Authoress Note: I know I've been terrible with offering translations to any of the Japanese I use in the story…Bad me! Slaps herself I offer two today… even though they're not for any Japanese words. It's for Korean words. Are you ready, kids?

Angyounghaseyo Hello.

That's a lot of letters for such a small greeting, isn't it? And one more.

Oppa: A way of acknowledging another like an older brother, both literally and figuratively (like, a close male friend). Example: Lucifer-oppa. Think of it like "-kun" in Japanese, however, you have the option of just saying "oppa," without the given name. Girls use this for actual older brothers, good male friends, or for boyfriends.

And I'd also like to warn you that, at least in my opinion, this chapter is spoiler-heavy… well, the whole story is spoiler-heavy, considering it's like an epilogue/sequel to "Angel Sanctuary"… but whatever. If you get confused, you are totally allowed to email me!

Now that all that's done with… on with the show!

Improper Guardian

Chapter Twelve

By: Brenli

"Holy promise… Hokey…? I don't care! … Cause you thing but trouble… Better person if you let me! …If I ever hurt you… Tell me that it hurts… Say that for me? I'll stop… I swear it. On God's holy rosary, I…"

Nema kept flowing in and out of sleep. That was all she remembered hearing him say… in that… strange, pleading tone. It was strange on him, anyway… Had she been dreaming it all? It wasn't like him. It wasn't like Michael.

She slowly crawled out of her bed and dug her toes into the messy mass of blankets Michael had left behind. He'd shut off her alarm clock… it was 9:00 A.M. On a torn piece of paper he'd scrawled, "Your alarm clock sucks and you probably have a hangover. Sleep it off or I'll kill you."

Well, she didn't feel hung over at all, so she tore his note in half and let the pieces float down onto his pillow. Idly, she wondered where he was hiding, and she shed her clothes and stared into the depths of her closet.

Nema toyed with the fabric of one of her dresses. More than half of her closet was devoted to her Sunday Harajuku outfits. Lolita skirts and petticoats that all fell at the mid-calf – her favorite length. Tank tops and formal dresses she dolled up with corsets and chains, and her winter uniform, not needed now that her school was gone.

Her red eyes blinked up at the top shelf, which bore her favorite accessory: her vast amount of mini-crowns. The shrunken versions of the Old English crown of royalty all sat in two neat rows, and there was an empty spot for the crown she'd worn yesterday. As she laid that mini-crown back in its spot, she wondered what she wanted to wear. She wondered what Michael would have liked her to wear.

She knew with certainty that her silly pipe dreams about Michael were never going to materialize… and she wished that this knowledge would shut off her stupid little girly heart… but it didn't. And so her hand found itself gripping her pair of black, cross-accented pants, slipping them onto her pale legs. She felt weird as she buttoned them up. As if this was a silent confirmation of her submission… and sliding that last button through its hole seemed painful. It was pathetic, really. Would a pair of pants make her normal? Not a Rabbit anymore, just a girl? Would it make everything better? She knew it wouldn't. She did it, anyway.

After slipping on a black tank top, she washed off the makeup she'd worn yesterday, feeling disgusted that she'd left it on and let it smear all over her face as she rolled in her sleep. She ran a brush recklessly through her ivory hair and then began a search for Michael. Where would she be if she were a wild short man with an appreciation for death and sharp things? She checked the kitchen first. Nope. And he wasn't in the living room as she passed it. Her bare feet padded around in a small circle. She looked up. No, he wasn't finding some weird way to drop down from the ceiling and attack her.

It was then that Nema picked up sawing sounds from outside. As she approached the door leading to her backyard, the scent of freshly cut wood tickled her nose and nearly made her sneeze. She opened the door, and sure enough, Michael was outside. He looked quite comical, using his gigantic sword to saw away the jagged chunks of wood to form a more appealing stump out of the remnants of Nema's tree. She stifled a laugh behind her pale hand and asked, "What the Hell are you doing?"

The Archangel turned his fiery head and began to say, "What does it look l-" He paused. His blue-green eyes narrowed. "… What the fuck are you wearing?"

Nema arched her brow in confusion and pointed at her hips. "… Pants? You've seen these before."

