Chapter 1: Apple (1) (2/2)
Flying east from the Conference Tower for about thirty minutes, the Griselle Garden came into view.
There were various kinds of vegetation overgrowing, and the water from the huge fountain in the center flowed to all corners of the garden. It gave the feeling of being embraced by the calm and cheerful mid-afternoon. In the branch of an apple tree growing beside the fountain lay Rin. She had assumed an afternoon nap, which she loved.
“If you sleep in such a place, you’ll fall.”
Hearing a voice from above her, Rin got up with a start.
“Uwaah!”
Not being able to spread her wings in time, she seemed about to fall from the branch, but caught herself with her arm before that happened.
“Are you okay?”
“K-Kaito! Thanks, you saved me!”
“You …. Your way of speaking is the same as always.”
With drowsy eyes and a smile, Rin used her wings to sit back up on the branch.
“Eh ….? But Kaito is Kaito, right?”
“All the rest of the lower-ranking angels call me Archangel Kaito …. the only one that doesn’t is you.”
“Eh—But I was taught that you should address your partner with deep affection by doing away with formalities.”
“…..”
Normally, angels work in pairs. They are assigned “partners” that are of a different rank than themselves. The higher-ranking angel acts as a mentor over the lower-ranking angel, while the lower-ranking angel respects the higher-ranking angel; this is an order that must be followed. In this way, where the rules of the hierarchical society in Heaven are applied, the foundation for the unwavering trust-based relationship amongst angels is formed … This is what is taught to all angels, however ….
This cheerful and innocent girl, Rin, had little interest in these Heavenly laws. Her personality hadn’t changed much from the time she was born, but even today, it was rare for there to be such a nonchalant and freewheeling angel.
Kaito suddenly recalled the sworn friend that had once imparted his knowledge to Rin as her partner—always a cheerful, easygoing young man with jade green eyes, and unconsciously broke into a smile.
“So, how did the archangel meeting go?”
Rin picked two ripe, delicious-looking apples from a tree branch, and asked this while eating both at once.
“The same as always. A waste of my time.”
Kaito answered while biting into his own apple, which Rin had handed to him.
Without being too sweet, it was the perfect ripeness. After chewing another huge mouthful, Rin swallowed loudly.
“Oh oh, the human world was pretty fun!”
Rin had gone to the human world for these two weeks for her training as an angel. And with that, she had been promoted from an angel trainee to a junior angel, and come back after finishing the last of her training.
“There was a lot of delicious food in the human world~ And weird clothes that I’d never seen before~ And also …..”
“I see …. From today onwards, you’re a junior angel, are you?”
“Yep! I’m a fully-fledged ‘angel’ now!”
“A fully-fledged angel wouldn’t need to say something like that.”
“Ohh—Kaito, you meanie. Even though I gave you an apple—“
“…. Why am I a— … Anyway, you merely went and picked this apple without permission from this branch—“
“Ah—okay, okay, I got it already. Sheesh!”
Cutting off Kaito’s words, Rin pouted and turned away. In this situation, wouldn’t I be the one that should be offended? Kaito wondered.
“Ahem. In any case …… That is, congratulations on your promotion.”
“!”
When Rin hurriedly turned around, Kaito—who always made such fastidious expressions—was smiling just slightly, as if embarrassed.
“Thank you, Kaito! I’ll be full of energy from today onwards!”
With an ear-to-ear grin, the girl that was smiling like an imp forgot her earlier bad mood and began preparing for work with gusto atop of the branch.
Whenever he was with Rin, impossible things happened. Things such as Kaito smiling, something that the other angels had probably never seen before. Being so serious, he was calm and collected towards all matters, and showed no interest in interactions with other angels. For such a cold person, this one girl who had become his partner about one thousand years ago had made a considerable influence on him.
As her superior, he had no doubts about her, and they came together as equals. For Kaito, who always kept a distance with the other angels, and lived faithfully solely for the sake of his mission, Rin was an existence that brought him peace and repose.
“Don’t become so full of energy that you fall from the tree again. I’ve never seen any other angel fall from one despite the fact that we have wings.”
As soon as he said this, he lightly spread his wings and soared into the air.
First, they would celebrate at the three o’clock tea, the promotion of his subordinate, who was following him from below while noisily spouting complaints.