Kenzie: Welcome to the second chapter of my three-shot, Separation! Thanks to ThePhantomNinjaPanda for being the first to review! However, they did not leave a name, so the spot will be taken by Yoshikuni Miyako. She will be featured in my fanfiction as Kumiko Arishima, a character of her making. Enjoy!

Nashi: Kenzie-san doesn't own anything except the plot. You would have nothing to gain from a law suit; she has no money.

Summary: Dark and Daisuke have been together (as tamer and tamed) for four years. When Daisuke finds a way to remove Dark's curse and get him a body of his own, Dark freaks out and runs. What Daisuke didn't know was that in the past four years, Dark had fallen in love with the sweet redhead.

Picking up the Pieces

Last time…

"Dark…? Are you okay?" Damn those words, the words that had now come out of my beloved's mouth twice in less than twelve hours. The words that had ruined my relationship; had ruined my life.

"Hello… Daisuke."

I stood, brushing myself off. "Thank you for catching me," I said, coldly polite. I turned around and walked back to the bed, beginning to make it.

"Um…" Daisuke began, and I stopped and stood perfectly still. "Dark, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I… I'm not sure what I did, but I just want you to accept my apology. You don't have to come back, you don't even have to forgive me, just know I'm sorry." I slowly wheeled around to face him. I opened my mouth, but I had no idea what to say, so I just closed it. We stared at each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to break the uncomfortable silence.

Finally I found my voice again, after Emiko's parting words from last night came back to me. He truly thought he was doing what you wanted. "…I forgive you," I whispered, moving my gaze to stare at the ground.

A couple of years ago, he would have thrown his arms around me in an ecstatic hug, but today he just smiled and nodded his head, saying, "Thank you," before turning around and leaving the room. I lifted my eyes to watch him leave, and kept watching where he had been standing for a few moments before running after him.

"Daisuke!" I shouted, tearing out of my room. As he was already down the stairs, I doubted he could hear me, so I shot down the hall and descended the stairs faster than was safe, not that I cared. I was almost close enough to call his name again when I heard the door open and shut behind him. Just as I was about to follow him, I heard Kosuke's voice call me from the kitchen. Sighing, I turned around from the door and walked to the kitchen.

"Emiko told me to let you borrow some clothes, so I grabbed an outfit for you," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "She didn't tell me why you're here, but I want you to know I'm always open to listening."

"Thank you, Kosuke. I will remember that." I took the bundle of clothing from his outstretched hand and dragged myself back up the stairs to the room I was staying in, physically and emotionally spent from the events that just passed. I didn't want to sound ungrateful, so I didn't say what I was actually thinking; that I didn't want everyone to be open to listening, because when people say something like that, it usually means I have to tell them something. What I really wanted them to do was to just leave me alone, just let me deal with this my way (which probably meant ignoring the issue as much as possible).

After I changed, I left the house, intending to wander aimlessly. I just let my feet take me away; I kept my head down so no one would see my identity. Of course, looking down the entire time meant that eventually, I would end up bumping into someone, whether I wanted to or not. As fate would have it, the person I bumped into was a friend of Daisuke's: Kumiko Arishima. After walking straight into her, I stepped back and mumbled my apology, but she had already caught a look at my face.

"Dark? Is that you?" I looked up into her eyes quickly, my purple orbs meeting her striking blue ones. "I thought so! But… I just saw Daisuke… Aren't you two, like, stuck together?"

"Not anymore. Who are you, anyway?" I demanded.

"Oh, how rude of me! I'm Kumiko Arishima, a friend of Daisuke's from the painting club. You can call me Miko. If you don't mind, why are you and he apart? And why do you both look so dejected?" I didn't want to tell her, but something in her eyes said that she could listen without judging. So I recited my story for the second time, leaving out some of the more private parts. Through the whole thing, Miko sat and listened quietly, occasionally twisting a piece of her waist-length black hair around one of her fingers or opening her mouth as though she wanted to say something before closing it again without making a sound.

"And so today, when I saw him, I couldn't say anything fast enough," I finished. God, I felt so stupid, letting this one boy reduce me to a PMSing little schoolgirl. At least, that's what I felt like. Miko sat for a moment, still quiet, then spoke her mind, as I heard from Daisuke she was prone to do.

"I agree with Emiko-san. You definitely need to talk to him, and I think I can help you with that. There is an art show tomorrow afternoon at the University of Tokyo, and they're featuring one of Daisuke's paintings. Why don't you meet me there, in some sort of disguise, of course, and I'll see what I can do?"

I thought about turning her down. I mean, I've been around for over three hundred years, and she was only Daisuke's age. Eventually, however, I came to terms with the fact that my best bet was to just do what she said. "…Fine."

"Awesome! I'll see you there at three." With those words, I found myself left alone, with nothing to do but go home and pick out my disguise for tomorrow.