Himitsu – Kuro no Chikai

Side Story 1 — The World Which He Loved

Side Story Chapter 1 - The World Which He Loved

The Fallen——

It means exactly that.

When an angel Falls, and they are corrupted. Both their body——…… and their heart.

For angels, there is no clear distinction between their bodies and hearts, so perhaps it is easier to understand if we were to say it is their “soul” itself that Falls. If the tainted soul of an angel were to Fall from here, where would it end up? The Earth…? In that case, “Earth” would be, in comparison to Heaven, an inferior land—a place for sinners.

Once they have fallen to that land, they “set out on foot”—— In other words, they become “human.” Humans carry the burden of sin. That is why they must live on “Earth” after their Fall. Because they have no wings, they cannot fly freely, or return to the paradise of Heaven.

Oh, what pitiful creatures humans are…. Let us to help you live a more peaceful life in the land in which you have Fallen, if only slightly. Yes, with the divine protection of our great God and His angels, we shall lead you to some blessing in this dirtied path that you have chosen. For humans cannot live without our power…. It is due to our protection that they have “life.”

That must remain the most important thing in this world. Even if the true answer were to be discovered ——

* * *

Before his eyes was a small church. Riding on the crisp winds of early summer, the beautiful sound of bells echoed. In the center of the aisle, a young human couple faced each other, swearing eternal love.

However, something such as that is not to be expected for humans. Humans have their “limits.” To angels, their lifespan are a mere blink of the eye; brief and fleeting. Yes, by tomorrow, this time of happiness will have passed… By tomorrow, no one would be able to see the faces of this joyous couple anymore——

Glancing at the faces of the newlywed couple, whose names were recorded in the “Ascension Notice List,” the youth narrowed his gentle, blue eyes. They were both only eighteen years old. For humans, an age where both their bodies and minds flourish the most. And yet, to see those lives, still so full of hope, result in death, he can’t help but feel a bit saddened, even as an angel.

“There don’t seem to be any problems,”

Looking up for the source of the voice, he sees a youth with blue hair descend, with his large wings stretched out wide. As usual, there was a deep wrinkle at his brow, and at a glance, he appeared very displeased.

“Ah, Kaito, welcome back. There aren’t any problems over here, either.”

“I see. Then, let’s move on to the next point. At the hill that lies beyond here.”

“Ah, hold on a minute,”

Saying this, he—the youth with the beautiful blue eyes, flew nimbly over to a flowerbed in the church’s rear garden. Kaito wondered what he could be doing, and watched his actions in silence. The flowerbed was filled with beautiful flowers in full bloom. It was early summer, the season in which all kinds of flowers were flourishing and fresh.

“Found it!”

After looking in the flowerbed for a while, he finally plucked a single flower.

“What is that?”

In his hand was a purple flower. Its thick and slender petals gathered beautifully, opening up towards the heavens.

“It’s called a tulip. Pretty, right? We don’t have this flower up in Heaven,”

The youth said this, and entered the church with the flower in hand. Although they were in the midst of a wedding inside, the humans wouldn’t be able to see him since he was an angel. The priest was speaking words of blessing to the newlywed couple.

Asking for a blessing from God for the two lovers.

While the priest continued with his lengthy speech, the youth quietly moved closer to the couple. The two gazed at each other with deep, genuine love.

“At the very least, even if only for today… I will grant you two eternal love,”

The youth whispered this, and brushed his hand against the young couples’ cheeks.

“!”

At that moment, a gust of wind blew between them.

The two staggered at the sudden wind that was blowing in the closed church. The priest, too, was speechless.

After a moment, dancing in the wind above the couples’ heads, a single tulip came fluttering down.

“So beautiful…”

The two took the floating tulip in their hands and said quietly,

“Ohhh… ohhh, how wonderful! This can only be a blessing from God!”

The priest’s face had reddened, ecstatic about the sudden wind and the tulip that had come fluttering down.

“The blessing from the Heavens is a purple tulip….! In flower language, that’s….! It is as if a miracle has occurred!”

At the priest’s words, the church stirred noisily. The young couple, the priest, and all of the wedding attendants were overjoyed at the miraculous blessing from God.

“At the very least, even if only for today, I grant you ‘eternal love.’”

The youth, with a shade of sadness glinting in his beautiful blue eyes, quietly flew off.

Even if that promise should be broken tomorrow….

Right now, this moment, would still remain as their truth.

