Episode 12

It had been a week of the most restful nights he had had in a long time. Each night, they slept, just slept in each others arms where every night since, the nightmares never came. He felt like his mind was finally starting to clear, leaving the only thing left to rid him of any evidence of what he'd lived through, being that of his thin, almost sickly figure.

Kazunari Takao stood in his and Shintarō's tent, staring at a full length mirror that hung in the back with only a pair of simple shorts on. He just stood there staring at his torso, how his ribs rippled his sides and how sunken his chest looked. His abs just weren't there, leaving his stomach completely flat and even his hips were far more rounded than they should be.

With a heavy sigh, he ran his hands down his torso as he turned to the side, frowning at how thin he was, but when a second set of far larger hands appeared and ran down his thin arms, that frown faded in an instant.

"Don't think I didn't see that frown, Takao." Shintarō said, his hands not stopping until they covered Takao's resting on his stomach.

He opened his mouth to try and protest, but feeling Shintarō's warmth against his bare back forced any protest from his mind. He sighed a pleasant smile as he looked up to meet the emerald gaze and seeing what almost looked like admiration flash across their surface through his glasses, made his heart skip.

"I'm just not happy with what I see is all." Takao said, looking back to the mirror to see the pair of them looking back.

"It's not your fault. This was done to you." He said, turning Takao to fully face the mirror with him over a head taller as he scanned his form.

"I know... I'm just very ready for it to be gone." Takao said, smiling at their hands resting on his stomach before flicking his eyes up to meet Shintarō's in the mirror.

"That's why I'm here. Wakamatsu cleared you to start training." Shintarō said, stepping away and letting his hands drift over skin until Kazunari was out of reach.

Takao's eyes flashed open as he wheeled around, "Seriously? We can finally start?" He started to smile wide.

Shintarō nodded as he pushed up his glasses, "Yes. I came to get you so we can start teaching you how to fly."

"Yay! I can't wait! Are we going outside? Is it cold? Should I wear a sweater?" Takao rattled off as he hurried to his bed to start rummaging through what few clothes he had, given to him by several others that were around his size.

Shintarō tried not to laugh, but his throat rumbled anyways, "Just a t-shirt and no, we're staying inside. We'll be teaching you how to lift off and land to start off with."

Despite that, Takao was ecstatic as he grabbed a black t-shirt that pulled over his head before starting to try and tie the back closed beneath his wings, but he wasn't nearly as well versed in it as Shintarō was. His hands were soon swatted away as he took over, easily and quickly threading the long lace through its holes until it was snug and tied it in a perfect bow that rested against Takao's tailbone.

"Now come on... The others are waiting." Shintarō said, placing his hand on the small of Takao's back to lead him from the tent.

However, as soon as they stepped out, Takao started to bound for the arena, near skipping with excitement as he flipped his hair up into a headband to keep it out of his face. He could see the others all waiting, from Riko and Teppei to Taiga, Tetsuya and all the way to Himuro. They were all there in a rainbow of colors and all were waiting to teach him how to fly.

"There you are! We've only been waiting for ten minutes!" Kasamatsu growled, crossing his arms as he glared, but was soon tackled and wrestled when Ryōta grabbed his head and started grinding his knuckles into his hair.

"Relax! It's his first day, Senpai!" Ryōta beamed, but grunted when Kasamatsu jabbed an elbow into his gut.

"Get off, you spacey-ass, Golden-wing!" Kasamatsu howled as everyone around them laughed.

Takao chuckled as he and Shintarō stepped into the arena and headed for the group as they spread out a bit, giving each other some space that was large enough for them all to spread their wings. Shintarō lead him to stand in the middle of the group, but instead of finding a spot amongst the ranks, he stayed by his side.

"Now... First thing's first. This is the hardest part of learning how to fly and it's gonna be more difficult for you because you lack the muscle mass." Riko began, briefly glancing at Teppei before looking back to the pair in the center.

Takao just nodded and waited.

