Chapter 1, Part 3 – Meeting

How much time had pa.s.sed?

The day had completely darkened, and the town in Alphine was dyed in the beautiful colors of the sunset. For a while, she merely sat fascinated by the beauty around her, but soon forced herself to stand up.

“I have to get back ….”

Protecting her left wing that had been injured in the fight with the demon, Rin staggered through the twilight town. Injuring her wing had been a grave mistake. Although she was somehow able to withstand the pain, she was unable to fly with nearly half of her wing gone. Not to mention, most of her holy power had been used up.

Because Heaven resided in a different special plane that the human world, it couldn’t be reached without holy power. Even if one were to fly blindly, without holy power, you would only continue to fly through the endless sky. Either way, until both her wings and holy power were restored, she would have to remain in this world.

Baffled, she walked though the town alone. Humans were not able to see angels, so no one would be able to notice her injured form. Swaying unsteadily, she blended in with the crowds of humans and pa.s.sed through the bustle of activity. Perhaps because they were making preparations for dinner, a pleasant smell drifted in the air. Reaching the low hill at the end of the main road, she saw the country’s largest cathedral.

“If it’s there, then there should be enough holy power, so I’ll stay there for the time being.”

Because it had once fallen from Heaven, it was therefore the town that had fallen from the sky.

In the center of the town was the remarkably gorgeous Claude Cathedral. For the devout people of this town, the cathedral was enshrined as the place closest to Heaven. Furthermore, the faith of the people that visited this cathedral gave off the highest quality of holy energy. For this reason, it was often been used as a resting place.

She slowly ascended the spiral staircase going around the hill.

For angels that usually flew with their wings to get around and seldom walked on two legs, this staircase was a slight challenge. In Heaven, after becoming a fully-fledged angel, there are various tests and obligatory training, but the most important for when staying in the human world was using their legs in “bipedal training.”

Particularly for angels that were a.s.signed to the Alphine region, and would need to stay in the human for extensive periods of time, the training of going up and down the spiral stairs at this Claude Cathedral was made mandatory. When Rin had been doing long-term training to be promoted to a junior angel, she had repeated the training of going up and down these stairs with Gumi.

That was the first time that she thought humans were amazing.

Ever since the Great War, there was a long period of time where there was a school of thought known as Neo-Angels, that believed strongly in only training the power of their wings. The majority of angels sided with this faction. Walking on two legs was seen as inferior, savage and uncivilized behavior, and became banned. However, times changed. In recent years, it was proved that training the whole body gave an advantage in combat against demons, and walking and running power became factors in the evaluation of a strong angel. There was even a suggestion that “walking” be included as one of the official compet.i.tive events in the “St. Sports Festival” held every four years.

However, regardless of how skilled angels were recently at walking, climbing stairs while injured was an enormous strain on the body. As soon as Rin reached the top, she collapsed, her body falling forward.

“Haa ….. haa ….. My wings … hurt …..”

Lying on her side, she looked down at the scenery. A small whirlwind was blowing. About two to three parts of her wing was missing. The town that had dyed in red until just a while ago had dimmed, and the sun seemed just about to set.

“So pretty ….”

Someone spoke.

Looking down from here right now, the town certainly was beautiful.

Rin also liked that sad moment of waiting as the last lamplight that illuminates the world fleetingly disappeared.

“But, it’s even prettier to see it from Heaven. It looks like scarlet paint was spilled from above.”

She muttered this, as if responding to the voice.

“I see ….. I’d like to see that.”

Riding on a wind, the beautiful and melodious voice answered again.

“…….. Eh!?”

With a momentary delay, she turned to see the owner of the voice.

Her breath was taken away.

There stood a girl dressed in black clothing.

Beautiful hair and eyes the color of verdure. Speechless, she was captivated by her clear eyes that seemed to draw you in.

Beautiful, she thought.

“Are ….. you injured?”

The black-clad girl asked this with a concerned expression.

“Ah …… u-um ….. M-me ……? Why!?”

For the moment, she was fl.u.s.tered and unable to react, and merely asked again.

