"The hero may rise to the occasion..."

Injun let out a long sigh in front of his locker, having expected this since he woke up that morning.

"But his closest friend will stay forever by his side...teasing him, of course."

Behind the exorcist stood Husky with a very bright evil smile.

"Once again," Injun shook his head laughing, "shut up."

"Come on," Husky leaned against the adjacent locker to look eye to eye with his best friend. "I need a little fun too. After all, no one wants to date me, so I have to take pleasure in your blossoming love life."

"I'm not developing a love life," Injun snapped. "We're just...meeting as friends."

"That's how they all start, before the cheesy 'I never realized just how much you mean to me' moment ruins your life. And it's all downhill from there."

"At least you're talking normal now."

Husky chuckled and patted Injun's back several times, with the latter shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the whole ordeal. They walked on to their class, and even passed Ashley, who failed to see them through the crowd of students. That was another chance for Husky to throw more jabs, which Injun deftly ignored. Through all of that, Injun wasn't going to let his friend know how much he truly couldn't wait for his "date" with Ashley. Perhaps she was going to be the one person he could come to when he couldn't handle the confusion of being this demon banisher.

The day was painstakingly slow for Injun. All he could think about was his proposed meeting with Ashley, and he could barely make it through his classes. Mathematical rules and chemistry formulae were unintentionally blurred out by images of Ashley's smile and her notebook of angels. Injun tried to blame the fact that he was just excited because his own best friend wouldn't listen to him, but that was futile. There was something about Ashley, something about her smile, her drawing that drew Injun in...and Husky was going to hear none of those thoughts whatsoever.

Injun and Husky usually met when their classes for the day were over, but Injun found himself running to and from his locker in an attempt to avoid the other. He just wanted to go see Ashley in the front yard, and pray Husky would leave them be. With that in mind, Injun snuck through the students who were gearing to go home, Husky most likely included. And thankfully, he made it to one of the quiet benches in the school yard without being seen. Ashley was already there, and she looked happy to see Injun.

"Hello, Injun," Ashley beamed as she closed her notebook, seeming to have been drawing another likeness of her guardian angel. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up."

"Sorry," Injun chuckled. "I mean, I had to..."

"Avoid Husky?" Ashley winked. "He seems to be a fun guy. Isn't he the guy whose father left years ago and helps his mother to take care of his brother?"

"Yeah, that's the guy."

"And you, you're the quiet one that no one quiet knows about. I mean, we all know you get good grades and whatever, but you're not very social, nor do you have much people talk about you."

"Well, how do I come off?" Injun wondered whether or not to blush at the impending answer.

"Normal," Ashley shrugged. "So far. Now what do you think of me?"

"Come to think of it," Injun sat down beside her, "I don't hear much about you, either. You don't seem to hang out with anyone, and you just...fade? All I really know is your name, and the classes we share. But I can say I do like you." That last part came a bit too deep from his heart to have him stay comfortable.

"That's good, I like you too," Ashley flashed one of her smiles. "So..."

"What did we meet for, again?" Injun asked after an awkward silence.

"Just...to talk, I guess. I mean, I've been feeling pulled to you since we first met."

"I definitely feel the same." Let's talk about angels.

"So tell me more about yourself," Ashley turned to face the boy. "Shouldn't we know each other?"

"Oh sure," Injun smiled shyly. "Uh...I'm not sure where to start."

"You could start with your home life," Ashley seemed to darken a bit at that.

Injun was totally stumped, not wanting to talk about his parents one bit.

"Do you have any siblings?" Ashley tried to smile.

"Nope," Injun shook his head. "A loner."

"Oh, same here. At least we don't have to deal with bratty siblings, right?"

"Gets a bit lonely at times, though."

"I guess," Ashley shrugged. "And your parents?"

"Well, my father left before I was born, but came back 10-ish years later."

"What's wrong with that? You don't look very happy about it."

"Oh, nothing," Injun scrambled his brain for an excuse. "We just had a fight recently, but whatever."

"I see," Ashley nodded. "So now it's my turn? My parents were...are a good couple, and they take care of me well. We recently had a dinner celebrating my father's promotion."

"Congratulations. That's great for you guys."

When Injun reached and patted Ashley's arm as a friendly gesture, she retracted her arm and scrunched her face. She quickly coughed and cleared , apologizing for that. Injun let it pass, but he still thought that was a strange. They didn't talk about angels as he had hoped, though they did enjoy spending the remainder of the afternoon with each other. It was a great time for both, and for similar reason that they didn't share. Before Injun returned home, Jin asked him to make another strange delivery of the same type of box as before, but this one was going to Africa.

The happiness that radiated from Injun was unmistakable, even to his parents. Injun decided to tell the truth to his parents this time, and they were quite thrilled that their little boy was finally talking to a girl. He still insisted that it was completely platonic, but no one ever seemed to get that. I guess it couldn't be helped. After all, Injun usually kept to himself, or only talked to Husky.

But as Injun lay in bed and recalled the afternoon, he couldn't help but want to spend more time with Ashley. There was something about her that drew him in, something more than her interest in angels. Could it be destiny?