"The initial downbeat is the most important and the larger you are, the more strength that's needed to lift off the ground. Kuroko will have a much easier time than Murasakibara ever will." Shintarō said as he turned to look at the smallest of them with sky blue wings that were fully healed.

As Takao set his slate blue eyes on Tetsuya, his much smaller wings spread and raised high, but he made it look easy as he thrust them down and lifted off the ground where he stayed in a hover. The beats were soft, even yet strong, but they didn't look any more powerful than a normal beat.

"Now you try. Try to use the same power he did." Shintarō said, taking a step back.

Takao nodded as he drew in a deep breath and spread his wings that were noticeably larger than Tetsuya's. He gave them a couple sweeps to loosen them up before raising them high in the same manner and giving them a firm downbeat, but his feet didn't leave the sand. The only thing he felt was a slight drop in his weight as if he was in an elevator that was going down.

"See? Despite being underweight, you're still too big to lift off with the same power. On the flip side, you won't need nearly as much power as Murasakibara. His downbeats would launch you skyward like a rocket." Shintarō said with a point at the large purple Titan.

With a roll of his shoulders, Atsushi's twenty foot wingspan stretched wide. They were huge with long feathers that were nearly as long as his wings and when he brought them down for his downbeat, the wind they produced caught him off guard.

The sound they made was loud and powerful as they flapped, sweeping in front of him as they continued to raise him into the air. He didn't stop until he was almost thirty feet up where he hovered with huge arcs of his wings before he finally started to drift down.

"You won't need that much power. You're gonna be right in the middle... Akashi?" Shintarō sent a curt nod to the Emperor-wing with bright red hair and wings.

Seijūrō took a step forward as he raised his wings, revealing that his were nearly the same size as his. His keen eyes that were so good at picking out targets and distances and speeds had no trouble in seeing how much power the redhead used as he downbeat and easily lifted off the sand.

"I think I understand, Shin-Chan. Can I try?" Takao asked, rolling his shoulders a bit before giving his wings a shake.

All Shintarō did was cross his arms and nod, watching as Takao gave his wings several downbeats with close to the same power as Akashi's. He could see that each one came closer and closer to lifting his feet from the ground, but they were just a hair shy of being enough.

"More power, Takao! Just a bit more!" Shintarō called to him, having taken a spot nearby amongst the others as they watched.

Takao grit his teeth together as he downbeat his wings a bit harder, ignoring the scream in his weak muscles as he tried. He wanted to take to wing on his own, wanted to experience the rush of lifting off the ground under his own power instead of being thrown over the side of a cliff. Even though it had worked, he wanted to be responsible for every aspect of flying and as he continued to downbeat, adding more power each time, his feet started to lift.

"Good! Keep at it, Takao! Don't stop!" Shintarō ordered, his arms staying crossed as his own large emerald wings began to lift him up.

As Takao continued to downbeat, the others did as well, all of them lifting off the ground with ease to join him in his hover. He couldn't help, but smile at just how easy it was for them, how magnificent they looked with each downbeat no matter whom they were; They all looked elegant. For him, it took so much power to maintain his weak hover and as he met Shintarō's gaze with the 'well done' soft smile on his face, Takao's muscles couldn't do it anymore.

He started to fall, but in a matter of no more than a second, Shintarō was there and caught him before he hit the sand. He wrapped his arms around his neck and held on as Shintarō lowered him to the sand, but his wings just hung there, tired from their efforts of trying to lift his weight for the first time.

"That's a lot harder than I thought." Takao panted, his bare feet gently touching down on the sand.

"You did fine. You got off the ground and that's the hardest part." Shintarō said, unwinding his arms from around him to let him stand on his own.

Back on the sand, everyone around him set down as well where he noticed that his heart was thundering from the exertion. He needed a lot of work to get strong enough, to get better, and as he picked up his wings and shook them to try again, he smiled.

"Lets do it again."

