Haibane Renmei Fan Fiction ❯ Kazakiribane ❯ The Past Revealed ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: "Haibane Renmei" and its associated characters & places used within this story are based upon Yoshitoshi ABe's original concept: "Charcoal Feathers in Old Home". They remain the undisputed property of the owners that hold copyright. I am writing this story for free enjoyment and not for profit, but even so I maintain creative ownership of my own story concepts. None of this story is to be copied or reproduced etc. without my knowledge or permission.

This Fanfiction is a story concept that I'd had in my head for quite awhile now. There's quite a lot of it that I'm still tweaking here and there for continuity issues before the story can be completely finished, but I'll post it in segments as I finish editing them. Read on... and feel free to leave a review if you are so inclined.

In some parts of the story, I have tried to use italics to help indicate whenever any characters are supposed to be conversing in Japanese. After all, this is supposed to be a story not a language lesson, so I hope that you aren't disappointed if I stick with English for the most part. ;-)

Kazakiribane - Chapter Seven: The Past Revealed
By Shizukana Sakka

The Jamesons all stared dumbfounded at Hanako as they tried to make sense out of what she'd just told them. While it was evident from how she had been speaking that English was not her primary language, she could speak it well enough that it had sounded as though her statement was no mistake.

“Wh-what do you mean `not human'?” Tom said with a touch of uneasiness in his voice. “Joey's a Hey… uh… Hai… er, what did you call him?”

“Hai-ba-ne,” Hanako answered as she carefully sounded it out for them. “My father search for her many years. She is why our family come to America.”

The Jamesons were starting to realize that Hanako's continual use of female pronouns was also deliberate. As though to further drive the point home, Joey would sporadically cry out in pain from the bed in a very female-sounding voice. Hank cast a quick look at his foster son and then turned his attention back to Mr. Tanaka. Though his face was hidden under the hood of his robes, he appeared to be silently meditating. Hank's throat suddenly felt very dry.

“Tanaka-san, I'm afraid I don't quite understand any of this. You said that you came here to help Joey. What is it that you are proposing?”

Mr. Tanaka made no reply, other than to exchange another glance with his daughter.

“Please excuse,” Hanako quickly interjected. “My father means no disrespect, but tradition forbids him to speak in the presence of a Haibane.”

As strange as everything happening around them was, Lisa's usual interest in all things paranormal allowed her to keep her thoughts a little more ordered and logical than the rest of her family for the time being. She'd taken a keen interest in the various arcane-like symbols that adorned Mr. Tanaka's robes from the moment he'd first entered the room and pegged him for some kind of Mystic or Shaman. Her eyes widened a bit as he now pulled out what appeared to be a large, flat jewelry box from within his robes. She finally decided to speak up at last.

“What's that?” She asked him, and then looked back at his daughter when she realized that he wouldn't answer her. “Is that something that can help Joey?”

Hanako paused for a moment as she tried to think of the correct words to say.

“Hai… Uh, yes. Joey-kun is changing, but not safely. His human body can not survive it. He must… re-join, or he will die.”

With that, Mr. Tanaka opened the box and revealed a 5” diameter glowing ring. He carefully, almost reverently, removed it from the box and held it out in front of him. The intensity of the glow began to increase as it got closer to Joey.

Heather drew back in fear from whatever the object was.

“What are you going to do with that!” She asked with a tremor in her voice. Instinctively, she began to reach for Joey; determined to pull him further away from Mr. Tanaka.

“Ah… p..please?” Hanako said in an attempt to reassure her. “This must be. Joey-kun may not have much time. It is only way.”

Heather looked up at her husband who gave her a hesitant nod of his head. Although still uncertain of Mr. Tanaka's intent, she carefully took hold of Lisa's arm and encouraged her to step back with her. Mr. Tanaka bowed silently to them in gratitude for their cooperation and then moved to the end of Joey's bed.

Starting at the boy's feet, Mr. Tanaka held the ring a few inches above Joey and then slowly moved it up along his body. As he worked his way towards Joey's head, both the ring and the boy's body began to emit a silvery glow. The ring began to vibrate and emit a high-pitched humming noise when it was over Joey's head, then it suddenly erupted in an explosion of light that sent Mr. Tanaka stumbling backwards. As soon as they were able to clear the spots out of their eyes, the Jamesons were stunned when they saw that the glowing ring was somehow suspended unaided in the air over Joey's head. Heather took a tentative step towards Joey, but was stopped by Mr. Tanaka's hand on her arm. Wordlessly, he shook his head at her and signaled everyone to step well back from the bed.

