A/N:
Please note: It is pronounced Lu-Cee-Ah. It's the German way and I chose that for a reason. It is not like the American way of saying it like Lu-Sha.
Bear with me, I love the name. Enjoy the read, guys. I totally should be study for Psychology right now... if I don't know it... I'm not gonna learn it now.

Lucia Tanaka patiently waits outside her best friend's house as she does every morning before school. With a swift movement of her hand, the 14-year-old middle schooler flips the loose strands of thick, raven-colored, classic-length hair to her back with the rest. Still, the left side of her face remains covered by her bangs. Luce gives a slight wave as Daisuke Niwa, her friend, crashes through his front door, a piece of toast still hanging out of his mouth.

"Make sure you're back here no later than 27 seconds past 4:52 p.m., otherwise something bad might happen!" Dai's mother, Emiko, yells out their balcony window, "I don't care if she agrees to go out with you!"

Luce giggles as Daisuke freezes in embarrassment. She did happen to say that loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

Daisuke sputters, "H-how'd you know about that?!"

"I'm your mother, you can't hide these things from me!"

"No way!"

"Risa Harada, right? One of those twins?"

As Luce loudly laughs, Daisuke flushes red. He sends a glare to his best friend then mumbles, "Jeez, Mom... way to embarrass me..."

Emiko presses on, still shouting at the top of her lungs, "She's the younger one, isn't she?"

"BYE, MOM!" the scarlet-haired boy screams, taking off down the street and past Lucia.

His mother calls out, "Have a good day, you two! Luce, make sure he stays out of trouble!"

Luce grins and nods while waving her goodbye before following after Daisuke. Being a long-distance runner gave her an advantage. She could have made the cross-country or track team, but sports were never really of any interest to her. The raven-haired girl catches up with her best friend, who slows his pace so the two can casually walk and chat.

"Happy birthday, Daisuke!" she greets.

"Thanks, Luce!" Daisuke says excitedly, "This is it! Today, I go from being quiet, harmless little Daisuke Niwa to 'ya know, he's kinda cool' Daisuke Niwa!"

Luce chuckles and teases, "Oh? And why hasn't little Daisuke Niwa informed his best friend in the entire world, Lucia Tanaka about this sudden change?"

"Luce, you're so mean! It'll definitely work!" Daisuke pouts.

"Hee hee, I'm only kidding! Good luck!" the girl chirps with a usual, bright smile.

As the duo climb up the stairs leading to the trolley the conductor announces, "Last call, loading all passengers. The train will be leaving shortly."

"Aaaah! Wait for us!" Daisuke and Lucia cry as they clamber up in a panic.

The operator smiles. He's fairly familiar with the two children. They're actually quite early today. The man soothes, "Ah, Daisuke, Lucia. There's no need to run, you two will make this one."

"Thank you!" they beam as they pass through the gates.

Daisuke turns to his trusted friend, laying out his plan again, "Next stop is Miss Harada's. First. I'll say, 'good morning,' then I'll make everyone step aside to give her room. When the train starts to roll, our eyes will meet, and then, when the world evaporates and it's just the two of us, I'll boldly slip the letter into her delicate hand and say, 'please read this later...'"

"You sound like a girl... it's kinda cute!" the girl prods the boy's face with her index finger.

"H-hey!" he scolds, "Don't tease me on my birthday!"

"But you make it so easy!"

"Luuuuce!"

Just then, the intercom buzzes an announcement, "Approaching toll station, toll station. If this is your stop, please gather your belongings and prepare to exit."

That's when Daisuke spots Risa Harada in the crowd of people waiting to board the train. He watches as she fixes her shoulder-length, mouse-brown hair while reading a small book. "There she is!" The 14-year-old blushes nervously as the train pulls ever so closer to his crush. She's so beautiful. Now remember, "good morning," I lot, lose ourselves, slip the letter. He starts to pull at his scarlet hair, playing with it much like a girl priming for a date.

Lucia lightly elbows him, a stern look on her face. "Dude! Chill out!" she hisses. The raven-haired, violet-eyed girl beams at him and reassures, "You can do this."

The trolley comes to a halt. To Daisuke's utter dissatisfaction, Risa enters the front rather than the back as he expected. "THAT'S THE WRONG DOOR! Awww... it's a disaster!"

