Author's Note: First, I would like to thank(again) DalisaY-17 and Shinjiru Kokoro for reviewing. Second, I apologize for taking so long to update. I would have had this chapter up sooner, but it was fairly hard to word at the end while keeping people mostly in character. Anywho, enjoy.

Stage Four: Byakuya

The feathers impacted, exploding out with magic. Not one, not two, but three people went flying. A single feather strayed and hit the sand near Riku, causing her to be blown a metre or two down the beach. Dark, who had taken the brunt of the attack, was pushed violently into the cliff-side, his head and body slumping in unconsciousness. The third, a new, unknown to the battle, was forced away while still on their feet, causing a large cloud of sand to drift upward. Krad sneered, this was the last thing he needed. Someone interrupting him killing Dark. Glaring into the sand cloud, the angel prepared himself to end the new entry's life.

The air settled, letting the stray bits of sand land on the beach. In the centre of the calmed chaos was a wolf. But it wasn't any old wolf. It's fur was pure black, darker than even the moonless sky that could be seen tonight. It's paws were engulfed in a white more bright than even the sun light that shines in the mornings. And it's eyes... they were so dark a blue that they seemed to pierce into one's soul. The beast growled at the white winged angel, lowering itself to the ground. The two stood there ready for just a moment before the battle resumed.

The wolf lunged forward, bearing it's fangs with bloody intent to tear at Krad. With a flick of his hand, Krad sent the creature flying. "Ignorant beast." he muttered before turning back to Dark. Just as he was about to end his counterpart's misery forever, there was a howl, which sounded strangely like 'byakuya', causing him to glance back to the wolf. The light from it's paws danced forward and turned into solid beams, speeding toward him. As a last second reaction, he used his magic to deflect the white beams. "You should know your place!"

x x x x x

While the two fought, Riku's eyes fluttered open. Moaning, the girl pushed herself up with her arms, glancing across the beach. She could see Krad and the wolf as the man was reduced to using his hands to get the creature away. She was confused at the sight and continued to look around until her eyes fell on Dark. Her cloudy mind reconnected him and Daisuke, and the Harada girl stood, panicked. As fast as her body would go, she dashed for the phantom thief. Thankfully, Krad was to distracted to notice her.

When she was within a yard or so, Riku dropped to her knees, sliding the rest of the way to Dark. The sand burned her leg, but she didn't really notice. She was breathing heavy, having not fully recovered from being strangled by Krad. Panting, she shook Dark, trying to raise him. "Dark! Wake up! This is no time to sleep!" Her voice was barely higher than a whisper. He was still breathing, so he was alive, but the black winged angel was not waking up. This is bad. This is bad... This is very, very bad... Her panick faded, adrenaline kicking in.

Without thinking, she grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around her neck. She then stood back up, adrenaline allowing her to lift and support Dark as well as herself. Slowly, but surely, she began to drag the winged man away from the battle scene. It wasn't long after Riku started off that Dark groggily opened his eyes. Not bothering to lift or turn his head, he only he shoes and sand-burned legs to guess at the person carrying him. "You hurt?" he mumbled, though quickly regretted it. Speaking had set off a chain reaction of pain throughout his body.

"Not much. But don't get me wrong; I still think you are a pervert."

"Put me down. I--"

"No. I'm getting you out of here. Besides, you die, so does Daisuke. I'm not going to let that happen." The girl was stubborne, he would give her that. But she wouldn't even give him the chance to walk by himself!

x x x x x

The wolf creature had managed to latch on to Krad's arm with it's powerful jaws, and was staining his white robe red with blood. "Vile creature! Let go of me!" With that, the angel swung his hard hard, forcing the wolf to let go. He then used several explosive feathers to blast the poor beat over the cliff and out of sight. Frowning down at the blood dripping from his hand, the man growled, "Now it is Dark Mousy's turn." It was pretty hard to miss that girl having dragged the black winged man away. Bitterly, he flew off, gliding high up in the sky to avoid being spotted.

It had been silent for a little bit as Riku dragged Dark. The awkward thing was that not only was Dark heavier than her, but he was also a good head taller than her. When he finally started to walk on his own, Riku had to move where she was supporting him from his shoulders to his torso. Eventually, it came to Dark supporting her, as the adrenaline rush finally wore off. At least his body wasn't sore anymore. If they could get to the Harada manse, then they would more than likely be safe for the moment. They would, that is, if Krad wasn't following them.

"Can you still run?" Dark asked Riku in an undertone, not looking back to where he knew his counterpart was. When she nodded, he continued, "When I say, I'm going to let go, and I want you to run as fast as you can to your home." The girl looked to him, confused and was about to ask him the reasoning behind this when he released her shoulders. "Go!" the angel said, taking to the air and flying away in the opposite direction.

She stumbled at first, but, regardless of her exhaustion, she took off running, only to have sand fly at her from behind. That Krad was still after them?! And so, while no more feathers exploded behind her, the Harada girl ran until she was inside her home, before collapsing into a pile of girl and sobs.

x x x x x

After letting go of Riku, Dark made sure to lose Krad. It must have been a good twenty minutes before the homicidal blonde dropped out of the chase. Remind me to thank Hiwatari, Daisuke.

Now can you tell me why you didn't respond?

Because I couldn't. Dark wasn't going to stop flying until he reached the Niwa home, so the conversation was ended there so he would not be distracted. The only problems with that were that one, he was already exhausted from escaping from Krad. And two, his body was starting to get cold, and he was going numb. He was probably bleeding, and hadn't even realized it until now.

After they returned, and Daisuke was back in control, Dark had gone silent again. But this time, the red-head knew why. While the angel did use Daisuke's energy for magic and the like, it was still a drain on him too. Although, he didn't doubt that Dark would be back to normal by morning. He always was.

Currently, Emiko was tending to her son's back. The impact with the cliff had left multiple cuts and bruises. "I see Krad's only gotten more violent." the woman commented, carefully cleaning a rather nasty gash. Daisuke winced, but at least it was something. For a good five minutes, he apparently had no feeling in his back, and hadn't even noticed when Dark's wings disappeared. Now, as they were all aware of, he was regretting that he could feel pain again.

"This is all to convenient to be coincidence. So something tried to protect you when Krad attacked?" Kosuke inquired rhetorically, thinking about what he had been told about what happened. "And Dark was suppressed most of the day. Obviously, up until when Krad attacked anyway, this was planned."

"Planned by who, though?" Towa added. This entire situation was off, and even together, none of them could figure it out. The Hikari artwork sighed, giving up. "We won't get anywhere tonight, so once miss Emiko is finished bandaging Daisuke, we should all get some rest."