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Mischievous Lust ch.3: An angel's questions....

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Nowaki sat on one of the many thick branches of the cherry blossom tree with his wings exposed to the elements. He wore a longer tunic for the occasion when the cold weather spontaneously came with spring. He had seen some rain clouds going to the direction of where the lake was and was afraid the rain might stop Hiroki from coming. Despite his schedule contrasting with Hiroki's schedule, they have managed to make it to their meetings whether the weather was terrible or not.

His hands gripped the wood of the tree, this way he wouldn't fall backwards from losing his balance or the wind hitting him out of nowhere. The branch he selected supported his weight and tall stature; he knew it wouldn't crack if he moved in an odd direction. From all the flying he did on a regular basis, he wasn't really afraid of falling. His wings came out when he was in danger and he could float down to safety.

He acquired a view that stretched out beyond the lake's perimeter; many creatures that were invisible to the human eye wandered about the forest. He had seen countless mythical creatures in different sections of Japan, although he had not seen some with negative energy as of late. Most stayed in small packs, scattered around in their respective spots where they felt the most comfortable.

A herd of unicorns wandered into a green pasture and their attention was solely on eating the grass. The biggest one in the group bobbed its head up and checked the area for anything out of the ordinary. When the unicorn felt no danger headed for the group, the beast resumed consuming the grass in peace. The youngest unicorns of the herd wandered around but didn't stray away too far from their mothers. The slightest bit of noise had them huddling with the rest of the unicorns.

Although animals didn't posses magical abilities, their heightened senses made them more sensitive than the average human. Nowaki had witnessed countless animals leaving particular areas or acting irrationally when disaster struck in many places in Japan from his place on a floating cloud. And if the humans placed aside their superstitions and pride and paid close attention to the behavioral patterns of the animals or pets they owned, they had a chance to survive.

With the casualties mounting up in numbers, angels were given a limit in their interventions in preventing deaths. Something a number of angels objected too, as well as Nowaki who wanted to save the people he encountered in his missions. The elders always seemed to know when they overused what power they had and fearing their wrath the angels never went beyond in their assignments.

Going against their elders was unheard of and those that did were reprimanded with the harshest examples. As a result, the other angels were scared to not step out of the box or to show any sort of rebellion.

Nowaki picked up a familiar dark energy and he knew who this particular person was without a doubt. He jumped off the branch with a smile on his face, his wings helped his impact when he landed on the grass. His sword slid off of his back and clattered onto the ground due to his lackluster tightening of his restraints. Nowaki bent down and picked it up then propped it against the tree, he wouldn't even need it but he only took it as a safety measure. Also, leaving heaven without it would have many suspicious on where he would be going without a form of protection with him.

He gazed over his shoulder when he heard the crunching of the grass and the bird flying away from the neighboring trees. Hiroki walked through a new gust of petals the wind gently hit and like their previous encounters, the petals landed on his hair. Captivated by such a vision of loveliness, Nowaki turned around and stared at Hiroki directly.

Nowaki kept his commentary to himself when Hiroki got closer and closer to him. He settled with giving Hiroki a stunning smile which stopped the demon in his tracks for a moment before he resumed his walk. Hiroki was not used to having someone smiling so genuinely at him when he first appeared from somewhere. He was used to fear or even a hateful expression thrown his way.

The angel was so thrilled and excited that Hiroki made it to another one of their meetings. This was their fourth time meeting at the lake after two weeks despite his hectic schedule getting in the way. Although he was flying under the radar and breaking the rules in associating with a demon, he was still very careful in the presence of other angels. He didn't want to admit he didn't trust them, he knew anything out of the ordinary would be reported.

These meetings with Hiroki had him see a different side to this demon. The stories he was told by his superiors were torn apart as he talked with Hiroki, who didn't attack anything in sight or suck out the souls of innocent victims. Hiroki was menacing at first glance but after he got to know him better, Hiroki was a very eloquent being who enjoyed a good piece of literature to read. He had complete control of his inner demon which for most lower level demons would fluctuate out of control at any given moment.

