"Zakeru, time to close up!"

A loud voice, marred by slight impatience, cut through the silent air. It caused the lone person in the room to jump slightly as the figure fumbled with a stylist. Scowling slightly and narrowing odd orange eyes, the person named Zakeru stood and faced the person who interupted him. It turned out to be his stepfathers right-hand-man in the shop... And Zakeru conviently forgot the man's name. The orange-eyed boy smirked slightly and slid his hands into his jean pockets. "Sorry, jerkface," he said nonchalantly, shrugging all the while. "Lost track of time attempting to figure out the written design of the bike Dad wants me to build."

Yea, he called his stepfather "Dad" because as far as he knew, his real father ran out on him and his mom when Zakeru was only three. Some parental insticts that was. NOT. And besides, Zakeru liked the reaction he got out of the right-hand-man before him. The older man's face when purple in rage as a blood vessel started to pop out on one side of his neck. As he opnd his mouth to sat something, Zakeru quirked up a brow in a mocking way. In the end, the other man just ended up storming out; leaving the light on and the main door unlocked behind him.

Zakeru sighed and removed one hand from his pocket before raising it to pinch the bridge of his nose. Oh he wanted to do things to that man. Horrible, wicked things. His stepfather knew that, but didn't intervene when an arguement between the two of them turned into a fist-fight. Removing his hand, he bent to pick up his stylist and returned it to the now-messed up, almost complete sketch of the chopper his father had given him a deion of. His brows furrowed together slightly as his eyes moved over the light blue lines of the bike. He could make it work. Saving it, he turned off the machines in the room and walked out; switching off the light as he went. 

He went around to the different doors of the building; mostly side doors and the singular back door. Then, he went to the staff lounge and picked up his keys from his personal locker. The small metal locker was in the top row; all the way to the left. Once he had what he needed, he switched off the lights in the room on his way out. 

Locking the front doors behind him as he left, he turned to the almost empty parking lot. The almost implied a singular black chopper in one of the middle spots of the lot. Zakeru trotted over to it and swung a leg over the leather seat and flipped up the kickstand as he inserted the keys and started the ignition. The machine purred to life beneath him. The gentle vibrations of the working engine made Zakeru grin.

This was his baby.

Well, "baby" in terms of he had made it for himself. Yes; he had made it.

Curling his hands around the handlebars, he revved the engine a few times; causing the purr to increase to a low growl before going back to the purr again. Pushing the bike forward, he let the bike crawl before taking off out of the parkinglot and onto the empty roads. The light from the front of the bike shown out a good six yards ahead of him.

[[ Zakeru's bike is this sexy beast; ~xXx~ ]]

---

The crackle and hiss of fire was the only thing the tall male heard as he watched the fading sun from his high perch. The fire was actually his wings; which decided to be covered with flames at the moment. The fiery plumage was furled loosely against a crimson tainted robe that held no sleeves. He wasn't a big fan of them anyways. His green-gray eyes blinked slightly and he cocked his head as he felt a prescence enter his mind. The prescence was old and powerful. His head bowed slightly; despite himself.

What is this, my fiery angel? Usually you do not bow your head to me.

The voice held a slight trace of humour and the fire-winged angel snapped his head up as his green-gray eyes narrowed in slight anger.

Peace. I can sense your anger from all the way up here. Now listen very carefully. I am giving you a chance to cool your head and perhaps humble yourself a bit more. You are to be guardian angel to a human female named Elisa Aleida Oates. Make sure no harm comes to her and keep her happy if you can.

As the voice spoke, the angel was sent a mental image of a small female with large blue eyes and shoulder length black hair that looked extremely curly. She also looked a couple years younger than his age when he looked human. Baggy and too-big clothes covered her. He sighed.

"I will make sure no harm comes to this girl," he murmured, his voice holding a slight Greek accent.

Very good, Dalerian. No; go!

And he did. Dalerian's wings opened up. The wingspan twenty-feet. The flames on his wings crackled and hissed more harshly as he curled them around himself before vanishing from his high perch.

