"Eve," I heard someone call my name from afar. Someone was calling out for me so sweetly.

"Angel Eve," Someone called out again, and I knew that someone was my Black. Only he calls me like that.

"Yeahhh?" My voice trailed along. I was a little drunk on sleep and could not answer properly. It was so hard to concentrate on what he was saying.

"...Going...Isla..." I couldn't hear the exact words he said. I could only make out a few words. I tried to open my eyes, but it was too hard. Never had I ever thought just a simple task of opening eyes could be this hard. I got a glance of Black before I turned my head and saw the digital clock reading exactly 6:02. Why the heck was he trying to wake me up this early? And that too on Saturday!

"Hmm..." I only replied with humming before closing my eyes again.

"...back...an hour..."

What was he saying? I couldn't figure out what he meant to say. The last thing I remembered was the sound of winds coming out from the direction of the balcony as if a giant dragon was flying by. I knew it was just Black, but I also knew that Black had only one wing. How could he fly? My mind then dumped off all the complicated thoughts to hell and dozed off again.
* * * * *
I poured some almond milk in a glass and started thinking about the thing I was too lazy to think of before. From the words I remembered, it looked like he had gone to a place called Isla. But I've never heard of such a place.

The time was five minutes to eleven. My Black was never on time. Last time he said he would be back in two days and he wasn't back for a week. I wasn't expecting him to be back for a few more hours at least.

I was about to take in the first sip when I heard a thud coming out of my room. Black! The images of him falling in my backyard flashed before my eyes. I assumed that he might be hurt again, just like before when he was unconscious for days. I put back the glass on the table quickly, almost spilling the milk in the process, and hurried upstairs, skipping some steps of stairs while running.

When I opened the door to my room, I saw Black lying on the floor exactly in the same manner when he first fell in the backyard. He was on the boundary of the room and the balcony with his legs outside. Those lustrous black feathers followed his fall and scattered all around. But this time he was wearing the white sweater that I gifted him instead of the usual long coat. The sweater wasn't ripped off. I wondered how he brought his wing out.

I sat near him on my knees and pulled his head on my legs so that I could check on him. He was still breathing. He opened his eyes and let out a smile. I rolled my eyes. So reckless! But I was so glad to see that he wasn't unconscious like before. He opened his mouth but spoke nothing. I could see he was in pain, but he wasn't saying anything.

"I guess I wasn't strong enough to return unharmed, huh," Black said with a wry smile. I wanted to punch him for saying things like that with a smile, but I refrained because I didn't know where he was hurt. Why does this idiot always make me worry? What wrong did I do in my past life that I was punished like that!?

I pulled his hand across my shoulder and tried to help him so that he could stand up. He opened his mouth again, and I heard him groan in pain when I wrapped my other arm across his back to support him. I instantly knew that the pain must be on his back. I pulled back my hand. As soon as he sat on the bed, I pulled off his scarf and started tugging the sweater upwards so I could take it off.

"What are you doing?"

"Just shut up idiot or I'll skin you alive," I responded loudly and he let his hands up in the air so I could take it off easily. I was angry with him. I could see his well-built muscles, but I wasn't distracted this time. After all this time, I had gotten used to seeing him without a shirt.

"See! I'm all right." Black spoke hurriedly.

"Didn't you hear me? Sit quietly." I snapped back at his behaviour.

"Ok, mommy," he teased me, but it wasn't funny at that moment.

I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to force him to turn. He didn't budge. He weighted light but in reality, he was really strong.

"Turn around." I had to use words because I wouldn't be able to turn him around with force even in a million years. He was hesitant. Like the kid who fell from his bike and hurt his ankle, but he won't tell his mother because he would get a good scolding for being careless. I glared at him. Perhaps I looked the same way my mother did when she wanted me to clean my room. He gave up after just a few seconds unlike me though, I'd take at least half-minute to give up under my mother's glare.

His back was all red, unlike the fair front. The shade of red was to the point of crimson. His middle spine portion even had a slight tinge of blue hue. It looked so bad as if he could start bleeding if I touched his skin with my nail.

I sighed and went downstairs.

"Don't run on the stairs... You'll fall," Black warned loudly.

"As if I need to hear that from you." I snapped back at him again when he tried to be smart.

