Au chap 17

Dark, Krad and Aisoku slept straight until Satoshi finally pulled in front of the hotel, his only stops being for gas, a restroom break and to retrieve the tamer's luggage from the ruined rental car. Satoshi shook Kiryu awake who in turn woke up Kyo and Aisoku with a few gentle shakes. Somehow Satoshi and his son managed to get all four of them upstairs in their zombie-like state. Once there however they noticed a problem. There were only two beds.

Kyo rubbed his eyes and a flash of sleepy purple swept across them. "Well how about we pair up then?" As if on cue Aisoku stumbled slightly and had to lean on Kyo's left shoulder for support. "Sorry. Sorry…"

"Guess I'll take him. Just don't slap me with your wings or something okay?" Aisoku nodded and lifted the covers, not even bothering to take off his damp shoes. Once he'd slid into bed and covered his head Satoshi murmured, "I should have a look at that shoulder before you fall back to sleep."He motioned Kiryu over too. Kyo reluctantly showed Satoshi the wound on his back and right shoulder, wincing at even his light touch. The man adjusted his glasses matter-of-factly. "I see. Interesting. I've never seen Krad use that kind of bandaging on anyone but himself."

Satoshi laid his hand flat against what looked like gold spun into cloth and fed it a bit of his own magic which quickly synched with Krad's and tightened the bandages slightly. "Nn." Abruptly purple swallowed the red in Kyo's eyes and Dark murmured, "Why do you still have magic if you're no longer a tamer, Hikari?" Satoshi's cool blue eyes stared into exotic purple calmly.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. But the connection I had to Krad is relatively the same, even after no longer being his tamer. Perhaps you should ask him." Dark gave a little snort and red appeared in Kyo's eyes. Satoshi addressed the little redhead,"I'd imagine you'll be fine in a day or two. Just don't sleep on this shoulder tonight." Kyo nodded and pulled his shirt down, untying his shoes before taking his place next to Aisoku and turning out the light on the nightstand next to him. "Alright, now you." Satoshi said, looking very tired. He examined the puncture wounds around his son's waist with interest and grabbed the first-aid kit he'd received from the hotel staff.

"What happened here?"

Kiryu looked down at his wounds with confusion and Krad lent him a bit of his memory. "Dark summoned this… hellhound thing." Satoshi sanitized and wrapped the wounds carefully and eased him down into the bed. "There. Now go to sleep, okay?" He put a hand on the boy's forehead and brushed away a few wayward brown locks. "I have to call your mother as well as the Niwa's. They'll want to know that everyone is alright." More or less. His son nodded and added with his eyes lidded, "It's been a long time since we've slept in the same bed huh?" Satoshi, who had picked up the telephone on the nightstand, put it back in the receiver with a soft smile. "Yes indeed." He put an arm around his son's shoulders and pulled him close, placing Kiryu's head underneath his own chin.

Kiryu closed his eyes. "Dad… I um, I did see a few of Krad's memories. Why did the Hikari's do… really horrible things to him? I don't understand."

The Hikari looked down at him, then out to the snow slowly falling in the darkness outside the window.

"Because they were afraid of him I suppose. If people don't understand it, and are afraid of it they will usually destroy it. And also… also because he's almost the perfect human, like Dark. They probably became filled with jealousy for his power, his immortality, and his appearance. Not that any Hikari would ever admit it, of course."

He went quiet for a few seconds as he enjoyed holding his son in his arms and wondered if Krad was listening, deep in the recesses of Kiryu's mind.

He felt Kiryu's breathing change into a slow and even rhythm and realized his son had fallen asleep. He reached over and turned off the last light on the other nightstand- the call could wait until morning. "He is a beautiful and terrible creature. And I wonder… how many hundreds of generations it will take to truly 'tame' him." He chuckled and eased down into the pillows. Though, I sincerely doubt that day will ever come.

