Disclaimer: I do not own DNAngel or anything to do with it. I only have the first three volumes, ok?

Warnings: None, unless you count some AU.

Characters: Niwa Daisuke and Hiwatari-Hikari Satoshi

Summary: It's Christmas and Satoshi has to go to work, though it doesn't bother him one bit. He'd never attended Azumano No. 2 Jr. High, thus never met anyone there (for story purposes, let's pretend Dark and Krad don't exist). However, a certain redhead shows up unexpectedly and… One-shot, AU. SatoDai if you squint reaaaaaly hard.

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December 25th, Christmas: a time to stay at home and enjoy the presence of friends and family--to calm down and relax in the serenity--to slow down, gain one's bearings, and just find one's footing in a long, winter break.

'Yeah, right.' Satoshi almost rolled his eyes, not bothering to even finish reading the card. There was no point to it. It was all soft, loving, boring, and irrelevant. He took another glance at the signature and decided not to try to guess what it really said before turning back to a stack of paperwork on is desk. Yes, it was Christmas morning, and yes, he was at work. But it didn't really matter anyway; there was no friends or family to go home to. Not that he'd want to call his apartment a home. Even after inheriting the Hikari fortune, he still lived in the small, sterile space and worked himself do death. He'd inherit it, yes, but he had no intention of using the money, even now in his early 20s. It was a matter of principal and pride.

He closed his blue eyes softly, reassuring the small part of his mind that sought out others that he didn't care; he didn't want to be around people anyway, or animals, for that matter. His hand reached and pushed thin glasses further up the bridge of his nose, glad of the peace and quiet of the otherwise empty office. He'd figured no one else would be here on such a special holiday, but he could be wrong. This fact was proven when a door opened then closed.

"Ah? Hiwatari-kun?" the startled voice of one of his coworkers entered his ears and he didn't need to look up to know who it was. A male a little shorter and less than a year younger than himself with spiky red hair and matching eyes.

"Good morning, Niwa," the words were spoken in his usual near monotone as he shuffled through the papers, making sure he was assigned only the work that should be his and no other's.

The sound of a chair rolling and a thump. Niwa Daisuke worked at a desk near his own, two rows up and one to the left. Satoshi could easily picture the young man dragging his chair over and sitting in it backwards, like he probably had. He saw it the night before at the office party. He had a terrible time trying to get his work done with all the noise.

"What are you doing here?" Daisuke was probably leaning forward with that smile on his face.

"One could ask you the same thing," he continued at the questioning sound and looked up at the confused face. Simple, simple Niwa. "I didn't expect to see you here on such a family-related holiday. Shouldn't you be at your mother's?"

"I need the overtime." Daisuke stated with a half-shrug, smiling almost as if he was genuinely happy to be spending Christmas at work with him. He had moved out of his mother's house almost immediately after graduating high school and sometimes seemed to barely scrape by with that college dorm of his. He told one of the coworkers--Saehara wasn't it?--this before. "This is the only time they'd schedule me, so here I am."

"I see." A stamp here, a signature there, one or two checkmarks…

"What about you?" Satoshi glanced up, raising a brow. "Shouldn't you be at home? I mean--you probably don't need to work. You're here almost everyday, y' know, and with that apartment… I mean, it doesn't cost that much, does it?" Daisuke had brought Satoshi his paperwork once when he was sick. The first time he'd been sick in nearly 6 years and he was bedridden with an overnight cold. Weak. Weak, weak, weak, that's what he was.

By now, he was back to the paperwork. Stamp, sign, stamp, check, check, sign… "I had nothing better to do." The tone was a little more monotone than usual.

"What about your family?" The question leaked a bit with concern and Satoshi could feel Daisuke's eyes on him. Why would it matter to him, anyway?

"I don't have one, Niwa." Scribble a note, sign, check, check, read a bit…

"Oh… Well, couldn't you've spent some time with some friends?" Daisuke's voice seemed sad for Satoshi, almost like he was sorry for him. Satoshi almost let a blank stare answer that one, but when Daisuke stared back doggedly, he decided to vocalize a response.

"Do I seem to have many friends, Niwa?" Daisuke's heart almost broke. Satoshi had no one to spend Christmas with? That was awful, but not completely inconceivable. He had to admit, he had never seen Satoshi speak with anyone unless he had to, even then the exchanges were short and carried out in a very business-like manner. In fact, Daisuke may very well have been the only person with whom his conversations didn't terminate as soon as possible. Somehow, when he heard 'many', he knew Satoshi meant 'any'.

"Aren't I your friend?" Daisuke was almost surprised at the shred of hope he had in his voice.

That made Satoshi freeze for a moment. Him and Daisuke, friends? He'd never thought about that, and he was sure that Daisuke probably hadn't either. Could they even be considered friends? Satoshi had never started a conversation with the man and they never hung out or anything, but when he saw the look in Daisuke's eyes, he just couldn't stand to hurt his feelings. "Yes, I suppose you are."

That put a smile on his face and the redhead stood, swiveling his chair to put it back then paused. "Hiwatari-kun?" Satoshi glanced back up. "Listen, I'll be home for New Year's and I was wondering, y' know, if you don't have work--"

"Alright," he interrupted. Satoshi's head dropped a little as he adjusted his glasses, effectively hiding his face behind blue hair. He immediately resumed his work.

"Huh?" Confusion riddled Daisuke's voice and Satoshi didn't need to look up to know what his face would look like. He offered a reassurance.

"I'll be there."

"Ok," Satoshi could hear the smile and it filled him with a slight warmth. "Want a coffee? I'll get you one, if you want." Daisuke's hand sought the back of his neck.

A pause. "Thanks. That would be nice."

"Alright." The chair never did move, Daisuke simply sat across from the quiet man he'd known for only a few months, enjoying the peace, warmth, and company of a man he was proud to have as a friend.