Full Moon Wo Sagashite Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen ❯ Prologue

Had it not been for the gentle breath of wind that suddenly whispered through the narrow alley, his eyes would have never focused on the small figure that stood so near to him. As it was, it seemed as though the shadows that the girl lurked in had swallowed up her entire form- leaving nothing in view except for two pigtails of long hair pinned severely to her temples. He couldn't help but smile, even under the circumstances, as he watched the lazy way those soft curls strayed into the breeze, almost as if they were afraid to venture out from the guarded safety of her long, white neck.

"She's a pretty little thing."

Eichi smiled fondly, his head nodding almost imperceptibly in agreement.

"She always has been," he chuckled, his thirsty eyes drinking in the pretty turn of her heart-shaped face. "When she was just a little kid, I remember drowning in those big brown eyes more than once. That's Mitsuki for you: she had the most spectacular eyes. So lively and vivid. You really could see her soul looking out at you."

"I bet."

He took a small step towards the girl, his hand brushing gently against the soft skin of her white cheek. It had been so long since he could touch her and even though she would never know he was there, somehow it seemed so important to have this little bit of contact.

"By the way, you don't have to hold your breath, Eichi. She can't hear you. Anyway, being dead and all makes all that breathing stuff slightly superfluous," his partner's voice broke into his thoughts, the woman sounding more amused than she had a right to be.

"Oh, I'll try to remember that, Jinji-san," he replied, forcing his lips into a half-hearted smile even as his rebellious gaze refused to turn from Mitsuki's silent face.

So pale. So white. What happened to the sparkle that used to dance in your eyes, Mitsuki-chan? What happened to your spirit? Where did it all go?

"It's really so odd to see her here: like this. I knew she wouldn't rejoice at hearing about my death, but I didn't expect…"

"You once asked me, Eichi," Jinji interrupted, her hand resting maternally on the boy's slim shoulder, "why Mitsuki was so different from everyone else. Why she could see shinigami..."

Eichi nodded, his mouth pursed in concentration as he reluctantly let his hand fall away from Mitsuki's tender cheek.

"I never could get that," he smiled uneasily, his eyes once again going back to the girl's passive face. "Mitsuki had always been a very special, very smart girl, but she had never really shown any predisposition towards psychic ability. It just doesn't make sense, even now. I'm glad both Meroko-san and Takuto-san could be there for her when I couldn't, but it always kind of bothered me that she had to go through the stress of knowing that they were there in the first place."

"Eichi…"

"Jinji-san, I know we all have different paths to walk. I know I can't even begin to second-guess God. But I want to know why was my Mitsuki-chan able to see shinigami when others couldn't."

"Because," Jinji sighed, her voice softened by a gentleness Eichi had never known his fellow angel to possess, "unlike the others, Mitsuki was fated to become one."