I do NOT own D. N. Angel or any of it's characters! Enjoy!


Chapter 2

Daisuke's mom's words were true- if he didn't hurry up, he'd definitely be late for school for the umpteenth time. Glancing to the clock, by his bed, he saw it was already 6:30- school would start in less than an hour!

"No, no, no, no!" Daisuke threw the sheets aside and ran to his closet, stripping his pajamas away on the way there, then pulling his school uniform on as he rushed down the stairs.

Backpack in hand, he grabbed a piece of toast, bit into it, and flung open the door,

"Bye!" He said nervously, hiding his still-red face.

Before anyone had a chance to utter a word, the door was slammed shut again.

Daisuke ran quickly, giving no rest to his already pounding heart. Every time he had those dreams he would have to find some way to avoid Satoshi all day or he would transform; he knew this from experience, seeing as this was how Dark confirmed his sneaking suspicions in the first place. Daisuke usually ran into Satoshi several times in a school day though, so this was always fun...

Hopping off the diagonally climbing cable-car he began his trek once more, now filled with a bit more energy from the short rest during the ride. But it didn't help much that he was getting a sickly feeling in his stomach that things were going to go wrong today, more so than usual. Something just felt off, and he was trained so that his senses were never wrong. But he tried his best to ignore it for the time being and focused on getting to school on time.

School, once he had gotten there, went just as he expected it to- hard to get through un-changed. He did run into Satoshi; because of this, he had to sprint all the way to the school's gym and into a back room so there would be no witnesses to his transformation.

"Oh, Daisuke," Dark smirked, "that's cute."

'Hey!' Daisuke snapped. Guess the teasing wasn't done, he thought.

"… Hey, come to think of it," Dark looked out the window of the room, "we have to steal something Saturday that reminds me a bit of this." He turned and threw a thumb at one of the many indoor pools.

'Yeah, I think mom said it was called 'Kagamine'?'

Dark nodded. His face was serious,

"I wonder how many people will show up this time."

'I swear, that's all you ever care about sometimes!' Daisuke said in reply to Dark's vanity. 'Some thief you are...'

"Come on! That's half the fun!" Dark grinned. Daisuke sighed,

'Well, lucky for us, it's the end of the day. Maybe we can get out of here without anyone catching us.' He shrugged off Dark's antics. But as soon as the thought came from him, a large crowd was heard scuffling their way.

"Hey," a girl said, more than giddy, "I've been training really hard! Ya' think I'll beat my last time?" Another girl chimed in,

"Totally! And hey, maybe I will too! I have been training with you."

You could almost feel her lift an eyebrow.

"Not a chance ladies!" One boy teased.

The swim team was there for after-school practice tonight!

'Oh no, we're trapped in here!' Daisuke panicked.

"Daisuke, calm down," Dark said, unamused. The red-head took his advice and noticed something.

'Wait! There's-' Dark interrupted once again by pointing his thumb behind his shoulder to a very present door '... A... Door.'

Daisuke sighed again.

"I could've told you that," Dark said raising an eyebrow. "Man. You've been getting more and more absent-minded by the day," he laughed, turning to exit the room.

'Oh, be quiet!'

Dark ran through the outdoor pool's grounds, hopping the fence once he reached it, and continued on toward an empty alley.


Back in his own body, Daisuke turned to start back home.

'Um, Daisuke?' Dark said, his figure in front of the red-head slightly. Daisuke stopped,

"Yeah?" he asked.

'Aren't you forgetting something?' the thief smiled teasingly. Daisuke thought, his eyes moving to the rooftops that covered the alley only barely. Then it hit him.

"Oh! We have to go check out the next artwork we were gonna steal, right?"

He circled back around, heading to a new destination.

'Yeah. But I don't get why Emiko's having us do it today…'

"We've done it before, probably just for a change of pace," Daisuke guessed.

'Yeah,' Dark agreed, 'maybe.'

"Hm? Maybe?"

Dark was silent. Daisuke took that as the end of the conversation and walked in the direction of the next site he was to steal from.

Late fall was upon Azumano, bringing newly colored leaves and almost-winter air with it; they blew through the rustic streets, chilling the citizens of the town near to the bone.

Daisuke's fall uniform gave little protection from the cold- Azumano Junior High's uniforms rarely gave any protection from any of the elements. He put his bag over his back to shield it a bit more from the oncoming wind.

The red-head allowed himself a few moments to imagine how comforting it would be if Satoshi was there with him, talking about how terrible the day was and him uttering sweet nothings to condole with him... But he stopped after a time.

