This comes before Fractum Plumis, and features several of the same characters, but the stories aren't necessarily dependent on each other. The characters who are full-fledged Guardians in Fractum Plumis are only just starting training, so relationships that are developed in Fractum Plumis aren't present yet. I hope you all enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! But I do own my darling little OCs. I wonder how I'll torment them in this story…
Sunlight danced through the training yard of the angel realm's Guardian Academy as two new first-year students made their way toward the opening ceremony due to start in less than half an hour. Both had black hair and wings, though the shorter of the two was glossy raven wings, and the other's feathers were somehow a darker ink shade. The taller man's wings reflected the light, while the short man's feathers seemed to absorb it.
"Hey, Kyohei," the taller angel began, "I thought you weren't going to become a Guardian." His companion, Kyohei, frowned at him.
"It's been six months since I told you I was enrolling here and you're just now bringing this up?"
"I assumed that you'd tell me on your own," the taller one answered. "But since you didn't…"
"Michael, you- uh oh. Looks like someone is causing trouble already," Kyohei muttered, nodding to the far side of the training yard, where several older students had surrounded what appeared to be a tiny female angel. "Let's go." Without waiting for his friend to respond, the shorter man began jogging in the direction of the apparent trouble.
"Kyohei, wait! Aw, man…" Michael shook his head and followed his friend.
"You guys aren't ganging up on somebody are you?" Kyohei inquired conversationally as he reached the group. The person surrounded by the older students was a small female angel with brilliant red-gold wings and hair. Instead of looking terrified, as Kyohei had half expected, however, the woman's eyes blazed and she was grinning.
"Hey, man, she picked a fight with us," one of the older students snapped. "And it's none of your business, so just walk away before you get it too." The group's attention had shifted to Kyohei, which the woman in the middle seemed irritated by. She jumped neatly, using her wings to help turn her body and change the angel of her descent so that her feet slammed into the back of the man who was talking to Kyohei. The red-gold angel kicked off of her victim's back as he fell face-first and flipped, landing neatly in the exact same spot she had been standing before she jumped. Kyohei couldn't hide his surprise. This angel…she was a fighter. He hadn't thought she was big enough to be a student, but maybe she was a Guardian in training?
"You idiots!" A tall male angel with cream-colored feathers stalked up to the group. "I told you she wouldn't back down. Why are you ganging up on my little sister?" The creamy-winged angel narrowed his eyes, and even Kyohei and Michael, who hadn't done anything wrong, couldn't help but shift uneasily at the barely-concealed fury in the newcomer's eyes. "And Anna." He turned his sharp gaze on the tiny female angel, and she blinked up at him innocently. She almost pulled it off, but the angel she had knocked down stumbled to his feet, wings twitching irritably, and the female let out a satisfied hum when her victim scowled at her. The newcomer sighed. "I warned you about picking fights." The red-gold wings slumped a bit as the tiny angel shrank back.
"Um…"
"And you two!" the cream-winged male wasn't done yet, apparently. He was now glaring outright at Kyohei and Michael. "Did you think Anna couldn't protect herself? You're new here, just like her. So why the hell would you think you could of any help?" Kyohei and Michael exchanged nervous looks. From the way this guy was talking, he had been at the Academy for at least a year.
"I apologize for underestimating her," Kyohei tried. The angels who had been surrounding Anna seemed to realize they weren't going to get whatever they had been after with the little angel, so they slipped away now that the cream-feathered one's gaze wasn't on them anymore.
"Joseph, they're not all bad! The shorter one made a good distraction so I could sneak attack!" Apparently the girl with the red-gold wings had recovered from being scolded. She ignored the glares of her former oppenents, and skipped up to Kyohei and Michael. "I'm Anna Kazu," she said cheerfully. "That's my brother, Joseph. What are your names?" she questioned.
"I'm Kyohei Kadota. I'm glad you're okay." Briefly, he wondered how his own fighting style would match up with the elegance and flips Anna seemed to like, then shook that thought away when he saw Joseph glaring at him again.
"Michael Asmodel. It's nice to meet you," he added.
"Nice to meet you, too, handsome," purred a voice that definitely wasn't Anna's. An angel with blazing red-orange hair and plumage, an angel who was most definitely female, sauntered from behind Kyohei and Michael and slung an arm over Anna's shoulders. "Jeez, Anna, at least wait for me before you pick fights with hot guys," the larger female angel pouted. Kyohei and Michael exchanged uncertain glances, both wondering just what they had gotten themselves into by trying to help Anna.
"Sorry, Cyra," Anna hummed. "But I'm not picking a fight with them."
"Cyra, you brat, you're supposed to be with her!" Joseph grumbled. "And where's your brother?"
"Ilak accidentally set a teacher on fire," the newcomer – Cyra, apparently – answered casually. Kyohei wondered if she was making it up, and Michael decided that he was in over his head in more ways than one. "He'll be in intensive control training or the next week, so we won't see much of him." Joseph shook his head, seemingly disappointed but not surprised. Anna frowned.
"I thought he was getting better," she said mournfully, no longer humming her words.
"He is; the teacher survived this time," Cyra replied cheerfully.
This time?! Kyohei thought.
"She's kidding; Ilak hasn't killed anyone. Yet," Joseph grumbled.
"You said he set someone on fire," Michael began.
"Yep! A teacher!" Cyra interrupted. "I had to put them out, too."
"So he's got an elemental ability?" the raven-feathered angel guessed. Anna nodded.
"Ilak is fire and Cyra is water," she explained, glancing at the other female proudly. These three and the fourth, Ilak, must have known each other for a long time, Kyohei thought, noting the familiarity with which they addressed something as rare and potentially devastating as an elemental ability. And if both siblings had an ability, they were probably twins. It was rare enough for one angel in a family to have an ability, but if there were siblings with abilities, it was more likely for them to be twins than regular siblings.
"You guys will be late to the opening ceremony," Joseph grouched.
"Don't you have to go, too?" Anna pointed out. Her brother shook his head.
"I'm excused because my sibling is taking part," he explained. All four of the others blinked. What did he mean by that? "You'll find out soon enough. Good luck!" the cream-feathered angel added before he spread his wings and launched himself into the air.
"We'd better hurry," Cyra pointed out. The others agreed and took off, jogging toward the opening ceremony as a group.