Ch. 7
*Sakura*

Morning came after seven torturous hours. I barely slept. The guest bed was insanely soft and comfortable, but I was too stressed to give it a chance. I had lied on the floor all night, bouncing back ideas as to how I would go about luring an Aejin anywhere. They were sly, manipulative, and hard to identify. They tricked you - it was hardly ever the other way around.

The room was too warm for my liking, but I ignored that fact. Denjo wanted me to cooperate with him, and in doing so, complaining would not help. I glanced over at the clock, noticing that it was 5:55 am. I didn’t know what sort of Angel Denjo was, but I hoped he liked being up early.

I left the room with hesitance. Like I had noticed before, everything around me was not suitable for a normal lifestyle. It was too clean, too perfect. I felt like my boots would scuff the marble floors and ruin them. Wondering if this part of the house were the same as downstairs, I rubbed my fingertips together to generate energy. To my surprise, ice began to form around my finger pads and spread up to my knuckles. I stopped with the hand magic, feeling more confident in myself before heading downstairs.

As I reached the bottom step, I realized that I didn’t know where I was going. Where did Denjo walk off to when he had left me? How big was this place? Was there a door to exit?

“An early bird, I see.”

I spun around in a panic, but my face refused to show this. It was a trained reaction. I simply allowed my heart to pound in my chest until it felt like calming down.

“Is it amusing to make mysterious entrances?” I retorted.

“Most of the time,” Denjo replied, unamused by my tone of voice.

I noticed he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. It made me wonder if he slept at night or not. My curiosity was driving me up a wall.

I didn’t know what to say to him. He had captured me, and now I had "slept" in his mansion-like home, and everything seemed awkward. Was I supposed to ask to eat something? Or move on as if I didn’t need anything? What were his plans?

“If you’d like to eat breakfast, the kitchen is a few rooms down the hall. You can make due with what’s there, I suppose.”

“Thank you,” I replied uncomfortably. I turned away from him, walking down the elegant hall, feeling guilt in each step I took. My black boots were stained with dirt and other substances. But taking them off seemed improper.

My eyes found the kitchen to the right of me. It was much larger than the one offered at the LYS. And just like every other room in the house, it was prettied and spotless. I opened one of the cabinets, noticing he had a box of oatmeal at the bottom. It seemed like the easiest and quickest option for food, compared to the other choices.

I grabbed the box and placed it on the counter. After a minute of digging around in some other storage places, I managed to find a teapot to boil water in. I placed it on the stove and poured the dry oatmeal into a bowl. Looking behind me, I found a stool to sit on while I waited for the water.

“Would you like some cinnamon?” Denjo’s voice broke through the silence in the air, once again startling me. But my demeanor remained unfazed as I turned around.

It was too weird for him to seem polite. He wanted to help, but from my analysis, he wasn’t the caring type.

“Um, sure,” I said. I watched as he opened one of the top cabinets that I probably couldn’t reach on my own. He pulled out a rack of spices and picked out a shorter container and placed it on the counter beside my oatmeal bowl. “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I ate earlier. I’ll be fine,” he replied.

I turned around as my awkwardness grew more apparent. I wondered if he actually did eat, or if he was just saying that to get me to stop questioning him. He was odd, and I couldn’t breathe calmly in his house.

The teapot began to scream, and I swiftly put together my breakfast. I grabbed the tiny cinnamon bottle after I mixed everything together and attempted to place it back in its rack spot. But like I had guessed, it was a bit too tall for me to reach. I unzipped my jacket, releasing my ice-laced wings. They boosted me up a few inches so I could put the bottle back correctly. It felt nice to do things independently instead of having Denjo do it for me. But showing off your wings in an intimate place was scandalous and usually seen as flirtatious.

I ignored this folklore and slipped my jacket back on, hoping this didn’t bother Denjo. I wiped down his counters before actually eating the oatmeal, which didn’t take me very long. All the while this was happening, Denjo simply watched. It creeped me out a bit. I didn’t know how to act. This whole situation reminded me of that Beauty and the Beast fairytale Earth children talked about.

I finished eating as quickly as I could without looking like a slob. But Denjo didn’t really seem to mind my eating pace. He seemed too caught up in deep thought while sitting on the stool next to the one I had used before. I washed my dishes in the sink before turning around to face him.

“Do you know of the town just north of the city?” he asked, staring straight into my eyes.

“Kimu town, you mean?” I inquired, trying to clarify.

“Precisely.”

“What about it?”

“We must go there. That’s where the next attack will take place,” he said, standing up from the stool.

“And how exactly do you know that?” I asked.

“I just sort of… feel it, I suppose.”

