Chapter 3: Questioning…?

Risa continued to toss and turn in her sleep, trying to figure out who the white angel was. After several hours of thinking and fretting, she finally fell asleep.

"That was close. Too close." Daisuke murmured to a stumbling Satoshi. By some odd miracle, both of the boys were keeping each other up and walking back to Daisuke's house.

"Daisuke, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be cursed." Satoshi mumbled.

"It isn't your fault that you were born a Hikari, just like I didn't choose to be a Niwa. Neither of us chose this path, but we're stuck on it and I guess we're going to have to make the best of it." he huffed, a small smile forming. "We're almost there."

"Good. Does your offer still stand?" he muttered weakly.

"Of course! Why would I take back an offer just because of what happened?" he said in a cheerful voice, despite the pain he was in. They arrived at the Niwa residence, to find it exactly as they left it.

"He's locked away for now. I think I'll be alright for the rest of tonight." Satoshi said quietly as they walked through the door.

"Thank goodness Mom didn't put the traps up tonight, or we both would be toast." Daisuke thought as he grabbed the clothes he brought down for Satoshi a while earlier. "I just hope she doesn't get too mad about the vase."

"Daisuke?"

"Yeah?"

"When you get a minute, could you help me bandage up my back? I can't get them as tight as I would like them." Satoshi murmured as he watched the redhead bustle around as if nothing had happened and he was not exhausted.

"Sure. I'll be right there," he said quietly, entering the living room with some gauze bandages and antiseptic from the bathroom. Satoshi had already taken off his shirt and was waiting. Daisuke winced when he saw the other teen's back. It was covered with scars from other times and was still bleeding slightly. He noted that Satoshi looked a little woozy and he quickly began to bandage up his back.

"I hope this is tight enough for you." he said quietly.

"It's fine. Thank you. My back feels better now." Satoshi replied, putting on the pajama top that Daisuke gave him earlier.

"I'll be back in a minute. Just stay down here and make yourself comfortable." Daisuke said, retreating up the stairs to put his own pajamas on. He returned to find Satoshi lounging on the couch, his clothes neatly folded at the edge of the couch.

"Well, I guess both of our jackets are ruined now." Daisuke sighed while plopping down at the other end of the couch.

"I'll buy you another one if you'd like. I'm really sorry about what happened earlier."

"No, it's alright. Don't worry about it." he said, smiling slightly to the blue-haired boy.

"If you say so.." he said, trailing off into silence. They remained tense until Daisuke spoke up.

"We should probably go to sleep. It's almost two in the morning." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and heading toward the stairs. He was about halfway there until he noticed Satoshi remained on the couch.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"Only if it's alright with you. I'll stay down here if you'd like."

"No, it's fine. You can stay with me." Daisuke said as he headed back over to the couch. Satoshi stood up and nearly fell over, but the two of them managed to walk up the stairs and get into Daisuke's room. Previously, Daisuke had rolled out a spare futon that he saved just for guests, and both boys subsequently tripped onto it as they stumbled around the dark room. Daisuke began blushing furiously and started to get up.

"Sorry Satoshi! Are you alright?" he asked in a panicky voice.

"I'm fine, Daisuke. Just stay down here. You're warm and it's cold." Satoshi mumbled into the mattress.

"Well, err…alright." he replied quietly, slinking back down to sleep. The boys stayed together for the night until Towa bounced into Daisuke's room at 9 A.M.

"DAISUKE! TIME TO WAKE UP!..." she called, glancing at the two boys on the floor. "Who's this, Daisuke?"

"That's Hiwatari-kun. He spent the night here after the dance." Daisuke muttered as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Towa poked Satoshi slightly.

"I'm up. I just can't get up. Low blood pressure." he mumbled.

"Oh, well aright. I'll let Emiko know that you're here too and we need another plate." Towa said quietly, exiting the room.

"Who was that?" Satoshi asked.

"Towa-chan. She's our housekeeper of sorts. Remember the Eternal Guide?"

"Yes. That was a long time ago."

"Well, now she's with us and she helps my mom a lot. Especially with the groceries. Do you think you can get up now?"

"Sure. Give me a hand, Daisuke." Daisuke stood up and helped pull Satoshi to his feet. Daisuke then turned around and rummaged for some clean clothes for himself and Satoshi.

