Disclaimer: Do not own anything.

~~ A Devious Plan ~~

~~ 27. April, Late Night ~~

Ryoma felt the push from Tezuka's hand on his spine, a firm but gentle grip which told him very clearly to not go against it and let himself be lead inside their guest room. Even if he would have wanted to go against it, to rebel, he had no energy, no strength left to do so. His wavering view was fixated solely on the very comfortable and soft looking king-sized bed in the middle of the large, spacey room and right in front of him. His surroundings didn't matter. It was safe, he was tired and the bed was ready to sleep on it.

He wanted to fall down and sleep long and deep beneath those pure white mountains of covers and pillows, warming his shivering and cold body. Showering was overrated at the moment, sleep was so much more welcome and needed. He took a stumbling step forward, his balance wavered and finally his legs gave out after the third step. Ryoma fell forward, head first.

"Ryoma?!" Hands caught him before he hit the bed or the floor, he wasn't sure which it would have been. His view was one big blur and dizziness overwhelmed him. The adrenaline was slowly reducing inside his veins, the extent of his exhaustion fully hitting him. "No, Keigo, he's alright. I will take care of him and see that he won't hurt himself." Tezuka closed the door behind him, sighing. "Come on. You need to shower first, Ryoma. You're still too young to be immune against the different human sicknesses. You haven't transformed into a full fledged angel yet and catching a cold will bring trouble for all of us."

"Mhmm..." His lips were shivering, unable to move and let his voice form some coherent words. His teeth chattered.

Tezuka chuckled and for a second Ryoma believed to have misheard or imagined the sound of such a rich voice, filled with emotions, living energy. His older brother lifted him up gently and carried him into the bathroom. The newborn hardly realized it, and everything after the small walk faded and was left in the darkness of near unconsciousness.

Though, through the dark fog of blackness around him, he noted the brief touches, the swift movements of his sticky clothes being removed and his body being put slowly into a welcoming liquid of heat. "Are you still awake?" Something brushed over his itching and already warming skin. A soft piece of cloth. His hair floated in the wetness from time to time and the shivering eased, his muscles began to relax while the tiredness grew with each passing moment. Sleep...

He wanted to sleep...

"Ryoma?"

"Hmh?"

"What do you know about the queen, Aoi Hanamura?"

"'nthing."

"I know you're exhausted but I need you to listen to me, alright?" Ryoma blinked, his tired eyes felt glued together, nevertheless, he forced them open as wide as he could which wasn't much. "Tomorrow when we meet the queen, she'll try to speak with you alone. She is well known for her way of wooing angels with other abilities over into her own family. You n-"

Tezuka's words faded, turned into a small humming sound, his sight turned black. The newborn relaxed completely, not able to hold himself awake any longer. His older brother must have noticed his mental absence as Tezuka sighed and stroked his from the hot water covered wet cheeks with his thumb. "We'll talk about it tomorrow before breakfast."

Water moved around him, coldness covered Ryoma's skin and goosebumps covered every inch of skin on his naked body. "Sleep well..."

A warm touch...

...soft...on his forehead...

...a goodnight kiss...?

His surrounding changed anew while he fell into a light slumber, waking up just barely enough to register the different temperatures, a towel drying him and hands clothing him in a long and fluffy pyjama. Ryoma wanted to purr like a big cat. The soft mattress beneath him gave in under his light weight, embracing his slim but firmly muscled body.

The place to his right dipped, the covers were lifted after Tezuka crawled under them and slipped closer to him in the middle of the large bed. A hand rested on his waist and pulled him closer so they slept right next to each other. Warmth radiated from Tezuka, heating Ryoma's still chilled frame.

Sleep...

He needed to sleep...

Bones cracked, the skin of his tightly fisted hands turned white and stretched painfully. Fuji watched through the connected door between their rooms. The door was ajar, only a small slit to look through but enough space for him to see clearly. The room was dark, nevertheless, the dimmed light from the lamps on each side of each door lightened up the room enough to outline the furniture... and the people on the bed.

The bed was ahead of him, a few feet away. He could see them, had watched them for a couple of minutes now... and he didn't like what he saw... not a single, tiny bit of it.

His piercing blue eyes were wide open, throwing daggers at the couple while his brows were narrowed to keep his focus on the object of interest. At least that was what he told himself. It was so easy to keep it hidden, to forget and not remember, to shove it all behind a mask. He knew from firsthand experience how dangerous they were - those feelings and emotions.

They had made him sick.
They had made him insane.

He could hardly remember anything from the time when he had been sick, though, the moments he did remember were too cruel and too disgusting for him...
Never again did he want to remember them.

The disease had infected him, nearly controlled him to the point of no return. What he had done... to the servants, friends and even his own parents and brothers. The sacrifice for his sanity to return was high. Far too high for his liking...

It was all the more a reason for him to ignore and abandon those useless things. If it just wouldn't be so hard and difficult to do so...

His two youngest brothers were making it worse.

First he had found their behaviour amusing, this desperation of winning against him in every possible way. It had been fun to play and joke with his new brothers. Then it had been tickling his nerves and patience steadily as neither of them wanted to fully submit to him or his lovers, to nobody... but now it was annoying the hell out of him!

Seiichi would do anything to look strong and be able to keep his mask of pride and strength up. And with his wish and their little bargain to have Keigo's and Genichirou's dust if he behaved and listened to Syusuke's orders, there would be no problem about direct and obvious trouble. The problem was that his dear younger brother didn't accept his true new being as an angel completely and was still fighting against it in silence and in the shadow without anyone noticing.

