In a world where guardian angels exist, only a selected few are lucky enough to have one.
(Name), a guardian angel, gets assigned to Baji Keisuke, and all is going well until the day he talks with her - how is that possible? He isn't supposed to se...
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C H A P T E R 1 2
Baji Keisuke, first year of high school
Two years.
Two years had passed since the incident that Baji and his friend were involved.
Unlike his friend, that had to do time in juvie, Baji got out with only a warning and an official document requesting a few hours of therapy for a few months, all thanks to Mikey, that had testified in his favour, saving him from having to face the same fate as Kazutora, to yours and his mother's relief.
After that, slowly but surely, Baji and Mikey's friendship started to mend itself, and the two boys were once again great friends. And truth be told, even if Baji denied it, you could see that him going once a week to therapy was helping him dealing with the situation, since you could see that he no longer seemed to have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Of course, and despite that, for as much as he pretended that everything was alright, and that what had happened was behind him, there were nights where Baji (thinking you were asleep) would get up from his bed and grab an old photograph that he had hidden underneath his mattress. In the photo you could see two young boys and a teenager – Baji, Mikey and Mikey's older brother, Shinichiro – inside an old dojo and grinning to the camera, all with different bruises on their faces.
From your usual spot on the end of the bed (where you usually slept all curled up) you could see the pain in Baji's eyes every time he looked at that image from his childhood, but when the morning came, Baji would act like nothing had happened and move on with his day and despite everything you didn't have the courage to bring it up to him, for as much as your job as his Guardian Angel and as his friend was to protect and support him, there were things that only Baji could fix.
That was another thing that had changed during these two years – your and Baji's dynamic. At first, Baji only seemed to put up with you because of your situation, being cordial with you and only engaging with you when you approached him, always being careful with what he said – it was like there was this line that he refused to cross, one that would change your status from acquaintances to friends. But with time, and after the trial, Baji seemed more open with you, seeking you first to engage in conversations, asking you to accompany him to places (not because he had to, but because he wanted to), and treating you like he treated his other friends – joking with you and teasing you at every change that he got.
Not everything were rainbows and unicorns though, because despite having missed a few days of school because of the trial, Baji had managed to pass his school year (by the skin of his teeth), and the next year became a high schooler. However, with all the therapy sessions, some unclear subjects from the year before and some other missed classes because he didn't feel like attending them (his words, not yours), at the end of that year he ended up being held back. And that's why, right now, you are sitting cross legged on top of a desk in a nearly empty classroom with Baji sitting in the one in front of you with a collection of schoolbooks and notebooks on top of his desk.
