Improper Guardian
Chapter Four
By: Brenli
Nema's alarm clock went off at about 6:30 A.M. Her head didn't feel like it had caved in, anymore, but sleep made her sluggish and half-blind as she attempted smacking her alarm clock with a tight fist. SMACK! No, she hit the table. She needed to go further left. SMACK! No, and ouch, she'd slammed her fist onto one of the excessively curled legs of her antique, wiry-looking lamp. After shaking the pain from her hand she thought that maybe she should go further right, instead. She brought her fist down swiftly, but it was quickly intercepted by a strong hand. Nema was scared into alertness was she watched another hand grope over to her alarm clock and shut it off.
"I'm not your fucking alarm clock. If you try to hit my head again, I will kill you." Michael said drowsily.
Nema pulled her hand away from his grasp, frowning. "… I thought all of yesterday was a nightmare."
"Well, I thought you said you were going to hang yourself, and that never happened, did it?" Michael snapped. He followed her gaze to his Fire Sword, which he'd propped against her bookcase. "Yeah, I'm leaving that there."
"… Michael, what are you? Who were those people?"
Michael grumbled before answering. "… Who were what people?"
"Those people with the cloaks and the wings! You have wings, too!"
"No, I don't. And who the Hell are these people you keep talking about?" Michael lied effortlessly.
"THOSE PEOPLE! YOU ALL DESTROYED MY SCHOOL!"
"… Well your school IS destroyed, but I have no idea where the Hell you got the idea that I've got wings and weird people were everywhere. You're delusional!"
"… What about my uniform, then? It was all torn up!"
"No, it wasn't. Your mom threw it out, though. Your school's gone, so there's no point in keeping it." Michael watched confusion smear itself on Nema's face.
"… Why the fuck are you here, Michael?"
"Why do you think? I'm homeless! But your parents like me."
"I find that fucking HARD to believe."
"Oh yeah? Then why the Hell am I in YOUR room, sleeping on the floor by YOUR BED? If that's not trust I don't know what is, bitch." Michael's blue-green eyes glared at her before he shut them and rested his head on her mattress. "Go back to sleep! You don't have to go to school!"
Nema disobeyed, jumping out of bed and rushing to her closet. "YOU go ahead and sleep, then! I'm going out!"
"Where the Hell are you gonna go?" Michael growled.
"Harajuku."
"What, you gonna doll yourself up and show off your body? On a TUESDAY? You're a fucking attention whore. Go back to sleep!"
"Michael, I never said YOU had to come along! So YOU fucking sleep!"
"YOU'RE ONLY SUPPOSED TO DO THAT SHIT ON SUNDAYS! EVEN GUYS LIKE ME KNOW THAT!"
"WELL MAYBE I LIKE BEING AN INDIVIDUAL! SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!"
With that, Michael came to stand and stepped in front of her, his blue-green eyes aflame as he sent her a death glare. "Did you just give ME a fucking ORDER? I'M the only one here giving out ORDERS, woman!"
"WOULD YOU MOVE SO THAT I CAN GET CLOTHES?"
Setsuna's voice could be heard calling out. "THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE STILL TRYING TO SLEEP, YOU TWO!"
Nema grit her teeth. "Michael. Move."
"Michael what?"
"Michael-SAMA. Move. Please."
Finally Michael moved aside, letting her grab her choices of clothing and watching her rush off to the bathroom.
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Setsuna let out a deep yawn as he stepped back into bed with Sara. "Maybe this is a mistake. All they're gonna do is fight all the time."
Sara shrugged sleepily. "He's her Guardian Angel. What can we do?"
"I don't know… All I know is that this place is NOT gonna be peaceful for a long time, now…"
Sara went silent, and Setsuna thought that perhaps she'd fallen asleep already until she spoke again. "… But we do have our pretend anniversary coming up." It was only a pretend anniversary because they could never truly get married.
"… Vacation?"
"Why not?"
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"… This is boring."
"I NEVER SAID YOU HAD TO COME, YOU STALKER!" Nema yelled as she stomped along in knee-high boots, her white dress hanging in asymmetrical layers from as low as mid-calf and as high as mid-thigh. A tight, black corset accentuated her body, and her black, fingerless gloves stretched up and over her elbows. She was tying a white mini-crown accented in black onto her head as she walked.
"So?"
"SO GO DO SOMETHING ELSE! I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR SHIT!"
Michael snarled at her. "I THINK I SHOULD COME ALONG JUST TO PISS YOU OFF! We'll call you the angry ghost! That'll get you tourist shots!"
