Chapter 3
Slowly, Karin resurfaced from her slumber. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time, and thus, it took her a while to get fully awake.
Eventually, she willed her eyes to open. The curtains were drawn, but they were thin enough to let a little bit of sunlight through.
,The sun's already up?'
A glance at her alarm clock showed her that it was half past eight.
„Already so late?", she mumbled into the pillow and rubbed her face.
Then the memories came back and she jolted upright in her bed.
,What… what the hell happened yesterday?' Karin gripped her forehead when a little wave of nausea hit her. ,Was it a dream? Or… was it actually all real?'
She thought of that angel with white hair, turquoise eyes and wings in magnificent shades of blue. He looked kinda like an ice statue come to life. Beautiful. Cold.
It sure felt like a dream to her. But then Karin remembered the icy cold aura radiating off the angel, the cool touch of his hands. And she realised that everything must have been real after all.
The black-haired Japanese climbed out of bed, pulled apart the curtains and opened the window. As a breeze blew inside, she inhaled deeply. Then she gazed out at the blue sky. Her mind drifted away. But eventually, Karin caught herself looking for a pair of blue wings on the sky. They weren't there.
Dream or not, Karin found that she would be very disappointed if Toshiro didn't show up like promised. She really wanted to see the angel again.
,So angels and demons really exist…'
It sounded so incredible. Yet at the same time, it explained why Karin had always seen and heard stuff ever since she had been little. However, she had also learned really quickly to hide it. Because whenever she didn't, people had started to avoid her.
It had been painful.
With a sigh, Karin turned away from the window and started getting ready for the day. Her head felt like bursting. Perhaps a dose of normality would help her to clear it again.
Fifteen minutes later, she walked down the stairs, to the lower floor. In the dining room, she found her brother and sister eating breakfast.
„Hey Yuzu, hey Ichi-nii", she said as she sat down and helped herself to a bowl of cereals and a glass of milk.
„Morning, Karin", her orange-haired brother greeted her.
„Hey, Karin!", Yuzu beamed at her twin sister. „Congratulations again on your win yesterday. I wish I could have seen it. Did you at least have a nice party?"
Karin couldn't help but smile. Her sister's bubbly demeanor always lifted her spirits. So when she answered, she had no trouble hiding her confusion and worry about last evening's events.
„I had." It wasn't even a lie. „We really had a blast."
„I'm glad. You guys really deserved it."
After a bite of cereals, Karin asked: „Where's dad?"
„Already at work in the clinic", Ichigo answered with a shrug. „There seems to have been an accident nearby, and all clinics in the area have been asked to help."
„I see…"
Isshin Kurosaki was a sometimes weird man. However, there was no denying that he was hard-working too. That he loved his children. That he did everything for them.
Karin sighed. „I sure hope he doesn't over-exert himself."
After she helped Yuzu clear the table, she returned to her room. Somehow, she managed to get some learning done for an exam she had the following week. How she managed to keep her thoughts off demons and a certain white-haired angel, she couldn't tell. After lunch, however, which was another delicacy served by Yuzu, Karin had to get some fresh air. She decided to go for a walk in a nearby, small but pretty park.
At the edge of a small pond, there stood a bench. Karin sat down on it and gazed at the water. She liked this place; it was one of the few that helped her calm down.
And boy, did she need it.
Ever since the demon's attack last night the world seemed like a dream. In truth, Karin wondered none of the others had noticed anything was bothering her.
,I guess that means I am a better actress than I thought.'
The biggest question on her mind, however, was: How was it supposed to go from here on? The knowledge that demons and angels really existed, only increased her sense of loneliness, of isolation.
,And I am not even Christian, for crying out loud.'
Her world was the world of kami and of yokai. But what had stumbled into her life were angels and demons. Beings of judeo-christian origins.
,This is so crazy.'
As if on cue, she heard a rushing sound, and in the corner of her eye, she saw a blue feather tumbling to the ground. The temperature seemed to instantly drop for at least two degrees.
Despite herself, her heart gave a little leap.
„You came back."
„As I promised. And I don't have the habit of breaking my word."
Toshiro stood next to her. Strangely enough, none of the other people in the park seemed to notice him. It must be the veil he had mentioned, the one that separated the supernatural world from the human one. Luckily, there was nobody within earshot to find it strange to hear her talking to air.
„It's not like that", she said, unable to keep herself from smiling at his dry comment. She instantly turned serious again, however. „It's just… I still can't believe this is all real. At times, it still feels like a dream."
A soft rustling came from the stunning wings as the angel shifted and fixed his eyes on two children on the other side of the pond. „That is understandeable."
Karin silently contemplated Toshiro from the side. His blue, wide clothes swayed in the wind. Her eyes quickly settled on those wings that seemed all the shades of water and ice, she tried to collect her thoughts.