In a few moments Satoshi was asleep himself, his body half-curled around his son's. Kiryu's body sat up slowly and he opened golden, feline eyes. They searched across Satoshi's face. He could see the slight shadows of wrinkles near his eyes, his forehead, and his neck. Krad didn't bother changing into his own form- it was too much trouble. He just sat in his tamer's body contemplating Satoshi's words and quite frankly enjoying the weight of Satoshi's arm across his shoulders. He felt a foreign pang of sadness as he realized that Satoshi would soon disappear from his atrociously long existence.

It was a strange feeling. Like he was going to lose a part of himself. I think out of all the Hikari's… you came the closest… master. And since Satoshi was unconscious Krad decided to take full advantage and lay his head down on the blunette's chest, curling his hands up under his chin. Goodnight.

When Kyo woke up the next morning Satoshi was in the shower and everyone else was still asleep. He stretched and yawned, rubbing his eyes and trying to get his mass of bright red hair out of the bird's nest tangle it had become. As he reached for the brush on the nightstand he fell onto the floor with a dull clunk. "Aow."

Hey Kyo. He heard Dark inside his head, just as sleepy but undoubtedly more put-together and graceful. There was a hint of amusement in his voice as well but Kyo decided to ignore it. For now.

Mornin' Dark. Whadya want this time? He heard Dark chuckle as he raked viciously at his hair, tears welling in his eyes. How was it that the thief was able to fly through a freaking snowstorm and come out with perfect hair, while even one night of good sleep caused his to become hopelessly tangled?

It didn't make sense. Nice hair kid. It suits you. I wanna play a little trick on Krad. Hand me the controls for a minute willya?

Kyo groaned but Dark could feel his curiosity. Oh yeah? What kind of trick? Again that chuckle and with it, rubbing of the hands in an evil manner. You'll see. Kyo rolled it over in his mind for a moment. On one hand he really didn't want to give up control again so soon in case Dark thought he could just do whatever he wanted, all the time. On the other hand of course, he had some of the best tricks up his sleeves Kyo had ever seen, and Krad certainly seemed like the kind of person who needed a little … entertainment every once in a while. Alright I'll give you ten minutes alright? Ten minutes only. He ran his teeth along his braces decisively.

Yes sir. Dark saluted him merrily and let the transformation take over. Once Kyo's body had settled he ran the brush through his own hair a few times, not because it needed it but because it gave the locks a nice, feathery shine. It looked light the eyesight in his right eye was back to normal. His left eye however, was still black. Now if only I could get rid of these stupid braces… Maybe I'll get ahold of some pliers when we get back and do it myself…

Kyo squeaked out, Wha..what? and Dark snorted. I'm kidding. He straightened Kyo's red and orange-striped pajamas and went over to where Kiryu was sleeping. "Hey Kraaaaaddd…" He combined the seductive whisper with a long poke to the boy's arm and waited. Kiryu's eye fluttered open and soft honey-colored golden showed briefly.

"Hnn…" He pulled away from Dark's touch and muttered, "I'd give you the message but I'm afraid I'd get pregnant." then pulled the covers over his head and rolled over. Dark stared. And stared and stared until finally his brain finished processing and fell down between the two beds laughing so hard he had to hold his ribs to keep them from cracking apart, his legs twitching spastically. Aisoku scooted over to the edge of his mattress and watched his father writhing on the floor and waited until the laughter had died down enough to ask, "Uh- what are you laughing about?" Seeing Aisoku only made it worse. "Pahaahaha! Oh my God… oh, oh mercy please… oh shit ahah…" The noise had woken Kiryu up too and since Krad was assuming that Dark was laughing about something to do with himself he came to the forefront, his eyes flashing. "I hardly see what is so amusing that it needs to wake up all of us from our slumber, thief." Dark's face was red, his usually immaculate hair mussed and tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes.

"I'll tell you when you're older." He said to Aisoku, then straightened himself up next to Krad and whispered something in his ear. Krad's face turned into a mix of shock, embarrassment and horror that Aisoku had never quite seen before.

"I- I said that? You must be mistaken." Krad crossed his arms and lifted his chin but the blush on his face told Aisoku he did believe Dark… a little.

