissed, his voice serious and unwavering. Prosecution. That was the worst thing he could have said. As the word started bouncing around Rin's brain, her entire body began burning up, swelling, her wings starting to twitch frantically as he continued yelling at her.

       “You, who goes by, #%*^@-”  She couldn't believe her ears; that he'd call her by her angel “name”. “-have broken The Angelic Code, specifically its rules regarding human related interventions.” Unlike his usual scolding, he didn't even relay the entire paragraph to her, nor cite its article name and whatnot. The realisation that Brother was seriously not going to go easy on her gave Rin's body the ultimate shock it needed to actually start moving. 

        She threw herself off the chair, thus forcing him to let go of her head. Looking up at him from down on the floor, she saw nothing of his face, just a burning white light. But she could very clearly feel his rage in the air around them, distorting the atmosphere the same way the rising heat of a fire does.

       “B-Brother! I can explain!” She jumped up on her feet and tried to gently grab him by the shoulders, only to get caught by one of her arms instead. Wordlessly, he started getting dragged out of the cafe instead. It all happened so quickly that she didn't even fight it at first, only realizing what was really going on when she saw her ghostly form phase through multiple humans and tables.

       “Wait! I swear I have my reasons-” She started trying to pry her hand away from his grip, unsuccessfully.

       “DO YOU THINK I MATERIALIZED YESTERDAY?” He yelled as he threw her on the sidewalk outside with a heavy thud. “You don't think I saw how you talked with that thing? “ Rin could finally make out his expression, although at this point she would've probably rather not see it. No words could describe just how angry he looked as he stared down at her, as if she was suddenly nothing but garbage to him. And his anger only grew with every shaky breath he took.

       “Maybe this is my fault too, I turned a blind eye to your behaviour for too long. I thought at one point, we'd inevitably relocate and you'd stop.” He suddenly spat again. “But to think that in the span of one week you'd go from a mediocre angel to… this?” He disgustingly stepped on her skirt, digging his heel into it, which made Rin realise she hadn't even had the chance to change her form. “What explanation could THIS possibly have, enlighten me!?” Brother lifted his foot from her skirt and instead placed it on her waist, pinning her down. An uncomfortable, stinging pain started pulsating through her abdomen. 

        Though Rin couldn't really feel it. She was completely frozen. All she could do was stare at him in shock, and watch as his gaze became more and more insistent. 

        Seeing his partner do nothing more than repeatedly close and open her mouth like a dying fish, anger quickly got the better of him as he began ranting again.

       “And I always knew you were mediocre but frankly I didn't know I could add idiot to the list too.” He mocked her with an uncharacteristic amount of vitriol. “You knew I was around the perimeter, you knew that I've been suspicious of your activity- or actually I don't know if you knew, are you shocked by this information?” 

        She nodded, looking down at his foot crushing her form. He stepped on her a little harder, making her finally wince in pain. 

       “Then…I guess you really just couldn't help yourself. I guess some of us truly are lost causes.” He bent down, aiming to grab her wrists again, but the action seemed to startle her hard enough to knock her out of her frozen state. Rin started flinging her arms at him more and more aggressively, until she finally managed to push him away with a grunt. His harsh words and dire situation were starting to rile her up as well. 

       “So you're gonna get me killed!” She yelled. “You, who calls me Sister, you're going to kill me!?” 

        Her yells seemed to have knocked Brother out of his angry state for a couple seconds. Shock suddenly took over his face, dimming the angry light of his body just to a more normal white.

        Sensing that Brother might actually listen to her now, she got up, and awkwardly dusted her skirt as she looked down at her legs in shame. 

       “You've gotta listen to me, I'm not against Heaven here.” She muttered under her breath. “I know things, and they're going to help us with this demon. I want to fight demons and protect mankind. We're on the same team.” Ending in a more confident tone, she finally looked up at him only to see that his face had suddenly lit up in anger again. 

       “Protect mankind? Is that your main purpose? And what could you possibly know that I don't?” He spat, his eyes burning with a strong cerulean spark.

       “This demon, she's coming for us. She's incredibly strong, we definitely need backups, which we don't have! She's going to tear us apart limb by limb-”

        Brother shook his head in anger, almost as if he was refusing to even hear her words anymore. “I don't care how you know that information! How can you even be so sure of it? I don't even want to imagine what things told you all of this…” He looked down, pained. “And I know it's coming, that is why I'm here! Just a couple minutes ago I found even more weapon marks, from multiple demons actually. And when I come here to inform you about it I find you….desecrating Heaven!!” He charged her again, grabbing her wrists, this time so hard that it made Rin audibly gasp. 

       “Do you even know what protocol demands in this situation? What's more important than the demon is getting you into Court. Either you come willingly and I plead demonic corruption or you put up a fight and I say you did all of this of your own accord.” His grip tightened even more as he looked at her head on.

        Looking into his eyes, at first glance she could see nothing but hatred. Determination. Judgement. Rin felt as if her cause was lost. She had been caught and now she was going to pay.
       
        But the more she stared, the more she felt she could also sense a little bit of fear in his expression. Doubt. 

        She knew no matter what Brother would plead she'd end up dead. Few if any angels ever returned alive from Court, and in the rare cases they somehow did, paperwork or other embarrassing punishments became their eternal full time job. Not that it would've been much better to Rin. In fact she would have definitely preferred execution. 

        But for something as severe as betrayal there was definitely no other sentence for her. No matter what had made her betray Heaven in the first place, she was definitely not coming out of it alive. And if she, with her surface level understanding of The Code knew it, then he definitely knew it as well. So was he simply trying to coerce her into turning herself in, or did he somehow genuinely believe she could be saved by the excuse of demonic corruption? Was it even an argument Heaven would even think to consider?

        It didn't add up. Staring at him closely again, she saw another emotion. Hesitation. The more she looked at him the more she saw it written clearly all over his face. Despite his yells and barks and threats, he didn't want to turn her in. Or more like he didn't want to get her killed. Even now, he was stalling, just letting her keep staring at his face. With this in mind, Rin thought that there may have been a way she could convince him to let go of her arm, for a start.

       “Brother…If I go to Court I'll definitely not return, you know tha-” 

       “That's for our higher ups to decide! I know what you're trying to do- You're no better than a demon!” He hissed, his hands digging into her wrists further.

        Ah. 

        So that's what he really thought of her.

        With that, something inside Rin snapped, something that had been cracking for a while but hadn't quite gotten the push it needed to break. 

       “Really? I'm like a demon? For what crime, exactly? Not wanting to slave my life away doing papers?”

       “You were on the road to greatness!” Brother's voice almost sounded like a plea, his gaze softening somewhat.

       “Was I? You know very well the only reason I got assigned missions is that Heaven is doing like shit right now and they need more angels butchered in fights they can't possibly win!” Her words made his face turn into complete shock. Rin used the moment to finally get his hands off her arms.

       “What should that  mean? T-That's not even true! What grotesque creature told you that? How dare you speak of Heaven like that?!” 

       “Oh, so it's not true? Aren't you the one that got completely torn to shreds by the first demon we fought here? Aren't you the one who so far has done basically nothing but fly around mindlessly? Listen to me, this demon, the one we found, she's going to kill us both. I know this, so I know what we need to do. We need to run.” Frantically gesticulating with her arms, she let out a heavy pant of frustration. The stress was starting to weigh heavy on her limbs again, like it had the day before. 

       “Run ? Even though you were just now chatting with a human? Where is the urgency in that? And you tell me that I should run from my duty? Are you implying I should become a fallen-”

       “I'm implying that you're going to die!” Rin barked at him again, gripping his shoulders firmly, which made him jump up in surprise.

        She stared him eye to eye again. He had to listen to her. “Look, you've deliberately under-reported the threat of the demons because I was the one who dealt with them. And I'm so incompetent, right? No way they could've been that big of a deal, correct? But in the end I'M the one who dealt with them both, I'M the one who know what's coming.” With every word she could feel her teeth grinding against one another with more and more force, until her words became nothing short of hisses. “Whether you like it or not, I know more than you. If you think the first one we fought was hard you don't even know what's coming. So listen to me, go beg for those backups because we are going to need-”

       “We!? You're not an angel anymore! No! There's no backups, there's no running away from this, there's nothing besides YOU coming with ME right now!” Brother tried grabbing her again but Rin was quicker, pushing him to the ground with an angry shove.

       “God, stop fighting me! We're on the same team!” She yelled as she threw her hands up in the air.

        Brother quickly got up and summoned a small knife, pointing it straight to Rin.

       “I tried to warn you!” He screamed again.

        Truthfully, the knife had taken her by surprise. She never once would've thought that a fight between them could escalate so fast. But the more she looked at him, the more Rin could only see was his fear, hidden under his apparent stern and combative nature.

        It was better than fear, actually: hesitation. Even more so than before somehow. And hesitation was one of the worst things anyone could display in combat. His grip? Amateurish and shaky, even for new angel standards. A sloppy and unbalanced stance, his feet almost touching one another, his body leaning slightly towards the back, almost as if he wanted to run away. 

        The odd scene made her think of how she had probably looked like to Teto, back when she was trying to get the demon to fight her on school grounds. It could be argued that he looked even worse, almost like he had never even gone through combat training in his life. 

        Seeing that Rin wasn't willing to escalate the situation, he carefully stepped closer and took a swing at her, which Rin instinctively dodged. While he was still swinging the knife around, she took a quick swipe at his feet, which instantly made him fall on the ground, dropping his weapon in the process.

        Rin couldn't help but feel a bit bad as she put her leg on his torso, in a manner similar to what he had done to her earlier. Brother had never been stellar at fighting, especially when he was completely out of his element, but this was a new low even for him. She almost couldn't believe that someone she used to respect and think of as superior to her such a short while ago could be defeated so easily. He had proven to be much more bark than bite than Rin had anticipated. 

       “Please listen…” She sighed, as she looked down sternly at his shocked and panicked face.

        Completely ignoring her, he quickly summoned another knife, trying to stab Rin in the leg with it. But before he could even lift up his arm she quickly bent down and smacked it out of his hand effortlessly.  

        Just as she was about to start screaming at him, a sharp wave of pain flew right through both of their skulls, making them both shake madly. Rin tried looking to her right, where it had seemingly come from, however her vision was blurred from the intensity of the pain.

       “What in Heaven's name…” She could hear Brother mutter from under her as she finally stepped off him.

        A weirdly dressed girl (or was she a short woman?) was rapidly approaching them from a distance. Her pace was quick, but she wasn't running, somehow moving so fast with small and almost invisible dainty steps. And while Rin couldn't quite make out her appearance at that point, one thing was clear: her presence was beyond a doubt demonic. And he could definitely feel it too.

       “Its…Mayu! God- I told you to run, can't you feel it?” She barked at Brother, her face starting to burn with fear.

       “I'm not running anywhere! It's just a trick, it wants you to be scared!” He said as he got up and pushed Rin away from him, making her stumble.

        The woman, who had inexplicably gotten much closer to them in the few seconds they argued, started laughing mockingly. 

       “Oh, you little birds are fighting? How interesting…” Her mouth tried to form an evil smile, although it ended up looking more like an angry grin. 

        She was now less than a couple meters away from them. Her outfit was bizarre, unlike anything Rin had ever seen. A huge, black, doll-like frilly dress that seemed to have way too many layers for comfort, along with a weird hat that doubled as a sort of veil, covering much of her face with a see thru net. She was adorned in bright cute bows, which created a stark contrast to her somber outfit. She had many accessories and pins sporadically tied to her dress, but what stood out to Rin was a long necklace made of sizable red beads, which shone menacingly from the holes her garment was adorned in. Actually, most of her dress was torn to shreds, along with the remains of what Rin assumed must've been a cardigan at one point still fluttering on her shoulders. But what was more curious were many, small, ragged holes, mostly around her left shoulder. Even though the arm looked too damaged to be moved, and much less be used in combat, the demon seemed more than eager to fight. Her shiny steel heels clicked menacingly, growing louder and louder as her form made her way through the crowd of people out on the street.

        It suddenly clicked for Rin. Bullet holes. Brother mentioning multiple demons sparring. Could it have really been that...?

        Without much fanfare, Mayu summoned a huge axe, the size of her own body, which she grabbed with both of her arms, ignoring her previous injury. She raised the weapon above her head and slammed it into the ground with a deafening noise, slashing the asphalt in front of her and throwing both of the angels off their feet in the process. The impact had raised a huge cloud of thick smoke, which engulfed everything in an opaque grey.

        A moment passed as Rin's body was frozen again, laying in the middle of the sidewalk, a painful sharp ring echoing inside her head. Before she could even get off the ground, a small hand suddenly grabbed her by the ankle, and with a sudden, effortless jerk, began dragging her around on the broken asphalt. As the angel flailed around trying to grab the hand that was mopping the floor with her, it suddenly stopped pulling on her leg. Rin wasted no time in flinging her leg, kicking and trying to shake off it off her. Feeling the grip tighten onto her, she instinctively bent forward and started scratching the hand off her with her claws. 

        It didn't even flinch. Suddenly, Mayu pulled on her leg again, this time flinging her really hard, into a nearby building. The impact buried Rin in rubble, and engulfed her body with an even worse sense of fear. She quickly started making her way from under the big pieces of asphalt and concrete, pushing them off her body one at a time. Her heart racing, she finally knocked the last piece of concrete off her, only to find that she still couldn't see anything because of the smoke. She dissipated her physical form, letting out her true wings, quickly flapping them around to clear the dust around her. 

        The flapping quickly dispersed the opaque clouds in front of her, revealing instead a far worse sight: a rapidly approaching Mayu, menacingly making her way towards the angel from within the smoke, huge axe in hand. Her golden eyes fixated her a predator discovered seconds before pouncing on their prey. 

        Being out in the open made Mayu jump into a mad dash towards the angel, her axe readily pointed towards her. Rin narrowly managed to avoid the impact, quickly rolling herself to the side. However she didn't eve have the time to get up as she was instantly pinned down to the ground by a kick from the demon’s heavy foot. Mayu wasted no time in raising her weapon above her head and preparing to cut Rin into half.

       As the blade descended onto her the angel caught it in her hands right as it was about to hit her chest, pushing against it with all her force. Tears started rolling down her cheeks as sharp, unwavering pain made its way through her palms, gradually splitting them in half. Seeing her terrified face made Mayu cackle somewhat maniacally.

       “What's that gonna do? I'm just gonna cut through your hands as well!” She laughed as she pushed more and more into the weapon, digging into Rin's shaking hands. Pushing against the axe made the pain so much worse, but giving up meant taking a heavy and probably fatal blow to her chest. So she had no choice but to push as she panted and groaned in pain. 

        Suddenly, something made the demon scream in pain, as she instinctively stopped pushing her weapon into Rin. She angrily turned around to look at what had hit her, using one of her hands to worriedly yank something out of her back, groaning in pain.

        Taking advantage of the momentary stall, Rin pushed the blade to the side with all her force, which made Mayu inadvertently focus on her again. Wasting no time, the angel summoned a knife and lounged at her opponent's throat. She pounced on her, using one arm to wrap herself around Mayu and the other to quickly stab the knife into her throat with a swift motion. Her blow seemingly ricocheted cleanly off Mayu's throat, leaving no mark or wound behind, almost like Rin had hit a glossy, impenetrable surface instead of demonic flesh.

        The sudden hit still shocked Mayu, who dropped her axe and started punching and clawing at Rin, desperately trying to get her off. The angel endured the painful hits as she tried her hardest to stab her in return, although she quickly realised that her knife seemed to have little to no effect on Mayu’s form.

        Grunting, the demon finally managed to grab Rin by her wings and started yanking on them hard. So hard that Rin could feel them slowly detach from her body with every pull. She couldn't last long until she inevitably fell to the ground, shrieking in pain. Most of her feathers had been plucked clean off her wings, leaving her with two small stubs still attached to her back.
        Seemingly further annoyed by the angel's tackle, Mayu effortlessly kicked her body away like a football, sending her flying a good couple of meters.

        Rin tried to get herself off the ground, but her opponent's speed was unmatched, quickly dashing towards Rin and kicking her body again and again, stomping her into the ground. She tried covering herself with her arms to protect her front body from the blows, but Mayu's kicks and couldn't be stopped, as they kept pounding her form to bits. Every kick sent more and more pain thru her scrunched up body, making Rin's attempts at defending herself weaker and weaker. She could feel her body dig itself further and further into the ground, forming a small crater around her.

        After a couple minutes of trampling the nearly unconscious Rin, the demon finally summoned another axe, a smaller one, and unceremoniously slashed it right thru Rin's left arm, making her scream in pain. She didn't even pick the axe back up, instead letting it lodged in the angel's arm as she squirmed around in pain, desperately trying to get the weapon out of her while screaming.

       “Doesn't feel so nice, does it?” She laughed under her breath as she summoned another axe, preparing to cut right through Rin's chest.

        Rin watched horrified, her vision blurred from pain, as Mayu lifted her weapon above her head again. But she gasped in pain again before she could kill Rin, furiously turning around to look at who was attacking her. It was Brother, using a bow to hit her weakened arm with multiple, arm length arrows. 

        She quickly left Rin behind in the rubble, dashing towards him with a speed he obviously hadn't expected from her.  He couldn't even start running away before she quickly grabbed him by his arms and flung him around like she had just done with Rin earlier.

        The pain was seriously starting to become a problem for Rin, as she found it harder and harder to keep conscious with her arm pretty much severed from her body. And while she knew she couldn't die from an injury like that, the pain was definitely bad enough to gravely affect her performance. Pain engulfed her thoughts, blocking any other sound or worry, making it impossible to think. But doing nothing meant certain death. But how could she do anything when all she could think about was pain? Pain in her severed arm. Pain in her remaining hand. Pain in her wings. Pain in her head and all over her body. 

        Crying, she looked at the blade currently pinning her body. to the ground. The sight made her sick, but it also engulfed her with some sort of angelic instinct, which screamed at her to run away as far as she could. Shaking, she tried to unstick the blade out of her using her remaining hand, but her limb didn't seem to want to cooperate, shaking madly with pain and fear. That coupled with the overall poor condition and rapidly draining energy of her body made it very hard for Rin to even lift her arm up, much less actually do anything with it.

        Brothers' screams started echoing in the air, making her whole body shake even harder, her breathing erratic and her vision becoming even blurrier. Her heart jumped out of her chest as a particularly loud slash hit the ground, suddenly putting an end to Brother's screams bloodcurtling screams.

        Was he dead? 

        She tried sensing his energy, but all she got instead was yet another wave of pain caused by Mayu's presence. It quickly grew stronger. Which meant she was approaching her again. 

       “Well…that one was easy. Let's see what your deal is.” Her voice echoed clearly in her ears, somehow cutting thru the noise of hurt inside the angels head. Forceful steps suddenly become uncomfortably close, which made Rin's adrenaline spike up even more. She cussed as she finally pushed the blade away from her body, letting it fall down with a metallic cling. Fear had completely overtaken her at that point, something inside her desperately screamed at her to run away. She started crawling away through the rubble, panting and groaning in pain. No longer could she even tell which part of her body had been hit and which hadn't, that was how bad the injuries were. Obviously Mayu didn't let her get away, as she quickly closed in on the distance between them and stomped on what remained of Rin's wings, making the angel cry out in pain again.

       “You must be a fallen, right? And you can't even fight…” She spat in a mix of disgust and mockery. Rin could feel that she was preparing yet another blow for her, her whole body curling up, preparing itself for the impact. 

        That was it. She was going to die for sure.

        But before Mayu could lift her arms above her head and strike her, she suddenly stopped. Silence. Rin was too scared to look up and see what the demon had prepared for her. She hid her head in her remaining hand, crying and panting like a dying animal.

       “Hey birdie, do you see this human too? Look how its staring at me!” She laughed, as she let her arms fall to the side, lifting her foot off Rin's wing. 

        Rin jerked herself up with all her strength. Miku. Staring at both of them in shock, from the doorway of the cafe. She looked as if she had just left the coffee shop, no doubt looking for her friend. Seeing the scene from afar, she slowly started backing away, running through the crowd.

        Seeing the desperate look on Rin's face seemed to cheer the demon up immensely as she started laughing loudly, clapping her palms in disbelief. 

       “Don't tell me that it's your little pet! But of course- Every fallen has a couple, right? How lucky of me!” Mayu's demenour quickly went back to normal as she jumped off the ground and towards Miku, the force of her feet making the ground shake under Rin. It was like she was almost flying through the air, getting right next into Miku's face within the blink of eye. Carelessly, the demon picked her up by her hair, slowly dragging her along as she made her way back to Rin by foot. The sight made Rin completely lose her mind, as she started panting and huffing, trying her best to get on her feet again.  A new wave of energy started flowing thru her body, momentarily numbing out the pain and allowing her to move. 

       “Unhand her! Let her go! She didn't do anything!” Rin yelled as Mayu slowly made her way back to Rin, dragging the screaming Miku along like a lifeless toy.

       “Oh, so only you get to play with humans? No fair!” Laughing, she grabbed Miku by her neck and raised her above her head, watching as the girl clawed desperately at her arm, trying to free herself from her grasp.

        Rin finally got up, and started walking towards Mayu again, with heavy, unstable steps. Her eyes darted Mayu with the most angry glare she was capable of as she slowly dragged herself towards her.

       “What? Afraid I'll break it~?” Mayu cackled as she tightened her grip around Miku's throat, which made Miku scream even louder than before.

        Blinded by rage, she used her remaining strength to jump at Mayu, punching her square in her face with a blood curdling scream.  This sent the demon a couple steps back, making however far too little of an impact overall.

       “Ouch! That's not so nice.” Mayu sulked with a forced sad voice,  tightening her grip on Miku even more, which made the girl's screams quietly fizzle out.

       “Do that again and she's gone f-!!!” Rin blindly threw herself at Mayu, right at her throat, as she started desperately clawing at her. Bits of clothes and hair flew off the demon, along with her own white feathers. The angel grabbed her by her long blonde hair and yanked, which made her scream in pain as she intensified the punches to Rin's form.

       “You- You damn animal!” She screamed. “Get off! Fight like a proper angel!” 

        Finally getting a better grip on Rin, she started pulling her off her body, as the angel desperately tried to dig her claws and teeth deeper into Mayu's barely scratched throat. It was then that she noticed her necklace again, and it's weird red beads peaking from under her torn up dress. 

        Unable to take Rin off her with only one arm, she let Miku fall to the ground. Now using both of her hands, Mayu easily threw Rin off her with a thud.

       “Ugh! Stop doing that!” She screamed in annoyance, much like a spoiled toddler.

        A strange sound, of multiple pebbles hitting the ground followed, forming almost a sort of pitter-patter.  Mayu gasped in shock as she quickly started backing away, wordlessly. Rin, who was still holding onto the thread and some of the beads, uncurled her first, from which a lot of red sand poured out of.

        The beads were all demon cores. 

        Rin stared up at Mayu, who looked completely terrified, her snarky and sarcastic demeanour suddenly replaced by an uncharacteristic fear. Teto's words suddenly started ringing inside her head, as Rin curled her fist again.

       ‘ Keeping demon cores means you have something to harness your energy from… Every demon worth its salt does this.’

        Was Mayu really stupid enough to keep so many demon cores out in the open? Or had they been hidden under the many layers of her fancy garments before she got shot by the other demon? Was it really that easy? Had she really just had to shred through some clothes to get to it?

        But at that moment, Rin didn't really care. She glanced at Miku, who was laying on the ground, surrounded by a pretty big group of pedestrians. Her whole body froze. Even though multiple people were shaking her body and screaming, the girl wasn't moving.

        Rin could feel the entire world collapse in on itself. Her form felt as if it was going to dissolve itself right there and there, her relatively unscathed chest hurting with a pain that outshined the ones from her actual wounds by tenfold. Her eyes filled with tears and as she got ready to let herself fall to the ground. 

        A sudden cough reverberated through the air. It was quickly followed by many others, and even though they were pretty hard to listen to, Rin felt as if they were the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. Looking back at her friend, Miku had ultimately opened her eyes and was looking around in confusion at the crowd of people that had formed around her

        Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, she got up on her feet again. Her missing arm was killing her, and she felt as if her form could dissolve at any moment from the fatigue, but something inside of her desperately held her together.

        Hate. A hate so strong that it made her dying body somehow cling together with even more strength than before. She approached Mayu with heavy steps, grunting not out of pain but pure anger. Mayu tried to back away from her, but her movements now looked slow and painful. With the necklace gone, the effects of her bullet wounds suddenly seemed to take a toll on her. Mayu's left arm fell limp alongside her body, as the demon desperately tried to summon an axe using only one hand. She failed.

        Rin furiously kicked her down and started stomping her body, screaming while she let out numerous groans and hisses of pain in the process. 

       “Go to Hell… GO TO HELL!!!” She screamed as Mayu desperately tried to cover herself from Rin's blows. Every hit made Rin's own wounds hurt even more as the force of her stomps reverberated througout her whole body. Every hit made her feel like she could never stop kicking. Like in a hundred years from now she'd still be here, slowly smashing away at Mayu's body.

       “Gh-Get the fuck off me!! ” The demon screeched in pain as she finally managed to kick Rin off her and drag herself away for, only for Rin to pounce on top of her and start hitting her with her fist repeatedly. 

        Mayus' form was finally starting to suffer and weaken under her blows, which only made Rin even more eager to completely destroy her. Without her precious necklace, Mayu seemed no stronger than the average demon. And with the wounds she had gotten from the bullets as well, this was proving to be almost a walk in the park for Rin.

        A new desire started takig form inside Rin's mind: she desperately wanted to strangle her the same way she had done to Miku. She tried doing so with one hand, but it was impossible for her to actually get a good grip on her throat. Cussing, she materialised another knife, digging its sharp tip into the demon's neck. Knowing that her end was near made Mayu start writhing and twisting herself crazily from under Rin, who was barely able to keep herself on top of her. Mayu desperately howled from under her.

        “No! NO! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW! YOU ANI- AHHHHHH!” She screamed as Rin plunged the knife deep into her back with a howl.

        Mayu's shrieks were so loud that they almost deafened Rin, however that didn't stop the angel from continuing to twist the knife deeper into her form. 

        Her desperation grew as she kept on struggling to get the angel off her, but it was already too late for her as Rin had already started pulling down on the knife, cutting through her form in half. 

        Ruffles and fabric started pouring out of her body as Rin gradually widened the wound with her weapon. The process proved to be painfully slow as Rin could only use one hand to dig into Mayu's back, but the angel definitely didn't seem to mind. Every screech and plea and threat made Rin clutch the knife harder and harder, despite her wounds. She finally made her way to the demon's lower back where, with the help of her entire body, she plunged the knife so deep into her that she could feel the point come out the other side.

        With a final deafening screech, Mayu turned into a sea of red dust, covering the angel in a fine coating of irritating crimson specks.

        Exhausted, Rin instantly fell to the ground, the knife still clutched in her wounded hand. Her head hit the ground- no, it hit something round. She opened her eyes. Mayu's core, small red and shiny like all the other “beads”. If she weren't in such a horrible condition she would've crushed the gem right then and there, but she ultimately decided it'd be better off if she dealt with it later.

        She let the core disappear inside her palm, having to use every fiber of her willpower to stop herself from curling her fingers around it and turning it into dust. With that final struggle defeated, it was over. 

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        The pain she had mostly ignored till then was starting to hit her in waves, her missing arm radiating a nauseous feeling all around her body. She was in horrible state, but if she hadn't died yet then she was going to live. Somehow she had survived the whole ordeal, with most of her form still holding itself together.

        But what about Miku?

        Her body almost didn't allow her to move from the pain and fatigue, but the thought of never knowing what happened to Miku gave her the power to stand up again. She shakily got up, almost falling in the process, and noticed that the scene was filled with even more people than before. On top of that, many of the cars had also stopped driving on the road she and Mayu had just fought to the death on.

        Thinking that Miku hadn't actually made it, she got up and started dragging her feet, reaching through the crowd of people, sobbing and panting like a dying animal. They had all formed a circle around Miku, who was now on a small bed next to a loud, colourful van with many lights. 

        She was talking to some other humans, with a worried look on her face as they hooked various machines to her. Her gaze suddenly met Rin's, immediately changing from worried and exhausted to shocked. The angel fell to the ground in relief.

        It didn't matter. Miku was fine.

        From deep within her form, relief started pouring out, numbing some of her nausea, but making her start sobbing crazily. Her incorporeal form was mindlessly trampled by all the loud humans around her. But she didn't care about them, and she didn't care about how she looked either. Because Miku was alive. And if Miku was alive then nothing else mattered. 

        The human was struggling not to stare at her friends shredded form, as small tears formed into her eyes. She awkwardly looked at her small curled up self with the corner of her eye, as she mindlessly nodded along to what the medics were saying. Rin could feel her form slowly melt into her surroundings, and she would have been more than content to just lay there and listen to Miku from afar.

        "Yes I'll be more careful next time...Yes...I know...I understand..."
         
         Her voice was meek as she talked to the people around her. Even though all the other humans were so much louder Rin could only hear her voice gently echoing around her head. And when she thought about it more, she realized she had never even stopped to think about Miku's voice in general. All humans, including the ones nosily chatting above her, had grating voices. Some more than others. Lisps, voice cracks, unpleasant frequencies. Things Rin was sure most humans couldn't even detect most of the time. Only Miku's voice seemed to ring pristine. Even now, after almost getting strangled alive, her voice felt like pure symphony. Like the piano she had just heard for the first time today. Rich, flowing and so delicate. Well, she did say she liked singing. Maybe that played a part in her beautiful voice as well. Or maybe this was all just some made up thing. Maybe Rin's psyche just really needed something pleasant to focus on after her horrible day. 

        More than anything in the world she wanted to get up and crash next to Miku and let the human's familiar presence wash over her body. But before she could enduldge in her daydream further an unpleasant idea suddenly crossed her mind.

        What about Brother? The question made Rin cringe, reminding her of their last fight. She awkwardly got up on her knees and wiped her face with her hand. Was he...actually dead? The thought made her shudder. She closed her eyes trying to sense his form. Panic overcame her as she came up short, but was quickly relieved when she managed to track down the smallest amount of angelic energy from under a pile of rubble.

        Leaving Miku was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had to check up on him. She gave her an awkward wave with her remaining hand, the human gasping in surprise, obviously at the sight of her missing limb. Paying it no mind, Rin started dragging her feet along to where she had felt his presence. 

        It was back out on the road again, right at the spot Mayu had pummeled him to the ground. So he hadn't even taken more than one blow.

        She slowly started digging him from under the rubble, until she could finally hear his heavy breathing. 

        He finally burst out of his concrete coffin, his head in his hands, panting.

        An ugly dash split him down the middle, and although it wasn't quite as bad as Rin's overall damage, it was definitely the worst wound he had ever suffered in his life. He hurriedly checked his form, shaking and tearing up as he looked at his chest. His hands shook as he carefully grazed them over his gnarly wound.

        He finally looked up at her, his eyes somehow widening even more in shock.

       “Your…Dear Heaven…” He said with a gasp. The sight of Rin with her missing arm, shredded wings and adorned in multiple bruises and dents probably made her form barely recognizable. It was clear on his face that it had overwhelmed him with a feeling of sickness. She cautiously backed away from him as Brother got up and stared at her.

        Neither of them spoke. Cars passed through them both, their tires running over the mounds of rubble without any issue. The city sounded the same as it always did: human and machine clatter filled the air with a monotonous hum of sorts, that Rin had long learned to tune out. She tried to open her mouth and say something, but no words came out. Instead, she tried to take a couple of steps towards him. 

        He carefully stepped back, hurriedly shifting into a fighting stance. She felt dumbfounded. Was he really going to fight her when they both looked…like that? And after he had gone down in one hit too? Multiple times in one day? 

        Almost like he was reading her mind, Brother seemed to hesitate, shifting back into a normal stance. Moments of silence passed until he cautiously began walking backwards with a slight limp. Brother looked conflicted, to say the least, his gaze holding both worry and pity for Rin.
        And hate. It made Rin's tired heart hurt a little bit, seeing the way he stared at her. 

        As she looked at him gradually getting further and further away she could definitely feel that he wanted to say something more to her. His brows furrowed and his mouth opened, but much like her, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

        Much to Rin's dismay, after a couple more steps, he simply turned around and wordlessly took off, letting Rin watch his messy fly from the down on the road.

        She let out a groan of frustration. He was definitely going to be a problem very soon. But right now, a bigger problem was getting some rest. 

        Mindlessly limping away, Rin started dragging herself away from the battlefield to the only place she could think of finding any peace in: the park. 

Chapter Text

also wanna mention art made by other peeps. many thanks to anyone who draws the shrinklies , love you for life!!

https://www.tumblr.com/ggren-mainz/777611053555220480/hey-made-fanart-of-angelic-breakdown-dont-really?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/blossomfall13/778624147880312832/fanart-for-my-gfs-amazing-mikurin-fic-angelic?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/kaarlax/782004283191214080/fan-art-for-my-girlie-ponklasagna-and-her?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/myaa1/781996030555275264/fanart-for-my-homegirl-ponklasagna-and-her?source=share

its so tumblr in here

Chapter Text

        A buzzing. Strong inside her head, quickly engulfing her entire form the more her senses started coming out of their sleep. Nausea? Stemming deep from within her arm… The more she thought about it, the more the two sensations seemed to blur into one another and become something more akin to pain. Dull in other parts, which seemed so far away from her, and sharp in others, like her arm. Her back- no, her wings and her back were definitely hurting the worst, a pain that was still fresh and stinging, rather than diffuse like the rest.

        For a moment she didn't even remember what exactly could've caused her such discomfort. Her thoughts were slow, unbearably slow, and her physical sensations, no matter how small, were too fast, overwhelming her sleeping subconscious. 

        A thought did form eventually, although it was quite primal and uncomplicated.  

        What about her arm?

        It's not that she remembered a lot from…whenever the fight had happened but it was just that recalling anything besides the most painful moments caused more agitation than they were worth. Every unnecessary thought slowed down her barely moving brain. She could however remember the worst of it, quite vividly so. The giant axe stuck in her body, severing her arm. The scene played over and over inside her head, without her even wanting to. The sound of the metal ringing coldly as it hit the ground beneath her. The sudden, maddening pain. Again. Slash. Followed by pain. Same slash. Same pain.
       That arm, the one her brain couldn't stop going on in circles about. She could still somehow feel it, at least a part of it. Something around her shoulder maybe, though the rest was frustratingly hazy. Could it be moved? She tried, eyes firmly shut and head still planted in the ground. The more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to see it, because she was sure it looked bad. It felt weird....like someone had coated it in fine needles, that didn't necessarily hurt but definitely weren't natural either. And most damming of all, she couldn't actually feel her arm touching the ground. Or even feel the air swooshing around it as it moved. The more she tried to move it the more the other sensations started to engulf her: the pain, the nausea, the stinging. And her mind still moved so slow, slower than she had ever felt it move. She was stuck like this, immobile, unthinking and engulfed in a discomfort so strange she couldn't even begin to understand. 

        It took her a couple more tries to figure out what parts of her arm she could feel.  From the shoulder to her elbow: fine to fuzzy. The rest of her forearm: nothing. And fingers were completely out of the question. Had she ever even had fingers on her left arm? Because she couldn't even recall how they were supposed to feel. Were they just…paralyzed? But the axe had definitely cut her arm clear off. Her heart started beating faster as her brain began cruelly rewinding the scenes of her hand getting chopped off again. Slash. Pain. Slash. Pain. As if the physical state by itself wasn't hard enough to bear.

        The buzzing inside her head suddenly turned into a sharp flash of pain, which immediately amplified the existing feeling of sickness in her body. Was this... a sound? Her ears rang a little bit. Whatever it was it managed to wake her up from her feverish sleep, her body suddenly letting out a couple jitters. Some parts of her form that she felt cold until then suddenly started heating up, ready for action, like an old computer getting a bootup after a decade of rotting away in some attic. But much like an old computer, many parts of her were slower to react. Much of her body still felt frozen, immovable, seemingly having no use besides broadcasting a vague feeling of hurt and fatigue. This couldn't be her body. Her body could never betray her like this. Nothing could possibly feel this shitty. Why on earth was it even taking her so long to bounce back? That demon had definitely cursed her. At least that's how she felt.

        None of these were coherent thoughts. Her form was nothing but discomfort and disarray. It didn't even hurt that bad, but the combination of exhaustion and the novelty of the situation made for a mix Rin was less than prepared to experience.  

        Another sharp buzz followed, although this time it sounded way more like a voice. Her temples were seriously starting to kill her. What exactly was this voice anyway? Should she be worried? The thought send a wave of anxiety through her body.

        Something gently kicked her in the ribs, making her let out an audible gasp. Her entire body crunched up, dragging her head through the grass and landing it somewhere along her legs. A shaky pressure contracted her abdomen, keeping her curled up, and somehow finding enough energy to drag her remaining arm alongside her as well. This was finally enough to kickstart Rin's brain, which hurriedly decided addressing the source of the kick was the best way to go.

        She opened her eyes. And the light was blinding, worse than the one in Heaven and harsher than anything she could take. So she instinctively closed them back with a scrunch of her nose. Another source of pain was not high on her priorities list.

       “Helloooo? Did ya hear me? Are you dead?” The voice, shrill and familiar, yelled from above her. Although it was a bit muffled by the fog of fatigue inside her system, she quickly came to the realization that it must've been the same grating noise from before. And when she thought about it more too, it definitely sounded a lot like…Teto.

        Her body relaxed, but only slightly. She was…alright with the idea of Teto finding her like this. Truthfully, she would've definitely preferred to just be left alone. But now that she was here, Rin had to say something. Summoning all her psyche's strength she quietly mumbled out a greeting.

       “Mmhnn….” Not what she was going for, but it seemed to send the message to Teto, who replied with an equally nondescript sound.

       “Mhmmm? So you ARE dead? You sure look like it, like no kidding! You look like shit actually, you know that?” 

        Rin could feel another feeling besides the sting of fatigue bounce around her subconscious: annoyance. She let out a groan, both as a result from Teto's comment and her confused state.

       “But hey, you look…kind of alive? That's good. If you made it out of a Mayu fight only losing an arm and some feathers I'd say you're pretty dang lucky!” She snickered. “Oh but now, for real, how'd you even get away? You look like shit, no way she didn't hunt you down or anything? She's not the type to let angels run off like that. Did Gumi save your ass? I haven't talked to her in a bit, but you'll see I put in a little…good word for you.”

       The barrage of questions only amplified Rin's annoyance, especially the final phrase about a “good word”. She didn't know what that meant but she definitely knew that was probably a discussion they'd have later. 

        “I-I won…” She muttered, trying to open her eyes again. The sun was still bright, but more bearable, especially since Teto seemed to be standing right in the way of its rays, painting Rin's field of vision with a lovely dark shadow.

       “No way!! You're shitting me?” The demon laughed, and started moving around, unblocking the sun's rays and thus forcing Rin to close her eyes once more.

       “I don't believe you girl, show me the core!” Her frantic happy stomps as she walked around shrieking sent a new wave of unease thru Rin. Her chest turned into a pit, and she could feel her entire form grow uncharacteristically hot. Her head immediately jerked itself up, taking her body along with it. Breathing was hard, needlessly so. 

        For a brief second, she felt as if she was back on the battlefield with Mayu. Getting up on her butt seemed to more or less solve the panic response, only leaving her with a racing heart and throbbing head. 

       Teto stopped right in her tracks and looked down at her, seemingly in a mix of pity and confusion. 

       “You good, Rinnie? You look-” 

       “Yeah, rough. I got it.” Rin snapped, then shook her head, almost as if she was trying to get rid of her annoyance with the demon. She was not in the mood to be reminded about her physical state. And she definitely wasn't in the mood to appear weak and helpless to a demon, even if Teto was technically on “her side”.

       “No, I was gonna say you look like you need a hand! Get it?!” Teto burst out in a thunderous laugh, which only soured Rin's demeanor further. 

        The angel tried to awkwardly get up, and somehow managed to find enough energy to get up on her feet. But she couldn't remain standing for long, as her bad balance coupled with her shaky, unresponsive legs almost immediately made her fall to the ground. Luckily Teto caught her mid fall, clumsily grabbing her by her torso like a small kid. Effortlessly, she lifted Rin up until her feet left the ground, then slowly placed her back down, allowing her to regain her balance Even with this help, the angel still found it difficult to stand, having to use her remaining arm to cling herself to Teto.

        Being so close to the demon made her profoundly uncomfortable. The last time she had hung onto a demon things hadn't ended well. She shuddered. But since she couldn't really stand by herself, she had no other choice than to accept her help. 

       “Eaaasyy girl! Your balance is all messed up! Take it easy!” The demon laughed as she patted her shoulder, reminding Rin of her missing arm in the process.

        She finally looked at it, more precisely at the stub she still had left. There was surprisingly nothing gorey about it, just a clean cut from which the stinging sensation seemed to stem from. And yet, if she squinted her eyes she swore that she could see a very faint white outline of her arm, glistening in the light of the sun, almost going down to where her wrist would be. 

       “Oh yeah, it'll look like that for a bit but it'll pop back in soon.” Teto added, probably noticing Rin's worried staring at her own missing limb. “You're actually in more trouble if you can't see it faintly like that, that means it's severed for good!” The demon let out a snort as she let Rin go without a warning, which made the angle wobble on her own two feet for a good couple seconds.

        She desperately tried to swing her arm around to find some sort of balance, but found that her body was more likely to lean towards the armless side, as such completely messing up her balance. 

       “Come on man, you'll get used to it!” Teto snarked from behind her, and even though Rin was too busy adjusting her boy to its missing limb, she could feel the demon's red eyes roll around in annoyance. “Besides, it'll be back in a day or two.” She scoffed. 

       The wish to have Teto shut up at once gave Rin the strength to finally find her footing. Now somewhat stable on her legs, she turned around to face Teto, and even though she didn't want to get on the demon's bad side she couldn't help but feel her face contort into a sort of unfamiliar, acidic anger.

       “I just lost an arm! A-and my wings! And you can't help but be a bitch about it?” She barked, the intensity of her voice making Teto back up a little bit.

       “Okay fine! Calm down! …Geez!” Teto awkwardly looked to the side, almost as if she felt a bit of remorse about the situation. “But come on! Show me that core already! I literally do not believe you!!” Her demeanor became excited again, her voice reaching volume levels Rin felt more than uncomfortable with. Actually, the demon's presence in itself made her feel worse in general, but that was besides the point. 

        She let out a heavy sigh, and materialized the core in between her fingers, shoving it right into Teto's face without much enthusiasm.

       “No waaay!!!! What!!!” Like a kid seeing candy for the first time, Teto rudely snatched the core, bringing it real close to her eye and giving it a good, long look as it sparkled in the sun.

       “Oh that is definitely Mayu, alright! Wow!” Giving the gem a little squeeze, she looked back at Rin in disbelief. “You're scary, girl!” She laughed, disregarding Rin's fed up face. “Did you go kitty mode on her too? With the claws? Like wow– No shit she didn't see it coming!” 

        Rin could feel her face heat up in embarrassment as Teto kept laughing and playing with the core inside her hand. Why was everyone so weirded out by her…fighting tactics out of all things? Sure it made sense when Brother would comment on it but why would a demon care about such things?

        Brother. The thought made her eyes widen and her heart beat even faster than before. He had to be on the lookout for her. And he definitely wasn't going to go easy on her like he had last time Realistically, there'd probably be reinforcements too. What on earth was she supposed to do?

        Her breathing became rapid, and her legs even more unstable than before. She let herself fall on her behind with a thud, and immediately started gripping her hair with her remaining hand. 

        Seeing her sudden fall, Teto awkwardly started talking more apologetically as she looked down at Rin in worry.

       “Woah man, no offense! You can go kitty mode if you wanna, it's-” 

       “It's not that…!” Rin jerked her head to look up at Teto, suddenly letting out a groan of pain as her fist remained stuck in her hair, pulling on it.

       “Then what is it?” Teto squatted down a pretty healthy distance away from Rin, looking slightly disturbed by the pretty considerable amount of hair Rin had wrapped around her curled fingers.

       “I-I didn't fight Mayu alone! My partner– he was there too…” She could feel her eyes fill up with tears the more she thought about it. His hurtful words bounced around her head. And his splayed chest flashed in front of her eyes for a split second, making her hands's grip strengthen on her hair even more.

       “Oh my god, did he get murked? No way…” Teto let out an impressed sigh, slowly shaking her head in amazement. 

        Looking at her stupid expression, Rin could feel her anger bubble again. She furiously shook her head.

       “No!… He-” She bit her shaking lip. How was she supposed to say it without making herself cry even harder?

       “He…wants me in Court for betrayal of-” She could barely bring herself to finish the sentence.

       “Ohhhh!!! Yeahhh!” Teto slapped her head as if she had just missed the most obvious realization in the world. “Riiight, he found out didn't he?” 

        Rin sheepishly nodded, her gaze falling to the ground. Hearing it out of someone else's mouth didn't make her feel better about it. Only now, was she starting to realise the full extent of her problem.

