Fallen Angel [ENGLISH]

by wigglycaterpillar

Summary:

Akaashi has always accomplished his work as a Guardian Angel diligently. But what will happen the day a certain human soul picks his interest to the point of developing a real obsession with him?

Notes:

this is a translation of one of my works, please beware that English is not my first language and that I'm doing my best

if however you find any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes you can kindly point them out to me so I'm able to rectify them!

I hope you enjoy my work :)

Chapter 1

Akaashi was staring at the screens in front of him.

All were flickering regularly indicating the proper functioning of the system. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to signal today, the day had gone smoothly, not making any waves.

He exhaled slowly and let himself close his eyes for a moment. The workload was constantly increasing in Heaven – with earth’s growing population there were always more souls to look out for. Akaashi wasn’t complaining. He liked his job as a Guardian Angel and had always held it close to his heart. He made it a point of honor to correctly guide the souls that were under his jurisdiction so they could live a life of peace and salvation.

While he was yawning languorously the door of his office burst out open and let in a young Guardian Angel.

Akaashi stretched and opened his eyes to see one of his colleagues sitting in front of him. Like him, he was wearing the mandatory uniform attributed to Guardian Angels: a white wool turtleneck as well as matching white slacks, and a long golden necklace with a plaque indicating their rank. They also wore several rings of varying shapes and sizes, all of them ornated with gold; the rings showed different statistics about earth’s current situation and the major events that were taking place there. One of these rings was supposed to serve as a communication medium between Angels and their superiors, though Akaashi seldom had use for it: his superior was quite excentric and preferred to come in person whenever he had orders to communicate. Sometimes it made Akaashi’s work take longer than it should have but unless he was looking to get demoted, he didn’t really have the right to complain.

They also had to wear on their little finger a very specific ring. Smaller than the other and definitely less elegant, it didn’t really catch the eye when you stopped to admire an Angel’s clothing. Nonetheless, every Guardian Angel with respect for themself knew its hidden value. This one wasn’t anything luxurious, it wasn’t stone topped like many others or engraved with intricate patterns. This one, a simple ring like we see so many in human jewelries. The only difference? This ring was impossible to take out, made one with its wearer’s little finger.

Its primary and official function was to alert the Angel that one of the souls they were in charge of was in danger by warming up abruptly. Its second function, one no one dared mention aloud, was to suspend an Angel’s divine gifts at any given moment. An Angel who lost their privilege finds themself at the bottom of society. Almost human again, they were considered like a pariah amongst their friends and colleagues, a less-than-nothing to whom status and dignity have been stripped off. The measure only proved effective when an Angel committed a grave offense, meaning as of now, no one had really seen themself deprived of their gifts.

Sometimes Akaashi wondered if this story wasn’t just some urban legend intended to scare young Angels and dissipate any kind of revolutionary sentiment.

So, in front of him was sitting one of his colleagues – his blond bleached hair with the rebel roots was easily recognizable among others. Few were the people that dared dye their hair in Heaven, it was a sort of implicit taboo to alter your divine appearance, but their superior hadn’t said anything while seeing the exotic hair dye. He himself had taken quite the… interest, as of now, in human culture.

The young Guardian Angel, Kenma, was sprawled across a white armchair next to Akaashi. He had between his hands some kind of weird red and blue gaming device. It was Akaashi’s first time seeing one in real life. Of course, he knew they were a common occurrence on earth, he wasn’t that completely ignorant. He knew a great number of human souls had an obsession for these objects, some going as far as almost worshipping them. Nevertheless, he himself didn’t see the point of playing with those. It was merely a piece of plastic that made noise and colorful pictures. It really was nothing exceptional.

Akaashi glared at his colleague for a long while before he dared take his eyes off the device.

“See that, Akaashi?” He waved his piece of plastic around. “It comes directly from earth.”

“You don’t say.”

Kenma bent down to pick up a white bag from which he took out a colorful package before opening it and fishing around, soon taking a handful of gelatinous rainbow worms. He offered some to Akaashi which offered him in turn a look of pure disgust and politely declining.

Kenam shrugged and stuck at once the whole handful of sour worms and chewing them loudly before taking out more of them.

Akaashi rolled his eyes and glanced at his screens to erase the picture of Kenma gobbling down those sweets: still nothing unusual to report.

He turned around to Kenma who already had started playing again.

“Say, Kenma…” started Akaashi.

The latter rose un highbrow to show he had heard the inquiry but wasn’t planning on responding with words.

“You should really be working, you know. If Archangel Sugawara sees you, you’re going to get yelled at again.”

His tone was tired, he felt like he spent his days repeating himself, and yet Kenma still managed to find new ways to avoid working. It despaired him profoundly.

Kenma straightened up and finally pressed pause on his game, a sly smile forming on his face.

“You know how the Archangel supposedly loooves humans and human customs and stuff?”

Akaashi had no idea where this was going.

“Well,” continued Kenma, “I mentioned to him that, on earth, people actually get to have breaks during their hard, working days.”

Akaashi just tried to look at him in an even more appalled way than previously.

“Kenma, your working days are anything but hard. You spend most of your time hidden away with Kuroo doing God knows what.”

Kenma glared at him.

“No idea what you’re talking, dear Akaashi. And even if I was, that would be none of your business.”

Akaashi sighed and tried to go back to work. Why he insisted on trying to get Kenma to do his job when it was clearly useless, he didn’t know.

“All this to say,” went on Kenma, “that I convinced the Archangel to let me take breaks during the day. Meaning that now I can do nothing, without fearing the consequences of being demoted.”

A small smile crept up his cheeks. He looked proud of his little scheme. Akaashi couldn’t care less. He kept his eyes on his screens, knowing there was no point in trying to debate Kenma – he had better time trying to ignore him. Soon, he heard the video game music starting to play again and echoing in their almost empty office.

Apparently, it wasn’t going to be that easy to focus.

“So, it was this discussion with Sugawara that made you disappear half of the day?” asked Akaashi to pass the time.

Kenma didn’t say anything btu Akaashi saw him react, he just didn’t want to answer the question, meaning he had probably been missing work in company of Kuroo. As ridiculous as he found them to be, Akaashi had to admit he was impressed they had never been caught laying around when they should be working by the Archangel. He would have asked if they had some kind of technique to avoid being noticed, but since Kenma wasn’t answering his previous question, he decided to just change the subject.

“And all those… gadgets, how did you get them?”

“Same as the breaks. I just said that on earth people get to have hobbies when they’re not working, to relax and stuff. So, I suggested we should have them too.”

An absurd idea, Angels hadn’t been made to have hobbies and relax. Akaashi opened a new tab on his screen to switch which soul he was monitoring.

“And it worked? I mean, technically we could already have some hobbies, if we wanted to.”

Like eating. And sleeping. Unnecessary activities but still fairly enjoyable.

Kenma rolled his eyes.

“This, said Kenma waving again around his device in front of Akaashi’s face, “is nothing compared to those lame hobbies. If you can even call them that. And once again, the Archangel thought it was a great idea and now lets me order whatever I want from earth.”

Akaashi had a hard time believing it was that easy.

“One day you’ll really end up in Eternal Hells if you go on like that. Don’t you think it strange, how the Archangel goes along with all your whims?”

Kenma shrugged and his eyes focused on his game again.

“No. I do think you’re stuck up though. And it can’t be worse than here, the Eternal Hells. Plus, if I’m to go there, then Kuro will have to come with me. So really, it’ll just be the same as here.”

“If you say so.”

The both of them stayed silent after that.

Akaashi went back to his work. He may have been trying to convince Kenma to get back to work but it’s not like he was enthralled at the idea of working himself. The more the time passed and the more he grew bored – the tasks were redundant, pointless, he tried every day to convince himself that what he was doing was important, changing lives, but he couldn’t help but notice how vain his efforts were. He never had to work with difficult souls, so maybe that was part of the problem, no interesting cases. Usually, he tries to guide the souls he was in charge of to a healthy life since birth, this way he didn’t have too much work down the road. His souls weren’t perfect, but they were good, like most human souls are. Sure, he could always do more, but he didn’t see the point in it.

No soul was ever saved anyway.

While he was struggling to stay concentrated on his work, a red button he had never seen appeared on his screen.

Akaashi frowned slightly and approached his fingers to click on the button and open the document that had apparently just been sent to him. It was a list of new souls to take care of. He scanned quickly the data he had received. Surprisingly, most of those souls weren’t newborns. A Guardian Angel had probably been demoted, and his work was being reassigned, nothing to abnormal. Which still didn’t explain the red icon.

Akaashi started going over the different cases more thoroughly, looking maybe for some unusual cases that needed more immediate attention, which could have explained why the messaged seem seemed so urgent. The more he looked through the several attached files, the more perplexed he grew: clearly, whoever had been in charge of these souls had done a good job at protecting and guiding them, there wasn’t a single alarming case to be seen.

He stopped and the end of the list, finally seeing a soul that caught his eye, his name being bolded. He opened the attached file and started going over it. The soul was of a young man, nineteen years old, apparently Japanese. Akaashi scrolled a bit to get to the history portion of soul’s life. He stopped scrolling and frowned: the soul was classified as an unstable case, which explained why it was at the bottom of the list instead of being classified alphabetically with the others. Being an unstable case though meant the soul was soon to be transferred to the Angelical Brigades. So why had Akaashi been the one to receive such a soul? He wasn’t supposed to be habilitated to work on recurring difficult souls.

He hesitated to stop reading and just transfer to file to someone in the Brigades, it had probably been a transfer error anyway…

The hesitation wasn’t long, and curiosity ended up getting the best of Akaashi, taking over perplexity and good work ethic. He opened the pictures file to take a quick look and the appearance of this so-called unstable person. What he saw though was far from what he was imagining, his highbrows raising progressively on his face as he looked at the man in front of him. He had big, yellow eyes that made him look like a wild animal that had been domesticated with how caring he seemed, his weirdly white and grey hair for his age, stood up proudly on his head. Sure, he looked like he was a bit excentric, but he didn’t seem dangerous ou deranged. Maybe he hid his madness well?

“Bokuto Koutarou”, he read.

Well, Akaashi was definitely intrigued.

Chapter 2

Akaashi had been going over the fil of this “Bokuto” for several minutes now.

It was the first time he heard about him, which was a bit odd. When a Guardian Angel had to deal with a difficult case, it was usually known pretty quickly. It was the kind of gossip that circulated easily inside of their division; those who couldn’t keep a soul on the right path or saw their cases being taken over by the Brigades, were usually the subjects of mockery and pity stares by their colleagues: they hadn’t been good enough to care for a soul alone.

Akaashi wasn’t one to partake in such petty office gossip, but he should at least have heard of it in passing.

Of course, it seemed childish to blame a Guardian Angel for the mishaps of one of their souls – some cases were naturally more difficult than others, humans aren’t a monolith though they are strange creatures who spent most of their time making impulsive decisions and never giving them second thoughts.

Still, human being always ended up being somewhat predictable.

But their predictability didn’t make them easier to manage, they still found new ways to go against the nice paths Guardian Angels tries to trace for them, usually out of boredom. Since Angels couldn’t control a soul’s decision but only some of their environment, some cases always ended up slipping in the cracks of the system. Maybe this Bokuto was one of them.

Sometimes, certain cases had to be transferred to several different teams before finding a Guardian Angel who knew how to deal with them, though usually, souls weren’t taken out of someone’s responsibility without their approval (particularly to be sent to the Angelical Brigades) : it was the Guardian Angel themself who had to choose whether or not they had the capacity to care for a soul.

The Angelical Brigades were considered the “elite” among Guardian Angels. Role models, examples to follow, sometimes even heroes. No matter how renowned however, they didn’t have that much work to do. Elite military troupes at the time of their creation, they were now some kind of glorified Guardian Angels.

For a case file to be transferred to them, it had to be a particularly difficult soul. Typically, people who had committed murder or other types of violent crimes, were sent to them. These kinds of souls were at risk of more impulsive behavior, which made them less predictable than the average human and necessitated therefore an intensive monitoring. What made the Brigades stand out from the average Guardian Angel was that every person only had to deal with one (exceptionally two) soul at the time. The intense surveillance was necessary try and keep the human from falling deeper in sin.

It was Akaashi’s first time seeing a soul that close to being transferred, it made him both scared and excited. Finally, a new challenge presented itself to him. Finally, something to take him out of the boredom cycle he hand found himself in, out of the routine he couldn’t stand anymore. His heart jumped in excitement. He had to stay discreet; he still wasn’t sure if the file had been transferred to him by mistake or not, but he did know that whether it was the case or not, in this state he wouldn’t be able to keep this soul for long. If the mistake hadn’t been notices yet (which it probably was), it wouldn’t be long: this “Bokuto” was soon to be transferred to the Brigades.

Akaashi leaned against the back of his white chair et crossed his arms, contemplating the work ahead of him and thinking of the best way to tackle the situation. He took off his glasses et started chewing on the frame, lost in his thoughts, the corner of his mouth barely rising – he was impatient to start his little project.

The door to their office opened again, startling Akaashi and making him drop his glasses in consequence. Kenma didn’t even lift a highbrow.

A tall, disheveled man entered the room with more energy than he should have. The door bounced on the wall startling Akaashi again as he was trying to pick his glasses up.

“Kenmaaaaaaa”, yelled the man, Kuroo, before throwing himself on the poor unsuspecting Angel and hugging him close. Kenma started grumbling and accusing Kuroo of making him die in his game while the latter covered him in noisy kisses from head to toe.

Akaashi rolled his eyes and sighed, making sure his glasses were intact before putting them back on his nose. He coughed loudly indicate he was still here and make sure Kuroo didn’t get too carried away.

Kuroo stopped making kissy noises and turn around, clearly annoyed to have been interrupted. Akaashi stared at him as disapprovingly as he could which caused Kuroo’s mouth to extend in something that could only be described as a disturbing smile; one could almost say it resembled a mocking hyena smirk. And Akaashi didn’t appreciate people mocking him.

“Akaashi! Almost didn’t see you there.”

Kuroo detached himself from Kenma to go tap Akaashi’s head like he was a child or some kind of earth dog.

“How are you doing my dear, dear Akaashi?”

He bent to level his eyes with Akaashi’s – who was still sitting – and shoved Kuroo’s hand away from his head, moving so he could fic his hair.

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern.”

Kuroo grabbed a chair and let himself collapse on it.

“Well, personally, I’m not satisfied.”

Akaashi crossed his legs before sighing again. Kuroo sure was a handful.

“I don’t think you have ever been satisfied in your life.”

Kuroo straightened up on his chair to be able to face Akaashi.

“Maybe, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“What is?”

Kuroo stood up and started pacing in the small white room. Was the man incapable of staying still for even a minute?

“Don’t tell me it doesn’t bother you? I mean–”

He started gesticulating at his body.

“This whole thing is clearly odd. Even you have to admit it.”

Akaashi shook his head.

“You know very well that we don’t have a choice, this decision has been enforced by the Archangel Sugawara, in person. We don’t have a say in this.”

Kuroo finally stopped pacing, giving a break to Akaashi’s eye. He was starting to feel dizzy.

“Yeah, yeah but still. I think this whole… obsession with humans is starting to go too far. I don’t see the use in we maintaining our human form constantly. It’s not… it’s not normal. It’s tiring.”

“We’ll get used to it eventually. The Archangel says these forms are better because it helps us feel closer to human souls so we can understand and helps them better.”

