Sudden Silence

RATING: G

SUMMARY: A day-in-the-life fic.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I'm just taking them out for a brief spin before I put them all, except Satoshi, back. g

AUTHOR'S NOTES: No spoilers. Written for the tempsmort "day in the life" challenge.

DEDICATION: For you. Yes, you.

Sudden Silence

He'd forgotten to close the curtains the night before, so the bright morning light woke him up. Most of the time, he loved having a room that faced the dawn, but this was not one of those times. All he wanted to do was sleep for a few more hours. He'd been up late the night before, finally falling into bed sometime around three a.m. Thankfully, no homework had been handed out the day before.

For a moment, he could pretend to be a normal boy, but the stirring in the back of his mind quickly squashed that thought. Having a spirit inhabit your body was not normal. Especially when said spirit made it his life's work to drive his host to murder... or was it suicide, if the person being murdered was inside the killer's body? With a sigh, he abandoned that train of thought, knowing the spirit liked it far too much when the host thought dark thoughts. Made it easier to take over.

"Too bright," he muttered to no one in particular. "What I wouldn't give for a machine that would let me close the curtains without actually getting out of bed." A glance at the clock had him dragging his exhausted body into the shower to start his morning routine. Another day of pretending to be something he wasn't.

Sometimes it sucked to be a 14-year old junior high student who moonlighted as a commander in the police force. And it really, really sucked to be him.

Just like every morning, the car dropped him off at the school's front gates. He'd ridden alone, of course. His stepfather was far too busy with the police to take his 'son' to school. He preferred it that way. The car ride was usually the last bit of silence he had all day long. Watching the black limo pull away, his attention was caught by a figure running down the street towards him.

"Hiwatari-kun!"

"Niwa."

The smaller boy pulled up beside him, panting heavily. "Good morning!" he gasped.

"Morning." Inwardly, Hiwatari was smiling though his face didn't show it. Niwa looked so cute when he was flushed and out of breath and where had THAT thought come from? Niwa and cute didn't belong together in the same sentence. Usually. Hiwatari had the thought that it was rather unfair that Niwa didn't look more tired, seeing as he'd been up just as late as Hiwatari himself last night. Hiwatari had been chasing him, after all.

Niwa finally caught his breath and smiled up at Hiwatari, causing the other boy to shift uncomfortably. He didn't want Niwa to get too close. He didn't want Krad to hurt the boy.

"Did you learn anything about the..."

"Not here!" Hiwatari hissed, grabbing Niwa's wrist and looking around in panic at their schoolmates. "You know better than that!"

Niwa gave him a half-smile. "Yeah, but you always disappear on me during the day so I can't talk to you anytime except now." Hiwatari dragged him into a slightly more private alcove and dropped Niwa's wrist.

"You know why."

"It's starting to piss Dark off, you know, the way you play with him at night but won't talk to me during the day."

Hiwatari turned bright red and gaped. "Excuse me?" In the back of his mind, the stir that was Krad suddenly came awake at his host's agitation. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"Niwa Daisuke, I can't believe you just said that. You're not Dark, are you?"

"Nope, I'm me. He finds what I just said almost as shocking as you, by the way, although he's laughing as opposed to acting like a fish out of water."

"What has gotten into you this morning?" Hiwatari asked, fighting to get his blush under control. Krad settled back down, although Hiwatari could still feel him. "Watch what you say, Niwa. Please."

Niwa sighed. "I'm sorry. I just want to be friends with you."

"You know why I can't..."

"You've told me, yes. But you've held him back this long. You're stronger than you think!"

Krad snorted, and Hiwatari was inclined to agree with him for once. "Niwa, you don't know what you're talking about." The first bell rang, startling both boys. "We'll be late for class."

"I'm not going to give up, you know," Niwa informed him. "One day, I will break through whatever barrier you've put up."

"Don't bother." With that, Hiwatari walked away. He didn't want to face those eyes anymore, the eyes that almost begged him to relent and allow the other boy to be his friend. Hiwatari Satoshi didn't have friends, for both their protection and his own. If he had no friends, than Krad couldn't hurt them. Didn't stop Niwa from trying, though, and he was getting closer to succeeding every day. Hiwatari only had so many defenses, and Niwa had managed to get through most of them. He was breaking them down faster than Hiwatari could put them up.

The rest of the day passed in a near-blur. He was half-aware of the chatter of his fellow students, of the lessons being crammed down their throats. He'd long since learned to block the teachers out, as he already knew what they were teaching. He'd graduated from university at twelve years old, so there wasn't a lot they were going to teach him. He just liked to feel normal, however much of an illusion that was.

He'd made a point of avoiding Niwa, which he realized in hindsight, was par for the course. The other boy hadn't been joking when he said Hiwatari disappeared on him during the day. And if they met at night, it was as thief and police commander, not the best environment for socializing, even if Hiwatari wanted to.

The car was waiting for him at the end of the day, same as always, and there was the usual message from his father, this one informing him that no letter had been received from the Phantom Thief. They never caught him, so sometimes Hiwatari wondered why his father even bothered ordering him to chase Dark. The thief always managed to stay one step ahead, no matter what Hiwatari did. Sighing, Hiwatari called his father back to acknowledge the message and to play the dutiful son.

The car pulled up at his apartment just as he was finishing his conversation. The street was silent, which was rather unusual. He shrugged, mind already on the work he had to do. He'd had a few thoughts on ways to improve his Dark-catching system, not that he thought it would actually work in the end. It was just somewhat fun to think up new ways to try and catch Dark unawares.

Hours later, the sun had set and Hiwatari was finally finishing his work. The clock struck midnight and he realized just how long he'd been working. His back was in agony from being hunched over the computer for so long. This was the biggest drawback to living more or less alone – nobody to tell him when it was getting late, or to take a break. Most days it was a blessing to not answer to anyone else.

Sighing, he shut down his computer and shuffled off to bed. In order to avoid meeting Niwa, he planned on being at school five minutes earlier. He couldn't take many more days of the other boy's pleading. Hiwatari was determined to stand firm and not allow Niwa close, although he wasn't sure he could hold out much longer. The only other option was total avoidance. Sleep was a long time coming that night.

The silence of the room was eventually broken by a soft sigh. "I wish."