       “Wow! Took him long enough! But that does complicate things, hmm?” 

        Rin struggled not to let out a couple sniffles.

        Teto finally handed her the core back, which she weakly took in between her fingers. Even now, the wish to crack the thing into fine dust creeped into her mind, making her fingers itch for revenge as they mechanically rubbed the small gem. 

       “If I were you I'd crush that hoe under my heel, but you can try to keep her as a trading card of sorts. Maybe some demons she's wronged would love to have her in their collection.” Teto lazily got up again, then materialized her bag and took something small and thin out of it. She quickly threw it in her mouth and began chewing obnoxiously.

       “Trade her for what?” Rin gently sent the core away, unable to stand the feeling of its weight inside her palm.

       “Ohm…Ya neber kmnoo-” Teto dismissively pulled out her phone and started tapping away on it. “Ifs you say thads…You kmno..” Rin had to confess that her slurred speech irked her pretty bad. What exactly was she eating anyways? Why couldn't she just gulp it down already? Rin let out another sigh as she pinched the space inbetween her eyebrows with her fingers.

       “That's like, myookno- You're fhallen now, you'll have to deal witsh some sheet. Demons ands fsuch-.” A pink balloon suddenly inflated from in between her lipsticked lips, growing for a bit until it suddenly ruptured with a loud pop, startling Rin.

       “Stop doing that! What are you even eating?” She barked at Teto, who just rolled her eyes as per usual.

       “You're so on edge today, it's just gum.” The next thing Rin knew, the demon spat it out on the ground. 

        Rin sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand again. What was she even supposed to do like this? She looked at her arm again, and although the sight gradually became easier to bear, it still made her blood run cold. Where was she supposed to go? Where was she right now?

        She looked around while Teto mindlessly tapped away at her screen, and this time actually took a moment to process her surroundings. She was out in a small field of ridiculously green grass with the occasional sporadic tree. It was a scene of well kept greenery, although she could feel the buzzing of the city nearby. Trees, bushes and freshly cut, short grass– Right, she remembered now, how she had crawled here after the battle. This was for sure the park she had visited with Miku before, although she had somehow ended up in a part of it that was new to her.

        Remembering the girl must've shifted something on Rin's face, or made her let out some sort of sad sound, as it made Teto suddenly stop texting and let out a tired huff.

       “Well cheer up, remember what I said about a gift? If you survived Mayu?” 

        She did remember, but the idea didn't spark much hope in Rin. Still, she was curious, so she gave Teto a small nod.

       “Here ya go! For Rinnie!” The demon swiftly fished something out of her bag and handed it to Rin, smug faced. It was a greyish human phone, similar to Teto's, but noticeably more scratched and beat up. The angel took it wordlessly, clumsily flipping it around in her hand. 

       “That's…This is a phone, right?”

       “Yuuup! Ethically sourced from a guy who owed me a ton of money!” Teto smirked, revealing her sharp fangs. 

       “Uhh…Thanks…” Obviously, she didn't like the idea of owning a stolen device. But it was too good an offer to actually even think about denying. Especially when it meant that she could talk to Miku now.

        Her eyes lit up thinking about contacting her friend, as she hurriedly readjusted the device in her hand, flipping it to its glass side. Hurriedly, she tapped the screen with her thumb multiple times.

       “No no, that's too fast! Just double tap!” Teto sighed as she plopped herself down next to Rin.

        Doing as she was told made the screen light up, revealing a bright drawing that the angel had trouble making out at first. Then, it hit her. It was a drawing, in the style of the manga comics Miku had shown her at the cafe. Initially, she found the big eyed female character quite cute, appreciating the pastel colours and soft background of the image, until she noticed something on the girls back. White, feathery and– Those were definitely wings. This was probably another human interpretation of what an angel looked like. And while it was more accurate than the weird babies Miku had shown her at school, Rin still didn't appreciate the joke. Somehow knowing that this was Teto'a doing, she gave her a dirty look.

       “I took some artistic liberties with the wallpaper. You want Hatsune to like you, dontcha? You gotta get into those asian cartoons; she's, like, probably obsessed with them. Now swipe.” 

        Rin sighed and gave the glass screen a small swipe, which seemingly unlocked the phone, bombarding her with many little colourful squares and buttons.

       “I didn't waste my time uninstalling all the crap he had in here, let me just show you the essentials.” She said as she snatched the phone from Rin's hands and started swiping and tapping at it.

       “There we go. I put all of them on this page. You scroll through the phone like this.” She gave the phone a good couple of long swipes, showing Rin how the icons changed position. 

       “This thing you can use to call people. You gotta know their phone number though.” She pointed at a simple blue icon with a weird symbol on it. “This is for sending written messages, again you need to know their number. This is the Internet, you can search stuff up.” 

       “Wait. Anything?” 

        Teto nodded. “Yeah man, anything. Got any burning questions?” 

        Rin felt a bit silly, but she did want to see how the famed human Internet worked. And looking around at her surroundings made her quickly remember a question she had thought about not so long ago.

       “Uh…Can it show me what chlorophyll looks like?” She awkwardly rubbed her hair, feeling as if the question would somehow make Teto poke fun at her.

       “Huh? Oh yeah, not what I had in mind but…Look.” The demon quickly typed away the word "chlorophyll" using a letter pop up menu of sorts, and then gave Rin the phone. The screen displayed a bunch of blue on white, tiny text, which instantly overwhelmed the tired angel. Seeing her lost gaze as she brought the screen closer to her face, Teto suddenly remarked.

       “You can't read though, right? Eh, don't worry, you'll learn it reaaal soon.” She ominously said as she grabbed the phone back from Rin, and clicked on one of the top words, changing the device from displaying words to images. 

       “Here you go nerd.” She shoved it back in Rin's face, which she clumsily took, almost dropping it in the process. 

       “Now I gotta look on my phone for some contact numbers…You oogle at your little plant thing, ‘kay?” 

        Rin mindlessly nodded as she studied the multiple images in front of her eyes. They were arranged in a way that reminded her of comics, orderly small and big grids each with an image and some text underneath. Much to her surprise, the images seemed to continue as she swiped up on the screen, lasting for quite a good few swipes until Rin could notice that they started illustrating other subjects as well. She scrolled back up, and tapped on one of the first images, which made it almost as big as the screen, letting the angel carefully study all its details. Much like Miku had said, it looked like a sort of bean, and it had many other layers and things inside it. The illustration even had lots of words floating in and around the chlorophyll, presumably details about its various parts. The pleasant device gave her a small break from her worries, letting her mindlessly stare at pretty drawings for a while. With every new one she tapped on, she felt her prior discomfort and nausea slowly melt away until only her fatigue remained. It seemed that as long as she wasn't asleep, her actual physical discomfort was quite bearable. So it had been her brain torturing her all along.

       “Ya had enough? We have more serious stuff to talk about.” Teto hurriedly grabbed the phone away from Rin again (an action the angel was beginning to dislike), and pressed away from the Internet, instead going back to the app she said was used for calls.

       There she opened up a menu where she inserted a long string of numbers she copied off her own phone, then wrote a name along with it. 

       “Luka?” Rin read it out loud, confused. 

       “Oh so you can read? Yeah, this is gonna be your little…How do I say this…Guide?” Teto smacked her lips. “Listen here. You're fallen now, correct?” Her voice was suddenly very serious.

        Rin nodded, her tired face tensing up again.

       “Alright, so you can't go back to serving Heaven. You know how it goes, they send a patrol out for you until they find you, they find you, they arrest you, they kill you.” 

        Teto's somewhat menial tone didn't make Rin feel much better, as she could feel her stomach twist and her head start pounding again with every word. Find. Arrest. Kill.

       “Relax. Let me finish. If you wanna be a proper fallen angel, which is kind of your only option to be honest, you need someone to guide you through the process. Angels can learn to hide their presence from Heaven and by doing that they can slip by undetected by, like, all those patrols and whatever. Same way I hide my presence and nobody can feel me coming. But obviously I can't help you because I'm not an angel. But this Luka lady can. She's also a fallen and she takes in a bunch of freshly dropped birdies like you. Sort of shows them the way, so to speak. Go to her asap, see what she says, and ideally follow it as well. Make sure you don't lure any other feathery scum into her house, she's not the type to get physical. Would make a bad first impression too.” Teto smirked. 

       “I'll show you where she lives since I can't trust you to use the maps app. Plus, it's pretty close by too. But I'm not coming inside with you, nor getting too close, you got that?”

        Even though she was bombarded with information Rin still found the power to question Teto a little bit.

       “Why?” 

        The demon scoffed. “Is that the only thing you can ask after all that? Look, maybe we're both ‘in the grey’ so to speak but I'm still a demon and she's still an angel, alright? Stuff doesn't always mix well…” She trailed off, looking off into the distance. “Besides, I'm already holding your hand so bad right now. Mostly cause you look like shit.” Teto rudely laughed , although Rin's mind was far too preoccupied with other matters to get upset at her.

        What on earth was going on? Another fallen angel? Someone who could help her? How could she even do that? And how did Teto even know all of this?

        Before she could open her mouth and speak, Teto had already gotten up and started walking away, forcing Rin to clumsily get up as well and start waddling along, following behind her.

       “Hey! Wait up!” Rin cringed as she slowly dragged her feet across the uneven grass. Walking was still far from the easiest thing to do, though the stress of the situation was starting to improve her footing.

       “You're so slow, cmon. I got places to be.” Teto yelled back at her as she did nothing to adjust her walking pace.

        Using all her strength, Rin finally managed to catch up to Teto, accidentally butting into her in the process.

       “You're missing an arm, not a leg!” The demon let out a groan as she visibly tried her hardest not to push Rin off her. 

       “Shut up already! Can't you see I'm struggling here?” Rin barked as she finally managed to get her balance back again. She could feel her brows furrow in anger as she looked at Teto, who had a mix of pity and annoyance on her face.

       “Wow, this whole Mayu thing really made you kind of standoffish…” She coughed awkwardly. “Can we go now?” She looked Rin up and down, like she had never even seen her before.

       "Yeah…Okay…” Rin followed her along as she rubbed her forehead with her remaining arm. 

        Was this…actually happening? Was Teto actually the key to becoming a true, fallen angel? An angel that could somehow slip away from Heaven and live life as it wanted? ‘Hide their presence’-- Whatever that was supposed to mean. It almost seemed too good to be true. Sure, she had heard of angels getting away from Heaven and being hunted down ever since she was young, but she had always been under the impression that it was only a matter of time until they were caught and reprimanded. Be it days, weeks or rarely years. Could an angel...really live like this, on the run? For how long exactly had this Luka character been a fallen angel? And could she actually help Rin do the same?

        Weirdly, she found that her gut hurt thinking about it. Not in the same way her wounds hurt, in a different way, that somehow reverberated through her entire body like a punch. It was a feeling she quickly recognised she hadn't felt for a while. The last time she could even recall it was when she had lied to Brother for the first time. And then it sort of hit her. What she was thinking of doing right now was completely antithetical to her being, something programmed into her by a power beyond her understanding. And obviously a part of her body would have a reaction to seriously thinking about betraying Heaven, even after all the time she had spent disobeying her orders. Everything else she had done until that point could somehow be justified inside her head. At first it was just one demon. Then it was just the fact that Teto didn't seem like a threat. Then she just…didn't think about it anymore. But this was definitely too much to hide from, to try to cover up with excuses. And coupled with all the other issues currently weighing on her mind...

        She stopped right in her tracks, her vision blurry. If she could have thrown up she definitely would. Her chest started expanding with rapid, short breaths that fogged up her mind and heated her body. Her legs were starting to give up from under her, until she felt a strong slap on her right shoulder.

       “Hey now, don't get cold feet now, I don't know how to deal with that. Keep this stuff for Luka, okay? She's gonna do wonders, you'll see.” Teto hurriedly reassured the angel as she started dragging Rin along by her arm, knocking Rin out of her shock with a short firm jerk. The action reminded Rin of something far more recent and unpleasant, which made her dig her heels in the ground and start pulling back on her arm.

       “I- This isn't so simple!” Rin pleaded, although she felt as if her words were suddenly completely out of her control.    

       “It kind of is though, Rinnie.” Teto retorted with a sort of boredom to her voice. “I get it, angels do this freaky out thing all the time. Something something…Heaven programming. C'mon.” She jerked Rin along again as they finally made their way out of the park. The angel had to try her best not to freak out about it again.

       “I…I need time to think!” 

       “You need time to get found by your little friend and brought to trial, you mean? Don't think so~” Although the exchange was pretty heated, Teto did seem to find some weird satisfaction in it.

       “Ah..I…! I don't even know this Luka! What if it's a trap?”

        With every doubt, the pain in her gut subsided. But her eyes still began to tear up.

       “Well that'd make me a liar and I really don't like you implying that, Rinnie. And if she's a trap then oh well…I guess she'll get you before Heaven does. Shorten the whole process.” She let out a mocking giggle.

        Teto suddenly stopped at a red light crossing, even though they could've clearly just kept walking through the speeding cars. 

       “Ah…I'm…” Rin could feel the world gently spin around her. “I … I gotta sit down a bit, please! I need to think this through!”

        Teto tisked at her as the light finally turned green and they started crossing the road, her hand still firmly gripping Rin's wrist, dragging her along.

       “Nope. Sorry, gotta keep moving. Remember, time is against you.” 

        Rin let out a groan, followed by a muffled sniffle.

       “Jeez Rin, man up. You'll be fine in no time. Angels are so dramatic with these things. You've been running around doing all kinds of illegal angel things and now you're crying about it.” She yawned, seeming almost bored by Rin's sudden freakout. “Oh, right. I've been meaning to ask. Didn't Mayu happen to drop any other cores when you killed her?”

        Rin didn't immediately reply. Her mind was too busy torturing her with repeating, intoxicating thoughts. Abandoning Heaven. Abandoning Brother. She hated Heaven. Did she though? When she was reacting like this? The thought sent her another punch to her gut. But was she actually going to do this? Why was it so hard? When she had objectively already gone against a lot of orders? Why was the sudden realization that she was gonna go through with it this maddening? Why did it feel so uncontrollable?

        But even in this state, one where her very being was seemingly fighting against her best interests, she knew she couldn't go back to Heaven. Whether or not that was a mistake, she'd have to see later on. Dying was not an option. And that kept her dragging her feet across the sidewalk.

       “Hello? Earth to Goldilocks? I kind of doubt she was this much of a hot shit without some cores on her?” 

       “Wh-…Oh…Uhm…” Rin tried to think about it as she stared down at her feet clumsily walking behind Teto. Remembering the prior day was rough, almost impossible to do without creating even more confusion inside her head, but she did faintly recall the feeling of pulling on Mayu's necklace, how the thread and the “beads” dug into her injured hand as she crushed them within her fist.

       “Oh..She did…A lot of them actually…” Rin said, rubbing her temples. It was hard to recall any precise number without trying to visualise the fight, but it was definitely somewhere in the tens.

       “Okay, that's to be expected. And you got them on you, right? Or at least crushed them.”

        Rin stopped right in her tracks.

       “No…I-I was way too messed up.” 

        Teto let go of the angel's hand, and slowly turned around. Her face was menacing, but Rin was so drunk on her emotions that she couldn't even bring herself to shudder.

       “So let me get this straight. There's…a bunch of cores lying around somewhere… That will turn into demons god knows how soon…Probably like…50 something of them too?” Teto whispered almost.

       “Yeah…I know that's bad but-” Rin tried dragging her vision out of the ground. 

       “You know what! Whatever! I'll deal with this right after I send your ass to Luka! Come on! Move those legs!” Teto unexpectedly grabbed her hand again, this time with a little bit of her claws poking Rin's skin, and started dragging her around as she walked with a fastened pace.

       “If you wanna be on my good side don't ever do that again Rinnie! Warning you…!” Even though Rin couldn't see her face she could clearly hear from her tone that Teto was speaking in between her teeth.

       “Sorry, look, I'm really just a mess and-” 

       “I know that, but like-! I don't want a buncha demons running around, you know! This is kind of my turf, you know!! Kind of putting my shit on the line, Rin!! Haha!” Teto's words were now more akin to hisses and her walking more similar to a slight jog.

       “You're so lucky you're just some brainless bird! And until recently you had that cute angel allure too-” The unrequested comment made Rin sigh quite loudly.. 

       “Don't sigh at me! What, is Hatsune the only one that can call you cute? No pet names either?” 

       “You're the only one who does that…” Rin murmured from under her breath, her head starting to become more and more heavy the more she tried to focus on the current conversation. 

       “Well my love for you is real~” Teto laughed mockingly, her demeanour becoming a bit more sweet when given the opportunity to poke fun at Rin. “Remind me to add your lover's phone number into your phone when we get to Luka's. Although after that whole core thing you did to me I should honestly just let you go look for her at school.” 

        Rin's darkened face seemed to light up a bit when hearing that. And although her mind was still reeling from all the undigested information she had just been given, the thought of Miku did somehow seem to lift some of the weight off her shoulders. Even if it also made her gut twist into numerous knots. But that was to be expected. 

Chapter Text

        Buzzing. As she was laying eyes wide awake at night, her ears picked up on the faintest, high pitched monotonous sound. It was the humm of her electric alarm clock, a simple and trusty device she had used over the years with no issues. Had it only recently begun making weird noises, or had she simply never noticed it before?

        Miku lazily rolled her head to the side, getting a better look at the nightstand, more particularly the blocky electric clock on it.

        Bold, aggressive and almost demeaning pixelated numbers told her the time: 4:21. The red digits shone ominously in the pitch black of her room, illuminating the nightstand in a concentrated, dramatic light. 

       Exhausted, she closed her eyes halfway. Looking at the numbers through her eyelashes made the light contort and dance, splitting into numerous rays of red. Moving her eyelids made them spin around, shorten, lengthen and intensify at will. A part of her wasn't sure why she still had an alarm clock when her phone could also serve the same purpose now-- perhaps it was nostalgia at play. Or maybe it just was particularly effective, after all it's shrieking melody greatly outperformed any weak sound her phone could create. And she sure was a heavy sleeper…when she did actually sleep.

        She let out a heavy sigh, and tiredly grabbed her phone off the nightstand.

        4:22. 

        No new messages.

        Although the device had technically nothing to do with her predicament, she carelessly threw it away from her hands and onto her bed with a flick of her wrist.

        With a groan, Miku stuck her hands in her long, untied hair, twisting a big clump of it around them as she stared up at the ceiling. The small tension she applied to her scalp seemed to calm her nerves down somewhat, although it was far too little of a distraction from her thoughts. Her mind began to race again as she twirled a long strand of hair around her fingers.

        It was stupid to believe that Rin could've possibly found a phone, especially at this hour. Besides, even if she had somehow managed to get her hands on a phone, she didn't know her number. Or how to text. After all, Rin was still pretty new to reading in general, and even though she seemed pretty good at it, writing was still a whole other problem.

        She gently raised her head off the pillow only to let it fall again with a muffled smack. She should've given her the phone number. Even if it made no sense, even if there was no way she could have possibly foreseen this entire thing, Miku still somehow found a way to blame herself. If she blamed herself then she could feel bad about it, swear to be more careful next time and then she could quickly fall asleep. But this…wasn't that simple. In the end, all of this back and forth just made her think about the whole thing even more. In reality, the phone number wasn't the actual issue. It was much more serious than just Rin not contacting her after a hangout. And no matter how hard Miku tried to distract herself from it, the darker thoughts slowly managed to make their way back into her mind…

        4:26.

        No new messages.

        Miku stared at the blurred screen, and then put it back neatly on the nightstand. This entire cycle of endlessly checking the phone wasn't good for her. Rin wasn't somehow going to magically text her, and she had to stop acting like it. Besides, she had school tomorrow, so she desperately needed to get some rest.

        The girl let out a sigh, one so strong she felt it reverberate in her throat a bit, and then closed her eyes again. If she stayed calm, maybe sleep would follow eventually…

        .

        .

        .   

        4:31.

        No new messages.

        She slammed the device onto the nightstand with a thud, almost immediately regretting it. She hurriedly checked if she had cracked the screen, but to her relief, it looked fine. Considering how her mom was with technology, getting her phone replaced quickly was unlikely. She had to be more careful with these things.     

        Now fully agitated, she got up from bed. But as soon as she did, Miku instantly felt the need to lie back down again. She could barely keep her eyes open and her body up straight, her back slouching forward as if she suddenly lacked a spine. The girl couldn't even remember the last time she had felt this tired. Why couldn't her brain just let her sleep when every other part of her was basically begging for it? She let out a tired yawn, which made her eyes water.

        Through the pitch black, she reached for the cup next to the illuminating red numbers, lifting it up carefully so as to not spill its contents. She groggily brought the cold ceramic to her lips, and took a small sniff.

        Chamomile tea. Brewed so long ago it had almost lost its smell completely. But when she actually tilted the cup to drink from it, she could still feel a slight fragrance inside her nose. 

        The small puddle of liquid was cold, but the taste was still nice and floral. She quickly drank it all in one sip, and immediately felt disappointed the moment it ran out. She almost debated getting up to make herself another cup, but the clumsiness brought on by her lack of sleep would've definitely made the process far too complicated. 

         And it hadn't even helped her fall asleep, like it usually did. She carefully put the empty cup back and let out a big yawn. Maybe now, with this little ritual complete, she could finally get some rest.

        The moment she layed back in bed and closed her eyes, lights started flashing in front of her. Bright, blurry memories from the day. The demon grabbing her neck, whose face she could barely remember. Her golden, sadistic eyes shone from within the mist of her mind, sending shivers down her spine everytime she replayed the memory. She could faintly remember the pain as well, how the lack of air made her head feel like it was going to pop out like a balloon, how her lungs grew hotter and hotter with every passing second and…. that was about it, at least for the demon part of the story.

        In the human world, people had thought of the attack as a choking incident. Crowds formed, ambulances were called, and she could vividly remember having the Heimlich manuver done on her (although it had obviously been Rin who saved her from the grasp of the demon). In a world where Rin wouldn't have gotten up in time, Miku would've died in the hands of a paramedic. And her cause of death would've probably been listed as asphyxiation. Even though she hadn't even had anything to eat that afternoon. 

        Remembering all of this, her heart was starting to race. But the rest of her body felt so disconnected from the feeling of anxiety, barely responding to it. Her eyelids were obscenely heavy, and she swore she could feel her eyeballs get pushed down under their pressure. She was too tired to actually get up, and too caught up in her memories to actually stop them. This had to be a sort of sleep purgatory. 

        Replaying vague, unpleasant flashbacks wasn't going to help her in any way. She had to think of something nicer, something that'd calm her tired brains down enough to let her fatigue take over and knock her out cold.

        And like the past couple of nights the only thing that popped inside her head was Rin. 

        No, not now. She can't think about Rin. For obvious reasons.

        Okay. What else was there to think about?

        Her and her sisters would soon go to one of Neru's favourite band’s concerts, obviously behind their mothers back. Miku had worked tirelessly alongside her sisters to save up for the tickets. And while she wasn't a fan of pop (or boy bands…or boys), the thought of going out with her usually distant and eternally annoyed little sis did make her smile a little bit. She thought about how Neru would lose her mind seeing her favourite idol on stage, some blond haired guy she always forgot the name of. Something that ended in “to”… Was it Reeto? 

        His voice never had never left much of an impression on her, although his short, spiky hair did sort of remind her of-

        Miku folded the pillow on her face, letting out a muffled scream. Her eyes unshut themselves forcefully as she let the pillow fall back into its normal position. Looking up at the ceiling, the darkness seemed to dizzyingly dance around her retina the more she stared into nothingness, making her eyes uncomfortably twitch after a while.

        Was there any use in hiding from the obvious elephant in the room? 

        What…on earth happened to Rin? The thought made her heart race, not out of any pleasant feelings, but out of worry.

        She remembered seeing her faint, her dying form collapsing and starting to sob in front of her. Was it sobbing? Maybe it was because of the embarrassment of the situation, surrounded by so many frantic strangers, but she couldn't really recall anything about Rin. And God, how embarrassing the entire experience had been! Crowds of people staring down at her, shaking her and screaming– not to mention the paramedics and their stern lectures. Thinking about it made her heart beat faster even faster, her fatigue seemingly started drifting away again.

        But Rin…The last thing she could remember was seeing the angel wave at her, before she phased through the crowd and disappeared. That one somehow seemed even more unlikely, that Rin would just get up and leave like that. With a wave nonetheless. 

        Sometimes, her ears randomly rang with the sound of her screams and swears, animalistic groans and screeches the likes of which she had never heard before. 

        Yeah, they had definitely fought. Rin and that demon. She could recall seeing Rin's form shredded, missing its usual large wings and one of her arms. Or was it a leg? 

        Could…she even survive such a thing?

        Her hands felt unbearably cold the more she thought about it, so she hurriedly hid them under her pajama shirt.

        Tears started forming inside the corners of her eyes the more she dwelled on her thoughts and the frustratingly hazy image she had of Rin's wounded self. Her heart just couldn't take it.

        But Rin had to be fine. She did manage to leave on her own two legs after all. Maybe she'd come to school tomorrow and explain everything that had happened in detail.

        She felt her heart's rhythm change with that thought. Fantasies were stupid, but they always helped her fall asleep. And she was getting pretty desperate. A little girly fantasy couldn't hurt, right? 

        Tomorrow, Rin would surely be waiting for her at the entrance of the school, where she'd give her a friendly smile and immediately comfort her with an awkwardly long hug. People would definitely stare, but people stared at anything they found even remotely interesting. And maybe she'd cry on Miku's shoulders, maybe they'd both cry about it. 

        She'd definitely not have enough time to explain everything to her before school started, so she'd have to skip class. It was something Miku never did before meeting her, but how was she expected to miss out on such a thing? Sometimes education just had to take the back seat. They'd go to the tree in the school yard, the one where Miku had comforted her for the first time, and they'd talk about it. And the angel would talk about many things beyond her understanding, and her eyes would sparkle in awe everytime Miku spoke too.

        Because they always did, and that made Miku's thoughts go a bit wild on more than one occasion. Obviously it was because Rin was so eager to learn everything about humankind, but she couldn't help but take it a bit more personally sometimes. Her bright blue eyes looked at her in a way nobody had ever looked at her before, with so much interest and need. Rin needed her, she searched for her and beamed in her presence, all with a sincerity she had never seen from anyone else. And the thought made Miku's chest puff out with pride. She had the honour of teaching a being above her comprehension, menial things about the earth and about human life. And that made her own life so much more interesting and dynamic. 

        She had never found people as interesting as she found Rin. Before meeting Rin, she was under the impression that life was just…kind of boring. That people were cold and uncaring, and only occasionally interesting to talk to, that is if they had something in common. Her school peers avoided her, and people in other settings just seemed so impossibly hard to get close to. With time, she lost the hope she had of ever truly finding another good friend. She had lost contact with her old ones long ago when she moved cities and as such most of her adolescence was just spent at home, doing things on her own. And while she didn't necessarily like it, she was slowly starting to come to terms with it.

        But now she had met Rin, and even though they had less than a day's worth of time spent with one another and absolutely nothing in common Miku couldn't help but wish to see her more and more. She was figuratively, and in real life too, a sort of shining light for her lonely self. And she would've been stupid to let it go. 

        She hurriedly replayed the small date they had at the coffee shop again and again in her head. It was still fresh in her mind and she could recall almost everything, to the big strokes of what they had talked about to the smaller details, like the way Rin's sweet laugh made other people turn around and stare at her, and the way her curious eyes scanned every page of the comic books at a dazzling speed, her brows slightly furrowing with every word she encountered that she couldn't decipher. 

        Miku took the pillow from under her head and hugged it to her chest, curling herself around it. This stuff wasn't healthy, neither for her nor their relationship. But it did feel good to finally have something pleasant to think about in her life, something real, not like her books and comics and whatever else. Rin was real, and she could be the start of something beautiful. 

        With the change in thoughts, her brain slowly started to give in to sleep, but her heart was still beating pretty loudly, her hands cold and sweaty. The underlying thought of Rin being…in a bad state still plagued her subconsciously. But she desperately needed some sleep. Miku just had to keep it going.

        She wanted to show Rin her favourite book. After she learned how to read, of course. Miku would've loved to have someone to discuss her books with, even if Rin was currently at the level of barely understanding Garfield. But she'd progress quickly, for sure. It was amazing how natural she looked sometimes, even if she had been on earth for only a week. Miku found it both impressive and scary. What kind of being was even capable of such a thing? Getting flung into a completely new society and just…adapting on the go like that? 

        To her, Rin didn't even look alien anymore, like she had on the first day they had met. Then she was cold, and underdressed, her hair covering her eyes and her movements sudden and forceful. But now she looked just like any other pretty girl; her features were dainty, but not overly feminine, her movements (while still out of place sometimes) now made sense and even had a certain charming expressiveness to them. The weirdest thing about her at a glance was that she seemed a little too perfect. Not uncannily so, but the type of perfection you couldn't really see in normal humans, but that did rarely exist in rich supermodels and the like. Her skin was uniform and lacked any texture, blemishes or pores, her eyes were stupidly blue, her hair seemed to perfectly frame her face even when it was messy, the list could go on. Rin was eternally fascinating, and the thought of getting to see her evolve and change more made Miku's chest warm up. It resonated around her body, warming up her hands and relaxing her stressed mind to the point where she could finally enter a state of calm.

        Before she knew it, her body gave in to fatigue, letting her drift into a soundless sleep.

Chapter Text

       “-and this is your little girlfriend's phone number. Any pet name for her contact?” Teto grinned as she looked down at Rin, who was sitting down on the edge of the sidewalk, staring into nothingness. Her thoughts were completely jumbled up; comprehending whatever Teto was going on about was currently not high on her list of priorities. 

        After a long pause, she finally shook her head no.

       “Well too late!” She giggled as she handed the phone back to Rin, who took more than a couple of seconds to actually move her hand and grab it. When she looked down at the device, she saw a string of numbers, and above them a big word: ‘Apple ’, followed by a ton of little drawings of hearts, apples and other seemingly sappy things.

       “You'll see fallens are like- obsessed with this pun! It's sooo stupid!” Teto let out a loud laugh as she began explaining the joke to Rin. But she didn't actually hear any of it. She let her hand fall beside her body again, her gaze became fixated on the house at the end of the road, a simple 2 storey house with a lavender paint job. It shone ominously to her, almost like its presence was unnatural among the other normally coloured residential houses. Although it was a quieter zone of the city, with much less traffic, Rin could still feel the innate buzz of the town grind her senses down even more. She was…beyond exhausted. And yet her mind couldn't stop spinning in circles while Teto yapped away. She wasn't actually going to do this, right? Go up to this house alone and just…ask to betray Heaven? 

       “Hey! Wake up! I'm gonna get going now, okay? Don't you dare not talk to her, or you'll be toast for real! Just go up to that purple monstrosity over there and knock. Just play it cool and you'll be fine.” Teto gave Rin a small pat on the back, which made the angel shudder. “You're so sensitive! But you'll thank me later, you'll see. Now I gotta clean up the mess you made at that…cafe. Jeez, it's gonna take forever to figure out which one that's supposed to be.” She looked down at Rin again and rolled her eyes, almost like she was trying to annoy the angel, but Rin didn't reply. She just kept staring at the house, almost as if it had put her in a trance of sorts. “Whatever, you're so indebted to me right now. Cya.” 

        Her final remark seemed to finally knock Rin out of her state.

       “W-Wait! You said something earlier about a …good word with Gumi?” Rin suddenly asked, her head jerking up from the ground to look at Teto. Her eyes were wide, almost as if she was bracing herself for the worst.

       “Ohhh, yeah!” Teto laughed, then gave her forehead a little slap. “Right, right, I totally forgot. Uh well, I might've told her to you know…give you a hand with Mayu?” 

        Rin slowly blinked. So her presumption had been correct. The wounds on Mayu's arm had been caused by Gumi's intervention. And the marks around the city Brother had talked about had to have been from their battle.

       “Yes…Mayu was wounded when she…attacked me.” Rin trailed off. Remembering the day before seemed to send even more awkward tingles up her missing arm.

       “So you agree that was really useful, right? She must've fought way worse like that?” Teto let out a big, fang-revealing smile, almost as if she had been the one to fight Mayu and now expected praise for it.

        The angel shrugged. She didn't feel like explaining the whole messy battle to her, so she settled on nodding instead.

       “Well, that's good! You would've been dead without her help, riiiight?” Teto's voice suddenly became sickeningly sweet. To Rin, it was becoming sort of clear that she was trying to drive a point home, but what exactly was that point?

        Rin shrugged again, which made the demon let out an irritated sigh.

       “You're so unreasonable! She might've saved your ass!” 

       “She…might've but…There's gotta be a catch to it.” Rin shook her head sadly. 

       “Ugh…Yeah, whatever.” Even though she wasn't looking at Teto anymore, she could feel the demon cross her arms in annoyance. “Gumi didn't name a price, she just made me promise that you'd be…available for things.” Teto's words seemed to be carefully chosen to hide the gravity of the situation. “So you better be, or you're toast.”

       “Be available? For what?” If she wouldn't have been so tired, Rin would've definitely started getting mad again. She settled on staring Teto dead in the eye instead.

        In response, she just shrugged. “Well, dunno. She might make you pay it off with cores– Which would be the better end of this… Or she could uh-… ask you to do certain things…” Teto let out a monotone ‘hmm’, almost as if she was only now thinking about the repercussions such a deal could have for Rin.

       “What things?”

        Teto rolled her eyes. “Jesus, I don't know! I doubt she's gonna pimp you out or anything–! She might make you do her dirty business; send you out to kill some demons or something…” Teto looked out in the distance, away from the purple house and the angel.

        Rin's brows furrowed. It was bad enough that she had to put her life in danger for Heaven on the regular. Adding a demon to the list of causes she was fighting for was the last thing she wanted to do.

       “But I didn't agree to this! What kind of weird contract is this supposed to be?!” Almost shouting the last part, it seemed that Rin's temper had finally started getting the better of her again.

        A sudden wave of enjoyment changed Teto's annoyed face into a smirk. Almost as if she had been waiting for this moment to finally come, she replied in her trademark 'annoying Rin' voice:

       “A demon contract, Rinnie~.” She blew the angel a kiss with an exaggerated motion of her arms and then turned around on her heels, elegantly making her way out of the conversation. 

      “Hey! Don't you just get up and leave like this!” Rin yelled as Teto continued her fancy walk unbothered. Seeing that she showed no signs of stopping, Rin struggled to get off her butt and started walking after Teto, finally catching her by her wrist. She was beyond annoyed that Teto would just get up and leave like that. In a burst of anger she yanked the demon's hand pretty hard, the sudden movement immediately tiring her out. She just wanted to sit down again.

       “Ouch! Whaddya want now?” Teto flung her arm out of the angel's weak grasp and turned around to look at her angrily, as if Rin had just randomly gotten up just to annoy her for no reason.

       “What happens if I don't wanna do this?” Rin hissed, letting out a pant. 

       “Oh, easy. She probably kills you on the spot. And no- I didn't ask for that to happen, it's just how it is.” Teto grabbed her phone from her purse again. She quickly started tapping on it, opening up an app and swiping around on the screen. 

        Ticked off, Rin used her only hand to grab the device, covering its screen in an effort to get the demon's attention, annoying Teto in the process. She let out an offended huff, giving Rin a dirty look.

       “I'm still talking to you.” Rin scolded sternly. “When will this…contract come into terms?”

       Teto pulled her device from Rin's hand, nesting it in her chest as if she wanted to make sure no one would grab it again.

       “Ugh, how the fuck should I know? She'll probably just drop down one day and ask you to do things, it's really not that complicated. You would've liked being dead more?”

        Rin's brows furrowed again. While Mayu's wounds didn't seem to affect the demon much in the beginning of the battle, Rin had to admit that she might not have been able to win without the advantage on her side. Even so, she would've much rather just taken her chances than be indebted to a demon that seemed to hate her guts. Not to mention not even Teto herself seemed to really know the extent of the terms she had accepted on the angel's behalf.

       “I did what I thought was best, I really don't think you realize the service I did to you. Now I gotta get going for real. ” Teto rolled her eyes and then twisted on her heels again. This time, Rin did not follow her.

        She remained stuck in place as she watched Teto hurriedly make her way towards the city again, her form gradually becoming smaller and smaller with every step, until she randomly took a sharp turn and disappeared behind a house.

        Rin let out a sigh so strong she could feel her form shake with it. Gumi was going to be an issue to be dealt with another day. Right now she had to meet up with someone much more important. 

        She started shaking in a way she had never done before. It came from deep within her form, bouncing around her, intensifying in her limbs. Her legs felt as if they lacked any structure, her hands shook with a power she didn't know she even had inside her at that point.

        Rin couldn't bring herself to knock, her curled-up shaking fist hovering right in front of the door to Luka's house. Something inside her abdomen tried pulling her away, it whispered into her brain that she should just leave, or at least step away from the door. She almost did as it said, preparing to take a step backwards. Her foot dangled above the ground, waiting for the final confirmation to start running away from the house.

        And run where? To Heaven? Going back wasn't an option anymore, and the thought no longer made her feel as sick - it just left her with a feeling of numbness. It was the idea of actually abandoning Heaven forever that was still hitting her quite hard. 

        But…she had come so far. Running away now would mean abandoning all that she had done until then. She had fought demons, her partner, and arguably all of Heaven. All of those things, most of which she did without too much thought, all of them were so much harder to do than just…knocking. All she had to do now was knock. And then it could begin. She could finally leave Heaven behind. For good.

        Before her mind could start reeling again from the realization that she really was going to do this, the door suddenly cracked open with a gentle creak from the hinges.

        Rin instinctively took a couple of steps back, trying to get a better look at who was behind the door. But the crack was far too small to let her see anything, barely measuring a couple of centimeters in length, only letting out warm light from the inside. 

        Still, she could feel that someone was inside the house. The handle was still pulled down; whoever was behind the door hadn't taken their hand off it. She couldn't feel any angelic presence, which made her even more uneasy. Was this just some human's house? Had Teto played a sick joke on her?

        A cold voice suddenly rang out from inside.

      “Who sent you here?” An eye suddenly peeped at her from within the crack of the door. 

        Rin could feel her heart start racing madly. Why had she even trusted Teto? This was surely going to be her end. Her stomach began clawing away at her again, making her wince in pain as she grabbed her abdomen with her remaining arm. This was really not the time for this. She had to run.

        Seeing this reaction, whoever was behind the door opened it a little more. Rin couldn't even look up at them, even after the pain had subsided a bit. She didn't want to see what was waiting for her. Why couldn't it just leave her alone? Why was she so damn useless today?

      “Hey there. Who told you about me?” The voice asked again, much warmer this time, soothing Rin immensely.

        Rin shut her eyes forcefully. She could feel her words get jumbled around in her brains before she even said them out loud. Nonetheless, she still had to say something.

       “Ah-Uhmm…” She gulped down. “A demon n-named Teto…” She finally got the courage to look up at whoever she was talking to, and then she saw her face. Her dark blue eyes looked at her with pity, her thin eyebrows slightly furrowed with worry. Flowing long, pink hair framed her frame in a way Rin could only describe as angelic.

        Oh. This was Luka for sure. No human could actually look like this. 

        Luka's face warmed up with a smile as she finally opened the door wide, in a warm and inviting manner.

       “Why didn't you say that? Teto and I are…good acquaintances.” She let out a small chuckle, covering her slightly open mouth with her hand. Her movements seemed endlessly elegant and mature.  Rin couldn't stop staring at her in disbelief. Dressed in a long, white dress styled with a navy cardigan, she looked like she was taken right out of a clothing catalogue. 

        The other angel looked at her again, her face retaining the warm smile. She looked quite older, somewhere around her 40s, yet her smile failed to wrinkle her face the same way it would on any other older woman. That fact alone seemed a bit weird to Rin, but she hadn't really seen many adults up close, so she couldn't really tell if that was exactly what was off about her. Maybe some humans just wrinkled less like that.

       “Say, what if I made you some tea? You look quite rough, so I assume we'll have quite a bit to chat about.” She then gently gestured Rin to come in, fully opening the door.

        Rin was speechless again. But even though a part of her still wanted to run away, she found the strength within her to finally step into the house. Still slightly shaking, her gaze was firmly fixed onto the ground as she mechanically followed Luka around the house to a room with soft, yellow lighting and fuzzy floors. It all went by in a flash and the next thing she knew, she was being offered a place to sit.

       “Have a seat.” Luka whispered as she gently pointed Rin to one of the only pieces of furniture in the room, a big, rounded table with many chairs. 

        Rin wordlessly sat down while Luka swiftly made her way out of the room, and presumably into the kitchen, where she began moving pots and dishware around with quite the ruckus.

        Rin didn't let her arms touch the table. Even the soft plush chair made her uncomfortable, her legs forcefully pushing themselves into one another, seeking any sort of comfort her own form might bring. Nothing around her seemed off, neither in vibe or appearance, yet she couldn't bring herself to relax. After all she was still here for a less than angelic discussion.

        Although actually seeing Luka in person had calmed her down a bit about the situation, her heart was still racing thinking of what she was going to do next. Was she actually going to go through with it? Was she actually going to-

        She shook her head forcefully, which sent her shoulder length hair flying around and inevitably hitting her face.

        That thought did nothing but send her down a spiral. She had to think about something else. Taking a deep breath, she desperately tried to avert her mind from the situation. Yet every time it seemed like her mind grasped a new subject she could think about, it just evaded her grasp, turning her back to her initial issue.

        Was she actually going to fall for good? 

        Rin clutched her stomach, preparing for another wave of pain. However, it didn't feel as bad this time, more like a cramp than anything. Had the worst of it finally passed?

        Confused, but nonetheless grateful to finally catch a break from the debilitating sensation, Rin let out a sigh. With it gone, she could feel her mind slowly going back to functioning normally again. The angel even found the strength to look around the room. 

        It was mostly taken up by the huge, imposing wooden table, the only other things around being old bookcases filled with equally old looking books and sporadic human paintings and pictures. There was also a pretty big gap in the wall in front of her that led to another room. So that had to be the hallway to a cooking room of sorts.

        Rin could feel her nerves relax a little bit more. Even though there wasn't much natural light, the place smelled nice and well kept. And as far as she knew, it looked just like what she would have expected any human house to look like.

        Was this angel actually living here? Could an angel even have a house that looked this human? 

        Approaching footsteps finally sent Rin back to her worried state, her gaze falling down to her knees again as if she was awaiting some sort of punishment.

        Luka entered the room, her gentle steps slowly making their way towards Rin. She carefully put an old little cup down in front of her, and then made her way to the other end of the table, sitting down with her own teacup.

        Rin looked at her little dish, a small beige ceramic object decorated with many flowers and a cute twisted handle. Big clouds of steam rose up from the cup, giving the room a nice refreshing smell. It almost immediately reminded Rin of the cafe and the green tea she had there, even though she couldn't find it in her to ask if it was supposed to be the same type of tea. The water seemed a bit too hot for it, according to what Miku had said yesterday. 

        Suddenly, Luka broke the silence.

       “So, SeeveeEsEfesque ZeroTwo…” Rin was suddenly taken aback by her “angel name”, or what was supposed to be her angel name crudely pronounced with spoken sounds. “I assume you're here for guidance, right?” Even if Rin was still looking down at her legs, she could hear a smile tinge Luka's question.

       “Uh…I go by Rin actually…” She sheepishly murmured. 

       “Oh? You have a chosen name? That's wonderful, I'm really glad to hear that!” Luka laughed, bringing her hands together with a clap. “You know, most angels that come here don't have names yet so I try my best to accommodate them whenever I can. I know ‘spoken’ angelic sounds a bit silly but what can you do?” Luka chuckled again. “But it's good to get used to human language, right?” 

        Rin nodded, finally looking up at Luka. Her demeanor seemed so sweet and comforting. She felt as if she was slowly starting to warm up to the idea of talking to her more. 

       “And if you allow me to chit chat for a bit, how did choose get this name? All angel names have interesting backstories from my experience. Even though the distance between them was more than two meters, Luka still leaned in closer to the table.

       “Uhm… Well I guess it's a bit funny.” Rin nervously started playing with her hair. “I uhh…I was in school with this girl. And…and she asked me my name and-”

       “And you didn't have any? That's such a classic!” Luka started laughing loudly. “What did you do?” Rin could tell from her tone that she was smiling really wide.

       “I…Hah-” Rin let out a nervous chuckle. She really hadn't expected such a question. “I told her my name wouldn't make sense to her and she said I should choose another name…She said Mary and I objected because…I don't know, it felt sort of weird…” Rin began twisting her hair around even more. Did any of this even make sense?

       “Hm, what a coincidence she'd say Mary, right?” Luka sighed wistfully.  “It's like they always know, even if they can't comprehend it, am I right? Humans are so strange.” She grabbed her still scorching cup of tea, taking a small sip out of it unphased.

       “And what next?” She asked again.

