"Shun..." She looks up to her brother, a slight frown forming, almost into a pout. A hand reaches out and tugs on his shirt sleeve. "Please, we have to go and help. You know they might be in danger."

Shun's gaze narrows as he looks down to her. Unlike his usual glare, it's softer (he could never show any type of intense anger at her). His eyes close for a moment, shifts his arms and lets out a breath. "We shouldn't go," he starts and notices the frown on her face furthering, "but we'll help them out and then go home. It's too dangerous out here." (He knew if he simply denied this, she would go off on her own. She never could ignore a cry for help, especially when it came from a child, or sounded like it was from one.)

Ruri's frown slowly turns into a gentle smile. "Thank you, Shun." She lets go of her brother's sleeve and her body turns, facing down an unlit path in the park. During the day, the park was a peaceful place, but once darkness fell, that's when danger began to creep in. And the areas that had little to no light made it perfect for a robbery (or any kind of dangerous events) to happen. "Let's go."

The girl begins to run, Shun following right after, quickly taking to her side. While she focused her sights ahead, he was looking around, keeping an eye on anything that might appear from their sides. A flashlight or anything would have been nice to use, but it would also give away their presence, that is, if they didn't know they were approaching already.

"There!" Ruri shouts, pointing ahead at the upcoming park bench. Right beside it, a small boy was on his knees, sniffling and crying, hands trying to wipe away the falling tears. Worry that they were too late to help struck her, but that didn't stop her from going beside the boy, going down to her knees and slowly reaching out to put a hand on the crying child. Meanwhile, Shun just stands guard, getting a bad feeling about being out here. (Maybe he was being to paranoid, but it wasn't strange to think something was lurking around in the dark.)

"Hey, hey...it's okay. Everything will be okay now, nothing will hurt you." Her voice is soothing, calm. (She's done this a hundred times, soothing a crying child is easy for her.) Ruri is careful, trying not to upset the boy further, only wishing to calm him down, stop his tears. She tries to run a hand through his cyan hair, lightly petting the parts not up in the ponytail, doing so causes the boy to look up, shining green eyes, filled with tears look into hers. His skin was pale and there were stitches across his left cheek.

"Do you...mean that, miss...?" The boy asked with a sniffle.

"Of course I do. My brother and I will protect you. So, you have nothing to worry about. You just have to stick with us, okay? We'll help you and get you all better to."

The boy's eyes went wide for a moment before he wrapped his arms around the girl, tightly clinging onto her. In response, the girl wraps her arms around him, hand gently rubbing his back. "Thank you miss...! You're so...nice..." His sniffling disappears, replaced with giggling. "A little too nice."

Shun picks up on the change in tone, and immediately knows something is up. "Ruri, get away from him!" He warns, quick to walk over to the two. His sister has a look of confusion on her face until she feels something sharp press against her neck. A blade, in the hand of the boy she was trying to comfort.

"Move one step closer and your sister will be no more~!" The boy giggles with a grin, causing Shun to freeze. There's a dark look on the older male's face, a glare aimed right at the boy.

This moment of hesitation was all they needed. In an instant, two other men had pounced on Shun, forcing him to the ground. Others began to approach, all dressed in the same blue uniform. (It seemed as if they had all appeared out of nowhere, hard to tell when they used the dark to their advantage.)

"Please, let him go!" Ruri pleads as she watches her brother being trampled upon. He's trying to fight back and he does manage to push a couple off him. But when more come and surround him, there's no way he can take this many on (if it weren't a surprise attack, the odds may have differed).

The boy forces Ruri to turn her attention away from her brother, onto him. "We're not going to let him go. Or you. We need you both. We have something special in store for you two~! Instead of killing two birds with one stone, we're going to keep them both!"

"Ruri!" Her eyes widen and glance over to Shun. Watching her brother get beaten and eventually knocked out is a sight she'll never forget. It stings at her chest and fear begins to overtake her.

"Shun!" She calls out, tears pricking at her eyes.

"How sweet of you two. Don't worry, you won't be separated...for long."