"That's not true at all, Dai..."

"I spent all that time researching when Miss Harada boards the train! And writing that letter! It took me months to get it just right for this day!"

"You'll get your chance once we get off!"

As everyone slips out of the train, Daisuke begins to feel reluctant. He steps out and pauses to gawk awkwardly at Risa as she gracefully hops out of her car. Luce gently shoves the scarlet-haired, birthday boy toward his crush for a last bit of needed encouragement.

"Go get her, Tiger!" the girl of equal German-Japanese descent giggles. She takes a step back as Daisuke hurriedly clambers up the steps.

He timidly calls out, M-Miss Harada!"

Risa Harada turns and beams at the boy. With her usual chipper voice, she greets, "Niwa!"

"Good mor-" Daisuke begins to reply back before he stumbles on the stairs. He starts to fall backwards, however Risa catches his arm and softly tugs. The unbalanced boy finds himself nearly inches away from his crush's face, taking in those gorgeous, brown eyes of hers.

Completely embarrassed, the 14-year-old boy repeatedly apologizes to her on the trio's way to school. "I feel like such a klutz!" Dai whines,"S-sorry..." He's totally flustered by his clumsiness. Luce treads quietly behind the duo, smiling.

The younger Harada twin shakes her head gently, "You don't have to keep berating yourself like this. It's ok, really! You're too nice!" She giggles, making Daisuke's heart flutter. Risa admits, calmly, "But, it's alright. That's what I like about you."

Her words cause Daisuke to freeze in his tracks. Luce almost smacks into his back at his abrupt stop in front of her. The red-haired boy's face grows redder than his hair while he stammers, "W-what... what did you say?"

She continues walking and doesn't face him, "Because you're a lot kinder than other people."

Daisuke reaches inside his bag for the letter. Now is the perfect time to give it to her. "Y-you think so?" he asks, faintly blushing.

"When it's my turn as classroom assistant, you always offer to carry things and you also took my place for cleaning duty."

"Well, that's because I... ya know..."

Risa faces him and starts, "And Niwa..."

Daisuke asks, trying to pry out an answer, "And?"

"You're so nice," she explains, "I almost can't think of you as just another boy I know from school."

"Yes?" Dai says slowly, moving the letter out ever so slightly.

She beams at him, "In many ways, you're my best friend in the whole world!"

Daisuke stops. He looks absolutely shattered. Even Luce is a little surprised by the way she worded her answer. "A... a friend?" he repeats, dropping the note. The poor boy didn't even get a chance to confess before his crush friend-zoned him.

Risa sees the note fall and picks it up. Examining it she spots her name has been written on the white envelope. "What's this?" she asks.

Daisuke snatches it back, shouting, "No! This is like a prop... or uh practice... uhh... how should I say this? Yeah... I like how your name is written, Miss Harada. I was practicing it, yes, practicing it! So, don't worry about it."

"But-" Risa objects.

Out of nowhere, her twin Riku rides in on her bike. "Hey guys!" the sporty girl with cranberry, short hair calls out, "I didn't interrupt anything did I?"

"Nope, not at all..." Luce sighs, shaking her head at the outcome.

"Riku!" Risa gasps as her sister slowly cruises up to them.

"It's unusual for Niwa to be this early, he doesn't have morning practice like we do. You too, Luce. Did you just tag along?" Riku asks.

Luce exhales, "You could say that..."

After being told by Daisuke to leave with the Harada twins, Luce rides atop the handlebars of the bike, now being used by Risa while Riku runs beside them. Luce sighs to herself quietly. I feel kinda bad that I left Dai alone... even if he did tell me to give her some time alone to think. Poor guy, friend-zoned on his birthday...

"Hey, Riku..." Risa cuts in the silence.

"Hmm?" her twin answers, picking up the pace a bit.

"What do you think it means if a boy has written a letter with a girl's name on it?"

"Oh! No doubt, it's definitely a love letter."

"Ooh, then that was-"

Riku interrupts, "Ah, did Niwa write a love letter?! H-hey, wait! Uhh... what did you do then?"

"What did I do?" Risa shrugs, "Well, he did have the letter, but didn't give it to me, so I didn't do anything."

"Maybe it wasn't meant for you," Riku suggests.