From the depht of her soul, a flicker of her old determination began to rise. Together with a tiny spark of annoyance about her having apparently to pry all the information from him. However, it gave her the courage to start asking those million questions buzzing in her head since waking up.
„So there are angels and demons", she began. „And you are here to hunt demons, have I gotten that right?"
Toshiro turned his head and his turquoise eyes bore into hers. An involuntary shudder ran down Karin's spine. More so than his wings, they gave the impression of ice, causing an actual sense of cold.
„Yes and no." Before Karin could voice a protest about this nothing-saying answer, the angel continued. „It is true, we angels fight demons whenever we meet them. Or rather… purify them."
„Okay, now you've lost me. Purify?"
Toshiro shifted again, his wings producing that distinct rustling sound Karin wouldn't soon forget. He looked up at the sky again.
„Most demons running wild are lesser ones, tormented human souls fallen into the clutches of evil and by it transformed into these monsters. Those, we do not actually kill. Whenever we cut them down, the soul is released and purified, able to proceed into heaven. Then there are those, however, whose wretchedness turned them into demons and is so big, that they are beyond salvation. Those end up in hell instead."
He gave her a brief glance. „Are you following?"
„Until now, yes", the black-haired Japanese said slowly. It was still a lot to swallow, but at least it was easy to understand.
„Good." His eyes on the sky again, Toshiro continued. „As for my being here…" He sighed. „Good grief, I need to get into more detail than I wanted." A pause. „You need to know that there's a hierarchy among angels. There are nine ranks, you could say, called Choirs. I am a member of the eight choir, the Cherubim." He looked at Karin again. „By any rights, I shouldn't be here. Usually, the demons dwelling on Earth are weak enough so the lower ranks can handle them."
„But now there has appeared a demon so strong that a Cherubim was required to death with it", Karin said into the tiny pause. To her, it was the only logical explanation.
Toshiro lifted an eyebrow, looking almost… impressed. Something that irked Karin. Apparently, the angel underestimated her. And she did not like being underestimated. By nobody.
„That is correct. And the fact that it manages to still elude even me proves how dangerous it is." His eyes suddenly turned focused, his gaze seeming to pierce straight into her soul. „Which brings me to our current problem."
„P-problem?" Karin did not like the sound of that at all.
The white-haired angel opened and closed his wings in an annoyed gesture, creating a small gust of wind.
„I intended to slay the demon last night, but I did not manage to find it again. In fact, it was lucky for you that in its hunger for souls it got careless for a moment, and I was close enough to make it in time."
„Oh…" Karin swallowed. Her still struggling mind tried to comprehend how close she had been to death. It threatened to make her loose the feeble grip on reality she had managed to regain. Karin wasn't a squeamish girl. But all this… it was a damn lot to digest.
But then she saw his eyes. Something in them… touched her. As if there was a great loneliness buried beneath a mount of ice. And it woke the sudden urge in her to help him.
Stupid idea? Most likely. But Karin was the kind of person who stuck to her decision once she made up her mind about something.
„Look", she said and put on the most determined face she could muster. „I am just a human. But I want to help you in any way I can."
At those words, Toshiro looked downright baffled. If the situation wasn't so serious, Karin might have laughed at seeing that expression on the usually stern face.
He sighed. „I do appreciate your selfless offer. However, as you stated, you're just a human. I don't mean to be offensive, but it's true. Against a demon, you wouldn't stand the slightest of chances. I don't want to get you into any danger. You have to stay out of this."
„But there has to be something I can do!"
„There isn't."
Something about that answer ticked Karin off. There was it again, that looking down on her, the underestimating her.
„Look", she said angrily. She even had to supress the urge to jump up and yell at him – that, the few visitors to the park would notice. „I am already up to my head in this mess .I really do appreciate the noble thought that you want to protect me. But I have always followed my own path, and I certainly am not going to stop doing that right now."
„You don't know…"
„Oh, I think I do know!" Karin's voice, despite her attempts, grew louder. „Demons are dangerous! But I never said I want to fight them! Though I would like to do that. They attacked me, after all. Again, I'm already dragged into this… mess, as you put it. So let me at least assist you in any way I can."
A cold flame seemed to burn in Toshiro's eyes, searing right into her, making her flinch. The angel opened his mouth to say something.
Only that he didn't get to it anymore.
An alarming tingle in her neck made Karin's gaze shoot upwards. She barely noticed that Toshiro did the same thing. And in the same moment she yelled: „ABOVE!", his sword appeared in a flash of metal.
Author's note: The most difficult part with this chapter was Karin's reaction the day after such a massive revelation like angels and demons really existing. However, I still tried to let her stubborn, hot-headed nature shine through, and I hope I managed that, and will manage in the future.
Anyhow, the action is picking up, folks! )