I gave him a suspicious look, wondering what he meant by that. But clearly, he wasn’t going to say anything more. His puzzle of life was confusing me - I wondered if it pleased him to remain mysterious.

“Follow me,” he finally spoke as he left the kitchen. I walked behind him obediently. He had led the two of us down a few more elongated hallways before we reached a dungeon-like door. There was a tiny lock mechanism on the handle, which required a combination of five different letters or numbers. With ease, he spun the five dials into their correct positions and the door clicked before opening.

The sunlight shone into his house for a moment. He stepped to the side, allowing me to walk out first. My pale skin began to soak up the sun, but I felt weak in its warmth. I glanced back, seeing that Denjo didn’t really enjoy the sun either.

Looking around, I noticed that I had no idea where I was. This house, or mansion, was located in the midst of nowhere land. I guess I had to follow his lead if I wanted to get anywhere. At least it was safe to take flight.

“Are we taking a human path to Kimu town? Or is it safe to fly?” I asked.

“In order to keep you in check, we’ll be taking a human route.”

I lowered my eyes in annoyance. He didn’t trust me. Which made perfect sense, in all honesty, but flying was so much more convenient. I followed him around his house to his driveway of sorts, where a Toyota Camry was parked in the front. He walked around to the driver’s seat while I took shotgun. I really hoped he knew how to operate a car correctly.

“Kimu is a 90 minute drive from here. I’d advise you sleep on the way there,” he suggested while turning on the ignition. My cheek twitched at his awkward homeliness. He probably only wanted me to sleep so that I would forget my surroundings and be incapable of figuring out where his house was located.

But despite how badly I wanted to stay awake, my mind refused to let me. I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept all night, and stress was pounding inside my mind. It hurt, and I foolishly let myself rest.

I felt a nudge on my arm, and quickly jolted awake. My face paled to the shade of my hair, and I looked away in embarrassment. It was unlike me to be so careless.

I stepped out of the car and held onto the zipper lining of my jacket. Acting as a human was part of my job, but this was different. This was alongside a stranger. And if anyone from the LYS spotted me, I’d be in deep trouble.

Kimu was a cutesy little suburban area just outside of the city. I hadn’t visited it much, since it usually didn’t get into supernatural turmoil. But supposedly Denjo felt different about that. I was still curious as to how he “knew” that Aejins would be here. Was he psychic? I’d never heard of the psychic Angel type. The closest to psychics I knew of were Wizards, Gods or Goddesses. Angels didn’t have that ability.

“The church down the road.”

“What?” I looked over at him, just now noticing that he was walking beside me.

“That’s where it’ll happen.”

“Right… Because you can ‘just feel it.’ Mind me asking what you are, exactly?” My heart pounded at the personal question, but I wanted to know.

“Do you have a plan of action ready?” he asked, ignoring my question completely. I grumbled, wondering if I should be considerate enough to answer his question.

“Yes,” I replied. I decided against asking again.

The two of us headed into the church. The humans’ mass wouldn’t start for another 30 minutes, but based on the way Denjo was acting, I began to assume it wouldn’t start at all. He instructed me to sit towards the back while he took a seat up front.

I put on a shy demeanor and huddled to one side of the bench. What was the point of separating? It was hard to identify an Aejin by myself, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He didn’t make a lot of sense.

The two of us sat still for a long while, simply waiting for an Aejin to show up. But that usually wasn’t how it happened. The priest stepped inside and walked up to the podium on the front stage. He fumbled through his bible, bookmarking certain pages for the service. I watched him intently, wondering if he was the Aejin. I wasn’t acting like my usual self. I needed to clear my head and focus.

The service finally began after dozens of people shuffled in the door. There were so many of them, and they all looked so eager to hear the word of their God. It reminded me of when mother forced Jun and I to give our offerings to our local shrine. Jun would always complain about how he never got to keep any of his money from working since Janiah, our savior, was more important. He became so irritated with his forced family worship that he began hiding his income in some of the ice caverns below our home. And surprisingly, mother never figured that out.

I smiled faintly before snapping back into reality. This was human church. Everyone was dressed in fancy clothing to respect God. They also had musical instruments of sorts towards the front, being subtly played by two staff members. They made pleasant and mystical noises. It gave the church a certain feeling of importance. I listened respectfully, appreciating their hymns and bible verses.

After the music died off, the priest began preaching the word. I scanned around the room, seeing most of the elderly enthralled in his message, while the younger people were dozing off. How typical. I was so focused on figuring out who was sitting where that I didn’t pay any attention to the person sitting right next to me. That was, until they tapped me on the shoulder.

“Would you mind telling me what they hand out to us for communion? I have a wheat allergy,” the man said. As soon as my neck turned to face him, I became utterly confused.

