When Akari woke up, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. The mattress below her was soft and the blanket over her lying body was warm. She brought a hand to her head and rubbed her forehead. When did I fall asleep… and where am I?

"You're finally awake." Hearing the voice from beside her, she turned her head to the other side of the bed. She found Eiichi sitting, leaning against the regal headboard. He sat up properly beside her.

"How do you feel? After half of the special energy within you was extinguished, your body fell into a slumber for recuperation."

Energy? "....when?" She croaked out.

"A week ago. When we defeated the King of Hell," he explained. "You don't remember?"

Oh, right…. She nodded faintly. It has been a week?! ". . Was I asleep for a week?"

"Yes, you fainted not long after we defeated him." He noticed the change of her expression.

If I was out for a week. . . . What about my work?!

"Knowing you, you're thinking something unrelated. If it's regarding your work, then worry not. I have sent the 'mail' you taught me before." He saw her relax hearing that.

"Where am I…?" She questioned him in a whisper. It's doesn't seem to be their manor….

"You're in my room. In the heavens," answered Eiichi.

?!?! "In the heavens!?" She cried out. "Does that mean I'm actually dead!?"

In reply to her outburst, he calmly stated, "No, you're not."

"But aren't I supposed to be dead?"

Eiichi reached out for her hand that had been resting by her side and intertwined their fingers. "You can feel my warmth, can't you? That proves that you're here with me, alive."

She looked down at their connected hand. How long had it been since she touched him like this? His larger, calloused hand felt so nostalgic. The gentle way his thumb was caressing the back of her hand almost brought her to tears.

Her body hurt to move. When she attempted to sit up, Eiichi helped her up. She mumbled, "I really thought I died after the King of Hell took over my body. All my senses had disappeared in an instance."

"Truthfully, you weren't expected to survive…" Eiichi spoke seriously, tightening his grip on her hand. "However, I believe it's because you didn't succumb to the nothingness that you were still there."

"...But what brought me to the heavens? And the King of Hell… I thought you ended him before?" Her question caused him to sigh heavily.

He began narrating the entire event: how and why the King of Hell had entered her body, how he caused havoc, the truth being her being the 'vessel' and the ultimatum given to Eiichi.

Akari fell silent hearing that. "Then it was the evil energy within me causing me those after effects all along. Thank goodness, I won't have to deal with those anymore."

"Yeah… the divine energy inside you should fill up the void. This time, your life should be back to normal."

"Back to normal, huh…." Her eyes went downcast. "What about you? You're. . leaving again?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "No, I'm not leaving anymore. The King has given the permission to keep your memories and for us to meet."

"Then…." Her expression lightened up. I'm so glad….

Akari nuzzled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I thought I would never see you again…"

Eiichi wrapped an arm around her shoulders, finding comfort in her familiar warmth.

A knock in the door brought them out of their comfortable silence. Slowly, they pulled away.

"Come in," Eiichi proclaimed and the door opened.

"Nii-sa- Tenshouin-san! You're awake!" Eiji broke into a surprised smile when he saw the brunette woman sitting on the bed. It wasn't just Eiji who entered the room. One by one, the other angels followed behind.

"Akari-chan, you're finally awake!"

"You surprised us by fainting!"

"You have been. . . unconscious for a week."

Van, Nagi and Kira let out respectively.

"Thank heavens you are fine…" Shion breathed out in relief.

"Good to have you back." Yamato flashed a thumbs-up.

"Everyone…" With wide eyes, she stared at the six angels who crowded around the bed. Her lips were pressed in a thin line as she looked hesitant to speak. While fiddling with her fingers, her eyes fell on her lap. "...I'm really sorry for what I have done. An apology can't cut it."

The males looked confused. Eiji asked, "What are you talking about?"

She looked ashamed and repentant to speak of the matter, her voice low. "How. . . I hurt you all. Eiichi told me everything that happened. And…… I hurt you all very badly."

"That wasn't your fault," Nagi pointed out.

Yamato added, "It wasn't even you."

"That's right, it was the King of Hell," said Shion.