The last thing Ruri hears is the boy's giggle turn into a mad laughter.

~...~

Memories are nothing but a blur. From the moment he wakes up after that assault, his head and body were throbbing with pain. He tries to move his body and finds trouble doing so. Something is around his neck, wrists, ankles. Metal collars, chains attached and are strapped to the ground, to this room that he's in. He doesn't bother to take notice of what's around him, doesn't bother to try and figure out where he is. His mind just reels to one thing, one person.

Ruri.

Where is she, where can he find her, is she safe- god let her be safe. Shun doesn't care about the metal hurting his skin, he tries his hardest to tug and free himself. It's a useless, foolish idea to purse but he needs to find his sister. He'll thrash about as long as he's conscious, only being still when tired and sleep calls for him.

He remembers people, those men in blue uniforms pouring into this room. His vision is filled with nothing but blue. Their voices are all muffled together. They surround him. Unbearable pain and shocks follow. He blacks out.

~...~

His sense of time is off, he loses track of days, only waking up and feeling needles breaking his skin, something stinging his flesh, something stirring inside him. His body feels alien to him, things feel different but he's not sure why or how. His movements are clunky and being restrained doesn't help. He can barely see what's going on. The room feels hotter than usual, he's heating up. Sometimes, he feels as if he's about to pass out and never wake up again.

(Just how many times had he been close to meeting death, he wonders?)

The only word that come from his mouth is, 'Ruri'. It's all he manages to utter while the pain is going through him. As long as he calls out for her, remembers her, he'll find her. Whatever is happening to him, he doesn't care.

(One time he was partially conscious. There was an empty bird cage in the room, he noticed, nothing but feathers. For a second he wondered where it had gone. Why was it there in the first place? Those men in blue uniforms- lab coats now, were surrounding him. Their words were muffled, as always, behind their white masks, speaking to each other. He tried to put their words together, but couldn't hear a thing.

His eyes caught hold of needles, various tools he'd never even seen before, on a table beside him. He swore there was some dark liquid, something pulsing, more feathers. His gaze drifts around the room. Everything is a blur. Something had poked at him again, pushing into his back and his body winces. The pain is rising again and he's not sure how long he can stay awake.

"It's almost ready. Remember to follow the same procedures when working on the girl."

How he manages to hear that, he doesn't know how. But it had sent him into a fit of rage. And for just a moment, he swore that his restraints had broken free.)

He imagines this is what hell must be like.

~...~

Shun is wide awake during this moment, he can't sleep, his back itches and he wants to scratch at it. His hands are still bound and as he tries to reach his shoulder blades, he's only inches away from scratching away the pain. He broke through the restraints once before (he thinks, unless if that were all a dream) and believes he can do it again.

And he feels like he can, but then an immense pain washes through him, spreading from his back throughout his body. He howls in pain, hands immediately slamming down into fists on the metal 'bed' he was on. His body begins to convulse and this pain feels worse than ever before. What seems like hours only lasts seconds and he feels something trying to break through his back.

Something is pushing up against his skin, it's growing and it's immensely painful (he can't even think straight, only wanting this pain to stop, it's all he wants now). That something continues to push until it's freed from it's fleshy prison, a loud yell escaping from his lips as they come forth.

His breathing is heavy, the pain has stopped, but there's still a stinging sensation around his shoulder blades. He's trying to recover, trying to understand what happened. (He doesn't know what happened, he's had no clue what's been going on for so long.) His gaze drifts from the ground, slowly looking up and stops once he sees his shadow. There's something very unfamiliar about it. There's his body and then two shapes poking out on each side. Yellow hues stare for a moment, letting the information sink in.

Wings. The odd shapes that were being cast upon his shadow were wings. And they were coming from his back. They were his wings.

His head slowly turns to the right. These wings were outstretched, he couldn't tell how big, long, wide, whatever they were (he figured it was probably longer than him if he fully outstretched them anyway). These wings were a dark brown shade, wingtips becoming more black, on the inner side there was a lighter shade of brown with white markings. (He noted there was red painting his wings, but came to the conclusion it was his own blood and not part of the markings.)