       “Oh! Uh…I asked her if I could be named a word I saw written on a wall-” Luka found this funny, letting out another giggle. “Uhm…She said no, obviously, and then I sort of…took a chunk of that word and I used it as a name. Rin…from…’Sharing is caring’, you know? I dropped the G. Apparently you can't be named ‘Ring’, haha…” The more she went on the more Rin felt her story wasn't particularly funny, just kind of weird. How did Miku even manage to sit through all of this nonsense? And did Luka even understand what she was going on about?

        Luka nodded. “That's very funny, definitely one of the weirder name stories I've heard. Personally, I just heard the name shouted on the street once. Luka.” She made a vague, hand movement, almost as if she was trying to swipe at the air with her fingertips. “It just resonated with me. It's been my only name for about 200 years.” 

        Rin could feel her eyes widen. 200 years? Could a fallen angel actually not get found out by Heaven for so long? 

        Seeing her shocked face, Luka began talking again.

       “Yes, I'm quite old. For how long have you been walking the earth, Rin? A couple months maybe?” She elegantly took another sip of her tea as she waited for Rin's answer.

       “Uh…like a week or two?” Being in the presence of someone clearly so much older than her made her feel even more embarrassed about the situation. 

        Luka's demure demeanor suddenly broke, her eyes widening in shock. 

       “A week? And you already have a name?” She put the cup down with a clank, clearly taken aback by Rin's answer. 

        The younger angel sheepishly nodded.

       “Wow. It took me… I think a good three months to decide on even getting a name.” Luka shook her head in disbelief. “But didn't your senses fight it? I know the second I even thought of getting a name I had the worst stab in my abdomen for days!” Luka cringed, and dramatically rubbed her temples as if to further send the message home.

       “Oh, no that happened to me too!” Rin suddenly perked up. “It was really weird and it's been so bad today especially…” 

        Luka nodded empathetically, almost as if she was telling Rin to go on.

       “And uh…the first time I got it it was bad but then I guess it sort of went away and now it just came back.” 

       “What you're talking about, we usually refer to as angelic remorse. Although the official name would be ‘angelic compass’. It's a response ingrained into our form that punishes any sort of radical thought. Doesn't have to be something big, for example, I used to get angel remorse for not being quick enough on my tasks. Have you ever felt that?” Luka gave her another motherly smile.

        Rin shook her head. “No, never. Hah, maybe I should've though, because I was always so slow on my tasks…” 

       “You're a runt? Sorry, that's a pretty rude term.” Luka dismissively waved her hands around. “You've never liked angelic duty?” 

        Rin anxiously bit her lip. She could feel her ‘gut remorse’ start poking her again. “Not really, no. I was never good at it.” Every time she thought about it, she felt a bit better, the guilt of failing Heaven came back to haunt her. Especially now that she was talking to another angel.

       “Scrolls I imagine?” 

       “80 or so years…” Rin sighed. “And I was behind with my work for a lot of them.” 

       “Hmm…I see” Luka hummed as she tapped her finger against her cheek, thinking. “80 years for a new angel is far too much, it must've been a skill related issue then. Yes…I guess it'd make sense if you lacked remorse like that… Hmm.” Even though she was clearly trying to be nice about it, Rin still felt a bit ashamed.

        Luka straightened her posture, clearly preparing herself to share her diagnosis of Rin's failing as an angel with her.

       “You probably have a weak angelic compass, amongst other things. It's not uncommon, but something to this extent is indeed quite unusual…” She drifted off. “The truth is the angelic compass keeps a lot of angels from falling, since it is usually quite an aggressive reaction from the body. It feels like you're fighting your very nature when you sin, because you are.” Luka closed her eyes again for emphasis. “Sometimes, I still get little punches in my gut. I've always had a pretty bad case of angelic remorse, but I was also a Principality when I fell from Heaven so…” She drifted off again.

        Rin almost couldn't believe her ears. That an angel of the third rank, a Principality, could possibly become fallen. 

        Seeing her shocked expression, Luka looked more than eager to share her story. 

       “I was born a regular angel and gradually made my way up the ranks of the First Triad in about one thousand years or so. And if I could've, I would've probably tried my hand at the Second Triad too!” She chuckled at her own joke. “Not that that could have ever happened, obviously. My Archangel years were the most pleasant, fighting demons on earth with my fellow angels was what I found most enjoyable. In retrospect, I think I liked the power the position gave me more than the actual fights, I liked being able to manage several angels at once and have them all follow my plans.”

        Rin sighed. She had never been on the field with Archangels very often, but every time they had been a pain for her. They were usually very strict and cold angels, with a very low tolerance for mistakes from their subordinates. Which made most Archangels that had ever worked with her completely despise her, although retrospectively the feeling was proving to be mutual now.

        “And then one day I was promoted to Principality. You know, the ones that should ideally deal with humans the most out of any angel. I was obviously elated, even though in my many years of service I hadn't interacted with human kind more than a couple times. It's funny to think about it now but I had been there for so much of human history and I never even gave humans a second thought half of the time. They were just…smarter animals that made our job harder., I had somehow been completely blind to all the amazing things they were doing. The cities they built, the technology being developed, all the cultures that appeared and disappeared. And even when I started work as a Principality, I didn't really care about all of that, at least at the start. My job was to take simple notes about human behaviours, clothes, foods, and whatnot so that they could be turned into information used for angelic training. You know, all the outdated and incomplete information about how humans dress and talk. By the way, that's why a lot of angels look and feel odd to humans. They're too short, they're too skinny, their skin and hair look weird, their clothes don't make sense for the weather or culture or the age they're supposed to look like. Really, it's always been such a shock to me that humans even bother talking to angels half the time, when they look like that.” Luka took a small break from her rambling to drink her tea again. 

       “And I guess one day it just sort of hit me, how endlessly complex humans were, how short and poignant their existence was compared to other animals. And then a hundred of years or so later- Bam! I fell, I finally managed to overcome my regret and I sprinted right out of Heaven and into the 1800's…I started with the eternally overrated Europe, made my way down to Africa, obviously saw Asia as well, the two Americas. Do you know about the States? Obviously all countries used to be so different 200 years ago but the USA? Pfft! They didn't even exist! I was there for the wars, the slaughters and the thieving! And for the nicer parts too, cowboys were always so fun! I'm glad they sort of regulate their firearms now, though.” Luka looked off into the distance as she reminisced about her “younger” days with a nostalgic smile. “Every fallen angel needs to travel the world every so often, Rin. Rich countries, poor countries, old ones, new ones, wars and peace you need to see it all! You never know the things you'll find!” She finally finished her cup of tea. “Say, do you drink? Not alcohol, I mean. It's fine if you don't, since you're still so inexperienced.”

        Rin felt a bit embarrassed by the question, although everything that came out of Luka's mouth seemed to have that effect in her.  

       “Uhm…I've had tea before, yesterday actually. Or…was it today?” Rin had suddenly realised that she wasn't even sure how much time had passed since her fight with Mayu. “What time is it now, sorry for asking.”

       “About 4 pm.” 

       “Oh yeah…Definitely yesterday uhm…” Rin awkwardly scratched her head again. Miku had to be sick with worry by now, but she'd have to deal with that later. “I had some tea, but I didn't actually drink it, I just kind of tasted it and spat it back out.”

       “Ah! Gosh, I did the same on my first date! He ordered me a coffee, and until then I hadn't even heard of such a drink! I took a sip and then I didn't know what to do with it, so I just ran to the bathroom and spat it in the sink!” Luka let out another hearty laugh.

       “You've dated humans?” Rin asked, surprised. 

       “Plenty, my dear.” She turned her head to the old bookcase and pointed to one of the shelves which was just filled with old timey photos of men. Rin quickly counted, and there were around 12 of them.

       “Obviously I don't have pictures of all of my loverboys, but that's still quite a good collection. ” She closed her eyes, nostalgically.

        Rin looked at the images closer. Most of them were in black and white and portrayed seriously dressed men, sometimes along Luka or sometimes by themselves. Only a couple of the pictures seemed anywhere near modern, being in colour rather than black and white.

       “The last guy in there I didn't actually date, but we were still good friends. His name was Al. He was so nice.” Luka sighed again, although Rin was a bit too busy thinking about her own life to really understand why Luka would talk about this middle-aged ‘Al’ guy with sadness in her voice.

        They were all pictures of men. But Rin knew that women could love other women. So did Luka have some sort of natural preference, or had it just been up for chance who she dated?

       “Do you…like men more than women?” Rin crooked her head a little bit, trying to test if Luka would interpret the question as inappropriate. 

       “Hm? Ah, no! I think women are much more pleasant generally, I've just never had one approach me in that way.” Luka rubbed her chin, seemingly considering the idea further. “You know now that I think about it more, it could definitely be interesting.” She nodded, as if she was proud of herself for finally coming to that realization. “But obviously you know how some homosexuals are…” Luka drifted off.

       “I don't, actually.”

       “Oh well you know, lots are in it for the sex, right? I'm not really interested in that kind of relationship.” She laughed. “Or in sex in general, frankly, but if you wanna be with a man you gotta please him, right?” She giggled. “They get so up and arms about it too.” 

        Weirdly enough, her words left a small bitter taste in Rin's mouth. Surely that couldn't be everybody, but she wasn't that sure about the subject, so she decided to keep her mouth closed.

       “But hey! You seem quite talkative about this subject. Do you have a special human? A month is plenty of time to get things going.” She hummed, leaning in closer again like an old lady eagerly waiting to hear the newest gossip.

       “Anyone special?” Rin laughed nervously. She wasn't even aware that dating a human was even possible until now.

       “An apple.” Luka nodded, seemingly satisfied with her vague intervention.“That's what we fallens call the human that made us decide to leave Heaven. Although I never left for any human in particular, I just wanted to see the world of my own accord.” Seeing that Rin was still confused about the term, she reiterated. “You know, in the Bible there's this whole section about Adam and Eve, the first humans. And they get banished from Heaven after Eve decides to eat the Apple of knowledge, which was the only thing she couldn't do while in there. That's what Christianity thinks, that humans used to live in Heaven and that they got kicked out after a woman ate a fruit. Isn't it funny?” Luka giggled.

        So this was the term Teto had probably referred to. Rin shook her head no.

       “Well, the idea to date someone hasn’t even crossed my mind yet. But I do have a close friend, that girl I mentioned earlier.”

       “She must be really nice.” Luka smiled, revealing a perfect set of pearly whites. “But if she's the reason you've decided to fall, she also counts as an ‘apple’, you know? Or maybe it's more things?” She purred.

        Rin nodded. “I guess she's the main reason, yeah. When I met her, I convinced myself I'd eventually leave for another place; that I could just spend a couple of days running around and seeing humankind and then I'd go back to work, but…”

       “But you couldn't actually bring yourself to leave?” Luka finished for her, in a tone that made it sound like she had said this exact sentence out loud many times.

       “Yeah, not to mention my partner also found me out and…” Rin hesitated to finish the sentence. 

        Luka's demeanor suddenly changed. 

       “You're officially on the run?” Her eyes became narrow slits. “I can't really tell anymore since I haven't been in Heaven for so long, but you say you got reported?”

        Rin nodded with a heavy gulp. “Most definitely.”

       “When did you get found out? Yesterday?”

        Rin nodded again. 

       “Hmm…” Luka leaned back in her chair, thinking.

       “So what happened more exactly?” 

       “I was out with my friend and he saw me and-” 

       “You fought?” Luka completed the sentence, seemingly finally addressing Rin's unusual physical form. “Must've been quite a quarrel. But I've had angels coming in here in worse condition.” Luka shrugged it off. When you were this old, I guess some things just didn't come as a surprise anymore.

       “Actually, this was mostly a demon, it tore into us both, but I managed to….put an end to it.” Rin awkwardly rubbed the shoulder of her missing arm.

       “Hmm…Okay. And after that?”

       “My partner ran away and I collapsed in a park…Teto found me today and dragged me here sort of against my will.”

        Luka's smile made a brief reappearance on her face.

       “Ah, glad to see she's still like that. Always so hotheaded.” 

       Hotheaded was a nice way to put it. ‘Kind of a bitch’ sounded a bit more accurate to Rin.

       “But it's good that she brought you in, even though you never know with these neutral demons…” Luka trailed off, seemingly choosing not to finish what would probably turn into another tangent. “So unpredictable, right? But let's talk about more important matters, Rin.” 

        Her face turned serious again as she rested her hands on the table in the same way a CEO would before firing someone. Looking straight at Rin, she sternly began her lecture.

       “Right now, there is a high probability that a scouting unit is on the lookout for you. Your energy isn't hidden from Heaven, so you can be tracked at any time. That's why I was a bit cold earlier, by the way. I have had actual Heaven abiding angels accidentally land at my door and pretend to be fallen to try to lure me out. That's besides the point.” She waved her hands dismissively again. “Right now, it's only a matter of time until they find you. The only reason they aren't here right now is probably because the order hasn't been sent out yet, you know how Heaven can be. Quite bureaucratic.” She rolled her eyes, almost as if she suddenly remembered an unpleasant memory. 

       “Teto said something about…hiding my presence?” Rin uttered from under her breath. The information wasn't new to her, but it still made her shape dizzy with anxiety. 

       “Yes. Both angels and demons are composed of trackable energy. Your angelic energy, your form as it naturally is, will always be visible to Heaven and to all angels that seek to look for it.” 

        Rin nodded. This she knew.

       “Both angels and demons can hide their energy, and it is what you must do if you want to never be in danger again.” Her face was still serious, her eyes piercing Rin. It made her brow sweat. 

       “If you agree to hide your energy, you agree to become a fallen angel. It's something you'll always have to work on, and there are setbacks, but it's the only way you can keep living as you've been living the past week. If you don't…” 

        Rin cringed. The rest of the story was more than familiar to her and she was glad Luka didn't seem too keen on refreshing her memory about it.

       “And I don't mean to pressure you, but you need to decide now. If you don't, I'll have to nicely ask you to leave.” Rin almost jumped out of her seat shocked by the sudden change in attitude. “Your presence here is a danger to me, and I'm not going to risk it if you're not sure about this.”

        Rin's eyes almost immediately began to water. Suddenly, her head felt very heavy, landing in her hand as she desperately pushed into her forehead with her palm, trying to keep it from slamming into the tablet. Seeing this must've softened Luka a little bit.

       “Oh, I know it's hard, dear. Don't take it to heart.” She got up and started making her way to Rin, placing her hand on her remaining intact shoulder. “But I think if you're here, you already know the answer to this.” 

        Rin nodded. She knew. She really did. But doing it still felt…

       “It feels wrong, I know. Honestly, the fact that you're not hunched over in pain right now is impressive.” Luka giggled again. “If you've been blessed with this much freedom to do as you like, I think it'd be a shame to waste it, right?”

        She gave Rin's shoulder a good squeeze as her younger peers' tears began to soundlessly fall to the ground. 

       “Think about your friend, think about all the other friends you'll make, Rin. You're made for this, it's written all over your face.” 

       “Because I'm such a bad angel?” She finally sniffled. “I must be the worst angel there is…” She wasn't even sure why she even cared about that anymore.

       “In Heaven, yes, you are a bad angel…” Her harsh words hit her like a truck, making Rin let out another sniffle. “...But here on earth none of us are bad. We're just us. Some angels don't fit in Heaven, and that's fine.” 

       “But how can you say that when you were a-” Rin sniffled from under her breath, as she finally got the courage to look up at Luka.

       “Principality? I was, yes. But you should know something, Rin. I wouldn't trade my time spent down here on earth for anything. Those years, those centuries even, I liked them. But I don't remember them, I was a clog in the machine to Heaven, I wasn't actually myself. I can remember almost everything I do on earth, every moment, good or bad. Heaven is a haze, it's a dead end of energy and time.” Her tone became slightly angry. “But it's a necessary evil to those who can bear it. The Universe can't work without Heaven, but Heaven can work without a couple of angels just fine.” 

        Luka started making her way to her end of the table again.

       “Ultimately, I see things like this: Heaven doesn't actually need you, especially when you say you used to be a poor angel. They just want to make sure you won't cause any issues for them while you're down here.” She ended, coldly. 

         Rin wiped her face with her hand. Everything she was saying made sense, but the thought was still so scary. The thought of actually abandoning Heaven, of never seeing Brother again.

       “Your friend, Rin. What's her name?” Luka suddenly spoke again, sensing that Rin's mind was going back to the issue of Heaven.

       “M-Miku…” Rin mumbled with a shaky voice. She really didn't want Luka to go in the direction she felt she was going.

        Luka nodded solemnly. “Miku. Think about her. Think about all the nice things you've done with her. What else do you want to do with her, Rin? Try to imagine, anything is possible.”

        Rin could feel her face heat up even without actually imagining anything. She hurriedly started patting her cheeks, almost as if she was trying to check the extent of the problem that thinking about Miku was currently causing.

       “See! You're already so attached, you can't go back now!” She purred, only embarrassing Rin even further. “What has Heaven given you, Rin? 80 years of paperwork? Oh, I've been on the Archangel side of this problem, dear, I've seen plenty of poor angels. They're never happy, not even when they try their best. That's just how it is for some of us.” The words made Rin's eyes water even more. But why did it have to be like that? It seemed like nobody knew, not even Luka.

       “Besides, I'll make sure to help you every step of the way. This house has cared for many angels until they found their way, and I'm always eager to care for more. But I can only help you if you actually decide to fall.”

        Rin shut her eyes so hard she could feel her entire face scrunch up. She had no other choice. Feeling bad about the past, it wasn't going to change anything. And if Luka's words were true, then there was truly not much more she could've done to be happy. Maybe she had been destined to fall. Maybe now she could finally be useful to someone, to something. To humans. To her own happiness. 

       “O-Okay…I'll do it. Please show me how!” Her frail voice suddenly cried out.

        Hearing this, Luka's demeanor suddenly warmed up, as she excitedly started clapping, embarrassing Rin even further. She couldn't believe that she said that. Her damned “angel compass” gave her another weak, final blow, before finally shutting up forever.

        “Wonderful! We'll get right to it!” 

Chapter Text

        With a big smile on her face, Luka effortlessly lifted up her old, fancy looking chair, and made her way next to Rin, placing the seat down without making any sound. She excitedly looked over at Rin as she sat down, placing her hands on her lap in a neat manner. Getting a better look at her elated expression Rin could tell that their discussion was not going to be a short one.

       “So, Rin. Let's start with something a bit lighter. Do you know anything about fallen angels?” Luka beamed, her voice gradually filling with more and more excitement as she spoke. “I'm always so curious to see what outsiders think of us nowadays.” She clasped her hands together. 

       “Um…” Rin looked to the side, avoiding Luka's insistent gaze. Wouldn't this question have made more sense before Luka had basically all but forced her to become a fallen? Nonetheless, she still had to say something. 

       “Well, not much besides what Heaven tells you…I guess that's always been the same stuff. You know, how despicable it is and all that.” Rin shrugged, still staring intensely at the big wooden table next to her. Dealing with Luka's excitement was a bit too tiring for her at the moment.

       “That makes perfect sense.” Luka nodded in her usual all knowing way. “Well, now that you want to become one of us I can truly show you what we are all about. Right, where do I begin?” She excitedly clasped her hands together again as she took a small moment to lean back in her seat and seemingly think about her upcoming speech. Although Rin was more than sure that this whole thing was more for show than anything else.

       “Most fallen angels sadly don't ever learn to hide their forms, without any help it's pretty difficult to figure out.” Luka let out a sigh. “So the number of fallens that actually get to escape Heaven's persecution is pretty low. You should consider yourself pretty lucky.” 

        Rin finally mustered the courage to look the older angel in the eye. She looked determined, her eyes sparkling in a weird way she couldn't really put her finger on. In a way, Luka really was right. What were the chances she'd come across a demon that would just happen to be willing to help her like this? And what were the chances she wouldn't have attacked said demon and thus ruined her chance at falling without the intervention of Miku? The more she thought about it, the more improbable her situation felt to her. If it took this many variables to magically sync up for an angel to truly escape Heaven then it was no wonder there weren't many fallens around. Rin thought of asking for a precise number out of curiosity, but she felt as if interrupting Luka would've just extended the discussion forever. 

       “Anyways, that being said we do have a sort of small society, if you can call it that.” Luka's enthusiasm gradually crept back in. “And unlike demons, there's absolutely no sort of fighting between us! There's no rivalries or clubs or whatever else the demons have going on.” She dismissively waved her hands around. “Really, we are all friends, even if I can't obviously know every fallen that has ever lived.”

       “Sort of like in Heaven?” Rin crooked her head.

        The comparison didn't seem to appease Luka very much, who let out a confused ‘yes?’ of sorts.

       “It's normal that you'd still see things through the lenses of Heaven.” She eventually chuckled. “But it really is different here, no one's gonna force you to do anything you don't wanna do…” She trailed off. “Although we do have a set of…unspoken rules of sorts.”

       “Obviously you are not to attack any fallen, unless they attack you first or it's some sort of consensual spar.” Sternly, she added. “Violence is unavoidable because of the existence of demons and Heaven, so it's better to not overcomplicate things between us. We are allies, and every unwarranted attack on any of us is an attack on us all.”  She continued. “In that same vein, you must help any fallen that needs it, especially if it's a life or death situation. We aren't demons, we don't necessarily expect anything in return, but we will definitely look down on anyone who isn't a team player.”

        Rin was beginning to sweat a little bit. Why was Luka so insistent with things that so far, seemed to just be common sense? Seeing how Rin's gaze fell to the side again, Luka finally reclined back in her seat, seemingly satisfied with her mild intimidation tactics. 

       “But I'm sure that won't be the case, dear. I just have to say these things, you understand? It's my duty to inform you.” She nodded again, her eyes closed and her mouth curved in a small, cocky smile of sorts. “We fallens are very diverse, so you might come across angels that won't live life as you do. Yet we should all strive to follow the same rules.” 

        Rin's curiosity finally got the better of her as she found the strength inside her to look Luka in the eye again and ask her something. 

       “Do fallen angels live in groups? You live alone, right?”

       “Sometimes, but rarely. I'll have to say most of us prefer an isolated life, like me.”

       “Amongst humans you mean?” 

       “Of course! Although I did meet a fallen once who just spent their time in the forest writing some internet blog for a living…That reminds me!” 

        Luka pointed towards the old shelf of books from before.

       “Angels write a lot about human kind, obviously from an angelic perspective. These novels are a great way to get a headstart in understanding basic human ideas! I have a whole library on every topic you can possibly imagine: human history, anatomy, geology and whatever else! Humans write plenty of books about themselves too, so once you read the angelic basics you can get to those as well!” 

        Rin could feel her heart finally start pounding out of excitement rather than worry for the first time in a while. There must have been a licker in her eye that Luka sensed as she immediately continued harping in on the issue.

       “Ah, studious I see? You know how to read? If not, don't worry, I have some great resources for that too! There's this new thing called audiobooks. You just follow the text along with the recording and you should be all good. Ah…” Seemingly reminded of her older days again, she allowed herself to slide in another tangent. “You know, figuring everything out on your own is so challenging. I had to just deduce everything, you know? No books and such.” She sighed wistfully. "But let's get into the real meat of this discussion.”

        She dragged her chair closer to Rin with a calculated screech. Her face gained a serious expression yet again as she prepared herself for yet another speech.

       “Let's talk about the actual process of hiding your form. It's a bit abstract, but I'll make sure to walk you through it as best I can.” 

        Luka cleared her throat. “Angels can have multiple forms, what we usually work with is the physical form and an angelic one. Can you switch to your physical form for me?”

        Rin nodded. She closed her eyes and quickly shifted her form. When she opened her eyes again she saw Luka now staring down at her with an amused expression on her face.

       “Well, I'm glad you know how to modify your physical form to this extent.” She chuckled.  “But it's a bit funny how short you are, did you mean to do it? Was it a middle school you snuck into?” Luka couldn't help but laugh at her own joke, even though Rin found it less than amusing. She could feel her face heat up as she remembered Miku's words about people not taking shorter individuals seriously. Although she hadn't expected it to apply to angels too.

       “I-I like my height! Is it really that odd? Do I look that young?

       “No, no. Your face really isn't that juvenile, I just wouldn't get why anyone would wanna be this short.” As she lightly mocked Rin, Luka straightened her back, which made Rin realize she had to be even taller than Miku. And Miku was already sort of tall. Could humans be as tall as Luka was? Or maybe the long haired angel just had a skewed perception of tallness in general.

        As Rin looked down at her smaller form, now occupying way less of the chair, she realised she could finally see her missing arm as well. No longer an awkward nub. Just her arm. Orange sleeve and all that included. 

        Wordlessly, she started moving it around. It felt… weird. Or more like it didn't feel in any way. And yet it moved without any issue. She clenched her fist, but she couldn't actually feel her fingers curl in and press on her palm as they usually did. It was like watching someone else's hands do what she wanted it to do.

       “Ah, I guess this is a good example of the first difference between a so-called ‘physical’ and angelic form.” Luka finally seemed to return to the subject at hand. “The physical form is one that can only exist here, on the physical plane: earth. It's weaker and not necessarily tied to your real form. As in, your physical form isn't much more than a simple projection, a sort of different, more dumbed down variant of your usual form. The angelic form is still the base of your existence, it's the one that's capable of interacting with the world around you. If in your angelic form you can choose what objects to interact with, what to phase through and through what not to, the physical form is restricted to interacting with everything around it. That's also because humans couldn't process a form with no physicality, and the whole point of a physical form is making communication with them easier. You probably understand most of this already.”

        Rin nodded. 

       “Now what angels actually feel is your presence, which you'll emit no matter your form. So what we need to do is…restrict that presence until angels won't be able to sense you anymore.”

       “Wait…But if I can be felt no matter my form how do I even get rid of that? I get rid of my form? Am I gonna turn invisible?”

       “No, although I know right now your presence and actual body feel like the same thing they're really not. Think of your presence as the natural byproduct of your angelic nature, it's the same for demons too. Humans and animals also have a sort of presence, maybe you've noticed that it's like a sort of vibration?”

       “A buzz?”

       “Yes. It's not as defined but you could call them similar, right?”

       “But if a presence is natural to all living things then how are you supposed to hide it without…dying?” Rin reiterated. 

       “I wouldn't call angels and demons ‘living things’ but…” Luka trailed off. “But your question does make sense. Regarding this whole  presence thing, I think it's just easier if I show it to you instead. Let me get you something.”

        Luka got up and made her way around the round wooden table, walking towards the same old book shelf then began rummaging through the heavy novels, unstacking them and placing them wherever she could in her quest to seemingly reach for the very back of the furniture. 

       “Hah! Haven't looked through these in a while…” Luka excitedly pulled out a small, plastic bag so old it had lost most of its transparency. It seemed frail, almost on the point of tearing and yet it still kept itself intact as Luka made her way back next to Rin.

       “You could call us angels the positive energy of the Universe. Heaven keeps the order by fighting demons; they're beings of nothing but pure destruction. Negative energy, if you will. If Heaven didn't exist the earth as you know it wouldn't either. Everything would be nothing but…raging fires, plagues and death…and that's if we assume life could even exist in such a place.” Luka shuddered dramatically, clutching the bag tighter. “So what happens when we mix these two energies? Tell me, how often have you touched demon cores?”

        Rin thought about it for a second.

       “Maybe a couple times? It's definitely something I've been doing more of lately.” Not that she was proud of that.

        Luka nodded and finally started untwisting the knot of the bag she was holding, her long, nimble fingers working as she talked.

       “See, when you first look at demon cores they are so…unassuming right? It's just another hassle for you to deal with, and another weapon from the seemingly endless demon arsenal. They're made to be crushed under your foot and nothing else.”

        Luka finally undid the knot and dug her hand through the small bag, making a rattily sound in the process which felt all too familiar to Rin.  Especially with the events of yesterday in mind. She could feel her hair stand on edge the more Luka agitated the content of the pouch around.

       “Hold this.”

        Luka casually handed her a demon core, and then proudly showed her the bag as well. Filled with many of them, all different shades of red, some shiny and some matted by time and combat. The sound they made as Luka inevitably moved the bag around made Rin shudder even harder. She looked down at her own core. It was roughly the size of a cheap rubber ball, like the type you could buy from a coin operated dispenser. It was of a dark burgundy and not particularly sparkly.  She could feel a knot form inside of her throat the more she stared at it. As far as she knew, this was quite big for a demon core. 

       “Can you feel anything? Presence wise, I mean.”

        Rin closed her eyes. Nothing. She could sense herself, but not much else. Even the bag of cores failed to give her any sort of tangible ominous vibes. She shook her head.

       “The last trick a demon has up its sleeve. And maybe a genius one at that too, since you can't actually feel them. If they're out of your sight, they're pretty much impossible to track down. But that doesn't mean that they don't possess any sort of effect on us, because after all they're still demonic remains.”

       “Well they sure make me feel uneasy…” Rin giggled, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat.

       “That's psychological, dear. I mean an actual effect on our forms. Even though it can't be felt, cores do have their own sort of presence. If demons are negative energy, and we angels are positive, what do you think happens when we try to combine the two?”

        The thought made Rin shudder again. Mixing herself, no matter what part, with something demonic just made her sick to her stomach. 

       “I know it's quite a radical idea, but it's the best we fallen angels have.” Luka laughed awkwardly. “See, what happens is that somehow, demonic cores have the property of nulling out an angel's presence. If enough are used, of course. And if the angel takes care not to over exert themselves in angelic activities.”

       “I-I still don't get it though.” Rin quickly blurted out. “You…you want me to do what, more precisely?” Her eyes jolted up at Luka, her eyes furrowing in shock and exasperation. 

        Luka's eyes closed as if she were smiling, although the corners of her mouth didn't change in any way. 

       “I'll give you these cores, as many as you need, and we'll…” She made a slight pause. 

        “How do I make this sound less intimidating? We'll…insert them into your body. You know, Rin, we're solid blocks of matter. So when you really think about it it's not even that much of a hassle.”

       “Have them inside me!? And that will… Null out my presence? Can't I just wear them on-on some bracelet or something?” Rin could feel her hand grip onto the core harder. Maybe if she gripped it hard enough it'd break, and Luka wouldn't make her do this whole ridiculous thing.

       “You can definitely wear them too, but it's nowhere as effective as actually having them inside of you. Cores have quite a weak disruptive effect naturally, so it's advised we try to make the best of it.”

        Rin blinked in confusion. This conversation…was actually real? Was this actually the only possibility to her situation? How could anyone live with cores of all things inside of them? The more she thought about it, the more she started considering the implications as well.

       “Doesn't it hurt? Or feel weird?”

       “It doesn't hurt, but it can feel off at first. Nothing you can't get used to though. And don't worry about the demon reforming or anything, as long as it's inside of you or bound by some sort of jewellery it can't actually come back. Completely cracked cores have no effect on the presence, but slightly damaged ones still work to some extent. For maximum efficiency we'll be using intact cores. From stronger demons.”

       “How…many of these do I need inside of me?” 

       “Depends. I have around …maybe 20 inside of me right now?” Luka shrugged as if she was just talking about something normal, like eating breakfast in the morning, rather than having demon cores inside of her.

       “Oh…God…” Rin dramatically grabbed her head, inadvertently pressing the core on her forehead as well.

       “It's really not that big of a problem once you get used to it. I guess the only issue comes with changing your form or fighting. When you change your form drastically, the placement of the cores can move as well, which can lead to them popping out of you.” 

        Rin tried to imagine it, and her mind inexplicably portrayed it as sort of comedic. Her being out on a walk, enjoying her day when suddenly- pop! She shuddered. In the end, it didn't seem all that fun of an experience. 

       “And with fighting it can be a bit more difficult because that obviously changes the energies inside of you, right? The presence tends to grow stronger when you're flinging swords around or flying for your life…”

        Luka finally took a moment to test how Rin was reacting to all the information. Seeing that the younger angel remained silent and seemingly on the edge about the whole thing, she spoke again.

       “So as a run down of sorts…I'll show you how to get these cores inside of you. And from then on you have to be more careful with your form. You shouldn't use your angelic form anymore, as it makes you detectable to other angels and can probably shift around the demon cores inside of you. Summoning wings or making inhuman changes to your appearance is also not recommended because they'll immediately make you identifiable as an angel. Remember: you won't become invisible to Heaven just for having cores in you; you'll just look like a normal human hopefully, someone they could walk by without sensing any sort of angelic energy from. If you're sure there's no angels nearby you can try to mess around with minimal form changes, the type that'd make you incomprehensible to humans, but I wouldn't do anything too drastic. Combat should ideally be avoided entirely as it can cause your presence to grow stronger and as such incapacitate or even damage the cores.” Luka finally finished. “Should we get started?”

        Rin looked up at her, puzzled. The other angel seemed so hurried to start, even though Rin was barely starting to wrap her head around the entire thing. No more angelic form. No more wings. Walking everywhere. Bumping into people all the time. Feeling everything. With no break.

       “So…I'll just be stuck like this? Like…a human of sorts?”

        Luka let out a demeaning laugh.

       “Dear, no! You're not going to be human, you're just going to…let's say live by their rules from now on. Again: no more flying, no more phasing thru walls, no more entering Heaven and obviously if you could just never fight anyone ever again that would also be perfect.” Luka giggled again. “I know it sounds incomprehensible but I'd say you're already used to some of these things, Rin. It's just the part about the cores inside of you that's a bit…harder to chew on, I agree. You'll see after the first one it gets much more bearable.”

        Rin sighed, looking down at the core in her hands again. As per usual, she had no way out of this. Clutching the core, she let out another sigh. If this was the only way, then she had to do it. Although she would have much rather dealt with the awkward physical sensation another day, maybe one where she wouldn't already be so fatigued, Rin knew she didn't have much time to spare.

       “Okay…show me how, please.” 

        Luka hummed a solemn, “okay”, and then gently took the core from inside Rin's hands.

       “Generally, it's better to insert them into the middle of the form. Limbs are prone to being severed during battles–” Luka remarked coldly, almost as if she had forgotten Rin's current predicament. The younger angel let out a nervous huff as she remembered that she still couldn't feel one of her arms. “-- So usually the chest and lower body are the safest option.”

        She took the gem in between her index and thumb and gently pressed it against Rin's chest, around where the sternum would be on a human.

       “Now, soften your form around it. Let it inside of you. I'll do the pushing.”

        With a whimper of disgust, Rin did as she was told. Softening her form on command, the core gently started phasing through her clothes and inside her body, along with Luka's fingers, who kept pushing it deeper, only stopping when all but her knuckles were inside. The feeling of having someone inside of her like that made her uneasy, and also weirdly embarrassed. As if the entire thing was a sort of breach of privacy Rin wasn't even aware could exist until that moment. Her gaze fell to the side, embarrassed, and she could feel her form heating up with a sort of nausea. She tried to think of something else, but Luka's wiggling fingers made it really hard to escape the situation. 

       “Good, now I'll take my hand out, but make sure your form actually keeps the core inside of it, alright Rin?” She gave her a warm smile, which didn't really help in calming the younger angel down. Rin grunted as a reply.

        Having Luka's hands out of her relieved Rin momentarily, until she realised that she needed to solidify her form again. Feeling it freeze around the gem inside of her, she cringed in disgust. It felt cold. Impossibly heavy. Foreign. Like her entire body turned from her trusty form to just a casing for some pebble, an awkward reminder for the alien object inside of her.

        She gave her chest a stern hit with her fist clenched, almost as if she wanted to cough the thing out. 

       “Ughh…” Rin gave her chest an extra good couple of punches. Her head was starting to pound again. And the more she thought about how her form felt, the more her tiredness and pain from before the adrenaline of the Luka conversation came back in waves.

       “Hey, that was really good! I'll let you try the next one, okay? I think you'll get the hang of it very soon.” Luka gave her a warm smile, which Rin failed to see. Her gaze was fixated on the sack of cores in the older angel's lap instead. With a hiss of discomfort, she reached her hand out for it and grabbed it in the same way someone would pick up a sack of garbage. Digging through the rattling stones made Rin’s face contort into an unnatural, exaggerated grimace. When was this going to be over?

        Grunting, Rin finally managed to get the last core inside of her. It was the 14th, and currently floating somewhere around her belly. 

       “Gahh…God…” Rin hissed in discomfort. While inserting the cores had gradually gotten easier, the feeling they gave her worsened with each new addition. It made her sick, not necessarily physically but mentally. She couldn't move without feeling their round, foreign coldness weigh down on her, and the sensation drove her mad. Until then, her body had more or less always felt like it was her's. But now she didn't feel angelic, she was just a thing wrapped around some demonic remains. 

        At some point Luka began congratulating her for finally managing to hide her presence, butt Rin couldn't really hear most of it. Luka's words got muffled by the pulsating, constant feeling that something inside of her wasn't her . 

       “Try to take your mind off it, dear. Once you do you'll see it's really not that hard to live with them. It just becomes a background noise of sorts..” Luka hummed, gently giving Rin a quick shoulder tap. Finally feeling anything besides the weird cores inside of her seemed to bring Rin back to reality.

       “But it feels so goddamn weird…” Rin scrunched her nose, as if she had just been presented with an unsavoury piece of food.

       “I know…” Luka trailed off.

        After a couple seconds of silence (Rin staring blankly at the carpet and Luka twiddling her thumbs), an idea suddenly seemed to pop inside the long haired angel's head.

        Her demeanor changed as she got off the chair and made her way to the bookshelf again, from which she pulled out yet even more books. Looking at her Rin wondered if Luka even read those novels on a regular enough basis to need them stored in a bookshelf or if she only used them to hide things. 

        She skillfully pulled out something, while still balancing a big pile of books in her other hand. It was an old, cardboard container with no writing on it, not much bigger than a shoe box. Sitting down in front of Rin, she gave it a shake, as if she was trying to incite some curiosity from Rin. The younger angel gave Luka a short look, and then went back to clutching her abdomen. 

       “I like to give angels who have fallen a piece of jewelry. Obviously it's mostly symbolic.” Luka excitedly started tapping the box with her fingers, in a rhythmic like pattern. She blinked, charmingly. 

        Thinking about jewelry seemed to have the desired effect on Rin, as her posture straightened up a little, leaning in closer to the older angel. Humans wore jewelry. Miku especially. Without really meaning to, she reached for her left wrist and began fidgeting with the little charms of the orange bracelet hidden under the sleeve of her shirt. She really wouldn't have minded adding another bracelet to her 'collection'.

        Luka finally opened the box, although she positioned the lid in a way that didn't let Rin really see the jewelry inside.

       “Alright…let's see what we have here…” 

        Rin curiously tried peeking over the lid, but Luka quickly closed the box again.

       “I'm choosing one for you! Don't be hasty, I have to think about what would fit you better.” She let out a long humm as she started rummaging through the box again.

        Rin slouched on the chair again. She would've loved to look through the box herself and she couldn't understand why Luka was seemingly so against it. 

       “How about this?” Luka pulled out a big golden bracelet, formed of a thin wire twisted with two bright red, small gems…

       “Oh….” Rin's already minimal enthusiasm vanished. Were those actually…?

       “Remember how I said demon cores can be used for jewelry? That's what this is! Again, it's mostly symbolic.” Luka looked as if her life depended on giving Rin this gift. She handed her the weird bracelet, and Rin reluctantly grabbed it.

       “I can't say I dislike it but…” Rin's hands grazed over the gems, and a little voice inside her head whispered at her to pluck them out. “I don't think I wanna see any more demon cores like…ever, honestly.” She let out a dry laugh.

       “Oh, you're just saying that now because you're not used to them yet!” Luka dismissively waved her hands around. “Trust me, you'll learn to appreciate them one day.” 

        Luka leaned in closer, her eyes peeled, clearly waiting for Rin to finally try her ‘gift’ on.

        The younger angel awkwardly placed it on her good wrist, watching as the bracelet dangled from her hand loosely. 

       “No! It's an arm cuff, dear.” Luka let out an amused laugh. “It goes way up on your arm.”

        Embarrassed, Rin pulled her sleeves up and pushed the cuff into her arm, a little bit above the mid section of her upper arm. The look and feel of the object was nice; sleek and definitely unique, but she was still not a fan of the stones.

      “It looks greeaaat on you!” Luka clapped, like a mother cheering on their awkward teen. “See, I have a good eye for these things, Rin. It's an acquired skill.” She tapped her cheek, thinking. “Though you should probably wear it with something sleeveless…” She furrowed her brow, seemingly unaware that what Rin probably liked to usually wear didn't really work with the cuff. “But don't worry! Summer's coming soon, right? You'll have plenty of time for jewelry!”

        Rin awkwardly nodded, trying to give Luka a small smile, although it ended up looking more unconvinced than anything. The nagging sensation inside her, of the stones simply existing and weighing in on her form didn't help either. She was so tired, and a part of her was starting to become fed up with Luka's shenanigans. 

        Rin plopped herself onto the bed without giving it much more thought, lifting a bunch of dust into the air. Luka started excusing herself as she rushed to open the only window in the old timey room.

       “You have to forgive the mess! I haven't had a guest in ages, I'll make sure to do some deep cleaning in here soon.” Her awkward chuckle was drowned out by the screeching sound the window made as it opened, letting in the familiar graining buzz of mankind. Rin was sure that the place was messy from the stale smell of the air, but she hadn't really taken the time to get a look around the room. And it's not like she cared about whatever was around her anyway. She just wanted to get some sleep in. Sleeping in a dusty bed was definitely an improvement from sleeping outside in some park.

       “I'll make sure to let you make yourself comfortable now, you can come down anytime to talk. I can tell you're really tired so I'll just let you be now.” She hurriedly made her way back to the door and gave the creaky door handle a good couple of pushes before she finally stepped out of the room. But before she left, she looked back at Rin and smiled. “You know, I'm really glad you did this today. I know it feels like a lot right now but…you'll see. You won't regret it.” She leaned herself a little bit against the doorway, as if she wanted to stay and chat a little more. 

        Rin finally found the force to lift her head off the pillow and look back at Luka. 

       “Thank you for everything…Uhm..” She began trying to lift herself off her stomach, aware that her position was a little too relaxed for the conversation. 

       “No, no! Lay down if you need to! I'll be downstairs, alright? We'll talk some more soon!” Luka smiled again and then closed the door behind her with a small thud.

        Rin immediately let her head fall into the only pillow of the bed, letting loose a pretty sizable cloud of dust and lint into the air when her forehead hit the soft cushion. As she heard Luka making her way down the stairs mumbling, she could feel her form gradually relaxing, or more like finally releasing some of the tension she had slowly acquired during the day. She swore that she could hear her form almost crack and fizzle as it stretched itself back into a less condensed state. And along with that relaxation came the sensation of fatigue. And the disgust from earlier, although by then most of it had passed. Her tiredness quickly engulfed her and weighed her down with a nasty, pulsating headache. Maybe it was her new, ‘bedazzled’ form at play as well but she felt so heavy and stiff, almost like she could feel every inch of her body pulsate, especially the parts encasing the gems. She could feel sleep slowly start taking over her body and closing her eyes shut until a single stray thought suddenly jolted her awake.

        The phone. Miku. She opened her eyes.

       With immense difficulty she managed to turn herself to her side and whip out her phone from thin air. She stuck it close to her face as she awkwardly tapped the screen. The bright screen greeted her with the ironic ‘angel girl’ wallpaper from before, which she desperately tried to swipe away from. Being reminded of Teto didn't bring the angel much joy at the moment. She quickly found the call icon and pressed on it. Only two contacts greeted her: ‘!!!!TETOO!!!!!’ and ‘Apple’, both assorted with so many emojis the phone didn't even seem capable of displaying them all. Annoyed, Rin pressed on Teto's contact name which popped out a small selection of letters and numbers. She quickly found a button with an X and pressed on it, allowing her to delete the previous characters the demon had put in. Then she clumsily typed in “Teto”. She did the same for Miku's contact, although her thumb hesitated on pressing “confirm” after writing her name. Something inside her, maybe the tatigue, kept her staring at the keyboard. One of the buttons looked different from the letters, which with a curious tap gave her access to a menu of small yellow drawings, like the ones Teto had used for the contact names. As she swiped up, Rin was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of colourful characters representing all sorts of things: emoting faces, animals, foods, items and symbols. She quickly scrolled back up after a couple seconds of studying the images with the intent of exiting the menu, although her thumb stopped right above one of the first ones: A simple smiley face. 

        Rin furrowed her brows. For some reason she was hesitant to press on it. But she didn't want to go back to the contact list either.

        Letting out a flustered sigh, she finally pressed on it, giving Miku's name a cute little face. She exited the menu and then pressed on her name, quickly finding the icon labelled “Call”.

        The thought of hearing Miku's voice made her heart start racing. Her hands grew weaker, almost letting the phone slide out of her grasp. A weird, nonsensical thought suddenly formed inside Rin's head. Would Miku…really want to hear from her right now? After she almost got the girl killed and then left without saying a single word?

        Another, even more sinister idea popped up in Rin's head. If Miku did remember all that had happened, would she even want to talk to her ever again?

