My Guardian Angel (Utapri)

《Chapter 07》

He doesn't show it but he must be so stressed… Akari thought while staring at Eiichi's face. The male had his eyes closed, his fingers supporting the weight of his head on the table.

Since she had noticed him in that position for quite some time, she assumed that he had dozed off. So, she had gotten a blanket to put it over him. In the process, she observed his face.

"...Is there something you need?" Suddenly, Eiichi voiced out.

"You're not asleep?" She asked back, slightly taken aback.

"No." He sat up properly. "I was clearing my mind." His eyes went down to the blanket in her hand. "What is this for?"

"Oh, I thought you were sleeping. You might catch a cold so…"

"Angels don't catch cold."

"Yeah, fair point." She looked over at the many paperwork he had been going through for a while. "You look busy."

"I am. I need to review these wishes before granting them."

"Wow, now you're granting wishes?" She scooted over and leaned down to see what was written on the paper. She didn't notice the lack of distance between them.

She scrunched her nose. "What's this? It's blank paper."

"It's not. Language of angels isn't visible to humans."

"That sucks." She moved back. "You seem to be swarmed with work."

"And you seem more talkative than usual." He smiled teasingly. "Finally had enough of your fictional men and got interested in me?"

"Don't misunderstand. I simply felt bad for you. Somehow, I'm sorry that you're confined to paperwork in here while guarding me."

"On the contrary, you're being considerate enough by staying in the mansion," Eiichi commented.

"Well. . . . Staying here is the best option, isn't it?" Shrugging, she went away.

The teasing smile he had disappeared and his brows furrowed. Ever since that incident more than a month ago, Akari had chosen to shift to the mansion and also stopped going to work. She was doing exactly what he had asked of her at the beginning.

However, it didn't sit right with him. Akari was forcing herself to alienate herself from her daily life. The incident that time was dubbed as an earthquake but they knew better. Somewhere, Akari blamed herself for putting her friends in danger.

The soft thud before him snapped Eiichi out of his thoughts. A cup of coffee. He traced the hand up and saw the woman he was thinking about. One more thing that happened in the time between, he had certainly grown fond of this coffee. It was very addicting.

"You're welcome." She grinned lightly. His gaze lingered on her as she went back to the couch on the other side of the room and picked up her laptop. A moment of silence passed before he asked, "Aren't you feeling uncomfortable being confined like this?"

"...Not really. I know what must be done."

Eiichi sighed heavily. She had made up her mind of living far away from everyone. Now, her lonely figure was making him feel bad and guilty. He stood up.

"I want to go around the human realm," he blurted out.

"Eh?"

"I cannot concentrate on my work. Eiji and Nagi told me before that the city is an interesting place. A change of air would be efficient."

"Okay, then see you later." She waved halfheartedly and went back to her laptop.

"You're showing me around."