"Aw c'mon Dark!" He whined, slowly sliding out of bed and pulling his pajama shirt down, which had ridden up on his belly while he was asleep. Actually it wasn't his- he'd borrowed it from Kiryu and the dark blue made his coloring stand out oddly. Dark shook his head and put a finger to his lips, his eyes glittering. "Adults only Aisoku. Sorry." Just then Satoshi emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around his head and his pajamas slightly steamed. He blinked at the three of them. "Good God did you three just get up?" He checked his watch.

"You know that they're closing breakfast in ten minutes don't you?" Dark put both hands on the side of his head. "Why the hell didn't you tell any of us that earlier!" He stormed past the Hikari and out the door, not even bothering to grab a room key in his haste. Aisoku and Krad were right behind him, Krad's left hand snatching up the room key on the table before the door slammed shut. Satoshi sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed, slipping on black socks and picking up the phone. "Kids these days…" Once all three of them had arrived at the breakfast bar, chaos ensued.

Dark attacked the cereal section while Aisoku and Krad went for the bagels and pancakes, then vice versa until they had stripped the setting of all major food, leaving only yogurt, milk and eggs behind. As they were accomplishing their mission Aisoku noticed a girl in the corner kept her eyes on him, while most of the other women's gazes were on Dark. It was a little unnerving. They scrambled back up to their room, Dark giving Krad a playful shove along the way and receiving a pancake to the face as punishment. Krad swiped the card and held the door open for them until they could get the massive amount of heavily weighted plates into the room. Once they had he shut the door with his foot and set his own plate next to Aiskou's, who was already tucking into his toast and jam.

"Ah man I'm starving!" Dark exclaimed just before wolfing down what should have been a ham and eggs serving for four people, scarcely taking a breath before diving into his cereal next. Aisoku paused and watched him with a mix of fascination and disgust.

"Um, dad… shouldn't you slow down a bit…?" Dark swallowed and coughed for a few seconds.

"Can't. You jealous?" Aisoku snorted through his nose, "Psh, no. I could beat you in a food eating contest any day." Dark raised his eyebrows and set down his utensils. "Oho! Do I detect a challenge from my little protégée?" Krad interrupted, now in his own form, "You do know that's a bad idea right? Aisoku probably wasn't fed much at that …facility." His son touched his neck gingerly. "Yeah, not much…" He added with a little spark in his eye, "Until next time, then." and saluted Dark with his knife. Dark huffed, "Fine. You'd better be up for the challenge, shortie." He reached over and ruffled the boy's blonde hair, his eyes on the wounds lacing Aisoku's neck. "We'll fix those up once we get some juice back okay."

Satoshi, now fully dressed interjected, "Here, let me take a look." After a moment a soft blue light, a different shade from Aisoku's emanated from the Hikari's hand and the angry red marks on Aisoku' neck faded almost completely. He wrapped a hand around his neck and breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh. Thank you." and turned back to his two parents. Satoshi gave Krad a look that clearly said you'd better change back soon. and tapped his watch before going to back his things. Aisoku asked just before taking a swig of milk.

"Oh, and I meant to ask- how come that once girl kept eyeing me in the breakfast bar?"

Krad opened his mouth but somehow Dark interjected, "'Cause she thought you were sexy."

Aisoku choked on his milk and his face went red. "W-what?"

Krad shook his head and decided to finish his pancakes, drowning them in syrup when the thief wasn't looking. Who knew what he would do if he found out Krad had a sweet tooth. Aisoku finally managed to breathe again and Dark continued, "You can't mistake that look. Seen it a hundred times. Those flashing eyes, those flushed cheeks, those trembling lips…" He reached across the table and put a hand under Aisoku's chin, turning it gently to the right and then to the left. "Yep, I don't blame her. Yer gonna be quite a looker in a few years or so. A ladykiller, I'd even dare say." As he leaned back to enjoy some bacon Krad commented smoothly, "Though I'm sure Aisoku will hold more respect for women than you, mousy." Dark raised his eyebrows.