        Rin could feel her face heat up. What if Miku would now consider Rin too dangerous to be around and would never want to hear from her again? Could Rin even blame her for such a thing? After all, who would want to be friends with someone who could put them in mortal danger just by their simple presence? Especially when you are as fragile as a human is…

        Tears started soundlessly falling from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and drenching her musty pillow. Her head hurt with every sob she was desperately trying to keep in, pounding harder and harder the more she thought about Miku. How awful it'd be if they'd never talk again. If she'd never get to hear her sweet voice again. Even though she knew the phone could never replicate the true harmonies of her voice, she still debated calling her, just to maybe give herself some comfort. But this wasn't supposed to be about her comfort. Not after Miku had almost died because of her own negligence. She let out another sob, remembering the fear she had felt when Mayu had strangled her, the immense rage coming back to her as she replayed the demon's cruel remarks inside her head. Her pounding headache quickly turned into a hot fever of fury. Thinking about Mayu was poisonous to her. Remembering how helpless she had felt, how small and powerless. She let her phone fall onto her bed and soundlessly started hitting her head repeatedly against the soft pillow. 

        Thud. Thud. 

        Every cushioned smack did nothing but seemingly fuel her state.

       Thud. Thud. Thud

        Her head was on fire. Her body was in stitches and the core of her being felt like utter garbage. She didn't even want to think about the rest of her issues. Being fallen. Brother. Teto and her stupid contract. Right now, the pure feeling of chaos inside her body was enough to keep her head snacking itself into the pillow forever, no matter of her fatigue.

        Thudthudthudthud…. 

        But instead of quietly fizzling out, it slowly turned into a strong wave of sadness, which after overwhelming her anger, slammed her body into the bed for good. Her eyes swelled up with tears and her throat let out little sobs. She couldn't even tell what exactly was making her cry, but she definitely had more than enough reasons to. Sadness. Anger. Pain. Tiredness. Regret. They all blended together into a sensation Rin had never felt before, something she could only describe as dread. Her body dreaded being awake. Her mind dreaded being conscious. Her soul dreaded knowing what Miku was currently feeling about her.

        Her mind slowly made its way back to Miku and the complicated feelings she had for the girl. How could she have failed her like that? How could she ever face her again, knowing that she almost got her killed? What could she possibly do to assure that it would never happen again? What could she even do to make sure Miku even wanted to talk to her? 

        Everything was hitting her all at once, and it all felt so strange. She had to calm down somehow.

        Rin let out a shaky sigh. She couldn't just not tell Miku anything about her though. That wasn't fair to the girl. If she really wanted to do nothing with Rin anymore, then that would have to be her own decision. Especially since if Miku did actually remember anything, she definitely remembered seeing Rin injured as well.

        The thought made her heart ache, the idea that Miku had spent the last day or so worried sick. Did she even know she was alive? Or had she presumed her dead? She had to let Miku know that she was fine, and then she could deal with the other parts of the situation.

        Rin reluctantly picked the phone up again, and with great difficulty, managed to make out the other icon on her screen from in between her shut, teary eyes: “Message.” She tapped on it, which opened a new, empty white screen along with a keyboard again. At the top of her device: “Miku 🙂” 

        She sighed. What was she supposed to say? “Hi! Sorry for almost getting you killed? And almost dying in front of you too? Won't happen again? Probably?” She furiously rubbed her face. Rin wasn't sure she could even write all of those words, so she settled on something simpler:

       “Hello. I'm Rin. I have a phone now, are you alright? I'm good. Please write back to me.” Much to her relief, the phone seemed to have a correcting feature of sorts, which greatly helped her write words she wasn't sure of how to spell. 

        Her thumb hovered above what she presumed to be the “Send” button. Was this a bad message? Was it a weird tone? Would Miku even reply? Was this actually Miku's number ? How could she be sure that she wasn't sending this random, cryptic message to some stranger? 

        Letting out a groan she finally tapped “send”, then let her phone fall on the bed as she quickly hid her face inside her dusty pillow, letting out a small muffled hiss. Her filled chest contracted in an unnatural way, almost as if it was trying to squish Rin into a little ball. If she would've had wings, they would've definitely been flapping madly too. The angel debated going against Luka's words and pulling them out to give herself a way to cool down. There were a lot of bad things about being a fallen, but not having her wings with her as often as she wanted was definitely one of the worst aspects.

        Not even a minute passed before her phone suddenly vibrated, jolting Rin awake from her tumultuous thoughts.

        A message had popped up on her phone, displayed to the upper most left part of the screen.

       “oh my god im so glad youre okay!!” 

        Rin could feel her heart start racing, but before she could even pick her phone up to reply her phone began vibrating again.

       “i was so worried about you! you looked so rough back there, i was really starting to believe id never see you again, cause you didn't come to school today and allat…”

        Rin let out an awkward chuckle, almost as if Miku was right in front of her. Yeah, she had completely forgotten about school. But from now on she could go there as she liked. The thought rosied up her tear stained cheeks a little. Maybe the fallen angel thing had its benefits after all. 

       “where did you get the phone? and my number? not that i mind of course, i just really didn't expect it!”

        Feeling that Miku would send more rapid fire messages soon, Rin hurriedly typed a simple response.

      “From Teto.”

       “really??? wow did you meet her ? is this her phone?”

       “No. She gave me one.” 

       “a phone?? damn oh my god!! thats really good though, now we can text all the time! :)” 

        Rin was initially confused by what a colon followed by a parenthesis was supposed to mean, but when she typed it herself she saw that her device automatically corrected it to a smiley drawing, like the one she had typed next to Miku's name earlier. So this had to be another form of texting image. And it meant that Miku was smiling at her. Rin almost couldn't believe it.

        She quickly typed back to Miku:

       “ :  ) ” 

       “hahaha! oh but for real wow i cant actually believe this… are you actually rin? dont answer that ik its you its just like. wow. yknow?? i mean i thought smth like this might happen but like…” 

Miku's texts started getting more and more rambly and frenetic, in a way not too dissimilar to her usual way of speech. Rin smiled reading them, even if some of the words didn't make much sense to her. All she could feel was relief that Miku didn't hate her now. 

        “but what happened back there? was that mayu? like it def was right?? and you said youre ok, youre ok yeah?? you looked really really bad back there i mean…not that i dont remember the whole grabbing my neck thing but yknow.”

        Rin cringed. So Miku did remember. A part of her wished she would've just forgotten it, but she knew that wouldn't have been exactly fair for her friend. She deserved to know what Rin really was and the dangers that came with it. Even if it definitely complicated their relationship.

       “I'm sorry about that.” She typed out, slowly pressing each letter with her index finger, much like a grandma would. How on earth was Miku so fast at this?

       “im fine!! don't worry i dont remember much anyways it was just that yknow that part in particular sucked haha”

        Rin could feel tears form in the corners of her eyes again. The ‘haha’ didn't help in easing her guilt about it.

       “I know you almost died.” Hesitating, she went back and deleted that last word. Was that wise to say? Maybe Miku didn't even realise that she had come so close to death. Besides, did Rin really want to open that conversation in text, when she herself could barely stand to think about it? Interrupting her string of thoughts, Miku sent yet another message.

       “youre new to texting, maybe calling would be easier for you? we can call if you want to”

        Instinctively, Rin gulped nervously. Was she really ready to ‘face’ Miku like that? Even though she wanted to hear her voice and talk to her freely so badly? Before she could even process how she felt about it, she saw her own thoughts written out right before her on the screen.

       “id like to hear your voice”

Chapter Text

       “Rin! You listening?” 

        “Huh?” 

        Rin looked up from her tea cup, seemingly confused for a second.

       “You zoned out again, idiot! Can I go on?”

        Miku's uncanny face flashed in front of Rin's eyes briefly and only after did her form also finally materialize again right next to the angel. They were outside, sitting on an annoyingly scratchy blanket. The sky had a tint and shimmer that Rin had only seen in Heaven before— a shade so otherworldly it would be impossible to describe in human colours. The endless grass around them was of a striking green and looked rubbery to the touch. Rin wanted to reach her hand out and pluck some out, but no matter how much she reached out her hand never seemed to advance. Instead her fingers just repeatedly grazed the blanket, until they finally fell limp and unresponsive. She looked back at her cup, because she knew that looking at Miku didn't feel quite right. Rin had gotten a glimpse of her before: Her eyes were too wide. Her eyebrows; too arched, almost reaching her hairline. Her skin; too pale and alien like. Her smile; too wide and stretched out, wrinkling the entirety of her cheeks. 

        “So my mom came home and she was like. You know?” The pitch of her voice was slightly higher than usual, a change unperceivable by humans, but grating to the angel's sensitive ears.

       “I know” Rin gave her cup a small stir, which suddenly sent the small patch of liquid flying everywhere, staining Miku's clothes in the process. Her dress… or maybe pants were now completely drenched in crimson red, sticky tea.

        “Oh Rin! That's not how you drink tea!” Miku patted down her pants, getting the liquid all over her palms. “You ruined my pants. Tea doesn't come off.” 

        Rin immediately felt a sharp shock of pain pass through her head, leaving her with stinging the consistency of hot air rising from a fire. She tried patting her forehead with her right hand, but found that it had become unresponsive as well. 

       “But my sisters they said to her that it's weird that she's like that and she said it's weird too.” The human laughed with a snort. Her laugh was scratchy, like she had something stuck in her throat. Miku kept talking but none of the words made sense to Rin, slurring together into a cacophony of hisses and coughs. Her voice became scratchier and scratchier, gradually devolving into a coughing fit that seemed to suffocate the girl. Yet Rin couldn't look up from her cup, seated on the ground right in front of her. Which was inexplicably filled again. 

        Miku's loud coughs shook the liquid inside the cup, they shook the space Rin shouldn't have had in her chest, seemingly shook the entire world around them. Until they suddenly stopped.

        “Rin!” Her voice cried out in its usual crystal clear pitch, devoid of any of the roughness and pain. 

        Suddenly. Miku was on top of her on all fours, staring down at the angel. 

       “....” 

        Rin just looked at her. And looked. Stared. 

        Her face was expressionless, but not in an uncanny way. The girl looked…as she normally did: grayish lively eyes, thin eyebrows, messy bangs, stubby nose, flakey bitten lips. 

        Rin's heart wasn't beating any faster. She didn't feel anything.  She just…was. Like this, splayed under Miku. Basking in her shadow that offered no relief from the scorching heavenly sky of pain.

       “Haha~ Rin…” She suddenly blinked, fluttering her eyelashes a little bit. Her voice rang inside her form like windchimes dangling inside of an abandoned patio. Seductively, she tilted her head a little, her long hair washing down her shoulders, slightly tickling Rin's frozen face

       “You're silly, you zoned out again.” She said as she suddenly got off the angel. “What am I going to do with you, Rin?” 

       “Mmm…” Rin mumbled in response. That was not what she wanted to say. She tried to get off her back and sit alongside Miku, but her body didn't let her. Something glued her back to the itchy blanket. And with the realisation that she was stuck like that her heart began speeding up again, almost as if the clogs of something awful were beginning to move.

        Forcefully staring at the intoxicating sky, without even moving her head to look at Miku, she somehow saw her. Smiling. And she looked so normal. Her usual small dimpled smile, with her eyes a little closed, her lower lip slightly curled in.

        Her smile was cut in half as the axe violently smashed into the girl's head. Rin felt Miku's body hit the ground with an empty thud, and saw the same blood red crimson from earlier muddy everything but the sky in an explosion of gore. 

        She was still stuck to the ground, unmoving. And yet her core shook with fear and a dull sense of primal rage. 

        Almost as quickly as it had fallen, she felt the body seemingly drag itself up, or more like how some invisible force beyond Rin's comprehension started dragging it along the endless spanning blanket. Dread spread in all of her body as she could feel it coming towards her.

        Horrified, the angel tried screaming, but nothing came out of her mouth. She felt as the cold, heavy carcass crawled onto her, staining her a frozen red. She felt it come up closer and closer, hugging at her waist and then her chest, squishing and squelching with every move. She could vaguely see its shape in her peripheral vision, her eyes still fixed to the sky. The weird, Heavenly colour  burning itself onto Rin's retina. 

        The body pushed itself against her again with another disgusting squeak, climbing on her to the point where Rin should've started seeing Miku's head peeking at her.

        It dragged itself up her more and more, but seemingly never made it past her collarbone, choosing instead to hug her awkward, frozen body with its own limp arms.

        Rin kept bracing herself for the impact: seeing Miku's unrecognizable mangled head, with her brains sticking out and blood still gushing– but it never came. Rin was stuck to the ground with a wet, heavy body on top of her, squelching and flopping itself around periodically. 

        After what felt like an eternity of rough, heavy breathing synchronised perfectly with the scratchy respirations of the body, its chest finally stopped moving. Rin knew that she was ‘dead’. And that there was nothing she could do now but stare at the sky and feel the cold, lifeless blob of flesh on top of her slowly turn ice cold and rott on her.

****************

       “UAGHhh!” Rin yelled as she jolted awake from her nightmare, flailing and kicking the pillow off the bed before gradually coming to her senses. What on earth had she just seen? 

       “..NGhhh….Fuck..!” Rin muttered as her eyes opened wide, scanning her surroundings rapidly. Dark room, where was she? At first she didn't recognize the house, which heightened her sense of panic. But with every shaky breath, it came gradually back to her. Right. This was Luka's place.

        Her heart was racing, racing so hard that it felt as if she was fighting Mayu again…

       “.....Nhnhmhg…” The thought made Rin's eyes begin to water, or more like it was the last drop, as she started crying. That whole…thing that she had just seen– that had to be related to Mayu and what she had done to Miku. But why would her mind even torture her with such a thing?

        Involuntarily, her brain began replaying the only part of the dream Rin could remember clearly: Miku's head splitting in half, bashed violently by the axe. 

        The sound of the blade swishing in the air. Cracking bones. Squelching of flesh and an explosion of blood spurting out. 

        Rin grabbed her hurting, throbbing head.

       ‘Swoosh. Crack. Fshhh’… Replayed in her mind, over and over.

        Something was wrong with her. She gave her forehead a good couple of slaps. This had to stop. This had   to stop.

       ‘Swoosh’ SLAP ‘Crack…’

       SLAP

       ‘Fshh…’

       ‘SwooshCrackFshhhhSwoo…’

       The slaps turned into fists. 

       ‘Swoosh…Cr-’ SLAM

       ‘Swo-’ SLAM

        .

        . 

        SLAM

        .

         .

         .

       “Ow…” Rin's hand weakly fell beside her as her headache quickly turned from a vague, all encompassing sensation to a centralized point of pulsating pain. Her knuckles hurt, and even though she couldn't see them she was sure they were bruised by now.

        Why had she done that? For a moment, she was confused, blankly staring at the ceiling, waiting for the clogs in her brain to start moving again. But when they finally did she just started crying harder. It definitely hadn't helped as much as she hoped it would've had. Now she was both scared and in pain.

        Motionless, splayed out on the small bed she cried at first and then started all out sobbing. Her body tingled with tiredness, her head stabbed her with every breath she took and her face contorted so strongly that her wet eyes and cheeks were starting to become sore as well. 

        Every time her thoughts went back to Miku her cries became stronger as well, louder at first and then slowly settling down, until her thoughts inevitably circled back to her, in a never-ending cycle. Even though she knew that, rationally, none of what she had seen was real, she still wanted to know that Miku was safe. Her body ached with it, and she knew that her crying wouldn't stop until she'd heard from her friend.

        She dragged herself around the one person bed until her arm dangled off, able to grab the phone she had left on the ground the other day. She picked it up and took a look at the time.

       ‘4:47 AM’ 

       The white angel girl screen blinded her, making her drop the device which flatly slammed itself on the floor. Plonk.

        Now that she thought about it more, she could vaguely remember what she had talked about to Miku on her phone the prior night, something about how the girls' school started at 8 AM. With that taken into account, 3 or more hours needed to pass Miku would be available to talk. Yet another eternity. 

        Rin sighed. What they had talked about on the phone slowly came back to her reeling and exhausted mind, giving her a vague sense of comfort as her brain finally played other sounds besides the ones involving Miku's head getting smashed into a million bits. Now it was her voice, as Rin had heard it through the phone.

        Miku's tone had been excited throughout the conversation, high pitched. She was rambly, quite clearly worried. But most importantly she was happy to hear from her. Rin remembered how the girl's inflexion slightly changed every once in a while, no doubt because she had to be smiling frequently throughout the conversation. 

        Remembering the real Miku slowly made her heart stop running at a million miles an hour, giving Rin a small break to catch her breath and relax her shaking, contracted muscles. 

        Thinking more about their conversation, the contrast between the two of them had been striking. Even though she was so excited to talk to her, Rin's phrases had been short, lacking the usual details a conversation like theirs would have. Her mind and words were slow. Monotone. Tired. It was true that at first she had been bracing herself for the worst. For Miku to finally hold Rin accountable for her neglect. For her to question her, or at least to be upset.

        But during the entire conversation Miku had managed to somehow not notice all of that and avoid talking about anything that might've upset her. After making sure Rin was okay and that Mayu had been put to rest, Miku took course of the conversation; rambling on about her day and asking to Rin a lot of sweet, nothing questions: If Rin wanted to come to school more frequently now that she finally could. If they should visit another coffee shop. If Rin wanted to go to some concert with her and her sisters. If Rin should stop by her house now that she had the time for that kind of thing…

        Rin's eyes suddenly opened wide as she remembered the last thought, and any other thought inside her head was suddenly pushed aside.

        She was going to Miku's house tomorrow. 

        Her form jolted itself up, almost flinging her out of bed.

        She wordlessly got up, grabbed the pillow she had just thrown on the ground and then threw herself back into bed.

        Clutching the pillow to her chest, she sighed.

        Miku had correctly deduced that Rin wouldn't want to start going to school before figuring out the whole fallen thing, so during their call she kindly suggested that they could meet at her house. So that Rin could tell her all about her angel issues over a cup of ‘well brewed tea’.

        Rin dug her face into the pillow.

        It was soft, and formless. Clumpy, perfectly molded to her face, sucking up the warmth of her heated face into its cold textile. The more she pushed herself into it the more it caved in around her, suffocating her. 

        Or well–it would've suffocated her if Rin needed air to breathe. Like a human did.

       “Pfooo…” The angel let out a small huff of air, like a sigh, from in between her closed lips.

        She stared into her pillow.

        Her headache had calmed down a bit, at the expense of even more fatigue settling in. Her heart was beating fast, but was slowly approaching its usual rate of nothing. 

        Giving the pillow another good hug, she thought of trying to get some more rest in. But the idea of waking up screaming again scared her. What if she dreamt of Miku again? Was it even worth it to go through all that anguish?

        So she decided to remain awake instead. After all, her fatigue would subside at one point just by laying in bed as well, so all she had to do was wait it out.

        Yeah. Come on, a being who had spent a significant portion of its life dissipated into an immaterial, heavenly plane could definitely lie in bed for a couple of hours without drifting to sleep. What was so hard about that? Rin felt weirdly cocky about it.

        But she didn't last more than a couple minutes before she inevitably fell asleep again

        “Ughn….” Rin woke up, clutching her head as she lazily opened her eyes. Again.

        She instinctively grabbed the phone that had been at one point placed neatly on the bed by her and stared at the time.

        “12:13 PM” 

        At last, Miku had long started school. And by the amount of the light in the room, the sun had probably been out for some time as well.

        Relieved that her horrible night was over, Rin quickly lifted herself out of bed. Of course she would've loved to spend some more time lying down, but she felt as if every extra minute spent in bed set fire to her soul. The horrible night was over and it was time for her to finally leave all of that behind.

        Sitting up, she quickly noticed that her form was still…off. Besides the lingering tiredness, which wasn't a feeling she was very used to in general, Rin felt as if her body was somehow not as it had been before the fight. Specifically her left arm.

        Looking at it now, her angelic form had quite clearly completely healed itself, and yet it still felt as if it were missing. Like she was still stuck at the phase where her hand only existed as a mirage, a shell of its usual form.

        Almost without thinking, she started touching her ‘bad’ arm, feeling it in multiple spots, then gradually trying to move it. Her arm and hand moved painlessly and precisely, and yet they still felt. Missing. Everything was where it was supposed to be, everything was feeling and moving and looked fine to her eyes. And yet it still felt so odd, especially her shoulder, which she perceived as being completely disconnected from her limb. It was almost as if a deep part inside of Rin couldn't really understand that her arm was back. But she clearly could!

        She gave her head a good shake. All of this was ridiculous. Surely she'd get used to having an arm again; it was probably tiredness at play. Maybe this was just a thing that happened when your limbs grew back. 

        Lunging towards her phone with her good arm, her heart suddenly started beating again as her eyes read a message she had received a couple hours ago, while she was still ‘asleep’.

        Miku 😀: “hey! you up yet? youre coming to my house, yeah?” The pop-up of the message covered up the mocking wallpaper.

        Rin picked her phone up and clumsily typed with one hand: 

       “Yes.” 

       “oh thats good! let me send you my address” Miku almost instantly replied, almost scaring Rin. Had she been watching her phone this whole time?

        Then the message was followed by a long string of blue, garbled letters.

        Pressing on them opened another app, a big moving image of grey lines and squares and many boxes of texts and whatnot.

        While Rin was blindly swiping at her screen like an elderly person, trying her best to make sense of the moving shapes and writing, her brain began nagging her about her left arm again.

        Was it missing?

        Rin stopped her mindless tapping and looked at her left arm, limply resting on the bed beside her. No, it was obviously not missing.

        She went back to trying to figure her phone out.

        Was it missing?

        Rin looked back at it again. It was still not missing. Obviously. 

        She went back to-

        It's definitely not there.

        Rin looked again, this time more feeling more worried than before. Her arm was there, even giving it a good couple of shakes to convince herself that it really was her hand. She thought that maybe keeping it in her field of vision would make the awkward feeling go away. And it did help for a while, until it came back again, as nagging as before. 

        Rin began flinging her arm around crazily, shaking her entire body and the bed in the process, almost as if she was trying to truly disconnect it from her body and finally get rid of it for good. Finally stopping after a good couple seconds, she huffed and looked at it again, seemingly satisfied by her vigorous exercise. Her left arm was obviously still there. Maybe she could finally put this to rest.

        But was it though?

        Rin's shoulder involuntarily went up, almost as if it was shrugging by itself, and the weird physical stimulus finally seemed to give Rin's brain the confirmation it needed. Her arm was there. Connected to her shoulder and everything. 

        Worried, she sighed and went back to making sense of whatever was on her phone. What exactly was that blue dot on the screen supposed to be?

        A new message popped up again. 

        Miku😀: “alls good, rin?” 

        Her shoulder jerked itself up again. It was good.

       “Yeah. I'll come to your house. You said I should be there at 1: 20?”

       “yup!”

        Rin started typing another message but was quickly cut off by Miku again.

       “i gotta go now, cya later!!” 

       “Bye Miku.” Rin typed back after a while, sighing.

        She gave the weird address app one more shot again before quickly giving up and closing the phone. Maybe Luka would know more about it. 

        Rin sighed again, looking around her room, trying to gather her thoughts. It was quite small, definitely a one person bedroom, and was mostly filled with old looking bookcases filled to the brim with books, drawers and closets (which Rin still thought of as ‘chests’) with no notable designs or colours. Next to the window there was also a small desk, mostly covered in dust rather than what Rin assumed desks were usually covered in–human devices and various papers. The more she looked at it the more it reminded her of the infinitely long, intimidating desks of Heaven where she had spent most of her life at. If she would've had a say in the room's design, the desk would've definitely been the first thing to fly out the window.

        Trying to take her mind off it she looked at the walls instead: A sea of tired yellowish white, lacking any photos or posters or any interesting blemish for that matter.  

        The cold, wooden floor creaked with everything that touched it which somehow seemed to stress Rin out. But to put it simply the room lacked any sort of character, which somehow made Rin feel even more uneasy. Not that she had ever felt the need for a personalised room; that was weird coming from someone who had spent most of their sleeping time dissipated in their shapeless environment. But even that seemed a little more nostalgic to Rin now. If you became the space around you, did you really need any posters or fun furniture to begin with? 

        Rin felt the weird sensation about her left arm come back suddenly, so she raised her shoulder again. It felt like scratching an itch deep inside her form, giving herself the relief she needed about her arm. And it also felt like an itch in the sense that not doing anything about it made the sensation constant and impossibly hard to bear. So if raising her shoulder was all she had to do, then that was that. The resolution to her problem was weird, and she didn't quite get it, but at that point she was just glad to have something that at least seemed to calm it down temporarily. 

        But she was still unhappy that her arm problem didn't seem to go away even as her body gradually woke up from its sleepy state, Rin opened her phone for a distraction. She was met with the same app as before, and finally decided to get up and go ask Luka about it.

       “Good morning Rin!” Luka's echoing voice chirped at her from another room as Rin went down the stairs, still a little bit wobbly.

       “Or it's more like…good afternoon, right?” The voice laughed. “Come down in the living room, dear.”

        Rin did as she was instructed, entering the first room that the stairs lead into.

        It was a bit bigger than the room from yesterday, the one connected to the kitchen, but it stood apart from the other old and vintage room by how bright and lively it was.

        Huge windows that let in lots of light, thinly covered by expensive looking curtains, walls painted in a tasteful greyish lavender colour with purple wallpaper, a big vintage couch, which was definitely not made to be used only by one person, took up most of the floor space. In front of the couch, at a pretty respectable distance away, there was also a modern looking TV and the usual bookcases Rin was more than used to seeing everywhere, engulfing it, almost acting like a protective case for it.

        Luka was lazily laying on a longer segment of the couch, resting her back against the big backrest as she watched TV, multiple cups and novels sporadically thrown around on the indecently big, borderline bed Luka called her couch.

        Rin awkwardly sat down on the closest bit of couch she could find next to the door, creating a big, meter wide gap between her and Luka. 

       “Oh Rin, come closer! I won't bite!” Luka laughed as she robotically started putting some of the items besides her on the only small table in the room, her eyes still glued to the colourful screen. The volume of the TV was quite loud, which made Rin wonder if she had interrupted Luka from watching something she found interesting. 

       “Or should I say…I don't pluck arms off?” She laughed, her eyes finally unsticking themselves from the TV and meeting Rin's.  

        Rin's arm jerked up again, so hard that her shoulder almost banged itself into her head.

        Seeing this made Luka's brows furrow slightly.

       “Oh dear, I was just joking…” She laughed again, this time sounding worried. “How was your night?”

        Even though she didn't say it, Rin could tell by Luka's expression that she thought something about Rin looked off. The younger angel didn't even want to think about how messed up she probably looked. She could already feel just how messy and fuzzed out her hair was, giving her the appearance of an eternally startled cat. Realizing that now was not the time to worry about her appearance and it definitely didn't do her psyche any good either, she pushed the idea into the back of her mind.

        Slowly making her next to Luka, Rin laughed dryly. 

       “Well I've been better…” 

       “Oh yes! The first night is always so tough, I know!” Luka cheerfully laughed again in a way that made Rin realise she had no idea what she had been talking about.

       “How are you feeling? More energised I hope? You slept so much!”

        She grimly thought to herself how she would've loved been for that to be the case. Rin cringed and faked another polite smile. 

       “I feel better.” A lie. Sure, physically she felt somewhat better. Ignoring the issue of her left arm. Was it still there?

        But mentally she felt a lot worse, that was certain..   Her arm-. 

        She gave her arm another jerk, which made Luka stare at her even harder.

       “Your arm is giving you any issues, dear?” Luka smiled at her again, worried.

        Rin awkwardly looked to the side. Maybe it was a good thing that she had asked her that. Maybe there was some sort of explanation that an angel that used to be so high ranking would know. Feeling a bit more hopeful, Rin started telling her about her arm.

       “It's clearly back and it physically feels fine but…” She drifted off. “Sometimes I just feel like it's still not there and that I-I got to check.” Rin could feel her voice cracking up from embarrassment and fear. Saying it outloud only made her realize how unnatural the situation was for an angel.

       “Hmm….” Luka hummed as she went back to staring into the TV. 

       “You're still thinking about the fight you had, aren't you?” Looking back at Rin, her face suddenly lit up in her usual ‘all knowing’ way.

        Rin gave a half hearted shrug. Luka wasn't necessarily wrong. But she didn't feel like that was quite the answer either. Her arm bothered her no matter what she was actively thinking about.

       “Well you see, our forms can reflect what we feel inside.” Her tone became slightly preachy. “If you're still replaying the fight inside of your head then of course your body is going to reflect that.” 

        Rin felt as if the explanation made sense, but not entirely. 

       “But…My heart still beats really hard sometimes and I have this nagging headache that just keeps coming back.” Rin closed her eyes, gently furrowing her brows. 

        “Rin, what is a heartbeat for an angel? You know it's all programmed behaviours so you look less weird to humans! Shedding tears, headaches; don't let them define you, dear. It's so easy for us fallens to forget that we can actually control these things. Once I realized that, I never even felt my ‘heart’ beat ever again. Though I do cry sometimes, I think that's a great outlet for emotions. That's besides the point, as an angel you can be sad without crying too. We're not human— we don't need to do it.” Her tone had reached peak cockyness by that point. 

       “So I think you should try to think a bit more positively, Rin. Try to let the past be the past and look forward towards your new future!” Luka's tone became triumphant and Rin could feel that she was preparing to hold a little speech for her as she got off the couch and started approaching Rin with big, floaty steps.

       “Think about it, Rin. Your life truly starts today! You can go out there and do whatever you want! No one is watching over you anymore, no one is going to hold you accountable for being your true self any longer! If you want to go outside right now and walk the earth for 40 days straight, no one is stopping you!” Her words became louder and louder, which inextricably stressed Rin a little bit. Still, she watched her in awe. Luka definitely had a way with speeches, even if her tone was starting to wear down on Rin. 

       “What you went through is hard, but we've all been there. Hell, I remember the time I had both of my wings and my legs plucked off like they were…dead leaves dangling off a branch!” Luka snickered nostalgically, as if she was recounting the one time she accidentally called a teacher ‘mom’ rather than a serious battle accident. The thought of having both legs ripped off made Rin's left arm go even more haywire, twitching uncontrollably and only stopping when Rin dug her other hand into her shoulder. Luckily Luka didn't seem to notice, as she was too busy wistfully staring outside through the set of windows behind the couch, preparing the next part of her grandiose motivational speech.

       “So Rin, dear, stop dwelling on the past! The future is now and I'm here to guide you to it!” She finally looked down at Rin again, placing her hand on Rin's good shoulder. “Tell me, what do you want to do today? What do you want to learn? Where do you want to go?”

        Finally, a change in topic. Rin took her chance to leave the whole “plucked legs” thing behind and quickly blurted out:

       “Iwannaseemyfriend! I- She gave me this weird string of text and she said I-” Feeling that words were starting to fail her, Rin quickly pulled out her phone and showed Luka the app. 

       “Oh yes, you were talking to her last night hm? That's nice; that you're getting used to technology and all that…” Luka trailed off as she grabbed the phone from Rin's stretched hands and gave it a closer look.

       “Aha, she just gave you her address via a navigation app. It's like a map that tells you in real life where to go.”

        She sat down next to Rin and quickly showed her what she meant. 

        “This blue dot is where you are, and these lines represent the streets and the squares are the buildings. See how you're inside of a square now? That's this house.” Luka quickly zoomed out until  another red dot appeared on the screen. “And that's your friend’s house, it's quite far away from here.” Luka hummed. “If you want to get there faster you can go by bus, if you click on this button it'll show you what you can take.” Luka opened a menu filled with many little numbers and text, dates and hours and other information Rin couldn't really wrap her head around at the moment.

       “Can't I just walk there?”

       “Sure you can, It'll just be around an hour of doing so. Maybe less if you walk fast.” Luka handed the phone back to Rin. “If you press on ‘directions' the app will outline what streets you need to follow. And if you remember that the blue dot represents you then there's no way you can get lost!” Luka chimed happily. “When did she call you over?”

        “Uh…” Rin scratched her head. “I think at 1:20?” 

       “1:20? Then you should get going!” Luka excitedly patted Rin's back almost as if she was telling her to ‘get up already and start moving!’. “Let me give you my phone number in case you need anything from me.” Luka hurriedly started looking for a piece of paper and pencil inside of the room.

        “Am I not allowed to just…telepathically talk to you?” Rin asked sheepishly. It was what she had always done with any angel she needed to keep in contact with.

        Luka stopped right in her tracks as if Rin's simple question somehow disturbed her deeply. “Oh well, if you insist. But honestly most angels find it kind of rude, unless it's some absolute emergency of course.” The older angel also finally realised that she could also just ask for Rin's phone and write her number there directly, so she did just that. “You know, maybe for now it still feels normal but having a random voice randomly ring in your head demanding things from you is not that nice of an experience. Pretty stressful if you really think about it.” The talk made Rin feel like crawling up into a ball and disappearing forever. It was bad enough that she had issues with unspoken human rules and now she had to add “fallen angel manners” to the list as well. 

       “Don't worry about it, dear. Here.” Luka gave her device back. Apparently her full name was “Megurine T. Luka”. Rin almost wanted to ask her what the T stood for, but she didn't think the answer would be that interesting. Besides, she had better things to do at that moment.

       “Thanks, I think I'm gonna get going now.” Rin found a little bit of strength within herself to give Luka a small friendly wave. “Thank you for everything.”

       “Oh, don't worry about it. You go have your fun! Humans aren't here forever so you gotta make the best of them, right?” Luka laughed again, obviously with a hint of melancholy. 

       “Haha…” The comment failed to make Rin feel anything but sadness. Did all fallens really talk about humans like that?

        The sun outside was nice and warm like it had been till then, and the sky was its usual shade of pleasant, comprehensible blue. Luka's house was located in a particularly quiet neighbourhood, which gave Rin more than enough reason to start day dreaming as she was loosely following the instructions on her phone. Giving the screen a quick check every once in a while, she was rapidly making good progress. As an angel, navigation was ‘in her blood', no matter the tools she was given.

        And yet Rin found it…particularly difficult to really think about anything during her walk. If her thoughts were usually hyper, disorganised and always all over the place, now they were the opposite. Her brain was slow and unfocused, almost refusing to think about anything but the obvious elephant in the room–

        Rin felt the need to jerk her arm up again.

        So that was obviously a no-go. If Rin really had nothing to think about, nothing that wouldn't send her down a rabbit hole of anxiety and dark thoughts she simply wouldn't. Maybe Luka's advice made sense, maybe the less Rin would think about everything the better she'd feel.

        But what exactly was she supposed to think about now? What was left in her life unaffected by everything that had just happened? 

        She still loved the earth and humans and she was obviously still especially fond of Miku. But even she wasn't safe from Rin's dark thoughts, far from it. Thinking about what her friend would want to talk about with her today made her uneasy, dizzying her and sending little twitches up her left shoulder.

        Rin shook her head forcefully as if to get rid of her thoughts and decided to look at her surroundings instead, who she found just as pleasant to analyse as she usually did. Most of the old fancy houses were surrounded by beautiful greenery, in various stages of well kept-ness, some similar to actual, professionally maintained flower gardens rather than just simple lawns.

        At one point in her trip she stopped in front of an unreasonably tall white wooden fence (no doubt the owner loved their privacy quite a bit), from over which a big tree spilled its purple flowery branches from. The flowers were unlike others Rin had seen; small and clustered growing in big bunches, releasing a strong, almost dizzying flowery smell. 

        Rin tried to get on her tippy tops to get a better look at them, but found that they were simply too high up. Maybe someone as tall as Luka would've had a better shot at it, although the flowers seemed to mostly grow on the utmost branches of the small tree, which was still a good 5 or 6 meters tall.

        Her next instinct was to maybe flap her wings a little to get herself off the ground, or change her form but…

        Rin sighed. Now she was really starting to understand the sacrifices that came with being a fallen. Besides the demon core part, which she had unexpectedly forgotten about until that point. 

       “Ugh…” She felt herself sour a bit with the reminder that she now had many icky gems inside of her. Sniffing flowers suddenly seemed more like a hassle more than anything else.

        She slowly turned her back to the fence and started walking away when an unknown voice called out to her.

       “Miss! You want to smell the lilacs?”

        Rin's heart started beating madly, almost dizzying her. She rapidly twisted herself around to look at whatever had just talked to her. Was it a demon? 

        It was a random man, his head peeking at her with a friendly smile from over the fence. By his big hat and dirty face he looked more like a gardener than a rich home owner, although Rin couldn't really tell.

      “Ahm…Uhmm..” Rin felt embarrassed by the overreaction her system had to the relatively benign invitation. “S-Sure but I can't really reach them so it's fine…”

        The man made his way to the tree and suddenly started grabbing its branches and bringing it down to his level, then seemingly got a tool out of somewhere and started cutting at the branches. Rin couldn't really tell because the fence was blocking her view.

        After a short while and a couple snips, he leaned over the tall fence and gave Rin a handful of purple flowers, carefully cut off the tree.

       “They're going to wilt soon anyways so you should get the most out of them.” 

        Rin wordlessly grabbed the flowery branches from the man's gloved hands, her heart still racing.

       “T-Thank you! I’ll… definitely enjoy them!” She excitedly nodded a couple times, both out of gratitude and because of the adrenaline still messing around with her brain. 

        The man gave her a little wave, smiling, and then went back to tending the garden. 

        Rin's body refused to calm down even as she walked away from the house, her nose dug deep into the beautiful flowers. She had to enjoy them for as long as she could.

       *Knock-Knock*

        A little metallic decoration depicting some sort of wreath rattled with Rin's knocks. She wasn't sure if this was the door to Miku's house, but the building sure fit all the descriptions. It had a boring, cream paint job, no front garden to speak of and the phone app also seemed to confirm her position as correct. The zone was much less quieter than Luka's, paved with wide lanes for busy cars and not much else.

       “Mikuuu, get the door!” A shrill, feminine voice from inside the house yelled. Rin wondered if normal humans could've heard the conversation as well, or if this was an invasion of privacy only an angel could commit.

       “You're literally sitting on the couch right next to it, you get it!” Miku's muffled voice yelled back after a while, her footsteps then gradually approaching the front of the house.

       “No, I don't know what kind of weirdo you've invited over!” The other girl shrieked again, clearly profiting off the fact that Miku had already gotten to the door. Rin could tell that her hand was pressed on the doorknob, preparing to open it. She could feel her heart starting to beat madly again. But apparently that was all in her head anyway, according to Luka.

       “Ugh…” Miku let out a loud sigh, then quickly opened the door. Her tired face seemed to lose all traces of annoyance as her gaze met Rin's wide eyed expression. 

       “Hi Rin! Glad you made it okaaa-” Trailing off from the angel's face, the girl quickly noticed the makeshift bouquet Rin was still awkwardly clutching in her hands. 

        Initially confused, Rin also looked down at her hands, only then realizing that she had completely forgotten about the flowers. Was she not allowed to bring them in? Or did Miku think she had just ripped those off a random tree and was judging her for it? 

        Luckily for the angel, Miku quickly asked the question Rin was unknowingly waiting for. 

       “A-Are those for me?” Her voice stuttered a bit in surprise.

       “Huh?” Rin wasn't expecting that. Well, now that she thought about it more, the gesture seemed nice enough, and she didn't know what else to do with the flowers anyway. Did she have any choice but to go along with it?

       “Oh, uhm. Sure! Some guy gave them to me and I…” Rin's jumbled up thoughts miraculously aligned in a coherent way. “ And…I thought maybe you'd like to keep them, since I don't know how flowers work and all that.” 

        She stretched her hands out solemnly, offering Miku the flowers, which she took wordlessy. Turning a little red, Miku awkwardly started excusing herself as she went to the kitchen to “get water for them”. Rin couldn't quite understand what use dead flowers had for water, but she assumed that there must have been some logic to it.

        Entering the house she was greeted by a small living room and a set of stairs, similar to Luka's house. Only the place was much less fancy looking, also lacking the ancient bookcases the older angel seemed to decorate her house with. 

        A young girl sat on the biggest piece of furniture: a brown couch (much smaller than Luka's), unnaturally twisting her body around to stare at Rin as the angel gently pushed the door shut. 

        Seeing that the girl seemingly had absolutely no plan to say anything, Rin decided to make the first move. 

       “Hi?” She gave her a little wave, which the girl raised her eyebrows at, seemingly equally confused and judgmental of Rin's choice of greeting. 

       “Uh… You're Rin?” She asked, ignoring the angel's hello.

        Rin shrugged in reply. Who was this person and why were they so awkward about the conversation? Had Miku not told them that they were coming? And what was that weird accent on the ‘you’ supposed to mean?

       “Why flowers?” The girl's bright blue eyes narrowed again, suspiciously glancing up and down at Rin, almost as if she was inspecting her for some sort of hidden alien parasite that she could bring inside the house.

       “Is that weird? I'm not good with these things.” Rin awkwardly laughed. Maybe the flowers really meant something she wasn't aware of.

       “Uhh…” The girl trailed off. “No…?” Rin felt as if the answer wasn't particularly honest, but before she could really ask for more details the girl rudely got off the couch without saying anything more and started making her way to the stairs. She went up a couple sets of stairs until Miku randomly showed up from the other side of the room (presumably where the kitchen was) and intercepted her, almost stomping.

       “Hey! My phone, Neru!” She made her way up to where the girl was and sternly stretched her hand out toward her, the whole scene looking much more like a mother scolding their child.

       “Mikuu! It's not fair! What am I supposed to do without it?” Neru rolled her eyes, annoyed and the mental image immediately reminded Rin of Teto. Not a great comparison to have inside her mind.

        Miku shrugged, ticked off. “I don't know, man! Don't you have some…Kay popping albums to look at?” 

        Even though the “Kay popping” had a hint of humor to it, Neru seemed to somehow interpret it wildly differently. 

       “It's K-pop! And no! I do not!” The younger girl was quickly starting to lose her cool, huffing and puffing with every word. “Please, can't I just have it for another couple hours? I was in the middle of texting my friends!” She pleaded, almost desperately. 

       “Neru, I need my phone right now. I promise I'll give it to you tomorrow. Besides, you still have the flip phone, right?” 

        The back and forth between them went on for a little longer, allowing Rin to get a better look at the girl Miku was currently hassling with. She had long, thin light blonde hair tied up in a side ponytail, and wore noticeably shorter clothes than Miku: Knee length shorts and a T-shirt. She was skinny and not particularly tall, and even though Rin wasn't the best at telling human ages apart, she could easily see that she was quite a bit younger than Miku. What struck her the most about the girl however was how similar her face looked to Miku. Her features were slightly more angular and her eyes were obviously of a different colour, but aside from that they looked almost…related. 

        Oh. They probably were related. Rin suddenly remembered how Miku had mentioned her sisters back when they had met at the bus stop, not more than a couple days ago.

        The realization that not more than two days had passed since Mayu sent a chill down Rin's spine. Her arm-

        She had to jerk her shoulder again.

       “But you're not gonna use it if you're hanging out with her!” Neru tried a desperate final plea before reluctantly handing the phone back to Miku, whose gaze immediately went back to Rin the second she got her device back. 

       “We'll talk later, okay?” Miku gave her a quick dismissive smile and then made her way closer to Rin, who was more or less still stuck in front of the door, staring at them both. 

        Neru didn't spend much more time on the stairs, quickly fleeting upstairs, presumably headed to her room.

       “Sorry about that, Rin.” Miku sighed. “Uhm…There's a little phone situation in our house, it's a bit of a headache.  My parents don't let her get a regular phone because they think it ‘rots the brain’ and sometimes I lend her mine. She's usually better about it.” Miku touched the bridge of her nose, readjusting her…glasses. That Rin had somehow completely failed to register until that moment.

        Rin's hand lunged towards them, pointing at them like a small child seeing a red balloon for the first time. 

       “You wear glasses?” She gasped. 

        Confused by the question, Miku let out an awkward laugh. 

       “Oh haha! Yeah, but only when I write or read. I did some homework earlier today and I forgot to take ‘em off.” She hurriedly took them off and showed them to Rin. They had a thin red frame and pretty narrow lenses. Rin wanted to touch them really badly, but thought that it might come across as inappropriate. Seeing that Rin had no intent on talking more about her glasses, Miku quickly stashed them inside the pocket of her long, loose fitting pants. 

       “Uh…Should we go to my room?” Miku asked, heading towards the staircase.

       “Oh, sure.” Rin quickly followed suit.

        They both climbed in silence until they reached the first and only floor, where they were greeted by a long yet narrow hallway which led to a couple different rooms. 

        Right before Miku could open the door to what Rin assumed was her own room, one on the other side of the hall flung open. A taller, ghostly white haired woman came out of what seemed to be the bathroom. Initially she looked calm, almost sleepy, but she immediately froze as she saw Rin and Miku from the other end of the hallway. The angel stared at her petrified face and wondered if she had accidentally walked in on something she shouldn't have seen.

        Before Rin or Miku could really say anything, the woman wordlessy dashed towards the door closest to her and entered it, closing the door behind her with a thud.

       “Haku is a bit awkward…” Miku laughed as she let Rin into her own bedroom. “You know, maybe you've noticed but she has a condition called albinism. Her hair and skin are really white.” Miku trailed off with a couple more medical details that the angel didn't pay much attention to.