As the others watched Takao begin to downbeat once more, Daiki just smirked and watched as Shintarō directed him and helped him to steady himself on his own wings. For sixteen years he had seen his brother act like the biggest tsundere in existence, how he was always standoffish, or blunt to the point of being rude. Girls adored him for it, but he always managed to push them away because none could handle his crap, but when it came down to this kid, this Kazunari Takao, Shintarō's usual brand of nonesense didn't work. He wasn't phased by his bluntness, wasn't turned away by the rough edges, and that's because there weren't any. When it came to Kazunari Takao, Shintarō Midorima was like a whole different person.

Huffing a crooked smirk, Daiki drew in a deep breath, but instantly wished he hadn't as it was laced with what he considered a fowl stench. It smelt like a mixture of sweaty boy, ozone and a pungent tang and it actually hung on the back of his tongue, making him mildly gag.

"Oh, Jesus Christ... What the hell!" Daiki growled, coughing out the stench he had accidentally inhaled.

"What?" Teppei asked, standing right next to him and watching the teachings in the center of the group.

"You don't smell that? Goddamn... It smells like I just walked into a locker room." Daiki hissed, waving his hand in front of his face with the hope of ridding the smell.

"What? I don't smell anything." Teppei said, taking a few sniffs of the air, only to smell campfire.

"How can you not?... Wait... Is that you?" Daiki's upper lip curled as he regrettably took another deep inhale and leaned in closer to the large Titan.

Teppei stood up straighter as he eyeballed Daiki, his brows furrowing as he instantly started to cough his sinuses clear.

"Kiyoshi! I swear to god, you smell awful!" Daiki howled, beginning to draw attention from the others.

"I what? How? I bathed this morning!" Teppei quickly defended himself, smelling his arm, but only smelling his soaps.

"Ugh! You smell like a porno! Goddamn, Dude!" Daiki gagged a bit more as he took a sidestep to get away from the scent.

Teppei's eyes snapped wide open as he shot Riko a worried glance, but when Daiki reached the other side of the group, thinking that the air would clear, the smell changed to more sweaty boy, but it was laced with an earthy musk and pine.

"What? Did all of you forget to take a bath?... Shin! That's you! Why the hell do you smell like pine and musk?" Daiki roared, whooshing his wings with the desperate hope of clearing the air.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Shintarō asked with furrowed brows as he pushed up his glasses.

"You stink!" Daiki growled.

"Aomine... I think you're losing your mind-" Taiga tried, only to come under Daiki's furious glare.

"I am not! I swear to god, Midorima smells like a moldy gym bag someone tried to cover up with air freshener and Kiyoshi reeks of sex! How can you not smell that!" Daiki grit his teeth together as this time, when he drew in a breath, he got both gross scents that made him plug his nose.

"Uh... Maybe you should go somewhere else, Aomine... Like to the infirmary tent." Teppei said, his eyes still a bit worried as he glanced down at Riko once more.

"Why? I'm not sick!" Daiki spat.

"No, it's so Wakamatsu can explain it." Teppei said flatly.

"What? Explain-" his brain clicked, "Oh goddammit! Are you telling me this is a Wind-wing thing?" Daiki's shoulders slumped.

"Yeah... Just go." Riko said.

With a harsh, throat rumbling growl, Daiki stormed off, each step taking him away from the horrid stench that clung to the back of his tongue. He started to smell campfires, and he sucked in huge lungfuls of the smell, but as he passed people by, more smells started to waft into his nose.

There was flowers, the smell of warm sugar, more sweaty boy laced with campfire and musk that made Daiki frown. There was plain ozone and even the smell of freshly cut grass oddly enough and it was so much input into his sinuses that he was starting to get a headache.

"Wakamatsu! Why in all the fucks am I smelling, literally, all the fucks?" Daiki boom as he burst into the infirmary tent without a care, just hoping to have clear air.

"Huh?... Oh... Oh! Wow... I was wondering when that was gonna kick in. You're at the right age for it." Wakamatsu said, having been startled while he worked on the laptop that housed everyone's small medical files that he was compiling.

"What? What're you talking about?" Daiki sneered and crossed his arms.

"Your olfactory senses. They're unique to Wind-wings in that you can pick up pheromone changes once you reach around 15... 16 years old." Wakamatsu said as if it was no big deal.

