AN: Gah! This one is semi-boring and short. -- It's more of a filler / I didn't want to make the first chapter longer than I usually do so it's an extension, but it must be done!

R & R please.

If you flame I'll laugh. If you constructively criticize, I'll give you candy.

Kloudy Reignfall - I took your idea? Whatever. You took my idea! :smile: Just kidding. Hope you like the next chapter . . .

MC-88 - ::scolds for laziness:: Are you thinking of Let the Blood Flow? Eiri was an angel in that one too. Well, if you haven't read it, you should anyway . . .

Imhotep Ardeth Bey - Thanxs for the critism like I said 5 times in that e-mail. ::smile:: It nearly made me cry after recieving mostly ego stroking reviews from both sites I post at. Please continue to make me cry . . . for the good of my fics. And no one should click the back button!! That hurts!

Joonie - There are other 'guardian angel' plots? Where?!

Kiyuu - Thanxs for pointing out the diologe. I really didn't realize it was so confusing . . .

Kiyuu and Imhotep; here's your candy. ::pocky and strawberries all around::

And true to my word; Kloudy Reignfall and MC-88, ::glomp:: you both have recieved e-affection! ::more glomps:: You'll both have to wait for answers however . . .

Disclaimer: You all guessed. Along with my Muse Charles, I own Gravitation. Obviously. I mean, how could you not know I owned it? I'm a teenage genius for Christ sakes. Ok, I'm being sarcastic. But you can't have Charles. Charles is mine. But you can write fanfiction about Charles if you wish.

Maiko Shindou- (13) Maggie Shoeman

Shuichi Shindou - (16) Shane Shoeman

Ryuichi Sakuma - (17) Ryan Satterfield

Hiroshi Nakano- (17) Hilary (Hi) Nathan

Tatsuha Uesugi- (?? looks 16) Thaddeus (Tad) Understold

Eiri Uesugi - (?? looks 22) Eric Hueman

Tohma Seguchi - (??) Tod Sutton

Mika Seguchi- (--) Mira Sears

Suguru Fujisaki - (15) Sullivan Fulk

Taki Aizawa - (18) Taylor Ainsworth

Ma-kun - (--) Mark Kurt

Ken-chan - (--) Ken Chandler

Noriko Ukai - (18) Nova Upton

Claude K Winchester - (--) Claude K Winchester

Sakano - (--) Mr. Sakner

Yuki Kitazawa - (--) Yale Kitterman

Ayaka Usami - (--) Ayla Usher

The First and a Half

Maggie Shoeman sighed as she watched her brother bent over the bathtub with his head under the faucet. Her arms were filled with bottles and a towel, which were quickly becoming heavy with time.

"How much longer are you going to take?" Maggie huffed. Shane paused in his scrubbing to look at her, "As long as there's still pink in the water." He returned to squeezing out the loose dye from his strands.

"You're using up all the warm water!"

"I'm almost done."

Maggie quickly resorted to Annoying Little Sister Mode, whining about Shane's habits, poking him the sides, only to be batted at with a pink-covered hand, and raising her voice to an unbearable level. Shane responded by turning the water so it came out heavier and louder. The girl pouted to herself as she realized Shane had become near immune to her insistent prodding.

Finally he turned the water off, grabbing the towel he had set next to him and wrapping his hair with it. He moved to see Maggie still leaning impatiently against the bathroom doorway with her arms crossed, having set her things on the toilet.

"So why did you come home so early? I thought you were going the music store with Ryan." She asked as Shane rubbed his hair dry. Shane's lips twitched with amusement, "We were but he forgot the money." Maggie's eyebrows raised, "You lost the amps then?" "Actually no, we ran like hell to get there and managed to talk the manager into giving us until Monday." He ran his fingers through his hair, checking to make sure it was dry enough.

"But this will be the third time you've asked for an extension."

"He raised the price $20 as punishment."

"Ryan doesn't get paid until Friday."

Shane shook his head, "I'm lending it to him." Maggie laughed, "You'll never see it again." A chuckle was her answer. "Yeah, along with that other $500." "You kept a tab?" Shane stood to look in the mirror, raising an eyebrow at what he saw, "After a while . . . yeah . . ." He tilted his head at the reflection. Maggie studied her brother and the new color for a moment, "It looks good actually." Shane frowned, "You think?"

Maggie slipped behind him, pushing his shoulders and out the bathroom, "Yes. If it gets you out of the bathroom. Now get! You'd better tell Nova you didn't get the amps like you said." Shane wrinkled his nose at her over his shoulder, before being greeted by a shut bathroom door.

"Midget!!" He yelled at the door. A laugh came from inside.

