Kuro bolted upright. He was panting and he could feel sweat in his hair. 'It was just a dream.' He let out a sigh of relief and looked beside him. Shiro wasn't there like he should have been. He couldn't stop another cold tear from running down his cheek as a new fear settled in. 'No!' He jumped to his feet and nearly fell down the stairs as he hurried to the kitchen. "SHIRO!"
"Kuro?" Shiro was at the table with Daisuke and they both were staring at him with wide eyes. Kuro leapt to Shiro and hugged him tightly. He stayed clung to him for a while to make sure he wouldn't disappear. "Um…what's wrong, Kuro?"
Kuro let his brother go, "n-nothing. Sorry." Despite the terror the dream inflicted upon him, something told him he shouldn't mention it to them. He didn't want to take any chances.
"Are you sure?" Shiro asked with a worried look in his face, "You're covered in sweat."
"Y-yeah…Daisuke?"
Daisuke smiled warmly at Kuro, "Huh?"
"You're going to be late if you don't leave soon."
Daisuke glanced at the clock and gasped, "oh, no! You're right! Thanks." He grabbed his things and ran out the door.
Shiro sighed angrily, "Now that he's gone, did you want to tell me what's going on?"
"It's nothing, really! I'm feeling a lot better now." Kuro forced himself to smile.
Shiro smiled back and grabbed Kuro's hair, "time for me to beat you at poker! Again." He laughed and pulled Kuro along.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Kuro sat upright on his mattress and glanced at the clock. It had been a week since the accident in the restroom and life had gone back to normal. He and Shiro had shown no signs of aging. They all assumed the aging was just the Angelbow's way of catching up with Dark and Krad. After the world inside the Angelbow collapsed, it was left with very little power. Still, it attempted to duplicate Dark and Krad. As a result, the twins were created younger than they should have been. Now that they had matured to the age the Angelbow created them to be, the Niwas guessed they would stay that way like the angels.
Kuro wondered what would wake him up at 2 o'clock in the morning. Until then, he had been enjoying a restful, dreamless sleep. He yawned and buried himself in his blankets to try and sleep again. It didn't work; he wasn't tired anymore. He slowly got off the mattress and looked out the window at the sleeping city. He was about to try sleeping again when he thought he saw something moving outside. He knew it wasn't smart to investigate things outside at night, but his curiosity got the best of him. 'I'll just look around from the roof. I'll be fine up there.'
Kuro climbed out into the cool air. His eyes were not as suited to the dark as Shiro's were, but the moon was bright that night. He scanned the city around him, but was disappointed by its stillness. He sighed and sat down with his legs dangling over the edge. It wouldn't hurt to linger for a few minutes; the cityscape was beautiful.
After a while, he began to get chilly. 'That's enough for tonight.' He stood up and hugged his arms close to his chest. He was about to go back inside when he heard a noise behind him. He kept still to listen intently. The noise didn't repeat itself, but he heard a footstep. He shivered, 'oh no!' He turned his head slowly and discreetly, hoping to give the intruder some sense of security. 'Maybe if he doesn't know I know he's there, he won't bother me.' Even with his head turned as far as he dared to turn it, he couldn't catch a glimpse of the person behind him. Whoever was there stayed in place. 'Maybe he hasn't seen me?'
"Your name. It's Kuro, isn't it?"
Kuro recognized the voice from the terrible dreams he had been having for days. He held his breath as he turned just enough to see some the other person's shadow. "Y-yes…" The dark shape revealed that his visitor was tall and male, but his shadow seemed disfigured in a way that kept Kuro from discerning anything else about him.
"Where are your wings? You do have them, don't you?"
Kuro kept himself from visibly reacting to the question. "I don't know what you mean."
"You don't need to be afraid of me, Kuro. I mean you no harm." Kuro only stood there, wondering what he wanted. "Kuro," the visitor began, "you may look at me if you wish."
"And if I don't?"
The intruder laughed light-heartedly. "Dark's influence is obvious. Of course, you're not nearly as obnoxious as he is." Kuro glared at the shadow, wondering how he knew his father. They were both silent for quite some time before he finally sighed and turned to look at him.