Archive of Our Own

Hana was an angel. Not the kind that humans usually though of when they heard the word—ones who sat on your shoulder and counseled you out of bad decisions. No, Hana was a force of holy vengeance—a righteous warrior created to cast sinners into hell. 

And there were no sinners worse than those who abandoned their humanity to make a deal with a demon. There was no mercy for those who forsook the heavens to collude with demons. Their greed knew no bounds and they damned themselves to Hell the moment they signed a contract with a demon. Hana was one of those who were sent to right the order of the world by eliminating them. 

She had completed this role from the moment she came into existence, and she would continue to do so until she became worthless to the gods and her consciousness faded out of existence. That truth was written into her very being, there was no need for her to question it. And yet, somehow a single human made her—for the first time since her creation—feel doubt in her mission. It should not be possible for her to feel it, and yet impossibly she did. It wormed its way into her thoughts, rewriting the very core of her being to do so. And it was all because of the most insignificant reason—a human girl. 

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Tsumiki Fushiguro should just be one in another long list of sinners that Hana dealt with. There was no trial needed. The humans who Hana was sent to vanquish were the lowest of the low, there was no explanation that could justify their sins. 

Something made her pause this time. She could have easily struck the girl down where she stood—it’s what she should have done. But Tsumiki Fushiguro did not look like the type of human to sin so egregiously. 

Hana was aware of her biographical information. It was how she honed in on Tsumiki Fushiguro’s consciousness when locating her. She had existed in the world for twenty-two years and was currently attending an educational institute for humans. When Hana identified her among the stream of human souls, she was startled by how brightly Tsumiki Fushiguro’s shined. 

Souls were not tangible to humans, but they were visible to angels. They often reflected the state of their host. The more morally just a person was, the brighter their soul would shine. The more reprehensible their actions, the duller their essence would be. The people who Hana was sent to eliminate were usually in possession of souls that barely had any glow left to them. 

Yet this girl… For the first time Hana questioned her own abilities. Tsumiki Fushiguro’s soul could only be described as beautiful. A soul was the true essence of life, and therefore the true representation of a human’s beauty and character in the eyes of angels. Humans could not comprehend their own souls, so they valued physical appearance more than that of their character—a notion that had always seemed shallow to her. 

Tsumiki Fushiguro’s soul was a beacon, even if Hana had not been searching her out, she would have noticed her while sorting through the souls existing around her. This girl had committed the sin of making a deal with a demon, her soul should be tarnished beyond repair. Surely this was not the human she had been sent to destroy?

Her internal compass told her that she had not made any errors despite Hana’s attempts to realign herself and broaden her search for some other Tsumiki Fushiguro. Eventually, Hana acquiesced to the pull in her consciousness telling her that the shining soul in front of her was truly her target. 

She found herself descending to Earth like she normally did, but this time instead of simply eliminating her target form a distance, she allowed herself to get close enough to watch first. 

Tsumiki Fushiguro was a normal looking girl. She fit the metric that humans used to consider an individual attractive, and yet she was not overly unique in her appearance either. She began smiling at her companion as Hana watched her. Hana did not understand human concepts of beauty, and yet for a moment she felt as if she might as she saw the radiance that overtook the girl in front of her as a smile crossed her face. 

The companion she was talking to was another girl her age, a friend. They were studying for an exam—Hana’s mind informed her as she watched the humans from afar. They continued with their discussion blissfully unaware of the heavenly being monitoring their every move. 

Hana knew hesitation was one of the greatest sins an angel could make. Even if Tsumiki Fushiguro’s soul was an anomaly, it could not stop Hana from completing her mission. As she prepared to strike her down, Hana found herself hesitating once again. 

A bug had skittered across the table that Tsumiki Fushiguro and her friend were sitting at. The other girl screamed and pleaded with Hana’s target to kill the creature. Tsumiki soothed her friend with a hand on her shoulder. “It’s probably more scared of us than we are of it,” she said calmly. 

Tsumiki Fushiguro carefully leaned over the table she was sitting at and caught the spider in her hands. Hana could hear her thoughts and sense the physical response of her body to the situation. Despite what she had told her friend, Tsumiki Fushiguro felt fear at the spider’s presence—her heart hammered and her skin prickled. Despite that, she did not release the bug captured in her hands until it was set outside the window of the room they were in. 

All life deserves a chance. What right do I have to decide this spider’s existence is any less important than my own. I shouldn’t have the right to kill it just because I have the power to do so. 

