Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

~~ The Chaos Begins Now ~~

~~ 19. April, Early Morning ~~

The cool water calmed his heated skin and overloaded brain, washed the first layer of sweat and the sleepiness away. It felt good and refreshing. Ryoma lifted his head higher, opened his arms and spread his wings, let the water embrace his whole naked body and enjoyed the feeling of nothing wet sticking on his skin. He had thrown every piece of cloth into the nearest corner as soon as he had found and entered the bathroom. The cloth had been wet from his sweat, all thanks to the unbearable heat under the blanket.

Ryoma shook his head when the memory of a sleeping Yukimura, who had hugged him in his sleep from behind, appeared in front of his eyes. With the dark blue hair covering half of his face, the newborn had looked so much younger and so innocent. Nevertheless, this hadn't been the thing which had caught his attention. The moonlight had reflected something glittery on the pale skin.

It had looked magically, as if a sheet of little sapphires rested on his skin - irregularly and only on certain parts.

It was the first time Ryoma had used the word beautiful to describe another person, a male on top of it.

However, he still didn't know how to react and feel after being so close to the bluenette. He would have pushed the other newborn away but the quick glance at Yukimura's bluish glittery face had stopped him, frozen him. Something hadn't been right, had hindered him from shoving the bluenette out of the bed and especially away from him. The reason? Ryoma guessed, no, he was quite sure it was the glitter's fault. This had distracted him and also the fact that the guy looked a little too much like a woman with those long eyelashes, the small nose and the small lips.

His heart was still racing from the closeness and the feeling of arms sneaking around his waist, shortening the distance between him and Yukimura. The first seconds before his mind had registered what was going on, Ryoma admitted, the feeling of being embraced had made his heart flutter from the warmth and relaxed his body. It had felt like the arms of his mother - secure and welcome - who had hugged him every time he had been mad or frightened. He wasn't a person who showed his feelings so often or so clearly, nor did he speak about his inner turmoil. Even so, his mother always had known his weak moments and had hugged him every time.

She had given him her whole attention, told him he was beloved with one single gesticulation and Ryoma was thankful for it.

It was the stress of his new and unwanted life, he told himself. His mind had played him a prank, so the true awakening of not his mother but a total stranger embracing him like that had been... he couldn't describe it with on word.

It had thrown him off of the rails. He had blushed furiously and had been confused till no end. Maybe the guy had mistaken him for his girlfriend? Ryoma hoped it was something like that. He didn't need a guy lusting after him, especially not someone like Yukimura. The first impression told him enough about the other newborn.

Ryoga's loud snores had brought him back to reality and gave him the strength to get out of his frozen state. He pushed and poked, finally struggling out of the embrace with one swift push with his feet. Yukimura had moaned by the loss of warmth and the sound increased Ryoma's already flushed cheeks. Never had he been so close to another person, expect his mother.

Still, it didn't explain why his heart was beating so fast by viewing at Yukimura's sleeping form. Maybe it was simply due to his early awakening? Or maybe it was the rest of the adrenaline rushing through his veins from the flight last night? Or perhaps it was the fact that the bluenette had been naked and had pressed his bare body against his sweaty clothed body, letting him feel very uncomfortable. Better not think about it or he would never get rid of the heat in his cheeks. It hadn't been his first time to hear such sounds, moans and pants. Ryoga played with girls like toys and had never cared if his little brother could hear him in the next room.

It had been one of those nights when he needed to study for an important incoming test and Ryoga had one of his bunnies in his room to play once again. The sounds coming from next door had annoyed him so much that he told his parents about Ryoga's hobby. Their parents had been angry like hell and scolded Ryoga for his behavior while Ryoma had smirked proudly. His older brother had slapped and threatened him, ignored him for two months, nonetheless, it hadn't been the worst part of this memory. It had cost him three hours of his precious time where his parents had explained him everything very clearly about puberty and the incoming problems. That had been the hell!

Another wave of heat reached his cheeks and he turned the shower at the coldest temperature. Why was he remembering it now? Right now was not the time to think about anything else than his future, his meeting with his grandmother, the revelation of the truth. Ryoma slapped his red cheeks to wake up.