"That's what he said, but it had my name on it. Do you know anything about it, Luce? You're closer to Niwa than anybody else," the younger twin questions.

Luce makes up a quick excuse, pretending as if she was none the wiser,"A-ah! No, not really. All Daisuke asked was for me to come with him today."

"Oh..." Risa replies, "it's probably a good thing I didn't read it."

"Huh? Why's that?" Both Riku and Lucia ponder aloud.

"You know me! I don't want to settle for someone who's just plain and ordinary! I want someone who's taller and really stands out from a crowd! I've been working very hard myself to be suitable for someone who's just like that!" Risa babbles on.

Luce is very angered by those statements. This is her best friend she's talking about. The German-Japanese girl scolds, "Risa, that's really mean! How rude of you!"

"What do you mean?" Risa asks, slightly afraid of her friend's angered tone.

"Daisuke's a real sweetheart!" Luce defends, "You'd be lucky to have him! Don't call my best friend plain and ordinary in front of my face again!" The raven-haired girl lives for loyalty towards other people. Just because she is friends with both Risa and Daisuke didn't mean that she is going to let those comments about him slide.

Risa stutters, "I-I didn't mean anything by it, Luce! Honest!"

"Whether you meant it or not, your words still hurt! What if you'd said that to Dai's face?! After all the things he's done for you! Do you see any other boy dropping everything to help you? No. So, just stop and lay off Daisuke. Be grateful for what you've got and not what you want!" Luce vents.

"I'm sorry... I feel bad for Niwa, but... he's just not my type," Risa explains.

Luce grunts, "Whatever lets you sleep at night."

Throughout the entire school day, Daisuke had not always been 100% there. Luce made sure to take excellent notes for him to copy over later. The day being over, Luce quietly packs up her things from her desk in the back of the room. Sighing, she strides up to her best friend who has his head resting on his desk with a far off gaze.

"Dai... it's time to go home..." she lightly shakes him with a soft, gentle tone.

Takeshi Saehara on the other hand, shouts at him, "Daisuke, wake up! What's wrong with you?!" The son of Police Inspector Saehara violently shakes his classmate, "You aren't dead, right?!"

Luce shakes her head in disagreement, "He's fine... I think..."

Saehara shakes his shoulders again, "Look! You're going to have to snap out of it! You're like a zombie!" As the scarlet-haired boy's eyes drift up to his face, Takeshi continues, "Now, listen! There's something going down tonight that only happens once in a lifetime, and I need you there with me, got it?"

Lucia rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, "Once in a lifetime? Saehara, what nonsense are you yakking about now?" It isn't unusual for the enthusiastic reporter to-be to spout stories of events only gained by information obtained by his father's job. Some of it turned out to be actual news, while other times it turned out to be nothing but baloney.

"If you must know, Miss Tanaka-" the boy-reporter starts.

"Luce!" Lucia growls as her classmate hits a nerve. She never likes anyone referring to her by her surname. It only reminded her of her father, who she wanted no part of since her parent's divorce two years ago.

Saehara flinches, but corrects himself. In a relaxed, yet bored manor of having to explain himself to her, Takeshi states, "Luce... my pop gave me the scoop that something is going to happen at 11! Whatever it is, it's gonna be freakin' huge!"

Luce cocks her head in curiousness, "Really? So, what do you need Daisuke for?"

"Since I'm the reporter, he can take over my art room cleaning duties for me while I'm preparing for this groundbreaking story of mine!" Saehara says enthusiastically.

"Don't you think that's unfair for him," Luce objects, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance, "Come on, it's his birthday!"

Saehara completely ignores her and leans towards Dai's ear. He whispers, "I'll get you a picture of Harada... an 8 x 10!" Daisuke flushes and Takeshi knows he's got him sold.

Luce sighs and offers, "I guess I'll help too since you have to be home a certain time tonight..."

Outside the art room, Daisuke hangs his head in shame. "How'd he talk me into this?" the boy whines, knowing fully well that he got himself into this situation over a photograph of his crush that literally crushed his heart this morning.

"Easy..." Luce surmises, "You're a pushover..."

"T-that's not very nice... but it's true. Thanks for coming to help," Daisuke thanks.

Luce shrugs, "It's no trouble. It's not like I have anyone waiting for me at home... besides Spines..." That really is the only thing worth coming home to for Lucia, her pet hedgehog.

Daisuke gasps in disbelief, "Your mom's on another trip?! Already?! Didn't she just get back?!"

"Yup. She got back this weekend. Left two days later. Sometimes, I think she's avoiding having to spend time with me..." Luce grumbles.

"No way," her best friend objects to assuage her feelings, "Your mom adores you, Luce!"

"If you say so," Luce sighs.

Daisuke swipes the entry card for it only to read "ERROR." Daisuke examines the card, "Huh?" The card is actually for the Azumano Middle School Science room. In Saehara's haste to get out of here, he'd grabbed the wrong card for the duo. "The office is on the other side of the school! How did this happen?! This was supposed to be the day I stopped being a loser!" Daisuke complains, sounding almost on the verge of crying.

"Daisuke Niwa, you are not a loser!" Luce yells in defense, "Just because Risa is being stupid does not mean that you're a nobody! Don't be so hard on yourself! Girls can be so cruel and not even know it!"

"T-thanks, Luce," Daisuke says, "But that's easy for you to say. Everyone likes you. You're like one of the most popular people in school."

Lucia shrugs and comments, "Yeah, and I have a workaholic mother and a cheating, deadbeat father. No one's perfect Dai. You need to love yourself more."

Daisuke smiles, feeling much better by her words. He nods, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." The boy soon resorts to using his hacking skills to open the locked door.

As the duo walk in, the feel a presence behind them. They stop and whirl around. "H-huh?!" the two gasp in surprise as their classmate appears behind him.

"Hi-Hiwatari?! D-did you see that?!" Daisuke stammers, worried that he may have been caught. Only Luce knows about his special training that his mom and grandpa had done with him.

The light blue-haired boy asks, "See what?" Daisuke and Luce figure that he didn't catch them breaking into the room to clean it.

Luce flips on the lights while hiding a blush of embarrassment and surprise.

"Nothing..." Daisuke catches himself before moving on to a new subject, "Uhh... did you know they got a reproduction of "Goddess Laden" by Jinel? Look!" the 14-year-old, redhead points to the painting hanging high above their heads.

Satoshi observes the painting before turning back to his classmate, "Yeah, I saw it already."

"Oh, so what are you doing here?" Daisuke questions.

"Cleaning duty," the other boy explains, "the same as you two."

The three middle schoolers begin cleaning the empty classroom, sweeping up the dust mixed with dirt and pencil shavings. It is kind of awkward as they clean in silence. Daisuke and Luce occasionally glance at one another, but are almost too afraid to break the tense quietness.

Finally, Daisuke decides enough is enough, "So, where did everybody else run off to? Don't you think it's rude they're not helping?" Usually the cleaning groups comprised of at least 5 people. The job can be done with only three, it is just going to take a while longer than with a group of five.

"I told them they didn't have to help. I told them that... I needed some time alone with you."

Luce blushes as she realizes the awkward situation she got herself into by volunteering to help Daisuke. "W-would you like me to leave, S-Satoshi?" She never used his last name with him either. The two aren't completely close, but their desks are across from each other and they would occasionally have conversations here and there during their breaks. She blushes faintly as the sapphire-eyed boy smiles at her.

"No, there's no need for that," Satoshi answers before turning back to Daisuke, "So, Niwa... are you free tonight?"

Daisuke jumps, remembering his mom's words, "Oh! Uhh... umm..."

"What's wrong? Do you have something more important to do?" the other boy asks.

"No, it's just that... well, you see... today just happens... to be my birthday," Daisuke admits, telling a half-lie. His mom sounded like there is supposed to be something really important going on at home tonight.

Satoshi sighs, "Too bad. I guess it can't be helped." Pausing from his work for a few moments, his gaze returns to her female classmate. "What about you, Miss Tanaka?" he questions.

Luce blushes and sputters, "Y-you can call me L-Luce! I-I prefer Luce... and I uhh... can't. My mother is away... so... I h-have to be h-home..."

"A shame."

After the trio finished cleaning, Daisuke and Lucia split up from Satoshi to head home. The red-haired boy ponders aloud, "So, what was with you in the art room?"

"What do you mean?"

"When Hiwatari started talking to you, you were babbling like an idiot."

"I... I was not!" Luce flushes and turns her face away from him.

"Luce," Daisuke interrogates, "do you like Hiwatari?"

Luce dodges the question, "Sh-shut up!" She is stopped by the sound of the evening bell from the clocktower in the town. It's about 4:00 and it takes about 45 minutes to get back home.

Daisuke pales and shouts, "Oh no! I'm going to be late!"

"Go on, I'll see you tomorrow," Luce nudges her friend forward, "Night, Daisuke!" She walks her way home alone as she's done many times before. She plugs in her mp3 player and plays some music while she journeys through the town. When she finally comes home, she ditches her shoes by the front door and makes her way up the stairs. As she opens her door, she wakes up her pet from his nap.

"Hey there, buddy!" the girl greets, taking the small animal out of his cage to lay down on her bed. Flipping on the TV, she browses around some channels for the next few hours. A news report flashes on at 11 while Luce is in the middle of playing with Spines.

"We are just moments away from this specified time for the reappearance of legendary Phantom Dark. Will he really fly in like the legends say?" the reporter woman announces.

Luce turns up the volume, becoming interested in the news report. "So, this is what Saehara was talking about. For once, it's not nonsense," she mumbles to her pet, scratching him on the head affectionately. The small creature nibbles her finger as a thank you.

Suddenly, Luce jumps as the reporter shouts and the camera pans up, "It's Dark! After 40 years of obscurity, the Phantom Thief has finally shown himself! The burglar circles above, taunting the police " The camera zooms in on an object in the darkened sky being followed by bright searchlights. A close-up shot reveals a quite handsome boy with dark purple hair that rivals the shade of his eyes. "Amazing!" the woman says over the camera shot, "The Phantom Thief is actually a boy! He appears to look like he's no older than 18 years old!"

"Woah! How is that possible?!" Luce ponders. Her jaw drops as the Phantom Thief disappears in a flash. She leans ever so slightly forward on her bed, scooping Spines into her lap. Her eyes search the sky as the camera pans around, doing much of the same.

"The mysterious birdman has disappeared! The police are making their move, they're storming the building!"

The 14-year-old cradles her hedgehog in her arms. "Think he'll be okay, Spines?" Lucia asks her pet, looking down at his face. She shakes her head. "Man, why am I worrying? He's a criminal... hopefully, he'll be caught tonight." The raven-haired girl shuts off her TV. She places Spines back into his cage. The animal burrows himself under his shavings to go to sleep. Lucia smiles, "Goodnight, buddy. I'm going to check on Daisuke." Before she leaves, she fills up his food dish in case she doesn't make it home tonight to feed him in the morning. The middle school girl grabs her keys off her desk and flicks off the lights in her house. Luce bikes over to her friend's house, figuring it safer than walking, even if it is only down the street.

Reaching the Niwa household, Luce leans her bike against the house. She strides up to the front door and rings the bell. Daisuke's mom opens the door.

"Oh, Lucia!" she gasps in surprise, "What are you doing out here so late? Is everything alright?!" Emiko cared about her son's friend almost like a daughter. She had been the one to take care of Lucia whenever her parents left on their individual trips for their jobs. Even if she was friends with her mother since high school, Emiko still didn't always agree with Ada for leaving her daughter alone so often.

"I'm alright, Miss Emiko. Is Daisuke around? I wanted to check on him since he had a... rough day at school..." The girl peeks around the woman in front of her to see no sign of her son.

Emiko answers, "I'm sorry, dear... he's out."

"What? He told Sa- I mean me that he couldn't go out tonight," Lucia explains, becoming suspicious.

"Uhh..." Emiko struggles for an answer for her son's best friend.

Luce panics, "W-what's going on?! Where's Daisuke?!" The girl looks frantic, like she's about to bolt and go look for him around the town.

Emiko sighs and motions for the distressed girl to come inside. "Come in, Lucia... and we'll wait for Daisuke together. Then I'll tell you everything..."

A/N:
Okay, I know... I'm neglecting all my other stories and posting new stuff. But, to me, having notes of other fanfics feels like I'm neglecting those too.
Honestly, I finished this chapter in a day. A day! Usually chapters take me like at least a week to write because I handwrite chapters, then type them out on the computer. Well, obviously not anymore. I can get so much work done if I stick to the process I have now!
Anyway! Don't forget to review and let me know what you guys think!