The quiet, innermost chambers of the temple. In the Tandolman Temple, the place closest to God, a meeting was being held to discuss the strengthening of the opposing demonic forces and reviewing of the laws.

The Archangel Meeting—A sacred gathering that is held among a few, elite angels, selected from a pool of many. The strict laws and hierarchical system in Heaven, the ideals of angels, how to engage with the human world… everything involving Heaven is determined in these meetings.

Angels are separated into five main ranks. From the top is the great archangel, followed by archangels, senior angels, junior angels, and finally, angel trainees. In every generation, there is always only one angel that holds the highest ranking of great archangel. The only one able to directly speak with God is the great archangel, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they are substantially the one that holds the greatest power in both Heaven and the human world. By listening to the will of God, who does not directly interfere with the human world, the great archangel commands the other angels to manage the world. The current great archangel was appointed directly after the Great Heaven War; a novice leader. Compared to previous angels that have served as the leader of Heaven, he is still fairly young (although, already he is slightly over one thousand and five hundred years old). He appears to be a kind, gentle old man on the outside, but contrary to appearances, he once held mighty power so strong that he eradicated an entire human country with a single wave of his cane.

Below the great archangel, there are thirteen archangels. They also engage in one of the three destinies that angels are bestowed upon birth—combat, circulation, or divine protection. Although these positions are all equal, recently, the prominent angels of Michael, armed forces bearing the destiny of combat, have been evaluated to consist of powerful individuals. Because of this, while the positions themselves are equal, there are great differences in the actual power that each is able to exercise.

Powerful individuals are endeared by many senior and junior angels. Furthermore, what they obtain from their production allows them to utilize an even greater power. Junior and senior angels are strictly prohibited from direct involvement with the human world, but because archangels are designated as being necessary to public peace in the human world, they are allowed to intervene when necessary. God’s Judgment and Blessings—many phenomenons that hardly seem to be the work of humans are all actually due to the intervention of archangels.

And so, gathered at the Round Table were the thirteen archangels, and the great archangel.

At the time, the structure of Heaven’s real power consisted of novice archangels that had only recently been appointed. Even after a hundred years, the scars from the Great Heaven War ran deep. After inheriting the wills of their many fallen brethren from the war, they were in the midst of performing measures to strengthen their own angelic power against the opposing demonic forces. Although they bear wounds from the war, several reforms have been planned to build a stronger Heaven both physically and mentally, based on a system of a wealthy society and powerful army.

Today’s topic was “the correct form of churches in the human world.” In order to further implement Heaven’s magnificent power in the human world, it was believed that first, the churches had to be reformed, in order to gather faith.

“Ahem… About the newly-opened Droen Cathedral in the Velcant District…..”

“The problem lies with the colorful and sketchiness of the stain glass material! It will only encourage immorality, and have a negative effect on future generations…..!”

“Yes, I agree on that, as well. In particular, I suggest a wonderful imagery on the back wall of a hero wielding a sword. It brings such a feeling of familiarity. The sword, I mean…”

“At the one I went to the other day, they were handing out these delicious snacks before the prayer!”

“Hm. Lately, ones that have roundness seem to be popular, but I believe ones with a sharp edge would look better….”

“Concerning the ‘correct form’ that was mentioned in the topic, does this ‘form’ mean appearance-wise? Or is it the form as in the ideals? Without clarification, I cannot form a solid opinion…”

“……”

The archangels gathered were, as usual, unsettled and disjointed in their thoughts. Although they were all outstanding angels who had survived and played active parts in the war, many of them lacked the ability to cooperate.

It was when each continued to assert their individual opinions, and the topic has become rather heated-up. The young angel who rested his cheek in his left hand had been silent throughout, but he now stood up from his seat with a clatter.

“……”

The noisy room suddenly became very quiet. The great archangel, who was sitting in the seat across from him asked,

“Archangel Kaito, is something the matter?”

“……”

After a brief silence, Kaito let out a small sigh and opened his mouth,

“…. I fail to see any significance in deciding the correct form of churches.”

With only those words, Kaito headed for the door.

“Wait right there, Kaito! This meeting isn’t over yet!”

Luka, who was seated furthest from him, stood to point accusingly in his direction.

“The reforming of churches has little to do with me. Even if it were to change, our mission will not waver. It would be far more productive to think of how to develop a new species of apple.”