"You don't want to wear them."

"… What?"

Nema didn't think he could tell, did she? But to Michael it was obvious. The last time she had worn them she wasn't walking around like her legs were frozen. Now she was. "Go change."

An annoyed frown crossed her face. "I don't WANT to fucking change, Michael! Don't order me around! Hey!" Michael had come up and pressed the sharp point of his sword against her belly, forcing her back into the house.

"Wear something you WANT to wear. Idiot."

Nema sneered at him, turned around and stomped back into her room, shedding off her clothes angrily. Since when did he think he could read her so well? If she put on one of her pretty dresses, would he somehow magically like her more? "… Grow up." She scolded herself as she threw herself into the various fabrics and fished out her white, multi-layered dress. Nema let the soft white cloth flow over her body and soak up a childish tear. "Pathetic girl." She hunted for a pair of knee-high, white boots… She stomped into them angrily and then dug out a white, vinyl corset. She tied it on too tight at first, making her cry out. She loosened it. She fished out a white mini-crown and tied it on hastily, letting it sit cocked off to the left, like she usually did. There. Head to toe white and girly. Like how he probably saw her. "Ugly girl." She hissed at herself, and stomped out to greet him again. "Do I receive your seal of approval NOW, Michael-SAMAAA?" She said cattily. "Here." She tore off his biker gloves and tossed them at him.

Michael caught them and approached her, his blue-green eyes peering down at her with that perpetual, angered gaze of his. "So what the fuck did I do this time, Angry Girl?"

The irritation left Nema's face as her ruby eyes turned away from him. "… I don't know."

The doorbell suddenly rang, making them both look at the door with semi-surprised faces. No one rang the doorbell… no one really visited anymore. "… When you figure it out, tell me." Michael said plainly and moved to answer the door.

"Why, you gonna stop?" Nema said bitterly as she took a few steps into her backyard.

"I promised, didn't I?"

Nema looked over her shoulder with wide red eyes but Michael was already gone. So she hadn't been dreaming or delusional. He'd really made a holy promise… whatever a holy promise was, exactly. She sat on the smoother stump of her tree after tossing the stray bits of wood behind the backyard shed, and sighed, trying to shake her emotions out of her head. They weren't doing anything for her. Just giving her false hopes and turning her into a weak little girl, just like the kind Michael hated, anyway. How brutal… He hated weak women but, every now and then, he'd do something like making a holy promise and she'd act foolish. Then he'd turn her away and she'd become bitter until he did some other random, unexpected thing. A vicious cycle. She hated it.

"What the fuck? Don't make yourself at home! You stay at the door!" She could hear Michael snapping at this surprise visitor. Who could it be? Not someone Michael knew, she assumed. Or maybe someone Michael hated. The Fire Angel appeared before Nema with bright green eyes glowering down at her. "You have a visitor – I TOLD YOU TO STAY AT THE DOOR!"

"What are you making a big fuss over?" Nema stood and marched up to him, her brows arched in confusion. Michael pointed rudely over his shoulder and she saw, standing behind him, a suave looking man who was around her age, maybe two years older. He looked formally dressed with his black slacks and his black coat perfectly tailored to fit his body. He wore a top hat and carried a cane, and tied his dark locks back in a low ponytail. He was the very essence of a dandy goth. He was no one Nema knew, though she thought he looked like he waltzed right out of the pages of a Gothic and Lolita Bible.

And then he spoke. "Angyounghaseyo, Nemaelle."

Her eyes widened. "… Jinho?"

Michael watched the features on this visitor light up in gratitude. "You remember me!" He spoke in slightly accented Japanese, but he spoke softly and politely. Michael wanted to vomit.

"Why wouldn't I?" Nema said with a small, pleasant smile, her snowy hand waving over to the tree stump behind her. "We had this tree… stump."

Jinho nodded and stroked his chin. "Yes… what happened to it?"

Michael attempted jumping in. "I-"

"It was dying." Nema lied smoothly, covering Michael's boast. "My parents gave it a mercy killing."