Kuroo shook his head and went over to Kenma, making him stand up so he could sit in his chair and then pulled Kenma on his lap.

“’Cause you believe in this stuff now? Guess I overestimated your intellectual capacities. But come on, you have to admit it doesn’t make any sense. Pure bullshit is what it is. Plus, if ‘feeling closer to human beings’ really was the only reason to dos this, why would he make us keep our wings, even in human form?”

Akaashi shrugged.

“I suppose it would be too risky to ask us to suppress them along with…”

He vaguely gestured around his body.

“… everything else. If you feel weak now just imagine what it would be without the wings. And I guess we would all have to learn how to walk and balance without which would be a pain in the ass.”

Kuroo rested his head on Kenma’s shoulder, holding him closer.

“Whatever. I still don’t like it. It’s not like it’s generous of him to let us keep our wings when we have to hide everything else.”

The three of them stayed silent a little while, then Kuroo sighed he decided he had better time changing subjects.

“Hey Akaashi, did you know a Guardian Angel from our division is retiring? Nekomata he was called, I think.”

Akaashi glanced at his strange file, still open across his different screens.

“I didn’t, but I guess it explains why I have been reassigned so many new cases.”

Kenma finally detatched his eyes from his gaming device.

“Are you saying we’re gonna have more work?”

“New cases or not, it’s not like you’re magically going to start working more than what you currently do,” retorted Akaashi, a little condescending smile on his face.

“Tss.”

Akaashi shook his head, exasperated by the childish behavior of his colleagues, and decide to examine more thoroughly the file of this mysterious “Bokuto”. His heart started accelerating again at the thought of discovering what this soul had done to risk being transferred to the Brigades. Particularly because, though he didn’t really know him personally, Nekomata was an excellent Guardian Angel with a good reputation, which only made it all the more surprising he could have left a soul get that bad.

Now that Akaashi thought about it, maybe this “Bokuto” had already passed through the care of several Guardian Angels who had decided to transfer his case further along and Nekomata had just received his case when he started distributing his work in preparation for his retirement…

Lost in thoughts, Akaashi didn’t hear Kuroo get closer to him and started reading the files displayed on his screens over his shoulder.

“Who’s that?”

Akaashi startled: Kuroo had spoken way to close to his ear for his liking, he wasn’t expecting someone to be standing there. He glared at Kuroo like he was trying to murder him; the latter responded with his famous fake smile. Akaashi rolled his eyes and moved over so Kuroo could read what was on the main screen. Considering Kuroo’s infractions record, he wasn’t going to be the one to report him for looking through a file that probably belonged to the Brigades.

Kurro grabed a chair and sat down nest to his colleagues, going over Bokuto Koutarou’s description.

When he was done, he leaded back and started chewing on his bottom lip, pensive.

“You know why he has been classified as unstable?”

Akaashi shook his head.

“That’s what I’m trying to understand. Apparently, these details are kept in a separate file, a classified one, which I do not have access to. You some kind of key to be able to open it. From what I understand, unless you’re a member of the Brigades, no luck in getting it open.”

Kuroo nodded slowly and thought for a bit about it.

“And what are you planning on doing?”

“Read everything I have access to.”

Kenma started laughing from the other side of the room.

“You mean you’re planning on leaving the rest of your work on standby for some kind of degenerate who is gonna be transferred soon? You must be going crazy, that doesn’t sound like you at all.”

Akaashi frowned, exasperated.

“I’m not planning on abandoning the other souls I’m in charge of, I’ll do this during my free time,” he retorted, growing more determined by the second, “It’s my duty as a Guardian Angel to make sure his transfer to the Brigades isn’t some sort of error in the system and that he really does need intense monitoring.”

Kuroo, who hadn’t been paying attention to their discussion, was scrolling through every Bokuto’s photo he could find in his file. There weren’t that much but he seemed happy in every one of them.

“I don’t think there’s a point in you reading all that, Akaashi,” he said.

He pointed to the screen where a man with spiky disheveled hair was smiling.

“If there’s anything compromising about his soul in the file, it has probably been scrapped by the Brigades as a confidentiality measure. No one looks this happy at every point of their life and no soul his age has that little pictures in their file. It’s pointless.”

Akaashi shrugged.

“I’ll just have to make a few deductions. The Brigades are authorized to erase only sensitive information, they can’t take anything else out. Which means that technically, what I’m looking for is still there, in a way. It’ll take longer but I’m confident I’ll be able to deduce at least some information from the holes in his file or the inaccuracies in his life story.”

Silence. A big hand landed on Akaashi’s head in a patronizing gesture. Akaashi cast Kuroo a menacing look.

“I’m not sure why this dude interests you that much,” said Kuroo, “but I know that what you’re planning to do, makes absolutely no sense. I hope at least you’re aware of that. You’re just gonna end up wasting time, frustrated because you can’t find anything interesting.”

Akaashi said nothing. Of course he was aware of that, he hadn’t lost it just yet, he knew the chances of him finding something, anything interesting in this file were infinitesimal, but in his eyes, this was a the most exciting thing that had happened in Heaven in months. He wasn’t about to let go of the opportunity to finally feel like his work had meaning, an impact on someone’s life.

He wasn’t quite ready just yet to admit that it likely will never have any meaning at all.

Kuroo continued:

“Nevertheless, I support your crazy shenanigans. I’m curious to see what comes of it.”

He got up and headed towards the door.

“Keep me in the loop.”

Notes:

lots of exposition but we have to start somewhere before getting to the good stuff!
hopefully it wasn't too boring :)
i also realize that akaashi is kind of a little bitch here??? it's honestly kinda funny, I don't think his attitude gets better as the story progresses but at least further down the road he has some real reasons to be angry and bitchy, call that improvement by trauma lmao

anyways, thank you so much for reading!!

Chapter 3

Oikawa walked through the white hallways at a quick pace.

He cast small, amused looks around him; no matter how much he searches the walls, what his eyes fell upon, he only found white.

From the ceiling to the floor, including the shelves and all decoration, here, everything was white. Pure, innocent, bewitching white. A white so luminous it seemed able to blind the courageous who dared stare at it only a second too long. Everything was white. It was tiring; for the eyes, weary to have to fight continuously against this too bright light, and for the wild spirits who wished to defy the cardboard purity who only seemed truly spotless on the outside.

Those who looked a little too closely at this all-encompassing whiteness found themselves taken by nausea, a dizziness provoked by an overwhelming light and the absence of any visual stimulation, losing any real sense of distance and time. The purity of the place almost spit in the face of those who lived in its heart, trying to erase the doubt that there could have been a time where darkness clouded these walls and found its home in the mind of its inhabitants. Yet everyone knew that nothing could truly be white as snow; all this whiteness was only here to lull people into a false sense of security, distracting from any real problems that could emerge. One had to be brave enough to dig, if they ever hoped to see the mud that lied beyond the snow.

Oikawa finally stopped walking when he found himself in front of an enormous marble door. He observed at length the numerous engravings that ornated the majestic object before adjusting his uniform, a white suit, shirt, dress pants and blazer ironed and ironed dozens of times so not to let a single crease left. He was also wearing on his shoulders a long cloak that came down almost to the ground, grazing his ankles, that let his single wing appear. He also wore a tie to which was clipped his plaque, indicating his rank.

Such a formal clothing wasn’t use so much for elegance as it was to deceive potential enemies: under all these layers of fancy fabric were hiding numerous weapons of various shapes and uses. If Oikawa was wearing all that it was not just for fun or paranoia, but by obligation.

The Angelical Brigades were formed of two main factions: one of those occupied a role close to the one of the Guardian Angels, protection vulnerable souls; the other was assigned to the defense and protection of Heaven, and particularly, that of the Archangels. This faction was the close-combat unit of these sacred grounds and required its members to be armes in any circumstances.

Oikawa finally stopped admiring the marble engravings and decided to push the heavy door in front of him open. He wasn’t used to knock on doors before entering, a bad habit that had already caused him to accidentally walk on scenes he now wished to be able to erase from his mind. He shook his head slightly to shoo away the images that started coming to his mind and entered the room instead.

He scanned the office quickly before his eyes set on what he was looking for. Or more specifically, who he was looking for.

“Yohoo.”

He smiled slightly before waving hello and coming to stand in front of the glass desk where Sugawara was sitting.

The latter didn’t bother looking up from what he was working on and yawned before briefly acknowledging Oikawa’s presence by pointing to the chair in front of him where he was ordering him to sit.  Oikawa obeyed and sat down, trying to keep his back as straight as possible, detached from the back of the chair. He held on to this position for a minute or two before changing positions several times, finally settling on something more comfortable, though less professional, letting his back sink completely into the soft, enormous armchair.

Oikawa took advantage of Suga ignoring him to study the room; it had been a while since he hadn’t visited the Archangel, usually they saw each other outside of his office or chatted a bit when they crossed ways in the maze-like hallways. The room was sober, nothing too extravagant was displayed, though it was filled with sturdy shelves who in turn were filled with printed versions of dozens and dozens of old files; everything seemed to be organized to the millimeter. The bookshelves were so big they touched the high ceiling where a marvelous crystal chandelier was hanging. Oikawa felt chill run down his back, imagining something that heavy falling without hesitation on him, crushing his bones until they shot through his skin, and he bled to death on the pristine floor.

Oikawa looked away from the ceiling and let his eyes fall on the glass desk in front of him where several piles of paperwork were taking root. There were so much paper piles that Suga seemed to have started putting his pens and pencils on top of the. Oikawa almost felt bad for him: having to spend your days filling endless forms, every one of them more devoid of meaning that the others, was no easy job. He by large preferred his own work in the Brigades, even if it meant not being at the top of the hierarchy. Suga’s desk seemed to serve as the exception to the rule of tidiness of the rest of the room and yet, it somehow fit perfectly with the atmosphere. There was one thing here that didn’t fit the décor though: a porcelain urn, the most colorful one Oikawa had ever seen in this little white world that was Heaven. He quickly looked away – he didn’t want Sugawara to see him stare so openly at something so intimate.

They sat in silence for a while more, just enough so the Archangel could finish what he was doing. Finally, he put his pen away and smiled at his interlocutor.

“Oikawa! What brings you here today? Unannounced.”

Oikawa stared at Suga; he always wore this sort of big, innocent and non-threatening smile placated on his angelical face, speaking in a weird enthusiastic tone, but the more Oikawa looked at him, the more uneasy he felt. Of all the adjectives that came to his mind to describe the Archangel, innocent and non-threatening weren’t one of them.

“Don’t you perhaps have a slight idea?”

Suga let out a little laugh before leaning against the back of his armchair.

“I really don’t! And while we’re at it, why don’t you straighten up…” he pointed at Oikawa’s chair and gestured with his hand, “…and explain to me nicely why you’ve come to bother me.”

Oikawa obeyed, once again, and unglued his back from the chair, adopting his previous formal posture.

“What are you playing at, Suga?”

His own face was far from amused, and he spoke without pretending to be pleasant; he didn’t want to play the Archangel’s game of pantomime.

Sugawara’s smile wavered slightly.

“Is that why you’ve come to visit me? To blame me? You could have spared yourself the travel and add your complaint to the reclamation pile I have already received.”

Oikawa didn’t say anything.

“You know, I expected better of you, Oikawa. If there’s one person who is to obey my orders without questioning them, it’s you. Unless you’ve changed your mind about our previous arrangement and decided to rebel?”

“I haven’t, but I’m not kidding Archangel. Why is it that suddenly we’ve all found ourselves forced to maintain our human forms?”

Suga picked up a pen that was lying there amongst the paper piles and started to play with it, taking the cap off and forcing it back on.

“Well, I just thought it would be amusing, you see!”

Oikawa had to fight not to role his eyes and bang his fist on the desk out of exasperation, opting instead for a discreet frown which didn’t prove enough to alleviate his rising anger.

“No actually, I don’t see. No one sees. Which may be part of the problem and why you’re drowning in complaints. Don’t you think your taking your little game too far? I know you’ve always been somewhat fond of humans, but this is exceeding reason. You know very well how exhausting it is to maintain this form all day.”

Suga shrugged, unbothered as ever.

“It will make them stronger.”

“Stronger? You’ve got to be kidding me. Angels are at their most vulnerable in human form and you think it’ll make us stronger? Is that what you want? Strength? What for exactly?”, Oikawa crossed his arms to avoid any further outburst and shook his head, dumbfounded, “Listen, Archangel, we have known each other for a while now. If there was some reason for you to fear Heaven is lacking in strength, I would like to know about it.”

Suga sighed and stopped fidgeting with his pen, putting it down firmly in front of him. He rested his elbows on the desk and put his head on his clasped hands.

“I have already told you why I’m doing this, I’m having fun! What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong, like you say, is that I’m pretty sure you’re not having fun. In fact, I think you’re lying through your teeth. You don’t want to tell me what you’re planning? Fine. But I hope you’re aware that someday, this will come back to bite you in the ass.”

“Are you threatening me? Because I don’t think you want to be doing that, Oikawa.”

Oikawa took a second to breathe deeply to try and calm down.

“No, I’m not. But these days, maybe you had better stop wasting your time on ‘amusement’ and start focusing on more urgent problems.”

Sugawara didn’t answer, simply smiling like he always did; his eyes though, had stopped smiling a long time ago.

Oikawa didn’t wait for permission to leave and got up, his fists still clenched at his sides and highbrows deeply frowned on his forehead, frustrated to have lost his time trying to argue with Suga. He stared at his superior for a second, trying to see if he could decipher his mind, before taking a letter out of his pocket.

He threw it on the desk and Sugawara started at it for a second before picking it up and inspecting both sides several times.

“And what is that supposed to be? Not a formal complaint, I hope, I was kidding earlier. I have been very patient with you today, and you know you’re in no position to complain.”

“I’m aware, thank you. It’s from the Hells.”

Suga sighed.

“I see.”

He looked up to see Oikawa was walking up to the door.

“You’re leaving already? What a shame, I would have loved for you and I to chat a little longer.”

Oikawa didn’t turn back, simply waving goodbye. He was done talking to this entitled asshole.

Suga put the letter down without opening it and started smiling.

“By the way, Oikawa…”

The latter froze on the threshold of the marble door.

“I would appreciate if you stopped sticking your nose in my business. We both know it’s been a long time since you’ve been as pure and moral as you still pretend to be, and I don’t appreciate you coming to lecture me when you’re far from perfect yourself. I have been turning a blind eye on your little… “escapades”, for a while now. It would be a shame to finally be punished for that, right? No one else knows about it but if the rumor started spreading… well, let’s just say I can’t make exceptions. Even for you. Is that understood?”

Oikawa clenched his teeth. Sugawara’s fake smiles have never been any use in hiding his rotten personality. Still, Oikawa couldn’t do anything against him in his situation. He let his head down, defeated.

“Yes, Archangel.”

Notes:

trying to translate something is funny because I think I know how to speak English and then find myself looking stupid stuff up like what's the word for punishment when it sounds almost exactly the same as in french (punition)

love being humbled

anyway, thank you for reading this chapter!! things are starting to get a little tense in heaven, you could even say that... there's trouble in paradise lmao (okay I'll stop with the bad jokes)

take care <3

Chapter 4

Akaashi let himself collapse on his desk, exhausted.

