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.
Dante stared down at Keien. He didn't know if Keien saw him or not, but it didn't matter. He'd get rid of this mortal. The loss of his beloved would send Yatsurugi into a tailspin. Dante's lips parted in a cruel smile. Part of him wished he had fangs, so that the effect would be even more fearsome. Not that the mortal could see him to begin with, Dante mused as he balanced another ball of energy in his hand. Tossing it up he created another and began juggling them. He'd play with the mortal a bit before destroying him. Hopefully Yatsurugi would appear just as his lover died. Pain, yes Dante could almost picture the heart-wrenching look on the other angel's face when he saw that he'd failed. Yes, fail Yatsurugi. Be in pain.
Not being able to see the vengeful angel didn't mean Keien couldn't sense him. He was emitting so much energy that even with his limited psychic abilities he knew Dante was there. Energy crackled and Keien dodged just as another bolt whizzed past his head. He thought he heard someone laugh. Damn him, Keien thought. He crouched low and waited.
"Oh, Yatsurugi." Dante called out as if he expected an answer. "I have your little mortal friend in my clutches. Don't you want to come save him?" He waited, but there was no response. Scowling, Dante conjured several more energy balls and began juggling them with one hand. Every so often he'd let one fly at Keien who managed to duck out of the way every time.
Feeling the presence of yet another orb, Keien prepared to make a break out the door. It streaked right at his head, forcing him to tuck and roll out of the room. Once in the hallway and stood and ran. If he could make it out the door, there would be less chance the maniac would continue in public. I hope, Keien thought desperately as he bolted for the living room. Yatsurugi where are you?
He saw it before he ran into it. A shimmering wall of translucent material in front of the door. The same as Yatsurugi's shield, but it was of Dante's making. The other angel planned on trapping him in his own apartment. Keien realized too late his fate. Spinning around to face his tormentor, Keien found himself face to face with the darkened expression of hate. Dante floated before him, wings outspread and a cruel smile on his lips.
"Oh, don't look at me like that." Dante said pouting slightly. "I really don't want to hurt you. I just want Yatsurugi to suffer. Since I can't do that to him directly, I'll do it indirectly. It's nothing personal."
"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T!" Keien shouted back. "You show up in my home and try and kill me!"
"Oh, I won't be trying for long." All the color from Keien's flushed cheeks fled. His heart thundered inside his chest.
"You shouldn't kill mortals." He stated, hoping that some sense would override Dante's lust for death.
"Why? You'll have another chance at life. You mortals have no idea how many lives you can have. You just keep going around in a giant circle. Birth, life, death, birth, life, death until you've become bored and decide to take a break for a while. Then you go back to doing it again. Birth, life, death, break, birth, life, death, birth, life, death, break for all of eternity. One miserable life isn't going to hurt in the long run."
He said it so casually. How could he? Keien clenched his fists and glared.
"Who died and fucking let you make the decision to end my life?" he demanded, his voice raised with anger and desperation. "I don't see the word KAMI or God written on you." Dante laughed.
"I don't have to explain things to you."
"Wanna bet?" Keien growled. "I'd like to at least know why I'm being killed before I die." Dante flapped one wing.
"Because you're Yatsurugi's mortal lover."
"I already fucking knew that! That doesn't explain jack shit!" A fireball whizzed passed his head and exploded on the shield behind him.
"Don't be surly."
"Fuck you!"
"Rudeness won't give you any answers."
"Not like you're giving them up freely anyway. You know, from all I heard about Azreal, I thought he's at least come do his dirty work himself. Not send his little boy toy to do it." Keien snapped. Dante growled and hurled another fireball at him. Its fate was the same as the previous.
"Azreal isn't that type of angel! He's kind and wonderful! Don't slander his name!" Another fireball landed inches from Keien's most sensitive area. He winced and was grateful it hadn't connected. "He would never harm anyone!"
"Then why the Hell are you after Yatsurugi and I?" Keien yelled. Dante's control was slipping, he could feel his anger and frustration kicking and spinning like a mustang trying to escape. Narrowing his eyes to slits of onyx fire, he ground his teeth at the irritating mortal.
"It's none of your business." Dante growled, his voice low and harsh.
"Yes it is! It's my life!"
"Which will soon be over!" Dante roared. "Then Yatsurugi will suffer as I have suffered! I will see the torment over losing a lover!"