"I see you're already awake and found our private bathroom." Ryoma jolted up, twitched with his whole body from the sudden sound and turned on his heels, glaring at the intruder, scanning the bathroom.

It was large, the architect had surely a flavor for the antics of Greece and their gods and goddesses. The room was one big rectangle with no windows on the walls but had two entrances in the opposite directions. One large window spread all over the roof, would show him the night sky and the moon at night and the dawn in the early morning. In the centre of the room was one big pool which should be the bathtub, Ryoma guessed, and on the walls, the ones where the doors were, was a row of open shower-heads, three on each side. The distance between each shower-head was wide enough for an angel to spread his wings without disturbing anybody. Here and there were small lamps and bottles of shampoo.

No angel to be seen. He narrowed his golden eyes, his view wandered over the room for the second time. Still nobody visible. The bathroom was empty, only his own person being there. "I take it the other two newborns are still asleep."

Ryoma jolted up by the voice coming all too sudden from his left side and also by the sight of Sanada suddenly standing next to him. A hand pulled him out of the icy shower, turned it off while the other hand covered his lower half with a white towel. "Follow me. If you want to see your grandmother, we should hurry. The test will start soon." Was it only his imagine or had the angel just touched his right cheek, gently and with one swift movement? He was confused, shook his head.

Sanada walked forward and unlocked the other door, the one opposite of the room where he had slept in. Ryoma followed as he had no other choice anyway. The bare thought about his grandmother made it hard for him to swallow down the knot in his throat. He wanted to know the truth but also feared to hear it. What if it wasn't what he wanted it to be? What if it was something entirely different from what he had thought and dreamed of?

Ryoma shut his eyes by force to get rid of the scary cogitation and scanned the new room which he had entered after Sanada. He found himself standing in another bedroom. It looked similar to the bedroom where he had slept in, only the color showed the difference. The walls were painted in the color of the morning sky and not dark red. Not only the wall with a connection to the balcony consisted out of glass but also the roof was one big window - similar to the bathroom - and gave the sleeper a good view of the true sky in his full glory. It looked awesome and Ryoma tried his best to not look amaze. He didn't want to show any weakness, not in front of Sanada or his brothers.

Soon enough, a few pieces of clothes were shoved into his hands and he was pushed behind a room-divider. "Hurry up and get dressed. We'll wait on the balcony and bring you to your grandmother." The angel headed to the balcony and it was then that Ryoma noticed the other three princes who were already waiting there and greeted their brother with a kiss on the cheek.

The newborn blinked twice.

A kiss on the cheek to greet his brother?

He would never do such a thing. He shivered by the bare idea of kissing Ryoga on the cheek and shrugged it off, began to get dressed. It was a dark green, nearly black, bodysuit which ended at his knees and elbows. The dark cloth sat tight on his skin, made each of his muscles visible. The white tunic above the bodysuit covered his shoulders and the beginning of his upper arms, fell down his spine and ended barely under his butt. The other end of the white tunic fell over his chest in two stripes, one covering the right side, the other the left one, leaving the middle free in the shape of a diamond.

The outlines of the tunic were colored in the same color as the pattern on his wings. A white belt fastened the tunic around his waist and let the rest of the cloth fall over his manhood. Suitable to the outfit, he wore a pair of flat dark green shoes which resembled the suitable shoes of a Qipao*.

Why did the clothes fit him so well if none of the four seemed to have his size?

Ryoma bit onto his bottom lip, dared to look into the mirror which hung before him on the wall. He felt strange in those clothes. The bodysuit sat tightly on his skin, left no room for certain body parts. Nonetheless, he looked... good, he would dare to say. Strange and odd but kinda good. He shook his head for the nth time today to get rid of the appearing blush and took a couple of deep breaths before he stepped in front of the room-divider and across the room. The newborn used the chance to take one quick glance around the entire room, then walked out onto the now empty balcony.

Ryoma wanted to groan. Empty. The shitty balcony was god damn it empty!

Someone giggled above him and sounds of moving wings grew louder and clearer. He glared up, gazing at the missing angels. "Keigo was right. It fits you very well, especially the colors." Fuji flew to him, so he would be closer to his height. Nevertheless, his feet never touched the glassy ground. The brunette surrounded him, flew around him and - Ryoma knew he did it on purpose - touch his wings briefly. The blue eyes were wide open, pierced him with its strong view and exposed a strange sparkle.