Four days. It had been four days since Akaashi had closed his eyes and fallen asleep. While sleeping wasn’t mandatory for his body to be able to function correctly, being able to rest his brain for a few hours always helped him feel more alert; he was reaching his limit of sleepless nights.

He was starting to have trouble differentiating the various letters in front of him and making words out of them; he felt like a bunch of teenagers were partying in his poor skull.

He was even struggling to think at this point.

But it was worth it.

He had finally reached the end of the file of this mysterious Bokuto.

He should have felt relieved, serene even, now that he had finished this colossal task; he should have felt like someone finally lifted a weight off his shoulders. And yet, he had now more questions than answers, no relief at the horizon.

Maybe the obvious lack of rest was scrambling his thoughts and preventing him from connecting the evidence that would ultimately solve mystery “Bokuto”, but that would be a problem for later.

He took of his glasses and buried his head in his arms; he was so tired he didn’t even feel like getting up, his poor arms and desk chair suddenly feeling like the most comfortable bed he ever had the chance to lie in. He exhaled slowly, finally letting himself sleep a little. His eyes closed and soon, he fell into a comatose sleep. No dreams in sight.

*

Kuroo opened wide he door to Akaashi’s office, a drink in hand. He took a sip of what looked like coffee, contemplating the sorry state Akaashi had found himself in. Kuroo sighed and approached Akaashi, shaking him by the shoulder. The latter groaned but still ended up lifting his head from his arms. He put his glasses back one and threw a nasty look at Kuroo who was trying not to laugh. Akaashi’s face only got more annoyed.

“Something funny, Kuroo?”

His voice hoarse and slightly confused; he had barely slept two hours which clearly, had not been enough to lift the brain fog.

Kuroo coughed a little to compose himself and tried to look more serious and less mocking.

“You look terrible.”

Akaashi let himself go against the back of his chair and closed his eyes again.

“I’m aware, thank you.”

Kuroo opened the bag he had brought et took three energy drinks full of caffein out. He put two of them on the desk and handing the last one to Akaashi.

“Here, that should wake you up.”

Akaashi opened an eye and took the drink suspiciously: he wasn’t one to usually consume human filth, but he was too tired to care.

“I highly doubt it.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t want it, I’ll gladly take it back. I was trying to be nice.”

Akaashi opened the can and drank the whole thing in one sip. He burped discreetly before looking at Kuroo again who clearly, felt more and more at home in his office.

He shrugged.

“It’s fine.”

He made a weird face and turned the can to read the composition of what he had just drank.

“This has to be the most disgusting thing that I ever had the displeasure to drink.”

Still, he took the second can and got started on drinking it, slowly feeling his heart rate accelerating to the point where he felt it pound in his head because of the caffeine.

Kuroo laughed at Akaashi’s disgusted face and grabbed a chair and sat on it backwards.

“So, Mister I-Haven’t-Slept-In-Three-Days, what have you discovered?”

Akaashi finished his drink and sat the empty can on his desk before opening Bokuto’s file on his screens and scrolling up to the parts he had circled.

“Four.”

“What?”

Akaashi rolled his eyes.

“I haven’t slept in four days. But it doesn’t matter, take a look at that instead.”

Kuroo rolled his chair a bit so he could read what his colleague was showing him on the screen.

“Yeah… I really don’t see what’s so special about that.”

Akaashi took a sip of the third can of the disgusting energy drink and zoomed on the screen so he could point at a particular section.

“Here. It says his older sister died of leukemia when he was twelve.”

Kuroo raised a highbrow.

“So? Lots of people have sad lives, they don’t all become dangerous because of that. I don’t see how it would reason enough to send him to the Brigades.”

“You’re right, but it’s still weird that there was no other information about her illness or her death, don’t you think?”

Kuroo got up and started pacing in the room, he grabbed his keychain and started playing with it.

“Honestly, I have no idea what to think about that, Akaashi.”

He stopped walking back and forth and turned to his friend.

“But what I do think, is that you’re tired and working too much. Maybe you should try relaxing for a change.”

Akaashi ignored Kuroo’s words and went on about his evidence presentation.

“Usually, there should have been at least some details about how Bokuto processed the situation, the grief, the loss, etc. And probably also some details about the funeral and this kind of things. But there’s nothing. So, what can we deduce?”

Kuroo sighed and shook his head; he knew Akaashi wasn’t waiting on any answers from him to that question.

“That it was probably a very difficult experience for Boktuo! At least, difficult enough for the Brigades to have judged it was necessary to erase it from his files. Which means, that Bokuto coped so badly with his sister’s passing that it probably gave him some kind of psychological damage, which in turn, probably led to him committing some violent act that caused his labeling as an ‘unstable’ case!”

 Akaashi said that in such an enthusiastic way one could have thought he was delivering the best news of the year. Kuroo bit his lip, worriedly.

“Akaashi…”

He was hurting himself, Akaashi was well aware of that, well aware of the fact he sounded mad, like a conspiracist even or God knows what else, but he had spent too much time on it to back out now, he felt emotionally invested which probably wasn’t a good thing. He could understand why Kuroo was casting him those sad locks, almost pitiful. He knew he was going too far, that he had taken this mere informatic mistake to ridiculous proportions, but he couldn’t just and forget about it all now. He knew he could never do something like that.

This Bokuto, these past few days, had given Akaashi some sense of purpose in his dull life. If he stopped now, then he would have to go back to a life he couldn’t stand anymore while pretending everything was fine. And he just couldn’t, at least not until he got to the end of it. He needed closure if he was to go back to his normal life at some point, something that showed him that he wasn’t useless after all, that there was still purpose in his work. And until then, well, this little obsession would serve as a lifeline he could hold onto.

“No, Kuroo, I know what you’re thinking but listen to me. Please.”

Kuroo looked at him for a second before shaking his head, defeated, and sat back again in his chair.

Akaashi started going through Bokuto’s file for a while until he reached another circled part. He grabbed a random pen and pointed to the different section he had tried to decipher.

“Here we can see he left home at seventeen. Once again, no complementary information on the circumstance that led him to leave, or even at what date he specifically did so.”

“… Akaashi, you’re completely delusional.”

The latter frowned slightly, trying not to look hurt by the comment, Kuroo went on:

“Bokuto isn’t the only person to have left mommy and daddy’s home at seventeen. It doesn’t mean anything. The fact there’s no more information on the subject probably means there was nothing exceptional about him leaving the nest.”

Akasshi’s tone got colder.

“I’m not delusional.”

“You sure? Because that’s what a delusional person would say.”

Akaashi zoomed on another part that was accompanied by a picture.

“Look.”

He poked harshly at the underlined sentences, making the screen shake a bit.

“And that? That’s not suspicious maybe?”

He clicked on the photograph.

“Here we can see the studio apartment Bokuto rented.”

Akaashi was trying to sound the most reasonable and serious he could despite the fatigue. He wanted Kuroo to understand, to see that he wasn’t crazy. Yet he knew as much as he tried, he still sounded desperate, desperate for someone to give him some answers and tell him he wasn’t going in a dead end, desperate for some validation that he wasn’t delusional like he started fearing he was. Somewhere he the last four days he had started feeling like the ground was disappearing under him and that he couldn’t hold to anything except Bokuto, at least Bokuto was somewhat tangible.

Kuroo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest.

“So what? What about the apartment studio he rented?”

“You don’t see? Why is that for, three, three you hear, for three years, there is nothing in his file? We don’t know what Bokuto’s does with his life, or even where he lived during that period of time. And then suddenly, three years after he supposedly left home, he rents an apartment? No reason given? You have to admit that this gap of three years his abnormal.”

Kuroo didn’t say anything. Not that it mattered, Akaashi wouldn’t have listened to him anyway.

“And his parents, right? That’s also strange!”

Akaashi had now gotten up and was franticly gesturing to the screen.

“Why do we know nothing about them? Bokuto’s has lived seventeen years with them, that’s not nothing! Seventeen years is also a long time, there should at least have some basic information on them if they were the ones to have raised him, made him come to life. But no! There’s nothing, nothing! Why is it? Tell, me Kuroo, why is there nothing? WHY?”

Akaashiw as yelling now, it took a second for him to notice. When he realized he was getting carried away, he stopped to try and even out his breathing. He was on edge. He wanted to cry. Probably the lack of rest. He felt like he finally reached his limits.

Kuroo got up he put a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder, trying to get him to sit down. Akaashi backed away from the gesture on impulse but ended up letting himself be guided by Kuroo.

“It’s your turn to listen to me, Akaashi.”

Akaashi sniffed but didn’t answer. His felt like he had a lump in his throat.

“You have to stop with all this. It won’t get you anywhere. And what are you looking for anyway? In the most interesting scenario, you’ll just learn some horrible stuff about Bokuto. Is that really what you want?”

Akaashi shrugged, he didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t know much right this instant. Kuroo gripped his shoulder harder trying to anchor his friend back into a reality slightly more tangible than the one he seemed to be currently floating in.

“You’ve gotten too invested in this. I mean, come one, you’ve become emotionally attached to a human you don’t even know!”

Kuroo’s tone was becoming a bit harsher, more desperate for him to knock some sense in in friends head and make him realize how ridiculous this was becoming.

“Don’t you see how it’s eating you from the inside little by little? And it’s not even been a week dammit! You need to get your shit together, Akaashi!”

Kuroo let go of Akaashi’s shoulder and sighed once again, adopting a softer tone:

“You have to stop this madness. Please. You’re hurting yourself for no reason and I’m getting worried.”

Akaashi raised his head and tried smiling a little.

“You don’t understand, Kuroo. I can’t stop now.”

He let out a weird laugh, like an out of tune piano.

“I’ve gone too far, I can’t back down. I need to know, to see the end of it.”

Both of them stayed silent for a bit before Kuroo tried once again to convince Akaashi to give up on the whole Bokuto story.

“I’m not sure there’s anything to know. I hope you’re aware that this,” he pointed at random to the screen behind him, “is probably all you’ll never know about this dude. Unless you’ve got your hand on the Brigades file, there will be no more information. You’ve reached a dead end, but you can still stop now.”

Akaashi didn’t answer at first but slowly, his eyes started to light up again and a small smile crept on his lips.

“You’re right. Thank you, Kuroo.”

Kuroo sighed with relief this time.

“Thank God you’ve come to your senses. So, you’re giving up?”

Akaashi cast him a funny look, his smile only gorwing bigger.

“Of course not. But thanks to you, I know what I have to do now.”

Kuroo cursed under his breath and shook his head firmly.

“No. No, Akaashi, you hear me? You can’t do that.”

Akaashi burst out laughing, relieved he finally had a way to get out of that dead end.

“Oh yes I can.”

Akaashi got from his chair and landed a firm hand on Kuroo’s shoulder.

“And you’re going to help me.”

Kuroo had no choice but to curse again.

“Shit, Akaashi, this lack of sleep his doing a worse number on you than I would have thought.”

Notes:

thank you for reading :)

Chapter 5

“Here, put that on.”

Akaashi extended his arms to receive the pile of clothes Kuroo just threw at him. He looked at it for a second before pulling out some kind of black turtleneck.

“Say, Kuroo…”

The latter finished putting on a black pair of pants before turning to Akaashi.

“…where exactly did you find these clothes?” Akaashi turned the turtleneck around before to look at it from a different angle, still bewildered by the color, before continuing. “I mean, it’s almost impossible to find anything that isn’t white around here…”

Kuroo shrugged and passed his hands through his disheveled hair, trying in vain to make them look better.

“Oikawa supplied me with them.”

Akaashi frowned a bit, confused, still looking at the suspicious turtleneck; it now seemed like it was giving off a forbidden air, almost menacing. Why had Kuroo involved Oikawa in this? Akaashi was certain he had asked him to keep quiet about what was to happen tonight. He was about to open his mouth and start questioning Kuroo again but got cutoff before he could say anything.

“Don’t ask,” sighed Kuroo. “It’s like Oikawa will blab anyway.”

Kuroo almost felt bad, hiding stuff from Akaashi, it wasn’t exactly making him a better friend – yet he knew he shouldn’t involve him in this, neither him nor Oikawa needed more people to be aware of their doing. It would only make things worse. Oikawa was already not the most well-regarded person of Heaven so, if rumors started spreading about the kind of stuff he was involved in, he would risk being banished. So, even if Kuroo felt slightly bad, he wasn’t about to tell on Oikawa, not when he had just done him a favor by finding all those black clothes for him.

Akaashi sighed and didn’t ask any more questions. He had an inkling that Kuroo and Oikawa were involved into some shady business so maybe it was better staying ignorant. He was already about to commit a crime, better not start collecting them. Plus, he had more important things to focus on right now, he could always be worried about origin of the black clothing later.

He put down the pile he had in his arms on the bed and changed clothes rapidly; he was now wearing a black turtleneck which for some reason, was lacking sleeves, and matching black pants. He then put on some weird pair of gloves and wondered he they had any other use than not leaving traces, then finished his with outfit black combat boots. He caught sight of his reflection int the mirror and observed his silhouette distractingly; he looked pretty good, luckily Oikawa had good taste. He frowned, looking at his face: it would have been useful to have something to cover it.

Kuroo looked through a big cloth bag before taking out two weird-looking objects. He threw one at Akaashi who, too distracted by his own thoughts received with his head. He threw a nasty look at Kuroo and picked up the thing from the ground; he was starting to wonder if Kuroo was aware he could just hand stuff out to him like a normal person.

“What’s that?”

Kuroo let out a laugh a waved arounf the second object proudly.

“Our masks!”

Well, maybe Kuroo wasn’t as dumb as Akaashi had thought. He detailed what he was holding in his hands: it was indeed a mask, but not the kind he would have liked to wear in order not to be recognized. No, this was some kind of stupid carnival mask, shaped like a butterfly that only covered the superior half of his face. And if this wasn’t already bad enough, the mask was covered in black glitter and rhinestones, making it shimmer when it caught the light. Akaashi was unsured if he should laugh or cry at the perspective of this pathetic object being useful in some form. Still, it was better than no mask, so he put it on despite not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the prospective usefulness of such an object.

Kuroo was already wearing his similar mask and cast himself seductive looks in the mirror of the room. He was wearing a black three-piece suit which looked terrible paired with his old tennis shoes he refused to throw away. He smiled suspiciously at his reflection before turning around so Akaashi could admire his new look. The latter simply rolled his eyes and shook his head disapprovingly.

“I really should wear this for Kenma one of these days,” said Kuroo winking at himself in the mirror. I look hot as fuck.”

Akaashi pretended to throw up.

“Do me a favor and spare me this shit.” He readjusted his turtleneck, trying to get it straight. “I hope you realize this is not a game we’re playing. We are not dressing up for fun.”

Kuroo stopped cooing at himself and adopted a falsely offended face, hand on his chest.

“Do I need to remind you that I wasn’t planning on helping you originally?” He smiled and tightened up his tie. “But since I’m a great person – you can ask Kenma if you don’t believe me – I realized your stupid plan and no chance of working without my help. And as a good friend who’s worried for you, I didn’t want you taking more risks than necessary. So, you should be grateful.”

Kuroo winked at himself again then took on a more serious face, finally turning towards Akaashi instead of looking at him in the mirror.

“It’s not too late to back at now, you know.”

Akaashi shrugged.

“I’m not backing out. And I don’t think I should be particularly grateful, I could have done this just as easily alone, thank you very much.”

Akaashi grabbed the map he had found that should lead them the headquarters of the Angelical Brigades. Kuroo watched him gather what they needed, no shadow of a smile left, now replaces by a slightly preoccupied look.

