Chapter 107

Shuri was hoping she would see 'Bad' or 'Critical' in order to explain why Baraquiel wouldn't have come back. It would allow her to give the man the benefit of the doubt and if possibly, see them become a family again.

But to her immense disappointment, the last two entries she saw almost made her drop the book.

…

Baraquiel - Fallen Angel - 1999/07/16 - 03:23 - Earth - 20.20'55" N, 74.30'38" W - Good

Baraquiel - Fallen Angel - 1999/07/16 - 06:00 - Earth - 35.41' N, 139.42' E - Good

…

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|DxD|

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"..."

Shuri stared at the records with a neutral expression. Her hands only trembled briefly before they stayed still. She couldn't believe her eyes. The man that was supposed to be her husband was not in any sort of critical condition, meaning that he should've been aware of the notifications that came from the barrier covering the forest and the one covering the house.

It was impossible to ignore them since they would produce a stinging sensation once delivered. She took a look at the coordinates again, a thread of knowledge entering her brain.

"The one above should be somewhere between Central to South America. The second set are here...in Kuoh."

She felt her disappointment grow more and more.

"This is supposed to be my husband?"

She didn't know how to handle this information. She was rather neutral when she first heard about him to begin with. But as the hours passed, her impression began to sour. Now, it was reaching an all-time low.

Closing the book, she considered her options.

"I cannot ignore this."

She was in contemplation of what she should do in this scenario.

[He was in good health. At some point, he did arrive to Kuoh. But then, did he not bother confirming if I'm alive or dead? If he did see my body, shouldn't he have atleast buried me?]

It was a morbid thought to have, but it was one of necessity. She was tempted to simply dismiss him once and for all. He was proving to be a failure in every way possible that she wondered how the past her even loved him.

It would be very easy to simply close the book and forget about him…until she thought of Akeno. From the memories she saw, the girl loved her father, and she did not want to be selfish.

"Haaa…"

Sighing, she caught sight of her bedside clock showing the current time of '11:56'.

"..."

She looked at it and then looked at the book. Knowing that a new entry for all three of them would be entered in four minutes, she decided to wait.

"Baraquiel. Don't disappoint me. Please don't. Because this is your last chance."

She would give him this last chance to prove himself because when she thought of how Igor tried to defend him, she wanted to believe that maybe there was some…hope? She didn't even know what she was hoping or expecting for this next entry.

Adjusting her sitting position, she calmly waited for the clock to reach twelve. She was mentally counting the seconds, her knee twitching from lack of patience.

11:57

Although only a minute had passed, time seemed to move very slowly. She was tempted to simply close the book and forget everything, but she was still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Meanwhile, her only entertainment was the giggling sounds of Asia and Akeno who were in the room next door. From the sound of things, it seemed as if they were using their dolls to fight each other.

"Whuuuu…gish! Take that, Asia!"

"Nooooooo…boooooom!"

"Hahahaha! I win!"

"Hmph! I'll win next time!"

Shuri could hear Akeno release a challenging laugh.

"Hehe~. Round 6?"

"You're on!"

And just like that, the pitter-patter of feet sounded again along with a variety of sound effects that they made with their mouths. It was clear that the way they used their dolls to fight was directly inspired by the battle between Igor and Aurelia.

"Take this, Asia! Kamekameha! Diiiiishhhh!"

"Hahaha! My doll dodged it!"

"Na-ah! Impossible! You can't dodge the Kamekameha!"

"Hmph! My character has big brother's Intant Trans…Istant…"

"Hihi~. It's the Instant Transwission…no wait! It's the-"

"Haha! You got it wrong too!"

Shuri eventually drowned out their play, a content smile on her face.

"It's good to be young-oh?"

She was brought out of her musings when she suddenly saw the next logs started to write themselves.

…

Himejima Shuri - Human - 1999/07/16 - 12:00 - Earth - 35.41' N, 139.42' E (Kuoh) - Good

Himejima Akeno - Fallen Angel/Human - 1999/07/16 - 12:00 - Earth - 35.41' N, 139.42' E (Kuoh) - Good

Baraquiel - Fallen Angel - 1999/07/16 - 12:00 - Earth - 20.20'55" N, 74.30'38" W (Cuba) - Moderate

…

"That country again. And…moderate?"