Shun stared in surprise, shock, disbelief, awe. Whatever was happening seemed like it was from some fantasy tale. A screwed up one where he was becoming part bird. He shakes his head from strange thoughts. If he was cursed to have these wings, than he would use them to his advantage. After all, they weren't tied down like the rest of his body was.

Unfortunately, he had little to no control over them. The moment he tried to get his wings to move, they were flapping about, one wing moving, the other occasionally stopping, knocking something over- both wings were. (It also hurt to move them so rapidly. Maybe because they were new, fresh, his body needed time to adjust to this new structure.) In this small room, the area now seemed even smaller with such large appendages.

This 'success' didn't go unnoticed by those studying him. Blue uniformed and lab coated men were at the door. Shun's glare was instantly on them. If they wanted to fight him, he'd use these wings against him. Even if they were just flailing around, he could hopefully do some damage.

But just like with any other attempt to break free, this one had failed.

~...~

He doesn't know when, it had to happen while he slept, that he's moved to a bigger room. It was white, just like the last, but there was something different about. There was a machine on the ceiling and he wasn't sure what to make of it (the last room didn't have it and the last one felt more like a fucked up lab room compared to this one). The restraints were removed, all but the ones around his ankle, tying him to the ground (though these chains were longer). His wings have been unharmed, even cleaned up when he notices them. No blood or any ruffled feathers, not even some glass that he had gotten stuck in them during his last fit.

(Shun wonders if this is some kind of sick joke. They gave him wings and yet were keeping him grounded.)

"Welcome to your new room, birdie." There's a voice he hasn't heard for a while. He doesn't think he'd ever hear it again. The moment it does, his blood begins to boil, eyes narrowing upon that deceitfully innocent boy with a candy in his mouth- a lollipop.

"You," he growls through his clenched teeth, "You bastard!"

Shun lunges towards the smaller boy without any hesitation, faster than he ever thought he would, before being pulled back by his restraints and hurling towards the ground. He begins to push himself up, but feels a foot step onto his wrist.

"You should learn your place," the cyan haired boy spits out, unamused. "Although, seeing you fight with every bit of fiber in your body is really entertaining. You've been a good show for me these past few days. Or were they weeks?" He hums before shrugging.

"Ruri..."

"Oh, there's that name again."

"Where is she?!"

"You want to find your sister that badly, hm?" He chuckles before lifting his shoe off his wrist, stepping away. (The boy knew exactly how far the bird would be able to go, he knew where to be just out of reach.) "Maybe you'll see her again. Maybe you won't."

"You'll tell me what you know," Shun threatens and quickly pushes himself up, lunging at the boy, again. This time he doesn't fall but his hands are just out of reach, just ready to grab his neck. The grin on the shorter's face only pisses him off even more.

"No, I won't! Not even if you say please!" He chuckles, flashing a cute smile, pulling the sweet out of his mouth and tapping it against Shun's hand. He begins to skip away before the infuriated bird could try to reach out to him again. "Enjoy your time here, birdie~!"

~...~

Ruri had stopped counting the days she was confined in her cell. She tried to find a way out on her own, but had given up. The only way she would be able to escape was to get a key from the guards and none had been the incompetent type so far. (They were always patrolling the halls, two at a time, never even giving them a second glance. Not to mention they were ruthless towards those who even showed an attempt at escape.)

She didn't like being here, not knowing where she was left an uneasy feeling in her stomach. From her cell door, she could see others behind bars. All scared, terrified of what was going to happen to them next. Those that were freed by the guards had left kicking and screaming (most of them anyway) and were never seen again. Eventually, their cells were replaced with another prisoner, another poor soul trapped down here.

There were times she tried consoling those who shared the neighboring cell. While she couldn't see them, she could at least speak with them. It helped them and her to. Talking to someone made things more bearable here, until the conversation had turned and family was mentioned.