How could he think he was in any position to talk back to me? I quickly brought the first aid kit to my room. He hadn't moved an inch from there. I gently dabbed an ointment with the help of cotton and wrapped him in bandages.

"Does it hurt a lot?" I asked when I saw his mouth opened a little, taking little gasps buy trying hard to not yell.

"You know everything, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," I said proudly.

"All hail the angel of knowledge."

"I've heard swearing helps in tolerating the pain. So let it out." I did hear that in a fact but never tried it by myself. And just then I realized that he possessed the ability to heal. I was such an idiot to cover his abdomen in bandages.

"Why don't you heal yourself?"

"Because I can't right now. I'm exhausted..." I was glad that what I did wasn't useless. It might appease some pain.

"You're going to be alright, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Don't worry so much. It's just fatigue." Black said and wore his sweater back after I bandaged his body.

"Now tell me what happened to you?"

"I just... flew for a longer time than I'm capable of."

"How can you fly with one wing?" I was confused.

"It's complicated, but it's possible."

"It seemed impossible for me. Like won't you lean towards a side of you flap your wing?"

"When you're strong enough, these little laws don't work on you anymore."

"Then how do you explain your injuries."

"I can fly with one wing, but it's dangerous. Some primal laws that can never be surpassed with power. Such is the law of equivalent exchange. Flying takes a lot of my stamina. It puts enormous strain on the muscles of my back, especially those little ones at the centre. I can only fly for a while at maximum speed, but today I flew double the amount."

"Why did you did that? You idiot!"

"Ah that," Black said as he turned towards me on the bed. "Close your eyes."

Surprise? I loved surprises! I did what he asked me to.

I was expecting some present box, a small one. But instead, I felt my shirt being pulled and by the time I realized what was happening, he had opened the button of my nightdress at once. I was too astonished to say anything. I felt his hand reach down to the second button. I grabbed his hand and instinctively stopped him on his quest to strip me down. But I kept my eyes closed.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a surprise," Black replied without a slight hesitation. Stripping me! Was the surprise he wanted to give me!? If so, I would have to re-evaluate his decency.

"To be honest, I don't feel safe right now." I truthfully spoke. "I'm not wearing anything underneath the dress..."

"Trust me." That was all he said. No explanation and no reason for what he was doing. But I let go of his hand and let him do as he pleased. Two words were all he took to persuade me. I couldn't say no to him. He was getting dangerous for me. Very, very dangerous.

He proceeded to open the second button. My heart started beating faster. My breath got heavy. My mind was saying loudly to stop him, but my heart wasn't ready to do so. It felt like an eternity until he was done with second and moved to third. My already fast heartbeats became faster. It felt my heart would break the prison of the rib cage and come out of my chest. I expected him to go to fourth, but he stopped there.

Various thoughts that didn't make sense filled my mind. I wasn't wearing anything inside my nightdress. My dress was half-open. If he were set aside the piece of cloth to side like curtains, I'd be fully exposed. But I was sure I couldn't have stopped him if he were to do anything like that. It was so hard to keep my eyes closed because I wanted to see what look he had on his face right now. He pushed the upper part aside.

I was afraid of what might be coming next. But I felt the tip of his finger near my neck, a little towards the right shoulder. He slowly moved his finger down. His finger felt so soft, like a cotton ball. His finger roamed, swiftly and smoothly, on my skin, across my collarbone. My heart gradually began to slow down its pace to a normal level.

His gentle touch tickled me. I could not keep myself from smiling. He stopped when he reached the middle of my chest and then he began the journey upwards, almost in symmetry to the previous movement. It felt like he was drawing something on my skin with his bare finger.

After he was done, he gently placed his right palm over the centre of my chest where he had stopped. He could feel my heartbeats that were raging on. A moment later, I felt something where he had touched me. It was a little cold, like the touch of metal. I could feel that heaviness. His left hand made its way to the back of my neck, under my hair. When he withdrew his hands, I could feel something hanging around my neck.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"No. Not yet," Black said. He got up from the bed and held my left hand in a very gentleman-like manner as if he was asking me for a dance. He showed me the way, and I followed him. I knew that my room like the back of my hand. That's why, before opening my eyes, I knew he had stopped me in front of the mirror. He went behind me and placed both of his hands on my shoulder.

"Open your eyes, gorgeous."