When Aisoku awoke he found that it was late afternoon and he was quite alone. It occurred to him that he had never actually seen the other parts of the Estate other than this room. He stretched his wings, almost used to them now, and his arms, then shivered. Scooting over to the pile of clothes Toro had set out for him he put on a pair of socks, shoes and eyed the odd shirt he'd been given. It was vest-ish with long sleeves and four zippers up the back, stacked in two rows vertically.
In the middle of both lines of zippers were two slits that were meant for his wings. After about ten minutes in front of the full-length mirror in the corner he slipped into it and found it was quite comfortable, though a little goth/punk for his taste. He snuck out of the bedroom and avoided the stairs, turning left down a vaulted hallway. The walls were the same robin's egg blue and the hardwood floors were covered by blue-and-white runners that depicted angels, gardens, and feats of architecture he had never seen before. Aisoku skirted the runner- he felt like he shouldn't be walking on something so obviously valuable- and noticed, near the end, a thief had appeared. Well a whole clan of them actually, all Niwa's judging by their fiery hair, in the midst of an epic battle with the Hikari's.
At the end of the battle it showed a man holding a knife to a Hikari woman's throat and Dark restrained by- he crouched down but that had faded away.
The expression on Dark's face made Aisoku cringe. He was screaming, his face was streaked with tears, blood and black feathers littered the ground and- Aisoku bumped into a wooden door and rubbed his head. He glanced back down at the runner. It had stopped abruptly and looked as if the end had been torn off and hastily covered with a border that was obviously from a more recent time. He puzzled over it for a moment- Why would a Hikari rip off the end of this? Then opened the door he'd smacked into, coughing as his lungs filled with dust. The room had obviously been unoccupied for a long time because all the furniture was covered in thin white sheets. He made his way over to a large trunk at the end of the bed and found that it was locked. Running a hand through his hair he retrieved a hairpin and jiggled the lock. After a few moments it clicked, but refused to open. Huh. That's weird… Aisoku messed with it for a moment and accidentally sliced his finger in the splintered wood, "Ouch." and a drop fell into the keyhole. It opened with a hiss and revealed a rainbow of every valuable gem and metal he could think of, and the sight filled his thieving heart with glee. Strangely most were wrapped in thin paper strips that looked like sutras.
"How like your father you are." A voice near the doorway purred and he flushed and slammed the chest shut. "I…"
"Always seeming to know just where the valuables in a house are." He caught the amused tone in Krad's tenor and relaxed a little. "Um, I'm sorry." Krad cut him off with a wave of his hand and crouched next to him, opening the chest again with a drop of his own Hikari blood. "It's natural to be curious with thief blood in your veins, but you should be cautious as well."
His long white fingers began taking out the carefully-wrapped pieces one by one. "Would you like to see my favorite piece? I made it."
"Yeah." He eyed the packages as they began to pile up and caught glimpses of ruby, amethyst, amber, and diamonds. There were bracelets, cuffs, brooches, a sword and knives, cloaks, huge single gems, a helmet… "Ah, here it is." He unwrapped a small, insignificant looking black box and held up the most beautiful necklace Aisoku had ever seen. It made a part of him burn with the desire to possess it. It consisted entirely of rubies, flowing off a gold chain so thin it was almost nonexistent.
"Can I…hold it?" He placed it in Aisoku's outstretched hand and each stone seemed to flow and blend into the next like a living organism. Only by holding it close to his eye he could point out the individual stones. "It's quite safe, unlike some of the other pieces here- that helmet, for instance." Aisoku laid it against his arm but his caramel-colored skin seemed to dull the glory of the piece. Krad chuckled at his frown and explained, "It is meant to be worn by people with light skin- here, I will show you." As he fastened it around his ivory neck he continued, "This was a gift I intended to give the woman I loved. Her name was Elizabeth, and her skin was fairer than mine, if you can believe it." Finally the necklace fastened and dropped into place. The effect was startling- it was as if Krad's throat had been cut and the fresh blood was flowing gently down his marble skin and just over the curve of his collarbones. "You were in love?" Aisoku stopped because of the way it sounded but Krad seemed to agree. "I was surprised, too. Me, of all artworks. But yes." He began unfastening it. "She didn't get to wear it?" and Krad's eyes turned to golden steel. "No. She died… horribly. A part of my heart belongs to her, and will forever."