"I have plenty of respect for women! It's why I try so hard to give them all time in my company." He grinned and ended the sentence by taking a long satisfied glug of orange juice. "How come you call him that?" Aisoku asked Krad curiously.

"Hmm? Oh… I suppose it's because I'm always chasing him. You know, like a game of cat and mouse. That one just happened to stick."

Wiz, who had still been sleeping crawled up into Dark's lap and he stroked the soft white fur. Dark finally put his utensils down and leaned back, putting his feet up on the edge of the table. "Aah. I feel so much better." Krad pushed Dark's feet off the table in one clean swipe. Dark raised an eyebrow and put them back, grinning that wolf grin. Aisoku watched the exchange and as Krad swiped Dark's feet off a second time couldn't help but say,

"You know, you two seem like … you used to be worst enemies."

Dark blinked and Krad said softly, "Well, more or less. But things changed between us once you came." Aisoku blushed slightly. "Oh…"

Krad leaned over and kissed the top of Aisoku's head, his warm breath moving the silky blonde hair. "You are very precious to us. You always will be."

His blush deepened and he gave Krad a playful shove, "Alright, no need to get all lovey-dovey about it." and Krad's eyes softened until they resembled the finest golden wool. "Very well then. But you must allow me to lavish affection on you soon, in light of the fact you are my only son." Aisoku smiled happily. "Alright."Satoshi tapped on the table. "I don't mean to break up the reunion, but we do have a plane to catch. Please pack up your things, everyone."

All three of themchanged out of their pajamas and soon enough they were on the plane back to Japan. Kyo had the window seat, with Aisoku beside him and Kiryu and Satoshi just across the hallway. "Dammit, I wish I'd brought spare batteries for this thing." He snapped the lid of his cd player shut.

"Can I see that for a minute?" Aisoku asked politely.

"Hmm? Of course. I already tried the old put in the batteries in different spots trick though. I think it's-"

"Here." Kyo looked down and did a double-take at the now full battery of his red cd player. "Hey- that's a neat trick- how did you do that?" Aisoku flexed his own fingers. "Not sure exactly. Just wanted to try it." In fact, he'd almost broken the Niwa's cd player. A tiny bit more of his power and it probably short-circuited. Or exploded- Aisoku wasn't entirely sure which. He took a sip of apple juice and leaned forward to look out the window. "Do you think we'd be able to fly that high and still be able to breathe?" Kyo paused for a moment and looked at the vast ocean underneath them, white caps forming from the strong wind. "Dark says it'd be a stretch for him at this height. He says you could probably do it no problem though."

"He thinks so huh." A small smile crossed his face. "I'm looking forward to all the time I have to spend… with both of them." His smile turned into a grimace of dread as he continued, "Emiko's going to be so mad at me. She's probably going to put me in 'special' training for months." Kyo put a hand on his shoulder. "It won't be so bad. What kind of obstacle course does she usually have set up?" Aisoku rattled off the usual sets and Kyo blinked.

"Woah- she uses a Debac Z-7? Even I still have trouble with that one. How do you get back the third set of sensors?" Aisoku put a hand on his chin. "I'll tell you if you tell me how to get past those crocodiles she sets out." Kyo put a hand on the side of his face.

"Croc-…oh, right. Dark still remembers that. Good times." Actually, it wasn't. The thief thought to himself. "Right, so, the first thing you have to do is…"

Krad listened through Kiryu at the two thieves' chatter, storing away what he thought was useful and spending the rest of the time trying to figure out what else Kiryu had picked up from Dark's mind. He wasn't having much luck. What are you sneaking around here for, Krad? The blonde startled a bit as his tamer addressed him directly. Kiryu brought a finger to his temple and tapped it with amusement. Not worried are we? Krad drew back and collected himself, forcing his ruffled feathers to relax.

Of course not. Silly human. As if you could worry me. The only thing that had caught his attention was the fact Kiryu was suddenly much better at sensing and keeping Krad out of his mind.