The angel reappeared on the human realm; clothed in a sleeveless blue hoodie, a single sleeved t-shirt that matched the colour of his eyes and held a ripped sleeve, and comfortable jeans. His wings had vanished and a black tattoo stood were his wings sprouted; across his upper back. He glanced around; noticing he was on a sidewalk in the suburbs of the city. Large houses lined the black asphalt road and several cars were parked on the curb.

Dalerian sighed slightly and ran his fingers through his dark crimson hair. Then he slipped his hands into his jean pockets and started walking. Maybe this Elisa chick was inside... Which would make his time of attempting to find her even harder.

     Elisa walked along the edge of a large rectangular planter, stading up on her tiptoes with her arms sticking out at her sides for extra balance. The sleeves of her overly large sweatshirt hung a good 8 inches farther than they should, covering her small hands and hanging nearly to her knees. Her dark blue jeans would have been falling off completely if not for the small black belt she wore. As it was, they were rolled up several times at the bottom, allowing her to walk without tripping on them. She was at the park a block away from her house, having decided to leave when her parents entered a loud screaming match about who she was going to stay with that weekend. Her parents were divorced, and though her father was suppossed to have full custody, her mother often demanded that Elisa be allowed to stay with her for the weekend. Elisa didn't mind, as she loved her mother, and enjoyed the time they spent together. But her father didn't like the idea; Elisa's mother had been an alcoholic, and though she now claimed to be sober, he didn't trust her to take care of his daughter.

     She could hear them shouting at each other even from here, about "Ellie having the right to see her mother," and "You don't know what's best for Ellie, you can barely take care of yourself!" Ellie began to hum to herself, drowning out their yelling. She grinned when she saw three girls, younger than herself by years, playing with a long jump rope while chanting a rhyme about icecream sodapop and boyfriends. "Hey," she called to them. "D'you mind if I join you?" Before any of the girls could answer, Ellie heard her father call for her to come home. She frowned slightly, but waved goodbye to the girls and trotted home, chewing on the end of her sleeve. By the time she got inside, her mother was gone, and her father had an angry red handprint on his cheek. He smiled at her sadly, and she smiled back before going into the kitchen to make them both some hot chocolate.

-------------

      Nena sighed softly, her wings stretching out behind her restlessly. It was very cold here, she thought, and she longed to be alive again, back in her world of corset gowns and debutante balls, with her grandmother's lemon squares and sweet honey tea. She wasn't quite sure where she was; she'd woken up here some time ago, with large white wings sprouting from her back and a voice telling her 'It's alright, you've been given a second chance. You'll be able to help someone else, now.' But she'd yet to be given anyone to help, and she was longing for some company. 

     Suddenly she felt as though she were not quite as alone as she'd previously thought, and the feeling of someone else in her head made her shiver. It is time for you to fulfill your purpose, Nena, the voice said. Her wings twitched eagerly in response, startling her, and the voice continued, You are to protect Zakeru Tokage from harm to the best of your ability. With the name came a brief flash of a boy through her mind, a boy with light grey and black hair, orange eyes, and strange clothing. Nena frowned, but before she could comment on the boy's odd apperance, the ground under her split apart and she fell, screaming, until her wings opened of their own accord to stop her fall. She felt herself pass through some sort of barrier, and then she was back on solid ground --but something had changed. She was in a large city, for one, and she could no longer feel the weight of wings on her back. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a loose bun, held by a shimmering black clip in the shape of two wings. Loose curls escaped it to frame her face. She wore a long, dark grey pea coat that reached her knees, and a pair of black slacks. 

     She laughed with glee at the feeling of being human again, and briefly wondered if she could go to see her grandmother --but a niggling sensation in the back of her mind reminded her that she was here for a reason, and she thought of the boy she'd seen with the odd hair and orange eyes. Well, she thought, at least a boy who looks like that can't be too hard to find. And then she started walking, trusting the odd feeling in her mind to direct her.

Kiseki:

Why was she always stuck with the difficult ones?

Come to think of it, her last case started out like this one. Kiseki Tamiya stood at the back at the group of oogling girls, choosing to silently observe the subject before figuring out the best way to approach him. She had been in this business long enough to know not to rush into a situation, especially one that involved a boy like this.

