Fallen Angel by zodiak023

In my time of dying

The Kami had angels, all perfect in their own way, but one didn’t think she was all that perfect; Kaiko. Each angel had their own charges to look after, but she thought, by the way she was always being told that she needed to do a better job with those that she was assigned to, that she always failed her charges. To each angel they had been born either as a human or a demon, Kaiko had been born to a silver and black Inuyoukai, however she only lived for a few hours.

The other angels that knew of this poked fun of her for being too weak, that she was a disappointment to her parents and that her parents probably didn’t even remember her and just had more pups to replace her. Kaiko was unique, her long black hair had highlights of silver, her elf-pointed ears sometimes hid in her long hair but sometimes Kaiko would get Eri, the only angel who befriended her, to braid her hair.

Kaiko’s markings were like makeup that she had applied but they were permanent, silver on her eyebrows that flipped out like a wing design over each eye, long black eyelashes, one dirty silver stripe marks on each of her cheeks because she was from a silver and black Inuyoukai. In the middle of her forehead she had a family house mark, a snowflake, half black, half silver. Her pale skin made her black and silver hair look like she was always sickly.

Sometimes Kaiko wondered why she was ever created, if she had failed at surviving as a demon pup and she now failed as a guardian angel, where did she fit in? Where did she belong? She busted her butt trying to guide her charges in the right direction, but her focus was off, maybe because she always had the other angel’s voices in her head;

“You were a disappointment to your parents.”

“You are so weak.”

“You will always be remembered as a failure.”

Or maybe it was the Kami, all four of them; North, South, East, and West. They were all disappointed in her. They all thought she could do better, they always tried to encourage her. The Kami were always too busy watching their own part of the Earth to even realize that the other angels were poking fun of Kaiko. Her only friend, Eri, encouraged her to explain to the Kami that the other’s always downgraded her, but Kaiko was not that kind of an angel to tell on others because they would be disciplined and they would come back to Kaiko and poke even harder at her.

Every night Kaiko’s black and silver wings would hug her as she curled her knees into her chest and her silver-ish blue eyes would pour angry hot tears down her cheeks. She often wondered why she couldn’t have had a family that loved and cherished her like some of her charges had. Some of her charges were loved very well and they just acted out, but some of her charge’s parents had just thrown them away, and they were just trying to survive and those were her hardest cases. They all would have so much anger inside that they would rob, cheat, steal, and even kill to survive.

Thinking about those charges, she would cry even harder for them because it was her fault; she had failed them as their guardian angel. Kaiko always tried to put up a good front while she was out among the others but when she was in her personal room, that’s when she would break. One night it was raining, the male angel whose room was beside of Kaiko’s room could hear her cries, he was one that could care less about his charges and try to treat them as his puppets. He was getting tired of Kaiko’s sobbing every night. His name was Hiroto and he had been born to a prostitute.

He had survived the best he could but he barely made it to the age of seven. He had stolen some food in the street markets and was trying to sneak out of town quickly before he was discovered, but he ran into two other teens, one had a blade that had struck out to stick the other street rat kid but Hiroto had ran right into the knife, he had bled out slowly, and had been thrown into the thick brush left to die. Back then Kaiko was an angel that would help the transitions to the life that was ending and had appeared to him as a sweet five year old girl.

He could still remember her sweet but sad smile, her eyes had such a brightness to them that spoke volumes, he thought she was the image of love. Hiroto certainly felt the warmth and love that he had seen other parents give their kids but not him. He was an angel for the western side of the Earth while Kaiko had vigil over the south side. They didn’t really run into one another too much, since they worked in different groups.

~I wonder if she has ever felt love, surely she has with how she appeared to me.~ Hiroto thought to himself. Unknown to Kaiko and Hiroto, the Kami had an idea for both of them, a one last chance type thing. Kaiko, with her inhuman hearing could hear a fight starting outside, she raised her head slowly with fresh tears still streaming down her cheeks,

“Kaiko is a brave soul and…” a familiar voice shouted out, Kaiko jumped up and ran out into the pouring rain, Hiroto heard her running out and wanted to know what was going on so he ran out too. He saw Eri, Kaiko’s friend on the ground and Kaiko standing in front of her as Eri tried to pull herself up,

“Hey, you can pick on me all you want but you will not say things like that to Eri!?!” Kaiko pulling Eri up and behind her, and turning to face the crowd of her monsters, Hiroto was taking it all in. Kaiko had finally stood up to those that picked on her, she stood up for her only friend. Hiroto’s brown eyes widened in shock from Kaiko’s bravery. Suddenly she was dragged into Eri’s place in the ring, and they started ripping at Kaiko’s hair, feathered wings, and her clothes as they started their abusive words to her all over as they shoved her around the ring.

“Maybe you would have better luck at doing your job correctly if you actually walked among them. Those broken, pathetic souls, who don’t stand a chance.” one of the mean angels shouted out, Hiroto heard that comment and he moved in, knowing that their next action would be far overboard than what they had done in the past to Kaiko.

“That’s enough, break it up now!?!” Hiroto using his stoic and deep commanding voice to break it up but the damage was already done, Kaiko had been shoved off the pedestal and was free falling to Earth. Her broken feathered wings flapping, tattering, her ripped clothes flying as the wind stung her body, she was falling with her back towards the Earth. Hiroto bit his lip, knowing that if he jumped after her to try to save her that they both would be considered fallen angels and would not be able to return to the Kami as angels.

He looked at the mean angels, so petty and cruel, but then he was hit with the memory of his death, it came to the forefront of his mind’s eye. Kaiko had been his angel of death, pure and innocent, radiating warmth and love in the sad smile that she had given him. His eyes stung with tears that threatened to fall,

“No, Hiroto, don’t. She isn’t worth it!” the mean angels shouted, they all thought he was the hottest angel the Kami had, they couldn’t lose their eye candy because of some ugly failure. He gave Eri a look, that one look said it all, with that he turned, running until he got to the edge of the pedestal and then he dove off.

He dove off after Kaiko, straight for her, he would show her the warmth and love she had given him in his time of dying. It was the most unselfish thing he had done in a while as an angel. Kaiko’s eyes stared at him, trying to ask the silent question to why he did such a thing and for her, she wasn’t anyone special. When his arms and wings wrapped around her in protection from the wind she felt the warmth almost scorching her soul, she was safe, but there was also a strange feeling that she had only seen; love.

“Why?” Kaiko’s voice coming out broken,

“To bestow unto you what you given me in my time of dying. You deserve to feel love and to be showered with it at least once.” Hiroto holding her close as they continue to fall like a rock.

“Thank you.” Kaiko’s voice fading out as a piercing, blinding light shattered their existence. That is until they blinked their eyes back open and heard themselves crying out hard.