That... Was a lot.
You know, I could've guessed that aqua had an intense backstory, but I wasn't expecting Rogue War Veteran.
I thought she just got bullied in school or something, why is she a child soldier? Jesus Christ!
"I see... You've had it pretty damn rough huh?"
"Yeah... But, it's wasn't all for nothing."
Aqua stood up from the chair and walked towards the window, opening it to staring down at the city below.
"I met a lot of good people who accepted someone so broken like me. In my world, a world ravaged by war, it was something unthinkable."
She turned to look at me.
"If I had never experienced all that, I wouldn't have found myself in the wastelands. Meaning I wouldn't have run into the ED Gate."
Aqua smiled brightly, shaking off any remaining sadness.
"Meaning I wouldn't have met any of my friends. Which also means I wouldnt have met you, mister. And I would easily do everything again if it meant I could meet you all. The people of this world are that precious to me."
"... Pfft. Geez, what are you saying? You're gonna make me blush."
Does she really think of me as someone worth going through all that trauma for?
"I'm just some guy, you know? Not even a good person. I didn't do much for you, and we literally just met today. I'm not worth that much trouble."
"No!!"
Aqua suddenly yelled out.
"Quiet down, we're in a hospital."
"Ah, sorry!"
Hah... How does such an unserious girl have such an intense background?
"Anyway, you're not 'just a guy' mister! And you are a good person! You've done more to help me than you think!"
"Oh yeah? Like what? Fail to get you a job?"
"That wasn't your fault!"
"I know, I'm just trolling."
"Ugh!"
Well, a little fault does lie with me. Everything was fishy from the beginning. How rare is it to receive an appointment for an interview seconds after applying? I definitely should have checked the email properly.
"Anyway, you said I did a lot right? Go ahead. List them out."
"Who was it that gave me life tips on how to apply for jobs? Who was it that rushed me to the interview so I wouldn't be late? Who was it that knocked me out of my anxiety-induced delusions? Who was it that told me to believe in myself? Who was it that saved my life at the risk of their own?"
Hm.
Honestly, I was expecting like one thing, but, well, when you line them up like that, it seems like I did a lot?
Especially the save her life part. I hate to jerk myself off here, but she was totally toast without my interference, [Death Instinct] told me so.
Wait a sec, [Death Instinct] triggered for someone else?
"It was all you mister! You helped me so much, I don't know how to repay you! So don't say you aren't a good person!"
"H-hold on aqua, I need to think-"
"No! I won't accept you downplaying the major effect you had on my life!"
"Wait, that's not what I'm talking abou-"
"Take it back! Take back the words you said about doing nothing!"
"Aqua, please-"
"Take it back!"
"We're in a hospital, stop yelling-"
"Take it back!!"
"Are you even listening-"
"TAKE IT BACK!!!"
"Okay! I take it back!"
I had no choice but to submit to her overwhelming appreciation. Despite being so shy, she seems to have a bold side to her as well. It seems so different from how she first was, I couldn't help but reflect.
"I guess that means we've gotten pretty close huh?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"When we first met earlier today, you couldn't even stand up straight in front of me. Now you're nagging me, telling me to take credit. It's a pretty vivid transformation."
"Huh? Th- that's..."
Aqua seemed to realize something, as her eyes widened and her face blushed.
Her extreme rejection must have been replaying in her head over and over again. When you compare how she treated me then, to how she's treating me now...
"T-T-THATS SO EMBARRASSING!!!"
Well, that's the expected reaction.
I didn't really expect her to be this loud about it though.
"We're still in a hospital aqua."
"I'M SORRYY!!!"
"It's fine, but please stop screaming."
She buried her face in her hands and crouched in the corner.
"Please don't say any more!! That memory is terrible!!"
"I won't, so cut it out."
"I'll make it up to you, so please don't hold it against me!!"
"I already said I won't dumbass!"
If someone were to walk in, they would see a girl crouched in the corner, begging to be spared, and me, sitting on the edge of the bed with an intimidating face and douchebag sunglasses.
I would totally look like the bad guy!
*SLAM*
"Let that poor maiden go!"
...
You know, it's almost comedic how consistently the universe likes to FUCK ME OVER.
The door slammed open, nearly coming off its hinges, and in stepped...
An angel?
No, not a person with angelic qualities. Well, not in that sense of the word.
But a literal angel.
Like, from the bible.
Wings and halo and everything.
Her silver bobbed hair fluttered thanks to the open window, and the shuriken shaped halo on her head spun slowly.
She huffed and puffed, as though she came in a hurry, and her blue tinted wings spread wide in a defensive stance.
Just as I observed her, she scanned my appearance as well, and unfortunately, she couldn't keep her impressions to herself.
"Waaah... You look like a total douchebag. Sunglasses indoors? Who even does that."
