He looked down at her, angry.

"What are you?" He said it as if she was something the cat had dragged in and left on the doorstep.

"I…" She suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She sat partway up in the leaves, staring speechless at him.

"Well?" he asked irritably. "If you're not going to answer me, then get out of here. I don't like strangers."

She was startled back to life by his tone, remembering the heavenly rumors. She promptly stood and hovered a few inches above the ground. He stepped back, astonished.

"Hi, Kyo! I'm Tohru Honda, your new guardian angel!"

Now it was his turn to be wordless.

"I'm supposed to help you be happy here on Earth."

He shook his head, as if to rid his mind of thoughts he had wanted to forget. "Stupid. I don't need a guardian angel," the orange-head muttered. "I'll never be happy. Go back to heaven." He started to turn.

"But/ but… You don't believe me, do you?"

He whipped around. "I don't know how you got those wings or where you came from or why you're here, but you're really starting to piss me off, so just leave, okay?" He glared at her.

She landed. "I got these wings when I died," she said simply. "I've been living in heaven. I'm your guardian angel."

"Whatever." He turned again, and walked away.

She flew up next to him. "I'm going to follow you until you believe me, okay?" she said. "Even if you don't want me, I still can't be anywhere that's a quarter mile away from you, so I really have no choice."

He ignored her, but s quick glance sideways revealed that his face was turning a deep red.

She decided not to push it too far. After all, he had killed his father, hadn't he?

The rest of the trip was in silence.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

"Hey! Hana! Hurry up!" Uo hissed at her best friend from behind the open doorway. "Before Saint Joan sees us!"

Hana walked coolly over, making no attempt to conceal the fact that she was trespassing in a saint's palace. "Her waves are not close. She will not find us."

"Oh, shut up with your stupid wave readings and get in here!" Uo's blond head disappeared into the room.

When Hana entered, Uo was staring eagerly into a large glass ball sitting on the table. A thin, white mist seemed to be floating inside it, as if someone had woven a snow globe in the fog and sealed it up. "How do you work it? How do you work it?" Her enthusiasm resembled that of a puppy waiting for its food.

"Let me see," Hana instructed. Uo obediently moved over so Hana could see. When it came to magic and the supernatural, Saki Hanajima was always the master.

She stared into the depths of the crystal ball. "Tohru Honda," she said, slowly and clearly. She leaned a bit closer. Uo looked over her shoulder. "I think… I think she's in a… forest?" Hana shook her head. "The image is fuzzy. Saint Joan's waves are approaching. We will try next time."

Uo grumbled something about 'if you had hurried up, we would have had more time' and followed Hana out the door, slipping out of the room just as the revered Saint Joan entered the room from the other side.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

"So this is where you live?" asked Tohru, looking around in awe at the small village. There were fires set up outside over which meat was roasting. Occasionally, a squirrel or some other forest animal came through looking for crumbs. Overall, it appeared to be a rather humble number of rough huts.

"It's… It's wonderful!" Tohru squeaked, rising up a few feet in the air in her joy. "Usually, my assignments are in big cities, and all you can see are cars and trains and buildings and subway stations! How could you possibly be unhappy if you live in a place like this?"

Kyo's eyes flashed angrily. "I told you, go away! Take those wings of yours somewhere else! I don't need your help, I told you! Now scram, dammit!"

She looked down at him solemnly. "I guess I'll just have to make you believe." A pause. "Is there anyone else here that knows you well?"

"Some of my cousins are here with me," he muttered darkly. "Will you go away now?"

"All right, that'll do." She landed beside him, taking something out of her small bag (of which she carried around everywhere) and grinding it with her hand. "You are now invisible."

She threw the powder over him. He promptly sneezed.

"Dammit… What the hell… What'd you do that for?" He tried to turn to talk to her, but the sneezes kept him almost doubled over. "What is… Achoo…! that?"

'It's an herb," she said, smiling. "It's only found in the gardens of Eden. I went there on vacation, once, and I always carry around some of this stuff with me now. It saves so much magic!"

"Stupid…" Kyo's sneezes gradually subsided. He gave her one last evil glare, and strode inside one of the huts.

What followed (to Tohru's great amusement) were shouts of confusion as the owner of the hut apparently saw the door open and close and objects move around the room of their own accord.

"Dammit! What happened?" Kyo ran out of the hut, panting. "What did you do? Turn me back!"

"Turn you back to what?" she asked innocently, cocking her head. "I'm not an angel. I can't work magic."

Kyo death glared, a vein throbbing in his forehead. "F-fine," he said thickly. "You're my guardian angel. That doesn't mean I have to use you."

"Excellent!" She smiled, floating toward him. "Thank you so much!" She drew another herb out of her purse and sprinkled some of it down on top of his head. "Oh, and this one doesn't make you sneeze, but…"

"It better not," Kyo barked, then inhaled, and started coughing. "Damn angel…!"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! That won't happen again!"

"It's alright." The coughing spell subsided, and he turned without another word back into the hut.

"Hey, Kyo, you're back! There was a ghost just now, didja see it?

"Shut up, stupid dog!"

"Why are you always so mean to me, Kyonkitchi?"

"And stop using that damn snake's nickname!"

"All right, Kyon-Kyon."

"Shut up!"

Tohru beamed in the direction of the hut, her wings fluttering slightly. This Kyo Sohma was awkward and irritable, but somehow she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. At least not on purpose. She flapped herself up into a tree by the clearing and sat in a branch, leaning against the trunk and just waiting until Kyo realized he needed her.