        At one point, Rin remembered to nod in reply. “Oh, that's cool.” Even though she was aware that her vibe didn't quite match how she usually acted, she couldn't bring herself to ask more questions. Entering Miku's room instilled a weird feeling inside of her. A sort of dread, not like the one she had felt while fighting but more like a soft, slowly approaching dread that gradually engulfed her entire being. 

        She couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt like it at first, but then it suddenly clicked.

        Rin was actually going to talk to Miku in private. And with talking in private came the issue of the thing finally coming up. Feeling her heart starting to beat faster and faster, Rin tried to think about the advice Luka had given her; to just stay positive and not dwell on the past. Although the sinking sensation inside her gut became harder and harder to ignore by the second.

        Miku shrugged as she sat down on the bed, which was weirdly close to the door, continuing the conversation from earlier. “It's not really that cool for her though, she can't see that well and the sun is a pain…” Miku's tired and adult tone of voice made it sound like she had said those exact words many times before, and especially the ones that came after them.“I promise she's really nice once you get to know her. You just took her by surprise. I don't know if she remembered that you were coming today, I haven't spoken to her since last night. Did I mention she wakes up super late? I do everything around here.” Miku playfully groaned. Rin finally sat down next to her and got a better look around the room, trying to take her mind away from the inevitable thing.

        Miku's room was small, definitely a bit smaller than the one Rin had slept in, but overall not inappropriately so. Most of the walls were not visible as they were covered up by old, mismatched closets and various types of other storage . The nicest thing about the room was definitely the wall facing the side of the bed Rin was currently sitting on; a long set of shelves decorated with books, boxes and other knick knacks that gave the room a real feeling of being lived in. Miku also had a desk under the only window in the room, which was noticeably empty of anything but books and other school related stationery. The walls Rin could see were depressingly blank, lacking almost anything besides some old paper drawings that were sporadically taped onto them. Getting a better look from her position was hard, but they looked more like a child's doodles rather than full fleshed drawings. Rin wondered if they were Miku's own work or a gift from someone else. Afterall, Miku didn't seem like the type to draw much.

        Rin almost opened her mouth to ask about them, but she found it hard to say anything. There was this noticeable silence between them, that felt too thick to be broken by a question as trivial as her's. She side eyed Miku, and noticed that the girl also seemed particularly deep in thought. Was she waiting for Rin to say something? Did she really want to talk about what Rin thought she wanted to talk about? 

        But Rin didn't want that. Just thinking about it made her stomach start swelling up with acidic thoughts that gnawed away at her. Breaking down and crying in front of Miku— she didn't want that. The girl had already gone through enough and worrying her with Rin's own issues would've definitely put a strain on her. Miku didn't deserve that.

        Rin quickly thought about something else to talk about.

       “Were the flowers weird?” Rin suddenly asked, slightly erratic. Her eyes hurriedly scanned Miku's face, trying to search for any negative reaction her question might've provoked. 

       “Huh?” Miku looked as if Rin had completely jumbled up her thoughts. “Ah, well I guess you couldn't have known but bringing flowers over like that is…a bit romantic maybe? Unless it's a celebration or funeral.” She snickered.

        Rin slapped her head and the small dose of pain somehow reminded her of her arm again. It was still there, as assured by another flinch to her left shoulder.

       “I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come across in any way. I don't want to cause you any trouble…” Rin trailed off, twiddling her thumbs. 

       “Oh, don't worry my parents aren't home, they're on some stupid religious venture.” Miku's worried tone gained a slight hint of animosity with the last remark. “And I'm really flattered, it's still a nice gift. I love lilacs! They're one of the few flowers I care about. It's like; I love how they colour the trees, even if it's for a short period of time…” Miku trailed off again.

        The two of them sat in an uncomfortable silence. Rin was sure that Miku was thinking about what she was thinking but she couldn't bring herself to start talking about anything else unrelated to it. Their last phone call had essentially just been that and they both knew that kind of thing couldn't go on forever. Or at least Rin should’ve known that as well. Miku finally took a deep breath and broke the ice between them.

       “But you know, Rin, you are kind of funny in a way…” Miku let out a small huff of air, resembling a giggle. “Last time I saw you, you were barely standing on your two legs and now you show up to my house; with flowers no less.” She laughed and her tone was nice, but the look she gave Rin was more questioning, almost as if she was waiting for the angel to answer her somehow.

        Rin felt as if Miku's words had made the bed from under her start shaking, ready to collapse and swallow her whole. Here it was. The discussion Rin had been dreading all this time. About how much of a danger the whole Mayu thing had been. How weird it was how she just got up and left. How close Miku had been to dying. How close she herself had been to dying as well. 

        She felt the need to check if her arm was still there again, this time gripping it strongly with her right hand, digging her short nails into her form.  

       “Is your arm okay? It seems to be bothering you…” Miku reached out her hand but didn't touch Rin, settling for giving her a worried look instead.

       “I'm fine, it's just still weird. It…It got cut off and…” Although Miku wasn't the first person to find out about her weird arm Rin inexplicably found it way harder to tell her about it. Her voice dried up before she could really finish what she was saying. Should she really worry her friend like that? When she herself wasn't too sure of what it was either?

       “Oh, yeah I thought I remembered seeing you with a missing…you know.” She whispered, giving her a sad, empathetic look. “Is it not healed yet?”

        Rin finally let go of it, although by then her entire body was beginning to feel weird, even weirder and harder to process than her usual arm related sensations. Like something big was currently building up inside of her, ready to burst. The thought reminded her of the cores again, which was less than ideal. A wave of nausea hit square in the face and further jumbled up her thoughts.

       “It is healed but it feels like it's still not there. I don't know if that makes sense to you…” Rin could feel her eyes start to water. She was starting to lose the grip on her emotions and she hated the thought. “Luka said that maybe I should stop…thinking about all of that and that maybe It'd go away but…” With that final addition, Rin hoped that Miku would choose to divert the conversation to something else.

        Instead, Miku chimed in even more enthusiastically. “Oh, no I don't think that'll solve anything. It was…really bad. It's normal that you're still thinking about it. Hell, I think I'm not quite over it either.”

        She wasn't over it either. That seemed to have finally sent the angel over the edge. How could she have expected Miku to not say anything? How bad had she hurt her? 

        Rin looked at Miku through her now tear filled eyes and began to blabber uncontrollably. 

       “I-I'm so sorry! I put you i-in so much danger! You…You almost..” Rin finally started all out crying, granting her a soft couple of backrubs from the girl as she continued to vent her feelings out. “I…I could never forgive myself if something…happened to you.”

        “Rin…You almost died too.” Miku's demeanour was unusually calm for the situation. 

       “Pfttsh…Yeah– so? It's my job to die to d-demons!” Rin's tone suddenly became a little more standoffish. “But you don't deserve that! The only thing I-I ever agreed with about being an angel is defending humans! And…” She sniffled, digging her hands through her hair. “I almost…You almost died. I was so close to giving out… I couldn't move…” Rin could feel her form start shaking harder and harder, like it was about to implode. 

        Miku got even closer to her, embracing her in a sort of side hug, which seemingly only fueled Rin's desire to let everything spill out of her.

       “And I just…I couldn't do anything. I was so tired…My body hurt so much…” Rin clutched her abdomen, slightly bending herself inwards.

       “I'm so sorry Rin. You went through so much.” Miku's insistent backrubs got even stronger, offering Rin the slightest bit of relief from her emotions. “But I'm fine now, I really am. Don't add me to the list of worries, okay?” Softly pleading with her, the girl gave her a sad look.

        Rin interpreted Miku's expression as confirmation that the girl was indeed upset at her.

       “I-I I'm so sorry!” She bawled even harder, almost wailing. “C-can you ever f-forgive m-me?” She twisted herself to look at Miku, although she couldn't bear to look her in the eye.

       “Rin…”

       “I’m- I'm such a danger to you, aren't I? Is it safe for you to see me?” Rin grabbed her hair, tangling her fingers into it.

       “Rin.” Miku's tone became a little sterner.

       “I was so so stupid!” Rin started pulling on her hair, trying to find any sort of escape from the emotions she was currently feeling.

       “You weren't! Rin, you're not stupid.” Miku wrapped her arms around the smaller angel, squishing her tight. “I'm not mad at you, Rin. I never was.” 

        Rin's cries got louder and louder again, pure emotion spilling out of her as Miku continued to comfort her. 

       “You couldn't have known she was going to attack you that day and much less that I was going to be affected as well. Honestly if I wouldn't have stared at her so hard I don't think she would have even noticed me. This was a whole new thing for the both of us.”

        Rin shook her head furiously, sending her tears flying everywhere on Miku's shirt.

       “N-no…! Sniff…. You..” 

        Miku squeezed her a little harder, letting her cry with her face tucked inside of her chest. With every tiring sob, Rin could feel herself start to melt into her arms; a strange new desire forming in her currently overheating mind: A need for comfort.

        Her natural warmth was calming and weirdly exhilarating at the same time. Maybe because Rin wasn't quite so sure if Miku minded the extra closeness, although the human didn't look too bothered. She kept Rin inside of her arms as the angel cried, periodically rubbing her arms and caressing her back. It was exactly what she was looking for, although Rin hadn't realized it until then.

       “Do you wanna lay down on my lap?” Miku asked after a while, her voice slightly shaky.

        Rin nodded and then unceremoniously plopped herself on Miku's lap, fitting quite comfortably taking into account the decent weight and height difference between the two. Not that Rin had an actual ‘human’ weight to speak of, which seemed to shock Miku.

       “I-I meant your head! But-” Before Miku could finish Rin already started freaking out and trying to get off. Miku caught her in her arms and pushed her down on her knees. Clutching her waist seemed to send the message to Rin as she finally calmed down, even scooching a bit closer to Miku's hips. 

        Seeing that Rin had no intent in leaving anymore, she finally let her mid waist go and went back to awkwardly rubbing her crying friend's arms.

       “Sorry-” 

       “It's all good.” Cutting her off, Miku gave her arms an extra squeeze. “I like it like this too. Do you feel okay?”

       “In…general? Or in your lap?” Rin sighed. “I still feel bad but your legs feel nice.” She sniffled again, rubbing her face. After a couple of moments of taking in her new cushioned seat, Rin spoke again with a clearer mind.

       “Really, Miku, you're way too nice, but you shouldn't blame yourself about Mayu.” Rin couldn't even believe that Miku would even think about something like that.

        In reply, Miku simply shrugged. “I don't blame myself and I don't blame you either, Rin. It was just…an accident.” 

       “That I caused. I knew she was on the lookout for me and I still met up with you. I should've known better.” Although Rin was gaining coherence to her speech she was obviously still distraught. 

       “Accidents happen. Besides, I was fine after the first demon too.” Miku's soft palms went back to gently squeezing Rin's arms, going up and down them in a repeating, soothing motion.

       “But that one was…way less dangerous. She almost killed you…” Rin sighed again, sniffling some more. 

       “Maybe you're right but…”

        Miku bit her lip.

       “I… I don't know, Rin, I guess I'm a bit scared too. But you said you're a fallen angel now, right? You said last night that you're not gonna have to fight for Heaven anymore. And if some demon shows up we can…set some sort of system up! You can tell me with those brain waves and I'll know to leave.”

        Rin felt something inside her twitch in annoyance. How could Miku be this ignorant when her own life was at play?

       “That's…But I can't guarantee you'll never be hurt again!”

        Miku replied in the same calm tone as before.

       “I know. But I know you'll try your best. And I'm willing to take the risk, Rin. I think what happened was an accident.”

        She really didn't get it, and her seemingly worry free approach only made Rin sadder. She started crying again, cupping her hands around her face. Why was Miku so sure of this? Why was she so desperate to convince Rin that everything was okay?

       “I don't want us to drift apart because you think you're a danger to me, Rin.” Her answer came unexpectedly, almost as if she could exactly hear what the angel was thinking about. “I know that if I'm friends with you I'll deal with demons every once in a while and I made up my mind about it. Or more like- I never even had a trace of doubt to begin with!” She had a way of speaking that made her sobbing friend even more ticked off.

        Rin bitterly remarked.

       “You just don't remember it; that's why you're saying it. If you would've seen things from my point of view you would understand.”

       “Yeah, I don't. I can tell that you got beat up pretty badly, I remember some of it too. I remember seeing a buncha paramedics, I faintly remember the sensation and that's kind of it. So what if I wanna live in this kind of half ignorance? If you promise that you'll do your best to make sure this won't ever happen again-”

       “I will!” Rin coughed up, starting to cry again.

       “Then…That's good enough for me Rin. Maybe it won't be good enough for you but I know I want to keep seeing you.” Miku hugged her, pressing the side of her face into her back. “But I don't want to not have a say in this. I don't want you to hide from me either. I want us to be friends.”

        Rin could feel her from start to waver from all the contradicting emotions she was feeling. She was sad. She was disappointed in herself. She was mad at Miku for being so blind. She was happy that Miku still wanted to see her. She was… sure that she couldn't go without seeing her. 

       “I wanna see you too…” The angel's faint voice sniffled in reply. And she really meant it. Of course she did.

       Rin let out a big sigh. Miku didn't hate her, although a part of her kind of wished that she would, that she'd hold her accountable for her mistakes. But maybe she was also right about everything being an accident, even if Rin was still apprehensive in thinking of it like that. You didn't have an accident as an angel, that was called making a mistake. And even though Rin was more than used to making mistakes, this had probably been the most dangerous one so far. 

       “How do you feel about what happened?”

       “What?” 

       “Not the me part. The you part. You've been so worried about me but you're the one who got hurt. You…you took her pretty head on.” Miku's voice spoke about Rin with the fear she should've had for her own well being. 

       “I should've been more careful.” Rin sniffled.

       “I got that, silly. I mean, what do you actually feel about it?”

       “…It was bad.” Rin trailed off. Remembering took a lot of effort and made her left arm feel horrible. “I never knew I could possibly get this…damaged. I mean, look at me now, I'm all healed up and my arm still feels so wrong.” Rin sighed bitterly as she jerked her shoulder up and down. And up and down. Up and down. Up. Down.

       Miku gently placed her hand on it, reminding Rin that she was probably pretty close to hitting the girl in the chin with her crazed shoulder.

       “What does it feel like? You said it's like it's still missing, right?”

       “Yeah. I don't know why that happens…Am I gonna be like this forever?!” Rin's tone suddenly became very agitated.  Jumping from one issue to another only seemed to further fuel Rin's raging breakdown.

       “Rin, calm down. It's a mental thing, it's called trauma.”

       “What?” Rin sniffled, trying to stop her racing hard from sending any more weird sensations in her body. Even then she felt like running away, as far and fast as possible, even though logically Miku was the last person she would ever want to run away from. She settled on getting down from her lap and starting to paste around the room, worried. Walking around seemed to calm her down physically, although her mind was still racing wildly. Was Miku actually okay with everything? And could she actually be right, that they could keep seeing each other without endangering her? 

        Miku caught Rin by her hand and gently invited her to sit down again. “I'm here, okay? Let me talk to you a bit.” 

        Rin nodded and awkwardly sat down on the bed, looking as if the soft mattress was filled with sharp stones instead of whatever beds were usually made out of.

       “I'm not claiming to be an expert here but when really bad stuff happens to human bodies, sometimes even after it's healed they can still feel bad. Sometimes it's mental; they'll be stressed and restless, which you obviously seem to suffer from as well, but sometimes those feelings can be reflected by your body as well. You're not human, but if you were, this stress would probably give you a lot of issues; like headaches, nausea and whatever else.”

       “I do feel those things sometimes.” Rin stated, fiddling with her fingers embarrassed. “But I get them: my head hurts because I'm overthinking, I’m nauseous when I remember the weird cores I have inside of me. But why is the arm like this?”

       “I read a book once, fantasy, that was about a knight character. About half way through the book he loses his leg and it's very dramatic and, you know, permanent. And he spends a lot of time in the novel dealing with this thing called ‘phantom pain', which is when your body still thinks your missing limbs are not actually missing. Parts of you that you no longer have can hurt and ache, because those feelings come from the brain and not the actual body part.”

       “No no, my arm is still here though?”

       “But it wasn't for a while, right? Maybe what you're going through is a sort of bodily experience only angels can experience. Your arm may be back but your brain still thinks it's not. It's not as much phantom pain as it is…your brain is constantly checking that your arm is there, because the process of losing it was traumatic and now it needs the reassurance that everything is fine.”

        Rin did feel the need to check her arm again. She tried fighting it. 

       “So you're saying my problem is…inside my head? That it’s not real?”

       “It's as real as your headaches and your stress. They're also inside your head, do you feel they're any less important?”

        Rin was inclined to say yes. If any angel back in Heaven would have heard that she was currently crying over a battle she had won they would've probably been more than confused about it. And Rin was too. What use did a killing machine have for these types of feelings?  She felt the need to check her arm again and she gave in.

       “But maybe humans go through these things because they're made out of flesh and electrical signals- what you're describing are errors I shouldn't be able to experience!” 

        Miku shrugged, giving her a light hearted smile.

       “And yet here we are.” She kept smiling at Rin in a way the angel couldn't quite decipher. All she knew was that it made her feel weirdly defensive, and that it somehow pushed away her more tumultuous state.

       “Miku! It's- it's not funny!” Rin felt her face heat up and her heart start racing harder again as she looked up at Miku.

       “I'm not laughing at you, Rin. You're clearly going through hell and back. I'm just saying, maybe this is a good introduction to human life? Things don't make sense here.” She gave Rin another side hug.

       “I'm not human. ” Rin grinded her teeth. 

       “Maybe, but if you act like one then that means I'll know how to help you.” Miku smiled. Her mood seemed weirdly optimistic for a situation Rin found so dire. 

        Rin just gave her a look, to which Miku gave a friendly shake in return.

       “Okay my honorary homo sapiens, should we take it from the top then? Tell me what happened.” She said in a tone that Rin found almost inappropriate for the severity of her issues.

       “Okay, fine. I fought a battle two days ago. I lost a limb, more than 40% of my bodily integrity and most of my wings. Then I had to crawl myself to a park and collapse there, then I had to endure verbal abuse from Teto, then I had to meet some complete stranger and have her scare me about how my life is gonna be now and how I have to decide riiight there and there if I want to become a fallen or not.” Rin was speaking with fervour but absolutely no hand movements. She was too tired.

       “And then I had to insert demon cores inside of me, which was so gross you literally can't even imagine, so I can now walk around without other angels, who I have betrayed by the way, noticing, so I could then go to bed and have these weird…made up memories about-” 

        Rin's unusually pissy mood started to waver, disturbing the comedic tone of her fast paced recap.

       “A-about you dying and…It happened multiple times and I could barely sleep…And…” Rin's eyes started to water, especially as she could see Miku looking like she was about to cry as well in the corner of her eyes.

        She unexpectedly found herself dragged in a full body hug by Miku. Her warmth was intoxicating, spreading into Rin's already heated body and putting the angel in a trance of sorts. Did she want her to stop? Was she just sad for Rin?

       “You…had nightmares about me?” Miku asked sheepishly. 

       “The thing I saw is called a nightmare?” 

        Miku nodded, slightly shaking Rin's shoulder while still laying on it. She finally broke away from the hug to look at Rin. Her eyes were filled with worry but most importantly a deep sense of understanding that Rin hadn't really seen in anyone else before, and an expression no angel in her life had ever come close to displaying. 

       “Yeah…I dreamt that something bad happened to you and that I couldn't do anything to help.”

       “Because of Mayu, no doubt.” Miku blinked sympathetically. 

        Rin nodded.

       “And then….the more I thought about it the more I thought maybe you wouldn't wanna see me anymore…” Her voice was wavering and she found that she couldn't look into Miku's eyes.

       “Which isn't true!” Miku furrowed her brows, seriously.

       “I know now. I'm sorry for uh… assuming things.” 

       “Don't worry. You're scared, Rin. I get it. You just went through hell and back in the span of two days and now you're left to pick up the pieces.” Miku giggled weakly and added “Honestly, if I were you I don't think anyone would've been able to drag me out of bed for a good couple of months.” 

       “I wanted to see you.” Rin subtly reached for Miku's hands, without really realizing why, but stopped herself before she could touch them.

       “I get that, wow. It must be so hard sitting with all this when you've never felt anything like it before, right? Like the little tic you've got is bad enough but all these emotions? When you worked for Heaven, did you even feel half of the things you feel here?”

        Rin shook her head.

       “Oh no no not even…not even 10% of my current emotions can match all of the things I've ever felt while in Heaven! I'm so…I’m so erratic. And scared, still. And confused. Even though when I talk to you I feel better I still feel so…weird. Like I never really left the battle fully.”

       “It'll take a while, but you'll learn to manage it. You just need to talk about it and let yourself process everything that happened.” Miku sighed. “And maybe you'll never be truly over it, sometimes these things stick with you for a really long time, but you will eventually get better and better Rin. I'm sure of it.” 

        She smiled at Rin and the angel felt her mood lighten a bit. Although her arm still felt weird. Was it there?

       “Will the arm thing go away?” She asked with a hint of desperation in her voice. If anxiety and headaches weren't completely new territory to her, whatever her brain thought of her left arm definitely was.

       “Hard to say…It might. But you might still have a reaction to some things, like right now it seems to bother you more when it's mentioned or you're very stressed.” The girl stared at her with a worried expression, seemingly trying to grasp what effect her words would have on her.

        Rin just sighed. Miku's thoughts about the situation had made total sense so far and that was precisely what scared Rin; she didn't want to be stuck with a weird arm for life.

       “Do you have anything else that's weighing on your chest? Maybe about this Luka, you didn't talk much about her. Or the whole Heaven thing? You can tell me anything. I'll try to understand it as best as I can, okay?” Rin suddenly felt Miku's hands gently hover over hers.

        Without even thinking, she grabbed them. They were cold and sweaty but Rin couldn't give less of a damn.  

        The angel didn't know where to begin. But she was happy that Miku, with her slightly overwhelmed expression and kind eyes, was so eager to listen to her. 

Chapter Text

        Miku listened to Rin vent her heart out for the most part of multiple hours, letting the angel finally get everything she felt she could share about the fight off her chest. Hurriedly pacing around the room she ranted, slowly reliving parts of her experience with Mayu until she finally felt a bit more at peace with her life. Tears flowed, more hugs were given alongside friendly words of advice, all things Rin was less than accustomed to. Back in Heaven there was no such thing as complaining, much less ranting and seeking comfort from other angels. She was used to coldness, to indifference and mild petty looks at best. 

        But even in the safe, warm environment Miku provided for her Rin still found it difficult to really recount everything. Her heart started racing madly and sickening her body with every detail she recounted, which was probably the thing she hated the most about the whole experience; the way it had somehow altered her very way of being. Battles before had been mostly one and done, but this one just refused to let go of her brain, trapping her in a seemingly defective state of fight or flight. Miku's behaviour led Rin to deduce that the girl was still of the opinion that all of it was all explainable by natural means, that her reactions made logical sense. But the angel still couldn't find the excuse believable in her situation. The reason was simple: Miku's arguments made sense for humans, but not for angels. And while Rin wasn't necessarily the picture perfect angelic being, that had to be more because of her attitude rather than something innate within herself. If a human's brains got fried that was a matter of faulty flesh and blood, instincts and weird mood chemicals gone array. If her “brains” stopped working properly then that had to be because of some other sort of defect inside of herself. Even though to her knowledge, angels really weren't able to be physically malfunctioned in the same ways humans could. 

        Eventually, tired of their back and forths on the matter, Rin just gave in and declared it a natural defect of sorts-no matter how much Miku tried to insist that it didn't seem like the case–  and moved on with their discussion.

        Other less mentally taxing subjects gradually came up in their conversation, like Luka and what the deal with fallens was; how she was hopefully going to deal with less fighting from now on, but also how working for Heaven used to be, and many other details about being an angel that Rin was currently in the midst of forsaking forever. Reliving them proved difficult for Rin, who was still not completely over the guilt of betraying Brother and her role in Heaven, but seeing how attentively Miku listened to her she found it hard to not answer all her burning, slightly painful questions.

       “What do other angels look like?” 

        Nothing, mostly. Orbs of light. 

       “What about the higher ranks? Can you tell eachother apart?”

        Bigger orbs of light. And yes, subconsciously. 

       “Did you seriously take no breaks for years?”

        Yup.

       “What's the deal with the balance of forces in the universe?” 

        Everlasting dynamic war on planes of reality inaccessible to me and incomprehensible to humans that decide the balance of energies everywhere in the galaxy.

        Those had been just some of the questions and answers that had been thrown around in their conversation. Talking about them in such detail made Rin realize how unnatural it felt to explain these basic facts of cosmic existence to an unknowing human, but there was something so rewarding in how the girl took in the information, absorbing it like it was the most interesting thing she had ever heard, which automatically also made Rin the coolest thing in her eyes as well. Feeling like she had value, like she was finally desirable for someone beyond her value as a faceless mediocre soldier; being valued for her knowledge, even if it was quite trivial to her, it all felt surreal to Rin. Even if that admiration should've technically not mattered if it came from a human, a being so ‘below her’ in the chain of importance. But Rin had never liked thinking of humans as dirt beneath her feet, much less now. They were just...radically different from angels. She happily let her heart pound with worry-cleansing joy every time Miku's eyes sparkled in amazement, usually leading to the girl going on own, usually wrong, presumptions about Heaven, as if she was trying to guess the plot of a human novel rather than the inner workings of a system meant to keep the universe in place.

        And as if inflating Rin's ego wasn't enough, there was also something weirdly therapeutic about Miku calling basically every system in Heaven “cruel” or “a waste of time.” While Rin felt as if the comments came from a place of compassion, she knew deep down that Miku couldn't really comprehend why Heaven worked the way it did, no doubt because she only thought of angels as “Rin-like”-– capable of feeling complicated long lasting emotions and pesky unheavenly desires. When in reality, the average angelic unit was more than willing to obey whatever their higher ups threw at them. Every attempt to explain that most angels were “robots” fell on deaf ears. Miku insisted throughout that if Rin had something in her that could let her do the things she did every angel must've as well. And Rin…Wasn't even sure if that was entirely incorrect or not, although she leaned more towards blaming herself for the way things had turned out.

        But even so she couldn't really be mad at the girl, who always empathized with her the same way she would with a human, something Rin found to be a great force of good in all of her ranting sessions. The act of having someone listen to you without necessarily giving advice was truly something revolutionary for her, and definitely not a quality possessed by most angels. She wondered how different her life would've looked without the talks Miku had had with her during the past weeks; how differently she would have ended up if she had just followed her gut impulsively, without filtering her experiences through Miku. As a result, Rin felt eternally grateful to her.

        At one point Rin naturally exhausted the list of complaints and Miku started talking about herself as well. Compared to Rin, her main dissatisfactions in life were a little less existential–- controlling parents, disorganized sisters, her lack of friends and future prospects. However Rin still found them interesting, delightfully complex in their own way. Maybe Miku's existence wasn't tied down by programmed behaviours and centuries of a cold, robotic system, but that didn't mean her life wasn't just as complicated (if not more at times) as Rin's. She listened carefully and absorbed every ounce of human life experience she could from the conversation; what a familial unit worked like, what Miku's day to day was, the social issues she faced in and outside of her home and so much more about her passions and desires. It was as exhilarating to her as her information dumps about Heaven had been to Miku. 

       “And, you know, going to church is cool and all but sometimes I'd really just want to do something else.” Miku sighed, taking another sip of tea from her plain mug. The two had been on the floor chatting for multiple hours at that point. Rin had found the rug to be hard to sit on for some reason she couldn't quite explain, so she had gotten herself a nice cushion to rest on while Miku rambled on and on. The topic at hand was one Rin was particularly interested in: religion. She felt somewhat intrigued by the concept, maybe because humans had somehow managed to get at least some of the details about the workings of the universe right. And also because of the way it seemed to affect Miku's life.

       “Church is the place of worship for Christians.” Rin stated after a little pause, checking to see if the information she knew was correct. Seeing that Miku confirmed it with a nod, she continued. “What is church like?” 

       “Obviously it depends but generally you just go there and listen to the priest read from the Bible. He gives lectures from the teachings of God and you're supposed to internalize them and become a better person.” Miku rolled her eyes as she poured herself another mug of tea.

       “That doesn't sound so bad.” Rin shrugged, looking down at her own cup of tea– untouched, although she had taken a tiny sip from it to appease Miku. She had to admit that the taste was nice, but for now she was fine with just smelling the liquid, maybe because the embarrassment from spitting the tea at the cafe was still felt very real inside her head. Rin wasn't thrilled to find out that it wasn't just traumatic emotions that stuck around for longer than needed…

        Even if Rin didn't drink anything Miku seemed to just glad to have an excuse to brew double the amount of black tea she'd usually make for herself. 

       “It's definitely not bad if your parents are normal about church. My mom was actually pretty bearable for a long time, she just has these weird moments where she suddenly really cares about religion and I guess this one's just bee dragging on and on for some reason. But, like, about church-- how am I supposed to sit there for hours at a time knowing I'll come home and just get even more religious talk shoved up my ass? It's not even actual religion anymore, just stuff like…”

        Miku took a little pause, preparing herself for her following impression.

       “Miku!! Your skirt is so damn short! I don't even get that one, by the way. She buys all my skirts!” Miku scoffed and then continued shrieking again: “Miku!! How come you don't want to go to Bible camp again!! Miku!! You never come down and help me with chores!! How will you be a good wife for your husband?” Her voice was shrill and shrieky, supposedly mimicking what her mother usually said to her. “I do all the chores when she's not around but she never sees that! Why do I have to spend hours ironing clothes for five people when they could do it themselves too? Or at least anyone but Haku could! And don't get me started on the husband thing…” Miku groaned.

       “Why can't Haku do the ironing? What is ironing?”

       “Ironing means using a hot metal device to take the creases out of clothes. And Haku could probably do it but my mom just loses her cool when she sees her doing anything around the house. Since she's sort of blind and all that.”

       “Blind? But she seemed capable of seeing us?” Rin's head gently fell to the side.

       “She's not totally blind.” Miku took another long sip of her cup and then continued speaking in the same calm and precise manner she only used when talking about her eldest sister. “Medically speaking she sees pretty decently for her condition but it's obviously still hard for her to do normal tasks. Could still iron though, if you ask me. My mom just hates the thought of her doing anything. Which sucks because Haku will obviously want to move out sooner than later but right now she's way too coddled to live alone.” Miku sighed sadly.

       “Can't you talk to her about these things. Your mother, I mean?” Rin sheepishly proposed. Her shoulder flinched a little bit, a sensation she was also gradually learning to just appease rather than fight.

       “Can you talk to Brother about leaving Heaven?” Miku snorted ironically. 

        The thought made Rin feel a sudden wave of sickness, although it did aid her in understanding Miku better. Maybe some people just couldn't be changed. Maybe in some ways humans were similar to angels….

       “I'm sorry, Miku. This sounds like a lot.” Her shoulder flinched.

       “Honestly, don't even worry about it.” Miku dismissively waved the hand she wasn't using to hold her mug. “I wouldn't even mind as much if I weren't stuck inside the house all the time. But I'm always here so there's always something I gotta do.”

        Rin's eyes lit up for the first time that day.

       “But we can hang out now! And maybe your mom won't annoy you so much and you'll feel better!” She chirped.

        Miku gave her a warm smile, then took another sip of tea.

       “Oh, I obviously will. Honestly I don't even care what we do or talk about.” 

        Rin could tell that the last part in particular was true. Miku talked a lot, but she also listened a lot. Which to Rin would've seemed quite contradictory qualities for one to have. But maybe humans were a little more complex than the angels she was used to talking to.

       “I haven't had a good friend in years, Neru is…interesting to say the least but I wouldn't call her a friend.  She's my little sis, she's 14 and she has her own things to deal with and to be frank she can kind of be a pain in the butt sometimes. Haku is kind of a shut in, but I love her a lot.” Miku sighed. “They're the people I usually spend most of my time with but they're not really anywhere around my age group.”

        Rin gulped, suddenly reminded by the multiple decade age difference between them.

       “I'm not either, though.”

        Miku started laughing. “Haha! Rin, come on. You're like…” The girl glanced at her up and down in an amused manner. “You know… I don't think these things apply to you. What I mean is that I like talking to you, and that it feels like I'm finally having a relationship with someone outside of my immediate family.” She took another sip of her tea.

       “Ah~” Rin sighed with relief. “I just don't want the fact that I'm an angel to cause a rift between us… more than it has probably done.” She sighed again.

      “Whaaat? You're gonna apologise for like- battling the forces of evil and being all like a sort of alien god?” Rin could recognize from the earlier information dump about “fantasy” and “comic book heroes” that Miku was quite fond of the supernatural. Which, in retrospect, was probably the reason why the girl seemed to so effortlessly glide over Rin's numerous faults and life threatening situations she had exposed her to.

       “Come on, Rin! Isn't this all kinda awesome? It's literally out of a fantasy novel!” She shrieked, then Miku momentarily zoning out.

       “Oh! I know a movie that goes exactly like this, I gotta show it to you!” She jumped off the floor and made her way to her desk, from under which she slid out a second table of sorts and started rummaging through it.

        Rin brought the cup of tea closer to her face, sniffing the liquid again. She looked at the big shelves in front of her, finally having the time to really get a better look at the items on them.

        The first shelf and the one closest to the ground were mostly filled with old looking books, though not quite as old as Luka's. Their spines had beautiful patterns and colours, tightly packed alongside each other in a sort of indescribable pattern, created by the natural differences between the sizes of the novels.

       Glancing up, the second shelf also had its fair share of books but also other things that seemed more decorative than anything else: framed photos and childish drawings (which Rin had learned were actually Neru's creations from when she was younger), empty dusty vases and other objects and tools Rin didn't know the name or purpose of. A particular thing quickly stuck out to her– a doll of some kind– interestingly framed by a bunch of old decorative boxes amongst other things. Enchanted by the promise of getting to stick her grubby fingers in a true human “mini-chest”, she wordlessly got up to get a better look at the shelf.

        “Ugh, it's so dusty…” Miku's background mumblings failed to distract Rin from the shelf.

        Standing up, she could clearly see it all. It had an uncanny white face, made out of a sort of shiny ceramic material, long golden hair which contrasted her-

        Rin could feel her arm forcefully jerk itself up again with more fervor than usual.

        ….The doll's black, frilly dress which was adorned with many cute bows…

        Dazed, she took a couple steps back, her heart racing crazily, making her head start to pound as if they were trying to physically shake her eyes off the doll with their rapid, form trembling hits.

        The doll had an uncanny resemblance to Mayu. The hair, the weird smiling face and the dainty, delicate black dress. And the more she looked at it, the more Rin could feel every sensation she had felt during the battle come back to her at once; The axe smashing into her, her hands simply gliding off her opponent with no effect, the demons weird, golden glare mocking her as she strangled Miku. Her crude, sadistic smile as she did so.

        Rin took a couple more steps back, her legs suddenly slamming themselves into the bed, which made Rin collapse onto the mattress.

        The sudden thud had finally seemed to alert Miku to the situation. 

       “What's wrong?” She quickly came over to Rin, blocking her view of the doll with her body. And yet her heart was still beating at a million miles an hour, as if she could still feel the doll stare at her through the human.

       “M-Mmma….”Her voice unexpectedly dried up, so she pointed at it, which looked more like she was pointing at Miku.  Thankfully the girl managed to understand she was not actually the problem, getting out of the way to look at whatever Rin was talking about. 

       “The camera…Uh…No? The vase? That doll? What's wrong with it?” She made her way to the little object and picked it off the shelf. Taking a closer look at it, her eyes suddenly grew wide.

       “Oh fuck! I'm sorry!” She quickly made her way to the desk and shoved it in one of the drawers, making her way back to Rin to comfort the twitching Rin.

       “I'm sorry, I don't know how I didn't notice that!” Miku sat down next to Rin, giving her a quick pat on the back. “I guess I don't really remember how she looks because that would've creeped me out too…” She eventually trailed off.

        Rin sniffled as she sheepishly lowered her gaze into the mattress. She didn't blame Miku in any way. She was just glad that the doll was out of sight. Although she couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of control she had over anything related to Mayu, even after all her talks with Miku.

       “It's fine, it just took me by surprise…” Sighing, she dug her good hand into her left shoulder, hoping that the pain sent into her arm would finally calm her down and hopefully prevent her shoulder from “itching” anymore.

       “You wanna talk about it?” Miku's friendly tone reassured her.

        Every time Miku asked her that simple question Rin couldn't help but feel dazed by the girl's good nature. Her face always heated up with an emotion she hadn't felt before– a combination between feeling safe and understood, a reaction she couldn't find an explanation for even after all the times she had felt it during her short week on earth.

       “No, I'd rather not think about it anymore. Let's look at that movie instead.” She gave Miku the most reassuring look she could, although she herself wasn't quite sure how much she was selling it.

       “Alright, let me get my computer.”

        “But Edwin…How will this ever work? When I'm a human and you're a vampire…?”  Sighing, the beautiful slim actress let her head rest against the chest of the much bigger man. Dramatic music muffled by the grating mechanical sound of Miku's old laptop running, played as the image focused more and more on her sad, sulking face. Rin could feel Miku's legs rise up in the air again and gently hit the pillow behind them as the two sat on their stomachs on the girl's bed.

        “Brielle… ” The muscular, impossibly white man sighed as he looked down at the woman in his arms. “ I'll never let this come between us. We'll figure it out soon, I promise.”

         Miku let out a quiet snicker accompanied by her legs smacking into the pillow once more with a muffled thud. Rin didn't quite get what was supposed to be funny about the movie; actually she found it more interesting than entertaining. Sure, maybe not everything made logical sense looking back on it but it still wasn't comedic like something out of ‘Garfield’. Rin had to wonder if maybe there was something she didn't quite get about it. Or maybe Miku just had a habit of laughing at movies she disliked?

        “Oh, how will we figure things out, Edwin?! When you're just about to go to war with your people against the werewolves?” The woman looked up at her vampire boyfriend in tears.

        Miku let out an even louder laugh.

       “God, what an exposition dump.” She giggled. 

       “What's that?” Rin pressed the space key on the laptop, pausing the movie. 

       “When a character just starts spilling information we, the audience, couldn't know otherwise. And it usually comes across as weird cause, you know, nobody talks like that.”

       “But that didn't sound that weird to me.” Rin objected. 

        Hearing this, Miku quickly undid her hair and grabbed it all in a big bunch behind her head, almost as if she planned to tie it in a big ponytail similar to the one Rin had seen on Haku. Instead she just kept it in her hand as she started talking in a higher pitched, more nasal voice than usual.

       “Miku! I'm just about to fight the demons! I've literally never mentioned this before!! I'm going right now literally right now to slay some demons and protect the heavenly spiritual balance of the universe and all residing within it!!” Miku widened her eyes and opened her mouth dramatically, before she burst out into a laughter so loud that it shook the bed's mattress. Even though Rin felt slightly ridiculous, she couldn't help but smile seeing Miku so giddy.

       “Was that supposed to be me?” Rin scratched her head, slightly confused.

       “Duh! Ya see, you don't talk like that so why should they?” Miku wiped the corner of her eyes, still giggling, then tied her hair back into her usual twin tail hairstyle. 

        Rin rolled her eyes at the girl, smiling.

       “Yeah, but they're movie people! I thought they were supposed to be dramatic? Garfield always keeps going on and on about Mondays too– nobody does that either!”

       “Garfield is meant to be funny though! This movie is clearly trying to take itself seriously. Though I guess you're right about acting being a little more dramatic than real life.”

        Rin shrugged, her face still smirking.

       “It's not like I can tell anyway. I think I like this movie so far. It makes more sense than Garfield. But Garfield was far more complex about the intricacies of human life….” Rin hummed as she gently rubbed her chin, looking for more comparisons to draw between the only pieces of media she had experienced so far.

       “Oh my god, Rin, if you think this is good you'll love basically anything else. We gotta have a movie night sometime!” Miku's face widened in a genuine smile. 

       “Why not tonight? If…that's not any issue.” Rin softly pouted as she looked at Miku from under her eyelashes.    

       “Uh…It shouldn't be, actually!” Rin watched as Miku seemed to inexplicably lose all the earlier excitement, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. The sudden change in enthusiasm led the angel to wonder if she had accidentally broken another taboo again, similar to the flowers she had given her earlier.

       “My parents won't be home tomorrow either so it's up for Haku to decide and she'll definitely say yes to anything.” Miku finally looked into Rin's eyes again, though her gaze was quick and superficial, different from the deep and understanding way she looked at Rin during their long talks. Rin thought that maybe those intense stares were only reserved for special situations.

       “That's good! So when do I leave? In the morning?” Rin chirped as she instinctively dragged herself a bit too close to Miku, who responded by lifting her torso using her elbows as if she was preparing to get off her stomach right then and there.

       “T-That's more like a sleep over actually….” Miku looked away from her.

       “Oh, yeah! I forgot you need to sleep at night. But with all that's been going on I could use some rest too. Not that I'm getting it anytime soon.” Rin sulked.

        Seeing the change in her attitude, Miku suddenly looked back at her again with a perfectly blank expression. Miku seemed to have quickly gotten over her weird state, turning back into the cool and supportive figure Rin was more used to. She laid down next to Rin again, trying to get closer to her eye level.

       “You're scared about the nightmares, right?” She looked at Rin, worried. 

        Rin nodded.

       “Maybe they'll go away in a day or two but I definitely feel the need to stay awake for at least a couple nights. I don't want…to go through what I went through last time. It was kind of horrible.” Rin sighed, laying her head face first into the soft mattress in a manner that would've quickly suffocated a human.

        She could feel Miku gently pat her back, her hand sweaty.

       “I get that. Hey, if you wanna I could…If it helps…” Her voice cracked and she was unable to finish her sentence.

       “Hm?” Rin lazily twisted her head and looked up at Miku.

       “Like- We could do a sleepover!  But again I gotta ask Haku!” She fidgeted with her fingers as if the thought somehow made her nervous. Looking at her nimble fingers gently tracing the creases of her palms up and down, Rin couldn't help but find the reaction unusually awkward. Hadn't Miku just said that Haku was supposed to be cool with those kinds of things?

       “But don't you need sleep? Don't you have to go to school tomorrow?”

       “Oh! Pfft..” Miku laughed, her demeanor swinging back to normal as she gently shook her head. “If you think anyone that drinks that much black tea willingly sleeps properly I got news for you…” Miku trailed off, seemingly preparing herself to translate what she had just said in more ‘Rin friendly’ terms.

       “I have problems with sleep, it's a form of mild insomnia. I've been better recently because it sort of fluctuates but trust me– I'm very used to not sleeping at all, so I'll be fine slacking off one night.” She looked somewhat smug about her disordered sleeping, even though Rin couldn't help but find it sad. So Miku also struggled with being defective, in a way. 

       “I'm sorry. Not being able to sleep when you're tired feels bad.” Rin felt it was her turn to comfort Miku (who didn't actually feel the need for it), so she once again huddled closer to Miku and wrapped one of her arms around her, in the same manner the girl often did to her when she was sad.

       “Thanks Rin…” Seemingly surprised by her gesture, Miku looked away from her at the wall next to herself, obviously trying to avoid Rin's insistent gaze. Her body was also a bit warmer than Rin thought it usually was.

        Thinking that maybe she was getting emotional about her lack of sleep, Rin went even harder at it.

       “If you need any help and I can help you please let me know!” Rin made sure to pat her back a couple times as well, in a manner that looked more like petting a dog rather than comforting a human, though she obviously couldn't tell the difference. In her mind, she was obviously doing great. And she liked doing it too. She gave Miku one final squeeze, pushing the girl into her own body, their cheeks touching together momentarily. 

       “Thank you-!” Miku quickly glanced back at Rin, her face quite a bit redder than before. 

        Rin couldn't help but wonder why Miku seemed to be both so sensitive and cocky about her issues regarding sleep. It was a weird mix of emotions for someone to have and it left her with the  feeling that she had somehow messed up the situation. 

       “I'll go tell Haku about our plans, you can keep watching without me.” Miku carefully got up on her legs and took a big step over Rin, careful not to accidentally trip on her. 

       “I don't wanna watch without you, though.” Rin sighed, staring at the frozen image of the vampire man and his girlfriend in front of her.

        Miku stopped just as her hand touched the door's handle. She looked back at Rin, puzzled.

       “Why?”

       “It's more fun with you~” Rin's head sprung up to look back at Miku, her whole body following by lazily splaying itself on the side.

        Miku replied to the sight by awkwardly laughing and then hurriedly leaving the room, shutting the door behind her with a little too much force

        Rin sighed and glanced back at the screen. Maybe that had somehow been the wrong thing to say. Miku didn't seem to enjoy Rin getting in her personal space too much. Even though she hugged and comforted Rin so much, she still seemed so embarrassed everytime Rin tried to reciprocate. There had to be something she was missing in their exchange and the feeling of inadequacy she was left with reminded her of the first time she had seen Miku and rudely dug her hands into her hair. Cringing, she decided to take her mind away from the issue of her embarrassing past.

        The space bar made a loud click as she pressed on it again. 

