In the middle of that deserted street, three people stood with three completely different expressions.

Shiina reached up and loosened her scarf. Her guarded posture made it clear that she was feeling uncomfortable. I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head at this moment.

Ayumi, on the other hand, had a complex expression. At first glance, she looked like she was about to burst with joy. A wide, contagious smile adorned her face, and she was restless, hopping and fidgeting her fingers. But somehow, I could feel the undertones of a darker emotion bubbling under the surface. What it was, I couldn’t tell.

As for me, I couldn’t see my face, but I’m pretty sure I kept a poker face. Not because I was taking this situation well, mind you. So many thoughts were speeding through my mind that my facial muscles weren’t sure how to contract. Thinking about it, that meant my frown might have been creepier than I thought.

Despite her excitement—or maybe because of it—Ayumi didn’t speak up. Shiina and I were too busy thinking, and thus didn’t say anything either. This stalemate lasted an uncertain amount of time.

Eventually, I began noticing people walking by and staring at us with curiosity. We couldn’t just stand around here, but I was still a bit lost on what to do. Frankly, my first instinct was to forget this ever happened and walk away. Unfortunately for me, Shiina had also noticed the attention we were attracting.

“Your names?” the angel asked flatly.

“Ayumi! And this is Takeya.” Before I could react, Ayumi pushed on my back and forced me into a bow. “Nice to meet you!”

“Ayumi and Takeya… I don’t want to speak of this matter here,” she said, still holding her daunting expression. “There’s a park nearby. We can talk there.”

Without waiting for us, Shiina turned around and began her brisk walk. Ayumi and I followed closely behind. We walked in uncomfortable silence until we arrived at a small park. It was unremarkable, with a few wooden benches, picnic tables, and a playground for kids. More importantly, it was devoid of people this late in the chilly afternoon.

Shiina went straight to a table and sat down on one of the benches. Ayumi and I sat opposite her. The angel didn’t look like she was as uneasy as before.

“First of all, how did you figure out I’m an angel? I’m sure it wasn’t a guess,” she said with a polite but intense voice.

Without hesitation, Ayumi proceeded to divulge how we got to this moment. She started with her lifelong obsession with angels and went on to explain everything in between—including the odd contraptions she made and the extensive plan concocted to find out where Shiina lived.

At the end of it, Shiina’s opinion of us seemed to have raised a fair bit.

“I’m impressed you were able to stay hidden during that major incident. There were dozens of us there. A mistake like this…” She let that last sentence fade out. “What are you after?”

I turned my gaze back to Ayumi. I knew what she wanted up to this point, but I was as clueless as Shiina when it came to her plans moving forward.

“I have a feeling you won’t let us leave this place with our memories intact. Still, there’s a request I want to make, if you’re willing to negotiate,” Ayumi said with a grounded voice, despite her fists trembling in front of her.

Negotiate? Are you aware of our position here?

“All right. Let’s hear it,” Shiina said after her customary pause.

I’m not sure who was the most surprised, Ayumi or me. After all, we were talking about a bonafide angel here. She had unthinkable powers to shape reality. Surely the story of a random human girl didn’t move her enough to accept a request like that.

Something fishy was going on.

It took Ayumi a few seconds to open her mouth and reveal her proposal.

“All my life, my dream has been to meet a real angel. I’ve accomplished that now and I’m content enough with it. But now that we’re here, I’d like to know a bit more about you. Because at the end of the day, we know almost nothing about angels. During these few minutes at least, I’d like to know the truth of the mystery. That’s my only wish.”

Shiina narrowed her eyes, trying to judge Ayumi’s true intentions. But then, understanding Shiina’s worries, the shorter girl acted incredibly Ayumi-like.

“Ahh, you’re worried about the photo, right?” Ayumi asked, retrieving the small photo from her skirt pocket and placing it on the table. “As a token of goodwill, I’ll take care of that right now.”

To the surprise of all others present, Ayumi proceeded to rip the photo to shreds and disposed of the pieces into a nearby trash can.

Poof. Gone, just like that.

Idiot! You’ve just got rid of our only leverage!

“Takkun and I can guarantee there are no other photos of you or other angels. We haven’t told anyone about this either. You’re in the clear. There’s just this moment and nothing else. So, what do you say?”

Shiina raised an eyebrow, but her expression quickly melted back into her permanent, taciturn frown.

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“Okay. But this conversation can’t leave this place, and I won’t be able to answer all your questions. If you can agree to these conditions, I’ll accept your proposal,” Shiina stated firmly.

“Yes!” Ayumi said with a little fist pump. “Thanks, Shiina. You have my eternal gratitude.” Ayumi stood up and gave a deep bow, almost slamming her forehead on the table.

In total opposition to Ayumi’s mood, I was flabbergasted by the progression of the situation.

I can’t believe it. Shiina actually went along with such an insane bargain. Something is definitely weird about this.

I decided to just roll with it. The situation was already way out of my control by this point.