For the first couple of minutes, nothing seemed to happen. Joey already appeared to be a little calmer with the presence of that strange ring above his head, so Lisa guessed that it was probably providing some kind of healing magic. From where she stood with the rest of her family against the wall, it appeared as though whatever was protruding from Joey's back was beginning to move around again. At first, she thought that they were in the process of retracting and then ultimately disappearing. Then, she noticed that the large bruises on Joey's back were in fact rapidly growing in size! If that wasn't shocking enough, Joey's entire body seemed to be undergoing a series of simultaneous changes. As they all watched, his hair grew longer and changed to a chestnut-brown colour. His arms and legs got a little shorter and more slender-looking. His incoherent mumbling began to rise in pitch and intensity and then he started shrieking again in that girl's voice they'd all heard earlier.

“Itami! Tasukete!” he screamed.

Hanako winced and tears started to form in her eyes. Though her father had only recently told her the truth of his mission to the United States, seeing her friend in the throws of such agony was still no easier for her to witness than it was for the Jamesons. Suddenly, Joey arched his back and the large swollen areas that ran from his shoulders to his waist began to split open. Here it comes, she thought grimly to herself.

“Oh my God!” Heather screamed. “What the hell is happening to him! Is that ring doing this to him? You have to stop it!” She tried to surge forward again, but this was time held back by both her husband and Mr. Tanaka.

“Please, you must not!” Hanako pleaded with her. “It is the henka… ah, tr..tran-s-for-ming. It can not stop.”

Though Hank had finally accepted that whatever was happening to Joey was necessary, he felt nearly sick to his stomach as he watched the boy that he considered a member of his family writhing in pain… and he knew that there was nothing he could do to help him. He and the rest of his family watched in horror as something seemed to be pushing out of each of the bleeding wounds on Joey's back. Their horror gradually turned to amazement when it started to become clear exactly what these things were. The pair of wings finally finished extracting themselves and briefly convulsed - effectively splattering the room and its occupants in a shower of blood and other fluids. Almost immediately, the winged figure fell silent and then collapsed motionless onto the bed.

“Oh… my… God…“ Hank managed to rasp out in the silence that followed the unbelievable transformation they'd just witnessed.

Mr. Tanaka released his hold on Heather and silently beckoned to her to follow. He then pointed to the wounds on Joey's back, and Heather was amazed to see that they appeared to be healing right before her very eyes. Ignoring the fact that the youngest member of their household now had a large pair of wings on his back, everyone seemed equally relieved when it became evident that he was going to be okay. Heather practically collapsed in her husband's arms and started sobbing into his shoulder.

Mr. Tanaka sighed heavily and turned towards his daughter. He made a hand gesture to her, which she acknowledged with a nod, and then he left the room.

“My father will wait for you downstairs,” Hanako explained. “You have many questions... he will answer best he can.”

Tom and Lisa took a long, lingering look at the sleeping figure on the bed and then at Lisa's urging they both headed downstairs to talk to Mr. Tanaka. Heather was reluctant to leave Joey's side, but Hanako assured her that she would remain to watch over him until she returned. Slowly, she and her husband turned and followed their children downstairs.

When they'd returned to the living room, they found Mr. Tanaka had thrown the hood of his robe back and was looking at one of the pictures of Joey that was hanging on the wall amongst various family pictures of the Jamesons. Heather recalled that Joey had been a little reluctant at the time to have that photo taken, but eventually she'd managed to talk him into it. She smiled inwardly as she thought of how much she'd enjoyed having the boy live with them these past few years. She and her husband had recently discussed adopting Joey into their family, but now Joey's entire future was a big unknown. What was he? Certainly not human -- Mr. Tanaka's daughter had even said as much. He has wings and… a halo? Was he an angel?

Heather shivered inwardly as that very thought began to make her question her beliefs. Their family wasn't traditionally very religious. Other than attending Christmas Eve services at the local church and saying grace at special meals once in awhile, that was about it. Now, the child that she and her husband had come to love as one of their own had just changed into this… being… and the implications of it frightened her.

