A/N: Well, here it is! My first story for DNAngel! I've been dying to upload this weeks ago, and then, when I've done the 10th chapter, my bloody pendrive, in which I saved all of my documents, decided that it would want to reformat itself and wouldn't let me open it! Shit! I lost my documents to virus! To hell with viruses! Damn them!

Ahem...oh well, what's done is done, so, I've gotta rewrite them. Haha!

Enjoy. Oh, and tell me if you like them!

1-Squabble Partner?

"Akihiko Maia, I trust that you are well aware that working in a pub as a hostess is strictly forbidden at school?" said a cool looking, blue eyed and blue haired teenager of 17, staring down at a dark brown-haired girl with a troubled look on her face, now currently biting at her bottom lip nervously and eyes darting everywhere but the teenager in front of her, but as soon as he came to the part about 'hostess', her eyes bulged and immediately, flared up.

"Hey! I'm not working as a hostess in the pub! I knew everyone in the pub and everyone is kind to me! And how can you enter Pub Rose anyway? This pub is a privilege pub and only registered members are allowed-"

"First, because you are pretty and that they think you are a good catch. Second, is that I'm a member at any possible places that criminals are known to gather."

"I'm certainly not that stupid to fell into men's simple trap! You think I'm that cheap? Well, sorry pretty boy, I'm born here in Japan, but I live and grow up in France, and I knew how to differentiate good and bad, so back off or I'll rip your bird off the hook!"

Satoshi just stared at her, looking totally bored.

Seeing him unfazed by her earlier remarks, Maia sweat dropped and realized that the one she's speaking is definitely not in the 'annoying-people' category. "Sorry, my bad. It's just that words like this always keep the bad people off and you're not the bad people so…God! I don't know what I'm saying; all in all, I'm sorry if I offend you, but I'm not sorry at all for working as a part time singer, it's not a crime."

"You do realize that I told you to stay away from dark alleys?"

"Yes."

"And what did you did?"

"What did I do?"

Rolling his eyes, Satoshi turned her around by the shoulders. Maia felt as if that night alone she had done enough spinning by the shoulders. God helps me.

Making her look at what he was looking (by practically holding her by the shoulders and standing behind her to guide her face to look at where he is looking) "What do you suppose those are?"

"Err…trash can?"

"No. The other one."

"Lamppost?"

"The other one."

"I'm afraid that you'll scream at me if I tell you-"

"Just say it!"

"A cat?"

A cat that appeared out of nowhere walked daintily on its paws, looking briefly at both of them, yawned, and walks towards the trash.

"Tch! This is the dark alleys, Akihiko Maia!" Satoshi said, shaking her briefly by the shoulders. Seriously, no one, as in no one, had ever made him this angry and frustrated before, well, excluding Dark and Krad. "I told you-"

"You wrote."

"-to stay away from these! Did you not listen?"

"I swear, you wrote. You didn't tell me."

Rolling his eyes again, Satoshi said, "Whether by talking or writing, I did inform you in a way or two, and especially you, to stay away from dark alleys and strangers, and what did you do? You walk right into their open arms happily!"

"No you didn't."

A moment of silence swooped on them. "Come again?"

"You only said that I am to bring my cell phone at all cost, and that applies to especially me. You didn't tell me that I am to avoid dark alleys, and by the way you talk about it, especially me too."

Sighing in defeat, Satoshi turned around and headed towards his Limo. Upon arriving at the car, he rolled his eyes and exclaimed without turning around.

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Not realizing that Satoshi had long ago left her in the back alley of "Pub Rose", the wordings of the shop's name plat surrounded and curled by grape-vines, Maia broke out of her reverie and stared wide eyed at Satoshi.

Making an arrogant face, Maia said haughtily, "What do you think I am, three? I can go home by myself perfectly well."

Smirking, Satoshi replied in a sarcastic tone, "I'm afraid you'll just get lost yourself…"

Flaring up, Maia exclaimed loudly, "What makes you think that I'll get lost! I'm 17 and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"Really? It doesn't sound convincing to me…"

"Well, I don't need your approval to say what I want to say-"

"You're a girl, Maia, and now it's close to midnight. If you wanted to get rob or kidnapped it's your business-"

"Hey! Are you cursing me?"

"In a way or two, yes. So that means you have no other choice but to get on my car and let me send you home."

"Why you-"

"It's also due to the fact that you're new here in this town, and in this town, girls are smart enough to not walk alone without someone of the other gender to go along with them, and in this case, obviously, you are not smart enough-"

"Hey!"