Tsumiki’s thoughts flowed through Hana’s consciousness like musical notes. Her sentiment was kind, and her intentions were pure. Hana could not force herself to continue with her plan to smite the girl after seeing such a selfless display. It would have been easy for her to simply kill the creature that had frightened her. Killing a lesser being such as the bug would not even be a sin. She had no reason to refrain from doing so, and yet she had. 

Hana did not understand, nor could she believe that this was the very same sinner she had been sent to eliminate. She took a closer look into the girl’s mind, watching moments in her life where she had done similar selfless acts. She had raised her brother from childhood even though she would have prospered better if she had simply abandoned him and focused on her own well-being. Her actions were not a facade either, her thoughts and intentions matched the kindness of her deeds. 

She was the last person that should be cast into Hell for their sins. The moment that Hana thought so, she pulled her consciousness back from Tsumiki Fushiguro, feeling blinded by the strength of light around her soul as she did. Thoughts like that were not allowed, they were paramount to disobedience, and disobedience was death. 

Nevertheless, Hana decided that their must have been some kind of mistake when this target was assigned to her. She returned to heaven that day without completing her mission for the first time in her life. 

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“You did not complete your task soldier,” her superior noted as Hana returned to Heaven with Tsumiki Fushiguro still alive and well back on Earth. 

Hana felt the gaze of the much older angel bore into her soul. She was still very young when it came to the legion of angels—still a fledging with her wings barely under her in their eyes—and she had never felt more like a mere fledgling than this moment. “There was an error in my assignment,” she informed the elder angel, feeling strange as she did. Was this what it meant to be unsure? Hana had never felt unsure before, it was not in her nature. 

“Heaven does not make errors,” her superior said coldly. “You will return to Earth and complete your mission.”

The response brokered no room for debate, yet Hana felt that she needed to explain further. “Tsumiki Fushiguro is kind and well-meaning. I peered into her soul and saw only good.”

“She colluded with demons, there is no forgiveness for such an act,” the angel told her without even pausing to consider her words. “Are you unable to complete your task?”

Hana felt crushed under her superior’s stare, “No. I will return and carry out the mission,” she responded. There was only one fate for angels who could not complete their tasks. She only existed to serve, if she could not do so, then she would be worthless and therefore cast out of the heavens. 

Her obedience did not get rid of the doubts that plagued her as much as Hana wished for nothing more than to stop this uncomfortable feeling inside her. Regardless of her compromised emotional state, she could not disobey her superiors. What reason did she have to exist if she could not serve the heavens? If she did not kill Tsumiki Fushiguro, then it would mean that she had no reason for existing.

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Despite the fact that Tsumiki Fushiguro had to die, Hana did not smite her right away. Instead, she entered the girl’s dreams. She did not know what possessed her to do so, but Tsumiki Fushiguro had incited a curiosity within Hana that she had never experienced before. She could not allow the girl to die before she decoded this anomaly in the natural order of things. 

Tsumiki Fushiguro’s dreams were pleasant. She was a child, running up the stairs on her apartment building and stepping foot on the roof. Hana drifted closer to her resting mind, watching as Tsumiki spread a blanket out and sat down with rosy cheeks. “Hurry up Megumi, the clouds are gone, we can see the constellations now!” She yelled towards the staircase she had just run up—calling to her brother. 

This was a memory that the girl was reliving in her dreams. And by Hana’s reading of her brain response, it was a positive memory for her. This was a moment in her life where she had felt happiest. And yet Hana knew from searching through her mind that her and her brother had nothing to their name but a poorly functioning apartment at this time. She had no reason to be happy, and yet somehow she still had been. 

Hana’s consciousness was something humans could perceive if she strayed close enough, and while watching, Hana had allowed herself to bridge that distance between their minds. The child version of Tsumiki in the dream shivered and turned to look right at her. The dream froze as Tsumiki Fushiguro felt Hana’s presence in her mind. “Who are you?” the child asked her curiously. 

Hana felt that there was no reason to ignore the question. The girl would be dead by the end of the night anyway. It was at least fair for her to know of what had damned her before it came to pass. “An angel, your executioner,” she informed the girl. 

Tsumiki Fushiguro did not seem startled by the proclamation. If anything, she appeared resigned, as if she had expected this to come to pass. “Yuji told me this would likely happen,” the child said with a morbid smile, “I take it that I am not going to wake up tomorrow?” She asked Hana. 

“No, you are not,” Hana informed her. Tsumiki merely sighed and nodded. 

Hana had meant to ease her curiosity by watching the girl, and yet she had grown more troubled through their brief interaction. “You feel no fear to lose you life?” 

Tsumiki shrugged, and her dream shifted, showing her as she looked now instead of her as a child. “I would have liked to graduate university before I died, truthfully,” she replied with a small smile, as if this was all a joke to her. “But, I doubt you will be willing to wait for me to do so.”