"Pheromone changes! You mean Kiyoshi smells like hot sex because he's having hot sex!" Daiki howled as his arms dropped to his sides and his fists clenched.

"Did you happen to smell Riko Aida too?" Wakamatsu asked as he simply returned to work.

"No!" Daiki snapped.

"What else did you smell?" Wakamatsu asked without looking up from the laptop.

"Seriously?" Daiki near squeaked.

Wakamatsu nodded while Daiki pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Um... Sweaty boy, musk and pine. That was Midorima." Daiki grumbled as he shuttered.

"Was he standing next to Takao?" Wakamatsu asked plainly.

"Oh, hell no! Are you telling me that... that... that... Those two!" Daiki's skin started to pale.

"No... That would smell like hot sex like you smelled on Kiyoshi. You're smelling familiarity pheromones between those two." Wakamatsu said as he typed a few things on the laptop.

The vein in Daiki's forehead started to throb, "Why?... Why am I smelling that? I don't want to smell that!" His throat rumbled.

"Can't be helped. All Wind-wings can smell pheromone changes. How else do you think they collect their harems with mates that won't kill each other?" Wakamatsu asked, shooting Daiki a sidelong glance.

Daiki stood up stick straight, "I... I'm not trying to collect a harem! Make this shit go away! It's gross!" His voice squeaked again.

"I can't, and don't fret so much. It'll go away on its own in a day, or so once their scent levels out. Out of curiosity and to make sure it wasn't just Kiyoshi smelling, was he standing next to Aida?" Wakamatsu asked, closing his laptop and turning to face Daiki with his hip leaned up against the small, stand only table.

Daiki just nodded.

"Got it... Yeah, they've been at it for a little over a week now. I'm hoping they level out here soon." Wakamatsu rolled his eyes as he started to straighten up around the tent.

"You can smell it too?" Daiki asked, his scowl softening as he plopped down heavily onto the foot of the nearest bed.

"To an extent, but not to your level. For the Aurora-wings, it's mainly to help determine an ailment, so it's not as pronounced." Wakamatsu said, putting a few tools away in the standalone cabinet as his pale tan wings rustled.

Daiki dropped his head into his hands, "Ugh... Ok, tell me this then; What happens if I don't want a harem? What happens if I just want one?"

"That's up to you. It's happened before where a Wind-wing has only taken one mate, but they don't tend to last." Wakamatsu said.

Daiki's heart started to sink, "So what?... I'm destined to be a slut?"

Wakamatsu chuckled, "No... You certainly don't have to be. I'll use my parents for an example. My father and mother were together for... twenty years?... Yeah, twenty years before they died."

"W-What? Wait... What?" Daiki blinked.

"My mother was an Aurora-wing, but my father was a Wind-wing." Wakamatsu said with a crooked smile.

"What? You're half Wind-wing?... And you weren't born at one of those bases?" Daiki reeled as he shot to his feet.

"I'm half Wind-wing in the fact that my olfactory is a bit more developed than a normal Aurora-wing, and that I can fly just a bit faster, and no... I was captured." Wakamatsu said as his smirk started to fade.

"What happened to your parents?" Daiki asked, finding that all his anger was gone, just like the scents in his sinuses.

"They were killed trying to protect me. We were found out when we were living on the outskirts of a small village in one of the southern regions." Wakamatsu said before returning to straightening up just to give his hands something to do.

"Oh, dude... I'm... I'm sorry." Daiki said with a drop in his shoulders.

"Don't be... What's done is done. Only thing I can do now is help people here and hope we make it." Wakamatsu said, closing the drawer he was working on to open the next.

"Why do you not sound so sure?" Daiki asked, just watching and standing still.

"Our outcomes are never for certain. We can fight fate, but sometimes, fate just wins. Midorima and Takao are proof of that." Wakamatsu said, shooting Daiki a quick glance.

"How so?" Daiki asked.

"Think about it; Both are straight males, yet both cling to each other as if they're relationship goes deeper, and in a way, it does. Yes, they're straight, but they're each others' exception." Wakamatsu said as he organized the drawer.

Daiki's eyes opened wider, "That's... yeah."

"Just remember this; Where there's a will, there's a way. Those two will figure it out one day, but I've done all I can do and that was save Takao's ass." Wakamatsu said without realizing what he had said.

However, Daiki did as he started to laugh, covering his mouth in a weak attempt to hide it. It earned him a furrowed brow glare from the Aurora-wing, but it soon faded as his brain clicked.

"Oh, hell... I didn't mean it like that." Wakamatsu sighed and hung his head.

Daiki couldn't talk, let alone stop laughing as he sat down and fell back, holding his stomach from how hard he was laughing.

"Shut up, Aomine! That wasn't meant to be a joke!" Wakamatsu started to fume and glare.

The more Daiki laughed, the more the vein in his forehead pulsed and the more Daiki laughed, the more his fists clenched.

"Can it, Aomine! I didn't mean it like that, so shut the hell up!" Wakamatsu boomed.

"Oh man! That was funny!" Daiki howled through his laughter, rolling onto his side as he slapped the bed.

"I hate you! You are so aggravating!" Wakamatsu snarled as he threw a pillow at Daiki that hit him in the back.

"Oh come on! You do not! You love me!" Daiki continued to laugh as he pushed himself up and tried to breathe.

"Hardly! I'd kill you myself if the Commander wouldn't kill me right back!" Wakamatsu growled as he forcefully shut the drawer and stomped over towards Daiki.

As the noises of the two getting into a fight filtered out into the encampment, those walking by couldn't help, but chuckle, especially the pair whom had just come from the arena to let Shintarō teach in peace.

"Sounds like Wakamatsu and Aomine get along swimmingly." Himuro chuckled with a quick sweep on his long bangs over his left eye.

"Mine-Chin always pushes peoples' buttons. His give-a-shit level is usually pretty low." Atsushi said with a firm monotone as he walked alongside Tatsuya passed the tent.

"Honestly?... Wakamatsu needs it sometimes. He's always so worried with our well-being; He needs to relax." Himuro said, drawing in a long, deep breath that rose him up to his full height, only barely reaching Atsushi's shoulders.

Himuro glanced up at the monolithic Titan to just see him nod as they continued to walk, but when a particularly loud crash came from the infirmary tent, they both stopped and eyeballed the flaps.

Whatever was going on in there, Wakamatsu and Aomine were at each others throats, and that was suddenly confirmed when the flaps of the tent burst open and those very two fell out with their hands around each others necks. Both Atsushi and Tatsuya jumped from the suddenness, but when Daiki's foot came down hard on the sand to steady himself before he fell into a fire, it landed smack on top of Atsushi's primaries.

"Mine-Chin! Get off!" Atsushi howled as he instantly yanked his left wing to get the trapped feathers out from underneath Daiki's foot.

Between the heavy weight standing on top of the feathers, and the strong yank, it was only because of the sand that some weren't pulled out, but when his trapped wing was free, Atsushi frowned hard.

"Mine-Chin! Look what you did!" Atsushi roared as his two giant hands came down on both their shoulders and pulled them apart.

It took Wakamatsu and Daiki a few seconds to realize that they weren't standing on the ground anymore as they tried to keep fighting, but when they suddenly found themselves dangling off the ground by their shirts and under the Titan's furious glare, they froze with eyes wide.

"Look!" Atsushi barked as he arced his left wing into their few.

Their scared eyes shifted over to look at the purple feathers, and the spot where Daiki's foot landed was mangled and embedded with sand. The fibers that were supposed to be connected where split, some were crinkled and the sand was going to have to be combed away; A job that Atsushi very much wasn't looking forward too.

"Now I have to have them preened again! I just did it! This is your fault, Mine-Chin!" Atsushi snarled, his teeth grit together as he fumed at the pair.

"This is it... This is how it ends." Daiki gulped, staring wide eyed at the terrifying Titan before looking back at Wakamatsu whom had the same frozen expression on his face.

