10 Shrine Visit #3

When compared to a human's lifespan, the fallen angel Baraqiel could be said to have lived an immensely long life. As such, he was one of the last beings one would expect to be a stranger to the concept of personal tragedies.

Whether it was the loss of his siblings in the wars waged against other pantheons during his days in the heavenly host – when his wings were still pristine.

Or when he had been struck down from heaven by God because he had joined Azazel in tasting the 'forbidden fruit' for the first time, causing his wings to become tainted forever.

When 'his kind' – others who too had succumbed to the temptations of earthly pleasures – the fallen angels, inevitably became enemies with their formerly beloved siblings, causing him to eventually murder those same little siblings in cold blood with the lightning that his father had granted him to protect them.

Or even that nightmarish day when he had seen his seemingly nigh omnipotent father pass away in front of his own eyes.

…

Baraqiel had experienced loss and grief, perhaps an innumerable number of times in his life. As such, he knew, deep in his heart, that this time too, his grief and rage would eventually fade with time, and someday, maybe far into the future… all that would remain of his deceased wife would be a hint of a bittersweet memory.

And yet, there was a small, human-shaped hiccup to that train of thought.

Baraqiel knew from experience how to manage his own negative feelings and overcome them eventually. But, never in his life, had he ever been individually responsible to comfort another mourning person, especially not a child.

After all, that had never been in the job description of the one known as the lightning of God.

Perhaps it was because of this – the absolute cluelessness he felt in dealing with his grieving, yet enraged daughter, full of hatred and scorn toward her father – that when a pair of seemingly ordinary human women suddenly intruded into the situation, he ran away from what was supposed to be his responsibility, and instead placed his hopes on the two humans – that they would be able to comfort his daughter in his stead.

He consoled himself inwardly, telling himself that this situation was better for both, Akeno and him. That Akeno would rather prefer to cry in a stranger's embrace, that it was better for him to stay away and not let his relationship with his daughter become any worse – if that was even possible.

No, Baraqiel had an intuition, that the crack in their relationship might just be irreparable.

As for the danger that the two strangers presented, he instantly dismissed them as non-threatening, normal humans who probably had come to pray at the shrine, while conveniently choosing to ignore the fact that a normal person would never behave so nonchalantly when faced with the scene of a massacre.

Or perhaps, it was just that, despite everything that had happened – his arrogance in never considering other means of protection for his family costing him his wife's life – he still unconsciously believed he could 'take care' of the both of them before they dared lift a finger against his daughter.

…

Or maybe all of this was the 'work' of a certain perverted goddess who just wanted to hurry up and watch the 'juicy parts,' though she would never admit to having done anything.

…

Regardless of the reason, the man who in slightly different circumstances would have eventually left his ten-year-old daughter to fend for herself, had, this time as well, chosen to take the easy way out.

'Maybe Akeno was right after all,' Baraqiel thought in self-deprecation, as he busied himself in doing what was asked of him by the younger one, and took care of the filth – quietly vaporizing the corpses of his enemies such that not even a single bit of their existence remained… before he finally cleaned himself with a magic spell.

While he was doing so, he saw, from the corner of his eye, the older woman offering his daughter the comfort of her embrace, and felt a bit of relief as Akeno accepted her offer, and vented out her feelings in the woman's bosom.

Meanwhile, the younger one carefully separated the body of Shuri from Akeno's grasp and–

…

Baraqiel was suddenly alarmed as the younger girl's presence changed altogether in a single moment and almost ran her through with a light spear… but managed to stop himself in the end as he still felt no malice from her.

"A sacred gear?" He murmured in confusion upon seeing the earring that phased into being suddenly, even though he was infinitely sure that the girl was a completely normal human just moments ago.

"Ah?!" Two light streaks suddenly appeared as the girl murmured an incantation, startling her mother… which caused Akeno to peek out hesitantly from her embrace and subsequently gasp as well, as everybody saw a pair of tiny, humanoid spirits for an instant… before a golden, half-oval barrier covered Shuri's body.

"So-chan, what–?" He heard the girl's mother ask in confusion, and recalling her statement from before, realized that the older woman did not know of the supernatural… all but confirming that their presence here was just a mere coincidence.

He walked up to the trio, noticing that Shuri's wound was closing up, and the blood was disappearing into thin air as if time itself was being reversed… and yet, he shook his head sadly. After all, the only sacred gear that could bring back the dead was the Sephirot Graal. Not even Forbidden Balor View with its time-manipulating powers could do what the Holy Grail could… and that earring was definitely not either of them.

'A sub-species of twilight healing… or perhaps a boon from the Shinto pantheon?' he mused but still called out to the girl, while pained by his own admittance, "Child, it's of no use, Shuri… my wife, she's passed away already."

His heart clenched as he saw how Akeno was frightened by his mere presence, and how his words had mercilessly crushed the budding seeds of hope within her.

The girl with the sacred gear glanced at him only for a moment, and Baraqiel could feel the disdain, and hostility(?) she held for him in her gaze. She then ignored him altogether and instead faced forward, smiling softly at the other two looking at her, before asking a question.

"What is your name, cute young lady?"

