Runaway Dreams
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It was raining harder than ever now. Each drop pierced the boy's skin like needles. The weather was only supposed to get worse.
This morning he'd heard a couple talking about the storm and that the roads were going to be closed around midnight because it'd be too dangerous for anyone to drive… but then they'd seen him… sitting in the alley, his clothes ripped and dirty… eyes red and swollen... and who knows how bad the smell was after three days with no baths.
The girl felt sorry for him, but her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her and pulled her away. They walked down the street and pretended not to have seen him.
Just like everyone else had.
Well, at least the rain was being nice. It would take care of the smell for now. Even if he had to suffer through it.
Suddenly, the downpour of icy cold water stopped. Daisuke looked at the ground below him. A few inches away, the rain was still drumming against the pavement.
"Up here."
Daisuke followed the voice. Above him was a handsome boy holding a black umbrella over both of them. He was smiling and winked an amethyst eye at Daisuke when he looked up. Daisuke stared at the boy's hair. It was purple. He'd never seen purple hair. Then again, Daisuke couldn't really talk about bizarre colors. His hair and eyes were red.
"Do you like hot chocolate?"
"Huh?"
"Do you like hot chocolate?"
After a pause, Daisuke answered,
"...I guess."
"Awesome! At the café where I work, the owner gave me a leftover box of hot chocolate mix. It's actually pretty decent. Wanna try it?"
Daisuke stared at the strange boy. He didn't know Daisuke. He couldn't know Daisuke… so why was he acting all friendly?
"Why do you want me to?"
The boy smiled and responded, "I can't drink it all by myself."
"Do you usually invite people you find on the street to your house?"
"Only the cute ones."
Daisuke stared down at his shoes. He'd been running so hard that one of them had broken. His toes had popped right out of the front. That was the only reason he was in an alley talking to a suspicious guy who wanted to drink hot chocolate with him. Otherwise, he'd have been farther away by now… as far as he could get from his old home.
But his shoe did break. And he was here. So he might as well get used to it.
"Do you have marshmallows?"
The boy above him laughed, accidentally shaking droplets onto his uncovered back.
"It wouldn't be hot chocolate without them."
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"So, what's your name?"
"…Daisuke. What's yours?"
"Dark. Dark Mousy."
"Really? That's a cool name."
"Thank you. So, Daisuke, where are you from?"
The redhead boy took a sip from his mug. The hot chocolate burned his tongue, but he pretended not to notice. He needed to stall. There were no lies he could think of that were believable at the moment.
"It's fine if you don't answer. Are you going to be staying around awhile? This town has some pretty cool stuff. I can show you around."
"I should… get going. I just need to get some new shoes, and then I've gotta run."
"…What are you running from?"
Again, Daisuke took a sip of his hot chocolate. He couldn't let anything about his past slip out or he might end up back there again. They were probably looking for him anyway.
"I've really gotta go," Daisuke said.
He placed the mug on the table and headed back for the entrance. His shoes were still damp and squeaked as he walked.
"What if I don't want you to leave?"
Daisuke looked behind him. Dark was leaning against the doorsill to the hallway. The redhead rolled his eyes and put his hand on the doorknob.
"Yeah, and what exactly are you going to—"
Daisuke stared at the door. The knob wouldn't budge. He spotted a keypad next to the door. Behind him, Dark began whistling and strolled back into the kitchen. Over his shoulder he yelled,
"Too bad. It looks like you need a password to open that door."
Daisuke stormed into the kitchen behind him.
"Open the door!"
"Why?"
"I need to leave!"
"Why?"
"Because… I do."
"That's not a real answer. Besides, do you hear the thunder? It's pretty bad out there. I've got extra clothes you can change into for tonight, and the bathroom's down the hall if you want to take a shower."
Daisuke meant to refuse, but he hadn't had a shower since he'd run away… three days ago. A shower sounded good right now. Real good. He stared at the door Dark had pointed to for the bathroom.
"So, what do you want to eat?"
"I didn't say I was staying."
"You didn't have to. That little burst of joy on your face when I said 'shower' was enough. Hmm… I'm in the mood for some pizza. Is that okay?"
"Are you going to let me out of here?" Daisuke asked, still staring at the bathroom door.
"Are you going to tell me why you're in a hurry to go?"
Daisuke shook his head.
"Then I'm not letting you leave."
"I have rights you know."
"And I'm choosing to ignore them. Now, there should be a clean towel already in the bathroom, and I'll hand you some pajamas when you're done."
Daisuke glanced hesitantly at the boy before turning towards the bathroom.
"Oh, Daisuke, what kind of pizza do you like?"
"Um… whatever kind there is," he replied. Back at his old home, Daisuke had never been allowed to have pizza. There wasn't much he could have back home unless a servant snuck it to him. But that was rare… and dangerous on their part.
"Oh, God. Don't tell me you've never tried pizza! Have you been living under a rock all this time?"
Dark smiled incredulously, but regretted it when Daisuke ran into the bathroom, slamming the door. He made a mental note to watch what he said as he pulled some mozzarella cheese out of the refrigerator.