"Still, it was inside me that the king was residing." She stared at her palms. "It was this body that hurt you." Her palms clenched into fists. "I should've regained my control earlier."

"Akari-chan, don't beat yourself up."

"The injuries. . . have healed."

"Besides, you couldn't have been returned until Eiichi reached out to you. So we don't hold anything against you."

"Nagi…" She looked over at all of them again. "You guys really forgive me?"

"We were never upset in the first place." The dazzling smile on Eiji's face warmed her heart.

"So forgive yourself too, Akari-chan." Van winked.

These guys… She looked down with a heartfelt smile, her bangs hiding her eyes holding back the tears. I'm so glad to have them as friends… that they were the ones chosen to protect me.

"I'm curious. . How did you. . . get back your memories?" questioned Kira.

"It was when I was… trapped within my own body, every locked memories resurfaced before me."

"And the dark King? How did you get captured?"

She replied to Yamato thoughtfully, "That was when I returned to the mansion. Actually, bits of the memories you erased used to appear in my dreams. And then I reflexively went into the forest and walked the path to the mansion. It was when I was standing there that I was suddenly pulled into a pit of darkness… Oh, why was the property empty? The mansion wasn't there!"

"It was there. The barrier was set to prevent it from being seen by others," Shion answered.

That finally explains it.

"But really! To think we mattered so much to you that even after your memories were erased, you unconsciously went to the place related to us!" Van cried out in joy.

"It's not just that. The love shared between nii-san and Tenshouin-san brought forth a miracle. Even His Majesty approved of this unprecedented romance." Eiji smiled happily.

"The King of Heavens accepted us…?" She looked at Eiichi questioningly. He nodded.

"It's not just that. His Majesty has granted us permission to visit you on earth too!" Yamato grinned.

"All of you?!" A smile stretched across her lips. I thought it was just Eiichi. Yatta! I'm so happy!

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

The moment Akari's eyes fell on the familiar brunette waiting outside her office building when she exited with Tomochika and Haruka, her eyes lightened. "Tomo-chan, Haruka, sorry, I can't join you tonight."

A pair of magenta eyes and orange eyes followed her line of sight and found the reason for Akari's sudden declination. "Otori-san is here."

"Of course you can't join us! We understand~" Tomochika poked her with her elbow.

Apparently, the spell Eiichi cast over everyone to have memories of him erased had been reversed and thus, her friends had also recalled their best friend's boyfriend.

Akari giggled at their teasing remarks. "Goodnight, guys!" She rushed towards Eiichi with a skip in her step. "Eiichi, you didn't tell me you were coming!"

The male, looking as dashing as ever in his human clothes, smiled back. "Yeah, it was a last minute plan."

They began walking side by side. It had been a week since Akari woke up and was back to her usual life.

"How's the reconstruction of heavens going?" The king of hell caused quite a big mess of the beautiful heavens.

"It's going smoothly. Even if he left behind trails of dense evil energy, those are being dissolved with divine energy."

"Seems like all of you are quite busy handling this." Yet he had remained every possible second beside me when I was unconscious.

"We are. Since the remaining works of the day could be done from the human realm, we came down to the earth."

We? She snapped her gaze at him. "You mean to say everyone is here?!"

"Yeah, they're at the mansion."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" She quickly turned on her heels to go in the opposite direction. "Let's go to the mansion then!"

Confused, he followed her behind. "But the station is in the opposite direction."

"We have to get ingredients for dinner first! Everyone is back together after so long. We must have a feast!"

In the manor, Akari was ecstatic to see Kira, Nagi, Eiji, Van, Yamato and Shion. They were happy to see her too. She cooked the meals they liked. Since it had gotten late by the time she had cleaned up, she decided to spend the night there.

It has been so long since I've stayed here! Akari thought, laying down on the bed. It's late. I should sleep…. But… I forgot to bring my headphones… How am I supposed to sleep without that? Should I finally try to sleep without it?

The lights in her room were on. She closed her eyes and immediately opened them next. I can't.

She got out of bed and took her phone with her when exiting the room. Her feet brought her to Eiichi's room. She knocked lightly. "It's me. Can I come in?"