"Um, I… I'm Akeno," his daughter replied, her wide, desperate eyes looking pleadingly at the older girl.

"Oh~ Then, Akeno-chan, I think that your Mama has slept for long enough. Should we wake her up now?"

Akeno gasped in excitement, a hint of life returning to her eyes as she asked hopefully, "Mama… will she really be alright? Can… can you really bring her back?"

The girl nodded and–

"You!" Baraqiel felt rage at the fool who was just lucky to possess a sacred gear or its equivalent, who probably thought she was special because of it – a chosen one or something.

He was about to forcibly stop her, to not cause further heartbreak to his daughter when this overconfident imbecile inevitably failed… only it seemed that she had predicted that he would do so as she muttered.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject."

A dome-shaped barrier suddenly separated Baraqiel from the three, and the girl looked at Akeno and asked doubtfully, "Is this ugly thing who's making things difficult for me really your father?"

"So-chan!?" Her mother exclaimed in surprise, while as for Akeno… well, she was already looking at him if she'd be the happiest if he disappeared from her sight forever. Now though, beguiled by the girl's honeyed words… she looked at him with perhaps even more hate than she possessed for those people who had killed Shuri.

Immensely frustrated, Baraqiel's feelings warred inside him for a moment… before he eventually yielded and held his hand, knowing that the girl would soon learn her lesson, even though it would come at the expense of salt being rubbed on Akeno's wounds when the girl eventually failed.

Or at least, that was what he had thought would eventually happen.

............

Time passed, and Miki could only watch helplessly as her little Sosuke teetered almost to the point of unconsciousness. But still, he tirelessly worked on the 'futile task,' offering a weak smile to the worried little girl in front of him when the girl's father's patience seemed to have finally ended, and he shouted somewhat frustratedly.

"Enough!"

He painfully ignored the terrified flinch of Akeno, instead keeping his gaze focused on the kid who was barely a breath away from fainting. "Brat, I have been extremely patient this entire time, and even though I am grateful that you were kind enough to try and help us… still, you overconfident little girl who luckily awakened her sacred gear should have understood your limits by now. You can't bring back the dead… so stop this futile endeavor, or you're going to collapse from exhaustion at this rate."

He then glanced momentarily at his daughter with sadness. "And learn not to make such big promises that you can't possibly keep–"

His impassioned speech was interrupted by a startled shout from Akeno as the girl struggled to escape Miki's grasp, and then kneeled in front of her mother's body, repeatedly calling out 'Mama' while holding her hand. A low chuckle escaped Sosuke, and Miki gasped as she saw the previously dead woman's eyes twitch, before suddenly opening widely.

"A–Akeno? What is…?" Shuri slowly got up and called out her daughter's name hesitantly, terrified that this was just an illusion… before watching as her voice caused the girl to burst into tears of joy and rush into her bosom.

"Mama! You… you're really alive!"

"Ah, don't cry, my little baby," Shuri's arms automatically wrapped around Akeno… and one of her hands gently patted her daughter's back, gently trying to coax her not to cry. She then finally looked up at her husband in confusion, hoping for an explanation… only to notice him standing in place, looking absolutely gobsmacked.

"Heh." She turned to the side on hearing an almost inaudible chuckle, and found who was probably her savior… a young girl lying tiredly in the embrace of an older woman, who turned to Baraqiel and said somewhat mockingly, "Just because… you can't do it… doesn't mean others can't. Also…" she pointed at herself and said, "I'm a boy, damn it!" before closing his eyes in satisfaction.

…

Inwardly, however, Sosuke asked somewhat annoyedly, 'Oi… dear goddess of mine. Didn't you say that this will work? Why was this so damn difficult?'

<I never said it was going to be easy~> She grinned in amusement. <It was always going to be just enough. As for the difficulty, first of all, you're <strong>weak, right now. Secondly, have you forgotten the difference between the world this Shun-Shun Rikka originates from and this world?>

'What do you–' He frowned as he racked his brain for a few moments before being startled as the answer came to him… or to say more appropriately, the reason for his struggle announced Her presence, while his goddess laughed almost hysterically.

<Kekekekeke… My cute champion~ Did you really think could steal a soul from God so easily?>

"So-chan, what are you–?!" Miki called out in alarm as he suddenly pushed himself off her grasp, and staggered to a standing position in front of the group, next to the tense form of Baraqiel.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject," he murmured in haste, causing a barrier to envelop all five of them, not taking his eyes off the intruder – the raven-haired, kimono-clad woman who just raised an eyebrow in amusement and chuckled softly.

"My~ what a gallant little one~" She cooed out softly before turning to face Baraqiel as she heard him speak.

"W–why are you here?" The ten-winged fallen angel asked hesitantly, causing the woman to tilt her head slightly and say in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Hmm~ I didn't know I needed anybody's permission to walk on the land that I raised. You, on the other hand, aren't you far away from home, fallen angel Baraqiel?"

Looking at his frustrated face, she chuckled and added. "Nevertheless, I've come to see the little demigod punk who dared to steal from my domain. So, stand aside, unless you want me to take your wife's soul back?"