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"Daisuke, what do you think of the pizza?"
Both boys were sitting at the table in the kitchen. Daisuke was wearing a silken black pajama suit from Dark's stuff. It felt soft on his skin when he moved.
"It's… good. What's it made of?"
"I didn't know what you'd like so I made a simple pizza. It's just cheese and tomato sauce."
"Do you cook a lot?"
Dark nodded.
"I work part-time at a café. I mostly bake things at work, but I know a little bit here and there."
"Could you… teach me?"
"Oh, so you want to stick around?"
Daisuke blushed. He'd almost forgotten about his plan to run away.
"Well… I need to repay you for everything so… kind of."
"That's no problem, but since you're staying, we'll do some sight-seeing tomorrow, okay?"
Daisuke tilted his head.
"How do you do that?"
"You'll see," Dark responded. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice in one day. "For now, we should go to sleep. It's getting late. Come on."
Dark put both empty plates into the sink and left the kitchen, Daisuke following him down the hallway. When Dark opened a door at the end of the hall, Daisuke hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Dark asked.
Daisuke stared at him. Everything was starting to add up.
This guy had invited him into his home even though he was a stranger. Then, he'd refused to let him leave. And now there was only one bed?
"Are… are you trying to… do something to me?"
He watched as Dark raised an eyebrow and tried to stifle a laugh, failing miserably.
"I'm not joking! Are you?"
"…how did you even come up with that?" Dark asked, his amethyst eyes watering from muffled laughs.
"You invite me here even though I'm a complete stranger… and you said you only did that with cute ones… then you refuse to let me leave, and now there's only one bed."
Another round of giggles floated through the air. Dark sunk to the floor laughing.
"I'm sorry…" he gasped, "I shouldn't be laughing… but I was not… expecting that."
Forcing himself to sit up, Dark saw Daisuke bite his lip in embarrassment.
"Aw, don't feel bad. I'm not making fun of you or anything. It's just most people… okay, maybe not most people, but a lot of people wouldn't come to that conclusion. Or would they? Oh, well…. Yes, I only have one bed. I was going to let you sleep on it, and I'd take the couch. Is that okay?"
Daisuke looked back at the living room behind him. He'd forgotten about the black leather couch in there. Even for a couch, it looked kind of comfortable.
"Why would you sleep on the couch? It's your apartment."
"Do you want to sleep on the couch?"
"It's fine with me."
"You know it's louder in there, right? That storm might keep you up for a while."
Daisuke shrugged and headed for the living room. He heard Dark moving around in the back, and the purple-haired boy appeared with a blanket moments later.
"Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Dark said, walking back to his room.
"…What's a bed bug?" Daisuke asked, alert for anything moving on the floor.
He heard a laugh from the other room, but it didn't ease his fear.
"Dark! What's a bed bug?"
"I was just kidding, Daisuke! It's just an old saying. Go to sleep. We have to get up early!"
Nervously, Daisuke lied down after checking the couch for any bugs and drifted into a restless sleep.
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By one a.m., the storm had reached its highest point. An explosion of thunder woke the sleeping boy on the couch. Dazed, Daisuke sat up, trying to recall where he was. He trembled under the thunder's roar at the thought of the last storm he could remember. It wasn't a good memory.
A soft snore came from down the hallway, and he followed it into Dark's room. The figure sprawled on the bed was the only sign of life he could hear.
Daisuke nudged him.
The figure stirred after a second, and two amethyst eyes blinked lazily up at him.
"Daisuke?" the boy mumbled. He ran a pale hand through his hair and glanced at the clock on his bedside table. "When I said we were getting up early, I didn't mean this early."
"C-can I sleep here with you?"
The words rushed out and Daisuke regretted asking. He didn't want to seem weird… but he didn't want be alone either. Too many memories were flooding back.
"Uh… sure, if you don't still think I'm a pedophi—"
Dark's words were cut off when Daisuke jumped over his body onto the bed.
"Are you okay?"
Daisuke curled up next to him, shivering under the thick comforter. He felt a warm hand pat his head.
"Don't worry. Whatever you've been through… it's over now."
Daisuke let out a content sigh and slipped into a dreamless sleep.
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My first DarkxDai fanfic… so, what do you think? If you like it or even (and probably) if you don't like, review!!! Tell me what you think, what you wanna know, or about you fave type of pancakes. Whatever you want. Please?
Shuichu: Yeah, yeah… review, blab, blah, blah… what happens in the next chapter?
Shuichi: Uh… next time in Runaway Dreams:
While showing Daisuke around town, Dark spots some mysterious men asking around for the redhead. Are they from Daisuke's past? What should Dark do? And after accidentally walking into women's bathroom, how does Daisuke plan to sneak out when the bathroom is flooded with girls there for the hour long sale in the shoes department?
Shuichu: `Til next time!
Shuichi: Next time?
Shuichu: That's what the whole summary was for, Shui!
Shuichi: …oh. Now it makes sense. Well then! `Til next time!