Jinho shook his head. "Quite a pity. Oh, let me give you a proper greeting…!" And with that he took Nema's pale hand in his tan one and pressed a kiss on the back of it. The Fire Angel sneered and bit his tongue as he watched Jinho linger and pat her hand like a dear old friend. Acting so debonair… and civilized…. and kind… and completely unlike Michael. The Archangel felt like he was staring at his polar opposite. He wanted to kill him.

"I'm afraid I'll be leaving for Sh- Seoul tomorrow." The perfect Jinho stumbled just once. Nema jumped when Michael snatched her hand and appeared to be searching for something, but then he let her go and continued to stare down Jinho. "… However, I couldn't leave Tokyo without stopping by to see an old friend." He finished softly.

Nema's eyes widened and then narrowed as Jinho said the last two words. "Some friend you've been! You never contacted me after you moved!"

"And perhaps that is why our poor tree died. My apologies."

Again, Michael snatched Nema's hand, this time to pull her back and hiss into her ear, "Why are you lying about the –"

"Normal people can't knock trees out!" She whispered back to him.

"So?"

Nema shook her hand away from him and glared up at him, and he glared back with fiery green eyes and a firm frown. They pierced into her, but they somehow looked a little pleading, too. Nema cocked her head to the side and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Was he jealous?

Jinho seemed oblivious to the small conflict that formed between Michael and Nema and surveyed the house he was visiting. "Your home has gone through the strangest renovations, Nemaelle!"

"Nema."

Jinho turned to the Archangel with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"It's Nema. Call her Nema." Michael snapped darkly.

Nema arched her pale brows up at Michael yet again, but Jinho only smiled sweetly. Michael wanted to slap that smile right off Jinho's face. "And you have a spokesman, now, Nema!" Oh God, that sugary soft voice of his…! Michael felt sick. "We obviously have never met." Jinho took off his top hat and bowed. "I am Park Jinho."

'I am ready to kick your ass.' Michael thought bitterly, but he only said, "Yeah, I figured."

"And you are Michael-sama." Jinho continued smiling.

Nema blinked rapidly and felt her puzzlement grow even larger. "… You've heard of him?"

"Oh, yes." Jinho spoke to Nema but kept his black eyes fixed on Michael as he sneered and pretended to find something in the distance that was more amusing than Jinho or Nema. "Though it is understandable that he does not know me. But that is not why I am here. I would like a private chat with my old friend. Assuming, of course, that the great Michael-sama doesn't mind?"

Jinho mocked his greatness, and Nema had no idea that it was a bigger deal than it might have seemed. Michael shook the need to deck Jinho's smiling face out of his body and sneered, merely saying, "Feh! Like I care."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Looks like the Rabbit has a visitor…"

"Shit, it's a Demon! High rank, maybe?"

"Definitely. He looks like he is a vampire type…"

"Should we tell Cheriour-sama?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. Let this run on. It could get interesting."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"So how long is this gonna be?" Michael said gruffly, making a big show of examining the blade of his sword once again.

"How are we supposed to know that for certain, M-"

"I'm talking to Top Hat, not Mini Crown."

Nema sealed her mouth shut and glared at Michael, but Jinho simply smiled. "Well, Top Hat isn't very certain, either." He said eloquently, though softly. The Fire Angel rested his sword on his shoulder and shot Jinho a few more mental daggers before leaving them.

After a few seconds his head appeared from around the door. "Don't take long."

Michael was setting time limits, now? Who the Hell did he think he was? Nema bit her tongue as he left again, and Jinho's smooth voice started to flow.

"My, what a deadly weapon! Much more frightening than I had heard! Imagine the strength in that man… To wield something like THAT…"

"Jinho –"

"Oh, call me Oppa, like you used to." Jinho spoke with nostalgia dripping from his voice.

Nema remained silent for a moment. He really wanted her to call him that, still? "… Oppa, how do you know about Michael?"

"How could I not?" Jinho cried incredulously. "He is one of the highest ranking –" From outside Nema's door, the deliberate tapping of a sword blade against the floor made the Korean dandy goth pause. "… Perhaps I have said too much."