Nowaki noticed how Hiroki's eyes lit up when he brought a watermelon for them to eat. He had to hold in a chuckle when he saw Hiroki trying to hide that he was excited over eating the fruit. Throughout his existence, Nowaki had never heard of demons eating human food but Hiroki ate the watermelon with fervor so this contradicted another one of the stories he was told.

He was happily finding out new things about his friend every single time they met.

Hiroki ceased walking and he looked up at Nowaki, he scowled when he commented. "You are too damn tall for your own good."

"Why hello to you too Hiro-san how are you this fine afternoon?" Nowaki asked as he led Hiroki to the giant cherry blossom tree so they were shielded from the sun. "I'm sure your walk here was pleasant."

Hiroki received that nickname on their last meeting which he found utterly ridiculous. No matter how many times he addressed this issue to Nowaki, the angel simply grinned at him. He said he couldn't go back to saying 'Kamijou-san', Hiro-san just sounded natural to him. After a while, the nickname stuck and Hiroki found he didn't mind it as much.

Hiroki threw his knapsack on the grass as he groaned. "I'm alright…it's just that passing purgatory is becoming a chore. The souls who want to be reincarnated are becoming real agitated at the long wait when the new souls come in." He blinked a few times as he hid a yawn from Nowaki by stretching up his arms above his head. "What about you?"

Nowaki sat on the grass and Hiroki copied the same action as Nowaki answered him. "The days have been slow since there has been no sickness going around Japan." He reached out his hand and brushed some of the cherry blossoms from Hiroki's hair. "These petals always seem to get stuck on you Hiro-san."

Hiroki made a disgruntled face as he huffed. "Don't remind me, I cannot have such things in my hair when I return home."

Nowaki chuckled when he suggested. "I always make sure you don't have them on you before you leave, so don't worry about having one escaping my eyes."

"You better, it will take a lot for me to explain to anyone why I have flower petals in my hair." Hiroki picked one that got stuck in his bangs. "It seems like this damn tree just loves putting these on me, petals never seem to fall on you."

Nowaki removed more petals from Hiroki's hair when he commented. "They do land on my head but I guess your layers of hair just gather them up."

Hiroki rolled his eyes as he plucked another one from his hair. "Whatever, at least it only happens here and not anywhere else I have been to in my travels."

Nowaki said in amusement as he took out the last petal out of Hiroki's hair. "Well there must be something about this lake which has these petals falling on you but I really don't sense anything wrong in here." He knew he was going to take out more of these petals when Hiroki had to leave the lake later on in the day.

Hiroki scrunched up his eyebrows as he walked toward the tree. "Whatever. If it is a minor thing anyway."

Hiroki settled in between the roots of the tree, he held a leather-bound book in his left hand while his right turned another page. The weather was very warm and there were no clouds in the sky, peacefulness seemed to fill the air. It was as if the lake was separated from the rest of the world, a secret location that only he and Nowaki shared.

The atmosphere calmed the fire inside of his being and he had no desire to cause any sort of destruction. Even before he found this lake he never had a primal urge to destroy like most demons down in hell. All he ever heard from the other demons was a poignant urge to kill on a daily basis but he could go days maybe even weeks without killing anything. This was something he kept to himself, demons would go after him if they thought he left his guard down because of his lack of wanting to kill.

Not that anything stopped any of the demons who challenged him to begin with. Each time he grew stronger, more demons came after him, which grew tiring at times since he would need to be as powerful as his father so no one would dare challenge him again. He knew this wouldn't happen for a very long time.

Nowaki sat right beside Hiroki and read a different book that Hiroki told him might interest him. Hiroki was right on point, he was really interested in the contents as he grew engrossed in the words on the pages. Once in a while, his blue eyes stared at Hiroki from the corner of his eyes and noticed how Hiroki stuck his tongue out slightly when he was concentrating. He found this quirk so endearing to him but he didn't dare comment on it.