"SHUT UP!" Nema screamed as she got on the bus at the bus station. Michael followed. "… Though I've gotta admit that your getup might get you some shots, too!"
"My 'getup'? This is what I wear every day!"
"If I didn't have a school uniform, I'd wear what I'M wearing every day!" Nema reasoned with him, observing his clothing. She wondered if he had a bag of clothes hiding in her room somewhere. His boots were the same, but now he wore a different pair of black pants. The legs were covered in bondage straps, four of which were used to attach them to the rest of the pants, which would have been a simple pair of black shorts, otherwise. A thick black choker adorned his neck. His biker gloves were still on, but he'd removed this headband, and he was not wearing a shirt at all, showing off his tattoo.
"… WOULD YOU STOP STARING AT ME?" Michael hissed.
"TOUCHY!" Nema rolled her red eyes. "If you don't like the attention, you shouldn't dress that way!"
"I'll dress how I want, bitch!"
Nema got off the bus and Michael, as usual, followed her. "Then don't complain if people stare at you! It comes with the territory."
"Not where I come from." Michael mumbled.
"Eh?"
"I didn't fucking say anything!" He snapped. "Look, we're here now, and it's completely dull, so let's go somewhere cooler!"
"For crying out loud, Michael! WHERE do you suppose we should go, then?"
"Any place we can go and fight?"
"… You're fucking joking! I'm not fighting in this dress! I don't wanna fight you, anyway!"
"You sure? 'Cause you manage to piss me off like you're BEGGIN' for it!"
"DON'T START WITH ME, MICHAEL!"
"IT'S MICHAEL-SAMA, YOU BITCH!"
"I DON'T SEE HOW YOU'RE SO FUCKIN' GREAT, MICHAEL! YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU PUT A TATTOO ON YOUR FACE THAT YOU'RE SOME SORT OF BADASS? I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU! YOU'RE NOT!"
"AND PUTTING A FUCKING CROWN THAT'S FIVE SIZES TOO SMALL ON YOUR HEAD HAS THAT EFFECT? YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT! SO SHUT UP!"
They both froze as the flash of a camera made them go blind for a moment. "… Oh, keep up the show! It's beautiful!" A balding man pouted. "You're all black and she's all white! With you arguing, it's perfect! Light versus dark! The beautiful versus the rebellious! The Angel versus the Demon!"
Michael and Nema knew they'd come across one of the more psychotic of photographers. After a moment in which neither of them moved, the photographer tossed his brilliant idea aside. "Okay, fine, let's do something more like yin and yang. The darkness in love with the light!"
"I'm not in love with her! I fucking hate her!" Michael exclaimed angrily.
"That's okay, this is photography!" The bald man said giddily. "Now, step up closer to each other."
To Michael's horror, Nema was obeying immediately. Michael stiffened.
"Okay, now, wrap your arms around his neck and you, do the same to her waist."
"Don't fucking touch me!" Michael snarled at Nema as he felt her arms slip around him.
"Would you play along just this once?" Nema snapped, grabbing his arms, wrapping them around her, and putting her arms back where they belonged.
"Yes, are you angry that you've been caught in your forbidden love? YES!" The bald man's insanity was showing itself at full speed as he snapped pictures. "Okay, let's get some sadness. The very idea of the darkness in love with the light; it's depressing, isn't it? Yes, yes!" The photographer didn't know that Nema was the one acting, and Michael was genuinely depressed that he was caught up in this. "Okay, and now a few more! I want HAPPINESS! Closer, you two. Yes, my dear, lean your head onto his chest. Smile!" He snapped the pose three times. "That is ADORABLE! The light openly in love and the darkness wide-eyed with shock! Ah, thank you so much! I thought this only happened on Sundays!"
"Usually, yeah! You got lucky!" Nema smiled at the photographer.
"Indeed I have!"
"Okay, get OFF of me now!" Michael shoved Nema away from him.
"Hey, what's your problem?"
"THIS is my fucking problem!"
"YOU'RE JOKING! THE CAMERA GOT YOU SCARED? YOU AFRAID YOUR SOUL'S STOLEN?" Nema teased angrily.
"NO, I'M NOT FUCKING SCARED! I JUST THINK THIS IS FUCKING STUPID!"
The bald photographer took this as an opportunity for more shots, and after a few of them, he shuffled away.
"YOU'RE ALWAYS SO FUCKING ANGRY, MICHAEL! AND PEOPLE THINK I'VE GOT A BAD TEMPER…! WAIT, TILL THEY ALL MEET YOU!"
