Aisoku paused while putting on the top of his school uniform and let the white cloth slide down his back, turning around and eying the two anomalies between his shoulder blades. He really should have told Emiko or Kosuke by now and he knew it, but... It was weirdly exciting- to feel these things growing under his skin and knowing that no one else knew about them but him. And of course, really freaky.

He reached over one shoulder, past the blonde hairs at the nape of his neck and rested his hand against one. They were both resting in the little hollows just between his shoulder blades and spine. The fold of bone and muscle underneath was as obvious as the joint of an elbow –then it continued down until it was just a little past the end of his ribcage and disappeared.

He flushed a little as he felt a pulse in the object- he hadn't noticed that until today. Whatever they were they required a ton of food and even Emiko had noticed his growing appetite but attributed it so far to him being a 'growing boy.' He pulled his shirt back over his shoulders, buttoned it up then prepared himself mentally for the cornucopia of traps that awaited him in the hallway as they did every morning. Today was an extra surprise- somehow Emiko had rigged a very large, very live tiger into the mix and by the time he made it into the kitchen it was nearly time for school.

"Aah, Emiko!" He said, exasperated, and took the warm toast from her gratefully before easing the strap of his bag onto one shoulder.

"I am gonna be so late-"Emiko slapped him between his shoulder and spine merrily, "I think-" and drew back with a gasp as he cried out, then gritted his teeth, his hand automatically covering the growth. After a shaky breath he tried to cover, "Ah, I'm just going to go now-"He stood up and opened the door but she put her hand over his on the brass knob and closed it. "Aisoku." He put his bag down on the table in the doorway and seemed to flinch as she said softly, "Take off your shirt, please."

He protested, "But I…" and she said his name again in a way that he knew meant business. She could see how hard he was trying (and succeeding) to stop his fingers from shaking as he undid each white uniform button. Then he pulled it over his head with a smooth motion and held it against his chest. "There."

She shook her head, her hands smoothing her skirt down. "Turn around." He looked like she'd just told him to jump off a cliff, but turned slowly so she could see.

Emiko reached out and put her hand gently against one of them, then whispered, "Oh, Aisoku…" and felt him shudder. He stared at the floor with eyes like polished purple jewels as she explored them and finally said quietly but firmly, "Mom, I'm scared." Emiko wrapped her hands around his waist and pulled him close, being careful not to put any pressure on his back. "I know, Honey. But I know just who to call to help you." She ushered him upstairs and put him in bed after calling the school and telling them he'd gotten sick. "But I can still go to school!" He objected and she put her hand on his chest, then led him upstairs.

"Oh, and I'm the only one who's going to pat you on the back?" He looked sideways "Thought so. Now stay here, lay on your belly and read these-" She stacked a pile of girlish-looking manga on his bed and he blanched. "Mom!" But before he could finish she was already gone so he glanced left, then right, before reaching under his bed and retrieving his Hellsing novel.

He then put it down as his right …swelling twitched and pulled both arms underneath so his shoulder blades were spread wide apart- he felt most comfortable like this, but also felt a strange pressure. Both of them felt like muscles that needed to be used and so for the first time, experimentally he tried to pull them deeper into his back. He felt them obey and his skin slackened gratefully. "Oh man…" He muttered and let them relax once more as two shallow curves. Now that he thought about it both of his parents- his real parents had wings so it would make sense… But I… He didn't want wings…

Aisoku shook his head and snatched up the novel again, I just hope, if they are really wings…they don't come out like they do in my dreams.

It was always the same- they slid out of his skin and unfolded like a fast-forward blooming rose, always dripping a clear fluid. His back always ached during these dreams and sometimes it was so bad it took him hours to get back to sleep. He hated the pain, but the part afterword where it changed to him flying above Azumano, that was alright. His back throbbed longingly "Ah…" and he winced, waiting until the hot rush inside his chest subsided. Lately, that had also accompanied the pangs from his…wing buds? Yeah, something like that. Once it did he scooted over to one side of the bed then fished around in his feather necklace in the desk, then slipped it over his head and felt immediate relief. I wonder if either of you even know this is happening to me… He thought and added privately, I wonder what they'll look like.