Of all the people for an Aejin to be disguised as, chief was their go to? I had thought up at least 10 possibilities of who I could’ve faced, and chief was not on that list. He was someone I needed to protect and honor, but I really had no emotional connection to him in any way.

“Chief…? What are you doing here?” I asked in a dumbfounded voice. Aejins were smarter than this. Maybe it actually was chief. I wasn’t certain quite yet.

“I’ve been tracking your location through your com-watch, and I was a bit concerned with where you have been,” he replied, looking over at me with narrowed eyes. Immediately, I scooted away from him ever so slightly. Location tracking was against his morals. At least I could confirm it was an Aejin I was talking to.

“I’m just doing my job. Sometimes it takes me out of town a bit. There’s nothing unusual going on, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I faked reassurance.

“Right. Of course not. Have you gotten any leads?”

“Is this really the place to be asking? We’re in a church, chief.”

“Well you never really stay long in the office to have a genuine conversation with me,” he replied irritably.

“I would if you didn’t constantly ridicule agents with those stupid sad eyes of yours,” I snapped, wondering how the Aejin would react.

His next response wasn’t verbal, it was physical, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it. The church’s stained glass shattered all around us and the light came beating in. I jumped in panic, and heard a loud wince over the screams around me. I looked to the front of the church, seeing Denjo struggling in pain. The light burned him.

I stood up immediately and backed away from chief. Pissing off whatever creature an Aejin was morphed into never ended well. I should have realized this. But this one seemed overly sensitive.

“What the hell, chief!” I yelled, still trying to play it off like I didn’t know. I wanted to grab Denjo’s attention, though.

Chief grumbled in annoyance. The Aejin knew I was playing dumb, and didn’t want to put up with it any longer. But I couldn’t exactly reveal myself with so many humans around, dumbfounded by what was happening around them. They needed to leave, otherwise I’d have to deal with bigger issues back at the LYS for blowing my cover.

“You’ve disappointed me, Sakura, countless times before. And now you’re just plain disrespectful,” chief yelled as he approached me angrily.

This scenario happening with the real chief was unrealistic, but I was letting this get to me. I was letting guilt seep through my skin even though I shouldn’t have. I backed away from him, helplessly. I couldn’t expose myself to humans, especially with a spitting image of chief charging after me.

The pastor finally yelled at everyone, telling them to exit the church, as the rest of service would be held outside until the mess was cleaned up. I exhaled in relief, but continued backing away from the Aejin chief looming towards me. I hustled to the front of the church as the pastor left, paying no attention to those who were still inside. A few humans stuck back and shot us concerned glances before trying to shoo us away. They seemed to be the janitor crew, and unfortunately, they would have to be eliminated.

I planted my feet on the ground as soon as the front doors shut behind the pastor. My army stance seemed to confuse the Aejin, as I no longer appeared frightened like before. I tore my jacket off and arched my shoulder blades, allowing my icy laced wings to span out quickly and majestically. They sprinkled ice shards around my feet and into the air. The Aejin stepped back, a bit taken back by the sight of my new identity.

“Cooperate, and you won’t need to feel much pain,” I warned. “But fight back, and you’ll wish you’d never landed on Earth.”

I sprung forward and released beams of ice from my hands. Even though I hadn’t fought in over a month, it felt as if I never took a break. The Aejin backed away, skillfully dodging my attack. They were speedy bastards. He bled from his wrist and crafted a blade from the black particles surrounding his palm. I took two steps back to distance myself from his attack range. He swung at me anyways, and released the knife from his grasp. I skid to my left, avoiding it by a few inches.

Adrenaline was pulsing through me, but I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn’t kill him. Denjo needed him alive. If I could freeze him over, everything would become a lot simpler. But at the moment, he was too quick for me to get a good shot.

Chief hustled towards me again and attempted hand-to-hand combat instead. I gripped the being’s clenched fist and forced it away from me before twisting his wrist. He took his free hand and pummeled me in the stomach. I released his hand and shuffled back a few steps before regaining my stance.

Before I could swing at him, I noticed his demeanor had changed slightly. He was smirking devilishly, which made me uncomfortable. Chief never smirked, and making him do so was unsettling. I turned my head in the direction the Aejin was focused on. Denjo was up against the walls of the church, hiding from the sunlight.

“I see you’ve brought a friend, eh?” the Aejin said before diverting his path away from me.

“That’s a bit of a stretch,” I replied sarcastically. If anything, Denjo was the one who dragged me here without my consent. I glanced over at Denjo, seeing that he was too uncomfortable to step out into the light. He gave me a look of concern, as if he were trying to say, “capture this dick before he gets me.” Although I didn’t like following orders from strangers, I wanted the thing captured anyway.