"Most of my clothes are a little too big, so I think they'll fit you alright." he said, handing Satoshi the clothes. Satoshi nodded and began unbuttoning the shirt and turning away. Daisuke then turned around and they changed into clean clothes. At the bottom of the stairs, Towa was calling for the boys to get breakfast just as they arrived there.

"Oh, you're here. Emiko set out an extra plate, so both of you can eat." she said, ushering the boys into the kitchen.

"And who is our guest this morning?" she said cheerfully, flinching slightly at the boy's presence. "It's the Hikari boy. Daisuke, what did I tell you about him?" she angrily thought toward her son, but none of her telepathy made it into his mind.

"Thank you for the food, Niwa-san," Satoshi said politely before sitting down and eating. Breakfast was rather quiet, minus Wiz's munching and Kosuke's attempts at conversation. When that was over, Satoshi stood up and began to clear his plate.

"Well, at least he knows his manners." Emiko thought, quickly stopping him.

"Here, let me take that." she chirped.

"Alright. Thank you very much for breakfast and your hospitality," he replied, retreating from the kitchen. Emiko pulled Daisuke off to the side for a moment.

"Daisuke, what did I tell you about him? Keep your guard up at all times!" she hissed to her startled son.

"Alright Mom, I will. Can I go now?" he replied quietly. She let him go and the two boys trooped upstairs.

"That was the Hikari boy, right?" Kosuke said quietly. Daiki merely nodded.

"Daisuke, what happened to my clothes?" Satoshi asked when they were in Daisuke's room.

"I left them downstairs last night. Maybe Mom threw them into the wash?" he suggested hopefully. Satoshi muttered something about keeping him here, but Daisuke let it fly.

"I'll go check if you'd like," he said cheerfully. Satoshi nodded slightly as the redhead disappeared downstairs.

"Since when did these walls get thicker?"

"Go away Krad. I don't want you around right now."

"Satoshi-sama, that boy is only trying to hurt you. Why can't you see that I'm the only one who cares about you?"

"Leave me be!!!"

"I'll leave you—for now. But only for now." Krad chuckled as he disappeared into the back of his mind.

"Well, they're in the wash right now. What do you want to do until then?" Daisuke said, startling the blue-haired boy.

"Whatever you want to do. I don't think your mother likes me very much," he replied.

"Well, err, we could go out for a while. Wander around town or something. Your clothes should be clean in a couple hours," he said slightly uncomfortably.

"That sounds OK. Maybe we should go visit Riku and Risa while we're at it."

"Sure!" he said cheerfully.

"Mom, we're going out!" Daisuke called from the doorway after they came back downstairs.

"Alright sweetie! I'll see you later!" she called back. The boys left and headed through town.

"Did you have a good time at the dance last night?" Satoshi asked calmly.

"Yeah, I had a good time. I think Riku is a bit angry at me for hanging around you so much last night. I don't think she understands us."

"I'm still sorry about your jacket. He just shows up at the most inopportune moments."

"It's fine, really! It was getting to be too small on me, anyway," Daisuke replied, noting that they had arrived at the Harada residence. Daisuke knocked on the door and Mr. Tsubouchi answered it, beckoning the boys inside.

"Misses, two boys are here to see you!" he called and the twins came down the stairs.

"Niwa-kun! Hiwatari-kun!" Risa cried, hurrying to see them.

"What a surprise!" Riku replied, hugging Daisuke and giving a cool glance to Satoshi. Risa was bubbly and talking animatedly to Satoshi and almost ignoring Daisuke, but Satoshi was barely listening to her. He was more focused on the conversation between Riku and Daisuke.

"Niwa, I hate to ask you this, but are you gay? I know I sort of asked you last night, but…are you?" she asked softly, blushing a little. After a long pause, Daisuke spoke up again.

"I'm not gay, Riku-san," he replied, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She grinned and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so happy, Niwa! If you had said yes, then I don't know what I would have done!" Daisuke laughed nervously.

"Yeah, Riku-san. I'm not going to lie to you about something like that!"

"Hiwatari-kun, are you even listening?"

"I'm sorry, Harada-san. I spaced out a bit."