She hummed inwardly, noticing everyone's eyes widen at the appellation that she used for the boy. As for the boy himself, he too had a confused look on his face.

'Does he not know of his lineage then?' She wondered. Nevertheless, having said her piece to Baraqiel, she proceeded to ignore him altogether, almost barely noticing him freeze in indecision, causing her to mock him inwardly for leaving his family's savior in the lurch. A snicker almost left her as she saw the disbelieving look on the face of his wife. As for the daughter, well–

'Hoh~ there's no coming back from this~'

She walked forward until she was barely an arm's length away from the boy's barrier. Raising her arm, she flicked the shield slightly, and smirked as she asked, "Say, little boy~ Do you really think this flimsy barrier could stop a god?"

Upon finding him to be completely unsurprised by the declaration of her identity, however, she wasn't sure of things anymore. 'Does he really not know about himself, or is he just pretending?'

She looked at the people he was protecting. Ignoring the mother-daughter pair, her eyes landed on Miki, and an idea occurred to her. A teasing smile crept up her face as she hummed, "Hmm~ Let's see. I could take the soul back with me. But then, you wouldn't really learn a lesson this way, would you? Let's see, how about a trade then? A soul for a soul. Your mother's life for the little girl's–"

"Koten Zanshun."

A toneless voice interrupted the goddess, before she slowly, unbelievingly, raised her hand to her face, looking dumbfoundedly at the blood on her fingers.

She looked at the boy again.

His face was completely blank, as if she were looking at an exquisite, but creepy doll.

His eyes were the opposite, however. So expressive, and yet so dead at the same time, his eyes made her feel like she would drown in the endless amount of malice that they contained.

His voice came out hoarsely, as he uttered something absolutely ludicrous to her ears.

"This flimsy barrier's strength depends upon my willpower itself. You can try and break it–"

He paused, and a massive killing intent erupted from him, almost becoming corporeal as he muttered viciously. "Just be prepared to die again, Izanami-no-mikoto."

…

The goddess blinked in surprise, only slightly from the instant recognition, and mostly because of the threat from the little boy who was barely able to stand on his feet, and–

"Heh."

A chuckle escaped her throat before she burst into a fit of giggles, choosing to hide her smiling face behind the raised sleeve of her kimono.

"Big words from a little boy whose legs are about to give out, aren't they?" She asked amusedly, before shaking her head. "But then, I suppose I've crossed a line as well."

Lowering her arm that was covering her visage, she smiled gently for the first time. "You're really protective of your mother, aren't you?"

She bowed slightly in apology and rolled her eyes on noticing the boy's astonished gaze. "What? Did you think I didn't have it in me to apologize?"

"I– I'm sorry as well." The boy murmured unsurely, and Izanami almost snorted, raising her eyebrow at the sight of the barrier that was still up. Shaking her head, she murmured, "Don't say things you really don't feel, child. Or else you'll end up becoming a compulsive liar in the end."

She then looked around and sighed upon not finding any additional divine presence, "A failure huh? Never mind then."

Facing the boy again, she explained, "In the first place, if I really wanted someone to take that woman's place, I would take you, the culprit. Still, that is not why I am here."

She smiled softly. "I just came here to see you, child. I won't harm anyone, so dispel your barrier before you end up harming yourself. After all, your willpower to protect your mother might be endless but your spiritual power definitely isn't."

She huffed at the expectant look from the boy, before adding, "Fine, this Izanami gives you her word. I will not harm your mother and will protect her instead. Are you satisfied now?!"

<Ho?! To think that you could actually make a god promise their word. It's alright now, little champion. You can sleep now.>

'Oh–'

"So-chan!"

A pair of women rushed forward simultaneously, noticing the barrier melting into nothingness… as well as the falling body of the boy who had finally fainted. He was caught by the goddess Izanami, who muttered somewhat exasperatedly as she gently caressed his head, "Really, what an impertinent little kid."

Facing his terrified-looking mother fussing over his collapsed form, she said consolingly, "He will be fine, he's just overexerted himself."

"Really?!"

Nodding, the goddess said somewhat annoyedly. "Still, to think that the boy's father did not appear at all. Was it a hit-and-run case?" She wondered, looking at the beautiful mortal woman.

"Ah? Gorou-san? But he's in Kuoh at the moment…"

Huffing in exasperation, Izanami said, "Not your mortal husband, but the one that 'gave' you this boy. It's not an uncommon tale, of gods beguiling beautiful mortal women. Maybe he took your memory of the time away?"

She gazed sadly at the horrified look on the woman's face, who muttered incoherently, "No… but that isn't possible. I… I had So-chan with the hospital's help. I didn't… A god didn't–"

Izanami was about to console the distraught woman only to be startled as she saw the teenage boy's body begin to shrink, before finally ending up becoming as small as the half-fallen angel girl.

More importantly though–

"The divinity. It disappeared." She murmured in confusion.

...

Author Note - I'm putting it here, just in case for the ones who might come screaming 'NTR' at me, goddess Izanami got the wrong idea. She makes another conclusion in the next chapter, after a talk with Miki.

Also, I'm thinking of making that Issei chapter non-canon and putting it in the auxiliary chapters for now.