Having said that, and with disregard to Luka’s further retorts, Kaito left the meeting hall.

“My, my, Lord Kaito is the same as always. Certainly, the wind is pleasant today, and the weather nice….”

“…..tch! Kaito! Wait!”

Gaku, the young man who sat in the seat to Kaito’s left, made an off-handed comment in a practiced tone. Luka ignored him, and quickly went to chase after Kaito. Although this was a familiar scene, the other angels, who had been so eager to speak earlier, seemed to have had the heat of their passions extinguished by Kaito’s departure. They all sat quietly now.

“Now then, gentlemen. Just now, Archangel Kaito expressed his opinion that the reforming of the churches has little affect on us….. Are there any that agree on his views?”

The great archangel said this, and swept his gaze around the Round Table where everyone was seated.

“Hmhmhm. In that case, this concludes today’s meeting. For those proposing topics for the next meeting, I expect to see some meaningful themes.”

And with that, that day’s archangel meeting came to a close. Perhaps because there was no longer anyone that wanted to discuss how the reforming of churches should be. To begin with, angels held very little interest in the human culture. Certainly, a discussion to develop a new species of apple would be more meaningful and beneficial to angels.

Celeste Garden, a place near the Tandolman Temple. Full of plants that exist only in Heaven, it is a popular resting place among angels. It is the place closest to the gate which separates Heaven and the human world, and is the first place that ascended human souls arrive at.

And in Celeste Garden, in a flower bed that was void of other angels, Kaito lay asleep. Although to be more accurate, he was floating, and therefore, floating asleep.

“What’re you doing?”

“! ….. Oh, it’s you.”

Startled by the sudden noise, he sat up immediately. The youth with the blue eyes was laughing with a mischievous look on his face. It seemed that he had snuck up to surprise him on purpose.

“Did I scare you?”

“…… Yeah. Don’t sneak up like that without reason.”

“Sorry, sorry. I just felt like seeing Kaito’s surprised face.”

“……”

“Isn’t it nice to do something other than scowl once in a while?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Before, you used to follow me everywhere for everything; you were so cute, a shy scaredy-cat…. Why’d you have to turn into such a gloomy, sulky person?”

“You really don’t change. Despite only being a trainee, rushing into the front lines…. You’re still as much of a nuisance as you were back then.”

“Those were the days, huh?”

“…. I’m sure that you’re the only one that found any enjoyment out of it.”

He remembered how cheerful he had been, even as they were almost burnt alive in the middle of the hellfire, until they were finally evacuated. Even now, the memory made him shiver.

“By the way, what were you doing? Although I agree that it’s nice weather for an afternoon nap.”

“I was waiting for those two.”

“Gaku and Luka? Didn’t they go down to the human world earlier?”

The original plan was that Kaito would go to patrol the human world tomorrow with his partner, the youth that stood before him now. Although ordinarily, two archangels, the leaders of their units, do not usually partner with each other, after more than half of their strength had fallen in the last major battle, everyone now goes to fight on the front lines in shifts, regardless of class. If all the archangels went full out with their strength, the weaker ones would be injured. That was why archangels now paired with each other. Luka and Gaku, who were also a pair, had gone to the human world, and were supposed to have come back today to pass on the work to Kaito and his partner.

“There was an emergency call earlier. It seems that they managed to get on their trail.”

In other words—the path left by the demonic forces. Had Gaku and Luka been caught up in it? Ever since the Great War, the battlefield between demons and angels had been moved to the human world, and the skirmishes in the regions continued.

“That’s right. In that case, it’s no time to be sitting around idle, right? Should we go to meet them?”

“Yeah, they said they’d be coming back soon, but…. I’ve already waited for more than three hours.”

“In that case, it may be faster to just go to them directly.”

“……”

“I don’t think that those two could have been defeated, but I’m still a little worried. Gaku is another story, but Luka is never late, right?”

“….. What a troublesome pair.”

“They sure are.”

The Demon Subjugation Units. The Seventh Unit that Commander Leon had formerly led, was said to be among the elite. His two beloved pupils, using his teachings, continued to carry out the work of their deceased commander. After the Great War, their strength had gone through tremendous growth, and they were known as the strongest that Heaven had ever seen.

Bracing themselves, the two pairs of white wings danced down to the human world, the setting sun as the backdrop.