Heather shook herself and steeled up her determination. Regardless of what Joey was or even what he looked like, he was still their Joey and she was more concerned about how they could possibly keep him after other people started to learn about him. She hoped that would be one of many questions that Mr. Tanaka might be able to answer for them.

Tom and Lisa looked expectantly at their parents as they'd entered the room, clearly waiting for them to start the conversation. Hank took their cue and cleared his throat to get Mr. Tanaka's attention.

“So amazing…” Mr. Tanaka said as he continued to stare at the photo of Joey for another few moments. Finally, he turned to face them and gestured for them to all sit down.

“Where to begin… Well, I suppose some of the more basic facts are as good a place as any,” Mr. Tanaka said quietly. “Your foster son, Joey, is not human. She was not born into this world, but rather `fell' into it.”

“So… he is some kind of angel, then?” Heather asked.

Mr. Tanaka paused for thought as he tried to decide how to best explain it to her.

“By western understanding and beliefs, I suppose it's possible to see her that way. In some remote areas of my home country there have been legends of such beings but most consider them to be nothing more than a myth. Her `race', for lack of a better term, are called Haibane -- which means `Ash-Feathers', due to the charcoal-grey colour of their wings.”

“Why do you keep referring to Joey as `she',” Lisa asked. “His voice did sound like it had changed for a while there, but you don't mean that he is really a…“ Her voice trailed off at Mr. Tanaka's subtle nod.

“Yes, she is really a female. The apparent difference of her gender before she'd reverted back to her true form was one of the reasons that we'd been unable to locate her for so long.”

“Why now?” Heather asked finally. “Joey seemed fine up until a couple of days ago. What made him suddenly… change… like this?”

“Maybe we should try rolling this back a little further, Tanaka-san,” Hank spoke up. “Who are you, and who is this `we' you are referring to? Where exactly did Joey come from?”

--Mr. Tanaka's story:

“I am an adept of an ancient order of mystics from Japan. We call ourselves the Touga. We are a secret society, which is largely unheard of in Japan except in rumors or local legends.

For centuries, perhaps more since no one is really sure when it all began, our order has aided and protected the Haibane. They come into existence in a mystical place known as Glie. It is a fabled township, which is similar to your western legends of Atlantis or Avalon. Like those other mythical places, Glie's location is difficult to define. It is part of this world, yet at the same time separate from it. It is a protected domain that is physically and psychically isolated from this plane. Though the residents of Glie are primarily humans that have lived within its boundaries for many generations, it is for the smaller population of Haibane that is the town's purpose for being. The town is governed by the Haibane Renmei - The Ash-feather Federation. They are usually the elder Haibane that oversee all of the administrative needs of the town.

The Haibane, although similar in appearance to humans, are not human. No one really knows exactly who and what they are - least of all the Haibane themselves. Some believe that they are physically manifested spiritual entities that are somehow caught in-between their previous lives and their next ones. They are not born as humans are. They supposedly `hatch' in a matured form out of cocoons that seem to appear at random. Their halos are mystic artifacts, which are forged for them and then bound to their spiritual essence. Their wings will usually grow within a day or two of hatching from their cocoons. They live within the township of Glie pretty much in the same manner as humans do, until they reach their `Day of Flight'. This is thought to be the day of their spiritual ascension to the next stage of their existence. Some believe that they reincarnate as humans here in the physical world. Others have suggested that they evolve into Kami and then live within the heavens.

For whatever reason or plan that they come into being, each Haibane remains within Glie until they are compelled by instinct to move on. It is widely believed that the Haibane need to achieve some level of personal and spiritual understanding before they can achieve their Day of Flight. Some Haibane remain in Glie for only a few years. For others, their time can be even longer. Their presence in Glie is critical to their spiritual evolution, so it is for this necessity and their protection that Glie is so isolated. Thus, their township is completely surrounded by a physical and spiritual barrier which enforces this isolation. Haibane and humans alike are forbidden to leave Glie, and any that have never return. The only contact with the `outside world' is through trade with special envoys of mystics that are able to make passage through the barriers. This is the special purpose of the Touga.

The other visitors to Glie are the birds, often crows, which can fly over the Great Walls that protect the township. Though they also possess wings, Haibane do not fly. If a Haibane was somehow able to fly, they could easily bypass the township's barriers that protect them and expose themselves to untold dangers. Fortunately, their wings are typically too small to allow them to achieve flight. Whether this is a deliberate design or simply a coincidence, no one really knows.