Well, black and white right? So that'd be a nice plain old-grey. Ugh.

Downstairs Emiko waited as the phone rang three times before her son finally picked up. "Mom? What is it?" He was a little surprised she'd called because she tried to keep her distance after spending the first few years of their marriage begging for grandchildren. "Hi honey! I'll get right to the point- has Dark manifested in Kyo yet?" The redhead paused. "Um, yes, but-" She asked quickly, "Could I speak to him please?" and Daisuke tried to explain, "Emiko, he…" but buckled as his other said sternly. "Now, Daisuke. It's about his son."He went upstairs to his son's room and knocked on the door. They'd decided to home school him for a year just to make his stealing life a little easier. "Is something wrong? Is he ok?" Kyo emerged from his bedroom looking sleepy and Daisuke held the phone against his chest.

"Sorry, Kyo, but could you transform? Emiko needs to talk to Dark." He pouted and crossed his arms "Da-ad! I just went out thieving yesterday and he tried to pick up some girl on the way home!" Dark muttered, Woulda worked too if 'someone' didn't have his braces still on. Daisuke and his son colored.

"I know how he is- but it's important. It's about Aisoku." As soon as Dark heard his sons name Kyo's body suddenly swayed into his control under a fierce tide of protectiveness. He brushed long purple bangs from his eyes and smirked at Daisuke, taking in his late twenties figure.

"You finally filled out eh? Took ya' long enough."Daisuke flushed again and shoved the phone at him.

"Oh shut up. You could have said something a little more touching for our reunion." The thief smirked and cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear, his thumbs hooked into his jeans. "Hey Emiko. What's up?" It was so odd for her to hear his voice after all these years and she hesitated before explaining as best she could,

"Dark, I found two little-things between your son's shoulder blades this morning." The phantom's eyes narrowed and he leaned into the door frame and crossed his arms. "Uh, things?" The elder Niwa sat down into a chair in their kitchen and nodded. Her hands were shaking.

"…w-wings. I could feel the joints at the top and they way they curve down his back and-" She broke off with a sound and Dark said softly,

"Emiko calm down. It's not like…" His eyes wandered over to the window in the hallway. "We didn't think this would happen eventually." She tried to compose herself, "So they're really going to be…" and he felt his own ebony wings prickle under his skin as he answered, "Yeah, they are." He was still shook up himself. Both he and Krad had been 'born' knowing how to control their powers, but for Aisoku it was a different story. "What should I do?" Despite himself he answered honestly.

"I'd call up Satoshi and ask him about it. I'll talk to Krad myself but… He may have some theory on what to expect." He gave her the Hikari's number and hung up, then handed the phone back to Daisuke. The redhead immediately asked, "Is he okay?" and Dark admitted, "He is right now, but… I guess he's growing wings."

As expected Daisuke's reaction was explosive. "WHAT?" Dark shouted back, "Ah shaddup willya! He's not your kid!" It felt good to be yelling at him again just like old times. Daisuke pinched between his eyebrows together and asked, " But shouldn't you go and see if that's…I mean, he doesn't even…"

Dark chucked in a way that wasn't really amused at all. "Dai…he doesn't even know me." He went into Kyo's room and shut the door, then sat down on his red comforter and as he opened a link with Krad. Oi! Krad! Silence. He knew the blonde was ignoring him so he threatened, If you don't answer I'm gonna start singing.