When Ayumi raised her head and looked the angel in the eyes, they both froze for a moment. Shiina was waiting for Ayumi to ask something, but I didn’t have any idea why she would hesitate when we were already this far.

“Takkun, you go ahead first,” she said, turning toward me.

“I’m the worst person to spearhead this conversation. Don’t you have anything to ask?” I pushed the questioning back to Ayumi.

“Gosh, of course. A ton of stuff. There’s so much I don’t even know where to begin.”

A small sigh escaped my lungs.

This is just like her.

“Okay then.” I turned my gaze back to Shiina, who had been scrutinizing our back and forth.

I don’t get Ayumi’s problem. There is only one right question to start this.

“So, what are angels exactly?”

Ayumi turned to me with genuine fury on her face. “Takkun! You’re starting with that?”

“Well, yeah, of course. Can you answer the question? Or is this also part of the things you are hiding from me?.”

For once, that disarmed Ayumi.

“Guess you are right. I don’t really know the answer either.”

We turned our attention to Shiina, who didn’t seem to care as much about our side conversations as before. She had her hand on her chin as if pondering the answer seriously. However, what escaped her mouth was incomprehensible.

“Angels are the servants of God Almighty, imbued with a minuscule part of their divine powers. Our duty is to implement God’s divine plan, guiding humanity towards their destiny.”

Both Ayumi and I were silent, but I could still sense her excitement permeating the air. When I turned to her, however, I got the impression there was still some other emotion mixed in there.

When she noticed me staring at her, Ayumi spoke up as if to hide her feelings. “Okay, so let’s get the simplest matter out of the way first. So you’re saying God actually exists?”

I’d say no one, theist or atheist, would call the matter of the existence of God simple. But I digress.

“Yes, of course,” Shiina declared after a long pause. “Angels are in regular contact with their God. That’s how we receive divine instructions to implement their plan.”

“So… what do you guys do exactly? To implement this plan?”

“We influence humans to act in a way compatible with God’s plan for the world,” Shiina said with a deadpan expression.

Her dry delivery made the only possible interpretation of her words even more unsettling.

“So you mean… you guys use mind-control on people to ensure everything happens according to that plan?” I asked.

Shiina hesitated for a moment longer than usual. “Mind control is a very strong term. Simple memory manipulation or impersonation is usually enough to complete each mission. The vast majority of humans never encounter an angel or are affected by them. Our missions don’t target individual humans, but rather, create ripple effects in society as a whole.”

I pity those people who are influenced in one way or another. Well, who cares about free will anyway?

Despite the angel’s backpedaling, there wasn’t any other way to interpret what she had said. Angels were influencing human behavior, blindly following whatever this shady plan was. And to keep themselves hidden, they used all sorts of magic trickery to make people faint, or in the worst-case scenario, erased their memories.

I took off my glasses and pinched the bridge of my nose.

This is ludicrous.

Despite achieving a sense of closure about what angels even were, there was still one thing that didn’t exactly fit the narrative.

The very reason we were able to meet Shiina in the first place.

I was a few seconds from verbalizing it, but—

“What about those incidents we’ve been encountering? The electronic disturbances, the invisible people, and just now, the weird graffiti? Does that have anything to do with the plan?” Ayumi asked with a low, almost emotionless voice.

Something about her was weird.

No, she’s been acting oddly since a while back; since we saw that texture swapping in the street. No, before that. Ever since that incident in the other city, Ayumi has had unexpected reactions to everything. Just how much does she know about whatever is going on?

The figment of an explanation started forming in my mind, but it was so absurd I decided to let it dissipate.

“No, not directly,” Shiina replied with a doubtful tone. It seemed something was weighing on her mind, too. “That’s what we call a ‘fault’. We believe it’s caused by our presence in this world.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Ayumi asked, now visibly worried.

“Despite our powers being as insignificant as they are, they still disturb the fabric of the world, leading to those kinds of incidents.”

Ayumi and I traded glances; she was as baffled as I was. Unaware of our concerns, Shiina continued her exposition.

“The faults interfere with normal human life, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to fix them since times immemorial. But, we have seen a rise of faults all over the world during the last few years.”

So the supernatural incidents happening all over the world are actually these “faults” caused by angels scheming about?

But why do I feel we’re still missing something?

Ignoring my thoughts, Shiina continued her explanation.

“It’s reached the point where less-experienced angels are assigned exclusively to monitor and fix faults. Of course, any angel that encounters one must fix it immediately. If they’re unable to do so alone, they must call for support.”

So that’s what happened the other day. That’s why so many angels came at once. It was such a large-scale fault that a single angel couldn’t possibly have handled it alone.

While I was busy trying to make sense of all of this mess, it had gotten quite dark, and the accompanying chill was creeping into my jacket. The lights from the lampposts shined down on us, and a few of them flickered, showing their old age. It was getting pretty late to be outside, especially at this time of the year, but a part of me didn’t want this to end yet.