A/N: I just love these two, and as practice for NaNo, this happened. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

I: Angels

In the light of the full moon, sickly green and wickedly pale, Akihiko thinks she looks like an angel. Not the usual kind. Not the kind Miki pointed out to him in the old books squirreled away in the orphanage. Not the kind Shinji used to glare at in the store windows. Not the kind the world tells stories about.

No, the kind that scares him. Watching her, seeing the fire burning through her eyes, every line of her accented by the light, he recognizes the feeling twisting his stomach as fear. She's reckless, always has been, and as the Shadows fall beneath her naginata she could very well be a holy, haloed avenger. But she's not.

He reminds himself of this as an elongated claw slices the sleeve of her uniform, and ruby, real blood drips from her fingers. The Shadow is dead within the next heartbeat, and she meets his gaze over the scratch. Her eyes widen, and he pivots a second too late. Pain, precise and sharp, leeches across his back and maniacal laughter fills his ears. He hears his name, and then a gunshot, and then something dark and wet coats his torso.

The Shadow has dissipated at his feet, leaving a puddle of inky black where it used to stand. His vest is a mess of blood and is slowly unraveling. He blinks a few times and the world falls back into place, the sounds of battle rushing back to his ears.

She stands ringed in a new light, fuzzy through the pain. Akihiko can vaguely make out Ose behind her, casting her in angled shadow and cobalt. An angel, just so. He falls into step at her side, hiding his expression behind raised fists and falling opposition. They fight together, they always do, and through the inevitable wounds and the fractured, glowing light their prowl through Tartarus is just like any other. They are powerful there, they are strong. She is a leader, and he is enough.

But later, much later, when the night has waned and the Dark Hour has ended, she is just a girl. He traces her waist and tells her he loves her.

"I love you too."

"…Are you alright?"

"I always am, aren't I? Don't worry about me, Aki."

"Can't help it."

She sighs, and she sounds old, but she smiles at him, just a little. Akihiko pulls her closer.

One day, he could lose her. One day, he might not be enough. And then she really will be just the kind the world tells stories about.