Ah yes, as I said before, I have it all planned out. The tricky part is I don't know how to put my ideas into words very well, so hopefully this will turn out just as well as I hope. I would also like to thank Lady Shadowcat for her great editing of my story. I do not own Haibane Renmei...(Even though I wish I did...) So now please try and enjoy the fifth chapter to my Haibane Renmei Story...

---Winter in Old Home, Haibane Renmei---Part 5---

Rakka was sitting casually beside Kana's bed looking out the window at the white snow. After the storm, it had left a good foot or two of snow covering Old Home and the surrounding areas. To most people, it would mean having to trudge through the deep snow to do their errands, but Rakka was enjoying the beautiful sight of it. She was snapped out of her trance though when she saw Reki coming through the front gate.
"Hikari," called Rakka, "Reki's back!"
"Huh?" Hikari poked her head out of the kitchen, "already? I thought she was going to discuss this with them, not just visit." At that moment Nemu arrived through the guest room door. She took off her coat and wing covers and stood over at the table.
"It seems as we have guests, Hikari, please prepare some tea in case they would like some." Nemu moved a few chairs into position around the table.
"What?" Hikari and Rakka both looked at Nemu.
"Yeah...it seems as if she has brought the Renmei over to Old Home. This is a pretty crazy week if you ask me..."
The guest room door opened again now and Reki came in first closely followed by the Washi. The two accompanying Toga came in together and stood in front of the door after it was closed. It was indeed a bit of an awkward sight, seeing the Washi inside the cramped confines of the room when he is usually out walking around nature. Without a word, Washi walked over to Kana's side. He stood there for a second waiting for Rakka to give him her chair, then sat down and felt Kana's head. While he was checking her temperature, Reki moved over to where the rest of the Haibane were watching: staying at a distance as not to obstruct him.
"Well?" Rakka looked up at Reki.
"Hm, what?!" Reki tried to look innocent.
"You know, why did you invite the Haibane Renmei here?"
"Listen," said Reki raising her voice a bit, "I know what it looks like, but I didn't invite him here. I went to the tower to try and ask for guidance and instead he follows me back here. He wouldn't even let me speak to him about-..."
"Calm down Reki. We believe you, let's just leave the Renmei to what he's doing...shall we?" Nemu spoke wisely for once, and led them to the table. The Toga stood in their same positions as the Renmei continued to check Kana. At the moment he was examining her wings...none of the other Haibane were quite sure why.