"… Said too much?" He hadn't said enough! He hadn't even started! For the longest time Nema had disregarded the fact that Michael was still quite the stranger to her, but it hit her hard right now. Who was Michael, anyway? Did he have siblings? A family? What was his surname? Where was he from? Did he have an actual job? Or was THIS… watching over Rabbits… his job? He was one of the highest ranking WHAT? Swordsmen? Assassins? Jerks? Protectors? Warlords? What? "Go on, Jinho-oppa! Michael is what?"

"Nema, you live with him, do you not? Let's talk about other things. Let's talk… about you. You've become… an elegant little Queen, haven't you?" Jinho said lightly, tapping the top of Nema's white mini-crown.

Nema? Elegant? She immediately pictured herself slamming her boots into the winged opponents she faced now and then. Then she thought of the number of swear words she used each day, while bickering with Michael. And Jinho called her 'elegant.' She couldn't help but laugh behind her hand. "I wouldn't say I act much like a Queen, Oppa. I cuss and stomp around and beat things up."

"A violent Queen, then." Jinho simply said with a smile. "Remember, Queens are allowed to be both beautiful and heartless."

Jinho was getting it all wrong. She had a heart, however messed up it felt, and she never really felt beautiful… especially lately. Nema looked at Jinho from the corner of her eye, letting the skepticism begin to wash over her. Why was he here, after all this time? Acting like there was no gap to fill… Smiling at her like he wasn't on the list of people who hurt her at some point. Sad thing was, Nema didn't know a single soul who wasn't on that list. "… You've got a silky tongue on you these days, don't you?" She didn't mean to sound cruel, but she could tell that she did.

"Yes… I suppose so, don't I? But I hope it does not make you suspicious."

"You being here is suspicious enough." She snapped and turned her back on him. She'd go ahead and act cruel. Why not? What made Jinho think it would be so easy to flow back into her life? She wasn't easy to bend anymore. Life taught her she couldn't be that way.

At least Jinho wasn't an idiot. He caught on immediately. "Oh, Nema, Nema…!" He approached her from behind and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her either like a needy friend or a boa constrictor. She made a big show of wincing under the pressure. "I understand your anger towards me. After all… we were misfits, you and I." He recalled the past fondly. "Friendless together… and then I abandoned you." Nema shuddered and bit her lip in shame. He was running his hands down her arms, caressing the almost-invisible inverted crosses etched into her skin. "I've noticed you are scarred." He whispered into her ear. "Life was cruel to you, wasn't it?"

"… Stop it…"

"Let me make up for my absenses…" He sounded almost like a snake as he ran his tongue up her neck.

"Stop it!" Nema spun and slapped him, his top hat tumbling to the ground. In that very second Michael reappeared, his sword brandished, his eyes glowing, and looking ready as ever to kill something.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Well, would you look at that! Someone get Cheriour-sama! He would find this entertaining!"

"Cheriour-sama is out hunting Rabbits. What horrible luck! Do you think blood will be spilt?"

"It's Michael. Why WOULDN'T blood be spilt?"

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"… Where are my manners?" Jinho bowed in apology, scooping up his hat. "I admit that was not very gentlemanly of me…"

"Gentlemanly, feh!" Michael spat. "Nema, leave."

She hesitated. She knew that look. And maybe she was angry… but she wasn't so angry she wanted Jinho DEAD. "Wait a –"

"Get out RIGHT NOW!" The Fire Angel roughly shoved a protesting Nema out of the room, locking the door before she could do anything about the situation.

Michael immediately went after Jinho, bringing the heavy blade of his Fire Sword down to meet Jinho's head. Jinho narrowly dodged, but his top hat suffered a severe cut through the top, leaving a large hole. Michael stepped on the material cut free from the hat. "You've got BALLS, but that shit will get you killed around HERE… fucking Demon!"

Though his hat was ruined, Jinho couldn't help but smile. "Oh, so you've seen right through me!"

"You reek of Hell. How couldn't I? And it doesn't take much thought if you fucking slip and almost say 'Sheol'!"

Jinho sighed. "Ah yes… Sheol, Seoul… I always get the two mixed up…"

Michael's blade swung through the air as he hastily waved aside Jinho's attempt at friendly chitchat. "I better not find any marks where you kissed her, Demon. If I do it'll be your fucking head!"