“I will not,” she let Tsumiki know. 

Tsumiki nodded, “Very well.” She fell silent after that—waiting for her fate without a shred of fear in her heart. 

“You are tainted from your deal, your soul will not ascend to the heavens,” Hana informed her, feeling as though she must be unaware based on how unbothered she was at the prospect of her own death.

“I know, I don’t regret my choice,” Tsumiki replied, much to Hana’s confusion. 

“You will endure the torment of Hell for eternity,” Hana continued, unable to let the conversation go until she felt the proper guilt and fear in Tsumiki Fushiguro’s soul. 

Tsumiki shrugged, “Megumi would have died if I didn’t make that deal,” she told Hana. “He’s my little brother, I would do anything for him.”

“He will be damned too,” Hana said, feeling a flicker of irritation at Tsumiki’s continued indifference to an eternity in Hell. Didn’t she know what she had cursed herself and her brother too? A soul such as hers was a rarity, it was frustrating that such a perfect soul would not reach the heavens as it deserved to. “You doomed his soul by tying it to a demon’s magic.”

Hana was confident that would properly cow Tsumiki Fushiguro’s rebellious spirit, and yet not even that seemed to phase her. “The demon I spoke with promised to protect us once our time comes. We will be safe under his protection, even in Hell.”

If she were human, Hana might have laughed at the foolishness of the notion. Demons were liars and manipulators, and Tsumiki Fushiguro was clearly a fool to believe such a promise, “You will find that the demon lied to you once your soul is cast down.”

“I don’t think that I will,” Tsumiki said with a secretive smile. Hana could feel her thoughts and intentions. Tsumiki was not trying to make fun of her, she was stating what she thought was the truth, and yet Hana felt as though she must be teasing her anyway. 

“Demons cannot be trusted, nor can any who they make deals with,” Hana replied coldly. 

“And who says that must be the case?” Tsumiki asked her, “The demon I spoke to was kind. He made his promise to me in blood. He did not ask anything of me in return for the vow because he wanted to save my brother.”

“He is a demon!” Hana snapped, losing her ability to remain calm. She had never snapped like this before—not to any human or angel she had interacted with. An angel’s natural state was neutrality. They were not meant to engage in emotional outbursts, it was unbecoming of them. Hana had never done so before this, and yet this insignificant human had been the one to make her break for the first time. She was nothing more to Hana than the spider had been to Tsumiki earlier in the day. She was a lesser being than something of divine creation such as Hana. So why did she seem to think she knew better than Hana did? And why didn’t her soul grow tainted by the hubris she was displaying?

Tsumiki felt pity—the emotion flowing from her mind into Hana’s and only angering her further. She was not something to be patronized, she was holy, and this girl was nothing but an unfortunate pest who needed to be eliminated. 

“And you are an angel?” Tsumiki asked, the question not intended to receive an answer. “Who decided that you are wholly good and they are wholly evil? Nothing is ever so simple, everyone can make the choice to do good or bad.” 

Hana hated how this conversation felt like something she could not keep up with. Tsumiki Fushiguro was using arguments that were so asinine there was no response Hana could give for them—that’s how ridiculous they were. But her inability to prove Tsumiki’s folly to her only frustrated her further. It filled Hana with so many emotions. Angels lived in a slow state. Emotions came to them rarely and slowly. She was not used to feeling more than one thing at a time, nor was she used to them coming over her so suddenly. 

It was too confusing, and too overwhelming for Hana. She could not bear to be in this girl’s presence a moment longer and allow this feeling to persist. She needed to eliminate her. She had already dallied too long in her job in the first place. The longer she took to return from her mission, the more weary her superiors would grow of her intentions. She had already failed once today, she could not fail again. 

“Tsumiki Fushiguro, for the sin of consorting with demons you are to be damned to Hell and eternal suffering. When your demon does not follow through on his promise, you will only have your own greed and naivety to blame,” she announced the sentence in a neutral tone. 

“The demon you speak of has a name—Yuji Itadori,” Tsumiki told her, not unkindly, but firmly. “May I know your name before I face damnation. Surely it is only fair to know the name of the one who is going to kill me.”

Hana found herself startled by the question. Angels did not truly have names. As fledgelings new to the world, and watching humans exist on Earth below them, they often grew curious and chose ones for themselves. Hana had chosen a name as a newly formed angel, and she had called herself as such as she grew her wings and learned of her duty to heaven. Once an angel was educated and fully developed, they discarded those human notions of names. Hana was simply a solider of heaven. And yet she still thought of herself as Hana in the privacy of her own mind. 