"-So if you happen to think that you're smart, do take up my offer to escort you home safely."

Trembling slightly in fury, Maia exclaimed loudly, " Fine! Since you offered it yourself, don't blame me if your car's petrol ran out because my house is a great deal farther than my working place."

"My pleasure." Said Satoshi sarcastically, rolling his eyes in utter disbelief. It's true that Maia is new in this town, and it also shocks him that she's not aware of her surroundings, and that included the surroundings of her neighborhood.

Sliding into the Limo gracefully, Maia takes the seat that is the farthest from Satoshi and leaned onto the side of the door, ready to escape the moment the car stopped. And it does, moments later, and by instinct, she flew out of the car and muttered a quick goodbye to Satoshi.

"Thank you for sending me home. You may go back now; I'll be totally safe here." Smiled Maia, hands knotted tightly together to stop herself from flying a punch to the vile person, as Maia calls Satoshi, now sitting in the car cross legged with the door still open, smirking slightly.

"Yes, I know that." Bending slightly for his height, Satoshi step out from his Limo and closed the door of the car, signaling to the driver that he may go. With a nod, the driver speeds away in the Limo.

Gapping slightly, Maia comes back with an unbelievable and shocked reply, "I thought I said that you may go back now since I've arrived at home, thanks to you, and I don't remember inviting you in for tea!"

Currently straightening his coat that he wore for the meeting party his foster father requested him to wear, Satoshi paused for a while and continuing brushing off imaginary dirt and dust on his sleeve. "Oh, don't be mistaken. I'm not here for a cup of tea, I would have made it myself if I want one."

Eyes bulging in a comical way, Maia retorted, "Then! Why are you still here!"

"Don't shout. It's near midnight and the neighborhood is sleeping." Hushed Satoshi, now walking towards the apartment next to Maia's own apartment, well, the other half.

Maia watched as Satoshi fished out a silver object and proceeded to use it on the doorknob on the other half apartment. Thinking that he is trying to break an entry to her neighbor's apartment, Maia quickly fished out her mobile phone and dialed a three digit number, but before she could do it, Satoshi had turned around and, feeling curiosity built in him, he blurted out what he was thinking.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling the police, you nut head, what else would I do when I see someone breaking an entry right in front of me?"

"I see no one breaking an entry- Wait, are you saying that 'someone' is me?"

"Who else?"

Eyes rolling, Satoshi said, "Seriously, you think that I, the Supreme Commander of the Police Force, am trying to break into an entry with a key?"

"I doubt that's your 'key' to what's inside my neighbor's house." (Since it was near midnight, and it's dark, and Maia herself is already quite sleepy, she only glimpsed a 'silver object' and immediately went into the conclusion that it's a silver pin that is used so often by burglars to break into an entry, like she had seen in most movies.)

Sighing loudly in frustration, Satoshi walked up to Maia (Which made her pause in her 'little antics [Dialing the three digit number. You might be wondering why she would take that long to dial a simple three digit number, but the truth is that she's a little sleep-dazed and her mind is close to shutting down, and she's trying very hard to concentrate on the three digit number but kept missing and pressing the wrong key.]'), snatched away her mobile phone (despite her protesting), grabbing her shoulder none-too-gently and showed her the silver object currently dangling from his finger in front of her eyes.

"Look at this properly Akihiko Maia, this is a key, a silver key to be exact, and this key belongs to me."

Staring at the key for a while, she touched the key and felt it, making sure that it really is a key. He noticed that Maia's expression is close to a sleepy daze and the next thing she does make Satoshi realize something; when Akihiko Maia is sleepy or close to sleeping, all logic is thrown out of the window and pigs starts to fly and lions turn vegetarian.

"You stole this from my neighbor! No wonder my neighbor hasn't been home for the last 2 days-"

"I left the town for 2 days and here I am with a wacky madcap. Welcome to the neighborhood, Hiwatari Satoshi." Satoshi said sarcastically. Tired and desperately need a shower and rest, Satoshi starts to do things that the normal Satoshi won't do; he ruffled his hair in frustration. (A/N: Imagine that people, imagine that.)

Sighing loudly in frustration, Satoshi said, "Since when did you talk to your neighbor?"

Cupping her own cheek, Maia sank into a sea of thoughts and think, eyes drooping slightly. "Actually, I have no idea, maybe I forgot it, but still, I'm sure that you steal it from somewhere else."

Rolling his eyes again, Satoshi said, now a frown is starting to show between his eyebrows. "Really? Prove it then."