"What did he do to you!" Keien screamed in desperation. Please, Yatsurugi, hurry.
"I've lost Azreal's love because of him!" Dante snapped. He could feel tears welling up, he scrunched his face in an attempt to prevent them from slipping out. "Whenever Azreal talks about the past, he ALWAYS says how wonderfully gentle and tender a lover Yatsurugi was! He practically gushes! How do you think that makes me feel? He's been put on some sort of fucking pedestal and I'm left down in the shit eaten dirt! Oh, Yatsurugi used to say the cutest things when we made love. Yatsurugi never wanted to be on top. Yatsurugi used to do this. Yatsurugi used to do that. Yatsurugi, Yatsurugi, Yatsurugi. It's the same fucking crap over and over until I want to scream. I'm never good enough for him. Oh, he says he loves me, but I don't believe him. But Azreal will never take Yatsurugi back, yet he makes no attempt to hide his feelings about him from me! I'm supposed to be his one love. ME! I want Yatsurugi to suffer the pain of lost love like I have."
Dante finished breathless from all his shouting. His hands trembled with the release of pent up rage and sorrow. He should just walk away, leave the mortal, but Dante had a mission. To make Yatsurugi suffer. He looked up at Keien to see the look of terror and anger gone from his face. Instead, it had been replaced by shock. Dante's truth had been exposed as had Azreal's. The mortal couldn't compete with an archangel and Dante couldn't compete with Yatsurugi. They were suddenly both in the same position.
"Azreal is still in love with Yatsurugi?" Keien asked. He spoke quietly, not quite believing what Dante had just told him. Dante flinched at the words.
"Yes."
"That's why he's here. He wants Yatsurugi back." Keien felt as if the world was crashing in about him. He knew Yatsurugi had once loved Azreal, but did he love him enough to leave? Keien didn't want to be alone. Yatsurugi was his one true love, Keien knew it. He had to be. Shaking his head in disbelief and his own conflicting thoughts, he barely noticed Dante's troubled state.
"Azreal is here? I didn't think he'd figure out what I was doing." Dante rambled. "He can't be here, he just can't." He suddenly looked up at Keien. "He isn't here, is he?"
"I've seen him."
"No!"
"Yes." Dante's eyes narrowed once more and he gathered up his power.
"NO!" Energy exploded from his fingertips straight at Keien. There was no way to dodge, he couldn't escape.
"KEIEN!" a voice cried out. White wings tipped with black flapped furiously to reach Keien in time. Yatsurugi appeared. He grabbed Keien and used his own body to shield his beloved. Energy exploded around them, enveloping them in its hot embrace. Yatsurugi held Keien tightly and focused all his strength on Keien. He had to protect him at any cost. He loved him, he didn't want to lose him. He wouldn't lose him! My power, he thought. It's draining away. Dante is using every ounce of his and its eating away at mine. It was becoming harder to breath, but he didn't let go of Keien. He wouldn't until the last shred of his power failed him and even then he wouldn't let Dante win. He couldn't. Keien's life depended on his ability to protect him. I am here to love and protect you, Yatsurugi thought as he felt the last of his strength fade.
Dante abruptly stopped. The bastard had appeared and saved his lover. He was furious, but couldn't do much more he was almost completely drained. From the looks of it, Yatsurugi had used up all his power. Dante smiled. He could still wreck some damage on Yatsurugi. As he approached he felt another presence.
"Yatsurugi! Keien!" A female angel with long wavy purple hair appeared. She took one look at the situation and materialized a sword as long as she was tall.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY BROTHER!" Kayumi roared, sword raised high above her head. Dante took one look at her and paled. Before she could strike he was gone and so was her chance at any answers.
"Kayumi. Quick." Eros called appearing beside Keien and Yatsurugi. Yatsurugi had fallen unconscious and Keien was shaking badly. His eyes shut tight.
"Help me get Yatsurugi to the couch." Kayumi ordered. Eros did as he was told. Psyche materialized and grabbed a hold of Keien in an attempt to get him to stop shaking.
"It'll be all right." Psyche whispered hugging him. "Please, open your eyes."
"I feel like I'm on fire." He croaked in a strained voice. His fingers clenched and unclenched spastically.
"It was all the angry energy."
"Yatsurugi?"