“I do not have a name,” she told Tsumiki Fushiguro, choosing to give her the mercy of answering this one last question. 

Tsumiki felt a deep sense of sadness at the response. It was so strong as Hana felt the girl’s emotions that for a moment Hana felt as though she was sad as well. “Everyone should have a name,” Tsumiki spoke, a frown marring her pretty face—Hana thought she looked much lovelier when she smiled. 

Why did she think so? Why had her anger vanished so suddenly? Was this girl’s emotions affecting her own from proximity? Hana had not thought that was possible. Sure, she was in contact with the essence of Tsumiki Fushiguro’s soul right now, but a mere human should not be able to effect Hana’s own consciousness. 

“Angels do not require such human follies,” Hana told Tsumiki. 

“Angel or not, you’re still you—there should be something others can call you by and know you by,” Tsumiki said, feeling a righteous anger on… Hana’s behalf? 

She was worried for the one who would damn her to Hell. And worst of all, she felt as though Hana needed defending. As if this human could ever understand the sacred mission that Hana had been born into. So what if it meant she did not possess a name for others to call her outside fo her own thoughts? That was inconsequential. And yet it didn’t stop the uncomfortable feeling settling in Hana’s consciousness at knowing that there was no being in existence that knew her as Hana. She was an angel, one of many. She was happy with that honored existence—she truly was! And this girl would not ruin it for her. The longer Hana hesitated in this interaction, the more the girl managed to twist her thoughts and confuse her. 

Hana spoke no more. Letting Tsumiki Fushiguro talk—she had learned—was dangerous. This girl was as tricky as any demon. Hana could not let herself be swayed. 

Tsumiki seemed to understand the time had come as Hana refocused her attention on the task at hand. The girl took a deep breath and looked up at the stars laid out in her dreams, “Sorry Megumi, I’ll see you soon.” the mumbled words were not for Hana to hear. They were for the brother who would wake up the following morning to find her dead in her bed. 

Hana gathered her power and directed it towards the soul of Tsumiki Fushiguro. The brightness of her soul reflected the heavenly light meant to smite her at first, but at the end of the day she was only human. No matter how luminescent her soul was, it crumpled under the power of the heavens. 

The dreamscape collapsed around Hana, signifying that her job was done. Tsumiki Fushiguro was dead, and all the strange feelings she had foisted upon Hana were gone with her.  She did not linger in the mortal realm any longer once her task was done. She hurried to return to the heavens and report the completion of her task. Hana should be content in the return to the neutral emotional state that made up most of her days. Yet the comfort she found in that normality no longer existed. Instead, she felt empty. Even her brief brush with such strong emotions had overwhelmed her entirely. And the sudden loss of them to return to how things were had left Hana in a limbo state. 

She ignored the vague feeling of wrongness that skirted the edge of her consciousness. She was likely just adjusting to normal once again after being faced with such a confusing human consciousness. Soon, everything would feel natural once again. 

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Time moved differently for those in the heavens than it did on Earth. Hana had rarely processed the passing of time before, it was not something that mattered to a being as eternal as her. Ever since Tsumiki Fushiguro, Hana had grown painfully aware of the time that passed. 

She continued to believe that she would feel normal again once enough time passed.  She meticulously tracked the years that flew by like a blink of an eye. Though she began to grow weary as that change did not come. It seemed no amount of time could restore Hana’s rationality. 

Instead, it felt as though her conscious state had grown more distressed. Somehow that human had infected her with some kind of taint in the brief moments Hana had been in contact with her soul. It was the only explanation for why decades of reality had passed by human time, and Tsumiki Fushiguro had yet to fade into the back of Hana’s memory as she should have. 

She was not human. She did not feel guilt like one would. She had completed her orders by killing Tsumiki and that was the end of it. Yet strangely, Hana found that she could not quite get the girl out of her mind once the deed was done. Instead of how a human would be left with guilt, she was left with a feeling as though she was lacking something. 

Angels were creatures of single-minded focus, designed to complete a specific task for the heavens. And something had gone wrong inside of Hana to mess with that. Her thoughts were no longer solely occupied by her missions as they had been before. Now that space belonged to Tsumiki Fushiguro. Angels did not care for others as humans did. They did not form emotional bonds of friendship or love. What they could feel was much stronger and overwhelming—which is what Hana had descended into ever since she had ended Tsumiki Fushiguro's mortal life. 

She could not understand Tsumiki, and now she would never have the chance. She should not want to understand a sinner, and yet—for the first time in her long existence—Hana desired something. 

She desired something that she absolutely could not entertain the thought of. Desire in and of itself was not natural for an angel to hold. They were vessels of the will of the gods. Therefore their only desires were those that the gods wished for them to hold. Personal desire held no place in that existence. So why was Hana feeling it? What was wrong with her?

