Heavenly Breath

part four ~ 104ºF

The demon general turned to the other, glaring at his impudence. "Then you should be training him better."

***************

Turquoise eyes glanced semi-nervously around the room, taking note of the two empty seats his friends usually occupied. Since the whole ordeal began, none of the four had missed a day of school if Shimon was going to be there, seeing as they didn’t get sick. Them being absent meant they were either seriously up to something, or something was wrong. Neither theory seemed to bode well for him.

Also catching Tougo sitting rather uneasily, he leaned back to whisper to him, "it’s a bit strange...that they’re both gone so suddenly."

"Yeah..." he shifted a bit in his seat. "They might be having some...complications."

A confused look crossed Shimon’s face, and he asked what the angel meant, but before he could get a response the teacher interrupted them, asking if they had anything they wanted to share with the class. Both students gave a mumbled "no..." and the instructor went back to her job.

Teacher could have been talking out of her ass, for all Tougo cared. He hadn’t heard a word the woman had said all day. His mind was elsewhere...like with a certain golden-eyed demon. Not wanting to admit he’d developed feelings for the little imp, and fretting over what became of him after what must have been a meeting with his and Syo’s section general.

He hated being stuck in this place, not knowing what was going on outside the classroom walls. Not knowing where the two demons were. He tapped the pencil he was holding against his desk a few times, contemplating why he was even there. Getting an education obviously wasn’t important to him; once the mission was over with he’d go home and never use the information the school thought would be important for him to know.

The pencil tapping stopped. He realized he was right; being here was pointless. He had better things to do. With a sound that was some cross between a sigh and a growl, he stood up, grabbed his jacket, and walked wordlessly out of the classroom. The eyes of every student, plus the teacher, were on him as he exited.

A mere second later their attention turned, when Shimon also stood up. He had the courtesy to say "excuse me" in his elegant way of speaking before he, too, left the room.

All eyes then turned expectantly to Yuusuke, who blinked, stood up, coughed, and stammered "um, so...yeah...." before also rushing out of the class.

It took a while, but they searched. Both their rooms, plus Shimon’s, all over the entire school, and even some of their favorite places in town. They split up to cover more ground, the angels taking to air from time to time, then would meet back up and report their findings...which always came back negative. The demons were nowhere to be found.

It never occurred to them that they were frantically looking for their enemies. That if something were wrong with the other two, the three of them would all be better off. That the angels would have won. That Shimon could keep his soul. They didn’t stop to think that they would actually benefit from the other’s disappearance.

They just wanted to find their friends.

They met again, Tougo landing next to where Yuusuke and Shimon already stood.

"We’re not finding them anywhere," the silver-eyed angel said as he ran a hand through his hair. "I wonder if they’re even still here.

"Maybe we should give up for the day." The blond hated to say it, but he’d began to lose hope.

"No, not yet." There was an intense tone to the violet-haired angel’s voice, giving away stronger feelings than he wanted to let on. "There’s still one place I want to check."

***************

Two beings stood in an empty field, waiting. It was the same place the shorter of them had been in the night before, only with a different partner. Neither spoke, both keeping to their own thoughts, and both somehow knowing those they waited for would eventually show up. The wind picked up, rustling their hair as the three anticipated figures ran up.

"Tougo was right!" the black-haired angel looked at the bespeckled demon, "what are you guys doing here?"

There was no response. Instead everyone watched as Mikimaro walked, head bowed, wings visible but folded behind him, slowly up to his blond friend. "I’m sorry," he spoke barely above a whisper, head still hung. "For all the trouble we’ve caused...I’m sorry."

"Shimura...." He stared a moment at the little imp, then his eyes became soft. "You don’t have to worry about that."

Small hands rose up, loosely grabbing the other’s arms. Still not looking up, he again whispered "I’m sorry...."

"It’s-"

"You’d better do it now, Shimura!"

Both angels jumped back with a startled cry of "Kusanagi!" when the long-haired demon general showed up out of nowhere. As expected as his appearance should have been, it still caught them off guard. Though a glance at the blue-eyed demon showed no surprise at all, the only thing his face held was despair.

"Takagi-kun...." The brunet finally looked up at his target...his friend. Tears flowed over from his golden eyes, running down and staining his cheeks. His face was absolutely miserable...absolutely painful. "I’m...I’m so sorry...." The grip from his small hands became stronger with every tear that fell.

Shimon started to struggle as the hold became more painful. The boy seemed so delicate, so weak and small. But, he remembered, the boy was a demon, after all. His strength was comparatively less than the other celestial beings, but was still more than enough to hold a human. Despite the blond’s struggles, he could not break free.

And when the small fingers slipped beyond the flesh, grabbing his very soul, he felt a pain like he’d never felt before. The searing pain sounded in the cry he let out, causing the demon to sob even more.

The two angels were shocked. Never before had they seen the taking actually cause a demon so much pain. Usually they were quite happy, enthusiastic to get to take the soul of a human. Even if they went through the trouble of befriending the target first, in the end they did what they did with zeal. A love for the victory. But as this child began to pull the soul from his friend’s body, encouraged by his commander’s shouts to hurry up, he was hurt. Hurt so very much.

Tears flowing as his friend cried out in pain, Mikimaro continued to pull out that which he needed until a blast hit him, knocking him back. His hold on the soul released as he flew to the ground, and Shimon stumbled, but managed to keep his footing. It surprised him to find he was more concerned about the little demon. "Shimura!"

In an instant the violet-eyed angel was by the imp’s side, lifting him to a sitting position. Arms tightly around him, he gently asked the boy if he was ok.