In an attempt to not stare at Hiroki for too long, he missed Hiroki's staring right back at him. The demon was able to study Nowaki at a close distance. His opinion on Nowaki not being too bad looking didn't change but Nowaki had some spunk in him after interacting with him. He thought Nowaki would talk to him in fear of saying anything odd but Nowaki grew so comfortable around his presence.

He turned a page as he let out a deep sigh, he must be growing soft if he allowed himself to talk to an angel. Yet, Nowaki never shoved any of the angel beliefs down his throat or seemed disturbed when he mentioned anything about a battle he had. Battles and fights were a normal occurrence in Hell so he always had a story to tell if Nowaki was interested to hear them.

Nowaki was indeed curious about Hiroki's exciting life, he sat by listening with an eager face as Hiroki described everything. His days up in heaven were getting rather dull to him, he wouldn't dare do anything out of the ordinary but hearing about it was the next best thing. Although, he was sure his visits with Hiroki were a method of rebellion that he really enjoyed.

Nowaki relaxed against the tree as he told Hiroki. "I love spending time with you Hiro-san."

Hiroki turned to Nowaki and nodded his head to agree with him. His lips quirked into a small smile that Nowaki caught before it disappeared, this made the angel immensely happy. He had seen Hiroki smirking at him but he never once gave him a genuine smile.

He hoped he would see it more often.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nowaki worked up the courage when he started his usual list of questions he thought of before he met Hiroki. He put the book in his hands away into Hiroki's satchel which caught the demon's attention. Nowaki's eyes held so many questions and Hiroki knew it was time for Nowaki to inquire about his life or anything in general. Those questions didn't bother him since Nowaki didn't ask him anything too personal that would anger him. The questions Nowaki asked him were interesting but some were common questions like favorite color or food.

Hiroki started asking some things about Nowaki after the first time Nowaki asked him questions. It made him feel weird that Nowaki was the only one thinking of things to ask and he was the only one answering. As a result, he found out that Nowaki was one of the angels who raised the young angels until the elders determined where they were placed in. He was surprised to find out that Nowaki was almost placed in the army because of his stature until the elders saw the healing abilities in his hands.

The demon was glad that Nowaki was a healer. He had no hesitation in getting rid of angel soldiers because they were so underhanded yet hid their actions behind the guise of the better good. They were so easy to spot from his cocky attitude and their aura was so distinguishable that Hiroki easily avoided them when he didn't feel like getting into an altercation.

His amber eyes looked at Nowaki as he put a piece of cloth inside of the page as a makeshift bookmark. He then placed his book inside of his bag and made sure it was properly closed. His hand hit the bag which contained the amber gem he had acquired as a child. It was tied in the loops of his pants, by doing this it wouldn't get lost as easily.

Hiroki always caught Nowaki staring at his small bag with some smugness on his face but failed in hiding it from the demon. Nowaki was the one who suggested he had his bag tied on his pants so it wouldn't be misplaced like when they first met. As much as Hiroki wanted to hide the fact that he took the angel's advice seriously, he didn't want to lose his special treasure again.

He would let Nowaki have his little proud moment just this once.

Nowaki sat up straighter as he smoothed down his long tunic when he moved his legs to a more comfortable position. "Hiro-san, I just wanted to know...what is your favorite food?"

Hiroki thought for a moment until he answered. "It depends, I like to eat watermelon more than anything I have ever tried in my whole existence."

"Watermelon?" Nowaki inquired in surprised, out of everything he thought was the demon's favorite food, watermelon was not one of them. "I didn't take you as a guy who loved fruit so much."

Hiroki huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Well excuse me for not being predictable. I eat things other than souls you know."

Nowaki put his hands up as he smiled in good nature. "I'm just a little surprised Hiro-san that's all."

Hiroki rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, you were expecting me to say I ate the meat of poor innocent animals while they were still gasping for air."

"No!" Nowaki chuckled as he slapped Hiroki on the back. "That wasn't what I was expecting at all, you are so funny Hiro-san."

Hiroki moved from his spot on the root onto the soft grass with a frown when he heard that Nowaki was still laughing. "It is not that funny!" He hit Nowaki on the shoulder which only made the angel laugh harder. "Honestly, you must be going mad after spending time with me."