* * *

Looking down from above, the grounds of the church were enveloped in something black. Most likely, it was a swarm of lesser demons. As they seemed to be the jet black-winged puppets of higher-ranking demons, they had no consciousness of their own, and targeted holy energy indiscriminately. They were not very fearful enemies, but unfortunately, there were just too many of them this time. By the looks of it, about a five-hundred meter radius of the church’s premises was covered in black. And in the very center of the squirming black mass, two white angels were fighting back.

With a sharp whistling sound, as if the surrounding air were being cut, the whip danced. In sync with those splendid, dance-like movements, the demons were purified instantly. Without a single wasted flick in her handling of the whip, Luka rapidly took down enemies from a distance.

On the opposite side, Gaku stood unmoving in a stance of drawing his sword. With a sharp ring, the taut air stopped for a moment. And then, he performed his sword-drawing technique at god speed—cutting down the enemy and sheathing the sword again, all in one, clean action. In the blink of an eye, the enemies that had surrounded him had all disappeared. Only he was left standing within the perfect circle drawn by the reach of his sword….. At least, that was how it should have been, normally.

“….. Gaku! That’s dangerous! You almost hit me, too!!”

“Oh, Luka…. I must also ask you to refrain from coming within range. Because you’d distracted me, I missed cutting down four of them.”

“What was that!? I should have been able to take down twenty of them with that last attack of mine! Your unnecessarily bulky body is a hindrance!”

“A-and what do you mean by that!? Earlier, I believe it was your whip that got in the way of my Holy Eggplant Blade, was it not?”

In the flocking army of lesser demons, they were the only two that stood to face them. As they stood with their backs to the other, this impressive combination displayed their signature moves, and at the same time, hindered each other.

“Ah…. Well, if I had to say it, it’s just as expected, hm?”

“……”

The two angels that had rushed to help, for a while, could only watch in a stunned disbelief at the dangerous situation the two had wound themselves in. In the first place, they had been made a pair in hopes of deepening the friendship of the two, whose personalities were polar opposites, but it seemed that the hurdle had been too high. It looked like their relationship may have only gotten even worse than before.

“Can’t be helped. Shall we lend a hand?”

“….. Yeah.”

Suddenly, a bright white light flashed. When the light faded, the demons that had surrounded Luka and Gaku had all been purified, and from the thin smoke appeared two young men. The blue-eyed youth, swinging his fists while performing agile jumps, was taking down one enemy after the other with a splendid display of martial arts. Standing back-to-back, he dark blue-eyed youth, slightly taller than the other and wearing an annoyed expression, fired with twin pistols at his targets with fine precision.

His fist was said to have power enough to destroy an entire mountain with a single strike, and the sound of the shots fired from his gun were said to resound until the ends of the world. This combination moved as if their two hearts were combined as one, wasting no time in clearing enemies both from both close and long range. The two angels that had been at odds during their own combat, could only stare, dumbfounded.

“You two—you came….”

“…. I could have taken care of this much by myself.”

Although the two immediately said contradicting things, compared to before, a shade of relief colored their expressions.

“Now then, let’s clean up.”

As soon as those words were said, a splendid kick spun through the air. Several lesser demons up against four novice archangels. In unison, all four of them carried out their signature techniques. Their victory was assured.

After all the lesser demons had been eliminated, the empty premises were carefully searched, but they were unable to find the higher-ranking demons that were thought to have been manipulating the army of lesser demons this time.

Because they had been recklessly using skills filled with holy energy, all the plants around them were blooming beautifully despite it being late fall. Excessive use of their powers caused the balance in the human world to become unstable, and although they had been warned by their superiors to refrain from using anything too strong, it couldn’t have been helped this time around. Wading through the tall grasses, they came to a tree that was now only a snapped trunk.

“I wonder why only the plants around here are all ruined…. Hm? Is this… bread?”

The blue-eyed angel found a hollow near the trees roots, hidden by the grass. Even if they were to assume this was a secret base made by a human child, there were no settlements nearby. And it was too small for a demon’s hideaway. However, it was suspicious that there was a piece of bread just lying in a place like this.

“I suppose we’ll have to do further investigation another day……”

Quietly, he arranged the grass back to its original position. He could hear the voice of the two that had started arguing. ‘Again?’ He thought, and when he went over to join them, he saw that Kaito was watching with disinterest. It didn’t seem like he had any plans to intervene. This kind of this was usually left to him, rather than Kaito.

“You guys~ Haven’t I told you to get along?”