“Akaashi, I know that up until these last few days I’ve been supportive of your endeavors, and I want to continue standing at your side in the future. But this…” he let his words trail off, looking away before finally confronting himself to Akaashi’s harsh and determined gaze. “I know you’re not dumb, and I know that you’re as aware, if not more, than I am about the risks you’re about to take for a simple whim. I’m saying that for your own good, you know. I want things to go back the way they were. So even though you already said you were serious about breaking into the headquarters of the Brigades, I’m asking you again: are you absolutely certain that you want to go through with all this?”

Akaashi didn’t even bother to answer this time, he was starting to grow tired of Kuroo questioning his choices like he was a child that couldn’t think for himself. He didn’t need to answer anyway, his decided face said it all.

Kuroo sighed, defeated.

“Alright. I don’t understand, but alright.”

He grabbed his own bag containing Bokuto’s file printed out and threw it on his shoulder.

“We should get on this case.”

Akaashi finally showed something akin to a smile and followed Kuroo, map in hand.

*

Akaashi and Kuroo had been walking in the dark for the past ten minutes. Heaven was sectioned according to the different time zones of the world, mimicking their nighttime as the resting period allowed to Angels every day, which depended on which region of earth the souls they were in charge of came from. Luckily for them, the Brigades headquarters where in a time zone close to the one where Akaashi and Kuroo worked so they had little trouble hinding in the shadows from Akaashi’s room without being seen.

Around them reigned a calm so dense it almost seemed like people were afraid to get out of their rooms to come and disrupt it. Caught in the trap of their own thoughts, Akaashi and Kuroo could do nothing but continue forward; neither of them would have thought that having to move quickly without making any noise in these endless hallways would be so fastidious. Their environment changed so little despite the distance it felt like they were stagnant even in movement.

Akaashi was following the wall with his hand, barely grazing it, trying to count the turns they made so he could visualize where they were according to the map he had studied. He stopped abruptly at an intersection to think and try and remember which way they had to go. Kuroo, completely lost in his thoughts, ran heavily (and noisily) into him. Akkashi stifled a cry of surprise and stumbled into his own feet. He managed to catch himself just before falling face-first on the ground, cursing at himself for having allowed this idiot to come with him. He inhaled deeply to try and regain his composure; it was useless to get mad at Kuroo, not now at least. Plus, deep down, he knew very well he didn’t have the capacity to unlock the various doors that will be encountering soon.

He still turned around to remind Kuroo that he should be more attentive to his surroundings and Kuroo covered Akaashi’s mouth with his hand to prevent him talking. Akaashi raised his highbrows, confused as to what the hell Kuroo was doing and started gesticulating for him to let him go. Kuroo shook his head and point to a large door to their left and slowly dropped his hand.

“We’re here.”

Notes:

a bit of a smaller chapter where nothing much happens, the next one should be a little more eventful if my memory serves me right!

thank you for reading :)

Chapter 6

Akaashi stared at the door for a few moments. He couldn't believe they had finally reached their goal. He sighed.

They still needed to find a way to get inside tough.

Kuroo took off his backpack and handed it to Akaashi, who began rummaging through it. There wasn't much in the bag, so he quickly found what he was looking for. He looked around, checking that there were no cameras. Security systems weren't particularly sophisticated in Paradise, few people attempted to do anything wrong here. However, he still preferred to take a few precautions and not rush in headlong. He glanced at Kuroo. Like him for example, who generally didn't think much at all before acting.

Getting into the Angelic Brigades' office wasn't that difficult, you just needed to have a key. Unfortunately, very few people pssessed one, and those who did usually wore it around their necks, which meant they didn't have to search through their pockets every time they wanted to enter an area or place reserved for the Brigades. In the meantime then, since they didn't have the key in question, Kuroo had found something to pick the lock with.

Akaashi crouched down, the wire in his hand. He looked at it for a few moments before twisting it so that it would fit effectively into the lock.

Kuroo leaned against the wall and watched closely as Akaashi tried to pick the lock, without much success.

Akaashi growled in frustration. It was his first time doing this, and he could clearly feel Kuroo's amused gaze on him, as he was probably an expert in this field. Nevertheless, despite his questionable lock-picking skills, Akaashi was determined to succeed. He pressed his ear against the door as he had seen Kuroo do, trying to hear the potential clicks indicating that the lock had been unlocked.

After several long minutes, he finally heard something. He pulled his head away from the door and turned to his friend.

“Kuroo, I think I've–”

He didn't finish his sentence. The hallway was suddenly brightly lit. One could have sworn it was daytime. Akaashi had to close his eyes and cover his face, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. He turned around and looked up. His eyes were watering, he couldn't see much yet, but he could make out a figure in front of him. He suddenly felt small, very small even, powerless.

“Akaashi.”

The voice echoed through the silent corridors, reverberating off the walls and ceiling, spreading to every possible corner and surface. Akaashi shivered, he had thought he recognized that voice, but it couldn't be the person he was thinking of, there was no reason for him to be standing there, in front of him, at such an hour in the night, right?

He blinked and rubbed his eyes several times until his vision adjusted to the bright light. He looked up and met the piercing gaze of the one he feared. Standing before him was Archangel Sugawara. He did not look happy.

Apparently, he had heard correctly. He hadn't been dreaming.

He opened his mouth to try to explain himself but was suddenly lifted off the ground by the collar of his sweater until he was standing upright again. He turned his head and saw Oikawa looking down, like he felt guilty or ashamed of what he was doing.

Suga had his arms crossed over his chest and a murderous look on his face.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Akaashi?”

Akaashi swallowed, still unsure of what was going on.

“I–”

And only then did he notice that there was someone else behind Sugawara. He tilted his head to the side to get a better look at the person in question but had to step back in surprise.

“Kenma?”

Kenma looked away and muttered a barely audible word:

“Sorry...”

Akaashi slowly turned his head in Kuroo's direction, growing more and more confused. Kuroo was avoiding his gaze too and staring at the floor. Akaashi stared at him more intently.

“Kuroo. Can you explain to me what Kenma is doing here?”

Kuroo turned away from Akaashi completely this time, unable to bear his accusing gaze.

“I'm sorry, Akaashi.”

Akaashi shook his head in disbelief.

“I can't believe it.”

He took a step back, instinctively trying to flee. Fear and confusion were written all over his face.

“It can’t be.”

Sugawara sighed and motioned to Oikawa, who immediately walked over to Akaashi. He took him by the arm, pulling him along with him.

“Let's go.”

Akaashi looked at him with disgust and tried to free himself from his grip.

“Let go of me!”

Oikawa glanced at Suga, who responded with a nod.

He then took a syringe out of his pocket and jabbed it randomly into Akaashi's arm.

Akaashi struggled vigorously, more and more vigorously.

“What are you doing, Oikawa?”

Oikawa said nothing. He felt sorry for the poor boy, sincerely sorry.

Akaashi raised an arm to try to push Oikawa away but had to stop.

“What the–”

Akaashi was starting to have trouble standing, his head was spinning, and his vision was blurring. He finally collapsed into Oikawa's arms, who threw him over his shoulder to carry him away.

“Sweet dreams, Akaashi.”

Notes:

another short one, sorry, but the stakes are getting higher!

now, does present me think that kuroo betraying akaashi makes sense? no. did past me make this choice mostly for the drama? yes lmao

it's too late to change that to make it more coherent so we'll just have to roll with it and pretend it makes sense haha

anyway, thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 7

Akaashi slowly regained consciousness. He tried to open one eye; everything hurt, he would have preferred to fall sleep again. He pulled his legs up to his chest, nothing was forcing him to get up after all. He was cold. Where was he? As he progressively woke up, his memories began to resurface. He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly, short of breath. What had he done?

He looked around, still disoriented, searching for familiar landmarks. He quickly realized there was nothing to hold on to. He slowly ran his hands around him. The stones beneath his fingers were cold and uneven, strangely, they were white. At least he was still in Paradise, that was something. In front of him stood a large glass wall. It was in this moment that he truly realized what was happening. He had indeed been locked up.

His cell was cramped, really cramped, and he felt uncomfortable there. His wings couldn't stretch properly and his whole body was numb. Now that he paid more attention to it, the rest of the walls were also made of glass. He ran his fingertips over one of them, it was a strange sensation. He tried to see what was on the other side of the glass, but he couldn't see anything. He moved away from the wall, suddenly anxious; he felt like he was being watched, exposed naked. That feeling disgusted him. He curled up on himself, wrapping his sore wings around his body. How long had he been locked up here? It could have been a few hours or like it could have been a few days. He had no idea, it was frustrating. He rocked gently back and forth, trying to calm down, what was he going to do?

Akaashi spent several more hours sitting in the middle of his cell, staring into space, he was unable to think. Yet he had to find a way to get out of there, and fast. Noise echoed in the hallway, footsteps, but Akaashi didn't even pay attention to it, he didn't even look up. It wasn't worth it.

The person approached and crouched down in front of the cell, tray in hand.

“How are you feeling, Akaashi?”

Kuroo's voice was soft, he seemed concerned. Akaashi didn't respond. Kuroo sighed and slid the food through the trapdoor into the cell. It seemed absurd to serve him food in these conditions; food was a luxury not a necessity, it was like his captors prided themselves in being such good jailkeepers. Akaashi finally turned his head in Kuroo’s direction, looked at the tray, then slowly looked up at Kuroo. Akaashi looked at him with a lost expression at first, he looked tired. But soon his gaze hardened, his expression turning ice cold.

“Kuroo,” he whispered.

He stood up and approached the glass door. His eyebrows furrowed further. Kuroo gave a nervous little laugh and stood up as well.

Akaashi shook his head.

“What the hells got into you?!”

He banged his fist against the glass door.

Kuroo took a step back.

“Listen, Akaashi...”

“No. You listen. Do you realize the situation I'm in because of you?”

His face contorted with anger.

“Why did you have to warn Archangel Sugwara? Have you lost damn your mind?”

Akaashi turned his back on him as best he could, he didn’t want Kuroo to see how much it affected him to have his trust betrayed.

“And Kenma? Why did you involve Kenma? This story was none of his business.”

Kuroo lowered his eyes.

“Akaashi. If I did it, it was for your own good.”

“Oh, really?”

A tear rolled silently down Akaashi's cheek.

“For my own good, huh? That's what you saying, for my own good, is that it? Is that your excuse? Do you even know what's good for me?”

Kuroo clenched his fists, of course he couldn't pretend to know what was good or bad for Akaashi, but why couldn't Akaashi see that despite everything, he had tried to help him? It was better to stop him now, before it was too late to turn back. Kuroo took a deep breath to calm himself.

“If I hadn't intervened, you would have made a much more serious mistake, and I don't want to know what might have happened to you.”

He approached the glass wall and placed his hand against it.

“Please, Akaashi, you have to give up on Bokuto Koutarou. This is getting ridiculous.”

Akaashi sniffed but said nothing, so Kuroo continued.

“You're hurting yourself. If you keep this up, you're going to fuck your whole life up. Is that really what you want? Is that really what you desire?”

Akaashi wiped away his tears.

“You don't understand, it's not a question of desire. I– I need it. I can't take the life I’m living anymore, I need something to hold on to.”

He turned to Kuroo, his eyes still red and wet, but he seemed to have calmed down.

“I have to see this through to the end. No matter the consequences.”

Kuroo shook his head. He hated this. He didn't want to see his friend put his life in danger for such a stupid thing. He could see how much it was affecting him, but there was nothing he could do to help if he couldn’t keep him out of trouble. Except be there for him.

“From now on I won't stop you, then. If you say you need it, I believe you.”

Akaashi's shoulders slumped a little. Now that he had said it out loud, there was no turning back. He let himself fall to the ground.

“I'm sorry, Kuroo. I shouldn't have involved you in the first place.”

Kuroo sat down against the wall. They both remained silent for a moment. Kuroo slowly realized what it would really mean for Akaashi to continue his research. It was going to be complicated. He glanced inside the cell. Akaashi was curled up in a fetal position. He sighed, now they would have to talk to Sugawara. Akaashi would have to be judged and punished for his attempted break-in in the Brigade office. Since he hadn't managed to get inside, the sentence shouldn't be too severe. At least Kuroo had managed to limit the damage. But perhaps not for long. What would happen once Akaashi was judged? Would he be able to return to his former life?

A sound of footsteps in the hallway snapped Kuroo out of his thoughts. He jumped up hastily, no one passed by there usually. Since there were almost no prisoners, there was no one to visit.

The footsteps grew closer, and Kuroo smelled a sickening scent of vanilla filling the room. Cold sweat ran down his neck, then laughter rang out, followed by two people.

“A good morning to you, Akaashi.”

Sugawara smiled. He slowly approached the cell, followed by his guard, Oikawa. Akaashi looked up and met the Archangel's gaze. A shiver ran through him. Sugawara's face may have worn a gentle and reassuring expression, the feeling it conveyed was quite different. Akaashi felt completely exposed, as if his mind had been laid bare before him. For a moment, he wondered if Sugawara was capable of reading other people's minds.

“Archangel Sugawara,” he said in a voice he hoped souded more confident than he felt.

Suga's smile widened and he straightened up.

“It pains me greatly to see you in such a position, my dear Akaashi. What could have happened to you to bring you to this point, tell me?”

Akaashi instinctively backed away, his back bumping against the back of the cell. He felt threatened by the Archangel's presence. The Archangel began to laugh.

"There's no reason to be afraid.”

His smooth voice became deeper.

"I don't want to hurt you, after all. Only to talk.”

Akaashi looked at Kuroo, asking him for advice. Kuroo shrugged; he had no idea what was going on either. Akaashi took a deep breath. He was on his own this time and from now on.

"I'm listening.”

Suga clapped his hands.

“Fantastic!”

He cleared his throat before continuing.

“I'm ready to let you out!”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“But of course! On one condition, though.”

Sugawara snapped his fingers and held out his hand.

“Oikawa!”

Oikawa rolled his eyes and handed him a piece of paper.

“You see, my dear Akaashi, I have here a lovely contract that I would like you to sign. If you still want to leave, of course.”

Akaashi stared at it, he definitely did not trust him.

“I imagine you're wondering what this contract entails. Well, you see, it stipulates that your release is guaranteed on the condition that you commit to not sinning again. Easy enough so far! It also states further on that if, by chance, you were to commit another offense...”

He paused briefly, his smile widening.

“You would fall.”

Akaashi's heartbeat quickened. Fall? He couldn't really fall, be cast out of Heaven, could he?

He swallowed.

“You're joking, right?”

It was Kuroo who had spoken. Sugawara turned in his direction, as if noticing his presence for the first time. His smile vanished the time of the blink of an eye.

“You shouldn't have been listening to that conversation, Kuroo. This is troublesome.”

Kuroo swallowed and took a step back. Sugawara smiled and moved closer to Kuroo until there were only a few inches between them.

"I understand that you're not entirely innocent either, my dear.”

He moved even closer, Kuroo could feel Sugawara's breath against him.

"One more misstep like that, and you too, will get to enjoy the joys of the cell. Is that understood?

Kuroo turned his face away and said nothing. He took one last look at Akaashi, then left.

Suga clapped his hands again.

“Let's pick up where we left off! What do you say, my dear Akaashi? Ready to sign this contract?”