Nowaki shook his head as his laugh lessened and he told Hiroki. "I am not going crazy Hiro-san, if I was then you wouldn't have stayed here and spent time with me. I know you enjoy my company."

Hiroki shrugged his shoulders. "Well I have proper conversations with you if that is what you mean. The only other person I talk to is my father and he is on the other side of the world at the moment."

"What's your father like?" Nowaki asked as he placed his full attention on Hiroki.

The demon coughed into his hand as he tried not to sound excited about talking about his father. "Well...he is a high ranking general in the demon army, he is respected but he is also feared by many demons in Hell. He looks a lot like me but his horns are more prominent, his aura is certainly intimidating when he's in battle and his hair is black."

Nowaki nodded his head as he chuckled. "I'm guessing you got your battling skills from him correct?"

Hiroki smirked as he said. "He's the one who taught me everything I know. I owe a lot to him since most demons don't pass on their wisdom to their children. Although, some of my powers are different from his which I only bring out when I really need them." There was something Hiroki wanted to ask Nowaki since he knew of his non-battle style abilities. "So...who was your mentor in your healing powers?"

Nowaki smiled big at the question as he started to explain. "Well I had many mentors, I was pretty much passed to many different angels who taught me something new. Although only a few of them actually helped me in controlling it since too much healing could backfire on someone. Though my main mentors were my 'parents' who presented me to the elders and then I got my wings." Nowaki pointed to his sword. "All healers have a sword in case of emergencies and they need to fight. Very rarely do we use them."

Hiroki remembered the day when he practically tackled Nowaki to the ground, now that was a surprise since he dubbed Nowaki as a weakling. Nowaki sure proved him wrong in so many ways. His amber eyes observed Nowaki's large frame and he knew the angel could overpower anyone if he was angry enough, he was sure of it.

Those muscles Nowaki had were obviously not for show. He must have worked hard to keep his body in shape but then again, all angels Hiroki had ever seen were in perfect shape.

His amber eyes connected with cobalt eyes as Nowaki genuinely smiled at him.

Hiroki averted his eyes after a few seconds when he felt somewhat weird when he looked at Nowaki directly in the eyes. The only eye contact he ever had with anyone was simply for intimidation purposes. He was still getting used to Nowaki's carefree eyes which held no malice or ill will toward him.

He looked back at Nowaki who had scooted closer to him and their legs touched each other. "It's odd..." He muttered.

"What's odd?"

Hiroki hit one of Nowaki's sandal covered feet with his boot. "You are one of the first angels that I don't hate."

"Really?" Nowaki hit Hiroki's boot back with a small smile on his face. "It brings me so much relief to know that Hiro-san." It was good to know that he somehow managed to change a demon's perspective on angels, even if it was just one.

"If I hated you then I wouldn't be wasting my time coming here to this lake." Hiroki said. "I would have ditched you when I had the chance."

"That is true..." Nowaki leaned against the tree as he watched a pair of deer drinking water from the other side of the lake.

Hiroki looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was setting in the horizon. The once blue sky was transforming into a mixture of orange and reds which he knew would transition into dark hues of color. He didn't realize that the hours passed by so quickly, although any length of time seemed small compared to a mortal.

He stood up from the ground and he patted away some dirt from his pants. "I have to get going, I think father returns today from his trip." Hiroki said. "Well I'm assuming he's returning today. The rumors of him returning are spreading through the low level demons."

After hearing about the man who influenced Hiroki so much in his life, Nowaki could tell Hiroki was excited to see his father after such a long time. "I understand Hiro-san, should we keep asking some more questions while going down the path?"

Hiroki nodded his head as he grabbed his knapsack and hooked it over his shoulder. "If that's what you want, we are going to go our separate ways at the end of the path right?"

"Like always." Nowaki told Hiroki as he tied his sword on his body and got up from the grass.

Nowaki dutifully followed Hiroki away from the lake as a gust of wind hit the tree gently. The petals danced through the wind as a pink petal managed to get entangled in Hiroki's hair while the rest landed onto the grassy floor. Hiroki was oblivious as he listened to Nowaki explain how he spent most of his days in Heaven.