Eiri felt as though his own breath would chill him as he released it into the biting air. Thaddeus stood beside him, chuckling lightly, sipping on a steaming cup of something while he stayed cozy inside his jacket.

"You could have told me it would be this cold." Eiri hissed, pulling the long sleeves of his flimsy shirt lower. Thaddeus only giggled and returned to nursing his drink.

"So what do you think of him?" The impish angel asked after a moment. Eiri glared at him, "Besides being an idiot? I'd rather watch that Ryan guy . . ." Thaddeus looked up thoughtfully into the blueish, black sky that twinkled with vague stars. "Oh come now, he's not that bad." He chuckled again, handing his cup to Eiri. The blonde eyed it warily before grabbing it and taking a sip.

"Have you thought of a name to use here yet?" Thaddeus began walking from the sidewalk they were on and into the park, if anything to get Eiri to stop complaining about the cold with his physical protests. Eiri shrugged, "I'll probably use what I did last time." "Eric?" The other asked.

Eiri nodded, wrapping his fingers around the still warm mug. "What about your guise?" "Tohma hasn't told me yet." Eiri frowned, "We're not really supposed to here anyway, I probably won't find out until the day before."

Thaddeus nodded his understanding, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. They were indeed in the human realm, walking as though they were still alive. They could have remained unknown to the world but sometimes one became tired of invisibility. Being able to feel cold reminded them of their own humanity. Being able to feel physically reminded them. Being seen reminded them. As painful as Thaddeus sure it was for Eiri to be walking in freezing air, he probably did not mind as much as he let on. He could feel. That was all that mattered.

Thaddeus shivered as a chilling breeze brushed by. "We'd better get going," He murmered, "They'll start wondering were we are." Eiri nodded, though some reluctance shown in his eyes. They stopped in their walking, both looking around and making sure no one could see them.

Thaddeus took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and tilting his face to the sky. An almost ghost like sphere surrounded the two, blending nearly perfectly with their surroundings. Their very substance lost stability in the sphere, erasing them from their places in the world. In mere moments the brick sidewalk was empty, leaving no trace that two men had been standing there before.

"Can I be sure to trust you with this?" Tohma asked smoothly. He gazed indifferently at different papers as he spoke, giving the implication he did not really care what the respondents's answer was. A pair of piercing blue eyes smiled, ignoring the aloofness in the man before them.

"Of course you can. I'm not the best shot down there for nothing." A confidant voice returned cheerfully. Tohma looked up, amusement playing across his features, "I'll be watching you from time to time, remember that." A great laugh sounded, "Of course Tohma san, I wouldn't expect you not to. That'd be out of character for you wouldn't it?"

Tohma chuckled quietly, raising his face directly to the boisterous voice across from him, "Just be sure not to blow your cover. I'm afraid I'll have a very angry Eiri chasing me from now to eternity." Another laugh came, followed by an amused 'hn', "Incognito. Got it. Don't worry Tohma, mister Eiri is safe, and he won't know I'm playing guardian to the guardian." The voice finally settled into a serious tone, "Although I don't feel you need to be watching him so closely. He's a big boy after all, despite what you may think . . ."

Tohma's eyes narrowed, his lips pressing into a thin line. He returned to shuffling his precious papers around his desk. The voice however, never one to let the moment get dull switched its tone quickly enough, "I'll let you know what's up from time to time. If anything serious happens let you know, and if all's well after a year my service is no longer needed. Right?" Tohma nodded absent mindedly, only pausing in his busy-work as the shifting of a chair indicated the voice's body standing.

"This will be the start of a beautiful relationship, I'm sure." The voice said cheerfully.

The blonde smiled evenly, looking up to the grinning face before him.

"I'm sure it will be Mr. Winchester."

I have always believed there is someone watching over you. They may beside you, unknown or a friend you have known for years. It could be your parents, a teacher . . . anyone could be your guardian angel. Someone who will always be there for you, at least to comfort with their presence.

I don't know who mine was, but it was there for me since I could remember. After running home crying, ignoring my sister's pleads to talk, and my mother's questions, I would curl up under my covers and stay there the night thinking no one cared, no one would come after I repeatedly told them to leave.

I didn't want them to go. Really. I wanted them to follow me, and force their company. I hate being alone. I can't stand it.

Huddled under my covers however, I could feel someone watching me.

Not that creepy stalker feeling, not at all.

But someone with kind eyes and understanding. That someone would have taken me in their arms and held me and whispered sweet words if they could have. They would have let me cry and say what I needed to.

With knowing someone was watching me, even if I couldn't see them, that feeling was what kept me aliveduring my short life on earth . . .