"He's unconscious. He saved you." Psyche said soothingly. Keien tried to stand, but Psyche held him fast. "Don't try to stand. Please. He'll be fine in a while."
"God, I didn't want this to happen." Keien whimpered.
"It's not your fault." Kayumi said quietly. "You're only mortal. I'm just glad you held out as long as you could. When Yatsurugi felt Dante's presence near you, he tried to get back, but the apartment was sealed off to him. He called me and I got a hold of Eros and Psyche. Four against one are better odds. I'm glad we managed to break the seal when we did."
"Thank you Kayumi. Eros. Psyche. Arigatou." Keien whispered. Psyche smiled and gently released him. Keien tried to stand, but the fire within him increased. Suddenly his body cramped up. He dropped to the floor. Sweat glistened on his skin and he began to breathe heavily.
"Oh God. Keien!" Kayumi called worriedly. His shoulders heaved with every breath. The fire was concentrating itself in his back. It worked its way up his spine to his shoulders. At his scapula it split and burst. Keien bit back a scream. What was happening to him? His body didn't feel right, something was wrong. It was twisting and turning without his permission. He wanted to cry out. Tears ran down his cheeks, streaming from tightly closed eyes. Stop, he wailed mentally. STOP.
The three angels stepped back. Staring they couldn't believe what was happening. Kayumi shot her unconscious brother a terrified look. Yatsurugi, oh dear God how could this have happened?
A pair of soft black wings with white tips spread out, shadowing Keien's body.***
"How could this have happened?" Keien asked gingerly touching one wing. It was real. He shuddered, which caused the wings to jerk. They didn't feel heavy at all; in fact he hardly noticed them except that they moved as he did.
Kayumi paced back and forth while Psyche lay a damp cloth on Yatsurugi's forehead.
"It is possible, I've only heard of it happening once before." Eros muttered.
"Heard what?" Keien asked. Eros looked up at him.
"An angel transferring all his power to a mortal. Ineffectually making that mortal an angel and…"
"The angel a mortal." Keien finished. "Oh my. Yatsurugi, how could you do this? Now you are without protection from Dante."
"I don't think he did it intentionally." Eros commented coming over to rest a hand on Keien's shoulder. "I think he used all his power to protect you and somehow it translated into giving you all his powers."
Keien stared into Eros' golden eyes. The angel of love was sporting aqua hair today with a white streak on one side. He wasn't sure whether to suggest a different color or just shave it all off. This wasn't the right thing thinking right now. He shook his head and glanced worriedly down at Yatsurugi.
"What are we going to do? I haven't the foggiest idea how to handle angelic powers! I don't need them."
"Keien." Kayumi said calmly. "We don't know how to transfer the powers back to Yatsurugi. You'll have to be Yatsurugi's guardian angel until we do." Keien swallowed.
"Me? A guardian angel?"
"You have Yatsurugi's powers and therefore you have his job." Kayumi stated. Keien nodded understanding completely.
"Okay, since we have that settled, can someone tell me how to put these things away?" Keien asked pointing to his wings. "I'd like to be able to walk about my apartment without knocking stuff of the walls." Kayumi smiled. Psyche snickered and Eros clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. We'll give you lessons." Eros assured.
***
Yatsurugi slowly opened his eyes. He felt cold and very exhausted. The fight with Dante must have been more draining than he'd thought. Briefly he wondered if Kayumi and the others had managed to get through the seal. A shiver coursed throughout his body. Reflexively he pulled up blankets about him. Blankets? He must be in his room on his bed. His head hurt, he couldn't think.
"Yatsurugi?"
It was Keien's voice. Thank the Almighty, Keien was safe.
"Yatsurugi?" he sounded more urgent this time. Yatsurugi moaned and made an attempt to move. Pain shot through him. Instinctively he winced and moved away, but it only caused him more pain.
"Shhh. Don't move. You'll only injure yourself more."
"Keien?"
"Yes?"
"You're alive." Yatsurugi felt a tear slip down his cheek. He couldn't see Keien, but he could hear him. That was all that mattered. Through bleary eyes Yatsurugi watched as colors and shapes moved about. Keien hovered over him, knowing that Yatsurugi couldn't focus. Keien didn't understand how he knew, he just did.
"Yatsurugi, something happened." Keien began laying a hand on his lover's shoulder to keep him still. "You've been unconscious for twenty-four hours."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Keien, I feel cold and tired." Yatsurugi said closing his eyes.
