Hikari and Kiyoshi meet Rin Kage [private]

"I'm memorising your aura pattern. Then I'll be able to sense whether you're in danger or not." Kiyoshi answered her. "Am I bothering you?" He smiled coyly.

Hikari was still busy playing with her leaf, now completely oblivious to the conversation.

"No, not at all. It's just that my hand was absolutely freezing before so i was wondering if that bothered you," She explained as she rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "Besides, its sorta covered in blood so thats not exactly the nicest thing to be touching," She added with a slight giggle. She was trying hard to cover up her heartbeat: ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump

Kiyoshi shook his head. "It should be quite obvious by now that I don't get cold easily, since I currently wear no shirt," he indicated towards himself. "Also, blood doesn't bother me." He paused. "Is your heart alright? You're not in shock still, are you?"

"Well youre hardier than i am," She said as she shrugged. "But then again, i'm 100% human so thats probably no surprise to you," She said as she sighed and shook her head when he asked about her heart. "I'm not sure. Probably, it's a lot to take in," She said, moving her free hand to her forehead, shutting her eyes. It acted like an ice pack to her burning forehead.

"Are you sick?" Kiyoshi lifted his other hand, gently removing her hand from her forehead and placing his own there instead.

She opened her eyes slightly, looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. "I-I'm not sure...My knees felt really weak all of a sudden..." She said quietly. "And my face just got really hot too...I dunno, maybe i'm coming down with something," She murmured as she shut her eyes again. His hand wasn't cold but it definitely soothed the burning a little bit.

His brows furrowed a little. "I'll have Hikari take a look at you. She's a healer after all. She'll know what you're coming down with." Raising his eyes to look at Hikari, she called her. "Hikari, can you look at Rin? She thinks she might be coming down with something."

Hikari looked up from her leaf banter, then started walking over. "Alright." Holding her hand up, it started to glow white a little, getting brighter every moment. Holding it over Rin's cut arm, she quickly sealed up the wound. "You should start feeling the effects of the light soon. It will take away the pain temporarily until you can properly rest it when you go to sleep. But as for what you may be coming down with, I cannot sense. It must just be your body catching up with the effects from the excitement earlier." Removing her hand and letting the glow fade away, Hikari sat down again.

"I...I dont know what it is," She said as she shook her head. "I've never had all of this before..." She said as she felt the heat in her face go away. "Its gone away a little now but my heart is still racing," She breathed but she had no idea that all of these 'symptoms' were being caused by Kiyoshi and her reaction towards him.

Kiyoshi paused. "I've memorised your aura. Now you can be sure one or both of us'll be there if you ever get into trouble again." He let go of her hand, letting his massive dark wings fold into his back a little to rest them.

Hikari giggled. "In most cases, it will be Kiyoshi, since I only ever fight when the need arises."

"A-Alright..." She said but her head drooped a little. 'So when they leave i'm gonna be on my own again...Figures, its too good to be true. I'll only see them when i'm in danger...' She took a seat on one of the churches empty seats and leaned her head back, breathing in deeply and exhaling again, her breath making a slight fog in the frosty night air.

Kiyoshi took one look at her face and it was as if he'd read her mind. "We're Guardian Angels remember. You only have to ask a favour of us and we'll try and help. So, if you want one of us to be with you all the time, then we'll do so."

"You make it sound like a burden," She said, her voice strained to sound amused. She opened her eyes and looked at the sky through one of the holes in the roof. "..." 'I wonder if my old man is watching...' She thought to herself as she got all misty-eyed. She cleared her throat and pretended to cough as she wiped her eyes.

Kiyoshi noticed her cover-up, but said nothing. "It's no burden. We're here for you, so we'll try and do anything you ask of us."

She sniffed, feeling a bout of tears coming on. She cleared her throat again. She bowed to them, her lower lip trembling. "I-I think i'm getting a cold so i'll be going now. Thank you for saving me..." She said and without another word, walked out briskly. As soon as she was out, she set off at a run. She had no idea where she was going, the tears just kept coming and coming. She couldnt even SEE where she was going, let alone know where she was.

A pair of arms lifted her effortlessly into the sky, very gently. Kiyoshi had followed her. Hikari was nowhere to be seen, most likely still at the old church. "You'll stumble into a demon's trap if you walk around blindly. I'll take you home."

She sobbed quietly, hiding her face from his view. "Just please put me down. I don't care if a demon gets me. I'm so sick of being alone all the time..." She sniffed, dipping her head. However, she made no attempt to struggle, she knew it was futile. "If they get me then i won't be alone anymore...I can see my mom and dad again..." She finished, completely unaware that she'd blurted out as much as she had.

"Your mom and dad wouldn't want you to do this. They would tell you to live. Live and be happy," Kiyoshi said. "Life is precious, so don't throw it away." He griped her slightly tighter. "Besides, you have us now. You're not alone anymore."

"I dont want you to be around me just because i want you to be!" She replied, her voice cracking several times. "I-I...I just.." She shook her head, turning her head in towards his chest and just crying. "I just want someone to be there because they care, and because they want to be by my side...Not because its their job or their duty!"

"Rin... I was not sent here by the angels. Neither was Hikari. We are here of our own free will." He sighed. "I originally fell because I was thought to be a criminal among the angels, but it was a mistake. For 44 years I was wandering around, stripped of my wings, while Hikari was uncovering the truth behind the misunderstanding. After she succeeded, I was given the right to my wings back, along with my right to my place with the others back." He paused, flying a little higher as they passed someone below. "I refused."

"R-Refused...?" She echoed him, bewildered. "B-But you had the opportunity to go home! Why did you refuse to return there?" She asked him frantically. She would never pass up the opportunity to see her parents again so it didn't make sense to her. "Kiyoshi, i-i don't understand," She said as she shook her head back and forth.

"You want the truth?" Kiyoshi looked at her. "I came here, and I met your father. He knew what I was as soon as he saw me, even without my wings. Even though I had covered the two scars on my back from where my wings were torn off, he still knew. I'd watched over your family for the years since before you were born, and I will continue to do so. Not even returning home can get in the way of that."

She looked down again, huddling her freezing body closer to him. He was strangley warm for someone without a shirt. "So...You'll know...Can you tell me what they were like..." She held onto him a little tighter. "Please..It's killing me not knowing my own parents. I feel a connection with them through you, and i feel a connection with you too in fact...I want to--No, i NEED to know,"

He dipped one wing, turning them down a corner in town. "Your father and mother were strong people with good hearts. Your father was a demonhunter, but gave it up once you were born, instead protecting you as best he could." He looked ahead and silently flew up to stay out of view from another passerby. "Your mother was just like you; you're the spitting image of her. She was also very musical, and good at martial arts.

"That's all I can tell you, I'm afraid. I kept my distance so as not to worry your family. Your father was the only one who knew about me."

"I see..." She murmured, the hole in her heart filling up the tiniest bit. "Thank you, Kiyoshi..." She said to him, hiding her smile from him. "You're not just a guardian to me," She added at the end as she shut her eyes. She could've fallen asleep there and then but she wanted to listen to him, that alone was more than enough to keep her awake.

Kiyoshi said nothing, but felt his heart lighten a little. "So you see, this isn't just our job. We both chose to stay here." He glanced at her again. "So don't hesitate to call us for anything."