"Now now, Atsushi... Don't go killing off our resident doctor." Himuro said, his mouth quirked up into a soft smile as he eyeballed the pair and crossed his arms.

"Hey! What about me?" Daiki yelped.

"I'll crush you." Atsushi growled low.

"Oh, relax, Atsushi. Let them go and I'll fix your wing." Himuro said with a soft backhand to Atsushi's thick arm.

"But Mine-Chin crunched my feathers." Atsushi's eyes narrowed as he glared hard at Daiki still dangling in his grasp.

"I have a sucker for you." Himuro sang.

His brows furrowed even harder as he continued to glare, but after a few tense moments, he opened his hands and let the pair drop back down onto their feet.

"You're lucky Muro-Chin's so nice. Otherwise, it would be a wing for a wing." Atsushi snarled as he cracked his knuckles.

"I'm out! Peace!" Daiki ran off, not wanting to stick around any longer, or risk the Titan's fury.

"Me too!" Wakamatsu squeaked before scurrying off.

Atsushi growled a bit more before looking down at his wing, his brows softening as his shoulders slumped. He had just preened them no more than a day ago, and now, he was going to have to spend a sizable chunk of time plucking grains of sand and streamlining the fibers.

"Stupid Mine-Chin." Atsushi huffed, giving his wing a quick shake to let some of the sand fall off.

"Go sit by the large fire and I'll be right there. I'm gonna grab my preening kit." Himuro said, still softly smiling, but slowly shaking his head at the rather childish pout on the Titan's face.

Atsushi just sighed and started off, somewhat stomping his large feet in the sand with his irritation. He arced the offending wing around and started plucking bits of sand as he walked, but his fingers were just too big. The more he tried, the more his throat rumbled with an irritated growl, and as he reached the large central bonfire that was warm, he gave up and plopped down with a huff.

It was only a moment before Himuro arrived, carrying a soft, medium sized black case that he sat down on the log before taking a seat behind Atsushi whom was sitting like a petulant child. He opened the case and instead of grabbing the ultra fine feather comb, he picked up a candy sucker.

"Here. This should help perk you up." Himuro said as he handed Atsushi the sucker that he immediately took.

With a smooth tear, he pulled off the wrapper and stuck it in his mouth while Himuro started to work on fixing his wing. If the worst was needing to rid his feathers of sand, he couldn't really be angry, as it could have been a whole lot worse. He could have lost a feather, which would have grounded him for some time while it grew back, or it could have broken and he would need to have it plucked which would put him into the same boat. He hated having a feather plucked, especially a flight feather, as that was the largest and when he had been forced to bind his wings, he had had to have it done on more than one occasion because the feather was too damaged to repair. He would live with some sand and preening.

As Himuro worked, Atsushi enjoyed the sucker, but every time he moved the sucker and parted his lips, a lock of purple hair immediately stuffed itself into his mouth. He would rasp his lips together to get rid of it, but his hair was persistent in that apparently, it just wanted to be in his mouth.

"Eh... Stop it, hair." Atsushi grumbled, sweeping his fingers across his forehead to push the long, purple locks away from his mouth.

However, the thick lock that persisted in hanging over his nose refused to stay and the moment he took his hand away, it went right back to hanging in front of his face. Atsushi took the sucker out and puffed air out through his mouth, hoping to blow it away, but the hair was just too stubborn. It was staying put.

"Having trouble?" Himuro lightly snickered as he gently combed the grains of sand out from Atsushi's feathers.

"I need a haircut. Candies don't taste good with hair." Atsushi said dully as he raked a hand back over his hair to leave his hand on top in an attempt to keep the lock where he wanted it.

Himuro set down the feather comb and dug around in the black case, finding a rigid headband towards the bottom that he pulled out and tapped Atsushi's hand for him to move it.

"Here... This'll help till I can get to it." Himuro said, sweeping the lavender locks back before slipping the headband on, pinning the hair out of Atsushi's face.

Atsushi smiled, "Yay... No more hair suckers." He returned to enjoying the candy lollipop.