What did I say? If even I think so, it's obvious what others will say.
Still it doesn't feel good to be right.
"And who are you?"
"Hmph, like you should know. You were harassing this poor lady- huh?"
The Angel locked eyes with aqua in the corner, and they both froze.
"... Aqua?"
"... Kanata?"
"You know each other?"
"She's from the hotel..."
Oh.
"Aqua, what are you doing here? And why are you letting this guy harass you? You usually don't even hesitate to blow someone's head smooth off when they do that."
OH?????
I... I guess she's an ex-assasin after all... Fucking hell.
"Uhm... It's not like that! I-I just... Got embarrassed...."
"Ah. Okay, that makes sense."
"You're really accepting that!?"
"It's Aqua."
"Ah. Okay, that makes sense."
"Mister!?"
You really have no one to blame but yourself Aqua.
"In that case... Uhm... It seems like I made a mistake..."
"Yeah, you did."
"Ugh... I'm sorry.."
Kanata bowed her head, and apologized while blushing intensely.
"Sigh... So you're Kanata, right?"
"Yes. Uhm, who might you be?"
"I'm the new hire at the hotel. I guess my role is similar to a manager?"
"Eh!? That's you!? So not only did I misunderstand, but I also disrespected a superior!?"
"Well, I guess so?"
Although, I can't really be called a superior when I'm the one following and cleaning up after you.
I suppose I'm more like a janitor.
"Uuu... No way... How did I mess up this bad..."
"Meh, don't beat yourself up over it. You didn't know and thought you were doing a good thing. It's not like anyone got hurt either."
"Huh? So you're not gonna cut my allowance?"
"Nah."
"You're not gonna punish me either?"
"Do I even have the authority to do that? Either way, no."
"Uwah..."
For some reason, Kanata looked at me with sparkling eyes. No, seriously, her eyes were literally sparkling. Is it an angel biology thing?
"You! You're a good person!"
"???"
Why? Because I didn't decide to hold a misunderstanding against you?
"See mister. Even Kanata thinks so. You can't deny it now."
Are you done freaking out in the corner? You've been so quiet throughout the whole interaction, why are you jumping in now!?
"I can tell just by looking at you! You're an extremely gracious and forgiving person!"
"Didn't you just call me a douchebag because I wear sunglasses indoors?"
"Th- that was a mistake! I looked at your outer appearance without observing within!"
"Uh huh..."
"Anyway! That forgiveness, that attribute of mercy! It's something an angel like myself aspires to! You are the reason I'm on earth!"
Because I let go of a misunderstanding????
"Wait, you say you descended to earth because of me?"
"More specifically, people like you! My grand ambition is to spread happiness, healing mankind! I came down from heaven to do just that! And people like you are what remind me of that goal!"
"I barely even did anything."
"Humility is also a virtue!"
"???"
"Hehe!"
Aqua, why the fuck are you laughing?
"Sigh... Say, Kanata, why are you here at the hospital anyway?"
"I'm volunteering!"
"Volunteering? Right, healing mankind. That's actually pretty admirable."
"Hehe! Thanks!"
Kanata seemed to glow at the recognition, before realizing something.
"Huh... Come to think of it, why are you here in the emergency ward mister manager?"
"I cracked my skull open."
"Eh? Wait, you're a patient!?"
"Who else is in this room? Besides the onion over there."
"Huh? What onion?"
Aqua looked around, before realizing who I was referring to.
"Hey!!"
"No way..."
Kanata cleanly ignored Aqua's complaints while muttering to herself.
"So not only did I misunderstand and threaten my boss... I also threatened a patient...?"
Kanata grabbed her face and groaned.
"I really messed up... Celestial Academy is gonna kill me..."
"Celestial academy? What's that?"
"Oh, It's where angels like me go to school to find their affinity."
"Affinity? What kind of affinity"
"They tests things like how good you are at certain tasks, what kind of disposition you have, and what kind of mindset you carry, before assigning you your new and permanent role in heaven."
So they test what you're good at and give you a role to do for the rest of your life? Why does heaven sound eerily like the dystopian novel Divergent?
"Interesting. Then what are the different roles angels have?"
"Hmm, It's a little something like this."
Kanata then began to break down the different roles angels are divided into.
First are the warrior angels who protect heaven from intruders. They are the first line of defense against rogue demons who haven't yet been pacified. (I'll have to ask about that later.)
Then there's the recorder angels who record all of human history. They watch from corners and rooftops writing down every action and every consequence.
After them are the healing angels, who soothe people in the after life and bestow blessings upon the living. They prefer to heal nice people, and will take good care of the souls who pass away.
Second to last are the death angels, who decide who dies, and when. They work in tandem with the grim reapers to send people to the after life, and they also decide which after life they go to. From Kanata's personal remark, death angels are pretty scary people.