As the leaves fell onto him and the rest of Azumano, he entered a rustic and gothic-looking church. The artwork he was to steal was housed here, in a place that had a long-standing tradition for keeping pieces inside- it used to be a very famous church, but when people stopped visiting for services, caretakers thought it was best to put it to a better use.

As soon as he opened the door he saw that they had a small, or rather very large, problem.

'Ah, Dark?' Daisuke dared not to talk out loud.

'Yeah,' Dark said, 'That's a bit of a problem. Looks like we'll just have to seal it here, there's no way we'd be able to get this home- no matter how much Emiko wants it,' Dark laughed. So did Daisuke,

"I think I get why she sent us out instead now. She probably thought-" Emiko appeared in a small thought bubble above Daisuke's head- "There's no way I was going to go all the way out there when I knew I couldn't have it! So I'll just leave it up to the boys to do it!" They were both in hysterics before Daisuke realized how many weird looks he was getting. He stopped laughing quickly and continued on to read the plaque stationed in front of the artwork,

"Staring into the water-like surface gives the viewer a chance to relax and reflect on their inner demons..." Daisuke paused a moment, looking toward Dark, "Interesting choice of words."

'There you go with the demon thing again,' Dark rolled his eyes.

As he focused on some of the smaller print, the red-head noticed a tiny triangle standing away from the plaque's frame; it was the same color, but added a bump that was unneeded in a rectangle. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking as he, in less than the blink of an eye, stole the triangle from the frame.

When he had pulled it away, he realized it wasn't a triangle, but a small, folded piece of paper. Daisuke was puzzled as he unfolded and read it through.

Dear Kaitoh Dark,

Based upon your latest pilferings, I have determined that this is the next likely place you would come to. If my assumption was correct, then I would like to issue a challenge- I want to face you alone, without the police's interference. If you accept those terms, leave your calling card where you found the letter. If not, leave it somewhere obvious enough.

I'll be waiting.

-Chief Commander Hiwatari

'That's kinda odd- how did he actually know where we'd steal from next?' he asked Dark, finishing his mental read-through of the short letter.

'Who knows?' Dark said mysteriously. 'But leave it up to Hiwatari to get it right.'

'Yeah...' Daisuke thought on the last sentence- "I'll be waiting." His heart skipped a beat, 'B-but doesn't this seem too convenient- for both him and us, I mean. I think it's a trap.'

'Maybe, but it's rude to say no when he so graciously invited us,' Dark smiled his trademark smile.

"Haah, fine."

Daisuke pushed the letter into his bag and whipped out a card. He quickly flicked it into place under the plaque so that it bumped out just as the paper had. He turned to leave, "You just can't resist the attention, can you?"


It was now Saturday night, and the time on the calling card was fast approaching. Daisuke packed a few tools for the job in a sturdy backpack.

He held up a wrist-worn grappling hook with disdain, puffing out a cheek. It too was inevitably stuffed into the pack.

Going off in search of one last thing, he accidentally knocked his brown school bag to the floor, sending the letter fluttering with it. Daisuke let out a tired sigh and crouched to pick up the lone piece of paper.

As he straightened, the paper pushed open so as to allow a glance at the words "I'll be waiting." They weren't for him and he knew that, yet the red head couldn't help but feel ecstatic reading them.

He longed to hear them.

'Why don't you go tonight?' Dark suggested.

"What?!" Daisuke dropped the paper again. "No... No, no, no! I don't want to transform as soon as I see him! Then he'll know I like him!" He evaded the possible confrontation.

'Well what's he supposed to think with how you've been acting lately?' The thief pointed out. Daisuke froze; maybe Satoshi had picked up on it? Maybe others had too. What was he going to do if that was true?!

His panic rose when he realized how close it was to the time on the calling card. At 10:30, with only fifteen minutes left before the theft, Daisuke left without arguing anymore with his counterpart. With followed, keeping a short distance from the two just in case.


The red head stood at the top step of the church, nervously checking a watch strapped to his wrist. A slightly large, maroon turtle-neck he wore swayed a bit, just as his mind did now, in the autumn breeze.

As he raised an arm, he saw the maroon sleeve and wondered if he really should have come in his own clothes... Though, he didn't exactly have time to change, and he was just meeting Satoshi here.

"Maybe I should have..." Daisuke looked at With.

"Kyuu?"

He breathed in deeply,

"Why am I making this so hard?" Without another thought, he pressed a hand against the large and- in the night's darkness, it seemed- decrepit door.