Himuro chuckled as he returned to riding the feathers of sand, and when he was done, he frowned at them, as the comb had done its job perfectly well, but left each fiber disconnected. He lightly sighed as he pulled out a tiny bottle, flicking its top open with his thumb before dropping a small drop of oil into his palm and smearing it around his fingers.

"I smell lavender, Muro-Chin. What is that?" Atsushi asked, lightly sniffing, but still enjoying his candy.

"Feather oil. It'll help repair the fibers." Himuro said, running his fingers over the feathers to lightly coat them.

Atsushi just sat while Himuro worked, crunching his teeth down on the sucker to obliterate it into tiny rubble. He always loved the earth shattering crunch, as it was a satisfying sound that he had gotten to enjoy such a treat, but at the same time, it made him sad.

The sucker was gone.

"Muro-Chin? Can I have-"

Before he had even gotten to finish his sentence, another sucker appeared out from behind him. He produced a lazy smile as he took it, ripped off the wrapper and without even taking the previous stick out of his mouth, stuffed the new sucker inside.

The only sound between them was the clacking of the hard candy against Atsushi's teeth while Tatsuya worked, and before too long, the feathers had been fixed. They shone from their attention and were so smooth they were like freshly woven silk. He spent another few minutes to examine the surrounding area, if at all to make sure there was no more stubborn grains of sand and when he saw none, it was time to move on to the next task.

He plucked the headband from Atsushi's hair and let the purple strands fall, earning a grunt of displeasure from the Titan before he started running his hands through it to see what all needed to be done. His hair had grown out considerably in their time at the encampment, as it now hung all the way down to his shoulder blades. His bangs were nearly at his chin and as he examined the locks, he saw that there was more than just a few split ends.

"How short do you want it?" Himuro asked as he picked up a normal brush and started to comb.

"Base of my neck." Atsushi said dully and through his candy.

He'd never say it out loud, but having fingers, anybody's fingers, running through his hair was the most calming thing in the world in his mind and with the adage of getting to enjoy candy on top of that, he was in heaven. His ears picked up the soft clipping sound of scissors while his eyes watched the arena as Takao took to wing once more, this time in a single downbeat that lifted him a full two meters off the ground. Even from that distance, he could see that he was covered in sweat, but with the effort of having to learn how to fly as a near adult, he did not envy the boy.

He had only managed to hover for a few seconds before landing on his own, but he still needed practice, as they were rough and more akin to just stopping his wings and letting gravity take over. It was rough, but with more practice, he would get better and better.

Severed strands of lavender fell down his back as Himuro trimmed, running his fingers through more of his hair to pull loose strands and to gather a new thin section to trim. Little by little, his purple hair shortened and when Himuro stepped in front of him and knelt down, he crunched his sucker.

"Now hold still. I've gotta trim your bangs." Himuro said as he combed the heavy curtain of hair in front of Atsushi's face.

"So much." Atsushi grumbled, unable to see through the strands of hair because there was so much of it.

"You have a ton of hair, Atsushi. Have you ever considered adding layers to help thin it out just a bit?" Himuro asked as he started to trim.

Atsushi shrugged, "I don't know. What's that?" He asked dully, letting Himuro guide his head around as he cut.

"Right... Layers it is." Himuro said with a few flips of Atsushi's hair to let it settle.

As Himuro disappeared back behind him, Atsushi crunched the last of his candy and took the sticks out, but when another one appeared, he smiled.

"It's ok, Muro-Chin. You can have that one. I'll take the next one." Atsushi said, still with that lazy smile across his face.

When the next one appeared right next to it, he took it with his usual, lazy and content smile.

The hour had grown late, as those in the encampment settled down after their evening supper. It had been another vegetable dish, as the last of their meat reserves had been used up and with no more information coming out of The Farm from Junpei Hyūga and the others, it was impossible to know when a food truck was scheduled to arrive.

With all that was remaining being vegetables, rice and breads, they didn't have much of a choice.

Despite the limited options, everyone's spirits seemed high as they settled down by the large central fire, but for Kazunari Takao, he was determined to keep practicing.