She did not have the mercy of escaping the thoughts of this girl that plagued her mind at any time. Angels did not sleep as humans did, their minds did not rest, they did not need to. Hana’s existence became nothing but an endless stream of images of Tsumiki existing in the place where her duty should be. Their was no respite where her mind would go quiet. There was no mercy for her from the torment of knowing the only one who could satiate her curiosity was forever out of her reach. 

It had caused her to slip up. She was slow to respond to orders as she realigned her thoughts to her task at hand. She began to doubt every human she encountered. She became curious as to why they had sinned, and why that demanded them to be damned for eternity. 

Those kind of thoughts were unacceptable, they were the type of things that angels were cast out of heaven for. Hana knew she was getting dangerously close to that fate. Her superiors had begun to take notice she was not operating to the full extent of her abilities. She was getting sloppy, and the time it took to complete her missions was stretching longer as she observed her targets in the real world. 

She needed to refocus her attention on her job and forget all about the girl with the impossibly bright soul. Yet even with her life on the line, she could not do so. Perhaps she had been doomed the moment Tsumiki Fushiguro’s life had been placed in her hands. Hana could not blame simply the touch of a soul for ruining her, she had been pulled in by Tsumiki’s presence even before she allowed herself to draw close enough to speak to her. 

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The souls of the damned were loud when Hana descended into the realm of Hell. She should not have come here, she had doomed herself the moment she had. It mattered little though, Hana was doomed anyway. She would have been cast out soon if she had not made the choice to step foot in here herself. She was corrupted—she was broken. 

Her wings gave out partway down, and Hana found herself in a weak pile on the ground. She struggled to her feet, but her wings continued to hang limply at her sides. She could only control them enough for them to twitch slightly. She couldn’t fly. This is what it meant to be fallen, Hana thought to herself with dull acceptance. 

It didn’t take long for the demons to fall upon her. She was easy prey as she was now. An angel barely passed her fledging years who could not use her wings, and who had been cut off from the power of heaven the moment she entered this hellscape. 

She remembered Tsumiki’s tale about the demon she had made a deal with. Only the highest generals of Hell were able to make such powerful deals with humans. The demon she had spoken with was powerful, and according to Tsumiki, he was protecting her soul down here as well. 

The demons who found her were nothing but vultures low on the food chain, “Take me to Yuji Itadori,” she demanded, stopping them in their tracks before they could tear her to pieces. 

The name she uttered frightened the demons significantly, enough for them to not want to risk ignoring her and facing backlash from the demon whose name she had invoked. Hana had been weakened by her journey here, and she only grew more weak the longer she spent here, but she managed to walk so that she could follow the demons to the one who had made a deal with Tsumiki. 

They took her deep into the depths of the realm—where the souls of the worst of humanity were banished too. Their screams grew worse, some of them could not even scream at all. 

The moment she stepped foot inside the walls of a grand manor, the sound of the souls being tormented around her was cut off. They were close enough that she should still hear them in the distance, yet the wall seemed to act like a barrier keeping the noise out. 

Her prediction that the demon who Tsumiki had made her deal with was a high-ranking one had been correct. Countless demons roamed this realm, and most of them did not have homes to speak of. Not even some who were considered generals in the army of Hell could boast a residence. This demon not only had a residence, but one that was grandiose. Tsumiki had been playing with powerful forces before her demise. 

The demons who she had demanded to bring her here appeared nervous as they led her inside the manor. No one stopped them. Yuji Itadori had known of her arrival in this realm and her intentions the moment she had invoked his name. He was expecting her here, and clearly he seemed agreeable to that. Otherwise she would have found herself intercepted by a lower-ranking demon and likely killed slowly and brutally. 

A demon met her in the entranceway. He waved off the ones who had brought her here, sending them scurrying like rats from his presence. “Yuji Itadori,” she said, not needing to ask if it was him or not. The authority he held over the demons spoke to his status. 

“Yep, that’s me,” the demon responded, grinning. Hana glanced at him in an attempt to appraise him. He spoke informally, more human-like than demonic. His grin was not genuine, he was clearly weary of her, and yet it was not cruel either. There was little she could do to truly understand what he was thinking though. She could not read his thoughts or emotions like she could with humans—especially not in her weakened state. 

“So… what’s an angel doing all the way down here? And why did you mention you knew me to those demons from earlier?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious. Hana did not understand this demon. She had assumed he had some kind of reason for keeping her alive thus far, yet he seemed to have no idea who she was or what she was doing here. 

“You do not know?” she asked. 

