Chapitre 3: G-Get in with Me?!
"Alright, Tomoe, let's do this!" The two of them were in the back yard again, surrounded by walls. "Every angel has a special weapon called their 'Revered Weapon', but the angel has to be acknowledged by Heaven as worthy before that can happen, so you probably won't. Right now, you won't have access to that, but you can the basics, so that's what we'll start with. Wings out!" She seemed way too excited about this, Tomoe thought, rolling his bare shoulders. Having been informed that he'd need to bring out his wings, the dark haired young man had forgone getting a new shirt on.
"Alright, Aine, hit me with the brain juice."
"Ew, sounds nasty. Whatever works, though! Now, an angel is stronger, faster, more agile, more impressive in general than a human on their own, but they're at their strongest when their wings and halo are exposed. That's the real reason seven used to be considered a holy number; an angel's power grows sevenfold when they've laid everything to light! So, first thing's first; do you have any experience with hand to hand combat? A lot of demons have properties that don't let them hold weapons, so you'll need to be able to hold your own in a good old fashioned fist fight!"
"I have some experience, yes, but I've never been a professional boxer or anything," Tomoe responded coolly, narrowing his eyes. "I hope you aren't going to ask me to demonstrate, because I refuse to lay my hands on a girl."
"Alright, then... well, this will take a good deal of effort, but I can summon a Homunculus for you to practice with. Might be better in the long run, so that neither of us actually get hurt," the angel girl added helpfully, and without wasting any time, she held out a hand. Her palm began to slowly glow with a pure, white-gold light, like the garlands of a massive American Christmas tree. Tomoe watched, a bit confused as something like a softly glowing mannequin appeared there, rocking on the balls of its feet in a fighting stance.
"This is a Homunculus? I thought they looked more... human."
"They can, but that takes effort that I can't afford right now. We've got a slaughter to falter, so, lesson one! An angel's wings are indestructible, so you can use them as a shield; can you move them on their own?"
Listening to her, Tomoe focused, slowly trying to move the strange additions at his back... in a second, they snapped out to either side, rigid as if he were about to take flight. "I think I can, but I'm probably going to be a little bit sloppy. I mean, it's like having two extra arms; it's familiar, but it's also hard to get used to." Truly, he probably wouldn't be able to for quite some time yet... but with some effort, Tomoe WAS able to maneuver them around and in front of him like some sort of strange barrier.
"Good! now, I'm going to have the Homunculus jog around the yard, hurling magic at you. If you can block them with your wings, great, but don't worry, they won't be strong enough to seriously hurt you regardless..."
~~~
Alright, Tomoe! Let's see you fight the Homunculus hand to hand, and you'll have to make sure your wings don't get in the way. For a new angel, I imagine it won't be the easiest thing on Earth!" Aine seemed overjoyed at the progress he was making, and Tomoe had to admit, it felt good. This was like some sort of super hero origin story! However, while it felt good, there was, naturally, a shadow looming over it all. The demon siblings, and the slaughter that Aine somehow knew about... the shimmering doubt in Tomoe's mind, which whispered into his ear that he may not make it out of this, that he never should have agreed. Come to think of it, he hadn't asked about the red thread in their hands yet, had he...?
"Alright, Aine, send your doll my way." The Homunculus, which Tomoe decided to dub Homer, flew forward and lashed out with a kick.
Now, Tomoe didn't have martial arts training, or official classes... but he had an father who was rated among the top guards in the nation, and so he'd picked up a thing or two in the ways of crowd control and close quarters.
Turning his body to the side, the newborn angel shoved this offending leg, throwing Homer off balance. Before the Homunculus could recover, Tomoe rammed a fist into his throat, then went in for a throw- but tripped on his wing, rolling across the dirt. Pushing downward with those feathery growths, Tomoe managed to fling himself to his feet, but the execution and landing were awkward, to say the very least.
"Yeah, Tomoe!" Aine cheered like a professional. "Roll with the punch- oh?" She laughed as Tomoe whipped his wing forward, twisting it and using the so-called indestructible flight bones to stagger Homer. Taking advantage, Tomoe pressed forward; gripping the mannequin's shoulder, he twisted and flung the thing away, into the wall.