After his supper, which he had finished, he had returned to the arena to continue practicing lifting off and setting down under his own power. His back screamed from all the use and his wings ached from the hard work, but he had to get it right. He had to stay aloft for longer than a few seconds. He had flown, actually flown when he and Shintarō had fled, so he was getting angry as to why he couldn't do it now.

With a hard grunt and growl through clenched teeth, Takao downbeat his wings with as much power as he could muster, but the more he tried, the less power they seemed to be able to produce. He wanted to fly so badly, was almost desperate for it, but with one more downbeat, his wings finally gave up for good.

Takao dropped to the sand on all fours as his wings lay limp, his heart racing and his breathing coming fast and hard. He was completely spent, completely out of energy and his muscles were quivering so badly that he doubted he could even stand. Sweat dripped off of him as if it was raining and he was starting to feel cold until warm hands came down on his shoulders.

"Takao... It's time to stop." Came Shintarō's deep voice, calm and soothing to help ease Takao's anger at not being able to fly.

"Why can't I do it?... Why can't I fly?" Takao panted out, heavy for breath as his forehead dropped onto his clenched fists and his eyes squeezed shut.

"Because you don't have the strength yet, Takao. You've been bedridden for nearly a month." Shintarō said, his right arm threading itself around Takao's chest and helping him to sit up.

Takao sat back on his heels, still panting and desperate for breath as his head dropped back to stare up at the dark cavern ceiling, offering Shintarō his first real look at just how exhausted he was. His hair was caked in sweat and his pale skin was red and flushed from his efforts. His skin was so hot that it almost felt cold beneath his hands, but he ignored it as he brushed his fingers back over Takao's forehead to push his hair aside.

"It's time to stop, Takao." Shintarō said quietly, resting his palm against his cheek to loll his head to look at him.

"I wanna fly, Shin-Chan... I wanna fly with you." Takao breathed out, forcing himself to even out his heavy breathing as he just let Shintarō guide his head.

"You already have, and you will again soon, but it won't happen in one day." Shintarō said softly, drifting his fingers over Takao's temple to push aside more hair.

"I don't just wanna give up though." Takao said, leaning over to rest his tired upper half against Shintarō's chest.

"There is no embarrassment in falling down. The only true embarrassment is if you don't get up again." Shintarō said, producing a small smile that reached his emerald eyes as he let Takao lean against him.

Seeing that tiny smile that barely curved his lips, Takao felt like he had a weight lifted off his shoulders, that he could finally lift off the ground without trying so hard. He felt that if he had Shintarō by his side, he was whole, a true Hawk-wing and so long as that very Razor-wing was with him, there was nothing they couldn't do.

He was still utterly confused as to why he wanted, was compelled to have Shintarō near him, but whenever he was, nothing he had lived through mattered anymore. He had always thought that his compatible partner would be a woman, someone he could love and cherish in return, but come to find out, his compatible partner was another man. It had thrown him for a loop, but each night that passed where he slept more soundly than ever before, protected and wrapped in this other man's arms, he was finding that he loved and cherished him just as much.

What the fuck is happening to me? He thought as he decided to be done for the night.

Taiga: (Laughing uncontrollably) That was so funny! Oh man!

Daiki: Shut up, Bakagami! Lycanwolff didn't warn me ahead of time she rigged the set to spritz that shit in my face!

Tetsuya: For good reason. She got a legitimate reaction from you for the show.

Daiki: It was disgusting!

Lycanwolff: It worked.

Daiki: You! Pay me more!

Lycanwolff: How about I just pay you.

Daiki: (Growls) Fine.

Atsushi: The break table is almost out of snacks, Lycan-Chin.

Lycanwolff: (Writes check) Go buy more.

Atsushi: (Glitter and fairies) Thank you, Lycan-Chin.

Takao: Ask her!

Shintarō: No!

Lycanwolff: Ask who what?

Takao: Ask her, Shin-Chan!

Shintarō: Go to hell!

Lycanwolff: I'm confused.

Takao: Shin-Chan wants to- (Hand suddenly covers mouth)

Shintarō: Nothing!