Kiseki slapped a palm to her face when one of the girls was idiotic enough to touch his arm. She wasn’t too surprised when the boy stormed out and left the girl to cry with the rest of the group. Kiseki rolled her eyes; teenage girls were way too emotional. No one could tell that she had ‘lived’ through that age many, many times already, though. After all, she looked like she was eighteen, due mostly in part to her short stature and child-like features (though in reality she was actually twenty-one). Long black hair cascaded down her back, tied into long pig tails. Her eyes stayed wide and unclouded. She even dressed like a teenager, wearing a kimono top and jeans.

Quietly and swiftly, Kiseki followed him out of the gym. “Excuse me, sir?” She easily danced her way around him before blocking his path. “I think you should apologize to that girl back at the gym. That was a mighty mean thing you did, even if you don’t like sniveling admirers. And I ASSURE you that I’m not one of them.” Kiseki smiled at the boy, folding her hands behind her back. Her golden irises sparkled in the afternoon light. “Please?”

~*~

Keiichi:

He wasn’t a kid anymore, and he didn’t need her. But why did it hurt so much without her here? Keiichi shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked through the park. A lavender button-up shirt fluttered in the wind. Black leather pants sat loosely on his hips, and chains littered his body. The man chose to sit down on the edge of the stone fountain before pulling out his left hand.

Ribbons of red bound his forearm.

Keiichi hissed as his wrist found the cold water. But no physical pain could mask the coldness he felt. They used to come here as kids, since they grew up in a horrible family. They only had each other for the first eighteen years of his life. But then the accident happened, and his life was torn apart.

He clenched his left fist tight enough so that his fingernails drew blood. Today was the anniversary of that accident seven years ago. As much as he wanted to get out of this god-forsaken world, she made him promise that he wouldn’t. She promised she’d be back for him.

“Fat chance that is,” Keiichi snorted, leaving his left hand in the cold fountain waters until the limb became numb. “Wish everything were this easy.”

Sitting in his bed at home, Marx tried to ignore the shouts of his parents. ''How dare you come home to me after getting a grade like that!'' His father was shouting at the top of his voice.
''Son, if you come home with a D one more time, you're grounded for a year!'' Why did his mom care so much, anyway? He'd seen both their report cards, and neither had gotten any better than a C in anything. Why should it matter so much that he got a D? It shouldn't, that's why. Shaking his head and giving up any thought of going to sleep that night, he slid open his window, sidled onto the ledge, and jumped to the ground, landing in a crouch. It was a well practiced maneuver.

Marx wandered down the path in the park, ignoring the small, bright poppies that were closed to the world, ignoring the people sat on benches that were full, all with happy smiles on their faces, some with families. Why the hell were all the benches full of smiling people? He wanted to think. He hadn't done something all that wrong, had he? No, all he had done was get a bad grade. He tried hard. It wasn't his fault he wasn't smart. And yet... and yet his parents hated him for it. Hated him for giving them a son they couldn't be proud of. Hell, everyone hated him for it. For once, he wasn't smiling. He came to the final bench, the only one that wasn't full, and even then, someone was sat on it. [Kara] Sitting down on the opposite end, he rested his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands, and tried to ignore the world around him as best he could, including the girl at the opposite end. She didn't matter. No one mattered any more.

~

Shadawas' deep blue ravens wings were set in flight. He enjoyed going on flights. They calmed him down to no end. Suddenly, though, a voice interrupted his thoughts of anger of what he had lost, and nearly threw him off balance. Nearly. Why, raven angel, do not appear shocked. The voice said. True, you have lost much. But you have the ability to help someone else gain what you have lost. You have been entrusted with Lovae Elizabeth Johanasonn, to help her live a life that is long-for however long you manage to-and a happy one at that. You are her guardian angel.
At the same time her name was said, an image flashed through Shadawas head. A young girl, small, with brown hair. She looked like she was about ten, twelve, maybe younger. Just as he was about to ask the voice why a girl of this age could possibly need protection, the presence in his mind vanished. Shaking his head, he went to look for this girl he was now guardian over.