       “My love, I will come back from this war and we will build a life together.”

       “How dense are you, Edwin? How will a human and vampire ever be together? When you're an immortal, bloodthirsty killer? Tell me, Edwin, how can you, who barely knows me, tell me that you'll love me forever? When your forever is eons and my life is a couple seconds compared to yours?” 

        Rin felt her heart beating faster as she waited for the serious looking vampire man to finally answer his desperate girlfriend. Despite her earlier comment, maybe not having Miku to constantly demean the movie made for a nicer viewing experience.

       “Because…I love you Brielle. And our love is strong enough to overcome everything that will ever get in our way. ”

        The two leaned in for a romantic passionate kiss, the camera quickly cutting to a bunch of shots of them making out from different angles.

        Maybe Miku was right in the end.

        .

        .

        .

        “Heya.” Miku entered the room after a couple of minutes. “Haku said it's fine, apparently she's been cooking something for us too. Seems like the universe heard my complaint from earlier.” Miku looked up at the ceiling and lifted her fist in the air, as if she had just won a great battle. 

       “About you doing all the stuff around the house, you mean?”

       “Yeah, Haku doesn't cook too often. Again it's not her fault but it's definitely a nice change of pace. If only Neru was also more eager to help us without mom making her do it…” Miku sighed and sat herself next to Rin again. The angel couldn't help but notice that the girl was sitting on the very edge of the bed, almost as if she was trying to be as far away as possible from her. Rin's sadness as she stared at her must've been apparent as Miku quickly asked her what was wrong.

        “Nothing– It's just…I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. When you were complaining about your sleep. I know I don't always say or do the correct things.” 

        Miku immediately entered the comforting Rin mode, her flustered expression changing into one of unwavering seriousness.

       “No, don't worry about it Rin.” She fiddled with her hands, becoming embarrassed as she remembered their nonconsensual side hug. “I liked it. I'm just a bit awkward.” She finally chuckled, as she started fidgeting with a strand of her hair.

       “You did?” Rin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. So that meant that the reaction didn't mean she had gotten something wrong. “Well I'm glad. Do tell me when I mess up.”

        Miku nodded. “I will.” 

        The two stared at each other for a little bit. Rin didn't know what to say. Miku still looked unusually on edge. She finally broke the ice.

       “I guess I'm just not used to it. You shouldn't blame yourself too much.”

       “To hugs? But you hug me a lot.”

       “Uhh yeah! And I guess I do, yeah–” Miku's face seemed to redden a little more. “I guess I also meant more like– just talking to someone about my problems. I don't like bothering my sisters with it all.”

       “But it really wasn't much!” Rin jumped on all fours like a wild animal and leaned in closer to Miku, lifting her head up to look at her. “It doesn't compare to even half the things you've done for me!” Her expression was weirdly serious for the moment, as if convincing Miku that she was not at fault was the most important thing in the world.

       “Ah…” Miku waved her hands dismissively. “I don't see it like that at all.” She laughed again, nervously. 

        Rin did not like this wall, this invisible barrier that Miku was refusing to explain and that she couldn't quite make the meaning out of either. Was Miku just trying to spare her feelings? Why was she still acting so weird? Thinking back on it, she tried to pinpoint the exact moment their conversation had gotten awkward. 

       “Does the sleepover…inconvenience you?” It was Rin's turn to avoid Miku's gaze now as she gradually fell back into a seated position. 

       “What? No, no!” Miku exclaimed. “Sorry if I was weird I've just- It's my first time, I guess?” 

       “Mine too.” Rin said shyly. “But how is that weird?”

       “I don't know, man.” Miku nervously looked away from Rin, trying her best to avoid the angel's gaze. “I guess it's like sleeping is pretty intimate…” It only took half a second for her words to sink in, her expression contorting into something between embarrassed and mortified.

       “Intimate is so the wrong word for this!” She grabbed her now reddened face in her palms and let out a muffled sigh. "Forget I said that!"

       “I think I understand. Sleep is very vulnerable in a way.” Rin hummed in a serious low tone.

       “Yeah! Like that!” Miku nodded enthusiastically. “Look, just ignore me. You didn't do anything wrong, okay? We're gonna have lots of fun tonight!” With that final cheery sentence the girl seemed to at last return to her usual self.

       “I'm very excited!” Rin smiled at her, and it seemed to make Miku's chest exhale in a very particular way.

       “Me too! Obviously…” She giggled awkwardly, letting out a flustered sigh. “Wanna finish the movie?”

       “ Edwin…I've decided. Make me into one of your own…” Brielle sighed wistfully as she held onto the bruised vampire, freshly returned from gruesome offscreen combat.

        “My love…but-!” He tried to object, his lover quickly shutting him up with a kiss. 

        Miku snickered again, although Rin felt more like sighing. This was not the direction she wanted the plot to go towards. 

        “Just transform me now!”

        The big burly man dramatically sunk his teeth into her throat, puncturing her thin skin and letting blood trickle down her neck in a drawn out scene. 

        “Oauhhh~ ” Brielle moaned in a way that made Miku laugh loudly.

       “Oh my god! I completely forgot about this! That's too funny.” Miku smacked her fist into the bed as she laughed her heart out. She then proceeded to unceremoniously turn the audio of the movie down as Brielle would not stop making questionable sounds.

       “I don't get it. That sounded very sexual, but didn't he just tear her throat open? She should be in pain.” Rin skeptically watched the somewhat erotic scene of Brielle clinging onto her man and panting like a dying animal.

       “He's sexy so it's fineee!” Miku remarked ironically, still giggling at the movie. Brielle was now in the midst of a transformation scene, gaining fangs and pale white skin and other details Rin couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. She was just upset that this seemed to be the end of the movie and the feeling eclipsed everything else she had previously liked about it. 

       “I just don't get it. They're so biologically and socially incompatible and the whole movie is about that but instead of getting to see how that pans out she just gets turned into a vampire. What's interesting about that? Now they're both going to bite people forever and ever and that's it. Life's never really that simple. You don't just change your existence into a being of your opposite nature like that and call it a day.” Rin sighed as the movie played its ending scenes of the two happily living in an old mansion somewhere deep in some permanently foggy woods.

        Seemingly surprised by the depth of the criticism Miku quickly retorted. “Well I guess in this case it's just kind of a romantic thing cause she's willing to give up her humanity for him. Although I agree it'd be way cooler if they'd just live as a sort of weird vampire-human couple.” 

       “Uh Huh! Why would anyone give up being human for some… big, fanged weirdo in the forest? She could do anything in the world a-and she decides to throw it all away for some guy she barely knows!” Rin let out another disappointed sigh. 

       “Isn't that kind of rich coming from a fallen angel?” Miku snickered.

       “I didn't fall for a human!” Rin huffed as she looked to the side, hurt. “But there's nothing wrong with that…” She felt the need to add.

       “If it's ok for you to downgrade then why can’t she upgrade to being a cool vampire?”   

       “I'm not ‘downgrading’-- I'm trying my best to live my life outside of a system which I've never been particularly fond of!” Rin huffed again. “She's throwing everything away for some guy! She's the one who's downgrading!”

       “Well that's just a pretty common trope sadly for you. Giving everything up for some guy you barely know.” Miku shook her head dramatically as if Rin had just been exposed to one of the great injustices of the world.

       “But it makes no sense!”

       “Love makes no sense, Rin. Especially when it's the ‘movies made for teenage girls’ kinda love. Really, this isn't about the essence of being human or whatever it's just a hilariously bad romance movie. That's why you need to see it, this is like- formative stuff! Now you will enjoy any piece of romance infinitely times more.”

       “I didn't know love made you dumb.” Rin snarked, obviously still not past the love argument. “I thought it just made humans a bit prone to logical fallacies--not…something of this caliber.” 

       “Sorry Einstein but love does, in fact, make people stupid and irrational. In movies and in real life as well. But that's what makes it kinda fun, right?” Miku closed the laptop, which kept producing its usual grating noise anyways. “It's this force that just swoops you up and completely messes you up. It's ….indescribable. I guess because it also varies from person to person. Hell, I'd also let some dude turn me into his hot vampire chick. Or I guess I'd let a woman do it.” She awkwardly rubbed her head, seemingly thinking more about the hypothetical situation she had just described. “But plenty of people wouldn't do half the things I said, it's just how it is.”

       “You've ever been that in love? In love enough to want to throw everything away? Including your humanity?” Rin sighed wistfully, almost as if she somehow felt excluded from the conversation. 

       “I mean–I've crushed hard. And because someone up there loves me it's always on girls I've never had any real chance of ending up with.” She bitterly remarked as she once again avoided Rin's insistent gaze. “Oh well, never too late for a 20's romance!” She laughed. 

       “You really want a partner, right?”

       Miku was starting to seemingly grow antsy.

       “Well, you know, it would be nice! But I think getting more friends first is a better priority to have. That and everything else with my family and my life.” She coughed, as if she wanted to change the subject. Rin obviously failed to pick up on it.

       “That all makes sense. I don't know how I can help with the latter stuff but I'll make sure to share my friends with you, Miku.” Rin said with a little licker of determination in her eyes.

        Miku suddenly burst out in laughter.

       “Oh man, Rin, that's really nice but I don't think friends work like that…haha.” She snorted.

       “Why not? We could all hang out together, no?”

       “Yeah but people need some common interests or something…I don't think anyone who'd befriend you would wanna talk to me that much.”

       “Why not?” Rin pressed again.

       “Cause…I don't know! I'm awkward and stuff.” Miku looked more than done with the conversation by that point.

       “But that's fine.” Rin didn't exactly understand what about Miku's awkwardness was bad. In her eyes, she was still a very kind and lively girl. And not even that awkward to begin with. Was there something else Miku was self conscious of? Rin didn't know and it only made her want to drill at her more.

       “But you'd probably have way cooler friends. You just have that vibe to you. Spunky manic pixie girl…” Miku hummed as she thought of other labels Rin didn't recognize to describe her.

       “Are you talking out of a place of feeling inferior about yourself?” The angel scoffed bitterly. 

       “Open book, ey?” Clearly dismissing her, Miku laughed.

       “Don't deflect! I think you're awesome, Miku. I really do!” Rin got on her all fours again, leading Miku to also lift herself off the bed and rest her back against the wall.

       “What's with this enthusiasm…” Miku giggled awkwardly, glancing towards the computer as if she was considering opening it again.

       “When I'm down on my luck you always cheer me up! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do the same?”

       “But I'm not feeling bad!” She retorted. 

        The vague reply made Rin grew slightly desperate. “You sound like it, though!” 

        “I…I didn't mean to come across that sulky.” She started messing with her bangs as she looked down at the bed, seemingly wondering if she had complained to Rin too much. The angel did have a record of taking things far too literally. 

       “I-...” Rin sighed. Maybe Miku meant what she had said. Maybe this was all light banter that she had failed to grasp. And maybe she just needed to let it go.

       “I get that but I really do mean what I say! You seem to not think very highly of yourself, but I think that's not true! You're the only person I've met so far that has been this kind and rational to me! That has to be special, right?” She lifted her gaze up to Miku again. A fluttering feeling inside her really wanted to continue this conversation, to let Miku know just how important she was to her.

       “I'm glad you see me like that.” The girl smiled, avoiding her gaze. “That's really nice.” She sighed, wistfully.

        Rin felt as if just by staring at her she was  intruding on her inner thoughts. There she was, staring down at her bed deep in thought, a pleasant, amused expression on her face as she played with a strand of her hair. To Rin, their awkward silence felt as if Miku was waiting for the weird moment between them to pass. But she didn't know how to make it pass. Rin just felt like staring at her forever until some other variable would inevitably disturb them.

       “I assume you don't want a hug?” Rin didn't know why she had chosen a hug out of all things to defuse the situation. On one hand it made sense; Miku usually hugged her after reassuring her of things or when Rin got overly emotional. But now Miku didn't seem truly sad, hell, she had actually denied it earlier. And yet Rin felt a weird, dully burning desire inside of her to hug her again. Maybe she needed to pay the girl back for all the times she had helped her. Maybe something inside her still wanted to comfort Miku about her issues, and she didn't know what else to do. 

        “Uh….” Miku's pondering state seemed to dissolve with Rin's sudden intimate proposal. Wordlessly, she looked up at Rin in a mix of confusion and anxious intrigue. 

       “Are my hugs off somehow? Is this inappropriate?” The angel probed again.

       “No! I think you're very nice to offer that …?” Miku awkwardly leaned her head to the side, looking at Rin quite lost. The angel couldn't tell if Miku thought there was a catch to the situation. Or if, maybe, her hugs really were that bad and she didn't want to say it out loud as to not upset her.

       “Okay, then I guess you just don't want it, which is fine.” Rin sighed sadly, crossing her arms without really meaning to. For some reason this felt like a personal rejection of sorts, like Miku's behaviour was somehow impossible to read by design. 

       “I do! Uhm…” Miku flung her arms around. “Okay, fuck it! Let's hug!” 

        Rin quickly dragged her knees closer to Miku and spread her arms wide, wrapping them around her and sticking her body close to the human’s. 

        It didn't take long for her to start melting into her, feeling her heat mix with Miku's as she slouched more and more into her body. She felt her rapid heartbeats vibrate within her body and into the cold, dense wall Miku was still leaning on. She felt as the girl finally let her arms touch her back, their weight gently covering Rin.

        What would've counted as an appropriate time for a hug quickly turned into an awkwardly long amount of time. But Rin had long lost track of it. 

       “You know…” Miku's voice stemmed from deep inside her body, echoing through Rin's own solid torso. “If you want a hug you can always ask.” She chuckled, and her moving chest bobbed Rin's head up and down.

       “I thought…I just wanted to cheer you up, though. Even though you weren't sad…” Rin groaned, starting to break herself from their embrace. Rin couldn't tell why exactly she was doing all of this. Why did Miku think this was somehow for her own satisfaction? And why could Rin kind of see where she was coming from? Miku spoke before she could apologise for her selfishness.

        “I think you wanted a hug.” Miku laughed, awkwardly tapping at Rin's back. “And it makes sense because, you know, past days have been kind of hard.” She lifted her hands off Rin, which made the angel somehow feel even more chained to the girl. Her arm's own grip weakened although she didn't feel like unsticking herself from the hug just yet.

        She started to wonder if maybe Miku was right about all of this being her desires. She didn't know and that immediately freaked her out. What desires could she even have, desires that she couldn't even tell were actually her own and not someone else's….?

       “Is it weird that I just really wanted to hug you m-” 

        Rin finally broke away from the hug, her face burning hot. She used all her mental energy to keep her cheeks from becoming red, because the thought of being visibly flustered made her feel even more self conscious. But there was something else that had interrupted her; distant approaching footsteps accompanied by creaking wooden floors. Miku had failed to detect them until they got right in front of the room's door, leading her to jerk herself away from Rin completely. 

       ‘Knock knock’

        Miku sprung out of bed as if burnt by something and clumsily creaked the door open, her hand almost missing the handle a couple times in the process. She cracked the door open ever so slightly, not letting whoever was outside get a look at anything inside the room.

       “Food's ready if you wanna come down to eat.” Rin could hear an older voice, probably Haku's, speak softly from the other side of the door.

       “Give us 5! Thanks!” Miku replied from behind the door, then hurriedly shut it and kept her hands on the door knob until her sister made her way down the stairs and her footsteps couldn't be heard anymore.

        “Uhh…” She finally chuckled, nervously fixing her hair as she turned around to look at Rin, who looked equally disheveled, her small slender hands covering her mouth as if she was trying to stop herself from saying anything stupid.

       “Where were we? Something about hugs?” Miku remained standing, looking down at the angel. Her tone was a bit too jovial for the situation. 

        Rin didn't speak at first. And then she laughed, ever so silently. It resembled a huff of air of sorts.

       “I guess I'm also a bit awkward.” She started playing with her hair, avoiding Miku's gaze at first. “I'm all messed up from the fight, forgive me. I shouldn't get all in your space like that.” She glanced up at Miku, who seemed smittened by her flustered expression somehow. Not that Rin could tell.

       “Hey well- Welcome to the awkward club!” She awkwardly laughed as she lifted both of her thumbs up.

        Rin carefully made her way off the bed, in a manner that seemed almost foreign to her usual careless movements, and walked next to Miku. 

       “My emotions have been so out of place, I really should do better.” She sighed, “dusting” her spotless skirt as if she had just rolled in the dirt with it. “I don't wanna be too much of a bother.”

       “Rin, it's all good, really. Let's agree that we're both ‘bothers’ after all, right?” Miku smiled sheepishly. “Should we…go down and eat?” 

        Rin neatly sat herself down at the table, a large wooden one covered in a white blanket of sorts, overall not too different from the other table she had seen at Luka's place. Although in comparison this one was much smaller, only fitting around 5-7 chairs, unlike Luka's all out presidential conference table.
The lighting inside the room was warm and dim, way dimmer than any other room Rin had ever been in. Because of the big transparent curtains blocking most of the outside light, Rin couldn't really tell if the lighting was on purpose or not. Everything was engulfed in a warm orange that made Rin feel like it was much later than it probably was. Altough she had to admit that she had long lost track of time while talking with Miku.
        Her friend dragged out the chair next to the angel's as if she was preparing to sit herself down, but seemingly decided against doing it last second. Instead, she dashed into the kitchen (which Rin couldn't see too much of because of the house's layout) and began chatting with whoever was inside it.

       “You need any help?” Miku's voice echoed through the rooms.

       “Oh, I thought I heard you come down the stairs.” It was Haku. “I'm fine, but can you please tell Neru to come down too? You're much better at bossing her around…” The next couple sentences were muffled by the sound of ceramic objects and pots shuffling against each other, and while Rin could've probably made an effort to listen in on the conversation, she felt as if that would've been a pretty big breach of privacy on her part. 

        Miku quickly entered the room again then wordlessy made her way back to the living room. Since the dining room and the living were pretty much the same room, she could see as Miku made her way up the stairs, only losing sight of her when she had reached the top floor.

        Haku made her way into the room, carrying a small pot with both of her hands, which she clumsily placed onto the table with a small, rattily thud. Then she glanced up at Rin, her concentrated face morphing into a scared one the second their eyes met.

       “Ah! I-I didn't see you there!” She awkwardly excused herself in a manner that reminded Rin of Miku a lot. She stared at Rin for a couple seconds until she suddenly broke eye contact and went back to staring at her pot. 

       “I thought you were still in Miku's room uh- She usually comes in to help me and all that…” Haku awkwardly started fiddling with the apron she had on.

       “I'm Rin! You're Haku, right?” Rin pushed the chair away from her as she stood up, extending her hand towards Haku, expecting her to shake it.

       Haku lifted her gaze up at her again then quickly looked back at the floor.

       “Yes uhm…” Even her ‘uhms’ sounded similar to Miku's usual inflection. “Miku told me that you're friends and…all that.” She chuckled awkwardly, ignoring Rin's desire for a handshake. 

        If Miku considered herself awkward, then Rin didn't even know what to make of Haku. 

        Rin finally let her arm come down to her side again. “We are friends, I think she's my best friend actually.” Rin tried her best to make small talk as she stared at the weird woman. She had white, long hair, much longer than Miku's, tied in a ponytail behind her back with a bow Rin would have enquired about if the woman didn't seem ready to collapse from anxiety at any moment. She had bangs similar to Miku's although they looked slightly shorter than her sisters, who oftentimes had to rearrange them out of her eyes. Her skin was very fair, somewhat reminding her of the way her skin had looked the first time she had taken a human form. She was about as tall as Miku but with a fuller form, although Rin could definitely see that Miku took more after her than her other, more slender sister did. Her features were soft, especially her face, which also reminded her a lot of Miku, even down to the round shape of the nose and cheeks.

        But what was infinitely more interesting about Haku were her eyes. She had very white brows and eyelashes, which were both pretty hard to see from afar, unlike normal facial hair. But more confusing than her unique eyelashes was her eye colour, maybe because of the distance between the two. Or more accurately because her pupils seemed to shake, as if Haku was constantly looking from left to right a hundred times a minute. Then she remembered what Miku had told her about her vision and wondered if her shaky eyes somehow had something to do with it. Rin thought that maybe Haku just constantly saw everything as shaky and that had to explain her poor eyesight somehow. 

       “Best friends?” Haku suddenly looked up at Rin, her awkward demeanor put aside for a moment for the sake of curiosity. Her head fell slightly to the side as she looked at Rin head on with a doubtful, surprised expression. With this new angle, Rin could finally tell that her eyes were of a really pale blue colour, so pale they were almost blending into the whites of her eyes.

        Haku seemed to register Rin staring back at her as she let her head fall down again. 

       "I'm glad you two are so close. I never knew that.” She looked back at the door she had just come through, almost as if she was begging the kitchen to suck her back in. 

       “It's a pretty recent development I'd say.” Rin shrugged cheekily. “What's in the pot?”

       “Oh…Uh…” Haku lifted the lid up, almost as if talking to Rin had made her forget about its contents. “Mashed potatoes. You'd like something else? I didn't think to ask…” Haku struggled to put the lid back on the first try. 

       “I'm fine with anything …” Rin then realised that she couldn't actually eat anything that she was given. “Uh…Actually, I might not even eat.” She corrected herself. 

        Haku seemed to become more and more puzzled the longer she stared at Rin.

       “Uhm…Okay…That's alright.” She smiled to Rin and then hurriedly made her way back to the kitchen, from where she came out with yet another small pot.

       “What's in there?” Rin chirped.

       “Peas.” Haku answered plainly.

       The woman brought in yet another pot. This time Haku answered Rin without being asked.

       “And some meat in this one. Do you like chicken…Uhm…Even if you're not going to eat it tonight?” She shyly looked up at Rin again.

       “Can't say I have any thoughts on it.” Rin shrugged.

        Haku quietly hummed in reply. “Makes sense. It's a little bland.” 

        She made her way back to the kitchen and began rummaging through some pots and pans, leaving Rin alone in the dining room.

       “Neru! Come on!” Miku's voice echoed from upstairs, followed by the sounds of two pairs of footsteps making their way down the stairs.

       Miku entered first, followed closely by her younger sister, who already looked pretty bummed out before she even spotted Rin.

       “Jeez! You're still here?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Rin.

       “Neru!” Miku grunted at her.

       “I thought she left! You didn't tell me! I changed into pyjamas!” She shrieked, her high-pitched voice weirdly resembling Miku's in a way. 

       “Didn't you hear us talking upstairs? And I'm in pyjamas too, Neru. No one cares.” Miku sat down next to Rin, carelessly dragging her chair closer to the table, creating a deafening screech as the legs scratched the floor.

       “She looks like she just landed here straight from a private school, Miku This is embarrassing!” Neru groaned as she prepared to go back to her room to change.

       “I didn't, actually. I always dress like this.” Rin chimed in, which made Neru stop in her tracks, almost as if she hadn't expected Rin to be capable of human speech.

       “Well…That's even worse! That means you're fancy!” The younger girl made a couple more steps towards the living room before curiosity finally seemed to overwhelm her, stopping her right in her tracks.

       “But where do you study, really? I don't think anyone in Miku's bum school dresses like that. Is this some uniform? Do they really let you wear skirts that don't reach your knees?” 

        Miku let out a groan. "Why are you looking at her skirt?" Neru didn't answer the question, her intense eyes still fixating Rin.

       “I used to study somewhere else but I just switched schools.” The angel quickly made up the most credible lie she could.

       “Where? Why'd you leave?” Her almond shaped eyes narrowed themselves further, giving Neru's glare an extra layer of menace.

       “Neru, that's none of your business.” Miku quickly shut her younger sister down.

       “Another town.” Rin could feel herself grow a bit uneasy from all the lies she was starting to string along. 

        Neru stared at her for a couple seconds as if enticed by something at Rin's appearance (besides her “uniform”)

       “Your hair is really blonde. Is it natural?” Neru finally changed the subject to something she found more interesting. 

       “Neru….” Miku scoffed again.

       “What? You bring a random friend out of nowhere and I can't even make small talk?” Neru snapped back. 

       “Maybe you should let Rin be.” Haku chimed in from the other room, although Neru seemed to completely ignore her as she kept staring at Rin waiting for an answer.

       “Err…” Rin gulped. “Well I guess my hair is natural. Is your's not?”  

        Her reply must've been interesting enough for Neru to consider not going upstairs to change anymore, as the young teen headed towards her own chair, seating herself on the other side of the table, right across from Rin.

       “Yeah it is.” She answered as she sat down. “Do you use anything to make it more golden? Some shampoo maybe?”

       “Raw angelic power.” Miku laughed a little too loud as she got up and made her way to the kitchen again. Neru just rolled her eyes at the “joke”. 

       “Uh…No…” Thinking about it, her hair really was unusually blonde. Not that the colour didn't exist in humans, but more like most people used dyes to achieve it. Neru's hair, while still obviously blonde, tinged towards warm, light browns at parts, while her's was relatively evenly coloured across in the same bright, shiny yellow blonde.

        Hearing her reply Neru sighed.

       “No contacts either? Your eyes are really pretty.” 

        Rin felt flustered. Not that she minded the questions, but more like she would've liked hearing them from someone like Miku rather than her younger sister, someone she didn't have to make multiple lies up for.

       “Hey! Back off, she's way out of your league!” Miku barked jokingly as she came into the room stomping with a couple flat plates in one hand and a taller, more bowl-looking one in the other, Haku following in with a bunch of cutlery in her's.

       “I'm not some dyke, leave me alone.” She scoffed, defensively. 

       “Neru!” Miku and Haku scolded her in unison. Hearing all their voices together like that made Rin realise that they all sounded pretty similar to one another, especially when they harmonized like that.

       “Language!” Haku reiterated while placing down the cutlery, one fork, one knife and one spoon for each member. 

       Rin correctly deduced that the word had been offensive. But what exactly was it supposed to be a stand in for?

       “Yeah, Neru. What if she is a dyke and you're, like, being really offensive right now?” Miku snarked standoffishly, placing a plate in front of Rin with a little too much force. Rin had a feeling that maybe she had taken the comment a bit personally. 

       “Miku… Come on…” Haku sighed like a disappointed mother. She awkwardly smiled towards Rin, almost as if she was trying to apologize for the conversation that was bound to follow.

       “What? She's not gay, right?” Neru asked, sounding more confused rather than anything else.

       “Neru, that's inappropriate.” Haku spoke again, more sternly this time. 

        Then some sort of weird silence followed as everyone in the room looked at Rin. So the inappropriate word had been related to homosexuality. 

        Neru was staring at her confused, almost as if she couldn't even comprehend the thought of sitting in front of a possible gay person. Haku's constantly shifting gaze was harder to decipher, somewhere in between embarrassed and weirdly curious, although she was clearly far too embarrassed to say anything. But the odd one out was Miku, who looked at her dazed, the corners of her mouth downturned in a sort of pained, tensed expression. Rin had honestly expected Miku to intervene then and divert the situation to something else, although she had apparently chosen to stay silent.

        Getting so caught up in analysing the faces of everyone around her, Rin had almost forgotten that the silence was also caused by her lack of response. But she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She wasn't gay, but that's because she wasn't straight either. Or female. Or human. Remembering that Miku's parents were Christian she quickly put two and two together and realised that she should probably just deny it anyway.

       “I'm…not gay?” Rin shrugged her shoulders, her voice unusually high.

        Miku let out a sigh of relief, her eyes shutting slightly as if Rin had just dodged a massive bullet. Haku shrugged and grabbed one of the other spots while Neru kept looking at Rin with a curious expression on her face.

       “But I have no issue with gay pe-” Rin couldn't finish her sentence before Miku grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a forceful friendly shake, rudely interrupting her to ask Haku what was for dinner.

       “Oh well. Nothing special. Mashed potatoes, peas, some chicken. Rin said she won't eat today, right Rin?” Haku asked.

        Rin nodded and the confirmation seemed to once again relieve Miku, who had probably also realised at one point that Rin would have to come up with yet another excuse for her lack of appetite. 

       “But you've been here for like half a day. Aren't you hungry?” Neru asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice as Haku passed her the pot of mashed potatoes.

       “Rin feeds herself via photosynthesis.” Miku snorted, clearly trying to divert the attention away from the subject.

       “No? That's a plant thing?” The joke had obviously flown over Neru's head.

       “Neru, some people have smaller appetites. Or maybe it's a religious practice. Say, Rin, are you Christian?” 

       “Oh my god, Haku, not you too! Leave her alone, it's like a damn police interrogation in here!” Miku groaned, finally losing her cool.

       “Can we not make small talk? We didn't even know you had a friend till today!” Neru quickly clapped back.

       “This isn't small talk, you're literally just asking her really weird personal stuff!” 

       “Please stop you two.” Haku sighed, which somehow seemed to hold enough power to stop the two from continuing. Although by the sour look on Neru's face she clearly had much more to say.

       “I'm sorry, Rin. Forgive us if we're being rude.” Haku pleaded softly, Rin nodding to her request. 

        Awkward silence followed as everyone filled their plates up with food and started eating, the sound of cutlery gently scratching the plates as they did. A pleasant smell of food filled up the air which made Rin the slightest bit curious about the contents of the meal. 

       “Wait. We forgot to say grace.” Haku suddenly gasped. “Rin, that's okay for you, right?”

       “Uh…” Rin glanced over at Miku who looked like she had already been staring at her for a while.

       “It's the prayer we say before eating. Blessed be the food and all that.” Her friend quickly explaned.

       “Oh, alright! Sure, I don't mind.”

        Rin watched as everyone clasped their own hands together and closed their eyes. Haku slowly starting mouthing some words, while Neru and Miku remaied silent. 

        Rin felt left weirdly left out, so she quickly looked over at Miku again to try to copy her. What she saw was that the girl was also looking at her with the corner of her eye rather than focusing on the prayer. Once she was discovered, Miku's mouth twisted in its usual dimpled smile and she closed her eyes for good. The exchange had left Rin dazed, the angel forgetting why she had looked over at Miku in the first placee.

       “Amen.” Haku finally finished her long string of murmurs, which seemed to also signal the other girls to open their eyes and start eating again.

       “So…Uhm…Rin.” Haku spoke in what was clearly her best, “people pleasing” voice as she clumsily stabbed at the peas inside her wide bowl-plate. “How did you two meet?” 

       “Oh we just met a week or so ago in class, she just transferred and all that.” Miku hurriedly spoke before Rin could even think of what to say.

       “But transfers only happen between semesters? School's literally almost done.” Neru raised an eyebrow suspiciously as her piercing gaze rapidly switched between Miku and Rin.

       “The paperwork dragged on for quite a bit.” Miku's nervous tick of playing with her hair crept up on her as she replied to her sister.

       “Mhm…” Neru hummed, clearly not buying it.

       “I guess I meant more... what brought you two together?” Haku laughed, trying her best to lighten the heavy air between the group.

       “I- Uh…” Miku's brain must've not expected ever getting this question as she struggled to come up with a believable excuse.

       “Oh! I can answer that!” Rin's eyes lit up, much to Miku's discomfort. “So I went in with one of my…uh…my friends…” thinking of Brother immediately soured her mood, but she had to keep going.  “And he started knocking in on some lockers because he…didn't know which one was assigned to him! And get this!” 

        Both Neru and Haku leaned in closer in anticipation of what came next.

       “And he found one he thought was his, right? But the handle didn't work cause, duh, it wasn't his! So he started pulling at the door like a madman, going:”

        Rin took a big breath of air and furrowed her brows dramatically, preparing to impersonate Brother. “Ugh! What is this insolent thing? Why won't it budge?” 

        Her impression of a man must've been a bit too on point for someone with a voice as high pitched as her's as Miku's sisters gave each other confused, weirded out looks. Rin, however, did not notice, as she kept speaking with the same enthusiasm as before. “And he kept pulling until the thing fell and it made this loud noise, it echoed all throughout the halls!” 

       “Wow…during recess?” Neru asked her with a hint of disbelief in her voice, although it was hard to tell since her mouth was full of food. 

       “No, get this– Right after he smashed that thing the bell rang and a huuuge crowd gathered around us! And they were all like ‘no you're in trouble you're so gonna get it!” and we were both so confused!” Rin laughed. “And that was because like– next thing I knew this huuuge guy shows up and he's like: Hey! That's my locker!” Rin barked with what sounded like the voice of a man three times her “age”.

        If the last impression had been maybe believable as some kind of vocal talent this one was definitely a bit too hard to believe. Even Miku was staring at her with her mouth slightly open.

       “Obviously we both tried to apologise but he's not taking any of it, right? 'Cause apparently he's the resident school bully and he smacked me for ruining his thing and, frankly, it didn't even hurt that much.”  Rin's shoulder involuntarily went up as she inevitably thought about her latest encounter with pain. “My friend got the worst of it honestly. But that's only because Miku fished me out of there If it weren't for her I would've seriously been in trouble.” She excitedly looked over at Miku the same way a car salesman looks at his newest great car before he's about to present it to his customers. 

       “Really? You put herself in danger like that?” Haku gasped.

       “Uhmm…Well I wasn't in danger it was just…I guess no one was helping and I had to do something.” Miku awkwardly rubbed her arms, turning red as a lobster.

       “Damn.” Neru glanced at her sister shortly and then took another bite of her food.

       “She was really kind, she dragged me to the bathroom and I was like- a mess, frankly. I was crying and everything but she helped me and I got all better and now we are friends!” Rin ended her story with the enthusiasm of a toddler that had just finished telling their parents about their day at preschool.

       “How come you've never told us this before?” Neru spoke again, staring confused at Miku.

      “W- Well…” She sighed, finally letting go of her arms. “I guess I didn't know if we were gonna become friends or not so I just kind of assumed it didn't matter that much…?” Miku herself didn't seem too convinced by her own argument. “I swear most of my other school life is as boring as I make it out to be.”

       “I bet Rin's is more interesting though.” Neru smiled as she looked over at Rin, waiting for the girl to also start talking about her life.

       “Oh err…Not really honestly. I can't say I got much going on.”

        Disappointed by the vague reply, Neru went back to eating.

       “But hey, What about you, Neru? How is your school?” Rin tried to ask as nicely as she could.

        Neru let out an ‘uhm’ that somehow managed to sound exactly like Miku's, only higher pitched. “I guess it's fine? Kind of hard to have a social life when your phone looks like a brick…” She sighed.

       “Why's it a brick?”

       “Mom thinks real phones rot your brain. And pop culture. And most things frankly.”

        Miku vehemently nodded in agreement while Haku seemed mostly focused on managing to finally poke her fork thoroughly through the piece of meat on her plate.

       “I'm sorry. That sounds like a lot to deal with. I'd be sad if I lost my phone.” Rin spoke with a bit too much emotion, even gently pressing her hand against her chest, leading Neru to side eye Haku in search for someone else who found the exchange awkward. Her older sister was still busy with her food, so she went back to just giving Rin a weirded out stare.

       “Thanks…?” Neru sheepishly replied, lowering her gaze into the plate, then proceeding to crudely and inefficiently stab the peas inside of it with her fork.

       “Oh yeah, Haku, have you thought more about coming with us to the concert? I know you were a little on the fence last time I asked.” Miku asked after a couple of minutes of solid, silent eating.

        “Ah…Hm…” Haku finally looked up again. “Well I don't know yet, I think the lights might be a little much, you know? But I do really wanna go and…maybe it'll be fine in the end.” Haku sighed wistfully and then went back to eating. 

       “What concert?” Rin chirped as she looked back at Miku for a reply. 

       “Well I bought tickets for a boy band Neru really likes, if everything goes to plan some of her friends might be there as well, right?”

       “Mhm…But do you really gotta be there too?” Neru asked, clearly displeased with the idea of getting babysat by her sister.

       “Oh come on, I'm the one who got the money so I might as well treat myself too. Besides, would mom ever let you out of the house without me or Haku by your side?” 

        Neru sighed, annoyed. “I mean, she has a couple of times though.” 

       “Yeah, but not at night! And you need someone to corroborate your lie, don't you?” Miku finished with a hint of satisfaction in her voice, as if proving Neru wrong somehow made her day better.

       “I've never been to a concert. Can I come too?” Rin spoke cheerfully, completely oblivious to the fact that if Neru didn't want Miku at her concert she definitely wouldn't want her random friend there either.

       “Uh…Do you like K-pop?” Neru raised her eyebrows, much less defensively than one might have expected her to act.

       “I've never heard K-pop before, but I don't think I'll dislike it. Music is fun.” 

       “That's true…Going to a concert is a fun experience even if you don't like the music.” Haku sighed again, even sadder than before.

       “Well I think you gotta at least like the music but I'm not gonna give up any opportunity to get out of the house when I'm not supposed to.” Miku snickered. “You should totally come, Rin! It seems like the typa’ thing you'd like. You gotta get a ticket though.”

       “They've been sold out for weeks.” Neru quickly replied.

       “Oh…Hm…” Miku looked down at her half filled plate, disappointed. 

        Rin shrugged after thinking about it for a little bit. “I'm sure I'll find a way.” Human boundaries hadn't posed too much of an issue for her so far.

       “You're not going to jump the fence or something are you?” Her friend looked at her with a hint of mischievousness in her eyes, almost as if she wanted her to actually do it.

       “Hm…” Rin tapped her chin a couple times. “Maybe…” She solemnly nodded, as if things had already been decided right then and there.

       “Uhm…Well I might not go so if that's the case you can definitely have my ticket-!” Haku's voice had a sort of pleading quality to it, making it look like the thought of Rin committing a minor misdemeanor caused her great mental turmoil. 

       “Well I hope you'll come! It'd do you good…” Miku suggested, her tone slightly softer than usual.

        Haku didn't seem to take the proposal well as her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes closing slightly. Her long, opaque white eyelashes made it impossible for Rin to even see Haku's pupils clearly anymore and as such where exactly she was looking. 

        Her lips shuddered as if she wanted to say something to Miku but she remained silent. Her lack of response had made the air inside the room turn awkward again, everyone continuing their meal wordlessly

       “I'm done. Great food tonight." Neru announced at one point. "I'm going up.” She rudely got up before anyone else had finished and made her way around to the table, only stopping by Rin for a second to tell her a rigid goodbye.

       “Actually, I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. We're doing a sleepover.” Rin chirped in reply.

        Neru's eyes widened, her brows jolting up initially, only to then bend into a serious, judgmental frown.

        She aggressively glanced over at Miku, who masterfully avoided her gaze by pretending to eat the rest of her food. Seeing that Miku was playing dumb, her head then twisted over towards Haku's general direction, a movement so sudden it sent her only free flowing hair (her side ponytail) swinging over her shoulder. 

        Haku nervously coughed as if she found the situation far more stressful than it was worth. “Uh….Yeah….” She finally answered. 

        Neru's head slowly made its way back to Rin, who was staring up at her with a confused expression, desperately trying to figure out what the fuss was about. Miku's youngest sister gave her one final short , judgmental glance before she finally started walking towards her room. When Rin could hear her door shut she finally glanced over at Miku.

       “What was that about?” Her head gently fell to the side like a puppy.

       “Don't take it to heart, Rin. I think she might be jealous that our mother never lets her friends sleep over. Technically speaking…” Haku drifted off. 

       “You shouldn't be here either but, you know, since they're away and all that we thought it'd be fine.” Miku finished her eldest sister's words.

        Haku nodded.

       “Right, well, I'm also done. I'll be in the kitchen.” She gently pushed her chair away from the table and got up.

       “Need help with anything?” Miku's usual helpful nature striked again.

        Haku shook her head. “You girls should go have fun. If there's anything I need help with I'll just call Neru over.” She smiled softly at Miku and Rin, although the angel felt as if the stare she had gotten was slightly different from the one given to Miku. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Don't stay up too late, please." She said as she picked up her bowl and fork and headed towards the kitchen.

       “Right, okie dokie!" Her friend replied cheerfully.

Chapter Text

       “Come on Rin, you can't say that one wasn't way better than the vampire movie!” Miku excitedly looked over at her friend as she fluffed up the pillows of her ‘floor bed’–namely a bunch of soft blankets and pillows covering the hard floor of her room.

       “The effects were really cool!” Rin smiled, starry eyed. She knew beforehand that human technology was quite advanced but she would have never expected for a computer to be capable of creating images that realistic. Great fantastical forests and rural landscapes animated in minute depth, raging burning fires and instantaneous bolts of lightning and magic, all sorts of expressive creatures and beasts that moved in a believable, almost lifelike way. That's what she remembered from the movie.

       “Yeah! But the plot?” Miku egged her on, her eyes growing wide with excitement, which meant told Rin that she had to praise the movie on that front as well.

       “It was much more…imaginative...than the other one.” Rin hummed thinking of how to describe the story she had just witnessed. Judging from her reaction the movie clearly was one of Miku's favourites, a complex fantastical setting with a lot of alien races and wars going on. And while Rin had liked what she could understand of the story, the long, almost 3 hour run time, and the dense plot with many twists and turns had left her confused more than a couple of times. Not to mention tired beyond belief. Rin didn't even know it was possible to get so tired from what was supposed to be entertainment, but she choked it up to it being prior day fatigue.

        Seeing that Rin didn't want to add anything to her vague comment, Miku took it upon herself to start rambling again. “Well, yeah it's high-fantasy! Proper fighting and political wars and all of that! It's, like, as realistic as you can get!” She burst out with excitement, looking like she was just about to jump out of her makeshift ‘floor bed’.

       “Were the elves really your favourite? I always found them too stuck up. It's such a trope.”

        Rin nodded. “I liked their hair. And the way they live for so long while the others don't. But I'm glad in the end they accept to coexist with the other…guys.” She hesitated, not really sure of what to call the other non-human characters. “I think that was really interesting, I would've expected them to continue living like a bunch of snobs.” She fiddled with her thumbs, not sure if her answer had been satisfying enough for Miku.

       “Right? I think putting them all together in the same pot at the end was definitely the right choice. Plus it's fun to see them all be racist towards each other. ” Miku laughed, continuing to describe her favourite scene of the main protagonist exchanging heated insults with an elf. She was still so full of energy, even though it was very late at night. 

        The angel checked her phone: 12:48 PM. She had no idea how late Miku usually went to bed, but she could feel a familiar sense of tiredness overcome her. Not so much a physical one, moreso mental, like a heavy cushion was constantly pressing down on the top of her head, slouching her head forward looking for any support she could. She tried her best to stand upright and actively listen to what Miku was saying until…

        Plompf.

        Rin’s head hit the soft pillow, her eyes still open. Laying down felt a lot better than standing upright, yet she could feel like the impact had somehow slowed her mental capacity down significantly. 

        This comical display of tiredness was enough to finally stop Miku from her feverish rambling. She looked down at her, a slightly worried look on her face.

       “Are you already tired? I wanted to show you some other stuff too…” She looked to her side awkwardly, giving Rin the impression that she was starting to feel a bit guilty about all the nerd talks she had subjected her to.

       “It's just a lot to take in…” She sighed, smirking. “Can I have 20 minutes off? How’d they call it in the other film…a ‘power nap’?”

       “Oh, well, if you wanna sleep then that's fine too, great even!” Miku laughed awkwardly. “It's just that you said you didn't wanna sleep and all that…But I gotta warn you if I fall asleep for good then there's no waking me up.” She looked over at Rin again, who had long shut her eyes.

       “Mmm….Maybe I'll be fine this time…” The angel replied softly, as if the singular phrase had taken much more out of her than it should've. 

        The overhead light turned off with a click, followed by the rapid footsteps of Miku making her way back to her “bed”. A bunch of pillow hitting, blanket moving and other fabric related sounds followed as Miku supposedly laid down as well. Even though the distance between them was significant, Rin could still faintly feel the girl’s organic heat in the air and through the blanket covered floor she called her temporary bed.

       “You really think your sisters liked me? I tried my best to sound casual today.” Rin suddenly murmured after a couple minutes of silence, her head sunk deep into her pillow.

       “Oh yeah, again don't worry that whole thing went super well actually.” Miku’s voice had a hint of surprise in it, probably because she had expected Rin to make far more mistakes than she did.

       “Although now that you ask again… I think that voice thing was a little weird. Cool as hell to me, obviously. But still a bit weird. How'd you do that?”

       “The impressions? Mhm…” Rin took a little time to think. “Well I don't know, same way I do my usual voice. I just speak.”

       “Okay but- Oh, yeah, you don't have vocal chords, right? So technically anything flies?” Miku's tone gained an extra layer of curiosity.

       “Sound is just air vibrating and if I can control any part of my form then I can control the vibrations I create as well….” Rin replied slowly and monotonously as if she was explaining why the sky was blue and the grass green.

       “Wait, can you do me?” Miku laughed, her voice trembling with excitement.

        Without opening her eyes, Rin spoke in Miku's pitched up nasal tone that she had used to poorly mimic Rin during their discussion about the vampire movie.

       “Miku! I'm just about to fight the demons! I've literally never mentioned this before!! I'm going right now literally right now to slay some demons and protect the heavenly spiritual balance of the universe!!” She smiled as she robotically repeated the sentence Miku had made fun of her with earlier, copying every inflection and accentuation perfectly. 