"Meet who, Mudou?"
Nema looked over her shoulder to find a large group of girls, all wearing the Shibuya Senior High School uniform. Classmates of Nema's. All of them acquainted with Nema primarily out of their morbid curiosity, and to see what dirty info they could dig up. They claimed to be seeking the truth. What Nema didn't know was that most of the rumors spread about her came right from this group of girls. And so, being oblivious to this, she greeted them. "Ohayo, minna-san! Meet Michael. Try not to piss him off… But trust me, it's hard not to piss him off."
Michael flipped Nema off, but kept a fixed, angry gaze on a central girl. She stood tall and proud, obviously the self-proclaimed leader of the girls.
Michael hated her instantly.
He couldn't explain why. While he knew he disliked a lot of things, this girl had done nothing more than call Nema by her surname, and in Japan, this wasn't any bit disrespectful. Rather, the opposite. And yet, he felt the waves of distrust and loathing run through him. He wanted to hurt her.
The girl bowed out of habitual politeness. "Hey, Mudou, aren't you just flashy-looking today? Where's your uniform?" She spoke snottily.
"… Our school is gone. My mother threw out my uniform." Nema spoke with confusion in her voice.
"So? Where's the school spirit? That's no good, Mudou. You know what everyone's saying."
"… I don't, actually."
"Well, you DID write, 'it was nice seeing you,' on one of the school blackboards on the day of the burning. What are we supposed to think?"
Nema's red eyes blinked rapidly before they narrowed. "You don't honestly believe…"
"What. Are. We. Supposed. To. Think. Mudou?" The girl frowned at her. "And you're not wearing your uniform, either. You WANTED the school to go down."
"YOU THINK I WANTED IT TO GO DOWN BECAUSE I WROTE SOMETHING ON A BLACKBOARD?"
Michael observed what was unfolding, wondering what he could get away with. He knew he couldn't get away with hurting them in any way, but that was the one thing he wanted to do. Not necessarily start a fight. Just do… SOMETHING… to hurt this group of girls. Yes, he decided he didn't like any of them.
"It all adds up, Mudou. Why'd you write it, then? Just wanted to be friendly?"
"I THOUGHT THIS ASSHOLE WAS GONNA KILL ME!" Nema waved a hand at Michael, who grumbled at her, but kept staring at the leader of the girls.
"Are you sure? He looks more like he's your bodyguard, right now."
Nema had turned herself toward the girls as this argument stirred up, but she looked over her shoulder at him. He certainly looked like he wanted to tear the group of girls up. Nema wasn't sure if Michael had even looked at HER with that much anger on his face.
"… Anyway, Mudou. I'm not sure if we… appreciate… your appearance during this time of need. The students are holding a vigil for the people lost. And you… obviously… aren't dressed or in the right position to attend." The leader twirled a lock of dark hair around her finger, clearly proud of it. "Go home. It'll be better for everyone."
Nema stared at the group of girls with wide red eyes, and they stared on with cold faces. She wanted to slap them all and set THEM on fire for thinking she was the one responsible for burning down Shibuya High. All that she could remember of that night, Michael claimed was a dream. If this was so, she could remember NOTHING of the burning! And here they were blaming her, just because she'd been odd enough to write a goodbye on a blackboard!
"… Are you leaving, Mudou?"
Nema bowed as a silent farewell, unable to see the cruel smile on Michael's face as he bowed as well. She turned and stomped off, Michael following.
"… Well, that was easy enough." The leader of the girls said. "Let's go to the vigil now." She turned, and began to leave, and the followers of this girl gasped and called out to her.
She was smoking, and it had nothing to do with cigarettes. The ends of this girl's hair were glowing with tiny flames that traveled at an abnormally slow rate up the dark strands, and the bottoms of her sneakers were melted and gooey against the ground. She screamed and kicked off her sneakers, demanding that the girls put out the flames in her hair.
"MY HAIR! … THAT GIRL RUINED MY HAIR!" She cried. "THAT GIRL REALLY IS A WITCH! THE RUMORS ARE TRUE, AFTER ALL!" It didn't matter that it was she herself that started that childish rumor. It gave her a sick satisfaction to deal another verbal blow to Nema, even if it wasn't to Nema's face.
Nema heard the girl and snapped. She spun around and rushed at her, slamming into her and literally rubbing her face in the ground. "FUCK YOU! I AM NO FUCKING WITCH!"