"Syusuke!" It was Tezuka's strict and fierce voice which brought an icy chill over Ryoma's spine. But it was the expression on the other three brothers' face which clenched his stomach together Oh, oh. "Ryoma, let's go. We don't have much time." And without another word the four swung their wings and flew forward, left him behind. He was speechless, not knowing what to do or how to react. Flying? Right now he didn't want to fly, his wings didn't want it either. They simply did not move an inch.

"Nervous about finding out the truth?" There he was again - Fuji. The smiling angel reached out to him with his right hand, ready to offer him help. This gesture was already confusing enough as nobody had offered him help the last couple of days. Why now? "Relax, don't think and listen to our movements, our wings." It happened too sudden, too fast, he had no chance to react. A hand slid over his orbs and turned his world into darkness. Ryoma tensed as he felt Fuji's breath over his face. It smelled fruity and very spicy. "Relax and listen."

For a second he wanted to counter his words with a snappish sentence but understood it was his only opportunity to see his grandmother. The question, if he even wanted to see his grandmother one last time, was pushed out of his mind immediately. So he focused on the wings, listened to their rhythm. Each of his wrists were taken by different hands. Their grip was strong and secure, before he knew it he was already flying and his heart beating in his chest loud and fast. He couldn't suppress the proud smile, even if he shouldn't smile and feel so happy, he couldn't stop it.

The newborn never opened his eyes, not wanting to see those faces or other angels or anything else which could distract and confuse him more. He tried to concentrate on nothing else than the sound of fluttering wings, feared the bare imagination about his grandmother and fears could change his mind. Now was not the time to be scary, even if his stomach felt sick and ached, even if his throat tightened so much it hurt and made it hard to swallow, even if his body grew cold and stiff.

He needed to know the truth, needed to understand whatever game was played here. His whole life was a wreck, a chaos! He wanted his old life back...

Nevertheless, the closer he got to the clinic, the worst it got. His stomach, his head, his heart, his throat - everything ached and clenched together. His feet landed a little bit clumsy on the even ground and he grabbed the nearest angel to steady himself as his feet felt like unmoveable stones. "We're here." Ryoma opened his eyes slowly when nobody moved or said anything else.

They stood somewhere in nowhere, only one big cloud hovering straight before him. Ryoma wouldn't have believed to find a building behind or inside the cloud if two guards wouldn't have stood at the entrance, staying patrol. The guards bowed down by the sight of the member of the royal family and a newborn, hid their confusion behind their emotionless mask and opened the locked and heavy double door. Atobe and Tezuka entered first while Sanada and Fuji followed inside after Ryoma had entered. The double door was closed once more and dead silence dominated the lighted corridor.

His breathing hitched, his palms were sweaty and his heart hammered so loud in his heart, he feared the other four could hear it.

The corridor was small and they needed to walk after one another and fold their wings. The large windows on the walls right and left from him allowed him a good view inside the rooms where naked angels sit in. Crouching, shivering, teetering in their knelt position... but nobody of them made a noise. They all sat there in absolute silence.

Ryoma glanced inside each room, stopped only when a pair of silver orbs glared at him. He couldn't blink or move, couldn't break the eye-contact. His surrounding turned cold and pale. He began to shake from the cold, a chill crept up deep inside his flesh and bones. Oh, god. His legs would give in soon.

These eyes were faint and expressionless, not even rage flickered in those orbs. He lost his balance for a second, stumbled a little to the right and steadied himself with his right hand against the window, lowering his golden eyes. The eye-contact broke up, his view landed unconsciously on the man's bare burnt spine. Ryoma flinched by the painful sight - he couldn't see blood, never could - and his wings rustled a bit.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. The next thing he realized was the creature starting to scream, to shriek and jumped against the window with full force, hurting his own with this action but never stopping. He was pulled back from the window and pushed forward by two gentle, almost emphatic hands.

The newborn opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for air. Questions, so many new questions and most of them would never be asked out of fear. Thankfully or not, Tezuka and Atobe continued to walk. "Every angel is in risk to turn this way. It's something we can't foresee or heal, it happens slowly and only with time does it get clear and visible. They lose their mind, not knowing what they do. These broken angels were too important to kill, so we ripped out one or both of their wings and leave them here, where they can't hurt anybody."

