Guardian Angel
Chapter One

The apartment was dark, quiet and empty. Misha stood silently on the veranda as she stared inside.

Despite having successfully passed the Angel Exam, it appeared that Heaven - or rather, more specifically, the angels that lived there - was not ready to forgive her for her past sins. Her days were filled with whispered comments and disgusted expressions. Everyone knew her name; everyone knew her face. And as the days passed, the whispers became louder and facial expressions no longer satisfied their need to convey their feelings.

Nearly three months later the PTB, working under direct orders from God, reassigned her to the task of working as a guardian angel.

Three human years had passed since then.

While working directly with humans was generally forbidden, there were a few special cases every now and then. Naturally there were humans that needed a little extra attention: those that had succumbed to depression, and those that were being influenced directly by demons.

She leaned back against the veranda's railing and folded her arms over her stomach. She snuck a glance at the cell phone she was holding in her left hand, sighed, then returned her gaze to the darkened apartment. She was getting tired of waiting.

But waiting was something that couldn't be helped. Though it had taken her a while to learn and understand it, there was quite a difference in the way that time passed between Heaven and the Human Realm. What was hours to her was only a few minutes in Heaven.

Still, she wished they would be a little faster.

As if answering to her impatience, her cell phone rang out in the playful melody that she was using for her ring tone. She flipped it open, turned it on, and held it to her ear.

"Sorry that took so long, Misha-babe," her sister's voice apologized.

Misha nodded to herself. "Ah, yeah, it's fine."

"Anyways," Sasha continued, not wasting any time. "Your new assignment is in Misaki-dai. The target is Ayanokoji Takashi. Age seventeen. Let's see… He attends Sakurahi High School, and is in grade eleven."

"Ayanokoji…" Misha repeated quietly to herself.

She leaned back against the veranda's railing. She knew that name. Ayanokoji Takashi - where had she heard that name before?

Maybe he's a friend of someone I already helped, she wondered to herself.

"Misha! Are you listening to me!?"

She jumped slightly, brought back to reality by her sister's scream.

"Ah, yeah," she replied, nodding.

She could hear Sasha sigh, and in her mind she could imagine her shaking her head.

"No you weren't."

Misha chuckled. "You caught me. Su."

"I said, you're to move their immediately. The PTB have handled all of your papers, and your belongings are already at the new apartment."

Misha switched the cell phone to her other hand. She turned around and stared over the city that lay before her.

"As usual, I'll send the rest of the information to you in a bit."

"Tee hee. Thank you, Sacchan."

She could hear her sigh again. "Good luck, babe."

"Thanks, Sacchan."

There was a click on the other end, then a moment of silence before the dial tone rang in her ear. She listened to the annoying sound for a moment before flipping it closed.

"Ayanokoji Takashi," she repeated the name again. She sighed and leaned against the railing. "I suppose I'll get to meet you soon enough."

Well, the chapters will be shorter than I prefer them to be, but overall I just wanted this story to be a fun one, where I write the chapters when I'm having trouble thinking on the other ones.

If anyone is curious, this story takes place nearly five years after the end of the manga. If that doesn't make sense to you, just remember that Heaven and the Human Realm have different time "speeds". One day in Heaven is about a week in the Human Realm - so the three months Misha spent in Heaven is equivalent, roughtly, to a year and a half in the Human Realm. I had to do a bunch of math on that...

Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this.

- Makami