Chapitre 2: Divine Law
Tomoe fought to keep himself under control, his shock, agitation and fear all combining into a force nearly big enough to throw him over the edge and into the depths of insanity. His shirt had been ripped clear off of his body by the massive wings that extended to either side of him, and a halo spun over his head just like the girl in a hoodie and leggings.
Tomoe, seventeen year old high school senior, virgin realist. He'd gone home after his shift at Shibuya's trendy angel cafe, not thinking about the irony of his workplace's theme, which he didn't believe in. Then, upon getting home, he'd found a girl inches from death in his back yard... after they'd touched, he fell unconscious and woke up some time later like this.
"What happened to me?" Even though he felt like he was about to explode with anger and confusion from the inside out, his voice came out as steady as could be imagined.
"Um...! Well, you're an angel now, so...! Uh, I can explain, I swear I can!!!"
"Please do," Tomoe shot back, freaking out at the way his massive, feathery new appendages twitched about, shuffling. What kind of anime beginning was this? Not that he'd ever been much for anime, but anybody could look at what had transpired earlier and relate it to anime... no matter how you looked at it though, this was just unforgivable.
"Well, I could start with why I was in your yard, but you'd probably rather I just start explaining what happened to you, right?"
"Yes," Tomoe said shortly, head spinning. The sun was going down, orange hues bleeding out of the sky to make way for blues... and in the darkness, their halos cast a soft, white glow down to the ground below them, illuminating the grass.
"Well, you see, um... this is probably going to sound like total BS to you, but to explain it quickly, I bound us together, and because I haven't fulfilled our time together, as dictated by my binding, right? So, um, angel law says if I haven't kept my end of the deal, so to speak, I can't be allowed to die yet! But, angels from Heaven can't have anything to do with humans on Earth in this way, so, also angel law, God's power and all... you became an angel, loophole in the rules!" Somehow, her explanation didn't do much to help, and Tomoe found himself trying to gather the details and sort them out.
"So, you needed to save your life by what, tying our fates together? You do that, and divine law says that until you've fulfilled your fate, you can't die... and that's why you're healed."
"Yes!"
"So then, because it's illegal by that same Divine ruling for an angel to deal with humans... your... magical laws kicked into high gear and turned me into an angel. That way it's technically no problem for us to be associated...?"
"That's exactly right! I am so, so sorry; but listen, you can put your wings away, and you can hide your halo too! You can still totally pass for a human, i-it'll just take a little effort!" For some reason, she looked like she was about to burst into tears, but it took Tomoe a long moment to realize that the cause was her fear of his reaction. Once he'd absorbed that, Tomoe took another moment, sucking in a slow breath.
"I've lived all my life without any faith in god or angels, and I've spent years not even believing in them... you. This is going to take a while to figure out, but for now... how do I put the wings and halo away?"
"You're not mad?" the blonde angel gave a watery smile, expression confuddled.
"I'm mostly confused at this point, this is a little too much to soak in all at once." With a sigh, the flinty-eyed teenager repeated his question, and Aine nodded.
"It's easy! Just... I don't know, suck them in? They're part of your body, just imagine tucking your arms into your torso, but do it with the wings. The halo will vanish with them! You just- um, I'll shut up and let you focus for a minute!" She clamped her mouth shut, and Tomoe, still reeling, slowly closed his eyes, doing as she said. Imagining them as arms made things somewhat more simple, and slowly, he managed to move them independently of his arms... the things were heavy and awkward, but after a moment of focus, they snapped toward him, absorbed into his body. When the newborn angel opened his eyes, only this strange girl was shining light from above her head.
"See, it's not hard at all!"
"You know, this is a lot like an anime, so I'm going to guess that's going to keep up when I tell you to leave."
"I don't know what anime is, but you're right, I can't leave! I bound us together, and until I've fulfilled my end of whatever fate now holds for us, I can't get out of your life! Plus, if I leave, how will you learn to be an angel?" She pouted cutely and, after a moment, spoke lightly. "My name is Aine, by the way, I never really got yours..."