Strolling through a park-little girls played in parks, right?- Shadawa picked his way through small crowds of people, his ravens wings long gone, to be replaced with a dark blue tank top. Not seeing any little girls, besides a small group of girls playing skipping rope, which he examined closely without making it look like it. He didn't want to be classified as a pervert before he'd even found who he was supposed to guard. His silver eyes scanned the people around him, but still, he came up with nothing. Leaning back against a lamp post, he decided to either wait until morning, or hope she came soon.
Thinking about what she would be like, he prayed she wouldn't be like that group of girls in the other end of the park. From all the way over here, their incessant chatter annoyed the hell out of him and bugged him to no end. Did they ever shut up? It didn't look like it.

Zakeru slowed his bike to a stop at an empty intersection. He tapped the handlebars with his thumbs as a tune only he could hear wandered through his empty mind. His orange eyes watched the red light; willing to change to green. Eventually, it did. But it seemed it took a life time to do so. Pushing off, Zakeru's chopper sped down the dark streets as he drove deeper and deeper into the heart of the city; where his appartment resided since he had long moved out of his parent's home in the suburbs. 

Eventually, he slowed his chopper as he turned into the private lot underneath the appartment building. He found an open spot, parked and turned off the bike. The purring engine died silently as he flipped down the kickstand. Then he dismounted the sleek, black bike and headed towards the entrence of the lot with the intention of just prowling the city until he grew tired.

But as soon as he exited, he accidentally bumped into a female whose auburn hair was up in a bun while a few curled locks framed her face. Zakeru blinked slowly; as if realizing what just happened. Immediantly, the boy smiled apologetically as he said; "I'm sorry, miss. I did not see you there."

---

Dalerian continued to prowl the suburban sidewalks as his gray-green eyes sparkled with golden flecks. A sign that he was using his other gift to sense were the chick was he was supposed to protect. He saw a few kids playing out in their driveways and the empty streets, but their auras did not match what he had felt in the picture He had sent him. The crimson haired boy frowned slightly and ran his fingers through the locks before he spotted a faint white glow of another angel.

That's random...

He cocked his head to one side. But this angel was farther away and he didn't really want to go introduce himself at the moment. His eyes blinked once before he continued his scanning. Then, he found her. She was in a house close-by, but he didn't know which one unless he used more of his gift.

With a sigh, his gray-green eyes took on a golden appearance as he looked at the now see-through homes to see the girl in the kitchen of her home; making something that looked like a drink. Dalerian tilted his head to the other side. 

He found her....

||All the angels are in human form right now...

I just learned today that I'm going on a 3 day trip (surprise from my parents). So I'll see you all on Wednesday!||

A man who looked to be about in his 20's was looking at the water for some reason. She shivered and somehow felt connected to him. She recognized him, but she didn't know why. She sighed and got up to walk over to him and then stopped, sitting back down again. She was fairly young for an angel and because of this, she knew how to make small talk. "Hey, nice night for a walk?" She asked inquisitively to the older man.

She smoothed down her dress which was now being wrinkeled by the strong wind that seemed to have just picked up. Avalia's eyes widened for just a moment as she had a blurry vision of the future. Someone was shouting and someone was dying, but what was it of. She couldn't make out the shapes because she ability seemed to have been diluted when she became a human.

----------

((I am going to assume that Alec is now a human))

Caitlin hadn't beene looking because it was quite dark outside and she didn't notice when she suddenly slammed into a person head on. She fell to the ground, but did a strange manuever and pushed herself back up with a small jump. She brushed the dirt off of herself and looked around. A dark shape formed in front of her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The street lamps on this street didn't actually work and it wasn't really that safe for her to be out alone, but her parents didn't care. They never had. When little Benny was born, they hadn't even bothered to feed her anymore and when they did remember it was usually some gross baby food because that was all they kept in the house. Her parents seemed to eat ever night though because they were plump and rosy-cheeked. She sighed and continued walking, the past behind her...

((Typing up my post now. Sorry for taking so long; I've been watning to post all day but I only just got on the computer. The post will be here in a little bit. Done =3))

     Ellie walked back into the living room, two mugs of hot chocolate in hand, to find her father shrugging on a windbreaker. She frowned, setting the mugs down on the coffe table, and prompted softly, "Daddy?" He looked up, and noticing her pout, sighed.

     "Sorry, Sweetie. I've gotta go downtown." 