Her thoughts would immediately go to Shun and there would be nothing but worry for him. (She always worried about him, but speaking of him just brought forth even more concern.) He was still alive, wasn't he? She had picked up on being called 'the feather boy's sister', whatever that meant, so it was a sign that her brother was still alive. (The feathers comment struck her as odd though, not to mention the distasteful bird related puns that followed.) All she wished for was to see him, to know she was okay. She wanted to see and confirm he was alive with her very own eyes.

When the guard had come to her cell, she looked to his hands, expecting a meal. There was none. Instead, she was greeted with a click and the door being pushed open.

"Ruri Kurosaki. You're comin' with me," the guard stated.

She felt her blood run cold and held her hands to her chest. Today was her chosen day, to leave this place and be taken...elsewhere. Her eyes fell on the keys on the guard's hip, but figured it was silly to try and swipe them and run. Even if she had keys to this place, could she find her brother and free him? She'd have to play it safe, for now. (But how long could she play it safe before something bad happened?)

"Come on, we don't got all day."

The girl nods and begins to step forward. She's seen what they do to those who refuse to go. Those that go peacefully are treated a bit more nicely. So, she walks in front of the guard without a problem, ignoring the snickering heard from behind and the farewells she hears from the other prisoners.

Walking up from that dungeon like area, she notes the change in interior, how things turn more into a lab like setting. It sends chills down her spine for an unknown reason. She ends up flinching when there's a loud scream of pain coming from beyond a corridor. More screams follow and she wishes to cover her ears.

The noise from the guard's walkie talkie startles her, causing her to jump and come to a halt. She turns and notices him wrapped up in his conversation.

"What? An escapee? And it's the damned bird? Look, I got it's sister, we'll be fine," he replies, surprisingly lax if an escapee is on the loose.

"Bird...?" Sister? Ruri mutters. It doesn't take her long to figure out that it has to be, "Shun!" She turns and without thinking, begins to run, ignoring the shouts of the guard from behind. She shouldn't, she knows she should stay behind. Running in a place like this would only lead to an even worse punishment. But she has to move, to reunite with Shun.

While running through this place, all she can hear are screams of pain, agony. It hurts to even listen, but her mind is on her brother. It doesn't take long to find Shun and see what's happened to him. Ruri ends up letting out a slight gasp to seeing the wings protruding from his back. What had happened to him while they were separated? How had this come to be?

"Ruri!" Hearing his voice snaps her away from those thoughts. Shun is easily fighting off a few of those guards, but she can note the strain this is having on his body, he could only last for so long. (Images of the night they were captured flash into her mind. She can't do anything to stop them, she's not a fighter like him.) When he finishes off the couple in his way, he dashes towards her, grabbing her arm and insisting they run. "We're getting out of here."

(Shun had intended to ask more, if she were alright, what had happened, if anyone had dared to lay a finger on her. Now isn't the time for questions nor for showing too much worry.)

The girl nods her head in response, letting her brother lead the way. She has to be careful of the wings coming from his back (she could see some scars around his skin through the tank top he was wearing- were they natural or-?), but it seemed as if he were in control of them for the most part, keeping them out of her way.

"We're going to jump, okay?"

"Jump?"

Ruri's gaze looks ahead, noting they were heading towards a window. She could hear countless footsteps from behind. Without any knowledge of the layout of this place, maybe jumping out the window wasn't so farfetched. For any other situation, she would have disagreed. But...could those wings be used to save them both?

His grip tightens around her wrist the closer they get and when they're close enough, she pulls him in, lifting her in his arms and protecting her as he flings himself against the glass. Ruri holds tightly onto her brother, barely managing to hold back a shout as she shuts her eyes. She doesn't dare open them and chance looking down.

Shun extends his wings the moment they've left the building. He's never actually been able to fly before, but his wings help with the descent. He notes the various blue uniforms beginning to hurdle on the grounds outside the facility. He can't land there. All he has to do is glide towards the brick wall and then hop over it. If they get past it, they'll be home free.

And just when he manages to land right on the wall, a pain strikes his leg and he falters. He looks down to see a bullet had just grazed him. Before any other bullets can hit him or his sister, he leaps off, gliding to the ground. He instantly sets Ruri to her feet, trying to ignore the injury in his leg.

