Rin heard voices above him.

Weird. He should be dead. Maybe Izumo was with him too.

He tried to look around, but he couldn't move his body. He was laying down, for some reason.

Suddenly, he sat up, gasping for breath.

Hands. Hands grabbed him and held him and he panicked, struggling. Where was he? He was held down until someone slapped him across the cheek. He knew that hand.

"Oh good. It seems you've regained full conciousness." Angel smirked down at him. Rin's eyes immediately filled with angry tears and he strained against the people holding him down.

"No! No! You bastards, we were going to die anyways, why couldn't you just let us die?" Rin cried in anguish. He looked to the side and saw Izumo, watching him with a dead look in her eyes.

No.

We're not hopeless.

We can't be!

Rin stared into her dead eyes and his body slumped against the cot.

We are.

"Yes, you've realized. Lucky for you, you two troublemakers will be executed together! Isn't that sweet?" Angel clapped his hands with a bright smile. Then, he leaned close to Rin. "So you'd better thank us when the time comes, Scum." He said lowly.

Rin kicked kneed him in the chest. Angel lurched away from him and coughed for a minute. "Huh. This one's still got some fight in him. Let's see what happens if we do.....this?" Angel pulled him up and grabbed both wings. Rin froze.

"No. You can't." He said, voice unwavering, determined even though there was no hope left for him and Izumo.

"Oh? And why can't I?" Angel wondered. "These wings are all I have left. I didn't want them, but I realized they were a gift. And I know to recognize gifts when they're given." He answered. He held Izumo's gaze as he said it. His eyes flicked to the infirmary door that was left open, revealing the tiniest sliver of the outside world, then flicked back to her. She started silently and looked, noticing the door. Then she turned to him and shook hee head discreetly.
Angels head swivelled icer to Izumo. "Aw, that's adorable. Two freaks fall in love in the days they spent in prison? Disgusting." He grimaced.

"Excuse you, she's more beautiful than you will ever be, Mr. I'm-a-walking-Pantene-commercial. She's more beautiful than the sun is the moon or any flower in this world and I would rather die looking at her than anything else in this world." He defended her with a feircity he didn't know was still in him.

Angel groaned. "You make me suck. Your execution is in two days. Do try not to be late!" He called over his shoulder as he left.

Then Rin and Izumo were manhandled back to their cells, which had been scrubbed clean and smelled of chemicals.

Rin stared at where his blood had pooled and knew Izumo was doing the same.

"Never thought I'd be so upset over unsuccessful suicide." Rin tried to joke. A choked laugh from the Fox girl. "I know right?" She answered.

"We almost made it." His voice was quiet, but clear in the silence. "We did. They had to bring us back. Just a few more minutes and they wouldn't have had time for transfusions." Izumo sighed. Rin sighed too and they say there in silence.

The rest of the day passed by with no Shima and no food in their stomachsand. They were too miserable to eat.

§~•~§~•~§

Their depression worsened during the next day. They stared into space as their bodies slowly got weaker and weaker. They forced themselves to eat and drink, but they still felt empty inside. They were scared to think about what happened to Shima.

§~•~§~•~§

That night, as they stared off into space, too anxious to sleep, they heard rustling. Rin looked up and so did Izumo, her white fox ears perked at the sound.

"Guys. Are you okay?" A whispered voice greeted them. They meet out a sigh of relief as pink hair appeared before them before he put his good back up.

Rin reached for him first, then Izumo. He grasped their hands tightly. "You....we thought they'd killed you or something, we didn't....we didn't....." Rin couldn't finish as a lump formed in his throat and his voice cracked.

"No! No, they sent me home for a day. I came back yo see if you guys were....anyway, they came just as I was coming out if the bathroom and I just....I couldn't keep it together. Angel wanted to punish me for letting it happen, but Paladin Fujimoto stepped in and said the classic when you gotta go, you gotta go. He sent me home to recuperate after a faked panic attack at the sight of you guys. I heard the news and came back as soon as I could without it being suspicious." He explained to them, squeezing their hands. "And I happen to have these." He jingled keys on a ring.

He unlocked the cells, then used a torch to melt the chains around their ankles.

They snuck around in the dark. They almost got caught three times because of Rin's wings and Izumo's tails. There was no black cloth big enough to hide them. Luckily, Shima was good at Cops and Robbers and could sneak around easily. He knew the way out. The door squeaked when they opened it and they ran frantically, like little kids scared their mom would hear them sneaking food from the kitchen. They ran and ran and ran. They ducked under low hanging tree branches, jumped over roots, dodged wild bushes.
The wind blew through Rin's feathers and he laughed, wanting to soar in the clouds.

They made it a long way from the base by the time they stopped running. Shima actually got tired long before his two Unusual companions. They solved that issue by simply grabbing one of his hands and pulling after them.

Rin ran and jumped into the air, buffeting dirt and leaves with a single powerful flap of his wings. His two companions watched him fly all the way up into the clouds. Rin broke free of the wet surface of the clouds and took in the sight he'd missed the most-the night sky. He breathed in the fresh air and sighed. Then he tucked his wings in and meet himself fall for a minute Ute before manuevering into a steep dive. He pulled up and threw his wings out just in time, once again sending leaves and dirt flying away from him and making a mess of Shima and Izumo's hair.

Rin grinned and grabbed the human first, speeding up through the clouds with a barely audible poff! The pinkette yelped and grabbed into Rin quickly, who had his arms around the teen's waist.

Shima opened his eyes and gasped. "This is....Is this what you saw every night?" He wondered, looking at the twinkling stars and the bright shining moon before him. "And the sun every day." Rin added wistfully, looking at the sky with a prideful smile, like he was the only one to ever discover such beauty. And now he was sharing it with Shima.

The pinkette leaned forward and connected their lips in a soft kiss. Rin didn't miss a beat and held in tighter to Shima. It filled his insides with warmth to be like this-In the sky under the moon and starts, sharing a kiss as sweet as honey.

"She's probably lonely. We should get back.", Rin said when they separated. Shima nodded and they all but floated down with controlled beats of Rin's wings.

Rin gave Izumo the same treatment. Shima heard her shreik and chuckled. As he looked up to the clouds, he wondered if Rin and Izumo kissed too. Would Rin choose one of them? Would he choose neither of them?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Rin floating down with Izumo. Rin had a wide smile on his face and Izumo's cheeks were red. Shima's heart was going a hundred miles a minute. Rin planted a kiss on the girls forehead and the pinkette's face fell. Rin had chosen the girl.

"Hey, I didn't leave you out, dork." Rin's soft but clear voice was in front of him as he tilted Shima's chin up. He placed a kiss on Shima's cheek and the place where his lips touched buzzed with warmth. He knew his cheeks were just as red as Izumo's now.

"Man, you gus blush pretty easily." Rin mused, wrapping an arm around each teen. "Oh, shut up!" Izumo snapped defensively. Rin only smiled wide and hugged them to him. They stood there comfortably for a minute.

"So uh, where do we go now?" Shima wondered. Rin pulled back and grinned at them. "I might know somewhere we can live." He responded.