Arigato gozaimasu, minna-san! **bows to the reviewers, huge blush on face**

Experimental- **blush increases** Aiya... thank V-chan for nearly killing my ego to get me to write this. But thanks anyways! **all happy and floaty now...** We all love Mitani-sensei and Izuru though... they're torturable! **gets whapped by said characters**

Starza- I noticed that, too... I nearly killed the poor computer because no one had a fic that had either Mitani-sensei or Izuru in it...

Sasari- Yep, sakura-crisis! Love them! They've actually done this arc now, so I'm all happyful and stuffs! -^_^-

Horyuu- yeah, Mitani is his last name… but oh well~! Fanfiction~! **dances a dance that doesn't involve movement** Why did he have to die…?!

Leo Shinatome- You can actually translate the stuff…? As I put it when a random person asks- I can read it, but don't understand it. ^.^'

A note that can be ignored: I've been debating the translation of… THAT demon's name's spelling. Technically, the kanji spells out Fu-o-Ka-Ro-Ru. The 'o' is small, usually noting that it is transformed… I hate Katakana~! Why isn't everything in Hiragana? **goes running off and screaming about stuff having to do with kanji**

Wildwolf: …ignore her. She's met problems with Katakana, as can be told… we're going to spell it Foukaroru whilst theria.net spells it Fohkaroru and sakura-crisis-net spells it Focalor. …you know, theria.net is probably right… **sighs and runs off to find Kae** Kae-chan~!

Chibi: Wait, we were spelling it like theria.net before, when we first started it. That means we started spelling it 'Fou' after typing the first two chapters?

Wildwolf: **groan** For the sake of consistency, we're keeping 'Foh' and it's probably right anyway… Chibi, did you know these notes are technically obsolete now? **returns to searching for his Kae-chan**

Dare yori mo… Chichi naru kami yori mo… kimi wo ai shitei ta

More than anyone, more than God who is my Father, I love you.

Chapter 2-

Road to Healing

The morning came too soon and a meeting was too apt for the liking of the two former lovers. There were no physical bonds saying that they could not go back to the same relationship that they had in the past, but rather, a feeling of discomfort around one another that stemmed from the fact that each blamed themselves for the other being dead. Unfortunately, neither was willing to relinquish the blame without a stubborn fight.

They sat across the table from each other, eating in silence amidst the monotonous murmurings of the café in which they were seated. Mitani stirred around his coffee once, not wanting to begin any sort of conversation that was not deemed as publicly appropriate. Izuru's pastry sat half-eaten, for unsaid words felt in tension ate away at him.

"So..." Mitani said finally, breaking the silence while giving one more stir in his cooling coffee.

The younger of the two let out a sigh, wishing that the GuShoShin would deliver a case message.

"I need some new addition to my wardrobe." Mitani said rather absentmindedly.

"Hm?" Izuru raised an eyebrow at his former teacher.

"Well, you've seen what Tsuzuki wears, compared to this." He indicated his button-up shirt and black pants. "A jacket would be nice, at least. Some light color, maybe. White seems like a nice possibility."

Izuru was silent for a few moments. "You're a klutz. You'd probably spill coffee all over it."

Mitani sank in his chair. "That's mean to say."

The boy let out a small laugh as the teacher sighed. The man with long hair remembered an American short story that had interested him once. The author has gone into detail in one paragraph on how laughter was the one way to banish evils and sorrow.

Remembering that also brought up the rest of the story. Three boys were visited by an angel, the most pure and innocent of the beings ever to exist. However, the angel's purity meant that he lacked Moral Sense, so he was able to create and kill beings without feelings regret or having it considered a sin. The angel was largely flawed according to the Moral Sense of humans, but that was the very thing that the angel was putting down- the fact that humans thought that his actions were wrong because of their Moral Sense while humans themselves were murdering and torturing and letting their own brothers starve. The angel brought up the point, how could he be considered in the wrong if they, as a species, did that? (1)

This was one of the things that had inspired Mitani to test his limits of what was sin and what was right. If angels could commit what we saw as sins, then why could he not as well? His stupidity was the result.

Angels cried tears and were flung into the abyss of hell for their pity.