"Yes, come in." Inside his room, she saw Eiichi on his desk, working. "Akari? What brings you here so late?"

"I…" Seeing that the lights were on, she felt relieved. "I want to sleep here."

"Sleep here?" He raised a brow. A humorous smile appeared on his lips. "Are you intending to-"

"It's nothing like what you think of!" She huffed, cheeks faint pink. "I just… I couldn't sleep there…"

"Is there a problem with the room?"

"No, actually, I have. . trouble falling asleep." She mumbled quietly while sitting on his bed. "Sleeping alone in the dark. . kinda scares me now. After being trapped in that… void… I haven't been doing well with darkness." Guess I'm still not over the fact that the dark king is really gone…

"That's understandable…" A frown of worry etched his features. "How did you sleep then?"

"I'd sit somewhere with the lights and headphone on. I'd do something and wait to let the sleepiness take over." She scratched her cheek with her index. "And well, I forgot to bring my headphone along so. . "

She got under the blanket that instance and lied down. "You can keep working. In fact, the lights make me comfortable. Goodnight."

"....Goodnight." Eiichi didn't say anything else. But when he saw that she hadn't fallen asleep half an hour later and kept tossing and turning, he got up from his seat.

"Let's go."

"Huh? Where?"

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

The place Eiichi ended up taking her was…

"How much higher do you intend to fly?!" Akari clutched onto him tightly as Eiichi ascended higher into the sky.

"Just a bit more." With another flap of wings, he rushed past the clouds. Akari closed her eyes at the gust of wind she was feeling against her face.

"Open your eyes." He murmured in her ear.

The sight that greeted her left her breathless. Countless stars adorned the night sky than she had ever seen. "Wow…."

She reached out a hand towards the twinkling stars. Were there always this many stars in the sky?

"I promised to show you the best view of earth back then. It's late but I kept my promise." Ah, that time in the Tokyo tower.

"Mm." She nodded, speechless. "Thank you. It really is mind blowing."

She kept her gaze fixated on the scenery before her. "I've always felt a pull towards the stars."

"I think it's not just an affinity towards stars but with heavens. The divine energy within you gives you that feeling."

"I see." She looked back at him. "Say, if I have some divine energy within me, then can I also fly like you?"

"You can't. The energy within you is different from any other, as your soul was blessed by His Majesty. It's similar to an amplifier, to be exact."

"Oh…." When she fell silent, Eiichi opened his mouth. "The remnants of King of Hell that were within you have disappeared, Akari. This proves that he is truly gone now. He can't get to you anymore."

"Yeah . . ."

"Also, I would like to apologise." Noting her confusion, he continued, "For being unable to keep you safe. I promised to protect you yet I let him get so close to you."

"Don't say that. It's because of you I'm here." She moved in his arms to hug his neck. "I owe you my life, Eiichi." It's because it was Eiichi who reached out to me that I could emerge again.

They stayed like that. The silence that enveloped them was soothing. Their faces were close when she pulled apart.

"I'll protect you this time. From now on, from whatever it is, I'll be your Guardian Angel. So, don't be afraid anymore." His eyes trailed off to her lips after the tender whisper. This made her recall their previous two kisses.

So she closed her eyes and leaned her face again. They finally had a proper kiss. The kiss was unbelievably sweet and light, full of emotions.

When they broke the kiss, Akari's cheeks had already turned pink. She cupped his jaw, curling her fingers in those brown strands. "I finally kissed you…."

"You did…" Eiichi whispered back with a look just as feverish before claiming her lips again.

Again. And again. And again.

Under the vast sky embedded with twinkling stars, Eiichi and Akari kissed countless times. The heavens bore witness to the starlit rendezvous of the star-crossed lovers.

The End

I've finally completed this book! If I start from when I began planning of it, in that sense, it has taken 4 years for me to complete this book. It's really nothing like Utapri but this is an AU so yeah. Thank you for reading till this point!

It's because of some scenes from chapter eleven, twelve and fifteen that I originally started writing this book. At first I had a terrible block but writing the latter chapters was very fun!

Anyways, stan HEAVENS!