Akaashi thought about it. He didn't really have a choice, in the end, who knew how long the Archangel planned on keeping him in this cell? He couldn't afford to stay there too long, he would probably go mad if it continued. On the other hand, he didn't want to risk being cast out either. Fallen Angels, there probably hadn’t been many, but everything that was said about them and what had happened to them was terrifying. Was he really willing to become fallen for a mere mortal?

In front of him, Suga was waving the contract, smiling, savoring the moment. Akaashi took a deep breath.

“I've made my decision.”

He stood up and approached the glass wall.

“I'll sign this contract.”

Sugawara smiled and passed the contract through the trapdoor in the wall.

“You have to sign it with your blood for it to be valid.”

Akaashi used one of his sharp fingernails to make a cut in his right cheek. The Archangel smiled even more broadly. Akaashi then slowly signed the contract and passed it back through the trapdoor. Sugawara took it, and soon the piece of paper began to sparkle and a black mark appeared where Akaashi had cut himself. The contract was sealed, there was no turning back now. Oikawa took a key from the bunch he wore at his waist and opened the cell door, letting Akaashi out.

Suga smiled, the dark, threatening aura that seemed to surround him now more than evident.

“You made the right decision, my dear Akaashi.”

Notes:

not sure about the correct term to use to say "déchoir", "déchu", "déchéance" etc. so I'll probably try to switch between fall, fallen and cast out (of heaven) depending on which sounds better

if someone knows a better term I could use I'll gladly take it!

thank you for reading!

Chapter 8

“Oikawa!”

Oikawa straightened up, looking straight ahead.

“Let's go.”

Sugawara took one last look at Akaashi. He was still sitting on the floor, staring blankly at the ground. The tears weren't flowing, but it felt like they were. He looked slightly broken. Sugawara smiled, nodded to Oikawa, and left, hands behind his back, proud look on his face, eyes turned toward the ceiling.

Oikawa grimaced, he didn't like this situation. He wanted to do something for Akaashi, he felt sorry for the Guardian Angel. He was still too young to understand the forces he was playing with. That was why he wanted to help him, he had been in his place before, he knew what it was like.

The problem was that Oikawa wasn’t exactly in the Archangel's good books. He had to think fast. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a long necklace at the end of which hanged some kind of small cylinder hanging. He regretted getting rid of it, it was a gift from someone who was very dear to him after all, but Akaashi would need it more than he did.

He took a deep breath, whispered a quiet “goodbye” to the pendant, and handed it wordlessly to Akaashi. The latter barely looked up at Oikawa, still in shock, but nevertheless took the pendant and mechanically, tied it around his neck.

Oikawa smiled sadly and hurried to leave in turn, with a bit of luck luck, Sugawara wouldn't even have noticed his absence.

*

He quickly caught up with the Archangel and began walking behind him, making as little noise as possible. Suga smiled and said in a honeyed voice:

“Where were you, my dear Oikawa?”

Oikawa's eyes widened, he hadn't thought Suga would notice his brief absence. He swallowed hard and tried to use a tone as neutral as possible.

“I was closing the cell behind Guardian Angel Akaashi.”

Suga's smile faded somewhat. He slowed his pace, taking the time to observe the long corridors so characteristic of Heaven.

“Hm. I see.”

Oikawa clenched his fists, this was no time to let his guard down, the last thing he wanted was to get himself into trouble because he felt sorry for Akaashi.

“Shouldn't I have, Archangel?”

Sugawara stopped suddenly and turned to Oikawa. He slowly approached until he was a few centimeters from his face and slid his fingers along Oikawa's jaw until he firmly grabbed his chin.

“Yes. You did the right thing.”

His voice was harsh, not matching with words, albeit reassuring, he was enunciating. He pulled on Oikawa's chin, forcing him to bow down in front of him. He put on a sad expression, feigning a sigh.

“But you know I don't like you taking this kind of initiative without talking to me first. I thought we'd already discussed this. Don't do it again.”

Oikawa clenched his teeth and swallowed.

“Understood,” he grumbled.

Sugawara frowned.

“What did you say?”

He moved closer, their foreheads brushing against each other, and took a deeper, more threatening voice:

“I don't think I heard you.”

He let go of Oikawa and took a step back, his face impassive.

“On your knees.”

Oikawa looked to the right and left. He thought for an instant that he had misheard. He looked up: Suga's gaze indicated clearly that he had in fact, not misheard. Oikawa then slowly knelt down in front of the Archangel – better not to disobey.

Suga frowned, a malicious grin spreading across his face.

“Hands on your head.”

Oikawa complied, his heart pounding in his chest. He had no idea what was going on. The Archangel hadn't done anything like this in several years, Oikawa thought he was getting better, that he had finally started to recover. Apparently, this whole thing with Akaashi must have reopened old wounds. What was certain, was that Sugawara was in a very bad mood and that it was better not to question his orders.

The Archangel smiled, satisfied with the sight unfolding before his eyes.

“Good, I prefer that.”

His tone had regained its cheerfulness, Oikawa hated it, this guy was impossible to figure out. Suga approached Oikawa and took his set of keys. His eyes widened in astonishment.

“Confiscated. Now, tell me...”

He paused and snapped his fingers, a white armchair materialized behind him. He sat down, rested his right arm on the armrest and leaned his head on his fist before crossing his legs.

“What do you think of this situation, my dear Oikawa? We've known each other for a long time you and me, you can tell me anything. Of course, I'll give you back your keys if your answer proves satisfying.”

Oikawa tried to keep an impassible face. This was going to be complicated. He needed those keys, particularly for tonight. He glanced at the Archangel, who was smiling, as always, he seemed to really be enjoying the situation. He had to find an appropriate answer, but what?

Sugawara tapped his foot more and more impatiently.

“Hurry up, Oikawa,” he said in an amused voice.

Oikawa swallowed and began, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him.

“I don't think anything.”

The steady sound of the Archangel's foot tapping stopped.

“Excuse you?”

Oikawa knew it wasn't the best of strategies, and that it was far from perfect, but it was the best he could come up with in the moment.

“I don’t think anything. I have no opinion on the situation. You made a decision, I carried out your orders. My opinion is irrelevant in this situation.”

Oikawa was hot, he felt a drop of sweat running down his forehead, he didn't dare lift his head. Contrary to what he expected, Suga started laughing, hysterically even. Oikawa quickly raised his head, was he really laughing? The situation was far from funny, though.

The Archangel wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. He snapped his fingers again and the chair disappeared, he stood up and threw the keys at Oikawa's feet.

“What a strange phenomenon you are.”

Oikawa jumped forward and grabbed the keys, quickly attaching them to his waist. He shot a cold glance at Sugawara, who was already walking away. Sugawara raised his arm in the air to wave goodbye, his back turned to him.

“You're off duty, go have fun.”

Oikawa remained there, on the floor, on his knees. What exactly had just happened?

What was certain, and unexpected, was that he had apparently won. For now, at least. He looked at the golden keys at his waist, one of which stood out among the many others. It was a smaller key, silver in color, decorated with small horns at the top. It sparkled in the excessive light of Paradise. He took it in his hands and held it tightly for a long time.

“I'm coming to you,” he thought.

Notes:

another short one, I swear they start to get longer at some point lmao

also I think I should perhaps explain why suga is such an asshole in this fic (because no, I in fact do not hate him)
basically when I started writing this it was around 2020 (I think) and for some reason at that time the fandom loved to depict suga as very effeminate?? but like, in an overly stereotypical and kind of misogynistic way, taking the "sugamama" jokes a bit too far and all
anyway, the fact is that it infuriated me that this was such a common accepted reading of him because it just wasn't how suga was??
from that frustration was born the suga of this fic which, admittedly, is as (if not more) out of character than the depiction I criticized, so honestly, I'm not sure where I was going with this lmao
so please don't consider the suga of this fic an attempt at characterizing him correctly, I also kind of just needed a villain, chose suga for the reasons mentioned above, and made him act in a way that worked with the story more than in accordance to his canon personality
in a way he's more or less an oc I just named suga lmao

I don't know if I need to tag for his manipulative and toxic behavior but if someone thinks it preferable I'll gladly do it!

and thank you for reading!! I received a lot of horrible bot comments on the last chapter (that I now deleted) so hopefully there are some humans reading this out there and if so, I'm grateful for you! (or to you? I'm not sure lol)

Chapter 9

It was time.

Oikawa put on his hood and slipped out of his quarters as discreetly as possible. He knew that if he got caught, Sugawara would cover for him, but he also knew that, the fewer problems he had with the other members of the Brigades (as well as with the Guardian Angels), the better off he would be.

He progressed quickly through the dark hallways, he was used to it now, he knew the way by heart, he didn't even need a map anymore. He smiled inwardly. To think that at one time, he panicked at the thought of taking the wrong turn and ending up in the Archangels' quarters. Well, that was back when there were still three of them.

Lost in his thoughts, Oikawa quickly arrived at his destination. He removed his hood and contemplated the gigantic gaping hole in front of him, which was said to have no bottom. He had arrived at the Bridge of Purgatory.

It was a pivotal place in the organization of the Afterlife, it was the no man's land that separated Heaven from the Eternal Hells; only lost souls came here to wander. It was strictly forbidden to cross it. The passage had been condemned long ago, during the last Holy War, in order to prevent unauthorized comings and goings between the Hells and Heaven. It was said in ancient legend said that anyone who dared just to set foot on this bridge, would be condemned to a life of suffering.

But Oikawa wasn't afraid of old legends. This bridge, he had crossed it hundreds of times, he was prepared to face the consequences that came with his actions if they were ever to come; after all, what awaited him on the other side was well worth it.

He took a step forward and crouched down, looking for a mark on the ground. His gaze stopped on a slight glimmer near his feet. He smiled: found it.

With his fingers he removed the dust covering the lock. He took the small silver key from his keychain and inserted it before turning it in the lock. The first few times, he had had to force it a little, but now the key turned easily.

Slowly, the Bridge of Purgatory unfolded before him. Oikawa stood up and contemplated his work. Unfortunately, the bridge was still unstable and therefore impassable. To be able to cross the bridge, the mechanism had to be activated on both sides.

He didn't have to wait long. Soon, what had seemed like a vague mirage materialized into a real stone bridge. And then, in front of him, in the middle of a cloud of dust, small horns appeared, soon followed by a large silhouette.

“You're early.”

Oikawa looked up and smiled, stepping one foot onto the bridge.

“I'm pretty sure it’s you who's late, Iwa-chan.”

The latter shook his head before stepping onto the bridge himself. They had both decided it was better to only meet in the middle of the bridge, as they were both high-ranking officers, they wanted to avoid having any more unnecessary problems than these outings already caused.

Oikawa tried to walk calmly, he wanted to appear nonchalant, but he eventually gave in, he did not want to hold back. It had been too long since they had last seen each other. He quickened his pace, even starting to run. In front of him, Iwaizumi was laughing and stretched out his arms, ready to welcome him, waiting for Oikawa to throw himself into them, as he had done so many times before.

He didn't have to wait long, soon, Oikawa was jumping on him, tears in his eyes, hugging him as tightly as he could. They were finally reunited.

They stayed a moment like that, in each other's arms, simply enjoying each other's mutual presence.

Iwaizumi buried his head in Oikawa's neck.

“I missed you, you know.”

Oikawa loosened his embrace and pressed his lips to Iwaizumi's.

“Me too.”

They both sat down on the floor, against the edge of the wall. Iwaizumi was the first to speak.

“So, how's the situation in Heaven?”

Oikawa grimaced before sighing.

“What do you think?”

He shook his head.

“It's getting worse and worse. Since Sugawara took over as leader of the Archangels, the situation has only deteriorated.”

Iwazumi took Oikawa's hand and began playing with his fingers.

“I heard that not many people are being accepted into Heaven anymore, every day we have more and more people arriving to us, we've been overwhelmed lately.”

Oikawa lowered his head.

“I'm not surprised. For some time now, Suga has been constantly passing new cases on to the Angelical Brigades. And since I have a... special status, let's say, even though I'm the head of the Brigades, no one tells me anything about these cases that are mysteriously transferred to us and then rejected by Heaven. I was discussing it with Kuroo the other day.”

Oikawa paused.

“You know who Kuroo is, right? My colleague, the one with the bad haircut?”

Iwaizumi nodded.

“Yesh, you told me about him.”

Oikawa continued.

"Well, he was telling me that this was already the fifth case that had been suddenly taken away from him, without any explanation. And I know him, he may be a pain in the ass but he does very good work, he's even one of the best Guardian Angels Heaven has probably ever known, it's not like him to let so many cases deteriorate to the point of having to transfer them to the Brigades.”

Iwaizumi stopped playing with Oikawa's fingers for a moment.

“I don't understand, what exactly is the Archangel playing at?”

Oikawa shrugged.

“Who knows. I think he's trying to create a new era, an era where Heaven would be purer than it has ever been. But... it's not by proceeding in the way he’s doing that Heaven will be purified.”

Oikawa clenched his teeth. He didn't like to admit it, but he too was guilty in this story. Guilty of saying nothing, guilty of obeying, but Suga left him no choice. He had already committed certain acts that even Hell would not tolerate, all because of Sugawara's orders.

But he was a prisoner. Prisoner of the Archangel's orders and authority.

He was indebted to him. Sugawara had already gotten him out of a bad situation, not to mention that without him, he would never have gotten such a good position at the head of the Angelical Brigades. He was trapped, he couldn't do anything against him.

The Archangel had played his cards right, he had placed his pawns correctly, and now Oikawa was defenseless against him.

All this, Iwaizumi knew. He knew what Oikawa was doing, he always told him about it, so he wouldn't have to suffer alone. Several times, Oikawa had arrived devastated and had cried in Iwaizumi's arms for hours, under the shock of his own actions. Iwaizumi wanted to do something to help him, so that he would no longer be forced to commit atrocities, but Sugawara was too powerful for either of them to do anything. He also knew very well that the Archangel was aware of their relationship and was using it to blackmail Oikawa.

Iwaizumi squeezed Oikawa's hand tightly in his.

“In Eternal Hells, the situation is also worsening. I overheard a discussion between the Major Demons, Atsumu and Tendou, the other day. From what I understood, they don't approve of Suga's actions. And they're not the only ones.”

Oikawa sneered.

“No shit they don't approve of his actions, that man does nothing praiseworthy.”

Iwaizumi looked ahead, looking dejected.

“The long-preserved balance between Heaven and the Eternal Hells is in danger of being broken. I fear we are on the brink of a new Holy War.”

Oikawa turned his head toward Iwaizumi, tears in his eyes.

“Do you… do you think we'll have to fight against each other?”

Iwaizumi looked into the distance.

“I don't know. But I think... maybe we don't have to be enemies in this war.”

Oikawa raised an eyebrow.

“We don’t?”

“We can... we can always desert, just the two of us. We could be happy.”

Oikawa shook his head and leaned back against the wall. It didn't seem like such a bad idea. But he knew it was impossible.

“You know very well we couldn't. Where would we even go? But… I like the idea of running away from here, far away, away with you.”

Iwaizumi smiled. Yes, he knew very well that it was impossible for them to flee. Oikawa led the Angelical Brigades, and he led the Demonic Squadrons. They were too important to the system to disappear just like that, they were needed, a lot of people counted on them. Plus, in times like these, everyone seemed corrupt. They couldn't risk handing over their positions to others who might make this already bad situation even worse.

Iwaizumi rested his head on Oikawa's shoulder.