"Oh, I do not have that power… I am merely a lucky Demon who just got promoted. I probably will not gain the power to mark others with my kiss for a few years…"

"You're probably lying, so fuck you." Michael hissed. "Now you listen up! You're gonna leave, and you're never coming back!"

"Oh, but I haven't gathered enough sufficient information. I can't very well return to Lucifer-sama and simply say, 'Nemaelle is currently being held captive by your brother.'" Jinho continued to smile, but Michael's face expressed carefully guarded surprise, followed by another infamous sneer.

"What does HE want with her?"

"Please understand, Michael-sama. He is on good terms with her father… he sees Nemaelle as a sort of niece, if you will." And then a suspicious smile crossed the Demon's features. "But is it possible that I may have to report a change in that status? Perhaps she will become a sister-in-law?"

Sister-in-law? What the Hell made Jinho think that? The Fire Angel snarled at him and charged, the blade of his sword slashing once, twice. Jinho dodged once, lost a button to his fancy coat the second time. "Heyyyy now…" Jinho held up his hands in a helpless manner, however, the perpetual smile remained. "You forget that I AM one of Nema's friends. She would be heartbroken if she found me dead."

Michael scoffed. "Even though you just through yourself on her…!" Like Nema would forgive Jinho for that…

"Exactly." Jinho countered confidently. "You know she is such a doll like that. So quick to forgive, once she gets her fiery pouting out of the way. I am sure she's forgiven the great Michael-sama on more than one occasion, hasn't she?"

The Archangel paused, the angry features of his face softening for one second before they returned, but it was enough to know that Jinho had touched upon something. "… I have no idea what you're talking about." He said flatly.

"Oh, come now! It's YOU, Michael-sama. And if Lucifer-sama's word means anything, you must anger her several times a day!"

"You think he knows me because he's my brother? That THING doesn't deserve to call himself my brother!" Michael snapped cruelly.

"But he admits to his relation to you, even so." Jinho said simply. "… May I ask you something, Michael-sama?"

"No."

"I think I'll ask, anyway." Jinho ignored Michael's low grumbling. "Why? Why is the great War Angel looking after an Improper Child?"

"… I'm her Guardian Angel." Michael mumbled.

"Oh, really?" Michael despised the way Jinho's face lit up. "What a strange development! So God assigns YOU to watch over HER… My, that's like National Security for a single, tiny coin!" The Fire Angel laughed sarcastically, but Jinho ignored it. "I just really needed to know. It seemed so abnormal that such a high-ranking, White Wing, powerful Angel would turn his high nose down to a lowly bunny Rabbit."

White Wing? Was that some kind of comeback to all the derogatory terms and insults given to everyone else? Well, Michael didn't care just then. He cared about something else. "Nema isn't LOWLY!"

"Well, yes, I realize this. But is your kind that labels her as such. To your kind she isn't a girl, she is a walking violation and a sin, as though she chose to be created out of sexual relations." Jinho flipped up the picture of Nema and himself perched in their tree, tsking the photo as though he took pity on the girl in the frame. "That poor girl… those poor people. You dye their feathers black because they breathe your air and that somehow offends you. No, you don't even give them the time to breathe before you brand them Fallen. What a cruel way to welcome someone into the world."

"What, you think all that's MY fault?" Michael snapped. "I can't change what happened!"

"But you can keep it from getting worse." Jinho replied. "…So, is she Lucifer-sama's sister-in-law or not?"

"She's NOT!" Michael said firmly. To his dismay, Jinho smiled.

"Oh, good. Then one day I shall make her one of my wives."

Michael began laughing it off. It would never happen. Nema would never choose him, even if he did appear to dress in a way Nema could identify with, even if he did seem stuck on treating her like she really was a Queen, even if.. wait a minute. "ONE of your wives?"

"Why, yes. Nema would be the seventh wife."

Michael felt enraged and sick at the same time. "You keep dreaming, then! I won't let her join a harem even if she WANTS to! That's fucking sick!"

Jinho merely laughed at his outburst. "So edgy, Michael-sama! Do you feel threatened?"

"Why should I feel threatened by YOU?"

"Because I am the competition. Even after my long absence, I stand a chance. You know it and despise it."