He didn't want to know more, didn't want to see more. He wanted to throw up and run out, leave the whole world behind him. Atobe and Tezuka stopped in front of another large window, turned around to look at him and then through the window and inside the room. Ryoma understood. They had reached their destination and the knot in his throat tightened painfully. His breaths were shallow and thin and he feared to choke.

The sight inside the room shattered a piece of his heart. His grandmother knelt in a corner of the white and nearly empty cell. Only a grey bed and a little black table with a black chair decorated the room - nothing else. She sat in the corner behind the bed, knees pulled against her chest, her eyes directed at nothing on the opposite wall. Her plucked left wing hang down onto the ground as the right wing had been ripped out. Her face was expressionless, her body naked and pale. She teetered on her heels, for and backwards as if she wanted to bring herself to sleep.

The room was large and high with no window to look out and no door to get inside. "Are you sure you want to speak to her?" The voice sounded like a scream in the silence and surprised him so much that he twitched. It was Sanada's voice, coming from behind him. All Ryoma could do was nod, his voice had left him long ago. "Alright."

The black-haired angel rested his right hand on the empty wall beside him, pressed against it and waited. A clicking sound echoed very quietly from the walls and the morning sun flooded his grandmother's room. A hatch had opened on the roof. "We can't help you once you're inside. We can just repeat your brother's words. Your grandmother is just like the one you had just seen. She will not sit still while you want to talk to her. She will attack you, not recognizing you. Do you still want to get inside?"

Did he? He wasn't so sure anymore, the longer he watched her, the stronger was the wish to give in to his fear and walk back. The silence around him made him crazy, everything was creepy and frightening. He wanted to go back, wanted his old life back, wanted to be free and wanted to see his smiling Granny. His sweet grandmother whom he had believed and trusted with his whole heart. "Okay." What? Had he really nodded with his head? Just now? Oh, god! He hadn't noticed it.

Tezuka led him to the end of the long corridor, because there was more room for him to spread his wings, and pointed with his finger up. "Fly up to her cell and be careful. Don't let your guard down." Ryoma nodded, walked past the angel and felt a light clap on his right shoulder. Had the guy just patted his shoulder? Before he could think about it, he forced his mind to focus on the more important things. He blinded out all the noises in and outside his body and mind, concentrated on the memory of fluttering wings and waited for his own wings to swing. They reacted shortly after, moved him up and stopped only in front of his grandmother's cell.

Ryoma swallowed hard and loud, fisting his shaking hands till his knuckles turned white and took one last deep breath before he jumped in. His feet made no sound by the impact with the white ground. From the corner of his eyes, Ryoma noticed the disappearance of the four brothers. They had really left him alone. Without help if he needed...

No! What the hell was he thinking?! It was just his grandmother. She wouldn't do anything bad to him. The person sitting at the other side of the room was his grandmother who would never hurt anybody, especially not her beloved grandson. She wouldn't...

...or...

...would she?

The woman whimpered and teetered further, didn't even note his existence. Ryoma stood at the very end of the room, opposite his grandmother and the bed. He was indecisive about how to start the conversation. The hatch was still open, gave him the chance to flee or to back off now.

"Granny?" No reaction, nothing. "Granny, it's me, Ryoma." Her whimpers quietened down and she began to hum an unknown melody instead. She never paused to teeter. "Do you recog-" Her head snapped to his side from one second to another. Ryoma broke up mid-sentence, staring into fierce and glaring honey brown orbs.

"Ryoma?" She asked and her voice sounded creepy. The way she spoke was too calm and too cold. He didn't like to hear it. His whole body was covered with goose bumps. His grandmother bend her head slightly to the right and then to the left as if she hoped to get a better view at him by moving her head like this. "Ryoma?" She asked again.

"Ryoma." Granny laughed and smiled, but the smile never reached her eyes. They remained cold and faint. Faint... They were as faint as the eyes of the guy he had seen a moment ago. Ryoma began to believe his brother's words. He swallowed hard, kept the sound of fluttering wings in his mind and stretched his own ones a little bit, ready to fly up if he needed to. It was time to ask the question, time to know the truth and as he opened his golden orbs, he gasped in surprise. His sweet grandmother stood in front of him with her arms wide open to hug him.

