Little Birds

Chapter 3:

They were wings.

Large white wings.

Wings so mangled and twisted that there wasn't any hope of them ever being able to take flight.

The boy's brows furled slightly in his sleep as Emiko covered her mouth in shock at the cruelty of it all, "Who would do such a thing?"

By this time, Kosuke returned only to see the two gaping, "Emiko-san…"


The group was staring at the silent boy curiously as they continued on with their snacks. Rika had already taken the role as an elder sister for the boy and made sure he had enough to eat and drink while Towa was still helping out the adults. "Are you still hungry or anything, Satoshi-kun?"

He shook his head, he couldn't help but stare at her brown wings which were darker in color compared to the twins' wings which were shaded in colors of coffee and cinnamon, "I'm fine, thank you."

"They're both so proper…" Dark whispered to Argentine who nodded in agreement.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a single classy bone in your body."

"That's not true." He flicked the younger boy on the forehead, "I'm made up of classy bones!"

Blue eyes looked over at the two, the black winged one and the dark tuscan red winged one, "…can I see my brother?"

"In a minute, it sounds like they're just about done."

Dark grinned at the boy, "Don't worry so much, Towa-chan wouldn't leave the room until she was sure your brother's alright."

"He's right you know…for once, I mean him being right occurs about as often as a solar eclipse."

"Take that back, Argen-chan!"

"It's Argentine!"

Blue eyes blinked, "…are they related?"

Daisuke gave a soft laugh, "It seems like it, doesn't it? But I don't think they are."

"Like I'd be related to this retard!"

"It'd be a sin if we were!"

The two glared at each other, but were interrupted when the door to Dark's room was opened and the adults stepped out, "Satoshi-kun?"

The blue haired boy got up and looked over, "Yes? How is he?"

Emiko gave a warm smile, "He'll be fine, mild frostbite on his hands and a fever, but it'll pass. He's still asleep right now, so it'd probably be best to just let him rest. You can see him if you'd like." Satoshi gave a nod and headed into the room, the mother looked over, "Dark…you're going to have to share a room with Argentine-kun for awhile until his brother gets better. And Dai-chan, would you mind sharing a room with Satoshi-kun?"

Daisuke gave a nod while Dark and Argentine stared at each other in disbelief, "With this guy? No way!"

"What if he snores?"

"What if he has nightmares?"

"What if he sleepwalks?"

"What if he gropes me while I sleep?"

"Ew! You only wish!"

"No Argen-chan, you wish."

"Boys! He's still resting!"

The two grumbled and silenced themselves when Towa came out and glared at the two. Dark looked over and whispered in the younger boy's ear, "Is it just me, or are we getting overpowered by the female population here?"

"It's not just you."

"I didn't think so."


Blue eyes scanned over the room where the silver haired girl was tucking his brother in, she looked up cheerfully, "He's going to be fine, he just needs time to rest," she skipped over to the door, "well, time to make lunch. Just call if you need anything, alright?"

A moment later, outside the door, he could hear her yelling at the others, "What do you mean you're full off of cookies?"

"Oh no! Towa-chan's going to go through her cooking withdrawal again! She can't go over an hour without cooking something delicious!"

"No I won't! There's no such thing! I'll…just go bake more cookies, yea, I'll go do that, now."

Satoshi walked over to the bed and sighed, "At least something good's finally happening to us…" He received no response from the other. Letting out a sigh, he left the room to head back to where the other winged children were bickering, "please wake up soon…"


"…do you think we can stay here until my brother wakes up?"

Emiko blinked before smiling widely, he had to be the first person to ask to stay, and not permanently either, "Of course you can! You're so polite! You can stay longer than that, you don't have anywhere you have to be, do you?"

Satoshi shook his head, "Wouldn't it be troublesome for you-"

"Nonsense! You two will stay as long as you like, there's plenty of room left in this house! Don't you even considering leaving until all this snow clears up, do you hear me?"

The blue haired boy gulped visibly and nodded, "yes ma'am, thank you…"


And so, a few days past, he checked on his brother at least four times a day. Much to his relief, his complexion was back to normal and the fever had past. Unfortunately, he still hadn't woken up yet. As part of his routine, before heading off to bed, he stood over the unconscious figure to bid the blond goodnight. Satoshi gave a yawn, "Goodnight Krad…please wake up soon."

