Yamapi lay awake, staring into the dark, listening to the sounds of thunder rumbling overhead and the lashing of wind against the window. Maki was sleeping beside him, her fingers intertwined with his.

For almost half of his life, he almost forgot who he really was, who his parents were and what the color of his wings were. He kept it a secret for a long time that he almost forgot all about it.

Then Erika Sawajiri came and turned his world upside down, bringing back the past he tried hard to forget and threatening the new life he built for himself.

Now, all the people closest to him knew who he really was, asking him about the past he didn’t want to remember and pushing him to lead them, to be their King, to avenge their race from their enemies.

But he can’t. Not because he didn’t want to, but he just can’t. He knew what will be the price if he took the crown, and it’s too high for him to pay and too heavy for his conscience to carry. To be a King, he must be like his father when he was still alive, strong, powerful… and ruthless.

And he can’t be like him. Not when he already knew the truth…

The pounding of the wind against the window was getting louder and louder that he was sure the window’s going to break soon…

Then there was a flash of lightning, its momentary light threw a strange shadow against the wall and he quickly turned around. He saw the silhouette of someone standing outside the glass window. The pounding was not made by the wind but by a person.

He slipped from the bed and quickly opened the window. It was Ryo, wet and looking angry. His sleeves and the ends of his hairs were dripping. “Goddammit Pi! I’ve been knocking on this window for almost an hour!”

“I’m sorry I thought it was the wi-“ he abruptly stopped when he took a good look on Ryo’s face. Something was wrong. “What happened?”

“It’s Tegoshi, another curse attack. He’s in the clinic right now.” Ryo said, his eyes wild. “And Shige is missing.”

“Missing?” Yamapi asked, his heart plummeting.

“You know,” Ryo said, waving his hand for emphasis, “his Gift.”

“Wait, I’m just going to get my things…”

“No, leave it there,” Ryo said urgently. “Tegoshi needs you NOW!”

When Yamapi jumped out of the window, Ryo was already running across the grounds.

He took one last look at the sleeping figure in the bed before he gently closed the window then he sprinted out into the rain, following Ryo in the dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they arrived in the clinic, they found a very pale Koyama restraining a thrashing and Tegoshi in the bed.

Yamapi immediately approached them, putting his hand at the side of Tegoshi’s neck, checking for his pulse. Tegoshi’s eyes were shut, his lips were blue and his hair and clothes were wet, dampening the pillow and the bed sheets beneath his body. After a few moments, Tegoshi relaxed under his touch but every now and then a shudder ran through him, shaking his whole body.

“Where is Massu?” Ryo asked.

“He was looking for Shige.” Koyama was wringing his hands as he spoke. “We don’t know when and where Shige would turn up again…”

“Where is Erika?” Yamapi asked sharply. Erika mustn’t see what he was going to do with Tegoshi.

If Koyama got confused with his question and tone, he didn’t show it. “She brought Ayu back to her room.”

“Ayu?”

“She was with Tegoshi when I found him earlier.” Ryo supplied for him then he returned his gaze back to Koyama. “Why don’t you help Massu look for Shige? We can handle this.”

Koyama gave Tegoshi a worrying look before he nodded at Ryo and dashed out of the room. Ryo quickly closed and locked the door.

“Quick Pi!” Ryo hissed as he shut all the curtains.

Yamapi took something from his pocket and placed it on Tegoshi’s forehead.

The red feather did not look good with Tegoshi’s pale skin. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ryo averted his gaze away from the feather.

“Stand by the door,” Yamapi said as he placed his hand on top of the feather, “if you don’t want to see this.”

He disliked doing this again; especially now that he knew Tegoshi was the son of the Priestess. But he got no other choice; it’s the only way he knew to keep Tegoshi from following Kusano’s path. It’s not enough to break the curse but enough to keep him alive.

Yamapi took a deep breath and willed all his power into the red feather.

At the back of his mind, he knew Tegoshi would hate him if he learned about this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Pi! Pi! Yamapi! Are you alright?” A voice was saying.

“Yamaa!” The voice was now accompanied with a rough shaking on his body.

Yamapi opened his eyes. He was now sitting on the floor, his back propped against the wall. Beside him stood Tegoshi’s bed.

Ryo’s face came into view. “Pi, are you okay?” His eyes were clouded with worry.

Yamapi nodded and Ryo heaved him onto another bed. Then Yamapi’s eyes were focused on something on the floor, the red feather. It had slipped from his hand while he’s unconscious.

“You should’ve not overdone it.” Ryo grumbled. “I want Tegoshi to be okay but I don’t want you to die healing him.” Then he noticed what Yamapi was looking at. A shadow fell upon his face when he looked at the feather. Without saying a word, Ryo picked it up and dropped it on Yamapi’s lap.

