A fresh start…or is it

Wow…I can't believe a year has already passed since the Black Wings was sealed…Daisuke thought this as he got his things packed. A year has passed since Dark and Krad were finally sealed away; Satoshi and Risa had been seeing each other for over six months since then. Daisuke was happy for them, even if his relationship with Riku had been awkward ever since she found out that he was really the Phantom Thief Dark.

"Dai sweetie! Have you got your things packed yet? Wiz and Towa are waiting for you to come down!" called his mother from downstairs.

Today Daisuke was going to attend his first day of high school. The only problem was, the school was in another town away from his house! He was going to the same school as Satoshi; the Harada twins were (unfortunately?) going to an all-girls school thanks to their parents. Even though he knew he could still call her, he was still a tiny bit relieved at this turn of events.

"Daisuke, Satoshi's here! Hurry it up already or you'll miss your flight!" yelled his grandfather.

"Coming!" answered Daisuke quickly. He grabbed his bags and slid on the banister down the stairs, avoiding all of his mother's traps. (Even though Dark was gone, Emiko wasn't about to stop the trap course!)

"Yo Dai…what took you so long?" asked Satoshi jokingly.

"Sorry… I had a hard time trying to find my art supplies!"

"You can always get more at the new town. Oh! I almost forgot; what classroom will you be in?" asked Satoshi.

"I think it said D-3. How 'bout you?" asked Daisuke.

"I was a little worried there. Looks like we're still gonna be classmates in the same room!" laughed Satoshi.

'Satoshi has certainly become a lot easier to deal with since Krad was sealed…' thought Daisuke.

"Come on…if we don't hurry we're gonna miss our flight!" said Satoshi. They bid a fond farewell to their hometown and ran to the airport. (Their new school was very far away from their town. It was halfway across the country in a town named Karakura.)

"Phew! We made it…just barely!" said Daisuke, trying to catch his breath. They got onto the plane and put their bags up in the space above them. They sat down and buckled up; the plane took off from the runway half a minute later.


"I wonder how much it costs for a plane ticket…" said Daisuke aloud.

"1,500 yen."

"Eh?! How do you…? Oh…you checked last night didn't you?" said Daisuke bored.

"Better believe it. I know you'll get homesick around the holidays, so I looked it up."

"Whatever… let's just relax until the plane lands…" said Daisuke with a yawn.

"Um, Daisuke…if you're gonna fall asleep, then you should take your gum out first. Otherwise you might swallow it by accident!" warned Satoshi.

"Ack! Too late…" said Daisuke in horror.

"You never change Daisuke…" said Satoshi amused. He took out a book which he read for the rest of the flight. The plane landed two hours later.

"Ow, ow, ow… we would have to get the only plane that didn't have a bathroom!" grumbled Daisuke.

"It's not our fault the plane was so small. Now do you see why I suggested a seat close to the row?" snorted Satoshi. (He wasn't as cramped up because he had more leg room than Daisuke!)

"So this is Karakura… I thought it'd be bigger," said Daisuke when his legs quit hurting.

"Hey, at least we didn't have to pay for the ticket."

"True. So where do we go now?" asked Daisuke.

"Let's see… it's a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bathroom and a laundry room downstairs. According to the map, it should be close to the High School," said Satoshi as he checked. They headed toward the high school, and stopped when they reached the building. A girl with orange-colored hair saw them and said in a happy tone, "Oh joy! New neighbors!"

"Um…hello?" said Daisuke surprised.

"I'm Inoui Orihime, what're your names?" she said.

"I'm Niwa Daisuke and he's Hikari Satoshi," replied Daisuke, who got an irritated glance from Satoshi for calling him by his birth name even though he was adopted.

"So what's your apartment number?" asked Orihime.

"Its 5-1-3…I think," said Satoshi.

"That means you'll be across from me!" said Orihime surprised.

"Okay… So tell me, Inoui-san, where is the high school here? We couldn't find it at all!" said Daisuke.

"Are you guys freshman?"

"Yeah…we just got here a few hours ago. Are you in high school too, Inoui-san?"

"Um, you can just call me Orihime. And yup, I'm in classroom D-3!"

'Oh hell no! We're gonna be stuck with this girl both during and after school!' thought Satoshi in horror as he said, "I guess that means we'll be classmates."

"I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then. I gotta go meet Tatsuki! It was nice to meet you!" said Orihime as she spotted a black-haired girl who they assumed was 'Tatsuki'.


"Okay, that was weird!"

"Define weird when it comes to us," Satoshi said irritably.

"Touché… so do you have the keys or what?"

"No… we have to get them from the manager. And before you even think of suggesting it; you are NOT, I repeat NOT to pick the lock before we get the keys!!!!" said Satoshi sternly.

"You don't need to worry 'bout that. I wasn't in the mood to hunt down the picks in my bag anyway. Let's get this over with…" said Daisuke.

They got the keys as well as a long list of rules for the apartment. They went in and quickly put their things away. They then decided to crash for the night; jetlag had set in while they were unpacking.


Daisuke felt something inside him…something he hadn't felt in months. He assumed it was relief…relief for finally having a chance to forget what happened with Dark and Krad and get past the loneliness. Unlike Satoshi, he actually got along with his other half; that is, when Dark wasn't acting like his usual perverted self!

He sighed…for some reason he still couldn't get over the fact that Dark was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. He lay there for over an hour before he finally fell fast asleep. He never heard the surprised yelp or a voice curse as it realized where it was!

The intruder looked around with his eyes…the minute he saw the red-haired teen he held back a curse. How did he get here? He was supposed to be SEALED along with his other self; what had happened?!

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Satoshi woke up the next morning in a tired daze. He hadn't felt like this since…since his homicidal alter ego/family curse was around. He didn't fully wake up until a half-hour later; Daisuke had been up an hour earlier than him and had started breakfast. He looked up at his blue-haired friend and said, "You look like something the cat dragged in. Rough night?"

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"I don't know. All I know is that I haven't felt this tired since Krad was still around. I thought my low-blood pressure was caused by that homicidal bastard sharing the same body…" said Satoshi bored.

"Woah… Never mind. By the way, do you know where our new school uniforms are? I can't seem to find them!" said Daisuke, changing the subject.

"They were in my bag… Do you even know what they look like?" said Satoshi amused.

"Not really. I thought they'd be the same as our old ones," admitted Daisuke.

"They're grey all over and come with a white shirt which you can't see 'cause it goes underneath. I'm just glad that they don't make us wear those stupid ties…"

"Oh… so when are we supposed to be at school?"

"We go tomorrow. Freshmen are given a two-day waiting period if they're not local. Right now we need to go get some groceries for the week. Did you happen to see any stores while we were searching yesterday?"

"No…but I know someone who can give us directions!" said Daisuke. He tried not to laugh at the look on Satoshi's face when he said this.

"Oh no…not that girl we met yesterday!" groaned Satoshi.

"I wasn't talking 'bout Orihime, I was referring to Towa!" laughed Daisuke. Satoshi gave a sigh of relief.

"Oy! Towa-chan!" called Daisuke.

"What is it, Daisuke?" asked Towa, who was in her bird form.

"Do you think you can give us directions to a grocery store nearby? We need to get some food for the week," asked Daisuke politely.

"Sure thing Daisuke! Let's see…there are three stores nearby. There's a store three blocks away, but it's a convenience store with little selections. There's a shop that has a variety of items about four blocks south of here, though it's hard to find due to its small size. Then there is a supermarket…but it's over twelve blocks away," said Towa.

"So we have to choose from a convenience store with almost no selection and a small store that hard to find but has a variety… I guess we'll have to go to the hard-to-find store. Convenience stores usually have nothing but junk food anyway," said Satoshi finally.

"We'll leave after breakfast. Hey, Towa-chan, you wanna come with us?" asked Daisuke.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for people to see Towa in her bird or human forms. They might get the wrong idea," warned Satoshi.

"He has a point Daisuke. Besides, I wanted to take a look around the area anyway. What about you Wiz?" asked Towa. Wiz answered by jumping on Daisuke's head happily.

"Okay…so Wiz is tagging along. Who does the dishes today, Satoshi?" asked Daisuke.

"We'll do those after we get back. The world won't end if we leave a few dirty plates in the sink for an hour or so," joked Satoshi. They left the house and looked around while they searched for the shop Towa mentioned. It took them an hour just to find it; Towa wasn't kidding when she said it was hard to find!


(Author's note: the reason why they brought chewing gum on the plane is because it helps your ears to pop when you reach high altitudes. Trust me when I say that it's painful if your eyes feel water-logged midair and don't pop! I know this from first hand experience on a trip to my aunt's house in Washington! And by Washington I mean the STATE not the capital!)