Yuji shrugged, “Uh, not really. Am I supposed to?” he sounded almost sheepish as he asked. 

“You do not act like a demon,” she noted. His mannerisms and the way he spoke were that of a human. And he displayed his emotions through his voice, projecting his confusion despite the fact it was a weakness an opponent could latch onto. How had this place not eaten him alive yet?

Yuji blinked at her a few times—another action not required of a demon and betraying his humanity. Demons and angels did not need to blink so they did not, their eyes did not need protection from the littlest things like human eyes did. 

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult,” Yuji said, pouting slightly as if he had just encountered a puzzle to solve. 

“It is an observation,” she replied primly. 

Yuji shrugged, seeming to accept that explanation. “Ok, I still don’t know what an angel is doing asking around for me though.”

“Do you remember making a deal with a human girl named Tsumiki Fushiguro?” she asked in lieu of answering his question. 

The light-hearted demeanor that Yuji had been displaying before switched in an instant as she said Tsumiki’s name. His shoulders straightened and a dangerously blank expression crossed his face. “Why do you know that name, and why do you want information about her?” he questioned, this time his voice was dark with the promise of retribution if he was not pleased with the answer she gave. 

“I was the one who killed her,” Hana informed him. “She seemed to believe you would protect her once her soul was damned to Hell because of the deal you made. I have come to see whether that was the case or whether she was as foolish as I believed her to be.”

A slew of emotions crossed Yuji’s face too quickly for Hana to analyze—breaking his cold demeanor. “And you came all the way down here to check that? You know angels can’t return to heaven after they step foot here, right?” he asked her. 

“Of course I know that,” she bristled slightly, feeling her feathers ruffle at the concept she would be so uninformed before making her journey down here. 

“And you still came?” Yuji blanched. “Just to learn about what happened to Tsumiki?”

“Yes,” Hana replied simply. “It is all I have been able to think about since casting her down. I would have been cast from the heavens in time anyway. I must learn of her fate before my death.”

Yuji sighed wearily, looking at Hana like she was insane. After a few moments he spoke again, “You don’t wanna hurt her again or anything, do you?” he asked. “Because, just so you know, I’d have to step in. And I really don’t want to have to do that.”

“So she is here?” Hana asked, finding herself surprised by the notion, as well as the implication that Yuji did not wish to harm her. She had made the journey here, yet she had not ever truly believed that Tsumiki had been correct in her assumption of the demon’s truthfulness. She had come because she needed to satiate her curiosity before her death, even already knowing what had likely happened—or at least she had thought she’d known.

Yuji didn't answer her at first, glancing between her and a door leading out the main entranceway, “Yes…” he said, sounding cautious, “But I still don’t know what you want with her.”

“To talk,” Hana said, feeling restless as she realized that Tsumiki was nearby—holding the answers that Hana had longed to know. 

“To talk?” Yuji repeated quietly to himself, before shaking his head, “Fine, I’ll call her. But, really—don’t hurt her. I’ll stop you before you can, and I hate when things get bloody,” he muttered the last part to himself. 

What an odd thing for a demon to think, Hana noted. Yuji did not leave to fetch Tsumiki. A demon as powerful as him could likely just project his thoughts to let her know where to find them. He kept glancing at Hana and then away again while they waited. She did not understand why a general of Hell seemed to fidget so much. 

After a short period of time, the sound of a door being pushed open alerted Hana to the arrival of a new being. Her eyes zeroed in on Tsumiki Fushiguro—looking just as she had the day Hana killed her—entering the room. 

Unless this was a trick by the demon, Tsumiki seemed to be in good health for a soul who had been damned to Hell. She looked completely unharmed, and the clothes she wore were of fine quality. 

Tsumiki froze for a moment as her eyes locked with Hana’s,“It’s you!” She said with an awed note to her voice, “My angel!” Tsumiki gasped in disbelief she hurried over to her—stopping a short distance away like she was unsure of that decision afterwards.  

Her angel? When had Tsumiki considered their connection as one of belonging to one another. Just because Hana had been the one to end her human life did not mean that Hana belonged to her in any way. And yet, to be called as such settled a desire deep in her being. It soothed the obsession that had haunted her since she killed the girl. 

“Hana,” she finally croaked out. Hearing her name spoken out loud for the first time since she had chosen it. She did not know how desperately she had needed someone else to know the name she had chosen for herself until the moment she spoke it. 

Tsumiki’s eyes widened slightly before a bright smile crossed her face—it was just as lovely as the last time Hana had seen it. The glimpse of it was worth the journey down here and the damnation that followed, “Hana,” Tsumiki repeated her name. It sounded better coming from Tsumiki’s mouth, Hana wished to hear her say it again. 