Still nothing. He took a deep breath and began Your beauty is beyond compare… He paused to change the lyrics to fit the blonde. …with flaming locks of wheaten hair, with ivory skin and eyes of icterine. He felt irritation on their link and continued. Your smile is like a breath of spring, your voice is soft like summer rain and-

You know I loathe Dolly Parton! What do you want? Krad snapped at him and he replied smoothly,

Just wanted to let you know that apparently, Aisoku is growing wings. His other half went silent again and Dark was about to start singing again when he ventured, Actual, physical wings? And Dark added,

Yep. Emiko found out this morning. She could feel the joints and everything. Dark startled as a sudden rush of concern from Krad's side washed through him, then stopped suddenly as if Krad had noticed. Has there been any change in his powers? The thief paused. I don't think so. We both felt that increase about a week ago but… Krad swallowed thickly. We will have to be very careful about this. If all that power manifests at once- I will talk to Satoshi and- The phantom told him he'd already given Satoshi's number to Emiko and Krad said dangerously low. Excuse me? Then he barked, And who gave you the right to hand out that number like a pamphlet? You know they do not- The thief retorted, I know ,ok? But he'd probably got a hell of a lot better idea what's going to happen than me.

Krad's tamer had begun to pick up on their conversation so the blonde merely said, We will discuss this later. and cut out. Dark sat in Kyo's room with his hands on his knees and thought that while he'd been talking with Krad he could have sworn he actually felt Aisoku's presence, as if he and Krad were remotely connected.

He had no such connection to their son and wondered why the white angel did, or if he was just imagining things. No, he was fairly sensitive to that sort of thing.

Was it because he was the one who had actually carried him? Hell he'd never even heard of an artwork giving birth to another artwork until Krad had been 'cursed'. Maybe that was normal. "Augh…" He didn't want to think about it and especially didn't want to reflect on the grain of jealousy in his chest. Right now they just needed to find out what was going to happen to him...

Dark shuddered and let his tamer take back over his body, hoping that with all of his experience he would know what to expect. Kiryu Satoshi's son, was helpful too but he hadn't inherited as much of the knowledge as his father had, presumably because Satoshi and Risa had also had a daughter three years later. It was just a theory but Dark guessed it was because of his status as the last Hikari- now that they had a larger family it was okay for the information to be distributed between the siblings. Yeesh you're doing a lot of deep thinking. Kyo muttered as he went back to his novel and it broke Dark's train of thought. Who is this Aisoku guy anyway?

Dark rubbed his hands together- he was seriously going to enjoy dropping the bomb on the poor Niwa.

Oh, he's just the lovechild I made with Krad.

Kyo's pencil snapped in two and his eye twitched madly as his body froze. Wha-wha…

"WHAAAAT!"

Dark remained silent as the boy leaped up from the chair, knocking it over in his haste to get to the door.

"DAAAD! DARK JUST TOLD ME-" When he flung the door open Daisuke was already there and he tried to calm his son-"Kyo, calm down! Just tell me what he said."

Kyo was breathing fast and he took a breath as his eyes glittered angrily. There was no way this was the truth! "Dark said this 'Aisoku' is his kid that he made with KRAD!" Exhausted, he slumped and held onto the door frame with both hands as Daisuke stared at him and admitted, "W-well, Dark didn't exactly lie…it is the truth."Kyo wailed, "That's physically impossible!" and his father led him to his bed, sitting him down and patting his back. "Yea, but- I guess I should have told you earlier…I'll just start from the beginning okay?Just sit quiet and listen." Kyo sniffed in a very Daisuke-like way and nodded and after a second Daisuke began,

"Well, you know I was Dark's tamer once already. He and I had gone to steal a statue called the Hatsu Shibou and since Satoshi was the commander of the police force Krad was there too." As Dark sat in Kyo's mind and listened he realized all over again how incredible the story was.

His worst enemy, out of sync with him in every way giving him what no one else could…He hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but had begun to suspect that he was sterile- in a life far off and away from all this he had tried for a child once, with his love, and failed. In fact, she had miscarried, and so he had dropped the idea for fear of harming her more. Of course back then no one could really tell whose fault it was. But considering that magic harmed humans when it was used, and a little embryo would certainly have no way of controlling it…

He sighed happily as he thought of her and laid down in Kyo's mind into a simple bed of black sheets and pillows, stretching his wings.

Hn, I wonder what color your wings will be, kid. Might be selfish, but- Dark folded one wing over his body and finished as he closed his eyes,

I'm sincerely rooting for black. A nice, deep black that reflects every color, like the night.

Yay I finally came out with it!Read and review please! icitrine is yellow btw.