I clenched my fists and let an outburst of frost release from within me. A shockwave of pure ice shot all around me, reaching the Aejin without giving him time to react. I made sure to keep the span close enough so it wouldn’t hit Denjo. The Aejin turned around, frustrated. It didn’t seem to work as well as I thought it would.

“Two against one, you prick. Choose your enemy,” I glared at him. He seemed unamused.

“Gladly,” he replied, before vanishing from plain sight. My eyes widened in horror. Teleportation was not one of their abilities. Was this a new adaptation? Or was this Aejin not pure? Had I just let him get away?

Before I could ponder more ridiculous possibilities, I felt a tug around my neck, and breathing suddenly became difficult. The being had appeared behind me, and began to strangle me. I could feel the hot black particles form in his palm as he created another blade of some sort to choke me with. I shuffled my feet back and forth trying to find the right position to trip him without beheading myself, but I couldn’t feel him behind me. The blade began nicking my neck, and I could feel a small teardrop of blood trickle down my quivering neck.

“I’ll execute the both of you, slowly and painfully. And since your little demon friend can’t stand the sunlight, escaping wo-” the Aejin stopped talking, as if he were cut off by someone. I didn’t understand why until I glanced back over to where Denjo was. He had disappeared from sight as well. This teleportation was driving me up a wall. But I guess that was one way to avoid the sunlight.

“Show yourself, you demonic bastard! Appear before me and this scum won’t die in my grasp!” he called out to nothing. I really didn’t know if Denjo cared about my life at the moment since I hadn’t successfully captured this thing. It was the other way around at the moment. But before I wanted to find that out, I kicked my boot forward before swinging it backwards and striking the Aejin straight between the legs. Although it wouldn’t hurt him as bad, I took the small moment of looseness to break his grasp completely, and swung out of his chokehold.

The Aejin swore under his breath and hunched over slightly. “You’ll pay for that,” he growled before charging towards me. I spread my wings once more, and lifted myself off the ground before he could do anything. Crystalized ice shards shimmered and dropped beneath me, blinding the Aejin momentarily. I was planning on kicking him straight in the head, but something swift caught my eye. Denjo dropped down from the very top of the church ceiling and allowed his wings to tear through his jacket. Deep, onyx shaded wings extended from left to right, and spanned out to twice my wingspan. My eyes couldn’t help but dilate when I looked at them. They were enormous !

Denjo cupped them outwards to slow his speed as he dove downwards. I froze, thinking he would simply land on top of the Aejin and possibly break a bone. But instead, he swung around the “chief” and shot a glowing net out from inside his jacket. The Aejin smirked, and grabbed a hold of it, electrocuting his hand in the process. He cringed, but swung the net at me in his agony. I swerved out of the way, allowing it to fling through the air and eventually zap down on the ground. Was this a game of hot potato? Sparks dispersed throughout the marble flooring and crawled their way over to the Aejin. He hopped up onto a church bench and glared at Denjo. “You’re not that slick, demon,” he scoffed.

“I really don’t understand why you keep calling me that,” Denjo replied calmly. He hovered over the marble floor allowing the sparks to zip past him. As the electricity cleared off, he landed heavily and split the floor into four fragments beneath his feet. He walked towards the Aejin without fear, despite the sun beating down on his skin. The marble crumbled with each step he took, and eventually broke the bench the Aejin was cowering on, causing him to fall and land on his back. Denjo stood above him as his skin burned, but refused to move. “I’m a dark guardian angel,” he stated solemnly before backing away quickly. The same power-locked sack that had trapped me once came down from the ceiling and consumed the Aejin, successfully capturing him. Denjo smirked before picking up the sack and hauling it over his shoulder. “Shall we go?” he asked innocently, looking up at me who was barely managing to hover properly.

“You… How did… what?” I stuttered, unsure of how to string a sentence together properly. Denjo walked towards me, ceasing to crumble the marbled floor as he stepped. I landed on what was left of the ground and continued to stare at his huge wings. Only a guardian’s wings could span that long, but what in the world was a dark guardian angel? Denjo grabbed a hold of my hand and zapped us away from the scene. I blinked, realizing he had teleported us and the Aejin into his heated car. I pulled my hand away from him quickly, suddenly feeling awkward. His grasp was so gentle, and it pulled up bad flashbacks. I squirmed in my seat and stared at him, dumbfounded. “How-”

“All will be explained later,” he interrupted. He threw the Aejin into the back seat and started the car engine. “We have an Aejin to interrogate first.”

I sunk in my seat and buckled in. An abundance of thoughts were racing through my mind, and I couldn’t really stop them. They flooded my senses and gave me a headache. All I could do was sit in my confusion, and wait until I returned back to Denjo’s place for everything to make sense.