"Get some rest. Kayumi, Eros, Psyche, Hades, Shinji and I will figure something out."
"Hnh? What do you mean by that?"
"Rest." Keien started to get up, but Yatsurugi reached for his sleeve. Keien touched Yatsurugi's hand lightly. "Sleep. Conserve your strength. Please." Yatsurugi relaxed and fell back asleep. Keien carefully lifted his hand and settled it next to him. With a smile he left the room.
"How is he?" asked Psyche who was standing in the hallway. It's brown eyes wide with worry.
"He woke up for a few minutes, but he's still too weak. Listen I appreciate you and Eros sticking around." Psyche shook its head. Long black tresses swayed with the motion.
"None of us would have left you alone in your state. What if you accidentally did something like blow up a train station?" Keien sighed. He didn't know how he would have made it through the past twenty-four hours if the two angels of love hadn't been there. Hades and Shinji had been there as well to offer what support they could. Unfortunately, they both still had their own jobs to do and teaching a mortal turned angel how to use his powers wasn't feasible. So Eros and Psyche had volunteered to stay.
"Keien." Eros called from the living room. "It's time for another flying lesson."
"Hai, sensei." Keien replied. Psyche smiled and went to watch the entertainment.
***
Yawing, Yatsurugi sat up. He felt better, but something was wrong. He couldn't put a word to it, but he could feel as if something was missing. Stretching, he glanced about his room. Nothing was out of place, except that there were blankets and a pillow on the floor. Suddenly the door opened and Keien stepped in. Upon seeing Yatsurugi was awake and alert, Keien rushed over and hugged him.
"I'm so glad to see you awake." He gushed.
"Keien. How long have I been asleep?"
"Nearly two days. You woke up yesterday, but you weren't very coherent."
"I sort of remember something about that." He said as Keien released him. He looked grim and Keien immediately knew what was wrong. It took a second for the gravity of what had just happened to hit him. He understood what Yatsurugi was thinking without verbally asking him.
"I know why you feel empty." He said softly. Yatsurugi jerked his head up and stared into Keien's bright green eyes.
"W-what?" he stammered.
"I said, I know why you feel empty."
"But I didn't say anything about feeling empty."
"You didn't have to." Keien paused. "Yatsurugi. Something happened when Dante attacked me and you threw yourself in front of me." He took a deep breath. Everyone had decided that it was best that Yatsurugi hear this from Keien, Keien hadn't been thrilled. In fact he dreaded telling Yatsurugi.
"What happened?" Yatsurugi demanded.
"Somehow, your powers were drained from your body."
"I know that." Yatsurugi said gloomily.
"I'm not done. Your powers were drained from your body and entered mine." Yatsurugi inhaled and for a moment looked as if he were about to pass out again.
"My powers are in your body?" Keien nodded. "That means I'm completely mortal and you're an…"
"Angel." Keien finished. "Don't worry, everyone is working on a way to reverse the process, the problem is that it has only happened one other time, that anyone can find record of. So it may be a while."
"I don't believe this. I remember wanting to protect you with every ounce of strength I had. My prayer must have manifested itself as giving you my powers." Yatsurugi leaned forward, clutching his knees to his chest. "What are we going to do?"
"Wait. Eros and Psyche have offered to stay with us until this is cleared up. They've taken my room, so I've been sleeping in here." Keien said making a sweeping movement with his arm out over the blankets and pillow.
"Oh. That was very nice of them."
"Yes it was."
"You know." Yatsurugi began. "You don't have to sleep on the floor. My bed is big enough for two." Keien smiled as he read Yatsurugi's naked thoughts.
"I don't think you're strong enough for that."
"We'll just have to see." Yatsurugi said with a wicked smile. Keien chuckled glad to see him in a good mood. "You know, you're my guardian angel now."
"Yep and I plan on giving Dante a nasty surprise the next time he tries to attack me."
"Zap him once for me."
"Of course!" Keien leaned over and kissed his. They tasted each other momentarily before parting. "Get better and then we'll see about that stuff."
"What stuff?" asked Eros from the doorway.
"Nothing." Keien and Yatsurugi chimed. Eros rolled his eyes deciding he really didn't want to hear about it right now. The other two laughed and then Keien helped Yatsurugi out of bed and they went to the kitchen for something to eat.
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