Several days after Uriel's unexpected call, they were on a plane destined for Hawaii. Chihaya spent the traveling time alternately dozing and gazing with fascination out the window.
"All you see is clouds," his partner pointed out at one point. "And it's nothing you've ever seen when out flying."
All he did was shrug, give a vague answer about how it was never the same when looking out an airplane window, and turn his gaze back out to the skies. Kagetsuya shrugged and put his headphones back on, closing his eyes and trying to lose himself whatever random station he was tuned into.
Uriel met them when they arrived at Honolulu International Airport, greeting them both with customary leis and an "Aloha!". However, for all his enthusiasm, he seemed to be uncharacteristically jumpy. Kagetsuya frowned at this. From the way they chattered, Chihaya did not notice it, while Uriel made an attempt to ignore whatever it was that was bothering him. The blonde said nothing, guessing he would get some sort of evasive answer from the archangel; Uriel was much too good at doing that.
"You've only been to Kauai, right?" Uriel asked as they sped eastward on the freeway in a silver RX-7.¹ At the pair's nods, he grinned and continued, "Good! Then the two of you will have lots of fun here!"
Chihaya gave a small laugh as the Miracle Voice began listing activities and places of interest all over the island. Kagetsuya wrapped an arm around his partner as the amethyst-eyed angel yawned. There would be no sightseeing until they both got over their jet lag.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Uriel handed them an envelope. "The keycards for your room, thirty-five-sixteen. Oh, and take this up to my room, would you? It's thirty-five-fourteen, right next door. The rooms are adjoined so just walk right in."
As he pulled into the loading area of the Ala Moana Hotel, he held out a package wrapped in white paper. The teal-eyed angel took it, wondering where the archangel was still going to and voiced the question aloud.
"Ah, I gotta go take care of something," was the reply. "Park the car, too. Oh, and don't worry about your things. I'll take care of them, too."
With a sideways glance at the older angel, Kagetsuya got out of the vehicle, then turned to help his mate do the same and get the backpacks that were their carry-ons on their flight. He had not seen Uriel in the almost three years spent on Earth, but this was definitely not the archangel he knew then.
"Hey, you two." The Miracle Voice shot them a teasing, secretive grin. "'Surprise' in advance."
He was off before either of them could say a thing. The pair stared at the car as it disappeared into another street, both trying to make sense of those parting words. Then, after a shared glance and identical confused shrugs, they went inside the hotel and straight for the elevators.
It took a moment to get to the thirty-fifth floor, a few more to find their room. After dropping their things next to the bed, they went out on the balcony to see the view.
"Look, look, Kagetsuya!" Chihaya pointed to the tourist-filled Ala Moana Beach. There's a fair going on by the beach! Let's go see it later on!"
His partner chuckled, pressing kisses into his dark hair. "Not tired anymore, I see."
"Mm... Oh! Hey! Uriel-sama's package." He ducked out of his mate's grasp and into the room. "I'll get it."
Kagetsuya followed him inside, watching as the dark angel took the package from the bed and went to the door leading to the next room. When the knob didn't budge, the youth tilted his head questioningly.
"Locked?" the blonde questioned.
"Yeah. I guess we'll just hold it until he gets here."
Chihaya made to turn around, but stopped in mid-turn as the door opened. A confused expression painting his face, his gaze turned back to the entrance.
Eyes widening, he almost dropped the white-wrapped package in his arms. At that reaction, Kagetsuya was with him in a flash, alert and ready to defend his beloved angel from--
"......M--Michael-sama--?!"
Color slowly returning to his pale face, the archangel grinned sheepishly. "Long time, no see, you two."²
The three stared at each other for a few long moments, deep ocean-teal disbelieving, amethyst confused, and crystal blue filled with surprise. It was Chihaya who broke the awkward moment, throwing his arms around his adoptive father with a cry of joy.
Michael returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. "I've missed the two of you, these past three years." Seeing that the other angel wouldn't make a move, he broke away from Chihaya hugged Kagetsuya. "And you, Kagetsuya. You, I truly haven't seen in ages."
"Michael-sama..."
He had always been wary of the communication between his partner and their former superior. Of course, he had trusted the archangel's word that the connection was completely secure and he was being the most careful he could be; he'd never had the heart to tell Chihaya to stop, anyway. So long as Michael was never in trouble for his secret calls, he uneasily agreed to them, even conversing with the blonde archangel from time to time.
