An Angel

The touch was nice and gentle. I didn’t know who it was exactly, but from the delicate way it shook my back, I could tell it was a girl. They probably couldn’t tell I was slightly awake either. I’m gonna enjoy this a bit longer. I began to roll over to the other side. From the soft exterior of the surface I resided upon, I could tell I was lying on a bed.

“Five more minutes.” Those were the words I muttered. I expected to feel more of those slight, gentle taps and waking up to a pretty and cute girl by my side, but that fantasy never happened. Instead, a smell traveled throughout my nose.

It didn’t smell as bad as garbage; it smelled worse. Like a skunk got mixed with vomit a hundred times over, but even that would be dull in comparison to the foulness of that vile odor. My bloodshot eyes pierced open, my mouth still gagging on that devilish fragrance. However, my teary eyes were blessed in that moment.

I saw Yukimura, not in her normal school clothes, but in casual clothing. Some would say it was nothing to be impressed by, but seeing her in that white hoodie next to the bedside completely blew me away.

“Are you an angel?”

When I asked that question, she immediately took a step back. She took a weird posture, as if she was reaching for a weapon that wasn’t there, and when she did, my dazzled eyes met her own glare. But I don’t know why she was making that face.

“Did I do something wrong?”

I tried to get up, but then I felt a sharp pain surge through my body. When she saw my pained expression, it was the first time I heard her speak in a long time.

“Is it the Kishin?”

Kishin. When that word was uttered through her soft voice, the pain I felt magnified. I keeled over, gripping onto the bedsheets as I shrieked out in pain. Before I tilted over the edge of the bed, I saw a blur. It bolted toward the door of the room.

I thought it was Yukimura as I tumbled onto the ground, letting the bed cover fall on top of me. I only felt my hand stick out from underneath those covers as I muttered, “Wait, please, don’t leave yet.”

As I was blinded by the fabric over my eyes, the pain continued to run rampant in my body. I felt the seconds and minutes pass me by, and eventually, I couldn’t even twitch anymore. I only lay in a painful silence, awaiting Yukimura’s return. And eventually, someone did. However, when the cover was removed, I saw that it wasn’t Yukimura.

In place of her was a different girl. Her hair wasn’t Yukimura’s elegant and long hair; it was short and blonde. The next thing I noticed was her eyes. They were a rosy red color, the exact opposite of Yukimura’s eyes. And the final thing I noticed was her lips. Unlike Yukimura, the girl’s mouth was quivering as she said something. At least I thought she said something, but just like Yukimura, she didn’t let a whisper escape.

I was about to question her, but I was hesitant to because of the pain. The pain? Wait, where is it? I used my hands to feel around my chest, and I felt nothing. The pain was completely gone.

Is it because of her? She does seem to be relieved. Screw it, I’ll just thank her anyway.

I placed my hands on her shoulders, about to thank her. But before I could speak, I heard a masculine voice yell, “Get away from my sister!” Following that outburst, I immediately got sent flying towards the opposite side of the room.

I opened my eyes for the third time and saw an arm. At least, that’s what it looked like, but there’s no possible way a person’s arm could stretch that long and be that big. It looked like it took up a quarter of the room, and it seemed to reach me from the doorway. So, I said what any normal person would in this situation.

“What the hell is that?”

“What do you mean? It’s an arm. Haven’t you seen one before, or did you hit your head so hard you forgot that you had one?” That was what the same masculine voice from earlier remarked as the arm began to return to a normal size, retracting toward where the boy stood.

The boy stepped into the room right after his arm was normal, rolling his shoulders like they were as good as new. His feet stopped right before my own, leaving his dark red eyes to look down upon me. He stared at me like I was no better than an animal. But I didn’t back down. Sure, he may be bigger than me, but I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me, especially when I saw Yukimura in the hallway, just past his figure.

“I know what an arm is…” I said those words as I began to stand. “But why the hell did you go out of your way to punch me?”

“Because you’re a filthy yokai, that’s why. And no yokai is touching my sister!”

“Yokai? What are you talking about?”

“Just look in the mirror on your left, and you'll see what I’m talking about.”

Even though he just punched me, I decided to follow his words because he seemed to have some insight into my current situation. And when I saw my reflection through the glass, I was appalled at the sight of myself. There was a big cone-shaped pimple on my forehead.

I felt around that area to confirm it, and yup, it was there. It was protruding from the left side of my head, right under my hair, and a few inches above my eyebrows.

You know what, maybe Yukimura didn’t notice it. But if this guy could point it out, she definitely could see it.

“How long has this pimple been there?”

“Pimple? What are you talking about? That’s a horn.”

“A horn? That’s even worse!”

The guy behind me started laughing whilst I frantically patted down my head. The girl who was this guy’s so-called sister backed up into the doorway. On top of that, I still don’t know what’s going on, and Yukimura is still nowhere to be seen. Is this hell?

However, the laughter in the room ceased as a pair of resounding footsteps made its way through the doorway. It was the sound of leather shoes tapping against the floor of the room. The source: a grown man in a suit. He looked no older than 40, but still had grey hair like someone well above his age. In his hands was a bundle of paper. He held it up to his face before looking back at me, addressing me in a raspy but relaxed voice.

“Yashura Shin. I can tell you have a lot of questions, seeing that you just woke up. And I’ll answer all of them, but first you’ll have to follow me…”

Okay, where to? A cafe? A walk in the park? The back of an alleyway?

“To the dining room. I finished making breakfast, and I assume you’re hungry since this is the first time in three days that you're up and about.”

Three days? Only bears could sleep that long.

However, I was inclined to believe him when my stomach growled in hunger. And seeing Yukimura behind him was all the proof that I needed to trust him.