"I'm called Tomoe," answered the taller of the two. "I want to be very clear... I'm not angry, because I understand that you did this to save your life. However, I expect you to take full responsibility for it, understand?" He spoke calmly, but his voice brooked no argument; if she was going to turn him into an angel, she was going to teach him how to live like one, and that was all that there was to it, it was only right.
"Of course! Like I said, I'll teach you how to live as an angel, no problems at all! I can sleep on your couch, or even the floor if you want! I can-"
"Listen, Aine, it's alright. We have a guest room, you can stay there... where did you even get clothes?"
"It's uh, it's like magic storage! I can explain some other time, but are you sure about lending me a room? Do you live alone?"
"One question at a time, alright? I don't live alone, I'm seventeen and finishing out my last year of high school. My parents aren't home all the time, but if I just give them a story about you being an orphan and a friend of mine, they'll almost certainly let you stay in the guest room..." Tomoe sighed, looking down at his bare chest. It was a good thing that he'd taken off the cafe's uniform jacket before this had happened... but damnit, he'd liked that shirt.
"I see... that's cool, that your parents would do that, I'll have to thank them properly!" Aine snapped her wings inward, hiding them, and her halo slowly disappeared in a ring, like the loading symbol on an internet video.
"Sure," Tomoe agreed, sighing softly, beginning to walk toward the house. His first thought was how strange it was, him not feeling any differently than he had that morning- but it wasn't quite true, was it? He felt as if he'd shrugged off a heavy coat; not much of a difference, but lighter, stronger, just a bit more reflexive. "So, um, what's an angel doing on Earth, after all this time?" When he asked this question, there was a slightly awkward pause.
"Well... I mean, we know everything that goes on down here, we angels, we see it constantly, but we never do anything about it! There's a huge, massive, enormous slaughter about to take place, though, on Sunday, and finally I couldn't take it anymore! I came down to try and stop it, but demons roam free, and they were too much for just me, in the end... but the two of us together, we can save all of those people! Angels created from living humans are incredibly powerful!"
Tomoe paused, having been leading Aine through the kitchen. She was looking around curiously, hands fidgeting a bit at her sides.
"Look, I didn't volunteer to go around hunting demons with you-"
"Haven't you ever wished that the angels would get off their asses, Tomoe?" Aine cut him off, speaking what seemed to be uncharacteristically serious tones. "It isn't right how we sit up there doing nothing while the ones we were supposed to combat ravage innocent lives. So I came down, hoping that it would set an example for others to follow, and now I'm asking you to help me put a stop to what will be the largest spree of murders Japan has known since the last world war."
"You do realize how much that is to ask of somebody, right?" Tomoe frowned slightly. It would be a smashing debut as an angel, certainly, but... could he really live with himself if he sat by and let something like this happen? Even if there was only a small chance he'd be any help?
"Do you realize how much it would be asking of me to let them die?" Aine answered just as seriously, unwavering. "Listen, Tomoe, I really am sorry about using you to save my life, about dragging you into this, but it has to happen. I can teach you what you need to know, and I can do most of the work, but for once in my life I am not going to let anybody die for reasons that don't matter! I can't do that alone, Tomoe!" Her voice wavered as if it might break, toward the end, and it struck a chord in his heart, somehow.
"Ugh... alright, let's say I were going to risk my life for the greater good. Where is this supposed slaughter going to happen?"
"On Sunday, there's going to be a concert in one of the halls downtown. A pair of demon siblings are going to go there and feast on the crowd, and I want to storm in there to be ready for them!"
"Could I learn enough to actually be of any use by then?" Tomoe asked quietly, mulling this over in his head. This wasn't something that could be decided so easily by any means, he thought... rather, it shouldn't be. Part of him knew that she was right, though; for an angel to have every chance to help and yet to not do so was beyond wrong.
"You could, if you played support for me! They caught wind of my plan today and nearly killed me, but with another angel on my side, we can save hundreds, maybe over a thousand! You might be a new angel, but as I said, angels created by life rather than death are more powerful; because life is pure and holy and all, but also because you aren't bound by divine law, as you put it!"
"I see..." Tomoe thought for a moment, but of course, he already knew what he was going to say. How could he possibly not?"
"Alright. Well, I just slept through the last what, three hours? I'm not really tired yet, so let's get this training started."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone