So... writing in first person is new to me. I also wrote this pretty much straight through without going back, rereading, or having a beta edit it. That being said, this is really raw and really just a way for me to begin trying out Dark's voice, thoughts, etc. I might do a few more of these to help myself out because I'm considering writing a longer story about the Phantom Thief. Also, I'm going to be cosplaying him, and this is a good preparation for being him. If anyone's interested in giving me reviews/critiques, I'd like some input on his 'in-characterness' rather than how the story doesn't really 'flow.' It's not really a story, my readers, it's a character sketch. Like Dark stretching into a new Niwa heir, I am stretching my way into Dark's personality.

There's more to him than you'd think.

Dark—Character Sketch

"Awakening to Daisuke"

I woke up, stretching my senses into my new body.

I say new, but of course, it's always a little bit the same. This boy was still a Niwa, the blood of my first tamer running through his veins, beating with his heart in the throes of first love.

Waking up after years of being asleep was a rush. When you go to sleep, you never really know when you're going to wake up again. Did Daiki have a son first? Or were there several generations of girls that I couldn't be reincarnated into? It's like a dice game and you don't even get to see where the dice fall. Sure, there was one time when I'd stuck around with Rai until he was sixteen. That by itself tells you that he was dumb enough not to figure out what 'getting the sacred maiden' meant. Honestly, if I had my way, I'd probably tell all the kids not to worry about it and just be natural. But it has apparently been my side-job throughout the ages to teach them how to get a girl to like them back.

But there I was, waking up to a boy's young love, feeling the air rush into lungs I could almost call my own, and generally welcoming the fact that I was an existence that would continue for at least another year.

The only difference this time was that there was young boy straddling me. Trust me, I've been awakened in bizarre and awkward situations—if you're a work of art that is triggered by feelings of love, it's only natural—but this was a first because of gender. I was also in the process of being handcuffed. Again, unusual and a bit awkward for the first time.

But despite the first moment of disconcertion, I realized that the boy—Daisuke it seemed—was not, thank god, in the throes of passion, but desperately trying to escape. It was good enough for me, and it was perhaps the fastest time I've ever taken to resonate with my tamer since Niwa the First.

Still, because he was just a boy—they're always so young—I was nice about it. "Good work, Daisuke. I'll take it from here."

He seemed a bit surprised, but was scared enough of the pale boy over us that taking control of his body was easy.

Escape was simple with With as a distraction and away I flew off into the night, trying to get my bearings with the boy mumbling distractedly about what had just happened. (I don't think anyone had explained very well what exactly I was and how I had transformed his body into mine. Honestly, what's the point of drawing things out like that? To give me some extra work to do?)

I was still in Berlin at least, although it seemed quite a bit of time had passed. The wall was gone and the city was no longer divided. Certainly, the West still looked a bit better off, but at least the East wasn't the deathtrap it'd been and the sense of evil and foreboding from the artworks living there was gone.

Without realizing it, I had automatically surveyed my way to the sea and to where she had lived. Rika's house was still there as I remembered it, the colors still vibrant although it must have had a paint job since the last time I'd been there. Did anyone still live there?

It's always shortly after I awake, after the rush of living, when I wish I didn't live this way. A few years here, a couple months there... it's not really enough when you live so close to people who won't be around next time you are. There's no waiting for a Phantom Thief, even if she wanted to.

Still, I didn't know when it was and the urge to at least check in on her was strong. Even if she had a husband and six kids, I could at least be happy for her. Say hi and all that. She'd known that the chances of us meeting again were slim, but she'd said she'd like to. It'd certainly hurt if she were dead. It'd probably hurt no matter what: if she had committed herself to celibacy because of me or if she had a zillion grandkids. I really couldn't win either way, but the house drew me on because I knew that knowledge would be better than the unknown. I'd have to move on from her, of course, more than I already had.

It was when I saw Rika, her youth still intact, but her hair cut short that all reason left me. I'm sure part of me knew that it couldn't be her, but I wanted it to be her so much that I didn't care. I landed on the balcony, perhaps a bit awkwardly in my haste to her side.

She turned towards me, her eyes too large in the night, and a shade darker than I knew. She blinked, once, twice, with no recognition. She raised her hands, and for a moment, as mine closed around her wrists, I believed she was going to put them on my face.

She didn't, and somehow I kissed her instead.

It wasn't Rika, of course, but I had believed enough. Daisuke supplied me with her name as I felt myself begin to transform back into the boy. With took us off the balcony, and I didn't even care much where we wound up.

"What was that for?!" Daisuke's voice carried once With set us down. "I can't believe you kissed Riku!"

The shocked and embarrassed outrage the boy voiced was as apparent as his reddening face.

So? I quipped back. At this point, I barely knew this tamer, and there was no way I would open up my heart to him. No one had gotten that since I'd been tamed. No boy had ever been as worthy as Niwa.

"You can't do that!" Daisuke shouted, again out loud, but with his eyes squeezed shut.

Oh really? It seems I just did. I teased, but my mind was elsewhere. It didn't take much thought to rebuff the boy's youthful arguments, and the name he had given me for the girl was too similar to the one I'd known. Her daughter? Her grandchild?

"Arrrrggh!" Daisuke seemed to have realized that there was nothing he could do to change our actions. He ruffled his own hair vigorously.

C'mon, I said to him, trying for a bit of fondness, Let's get home.

I was also hoping that he'd know the way, because of course, I didn't. It was Daisuke's home, not mine. There already seemed to be enough for me to think about for the night.

As Daisuke picked himself up off the ground and began jogging off towards what could only presumably be home, I began to worry.

Who did Daisuke love? I stifled a groan. We'd only seen two people this night. One, I had kissed and become Daisuke. The other... had been the reason Daisuke had transformed in the first place. My position and existence suddenly seemed quite precarious.

After all, there wouldn't be any more Phantom Thieves if my tamer were gay.

Lolz. Good thing for Dark we know that doesn't actually happen. :D