He dropped the heavy necklace into Aisoku's hand and he asked, "Not all of it?" and his eyes came back to normal, and then softened into honeyed wool.
"The rest is for you."
Aisoku stared at him, amazed, surprised beyond belief, and unsure of what to say. He certainly didn't deserve to be in any part of this… this artworks being.
Krad opened his mouth to speak but shut it as arms wrapped around his upper back and Aisoku buried his face in the curse's chest. "I'm so sorry that happened. But dad you- you don't even know me…" Krad forced himself to move past his surprise and put an arm between Aisoku's wing joints. "My dear child, I know you better than you might think." He trailed off and put his head close to Aisoku's, breathing in that familiar chocolate-lemon smell. Ah, he'd missed him so much. "We used to do this a lot didn't we?" He asked and turned his face to look at Krad. "Almost every day. Dark and I both." Aisoku hugged him for a moment longer then broke the embrace. "For some reason, I feel like you need it more than he does." Krad blinked but before he could analyze the statement Aisoku took a pair of chopsticks out of his pocket. "Oh, here. I found them in Dark's jacket." Krad smirked and took them. "Ah, two thieves working against each other. I'm sure Dark never suspected that." Aisoku frowned. "No, I just don't want him stealing from you." Krad chortled. "Where have you been the last 400 years?" He patted Aisoku's head fondly, "Thank you." reveling as the boy smiled and began helping him pack all the artworks back into the chest. Kiryu watched Krad with a mixture of confusion and fascination. Around his son, Krad was completely different. I am different, Krad suddenly spoke to him. Because I no longer live for one Hikari. I can live for another.
Hey I told you- can't you cut me a little slack? He felt Krad snort. Why should I? Your father seemed to adapt quite well. Kiryu pouted. The way Krad talked about his father bordered on worship. Just as they had packed away all the finery Dark slinked into the room, his leather jacket across his shoulders once more.
"Oi! If you two are done playing pretty princesses-"Krad's eye twitched and in a single movement, he produced one of his more frilly overcoats.
It slid up Dark's shoulders and buckled around him in an instant. "We weren't, because we wanted you to participate." Dark struggled to get the gold-embroidered coat off, the lace clashing horribly with his black pants and boots. "Krad! Get this shit off me now!" He tore at the fabric but it tightened around his form.
He was blushing, and White Wings crooned, "Oh but it looks so good on you, thief…" and after a few seconds of bliss, snapped his fingers and the coat disappeared. Dark gave Krad a death glare. "By golly if Aisoku weren't here I would-" He paused and seemed to notice that something was missing from his jacket. He looked at Aisoku, and the boy pointed at Krad. Dark glanced at Krad and he twirled the chopsticks in his fingers lazily. "Why you little…" He wrestled Aisoku to the ground and his son burst out laughing as he let the thief pin him. "How could you betray your own thieving father! It's-it's unforgivable!" The boy flipped the thief onto his back and as he barked,
"Hey!" in surprise, he whispered in Darks ear. "You gotta be faster than that to pin me…old man."
"Old!" Krad picked Aisoku up by his scruff and dusted him off. "Enough both of you. If you want to engage in more of this pointless physical competition go outside." The Kaitou jumped to his feet, pride stinging.
"Pointless? I've used these skills in heists more times than I can count!"He caught Aisoku under his knees and flung him over his shoulder. "We will go outside then!" Krad followed Dark down the stairs "Not without me." and grinned as Aisoku pummeled Dark's legs fruitlessly. "Let me go!" As soon as they reached the landing Dark unloaded Aisoku and mussed his hair, and he growled. "Right. Well, if we want to go outside, gonna have to do something about these, so you can fit into a coat."
He tugged on Aisoku's grey wing a bit and he pouted. "Teach me then."
"Alright I will." Dark stepped lightly behind him and put both of his hands gently on each wing. "I'm sure you can feel as you stretch them right? And fold them?" Aisoku nodded and Dark continued, "Well, now imagine them folding up against your back as tight as possible, almost so their flat." He did, and felt the thief's hands pressing on them. "Good. Now let's see…" He paused and tried to think of just how to word the sensation of hiding his wings.