"Are you okay, Shun?" She asks as she looks to his leg, that wound didn't go unnoticed. It wasn't a fatal wound, but it would definitely hurt and hinder their movements.

"I'm fine. We can't stop moving," he mutters. He's handled worse pain than this before but he doesn't dare mention it to her. "We have to get out of here."

Neither can protest and they both run (Shun more limping) out into the surrounding forest. They can hear gunshots, a siren going off. They were wanted for escaping and they needed to get far, far away from here.

Running through the forest was a bit difficult, not knowing where to go, they could only move forward, occasionally turning when hearing more footsteps or something moving in the bushes. Where they even close to home? They barely even knew where they had been taken to in the first place.

Shun comes to a sudden halt, putting a hand out protectively in front of Ruri. There's a confused look on her face and she's about to ask, 'why did we stop,' but he just stares ahead. She follows his gaze, staring ahead in this evening lit forest but sees nothing.

"I know you're there," Shun growls, hands balling to fists. He was already growing defensive, unintentionally spreading his wings out from behind.

"Calm down, Shun, we should-"

Ruri stops as the figure appears. Apparently, her brother had seen someone she hadn't. The figure's steps are slow, standing a bit before them, keeping a distance. He's wearing a dark mask with goggles, black and purple hair spiking up to the right.

"You..." Shun starts, "Academia scum."

"Shun, wait!" Ruri quickly grabs onto his arm, holding him back from taking off on the stranger. "I...I don't think he's one of them..." His clothes didn't match those they wore. Instead of a blue uniform, his choice of clothing was painted in black. And she hadn't seen any of those guards wearing black. (It could be a trap, she realizes, but her instincts tell her this wasn't a bad guy.)

"We can't trust him. Or anyone else." Shun didn't want this to end up being like that kid again. How could she so easily trust another stranger?

"She's right," the stranger speaks from behind his mask, slowly pulling it off along with the goggles to reveal his grey eyes and solemn expression. He began to look back and forth between the two before speaking up again. "I'm not part of Academia."

"Bullshit," Shun huffs, definitely not convinced. (He would have lunged at the guy if Ruri hadn't been holding onto him still.)

The stranger sighs. "Look, my name is Yuto. I was on my way to scope out the Academia facility. But if you two..." Could he guess they just came from there? It seemed likely enough. Especially considering one of them had wings coming out of his back. (But no one had escaped before, how had they managed?) "I can explain to you what I do, but we have to move. Academia doesn't give up on their hunt easily."

Ruri looks to Shun, pleading with her eyes. We have to trust him. Shun doesn't want to. Yuto is a stranger, someone who could easily throw them back into that hell hole. But there was a slim chance that he was telling the truth. That he wanted to help them.

"If you're lying about this," Shun narrows his eyes to Yuto, "then I'll be the one to toss you into their compound."

Yuto's wears a small grin on his face before his expression returns to being serious. "I'm not, but we have to hurry. I know a way back to my place where there's hardly any people around. We'll get you both indoors and out of sight. But we have to go, now."


(From the desk of Leo Akaba)

*Experiment #EN050

Name: Shun Kurosaki

Falcon Hybrid

Reports: This difficult subject was decided to be fused with bird DNA, specifically focusing on those of falcons. Bones have been adjusted to be hollow, allowing the subject to be lighter and more agile. Eyesight has shown improvement since being fused, he's able to see further distance, it's unknown how far his vision reaches. The biggest change in appearance are his wings. They sprouted from his back and firmly connect to his body, has complete control over them. Wingspan is approximately fifteen feet. Subject cannot fly, but has the ability to glide; most likely a mistake during the fusion process.

Notes: Since sprouting wings, subject had to be moved to a larger cell. He is quick tempered and those studying him should always keep their distance. Keep a spare tranquilizer on at all costs. Is known for lashing out in fits of rage. Always keep at least one restraint on him. Do not let him meet with his sister.

IMPORTANT: #EN050 was deemed a failure and has escaped along with #EN043. Find him to find #EN043.


a/n: timeline wise, technically this takes place before Yuri escapes.