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Angel’s life was as close to heaven as life could get for him
He is a valued member of a community where everyone cares for each other despite all of their differences. They took in a devil that could have wiped out their entire village in only a day. Angel made sure to repay their kindness.
They taught him how to speak, he gives their sick painless deaths.
They built him a house, he shields them with his wings.
They taught him to swim, he fights off the rare wandering devil.
One of them fell in love with him, he happened to fall in love back with them back.
Angel and her would spend almost every evening after dinner swimming in relative privacy with each other. Sometimes they would splash water on each other while laughing. Sometimes they would just swim in place talking about nothing until the sun fully sets. They could never kiss each other so instead they just blew kisses at each other.
At first Angel was worried that not being able to touch each other would upset her, but to his surprise she responded when asked
“To be honest I have never enjoyed physical touch. My parents tell me that no one will want to be in love with me if I wouldn't even hold their hand.”
“You are happy I can’t touch you?” Angel responded,
“Well… despite not wanting to have any physical contact. I think I would like to kiss you once. If you weren't a devil of course”
Angel sulked at this
“But then again, if you weren't a Devil you might not be this cute” She smiled and Angel had a slight blush on his face. For someone who has a hard time physically showing his emotions this was a massive achievement.
Besides from his morning routine of sitting alone on the beach, Angel spent most of his days happy with the love of his life. At night when alone in his shack he enjoyed the aftertaste of his many happy memories with her.
/////
When Angel woke up this morning he knew he had a dream, but he cannot really remember it. He can only feel this aftertaste. A blurry image of a tall humanoid figure with weird hair leaning over him, while having this unknown sweet aftertaste in his mouth. Apologizing to some humanoid figure laying on the ground, with the same feelings he gets when he gives the sick painless deaths. A dark space that made his body so full with fear it was hard to breathe. That tall humanoid figure somehow saved him to their detriment.
Angel is not new to nightmares. One time a strange man with sideburns was demanding that we give him stuff to give to some ‘yakuza’. The village chief politely declined and the sideburns man punched him so hard he fell to the ground. Angel instinctively muttered “Usage: Five Years” and a sword with a weird handle appeared from his halo. Angel sprinted up to the sideburns man and quickly slashed him, killing him instantly, but leaving no slash mark. Later that night and some nights since Angel kept seeing the faces of the sick he killed withering in pain. With the sideburns man’s shocked face also there. Angel then gave the sword to the chief after some of the other villagers helped him up.
This vague dream was not the same thing as the nightmares he got from his devil powers. Those have been always just bad, and he could remember them clearly. This dream he just woke up from was very blurry and was bittersweet. Angel still enjoyed the rest of his day, especially the parts he spent with his Love, but with just this subtle bittersweet aftertaste.
/////
It has been a month since Angel first had that vague dream for the first time. He had it two more times and last night was the third time.
During Angel’s morning routine of sitting alone on the beach staring at the sunrise he debated with himself whether or not he should tell his Love about this vague dream. He had already told her about his nightmares he got from his powers, which did worry her alot but she was also very happy that he had shared something like that with her.
The problem was the feeling Angel felt for the vague humanoid figure that kept appearing with weird hair, it was the closest thing he felt to love to someone other than his Love. Angel definitely still loved his Love and not this vague outline of a person from his dream, but he still felt guilty about it. Angel hopes that this vague dream just disappears.
/////
The dream never fully went away, usually happening roughly once per week. Angel has been trying his best to hide this, which had been somewhat easy since he usually isn't that expressive relative to the other villagers. But after another month of this Angel’s Love finally said something about this while they were just swimming in place offshore,
“Angel, has something been bothering you”
Angel took a deep breath
“I have been having this dream…”
“What happens in it?”
“Thats the weird part. I cant really remember anything from it. Just vague outlines of scenes that just leaves a bittersweet aftertaste in my mouth…but that isn’t really why it has been bothering me.””
Angel starts to tear up a little bit, nobody in his life including his Love has ever seen him come close to crying.
“I have only felt love for you, but on of the vague figures in what little I can remember is this outline of this humanoid figure that makes me feel something close to love. I keep trying to stop that feeling because I only want to love you, but I cant and I have been feeling guilty from it and I don’t want you to hate me”
Angel starts to fully cry steady waves of tears
“Angel”, his Love said firmly
“I could never hate you. I will always love you, and I want you to be happy and not getting sad over some dream”
Angel stopped crying leaving his eyelids a similar shade of red to his hair
“You have heard the chief talk about dreams having meanings right?”
Angel nodded
“That all dreams have meanings?”
Angel nodded some more, his Love smiled at this. She always liked how Angel nodded. She thought it was cute.
“As a human I am not going to be around forever. I cannot be here to help you live a happy life. I think that figure in your dream is someone who will make you happy after im gone”
Angel was relieved but also saddened at the same time. Of course Angel always knew from the beginning that he would outlive her (unless some devil hunters came after him), but he always tried to forget that just like how he tried to forget how he felt for that figure in his vague dream.
“Before you cant be around anymore I promise you I will make you happy”
/////
The day Angel always tried to forget will happened, happened. A few weeks ago his Love caught something.
At first it was just a cough,
Then coughing fits.
Then she started to feel weak.
Then she wasn't able to walk without a stick,
Then she wasn’t able to walk at all and became bedridden.
It became clear to the entire village that she was not going to get better. She was going down the path many had gone down before her, a slow painful death from sickness. Angel knew what he had to do.
He walked to her shack. The village elder just gave him a knowing nod. Angel found the Love of his life in pain laying down on her bed.
“Angel”, she said between her coughs
“I was being serious all that time ago when I said after im gone I want you to find that figure from your dream”
“I never doubted your sincerity my Love”
“Also remembered when I said if you wern’t a devil I would want to kiss you?”
Angel nodded, she could never not think his nodding was cute
“I want you to kiss me until I am gone”
Angel did as he was asked by his Love. He bent down to kiss her, she didn’t even have the strength left you sit up. Angel wasn’t good at kissing of course, he had never kissed anyone before, but he had adapted pretty fast. Thankfully he was a fast learner and got good at it before his Love passed away. Her lips were the best thing Angel had ever tasted, but before Angel could fully appreciate how much he loved kissing her she already passed away. The only thing left of her was her lifeless body right beneath him, and the aftertaste of their love.
That same day he did as he was asked and left the island to find that figure from his dream.
/////
Unknown to Angel that figure was a young man named Aki Hayakawa who has just died. He and his slightly younger brother Taiyo was enjoying a family reunion party on a beach in Hokkaido. A crazed gunman running from the police stumbled across the party. He decided to destroy their happiness before he lost his forever.
First he shot their father in the head, killing him instantly. Their mother and Taiyo froze in fear while Aki got up and started to run to the gun man to tackle him. He tried to shoot Aki but missed him and hit their mother in the shoulder, she would later die from the blood loss. Right before Aki could tackle him to the ground the gunman shot him in the face instantly. While the gunman was distracted the police officers chasing him caught up to him and tackled him. Taiyo was the only Hayakawa that survived.
Angel spent the rest of his life looking for a man who was dead