He closed the light behind him and stepped out of the room.

"How is he?"

Blue eyes looked over at his newfound friend, or what he considered a friend and shrugged, "He's still asleep."

The redhead gave a reassuring smile, "Don't worry too much about it, Satoshi-kun. He'll wake up soon, you just wait and see."

Satoshi couldn't help but give a small smile as he nodded, "Yea…thank you."


Golden eyes fluttered open later that night, he shifted and sat up, pulling the blanket off of himself only to find his hands bandaged neatly. With the pale moonlight shining palely through the window, the room he resided in was made visible to him. Carefully, and as quietly as he could, he moved off the bed and stood up, letting the momentary dizziness from having laid down so long, pass away.

Where am I? He tested his fingers to see how much he could move them, where's Satoshi? Mind resolved, he stepped out of the room to find his brother. There was a dim light coming from down the hall, so instead of turning into the other rooms nearby, he made his way slowly towards the light. The blonde's eyes narrowed when he stepped into the well lit area and found himself in the kitchen.

"Oh, so you're awake."

Krad gave a start and looked over at the boy who was standing some ways away, making himself a sandwich. Though what caught his attention wasn't the sandwich, it was the fact that the other boy also had wings. He blinked and nodded to what the other boy said. His original plan was to reply with words, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he found that the words wouldn't come out.

The boy looked over, "You lost your voice?" Another nod, "hm…Emiko-san said something like this might happen." He scratched his head, "oh well, we'll just make the best of this situation, hn? You want a sandwich?"

He shook his head, still too dazed to feel any hunger pangs. The other shrugged, "Alright, whatever floats your boat. I'm Dark, by the way. You're in the Niwa's house, it's…I suppose you can call it a refuge for people with wings like yours…" There was a pause when he caught sight of the other's wings. Then quickly, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "…oh…uh…sorry."

The blond looked away and stepped back awkwardly to conceal his wings in the darkness of whichever room was connected to the kitchen, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

Dark immediately took a step forward, concern clearly written on his face, "Hey, look, I'm really sorry, please don't take it the wrong way. I didn't mean to be rude or anything, I mean…I like them if that counts for anything...or I hardly noticed them at all? Or maybe I should just shut up now…"

The violet haired boy took another bite out of his sandwich, there was a moment of silence between the two. "You're probably wondering where your brother is." He pointed at the black corridor, "He's in the left corridor, the first room to your right. If you need anything at all, I'm currently sleeping in the room next to that one."

Krad nodded his thanks and walked as instructed into the bedroom. He could make out the shape of a bunk-bed and on the bottom bunk was where the silhouette of his brother laid. He walked over and looked down, at least he's alrightSatisfied, he headed back to the room he had emerged from and slipped back under the covers. Morninghe thought to himself, I'll get this figured out in the morning


The next morning, he awoke again, but this time, he found a brunette woman in the room with him. She was smiling, more so when noticed his confused stare, "so you really are awake!" He sat up and nodded silently, "Dark told me you lost your voice. Don't worry, it's nothing permanent. Same with the bandages, you just had mild frostbite on your hands, that's all. Oh! You must be starving! Come join us for breakfast, just follow the loud voices and you'll get there."

Then she left the room, Krad sat up and watched her leave, that'sEmiko-san then?


Satoshi watched the brunette make her way to the table rather happily, he gave a polite nod, still not accustomed to the casualness of the place, "good morning."

"Good morning Satoshi-kun." She gave him an extra happy grin and made her way into the kitchen to help Towa out. Blue eyes blinked curiously, wondering what had gotten into the woman to get her into such a good mood. His question was answered but a moment later when a figure emerged from the corridor, long, still tangled golden hair flowing as he walked soundlessly towards the table.

"Krad…you're awake…" he whispered quietly and stood up, staring at the other.

Emiko poked her head back out from the kitchen, "Krad-kun, you made it! You must be hungry, we're going to have an extra big breakfast today!" The announcement was responded by several cheers around the table. She looked at Satoshi, "Take it easy on your brother, he's temporarily lost his voice."

The blue haired boy gave a nod almost immediately, "Thank you, er…I mean I'm sorry…" he looked down hastily. His brother walked over, he placed a hand on the other's head and looked at him, giving him one of his rarer smiles. As though by instinct, he immediately sat down, he looked at his brother's hands with concern. "…do they hurt?"