"Way to go, using your wing like that! Even I hadn't thought of it," Aine told him with a laugh as Homer staggered to its feet, starting toward Tomoe again. Tiring of this, he called on something his father had taught him never to use outside of an emergency... and after he parried the first blow, Tomoe caught Homer's arm, spun it around and slammed his grip upward, both breaking the elbow and dislocating the shoulder, possibly spraining the wrist I'm the same blow on a human. Homer didn't make any vocalizations, but Tomoe ignored this abject creepiness and grabbed it by the throat, intending to take it to the floor...
"An angel's power grows sevenfold when their wings are out, that from a state already stronger than a human by far..." That was what Aine had said, though obviously paraphrased. Not remembering this, Tomoe used his full might to take Homer down, and his fist sank a full half meter into the hard, packed dirt of his yard as Homer's faintly glowing form shattered into a billion shards and floated away on the breeze, like a video game enemy dying.
"Go Tomoe!" Aine crashed into him, ripping his arm free of the dirt and landing them both in the dirt, Tomoe on his back with Aine over him. Although for a young man, there were many things to be felt here, she seemed to think nothing of it whatsoever, only smiling brightly almost to the point of stupidly.
"Listen, if you're going to keep up the cheering, we're going to have to go and buy you a cheerleader outfit."
"Oh, I'm sorry, does it irritate you?"
"No, it's..."
"Oh! I bet I know! You have a cheerleader fetish, don't you?"
"What?! No!" Tomoe laughed, surprised. "Where the hell would you pull that from, it was a joke!"
"Oh, my bad...!" Aine grinned, sitting up, not seeming to care that this put her squarely on Tomoe's lap. "Well, I have to say, you're doing remarkably well for a newborn angel. I've never made one myself, it's rare and mega forbidden... but this seems unnatural." She put a finger to her bottom lip, thinking for a short while until Tomoe interrupted her thoughts.
"Hey... don't suppose you could get off me, hm? As a man, this is almost intolerable."
"A-Ah, right, sorry! I wasn't thinking, angels don't really... get it on, so to speak," she finished in an embarrassed tone, hopping off of Tomoe and helping him to his feet.
"Alright, well, I think this is probably enough for you to play support... maybe tomorrow, you can try flying," Aine spoke with a wink. "At night, of course. Oh, do you have school? Didn't you say you were finishing your final year?"
"I do, but since it's Saturday, we'll get out early."
"Hm, maybe I should pull some divine magic bull and fabricate papers that enroll me with you~" Aine smirked, giving Tomoe a playful wink. "Wouldn't you just love to have me in class with you every day?"
"You make it sound like this is going to be a long term thing," Tomoe spoke with a conflicted laugh.
"Right... thoughts for later," Aine spoke soberly. "Tomoe, do you mind if I use your shower? I think I kind of smell," she admitted sheepishly.
"Yeah, I don't mind. We can both shower, all the bedrooms have private baths," Tomoe answered. "Just don't ask me to get in with you," he added, chuckling.
"I won't...? Oh, is that another anime joke? Or similarity, or whatever?"
"Yeah, it's something that'd totally happen in some of the manga I know. Do you know what anime is?"
"It's um, like, those pretty girls and animations, right?"
"Sort of," Tomoe agreed.
"Is it something that you like much? I could try to do some research..."
"No, it isn't. My buddy Eiji obsesses over it though, so that's why I know whatever I do."
"Got it!" Aine smiled and started to walk toward the deck door again. "So, showers?"
"Yes, showers, let's get in there," Tomoe agreed, walking inside with her.
"Ah, hey Tomoe, I got home from early, didn't expect you to still be up. Did I hear a girl's voice~?" Tomoe froze, and so did Aine, both of them staring at the almost middle aged, salt and pepper haired, strongly built man in the kitchen; who, to be fair, was staring at them intensely as well.
"Tomoe... start talking. No bullshit."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone