1995 A.D.

The day was brisk, the sky was clear and up in the heavens way above the clouds that appeared invisible to living beings down below angels walked about doing what they must. One angel in particular walked toward the large, golden gothic-like church in the middle of the angelic world in the skies. To earthlings their home was called 'heaven' but the angels didn't name it anything, maybe just paradise. Depending on what rank an angel was the robe color was different. Rookies wore a plain light tan color, guardian angels wore white, and higher ranked wore gold. The one angel walking toward the church wore a light tan robe, but he was not aware he was soon to be getting a white one. He was a tall figure, and like majority of the angels there his hair was blond and eyes were blue. The tint of his hair was very light and was short, while the tint of his eyes was a darker blue and had a serious yet hidden playful look. He walked slowly, with his back straight and his shoulders broad as the feathers on his wings swayed with every step he took. He knew there was something important to discuss when he was called to the main office. Was he in trouble? He didn't know but as he got closer to the church sweat began to fall from his face. Two angel guards stood at the gates of the church, both with serious looks. But when they saw him walking toward the gates they smiled at him, bidding him good afternoon and then opened the gates. He only responded with a smile in return and nodded, then walked right in.

As he walked down the hall to the leader of all angels, or God as humans would say, his hands began to tremble. What was it that God really wanted from him to have to speak to him personally? He continued to ask himself that as he stood in front of the large well designed mahogany door in front of him. As he began to raise his hand to knock, it swung open and a booming voice invited him in. He stood paralyzed for a bit with his fist still in the air ready to knock so the booming voice impatiently invited him in once more. The angel gulped then he took a step forward and walked slowly toward the large golden chair in which a glowing figure sat with his back to him. The angel bowed in front of him and spoke.

"You wished to see me sir?"

The man nodded but did not turn to him. "Yes, I did. Your name is Hikaru am I correct?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes sir."

"I see…well Hikaru you have been a fine angel for…how many years was it again?"

"I died in 1993 sir, from an illness that was going about, at the age of 21."

The man smiled, "Yes and even if you haven't been here long you still served well. I think you might be the first to be assigned this job I'm about to give you at such an early time."

Hikaru's eyes widened and he looked up at the angelic figure, "Do…do you mean…?"

"Yes," he said nodding again, "You will be promoted to guardian angel."

Once those words were spoken Hikaru's robes suddenly lit and when the light faded they were a pure white color. Without thinking Hikaru stood up quickly and examined his robes excitedly. He quickly jumped back down to his bowing position when he heard the man before him laughing.

"Yes I just love the looks on your faces when you all get that colored robe. It's alright Hikaru, you may stand and you are dismissed. You know where to go to be assigned a human to guard."

Hikaru grinned, "Yes sir! Thank you very much sir!" He bowed again then left, trying his best not to run until out the door.

As he ran down the golden bricked streets, passing angels and sometimes knocking things from his hands he hummed a tune and kept a happy grin on his face constantly. He left the main town and went through a garden with a large water fountain of the Virgin Mary. He paused for a moment, bowing to the fountain then ran some more, leaving the garden and heading to another large building. It was second largest and it too was a shining gold color. It appeared like a large factory with a rounded roof, but it really was the place where new guardian angels were given their humans to protect. When he drew near the building someone started calling his name. He slowed down as he started to recognize the feminine voice. As soon as he came to a halt he turned around with a smile and called out, "Hikari!"

A female angel with long, wavy golden hair came running to Hikaru with arms wide open. A huge smile painted upon her face showed that she was obviously happy for him. She jumped at him, and he caught her holding her tight.

"I heard about your promotion Hikaru! Congratulations! Oh I'm so proud of you!" She said squeezing him then played with his hair.

Hikaru smiled and thanked her, then set her down.

"So," she said looking over his shoulder with her hands behind her back, "You going to see who you're going to guard? Since you're young you're probably going to watch over someone else very young."

Hikaru nodded and turned heel to head toward the building. Hikari walked next to him with her hand in his.

"I remember when I was promoted, and then I got to guard a handsome young man," she said smiling at him.

Hikaru smiled back, "Too bad you failed to keep protecting that man."

Hikari hugged him, "Stop saying that! I tried my best but angels can't interfere with fate such as illness and such."

Hikaru kissed her, "I know it's alright. At least I get to be with you now."

Hikari nuzzled him, "Yep. Hey! Let's throw a promotion party after you find out who you're guarding, kay?"

They were now standing in front of the door. He loosened his hand from hers and nodded, "Alright. Stay here ok?"

Hikari nodded and kissed him before he left. When he was gone she ran to the garden not far from the building and placed herself on a bench in front of the fountain of the Virgin Mary. She took something from her pocket, looking down at it and smiled.

Once he was in the building Hikaru looked around the building and was amazed by what he saw. There were words written all over the walls in different languages, he didn't know what they were. Maybe prophecies or even names, he didn't know names of who but it sure seemed like they were when he went over to the walls and read some of the words that he could read. A voice coming from around the corner, it sounded very old and raggedy. Must be one of the elders he thought. The voice came again, this time calling him over. Hikaru obeyed and walked over to see a very old angel, with a beard so long that it touched the ground, bent over a crystal ball in an empty room. Hikaru walked over to him slowly and looked at the ball then at the angel. The angel was looking through the ball and didn't say anything to him. He waited for a bit patiently and the angel said nothing. Hikaru cleared his throat to get his attention but the old angel didn't do or say anything. Once again he cleared his throat but this time louder and once more the angel did not budge. Hikaru made a coughing noise this time and finally the angel looked up at him.

"Oh…Hikaru nice to see you how's your day? How is Hikari?" The old angel said to him with a smile, his wrinkles changing form as he did so.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, "Um…how do you know my name? How do you even know about me and Hikari?"

The elder did not answer and saw his white robes, suddenly he started laughing, "So! You've come about the human you are to guard right!?"

Hikaru back was now hunched and a look of confusion was on his face. What is with this guy anyway?

Once again the elder hackled, having to grab his sides by the look on Hikaru's face. "It's alright child I was only messing with yah. I know who you are and why you're here I'm not that old yah know!"

"Seems like it to me…" Hikaru muttered and thankfully the elder's hearing was too bad for him to hear it.

"Now let's see…" the elder said as he waved his hands around the crystal ball. Fog began to emit within it. Hikaru leaned forward when he saw that it began to clear up and a figure began to form in it.

"Ah here we go. This is who you must guard Hikaru. Her name is Kazuki Hikari. She's five years old right now and lives with her mom, dad and her twelve year old sister in Tokyo, Japan. Her parents work a lot and her and her sister don't get along too well. She appears very small because of how she was born but her body is pretty much fine."

"So what's the reason I have to guard her…usually there's big reasons right?" Hikaru said as he looked at the young girl.

"Because she needs looking after, since her parents aren't there much and her sister is too busy thinking about boys!" The elder snapped.

Hikaru flinched then sighed looking back at little Hikari. He smiled, she was very cute. She had straight shoulder length brown hair, large hazel-green eyes and currently wore a smile on her face. It seemed she was having fun with friends or family since she appeared to be running around too. Suddenly her imaged disappeared and Hikaru looked at the elder in question.

"What's that look for son? You know what she looks like and where she lives, now get."

"But I-"

"Go!" The elder snapped then turned and walked toward some papers mumbling words Hikaru could not understand.

Hikaru sighed and left.

Hikari could hear Hikaru approaching, she stood and hid what she had taken from her pocket early behind her back and turned toward him. "So…tell me about the one you have to guard."

Hikaru smiled at her, nodded and sat down next to her. As he seated himself so did she and she looked at him showing that she was going to listen fully. "Well for one her name is Kazuki Hikari."

"Ah that's so cool! Her name is Hikari just like mine!"

Hikaru smiled and nodded, "And she lives in Tokyo, Japan and she's five years old and very, very cute."

"Oh," Hikari said and elbowed him, "I'm jealous."

Hikaru grinned sheepishly, "Not that kind of cute! I'm not a pedophile you know!"

Hikari giggled, "I know I know." She then leaned against him, "Anyway you're mine."