Yamapi noticed that the rain had stopped. The room was silent apart from Tegoshi’s quiet even, breathing; his chest moving up and down as he slept. Yamapi was glad to see that he was not shuddering anymore and the color in his lips and face had returned.

“You know,” Yamapi said suddenly and Ryo looked at him, startled. “I’m surprise you didn’t desert me every time I did ‘that’.” He looked at Ryo straight in the eye as his fingers played the feather on his lap. “You hate it, don’t you?”

Ryo’s eyes flickered to the feather then back to his face. “I vowed on my parents’ dead bodies that I wouldn’t abandon you.” Ryo said, his voice dead serious. “No matter what happens, I wouldn’t leave you. Unless I die.”

“Even when I’m the one who caused their deaths.” Yamapi quietly said.

“You’re not the one who killed them!” Ryo said, his voice rising. Then he realized what he did and he lowered his head. “I’m sorry.” Ryo muttered. “C-can you please stop blaming yourself over that and it’s Yosuke who killed my parents, not you.”

“Ryo, you know the truth.”

“Stop it!” Ryo snapped. He was now breathing heavily, like he was restraining himself…

Then they heard footsteps pounding outside in the corridor. Ryo immediately went to open the door as Yamapi put the feather back in his pocket. A second later, Koyama and Massu came striding into the room, carrying a daze looking Shige, his hair damp with rain lay plastered over his forehead.

“Koyama, I’m okay.” Shige said weakly when Koyama forced him to lie on one of the beds.

“Godammit Shige!” Ryo blasted. “That’s the third time this week. Can’t you ing control your Gift?”

Shige smiled feebly under Ryo’s harsh words. He knew, as well as everyone knew, that’s how Ryo showed his affections “If only I could control it,” Shige said, “I would.”

“Where did you find him?” Yamapi asked.

“Up in a tree,” Massu answered him, “stuck in the branches.”

“Nice landing site Shige.” Ryo sneered. “Last time it was in the attic, now up in a tree. I must say you’re improving.”

Shige ignored what he said but the tips of his ears went red. “Wait, guys I want to ask something.” He said brushing Koyama’s hands away from his body. “What are the colors of the wings again?”

All of them went silent at once. Even Koyama stopped fussing over him to properly gape at him. It was shocking to hear the smartest one of them asked a question like that. The silence was only broken when Tegoshi rolled in his sleep.

It was Ryo who first recovered from his shock. “Oh God, now you’re being a moron. Are you sure you properly get your bits back together? Maybe you left your brain wherever or whenever you came from…”

“Please guys answer me,” Shige said urgently, “I want to make sure.”

“It’s blue, purple, black, silver… and white.” Massu reluctantly said, looking at Yamapi when he said the last word.

“What about red?” Shige suddenly said.

Yamapi shook so badly and in an instant Ryo was at his side, catching him before he fell to the floor. He caught sight of Ryo’s face as he helped him back to the bed, it was pale as death and he was sure his face must be as white as his.

“Pi, are you okay?” Koyama asked, his eyes wide with worry for him.

“I’m okay.” Yamapi replied. His and Ryo’s eyes met for a brief moment before Yamapi returned his gaze back to Shige. “What were you saying again?”

Ryo dropped one hand on his shoulder. To others it may look like he was supporting him but Yamapi knew it was a warning.

“From where I came from, I saw pair of red wings.” Shige said.

The hand on Yamapi’s shoulder closed suddenly and gripped it to the bone. “What red wings?” asked Ryo in a barely controlled whisper.

“I saw a man with a pair of red wings.” Shige said.

“But there is no such thing Shige,” Koyama said soothingly, “maybe you saw it wrong…”

“Where did you come from anyway?” Ryo asked.

“Some dark place,” Shige said, his brows furrowed as he tried to remember. “Must be a cave…”

“You said it was dark. Koyama’s right, maybe you saw it wrong,” Ryo said. “There is no moonchild that ever got a pair of red wings Shige.”

“Maybe I did saw it wrong…” Shige said uncertainly. “It was really vague and dark…”

Ryo was right, Yamapi thought grimly as he gripped the red feather in his pocket. No moonchild had ever got a pair of red wings.

__________________________________________________

a/n: hello ^_^
it's been a long time ne~ honto ni gomenasai

i think i've changed this chapter 5 times... rewrite it almost 20 times... *sigh*

i know it's short.. don't worry part 4 will come tomorrow... i'm just polishing the last part ^_^
actually i'm not satisfied with this chapter but it's getting long so i posted it ^_^

you might also notice the new poster ^_^ i really need to change it because of the story... ^_^

thanks to artsyasiancrew.blogspot.com for making the poster and the bg.

p.s. i'm also making another fic... with rhearn [ http://www.winglin.net/fanfic/rhearn/ ] you can still apply for the open slots.. me and rhearn are still fixing the story ne ^_^

more will come tomorrow.. i promise ^_^

can you guess what shige's gift is? i put a very big hint up there ^_^