"Imagine… pulling them really deep into your back, under your skin. It'll feel weird, but that just means you're doing it right. Unless you're doing it wrong, which I'll inform you immediately." Aisoku snorted but attempted what he had said, and it felt like his wings were somehow crumpling and slipping back under his skin. "Um…" Dark let go of the appendages and patted them once. "There, you got it! First try." His son tried to lift up his arms above his head but the wings were still there, and his shoulder blades refused to pinch together. Krad brought Aisoku's arms back to his sides. "I think it's best if we keep them in for limited amount of time- they're still growing." Still, he was a little confused as he slipped into a snow coat and boots. "But- how do they crumple like that? They're probably a ten-foot span by now, at least." Dark slipped some black mittens on and a purple scarf he'd stuffed into his pocket earlier. "Magic. The laws of mass no longer apply."
Aisoku stretched his back a little- it felt all compacted now, uncomfortable. Once Krad was ready they headed out into the blindingly white snow. Once they got settled Dark was severely tempted to nail Krad with a snowball, as he was sitting on a stump and filing his nails, completely disinterested in his lesson. He combed snow out of his wine-colored locks and tightened his scarf. "Well it seems to me you've already got the main lesson of this down- surprise. So for now, I'm just gonna ask you to take me out the way you would a regular security officer." Aisoku raised his eyebrows. "Wait, knock you out?"
"Yep!" Dark said with a grin.
"Best ya got. Hurry up-" He readied himself, arms slightly up, legs shoulder-width apart. "I ain't got all day and it's colder than Hell out here." Aisoku hesitated.
"But what if I hurt you?" Dark rolled his eyes and challenged, "I dunno…I don't think you can." Aisoku found the 'Krad' part of his personality rearing up at those words and struck out with his foot, aiming for Dark's jaw. For a moment he thought he'd done it- at least until a pair of purple eyes laughed at him and a hand jerked his raised foot, yanking him off balance and into the snow. As he lay there, stunned, Dark put a finger to Aisoku's temple and said, "Pow. Unconscious." Then that warm finger retreated, leaving that spot of skin colder than before. Aisoku pulled himself to his feet and looked at his father with a mix of confusion and admiration. "How…"
"That was pretty good." Dark allowed, stretching. "But it's as I thought. You have the skill, but little experience. You pinning me was beginner's luck." Aisoku adjusted his hat. "It was not!" The phantom thief grinned. "Yeah? Prove it." The continued to spar for the next few hours, virtually all of their matches ending in Dark's favor.
As Aisoku lay in the snow for the umpteenth time, little flakes melting as they touched his hot face, he heard Krad interrupt, "It's getting dark you two. Enough is enough." Dark's face suddenly loomed in front of him and he sighed. "Did I lose again?" Instead of answering his father closed his eyes and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "You did well kid. Now, up we go." He pulled the boy easily to his feet and marched to the front door himself and Aisoku watched him. "Hey Dark?" The thief turned, "Hmm?" and put an arm casually around Aisoku's shoulders. It felt right for it to be there. "If we keep practicing do you think I'll be able to beat you?"
Dark covered his laugh hastily and Aisoku looked offended. " Hey! You could at least lie!" He shoved his father playfully and Dark grinned, then grabbed his hat and pulled it down over Aisoku's face. "Ngh!" By the time he got it off the thief was already inside. He trotted into the warm light and realized, strangely enough, he felt at home here with them. After an impressive dinner of soup, bread and dessert Dark leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. "Ah, that was excellent. My guess- my portion was poisoned." An anger-mark appeared on Krad's forehead. "You insisted watching me make it from the beginning so that's highly unlikely." White Wings swallowed his last bit of soup and checked Kiryu's watch. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the Niwa's?"
"Eh? What time is it?" Dark's eyes were glazed in food-ecstasy. "Seven thirty." The thief grabbed one more bun and stuffed it into his jacket. "Oh, my bad. I was just having too much fun over here. Guess I'll seeya later." He got up from his chair and Aisoku followed him to the door, teasing.
"That's it? No bedtime story? No goodnight kiss? No-" Dark suddenly wrapped him into a very brief, but very tight, hug.
"I'm not really that kind of a person. Goodnight, kid." Aisoku smiled, "You're not a very good liar, Dark. Night." and put Wiz into his father's hand before closing the door. Dark stood on the steps for a moment, recalling another person who had said that to him, and responded the same way he had back then, with her.
