Notice: This story is told from the view of two people, Misha and Kotaro. Every time you see a horizontal line the view changes to the other person. (I tried to do squiggles but the editor removes them...)

Pita-Ten: A Year Later

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. People were passing by each other, focusing on their own important matters. Children were returning from schools and adults from their workplaces, and none of those people noticed the angel sitting on the edge of a cloud.

The angel was garbed in a pure-white dress, which radiated warm light. She watched the small humans live their daily life, and smiled happily. Angel's duty is to make people happy, and today she had brought happiness to so many people that she felt more angelic than ever before. She stood up on the cloud, and her long, pink hair whirled in the wind, as she spread her wings and took off in the air. She flew a couple loops in the air to express her happiness, and she giggled while descending down to the human world.

Kotaro Higuchi stepped out of the main door of the school. A day full of work was now behind, and it was time to go home. The bright sunlight almost blinded him when he got out of the school building. As he walked his regular route through the town, he couldn't be without noticing all the people who were smiling for one reason or another. There rarely are days this gorgeous in the late summer, he thought. Maybe that's why everyone seems so glad.

Seeing all the happy people and the warming sun made him smile and his mind clear up. He stopped at the nearby ice cream kiosk and bought himself some strawberry ice cream. He enjoyed the taste of it, and continued his walk while eating.

Misha flew through the air. She loved flying: feeling the wind on her body and the air flow through her hair. She flew at an amazing speed towards the earth, and she didn't slow down until she had descended low enough to land on top of a small store. Misha sat down and watched the humans pass by.

Many people were eating ice cream, she saw. "Last time I ate ice cream'su... was with..." This thought appeared in her head, but she quickly shook it away. She tried to avoid the memories. They always made her sad.

The store she was sitting on was the same one where she had gone to buy groceries during her apprentice period. Misha looked at the surrounding buildings. "This place hasn't changed at all'su... I wonder..." Before the thought was finished, she noticed how a small child accidentally dropped his ice cream on the ground, and started to cry. "Oh no'su!" Misha said with empathy, and used a tiny bit of her angel power. In a moment the ice cream seller smiled and gave the child a new ice cream. The child thanked and ran off. Misha looked at the fallen ice cream on the ground. It was strawberry... "His favourite'su..." She sighed and shook her head vigorously, not wanting to go through that thought. But just then, she saw a glimpse of a person with purple hair in the distance. Misha's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened.

Kotaro wasn't usually feeling lonely. He had many good friends in school, but sometimes he just felt empty inside. Not very often, though. And Kotaro knew that the empty feeling existed because he missed his beloved angel... Most of the time Kotaro managed to keep his thoughts under control, but when the sadness struck, it struck hard. He felt that it was building up inside him again, and his smile started to fade.

It had been a year since Kotaro had wished that Misha would make him unable to see angels. He was glad that Misha had passed the angel exam, and he truly believed it was better that Misha was in heaven instead, but Kotaro still missed her, and he couldn't help it.

The moment Misha saw a glimpse of purple all past memories flowed in her head. Without any hesitation she flew towards the purple to see if it was who she thought it was. The closer she got, the more she added speed. After every inch she grew surer that the person with purple hair was Kotaro. Soon she was absolutely sure that it was Kotaro, and she straightened her arms ready to grab him in a tight hug as she flew towards him at high speed. "Kotaro-kun!" She shouted full of joy. But as Misha's arms went around Kotaro, she went right through him and tumbled on the ground. "Oww... that hurts'su..." she said in a quiet voice. "I'm so silly'su... I forgot I can't touch him... and he can't see me..." Misha forced a smile on her face, but she couldn't stop that one tear that fell off her cheek.

Kotaro suddenly stopped walking. A weird sensation had gone through his body. As if a warm wind had flown in him, a wind that made him feel comfortable... it was a familiar feeling somehow. He also thought he heard a distant and muffled voice calling for him. "That can't be..." He looked in all directions, but saw nothing. Then he glanced up to the sky. Kotaro sighed and continued walking.

Misha sat on the ground. Kotaro had certainly felt something, since he started to look around. For a brief moment Misha and Kotaro looked each other straight in the eyes. But of course Kotaro didn't see her.

Misha watched Kotaro carefully as he started walking again. He had changed a little from the time she had last seen him. He was a bit taller, but still the same Kotaro that Misha valued so much. For a while she just sat there looking at Kotaro's back. When Misha finally snapped out of her trance, Kotaro had walked way ahead. She got up and rushed after him. "Kotaro-kun, wait'su!" She shouted, knowing that he wouldn't hear her voice.