Krad shook his head, there was a pause when someone blew their nose, the two looked over at Towa and Risa who were crying heartily, "That's so touching!"

"I know! I wish I had a brother!" This caused Riku to raise a brow. "This is better than watching a movie!"

"Movies aren't this heartwarming." And while they sobbed, Kosuke had grabbed a chair for the blonde to sit in while the indoor drama/comedy continued.

Daisuke and Argentine looked over and began laughing. Dark gave a lazy grin, "Girls nowadays, they're so easily touched." He looked over to Riku and Rika, "With some exceptions of course."

The elder twin gave a huff and threw her fork across the table, violet eyes widened, grabbing the boy next to him as a human shield. The sandy blonde stopped laughing and attempted to get out of the way, it resulted in both of them getting hit on the head. Argentine looked over angrily as he rubbed his head, "What was that for?"

Dark returned the glare, "Why'd you move?"

"You're the one who pulled me over!"

"And for a reason obviously!"

The younger boy narrowed his eyes, "I'll get you back for that…"

"Hm? Interesting proposal, bring it on!"

The two received another smack on the head, this time by Emiko, "Boys! No fighting at breakfast! Do it afterwards! This is no way to act in front of these two! You'll scare them away, I'm surprised they haven't left already!"

The two held their heads again, grumbling and returning to their now filled plates in front of them. With one last glare at each other, they began to eat. Riku gave a grin, "Serves you two right."

Emiko gave a sudden outburst, "You haven't been introduced to them yet! We'll make sure we'll do it after breakfast, so eat up!"


Golden eyes blinked at the strange scene before him, then silently, he began to eat. The other children and one of the adults sitting around the table all had wings, he couldn't help but shift slightly uncomfortably in his seat.

He glanced over at his brother who sat beside him, eating contently. Krad paused before returning his attention back to the food. He figured that if he concentrated hard enough, his self-consciousness would go away.

It didn't.


"So Krad-san, you're Satoshi-kun's brother?"

The blonde nodded as he sat on the couch, with his hands neatly folded in his lap.


Meanwhile, outside, Argentine and Dark were outside having a snowball fight to settle their earlier argument even though they probably forgot what they were fighting about in the first place. After that was done and over with, they watched the others from the window. Argentine took a breath, a puff of smoke emerging from his mouth, "That new guy…his wings…"

Amethyst eyes looked over and huffed, "Way to judge someone by their wings, I didn't think you'd be the shallow type."

He shook his head, "No, you idiot, that's not what I meant, you loser. He seems too classy to-never mind, I was just wondering who or what happened to him. You should know that I don't discriminate through outer appearances," he crossed his arms, "I discriminate through inner stupidity."

Dark raised a brow, gathering and forming a snowball in his hands, "Just for that, you're going to get a snowball down your shirt, Argen-chan."

The sandy blonde backed away, "No-no-no-no-no! Stay away from me!"


There was a screech outside causing the boys left inside to turn their heads while the girls paid it no heed. Rika sipped her tea, "Don't mind them, this is just their daily routine. They need their exercise after all."

Krad shot his brother a questioning look which was returned with a shrug, he looked back at the girls. Suddenly, the door was opened forcefully and the two ran inside. Kicking their boots off quickly, the blonde ran straight into the bathroom and locked the door. Dark ran after him with his murderous intent clear as day. His face was slightly flushed from the cold, and the back of his shirt was completely soaked through, "Get back out here, Argen-chan!"

"It's Argentine, and no! You can't make me! I'll live in here until you die, or I die, whichever comes first."

"Oh that won't take very long. I'm going to pick the lock if you don't open up."

The younger boy gave a horrified yell, "You wouldn't dare!"


"Like I said before, a daily routine, pay them no attention." The blonde blinked and gave a small nod, turning back to the girl. What's going on?

Then Towa walked in with a tray of assorted baked goods, "Who's up for a snack?"

Golden eyes blinked again in confusion, huh?


Nya

Poor Krad's very confused in his new environment. But at least he's awake now. I've actually taken quite a liking to Argentine, he's...how would you word it? Hmm...a good character to use? I have no idea :P my terminology is crap. Anyways...whoo! Friday the 13th! XD Enjoy