"Shut the fuck up. The only thing you are is a Demon with a big mouth!"

"I am one of Lucifer-sama's top servants, not just any Demon, but I digress. I am, whether you like it or not, competition, Michael-sama. I'm not trying to threaten you, but merely stating it as a fact."

"I told you to shut the fuck up, dammit!" Michael tapped Jinho's chest with the tip of his sword. "You're just like everyone else! You think that because I spend all this time here, that must mean I've developed… some stupid… crush thing on her! And you're all fucking wrong!"

"Crush thing? My goodness, that's cute. But you see, maybe everyone thinks that because it's very, very true?"

Jinho didn't need to talk like he was bringing Michael into some kind of enlightenment, because Michael had already come to that conclusion. And damn everyone else for catching on before he did! Damn them for being so fucking smart and damn himself for going blind to something that seemed so out of place for him! "You know what? Just shut the fuck up."

"I'm afraid that I am a bit of a chatterbox, aren't I? But allow me to say a few more things."

"You gonna leave when you're done?" Michael asked bitterly.

"Yes, actually."

"Then talk and leave, I'm sick of you."

Jinho smiled once more. "Very well. So, it is widely known that it is Setsuna Mudou, Nemaelle's father, who destroyed God the first time around. It was with this that we ought to have learned a vital lesson. That Angels and Demons… and maybe even humans, too… that we are all one and the same. That Heaven and Hell are unnecessary dividers hindering our advancement. And yet, not long after, you White Wings reprogrammed God and set it all up again. You did so the reasoning that this reprogrammed version of God would be better, and that this would help maintain order. What you failed to realize is that you made Setsuna's actions irrelevant. A hero fixed it all, but you reset the game. And now we go on as though Setsuna had done nothing at all. We Demons don't have much to worry about, but you Angels… you poor White Wings… torturing yourselves, that's all you've done. Allowing yourselves to be submissive to God's silly rules. You want the girl, Michael-sama? Take the girl, should she want you, too! Don't let a computer tell you what to do!"

"What makes you think I've ever cared what God thinks? Don't talk like you know me just because you know my fucking brother!" Michael exploded. "It's not about what GOD thinks!" He let the words slice through him and settle hard and stinging in his chest. It was never about what God thought. It was about something else.

"What, then? Does she not like you?"

"She likes me." He stated plainly, honestly, feeling bothered now that a headache was creeping up on him.

"Then it must be you."

"It isn't me."

"It is you. But what is it about you? A love lost? A big ego? Both? I only make guesses here. Nema has come back to the door."

"What?"

"If you don't open this fucking door, I'm going to make it explode!" Nema cried out from the other side of the thick door.

"I dare you to try it!" Michael called back.

"This will be interesting… And in regards to my being your competition… I've been pulling your leg." Jinho smiled sweetly.

"… What?" Michael's eyes flashed in green hatred.

"I'm giving you a terrible headache, aren't I? Well, here is the truth of the matter. Nemaelle certainly surprised me. She's become very beautiful, very tempting. But I have six wives, and that's plenty for me. Besides, seven is a holy number."

Just then the door cracked and then crumbled into splinters, and Nema marched through in her white dress, looking as peeved as ever. "Oppa, what happened to your hat?"

"Your bodyguard happened to my hat." Jinho said simply, shrugging it off. "Nemaelle, I regret that we couldn't talk a bit more… but I must leave for Seoul."

"… You gonna write me or something?" Nema asked, eyeing him.

"I will try much harder to keep in touch this time." Jinho took her hand and kissed it once more, showing her hand to Michael. Nema was left to arch her brows in confusion as Michael rolled his greenish eyes.

And with that Jinho left, as swiftly as he had appeared.

"… I can't believe you're FRIENDS with that asshole, Nema!" Michael burst the second he shook away the headache, leaving a dull throb behind to attack him.

"How is Jinho an asshole, Michael! He's ten times more polite than either of us!"

"He covers it up with a top hat and kisses on your hand, that's all he does! I'll bet when he's alone he's got as dirty a mouth as we do!"

Nema shrugged. "Well, what do you care, Michael-samaaaa?"

"I don't care!"