And last but not least are guardian angels. They are sent down to earth to guide and protect people who have suffered unjustly throughout their life. Surprisingly, these are often people related to you, who choose to become guardians after death.
"And I'm a healing angel!"
"Huh? But from what you said, healing angels are usually in heaven soothing distraught souls?"
Aqua piped up with a question I had myself.
"That's right. Why are you down here? Do they let you just come up and down whenever you want?"
"No, well..."
Kanata seemed to sweat a little at the question.
"I'm here... kind of as a punishment...?"
""???""
Aqua and I tilted our heads in tandem. What the hell do you mean punishment?
"Well... I was soothing this soul, right? I gave him all sorts of headpats! But suddenly, their guardian angel appeared from thin air and startled me! It scared me so bad, I accidentally clenched my hand a little..."
"Gasp!"
Aqua seemed terrified by that statement. So she clenched her hand while patting someone, what about it?
"No, you don't understand mister!"
"Uuu..."
Hey, what's with their ominous atmosphere?
"Kanata... Her nickname is 'Gorilla'!"
"Don't tell him that...!"
"What? That seems a little messed up. Why call such a nice girl a gorilla-"
...
Oh.
"Hey... When you clenched your hand on that person's head... They didn't go 'pop', did they? Respond carefully. This will decide whether or not I should fear you."
At that, Kanata merely lowered her head.
"You killed a soul that went to heaven!?"
And by clenching your hand a bit, at that!?
"Th-they didn't die! Souls don't perish after dying once!"
"So you just left them headless!?!? That's even worse!!"
"Uuu..."
That person had a guardian angel, right? That means they must have suffered great misfortune throughout their entire life. To think such bad luck would follow them into the after life...
Wait.
*Zap*
The sound of my braincells rubbing together to create an electric signal could be heard.
Great misfortune.
Family after death.
Guardian angel.
Aqua grew up as a child solidier during a war, her entire childhood is misfortune.
Her brother also died afterwards. According to aqua herself, he promised to protect her even in death.
And Kanata says family can choose to become guardian angels?
Then I guess now is a good time to revisit the thought I had from earlier, before aqua interrupted me with her life's story.
Aqua is a clumsy person, and that clumsiness often has disastrous consequences.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's to the point where it barely seems like her fault."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This clumsiness is supposed to be indiscriminate. Yet not only did it never target me, it only targeted the assasins.
The earlier question was this. Why did I, who was with her all day, never come to harm through her actions, while the assasins got killed frame one? What's the difference between me and them?
Hah. It's so obvious, I'm disappointed I didn't think of it earlier.
They tried to kill her, I didn't.
I only barely got away thanks to [Death Instinct], which is a form of precognition on its own.
So how the hell did aqua not only get away without a scratch, but accidentally kill the bastards who tried to assasinate her.
It's simple, she wasn't the one who killed them.
Hewas.
"Kanata? Is there a way to see guardian angels?"
While I was thinking, Kanata was talking to aqua about her day, and aqua was listening quietly while nodding along.
"Hm? Nah, no way. They can only appear in heaven once their charge is dead."
"Then can you see what they do?"
"Nope. The way guardian angels work is they influence the surroundings and your actions to make it so you just barely survive lethal encounters. Their work is so subtle you'd just think it was good luck."
"What about retaliation? Can they destroy the source of danger?"
At that question, Kanata's eyes narrowed.
"... I don't know where you heard that, but only exceptionally potent guardian angels are capable of retaliation. Since their influence in the world is limited, only someone with a powerful soul could pull it off."
A powerful soul huh.
How about the strongest of his kind? A war veteran akin to a tactical nuke? A man who was like the sun, and went out with a bang just like one?
Then the reason behind this phenomenon was simple.
"I see. So it's a stand like Wonder of U, huh?"
"Wonder of U? What is that?"
"Let's just say, the flow of calamity is very strong around Aqua, and it's not a coincidence."
At my words, the gears in Kanata's head began to turn rapidly. Her face transitioned through various emotions as she thought back on my questions. Working backwards through the conversation, filling in with her own knowledge of heaven and of Aqua's circumstances, she came to a conclusion.
"Eh...? Are you saying that Aqua...?"
"? What about me?"
Come on dude. How have you not caught on yet?
"You have a guardian angel, Aqua."
"Eh!?"
"And he's probably your brother."
"EHHH!?!?"
×Chapter 16: The Reveal×
======================
A/N:
This chapter feels a bit shoddy, so I'll come back and edit it, but for now, I hope the big reveal was worth the wait. If not, I'll be disappointed, but understanding.
This is the last chapter of the arc, but there's still an epilogue to go through, so be prepared for that.
See you next week.