AUTHORESS NOTE: It is important to realize that this fanfic takes place many years after the end of "Angel Sanctuary." Easily over 10, which is why Raphael is done resting (and if you have no idea what I mean by that, just delete it from your memory. You'll come across it when you read further into the manga).

I am also going on the assumption that Setsuna and Sara go back to Assiah (Earth). If my assumption is wrong, I'm not going to change anything, but DO tell me if I've deceived myself!

That said, just one more thing you need to know before you read on. I-CHILDREN. If you don't know what those are, listen up! I-Children (Improper Children) are the result of Angel x Angel love. They are branded Fallen at their birth and they reside in the slums of Heaven. I-Children are almost always albino; therefore, they receive the derogatory term of "Rabbits." You'll read that term often in this story.

READ ON!

Improper Guardian

Chapter One

By: Brenli

"Nemaelle?"

'What the Hell kind of a name is Nemaelle, anyway?'

"Nemaelle, sweetie, where are you going?" The father of the female in question asked.

'Away.' The female in question thought, but she said out loud, "Nowhere special. And what were you and Mama thinking when you named me that, seriously?"

"It's derived from Nemamiah. You remember who that is, don't you? It's –"

"The Guardian of those who fight for good causes." The female in question said in unison with her father. "What good cause am I fighting for?"

"No clue. You figure that out on your own, Nema-Nema."

"Nema-Nema is WORSE than Nemaelle!"

The father of the girl only laughed. "Sayonara, Nema-chan."

"Ja ne!" She stepped out of her house, tying the dark red mini-crown on her head and adjusting the black skirt, taken up at certain points to create a scalloped effect just under her knees.

"Another Sunday solo parade." Nema's mother watched her leave. "Her clothes make me think of Heaven, Setsuna."

"That feels like it was a long time ago…"

"When are we going to tell her?"

"Sara, what good would that do? She has enough to deal with, doesn't she? Because of being albino… and because of us."

"… I worry about her. She's 16 now, and guys are looking at her."

"It's better than glaring at her, isn't it?"

"It's not that. But who would want to be with her if they knew about us? And what if something happens in Heaven again? We were her age when we got caught up in that mess, Setsuna…"

"We have so many powerful people on our side, Sara! If that happens again, she'll be better off than we were."

"I certainly hope you're right…"

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Nema continued her walk to the bus station, trying her best to ignore the sidelong glances that her neighborhood fed her. She knew it was more than curiosity about her snow white hair and her equally pale skin, or her blood-red eyes. The people in her neighborhood knew about her parents. They knew she was a product of incestuous love.

To them, she was as sinful as her parents were, but to Nema, her parents were just fine. They simply had the misfortune of being blood-related to each other. She heard them ask rotten questions about the situation, but the questions were never directed toward her, so she never answered them. Questions like, "So if they're okay with brother-sister incest, what are their thoughts on father-daughter incest?" and, "I thought the children of incest were supposed to all be retarded. Is that girl a retard?"

She ignored them all. There were days when she would've bit back, but she stopped herself, especially after an incident with a nun outside of a church. Church children made crosses at her to ward her off, and then began throwing stones at her. One hit Nema in the head. She fell, and a nun came up to her. Nema had cried, 'Incest doesn't matter! I'm good like you! I have an Angel watching over me, too!'

The nun helped her up, cleaned her wound, and said, 'Child, as a product of incest you can never be accepted into the Kingdom of God… I am afraid there is no Angel watching over you. May God have mercy on your soul…'

Nema stopped believing after that. And she quit biting back… most of the time. She had her days, unfortunately. But everyone can relate to it. Days when nothing feels right, and the first reaction is to hit something. It was one of those days for Nema. She could feel it.

"… Look at how… little crown, like a queen… Please… she is a freak…"

"… No other way for her to live life… enjoys being a freak…"

"… Just a freak…"

"… A freak…"

It seemed like the word of the day was 'freak.' Nema bit at the insides of her cheeks, but felt like if one more thing offended her, she would throw a punch.

Someone else was already throwing punches for whatever reason. "Little fucker…! What are you… Go back to HELL!" There was a loud boom and a fiery explosion. By nature, Nema had to check out the scene.

"Oh, shit!" Nema toppled onto the ground as a man equipped with maniacal laughter literally ran into her. "YOU NEED TO FUCKIN' WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, SHRIMP!"

The man in question immediately stopped laughing and glared down at her with blue-green eyes that looked more like green at the moment. His blood-red hair fell in messy locks about his head, his black headband doing nothing to tame his strands. "Shrimp." He hissed, and then pulled her roughly to her feet. The top of her mini-crown made her match his height, but he ripped it off. "WHO'S THE FUCKING SHRIMP, YOU BITCH! DON'T MOUTH OFF TO ME OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"IS THAT A PROMISE? COME AT ME!"

"YOU!" The redhead growled angrily, and made ready to lunge at her, but something seemed to be holding him back. "IF YOU WEREN'T WHO YOU WERE, YOU BITCH, I'D KILL YOU IN A HEARTBEAT!"