So what else did you manage to snag from the thief's mind? You seem to have the makings of a decent thief yourself. Kiryu covered his mouth to hide his smile from his father and said mysteriously, You'll see. For the first time Krad felt a slight tremor of apprehension at the boy's words. But he ignored it and retired to a corner of Kiryu's mind, sulking. The chatter of the two boys washed over his mind and he fell into a deep sleep.

A few hours later the plane landed and the four of them crawled into the van, Aisoku falling asleep again almost as soon as he'd clambered into the front passenger's seat. Kyo let Dark take his form for the simple fact that he was being irritatingly chatty. "And so then she said- she said to me, me! Can you believe that? Of course you can't. She goes-" As he chatted his fingers tapped on the armrest and his leg vibrated with nervous energy, ready for his next heist. He'd managed to get a hold of Kiryu's longest black jeans, t-shirt and a silver-fur trimmed jacket that fit quite nicely across his pectorals.

He kept it half-zipped, partly for keeping his temperature cool and partly in case a fine Japanese woman happened to recognize him.

Since Dark wasn't talking directly to Kiryu he'd managed to transform into Krad a full five minutes ago and so far, the thief still hadn't noticed.

Krad stroked his long sumptuous hair and let his other half talk away for a few more moments before interrupting, "As much as I enjoy hearing the melodious lilts and dips of your voice, my dear other half, I feel that we should talk about something else…" He leaned in towards Dark and the thief leaned back until he couldn't anymore, thoroughly confused at the blonde's sudden change in attitude.

"Uh- Krad?" Krad's full pink lips parted into a smile, his golden eyes like the most precious polished jewels, and his long white eyelashes fluttered seductively. His long pale hand settled on the thief's tan cheek and stroked across his skin. Krad's long silky hair trailed down Dark's torso and tickled the side of his neck. Underneath the disgust and growing terror Dark also felt a slight squirm in his gut- Krad's damn femininity was what was making him the most uncomfortable.

"Dammit Krad!" Krad's grip tightened on his chin and Dark felt a very wet warm tongue draw a thick line up the side of his face.

Hot breath fanned across the thief's face as Krad purred, "Say my name again."

"SEXUAL HARASSMENT!" Dark shoved Krad to the other side of the van with a curse and summoned up two feathers between his fingers, making the sign of a cross. He complemented this with a belt of curses and wiped Krad's saliva off his face. "What the hell is wrong with you!" As he continued berating the blonde though, Krad broke out in very un-Krad-like laughter and transformed back into Kiryu smoothly, still holding his sides.

"Oho man did you see the look on your face! Priceless!"

Dark grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and shook him, "So you're the one behind that you sneaky little bastard! How dare you use Krad's form to taunt me like-…" He stopped shaking the boy and admitted, "Although, it was a pretty good joke I suppose. But that does not by any means excuse you from punishment." He raised one finely arched purple eyebrow. "Out of curiosity, where did you learn that ol' trick?" Kiryu pointed a finger at the thief and grinned, "Learned from the best. You'd be amazed what you can pick up in fifteen minutes in your mind, Dark."

The phantom let out a rather girlish squeak of surprise and dropped Kiryu's collar. " Wha-what!" Then he grabbed the boy's collar up again.

"Tell me what you know! You better not have tapped into those memories of that time in that one brothel where-!"

Kiryu laughed evilly and put a fist in the air, "Especially that one brothel that one- wait, what?" he lowered the fist slowly and stared at Dark.

"What?"

Dark flicked a finger across his nose. "Gotcha."

When they arrived back they decided to drop off Aisoku first. Emiko and Kosuke were waiting outside, his arm around her shoulders. She was wearing her usual pastel skirt and white tee. Aisoku barely was able to make it until the car had fully stopped. He unclipped his seatbelt and threw the van door open, running and throwing himself into Emiko's arms, his wings itching to be free. But the feathers hadn't grown back on them all the way yet and he didn't want to worry her. Without a doubt she'd already had been worrying enough. She looked grayer than he'd remembered- he could tell even though she dyed because the grey parts were darker red.

