AN: Sorry it took so long for me to update guys, but I've had a helluva lot of schoolwork. But chapter 3 is almost done, and the plot is thickening…you won't see the flashbacks as much in this chapter, but they will come back later on…so uh, hope you like it! ^_^
Takeru was pacing in the waiting room. None of the others were going to show, were they? In a moment of panic, he had called Hikari. But what would she care? Wringing his hands nervously, his head snapped up as the doors banged open. Hardly believing his eyes, Hikari and Taichi were standing in the doorway. Stumbling through the door a few seconds after was Sora and Jyou, followed by Mimi. Then lastly, Koushiro dashed through the door. After everyone stared at each other for a moment and caught their breath, the group sat down. It was hard to tell what was more nerve-wracking: the wait or the silence. The clock ticked away, and Takeru noticed the time. 5:01 P.M. The second hand kept ticking, only it seemed to be taking hours just to get by one second.
******
It was an unbelievable sensation. I could float...I was practically flying...it was so strange. I looked down below and saw...well, me. Now that was freaky. I reached a hand out towards my body, but there was no response, obviously. I cocked my head to the side. You can fit that many needles in one person? Ugh. I rubbed my arms instictively, only to find I had lost the ability to feel. I stared at my hands. Scary, strange, mind-boggling, yes. But it was so amazing...
******
"Uso! USO!" Takeru practically screamed, punching the wall. "It's my fault...it's all my fault!" While his mother and father were trying to calm him down despite their grief, the others were taking it just as hard. Taichi was crying, and holding Hikari's head against his shoulder.
"We're such idiots...we should have realized it was wrong...how could we have let it get so far?" Biting his lip, Taichi hugged his imouto-chan closer as a stream of tears trickled down her cheek.
"I can't believe this..."
"It can't be happening..."
"How on earth did this happen?" There was only one person entirely silent. Koushiro. It figured the small introverted boy would be keeping himself closed off as usual. However...
******
I was still trying out my new found ability, when I realized something even cooler. I could go through walls. I penetrated the wall of the E.R. to find a mass of people in the waiting room. And they were all crying. My mind had been on such a rush from the excitement, that it hadn't dawned on me. ~I'm...a ghost...and those are my friends and family...that I'll never see again...~ Realizing this, I dashed towards them. ~Minna! I didn't mean it! What I had said...I can't go unless I know you don't hate me! I'm sorry!~ Nothing. No reaction. Of course there was no reaction, I was a ghost! Growling, I tried to take hold of Taichi's shoulders. ~Taichi! Listen to me!~ He simply continued to sob. I reached for Hikari and Mimi, but obviously they didn't react either. I tried talking to Jyou and to Sora, but there was nothing for them to hear, was there? The moment I approached Koushiro, hoping at least maybe he could hear me and tell the others, he began to cry. I realized then that...I had never seen Koushiro cry. Kami-sama...turning to my last resort, I screamed for Takeru, Okasa, and Tosa. But not even they could hear me.
Yamato, it's time...
~No! I can't leave! They don't know yet! They don't-!~ I was being pulled away, and that flash of the strange glimmer I had seen earlier returned, and I was practically thrown through it.
******
"Ok, next case!"
"Huh?" Yamato blinked, and saw that he was in what looked like a court room. Only, there were no walls...only clouds...there were also golden gates off to the far right.
"Come on, straighten up over here! What do you think you are, a rock star? What's with this hair cut?" A hand ran through his hair and then proceeded to straighten his tie. Wait, why was he wearing a tie?! He looked down to see he was in a decent-looking suit, but where had it come from?
"What the he-"
"Say that word up here, and I'll kill you again." He blinked at the light purple-haired girl standing next to him. Her bright crystal blue eyes looked him over one more time, and she pushed him forward a bit in line.
"Ok, fine then, what's going on?"
"We're at a hearing for you. I'm trying to get you off easy."
"Hearing? For what?" He took another look around and stopped dead in his tracks. Was that an...an...an angel?! The golden wings and long glistening hair in a white robe...it had to be. "Where are we?!"
"Can't you tell? We're at the gates of heaven." She rolled her eyes. "Fun stuff, lemme tell ya."
"Time out here, did you just say heaven?!"
"Yes, you know, where the big guy hangs out and watches over everything?"
"The big guy...you mean...?" He sighed, "Kami-sama..."
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
"Kami-sama. The big guy." His eyes widened. NO WAY. "We're up soon, so look shocked and depressed at the fact you're dead."
"I-"
"And give the whole, 'my poor little brother' spiel. That'll get 'em for sure."
"Next case!"
"Wait, I am so confused. Let's start over with this. WHO ARE YOU?!" The girl laughed and tossled her hair a bit,
"Isn't it obvious?" The fluffy white wings that were on her back stretched, then retracted, leaving feathers floating on the air. Yamato could hardly believe his eyes... "I'm your guardian angel." Silence.
"Great job."
"HEY! I tried up here! There's only so much we can do sometimes you know! I have other important priorities I have to attend to!"
"More important than oh MY LIFE?!"
"Next case!"
"Ok, we're up, now..."
"Name, please." Yamato looked up at the angel in the judge's booth and gulped. He suddenly felt...well...insignificant... "I'm sorry, but you're holding up the line. I need your name." His angel nudged him in the back.