"You know, supposedly, the next time Archangel Sugawara makes a major misstep, the Hells plan to take action. Atsumu and Tendou have warned Her Majesty the Queen of the Eternal Hells, that they will not tolerate his actions much longer. She has given them permission to act, she has also said that she will not hesitate to declare a new Holy War if Suga continues, even if it means breaking the hard-won balance.”

Oikawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I think we're in trouble, Iwa-chan.”

Iwa-chan closed his eyes as well.

“Yeah, probably.”

Notes:

thank you for reading!

Chapter 10

Akaashi was lying on his bed, he had been staring at the pendant Oikawa had given him for hours now. He frowned. It had been hours and yet, he still didn't understand how it would be useful to him.

He sighed and sat up, bringing the necklace closer to his eyes. It was a strange cylinder made of silver, there were dozens of tiny symbols engraved on all sides, unfortunately, Akaashi was unable to decipher them. This piece of jewelry, he had never seen anything quite like it in Heaven, its shape, the metal used, the inscriptions that were foreign to him, everything about it meant that this pendant came from the Eternal Hells. It sent a chill down Akaashi’s spine.

As he rolled it between his fingers, he felt something move. He continued to turn the bottom half of the pendant until it unscrewed completely, under his amazed gaze. It had opened.

Akaashi remained motionless for an instant, afraid of damaging what he had between his hands. He turned the pendant over and a piece of paper rolled up on itself fell into his palm. He swallowed, took the paper, and carefully unrolled it, spreading it out on his bed.

He had to look at what was in front of him for a long time before he understood what he was dealing with. It was a map. And not just any map: a map of Heaven. Which was more than curious, considering it came from the Hells.

Well, it didn't really matter now.

Akaashi's smile stretched from ear to ear, he glanced at his door and checked that it was truly closed before turning his attention back to the map. He had never seen anything like it. All the rooms were labeled, there were even instructions on which paths to take and which to avoid. The map was somewhat worn around the edges, and in some places the writing was no longer very clear; Oikawa had probably used it dozens of times before giving it to Akaashi.

Akaashi then began to search for his location with his finger, which he quickly found, and marked it with a small cross. He then spotted a few strategic points, such as Archangel Sugawara's apartments and office, which were best avoided.

As he looked more closely at the map, he noticed, lightly traced in pencil, a path leading from Oikawa's apartments. Intrigued, Akaashi began to follow it with his finger. He soon stopped and frowned. This path led to the Eternal Hells. What would Oikawa be doing in Hells? Especially since the map gave no indication of what lay beyond the Bridge of Purgatory.

He moved closer to the map. The Bridge of Purgatory, he had heard of it before. Many legends circulated about this place. Honestly, Akaashi thought that most of them were more myth than anything else. However, there was one that had always intrigued him. It was Kuroo who had told him about it, one evening to cheer him up.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember Kuroo's words. It went something like this:

Bridge of Purgatory, bridge of the forbidden, must not be crossed.

Whoever crosses it, will be banished.

Eternal Hells or Paradise,

To cross, you must pay.

With your life or your death,

With your love or your hate.

Crossing is one thing,

Leaving is another.

For those who venture beyond the bridge,

Never will turn around.

If their decision is taken, if the irrevocable choice is made,

Then returning they can not,

Lest they fall.

Beyond, beyond!

Tell me what lies beyond?

For falling down is not the right choice.

He hadn't really understood this poem when Kuroo had told it to him. He thought it was simply another story people told to scare others and dissuade the inhabitants of Heaven from wanting to get too close to the Hells. But the second part, it seemed to be talking about something different, something unknown. Something that lay beyond the Eternal Hells and Heaven.

Could this something be... Could it be that the poem talked about the earth, the world of humans?

Akkashi's heartbeat quickened. Yes, maybe that was it. But then, would that mean there was a way to go to earth? Was that why Oikawa had given him this plan? So he could go to earth? So he could find this Bokuto who never left his thoughts anymore?

It was tempting, very tempting even. The idea of being able to go to earth, it was something Akaashi would never have believed was possible. And yet… He looked at the map and circled the Bridge of Purgatory with a smooth gesture. And yet it seemed possible.

There was only one small problem. Archangel Sugawara. Akaashi was certain he would not approve of such a thing, after all, it was forbidden to go to earth.

Akaashi brushed the mark on his cheek with his slender fingers. He had made a contract with Suga after all, and if he broke it, he knew what awaited him.

He shook his head, this contract didn't matter, his mind was made up. If he didn't seize this opportunity now, he would never be able to learn more about Bokuto. He was willing to take the risk if it meant he could see him, even if only for a few moments. Besides, if Oikawa had given him this map, surely it was because it must be a safe way to get to Bridge of Purgatory, right? Sugawara probably didn't know about the existence of this map, which meant there was no risk, right?

Akaashi wasn't entirely convinced, but he had no choice but to believe in that possibility.

He rolled up the map again, tucking it safely into the pendant he attached around his neck. It was funny, the chain was much longer than he would have thought. He tucked the necklace into his sweater anyway, it was better not to leave it in plain sight, silver jewelry was too recognizable in Heaven. Here, there was only gold. Akaashi hated gold.

He then began to prepare for his journey. This time, he wouldn't tell Kuroo about it. Even though he was supposed to be his friend, he knew he wouldn't let him do it. He had betrayed him one time, Akaashi wasn’t about to let him a chance to do it a second time.

He grabbed a random bag and threw in everything he could get his hands on: rope, deodorant, pen, food, spare clothes, etc. He had no idea what he might need on Earth, so he preferred to be prepared.

He then changed into more practical clothes. He put on loose white pants and a T-shirt of the same color, wriggling around a bit and pulling on the T-shirt to get his wings through the opening at the back.

His wings. He hadn't thought about that. Those could be a problem. Humans, they didn't have wings. He thought for a moment and grabbed a cape with a large hood. He put it over his shoulders and stood in front of the mirror. The cape didn't cover his wings very well, but it was enough to keep him from attracting too much attention. Or he hoped so at least.

He smiled at himself in the mirror.

Good, he was ready.

Notes:

thank you for reading!

it is now time to place your bets! do you think akaashi will ever get to earth?

well, see you the next chapters to find out!

Chapter 11

The steady ticking of the large clock hanging on the wall filled the silence of the room, gently lulling Akaashi. He let his head fall back against the wall, he was tired, but he couldn't fall asleep, not now. He had other plans.

He had decided to wait until it was night to leave, one or two in the morning would be ideal, it was around this time his department of Heaven was at its quietest. Almost everyone was asleep, only a few guards of the Angelical Brigades and Guardian Angels on night duty were still awake.

Akaashi yawned before stretching lazily. It was almost time to leave. He took a small plastic bag full of dried fruit out of his bag. He opened it and began to nibble on a few pieces, he needed energy. He could just as easily have had cookies or candy for energy, but Akaashi was a distinguished person. He, he only snacked on healthy foods.

He quickly finished eating and got up. It was dark in his apartments. In order not to draw attention to himself, he had decided to turn off his lights at the same time he did every day.

He checked that his shoelaces were tied properly one last time, then left his room. He looked right and then left before stepping into the main hallway. He put on his hood and tried to blend into the shadows of the night. His slender silhouette blended in with the walls, and his footsteps glided delicately across the floor, making less noise than a spring breeze.

He then passed Oikawa's apartments and stopped. He hid himself somewhat between two walls and quickly checked his plan. From now on, he had to follow the path laid out by Oikawa. He leaned forward, letting his appaear behind the wall. The apartments of the Archangel Sugawara were just in front. He saw no sign that he was still awake, but it was better to take precautions

He put the map back in his pendant and began to walk along the wall. He pulled his hood down a little further over his eyes, if there were any cameras, he wanted to be sure that he couldn't be recognized on the surveillance videos.

He walked for a long time, Heaven was a true labyrinth. The Guardian Angels, like him, all lived and worked in the gigantic main tower that overlooked Heaven. It was the center of everything, whether it was decisions concerning peacekeeping or the selection of souls, everything passed through this place. The God Emperor of Heaven lived at the top of this tower with his lover, isolated from everyone else, only taking part in the affairs of Heaven when it involved going to war. The Archangels had therefore been personally chosen and appointed by the God Emperor to manage the rest on his behalf. The rest of Heaven’s land consisted of habitations for souls who had the privilege of arriving there and who were not enlisted as Guardian Angels or other beings.

To be honest, Akaashi had never left the tower. It wasn't exactly forbidden to Guardian Angels, but it was discouraged. Kuroo had told him that at one time, free access was authorised between the tower and the rest of Heaven. Apparently, the Angels and the souls had been good friends, before. However, the situation had changed when Archangel Sugawara came to power alone, after the other two who had always accompanied him disappeared.

After passing through numerous doors and taking countless turns, Akaashi finally arrived in front of a large white stone staircase. He bent down and crouched, brushing his slender fingers against the worn steps. They were dusty, but didn't seem to pose any danger. He stood up and inspected his surroundings. He couldn't see anyone.

Good.

He looked at the staircase in front of him. After about ten steps, it was pitch black, one couldn't see anything. He would have liked to turn on a small light, but it wasn't safe, he was still too close to the surface.

He placed one hand against the wall and, cautiously, began to descend the steps. One by one, without rushing. Soon he could no longer see anything, no matter how wide he opened his eyes, not a shadow, not a silhouette on the horizon. He was not very comfortable in this darkness. Not that he was afraid of the dark, in general he felt rather reassured by it. But here, he had no idea what to expect behind this wall of darkness.

To say that this staircase was long would be an understatement. Akaashi didn't even know how long he had been descending. His feet moved mechanically, having taken to the rhythm of the steps, his stride slowly quickening, he was less afraid of falling now. At first, he counted the steps. One hundred and seven, one hundred and eight, one hundred and nine. He wanted to get an idea of how far he was from the rest of the tower. But he quickly gave up, there were too many steps, he got lost in his calculations which had been helping him move forward. Now, there was only him, the darkness, and the steps.

His feet had gotten so used to the rhythm of the descent that he forgot he was walking.

Big mistake.

His foot did not find the next step. No, instead, it twisted, sending Akaashi and all his belongings face first into to the ground where he fell with a terrible crash.

Akaashi grimaced. He wasn't in too much pain, but he definitely hadn't been discreet with this fall. He waited a few minutes on the ground, afraid that someone would come.

But no one came.

He was alone.

This thought, which at first frightened him a little, soon turned into serenity. He realized that it was to his advantage. He was alone, yes. But no one would come looking for him here.

A slight smile appeared on his lips. He felt around him, checking to see if he had lost anything. At least he was done with the steps.

He stood up, staggering slightly, and shook his foot, trying to forget the pain in his ankle. It should pass quickly anyway. He then stretched his arms out in front of him and began to navigate the space around him.

Under his hands, he felt a wall, on either side. So, he was in a corridor. He then continued walking until both his hands detached themselves from the stone.

He squinted, searching for the slightest source of light. He took a step forward, accidentally pressing a slab under his foot. Around him, dozens of torches hanging on the walls suddenly lit up. He had to squint, the time his eyes needed to adjust to the sudden brightness.

He looked up, amazed. He found himself in a gigantic round room. Flaming torches illuminated the walls at regular intervals. Here, everything was not white as was common to see throughout Heaven. Here, everything was made of stone, real stone, rough and covered with lush, verdant moss.

Akaashi wanted to laugh. It was incredible. Just incredible. He spread his arms wide and breathed in the musty, moldy smell filling his lungs and smiling. He had never felt so alive.

He stepped forward into the room and realized then that he was actually standing in front of the legendary Bridge of Purgatory. He continued walking until the tips of his shoes sticked out of the ground, hanging over the edge, just above the void. He looked at the gaping hole that separated Heaven from the Eternal Hells and wondered how it was possible to cross such a thing.

He stood for a moment contemplating the mythical place where he found himself. If Kuroo found out that he had seen the Bridge of Purgatory with his own eyes, he would be green with envy. He who loved tales and legends, Akaashi couldn't wait to tell him about it, it would serve him right. If he hadn't been a traitor, he too, could have seen the Bridge with his own eyes.

His smile faded imperceptibly and a strange feeling of sadness, or perhaps nostalgia, washed over him. To be honest, he didn't even know if he would ever see Kuroo, or even Kenma, again. Maybe he would never even get to thank Oikawa for providing him with the map to this place. To think he had left without saying goodbye to anyone...

He shook his head and took a deep breath, looking straight ahead. He had already come this far. It was too late to turn back now.

He began to inspect the walls, looking for any clues that might tell him where the passage to Earth was.

He paced around for a while before sitting down, frustrated, in the middle of the room. He didn't understand, he couldn't find anything. These walls were devoid of clues. He sighed and lay down on his back, contemplating the large ceiling above him.

“It's funny,” he said to himself, “these engravings look somewhat like letters if you look at them sideways.”

Letters...

He squinted. Letters, yes, that was it! They were letters! He continued reading, putting the words together one by one. He smiled, proud of himself. He had found his exit door to Earth.

He took a deep breath and began to recite the words engraved on the ceiling, his voice echoing slowly through the large circular room.

"That the right of passage be granted to me, to I,

 a simple creature, who on earth wishes to go."

Above Akaashi, the ceiling tore open, revealing the bluest and purest sky that could exist, a crystalline blue like one only seen in works of art. The stones of the wall then began to move forward, one by one, in a strategic manner, revealing steps that led up to the freshly opened ceiling.

Akaashi stood up, amazed. He removed his hood to better contemplate the spectacle unfolding before him and let his black curls be gently carried by the wind that was now rushing through the opening.

He had succeeded, he was finally going to the earth.

At last, he would see Bokuto, the simple human being for whom Akaashi had turned his life upside down.

Bokuto. His Bokuto.

Yes, he had succeeded.

He approached the first step and placed his foot on it. He felt free, finally free.

That's when he heard something behind him. He turned around and was grabbed by a guard he didn't know. He tried to fight back, but couldn't break free from his grip. Soon, he found himself with his arms and feet tied.

“I'm disappointed, Akaashi.”

Akaashi turned around as best as he could, recognizing the sweet voice he now despised. He then saw Sugawara slowly walking in his direction.

“We had a deal, you and me.”

He leaned over and brushed his thumb across the black mark that scarred Akaashi's face. The latter swallowed. Suga shook his head.

“You disappoint me greatly, I thought you were better than that.”

He sighed.

“I shouldn't have let Oikawa get close to you. He's a bad influence.”

His face hardened as he said this. Akaashi continued to struggle futilely. His dream, it was within reach. And yet, yet he couldn't get to it.

Why? Why, why, why?

Why was this happening to him? He hadn't done anything wrong to deserve this. He had always worked hard, dedicating himself body and soul to his work, much more than most Guardian Angels would ever do. So why? Why was he being punished this way? Didn't he have the right to be happy? Didn't he have the right to stray a little from the principles of Heaven if it meant finally being able to live? Why was he only allowed to brush happiness with his fingertips?

It was unfair.

Sugawara sat down opposite Akaashi, who was now gagged and held down by the guard. The Archangel smiled and ran his fingers through Akaashi's hair, smoothing it down, as best he could, to put them in palce.

"I'm truly sorry, Akaashi.”

His smile widened.

"But you're going to have to be cast out.”

He stood up and his smile faded, revealing for a fleeting moment who he really was.

“Kageyama, take him away.”

