Preparations

by Yai-tzu Hin

Warning: No part of this story or cast of characters may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author, Yai-tzu Hin. If you do, dogs will wake you at 3:00 am in the morning, your hair will go gray at an early age, all you pens will run out of ink at the most inconvenient time, and your computer will always freeze up in the middle of the best part of a fic.

"His lover!" Yatsurugi exclaimed. "That would explain why he told me to stay away from Azreal. That still doesn't explain why Azreal is looking for me or why he sent Dante to 'warn' me."

"That wasn't a warning." Keien stated. "That was an attack with intent to kill."

"Whatever it was." Kayumi interrupted. "We can be sure he'll find a way to finish the job."

"The Almighty already sent one message discouraging any further attacks for a while." Yatsurugi told her. "In the mean time. I think I'll ask Reimu to keep an eye out for Azreal and Dante. If either approach Meiko he's to move her away immediately."

"I'll tell Haruka." Kayumi said. "This is serious. He might try to take hurt Keien and his sisters because they know you."

"We, ourselves should be on our guard." Hades said standing up.

"Agreed."

"How can we mortals protect ourselves against Azreal and Dante?" Keien asked. "I mean, we don't have powers, so what are we to do if they get us alone?" The three angels were silent.

"You have a point." Yatsurugi said. He frowned. "I could return to pure angel form." Keien's eyes widened.

"I think that's a bit drastic. Yatsurugi, you asked for human form to be with Keien and keep him sane. Don't take it back so quickly." Kayumi told him.

"Then what can I do One-san?" He asked his sister desperately.

"For now all we can do is wait and watch. Stay with Keien as much as you can. I don't think Dante will do anything in public. I'll go and ask Eros and Psyche for some help."

"They might also might have some idea what's going on." Hades suggested. "Kayumi, I think you should head back. Haruka might need you." Kayumi nodded and headed for the door.

"Yatsurugi, don't worry. We'll get this sorted out, even if we have to confront Azreal."

"Thank you, One-san."

"What are big sisters for?" She winked at him and left quickly, leaving the three men to themselves.

"I should probably go too." Hades said at length. "Maybe I can find out some more information in the spirit plane. I have some friends at the Life Department that might know about Dante and Azreal."

"Thanks Hades. You don't have to help." Yatsurugi told him. Hades shook his head.

"I'm dating your sister. If I didn't help, she'd kick my ass. Besides, I like both you and Keien." He winked at the raven-haired man. "You two make such a cute couple. Who else would have taken in a little black kitten?"

"You're welcome." Keien said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Hades chuckled and vanished. Alone again, Keien and Yatsurugi went back into the kitchen. Their breakfasts were probably cold and they still had to catch the train. It looked like they'd miss their first classes.

That day passed without incident, as did the next. Dante seemed to have taken the Almighty's warning to heart. If not, he was too worried about his hide to try anything now. Yatsurugi didn't let his guard down. Neither did Keien. He was always scanning the shadows for the young angel. Thankfully neither of his sisters became targets. Even Kagamida Imizu's guardian angel had been warned of a possible attack.

As Keien walked from one class to another, he noticed that someone was following him. At first he thought it was just another student, but there was something about him that wasn't right. Confront him or not? Keien decided to confront. He stopped and waited for the man to come up next to him. The man stopped just behind him and Keien turned to face him. It wasn't Dante though. He'd never seen this man before.

"Hi." The other said cheerfully. "I'm Shinji. Rumor has it that Yatsurugi tangled with Azreal's lover."

"How do you know that?" Keien demanded.

"I'm a friend. Geeze, don't give me that look. I'm Suiichiro's guardian angel."

"Suiichiro's? What the hell do you want with me?" Keien snarled.

"Wait! I'm not like Suiichiro." Shinji defended holding up his hands. "He never listens to me. While you two were together, Yatsurugi and I became friends. If he is in trouble, then I'd like to help out. Since Suzu's guardian angel can watch both of them, I thought I'd keep an eye on you."