     "But Daddy," she whined, moving infront of his path to the door. "You said you'd make dinner tonight. We were going to make brownies! You said you didn't have work tonight. You promised." He grabbed her upper arms and moved her gently out of the way, thenpressed a kiss to the top of her head.

     "I know, but Mandy called in sick. They need someone to take her shift. I've gotta go. There's instant noodles in the cupboard; If you want something else you can ride your bike down to the shopping center. There's money in the cookie jar." He opened the door, and called over his shoulder before it shut, "Take the trash out, would you? Thanks, Sweeite! Love you! Bye!" And then he was gone. Ellie sighed, before shufflingback into the kitchen to get the trash can.

     It was starting to get dark, she noted, as she took the can outside to the larger one by the curb. She dumped it, and heard the sound of something banging around in the garage. She jumped slightly, whirling around to stare at the door closely. It was open about four inches, and a small tan blur steaked out from the open space. "Oh!" she gasped. "Its you, Kit!" 

     The cat wound around her legs, and she giggled, sitting down to stroke its long fur. "How has your day been, Little Kitten?" She hadn't named the cat, really, but she needed something to call it. It was a stray, and she'd grown very fond of it. "Mine been awful. Mommy and Daddy were fighting. Again." The cat meowed indignantly as her hand stopped moving, and Ellie nodded. "Yes, I know. They really should be kinder to each other." She sighed. "You're really the only one I've got to talk to about these things." The cat curled up in her lap, and Ellie sat there for a long while, petting it softly and thinking.

 -----------------

      Nena looked around as she walked, taking in her surroundings with a mixture of excitement and disdain. She been so happy, at first, to be alive again, that she hadn't even cared that she was in the middle of a large, overly polluted city. Now that she'd been walking for nearly an hour --honestly, how far away was this kid?-- she felt her good spirits slipping. Her mind began drifting back to her old life, when she spent her time having tea with her grandmother and riding horses through vineyards, and suddenly she ran straigh into the warm, firm body of another person. Shye gasped, and looked up, ready to scold the man even as he apologized to her, but her words died on her lips when she came face to face with the exact boy she'd been looking for.

     "You!" she gasped, staring at the boy with wide eyes. Then a laugh bubbled up from her throat and she threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly. "Oh, I can't believe its you! I didn't think I was going to find you! It is you, isn't it?" She pulled back suddenly, and stared at his face intently. Then she laughed again and hugged him tightly again, saying, "Of course its you! There couldn't possibly be anyone elsein the world who looks like that." Suddenly she realized she was probably being overbearing, and the boy most likely had no idea who she was. She stepped back abruptly, blushing furiously and smoothing down herrumpled coat.

     "I'm sorry," she said, her hand coming up to tug nervously at a loose lock of hair by her face. "You're Zakeru, right? Zakeru Tokage? I'm Nena. I've been--" she cut herself off, not sure if she should just come out with the fact that she was sent to be his Guardian Angel. "Looking for you." she finished weakly, and stared at him to gauge his reaction.

|Yeah, I was gone for three days lol XD Didn't know until I had to pack on Monday morning. (Surprise from my parents.)

I'll get to my post now.||

Usually a glance like that would send people running, but unfortunately Kiseki was all too familiar with emotionless eyes. She wondered about the scar running down the right one, but there was a time and place for everything. It wouldn’t do for her to ruin the relationship with him now, even if he WAS stuck with her.

She noticed him size her up. So, he was a careful one. To be quite blunt, Kiseki was dangerous, but again, this was not the time to reveal everything. Instead, a sly smile replaced the grin, giving the boy the ‘yes, you’re right’. Appearances weren’t everything, after all. Kiseki’s smile faded completely when she noticed the fog surrounding his head. It may not be visible to other humans, but Kiseki knew very well there were other angels in the city.

“Dimitri, let me help,” the girl whispered, walking up to the man. She removed the motorcycle helmet with care, with the expertise of someone who had done this hundreds of times before. Her hands fluttered over Dimitri’s face, turning him toward her. “I know this is confusing, but just trust me, kay?” She locked eyes with the boy and nodded before leaning up and pressing a kiss to his left temple.