Misha followed Kotaro to his home. Kotaro still lived in the same place as he did a year ago. In the apartment next door Misha had lived for quite a while, and seeing the house again brought more memories back to her. Suddenly she imagined all the mornings when she had gone to school together with Kotaro. They were often a little late, mostly because Misha was always glomping him. At that moment she would have given anything for the chance of just hugging him, touching him, feeling his body with her own.

Kotaro had no idea Misha watched him as he did his daily routine: he studied, cooked dinner and studied more. The sun went down and Kotaro went in bed. He quickly fell asleep, and Misha watched him snore quietly. She smiled. Kotaro seemed so peaceful. Misha let out a small yawn and crawled next to him. "Good night'su, Kotaro-kun," she said quietly.

"...ight...sha-chan..." Kotaro mumbled in his sleep, as if he had heard what Misha said. She didn't notice though, she had fallen in deep slumber already.

Kotaro woke up. He had seen a wonderful dream. He laid in his place without moving at all, knowing that if he didn't go through the dream in his mind right now he would forget it. He closed his eyes... In the dream he had been with Misha... just because of that he wanted to remember it. They had not done much in the dream. Misha just had been there with him. Just her presence, even if in just a dream, made Kotaro feel warm.

Kotaro opened his eyes. For a brief moment he thought he saw a shady figure of a person lying next to him. It had wings. But the vision was gone as fast as it had appeared. Kotaro got up and got rid of the rest of his sleepiness. He looked at the place where he'd seen the figure, but there was nothing there. "Gosh," he muttered. "I'm so pathetic..."

When Misha woke up, she saw that Kotaro had already gotten up. There was a delicious smell of recently cooked food. Apparently he had put some real effort in his breakfast. Misha sat on the sofa and watched as Kotaro finished eating his tasty-looking breakfast and cleaned the plate and the cooking pan. Then Kotaro went to the balcony - he seemed to be thinking of something important.

Misha stayed where she was. It ailed her to be so close to him, but not be able to contact him in any way. "I wish I could talk with you'su..." she muttered sadly. On that exact moment she remembered what had happened yesterday. Misha's face lightened up. Could it be possible? She couldn't know for sure. "Well, you only find out by trying'su..."

Misha stood up and went right behind Kotaro's back. He was watching the backyard... or so it seemed. He was probably deep in his thoughts.

Misha breathed deeply. Then she stepped inside Kotaro's body.

Suddenly Kotaro felt something that he had not felt ever before. His whole body felt hot and light as a feather. His head felt like it was going to explode: hundreds and hundreds of unfamiliar thoughts and feelings went through his brain. He could feel a sweet scent in his nose getting stronger as his head started to hurt more and more. Then he heard a faint voice, gradually clearing up and becoming louder. It told him to close his eyes. Kotaro had no idea what was going on: at that moment he only knew the stinging pain inside his head. The voice kept telling him to close his eyes. Enduring the pain and wondering why he was obeying a weird voice inside his head, Kotaro managed to close his eyes. Immediately after that the pain stopped, and he lost consciousness.

Kotaro opened his eyes. Or did he? There was only pitch-black darkness. He could see nothing at all. He was lying on his back, if his senses didn't lie to him. Then, out of the darkness, a figure that shined bright white light appeared. As it came closer, Kotaro started to see the figure better. Long hair... wings... white dress... it was...

Misha.

Misha knelt down to Kotaro. He could clearly feel her arms as they went around him and lifted him slightly upwards. "I'm so sorry'su... I haven't done this before and I didn't know if it would work at all'su..." Misha hugged him tightly.

"Sorry'su..."

Kotaro was in a small shock. He wriggled out of Misha's arms and got up in some sort of sitting position. He grabbed her shoulders, keeping his distance. He looked at Misha, her face, her hair, and her eyes that were in tears.

"Misha... all my senses tell me that this isn't a dream. What is this? Is this... is this real?"

Misha shivered a little. "Well... I am not sure'su. Yes and no..." Her gaze went down.

"This space isn't realistic, but I can definitely feel you with my hands. Are you real? Am I real?"

Misha looked him in the eyes again. "Kotaro-kun... In the real world this isn't happening, because we are inside of your mind'su. As an angel I don't really exist in the same dimension as you do. But if I enter your body and mind, you can see me and touch me as if I was real'su. It is impossible for us in real world, so I couldn't think of any other way to-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Kotaro had captured her in his tight embrace and pressed his lips against hers. A long while passed before their lips separated.

"When we separated a year ago and you became and angel, I accepted the fact that I wouldn't see you again... still… I have missed you."

"Don't worry'su. We can see each other in here whenever we like. Even if this is only inside your head..." Misha placed her arms around Kotaro before she continued:

"This is real."