Hikaru closed his eyes, taking his arm and wrapping it around her waist and smiled. Hikari then took what was behind her back from its hiding place and placed it in Hikaru's lap. She wound it up and soon it opened and music began to play. Hikaru opened his eyes and looked down curiously. It was a heart shaped box with an angel dancing around inside.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

Hikari smiled at him, "Your promotion present! I've kept this with me to give you until you were promoted and…well now that you've promoted it's yours!"

Hikaru picked it up and held it close to his face. He smiled and kissed her as a way of saying thanks. Then when the music stopped playing and the box closed up he stuck it in his pocket and stood up. Hikari watched him curiously as he walked to an edge of a cloud.

"What're you doing?" she asked, her heart racing a bit.

Hikaru leaned forward, taking his hand to his forward and squinting, "Going to visit Hikari. I won't be long I promise…hey which way is Japan?"

Hikari leaped up, "No! Absolutely not! You know you're not supposed to visit her unless something urgent happens."

Hikaru turned to her with a grin, "And that didn't stop you from doing it before did it?"

Hikari blushed, crossed her arms and looked away from him. Hikaru closed his eyes and his grin grew wider. "I knew you'd see it my way. Well I'll be back by night fall, in time for the party. You better make my favorite foods. Love yah."

Hikari huffed and kept her gaze away from him. She heard a flapping noise and by the time she looked toward where he was standing he was gone. All was left were feathers floating about from his wings. She sighed and sat down with her gaze to the ground.

Hikaru left the barrier that made his home invisible and soared through and past clouds. He stopped for a minute to see where he was. He could see the ocean and bits of land to the left. He flew toward the land knowing for sure that Japan was a country of islands. If there was a lot of water and just some land he had to be close. He flew down a bit, putting his hand into the water and splashing his face before going way higher up again to see where he was. He could see a large piece of land and then next to it were other bits of land and islands. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the best he can from is living years when he studied maps in school. The large piece of land had to be China, Russia and so on; so next to it was Japan, the Philippines, etc. He smiled and opened his eyes.

"I'm so good…" he muttered to himself and flew over to the nearest bit of land that was Japanese. Once landed he could use some of his angelic powers to know the exact location of where Hikari lived, so once more he closed his eyes and this time placed his palms together as a form of concentration. Since he was a newly promoted angel it took almost an hour for him to find that exact location, but once he pinpointed Hikari he raised his wings and in the speed of light flew toward her. He flew past many other humans but no one saw him, only the child he guards can see him. Soon he neared a white building with sky blue doors and window panels; he didn't stop in front of it but just went right through it and up to the floor Hikari was sitting.

Little Hikari was sitting in her play room, dressing up her dolls and singing a song to herself. Suddenly a gust of wind blew around her and she paused. She looked toward the windows curiously and noticed none of them were open. She stood up and went over to them, pushing them a bit to make sure they were definitely shut. After seeing they were now firmly shut she shrugged to herself and turned around. Suddenly she gasped when she saw the man standing behind her. Hikaru feared for a second she would scream and have her parents or sister come running in, but she did nothing but stare up at him in amazement. And after keeping her mouth gaped open she spoke with small soft words.

"Who are you mister? Are…are you an angel?" Hikari asked her small hand reaching out to touch him.

Hikaru smiled, he felt very warm inside just hearing her talk. He knelt down and nodded, "Yes. I'm Hikaru…your guardian angel."

"My guardian angel…what's that?" She asked curiously and played with the feathers on his wings, muttering the words "soft" as she did so.

"Well…" Hikaru said thinking for a moment then smiled at her and took her into his arms, "I'm someone who will always watch over you and protect you."

He held her up and let her sit on his shoulder she looked down at him running her fingers through his hair and smiled.

"So…when I'm lonely you'll come and play with me right?" Hikari said, not looking at him but still playing with his hair.

Hikaru giggled a bit, "Sure."

"Can we play now?" Hikari asked as Hikaru set her down.

"Well I don-" but before he could finish she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him over to her dolls.

"See, see! These are my dollies. I haven't found a name for them yet but I will eventually. Oh!" she pulled out an angel doll she had, "I'll name this one Hikaru, after you Hikaru-san!"