"I'm usually an early riser to begin with anyway."

Hiroki made a face at the prospect of waking up early. "Ugh that sounds like torture."

"Once you get used to it, it is not all that bad." Nowaki pointed out.

"Of course you would think that, you seem like the type that's annoyingly happy in the morning." Hiroki said with a grimace.

"Believe it or not, I am not always smiling when I first wake up." Nowaki told Hiroki which made the demon turn to look at him with an arched brow. "No really! A lot of angels don't come near me for a while."

"I don't believe you at all."

Nowaki pouted as he put his hands behind his back. "Well you'll see me in the mornings eventually."

Hiroki poked Nowaki's arm when he said. "If we are both grumpy in the morning then we might kill each other, you do know that right?"

"Well then I will make sure I am not too grumpy if we ever see each other here at the lake when the sun rises."

"Like you can control what you feel in the morning." Hiroki scoffed. "Anyway, I thought you said you are always watching when you are home Nowaki."

Nowaki scratched the back of his head. "Well...it's mostly the little ones in training who always gang up on me. I think it's because I am one of the tallest and I am usually the one who plays with them." Nowaki told Hiroki as the demon tried hard to laugh when he envisioned a bunch of angels tackling a giant like Nowaki onto the clouds in the sky. "Just the other day I barely took one step outside of my home and the trainees sneaked up on me. Usually they go after Takahashi-san but I think he was sent off somewhere for the month."

"Takahashi?" Now that was a new name Hiroki had never heard of before from Nowaki.

"He's one of the new trainees who recently got his wings, he had a lot of mentors like I did but his main mentor was his older 'brother'." Nowaki explained. "I remembered he was very overprotective of Takahashi-san that I was so surprised when I heard the elders gave him his wings. I was happy for him but I saw his 'brother' crying his eyes out that his little 'brother' was growing up so fast."

Hiroki rolled his eyes while he made sure his bag wouldn't fall off his shoulder. "He sounds like a ridiculous angel."

"Which one of the two are you talking about?"

"Both, I'm sure Takahashi was crying along with his brother as well." Nowaki nodded his head with an amused smile on his face. "I knew it."

Hiroki and Nowaki froze on their spot when they both simultaneously felt a demonic aura up ahead. Hiroki put his finger to his lips as Nowaki nodded his head while they crept up closer to the edge of the path Hiroki took to the lake. They heard the crunching of the grass when the demon got closer and closer to their location.

The aura was weak at best but they had to keep their guard up.

If they knew anything after being alive for centuries, it was to always access the situation from a fair distance. This way, they would know whether to attack or not to attack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nowaki pulled Hiroki into his arms as they hid from a demon behind a tree. Nowaki and Hiroki slowed down their breathing and lowered their auras as low as they could while trying to keep still. Hiroki recognized this demon as a low level demon who boasted great power yet he was defeated by Haruhiko Usami centuries ago. He was on a long list of demons who were shamed by the Usami family and were eager to injure any of their associates in order to get closer to defeating them. This was why Hiroki kept his distance from the Usami family for the last century, he was in no hurry to be slaughtered but he kept contact with Akihiko once in a while.

It didn't help that Akihiko always seemed to locate him when he didn't want him to and even Haruhiko started taking an interest in talking to him. Hiroki didn't know whether it was from them asserting their power to every single demon in hell or it was because he wasn't kissing their ass like everyone else. He had his pride to hold onto so even if he used to be close to Akihiko, he wasn't about to run to him when he needed help fighting another demon. He had his father for help and asking him was rare in itself.

Nowaki pressed Hiroki onto the tree slightly as he kept his eyes on the demon in front of him. It was as if the demon didn't notice their presence at all. The demon kept walking on ahead without any sign that he sensed them or even picked up their scent. He kept walking along with what seemed to be the remaining bit of a soul peeking out of his mouth. He noticed the demon's eyes didn't glow like Hiroki's when he mistook him for an enemy and he didn't have a powerful weapon on him either.