"Saya-chan! I found them!" A voice yelled as a girl ran up and glomped onto Mitani-sensei.

"Who are you?!" Izuru all but yelled as a second girl ran up happily.

"Wow, you're wearing the clothes we picked out for you!" She squealed.

The first one unlatched herself from Mitani. "Our names are Saya and Yuma- we're Shinigami too!"

"You're the ones who gave me the shirt…" Izuru observed.

"Yep!" The one with shorter hair, most likely Saya, smiled.

"Now we need to do the same with Mitani-san!" The other with long pigtails, Yuma, grabbed the said former teacher as the two started marching off.

"We'll be at the outlet store!" Both called back as Mitani yelled in an attempt of resisting.

Izuru groaned and called for the bill, pulling out the money that Tatsumi had given them. The boy had been holding both of their shares because of Mitani's small problem of, well, klutziness. That tendency must be stressed a few times.

Some time later, he found Saya and Yuma giggling in front of the changing rooms in the back of the outlet store.

"You're here finally!" One of them grinned.

"Hai…" Izuru mumbled, sighing with closed eyes as the dressing room in front of him opened. The sound made him look up quickly and the sight that met him gave a reddened blush to his face.

Mitani stood there in a black coat, simpler than Tsuzuki's, but still with its own flare and style. Under it was a white, low-cut shirt and black pants.

"Ne… how does it look?" Mitani asked timidly, flushing as he gave a small, directed spin.

"Kakkoi!" The girls squealed, causing them to draw attention from the rest of the area. Both of them latched on to his arms, causing him to freeze up. Cause and effect… very scientific.

"Um, how do we expect to pay for this?" Izuru asked suddenly.

The four Shinigami stared at each other, two females with pleading looks in their eyes.

"Fine, fine." Izuru mumbled, opening his wallet.

"Yay!" Saya and Yuma glomped onto his arms.

They paid for the coat, and Mitani was the proud owner of his "fwooshy coat," as he was so intent upon calling it.

"Well, we gotta go now!"

"Yeah, we weren't supposed to leave our area!"

With that, the two bubbly girls disappeared.

Mitani and Izuru stared at where they had been.

"So, what next?" Mitani asked, feeling very cool in his new coat.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that was answered quite quickly.

"Mitani-san! Okazaki-san!" A chicken-like talking bird flew up to them, unseen by the crowds.

"GuShouShin!" Mitani looked at him, startled by the sudden appearance.

"Do we have a mission?" Izuru asked, hopeful.

"Yes, you do." He handed Izuru the manila folder that he was carrying.

Izuru, being more case-minded and desperate for anything that would rid his attention on his partner, opened it hurriedly.

"Um, this may not be the place." Mitani reminded, nodding to the crowds of people.

Once they had made it back to the apartment, Izuru once again opened the case file.

"This is Takamiya Maaya." The GuShouShin brother pointed out. "Your mission is to protect her for one full week, twenty-four/seven."

"That long?" Mitani groaned. "How come?"

"She made a deal with a demon." Izuru answered quietly, eyes not once leaving the paper. He swore he could hear his own heart thudding against his chest. So much like his… this case was too much like his.

"Yes." GuShouShin nodded. "She made a deal with the demon Kesabel, saying that if she lived, no matter what he did, for one week, she would be granted one wish. Anything she desired would be hers."

"Anything?" Mitani's eyes widened before narrowing in thought. "What if she lost?"

"Well, she would obviously be dead." GuShouShin pointed out. "And, he would take the life and soul of her closest loved one."

"But why would she do this?" Mitani asked. "Why would she risk herself and a loved one for one wish?"

"Because she's stupid." Izuru spat, tears threatening to fall. "She was stupid enough to fall for it, and her life will be miserable afterwards, whether or not she wins the bet." Hence came his affirmation, an assertion of what he believed.

"But Izuru… no matter how uncomfortable it may make you," Mitani said in a low, soft voice, "we must take this case."

"I know. It's our job."

"But also, do you want someone to end up like us? Do you want someone to die with enough spite or sorrow that they become Shinigami as well? This is indeed close to our case, but do you want someone to become like what you became?"