"Name, right...Ishida Yamato..."
"Ishida Yamato...Ishida Yamato...Ishi-" The angel stopped, then peered down at him. Once again, he muttered the name. Closing the first book, he pulled out a second one. He began muttering the name over and over again. Pausing to glance down, he murmured the name and pulled out a third book. Slamming shut the third of the large books, the angel judge fluttered down to where Yamato was. Looking him over, he folded his arms and turned to the guardian angel. "Sylphiel...do you know why I'm about to have a heart attack?"
"Uh...because I'm that pretty?" Death glare.
"His name isn't in the books." It was as if Kami himself had entered the room, because the effect was instantaneous. Silence rang all along the line, and the mingling angels amongst the gates stopped dead in their tracks. Every single set of eyes turned to where Sylphiel and Yamato were.
"Um, what?"
"His. Name. Is. Not. In. The. Books."
"Oh SHI-"
"SYLPHIEL!"
"Sorry, sorry, but I am in so much trouble! What am I going to do?!"
"You're going to fix the entire situation from start to finish. But I can only give you 2 days. And..." The judge hesitated, but then affirmed, "you have to relinquish your wings."
"WHAT?!"
"Would you rather take it up with...him?" Her eyes widened, and she lowered her head.
"No, sir..."
"Then two days. AND DON'T MESS UP."
"Yes, sir..."
******
"This sucks." Yamato glared at his angel. They had appeared on the streets of Odaiba, and were walking along as if nothing had happened.
"You're telling me." He grumbled.
"Hey, I'm in big trouble over here!" Sylphiel put her hands on hips.
"AND I'M FREAKING DEAD! Or did you forget that small detail?!" People stopped and stared a bit but then continued to go on their way a bit nervously.
"You're not dead anymore so quit your whining!"
"I have a right to complain!" She rubbed her temporal lobe and growled,
"Look, if you'd give me the chance to explain, we wouldn't have such a problem."
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
"We've been sent back to fix up the mess."
"Uh huh." She stared at him in shock. That was his big reaction?!
"We've been sent back IN TIME to fix up the mess."
"What?! We can do that?"
"Well...we're not supposed to...but when stuff that screws up later timelines happens, we sometimes have to take desperate measures."
"What got screwed up?"
"Weren't you just screaming about being dead a minute ago?"
"I know that part! I meant how did it happen, and what's on the timeline that you need me for?"
"Even if I knew that, I couldn't tell you! Don't you humans know that's sometimes why things happen? Because there's a reason behind it! And if I told you it now, it might effect events that will later take place, so BACK OFF!"
"You know, for an angel you're quite a smart-ass." Yamato folded his arms and sighed. An older woman tapped him on the shoulder,
"Son, you might want to get that checked out..." She started to walk away, eyeing him uneasily.
"Wait, excuse me ma'am, get what checked out?"
"The talking to nothing..." As she left, his eyes widened and he spun around to face Sylphiel.
"YOU! You're making me look like I'm crazy!! Why can't anyone else see you?!"
"Oh yeah...heh, I forgot to turn off my invisibility." She closed her eyes and glowed a bit, then was in a modern outfit instead of her robes. Her hair was swept up in a twist, and she had little glasses to make her look sophisticated. The other people on the busy street gasped as she appeared from thin air. Yamato stuck his hands out in a cheesy pose and grinned,
"Tada! And that's my magic trick, making a girl appear from thin air! Thank you!!!" He continued to force his smile and sweatdropped, 'This is so embarrassing…' The crowd "wow"ed and threw tons of money at their feet.
"Why thank you all! And for your act of kindness, we're donating the money to charity!"
"We're what?" She continued to smile as Yamato's jaw dropped.
"Hey, you don't need this money, trust me. There are people worse off then you…"
"But…" He sighed, "Guess I can't be greedy around an angel…"
"You got it!" She winked as she gathered up the money and took a final bow. They began walking down the street again, when Yamato realized,
"Hey wait…what day is it?"
"Uhhhh…good question…"
"You don't know either?" His shoulders sagged and he rubbed his temporal lobe. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Be thankful you have a chance to live again. Not many people get it."
"That's right Yamato. Which is exactly why you should take advantage of it…" They both turned to see a dark blue-haired boy leaning against the wall.
"You!"
"Take advantage of being alive…don't run around being their mission boy…for all you know you'll die after the errands are done." Yamato looked at Sylphiel.
"Is that true?"
"I don't know when you'll die, there's only one who knows the answer to that…"
"That's her way of beating around the bush. C'mon Yamato, this isn't a 'calling' or anything…you're not going down in history…what's in it for you?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm an angel too. Just like Sylphiel over there."
"Yeah, a fallen angel! You betrayed us all!"
"And I have no regrets. The war is still raging, Sylphiel. Maybe you'll be smart and switch sides too."
"Get out of my face. C'mon Yamato, you don't need to listen to his lies."
"Don't forget what I said, Yamato. You should always consider both sides…"
******
Like I hadn't had enough confusion for one day. There I was, standing next to my guardian angel, and standing by a supposed 'fallen angel.' Talk about frying one's brain…but how was I supposed to fix this? What exactly was I supposed to fix? ~I am still confused as all hell…~