The newborn thought nobody noted it. How foolish! Syusuke was very good in watching and observing. Seiichi thought twice what he would say and do, took care that his mask was on and nothing revealed his true self and intentions, at least most of the time. Nevertheless, the reason behind wanting his brothers' and lovers' dust was still unknown and the biggest problem in Syusuke's option.

Ryoma was quite the opposite of Seiichi. This certain newborn dared to go under his nails and skin, showing openly what he felt with his words, actions and body language. The little snake had even dared to seduce Kunimitsu and Genichirou. His two lovers fell right into the trap, giving in to their secret desire to feel and show love... and all the other emotions because they had no problem with the disease... not like him...

He had survived, just barely but still, nonetheless, a certain part of him would be lost forever.
He would never archive it again, never wanted to feel anything because feelings had made him weak and caused endless pain which still lingered inside him. Syusuke would never forgive himself for what he had done to make a cut. A horrific cut to turn into a full fledged angel with no connections to his past.

A cut that had literally killed and therefore ended everything...

...killed him and her...

No, he wouldn't lose his lovers like he had lost his siblings... not to those two... to nobody!

Syusuke shook his head mentally. His hands hurt from the pressure and shook. It was nothing, only a simple reaction from stress and exhaustion.

He had done the one mistake which he had told his brothers to never make...
He had even warned Saeki about it a couple of minutes ago... to not underestimate the newborns, especially not Ryoma...

How could he have been so blind and stupid?! Thinking he could break Ryoma after the little... brother had challenged him since their very first encounter, after ripping out the blue feathers from his wings...

His youngest brother was a crook, hidden behind two pretty wings. A crook who brought danger and visible lies, secrets and discomfort into their group of four.

Syusuke gritted his teeth. He had fallen into the trap so easily, the thought about the newborns being able to cause such betrayal had never crossed his mind.

It was nearly too late now...

It was a coincidence that they had the same rooms like last year. A coincidence which suited him very much. His room was connection by a side door with Ryoma's and Kunimitsu's room. Keigo, on the other hand, had free access to Seiichi's and Genichirou's guest room.

Acid roared across his veins by the bare sight before him...

Kunimitsu laid his arm around Ryoma, pulled the shivering newborn close to warm and give him shelter and comfort. Ryoma sighed in thanks and fell asleep immediately, his whole body went numb.

This little...

He couldn't find the word, his mind was blank from the... no, he wasn't feeling anything.

It was just...

Deep breaths... he needed to get himself under control or everything would shatter, his mask would fall...

He couldn't let it happen... not after all the hard work, the effort he had put in to build all this around him.

Maybe this little visit and the feast were coming at the right time...

Ryoma would pay for his mistake to woo his lovers away from him...

~~ 28. April, Late Morning ~~

"Ryoma." A gentle shake on his right shoulder, followed by the sound of loud thunders. Soft light erupted around him, not from the lightning but from a large lamp above them on the ceiling. The storm from yesterday was still roaring outside. "Ryoma, it's time to wake up." The person continued to shake him, this time stronger and with more determination to archive his goal.

"'ust five more minutes..." He mumbled and tried to pull the warm covers closer up his body, nevertheless, the person stopped him from it, pushing the fluffy and warming covers away.

"We're expected by the queen for breakfast and I need to talk to you about something really important before we meet her. Wake up." Ryoma groaned loudly, curled his body together in an attempt to keep his body warm and continue his sweet dream.

His whole body ached, his muscles protested against each movement. Was he so out of shape? When was the last time he had played tennis?

The person sighed and a shadow hovered above the newborn's face. "You have five minutes to get ready or you'll get the great punishment of having a double lesson in manners and dancing today."

Oh god, how cruel!
He could barely lift his head or his feet. They felt heavy as hell, every inch of him hurt.

"'ine..." The newborn sat up sluggishly and carefully as not to strain any more muscles, yawned visibly and blinked the heavy sleep out of his eyes. Tezuka stood right in front of him, arms crossed over his chest and a stoic but at the same time amused expression on his face. There was this certain spark in those honey brown eyes... The one from before...

Ryoma ruffled his hair, making it even messier than it had already been.

"You really aren't an early riser." Another unstoppable yawn escaped his lips as if to confirm Tezuka's statement. "Are you awake enough to listen?" Ryoma nodded, rubbed his tired eyes before looking up at his older brother with large golden orbs. Hopefully his body wouldn't hurt worse as the day progressed. "You need to know something about the queen's behaviour before she tries to speak with you alone. The others had agreed to not tell you or Seiichi about it, but you should know what will really take place at the feast and why it is held in the first place."

Syusuke opened the door to the ball room and paused, taking in the sight above him. A knot and something like acid filled his stomach by the sight. He had the desire to rip them apart and hiss at Seiichi for being so close but he had no emotions, so he did nothing, simply viewed around the hall which was furnished like a very spacey living room.

Thanks to Saeki, they were allowed to use it before the feast started in a few days. All it had taken was Keigo hinting smartly about how nice it would be to rest and relax in a large room together while they waited for the queen. Saeki, the very obedient servant he had always been, asked for the keys to the ball room and offered it to them.

"Stop your wings when you make the twist. This way you won't tangle them with your partner's." Genichirou flew again, starting the slow waltz once more. Seiichi did as he was told and this time the dance step was fluid and without any mistakes. "Good."

Syusuke entered the training's hall entirely, spotting Keigo on the couch, hovering over a few pieces of business papers in front of him on the small table. Saeki stood close by, far too close and the hand resting on the chair's spine irritated the blue-winged angel but he wouldn't say anything. He had no reason to.

His chance would come soon enough to prove his point.

All he needed was being careful and keep his mask up if his plan, which he had formed and thought over through last night, should work fluidly and without a single mistake or suspicion. His brothers should never know...