Izuru shook his head.

"So, shall we?"

Do I have a choice?

"This is the apartment."

"So we wait out here?"

"Yeah, that sounds like it."

The clouds had spread like a blanket across the sky, but not quite so much a comfort blanket to the populous as is was to Izuru. The sun felt wrong to him somehow, as if the sun was heaven's light and he was undeserving of it. From a view of the in-depth observer, it was comparable to a fictional woman who was forced to wear a symbol of her sin of adultery. This symbol figuratively burned itself into her heart; but the way this is comparable to the situation at hand is that wherever she went, the sun shined on her bastardized child, and when she reached the sunny spot, the clouds covered it so that she would never be bathed in its warmth. (2)

It was not so surprising when rain droplets began to hit the car window in their own sympathetic melody. Mitani drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He never liked rainy days, for they were always so depressing. The sun was always better because the world was in harmony and much less miserable- Izuru had liked sunny days in life because he had been so much more cheerful then.

The former teacher snuck a glance to the boy Shinigami sitting next to him. It went unnoticed, and most likely for the better. Izuru had always been a complex person, and someone that Mitani had wanted to find out everything about. As a student, he would smile, especially if he, his secret lover, was around. However, when he took on his duties as the student body president, he would almost become someone unrecognizable. He would be the type of person who liked gloomy days like this.

The gaze returned, and for longer this time. It was understandable, this uncomfortable feeling that they felt. Mitani knew that they wouldn't go back to what they were right away, but if he could help it, the eternal afterlife would be spent together.

"What?" A soft voice asked, snapping Mitani from his thoughts. Izuru had noticed his gaze and was now staring at him with a sad and nervous look in his eyes.

Mitani shook his head. "Nothing." He lowered his gaze to his pants and looked forwards again.

The rain started pouring harder.

The sandy-haired teacher grasped a cross in his hands, trembling as he whispered his confession to no one.

"Confiteor Deo omnipotenti… Beatae Mariae semper virgini… Beato Michaeli archangelo… Quia peccavi nimis… cogitatione, verbo, et opere. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Nil inultum remanebit.

"Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet seaclum in favilla quantus tremor est futurus confutatis flammis acribus addictus. Kyrie eleison…

"Kyrie eleison… peccavi nimis…"

Lord forgive me, I have sinned…

Izuru looked over at his former sensei, who was sleeping now. The rain had lulled him to sleep, and now he was resting peacefully, even if they were on a job. Oh well, nothing was happening right now.

His gaze caught on his face, on how the dimmed light highlighted his features as his chest rose up and down. The boy could admit that he had been kind of cold lately, but… when he was like this, it was as if he could never be cold, never act as if he didn't feel that tugging on his heart when he saw that face.

That face was the one he would wake up to on the mornings he used to love. The bangs would be moved from his eyes as they opened and consumed Izuru with their beauty. They were like jewels that had a fire burning within them.

Idiot, why are you still so cold?

Because things can't be like they were. You can never forgive yourself, and you don't want yourself hurting him again.

But… we would both be happy. I still… still…

I don't know.

He slowly reached a hand up to his face and wiped the sandy bangs from closed eyes. Mitani shifted a little, forcing Izuru to recoil his hand.

A red form leaving the apartment complex caught his eye suddenly. A woman with a dog was leaving now. Heart starting to pound, he checked the photo in the case file. Yes, it was she… Takamiya-san.

"Mitani… Mitani-sensei." He corrected himself quickly.

"Hm? Izuru?" He mumbled. "Too early."

A flush came across the boy's face. "Baka! Wake up! She's leaving!"

Mitani woke up at that point. "Who? Takamiya-san?"

"Yes!" He pointed out the window to the woman in red. "That's her! Follow!"

The elder quickly checked the picture while starting the car back up. "Well, this must be an old picture."

"Why's that?" Izuru asked, glancing back down.

"Because. The woman over there is blind."

It's pretty easy to tail a blind woman in the rain, for they can't hear the car following them. And since no one else was out, there was no one to warn her.

"Maybe we should park and follow her on foot." Izuru commented.