"Well what makes ME so special? I told you to come at me! Do it!"

"I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING SLAVE, WOMAN!" His blue-green eyes burned into her, and then she realized that the tattoo of a blue dragon on his face was what made his eyes look greener than they really were. "You aren't worth my time, woman! So back the fuck off!" And the man turned and began leaving.

"FINE! RUN OFF LIKE A FUCKING COWARD!" Nema wanted to say more, but the redheaded man had spun and thrown the mini-crown formerly on Nema's head at her, hitting her right in the mouth, as if to silence her.

"If you knew HALF the fucking things I've done you'd know that I am NOT a fucking coward!" The man snarled and left again. Nema took up her mini-crown and threw it back, watching it hit the back of his head with a satisfying 'thwack.'

"FOR SOMEONE WEARING A CROSS EARRING ON THEIR LEFT EAR YOU SURE SAY 'FUCKING' A LOT!" She grinned angrily. She enjoyed the returned snarl.

"… YOU… LITTLE… BITCH…! YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THE DAY YOU MET MICHAEL-SAMA!" Suddenly another man was yelling, and Nema shot her gaze toward an angry middle-aged store owner that was coming right for her. Immediately she pointed to where the redheaded Michael stood… but he was no longer there. Neither was her mini-crown, and, apparently, neither was the front of this man's store.

Nema had no choice but to bow apologetically and take the blame for Michael's wrath as she watched a suspicious pile of ash float off in the wind. 'I… HATE… that man…!'

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"I HATE THAT WOMAN!" Michael slammed Nema's mini-crown on Raphael's desk.

"That poor crown has taken a lot of abuse…" Raphael stared at it boredly. Hearing Michael rant was nothing new to Raphael, though at times he rather wished Michael had someone else to yell at.

"Who gives a fuck about that damn crown! I wanna set that stupid thing on FIRE while it's still tied to her head! That God damn bitch… She called me a shrimp, can you believe that? ME! A shrimp, when she's 3 inches shorter than me, easy! Is THIS the kind of gratitude I get for being her fucking Guardian Angel?" Michael hissed. "Who's GRAND idea was it to make me a GUARDIAN ANGEL, anyway?"

"I believe that'd be God."

"Well God has fuckin' ISSUES!"

"Well we all know that, already…"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME RANT, RAPHAEL?" Michael snatched the mini-crown off Raphael's desk and threw it at the door. "I'm sick of her… SICK of her! That stupid bitch; what's her name, anyway?"

"Nemaelle, I believe… You SHOULD know that, though, Michael."

"I don't need to know SHIT about her! I didn't want this job, and I'm SICK of looking after her!"

'You look after her?' Raphael thought to himself, smiling.

"What are you smiling about? You think this is FUNNY?"

"No, I never said that."

"Then STOP smiling!" Michael demanded, though Raphael continued to smile. "Hey, I've got an idea…! Why don't YOU take over the job?"

"Um, no."

"Why not? She is a WOMAN, after all. Just like you like 'em."

Raphael sent Michael a cold gaze. "… I'm a little over that by now, Michael."

"But only A LITTLE!" Michael said persuasively.

"How about I save you a lot of breath and tell you, 'no'?" Raphael smirked. "You're stuck with her. Deal with it." Raphael ignored Michael's frustrated snarl. "So, have you heard about the latest uproar here these days?"

"No, why don't you enlighten me?" Michael said through gritted teeth.

"It's concerning the I-Children… There's been a lot of rallying to get rid of them. You know how no one likes them, and they're really just homeless, for the most part."

"… So?"

"So everyone is seeking the opinions of the highest ranking Angels, of course…! That means you and I."

"Well you know I couldn't give a flying fuck about those Improper, Rabbit-lookin' things! It's all political gaming; the government is just trying to make itself look busy now that the big stuff's all been done. So what do I care what they do to them?"

Raphael was silent for a long while, and Michael itched to look over his shoulder at his closest friend. He made a big show of picking up Nema's now-battered crown before he did.

Raphael was staring up at him with boredom written all over himself, and yet Michael couldn't help but feel he'd missed something. He opened his mouth to speak, but Raphael beat him to it. "There is more news. Particular to you."

Michael's eyes blinked rapidly. "Oh? Something for me to kill?"

Raphael laughed. "You'd get in trouble if you killed Nemaelle, Michael!" Raphael dodged the mini-crown that came flying at him. "Apparently, Nemaelle requires closer watch… You're going to be spending time down in Assiah."

"… NAAAAAAAANI?" Michael screamed, slamming his fists into Raphael's desk.

"Stop that, you'll leave dents again."

"DON'T TELL ME TO STOP! AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, 'SPENDING TIME DOWN IN ASSIAH'? WHY DO I NEED TO DO THAT?"

"I already told you. Nemaelle requires closer watch."

"DOOOOOOOOUSHITE?" Michael demanded angrily.