Hikaru smiled down at you, "Yes that's a lovely name for your doll." He watched her warm heartedly with his hand placed on her head while she pulled out more dolls and showed them to him. He could see she was obviously excited, maybe because she never had anyone to show her stuff off to since no one was ever around to do so. He frowned for a second, upset of knowing she would have to be left alone. But he couldn't keep Hikari up in heaven waiting. He sighed and hugged her close. Hikari paused and looked up at him.

"What's the matter Hikaru-san?" she asked curiously.

"I'm so sorry Hikari-chan, I have to go."

Tears began to form in Hikari's eyes, "No! You can't we haven't even played yet!"

Hikaru nuzzled her head, "I know I'm sorry but I must. I wasn't even allowed to come down here in the first place. But don't worry I promise I'll come to play tomorrow." He released her and she turned to him.

"Pinky promise?" Hikari said with her pinky out.

"Uh…yeah," Hikaru said and smiled, taking his pinky and wrapped it around hers, "…pinky promise."

With that he got up and headed toward the window but he felt a tug. He turned around to see Hikari grabbing the end of his robe and looking up at him.

"Can you do me one more thing, Hikaru-san, before you leave?"

Hikaru knelt down in front of her, "Sure what?"

"Can you hold me really high and spin me around, my daddy used to do that when I was only two and three but then he got a better job and didn't have time to do it anymore. Please Hikaru-san, please!"

Hikaru smiled at her, "Alright but then after that I have to go." Hikari smiled and nodded, holding her arms up to let him pick her up. He lifted her without strain, holding her high about his head. She laughed and then he started to twirl around, causing more laughs to come from her and some to even leak from him. Suddenly he heard a voice outside the door asking why she was laughing. He put her down quickly and left the room, leaving a feather floating down toward Hikari. She grabbed it and held it firmly in her arms then she turned toward the window and stared at the setting sun with a smile seeing a figure flying off toward the horizon and disappearing.

Hikaru made it back to heaven, at the same spot from where he had left, by nightfall just like he had promised. When he walked toward the garden he saw that Hikari was sleeping on the bench by the water fountain where he last saw her. Puzzled he walked toward her, unaware of a shadow following him. He reached forward, touching Hikari's shoulder lightly and shook her a bit. He muttered her name and slowly she woke up.
Hikari sat up, moaning a bit and rubbed an eye. "When did you get back?" She spoke in a quiet voice.

"Just now. Heh you haven't prepared the party yet have you."

Hikari grinned sheepishly, "Sorry I got tired and fell asleep and…Hikaru…wh-what is that behind you!?" She suddenly pointed at a dark shadow casting over them.
Hikaru turned his head slowly, seeing that behind him was some evil that he couldn't even describe. It looked like a cloud of darkness with tentacle like arms. Hikari was now on her feet and Hikaru stood in front of her to protect her.

"What do you think it is Hikaru!?" Hikari asked.

Hikaru looked over his shoulder at her, "I don't know but we better hurry and warn everyone. It definitely has to be something evil."

Hikari nodded and started running with Hikaru right behind her. But suddenly he slipped; no actually he was pulled to the ground. The shadow had grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the ground and when Hikari noticed it started to pull him to the edge. Hikari immediately grabbed his hand, trying to pull him to his feet. But it was impossible now and the shadow already was off the edge and pulling Hikaru even more.

"Grab something!" Hikari screamed.

Hikaru grabbed the nearest thing he could and it was the corner of a boxed flower pot. But the shadow pulled harder and his fingers slipped. Hikari screamed again and ran after him, trying once more to pull him back. But even when she used all the power she had, they were nearing the edge that Hikaru's feet were dangling. Hikaru knew it was no hope, he smiled up at Hikari.

"Hikari just give up…"

"No Hikaru! We don't know what this thing will do to you!"

"It doesn't matter what happens to me I don't want it happening to you either, now flee while it's busy with me!"

Tears were already falling down Hikari's cheeks and she shook her head, unable to let words come. Hikaru kept a smile on his face.