It was almost an hour later when the Washi was finally satisfied. As he got up, his gaze fell upon the four Haibane...who were all snoring on the table with their empty tea cups beside them. You could plainly hear Washisigh at this. He moved his chair so that he could easily view the table and Kana's bed without having to strain his neck too much.
About fifteen minutes later Rakka gave many apologies for her sleeping companions as she woke them all up. The complaints from them immediately stopped when they saw the Renmei patiently waiting for their attention.
"Then let us start," began Washi, turning towards them. "There is no fast or easy way to explain this to each of you, so I believe I will have to start from the beginning. You are allowed to ask questions if you want, for you have permission to speak, but it is my choice whether to answer them or not. Understand?" He received a bunch of nods from the table, then after a second, a chorus of "yes," remembering they were now allowed to speak.
The Washi sat back a little ways and began...
"You notice the walls of this town were built to keep you Haibane from leaving the town. You know that they are supposedly there to protect you. The walls have many more functions than just keeping you inside."
"When the wall was built, it was built in vane to try and create a perfect society, of course that was impossible. It is similar to your home here: once this dormitory was used for different purposes. The wall was also once used for different purposes, which I shall not go into detail of."
"When the Haibane Renmei was first formed, many modifications were added to the walls. Rakka has already seen some of these changes, for she has already been inside the wall. The wall houses powerful magic that you may not comprehend. You could say that the walls are almost alive.
"Now, nothing is perfect. I will tell you one more purpose of the wall. Primarily, this wall was built and modified for one function: Keeping out evil..."
"Umm," Hikari nervously butted in, "what do you mean by evil?"
The Washi looked at her for a few seconds, obviously thinking, then he relaxed again. "Feather Hikari, I cannot answer that question, for not even I know the answer to it, what I know has been passed down from our generations. When I say 'evil', I am only stating the name of all misfortunes and what is not right in the outside world."
"Evil itself is a mysterious power. As I said, the walls were built to keep that miasma out of this town. Recently though, there was a terrible storm here as you most certainly know. As the walls are almost alive, their strength is affected by their surroundings. During the storm, the wall's power must have been weakened sufficiently to allow this evil miasma to seep into the town. Thankfully though, magic barriers had been set up around the town to contain this. The next day when all was well again, the barrier power from the walls removed any evil remaining inside."
"Wait, but does that mean..."
"Please do not interrupt me at this moment feather Rakka. Yes, this is what I believe. Most of the inhabitants here had been inside the whole day, so they could not of easily encountered the evil miasma, but for a person outside it could affect them much more easily." At this there was a barely audible gasp from Nemu and Hikari.
"Yes, I believe Kana has been affected by evil itself. I am not skilled in exorcism, so I am not sure of what help I may be able to apply. You see, us Haibane are almost pure good. Beings so pure as yourselves can not stand up to evil easily. It's like trying to fight off a deadly disease for feather Kana." With this, he looked back over at Kana, who was now resting on her stomach sleeping peacefully.
"All I can recommend to you is to put your hearts together and pray for her sake, that she will get rid of the evil inside her. If she wakes up, then everything will be okay, that would be a sure sign of her wellness." The Washi now got up and walked slowly over to the two Toga and then turned around to face them. "Do you have any more questions?"
"Uh, yes," piped up Rakka. "Didn't you say that the walls would take care of this...um, 'evil'?"
"Yes, I did. The wall's magic will take care of any wandering evil, yet for reasons not yet known, it is incapable of drawing out the evil in any such being. I do not know why, so do not ask, but if you are asking me whether Kana is going to get better, I believe she will. Is there anything else?"
Reki stood up from her chair and threw down her cigarette stub before asking: "Yes, how did you already know about this. We were the only ones who knew. Plus, how does this 'evil' work?"
The Washi paused for a moment before answering. "Townsfolk are regularly interviewed in their status in this town. A man named Horuda Tashikawa was responsible for feather Rakka the night of last. He told us all we needed to know and gave us time to figure out a reasonable way to counter this problem." The Renmei looked over once more at Kana. "As well, for beings so pure as yourselves, evil can not penetrate your souls. Evil may posses a human, but it will merely be a disease for you Haibane, so take this to heed if you see this form present itself once more." Seeing that there were no more questions he made a sign to the Toga and left the room. The Haibane could then watch as the three figures walked out through the gates of Old Home towards the Haibane Renmei Headquarters.
"Tell me Rakka," said Reki as she walked over to check Kana. "Why is it ever since you got here we started going through all these adventures?" Everybody turned to Rakka, who looked down at the floor, turning red. "I'm sorry," apologized Reki. "I didn't mean that, I was just voicing my opinions okay?"
"Okay," replied Rakka. "Is it okay if I help make dinner?"
"Sure, Hikari, I want you to watch Kana okay. Tonight let's take a word of wisdom from the old guy and pray for Kana's wellness, okay?"
With a chorus of agreements, each of the Haibane started their evening tasks with higher hopes than during the morning. It seemed as if things had finally started to improve here in Old Home.

Hmm, why do I still call this "Winter in Old Home?" It should be something like "Kana's great adventure into the underworld"...or something like that! ...no? Yeah, I guess not...
Anyways, I have never asked for you to leave your opinions yet, because I frankly don't care if you do or don't. I just hope that this story gives somebody out in this world some enjoyment. (Reviews, though, are still motivating to me, so if you can spare some time...)