"Alrighty then! First things first, let me try this key and see whether it really is my neighbor's key."

"By all means, go ahead, and do it quick."

Maia, slightly staggering, managed to climb up the stairs to the apartment next to hers. Focusing on the keyhole, Maia inserted the key that she now holds, or so she thought.

"Akihiko Maia, that's not the keyhole."

"What?"

"That's not the keyhole; in fact, you're not even close to the keyhole."

"How do you know that's not the keyhole?"

Right at this moment, Satoshi was moving forward and planned to help her with the keyhole. Because he's taller than Maia, and with both of them practically looming over the doorknob blocking any light from touching the doorknob, he cannot see where the keyhole is, so he bended down slightly and here comes the trouble;

Maia turned her head around to look at him. She knew that Satoshi is taller than her so she lifted her head and expecting to look at his face.

And certainly, she's not expecting her lips to come into contact with his.

And the time practically stopped. Both stared into each other's eyes, completely taken aback by the sudden contact and completely aware of each other's warm lips pressing together lightly.

Both drew back at the exact same time, both blinked eyes at the exact same time, both parties' hand slowly touch their lips stupidly at the same time. Maia's the first one that broke into a completely fanatical conclusion.

"This thing is not happening to me. This is so not me. This is not happening. It's impossible. I bet this whole thing is a dream and when I woke up, everything will be fine. It's just a dream Akihiko Maia, don't worry, when you wake up, it'll be fine." Muttered Maia, slowly backing away from the apartment beside her house and marched to her own apartment. Before she close the door of her apartment, she waved back to Satoshi, smiling like an idiot, "Goodbye, the Hiwatari Satoshi in my dream, I trust that we won't meet again," and close the door, leaving behind a baffled Satoshi standing right in front of his own apartment.

Satoshi opened his own apartment with his key (Maia had placed the key back into Satoshi's hand in a daze), closed and locked the door, walk straight into his bedroom and crashed upon his bed, too tired to think and too tired to change, which is what happen to Maia right at this very moment.

"This is my worst day ever…" mumbled Satoshi before he fell into a deep slumber, unbeknown to him, Maia too, mumbled the same word.

The Next Day…

The alarm clock blared loudly on the bed table near the single bed placed near the walls. The lump of crumpled bed sheet and bedspread dangled dangerously close to the edge of the bed, and right after the alarm clock screamed 7a.m in the morning, the lump jumped 2 inch off the bed and tumbled off onto the white Goff Rug placed underneath the single bed. The lump, now on the rug, unsurprisingly, moaned in pain and grumbled.

Akihiko Maia, now officially 17(well, not really, since her 17th birthday has yet to come), lived in a superb apartment that her brother had bought it online for her. The apartment is 2 floored (or double floored, or whatever it is called), top to toe in white excluding the blue door and blue window frames and dark blue roof and there's no gate. Yes, an apartment with no front gates but a backyard gate is present hidden at the back of the apartment, while the front side of the apartment is lined with boxwood hedges and a line of lavender underneath the boxwood hedges. Blue, is practically Akihiko Maia's favorite color, so it's not surprising if she would spend the rest of the day in a blue shop, well, if.

Now, on to her bedroom. Ignore the lump on the rug; we'll come to explain Akihiko Maia later, and for now, her sleeping chamber.

The headboard for the single bed (it's not really single, in fact, it's close to Queen sized bed, but she liked to call her bed 'single'.) is a deep rich brown color, while the other parts of the bed are ivory white. For the bedspread and the bed sheets, both of it is forest green with abstract floral designs prints. The interior of Akihiko Maia's bedchamber, well, one would practically go into a shock once they have a glimpse of what she 'hangs' all around the walls, and I mean all around the walls.

The walls are covered in crystal beads, all ends with a bell on the bottom, the length of these curtain of beads ranged from the entire length of the wall to the short space of walls left from the ceiling to the wardrobe. The beads, which are in green and blue and deep aqua color, covered the original color of the walls, which is white. (Akihiko Maia is a freak on curtain beads)

Then, here comes the hard-to-explain parts. Her sleeping room is the only room in her apartment that is practically 'separated' into two 'floors', the bed, bathroom and closets are on the upstairs, and the study table part downstairs. There's a rack of books near the study table, and a computer on it. That's all. Oh, and there's a sliding door that leads straight to the balcony overseeing the brick roads, one that she shared with her neighbor. Now, on to the next room. Next to Maia's sleeping room is the living room, where one is greeted with the sight of a few red sofas scattered around the room when one first entered to Maia's apartment. There's a plasma TV placed on the wall and a few stereos installed around this room. A large white fur rug (obviously man-made instead of the real fur rug) is placed in the middle between the plasma TV and the red sofa, and in the middle of the rug sat a wooden coffee table. On the right hand side of the plasma TV wall, well, no longer a wall, for there's a huge rack covering the walls (excluding a few windows). Within each rack is an assortment of CD collections, ranging from instrumental, English bands, Japanese bands and, of course, movies. There is a wide space for various activities behind the red sofas and one of the activities that Maia always does when she's free is-

Ah! The lump finally moved.

