Getting back into shape was harder than Kai Hiwatari anticipated. Much harder.

First, there was the obvious emaciation from his transformation, and gaining weight, especially muscle, was harder than most people knew. Getting over the initial weakness he expected.

But then there was the weight of his new wings that threw his balance all over the place—and they were still growing. He didn't think they could grow any bigger until he noticed ash-gray tips to his elongated feathers. His tail feathers also grew longer, though they didn't add enough weight to make learning how to balance himself as a freaking bird person any easier.

So, once he stopped falling on his face whenever he stepped funny or tried to jog, there was the pain of his bones, now most likely hollow like Ayah's. Kenny and Dizzy hadn't been kidding when they said hollow bones were not made for high impact activities, running being one of them. Since running was the best way to build up one's endurance as well as strength, and the easiest, Kai made a good effort to do it anyways and ended up crippling himself for day.

But he had always been a creative sort. It would just take finding a spot where he could be unseen and alone—another thing he was quite good at. He could take his pick: the old junk yard warehouse, that spot of beach you could only reach by doing some rock climbing at low-tide, etc.

So, in the early morning hours Tyson called 'ungodly,' Kai would shuffle to one of his secret training spots, take off his trench coat, and practice flapping his wings.

At first it was excruciating. His new wings had never been worked before, nor had his body ever had to deal with the pressure. He'd collapse, breathe through the pain, and start again. This sort of work he was use to. He knew what to expect. It didn't make the throwing up any less unpleasant, especially since it didn't seem like his new appetite was easing anytime soon.

Which presented his next problem.

Kai fingered the last bills on the floor of his apartment, which had somehow become more cluttered since he'd grown wings. His grandfather's checks were always on time, given they had been set up in advance, but he only had three months left until his birthday in December. The months were getting colder, which meant he'd probably end up eating more. The college semester would start in the spring as well, and since his grandfather's name followed him like a bad smell, no one would offer him financial aid. Why should they? Voltaire was rich, wasn't he?

Not to mention that Tala had sent him the word that he would be taking up Kai's invitation to move in that weekend, having taken the month to see to some last minute business of his. That meant the money would have to stretch two mouths until Tala and him could find someone who wouldn't be scared off enough by their intimidating air to hire them.

He dropped the bills with a sigh. Three days of food—if he tried to be conservative. It was Wednesday, so two days since Tala would be there Saturday. But he had just built up his strength enough to actually start moving bits of wood with the wind force of his wings in the old warehouse. He could even begin to see growth in his biceps, thank god.

"Great time to turn into a winged freak," he muttered to himself, running a hand through his thick hair. He needed a haircut. Not to mention a bath—he sniffed—in a bad way. This would be a really great time for his grandfather to keel over. Maybe he could write the Blue Dolphin, ask how the old man's health was coming along.

He stuffed the bills into his pocket and shuffled about for some clean clothes, but found there were none and groaned. Laundry. Why did being alive have to cost so much?

That was it, then. He couldn't do any job interviews smelling like the sewer, nor could he go applying for scholarship interviews with all his clothes smelling the same.

"Gramps did say I was welcome anytime..."

Which brought him, after a month-long hiatus, back to the Granger Dojo's doorstep. He didn't know whether to smile as an odd feeling of home washed over him, or start bemoaning the fact that he somehow always found his way back here. But that just proved to him once more what he both loved and envied about Tyson.

Though he was also uncomfortable because he had come when he knew Tyson would still be in school and Grandpa Granger at his day job. He told himself they wouldn't mind him just taking a shower and washing his clothes. In fact, Tyson would probably be delighted at this new development in Kai actually acting on their 'friendship' rather than pretending it didn't exist like he usually did.

That didn't exactly make him feel any less anxious or embarrassed. So he made sure to get a good whiff of himself as an encouragement to push himself through the door. He slid off his shoes, heart beating faster than he cared. He'd heard of friends doing this all the time, but he'd never done it before. He'd never had a friend he could.

"Kai?"

Zip. Electroshock. Of course he hadn't forgotten about her. How could he when his damn brain refused to stop popping her into his thoughts like a bad earworm?

"My place doesn't have a shower, I need to do laundry, and my budget's out for the week," he said quickly, not looking through the open doorway of the dojo. "Mr. Granger said I was welcome. I'll be here and gone—"

And then the last thing he expected occurred. Cinnamon bun and roses assaulted his nose and her soft arms were thrown about his neck. He had no choice but to look at her now, and having not seen her for a month meant he had lost his carefully built up immunity to her beauty. Her own white wings had fluttered out a bit in her eagerness, and the sunlight playing off the dojo floor reflected up on her feathers, bringing them out like white clouds in the sun after a storm.

Then the moment vanished as she recoiled from him, beautiful face twisted in disgust.

"You really do need a shower."

He did his best to hide the effect she'd had on him by giving her his usual droll glare. He rolled his laundry bag off his shoulder and set it next to the door as he went to take off his trench coat. It had gotten even tighter since his growth. He'd have to get a new one soon. Just another expense.