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|DxD|

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(1999/07/16)- July 15, 1999, 23:00, Baracoa, Cuba (Timezone difference)

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In the coastal town of Baracoa, many businesses were closed on the street except for one restaurant that still had its lights on. Inside, Baraquiel was sitting on a chair with his head on the table. He was clearly in a drunken stupour, his mouth heavy with the scent of alcohol. Alicia stood quietly by his side, her hand gently rubbing his back.

It had come as quite a surprise to her that he had come at such a time. It had been just over three hours since his arrival here and all this time, she silently listened to his story. She listened to him monologue about his wife and how she was killed, how he saw her corpse in the woods yet was unable to retrieve it.

Her first instinct was to tell him to call the police. But upon thinking how he was able to vanish like he did, she knew that no police force would be able to handle the more people like him.

So all she did was remain quiet and let him continue.

"I'm a failure, Alicia."

"..."

She did not reply to him. She knew that what he needed right now was comfort.

"I failed my family, Alicia. Because of me, my wife is dead and my daughter hates me."

He banged his fist on the table, causing it to crack.

"And I couldn't even seek vengeance from her killers!"

His fists were clenched, regret filling him like a poison that spread through his veins. What pained him even more was that he had to rely on a boy to seek vengeance for him when he lacked the stones. What was even worse was that he tried to stop him.

While he wallowed in his sorrow, a bespectacled girl came along with a mug of coffee on a wooden tray. She was darker in complexion compared to Alicia and her hair was tied in a single braid. She walked up to the couple and placed the tray on the table.

*Thud*

Feeling something hit the table, Baraquiel lifted his head and spotted the piping mug of freshly ground coffee.

"...what?"

He looked at the girl before looking at Alicia with clear confusion. The woman only smiled warmly at him before gently scratching his head.

"Drink some coffee, Baraquiel. It'll help you a bit."

"..."

Wordlessly, he took the mug and began drinking from it.

Gulp Gulp Gulp Gulp

Alicia smiled before turning to look at the girl.

"Thank you for your help."

"No problem, big sis."

Giving a nod, the girl walked away without a second of hesitation. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder who Baraquiel was.

[For big sis to pay so much attention to him. I wonder who he is?]

Having only recently arrived in town, she was unaware of who Baraquiel was. At the same time she left the room, Baraquiel put the mug down. Some hint of life returned to his half-lidded eyes, but he was very much still drunk.

Taking her hand, he looked into her eyes.

"Thank you, Alicia. Thank you."

Alicia gave a warm smile before enveloping his head in a hug.

"Anytime, Baraquiel. I am always here for you."

"..."

Baraquiel made no movement to break free. Rather, he let her hold him. He felt warm inside and he desperately wanted to cling onto that warmth.

Slowly, his free hand stretched towards her thigh before gradually going up her skirt-

"No, Baraquiel. Not when you're like this."

"..."

Wordlessly, his hand continued to roam further up-

"Baraquiel!"

The cadre tilted his head upwards and was met with a disproving look from Alicia.

"Why…? Didn't you say you want this?"

Alicia held Baraquiel's head firmly between her hands.

"Baraquiel. I love you. I truly do-"

He interrupted her by picking her up and pinned her against the wall. His hands were bound tightly around her waist, his eyes bloodshot.

"Then?! If you say you love me, then-"

Feeling him squeeze her thigh, Alicia couldn't remain silent anymore.

"BARAQUIEL!"

A brief sense of clarity returned to him when she yelled his name, causing him to freeze in realisation of what he was about to do.

"...I'm sorry."

Disgust filled his very being when he realised he was this close to committing an unforgivable atrocity on the very woman who brought him comfort in his time of great need.

"I-I'm sorry, Alicia. I…I don't know why. I-I don't know what I was thinking-"

The brunet placed a finger on his lips.

"Ssshh…I know."

Her eyes were warm as she held his head.

"I know you didn't mean it."

She hugged his head and brought him into her chest.

"I love you Baraquiel and I do want to be intimate with you. But not like this. You're not in the right state of mind right now."

She lovingly rubbed the back of his head.

"I don't want our first time to be on a table of all places, after all~."

"..."

Thankful for how she quickly forgave him and for the subtle attempt at humour, Baraquiel hugged her.

"Thank you…"

He held her tightly.

"Thank you…Alicia."

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AN

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