“Uh, Miki, what’s the deal with you and the angel,” Yuji asked, causing Tsumiki to take her eyes away from her. That paired with the demon calling her so familiarly had Hana feeling an irrational sense of anger. 

“Hana was the angel sent to kill me for making a deal with you,” Tsumiki explained. The sound of her name from Tsumiki’s mouth was enough to ease the burning jealousy in Hana’s chest temporarily. 

“You sound pretty happy about that?” Yuji said—clearly baffled. 

“Of course I wasn’t happy to die,”Tsumiki said with a sigh. “But Hana clearly didn’t want to kill me. She spoke to me before it happened.”

The one conversation they had shared was short, yet it had been enough to consume Hana’s existence. There was a comfort in knowing that she was not the only one of the two of them to be so heavily affected by their talk. 

“Ok…” Yuji said, drawing out the word slowly as he did—looking between the two of them. “So she’s cool? I’m a little confused whether she’s a friend or not.”

“I would not consider you and I friends,” Hana told Yuji. They were natural enemies, and though Yuji seemed to be a surprisingly gentle demon, he was dangerous nonetheless. The opulence of his home and the reverence the other demons regarded him with told her as much. It might be in her benefit to get on his good side, but Hana was not one for lies or trickery—it was not in her nature. 

She doubted she would survive long in a corrupt place like this anyway, with or without Yuji’s help. The environment of Hell was toxic for an angel to exist within. 

“She’s a friend,” Tsumiki said firmly a moment later, disregarding Hana’s claim. “She would not come all the way down here if she didn’t care.”

Yuji seemed to favor Tsumiki’s words over hers, “Oh, ok. Well, that’s good at least,” he chuckled with a note of awkwardness. 

Hana did not have the energy to protest being referred to as a demon’s friend, in fact, she did not have much energy at all anymore. Hell had taken its toll on her. Her wings were completely numb now, she couldn’t move them—even slightly—any longer. She found that her consciousness was growing weaker as well. Her view of her surroundings was growing duller, and she struggled to remain standing. 

Her body eventually gave out and she found herself falling to her knees. Tsumiki gasped and fell to the ground beside her in a rush. “Hana?” she exclaimed in a panic before turning back to Yuji, “What’s happening to her?”

Hana did not have the strength left to explain that her consciousness was fading out of existence. She had been cut off from the heavens the moment she stepped foot here, it was only a matter of time until her she ceased to exist—returning to nothingness. 

“I am glad to have met you Tsumiki Fushiguro,” Hana rasped out, picking her words carefully as they were all she had the strength left to say. She could not say that they were a lie either, as insane as it sounded. Tsumiki had led her to ruin, yet Hana felt nothing but a deep sense of satisfaction for her decision to come here. The feeling of wrongness that had persisted inside of her ever since she had struck Tsumiki down had finally disappeared. She found that she was happy that Tsumiki was being protected in this place, even if that protection was coming from a demon. 

She heard the muffled noise of Yuji and Tsumiki frantically conversing overtop of her prone form. It was a mercy, Hana believed, that she would fade out of existence to the sound of Tsumiki’s voice. 

“—something you can do!”

“Maybe—she will not like—shouldn’t—” 

“Please—for me—Megumi—love—you have—” that was the last thing Hana heard before letting herself drift into the void. 

────────𓆩𖤍𓆪────────

Hana, much to her surprise, woke up again. She was laying in a soft bed, and most notably—still alive. “Hana!” a voice gasped out in relief. Hana turned her head, feeling lethargic for the first time in her existence. Tsumiki was seated on the edge of the bed next to her, looking down at her with a kind smile. 

“I am alive,” Hana noted blankly. 

“You’re alive,” Tsumiki agreed with a little chuckle. 

“How?” she asked curiously. 

“Yuji pulled some strings. He has a lot of sway down here, so he was able to get Sukuna to free you from the control of the heavens. Now that you are in his realm and he has placed you under his power instead, you will not find yourself slowly dying just for being here anymore,” Tsumiki explained—looking rather proud of herself. 

Hana was still processing awakening from her near-death state, she almost didn’t catch what Tsumiki said. “Sukuna?” She asked for clarification, thinking she must have misheard. 

“Yeah,” Tsumiki shrugged, like it was casual to have the King of Hell at your beck and call. “He was quite cross with Yuji about it, and gave him plenty of flack for it, but he did it in the end.”

Who was this Yuji Itadori to be able to ask favors of the King of Hell without punishment? “And Yuji Itadori agreed to do this for you?” Hana asked skeptically. Beyond Yuji’s strange sway in this place, she was more confused why a demon of his status was so willing to offer favor after favor for a human. 