As he entered the church, an ethereal, blue light became evermore present as it floated over from the room's far side. It billowed from the artwork he was to seal tonight; the "Kagamine" glowed under its glass casing, seemingly welcoming Daisuke. In the darkness of the church, he could almost see it flowing through the ground like water, but he knew too well it wasn't simply that.

It was the perfect place to reflect, the very meaning of a "reflecting pool."

Daisuke still hadn't seen Satoshi, but stepping out onto the glass covering the surface of the "Kagamine" revealed the chief commander of the police force in a black sweater and loose jeans; his image was faint with the small amount of light it gave off.

That ominous feeling of something bad to come returned- it wasn't just the terror of having to talk to Satoshi mono-a-mono without transforming, it was that weird, gut feeling that something was going to go wrong.

Satoshi looked at Daisuke in surprise, eyes lifted slightly above the rims of his glasses,

"You came as yourself," he said with his usual monotonous interest.

"Y-yeah..." Daisuke glanced to the side, hoping Satoshi didn't think he was acting odd. "So, what did you mean by 'Challenge'?"

Dark wasn't trying to take over, but the red head knew he would transform if he looked at the blunette for even a second too long.

"Well, it was aimed more toward Dark," Satoshi said nonchalantly. With these words, Daisuke felt somehow rejected; he wanted even less to look at the blunette.

Satoshi, on the other hand, just looked unsettled; had he said something bad enough to actually make Daisuke sad? He'd said things like that before with a completely different reaction...

'Of course Hiwatari wouldn't think anything of it,' the red head sulked in his mind. 'Have at it, Dark.'

'Ya' know what,' Dark grinned, 'I think I'll sit this one out.'

'But he doesn't want to talk to me, he wants to talk to you!'

'So talk to him.'

'But, I...' Dark was silent. Daisuke attempted to look up at Satoshi; he opened his mouth, trying to get some words out, but inevitably couldn't and looked down again.

He sought comfort in the beautiful blue glow- cold and yet soft- of the "Kagamine". Though he hadn't gotten a good look before, he could see just how water-like the artwork was now as it flowed through the ground; he stared deep into it and caught his reflection.

And then he felt hot.

"Niwa, don't!" Satoshi knew he was too late when Daisuke looked up and began to transform in front of him. "Dammit, I had a plan for that scenario too," he said to himself as he walked forward.

Midstep, he was stopped by a pain that clawed its way out of his upper back. He gripped it and yelled at it,

"No! Stay out of this!"

'Oh, Master Satoshi. You don't expect me to sit idly by when our target is right there, do you now?' The pain fought harder to get free.

"Aagh! I... Have my own plans, and they don't involve you!"

The pain was seeped out and forced him to the floor. As he screamed, pure white wings threw themselves from Satoshi's body, grinding him further into the ground. His hair lightened, going from its shade of sky blue to a silvery-gray, and finally to a much lengthier dull gold. Standing at a noticeably higher viewpoint, Krad now looked down at Dark- who was barely there himself- from behind golden, cat-like eyes.

"Hello, Dark Mousy," the Angel said, more than hinting at hatred.

"Still greeting me like a friend, Krad," Dark sighed as he stood taller. Grinning, he added on, "You know as well as I do that I'm an enemy."

Krad laughed,

"Yes. But who says I can't be a little nice before I destroy you?" he sneered.

"I do; I'm not buyin'."

The thief stepped back a bit,

"With!"

Within seconds he was off the ground with his own black wings.

"Fair enough." Krad pushed away from the ground, reaching for one of the thief's legs. Catching a bit of fabric he threw the other hand around Dark's ankle and dragged him back to the earth.

Slamming harshly into the decorated concrete floor, Dark lost his breath, but not the chance to move himself away from Krad's next assault; a golden light struck the spot Dark was lying at moments ago. The air sizzled and swelled with heat where it had hit.

Krad tsked when he saw he'd missed his mark and aimed again. But Dark was a few steps ahead and threw a handful of feathers at him- glowing, they soared toward Krad. The Angel dodged to the left so that the projectiles landed by the "Kagamine".

This cycle continued with few changes until Krad got tired of missing his target and charged Dark. Slamming into the wall behind them, both angels hid into the smoke that soon engulfed them and continued their battle long into the early morning.


Finally, the second chapter is out! Thanks to the couple of followers I have and for waiting for the new chapter! Hopefully the next chapter won't take quite as long to hash out. However, if you have any suggestions for this one, feel free to PM me~