"My grandson, honey, it has been so long. How many years have past since the last time we saw each other?" She touched his cheek, ignored his shocked expression and the twitch. She stroke the now pale skin with her bony fingertips. "How are you doing? Is everything alright? What are you doing here? You should be at school, studying what humans study." His grandmother let go of him and took a step back, her view wandered over his body, scanned him from head to toe.

"My, how big you have gotten. Are there still those guys who bully you because of your height? Don't let it get to you! You need to be strong, honey, nobody wants to offer you a job if they know you're weak! But don't overdo it! Violence is not a safe option either." She laughed and grabbed his wrists, pulled him with her on the bed where she sat down and smiled at him. This time, it reached her eyes.

She talked without an end, asked him questions and gave him advises. The newborn had no time to answer any questions as she did it by herself. Ryoma tried to stop her gently, asked her to pay attention to him only one second. It was useless, in vain. It was this one question which he wanted to ask and get a reply for. Just one simple answer about his future was all he wanted and needed. The longer he waited the tighter got the grip on his wrists.

He had the feeling it was time for him to go. But first he needed to ask, to have the chance to get an answer. "Granny, was it you who had put the metal in my spine to hinderer those wings-" He pointed at his wings and moved them lightly. "-from growing?"

The chatting stopped, the silence returned. His grandmother stopped to speak, her mouth hung open and her eyes turned back to be faint and expressionless. Ryoma would have thought she was dead if her body wouldn't have twitched so much. "Wings? Ryoma, you have wings?" She trembled. "Are they beautiful? Show me! Show me your wings! They must be beautiful! Just like mine! Show me!"

His inner bells rang in alert. She hadn't seen his wings? She hadn't seen them on his spine?

How...?

Why couldn't she see them?

Cold, Ryoma felt cold. His throat was dry all of a sudden, his lungs burnt because he couldn't breathe. Something was wrong here. Something was not right here! Absolutely not! Her nails dug deep into his skin, slowly but forcefully. Small marks appeared and the pain hit him hard, shook him out of his frightened state.

He jumped up, pulled at a couple of time at his wrist till he was free. He stumbled backwards till he reached the place with the hatch above. "Please, don't go. Don't leave me alone. You can't leave me alone!" Her word sounded sharp and threatening. She grabbed his wrists once more, held him in place and hindered him to go. The grip hurt and her nails, which pierced through his skin, would leave an ugly bruise. His grandmother was far too strong for an old and senile woman. Her breathing was fast, her chest heaving and sinking uncontrolled and out of rhythm.

It was enough for his frightened and confused heart. Ryoma spread his wings unconsciously, pushed, shoved and pulled to get out of her painful grip. With one swift swing of his wings, she let go, scared from the sudden intruder - his wings - and rushed to the furthest corner. The woman slid down the fall, broke together on her knees and shrieked. She covered her entire face with her hands and cried. Tears fell onto the white tiles from under her hands and she began to teeter again, back and forth. Back and forth.

"Ryoma, it's time for us to return to the palace. The others are already waiting." The newborn nodded to the voice which came from out of nowhere, flew up and left his hysterical and mystical grandmother behind. As soon as he had left the cell, the hatch closed and locked again, disappeared. His head hurt, his body ached and the still open puzzle wasn't helping him either. The visit, the sight of his grandmother... it had made everything worse. What should he believe now? Who could he trust?

He landed on his feet, then his knees and bowed down into a ball, covering his face with his arms and pulling at his hair. The headache annoyed him, everything annoyed him. Why was everything so confusing? He wanted to cry, to scream, to destroy something, to do anything to get ride of the pressure of his whole shitty life! He trembled, the knuckles on his hands turned white and the knot in his throat was back, hindered him from breathing.

A hand slid under his chin and lifted his head up till he glared into dark brown eyes. Sanada's eyes and Sanada's lips. Lips which kissed his own as lightly and quickly as a butterfly. "You need to be there on time. We should hurry up, little brother."

*It's the name of the traditional chinese dress.