Tsumiki nodded, “We both owe him our thanks after you’re recovered, he isn’t fond of having to ask Sukuna for things,” she said. “But, Yuji cares about his family above all else, and my brother-in-law wouldn’t let you die knowing how much you mean to me.”

“Brother-in-law?” Hana said quietly, feeling lost, “Yuji Itadori?”

“I suppose there is a lot you don’t know about the decades since we last spoke,” Tsumiki said sheepishly. “Yuji is Sukuna’s nephew, which is why he was able to get his Majesty to agree to save you. My brother finally joined us down here a few years ago after living a long life in the human world. Him and Yuji have since married,” she explained. 

Hana had so many questions she was not sure which one she should even start with. “Yuji knew Megumi before I made a deal with him,” Tsumiki added for context, noticing Hana frozen in indecision. “Yuji spends more time in the human world than in Hell, he’s not the biggest fan of it down here.”

“Oh,” Hana said, “So that is why he protects you.”

Tsumiki nodded, “And now that protection is extended to you too! It will be strange adjusting at first, I’m sure, but I’ll be here with you the whole time.”

“Adjusting to what?” Hana asked. If it was just the environment, now that it was not actively toxic to her she would be easily adaptable. 

Tsumiki pursed her lips, hesitating before she spoke again, “You’ll never fly again. Your wings were corrupted and damaged beyond repair when you flew down here.” Tsumiki must have taken note of the expression on her face, because she hurried to add, “But you’ll be able to feel them and move them around a bit again eventually! I’ve been reading about angels non-stop since coming down here, I can help you while you recover.”

Hana felt numb as she took in the information. She had known when coming down here that it would lead to her death. Somehow miraculously surviving only to hear her wings were permanently damaged still hit her painfully, it was not something she had been prepared for. She loved her wings, and she loved to fly. It was hard to process that she would be unable to ever do so again. 

Tsumiki sighed, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry if it comes as a shock. I know most angels value their wings greatly. Yuji warned me you might not agree to be saved given the life you would awaken too. He didn’t want to save you without your agreement, knowing what would happen if he did. But you were already fading at that point, so I told him to do it anyway.”

Hana did not reply at first, and Tsumiki must have taken it as her being upset. “I know it was selfish of me, but I don’t regret it,” she said with a determined frown. “You can be upset with me for bringing you back to a world where you can no longer fly, but I love you and I couldn’t just watch you die.” Tsumiki declared breathlessly. “I’ve never been good at letting go of the people I care about, it’s why I made that deal all those years ago, and why I’m down here now. I don’t regret that either, Megumi lived a long life after Yuji saved him.”

“You love me?” Hana breathed out, all her worries before paling in comparison to that proclamation.  It was all she was able to focus on from what Tsumiki had just told her. 

“Of course, I had thought you figured that out by now,” she blushed. “I had Yuji beg the King of Hell to save your life. Sukuna’s still cross with him for having two humans under his protection, to add an angel on top of that was a big ask. But I asked it of Yuji because of how important you are to me, and Yuji went through with requesting it because he knows that I love you as much as he loves Megumi.”

It was disorienting to go from the revelation of her wings to the revelation that Tsumiki loved her. Something that had seemed worse than death a moment ago now seemed like a small sacrifice to hear those words from Tsumiki’s mouth.   

“I love you too. You must know though that I so not love the same way humans do,” Hana warned Tsumiki. “I am not built for flimsy affection. My love is eternal and unending devotion.” Angels did not experience love. They were created as beings of pure intent, they did not take partners and have children. Not like how demons and humans did to continue their species. Yet Hana, impossibly, felt love. It was a foreign emotion, something that felt out of place in her, and yet felt better than anything she had experience before—even flying. Maybe something had changed in her when the King of Hell brought her back from the void, or maybe she had always been able to love and the heavens had simply stopped her from doing so. Either way, Hana found that she didn’t care. As long as it resulted in her being here with Tsumiki, she was happy with the outcome. 

“That’s ok,” Tsumiki said with a soft smile. “I do not think I fully count as a human—not anymore at least. And I have no plans to ever look for someone else. I’ve spent every day here thinking of you, researching angels, and wanting to see you again and learn more about you. Now that I have you, I’m not letting you go ever again.”

Hana preened under the affection, unable to get enough of it now that she knew she was allowed to have it—she was allowed to have Tsumiki and her love. Whether that be in Hell, Heaven, or Earth no longer mattered to her. As long as Tsumiki was there, Hana would follow. She had not been made to serve the heavens, she had been made to love the girl in front of her for eternity.