Long ago, there had been legends of Haibane that actually develop full-sized wings that allowed them to fly. These rare Haibane were named `Kazakiribane', which essentially means: `Flight Feathers'. It had been centuries since the last Kazakiribane had appeared in Glie… until just over 12 years ago. A young Haibane girl named Mori, whose wings and instincts to use them gave her the power of flight. Though capable of flying - which, according to the stories, she did quite often -- she heeded the warnings of her elders and never attempted to fly over or even near any of the Great Walls.

The climate of Glie is known to change very quickly. Though they have seasons pretty much the same as in the rest of the outside world, in Glie the changes come swiftly. Such abrupt changes in the climate have, on occasion, brought powerful storms to sweep across the township. About 11 years ago, a storm arrived with such speed and intensity that it caught many of the residents of Glie unprepared. The Kazakiribane was said to have been attempting to rescue someone who had been stranded in a high place when she was caught by the strong winds and carried over the Great Wall. When she did not return, it was believed that she was either injured or lost somehow and it was decided to send a search party for her. Since it is forbidden for anyone from Glie to leave -- even the Haibane Renmei themselves -- the Touga were asked to search for the missing Haibane outside of the Great Wall.

While the Great Wall provides an effective physical barrier, the true barriers of Glie are the mystic boundaries that lie just beyond them. The purpose of the Great Wall is to prevent the residents of Glie from coming into contact with the mystic boundaries. To that end, the Great Wall is imbued with spiritual wards that are an effective deterrent against humans, but even more so against Haibane. To safely cross the mystic barriers requires intense spiritual discipline and special training of psychic abilities. The Touga train themselves in these disciplines for years in the hopes of being appointed the special honor of becoming an envoy to Glie. Though they found no trace of the missing Haibane girl inside of the mystic barriers, her halo had been discovered just beyond them in the outside world.

When a Haibane achieves their Day of Flight, their halos and feathers are left behind. The halo appears to be dull and spent -- as though all of the mystic energy had left it once it had achieved its purpose. The halo of the Kazakiribane, however, was not found in such a condition. Though it was no longer glowing, it still held a vibrant shine and one could easily sense that its energy was still present but was now dormant. The Haibane Renmei interpreted this as proof that the Kazakiribane had indeed fully entered the outside world and charged the Touga with the sacred trust of finding her and returning her to Glie.

When the envoy of the Touga returned to the outside world, they consulted with the oracles of our order, who determined that the Kazakiribane had survived, but her contact with the mystic barriers of Glie had changed her into a fully human form -- and an infant at that. Uncontrolled crossings of the mystic barrier can randomize one's re-entry point in the outside world, so the Touga had little idea where to begin looking. Finding an unknown, orphaned infant when they had no idea what she even looked like was similar to looking for that proverbial needle in the haystack. Though they searched for years, no trace of the missing Haibane was ever found.

A few years ago, the oracles had another vision about the quest. It was foretold that the missing Kazakiribane would be found in the `far lands beyond the eastern ocean'. It was then that I was sent with my family to the United States where I would attempt to continue the search for her. Using the extensive resources of our order, I conducted an exhaustive search of various agencies in an attempt to locate our elusive orphan girl, but met with no success. Though discouraged, I vowed to continue with the search until I found her. Over the past few years, my family has moved several times as I followed up various leads -- no matter how small. All of this moving around has been difficult for my family, particularly so for Hanako. I had finally started to consider asking my order to send another searcher to America so that I could return to Japan with my family. It then came as quite a surprise when it was none other than my Hanako who had accidentally found what we were looking for.

Needless to say, I was doubtful at first. Even though the Haibane had been changed into human form, it was a girl that we had been searching for. When both Hanako and my wife began to tell me some of the interesting things about your foster-son, I was very intrigued. There were a number of things that caught their attention, but the most telling event was what had happened when my daughter had brought out the artifact, or `halo', to show to her new friend. There had been an immediate reaction when your Joey had been exposed to its presence. According to Hanako, he appeared to be in a great deal of discomfort and the halo began to glow brightly. Your foster son became quite unsettled from the experience and fled our house quickly, but just before he left she was able to `see' something else -- his true Kazakiribane form. Hanako has inherited her spiritual and psychic sensitivity from my family line, and although mostly untrained, she was able to sense different things about your foster-son. When she'd finally told me of her vision, I was certain that we had, at last, found what we'd been searching for.”