"Calm down. Use this as a stress ball." Raphael tossed him the mini-crown, and Michael squeezed the life out of it. It did nothing to quell his rage. "As for the reason why she needs to be under closer watch… I'm not sure." Raphael did not sound in the least bit unsure. "But you HAVE been neglecting her like mad… Maybe this is some kind of penalty."

"An EXTREME penalty…! I'd rather get my wings ripped off!" Michael responded heartily. "… What's your deal, Raphael? You disagree with me?"

Raphael gave him the same bored stare that seemed to conceal a secret. "… I hope you didn't tell Nemaelle that you are her Guardian Angel."

"Feh! No."

"Or even that you're an Angel in general."

"No…"

"Or even that you have powers –"

"RAPHAEL! I SAID NO!"

"Ah, good then." Raphael said with a pleased smile on his face. "From what I understand you leave tomorrow. You might wanna check with others, though."

Michael stared down at the nearly destroyed mini-crown.

"You should take that to Barbiel… I don't think she does much sewing but she can find someone to fix that."

Michael went red at the ears in his anger. "YOU take the damn thing to her!" He threw it at Raphael, but growled as he watched the Wind Angel catch it with one hand. "… I fucking HATE you, Raphael!"

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Nema stomped into her house a full two hours early, leaving her parents surprised.

"Nemaelle? Nema-chan, it's Dad."

"… Oh. Come in." Nema's muffled voice.

Setsuna stepped in, watching his daughter slaving away over something. "What are you doing?"

"Making a new mini-crown." She said shortly.

"Sou da na." He replied. "… Your mother noticed you came home early… No one in Harajuku to stare at you today?"

"I never even GOT to Harajuku today. I just said, 'fuck it!'" Nema snarled.

"Doushite, Nema-chan?" Setsuna asked, picking up the beginnings of a replacement, dark red mini-crown.

"You won't even fucking believe me, Dad! This total ASSHOLE picked a fight with me!"

He blinked rapidly. "Is that so? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, just pissed!" Nema mumbled. "So I'm walking to the bus station and this complete JERK just PLOWS into me and knocks me over! And I tell him to watch where he's going, and then he's got the nerve to heave me up and rip my mini-crown off my head! He never even apologized!" Nema began working on the mini-crown again. "He even THREW my mini-crown at me! I threw it back at him, and before I knew it, he was gone! Fucking jerk!"

"You remember what he looked like?" Setsuna asked with tones of anger tainting his voice.

"He's like, 3 or so inches taller than me. About my age, with blue-green eyes and bright red hair."

"Red hair…?" Her father said with an arched, light brown brow.

"Yeah. He's probably a foreigner or something." Nema muttered. "Not even one of the cool ones, too, 'cause of that fucking attitude problem! I mean, you can TELL he's one of those stupid egocentric bastards. He's even got one of those face tattoos…! I mean, how vain can you be to actually get one of THOSE?"

"Face tattoo…? Of what?" Setsuna was asking more out of curiosity than anger, now.

"This blue dragon… Ooooh! 'Cause that makes him SO COOL now!" Nema put her unfinished mini-crown off to the side. "And he's all going off, 'You'll regret the day you met Michael-sama!' Feh! He'll regret the day he fuckin' met ME!"

"Michael-sama…" Setsuna mumbled.

"Yeah… But… just… don't worry about it, Dad."

"… Okay. Have fun with your crown, Nema-chan."

"Hai."

Setsuna left his daughter, shutting the door after him. "Jesus, Sara!" He jumped back, frightened at the closeness of Sara's face.

"Is she okay?" Nema's mother asked worriedly.

"… You're not gonna believe me if I tell you. Come on." And once they were a safe distance away, Setsuna spoke again. "Nema-chan had an encounter with Michael."

"… Michael…? … THAT Michael?"

"The Fire Angel himself. Apparently he treated her rudely, and that's why she's home early."

"That figures, ne?" Sara pondered aloud. "But what is he doing here?"

"I don't know. But Michael's a born rebel. He's probably just dropping down here for the sake of breaking rules." Setsuna smiled. "It's nothing to get worked up over, okay, Sara?"

"Hai…"

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"Ohayoooo…!"

"Nema-Nema, you're gonna be late for school AGAIN!" Sara cried, thrusting a box-lunch at her daughter. "And WHY are you wearing that mini-crown?"

"It's school colors!"

"… I never got away with that…"

"You went to a religious school, Mom." Nema pressed a quick kiss to Sara's cheek. "Ja ne!"

"Ja!"

Nema rushed out of her parents' house, shutting the door behind her. She decided that to make up for the completely terrible day she'd had yesterday, today would be a great day. She decided that nothing, nothing at ALL, would go wrong for her, and that she would have plenty of reasons to smile today. And she did smile…

Until she saw a biker gloved hand held out, with her dark red mini-crown swinging from it. "Oh God…" She whimpered, her voice dripping with despair.

Michael looked over his shoulder at her. "God's a jerk, kid. Here, you want this?"