Having Uriel contact them had come as a complete surprise, his having the knowledge of Michael's contacting Chihaya even more unexpected. Kagetsuya still didn't understand why he agreed fly to Hawaii to visit with the Miracle Voice.
But finding that Michael was here--was on Earth at all... He didn't know what to do, let alone what to say.
Seeing his confusion and apprehension as only those who had known him long enough could, the archangel released him and said quietly, "You don't have to worry about anything. There is no one assigned to Hawaii at the moment -- or any of the other Pacific islands, for that matter -- nor will anyone be for a while. I made sure of that before I left. The only other one of us here is Uriel and he's in on the whole thing." He allowed a small laugh. "In fact, he planned most of it."
"But--" he began to protest, but the archangel held up a hand to stop him from speaking.
"Besides, I'm trying something new."
Michael gestured for them to follow him and went back into his room. Set up on one of the beds was a console that looked similar to the Earthian laptops. A second sat beside the other bed, folded up and not in use -- probably Uriel's.
"I'm not quite on vacation," Michael confessed, pulling up several documents on the console. "While I'm here, I'm keeping track of Eden's investigators. I thought it would be interesting, staying among the Earthians for a bit while monitoring the angels currently assigned here. And paying surprise visits to them."
Heaving a sigh, Chihaya went to the sliding glass door. The other angels exchanged a look before Kagetsuya rose and went to him.
Michael had explained it months before, when the angelic investigations had begun for a second time. The Council on Eden had made the decision to restart them, to clear away the positive and negative points and do everything over. Students enrolled in the elite academy on Valhalla had begun to train again to be investigators on Earth.
Of course, that training was more rigorous than it had been when Kagetsuya and Chihaya, themselves, were at the academy. Screening and testing were more difficult to pass. Investigators had to be impartial in their judgments; anyone who felt strongly either way, whether the Earthians were positive or negative, of course did not make it far in their training. Test results no longer played so big a part in decisions of who to match into investigative pairs. Partners complimented each other, personalities and abilities playing off each other, so they got along well and one partner would be able to get and or keep the other out of trouble when the moment called for it. Michael and Raphael had personally taken it upon themselves to ensure that the chance of another incident was minimum.
"What are--" Chihaya fell silent for a moment and turned to the archangel. "What are the tallies right now?"
"Chihaya..." Kagetsuya began, but his mate waved him off.
Michael shot the dark angel a sympathetic look before typing in a command; they all knew how much the Earth and the Earthians meant to him. "Well... They're about the same at the moment." He shut down the console and closed it. "Come now, let's talk about something other than the probable fates of this planet, hm? How is your wing, Chihaya-kun?"
The youth clearly didn't want to let the previous subject go, but did anyway, understanding why the blonde wanted them to. "Ilyana-san said I may be able to fly as soon as a few months from now." He brightened considerably at the prospect of being able to take to the skies on his own again. "Kagetsuya's been helping me exercise it for the time being."²
"Oh, that's wonderful news!" The archangel grinned and clapped his hands together in elation. "Maybe I'll visit when you're able to fly."
"Planning our next vacation already, are we, Michael-sama?" The door opened and Uriel entered. "Your things should be coming up soon, you two. But leave off the unpacking for a while. With luck, I just might have one last surprise for you today."
"Ah, and here's our tour guide for this getaway," Michael teased, sharing a smile with his colleague.
"Oh, ho, but it was so much better than that fiasco that was the other option, wasn't it? So! Anyone for sightseeing or do we leave off for later? Hm? Chihaya? Kagetsuya?"
The teal-eyed angel met his partner's gaze. "Are you up to it?"
"Mmm..." The youth chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully. "I just need a nap, that's all."
"All right, then." The Miracle Voice shooed them off to their own room. "Go get some beauty sleep. Michael and I have to talk, anyway. Work and the like. Very boring."
As he followed his partner into the adjoining room and shut the door, Kagetsuya wondered at the archangel's tone of voice. If he wasn't mistaken, there had been a tinge of worry in Uriel's tone. Shrugging and filing it away for later analyzing, he joined his mate on the bed, wrapping his arms around Chihaya and promptly falling asleep.
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1: Silly reference. Kudos to anyone who can guess what it is.
2: Referring to something I heard about Chihaya losing a wing once before and that these people -- the black-winged Earthian/angel half-breeds, I think -- healed it or regrew it or something. So, assuming they could do it again, they did.