"Shhhhh. Let me concentrate. Atua is speaking to me." Angie said quietly to Korekiyo, who was just in front of their bedroom door.

Angie was going back to what she knew: the arts. With the typical business of the church and her new love life with Korekiyo, it became hard for her to draw or paint or sculpt or anything like that. Although there were times where she wanted to, Atua had other plans in mind. But there was no better time than now, and she was painting on a canvas that stood upon an easel while she sat cross legged on the bedroom floor, paintbrush in hand. She felt like she was in heaven. Korekiyo nodded and exited the room. He hadn't seen her paint much, but he knew that she preferred to be left alone during that time. He knew it'd be beautiful, that was a guarantee. Just like her.

A couple of hours passed and Angie emerged from the room, the painting carefully in her hands. She hangs it up in the center of the church area so that it could be easily seen during all sermons. After hanging it up, she calls upon Korekiyo, Himiko and Tenko to look at the creation. It's of them. Angie as well. On the left of the painting was Angie and Korekiyo hugging lovingly. On the right was Tenko and Himiko doing the same. The background was a somewhat convoluted mix of yellows, light blues and oranges. On the very top was a white semicircle taking up the top sixth or so of the painting. "I... I love it. Thank you Angie." Korekiyo says, a smile underneath his mask.

"It's really good, as usual." Himiko said, although in the same bored tone of voice she often spoke in. Tenko didn't say anything, although she did admire it.

"Actually, I do have a question. What's the white on top supposed to mean?" Korekiyo curiously asked.

Angie expected this question and was glad it was asked, especially by Korekiyo. "It's light of Atua, shining down on us all." she said.

Angie was satisfied with the result, especially with how long it had been since she had done art at all. It had been about a month since the dinner with Shuichi and everything had been going well at the church, even if nothing had really changed at all for her. On the other hand, Tenko felt more comfortable knowing that Shuichi was investigating. So far, nothing of particular note had happened, other than the obvious weekly blood sacrifices. Tenko knew that eventually something horrible and violent had to happen. That was just the way Angie operated. That would be when Shuichi understood it all. That's when it would all make sense to him.

Often times, Tenko would visit Shuichi or call him whenever she felt less safe around Angie or Korekiyo. Because she often called about more minor altercations that usually wouldn't mean much, Shuichi would always assure her that everything would be fine. He trusted everything that she said, but he had no real way of knowing it was all true. The only way he could know is by witnessing it first hand.

Nothing interesting or fun had happened in the church walls, at least that's what Tenko thought. Maybe there was something fun to do today with Himiko. It was nice outside, warm and sunny. Tenko considered her options before thinking of a considerably pleasant one. How about the park? Whenever the option was there, Tenko liked to walk to the park, but she never had the chance to take Himiko. She saw her talking to Angie, and ran towards her. "Hey Himiko, do you want to walk to the park with me?" she asked, as energetically as ever.

Himiko sighed. "No thanks. Me and Angie were going to have a private lesson about some Atua stuff that hasn't been discussed yet. Plus, walking all the way to the park kinda sounds like a pain." she said in her common tired tone of voice.

Tenko tried to maintain a smile. Her eye twitched. "Okay. Tell me if you change your mind." she said, walking away slowly.

Tenko had a problem she never wanted to admit. This was barely even a relationship. It was incredibly likely that she was the only person who even considered it one. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, this was one of many. The only thing an actual couple would do that they did was sleep in the same bed. Any time she wanted to do anything with the magician, she chose not to for some Atua related reason. Angie this, Atua that. Angie might as well could have been her girlfriend. This has happened a variety of different times over the years, most of the time minor. This was the final straw though, the one that finally got to her. It was such a nice day, why the hell would she choose a phony god over who was supposed to be her girlfriend?

Tenko walked to her room, distraught. The one time she thought she'd do something for her. She really thought when she got her feelings out oh so long ago, things would have changed by now, but all was the same. She lay on her bed, the sounds of her quiet sobs filling the room. She always knew Himiko didn't love her close to as much as she did, but she ignored it because she believed the day would come where she would. It had been years and the day still hadn't come. Tenko had finally given up. She wanted to tell Himiko about how she felt ignored, but there was a possibility she'd say something more hurtful. An unlikely one, but it was possible. Why did she have to delude herself into thinking that she was loved? Why did she have to make this mistake for this long, too? Who was she to turn to? There was only one person she could think of, and she had to release her feelings to him fast.

Shuichi answered the door to see the visibly less positive and enthusiastic Tenko standing in front of him, her eyes welling with tears ready to release at any moment. "Tenko? What's wrong?" Shuichi asked.

She sniffled. "Every day I lie to myself. Every day I tell myself I'm loved and it's not true. Angie tells me Atua loves me and it's not true. Not even my girlfriend cares about me." she said solemnly, getting on her hands and knees.

Shuichi put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm here to help you, Tenko. I've been through some bad times too, and I've learned they don't last. Come on in, I'll try to help you." he said, helping her up.