Michael watched this with an entertained grin on his face. It was the first time Michael actually showed, and felt, support for Nema. But of course, just about anyone would've found the idea of a white pretend-Queen beating up on a schoolgirl to be amusing. None of the followers to the schoolgirl in question were helping her, in spite of her cries for help. Instead, they all ran off, leaving the schoolgirl to her fate.
"Hey, Mika-chan!"
"Okay, you know what Raphael? I told you to fucking STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Michael hissed as he heard the voice if his friend.
Raphael just smiled. "Nema's having fun. I'm surprised you aren't joining in with her."
"It's her fight, not mine."
"How very un-Michael-like of you to say!" Raphael grinned as Michael sneered at him.
"Well excuse me while I go get my Fire Sword and shove it through her head! You know I'll get away with that!"
"You've gotten away with burning down Nema's school…"
The Fire Angel scoffed. "Only 'cause everyone's blaming Nema for it!"
"Yes, I overheard that. A bit unfair, isn't it? That's the last thing she needs right now. Getting blamed for the things she didn't do."
"Not like I'M gonna step up and say anything."
"No, that would be a bit stupid, wouldn't it?" Raphael laughed.
"VERY stupid." The two Archangels fell silent as they watched the schoolgirl make a cheap grab for Nema's hair. Nema copied her and roughly shoved her knee into the girl's back, screaming at her. "… Good Nema stood up for herself, though. The girl she's beating up is a bitch and a half."
"Obviously."
"Hell, I picked up on it before she opened her damn mouth, Raphael! She's got 'bitch' written all over her. I wanted to deck her before she had time to BREATHE in my direction! You feel that, too?"
"… No, actually." The Wind Angel gave Michael a serious, honest glance before letting a small smile cross his lips. "… Oh, Mika-chan's gettin' all protective!"
Michael sent him a death glare. "Oh, you think you're fuckin' CUTE, don't you? What the fuck do you mean, 'gettin' all protective'?"
"It's not something that can be helped, entirely, Michael. It's a Guardian Angel thing. As her protector you are going to be able to sense when something dangerous or even just plain annoying comes Nema's way. That way, you can react faster when you come to her aid. It makes sense, doesn't it? You know, it's really quite sad that I know more about this, and I have never been a Guardian Angel. You, on the other hand, have been one for 16 years and know NOTHING about it. How you've managed to pull that off is completely beyond me –"
"RAPHAEL, SHUT UP!" Michael snapped. Just when Michael had begun thinking that Raphael had learned to stop babbling, Raphael ruined it all!
Nema had decided that she had inflicted enough pain on the schoolgirl and gave her a parting kick in the ribs before stomping away again.
"Hello, Nema!" Raphael greeted.
"Hi." She muttered as she continued walking on.
The two Angels followed her home, Raphael offering a few congenial sentences that Nema answered shortly, darkly. Michael remained aloof and satisfied in that careless state until they reached Nema's house. She marched in and shut the door in Michael's face.
"OKAY, WHAT THE FUCK, NEMA?" Michael screamed at the door.
"Oh, and Mika-chan, some parting words."
"WHAT?"
"First, Nema's depressed right now, can't you see that? And yelling at her like you have been is only making it worse for her."
"What makes you think I care?" Michael snarled.
Raphael blinked. "… Well you really ought to. You're attempting to make her happy and keep her happy. That's your job."
"Well then, what do you SUGGEST I do to get my job DONE so I can forget about her again?"
The Wind Angel sighed. "Well you have it easier because you're in Assiah, living in her house. Treat her like a friend, Michael. Talk to her, console her, give her advice. Let her cry on your shoulder, if she really needs that. In short, do all the things you've NEVER done before."
"… You want me to act like I'm her fucking BOYFRIEND?"
"Did I mention that if you're assigned to protect a total BABE you could get pretty damn lucky?"
"FUCK YOU, RAPHAEL! GO AWAY AND BANG BARBIEL OR SOMETHING!" Michael hissed, fed up with Raphael's light nature.
"I'm just about done! Keep in mind that Cheriour's rounding up more people to send down here. I might drop down now and then in case they try to close in on you again."
"I won't be needing your help." Michael said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you never do. But I get bored, too, you know!" Raphael grinned. "Have fun with Nema, Mika-chan!"
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" The Fire Angel shouted after him. Was it just him, or did unseen forces seem to want to pick on him now that he was spending all his time with a female? He HATED women. He'd said it so many times before… they were all alike, and they only ruined men. Women nearly ruined Raphael. It was Eve, a woman, that ruined Adam. Yes, women were no good. And now he had to spend all his time with one!