Innocentia

"If they dare try to take you from me, they will regret it. You belong to me, Israfel, and no one else."

The aforementioned replied with a simple nod.

Gabriel smiled humorlessly. "But we wouldn't have it any other way, would we?"

"Of course not," he replied. Nervously, he returned Gabriel's smile, but his expression changed to a slightly pained one as the other seraphic figure's fingers brushed the new scar where his left wing- the one he'd recently removed himself- had been only a short while (hours? Minutes? His mind wasn't working the way it used to) prior to this moment.

"Wingless Israfel." Hearing Gabriel's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "We will leave as the humans observe their new day."


"Tsukasa? You there?"

Shaking himself back to reality, Tsukasa looked at Kaname sheepishly. "Sorry, I guess I zoned out," he said, feeling his face grow hot.

"Just a little," Kaname replied lightly, slipping a somewhat-protective arm around Tsukasa's shoulders. "You okay?"

Tsukasa stood at this, letting Kaname's arm fall back to the bench. "Yeah. You don't need to worry about me."

The dark-haired boy frowned thoughtfully. "I do, though." That was all he came up with, but it obviously turned out to be enough when Tsukasa sat back down. "Besides, it's still early."

Tsukasa gave no verbal response, just nodded. But that was okay with Kaname. After all, silence was golden. Or maybe he was just telling himself that.


It was quiet. No sound, except for the soft sound of his own breathing. And then…footsteps.

"Sic transit Gloria mundi. So passes away the glory of the world."

"Gabriel." He didn't turn, for he could see Gabriel's reflection in the dark window.

"Israfel, look at me." This time he did turn. Behind him, his reflection shuddered. In front of him, Gabriel stood in front of him with a cold smile, his body drenched in blood.

"What is this?"

Gabriel's next words were lost, due to the loud sound of rushing wind.

"I can't hear you-"

"Look at what you did to me."

And then the glass behind him shattered, the sound of the wind grew more frantic, and the darkness covered everything.


Tsukasa sat up quickly, before remembering Kaname was next to him. Looking over, he breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that the Darklore was, verily, asleep. He would have gone back to sleep himself, had Kaname not opened his eyes, still so sharp after waking up this early (the clock said 3:04 in numbers hard to miss) and looked over at him.

"Did I…wake you up?"

"Sorta."

Tsukasa watched as Kaname ran a hand through his messy hair, then sat up. "It's okay," Kaname threw out, not waiting for the apology Tsukasa was about to give. "Really."

Kaname's eyes gleamed in the darkness as he looked at Tsukasa, asking, "What's wrong?" What both of them would reflect on later was that Kaname knew the answer, yet still asked.

Perhaps it was because Tsukasa knew this that he answered. "Yes."

When Kaname shifted to face Tsukasa, the blonde leaned over slightly, resting his head on Kaname's shoulder. "We'll have to keep fighting a long time, won't we?"

"Probably," was all Kaname could think of, because it was the truth. "It's just something we'll have to do."

Tsukasa looked up, tears glistening in his eyes. "You might die…what happens then?"

"I won't die," Kaname said, grinning. "Promise."

"All right." It wasn't everything, but it was enough. "You better keep that promise."

Kaname started at this; he sounded strangely like Itsuki when he said that. "I will." Like a marriage vow, those last words seemed to him.

There was no answer from Tsukasa; Kaname guessed he'd fallen asleep. "Good night, then," he said.

And nothing held truer for quite some time.


Yeah, it took me two months and fifteen days to write, and I'm still not satisfied. What a sad world. Love it? Hate it? Drop a line to a girlie who wishes she owned Juvenile Orion. XDDD

Now it's edited. See? I do work on these things. Now come on, give me some credit. There's another day spent on this. And I'm not planning on continuing. I'll leave it to your imagination.