       “Oh my god that is so trippy! Can you do it again but without the bad impression this time? Like just my normal voice?”

        Rin repeated the phrase as Miku had asked of her. 

       “No wayy!!” Miku shrieked.

       “No wayy!!” Rin mimicked her flawlessly, her eyes still closed and her face devoid of the enthusiasm such a shriek would've demanded from her. 

       “Wait- You can shapeshift into anything, right?”

        Rin finally opened her tired eyes. Looking at Miku she could see that the girl was practically shaking with excitement. 

       “Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged, speaking in her normal tired voice again.

        “So could you, theoretically, shape shift into me and no one could tell? Like could I send you to school instead of me?” Miku waved her hands around excitedly as if her biggest wish was just about to come true.

        Rin giggled softly, the sound of her voice echoing around the empty room like a bunch of clinkering bells. 

       “Do you want me to get you in trouble that bad? I think there's easier ways to do that~ ” She giggled again, closing her eyes once more.

       “M-My grades are already kinda shit, so that's fine by me! Go wreck it all!” Miku's familiar forced laugh echoed around her tired mind, followed by a moment of silence.

       “So yeah- I think everything went fine. I know Neru can be a bit…hostile. And Haku is just awkward, but I think they both liked you!” Miku suddenly spoke again, seemingly hell-bent on not letting Rin get the rest she needed.

       “If she's awkward then what are you?” Rin hummed, half-asleep.

       “Huh? Uhmm…” Her usual low hum was like relaxing music to Rin's tired mind. “Haha, wait, I think I got it– This is like, an ‘I got you’ moment, right? Like ‘Oh, you complain so much but look at Haku over there she looks like she's about to disintegrate into fine dust every time she opens her mouth.’? Well, jokes on you Rin, awkwardness comes in many beautiful forms.” The girl laughed as her long winded reply came to an end.

       “Right…” Rin huffed amused, a cheeky smile on her face.

        Miku went on to explain how her and Haku's awkwardness were, actually, merely different types, how they both struggled with some things that the other didn't and so on.

        The angel listened to her ramble until she couldn't even tell her words apart from one another. Drowning in fatigue, her mind slowly started falling asleep without her command, something that had never happened before. Seeing that Rin had largely stopped replying, Miku finally got the message that she should probably save her ramblings for another day and decided to also get some rest.

       “Goodnight Rin.” Rin could hear a faint smile in her voice.

       “Goohnai…” Was all Rin could muster in reply before she finally fell asleep for good.

        Shuffling, familiar footsteps woke Miku up from her light sleep. She instinctively got up to check for their source, although she already knew it. Dim, weak, yellow light, a staple element of her houses interior, slid from the hallway into her room through the wide cracks of her door, illuminating everything in a very soft, barely perceivable glow.

        As quickly as the light had appeared it went away, followed by the sound of the creaky steps being carefully walked down on. Miku uncovered herself and reached for her phone to check the time.

       ‘3:32 AM’

        It wasn't uncommon for Haku to wake up at night and spend time alone in the living room but this seemed a bit late even for her. Worried, Miku debated going down and asking her if everything was okay. She thought that maybe Haku needed a late night talk about her issues. Or maybe she just felt like watching TV alone. Or maybe she was just hungry and wanted a snack. With her the possibilities were truly endless, but she felt like it was her duty to make sure that everything was fine.

        Miku looked around the room sleepily, almost as if she was searching for something to save from the tiresome process of getting up and checking in on Haku.

        Much to her surprise, the room was decently lit by cold, outside lighting, no doubt because she had forgotten to close the blinds in her excitement to show Rin her favourite film before bed. Looking up at the window she sighed and debated whether she should get up and fix her mistake. But would the rattily sound of her old, rusty blinds sliding across the window wake Rin up? She pondered if Rin could even mind the light, considering the fact that she herself kind of…emitted it in her angel form.

        Without really meaning to she looked over at the sleeping Rin, who was a only meter or so away from her. 

        Her face was still in the exact position she had fallen asleep: facing Miku, with her clasped hands neatly placed on her big pillow, right in front of her face. Her short (still in outside clothes) body was curved in a slight fetal position, giving the angel an overall cutesy, delicate appeal. 

        Despite said appeal there was something off about her to Miku. It was her expression; it looked nothing like one of a sleeping person. It was hard for Miku to really put her finger on it, because after all who analysed other people's sleeping faces on the regular, though she could still clearly tell that something was off with her, a deep uncanniness of sorts that Rin definitely possessed often, but was hard to spot during their busy conversations and other distraction filled moments.

        Now that they were all alone in complete silence and she was free to stare at her all she wanted, Miku could finally realise what was off about her. Rin looked as if she had just closed her eyes rather than actually fallen asleep. It was hard to put into words, but it was as if the angel's eyes could fling open at any moment. Her brows were perfectly straight, her face showed no sign of relaxation. Even stranger, she lacked the usual quirks of a deep sleep like the slightly open mouth or the limpness of a head sinking into the pillow. She looked stiff and cold, perfectly lying on the floor like a ball jointed doll someone had accidentally dropped down.

        Despite all of these creepy descriptions in her mind, Miku couldn't help but feel her chest rapidly contract as she thought more about her friend. 

        She breathed in, her intrusive gaze still fixating Rin.

        She breathed out.  Her lungs felt like they could shrink in on themselves forever, eventually sucking themselves in and disappearing into a black hole of sorts.

        The sound of her heavy breathing made her realise that, unlike her, Rin showed no signs of it. All the places that would usually move during even the smallest of Rin's breaths: her chest, her shoulders, her stomach; they were all perfectly still. Miku wondered for a little while why Rin would even bother to fake breathing in the first place, until it dawned on her that if not for it, Rin would've come across as even weirder than she already was.

        She backtracked on that last thought. Rin didn't need to breathe. She couldn't help but feel like that was both creepy and somehow insanely cool at the same time. Miku feverishly recounted earlier that day how the angel had just let her head fall cleanly into the mattress, showing no sign of discomfort even after a good couple of seconds of what should've been a position anyone would suffocate in.

        And without really meaning to her mind naturally remembered other times she had had Rin on her bed. 

        Her face quickly started to burn hot. To hide it from the very much unconscious Rin, she slowly decided to turn around and face the other way. Away from Rin. Facing her wall of shelves instead.

        Something in the way Rin had looked up at her and told her that she wanted to see the movie with her. There was something in that particular light and detached body movement that she shouldn't have been able to recreate with the sensuality that she had somehow achieved. A way of moving that reminded her of 1980s movie darlings, how they lazily splayed themselves over lavish divans and gave the camera the most needy look they could, practically begging the male actors to become infatuated with their beauty. 

        Obviously projecting all of this onto Rin, who until that day hadn't even seen one movie, much less a sensual one, was obviously wrong. Factually wrong. Obviously Rin couldn't have known that the way she talked sometimes was a bit weird . Or that the looks she gave Miku and the newfound insistence to hug and comfort her could easily come across as needy. And because Rin couldn't have possibly known, Miku decided right then and there that this whole thing wasn't half as big a deal as she really made it out to be.

        Yet when she sighed, her chest trembled. 

        Miku knew that she had to do better, both for her and her friend's sake. She had to promise herself that she wouldn't let her subconscious have these thoughts about Rin, about someone so innocent and unknowing. She was desperate, she was lonely and Rin was so…uniquely interesting, kind and suffocating. Not to add inhumanely beautiful by design. It was a perfect storm.

        Maybe it would've been a storm she would be willing to get swept up if Rin would've been….

        Miku sighed again, this time her chest trembling from sadness. 

        ...Human. If Rin would be human. The more Miku thought about it the more she felt like she could actually dismiss the flesh aspect as well, somehow, just like Brielle had just done a couple hours ago.

        If Rin would've actually been able to like anyone was probably the more accurate thought. If Rin would've been capable of anything but pure, ingrained platonicness, then maybe then these thoughts would've been fine or at least entertainable. But the angel herself had said it plenty of times, that she couldn't feel anything like that–- and frankly Miku didn't even feel the need to contest it. Rin didn't experience much of what she saw as basic needs. She had no use for food or water. Rest was optional to her and even that looked more like a sort of shut down rather than the soft, complicated, and easily disturbed state of slumber Miku was more used to. Rin was an inhuman clog torn apart from a complicated machine Miku could barely even begin to understand; a machine straight out of a science-fiction film. 

        The situation reminded Miku of alien movies, how humanoid little green guys would fly down from their UFO and try to understand basic human culture. Like a cool little alien, Rin was only now beginning to understand the very basics of human life, to coldly absorb human information the same way she had done for her ‘Angelic Code’. Until Rin could even begin to understand love and all the issues it came with and how complex it really was Miku would surely be very old. And that was taking into account that Rin would ever even want a lover at some point. Although Miku quickly remembered that she had indeed mentioned that the fallen angel currently taking her in, Luka, had dated many men over the years…

        Miku furiously shook the thought out of her head. Getting attached to a girl who held her hand too much, who simply talked to her for too long were lived experiences Miku was used to and ashamed of. It was her duty to fight it, because she had been proven time and time again that those situations never ended up working. And she especially had to fight it now, when Rin just wanted a friend. If anything, Rin needed something more akin to an older sister; a neutral force in her life to explain to her the way things worked, a role Miku felt more than comfortable to cover. She tried to make herself feel better by puffing her chest out in pride, thinking about how she was about to take yet another person under her watchful wing. 

        Because the alternative to the situation was one she couldn't accept; another case of unrequited love. In the end falling for a thing that couldn't even really understand love was just as bad as falling for a girl who didn't like other girls. Both situations had the same end result. 

        As her thoughts formed inside her head more clearly Miku soon realised that calling Rin a ‘thing’ was definitely too mean, an instant wave of remorse washing over her. She wondered how she could be so mean to the only person(…individual?) that had shown her this much unconditional kindness in so long.  

        Without even realizing it, her body gave in to the dully burning sensation in her chest, the same one that made her heart beat faster, and her breathing all messed up, turning itself back around to look at Rin again. Seeing her frozen, porcelain like face made her resent her prior mishap even more. She wondered how she had even come to that conclusion, how messed up her brains had to be to call someone so pretty and so human in appearance a ‘thing’?

        Her thirsty, unblinking eyes fixated the angel, her mind completely voiding itself of the prior promise she had made to herself. She knew that it was weird to stare at someone like that, and that it was definitely inappropriate, but she couldn't help it–- her simple human brain was drawn to beauty and the rush of adrenaline she felt inside of her caused by the “wrongness” of her action. 

        At that moment, for Miku, everything felt like it was ripped right out of a movie.

        The cold light entering thru the window, the one she had at first thought about getting rid of, was now perfectly illuminating her features, creating an image that reminded her of saucy comic book covers; perfectly rendered resting women resting lazily across the flimsy cover of the novel, surrounded by flowers and fancy vines of gold and silver.

        Rin's white hair bow was creased, her hair was messy, clearly both as a result of all of the distress she had gone through the past couple days. However, her hair was not unkempt in the way Miku's hair sometimes was unkempt. It was a type of disheveled hair you could only see in movies, the ‘carefully curated by makeup artists’ type that made teenage girls feel bad about themselves; flowing golden hair that had no sheen of oiliness, no tangles or mats at all, only invoking messiness through its slightly more fuzzy appearance. Her face should've been covered by stray strands of rowdy hair; but instead every piece meticulously framed her face, every end curling upwards without going against its intended pattern.

        Miku's fingers thoughtlessly grazed over the little strands of fuzzy hair she could grab that was outside her sleeping bun. Thin human hair, shiny, prone to frizz, a small bundle of threads that felt rough and dull when pushed against her soft fingers. Somehow, just by looking at Rin, she knew that her hair would feel nothing like that, though her mind couldn't quite fill in the blank perfectly.

        After she had finished studying her hair, her gaze involuntarily moved down to the rest of her face, firstly her nose. Just like her hair, it seemed perfectly shaped by a force outside her control. It was delicate, long and pointy, but not too big or too small for her feminine proportions–- a nose that had been definitely carefully chosen by her angle higher ups so she'd look as appealing as possible to the average human. Perfectly straight bridge; an accentuated fine line that shone a bit lighter than the rest of her face. Her thin lips were perfectly symmetrical, their colour so perfectly defined that Miku was convinced no human being could replicate the effect without makeup. A deep, pointy cupid's bow sealed the deal, giving Rin's lips the final feminine flair they needed. Feeling that staring at Rin's lips so intently was particularly agitating for Miku, she moved her eyes away from them and back to the rest of her face.

        Long, pretty eyelashes gently glistened in the monochromatic darkness of the room, blonde eyelashes Miku had noticed the first time she had spotted Rin sobbing on the floor. Back then they had been dragged down with tears, but even in their sulky state they still stood out to her. Remembering how she looked back then was a weird uncanny feeling for Miku, quickly snapping her out of her dazed state. Rin was, at the start, much paler (almost to a sickly degree) and much blonder, or maybe it had been the fairness of her skin that made her seem that much blonder. Her intense blue eyes used to stick out like a sore thumb in the same way her hair did, contrasting with her fair skin to an unpleasant degree.

        Of course, Rin's skin tone had since become less ill looking, although she was still rocking the absolute movie blonde teenager look. Miku had to wonder if her subtle change in appearance had been on purpose or if she had subconsciously changed over time to fit in better, much like how her hair seemed to have become messier by itself as more stress piled on her. 

        Thinking about the older Rin quickly reminded Miku of the other traits she used to display namely her completely strange mannerisms; past Rin was erratic, weirdly formal at parts but also insanely rude sometimes, a complete emotional storm, jumping quickly from one feeling to another without any explanations given.

        And Rin was still a lot of those things. But she was also slowly morphing into a person right in front of Miku's eyes. With every day that passed Rin grew into someone she could learn to read, someone with likes and dislikes, someone with fears and insecurities. That was fascinating to Miku; the thought of seeing someone form their own self in real time, albeit much faster than the process would usually happen. But it still made sense because Rin wasn't human; she wasn't merely evolving from scratch like a human child, she was adding on more knowledge to the pile of probably infinite angel life experiences she already had. All of this while still retaining her energetic and childishly cheerful self.

        Miku had to admit that it took her until the coffee shop to see Rin as anything but a fun, crazy friend with a weird supernatural backstory. Mayu and the threat she had seemed to change the angel, in some ways for the better and in many for the worst. 

        Rin's perfectly relaxed, thin and nimble fingers suddenly gripped themselves into the pillow, waking Miku up from her thoughts. Her perfect, poreless face contorted itself in a painful scowl, eyes shut so hard they wrinkled the entirety of her nose and temples. Even her struggle was somehow framed cinematographically, her pained expressions failing to mess up her hair or make her look too unappealing or gnarly.

        Before Miku could even react, she started letting out small hisses of pain, clenching her head with her arms weakly and flinging her legs around the floor, completely messing up the "floor bed" as she did. Now she looked less movie-like and more natural in her suffering. 

         Finally, Miku snapped out of her shocked state and mustered enough strength to call out to her.

       “Rin?” She faintly whispered.

        Rin didn't seem to hear her. She was still asleep, flinging herself around along with her pillows and covers. Miku quickly realised that this had to be one of her bad nightmares.

       “Rin!” She dragged herself from her bed and crawled her way next to Rin on all fours, gently touching her contorted back in hopes of waking her up.

       “Mmhngh…” Rin let out a moan of pain through her teeth, jolting away from Miku's touch. 

       “Are you okay?” Miku sat next to her and gently shook her, which finally woke Rin up from her nightmare. Unexpectedly, she suddenly went limp, her rapid breathing and groans replaced by nothing, as if she had suddenly dropped dead.

        Right before Miku stretched her hand out to touch her again Rin let out a big pant, her chest then expanding with ‘air’. She quickly got up on all fours and looked around confused. Her expression was dazed and scared– thin eyebrows arched and eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. Then her eyes met Miku's, a tangible wave of relief washing over her face. Her usual unorganic breathing returned, although it sounded rougher and more desperate for air. 

        She breathed in a couple of times, head tilting upwards slightly every time she did, still looking her friend straight in the eye. It was clear to Miku that her mind was clearly stuck thinking about whatever she had just dreamt. 

       “What happened?” Miku hummed softly as Rin's terrified expression returned to her face.

        Her words made Rin’ eyes immediately swell up with tears. 

        Furiously she suddenly rammed herself into Miku's chest, almost toppling her over, clinging onto her with her arms, grabbing at her back desperately. 

        Surprised by the sudden touch, Miku let out a shocked gasp, then wrapped her arms around her friend's head, looking down at her small form.

       “You…I…” She could hear Rin's quiet sniffles, muffled out by her shirt. 

       “Did you have a bad dream?”

       Rin nodded feverishly, suddenly letting go of Miku to clutch her left arm. Miku watched in shock as she dug her nails deep into her “flesh”, much deeper than any human would have managed to without blood starting to trickle down their arm.

       “Y-You-” Rin tried speaking again, her sentence cut out by her breathy gasps for air.

      “Me? Did something bad happen to me?” 

        Rin nodded again, letting out a small sob.

       “I'm sorry-”

       “Oh Rin, it's all good. I'm fine, you see?” Trying to seem as cheery as she could be she spread her arms again as if she was inviting Rin in for another hug.

        The angel let out a long shaky sigh, a mix of relief and sadness. She let herself fall inside Miku's arms again, much more controllably this time, resting the tip of her chin on Miku's slightly- too-tall-for-comfort shoulders. Instinctively, Miku's hands started gently petting her back, trying to calm her down. 

       “I don't….wanna wake you up with-” Rin sniffled again, her shaky body slowly relaxing more and more with every second she spent in Miku's embrace. The angel's tensed, shaking form sent a sort of tingly buzz down Miku's arms, raising the hair on her body up, a prickly sensation that reminded her of touching the surface of an old, barely running fridge. 

       “Is that what you're worried about? Don't worry about it. You've been through a lot. Let's talk about it some more.” Miku gave her a light pat on the back, wondering if the last sentence was starting to become her leitmotif of sorts. "

       "No...I don't want to anymore..." Rin whined. “It's just–” Rin's demeanor quickly changed from sad to aggravated, the weird buzz Miku felt in her body finally coming to an end. “You're clearly fine, and I'm clearly fine. Why do I still dream of it?” With a heavy sigh, Rin readjusted her position into a slouch, smooshing her face into the crook of her neck, pressing her whole body against the girl in the process. 

       “Same reason your arm still twitches, I guess.” Miku gently brushed her left shoulder with the tip of her fingertips, which instantly made Rin's shoulder jerk up. “Sorry... It's just that, you know, you're not over it yet. It was bad and you got hurt and-” 

       “But it's all over! I talked to you about it and I felt better, why isn't it over!? Am I really this broken?” Rin furiously shook her head, much like a small child. “Will I never sleep again?” Her arm suddenly jerked itself up again, followed by a bunch of angry huffs.

       “You're not broken, Rin. You will be able to sleep. Just give it some time, okay? All of this needs some time” Miku wrapped her arms around her again, squeezing her gently. It hurt her to see Rin so confused and angry. It hurt to see how she was struggling, how she didn't really seem able to fully understand the extent of what was going on with her. It somehow reminded her of younger Neru; how she often came to Miku for comfort when she couldn't understand her emotions. Reminiscing about her younger sister made Miku squeeze Rin even harder.

       “Mhngh…” Rin finally grunted as a reply, and Miku had to guess that she hadn't really liked her “give it some time” response. The girl thought that maybe talking more to Rin would soothe her, but before she could start asking her about her dream the angel suddenly let go of their tight embrace.

       “Sorry, you said I should ask when I want to hug. I forgot.” Rin slouched back into a sat position, her legs opened wide in front of her. Her head was hanging low as she stared at her hands neatly placed on the floor in between the space made by her legs. She stared at her long, slender arms covered by the creased ‘fabric’ of her orange ‘sleeves’ as if they were the only things keeping her sitting up straight; two pillars supporting a weight far beyond their usual capacity.

       “That's more what your take away from that was but-” Miku awkwardly petted her pyjama shirt, trying to get her skin used to the sensation of not having something pressed against it. “I never said you gotta ask, I mean I think that's a good way to go about it but…” 

        She stared at Rin's hair, how it flowed downwards towards the ground, completely covering the angel's face in streams of wavy blonde.

       “You really needed it.” Miku finished her thought. 

        Rin nodded softly, her hair gently rustling as she did.

       “My head hurts.” She murmured under her breath. “I'm still tired.”

       “Should we go back to bed?” 

        Rin raised her shoulders in reply and then slowly, with an immense mental effort, got up to start gathering her sleeping materials, placing the blankets back as neatly as she could and retrieving her pillow from wherever it had landed during her nightmare induced state.

        Miku grabbed her own things and dragged them closer to Rin, placing her own pillow a forearms length away from the angel's, who didn't question the sudden change in sleeping arrangements. 

        Rin let her head hit the pillow and Miku quickly followed suit.

       “Night!” Miku tried her best to sound uplifting. 

        Rin didn't reply. Her eyes were still open, staring right thru Miku as if she was made out of glass.

       “Not…gonna sleep?”

       “No…” Rin closed her eyes for a moment, her brows slightly furrowing.

       “I can't sleep with someone watching me, come on.” Miku giggled softly, which made Rin open her eyes again.

       “I'm not gonna watch. That'd be a serious breach of privacy.” She said, sounding pretty offended that Miku would accuse her of such a thing.

       “That's…true. “ Miku awkwardly laughed as the remorseful memory of her latest "sleeping-people-watching-session" started creeping in on her. 

       “I'll just stay up until the morning. I don't want to wake you up again with my nightmares. You already need more sleep as is, right?” She sighed bitterly.

       “Hey, stop blaming yourself for that…My sleep is light, I barely got any rest before your whole nightmare stuff too. Don't worry about it.”

        Rin wordlessly nodded, her hair rustling against the fabric of the pillow.  

        Miku felt so sorry for her. She couldn't take her eyes off her tired face, her half closed eyes and blank, unfocused stare. She couldn't even begin to think about all the things Rin probably had running around inside her head. The many events of the past couple of days and how all of that had affected her. Rin had fought tooth and nail for the first time in her life. More than that, she had lost almost everything; her purpose, her closest companion, her wings. 

       Miku watched as she jerked her own shoulder upwards again, her face souring as she was reminded of her "souvenir" from Mayu, and that final display of mental discomfort had finally done it for her.

        Her heart started beating madly knowing what she was about to do. She reached her hand out to Rin, who finally fully opened her eyes to look at it, confused.

      “Youcanholdit. I-If...you wanna!” Miku's hand, her long gentle fingers hovered above ground a decent distance away from Rin's own hands.

        Comforting Rin when she was sobbing was one thing. It was something she had done before during her life, something perfectly platonic, something any good friend would've done. But having Rin hold her hand when the angel wasn't a complete crying mess made her feel more…uneasy. It was more personal, something a little over what a normal friend would do, something that felt more like it had the potential to feed those thoughts she had about Rin. But her shaky hand still remained up, because she didn't know what else she could do to help Rin.

        The angel grabbed it. It was a simple and light hold, more focused on the palm rather than the fingers. Miku could feel the overwhelming agitated heat of Rin's gentle hand mix with the moist coldness of her own's. 

       “Is this like a hug…?” Rin quietly whispered, her tone child-like. 

        Miku let out an awkward sound, between a laugh and a gasp. “Kind…of? I don't know, you just looked really down. Does this help? Is it weird?” She started talking at a million miles an hour trying to hide the fact that she was starting to regret the awkward situation she had thrown herself into.

       “Yes. It's nice…” Rin gave it a light squeeze, which made Miku's heart skip a couple more beats.

        The angel's softened gaze finally met Miku's frantic one, her brows slightly frowning again as a result. Her stare became analytical as her irises gently darted across Miku's face, seemingly scanning it for something.   

       “Do you not like this? You look like the first time I hugged you…” She bitterly remarked, her blonde eyelashes swaying down as she looked away from Miku's face, saddened. 

       “I…” Miku was stumped. She hadn't expected Rin to still be thinking about her earlier freak out. 

        Miku didn't know how to explain to Rin social boundaries that complex.  She didn't know herself why she was this torn on the issue; why she had moments where she felt as if she could've held Rin just to comfort her and moments where her mere sight drove her insane. 

        Well, that last thought had been a half-lie of sorts. She knew. The real truth was that she just hadn't expected Rin to suddenly become so much more touchy, even though it made perfect sense; Rin was merely looking to reciprocate what she did to her. But Miku wasn't actually used to her being the one to be comforted (especially during such benign situations), that coupled with her jumbled up feelings on the angle just made for the perfect combination for a freak-out.

        Thinking how she could possibly summarize to Rin all that was inside her head she failed to quickly reply back, her lips opening and closing a couple times as Rin patiently waited.

        Miku wasn't sure if Rin could even understand something this contradictory. If she could even understand that the base of their issue also had a romantic component at play.

        She suddenly felt Rin's fingers move, slowly starting to slide out of her frozen, clammy palm. She looked up at Rin, her blue eyes shaking slightly as she stared down towards her legs, ashamed.

        Miku's hand didn't let her. Her own fingers pushed themselves into hers, their fingers intertwining as if they had a mind of their own.

        Rin lifted her gaze back at Miku again, her eyes wide and her face contorted in clear confusion and maybe the slightest bit of desperation. 

        It wasn't fair to give Rin mixed signals like this. Miku felt deep inside her chest that she owed Rin an explanation, even if it had the potential for it to be the most embarrassing thing she had ever said. She took a deep sigh and closed her eyes.

       “You're really pretty. I mean– you look like a pretty girl and because you do, sometimes I get flustered.” She quickly blurted out, her hand clasping Rin's even more. “But I want to be here for you and I know sometimes I freak out a bit because…I…don't know how to tell you...I guess no one's ever hugged me back like that before..." Miku sheepishly added. "And... looked at me like that.” 

        She finally got the courage to look at Rin head on again.

        Her face was devoid of any emotions, only her eyebrows ever so slightly raised. Even so, her lack of reaction seemed almost unnatural for the amount of emotion Miku was currently going through. The girl swore under her breath, convinced that she had somehow messed it all up and confused Rin further. 

        Rin suddenly looked let her tensed up body relax. She stuck her back into the ground and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes quickly darting across it as she thought about what to say next.

       “That makes sense.” She hummed, after what felt like an eternity to Miku. “You should've told me that I was overstepping some boundaries…”

       “Y-You're usually not! I want to hold your hand.”

        Rin turned her head to the side again to look at Miku, her short hair splayed out on the pillow. 

       “So then…Should I look less like a girl?” Her eyes narrowed as if her words were somehow testing the girl. Miku hadn't expected for Rin to actually go there, to straight forwardly acknowledge what she had just said; that her feminine form could more or less be to root of the issue.

       “Haha!!” Miku laughed nervously. “Dear God, no, that'd be so much worse.” She chuckled, her heart still beating madly.

       “Then…What should I do?” Her whispering voice sounded completely enthralled. 

       “N-nothing. Just…I think you needed to know all that.” Miku took a deep breath. “Sometimes being too close to someone makes you feel all…weird. I don't think I quite get it either. I've never been…in any situation like this ever before. It's weird.”

       “Really? I think it's nice.” Rin's tone finally took a bit of its usual pitch again. “I've never felt this connected to anyone. I've never told anyone so much about my thoughts and I've never had anyone tell me so much about theirs.” She hummed, her face relaxing into a nostalgic smile.

       “Me neither…” She sighed, looking deep into Rin's stupidly cerulean eyes.

       “Is this unusual for humans? I would've thought it would be natural to be this open with someone?” She hummed, closing her eyes for what felt like a little too long to be a blink.

       “Honestly….Yeah, it is kinda weird.” Miku chuckled again. “I mean, maybe with really close friends but even then this is sometimes…”

       “No, I think I get it.” Rin interrupted her. “Human relationships are weird and they seem to be dictated by a lot of contradicting rules. You can touch someone but not all the time. You can like someone but the way that manifests can make no sense.” She took a small break as if she was preparing to make a big philosophical point. “Like in both the vampire movie and the fantasy movie the main characters like multiple people at some point but there's so many things getting in the way of their potential relationship, and in the vampire movie it seems like the girl doesn't even choose based on facts rather just…vague emotions and misunderstandings. “ Rin furrowed her brows as if she was trying to make sense of complicated physics rather than a simple romance movie. Miku had to admit that having her complex situation compared to a love triangle didn't necessarily feel the best, but she decided to just roll with whatever Rin gave her.

       “I guess my point is that I don't think I'll ever truly get all of this and that's...fine." She hesitated for a moment, then continued speaking in here usual self assured tone. "For example-- I think some things, some biological things, I'll never understand for certain…” Even though Rin said it so plainly and elegantly Miku couldn't help but wish the floor would swallow up right then and there. “But they're a part of you and if you tell me how they work, like you did tonight, then I think it will be okay.” Her mouth curved itself into a little encouraging smile.

       “Yeah…” Miku let out an awkward huff of air. Even though her heart was still racing she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders somehow. Maybe Rin didn't understand everything that made the situation so weird, but she also didn't seem to mind as long as her Miku wasn't negatively affected.

       “I can't judge your feelings. When you say you think I'm pretty I'm-” Rin's cheeks rosied a bit. “I guess I'm happy that you like how I look, because that means you think of me positively, but I can't take it too personally. I can look like anything so it's not that big of a deal to me. But…I like how you look too. Your features are appealing.” 

        Miku could feel her face instantly heat up, which made Rin backtrack. 

       “Ah...No! Wait, maybe that's too charged of a thing to say? Does it sound too…romantic?” Rin touched her temples seriously as if she was slowly piecing together the situation right as she went along.

       “I don't mean to fluster you, I'm sorry. I guess I can see how it's easy to get these things confused for something else.” She signed, looking at Miku with a pleading expression.

       “Well…” Miku could feel her words getting stuck in her throat. She coughed up what she felt was the best she could come up with as a reply. “I'm glad you're so open with me. I guess I just gotta get used to it” 

        Rin nodded.

       “I can't not be open, right? Otherwise everything would be too confusing.” She sighed wistfully. “Maybe one day I'll get it better. Thank you for your patience, Miku. I'm sorry for not always being… appropriate with you.” She looked away, slightly biting her lower lip in what was clearly a feeling of remorse.

       “Haha…You're welcome.” She laughed, letting her head fall deeper into the pillow as she stared up at the ceiling, their hands still intertwined. 

       “I know physical proximity can be a touchy subject, but I don't get why humans regulate it so much.” Rin suddenly spoke again. “It feels really good.”

        Miku cringed, which again caused Rin to backtrack.

       “Maybe that sounds wrong?” Her tired voice felt bogged down by worry.

       “N-No! Uhm…I think most people would like to be more intimate with others. It's just that they just phrase it a little differently. But uh…how does it feel to you? Intimacy, I mean?” Calling what she and her had "intimate" made Miku lose her cool even more.

       “Oh, well, I don't mean this in any way obviously but you're soft and warm I guess that's like…In Heaven things don't really feel like much. Everything's clouds and mist if you can even call it that and the only time you feel anything is when you pick up the pen to write your records or when you're down on earth and getting punched by some demon.” Miku could feel Rin's thumb gently graze her palm as she spoke. “And here on earth literally everything has a texture, sometimes even multiple! That's-…Brother never liked it much but I think it's one of my favourite things about this place.” She sighed.

        Miku nodded. “I can't imagine living in a void for all my life and then getting drop kicked on earth of all places...”

       “Yeah…Obviously the earth is full of textures, but what's more interesting is the effect they have on me. Some textures calm me. I like feeling grass in my hands. I like feeling the ground beneath my feet and feeling the different materials it's made out of change the more I walk. I like hugging you because you're both warm and soft. Most things don't have a heat to them, or if they do it's surface level. Your heat is different, it comes from your very core and it's paired with this really interesting softness, it's not like a pillow.” Rin's tired tone was tinged with intrigue, completely ignoring how insanely flustered Miku was getting listening to it. 

       “Guilty of…being a mammal…” Miku awkwardly giggled.

       “But I dislike some textures.” Rin continued her monologue of sorts with a little less energy than before. “For example, I don't like this rug that you have in your room. It's scratchy. But in a way that makes me feel uneasy. Especially if I try to lay my back down on it.” Rin seemed to elegantly glide over her last favourite texture, almost as if she had done nothing more than listing her favourite colours rather than directly equating Miku's flesh to a heated bean bag of sorts.

       “I hate how rubbery things feel. Always irked me out.” Miku felt herself shudder as she accidentally reminded herself of the time she had tried to put on latex gloves when dying her hair. Plastic ones felt much better.

       “I've never touched rubber.” Rin's voice gradually became softer and sleepier. “What's it like?”

       “Smooth, like very smooth, and stretchy and it smells kinda weird too sometimes. Artificial. ”

       “Hmm…Rubber sounds interesting.” She hummed.

        Miku looked at Rin again only to see that she had closed her eyes once more.

       “I'll get you some balloons or something and you can tell me how they feel to you. Maybe some gloves too, those are the worst.” She giggled.

       "I'd like that..." She hummed again.

       "I'll get you an entire party's worth of balloons. My birthday is coming soon after all. You're invited, by the way." Miku snickered.

        Rin sleepily nodded. Her hand gradually lost its grip on Miku's, which signaled the human that she was probably drifting to sleep again. The girl finally let go of her hand, which Rin had no reaction to. 

        Miku closed her own eyes, her heart still beating faster than usual. She sat like that in the dark, jumbled thoughts about Rin running around her head for what had felt like an eternity. She still didn't know what to make of the conversation, but she was glad Rin had took it well. The idea that she might tone down her clinginess both relieved and somehow bothered Miku, although she tried to push that last thought down, deep into her subconscious.
        It took a long time for her brain to manage to calm down a bit but as tiredness got the best of her she drifted off into a deep sleep. 

         A sudden muffled thud made Miku's eyes fling open. Rin's head was firmly planted into her pillow, nose down, her arms gripped firmly on the blankets surrounding her. Miku's tired mind quickly put two and two together and realised that Rin had clearly fallen asleep for a bit, however long that had been, and then suddenly woken up again. 

        Almost as if Rin had somehow felt her gaze, she plucked her head out of her pillow and placed her head down on it normally, this time facing Miku. Her eyes were wide open, and her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to say something. 

        Her brows suddenly furrowed again. 

       “I'm sorry…I knew this would happen. And now you're awake again.” She spoke through her teeth.

       “Another nightmare?” Miku lazily rubbed her eyes as she did her best to wake up. 

       “You keep dying. I keep dying. We're all dying and in pain and all that. Fuck this.” She sighed bitterly, turning herself away from Miku and slamming her head into the pillow again. 

        Miku was slightly taken aback by the random cuss word.

       “I'm sorry, do you wanna talk about it?” She yawned, reaching her hand out again, gently touching Rin's back.

        She shook her head, her head rubbing against the pillow.

       “You're nice to offer but…I'm just gonna cry again. I don't want to cry all the time. At one point it's going to go away.”

       “So...you're just not going to sleep till then?” Miku sighed. She has to admit that this particular back and forth Rin had with her was not her favourite. But on the other hand she didn't know exactly how capable she would've been to act as Rin's personal therapist after that early in the morning.

       “Yeah…” Rin shrugged, annoyed. “I think I'll go outside to clear my mind.”

       “At this hour?” She yawned again.

       “Not like that matters to me…” 

        An awkward silence fell between them. Miku couldn't force her to talk about it if she didn't want to, especially considering how exhausted she felt. But she also couldn't just let Rin suffer like that.

        She blindly flung her arms around the floor until her hands found her phone. Clumsily picking it up, her phone's screen blinded her with some fuzzy numbers she could barely make out, though after some staring she could deduce that it was definitely past 4 AM. She had to wake up and start getting ready for school in about 3 hours or so. Letting Rin just sulk for that long felt cruel. 

        Miku lazily dragged herself and her “bed” next to Rin with a sleepy groan, splaying herself right next to Rin's tensed up form. Her hand gently started caressing her back, making its way up to her shoulders in a circular motion.

       “You need to sleep, you look really tired.” Rin finally jerked herself around again, facing Miku. Her tone sounded worried. 

       “You need to sleep… you look really tired…” Miku mimicked her lazily, her eyes still closed.

       “Huff…That's mean.” Rin sighed. “I-I can't.” Her voice started shaking. “I can't sleep if I keep seeing those h-horrible things.”

        Miku blindly extended her hands until they touched Rin, seemingly around where her shoulders would be. She gave them a good rub, which caused Rin to immediately curl herself closer to Miku, in the way she had done earlier during the day when venting her frustrations out to Miku. 

       “Do you…want a hug?” Miku lazily widened her arms, uncovering some of the blanket she had on her in the process, waiting for Rin to come crashing down as she always did.

       She kept waiting with her hands in the air but Rin remained motionless. 

       “Is it fine with you?” She finally asked meekly.

       “Okay, let's settle something for good.” Miku sighed, opening her eyes with great difficulty to look at the worried Rin. “If I offer… you can always say yes and I won't mind. If you want to give me one, you can ask if you're unsure.” Miku opened her arms wide again. “Come on, a short little hug and then I think I'm gonna fall asleep for real. And if you're still antsy then you can go outside and…hold hands with…whatever creeps are probably running around.” She yawned, her eyes watering.

       “Okay…” 

        Rin carefully pressed her forehead to Miku's chest, tucking her arms close to her own body.

        Miku finally let her arms fall down and wrap themselves around Rin, gently closing in the gap between their bodies with a familiar hug. The last thought she had was her deciding to keep her arms around her for as long as Rin would need.

        Some time passed before Miku was woken up by a nagging thought inside her brain, that manifested itself under the form of an accelerated heart beat and peculiar body temperature. Even more time passed before Miku even realised that she had fallen asleep in the first place. Confused, she tried to open her eyes only to find that they were seemingly glued shut from sleep. She wondered why she had even awakened, at first waving it off to her usual light sleep, then slowly remembering that she was actually supposed to do…something. 

        Another good minute passed before she realised that she was holding something inside of her arms. Something bigger than her usual blanket or plushies, definitely not as soft and formless, Not to mention that it felt weirdly cold to the touch. Her brain buffered for a little longer until it finally connected the dots together. That something was Rin. 

        Her hands flew off the angel, landing awkwardly around her body.

        Slightly panicked that they had fallen asleep in such a way, she eagerly awaited for Rin to move so that she could fall asleep again. 

        But Rin didn't move. Her head was buried deep into Miku's chest, refusing to budge, unphased by the sudden movements in Miku's arms. 

        Realising that she had definitely fallen asleep for good, Miku's heart began racing crazily, momentarily knocking her out of her exhausted state. 

        It couldn't have been that long, she thought. Or at least it didn't feel like it had been very long. She looked around for her phone to check the time but she quickly realised that it was way out of her reach.

        She lowered her arms again, this time very carefully so as to not touch Rin and wake her up. The angel's entire body felt cold pressed next to hers, her thin arms tucked tightly next to her own body. Moving herself would've been impossible without also depriving Rin of her support and thus definitely waking her up for sure.

        Her field of vision began to shake with the thuds of her heart. If pretty stares and gentle hand holds had been enough to send her desperate self spiraling then this was definitely a bit too much to handle for her. Having Rin in her arms as she slept was…something completely different than just holding her while she wept. Hell, it was completely different than holding hands. Miku began to desperately turn her head around pillow, looking for anything to aid her in getting Rin out of their nonconsensual embrace.

        Before long, her head began to pound from tiredness, her throbbing temples practically begging her to just go back to sleep already. It was the type of warm, dizzying headache capable of completely ridding one's head of any other thoughts besides the desire for rest. She had to get some sleep in, even if just for a couple hours. But she was afraid that moving to a differet spot would would wake Rin up. That would've been such a cruel thing to do after Rin had taken so long to fall asleep.

        It seemed like the only thing she could do was continue sleeping with Rin inside her arms. Miku sighed, knowing that this development would severely stunt her attempts on keeping her thoughts about Rin purely platonic. But if life really insisted on giving Miku lemons....

        She gently wrapped the arm on her side around Rin again, her breathing shaky. 

        Just like the other times she had moved, Rin showed no signs of being bothered by Miku.

        She exhaled in relief and plucked her other arm from under her pillow and placed it on the pillow, using it as a head rest of sorts. The position was more comfortable, but there was still something nagging her sleepy mind, something that kept her from instantly falling asleep as she would've wanted. A selfish curiosity mixed with the intensity of the prior moment combined, a mix of emotions perfectly tailored for keeping her from falling asleep.

        It had been purely by chance that when she had covered Rin with her arm, her hand had accidently grazed the tips of Rin's hair, her soft ends gently tickling her palm and leaving a weird feeling behind. The tingly sensation still echoed throughout her body, reminding her of her earlier question about how the angel's hair must've felt to the touch. Now she was more curious than ever. Probably because she also finally had the chance to find out.

        Miku thought about it for a solid minute, battling with her common sense until her curiosity won and she finally gave in. She carefully lifted her hand back up and started playing with her hair, slowly wrapping small chunks of it around her fingers and rubbing between her thumb and index. It felt pretty similar to what she had imagined, more like tufts of synthetic fur rather than hair; it was glossy and soft, lacking the innate, barely perceived roughness real hair had. Despite that it was still a comforting sensation, maybe because it was paired with the emotional aspect as well. Getting a bit too brave, she mindlessly dug her hand through the back of her layered hair, her fingers gently touching her scalp as they separated the layers of hair in a repetitive motion. Feeling the entirety of Rin's head inside her palm was exhilarating, stroking and petting at it as if they somehow held the entirety of Rin's existence. Her finger tips eventually found her ear, gently uncovering it from under her waves of hair with a lot of small, fine movements, moving up small strands of hair around her face and pulling it behind her ears. Tracing the same pattern over and over, Miku could feel a small smirk form on her face. As her hand eventually moved on to petting other parts of her hair, those closer to the angel's face, she inevitably hit her hand against her own chest. Confused, Miku lifted her head to see just how close Rin was stuck to her.

        Covered by her blanket and deceived by her sleepy state, Miku had truly failed to realise just how close the two were to one another. The angel's face was practically nestled inside her own boobs, leaving Miku with nothing but a full head of golden hair to stare at.

        She jerked her head back and exhaled loudly, both impressed and ticked off by how badly she had failed to grasp the intimacy of the situation. Her heart started beating so loudly she could feel Rin's face pick up the shaking inside her hollow chest . On the subject of Rin--Miku couldn't help but wonder if the had the angel chosen to bury her face inside her tits or if had only been a coincidence, a natural progression of events. Intoxicated by the idea that Rin could actually be into her carnally, she quickly imagined a possible scenario: maybe Rin had woken up again and unable to control her weird exaggerated love for physical affection, chose to butt her head firmly right into her chest. Miku's mind ran wild with such thoughts, even though she had to admit that it was unlikely for Rin to be that perverted. 

        Miku could feel herself redden from a familiar sense of shame the more she thought about it. She involuntarily looked back down at the poor victim of her fantasies.

        Seemingly with a mind of its own, she watched as her hand gently pushed her head a bit more into her chest, a movement Rin had no reaction to.

        Even though she felt ridiculous and embarrassed, like her life was currently being ripped out of a smutty book, there was also a tangible thrill to the situation. The thought of having someone so close to you, sleeping, your hands free to do whatever they wanted with them, was unheard of for Miku, more akin to a fantasy she'd fall asleep to rather than a reality. 

        More so, she was still glad that her friend had finally managed to calm down enough to sleep. And if this was the way to do it then…maybe it really wasn't so bad.

        She lowered her pounding head back into its usual position, her hand still lazily twirling itself around her soft hair. Miku had to admit that the more time passed the more she started to completely dismiss any worries she initially had about her her predicament. Aided by her tiredness, she continued to slowly pushed the worries she had about the consequences of getting feelings for Rin at the back of her mind, replacing them with the onslaught of pleasant feelings their small cuddle brought her. Maybe there could never be anything between them, but at least there could be this moment; a small piece of what a real relationship could feel like: sleeping cuddles, late-night talks and intense stares and conversations. And as long as Miku would be able to accept it as a one time occurrence and not dwell on it further, everything would turn out alright between them.
        
        After what felt like a dizzying eternity she eventually fell asleep again, Rin still tightly clutched inside her arms

Chapter Text

        Rin woke up feeling something pulsating against her face. Although pulsating wasn't necessarily the correct word to describe the feeling; it was like something inside her pillow was suddenly moving at regular intervals of time, bothering her more and more with every low monotone beat it sent right into her face.

        Saying that Rin's head was “resting” on the pillow was a bit of an exaggeration, something she quickly realised as well the more she woke up from her sleepy state. Instead of it being delicately placed on top her head was, rather, smooshed into it completely, as if the pillow had somehow developed a will of its own that made it dead-set on trying to "suffocate" Rin. It wasn't just the pillow that was unnaturally toppling over her; Rin could feel something more resting against her body, it's warm weight pushing down on her.  The more Rin thought about her weird situation the more she realised that maybe she was not resting against an usual pillow. For starters it wasn't all soft, like a pillow usually was, though some parts of it seemed squishy to her face. From the way the monotone thumps sounded she could tell that it was also a hollow material of sorts, rather than the solid block of spongy cushioned fabric she was used to.