"You are so convincing." Her ruby eyes rolled as she sat on her bed, ignoring how Michael flopped down next to her. Like he belonged there, or something. Nema only wished. "… So how does he know you?"

"… Hell if I know."

"You're a fucking liar, Michael-samaaaa."

The Fire Angel scowled up at her. "Aren't you just a bitch today? Lay off the 'samaaa'!"

"Why? Jinho seems to think it's important to address you that way. You remember when we first met? You wanted me to call you that. Now you don't?"

"Don't act so fucking innocent. You drip with sarcasm when you say it, so knock it off!"

"Fine, fine, Michael-sama." Nema held her hands up helplessly, losing the bite in her voice. "… But you do know why he knows you. Who are you, Michael?"

"What the Hell kind of question is that? You know me!"

"… No, actually, I don't."

Michael looked up from where he lay as Nema rested her back against her headboard. "Hey, cheer up, kid! What the Hell do you wanna know?" He wondered what he could get away with.

"… I don't know. Lots of things."

Michael snorted. "It helps to start somewhere."

"Okay, fine. How abouuuuut… family. You have family?"

"'Course I have family!" Michael said irritably. She better not ask…

"Who?" Michael fought the urge to tell her to mind her own business, and then she added a name. "Raphael?"

The Archangel blinked up at her, and broke into wild laughter, his fist pounding on her bed. "Oh shit, that's funny. I'm gonna tell him that the next time I see him."

"… Okay, fine, it's not him. You have parents?"

"Nope."

"Siblings?"

"One." Michael visibly tensed after letting that one word slip. Shit, he'd really said that? It suddenly hit him that he'd invited Nema into territory he never let anyone else into. She'd smoothly slipped through the barrier! Damn her. Damn him.

"… Not on good terms with the person?"

"Nope."

"Okay, fine, we won't go into that."

"Good."

"… How about a girl?"

"What?"

"A girlfriend, Michael."

"Oh. Not really."

"Ever had one?"

"… Not… really…" Nema was skipping on into even more heavily guarded territory. He shouldn't let her. Why was he letting her?

"… What, was she just someone you were interested in?"

"Maybe." Michael said grudgingly.

"And she went bitchy and turned you away?"

"Bal wasn't a bitch! She just got caught up in the wrong shit at the wrong fucking time!" The Fire Angel snarled at Nema. This was getting way too risky. Why did he let Nema in? She was FINE regarding him as the mysterious guardian. She didn't NEED to know any of this! How could he push her out?

Nema watched him glaring up at her with vivid green eyes. He was looking less and less human by the second, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "… What happened?" She asked quietly.

She regretted asking the second she let the last word leave her mouth. The Fire Angel pounced on her, pinning her upper half to the headboard of her bed. "You wanna know what HAPPENED? She got in the way! That stupid bitch got in the way! HE was supposed to die! Not her! And what the fuck did she DO?" Michael hissed at her. "Killing herself for my fucking brother, feh! Throwing herself in the way of my sword! That blow was meant for HIM, not her!"

Nema cringed in pain as Michael's grip tightened over her wrists. She shrank back as well as she could. "… Your sword?"

"Yes MY SWORD! I was out to kill my own brother, and I killed HER instead! How does that make you FEEL, Nema? Still feel safe with me now? Do you?"

"Michael… stop it…"

"Amazing you EVER felt safe with me to begin with!"

"You're hurting me…" Nema thought that she could see his eyes begin to reveal bits of blue, but he pulled away too fast for her to be certain. She slid down onto her pillow, caressing her throbbing wrists.

Michael rubbed his hands down his face and shook his head, and then pointed at Nema. "No more questions from you; it's MY turn! So how about YOU, Ghostly Girl? You have any past romances you feel like sharing? How far did you get with that fucking prick Jinho?"

Nema sat up, her red eyes angry. "I never got anywhere with Jinho! What kind of fucked up question is that? I was six when he moved away! I liked Jinho because he GAVE me the light of day, not because I wanted to fuck him!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. And no other hopeful suitors for the Ghostly Girl?"

"No, and why? Because I AM the Ghostly Girl! Thank you for reminding me!" Nema screamed and slapped him once, then twice, but the third time around Michael was gripping her wrists again and forcing her back down onto her bed.