"Who’d have thought the great Tougo Arai could develop feelings? And for a demon of all things?" All eyes turned to the new voice, revealing a cool-looking youth, watching the proceedings dispassionately. His white feather wings were spread out, but didn’t seem like he would attack again. "What is it with you two?"

"Kawazoe-san!"

"Aah! Sir!"

It was a great shock to see the angels’ commander standing there. He usually trusted his favorite team to do what they would, having complete faith in at least one of them. But something had brought him there at that time. Something he felt he had to stop. "You’re slipping, Tougo. Your feelings for that little thing are getting in the way of your work."

Four pairs of eyes now turned to the two on the ground. "You...and him?" the silver-eyed angel asked in disbelief. After all the other had done to make sure he didn’t carry any feelings for the enemy, it was almost too much to believe he could fall himself.

The only response Tougo gave was a tightening of his hold on the small demon, who in turn clung to him. Somehow, somewhere along the lines, he seemed to have learned to trust the angel. From their flight the night before, and from other instances, he felt if the other were around, nothing could hurt him. And he held to that; held to the support he felt from the violet-eyed seraph.

Until another blast hit the both of them, knocking them apart. But this time it was the demon general who attacked, not caring that he’d hit his own underling. "You are worthless!"

"You would attack your own kind?" The angelic commander was strangely not surprised the other would do such a thing.

Kusanagi laughed, an evil laugh worthy of his position. "My kind?" he sneered. "My kind would never be so weak. I don’t want weaklings under my rule. If you’re so worried about him, you can keep him yourself. Both of them. They’ve both been nothing but trouble to me." He turned a wicked grin on Shimon. "I’ll get that soul myself!"

He flicked out of existence for a second, appearing again in front of the blond teen, who was too startled to do anything but stare. Before he could do anything, Tougo lunged after him, but was knocked away by the superior demon. He hit the ground, then looked up to find his opponent standing over him.

"You’ve always gotten in my way," he growled at the angel. "But no more. You will die...today!" He moved to strike, but was stopped when the short brunet tackled him to the ground, falling on top of him. The impudence of the child was irritating, and he hissed at the figure above him, "get off of me!!"

"I won’t let you hurt any of my friends!"

"You’re a demon!" the other growled. "You’re evil, and evil doesn’t have any friends!"

"I’m not evil! Arai-kun...Arai-kun said I’m not evil! He said he likes me. And I...I like him too." He choked back a sob. "I would rather die than let anyone hurt him!"

All movement, all yelling and crying, stopped quite suddenly when a searing pain ripped through the small imp. Everyone stared incredulously, wide-eyed at the sight of a long spear going through one demon’s side, into the heart of the other. Mikimaro looked down to see his superior cough up blood, then lay still. He panted hard several times, but breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.

"What are you doing!?!" Tougo grabbed his commander’s shirt collar, fury, rage, and pain splattered across his face and in his voice. "What did you do!?!!"

Kawazoe grabbed the other angel by the wrists, removing his hands from his clothing, but not letting them go. He held them, gently, but firmly. "I just killed two demons, including a general." The glare he received hurt him, as the other wrenched his hands free from the grip.

"But you’re not allowed to do that!" Syo finally found a voice to speak with, hard to come by with one shock after another. "They weren’t attacking you or the target. You-"

"I would gladly take any punishment," the high angel interrupted, "in order to save Tougo from what would happen if it were discovered he was in love with the enemy." His eyes narrowed. "I care about him too much to let anything happen to him."

That was when the violet-haired angel punched him square in the jaw. A physical attack...a human attack. Reminded him just how much time he’d spent on the planet, and was somehow fulfilling. "Save me!?!!" he screamed at his superior. "You just killed me!"

"I would do anything for you."

"You just put a spear through the only thing I’ve ever cared about!" He pushed the other down, feeling no contradiction, no remorse, no reverence for what he’d done, or was about to do. He’d had enough; he made his choice. "I don’t want anything to do with you ever again." His voice was stripped of any emotion, and he turned and walked away from the angel general, toward a hapless little demon...

"Tougo!"

...without a look back.

He reached Mikimaro’s side and pulled the spear out, wincing at how much blood gushed from the wound. Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around the slight body, tying it tightly to put pressure on the injury. Then gently picked the boy up, who’s eyelids fluttered.

"Arai-kun...?"

"Shh...don’t speak. I’ll take care of you."

Golden eyes slowly slipped closed again. "Arai-kun is...such a nice guy...." He soon fell into a deep sleep and Tougo quickly made his way back towards the school, where he could help the boy.

Syo turned to Yuusuke, who’d been unusually quiet the whole time. He had to wonder if the angel even understood what happened. "Kato-kun..." He smiled at the startled look the other gave at hearing his name. "What are you going to do?"

His silver eyes fixated on some random spot off to the side, but it didn’t take long at all for him to think it through. "Tougo is my partner. I’ll stay by his side; trust any decision he makes."

The blue-eyed demon nodded, and together the remaining three also left the scene. Shimon gave a last glace back at the final scene, one dead demon and one emotionally destroyed angel. And it was all over him. All because they wanted him...his beauty.

He flipped his long hair over his shoulder as he turned and continued after his friends.

to be continued....

notes:

And I have little to no confidence in this chapter...  ~_~  I don't know too much about Kusanagi or Kawazoe's characters (seeing as I don't care about them that much)...but I needed something to make things work.  So...there!  This chapter's title is Kato's image song.  It kicks so much ass.  Even the title is hyper freaking cool.

Whee.