--End of Mr. Tanaka's story

There was a long silence as the Jamesons' thought about all of the fantastic, nearly unbelievable things that Mr. Tanaka had told them. A few days ago, or even a few hours ago, they might have dismissed it as outright fantasy. Of course, that was before the youngest member of their household suddenly grew a pair of wings and supposedly changed gender.

Heather Jameson was the first to finally speak.

“Wh… what happens now?” she asked, her voice a thready whisper. “What happens to Joey?”

“For now, there is not much to do but wait,” Mr. Tanaka answered. “The Kazakiribane can not be moved for a few days until she recovers, so it would be better just to let her rest. There is a special envoy of our order en route to us as we speak that should arrive sometime over the next day or so. They will be able to offer more assistance when they do. In the meantime, she'll need to be cared for very carefully.”

Mr. Tanaka then went on to explain about how Joey's new wings needed to be thoroughly cleaned of all the blood and other fluids. He asked Heather to find a couple of suitable brushes, then helped her bring a few basins of warm water back up to Joey's room -- pausing briefly to pull his hood back over his head before he entered. He knelt next to the bed and bowed again before passing the bowl and brush he was carrying to his daughter. He made a few more strange hand gestures to Hanako and then he withdrew from the room once again, bowing reverently before he disappeared down the hall.

Heather gazed at the sleeping figure on the bed. Joey was still lying pretty much in the same position as he'd been when they'd all left the room earlier. She leaned a little closer to listen to the slow, steady breathing and seemed to relax a little. He sounded a lot better than he had before.

“My father says that she will be fine now,” Hanako spoke up softly.

Heather started a bit at the sound of the girl's voice as she'd momentarily forgotten that anyone else was in the room with her. Again, she noticed the persistent use of female pronouns that the girl and her father were using with Joey. She carefully set the bowl and brush she was carrying down on the bedside table and then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. She gently picked up one of Joey's hands and immediately noticed how different they felt. His hands were now smaller, and more delicate-looking. Next, she gently ran her fingers through the beautiful, brownish hair that was now long enough to trail down his back to the tops of his… wings. Yes, wings. Joey now had wings. She gently touched one of them and recoiled slightly when they suddenly twitched. Yep, they were definitely real, all right.

“Cleaning will be big job,” Hanako said with a deep sigh. “We should begin.” She then picked up the brush and demonstrated to Heather how to brush the blood and grime out of the feathers.

Heather held her own brush uncertainly in her hand for a moment, then began to copy the girl's brushing motions.

“You seem to know a lot about these… Haibane,” Heather said after a few minutes of silent brushing. “Have you and your father seen many others?”

Hanako shook her head.

“No. They are sacred beings to the Touga. Only the honored envoys ever see them. Before I met Joey-kun, I believed they were only from a story. All of this is… new to me, too. Father only shared truth with me earlier today.”

Heather nodded as she continued with her brushing. Hanako was correct, it would be a big job to completely clean the wings, but she was starting to get the hang of it.

“Hanako, if tradition forbids your father to speak in front of… Joey, why is it that you are allowed to?”

“I have not joined Touga yet. I am too young. I do not have to follow rules like father does,” she replied simply.

They were both silent for a few more minutes while they continued to brush the feathers of Joey's wings. Heather kept casting glances over at the small girl and noticed the look of concentration on her face as she focused on her task. Occasionally, her eyes would seem to glaze over a little bit before she snapped herself out of it and returned to her brushing. Obviously, this was almost as fantastic an experience for Hanako as it was for the rest of them, Heather thought to herself.

Downstairs, Tom and his father had seated themselves on the living room sofa and each wore a similar dazed expression on their faces. The events of the past few hours had left them temporarily speechless as they tried to make sense out of the situation. An ancient order of mystics, as well as a mythical city and angel-like beings. Clearly, the world they knew had suddenly become a lot more interesting. A small smirk briefly formed on Hank's face as he thought of the old Chinese curse about living in 'interesting times'. Lisa, on the other hand, seemed even more enthusiastic about recent events than before, if that was at all possible.