"Did Yatsurugi ask you too?" Shinji relaxed a bit.

"Not really, but I figured I'd do it."

"Out of the kindness of your heart?"

"I'm just like that. I told you, I'm not like Suiichiro. You can ask Yatsurugi."

"I believe you." Keien said at last. He relaxed his muscles. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"I know. Listen. If you want, I can become invisible and follow you that way."

"No, I think this is better. This way I have someone to talk to." Shinji grinned. Keien tried to smile back, but he was too tired too. Shinji had slightly longer than shoulder length blue-black hair and violet eyes. His hair fell loosely over his green turtleneck. He wore jeans and carried a light jacket.

"Come on, or I'll be late for class. The professor will never notice one extra student. The auditorium seats 300."

Shinji fell into step next to him and began talking about how he and Suzu's guardian angel were wondering if they could file for change of charge. They'd love to have to watch two ninety-year-old bedridden people instead of listening to those two. Guardian angels hated being ignored when they gave advice or warnings.

Yatsurugi joined them at lunch and was delighted that Shinji had offered his services.

"Who told you about our situation?"

"Reimu." Shinji told him as he put Italian dressing on his salad. "He's been more than a little over protective of Meiko. If she knew he was there, I think she'd smack him."

"No, she'd try to ditch him." Keien laughed. "So does this mean I get to meet Reimu sometime too?"

"Don't know." Yatsurugi said. "It's up to him. Um, Shinji could you pass me the Dijon mustard? This sandwich needs something more."

"Sure. Well, if Dante decides to attack Meiko, he'll have to appear and defend her."

"She'd be thrilled no doubt. If he's like any of the other angels I've met, then she'd want to date him." Shinji choked on a mouthful of lettuce.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Hey, any cute man is fair game." Keien said. "You might want to hide."

"Why?" asked Shinji.

"Because, here she comes now." Shinji looked over his shoulder to see a girl with wavy light brown hair and sparkling brown eyes entering the cafeteria.

"Oniichan, Aisaku." She said nodding to each.

"Meiko, this is a friend of mine." Yatsurugi said quickly introducing Shinji. "He's visiting for a few days."

"It's nice to meet you."

"Call me Shinji." He said standing and bowing respectively at her. She blushed. Keien rolled his eyes, while Yatsurugi giggled. "Most people do."

"Skipping all formalities, aren't we?" Meiko said.

"They can get in the way sometimes."

"Shinji, quit flirting." Yatsurugi warned with a wink. "I'm sorry, they don't let him out of his cage too often."

"You're so nice."

"If you two are done taking jibes at each other. I'd like to ask Meiko what's on her mind. I mean besides the obvious."

"ONIICHAN!" Meiko yowled. "You're horrible! I might not even tell you who I saw." Keien stiffened in his chair.

"Who?"

"That guy who asked about Aisaku the other day." Yatsurugi's good humor vanished instantly.

"Where was he?"

"By the bell tower. Oh, he's long gone. It was before my class this morning. Oniichan is something wrong? You're face has gone white."

"It's okay Meiko. I just want you to stay away from him." Keien said tightly.

"Why?"

"It's really complicated. Let's just say, we're not sure why he's here, but it isn't good."

"Oh, Aisaku remembered where he'd met that man before?" Yatsurugi nodded grimly.

"He was an enemy of mine in school. I hadn't thought about him in a while, so I didn't put two and two together when you asked me about him." Yatsurugi lied. He had no choice, telling Meiko the truth would endanger things. The fewer mortals that knew about the angels, the better for everyone's sanity. She'd probably try and confront Azreal or Dante by herself, Yatsurugi thought. He could tell Keien was thinking the same thing. It was a good thing that his thoughts were open to him right now.

"Please Nakabori-san. You should do as your brother says." Shinji put on his most charismatic look. Meiko blushed.

"Sure. You guys don't mind if I join you?" She pulled a chair from another table and sat next to Shinji. Keien chuckled and she shot him a dirty look.