"Not around you."Then he flew off into the night. Aisoku spend the end of his day like he usually did, getting ready for bed. Krad suggested that he should sleep in a different room because he was likely to give his tamer a break and he didn't want to startle Aisoku, but the boy said he didn't mind. In fact, he was interested in meeting his parent's tamers. As he lay in bed, later in the night, Krad asked him from across the room, "Aisoku? You're still awake." He flushed; embarrassed that Krad could tell he'd been awake and staring at the ceiling for the past half hour. "Oh, um…it's just that…" He fiddled his thumbs. "I like to read before I go to bed but since all my Hellsing books were destroyed…" Krad got quiet, then murmured. "Go look in your top dresser drawer."Aisoku did and found a single slightly-burned Hellsing novel. It was singed, but definitely still readable.
"Wow. You 're like Oprah." Krad raised an eyebrow. "Dark slipped it in there sometime this morning. I didn't notice it until this afternoon." Aisoku noticed his name on the inside cover and realized this must have been one of the few things that survived his bedroom fire. "Dark did?"
"He did." Krad rolled over and pulled his legs up. "Oh. Thanks, Krad." He heard him mutter something, yawn, and then get very still. Aisoku stretched his wings, happy that he didn't have to keep them under his skin all the time, and began to read. In about five minutes he was asleep with his Hellsing novel as a pillow. He didn't sleep for very long though. During the midnight hour he heard the sound of cloth brushing against itself, just barely. Aisoku opened one eye and beyond the darkness, thought he saw a few shadowy figures near the end of his bed. …Huh? Just as he struggled up into consciousness he heard a whispered,
"Shit he's awake." just before something cold buried itself into his neck. Ouch! He reached up to touch it and felt a cylinder- a syringe? And just as his hand connected with thin metal, something surged up into his head and he fell into a hard, dreamless sleep.
In the bed next to him, as soon as Kiryu had heard the faint curse and awoken Krad had taken over his body, keeping it still underneath the sheets. It was agony-waiting for them to approach. He controlled his breathing, his every movement precisely. They had not even noticed the half-second breathing change as he'd switched to consciousness. But the moment he'd heard the swish of a dart through the air he lost all control.
Krad wait-! He tore the blanket off, jumped to his feet and unleashed a torrent of electric magic onto two of the three intruders. Simultaneously he could feel the flood of fury working against him- his true form began altering his human body, feeding on his hatred. His canines lengthened, his hair broke free from its tie and spread, bristling- the two men tried to shoot at him but the metal guns melted in their hands and moments later they were two black burns on the floor.
Krad turned to the man who was holding Aisoku. Without hesitation he slammed his hand into the man's face. At the moment the pads of his fingers connected five very long, real claws burst from the end of his fingers. The man cried out but Krad felt the cool lip of his weapon just over his collar, digging into his neck.
The man's cry cut off and he stared even as blood from the claw in his eyebrow blurred his vision.
"I can pull this trigger faster than you can kill me." He said, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Perhaps, but I can finish you off before the drug takes effect." Krad found himself impressed at the way the human stared right into his eyes- it reminded him of fighting with Dark. The emblem on the man's arm caught his eye and he memorized it in an instant- a DNA helix that unraveled at the top and bottom to form a circle around the helix. The man understood that the boy in his arms was the only reason he was alive and adjusted his grip slightly. As he did, Krad's eyes flicked down for a half-second, the opportunity the man needed, and the blonde heard a click.
"You-!" Krad pushed until he heard the man's nose crack but knew it was too late to kill him- his vision was already wavering. The man yelped but kept the barrel fully against the curse's neck, even as blood from his nose painted his mouth and chin. "W-we already know enough to know that you-" He swallowed and glared at Krad through ivory fingers. "You monsters are part avian and have a very low tolerance for drugs." Krad swayed, then blinked but it did little to clear the cloudiness in his mind. Instead of pulling his claws out he raked them in a flick of his arm, down the man's face.
Just underneath the scream the wounds elicited he murmured, "I will have my revenge on you, human…" before falling to the ground in a dead faint. The man stumbled out of the room, clutching his face and cursing. Somehow he made it out of the Estate and into the black company van. As two of his other co-workers opened the door they gasped.
"My God- what happened to your face? What happened to-?"
He laid Aisoku out in the back seat, sat down as one of them got out the first-aid kit and gurgled, "Just get out of here before that demon wakes up."