Still clutching the blanket, Maia dazedly trudged towards the bathroom. Turning on the shower full blast, Maia's eyes instantly snapped open and, now fully awake, begun to perform her daily rituals; brushing her teeth, clean her face, shower, mess up her hair a little, totally ignoring the make-up lying pitifully inside the drawer of her bathroom counter and, finally, now fully awake, she marched out of her bathroom stark naked with her towel in one hand and the other brushing her hair. This is what she does every day, when she was alone in her apartment of course.

After dressing up (trying her hardest not to glare holes into her new uniform and tugging at the scanty-looking skirt), Maia gave a last look at her apartment, making sure that everything was in place; such as the windows are locked and that she remembered to bring everything required to her new school as it was her first day at it and had wanted to leave a good impression in everyone's eyes, keys in one hand, she strode off towards the door, close it, lock it, and turn around gracefully to hop down the stairs.

Only to come face to face with the 'vile person' from yesterday's 'dream'.

And he wore the exact same uniform she's wearing; only it's a boy's version, with trousers and blazers instead of skirts.

She did what she's best at doing. Blinking her eyes, she blurted out, "Good morning…? Why are you here?"

Previously smirking, now rolling his eyes in utter disbelief, Satoshi said, "This is going nowhere, Akihiko Maia. Don't you look around your surroundings before you actually settled down? Don't you ever talk to your neighbors before? And good morning to you too."

Gently pushing him aside, Maia takes a deep breath of fresh air (and a strangely intoxicating scent that possibly came from the vile person's direction), she hopped down the stair in a strangely comical yet cute way; her daily ritual. Turning around, Maia replied him and explaining to him in an amusing way; she flings her hand around animatedly.

"It's not like I've never tried to talk to them, it's that they're always not home, and I've only been here for a few days at the most. Not to add that I actually had soo may places to go and soo many foods to try here and decorate my apartment…"

Noticing that the 'vile person' is all quiet, she opened her eyes (she was explaining with her eyes closed, a bad habit of hers) and noticed that he was rubbing his forehead.

"What? You got yourself a headache?"

Satoshi sighed. "No, more like frustrations over how impossibly dense and gullible one can be-"

"You mean, like me?" eyes widened and head tilted in such ways that she's seeing Satoshi vertically; Maia tried her best to imitate an innocent and 'cute' look.

"Not like you…"

"Oh, that's good…"

"It's definitely you."

The nearby seagulls squawked.

Maia pushed up her uniform's sleeves a little, hands clenched in a fist, "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I'm merely stating the obvious facts."

"Well, if you have something to say to me, why don't you just tell it to my face and stop doing those tongue twisting and brain-stressing stuff, smarty?"

"Alright then," taking a deep breath, Satoshi walked towards Maia and said in a rather loud voice, "I really can't believe that someone as dense and impossible like you existed on God's green Earth!"

This time, no squawking seagulls, but a group of elderly people that appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh my…"

"Couples…argue…"

"Boy, you shouldn't raise your voice like that to a girl…"

"That's terrible of you…"

"Youngsters these days…*sigh*…"

"We were more peaceful in the old days…"

"Then Tanaka that fellow…blah blah blah…"

The elderly group left, leaving a baffled Satoshi in front of Maia's apartment, and Maia, looking ever so innocent and naïve.

Nudging Satoshi at the ribs and wriggled one eyebrow at him, Maia said in an I-told-you-so tone, "Ya heard that? Boys shouldn't raise their voice like that towards a girl."

Satoshi merely glared at her, which surprisingly, had no effect on her whatsoever.

INDEX
Pub Rose-Rose-Beauty, Grape-vines-Intoxication
Cursing-Some people believe that it's a taboo to talk about accidents or kidnapping or robbing or bad accidents, especially the Chinese, for they believe that it will happen if one say it out loud to the person that doesn't want to get into bad accidents.