“…. But Gaku is…!”

“Are you directing the blame at me? In the first place, you….”

As expected, it wasn’t so simple to stop them once they’d started. Especially since this wasn’t the first time.

“Haa……”

“….. Just give it up already.”

“You say that, but…. If we leave things as they are, I’m sure that today’s events are just going to repeat again. And we’ll be the ones that have to clean up afterwards.”

“….. You have a point.”

The angel with the dark blue eyes lapsed into thought for a while. Perhaps because the blue-eyed angel beside him had that forward personality of his, he seemed determined to mend the relationship between the other two, who were constantly fighting over everything.

“Hey, you two, why do you have to fight every time you see each other?”

They both answered at the same time, “Because our personalities don’t match!”

“Oh? It seems to me that you’re actually pretty compatible, though. Then, how about we think about it this way? Aren’t there any parts of your personalities that do match? For example… hobbies, or something.”

“Hobbies….?” Again, they both answered in sync.

“R-right, right! Err, couldn’t it be that you two really do get along?”

That last part was muttered in a quiet voice, in hopes that they wouldn’t hear. And just as he’d wished, neither of them seemed to have caught what he’d said.

“My hobby, hm…. I would say that my heart is most focused when it comes to swords. There is nothing better. When I wield my sword, I become free of obstructive thoughts, and become more deeply connected to my own heart.”

“Ugh…. How barbaric. Aren’t swords that kind of tools that demons use? My hobby is tea. I enjoy having tea time. Calming my heart and improving mental concentration.”

“I see…… But, when you think about it in the end, don’t your hobbies resemble each other? I mean, they’re both hobbies that are centered around mentality. Then, how about this? Gaku, why not have tea together with Luka next time? And then after that, maybe you two could try doing sword practice together. You never know until you give it a shot!”

“Absolutely not!” Once again, there came a synchronized answer.

“I…. I see. Looks like this is going to be harder than I thought….”

“Oi, you two,”

It was then that Kaito, who had been silent this entire time, finally opened his mouth. Somehow, the wrinkles on his brow seemed even deeper than they usually were.

“….. Because we were called to come as soon as possible, we rushed over, and yet, when I waited at the arranged place for hours, neither of you showed up.”

“Uu…”

“Concerned, we came all the way to the human world, and find this disgraceful scene of archangels defending themselves against small fry demons.”

“Uuu….”

“And to top it off, without even a word of thanks for being saved, you continue to stubbornly quarrel amongst yourselves, and fail to find any valuable leads. …. The next time something like this happens, don’t expect me to help anymore.”

After being lectured with this much accuracy, their temper from earlier seemed to have disappeared, and instead, both Gaku and Luka drooped with bowed heads. It seemed like they were reflecting on their actions.

“Now, now, Kaito. Let’s just let it slide today.”

“…. You’re always too soft on them.”

“Really? Well, it’s fine either way. It’s pretty funny to see them being stupid like this when they’re arguing.”

“What!?” They both cried out indignantly.

“….. Nonsense. In any case, I expect to see improved teamwork from now on.”

Kaito said this with a sharp glare. There was quite a bit of force behind it.

“……”

“Ahaha. Earlier, their responses with completely in sync, down to the last breath, so I think their teamwork is already starting to improve. Well then, first off, we’ll start by accepting each other through our hobbies, shall we? As soon as we get back to Heaven, we’ll start making preparations for tea~ ……”

“!! That’s—” Already, they were protesting in unison.

Although they had begun to deny this suggestion, suddenly, they felt an alarming spiritual pressure. They could almost feel a chill as the blue-eyed youth said with a wide grin,

“You mean to say ‘yes sir,’ right?”

In the face of that smile, beautiful as blooming flowers, the two completely shrunk back. He was scarier than anyone when angered.

Afterwards, Gaku was invited to Luka’s tea time, and upon awakening to the world of tea, began to learn the basics of enjoying tea from her. Luka, as well, would accompany Gaku in her free time, and together, they engaged in mental training with their sword and whip. Unexpectedly, they realized how well their hobbies suited each other, and got along so well that it seemed unreal how much they used to argue.

Ever since this incident, the bond strengthened between the two angels whose personalities were said to be polar opposites. Furthermore, the fact that the meddlesome blue-eyed one, and the dark blue-eyed angel (who pretended disinterest but was actually rather caring) supported them from the shadows—well, that’s another story.