"Let him be spared."

Rhyme Bito awoke with a start. She sighed, stretched, and spread her wings, fluffing them instincytively as she greeted the morning.

She promptly screamed as the realization of what she'd just done sank in.

"No...already?" she squeaked meekly, fingering the soft down of one gorgeous wing, it's sheen breathtaking and brilliant. A soft chuckle filled the air, and the girl turned to see a familiar face sitting at her small desk.

"Afraid so, Little Skulls."

Rhyme blinked "Mister H? How did you…"

The man cocked his head "J didn't tell you? Well, at least now I know there are rules even he won't break." He chuckled and arched his back a little, and Rhyme gasped as the newly-reformed wings of a fully mature Angel sprang open, fanning out from his back.

"Yours are beautiful!" Rhyme said, wisely foregoing the obvious exclamation and instead saying more sensibly, "I knew there was something...beyond the RG about you, besides the fact that you seem to be tied to the UG kind of like Joshua. So," she giggled "This is why you can get away with telling the Composer what to do. You outrank him!"

Hanekoma gave a loud snort at that, amusement pepering his tone as he leaned back slightly,

"In a manner of speaking. But only in power. He's still kinda my boss. It's complicated."

"I bet it is!" Rhyme giggled, then flexed her own wings, flapping them slowly

"So are you here to take me away to the 'Higher Ground?'"

"No." The man shook his head, gently placing his hand on the girl's shoulder "I'm just here to 'lay down the law' so to speak. Little Skulls...you know what those wings represent, deep down, and I know you can handle pretty intense information, so I'm not going to sugar-coat things for you."

The girl sighed and sat on her bed. She brought her knees to her chest and said boldly "I appreciate that, Mister H. I made my choice, and I don't regret it. Tell me one thing though...is he ok?"

Sanae smiled softly, a twinkle in his eyes that gave Rhyme a good feeling. "J is recovering nicely. In fact, right about now he's annoying the crap outta Phones."

"That's good." She sighed, once again feeling her delicate, feathery appendages. "Ok….I'm ready."

The Angel got a serious look in his eyes "You aren't dead, Rhyme. Not yet. Those represent your time. Enjoy the moment, Rhyme Bito. When they disappear, and new ones grow in...well...the moment's gone. You'll become like me. Well, lower ranked of course, but an Angel. You traded your freedom...your lifeforce, so we could give it to Joshua."

Rhyme's eyes opened wide as a sudden thought occurred to her, a thought that made her panic slightly "But that means...oh Mister H. wait! If I go, Josh's heart...he just figured it out, got it back. He could regress!"

Hanekoma held up his hand, a chuckle erupting from his throat "Woah woah there, Little Skulls! Just because you become an Angel doesn't mean J'll lose you. Look at me! He's known me since he was nine, and he didn't lose that interaction after he died and became Composer, now did he?"

"Well no...but you're different. I don't know what function you serve, but you have a purpose in Shibuya's Game. Josh depends on you for something."

"The Council agreed that he depends on you for something too." Sanae said gently, "They aren't about to force you two apart, lest it destroy Josh, and I convinced them that such separation would do just that. J doesn't know this yet, but you are essential to his, and therefore Shibuya's, existence."

She blushed heavily "Oh come on, I'm not that important." she turned away bashfully. Her eyes widened as another terrible thought crossed her mind, one that scared her terribly.

"What about Beat? You know he'll follow me anywhere. I heard what he did for me in the Game...this...this'll break him."

"Again, hear out the conditions before you start panicking!" Hanekoma raised a hand "Rhyme Bito...selfless to a fault. You've given up half your lifespan, and the first thoughts to enter your mind are for others. Don't start mourning the still-living just yet. Stay calm, and I'll explain the conditions."

The girl forced herself to calm down, and sat with ears open as Hanekoma opened his mouth to begin his explination.

"Hold it right there, Mister H! Honestly, the poor girl's been completely changed, is going to ascend (with conditions) and you're just milking her curiousity for all it's worth! Let the Angel assigned to her actually do her job, hmm? Don't you have overpriced coffee to shove onto the unsuspecting populace?"

Rhyme chuckled despite seeing yet another person suddenly appear inside her room, a very Joshua-like smirk on her face as the barista imitated a fish trying to breath on land.

"Haineko!"

And that does it for Requiem! But don't worry, the story continues in Sun's Serenade, where we learn the ins and outs of Rhyme's condition, and spend more time with our favorite Composer/Proxy duo. See ya'll then!