Notes:

our poor akaashi can't catch a break (it will not get better)

thank you for reading! I hope your enjoying the journey even if at times it's a bit nonsensical

Chapter 12

Akaashi was going to be cast out.

The news spread quickly throughout Heaven. Soon, everyone knew about the tragedy that was unfolding. The rumors about what Akaashi could have done to bring this upon himself were now multiplying rapidly.

Some said he had tried to hack into the Guardian Angels' surveillance system, others that he had attempted to assassinate Archangel Sugawara. A few even said he had made a pact with Her Majesty the Queen of Eternal Hells.

Fortunately for him, Akaashi was unaware of these rumors. He had once again found himself locked up, isolated, far from any form civilization. He was even no longer allowed to receive visitors.

Kuroo had insisted for a long time to come to see him. He wanted to understand, understand why Akaashi had done this. In his opinion, there was no reason that could have prompted Akaashi to do something wrong. To be honest, Kuroo didn't even know exactly what he had done to deserve his falling. But he knew it had something to do with Bokuto.

That Bokuto, he had ruined Akaashi's life.

Oikawa, for his part, blamed himself for recent events. If he hadn't given Akaashi that plan, if he hadn't tried to help him, he wouldn't be in this situation. Why had he taken pity on him? Why had he seen himself in the hopeful young man that Akaashi still was? For a moment, he had recognized himself when he looked at him.He too, at one time, would have done anything to see a certain person again. Although he knew better than anyone the price he had paid, he had been moved by Akaashi's feelings, still so pure, and had wanted to help him, even if it meant repeating his past mistakes.

The news of Akaashi's fall had quickly spread throughout Heaven, but not only there. Soon, the Eternal Hells had also been notified. After all, their participation was necessary for the falling procedure to work.

*

Sugawara was sitting at his desk, nose buried in paperwork. Unsurprisingly, casting out a Guardian Angel wasn’t exactly an easy task to organize. Between the ceremony, the people needed for the procedure, and finding a replacement for Akaashi's position, Suga was having a slight hard time keeping up. He sighed and there was a knock at the door. He finally looked up from his papers, waiting to see who would dare disturb him when he was so busy.

The door opened, letting appear an Oikawa who clearly hadn't closed an eye in several days.

“Archangel...” he began.

The latter stood up, looking exasperated, and leaned on his desk.

“What is it now, Oikawa? If it's about Akaashi, I believe we've already discussed it.”

Oikawa lowered his head and clenched his fists, feeling his stomach tighten. He hadn't eaten anything and yet, he felt nauseous. The mere mention of Akaashi's name made him feel guilty and turned his stomach.

“No, Archangel. It's the Eternal Hells.”

Suga raised an eyebrow.

“What do they want now? As far as I know, they haven't been summoned yet.”

Oikawa approached and handed him a letter written on black paper.

“It's about Akaashi's fall.”

Suga took the letter and opened it, there wasn't much written. He began to read aloud, mocking the words written there.

“Blah blah blah, we're against it, blah blah, you know the laws, blah blah blah, we reserve the right to take action...”

He rolled his eyes and threw the letter on the floor.

“It's all just empty threats. Stop worrying for once and get back to work, Oikawa.”

The latter shook his head.

“I'm afraid it's not just empty threats, they've sent Major Demons to try to negotiate.”

Suga tugged at his shirt, trying to straighten it.

“Major Demons, huh... They've really got nothing better to do,” he grumbled.

Oikawa tried not to sigh, he was starting to have enough of this discussion.

“Archangel, the Demons are coming whether you want them to or not. And you'd better go welcome them, you know, so they don't decide to declare a new Holy War on a whim because of a diplomatic incident.”

Suga only half listened and motioned for Oikawa to leave. Once his guard was out of the room, he had to sit down at his desk: his heart was pounding. He thought he would be able to cast out Akaashi quietly, but no, those idiots from the Eternal Hells  had to get involved.

He sighed and stood up, smoothing his hair as he did so. He couldn't show his weaknesses in front of the Hells or they might refuse to cooperate. And although they technically had no right to do so, it would still be very annoying.

*

Shortly thereafter, Suga and Oikawa stood in front of the main entrance. Normally, it was impossible to pass from the Eternal Hells to Heaven without crossing the Bridge of Purgatory. However, there was another passageway that had been built during the last Holy War: its purpose was to allow the two entities to easily maintain friendly relations from now on in order to avoid future conflicts. This was the first time in millennia that it was going to be used.

Oikawa was nervous, unable to stop fidgeting beside the Archangel. He was afraid to see who would be sent by the Eternal Hells in order to begin negotiations. On the other hand, he hoped to recognize a familiar face.

Sugawara and he did not have to wait long, soon before them opened the heavy white stone door that separated them from the Hells. Rising in a cloud of dust, it revealed the glowing red lights of the place it enclosed. A bitter, spicy smell of sulfur filled the room they were in. Sugawara wrinkled his nose and had to fight back a gag reflex. He had forgotten how foul the smell of Hells was.

In the distance, hysterical laughter suddenly rang out, the kind of laughter that didn't stop even when there was no longer any reason to laugh. Three people in elegant black suits strode forward from the doorway. The aura they gave off wasn't exactly threatening, not yet anyway, but it was bloodcurdling.

One of them stepped forward, signaling the other two to stop. His blond hair, topped with a pair of large black horns, stuck to his forehead due to the constant heat in Hells. Behind him spread gigantic raven-black wings. He looked straight ahead, a slight smile on his lips.

Sugawara gritted his teeth. Truly, this was the last person he wanted to see arrive from the Eternal Hells.

“Atsumu,” he said without even trying to hide his disdain.

The latter smiled, a smile almost as hypocritical as that of the Archangel.

“Archangel Sugawara.”

Suga raised his head proudly, glaring defiantly at Atsumu.

“I see you brought your Incubi. Pathetic.”

Atsumu's smile faded and he stepped forward toward Suga.

“I would ask ya not to insult them.”

His gaze then fell on Oikawa, who was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He looked him up and down.

“I see on yer part that ya're still stuck with that weakling guard.”

Suga frowned.

“On the contrary, he is very competent.”

Atsumu and Sugawara stared at each other for a moment, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a knife. Atsumu then approached Suga's face and placed a hand on his shoulder, amused by the look of disgust the Archangel was throwing him. He liked to inspire fear.

“Ya know why I'm here, Archangel.”

His tone became more serious.

“Let's talk in private.”

Suga removed Atsumu’s hand and motioned for him to follow him. He then turned around and glanced at Oikawa.

“Keep an eye on the Incubi for me, will you?”

Oikawa nodded. Although he wasn't very comfortable with this task, he couldn't disobey.

Sugawara then led Atsumu to a large empty room. There was nothing in the room except for a table on which Atsumu sat down at as soon as his eyes fell on it. His expression darkened.

“Let's get straight to the point, 'Mister the Archangel’. What the fuck is this story I’ve been hearing about the fall of a Guardian Angel? We haven't even received a summoning request for a Major Demon to perform the ritual and already everyone is talking about a Fallen Angel.”

He shook his head.

"Ya're aware of the tense situation between Heaven and the Hells, I believe. Ya're well aware that asking for the fall of a Guardian Angel in these times could earn ya a declaration of war. Why go that far then? Reassure me, Archangel, ya haven't lost yer mind to the point of deliberately seeking to start a new Holy War, have ya?

Suga sensed the threat emanating from Atsumu. Clearly, the Demon was angry. He decided it was better for his safety to stay at safe distance from Atsumu, especially since Oikawa wasn't there to protect him if necessary.

“I see the Eternal Hells keep themselves well informed. I imagine that if you know about the fall, you also know the reason for it. It was an unforgivable act, that of wanting to go to Earth. This Guardian Angel needs to be punished as he deserves. We can't let this kind of act go unpunished and risk inspiring someone else to try playing smart like that. It's a necessary act, it will teach him a lesson.”

Atsumu rolled his eyes.

“It may have been an unforgivable act, but it doesn't deserve to be cast out either. Have ya lost yer mind, Archangel? What exactly will that teach this Guardian Angel, huh? If he is demoted, he will be banished from Heaven, purely and simply. He won't exactly have the opportunity to make amends.”

Atsumu then stood up and approached the Archangel. Behind him, his wings spread out, an ominous sign that amplified his silhouette, making him appear more imposing than a minute ago.

“If ya choose to continue down this path, don't think that the Hells will let ya get away with it. We've been watching what's been happening here for years. We've let it slide for a long time, accepting all the souls you refused, but now ya've gone too far, Archangel.”

Suga pushed Atsumu away with his arm.

“What I do or don't do in Heaven is none of your business.”

Atsumu shook his head.

“Don’t make me laugh. It ain’t our business as long as it doesn't threaten the balance we've established between us. I don't know what ya think yer doing, but stop it right now, it'll get ya nowhere. When ya’ll have found nothing but suffering on yer path, don't come begging us to stop.”

Atsumu began pacing the room and continued.

“I'm not blind. I saw what you did to yer beloved guard. He only has one wing now. And don't try to make me believe it was just an accident.”

He suddenly turned to Suga again.

“Ya punished him, didn't ya? Punished him by tearing off one of his wings. I even bet ya wanted to cast him too. But why didn't ya? Why didn't ya go that far? I can only think of two reasons: the first. is that he could still be useful to ya and ya didn't want to waste such a valuable asset; the second, is that, very simply, ya didn't want us to find out. To cast out a Guardian Angel ya need the participation of a Major Demon, and ya didn't want to get yerself into trouble, did ya? Didn’t want to explain why exactly ya thought he deserved such a punishment. Meaning ya're able to recognize that yer behavior is problematic. But if ya didn't want to go that far back then, why do it now? It's a little unfair to that poor Guardian Angel, don't ya think?”

Sugawara crossed his arms and took a deep breath before starting to speak in turn.

“My word, that's like the pot calling the kettle black. You're standing there lecturing me, as if you were better than me, as if your values were better than mine. Do you honestly think you can talk in your position? My poor friend, you're completely blind to reality! What you do in Hells is none of my business, but do you really think you're in a position to talk about injustice? You who spend your days torturing those who have sinned? Is that not considered injustice in your eyes?”

“Don’t fool yerself. The only reason we torture them is because ya weren't able to save them. Ya say I'm blind to reality, but ya must not hear yerself talking. Wake up, damn it!”

Atsumu began to get agitated. He hadn't intended to bring the subject to the table, but he saw no other solution.

“This whole thing, it’s about Daichi, ain’t it?”

Suga froze in place. Atsumu continued.

“It's because of Daichi that ya're doing all this, right? It's ridiculous, pathetic even. He would never have wanted this, ya hear me? Never!”

Sugawara's breathing quickened.

“Stop it, Atsumu...”

Atsumu shook his head.

“Ya still haven't gotten over it, huh? Ya sure hold a grudge like a bitch.  It happened years ago, years! Maybe it's time ya moved on, don't you think? There's no point in constantly dwelling on the past.”

Suga's wings spread out in turn, his blood boiled in his veins, he was starting to get a headache.

“That's enough, Atsumu.”

“No, it ain’t enough! How many more years still is it going to take ya to realize that no matter what ya do, it won't bring him back! He's dead! Dead, ya hear me! It's over, Archangel. Daichi ain't coming back.”

Suga's eyes suddenly widened, his fingernails lengthened, turning into sharp claws. Pairs of eyes appeared and began to cover his entire body, tearing through the flesh to reveal their wriggling pupils. New pairs of wings then started to grow from his back in a mass of blood and stained feathers. Overwhelmed by anger, the Archangel was unable to maintain his human form.

“I said, that's enough!”

His cry echoed throughout the room, causing the walls around them to vibrate and shake. Atsumu had to cover his ears. He looked up, realizing he had pushed Suga too far.

“So, it's decided, ya really want to cast down this poor Guardian Angel?”

Suga tried to catch his breath, gradually regaining his human form. Tears now rolled freely down his cheeks, he didn't even bother to wipe them away. He said nothing, but Atsumu understood the answer just from the look in his eyes. He wouldn't change his mind.

“I see. We'll see each other again for the fall then. But know this, Archangel, the Holy War that we... that I was trying to avoid, may break out if ya don't change yer mind. I can only hold the Demons back for so long.”

With that, he left the room, leaving Suga alone. Soon, Sugawara collapsed, letting himself fall to the ground. He couldn't take it anymore. A heart-wrenching cry tore from his throat, he hurt, he hurt so much. Why, after all these years, did it still hurt so damn much?

He screamed, tears now streaming down his face without stopping.

Why dammit?

Notes:

drama unfolding and atsumu appearing yeah!!

I also learned while translating this chapter that apparently the equivalent to the french idiom "l'hôpital qui se fout de la charité" (the hospital that's mocking charity) is "the pot calling the kettle black"?? I feel like the french version is funnier but I guess the english one has some domestic charm to it lmao

anyway thank you for reading!

Chapter 13

Notes:

tw for : blood, violence, vomiting and general body horror

happy reading!

The fateful day had arrived sooner than expected. Akaashi's fall wasn't supposed to take place for several days, but Sugawara had insisted, and the ceremony had been advanced.

Kuroo and Oikawa had tried to talk to the Archangel, they had wanted to dissuade him from casting Akaashi out, but to no avail. Since his meeting with the Major Demon Atsumu, Suga had refused to see anyone. He had locked himself in his office and decreed that he would only come out to proceed with Akaashi's falling.

The ceremony would take place at the Bridge of Purgatory: as it represented the symbolic passage between Heaven and the Eternal Hells, it was a neutral location. All the Guardian Angels of Heaven had been invited to attend the falling. Though they had been more forced to attend than they had been properly invited. Suga wanted it to serve as a lesson to all those who might decide to disobey his orders in the future.

For the ceremony, in accordance to the traditions, the representatives of Heaven were to be dressed in black and silver, the colors of the Hells, while the representatives of the Eternal Hells were dressed in gold and white.

Although Oikawa had not obtained Akaashi's liberation, he had still managed to be the one to escort him to the ceremony. If he couldn't save him, he still wanted to accompany him through this ordeal. After all, it was partly his fault, what was happening.

Oikawa took out his set of keys and unlocked the door to Akaashi's cell. He held out his hand and helped him to stand up. Akaashi didn't say a word, the dark circles under his eyes and his weary expression spoke for him. He had been forced to wear loose white pants and a long cape of the same color as his only top. He felt humiliated.

He let Oikawa tie his arms and followed him obediently to the Bridge of Purgatory, he didn't even try to escape, he no longer had the strength to fight anyway.

When they arrived, Akaashi was placed on a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. To his right stood Oikawa, representative and highest-ranking member of the Angelical Brigades. To his left stood another guard, whom he did not know this time. Judging by his horns, he was certainly from the Hells. He was probably the representative of the Demonic Squadrons, he probably had the same rank and importance as Oikawa within the system. Akaashi had heard that those who belonged to the Squadrons were strong and merciless. However, this one, even he frightened Akaashi, didn't seem so terrible. If you looked closely, he even seemed to have tears in his eyes. It was to say the least, strange.

Seeing that Akaashi was staring at him, he turned to him and attempted a slight smile.

“My name is Iwaizumi Hajime, I am head of the Demonic Squadrons.”

Akaashi frowned imperceptibly. So he was in fact the most powerful member of the Squadrons. Iwaizumi continued:

“Don't worry, I'll be by your side throughout the whole procedure, I won't hurt you.”

“You can trust him, Akaashi.”