"Please Hikari, "he said softly, "Go and be safe. Do it for me." Now most of his body was dangling off the edge and Hikari was already growing exhausted of trying to pull him back up. So after finally giving up she let go and watched as the last thing she saw him do was mouth the words "I love you" to her. Then he was gone, way below the heaven, down into the seas and under the earth's crust. She coughed and brought a hand to her mouth as she began to sob uncontrollably.

Hikaru felt the air rush past him, making his insides want to fall up into his head as the shadow pulled him down to Earth. At first he thought it would stop and drag him to land, but they kept going down into the ocean. They kept going and going and eventually Hikaru couldn't breathe. It was then that he tried to fight the tentacles that had wrapped around him, but when he did that even more held him tight toward he couldn't move his arms or legs. He gave up completely now. He died once now his soul was going to be completely gone. Being dragged into the abyss was like dying all over again. He closed his eyes and thought of the other angels, especially Hikari. He loved her so much and now he was going to loose her. And the very last person that came to mind was little Hikari. He now broke his promise.

Suddenly he felt like he was being pulled through solid and then into liquid again. But the liquid was very hot. He opened his eyes slowly and saw that he was in the Earth's core! The shadow released him and ran over to another shadow standing before him. It grinned at him and barked an order for him to stand up. Hikaru didn't want to fight and did so.

"Who are you and what do you plan to do with me?"

"Who I am is none of your business, at least not at this moment. What I'm going to do to you is simply...THIS!" He waved his hand out quickly and threw shadowy gas at Hikaru. He did it all so quickly that Hikaru had no time to react. He felt to the floor shaking repulsively. He stared wide eyed at the magna rock below him, feeling…feeling…alive? His back began to ache, his eyes burned and the world began to swim. He started to scream in pain as he could feel his wings beginning to sink into his back and disappearing. The wings that always made him a light and holy creature were gone and now he was nothing more than a lost soul, or so he thought. All the pain felt real. He knew there was something wrong…was he just revived? He closed his eyes as tears began to form. There was so much pain he was unaware that he was even screaming or crying. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders and fell to the ground. He fought the urge to bang his head against the hard rock just to hope that it would take the pain away. He flinched as he felt his eyes burn like hell, they hurt so bad that he felt he had to open them. His eyes began to change color, going from the calm dark blue to indigo then purple and finally a deep crimson. Once they were a glowing red his eyes finally stopped burning and he also noticed that the pain from his wings went away. But not all the pain was gone, it all seemed to have traveled over to his left arm and unaware to him at the moment a sort of tattoo formed on his arm. It formed in a round shape then the colors white and black appeared. Around the round shape formed random lines that went all around the lower part of his arm and what seemed like needles formed around the lines. Finally the pain went away and Hikaru now lay motionless on the ground. The figure grinned, walked over to him and knelt down to speak to him.

"Listen carefully and listen well, your name is no longer Hikaru but Kurayami. This yin-yang symbol I put on your arm will allow you to use many kinds of spells to help you on your upcoming adventure. Since I'm only a dark soul and my corpse is buried in China you must find the nine gems for the three stones of light, dark and life for me. With these stones I can conquer the world." He began to laugh evilly and with that all said and done Hikaru, or now known as Kurayami, passed out.

The next day at Tokyo, Japan Hikari was out at a park with her father. He finally got a day off and decided to spend that time with his youngest daughter. He played ball with her a bit and got tired so he sat at a bench. He watched her play, laughing at her cuteness when she sometimes saw a squirrel or bird and tried to chase it. The phone then rang so he answered it and when doing so didn't pay attention to what Hikari was doing. She was bouncing her ball, but at one point is slipped from her fingers and bounced toward the street. Of course she ran after her beloved ball. It was now rolling into the middle of a busy street and Hikari managed to luckily avoid a few cars. What she did not noticed was a large truck coming towards her. Hikari's father finally noticed her and ran down after her, calling her name. Hikari could not hear her father calling her until he got closer, but it was too late she could not get out of the traffic. Her father ran into the traffic and he pushed her out of the way. Her father was hit and Hikari was left unharmed.

During the funeral Hikari held her Hikaru angel doll close and continued to tell herself that even though Hikaru wasn't there in person she could feel she used her father as a way to protect her. But she was not aware that Hikaru was no longer her guardian angel, nor was she allowed to receive another.