        Still somewhat groggy, she tried moving her face around, trying to maybe unstick the weird cushion off her face. 

        Her nose rubbed against a big solid area which felt remarkably different to the material around her cheeks; that of an impossible softness, changing itself with her movements to better fit her face. It felt more like a pillow, but even then there was some sort of shifting weight and dynamicity to it that Rin found confusing. Every movement of her face, no matter how small, seemed to disturb the squishy material into a slightly different state than before, though it always ended up "snapping" right back into Rin's feature's perfectly. All of this as the weird, repetitive beats showed no sign of stopping.

        She let out a small huff of air, which immediately returned into her face as it bounced off her “pillow”. The sound was relaxing in a way, repetitive and monotone as it was. Maybe because it somehow reminded her of something that she had vaguely heard and acknowledged before, but hadn't quite ever stopped to study in its entirety. 

        To her tired mind, it sort of sounded like a heartbeat. Rin shook her head, almost as if she wanted to drive the thought out of her mind, sending the nearby ““pillow””, the one so comfortably smooshed around her face, jiggling with a momentum Rin was now sure no soft cushion could replicate.

        To say that things were starting to feel weird to the angel was an understatement. The ”””pillow""" also had a smell to it; a similar scent to the one most well washed fabrics seemed to have, although the only time Rin could smell anything remotely close to that was whenever she hugged Miku. She wondered if maybe Miku's weird squishy ‘half-solid’ pillows just happened to be washed with the same detergents as her own clothes. She took a better whiff and was suddenly hit with another scent, stemming from under the textile cover of the “””””pillow"""”; something less synthetic and more organic. Bitter yet sweet. But most damning of all, undeniably not pillow-like. Undeniably human.

        Rin practically pushed herself out of Miku's embrace, rolling herself on the floor as she frantically tried to widen the space between them.

        She sprung up on all fours, looking back in shock at what had until then been her “””””pillow"""”: the very center of Miku's chest, the one place she knew she was under no circumstances allowed to touch. 

        Miku's sleeping body, devoid of the structure that used to keep it from falling on its abdomen, rolled over to its back. The girl's limp head shot up as it sank deeper into the pillow, her closed gaze aimed right at the ceiling. 

        Relieved that her sudden movement hadn't woken Miku up, Rin sighed and went back to dealing with the guilty flurry of thoughts running around her head. She didn't know how it had gotten to such a point. The last thing she remembered was her falling asleep in Miku's arms after the exhausted girl so graciously offered herself a small embrace to help with her troubles. She correctly presumed that she must've accidentally fallen asleep during the awkwardly long embrace, leaving Miku with no choice but to let the angel rest inside of her arms. And since Rin had only woken up now, Miku had also fallen asleep herself at some point during the night.

        Rin sighed, disappointed in what had happened because of her negligence. It was not that she minded sleeping like that, if anything she found the thought comforting. But she knew that if Miku was a bit weirded out by her attempts at “intimacy” before, then something like this had the potential to complicate the relationship between them even further.

        Rin sighed again, as her eyes unwillingly fixated the girl's boobs, the great source of all her current issues in life. Now that Miku was lying on her back they seemed of a flatter shape, definitely smaller than the good amount of boob Rin had shoved her face into. Their newfound form made Rin feel as if they were somehow trying to hide themselves from her in shame. 

        Miku let out a small snore, startling Rin and reminding her that staring at any woman's chest was definitely not the correct thing to do in any given situation. 

        Looking around the messy array of blankets that was Miku's room, Rin quickly realised that there was a lot of light shining in from outside. Which obviously meant that day had started and that Miku also needed to eventually get up and go to school. 

        Staring around she eyed her phone, crawling on the floor until finally got to the spot she was initially supposed to fall asleep in. 

        Her device's mocking wallpaper greeted her with a big ‘7:51 AM’

        Rin had a feeling that it was a bit too late of an hour for Miku to still be asleep. Taking a small moment to listen (and filter out Miku's breaths and other inconsequential sounds) she could also faintly hear movement happening downstairs, steps and human voices along with china clanking against each other. 

        She crawled back to Miku's side, neatly sitting down criss-cross next to her sleeping body. Her hand reached out, ready to poke her. Something stopped her from doing so right as her fingertips were about to touch her arm.

        Miku's unnaturally coloured hair shone gently in the morning light, fine strands scattered all around, poking out of her rolled up ponytail and messily making their way onto her pillows and face. Her bangs lacked their usual segmented style, her front hair making its way to places it shouldn't have been in, like for example her eyes or the very sides of her head. 

        Her eyelashes gently shook under the imperceptible movements of her eye as she slept–-something Rin didn't even know eyes could do when they were supposed to be resting. It was a movement she found mesmerising; the small twitches of her eyelids followed by the occasional wrinkling of her under eye. 

        Seeming displeased, her brows suddenly furrowed as her face “soured up” in what Rin could only describe as an expression that looked as if something had suddenly started to bother the girl.

        Her chapped lower lip thinned itself into a small line, a displeased frown of sorts, before Miku finally seemed to subconsciously address her discomfort by rolling over on her other side with a lazy groan.

        Rin wasn't quite sure what had upset the girl, although the blazing morning sun hitting her directly in the face should have probably been enough of a hint to her.

        Faced with her back, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that Miku had forcefully stopped Rin from her people staring–- something she had promised not to do while she slept.

        She extended her hand out and shook Miku's back a little bit, feeling the familiar soft skin under her pajamas as she did.

        Miku instantly let out a groan, which made Rin flick her hand away, scared that she had somehow annoyed her friend.

        Sadly for her, she quickly had to return to her disrespectful activity as Miku refused to wake up on her own.

      “Mnghh….” She groaned, much louder, as Rin's shaking became more and more insistent. “Go ask…Haku…” Was all she could mumble in reply.

       “To wake you up?” Rin's doubtful voice echoed around the room, suddenly putting a stop to Miku's groans. 

        Some time passed before Miku moved again.

        Grumbling, she tossed to her side, looking up at Rin confused. Her eyes were small, more like two slits, seemingly stuck together from her sleep, yet her pupils rapidly moved back and forth on Rin's face as they inspected it.

        With another groan, she closed them again.

       “What's the time…” She yawned, lazily lifting her arm to rub at her eyes.

        Rin checked her phone again. “7:59” She chirped. “Is that late?” 

        Suddenly, Miku let out a groan so loud Rin could only describe it as sounding like something only a great amount of pain could cause. 

        Before Rin could ask what happened she moaned “I'm so late…” and furiously jumped out of bed.  “I forgot to set the alarm last niiight!” She sighed furiously.

       “When does school start?” 

       “Now.” Miku groaned as she tried her best to stand upright, clearly struggling to wake up in the process. Her movements were forced and her limbs looked as if they were heavy and unresponsive than usual, especially her head. Her neck bent down under its weight as if it was too much to bear. The sight felt oddly relatable to Rin, her chest tightening in pity as she looked up at her friend.

        Up on her feet, Miku suddenly started walking around, taking a couple shaky steps until she made her way in front of a closet, from which she pulled a handful of clothes from a set of identical looking ones.

       “If I catch the 8:10 bus maybe I'll make it to the second period…” She started mumbling to herself, growing more and more antsy the more the situation sunk in for her. “Ugh, but I'll definitely still be late! Mr. Kaito is going to kill me…” She let out a distressed groan as she made her way to her desk, from under which she pulled her usual school bag. Rummaging through it, she suddenly remembered Rin's existence and turned around to look at her.

       “Can you go downstairs and tell my sisters that I woke up late? Not that they can do anything but…Oh, and can you please find my water bottle too? I think I left it somewhere on the couch.” Miku sighed as she furiously rubbed her temples.

       “Alright!” Rin quickly dashed out of the room and quickly made her way down the stairs.

        As the angel ran through the living room, she couldn't help but overhear an conversation that seemed to currently take place in the kitchen. 

       “I mean, I really think you're gonna be fine. I can't really notice it.” Neru's loud and shrill voice echoed around the house.

       “But…You know, the doctor said it's bound to happen! I can't not be paranoid.” Haku's much quieter voice followed with what seemed to be her usual desperate tone. 

       “Well it's not like anyone but us gets a good look at you anyways. Lazy eye, normal eye– If you see the same I don't think it matters.” Neru's deadpan voice replied, quickly followed by the sound of running water.

       “That's…Not true though. We do get people over sometimes.” Haku's tone became even softer, although Rin could still clearly make out her voice.

       “Is this about that Rin girl? Because otherwise I can't remember the last time we had any rando over.” The sound of water randomly stopped.

       “I suppose…” 

       “Why would you care about what someone like her would think? She's SO weird.” Neru snarked, her remark followed by the sound of feet walking around.

       “Neru! I think she was very nice.” Haku sighed.

       “I mean, yeah, but who on earth can scream like a grown man like that? That's weird. Not to mention she didn't eat anything…Is that why she's so short, do you think she's malnourished?” She sounded quite smug about her mean replies.

       “Neru, that's none of our business. I think she was very nice. I'm just glad Miku has a friend.”

        Reminded of her mission, Rin went back to scanning the room for the water bottle she was sent after.

       “Ugh, couldn't she get a normal friend? This one stared at me so much last night… Did she not stare at you too?” Neru boomeranged back to the discussion. 

      “What? Uhm…I think she might've a little…But honestly I'm used to way worse. I think she just stares at everyone. Can we talk about something else?” Haku sighed again.

       “No heavy metal sampling and no history museum trips. No, I won't scream into the microphone for you. Yes, I will go to whatever exhibit you wanna go to but only if Miku stays at home cause I hate hearing her ramblings.”

       “Sigh…Okay! Then no bad mouthing Miku or her friend!” Haku seemed to finally catch a little more fire in her voice. A little pause followed, in which Rin finally resumed her searches at full speed. She couldn't see the bottle anywhere out in the open on the coffee table or couches, so she started checking under all the cushions she could find, gradually lifting them all up one by one.

       “Would it be bad mouthing if I brought up the fact that she still hasn't woken up? I thought her school started early.” Neru suddenly spoke again.

       “You're right…I wonder what happened, she's not the type to oversleep like this. Didn't she have some test today…No?”

       “Didn't you hear them giggling till late at night? I had to whip out some ear plugs to cover them. Tehehehehe.” Neru let out a crude impression of what was supposed to be their laughs. Although her attitude annoyed Rin, she tried to pay it no mind as she kept walking around the living room, rudely rummaging through it.

       “I mean, I did but, I still think it's weird for her not to be up. Should we go check in on them?” 

       “Nooo!” Neru let out a playful groan. “Maybe Miku is being cool for once and just skipping school, let her do it.” Neru giggled. 

      “You can be so mean sometimes. I'll go check on her now.” 

        Rin let out an “aha” as her leg suddenly hit something metallic. When she bent down to look she finally spotted what she assumed to be Miku's water bottle: a long, blue metal cylinder with a small cap at the top. 

        Grabbing it she could feel that it was quite heavy, filled with a liquid that was sploshing inside with every movement Rin's hand made.

        Haku's small footsteps suddenly started making their way out of the kitchen and closer to the living, making the angel look up at her as she entered the dining room.

       “Oh! Y-You're awake!” Haku gasped stopping right in her tracks, clutching her chest as if Rin's sudden sight had scared her greatly. “Is…Miku awake too?” 

       “She is, she sent me down to get her bottle.” Rin extended her hand, showing it to Haku as proof. “She also told me to tell you guys that she's gonna be late. I think she's getting dressed now”

       “Oh, uhmm..” Haku smiled awkwardly then wordlessly started making her way back into the kitchen. 

       “Give me her lunch box!” Rin could hear her whisper to Neru.

       “Huh? Here. What happened?” Neru spoke in her usual loud tone.

       “Rin's in the (...) she heard us…?” Haku's soft voice was covered by a loud electric buzzing sound of a kitchen device Rin didn't know the name of.

       “So she's up?” Neru continued talking loudly over the machine’ noises, giving Rin the impression that the girl was either deaf or just really unbothered by Rin's presence.

        Almost as if Neru's question had summoned her, Miku came stomping down the stairs, her eyes glued to her phone. Wearing her usual school clothes, her hair tied in two low hanging ponytails, resting on her shoulders as she walked closer to the still standing Rin. 

       “Thanks.” She snatched the bottle out of Rin's still extended hand, hurriedly shoving it in one of the pockets of her bag. 

        Haku came running towards her, a small box in hand.

       “Here you go. Hope I did it how you like it.” She smiled as she handed it to Miku, who hurriedly passed it off to Rin to hold.

       “Thanks, I gotta run off now! I'm so late!” Miku dashed towards the door, looking back at Rin right as she was about to open it.

       “Aren't you coming?” She raised her eyebrows in a way that made Rin feel as if she was obligated to say yes.

       “Erm…Su-” 

        Miku opened the door and ran outside before she could even finish her sentence, leaving the door wide open in the process.

       “Goodbye Haku!” Rin waved at the woman as she hurriedly grabbed the door and closed it behind her as she left.

        Rin chased outside after Miku, who was running towards what the angel assumed to be the general direction of the bus stop. She effortlessly caught up to her, leisurely running by her aside as she studied the suburban landscape around her. The sidewalk they were currently running on Rin found particularly pleasant to the eye: it was lined with trees and green spaces that separated it from both the main road and the other house's gated front yards. Even though the sun was shining brightly, the air swooshing around her face was cold and humid, noticeably lacking the usual dusty and heavy smell of pollution the city usually had. 

        The angel gingerly ran alongside Miku, studying the many trees and other plants around her until finally remembered the little box Miku had handed her. Looking down at it, it had a transparent lid of sorts that revealed its insides: a puffy, yellow substance that was generously coated in many small, ring looking green bits. It was still warm and bringing it up to her face she could vaguely sense a mild food smell emanating from it. Rin couldn't quite recognize what it was; it had a slight protein smell to it like meat had, paired with a bitter vegetable smell as well.

       “Is this your breakfast?” She waved the box in front of Miku's face, seemingly snapping the girl away from her own thoughts.

       “Hah, yeah!” She huffed. “Omelette.”

       “Is that a sort of meat? And what's with the green stuff on top?”

       “It's made from eggs. Huff. And the green stuff is spring onion.” Miku laughed. 

        Rin looked down at the small box again. Miku sure seemed to like green onion in particular, as the omelette seemed to both be made and coated with generous amounts of it.

       “Huff…huff…” Miku began panting, her brows furrowed as she ran, her heavy bag rattling on her back and swinging side to side.

       “Are you okay?” Rin finally glued her eyes away from her lunch box to look back at Miku, who looked more than ready to pass out from the physical exercise. 

       “Huff…Yes!…It's ... huff…Fine…!” Her breathing was rapid and her speech slurred from effort.

        “Want me to carry your bag?” 

       “It's…huff…” Miku finally took a small break from her running (turned light jog) to throw the bag off her back and into her shaky hands. “Heavy….It's heavy.” She panted, then took a big breath as she used both of her hands to offer it to Rin. The angel opened one of its compartments, throwing the lunch box inside. Then she grabbed it by one of its straps and threw it on her back in an effortless manner, as if she was handling an empty cardboard bag rather than a heavy book-filled backpack.

        Miku's expression became envious for a small moment before returning to its pained, exhausted state as she bent over to let out a couple more pants. 

        In response, Rin playfully took the bag off her back and effortlessly lifted up above her head using one hand.

        Miku raised her head to look up at her. “Jeez…Okay…Show off…” She giggled before she shortly resumed her jogging. 

        Rin threw the bag back on her back and followed suit.

       “So where's this bus stop?” Rin casually asked, doing her best to keep up with Miku's slow pace. Her legs were staring to ache for an actual sprint, not what felt to her like a nice stroll in the park.

       “Close…There!” Miku pointed towards a small sign in the distance, not further than a good 50 meters away.

        Her pace intensified back into something that resembled more of a run again, Rin speeding up as well.

       “Huff…” Miku practically collapsed on the bench of the empty bus stop, letting her limbs fall heavily besides herself as she slouched. Her body looked as if it was just about to slide off the bench and collapse on the cement below it.

        Even in this state, Miku found the strength to whip out her phone from her skirt's pocket. Her widened eyes scanned the device for a moment, her mouth suddenly letting out a blood curdling groan.

       “What's-” 

       “WE MISSED IT! IT CAME EARLY !!” She let out another groan, her head rolling back and her hand falling limply beside her, phone sliding out of her hand and onto the bench with a small thud.

        Rin cautiously sat herself next to Miku, taking the bag off her back again and letting it rest on the ground in between her legs.

       “Do you have any important classes that you're in danger of missing from?”

        Miku nodded. “Second period; Math. Possible test.” She sighed.

       “Possible?”

       “Yeah, he does that. Frankly, I forgot about it completely. But if he does give it and I don't take it I'm gonna be in a buncha’ trouble cause he never just lets you take tests whenever he always makes you wait till the end of the year and-” Miku let out another groan, and checked her phone again. “Next bus comes in 20 minutes.” She sulked.

       “That's not too bad, is it?” 

       “No, but it'd mean I'd, at best, only get there halfway through the class.” She sighed, her head falling limply to the side. “And before you ask, no. I cannot take anything else to get there. Only my dad drives and he's not home. And no, I can't take any other bus. This part of town has shit transit.” She groaned again, picking her phone up once more.

        Rin sighed and looked around herself. The surroundings were particularly empty considering the time of day, lacking in both pedestrians and cars. Which allowed for the calming sounds of nature to take hold of the sunny atmosphere, leaves of the nearby trees rustling with every small change in the pleasant breeze.

        She could hear birds chirping from the trees above and when she looked up she was able to pinpoint a flock of them. Small brown birds, (sparrows; though she didn't know their name) jumped around from branch to branch, chirping and fluttering their small wings as they happily went on about their day, unaware of the complete bus-related tragedy that had just taken place under them.

        As she stared up at the foliage, intently watching one of the smaller birds flutter its wings, struggling to land on a particularly busy branch, Rin suddenly came up with a radical idea for her situation. 

        She twisted herself to look back at Miku, who was still stuck in the same exhausted looking position; her eyes glued to her phone as her fingers kept on swiping on and on at her screen, endlessly refreshing the unchanging time table of the bus.

        Rin could feel herself become overcome with guilt the more she looked at her zombie-looking friend.

       “Miku. I got an idea. It's a bit risky though.” Rin dragged herself closer to her.

       “Hm? Anything, man.” She sighed as she finally closed her phone and looked up at Rin.

       “I can try to fly you there. It can't be more than a couple minutes even at a slower speed than I'm used to.” Her eyes sparkled with a serious expression as she spoke.

        Miku's tired gaze scanned Rin's face for a good couple seconds before what the angel had said seemed to finally sink in.

       “Wh-” Miku suddenly jolted up. “Fly!? But-! I thought you said you needed to hide your wings now! Because other angels could see them a-and!” Suddenly refreshed, Miku's eyes widened in excitement as she looked at Rin.

       “It's…risky. But you'll be late otherwise. And I think a 10 minute flight wouldn't be crazy dangerous. Just…a normal amount.” She rubbed her left arm. “This math test sounds very important to you.” Rin seriously closed her eyes, trying to weigh the emergency of the situation compared to the risks. On one hand, she really disliked the thought of exposing Miku to any more angelic related dangers. As Luka had also implied, flying meant that she'd be easily spotted by any angel or demons; a situation Rin had no desire to deal with in general, much less with Miku in her close proximity. On the other, she also felt like she was the main reason Miku was late in the first place, something she wanted to try to make up for. 

       “Oh my god! Yeah! Let's do it!” Miku's usual enthusiasm kicked back into full gear. “Oh my god, I've never even flown before! Like, in an airplane, I mean, much less like this…Will anyone see us?”

        Rin was starting to doubt the safety of her proposal, but she knew that it was a little too late for her to turn back now. 

       “People…shouldn't be able to see anything. I'm pretty sure it would be pretty incomprehensible to the human mind.” She awkwardly rubbed her arms as she tried to avoid Miku's insistent gaze.

       “Then let's do it! Let's go!!” She got up on her feet and started excitedly shuffling them around. “I'm gonna be able to see the entire city, that's so cool! I'm gonna be like Superman! Should I go get a cape?” She excitedly yelled down at Rin as the angel was sluggishly trying to get off the bench. She put Miku's backpack on and then looked around carefully. 

       “What are you doing?” Miku asked.

       “I don't want any nearby humans to see this. If it were an emergency I wouldn't hesitate but…” She trailed off as her vision carefully scanned her surroundings. Cars rarely passed by them on the main road and she hadn't seen one pedestrian walking around yet.

  She bent herself forwards a little bit, almost as if to anticipate the force her wings would sprout out of her body with. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long while, a release of energy that both relaxed her and agitated her greatly. Something inside her had shifted with the sudden appearance of the wings, something material and very foreign to her. Rin almost felt like gagging when she remembered about the demon cores inside of her. Luka had been right after all; meddling with her form did seem to disturb the matter keeping them in place as well. Trying to rid her mind of the unpleasant thought, she stretched her immaterial wings, fluttering them a little as she started thinking about what the best way to set flight would be.

       “Oh wow…” Miku gasped as she took a good couple steps back to really take in Rin's wings. 

        “Alright, I'll keep your bag on my back; I don't think it'll bother. Now do you wanna…Should I grab you by the arms or…?” Rin crooked her head to the side, humming as she looked Miku up and down, trying to decide which limb would be safest to drag her by. 

       “M-My arms?” She choked up. “Wait- You mean you wanna fly around with me dangling by my arms…?” Her excitement faded into a mix of confusion and doubt. “I think that's kind of dangerous…” She ultimately shook her head, giving Rin a dissatisfied look.

       “Hm…” Rin kept humming as she impatiently tapped her foot, her wings gently rustling behind her with every small movement. “Then how do you say we should go about it?” She anxiously looked around, hoping that Miku would come up with a solution before any human could come into the picture and ruin Rin's peace of mind.

       “I did not think about that.” Miku laughed. “I think you gotta…” She trailed off. “I mean, no- obviously you could…”

       “Could what?” 

       “Carry…me?” She cringed as she raised her shoulders in an akward shrug of sorts. “Bridal carry?” 

       “Oh!” Rin slapped her forehead, amused. “Sure thing, that was so obvious. What's ‘bridal carry’, though?” 

       “You pick me up in your arms like… One arm is holding my legs and the other…Uhh..” She trailed off, clearly embarrassed that she had to explain such an intimate position to Rin.

       “Yeah!” Rin nodded, then unexpectedly closed the gap between them, lifting Miku up by her armpits as someone would a kitten. 

       “Wh- Ah!” Miku flailed around for a second, then quickly calmed down. She stared down at the shorter “girl” effortlessly holding her up above her head with a confused and amazed expression. 

       “I-I meant something else. I should probably just show you a picture though.” She awkwardly laughed as Rin gently placed her back down again.

        She took her phone out of her pocket and started quickly tapping away at it. Then she showed Rin a picture of what she had meant. A couple, clearly just married, the woman held by her legs and back by the man. It looked simple enough to Rin and it was definitely safer than her original idea. 

       “Oh! Okay! Can I try again?” She looked up at Miku as the girl hurriedly shoved her phone back in her pocket.

       “Go ahead.” She nodded.

        Rin effortlessly scooped her up by the waist, maneuvering the girl into the desired position as if she was trying to flip around a pillow rather than carry a human being. 

        Startled by the suddenness of the movements, Miku clung herself to Rin's neck, trying her best to get a little control of the situation. 

       “Are you okay?” Rin looked down at Miku, who had inadvertently shoved her face right into Rin's neck. “You can let go. I'm not gonna drop you.” She giggled. 

         Miku reluctantly did as she was told, creating a little more space between them as a result. Her face was a deep shade of red, which made Rin feel like maybe she had done something wrong. Before she could ask, she could faintly hear the sound of a car approaching in the distance. She promptly decided that questions could be asked later.

       “Okay, I'm gonna take off now. I think you should hang on tight again.” Miku wordlessly followed her advice as she nestled herself in the same position again.

        Rin folded her wings together and then crouched down. Pushing in her feet with all of her strength, she jumped off the ground and sprung high up into the air. At the peak of her jump she unfolded her wings and began flapping them around to keep herself flying mid air. Miku let out a delayed shriek of excitement as she held onto her, looking down at the now miniature street. 

       “Oh my god!” She screamed, her hands still clenched around Rin's neck. “This is so high up!” She shrieked happily. 

       “Not really. The air is still pretty light and warm. And look, the treetops are just a couple meters below.” 

        She slowly flew down, clumsily sticking her feet in a nearby tree's canopy. The motion caused all of the birds that had until then rested on the branches to go haywire, flying away as they angrily chirped at the smirking angel.

       “You can go higher?!” Miku shrieked again as she watched Rin's foot poke at the branches below them. “How high?” 

        Rin shrugged, bobbing up Miku's body as she did. “I never went up into orbit but I think I could. It's kind of cold up there– I've never been a big fan of it. Not to mention the landscapes are just…clouds.” Rin giggled. “Isn't this much more fun?” She tried lowering Miku so she could get a better touch of the leaves too, but the girl refused to detach herself from her neck, grabbing at her back and starting to whine every time she could feel Rin's arms move under her.

       “Don't drop me! Don't drop meee!!” She pleaded, her voice a mix of genuine fear and excitement. The angel could feel her hot cheeks press against her neck as she clung to Rin.

       “I'm not. And even if I would accidentally lose my grip on you I can definitely fly faster than you can fall.” She clutched the girl closer to her chest again as she began flying away from the tree.

       “I don't wanna test that out at aaaall!” Miku laughed nervously as she gradually began releasing Rin from her grip. 

        Rin flapped her wings faster, quickly gaining a bit more altitude as she began flying away and towards where she felt the school was located. 

       “Know where to go?” Miku asked after a little while, seemingly after she had gotten enough staring at the jaw dropping view below her. 

       “Think so. If I go somewhere once I usually remember where it is for at least a little while…” Rin spoke as she gradually began speeding up, the wind starting to hit her face more aggressively as she did.

       “So you got an in-built compass?” Miku screamed, trying to cover the deafening wind howling around them. “Can you (...)?” Her voice cut off.

       “Huh?” 

       “CAN YOU GO SLOWER?” Miku yelled inside of her ears.

       “Ah! Sure.” Rin shook her head, trying to recover from the loud noise she had just been assaulted by. “I didn't know this was too fast for you.” Rin casually replied as she lowered the frequency of her wing’s movements, relaxing them into a casual glide. 

        Miku shivered in reply. “I'm getting cold up here. And the wind is messing my hair up, ugh.” She sighed, nervously patting her bangs down with a hand she reluctantly unstuck from Rin's neck. “But the view is so pretty…” She looked back down again at the miniature city, its busy roads and bustling pedestrians reduced to abstract moving dots and thumb-sized squares. 

       After a short while Miku spoke. “I think I recognize that boulevard.” She pointed towards a certain street on the ground. 

       “Really? That's very cool. Let's go see it up close.” Rin began descending as elegantly as she could, slowly making her way down until she was practically hovering above a busy sidewalk, her feet dangling above the heads of the busy pedestrians who went on about their day paying no mind to the floating girls above them.

       “Oh wow…They really can't see us!” Miku looked down at the people less than a couple meters below her suspended body.

       “Mhm. Seems like you're too incomprehensible for them.” Rin nodded as she started flapping her wings more aggressively, trying to gain back the altitude she had lost.

       “What would happen if you dropped me from up here?” Miku asked, looking down at the once again miniature city. “Not that I want to!” She quickly clarified herself.

       “Don't know. I think they'd just assume you fell off a nearby building. Some of them might even claim that they saw you up there before you jumped too. Human brains have a weird way of dealing with what they can't understand.” 

       “What if I somehow lived through the fall and told everyone it was actually just an angel who picked me up and threw me into the ground?” 

       “I think they'd all say that you've really hurt your head.” Rin laughed.

       “But what if you'd just gently dropped me in?” 

       “I don't think most would even notice. They'd just filter out the fact that you randomly popped out of nowhere.” 

       “Damn…” Miku sighed, awestruck. “How many times do you think I had an angel do crazy stuff to someone else right in front of me and I didnt even notice?” She sighed.

       “Probably not too many. Angels try to not directly involve humans in their activities too much. It's in The Code.” 

       “Why?”

      “It…it can't be too good for you guys.” Rin frowned, suddenly reminded of the fact that Miku was technically also a part of said category. “I don't know the details too well but…” She trailed off, staring down at the rooftops of the buildings as she flew above them.

        After a couple silent minutes, Miku squealed in delight: “Oh, I can see my school!” 

        Rin quickly started descending towards the familiar building, its surrounding greenery making it stick out amongst the sea of grey concrete streets.

        Right as she was preparing to swoop in and land she remembered that the impact of such a movement might be a little too much for Miku, who was still bundled up in her arms. Skillfully, she spread her wings wide and used them as a parachute of sorts. Gently gliding down a good couple meters, she finally reached land, firmly planting her feet into the familiar soft grass of the school grounds.

        She instinctively looked at her surroundings. There were no humans outside, and trying to sense for any other otherworldly activity came up short. She had safely made the trip. Or at worst, at least Miku had safely made the trip. She looked over her shoulder, something inside of her tingling with the suspicion that someone could somehow be on her tracks. Choking it up to paranoia, she looked into the distance again, trying to clear her mind of such thoughts.

       “Can…Can I get down now?” Miku's voice finally broke the silence.

        Rin jumped up in surprise. “Right! I forgot…” Rin looked down at her friend apologetically, then crouched down and gingerly placed Miku on the soft grass. Getting back up, she nonchalantly ran her hand through the top of her hair, messing up her clips a little in the process.

       “Mhngh~” She winced as she let her wings extend fully, shaking with a rustling noise as they did. Letting the back fall of her back with a relaxed shake of her shoulder, she mindlessly handed it back to Miku. The girl dusted her skirt and then loosely extended a single hand to grab it.

       “That was so- Oomph!” Miku's hand failed under the weight of the bag, causing it to fall down in the process. Embarrassed, she picked it back up again using both of her arms, lifting it up with a small groan.

       “Jeez! You make it look like it's made out of…” She racked her brains around looking for a comparison. “...air.” was the word she decided on, as she clumsily got the backpack back on her back again, her legs wobbling as she tried to regain her balance.

       “That was so fun!” Her enthusiasm returned even under the heavy reign of her sack. “We gotta do it again! That was so amazing!” Laughing, her face widened into a bright smile. 

        Rin laughed too. “I wouldn't get too excited. I shouldn't fly myself, much less while carrying you.” She sighed, reaching with one of her hands to pat her wings. “I think I miss having them out but…” She bent over slightly, then made them disappear into thin air with a gentle shake of her back. “I guess they just make me really easy prey to demons and angels now.” 

       “Aw…Maybe you could have them inside? Some smaller ones, I mean. Would that work?” Miku excitedly looked down at Rin again.

        The angel let out a thinking hum. “Maybe…I'll think about it.” She slouched, looking down at her feet. Now that they were gone again she was really starting to feel their absence. To her, wings felt as much a part of her as arms or legs did. She quickly regretted making such a comparison inside her head, as her body shook a little as she remembered the last time she had lost a limb much more unwillingly.

       “Right…” Miku twisted her body back to look towards her school. “I should really get going now, if I'm lucky maybe they'll let me in now.” She grumbled. “Anyways, thank you lots Rin! You really saved my ass today!” Miku excitedly wrapped her arms around the still sulking Rin, pulling her into an unexpected hug. 

        The angel's lowered head unexpectedly met a familiar soft sensation as Miku's arms closed in around her. Suddenly agitated, she roughly push herself out of her embrace. 

        She took a couple steps back, her widened eyes fixed on Miku's chest as if it had suddenly caught on fire. 

       “What?” Miku looked down at her shirt to see what exactly had startled Rin.

       “Uhmm...” Rin averted her gaze then coughed like she was about to deliver some somber news. “I accidentally touched your chest right now and you said a while ago that such a thing is inappropriate.” She mumbled.

       “Bahah!” Miku unexpectedly burst out into laughter, her face tinged red. “Oh, wow! Well, hah, you didn't seem to think so last night, Rin.” She laughed again, slapping her leg as she did.

        Rin quickly turned a slight shade of red herself, her eyes widening even further in shock. She had no idea what to make of Miku's reaction and that made her feel even more guilty about her actions.

       “I meant nothing by it! I didn't know! I-I don't want to confuse you!” She started quickly spewing out whatever excuses she could as Miku watched amused. After she felt like she had heard enough, her friend dismissively waved her hand for her to stop.

       “Jeez, Rin. It's fine, really. It just happens sometimes. I know you didn't mean anything by it.” She smiled, dejected. “Intent matters most, you know? I really didn't mind it.” She sighed, giving Rin a friendly pat on the shoulder.

       “Okay…” The angel nodded, trying her best to look Miku in the eye.

       “God, Rin, you look like a wet kitten. C'mere...” She gave Rin a small hug, gently giving the top of her head a couple times she did. “I really gotta head off now, will you text me later?” She broke off their weak embrace.

       “Yeah. Tell me about your test, please.” Rin replied meekly as her fingertips retraced the spot Miku had just caressed. 

       “I will if I take it.” She nodded, giving Rin another smile as she started walking away. “Bye Rin!” She waved before she dashed towards the building, entering via a small backdoor. 

        Rin's hand waved back weakly in reply. Then it slowly made its way back up to her hair; starting to rub one of her curly ends in between her thumb and index as her eyes remained fixated on the faraway door Miku had just entered. Her thoughts started to wonder, a sinking sensation forming inside her chest the more she sat in silence, mindlessly playing with her hair.

       “Wow, you're stupid gay.” A shrill voice suddenly cackled dryly right next to her ear. 

        Rin's hand formed itself into a punch, her body instinctively twisting itself around to hit the source of whatever had just talked to her.

       Teto narrowly dodged her, taking a couple steps to the side.

       “What was that for? What's wrong with you!?” She yelled, as her eyes narrowed into angry slits.

       Seeing that she was in no danger, Rin's extended hand fell limply beside her as she started panting, her heart beating so fast it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest.

       “Huff…Don't sneak up on me like that!” She barked, stomping a couple steps closer to Teto to really stare her in the eye.

       “Goddamnit! Mayu's gone, girl! Relax!” Teto rolled her eyes as she looked Rin up and down, almost as if she wanted to make sure her weird state wasn't somehow contagious. 

        The mention of Mayu's name sent Rin's left shoulder jolting up. Trying to stop such an embarrassing display of weakness, her other other hand grabbed her shoulder.

       “Okay…” Teto let out a small huff of air, as if seeing Rin groaning in pain was somewhat amusing to her. “No idea what that's about. You were so smiley till now! Out and about with your loooveeerrr, oohh~” Teto laughed mockingly as she clasped her hands together and imitated a bunch of kissing noises.

       “She's not my lover.” Rin groaned, her hand still busy with her clenching her shoulder.

       “Ooohh riiiight! You're not lovers, you're just her winged taxi driver now, riiight? Taxi driver with benefits? Ooohh~~!!!” Teto exploded in a flurry of laughter so loud it made Rin's head thud with every cackle.

       “I have to say, I've never thought of flying a human around before.” Teto's laughs gradually cleared back up into a form of comprehensible speech. “Like, I know she knows and all that but I would've really just expected you to…I don't know, just stop bringing it up at some point?” She wheezed again. “It can't be too good for her little brain to have her flying around, right? Like, that's gotta fuck her up or something. Are you playing god, Rin?” She laughed again. “With your girlfriend no less?” She wiped the corner of her eyes as she kept on giggling, clenching her abdomen as she cackled. 

       “I'm not! Miku's fine! And she's not my girlfriend!” Rin groaned as her hand reached out for Teto's neck and grabbed her by her collar, forcefully dragging her head closer to her eye level. “Why are you here? Just to torment me? Do I look like I'm in the mood for that?” She spat as she leaned in even closer, staring Teto right in the eye.

       “Take your hands off me, weirdo!” Teto snapped back, pushing Rin off her. “Why am I here? Maybe because this is where I study, cretin!” She yelled, furiously arranging her precious spiked collar Rin had just moved around.

       “Fine, since you're so on edge I'll do you the favour of cutting to the chase.” Rolling her eyes, Teto's mood took a sudden 180. “There's lots of angels out for your ass. At least a couple teams or so.” 

        Rin's stomach sunk as she heard the news.

       “Yeah, don't know why you thought flying around would be a good idea but at least no one but me saw you.” She continued, staring at Rin with a judgemental expression. 

        Rin grabbed her now throbbing head. Thinking about how close she could've been to butting head first into an angel made her feel sick.

       “I can't believe it…I'm officially on the fallen list.” She whispered, her neck bending under the weight of her heavy head.

       “Duh. Didn't Luka tell you all these?”

        Rin averted her gaze to the ground as she nodded.

       “She did? Then you're just dumb.” She shrugged mockingly. “Look, I'm not saying they're all necessarily out for your ass but a good deal of them are.” 

       “Who else could they be on the lookout for…?” Rin tried to return to her usual volume but her voice choked up as she spoke.

       “Eeehhhh well that's another issue…So remember the cores?” Teto awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, looking back at the confused Rin.

       “You know…The one who shall not be named who just so happened to drop a bunch of these and that I went out to hopefully retrieve…?” Teto looked at Rin again, who wordlessly nodded in reply.

       “Right. I found like…I wanna say five?” She materialised her bag and started rummaging through it. “Out of you said…40 something?”  She handed Rin six cores, of which she demanded two be returned to her as “compensation”. Rin reluctantly agreed, wordlessly taking the remaining gems inside her hand and making them disappear into thin air.

        Rin furrowed her brows, trying to remember just how many gems Mayu had dropped. Her usual crystal clear photographic memory was failing her, only giving her blurry shots of anything related to the gems or the necklace. Thinking too long about it inevitably led to Rin's mind resurfacing other details she remembered way better…

       “Whatever, it's definitely more than five, that's for sure. So that's 30 something demons running around. See why angels would be called down to deal with it?” 

       “But…” Rin mumbled as she tried her best to move on from her painful memories. “I don't think 30 demons would tolerate each other in such a small area.” She sighed bitterly. 

       “Right, lots of them have definitely left by now otherwise you would've seen me with gray hair instead of pink.” She laughed. “But I have definitely felt at least one or two running around. And I can't say I get out of my own perimeter too much to investigate.” Teto tapped her foot, annoyed. “Either you or they will have to deal with them. And it'll probably be you because, let's be for real, if they send any angels down that are even remotely close to your level of stupidness then they're never gonna get the job done.” 

       “Why do I need to deal with it? I've fallen now, I want nothing to do with this.” Rin could feel the corners of her eyes burn with angry tears.

       “Uh…Because some demons tend to terrorize humans whom you love so dearly?” She scoffed as if she was stating the obvious.

       “What if they're the kind that don't care about tormenting humans and they just pick on you instead?” Rin could feel the corners of her mouth curve into a sadistic smirk.

       “Then you'll help me because I'm the one who carried your ass to Luka and saved your life in the process!!” Teto laughed sarcastically as she started tapping her foot even harder, clearly ticked off that Rin would even propose such a thing.

       The reply had finally shut Rin up, who looked down towards her own feet in a mix of embarrassment and rage. Dealing with demons, merely the thought, made her muscles tense up and her head pound in a way that she could only link to how Mayu had made her feel.

       “Besides, Gumi's gonna be on your ass any day now. You gotta get some cores to pay your debt off, Rinnie.” Smugly, Teto crossed her arms. 

       “The debt you decided for me?” Rin groaned, her eyes shooting up from under her eyebrows to stare daggers at Teto's stupid grinning face.

       “Uh- No. The debt life decided for you so that you wouldn't die shredded to bits by Mayu.” Teto rolled her eyes again, seeming satisfied with her nonsense reply.

       “I would've been fine without her involvement either. I didn't even get to see Gumi in action or anything, she just showed up with a bad arm!” Rin scoffed, impatiently waiting to see how Teto would reply to this slap back.

       “Uh yeah, Gumi's like the…assassin type. She works from the shadows. But to be frank, anyone is better off attacking someone like Mayu from afar. You'd have to be a real idiot to take her head on.” She smirked again, raising her eyebrows at Rin.

       “So you're saying I still won against all odds?” Rin laughed, her boastful reaction visibly angering Teto even further.

       “No! I'm saying you're stupid! Fuck you! Ugh!!” Much like a small child, she stomped her foot. “You're so goddamn dense! You only won because Gumi weakened her beforehand! You would have been dead without that! Mayu's made a fool out of great demons, you were just lucky that I stepped in to help you! Which I regret now, by the way!” She scoffed as she turned her back on Rin, preparing to walk away.

        Rin groaned almost as if she was in pain then called out to her again.

       “What?” Teto groaned, her twin drills bouncing up and down as she suddenly snapped her head back to look at Rin.

       “Tell me more about Gumi…” Rin asked with the nicest tone she could muster. “Please…” She reluctantly added. 

       “Ugh… Fine.” Teto took a couple steps back ending up in the position she used to be before storming off.  “She's like…a pretty good bounty hunter. Since I imagine you're too dumb to know what that is; a demon bounty hunter is much like a human one. They get different targets to kill, immobilize, whatever else and they do it. Humans get money– Demons get cores or benefits; favours. Everything works on the system of favours and indebtedness. If a demon saves your ass from another demon you bet your soul they're gonna want something back. It's messy and obviously less often than not more anarchy than anything else but you can kinda manage to get along if you live by this code.” 

       “How do I know she won't make me slave away for her for years?”

       “You don't. But trust me, Gumi is pretty nice with her favours. I've been indebted to her plenty of times and she never wanted anything too radical out of me.” 

        Rin's eyebrows shot up in surprise, as she was seemingly unable to comprehend a demon as evil looking as Gumi being civil. 

       “You think I'd associate myself with some untrustworthy imp?” She laughed. “Don't worry blondie, Gumi absolutely loathes angel guts so I doubt she'll want you meddling in her work too much. I'm surprised she even agreed to help in the first place, though just so you know it took a lot of convincing to do!” Teto let out a good couple of coughs which made Rin feel like she should thank her for her “well meaning” nature.

       “Why does she hate angels so much anyways? Are all normal demons like this?” 

      “Eh, depends. Most just kind of dislike them a normal amount. Can you blame us? You're all such a pain in the ass.” She snarked. “Gumi…Let's just say one time she bit off way more than she could chew.” She looked back at Rin, trying to see if the angel had figured out what she was trying to say.

        Seeing her confused face, she reiterated. 

       “Her eyes, blockhead. Remember? You definitely saw them too, you know that reddish gash she tries to hide with those weird glasses? I'm not an expert but that looks like an angelic wound to me.”

       “Angelic…wound?” 

       “God, you don't know shit don't you? If you pick on an angel that's too powerful they can leave permanent scars. Obviously works the other way around too.” 

        Shaken, Rin immediately started pulling up the sleeve of her left arm, rolling it up past where Mayu's blade had hit her. There was no scar of any kind. Just her usual form.

        Her shoulder jerked itself up in its usual motion as Teto began giggling at her.

       “No, Mayu's nothing compared to the typa’ demon you'd have to piss off to get a scar! Some guy like that would probably obliterate you on sight.” She cackled.

       “Then how did Gumi even survive such an encounter? Is she really that strong?”

       “She is pretty strong; definitely one of the best gun slingers around. And for her wound, I assume it was just hot headedness that got her into it. It's so easy to jump into fights you can't win when you're young.” The demon sighed nostalgically.

       “Young?" Rin's eyes quickly looked up at the perfectly teenage-looking Teto. "How old are you even?” 

       “Thirty one.” 

        Rin's eyebrows shot up in a mix of surprise and judgement. 

       “What?” Teto scoffed, hurt.

       “That's…young. You're young.” Rin looked her up and down, as if Teto had just become much less threatening all of a sudden.

       “Pfft! No? Young is like Miss Hatsune over there. I'm almost middle aged, Rinnie.” 

       “Maybe for humans.” She mumbled.

       “Duh for humans! How old are you even?”

        Rin shrugged. 

       “Around a century.” 

       “Jeeesuus…” Teto let out a shocked gasp, seeming almost impressed. “You really put up with that shit for that long? Angels are so slow!” She laughed. 

        Rin rolled her eyes. “Is a century even that long? We can both literally live forever.” 

       “Tsk tsk! Is anything really that long when you can theoretically live forever? And you better drop this mindset if you wanna be good friends with humans!” Teto rudely wagged her finger in front of Rin's face. “Most people don't even live to reach their 80's, much less a whole ass hundred years.” 

       “Hm…” Rin looked down at the ground as the demon's words echoed around her head.

       “Whatever, I'm gonna get going now. Stop flying your bae around and when Gumi does finally approach you please don't start any shit. She might get pissed at me too. Wrath demons…” She mumbled, then unceremoniously twisted around on her heels and started walking towards the school building. 

        Rin was left staring at her shrinking silhouette as the clogs of her brain started to move again. The sleepover with Miku had been nice, but it was obviously time for reality to come back kicking at her door again. And Rin had to figure out how to go about dealing with it.