“Um… Mr. Tanaka?” Lisa asked with a look of keen interest in her eyes. “What was all that with the ring… er, I mean, halo?"

Mr. Tanaka looked thoughtful as he considered the best way to explain it to them.

"Our oracles had long ago theorized that the Kazakiribane's transformation into a fully human body was the result of a few unique factors. Although no one can really know for sure what caused it, we suspect that two of the most significant factors were her uncontrolled encounter with the barriers of Glie and the simultaneous loss of her halo. The halo is part of the spiritual matrix of a Haibane. Without it, their forms are... unstable. When my Hanako had exposed your foster brother to the halo, his brief contact with it disrupted the temporary stasis of his human form. He then began to revert back to his true Haibane form."

Mr. Tanaka gave a heavy sigh before continuing.

"The trauma of the wing growth is said to be particularly difficult for a Haibane to bear, but even more so for a Kazakiribane due to their unusually large wings. Unfortunately for your foster-son, his brief exposure to the mystic energy of the halo was enough to trigger the changes, but not enough to properly stabilize them. Eventually, the stress would have become more than his human body could withstand, and it would have probably killed him."

The room was silent as the import of Mr. Tanaka's words sunk in. Hank slumped forward in his seat and buried his face in his hands. Though he wasn't a particularly religious man, he offered a silent prayer of thanks to whatever Gods had been watching over his foster son. It had been a very near thing, indeed.

"When she was properly re-joined to her halo," Mr. Tanaka continued, "its mystic energy provided the required balance to her spiritual matrix and restored the healing properties necessary to survive the growth of her wings, along with some of her other changes. This was the purpose for which the halo had been given to my keeping while my family came overseas to search for her. It had been foretold by our oracles that the halo and the one it was bonded to would eventually be drawn to each other."

Lisa nodded in understanding, although she wasn't entirely certain if she really did understand everything. Although she'd always been particularly enthusiastic about her interests in the paranormal, she had never really considered how much of it she truly believed. Her foster brother... or perhaps she should be thinking of him as her foster sister now, was living proof of wonders beyond the normal scope of most peoples' understanding.

"So... um, what kind of things can a... uh, Caza-Kirie-ban-ey do?" Lisa finally asked.

Mr. Tanaka blinked.

"I'm sorry? I'm not sure that I understand your question," he answered.

"Well... I was wondering if they have any kind of special powers or anything. What else is different about them?"

Her brother groaned and shook his head slightly in embarrassment.

"C'mon Sis," Tom said with a bit of weariness in his voice. "He.. uh, I mean.. she just grew a pair of wings!"

He paused for a moment to quickly look down at his shirt. He hadn't bothered to change his clothes yet and grimaced at the now-dried specks of blood that stained the front of it. He felt a bit of bile rise in his throat as the image of those large wings erupting from Joey's back replayed itself in his mind's eye, as well as his screams of pain that still echoed in his ears. It was a gore scene that any Hollywood special effects artists would have been proud of. It had been bad enough just to witness it, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for Joey to experience it.

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that Joey just turned into a 'she' and isn't even human anymore. We've already got enough to deal with right now without you trying to dig up more. Give it a rest, will ya?" He said as he shot her an irritated glare.

Lisa scowled at her brother and briefly considered flipping him her middle finger, but thought better of it with her father present. Instead she simply folded her arms and 'hmphed!' indignantly.

"Well, to answer your question," Mr. Tanaka said to Lisa, "the truth is that we're not really sure. Within the boundaries of Glie, Haibane are not all that different from any of the humans that they share the town with. The outside world, however, is an entirely different matter. Haibane are not meant to exist here, so it's difficult to predict what can happen. As for the Kazakiribane, she is pretty much the same as any other Haibane except for the fact that she actually does fly. It would be reasonable to assume that she would have that ability here in the outside world just as she had in Glie."

"I suspect that would be a little difficult to explain to our neighbors," Hank spoke up with a small chuckle. "In fact, I'm surprised that Joey's screaming earlier didn't prompt any of them to call the police."

"Of course, you understand that it is very important to keep the Kazakiribane hidden." Mr. Tanaka said with some apprehension. "It would be far too disruptive to the world if she were to be discovered. It is vital for her to return to Glie, for she is a Haibane and does not belong in the outside world."

AN: Still more to come... stay tuned!