Shinji stayed with Keien for the rest of the day. Only when he and Yatsurugi were in front of their apartment complex, did he bid them farewell. He said he'd try to keep an eye on Keien when Yatsurugi wasn't around as much as possible, but it would be difficult. In the mean time, he hoped Kayumi and Hades had dug up something on the reason behind Dante's attack.

"All I've ever heard about Azreal is that he's quiet and very nice. It's hard to believe he'd send someone after you." Shinji commented as he prepared to leave them. Yatsurugi sighed.

"I was very sweet. A real gentleman considering the stress in his position. I don't know why he'd do something like that. It seems very strange. I almost wonder if Dante is doing this on his own." Yatsurugi said looking at his friend. Shinji shrugged.

"I don't know anything about him." Keien muttered. "Except that he may want Yatsurugi hurt. That doesn't paint a very good picture of him in my mind."

"He would never have done something like this in the past."

"Maybe the stress finally got to him." Shinji suggested. "It's happened before. I mean, didn't Michael have a mental breakdown during the crusades? He decided it would be better if he became mortal for a while. So he was reborn as Michelle something."

"A girl? He was reborn as a girl?" Keien gasped. He bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"Yep." Keien started snickering.

"I bet he hated it."

"Afterwards, he claimed it was a good learning experience. Although he went back to being male once he became an angel again." Shinji told him. "Or at least that's what I've heard. Well, I should be going. Suiichiro and Suzu are going out to dinner again tonight. I should be there. It promises to be an amusing evening. Ja ne!"

"Ja ne." Yatsurugi and Keien chorused. With a wave, Shinji was gone. Turning, the men headed into the complex. Four flights of stairs and they were outside their door. Keien dug for his keys, found them and opened the door.

Everything seemed in order. They removed their shoes. Keien went to his room and dropped off his book bag. The straps were beginning to tear, which meant he'd need a new one soon. Exhaling loudly, he dropped into a chair. Tilting his head back, he stared at the ceiling for a few minutes.

"Keien?" Yatsurugi stuck his head in.

"Yeah?"

"Did you realize that we're out of eggs? Not to mention celery, carrots, and green beans?"

"We're out of soy sauce too." Keien said as he looked at his roommate, his head still tilted back.

"Listen, I'm going to run down to the store quickly. I'll be back in a few minutes. I don't want to risk more than that."

"I will be fine. I don't think Dante will come after me. Go on. I'm going to take a nap." Yatsurugi grimaced. He wasn't convinced, but they couldn't live in fear forever. Besides, they had taken as many precautions as they could. Keien smiled trying to inspire confidence in the serious looking angel.

"Don't worry, Love. I'll be fine. I'm just going to take a nap." Yatsurugi allowed a brief smile to curl his lips, and then he turned and vanished into thin air.

"Sometimes I wish I could do that." Keien mused. Stretching he roused himself out of the chair and crawled into bed. Five minutes later he was sound asleep.

Keien was dreaming. It was quiet and pleasant except for the professor holding a ruler. The faceless man was busily lecturing to students who were furiously scribbling on wooden panels. Keien passed by them. He was on his way somewhere. Where, he didn't know until he got there. Suddenly the sunny day became gray. Waves crashed against rocks that appeared from no where. He was at the ocean just as a storm was blowing in. Monstrous waves struck the rocks, which gave way and the salt water soaked his feet. Something grabbed him from behind and launched him into the air. Strangely he found he could float and turned about looking for the thing he knew was there. Something flashed before his eyes. He couldn't see. Then a voice told him to wake up and run.

Waking up with a start. Fear wound its tendrils about his heart and lungs. They griped tightly causing his heart to pound. Eyes wide he remembered the warning and sat up. He sensed it rather than saw it. With all the power fear and an adrenaline rush could give, Keien threw himself off the bed and scrambled for the door just as an icy bolt evaporated his pillow.