This was the human world. Because she was an angel, this girl should not be able to hear her voice. She didn’t have wings, and seemed to be a human no matter how she looked at her. Could it be that she was having a dream?

“Your wing is injured, isn’t it? It seems painful.”

After saying this, she crouched in front of Rin, narrowed her large eyes and looked at her injured wing with sympathy.

“Miss Angel isn’t able to return to Heaven like this ….. That’s so sad.”

Being an angel, she was surprised that the girl could see her form, but she also wondered how she was able to guess so quickly about being unable to go back. Her surprise filled her eyes, and remaining speechless, she merely stared at the beautiful face of the girl in front of her. Although even her superior, Kaito, often told her that her emotions were always written all over her face, it was their first time meeting …… Furthermore, for a human girl to be able to detect her so easily was both shocking and embarra.s.sing. Although angels appeared to be based on humans, and most seemed rather young, it had already been well over a hundred and fifty years since she had been born as an angel.

Despite the fact that Rin seemed taken aback, the girl said this.

“Miss Angel ….. if you’d like, would you come to my house?”

“…… Ehh!? Ah, b-but ……”

“Since you seem troubled about not being able to go home …. Ah, but I’m not just inviting you for no reason. You’re injured, and …. you don’t look like you’re able to fly with those wings.”

“Uuu …..”

Her house. A human’s … house. She wondered how humans lived. To tell the truth, she had always been curious about humans. However, other than what was necessary, the laws of Heaven prohibit any further relations with humans. For example, when the senior angels intervene in the human world for some reason, or when contacting a priest, or some member of the clergy that possessed special power.  Junior angels have no reason that warranted contact with a human. In the first place, there aren’t many humans that are able to see angels. Why is this girl able to see my form ….? Although she was young, could she possibly have a special position in the clergy?

She speculated all of these in her thoughts at once.

“Is it …. impossible, after all? For an angel and a human to get along?”

While Rin was silent, the girl muttered this sadly.

“That’s not true!!”

She shouted in a loud voice suddenly. The girl looked surprised. Rin was bewildered at the words that had come out unconsciously, and could only panic.

“Ah— ……. Um. ….. I’m, Rin. I’m an angel, but I haven’t been the human world all that much yet. You can see angels, right? That caught me off guard.”

“….. Hehe.”

All of a sudden, the girl let out a funny laugh.

“Ehh!? D-Did I say something weird ….? This is my first time talking to a human, so …..”

“No, not at all. I just thought, since you weren’t answering at all, that Miss Angel wasn’t allowed to talk to humans. That’s why when you suddenly spoke, I was ….. really happy.”

Happy——

The moment she saw the girl smile like flowers blooming, she heard something.

Was this … the sound of bells?

The shrill sounds of bells were ringing inside her head, and she felt almost as if it were the beginning of a new world.

Was this … what a human was like? Or was this …..

“My name is Miku. This is also my first time meeting an angel. When I first saw you, I was a little scared, but once I came closer, you were really so pretty …..  I ended up saying that out loud without thinking. And that was when you thought I meant the sunset.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off her giggling face. Miku’s crystal clear voice was like birdsong, and even more beautiful than the song of the birds of paradise that lived in Heaven. She wanted to stay like this, and look at her forever. She wanted to listen to this voice.

To this human’s …. No, to her voice.

“Um, about what you asked earlier ….. If it’s not any trouble, would you allow me to stay at your house, just for a little while …..?”

Under Heaven’s laws, she would probably receive some kind of punishment. No matter what grave injury prevented one from returning, to find shelter at a human dwelling was unusual behavior for an angel.

Even so, she wanted to be together with this beautiful girl, for just a little longer.

“Really!? I’m so happy ….! Of course, you’re very welcome! Let’s get along well …… Rin.”

“Yes, let’s get along well, umm …… Miku.”

She took hold of Miku’s extended hand and stood up. The moment she touched her slender hand, she felt an unbearable sad feeling. Her soul shook.

Was she feeling sentimental because of the sunset? Although it was her first time having this emotion, it somehow felt familiar. She could hear the sound of bells signaling that it would soon become night.

Without understand the meaning of this sadness, she descended the spiral staircase with her, following the sinking sunset.