Mitani took this to heart and parked on the side of the road. They got out and followed behind her at a casual pace. Because they didn't have umbrellas, rain was soaking their clothes, forcing them to stick to their bodies. Hopefully neither of them would catch a cold.

Takamiya Maaya was moving at a slow pace, holding a leash and umbrella in one hand and a walking cane in the other. Sunglasses covered her lightly make-up covered face.

It was pretty uneventful as they followed her into a grocery store. They stood around and looked casual, reading magazines and manga anthologies while casting several looks to the woman as she checked out a small amount of groceries. Her dog was sitting patiently at her feet as she waited for them to check out. She was skilled with her impediment, for she needed no help in counting out her money and handing it to the cashier.

She shifted the bag onto her arm with the umbrella and leash and she bid the cashier goodbye and walked out the door. Despite her blindness, she held herself tall and proud.

She passed the two Shinigami as she left, and her dog cast them an uneasy glance.

"Do you still think that she's stupid?" Mitani whispered to Izuru, even if his question went unnoticed.

The rain started to clear up, but the cloudy cover persisted. People started to come out again and go on with their day.

"Watch out!" A voice screamed as car tires screeched.

The Shinigami looked up in time to see a car barreling at Takamiya in the crosswalk perpendicular to their line of movement.

Mitani concentrated his mind on the training he had gone through. He felt his legs moving, and suddenly, the woman was in his arms and he was across the street. She was groping at his jacket.

"Pochi! Where is Pochi?" She cried, her glasses askew on her face, revealing gray eyes.

Mitani assumed that it was the dog that she was talking about, and he looked over, fearing the worst.

It was at this time that Izuru came up with the dog, leash in hand. "Here is your dog."

Mitani set the woman down and her dog ran to her as she bent down, and it licked her face affectionately.

"I'm sorry!" A young man ran up. "My car swerved out of control."

"That's okay." She whispered. "No one was hurt." She adjusted her glasses. "Thank you for saving me." Standing, she turned to Mitani and Izuru.

"Takamiya Maaya," Mitani cleared his throat, "you are the one who made a deal with a demon Kesabel, correct?"

"H-how do you know?"

"We're here to protect you." Izuru started an introduction. "My name is Okazaki Izuru and my partner is Mohitei Mitani. We are Shinigami who were sent to be sure you survive your deal with this demon."

She was silent for a few moments. "Well," she said finally, "would you like to come over?"

(1)- The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. I love that story, even if it was on the recommended summer reading list for Junior year...

(2)- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Chibi: **holds up sign that says: LEARN JAPANESE SO YOU CAN READ THE MANGA**

Wildwolf: **sign: OR GO TO SAKURA-CRISIS.NET**

Chibi: **sign: OR BUY THE JAPANESE AND GO TO THERIA.NET FOR TRANSLATIONS**

Wildwolf: **sign: EBAY IS GOOD**

Chibi: We need to stop with the signs.

Wildwolf: But permanent markers are fun!

Chibi: ...You're not writing on this fic whilst high. Wait, I do all of the writing anyway... **glares at the spirit that has taken residence in her head**

Wildwolf: **smiles** "Moiiyo! Touda no baka!" And off runs inu Tsuzuki to save Hisoka from Sohryu. If you're confused, there is a way you can fix that.

Both: READ THE MANGA.

((Sign: MORE HOPELESS AND PATHETIC ADVERTISMENT.))

Chibi: It's Volume... 9? Yeah, nine. One of the few that has visuals that is perfectly okay for non-shounen ai fans to flip through. I mean, it has perverted dialogue, but who can read that within a good two miles?

V-chan off somewhere else: **sneezes**

Chibi: I said two miles~! **sighs** Must save up and buy materials for Tsuzuki costume… . Chotto… Taka… miya…?! **looks up Love Mode, then looks to fic** Same name… completely coincidental!

Wildwolf: The seeming gibberish is bits and pieces of Latin from a Catholic mass… thank you Hunchback of Notre Dame movie. And thank you 'The Order' for furthering an obsession. The particular phrases are based on a scene that is in an original story/manga we are working on. Yeah. **turns to Chibi** This fic is going to kill us.

Chibi: **sigh** What'll I do if I get grounded from the computer…?