White magic flowed from the kiss, soothing Dimitri’s mind. As it began to work, Kiseki took a step back to gauge his ex
pression. It wasn’t everyday a random girl walked up to you and gave you a kiss. She smiled genuinely before saying, “I actually need to get to the park, you know, the one with the fountain? We might want to hurry, too…”

Kiseki looked to the sky. “It’s going to rain.”

~*~

Hearing a voice, Keiichi turned his head to the bench that was right across from him. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Are you dense? It’s the middle of the afternoon.” The man paused and raised a hand, feeling the wind that blew past them. “It’s going to rain, though, so it’ll get dark quickly. Not the best time for a walk.” A sad smile fell over his lips as he turned his attention back to the waters below.

He really did need to stop coming here. It was seven years already; it’s not like she’d be back after so long. “And here I thought she was honest,” Keiichi whispered to himself before striking the water. The liquid flew up and out, wetting the ground next to him. The man stood up and turned to the girl on the bench.

"You should get out of here before you get sick."

After the mall incident,, Alec had decided to go walk around and find that strange girl again. Quickly hiding his wings into a jet black hoodie, and changing from his robes to a pair of ripped jeans and some Converse, Alec performed a quick check. to see if he had forgotten anything, say a shirt or pants. Satisfied, he meandered around a neighborhood district, musing about the horrible quality of human homes, until a soft thump brought back his senses.  Looking down in surprise, Alec noticed a female shape on the sidewalk. Pondering if he should help her up or not, he felt a soft brush against his arm as the girl walked past him. 

Instictively, he reached out and clamped his hand on the top of her head, stopping her from going anywhere. "Hey. The least you could do is say excuse me. Or at least mumble something that sounds like an apology." He snorted, shaking his head in disbelief, still keeping a firm grip on her head. Pausing for a while, in case the girl tried to answer cheekily or sa.ss him or even actually apologize, Alec waited for a good 2 seconds before coming to the conclusion that this girl was obviously very, very, very dim. "Just my luck!" he groaned, "I'm stuck with a mute/deaf/dim girl to guard. At least she won't jabber my ear off like a little girl...."

 ~~~

 Lovae was crying. Tears forming at the corners of her eyes and leaking down towards her nose, she wimpered each time she poked a bruise or a cut that she'd recieved during the beating the boys had given her. Finally finished with her thorough examination (the nurses at the orphanage didn't care enough to do it for her), she padded quietly down the hallway to the infirmary to get some Band-aids, cotton wool, and some Vaseline.

Sitting in her barren room, Lovae began humming happily under her voice. Nothing could bring her down, not if Mr. Bear was with her! And Mr. Bear was indeed there with her, though battered and torn and abused. "Ouch! Mr. Bear, you're even more hurt than I am! We gotta get you fixed okay? I promise!" She gasped worriedly, seemingly more worried about the bear than herself. "Me? Why, I'll be fine Mr. Bear! I'm tough, just like you!" 

Shadawa saw the boys give the little girl a beating and his temper boiled. He had to keep under cover, get this girl to trust him. He wasn't even sure she was the right one. Grinding his teeth, his eyes burning holes in the backs of their heads, Shadawa waited till she left. That done, he set to work. He encased himself in shadows, before walking up behind each and every one of the boys, knocking them out cold with a single strike one by one, enjoying the terror in their eyes.

Finally finished his little pain inflicting spree, he followed the traces of aura left by the girl. Certain now that she was who he was to guard, he leapt up to the orphanage window, and sat on the sill. To the girl and anyone watching, he would be nothing but a somewhat darker patch of light. He looked in, making no one else was in the room, before settling down and waiting until she may possibly need his help.

~

Marx lifted his head up, looking at the lady sat on the opposite end of the bench. ''Yeah, you could say that. I'm fine...'' sighing, he wondered where she could possibly live where they didn't have cool evenings. ''Where are you from, anyway?'' He asked, also pondering as to what kind of weather she would have where she came from, but couldn't come up with anything.

His mind wandered to the events of the night, and he wondered if his parents were still yelling at his locked door, punding their fists and wondering why he was ignoring them point blank. Probably. It wouldn't be the first time he'd slipped out and they hadn't noticed. He gave a dark, grim laugh at the thought, but his eyes weren't laughing.