"No one else because you're too pale? That's a stupid reason, isn't it?" Michael's blue-green eyes bore into hers.

"I don't know! You tell me!" Nema hissed, and then her red eyes went round.

Michael was kissing her again. It was the same passionate, hungry kiss he'd given her the last time they had been in this position, but he wasn't pressing so hard against her mouth this time. It felt so much more genuine that way… No! She wouldn't go weak in the knees! What would he do if she did? Pull away and call her pathetic? She flailed as well as she could under his body, feeling all the heat rush to her face. No good. Suddenly, even the layers of her long, white skirt, and the white corset covering her midriff, did nothing to make her feel covered and secure. She still felt so very exposed under Michael's heated body and his devouring kiss. He almost felt feverish. SHE almost felt feverish. And then it felt like the air around them had become humid and thick with the heat. Michael ended the kiss and Nema watched him open his eyes. They were blue. So blue that it looked like there had never been a touch of green in them.

She felt his fingers tug on the bow securing her mini-crown in place, and he kissed her again as he took it off and laid it on top of her clock.

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"… Cheriour-sama…?"

"What are you doing away from your post? Continue watching over Nemaelle."

"That's just it, sir…! I don't know if I want to right now…!"

"You WHAT?" Cheriour's voice actually rose. This, of course, was never a good sign, and the cloaked Angel rushed to the room his underling had been stationed in. It was one of many rooms used for spying, and they'd set up an extensive perimeter around Nema's house. They'd been sure to do so since the day Nema had received her powers. Cheriour's eyes, shielded from everyone by blonde hair, scanned over the different screens until he came upon the two. "… Oh MY… what is THIS?" Cheriour grinned. "So much for celibacy, Michael-sama…! Now the question is, have you forced her into this, or did she willingly give herself? … And do you honestly want her?"

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Michael honestly wanted Nema. For so long he'd spent his time convincing himself that he did not want her, or that he wanted no one, but the great Archangel Michael could not stand up to the war inside himself. It was the only war Michael had hated from the beginning… That was why he hated women…! They ran the risk of throwing him into the only war he could never prepare himself for!

It was difficult for Michael to find a girl that he could truly want. For the many years of his life there had only been one other, and she, like everyone else at the time, had fallen for Lucifer's charm. Leaving Michael in the dirt. There had been no one else, and there wasn't supposed to BE anyone else… Now he was here with Nema.

She was no one that he would've imagined wanting to spend his life with. While she was a strong and spirited girl, on the outside she was everything he would have turned away. A girl wrapped up in a petticoat and a mini-crown… and an Improper Child. He'd never have thought that he could find the one girl that he could… He never would have thought that he would ever…

Nema was pressed hard against him this whole time, but it was hard to tell if she felt near or far. She was bewildered, but happy. It was no big secret that Nema had developed a deep admiration for him. In spite of his rudeness and his rough nature, Nema had grown very fond of him. She would never understand her logic, but at this moment, she didn't care if her heart had been rational or not.

Because maybe all that mattered was that right now, it felt like he wanted her right back. Maybe all that mattered was that his eyes, more blue than green for once, looked down on her with this uncharacteristic caring that she'd somehow always known he could be capable of, if only he let himself feel it…

If only he let himself feel like he just might…

Suddenly the world went from spinning so fast to freezing up. Michael and Nema collapsed against each other as the world stopped, Nema blushing and out of breath, Michael giving a great sigh. "… God…"

Nema breathed deeply as she stared up at him. It was the first time Nema had ever heard Michael say 'God' like that… Michael always seemed to refer to God as though he actually knew Him. 'Unless he's talking to God right now, or something…' Nema thought. She was actually half-serious about that notion.

She was right to be serious about it. Michael nuzzled his face against Nema's, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair, speaking in sighs. "… God, I think I've fallen in love with her…"

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Cheriour watched them perform their deed and say their words. He was the only person in that room that managed to watch it without becoming modest or leaving. Even when they had finished, Cheriour kept watching, thinking deeply. It wasn't until they had fallen asleep that Cheriour said anything at all. "… Well, well… Things have just gotten… VERY interesting."