The latter turned to his right, it was Oikawa who had spoken. If Oikawa said he had nothing to fear from Iwaizumi, then he was probably right. Despite what one might think, Akaashi had great trust and respect for Oikawa.

Arrived then Sugawara and Atsumu, side by side, silencing the whispers in the room. Atsumu carried in his hand a large leather book and a white blindfold. He approached the pedestal where Akaashi stood and handed the blindfold to Iwaizumi in silence. Iwaizumi bowed before his superior before taking the piece of cloth and delicately covering Akaashi’s eyes.

Suga cleared his throat and clapped his hands, drawing attention to himself.

“Let's begin the ceremony!”

The flaming torches surrounding the room turned to black flames, bathing the room in a strange, uncomfortable aura. Suga continued:

“We are gathered here today, Heaven and Eternal Hells, before the Bridge of Purgatory, a sacred place, in order to punish the one who has committed an unforgivable sin.”

Akaashi clenched his teeth. He was scared, he had no idea what was going to happen now. Not to mention that he was blindfolded, which did not help him feel reassured.

Atsumu spoke up next.

“In accordance with tradition, the Hells bear the colors of Heaven, honoring their values, and Heaven bears the colors of the Hells, celebrating our customs.”

He then stepped forward and stood in front of the pedestal, which resembled more and more a sacrificial altar.

"Akaashi Keiji, present here, Guardian Angel, will be cast out for having violated the internal rules of Heaven. Despite the Hells having opposed the fall, the law requires that an Angel be cast out by the hand of a Major Demon, as well as that of an Archangel.”

Suga rolled his eyes and approached Atsumu, taking the book from his hands.

“Enough with the useless chatter, let's get this over with quickly.”

He opened the book and began to recite.

“Guardian Angel, your sin will not be forgiven. Guardian Angel, you are condemned. Guardian Angel, the ultimate sentence is granted to you. Your soul, stolen, mutilated. The falling awaits you, O Guardian Angel, who in Heaven as failed.”

A cry escaped from Akaashi's mouth, now his entire body was racked with violent spasms, his breathing becoming increasingly jerky and laborious. Next to him, Oikawa was looking away, he couldn’t bear to see Akaashi in this state.

Atsumu then continued with the rest of the ritual.

“Guardian Angel, of yer role ya’re cast out. Yer wings will be torn from ya, in the greatest suffering ya’ll live, but this trial ya’ll endure.”

Akaashi screamed, feeling his stomach churn, every cell in his skin was boiling, tearing apart and rebuilding itself one after the other. Akaashi pulled at the ropes that bound him, he wanted to flee, his instincts were screaming at him to get out of this situation, but he couldn't do anything.

He soon began to vomit violently, staining his white pants. Blood and food scraps, nothing could hold inside his poor stomach anymore. Sugawara stared at him, watching him empty himself, impassive, almost satisfied.

Despite the pain of feeling every cell in his body rebelling against him, Akaashi continued to struggle with his ropes. His white blindfold was quickly turning red, he had his eyes wide open but he could see nothing but his own blood. His ears were ringing, his eardrums bursting, blood was rolling down his neck, covering his bare chest with long red streaks. He cried, screamed, but nothing helped. There was no one to save him.

Suga and Atsumu exchanged glances, it was time. They climbed onto the pedestal, positioning themselves behind Akaashi. They lifted his cape and pulled it over Akaashi's head. He was having an increasingly difficult to breathe, his lungs were burning, and his chest was heaving painfully, his nostrils were blocked by coagulating blood, and he couldn't catch his breath.

Atsumu leaned toward Akaashi's ear and whispered a quiet “sorry,” that the poor Guardian Angel didn't even hear. Atsumu's words had been drowned out by Akaashi’s screams.

Atsumu was the first to proceed with the extraction of the wings.

His claws grew longer under the horrified gaze of the Guardian Angels present in the room. Without warning, he dug them into Akaashi's back, at the base of the wing. Akaashi had a movement of recoil, but Atsumu tightened his grip, preventing him from moving. Akaashi could feel that he had no strength left anymore; he was in too much pain, he couldn’t fight it, he had not been strong enough. Atsumu dug his nails in deeper and deeper, and, with a twisting motion, he ripped Akaashi's left wing off.

The muscles tore with a sharp snap and blood spurted everywhere, flowing down the pedestal and onto Atsumu's feet. Akaashi banged his head against the stones he was kneeling on because of the sudden pain. He wanted to scream, to pass out, so he wouldn't feel anything anymore. Atsumu then knelt beside him, the palm of his hand bursting into flames. He then placed it on Akaashi's open wound, burning the skin and stopping the bleeding.

“Ya were very brave, I'm proud of ya,” he whispered.

He then stood up, wiping his hands on his white suit.

“Yer turn, Archangel.”

Suga smiled and made his claws grow as well. He dug them in turn into Akaashi's back, taking care to make the process as slow and painful as possible. Akaashi had to suffer, he had to understand. He then began to pull on the wing, agonizingly slowly. The sound of muscles tearing one by one under Sugawara's hands echoed through the room.

Akaashi vomited again, even though there wasn't much left to vomit. He was sweating profusely, the pain was unbearable, his head was spinning more and more, only making the nausea worse. If this continued, he would finally pass out.

Atsumu glared at Suga.

“Hurry up, Archangel.”

Suga smiled and let out a small chuckle that soon turned into hysterical laughter. He finished tearing off the wing, but instead of sealing the wound as Atsumu had done earlier, he plunged his claws back into it. Again and again, like a maniac who couldn't satisfy his own desires for pain.

Oikawa vomited in turn, disgusted by the scene. Iwaizumi had left his post and was now standing next to Oikawa, covering his ears: he didn't need to hear any more, it brought back too many bad memories.

Atsumu's wings suddenly spread behind him and his eyes burst into flames in anger.

“I SAID ENOUGH!”

He grabbed Sugawara by the collar and threw him to the ground.

“This child has suffered enough as it is, Archangel!”

He knelt beside Akaashi, wrapping his jet-black wings around him. He sealed the wound as gently as possible. Akaashi had fainted. He then took him in his arms.

Suga watched him from the ground, trying to catch his breath.

“Where do you think you're going with that Fallen Angel, Atsumu?!”

Atsumu shook his head.

“It's over, Archangel, I'm taking him back to Hells.”

Sugawara then stood up.

“To Hells?”

He sneered and wiped the blood from his face with his hand.

“Sorry Demon, but this Fallen Angel won't be going to the Eternal Hells. He doesn't deserve it.”

Atsumu raised an eyebrow.

“What the fuck are ya talking about?”

Akaashi was slowly regaining consciousness. He didn't quite understand where he was or what was happening, but he thought he could recognize Suga's voice.

"Since he was so keen to go to earth, that's where I'm sending him. Maybe he'll finally understand what suffering is like when he bleeds to death where his soul cannot be saved.”

Above them, the passage to earth opened. Suga flew over to Atsumu in a wing flap and took Akaashi in his arms, rising up to the passage. He landed on the ledge. Around them, a gigantic blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see.

He looked at Akaashi, half-conscious in his arms, and smiled at him one last time.

“Have fun.”

Akaashi opened his eyes a little wider, and before he knew it, Sugawara threw him overboard.

Notes:

thank you for reading! this is more or less where the story starts to get a bit more consistent and better written with longer chapter I believe, so stay tuned!

while translating it I realized that atsumu's accent sounds kinda dumb in this very serious and ceremonial context but it would have been weirder for him him to juste drop it for no reason I think, hopefully it wasn't too bothersome
and needless to say, I always sort of struggle with his accent because, english not being my native language, I don't really know all the ways in which it would manifest? if it makes sense? so I'm just kind of trying to recreate what I've vaguely seen and hope it's enough :)

and as always akaashi, is suffering and we stand helpless watching his fall and descent into chaos

(also, side note but the mechanism of the passage to earth was very much inspired by the one that takes haru and the baron from the cat world to the human world in the movie the cat returns, for those of you who have seen it!)

Chapter 14

“Kageyama!”

At the mention of his name, Kageyama finally emerged from behind the door where he had stayed hidden during the ceremony and stood at attention, raising his eyes to his superior. Kageyama was also a member of the Angelical Brigades. He was a good element, devoted and obedient. Suga couldn't have asked for better. He was far from matching Oikawa in terms of might, but he at least, he always osubmitted himself to orders without asking any question.

“Archangel.”

“You know what you have to do.”

Suga didn't even spare him a glance as he pronounced those words still lost in contemplation of the immense void that stood before him, fascinated by the fall of Akaashi, who seemed to have lost consciousness again.

Kageyama nodded.

“Yes, Archangel.”

He then joined Sugawara at the edge of the passage to earth, the two exchanged a quick nod, and in turn, Kageyama let himself fall, without a second of hesitation, into the void.

Sugawara watched him for a moment, satisfied, and rejoined the rest of the people present. Above him, the passage closed with a loud thud that echoed through the room.

Suga then glared at the Angels still present at the scene with a nasty look. Why were those idiots still here?

“Move along! There's nothing more to see!”

Said Guardian Angels who were still present jumped simultaneously when they heard the Archangel's threatening cries. They swallowed hard, looking at each other, before fleeing quickly, running up the stairs as fast as they could and bumping a bit into each other as they went.

Once everyone was gone, Sugawara let himself drop to his knees, exhausted. He wasn't sure he was fully conscious of all the events that had just taken place. His mind was foggy, he was having trouble thinking properly. He raised his head, a smile forming at the corner of his lips. He felt like laughing. Yes, that was it. This whole story, it made him want to laugh. It was ridiculous. He was almost feeling good.

Quickly, however, everything started to become more and more foggy in his head, he had the painful impression that he was caught in a dreaming. The infinite pain he felt, which had faded the space of a second, took over again. He frowned, he didn’t like laughing anymore. The pain, frustration, and anger were overwhelming him once again. He grabbed his gray hair with his hands, pulling on it with all his might, shaking his head violently, in the hope of making the pain silent. His breathing became increasingly irregular, he could feel the blood pounding in his temples, in his cheeks, in his hands. He wanted it all to stop.

Atsumu watched the scene from the pedestal from where he hadn’t moved. It was pathetic. He shook his head and joined Sugawara before kneeling beside him. He placed a hand on his tangled hair.

“We'll see each other again soon, Archangel.”

Seeing that Sugawara wasn’t reacting, he stood up and nodded to Iwaizumi, signaling him the inevitable. They had to leave. Iwaizumi helped Oikawa to his feet and pressed his lips to his feverish forehead, wiping away a tear as he did so with his thumb.

“I'm sorry, I have to go. I love you.”

He whispered these last words softly, so that only Oikawa could hear them. Atsumu modestly looked away, he didn’t want to disturb them. It had been a long time since he knew about this relationship, but unlike Sugawara, he didn't really see any inconvenient with it. They loved each other, and that was all that really mattered.

Heaven and the Eternal Hells had a lot to learn from them. Who knows, maybe their relationship would even open some people's eyes. Their love was proof that understanding between the two entities was not impossible, it would just take some work, and a certain dose of patience.

Iwaizumi then joined Atsumu, bowing before his superior who was now smiling at him. He was lucky to have such a good element at his side. He would have been in big trouble without him.

“Ya can stand up, Iwaizumi. I have got a mission for ya.”

Iwaizumi stood up proudly, waiting for the orders. Atsumu went on:

“As ya know, we are likely to enter a Holy War with Heaven. This falling was a perfectly ridiculous whim that distracts us from our true goals of managing the afterlife. And as ya also know, on our side, we have done everything we can to try to avoid this. But after what Heaven has done...”

His gaze drifted to the blood still running down the pedestal, the same blood that stained his white clothes. He took a breath, clearing his mind.

“Peace ain’t seem possible no more. Not under the current conditions, at least. Which means, we need as many pawns on our side as possible. Ya follow me?”

Iwaizumi nodded.

"And that's exactly why I brought the Incubus Lev with us today. So, I need ya to convey the following message and orders to him.

He cleared his throat, searching for the right words for a moment before continuing.

“While researching the Angelical Brigades, I discovered that their two strongest elements were Oikawa, and another Angel named Yaku. Oikawa shouldn't be a major problem, so ya won't need to worry about him. Yaku, on the other hand, is an excellent weak point to exploit since he' sthe one in charge of all of Heaven's weaponry. If ya manage to neutralize him, the menace posed by the Brigades will be, I estimate, halved. Ya can use any means ya want to achieve yer goals, so for once, don't hold back your Incubus abilities, okay? I'm counting on ya. Is that clear, Iwaizumi?”

The latter bowed one last time.

“Very clear. I'll pass on the orders right away.”

*

Sugawara had retired to his office after Atsumu left. He was now lying on the floor, staring at the white ceiling above him. He got up and took the urn that permanently decorated his desk, bringing it close to him.

“I... I did what I had to, right, Daichi? It wasn't a mistake...”

His fingers clenched around the cold porcelain.

“Akaashi had to be cast out. He... He was becoming too dangerous. Yes, that's it, dangerous. If he had continued, he would have ended up uncovering the memories I had worked so hard to erase.”

He swallowed and, with trembling fingers, lifted the lid of the urn.

“Tell me, Daichi, that's what you would have wanted too, right? I'm doing good. If I’m doing all this, it’s for the good of Heaven. It's for the good of all of us. For the good of you and me. You understand, don't you?”

He stared desperately at the burnt piece of cloth lying miserably at the bottom of the urn, as if one day answer him it might finally answer him.

“Hey, Daichi, you understand what I'm doing, don't you? You aren’t mad at me for it. Not you. You know as well as I that everything I do is necessary.”

He caressed the urn with his fingertips, closing it with the utmost care. His throat tightened more and more as he spoke, trying to hold back his tears.

“Are you happy now? Does what I'm doing make you happy? Yes? Daichi, tell me, you're happy, aren't you? What I'm doing isn't in vain, tell me? I'm right to do it. Without it... Without it, Heaven would remain impure, and that's not what you would want, is it? You, you wanted Heaven to be pure, free from all scheming and corruption, you had told me so...”

He rested his forehead against the urn, a tear rolling silently down his cheek. He sniffed.

“So don't worry, that's what I'm going to offer you. You'll finally have the Heaven you've always dreamed of, I promise you.”

Notes:

the plot thickens dear readers! now we'll have action on several fronts
sadly, that means we'll see a bit less akaashi since I'll be alternating different point of views
hopefully it'll remain interesting!

thank you for reading!

Notes:

some little disclaimers about my work! this was written over the course of 5 years (more or less, I still have to write the very last chapter), during which I changed ideas several times about where I wanted the story to go, which means that there will be some stuff that comes up one time only to be forgotten as soon as it was mentioned, and some inaccuracies.
before starting to translate it I went over the original and tried to rectify some stuff but this fic is sooo long (when I get the last chapter done and with the extras, I think it'll be around 150k words), I didn't feel like changing the whole thing lmao
don't worry tho, it's still pretty coherent, I also like to think that my writing improved during those 5 years so hopefully, the later chapters will be better (and if they aren't, well, at least they're longer I guess lol)
anyway, enough yapping, here is the first chapter! nothing too exciting happens yet but we need to start slow to build up to something bigger :)
as for uploading schedule, considering I'm currently on summer break I'll try to translate and post as much chapters as I can but I can't promise consistency, only my best attempt at entertaining you!
thank you for reading!!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Fallen Angel AU