"Aisoku! Oh thank god you're alright, my dearest boy!" Aisoku put his arms around her gingerly and winced a little. "Emiko... I can't breathe…"

She petted his hair, ran her hands over his face and paused at his neck. "Aisoku, what happened to your neck?" He looked down and put his hand over hers, gently drawing her hand away. " I'll tell you later. I just want to say goodbye to Dark and Krad first." She gave a tired little sigh and smiled at Dark. "Well, alright."Her gaze went to Kiryu who was still in the van. "Not too long though." She and Kosuke turned and went back into their home.

He felt Dark's heavy hand on his shoulder and his grip tightened and loosened. "Well, we'd better go kiddo. I'm sure Dai and Riku are missing Kyo just as much." Aisoku turned around just as Krad slid elegantly from the car and stood by his other half. Dark shot Krad one of the strangest looks Aisoku had ever seen on the thief's face and one dark gold eyebrow arched. "What? What's that look for?"Krad demanded. The corners of Dark's mouth turned down in a slight grimace. "I'll… tell you later…" Aisoku turned around and put his arms around Dark in a hug.

"I guess this is goodbye then." The thief put his arms around Aisoku too, "Hmm, for now." He nuzzled Aisoku's blonde hair and within his arms the boy could feel power-it was like being hugged by a well-behaved cougar. He wondered if he'd inherit that same eased out of the embrace and suddenly out of nowhere the two of their minds connected, just enough for Aisoku to catch a single strand of Dark's thoughts.

Try not to get yourself kidnapped again until blondie and I are all healed up for god's sakes. Little troublemaker…

Aisoku blinked in surprise. It was quite a shock to finally hear the thief's voice in his head but so far Dark didn't seem like he'd noticed.

The boy put his hands on his hips in a very Dark-like manner.

"Well excuse me for being a troublemaker- I did spring from the loins of one of the best in Azumano." Dark flushed as Aisoku laughed and Krad brought a gloved hand over his mouth to hide his own laughter. "Tha-that is not what happened!" Aisoku felt the brief connection to Dark snap closed but kept the smile on his face- he didn't want to worry them and somehow knew that that was the most connection he'd ever get with the black-winged phantom. And that was alright. As it was his mind was a bit crowded already, with Krad popping in and out and the Black Wings now contently asleep in the back of his mind as his 'other self'. It was a little unsettling actually feeling the artworks presence in his chest… He startled a little as he felt arms around his shoulders but relaxed as Krad murmured, "You looked deep in thought. Is everything alright?" He leaned back into the angel a bit, sincerely sorry that they were being parted again. "Yeah…" It felt like the time he'd spent with his two real parents had gone by so fast.

"We should all go out flying sometime soon. Just the three of us- at night, so no one can see us."

Dark straightened up a little, "Sounds like a good idea to me!" and Wiz crawled up onto his shoulder with a soft, "Kyuu." Krad's long hair tickled the back of Aisoku's neck and his sharp lemon smell surrounded him. "It sounds like a wonderful idea." Aisoku was embarrassed to find he was getting a little choked up at them leaving again. He'd have to wrap this up quickly.

Krad could sense the change in Aisoku's mood and gave the boy a friendly squeeze, pairing it with, There now. You know that I will never be more than a moment's thought away, if you are the one calling.

I know.

He pulled himself together and stepped towards the doorway, back to the way things were before.

"Alright then, goodbye, dad… and dad. Thank you both for coming to…" His eyes became bloodshot.

"He kept saying you wouldn't come, you know. That scientist. But I… I knew you would."His last sentence was barely above a whisper. The two halves shot each other a look and Dark murmured, "Aisoku…" But Aisoku closed the door and managed to get into Emiko's arms before losing it completely.

Lady Fai- Yep, definetely a few more effects from the mind merge than Krad would like. ^^

FF19- I already answered your review for the last chappie, so there! Hmph. XD

IntelligentFerretFreak- Yep, thats why I wrote it. He's a funny guy, that blonde. And... I think Dark will still manage fine. ^^