From the hierarchy that Hiroki had explained to him a while ago, this was one of the lowest level demons but it was a tad higher than the demons with full animal features. These demons had no control over their instincts and would be more prone to attack anything if they were provoked. He saw that Hiroki wasn't at all worried by this demon so he relaxed slightly. If this friend found no big threat in this demon then he would be fine with it.

Hiroki took his eyes off the demon for a moment when he noticed a barrier in front of him. He reached out his hand and lightly pressed it with his fingertips. It didn't dissipate like he expected. He then realized that this barrier was the thing separating this lake from any other being with powers from entering inside. He had wondered why he and Nowaki were the only ones at the lake at any given time, with the exception of the animals who wandered inside to get a drink of the crisp water.

Why were he and Nowaki the only ones allowed inside?

Maybe there was a maximum limit on how many beings could enter inside of the lake at one time. But that didn't answer why they didn't see or feel the barrier to begin with when they first met each other at the lake. It only appeared to them slightly when that demon walked past it and he was sure it couldn't sense.

Hiroki's eyes narrowed as he observed the demon who gulped the soul and licked its lips. The demon disappeared into a denser part of the forest and Hiroki lightly pushed Nowaki away from his body. He motioned to Nowaki that the demon was already too far to listen to anything they said as Nowaki sighed in relief.

Nowaki broke the silence with a smile. "The demon is really gone now right?"

Hiroki nodded his head. "Yes." Hiroki reached out his hand and he felt the barrier underneath his hand again, he told Nowaki. "There's a barrier surrounding this lake you know."

Nowaki got close to Hiroki and he saw the energy surging in front of his eyes. "How? I don't understand..I should have felt it."

"Don't worry I didn't feel shit to begin with until that demon came along." Hiroki frowned as he grabbed Nowaki's hand and placed it right on the barrier. "Do you feel it?"

Nowaki told him. "I feel it," He closed his eyes with a smile on his face. "It feels so warm and safe, like a bubble to shield everything from the outside from coming inside."

"I think that's the point." Hiroki said as he kept his hand wrapped around Nowaki's wrist. "Someone put this barrier as a safe haven since only so few can come inside of it." He looked at Nowaki. "It doesn't seem to be a bad thing so we must be safe right?"

Nowaki opened his eyes, his smile was still on his face as he looked at Hiroki. "Of course it's safe, if it wasn't then we wouldn't be able to be so open here now would we?"

"...You have a point there." Hiroki muttered as he loosened his grip on Nowaki's wrist. "It doesn't answer why we are allowed in here."

"At least we have a lake all to ourselves, well except for all of those animals who come through it. That's something positive out of all of this right?" Nowaki said with enthusiasm lacing his voice.

"I don't know...maybe whoever put up the barrier might come back and kick us out."

Nowaki shrugged his shoulders. "If that was the case then we wouldn't have been able to go inside of the lake in the first place." He patted Hiroki's shoulder and the demon arched a brow at the new forward attitude Nowaki was displaying. "I can walk you home if you want."

"You want to walk me home?" Hiroki inquired as he arched a brow. "I have gone home by myself without a problem since we have met and you have never asked me that before. Also what makes you think you can get through the gates?"

"No no, I mean leaving you by the gate." Nowaki gave him a charming smile to disguise how worried he was for Hiroki.

When the demon actually appeared in front of his eyes that was when the reality set it. Hiroki was always in danger whenever he returned home and he couldn't cross the gates to help him even if he wanted to. "I just felt like walking you home for today, there's nothing wrong with that right?"

Hiroki was about to reject his offer but it was as Nowaki said, there wasn't anything wrong with Nowaki walking him to the gates. "Alright...if you really want to. Just make sure if any demons come around that you run off."

Nowaki smiled. "Of course! Don't you worry."

TBC
Just updated this one on fanfiction, so this is actually a new chapter. :)
© 2013 - 2024 Lucicelo
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Mitecacihautl's avatar
Oooh~ i like this.... i wants the secrets~ though why is a barrier there? :paranoid: