Red Violet;

A DNAngel fanfiction

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Daisuke's POV

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I had a strong urge to go see Mio. Don't ask me why, because I won't give you an answer. I'm not sure why. I just felt like it, end of story.

I got up this morning, still half-asleep, changed clothes and played mechanically through a morning routine. On a Saturday. Pathetic.

Dark slapped me in the back of the head to wake me up. Stop screwing around, Daisuke an-- He didn't finish his sentence.

I tripped on a wire, causing arrows and ropes shoot out from the wall. Shiz. Mom caught me today. Caught up in a mass of ropes on the floor, the only thing I was able to do was duck and cover.

And then inch forward on a slippery tile floor toward the stairs, hoping not to get killed.

Somehow, I freed myself, and stood up, careful not to tip off any more trap sensors.

Dark sighed and shook his head. We would've been tied up and hauled off by now if that was during a theft. Nice going Daisuke I resisted the urge to punch him. Not that I could've hurt him much, but hey, I can try.

I bounded down the stairs before he could say anything else, or in my perspective, before I hurt him. Dark is quite the critic. I hate him for it, too.

My mom was gossiping with To-to excitedly. I didn't even want to know what they were talking about. Some girl thing, probably. To-to nodded quickly, grinning like a fool.

I thought I heard my mom say "Himura". I stopped to listen for a second. Oh, right, Himura is Mio-san's last name. Her grandfather is Kenshin Himura.

Quick background on Mio-san before I go on... 1) Her parents abandoned her and so she lives alone with her evil cat, (2) she's wicked awesome at fighting, (3) her best friend is Akane Sake, who is currently dating my friend Satoshi Hiwatari, and is also wicked awesome at fighting, (4) she's a rebel, but I know that she's also a softie because sometimes she gets really emotional when it's just the two of us, (5) she's an amazing artist, (6) Mio Himura is my girlfriend. And Dark is crushing on her since he got ditched by her friend Hikari. He also thinks Mio-san is in love with him, and is in denial. She totally hates him.

You think he would get it after he got chased with a flamethrower. Long story. He got into her mirror and she attempted to kill him.

Oh, did I mention that she knows that my alter ego is the Phantom Thief? Yeah, I guess I missed a few things. Like how she can enter minds and move things without touching them...and find out that your alter ego is a famous thief on accident.

That...and she's bent on going into the Army when she gets older. I'll stop her from joining them if it kills me.

If you give her a toaster she'll turn it into a weapon. Mio-san is also a very good marksman. Sometimes she kinda scares me. Then she'll freak out at something or get hurt and I get a little overprotective. Okay, way overprotective. It evens out eventually.

It's kinda funny to think of someone like me as overprotective. Little background on myself. Even though I've been trained to be a thief and all that jazz...the truth is, I'm a skinny, wiry kid with the fiery red hair that has a life of its own. My eyes are the same shade and I am crazy shy.

Isn't the guy supposed to be the outgoing, tough one?

I'm getting confused. Moving on.

I listened to Mom's conversation for a moment, pretending to have dropped something. She was definitely talking about Mio-san. Then I heard my name. Then I heard Dark's name. What were they talking about? To-to giggled and said something back to her in a high voice.

I could only make out fragments of their gossip. "Ninja...thief...kawai ne...black wings...Dai-chan." I gave up after hearing my mom call me Dai-chan. Geez, I hated that name. I left the house, avoiding the few traps that were left.

When Dark and I arrived at where she lived about ten minutes later, I knocked on the door. "Mio-chan? Anyone home?" Oh yeah, she lives in an apartment. There's a balcony out back, two bedrooms, her art studio, the kitchen, and her tricked out living room. My artist buddy sells her work for money.

I honestly need to try that sometime.

No one answered. I had a feeling Serena (her evil...werecat...guardian...thing) was in there, but seeing as she didn't really like me, I knew she wouldn't open the door. Typical.

I picked the lock on her door and let myself inside, stopping in front of a glass and wrought-iron coffee table. There was a note on it. Good.

Hey, don't give me that look. Yes, I've broken into her house before— for a good reason! It's a system, ok? Mio-san leaves a note on the table when she leaves in case I come over while she's gone. Knowing I can picklock about anything, she just locks the door and leaves Serena to guard the apartment.

Just chill, ok? I don't go breaking into people's houses. Geez.

As I picked up the note, Serena trotted into the room. Oh it's just you. I thought so She glared at me and flicked her tail. The bell on her black ribbon of a collar rang lightly, like her voice. That cat gives me the creeps. "You should know by now when or when it isn't me," I muttered, reading Mio-san's note. She was over at Akane's, training.

Yup. I missed another thing. The reason Mio-san and Akane-san are such good fighters is because they come from a line of ninjas.

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Dark's POV

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Yeah, so be proud of being a thief. You wouldn't have a chance with anyone. Why? Because you'd be a total dork without your thieving greatness. And you still are a dork.

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Daisuke's POV

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Don't maim your alter ego, don't maim your alter ego, don't maim your alter ego...Stupid Dark...

Hey. Ever notice that the word "dork" is only one letter away from the name "Dark"? Simply change the 'o' to an 'a' and voila!

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Dark's POV

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You little punk...

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Daisuke's POV

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It's so much fun to make fun of you. Anyhow, moving on.

I put the note in my jacket pocket, trying to ignore Serena staring at me. Did I mention she hates me? I think I did. I'll say it again. She hates me. I don't know why. Yeah, I'd better not tell my mom that because she'll kidnap her and use her as another trap in my house.

And I need that cat like a hole in the head. In case you didn't pick up on my sarcasm, that phrase means I don't need the cat.

However, Dark and Serena are thick as thieves. Oh, sorry. I wasn't intending a pun there. Ok, uh, scratch that. Partners in crime. There we go.

Serena was still glaring at me. Dark perked up at finally noticing her. What an idiot...

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Dark's POV

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Yo, Darkfang Serena blinked as if she had heard something. Oh, hi Dark Serena Darkfang is one of the coolest cats you will ever find. She is evil as heck. I think it's kinda cool that she's like a guardian though; you don't see many guard cats.

Guard dogs, that's nothing new.

Eh, I'm rambling. 'Sup She blinked again. Not much Yeah, I could believe it. Serena was here alone a lot. But she manages to find something to do, I guess. She sleeps a lot. Cats tend to do that.

Daisuke seemed sort of annoyed after a moment, when a conversation actually got started. Dang humans.

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Daisuke's POV

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"Anyways," I interrupted Dark and Serena's conversation before they could start planning things. "Dark, don't we have to steal something tonight?" Dark cleared his throat. Yes, I do have something to steal I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, YOU have something to steal. Excuse me." You're excused "..." I give up. My alter ego is hopeless. I suppose you shouldn't argue with fools. Yeah...I'm going to stop wasting my time. "Ja ne, Serena-san." I stuffed the note in my jacket pocket so Mio would know I had stopped by.

Then I remembered something. "Hey, Dark, do me a favor, will you?" "Depends on what it is "Hello...we have to steal something tonight...Duh..." Oh that He lent me a black feather and I dropped it on the table.

Another part in the "system". That feather just lets her know that I won't answer if she calls or something because I'll be busy with...ah...family business. Family business is my excuse when I have to go steal something...It makes no sense to me. If some kid just ditched me saying they had "family business" I would just stare at them like they were an idiot.

This, in return, would make me look like an idiot. Oh, how I love my life.

Serena blinked emotionlessly. That cat...is just so weird... I turned to leave and, literally, the second I opened the door I ran into someone blindly.

"Sorry," I said under my breath and brushed off my shirt, not looking up yet. "Dai-kun? What are you doing here?" I blinked.

Oh. That's who it was.

"Hi, Mio-chan, I just dropped by and, um..." Mio smiled. Dark poked me. I swear, he's a demon... "Yeah, I was just over at Akane's...Did you need something?" "Um, no, not really." Dark poked me again. So...infuriating...

I must've flinched because Mio-san was quick to change the subject. Enough to get off topic, but not too off topic, a.k.a., her usual way of getting out of trouble. She glanced over my shoulder, noticing the black feather on her coffee table. "On duty tonight?" She joked. "Unfortunately."

To tell you the truth, my job was actually pretty fun. Not the actual concept of stealing something, like the joy of thievery, but the real "stealing" part. Evading traps, getting away from the cops...

Flying away from rabid fan girls...

That, my friend, is enough to get you hyped on adrenaline all night. It burns out eventually, so it's not like I'm ADHD-crazy the next day. That might kinda blow my cover.

"Cool. Just don't get caught, because I really don't want to plan a jailbreak, got that?" Half sarcastic, half serious. Typical Mio. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going to tell you that the next time you chase Dark down with a flamethrower," I fired back with a smirk. "Well, if a certain someone had controlled their alter ego that never would've happened. Smart alec." She flicked my jaw lightly on the way inside of her apartment, mirroring my smirk and closing the door before I could comment on that last response.

"See you later, Daisuke," I said in a mocking tone. Mio-san threw a sketchbook at the door. "It's not good to talk to yourself, Dai. It makes people think that you're crazy. Which you sort are." "Gee, thanks." "No problemo, thief boy. Now...go away..."

Once again; half sarcastic, half serious, all Mio.

"I'm going, I'm going..." Dark blinked as I bounded down three flights of stairs. Excuse me...But did she just throw something at you? "No, she threw a sketchbook at the door," I corrected. Dark snorted Can you say "Abusive relationship"?

Man, if only I could've slapped him... But, alas, we share the same body. It's ok though, because I can still get revenge. This can or can't be a wonderful thing. Dark's kind of the king of revenge so... Yeah...

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Dark's POV

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You'd better believe it, buddy boy.

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Daisuke's POV

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...You know what? I'm not even going to say anything. I'm going to let him live in his little fantasy world. Meanwhile, I get some work done and haul him back to reality when I need him tonight.

FAST FORWARD TIME! (Man, so many people are going to hate me for the FF, heh, heh...)

I ran along a rooftop, trying to find which way to take to get to this art museum or whatnot. Cathedral for all I care. "Dark, can I get a little help here?" Eh? Oh, yeah. Just follow this street and take a left at the fork in the road "You... do realize that I can't just jump across to the left side of the road, right?" Use Wiz- "Oh look, rabid fan girls." HIDE

I smirked and did what he told me to. Luckily, the buildings were close enough and some...person... had put a clothes line between the two. Useful for me, but, I mean seriously. Who puts those up between buildings anymo—Oh wait. There were lights attached to it. Oh. Got it. Lights on the wire... To illuminate the street or something like that.

Dark started reeling off directions to me and it was all I could do to keep up with him. I told you I would leave him in his little fantasy world. I did and now after being quiet for so long he's telling me things at 90 mph. Oops.

Anyways, I did my best to keep up with his retarded gibberish and finally found the museum. Thank God. I thought I'd never get here... Well, guess I've done my part. Unfortunately, Dark had to take over for this part of the job.

Now, about the transformation, two words: Not fun.

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Dark's POV

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Once I was back in control (for the first time in about three days, but last time I was getting chased by that crazy girl with a flamethrower), we had to do a list of things.

1. Get past the cops

2. Get into the museum

3. Transform

4. Get the security system jammed

5. Run for the main room

6. Jam the backup security systems

7. Transform (IF we got caught; I'd rather be the one in trouble than the secret of our curse getting out, you know?)

8. Grab the artwork

9. Run like there ain't no manyana

10. Get away to a point where I can fly

11. Grab Wiz and get the heck outta there

Well, let's see. Check, check, check, done, sigh, check some more. Check x6. Therefore we are now a little past task numero eleven. Or more specifically, we were bolting through the sky like lightning, painting in hand, watching for any lingering Hikari alter egos. Yeah, running into Krad was not something I needed at that moment.

Good luck? 100 not my thing.

"Going somewhere?" An icy voice asked me. I froze. I swear I could feel him smiling that stupid smile of his. "Guess who, Mousy.""Hm. Golly; couldn't be Krad. Naw, it's gotta be Tom Cruise," I muttered. "What was that?" I forced myself to ignore him. I could already feel a fight coming.

I braced myself to fly like my life depended on it.

Which it sort of did.

Before I could do anything, a knife whizzed past my shoulder. "WHAT THE-!" Oh that is just...perfect. Battle time. I turned around slowly. Krad was tossing another gold-tipped knife into the air and catching it single-handedly. As predicted, a smirk was planted on his face. That smirk alone made me want to kill him. I never could quite grasp what it was about him that made me so angry. I mean, really. I just have to look at him and then...

Daisuke tugged at my shoulder. He said something, but I didn't hear it. All I heard was my heart thudding. I wanted so badly just to dart forward and...

Greater mercy. HOW did Krad manage to provoke me like he did? I made myself stay calm. If I didn't stay calm, I wouldn't be able to think straight. That would be my downfall. If I fought blindly, I would lose. Or possibly die. Either result involves a lot of maiming. Thanks, but no thanks.

Krad tossed his knife again. It glittered in the starlight. "..." "..." His demonic happiness grew with every passing second. I waited. He was bound to attack any second. We waited, holding the other's frosty glare. For the millionth time, I realized how different we were. I tapped the frame of the painting slowly. It was a low rhythmic sound. I had to make some sort of noise. Do something.

He almost killed me. Almost. Krad's almost killed me plenty of times.

I dodged his knife at the very last second. While I was dodging that one, he hurled another at me. That smirk still lingered, and I couldn't tell if Krad was as ticked off as I was or if he was enjoying being able to throw weapons at me. Is he just toying with me? I wondered while eluding his third knife.

Anger bit at my stomach. I drew a knife of my own. That was my only weapon. Well, besides extremely sharp black feathers. Which are pretty much knives. Yeah, those'll work.

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Daisuke's POV

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Now, I won't describe the whole battle. If I did, you'd be here for a while. I'll explain later, when I have more time. But I'll tell you what happened afterwards for right now.

By the time we got home, Dark was furious and he didn't look so hot. Fights like the one that had just happened took a lot of his energy. And mine. I wasn't feeling so great either, because he had been using magic. It had been a while since the last time he had used magic. I wonder why he used it this time.

Dark ignored me when I tried to say something to him. I sighed. Like I said, he wasn't too happy. I opened the door and was attacked by my mother. She bombarded me with questions. Luckily, she answered herself mostly. Did you fall into any traps, well of course not, I see you got the art, did you get hurt, you don't look it, why were you gone for so long, ooh I bet it was that Hikari kid again, wasn't it, or, uh, didn't his last name change, Hiwatari, I think, but of course he's still a Hikari, how did it go, I bet you and Dark really pulled it off, huh Dai, oh stupid me, of course you did...

She went on and on and on.

I simply nodded at the appropriate times and pretended to be listening. Smile every now and then. Dark looked miserable as he tried to blow off all of her endless questions. Can't say I was much better. "Mom, I've got some homework to do...and...Um..." I tried to find some excuse to get away from her. She's my personal paparazzi these days. I might as well have hired Takeshi.

"Oh, ok. Go on, then." She snatched the painting out of my hands and darted to the basement, To-to followed her happily.

This left me alone in the doorway. Oh right. There was a trap right in front of me... New goal: get to room unscathed. Cue the Mission Impossible theme. Mission accomplished.

I flopped onto my bed with a groan. Wiz hopped on my bed and pretty much copied me. Only his groan was a little more on the lines of a kyu-ish squeak. On my nightstand, a black and red cell phone vibrated in rhythm with the ringtone. I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. Why was Riku calling me? Oh right. It was Saturday. Akane was probably dragging everyone to the movies.

I tossed it onto my backpack that slouched against the wall. How To Save a Life continued to play. After a minute, it stopped. Wiz sat up and cocked his head as my cell phone chirped the "1 missed call/you have a new voicemail" tone. He jumped down and sniffed at the phone. Accidentally touching it with his nose, the message played loud n' clear.

"Daisuke, c'mon I know you're there. Akane keeps trying to get all of us to go do something. We've been calling you. At least call one of us back and tell us if you can come or not," "No," I said to the message. But it wasn't finished. Riku razzed on my voicemail for another minute before deciding to hang up.

We've been calling you. Oh? Oops. I stood up and walked over to Wiz. I ruffled his fur and picked up my phone, hitting a speed-dial number. A monotone voice answered, "What do you want?" "Shut up, Satoshi." "No, seriously," Satoshi sounded a little bit ticked off. He probably was after getting dragged into another predicament by Krad.

"You know what? I'll just ask you later. You don't sound too happy. And I really don't feel like getting on your bad side." "..." "Sorry." "What did you call for, Niwa?" "Are you with Akane?" "Why?" "Yes or no." "Sort of, she just dropped by to help with the securit--" "HIII DAISUKE-KUN!" "Hi Akane." I'm guessing Satoshi took back the phone. "She dropped by to help with the security." "Ask her if she's trying to drag everyone somewhere tonight." "Alright."

I stroked Wiz's head while waiting for an answer. "Yeah, why?" "Riku left a message. She said that they keep calling me." "..." Satoshi cleared his throat, about to make sure that the conversation didn't veer off the road. Akane already suspected that I had something to do with Dark.

He said something to Akane. I heard an enthusiastic, "Hai!" My guess? I was expected to go somewhere. Wrong. Hiwatari saves the day. He managed to call off the plans.

"Thanks," I muttered. "Don't expect it again any time soon." "I won't." "Yoroshii." "Ja, thanks again." "Ja." A long bleep sounded. I hung up, too, and stood up again. Wiz worked his way up to me. He jumped to the chair, to the desk, to my shoulder.

I crashed on my bed again. I don't know what time it was when I finally fell asleep, but I knew it was pretty late. Things would be better in the morning. Or at least they should have been.