"I missed you."

He made sure not to look at her. "Hn."

"You left before I could apologize for...a lot. Gosh, where should I begin?"

"Don't."

"Right. It'd just...yeah..."

Kai fled—though he would have never called it so. Kai Hiwatari did not flee anyone or anything. He walked away with such a surety of purpose that no one would think to stop him. It wasn't till he was in the bathroom that his head cooled and he remembered that he was going to do his laundry first so he had a set of clean clothes to change into. He groaned and put his forehead to the wall.

Okay, change of plans. He could wash his clothes in the effing river...ugh, he'd need soap and who knows what kind of crap is in the water—

Screw it. It was just a girl. He had to learn to deal with her sooner or later. After all, they were now the same species, and the last of their kind.

Flushing the toilet and washing his hands to hide the fact that he had just run into there for no reason, he came out and walked down the hall to find his laundry bag gone from beside his shoes. He ran his hand down his face and made his way to the closet near the back of the house, next door to the kitchen, where the Granger's kept their washer and dryer. Just as he dreaded, Ayah was there, tipping the last of his clothes into the washer machine. He had to appreciate the odd image she made: a white-winged angel in a pink halter top and jeans doing housework.

She caught sight of him and flinched.

"I-I didn't stare at your underwear or anything!"

He blinked. What had he been going to say? How dare you do my laundry?

And he found himself smiling. To have that be the first thing she blurted out—a chuckle escaped his lips. That little bit of mirth was all it took to break down his nerves and send that warmth flooding through his veins.

"Has your strength returned?" he asked.

She fumbled for the cupboard and took down some laundry detergent. A bit of pink dusted her nose. "I can get around fine, I guess. Though I have no idea where to start on this whole flying thing...you? I mean, you look a lot better, if not smell better."

She was trying to joke with him. He tried to smile better to show he knew that, but was afraid his desire to say something funny and witty in return would screw it up, so he settled for saying nothing as he rubbed his folded wings over one another and debated on pulling his tail feathers free from his loose pant legs. For some reason, he wanted her to see them, especially since he could see her own tail feathers free and white from a slit cut just beneath her belt loops. They were nowhere near as long as his, but it worked better that way, as they flared out just above her well-curved behind.

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes as she finished pouring in the detergent and switching the settings. He wasn't use to this. Romance and attraction to girls just hadn't been as high of priority for him. Sure he'd eyeballed a few dames in his world tours with the rest of his team, and...other things he was moderately sure any boy dabbled in, but he'd thought himself above viewing pornography and had never bothered to research or pay attention into courting girls.

Wait...what was he even thinking about? He didn't want a romance with Ayah. He had already established long ago that, regardless of his feelings, what he wanted most was for her to be happy, and he did not make people happy. He was raised by an abusive dictator, and logic said that in any intimate relationship he was likely to be the same. He knew nothing else.

"Kai?"

He blinked at her. How long had he been standing there, staring out into space? She had already closed the laundry doors.

"You say something?" he asked.

"Would you like me to dig out some of Tyson's clothes for you to wear after a shower? Just while your clothes are cleaning."

That would definitely spare him the humiliation of figuring out what to do around her while he smelled like this. "I can do that. You're not his housewife."

She ducked her chin self-consciously. "I-I've sort of rearrange things—I don't have anything better to do since I can't go to school...not that I don't mind! I'm really...oh forget it." The pink on her nose had grown across her cheeks and forehead. Before he could figure out whether he'd said something wrong or even why this situation had suddenly gotten so weirdly awkward, she shuffled around the corner and up the stairs. Since he didn't know whether she was going to hide in her room or fetch clothes, he followed her, just to catch sight of her through Tyson's bedroom's open door as she searched through his dresser.

And what he saw would have made anyone pause.

Tyson Granger's room, probably for the first time in its life, was immaculate.

She's wasted on him, he caught himself thinking and shook his head.

"Max," he blurted out. "Have you heard back from him yet?"

"Not yet," she said, pulling out a dark red shirt and pants. "It's...troubling, but his father called back to reassure us he was okay, probably because Tyson wouldn't stop calling. He's closed his shop so we can only assume that the whole family is out of town."

Kai nodded. He couldn't get enough of how weird Tyson's room looked. Wait, had the guy always owned that baby-blue rug? "Ray's back home, I take it?"

"Um, yeah. Tyson wanted to look for Drigger but I think Ray's sort of...given up." She paused over the top drawer, before snatching out some boxers and socks and wrapping the whole bundle in the jeans. She turned with something of a forced smile. "Tyson says Drigger's come back from worse things than a bunch of water, so it'll turn out. I hope." The smile faded and she wilted, looking down at the clothes bundle in her arms. "I really, really want them to be happy."

A strange sense of unease twined in his stomach. He couldn't tell if it was because of the news on his teammates or because she had echoed his desire for her happiness towards his other teammates.

He took the clothes from her with a murmured thank you and went off to relieve the world of his stench.