She grabbed his shirt. "You don't understand. I've been telling myself this for years now and nothing has changed. You're probably the only person who can even come close to changing something. The girl I love is being taken away from me, and I won't allow this to happen." she said quickly.

Shuichi was surprised by this sudden reaction, but wasn't entirely sure how to react now. This was until Kaede showed up at the door. "Tenko. Calm down. I've heard everything you've been saying, and he's right. I'm here to help as well!" she said.

Tenko and Kaede had become acquainted since the former had met Shuichi. Tenko admired Kaede's dedications to piano music and, of course, Shuichi himself. But her attempts to calm her weren't helping, they were making things worse. Tenko began to shake. "I live in hell! I live in hell and I hate it!" she shouted, tears running down her eyes more than ever.

She put her hands on her face as Shuichi and Kaede brought her into their house and sat her on the living room couch, getting her a box of tissues. "What's been going on recently? You haven't actually said what happened yet." Shuichi asked.

Tenko blew her nose into a tissue. "Himiko doesn't love me and I don't think she ever did. I'm not important to who I thought was my girlfriend! Not important as Angie. I need to get out of the church, but I have nowhere else to go!" she wailed.

Kaede gave a quick glance to Shuichi, who glanced back. She nodded, and Shuichi nodded back. "We have a spare room, I think you're able to come and live here for a few months." she said calmly, putting her arm on Tenko's shoulder.

Tenko wiped a tear off her face. "You really mean it? We haven't known each other for long, you know." she said.

Shuichi nodded. "We really do."

Her breaths became less frantic after this offer. If this was the way that she could get her life back on track then she'd do it in a heart beat. She calmed down a bit more and headed back off to the church to grab her belongings and go back to Shuichi's. Before she went back, she had borrowed a suitcase from the two so she could pack her possessions more efficiently. She rushed to her and Himiko's room to grab all her stuff. Only a bit before she started, she was interrupted.

"What are you doing? Are you leaving?" Himiko asked from behind her.

Tenko looked to see who she once believed to be her girlfriend looking at her, somewhat sternly. "Yeah, I'm moving out. I can't handle it anymore. I'm moving in with Shuichi for a little while. You understand, right?" Tenko asked.

Himiko sighed. "Atua's not gonna like this." she said.

Tenko groaned. She had to be careful with her words, if she said that she thought Atua was fake then it would upset, and that was the very last thing she wanted right now. "I-I'm sure Atua will be fine with it-"

"Fine with what?" Angie said, having overheard the conversation as she walked by the room. "If you have a question for Atua, I'm always the one to ask!"

Tenko looked at her, teeth clenched, eyes wide open. Was it Atua's will that made her show up at the most inopportune of times? But... Atua wasn't real. Atua couldn't be real.

She quickly turned her head to Himiko. "Tenko said she's leaving the church and moving in with Shuichi. Said she couldn't handle it anymore. I don't know what she's referring to." the smaller girl said.

Angie gasped. This was not news she ever expected to hear. "Moving out? Why would you ever want to do that?" she asked.

Tenko began to sweat. "I don't feel comfortable here anymore!" she shouted. She wanted to yell more, but thought that could prove to be negatively consequential.

Angie did something that Tenko didn't expect at all. She actually thought about what she said. Angie could see why someone like Tenko could find things such as the rituals or the blood sacrifices uncomfortable, as she obviously wasn't as familiar with the island customs as she was. But on the other hand, why was she so passionate about wanting to leave? She'd never seen Tenko like this before. There was one final question Atua had for her to ask. "You're still going to go to the sermons every week, right?" she said in a calmer tone of voice.

Tenko noticed Himiko stating a hole through her, giving an almost angry or disgusted look. "Yes?" She nervously answered.

Angie clearly noticed her nervous tone, and thought about it for a second before getting the words from Atua that she needed. "Atua says you haven't been one hundred percent honest with us." she said.

There were a few seconds of complete silence from all sides to digest what had just been said. Then Tenko began to panic. She got on her knees, clasped her hands and looked up at Angie. "Please don't kill me! I don't deserve this!" she yelled, her eyes beginning to well up with more tears.

Angie looked at her oddly before smiling. "Nyahaha! Of course not I'm not gonna kill you, silly! Not for something like this, at least. Atua demands you stay here, however, and if you fail to do that, then you'll have to pay the consequences. He'd absolutely hate it if someone who had lived in his own divine grounds suddenly decided to no longer show up. He'd consider it betrayal. I'm glad to see you're not fighting it anymore." she said, once again calmly.

Tenko nodded and Angie left. She thought it was a miracle that she got out of that the way she did. However, she came to other realizations. She knew she'd been lying to herself that everything was fine and that Himiko loved her and that she was safe, as well as just forgetting or ignoring other problems. But was she also lying to herself about Atua's existence in general? There was obviously no way to know for sure if He was or wasn't real, but if an entire island is believing in him, there has to be some kind of a chance. She didn't think she had anything left to worry about, unless mistakes were made.