"That's ok. So anyway, I had this strange dream. At least, I think it was a dream. There was this white angel and Dark-san fighting in the sky and the white angel grabbed me and said he'd keep me safe," she continued.

"Wait, a white angel, did you say?"

"Yes, why?"

"Did you catch his name at all?"

"I don't remember but I think it started with a 'K'."

"Krad?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

"Risa, why are you telling him about your dream?"

"Because I can, Riku!" The two sisters glared at each other for a moment before returning to their conversations.

"Then I woke up and Riku was there and she told me I fell asleep on the balcony and the I went back to sleep and couldn't stop seeing Krad in my dreams." She stopped and thought about him for a moment and blushed while Satoshi cringed.

"I think she likes him.."

"Likes me? That girl?"

"I wasn't talking to you Krad."

"Well, if she wants to see me again, all I have to do is push hard enough. These walls cannot cage me for long."

"Shut up Krad!"

"Satoshi-sama, please do remember that I am the one in control." And with that, he pushed mentally hard enough to make Satoshi cry out in pain.

"Satoshi! Are you OK?" Daisuke cried.

"I'll be alright. Just a bad muscle spasm," he replied reassuringly, but Daisuke understood what was going on.

"Since when did Daisuke and Satoshi get so familiar? Wait, they were headed in Daisuke's direction last night. Of course! They slept together last night! How silly of me!" Risa thought and began giggling and blushing maniacally.

"When did they start calling each other by their first names with no suffix? Niwa doesn't even address me without a suffix! He must have been lying to me!" Riku thought angrily.

"What's wrong with those two?" Daisuke whispered to Satoshi.

"Enough with the side conversations, you two! I know you lied to me, Niwa!" Riku exploded.

"Riku-san, no! I didn't lie to you!"

"Oh, right," she mocked, "and it's not like I didn't see you two together last night. You were probably sleeping together too!"

"Harada-san, Daisuke's not lying to you." Satoshi cut in sharply.

"Like I'm going to believe you after the stunts you guys pulled last night!"

"What stunts?" Daisuke asked confusedly.

"You know, with the hugging and the dancing and being in the bathroom forever! I can't believe you would do this!"

"Riku-san, I wasn't lying to you!" Daisuke shouted.

"Is everything alright?" Mr. Tsubouchi asked, poking his head into the living room.

"Everything is fine, Mr. Tsubouchi." Risa replied cheerfully. Riku continued to glare at Satoshi and Daisuke.

"Whatever. When you decide to tell me the truth, maybe I'll forgive you." Riku said huffily.

"Then I guess we'll leave. Thank you for your hospitality." Satoshi replied, half-pulling Daisuke along with him as they left the Harada's home.

"Why did you get so angry with Niwa-kun? He didn't do anything wrong!" Risa began.

"He lied to me! He's been lying the whole time! I know it! I know he and Hiwatari have a weird relationship with each other, and I know he's gay! He's a liar!"

"Riku, calm down! Niwa-kun would never lie to anyone!" Riku stormed off to her room, leaving Risa to think again.

"Riku must hate me now."

"Don't worry about it, Daisuke."

"No, really! She was right. I have lied to her, but with good reason. I don't want her finding out about me and Dark! She hates Dark, so it's not like I'm going to r un over and tell her that I'm Dark and he's me, but we're two different people in the same body!"

"Daisuke, you're overreacting."

"She was overreacting! Now what am I going to do?"

"Well, when we get back to your house, I'll get my clothes an d leave, I guess. Your mother doesn't like me, I know."

"Alright. I have some homework I can do. All I can hope is that Mom won't send me out on a heist tonight. I'm still a bit sore."

"That sounds fine with me." They arrived back at the Niwa residence without much incident. The house was empty except for Wiz, who was sleeping somewhere.

"I'll see you Monday, I guess."

"Ok, seeya." Daisuke replied. Before he could think again, Satoshi hugged him quickly and left without a word, leaving a blushing Daisuke in the doorway.

Later that night, all four teens were having trouble sleeping, plagued by their thoughts.

"When should I tell Daisuke?"

"Was I wrong to assume that Daisuke lied to me?"

"What does Hiwatari-kun know about Krad, the white angel?"

"What was the meaning behind that hug?"

"Should I apologize to Daisuke?"

"I hope Satoshi is OK tonight."

"I hope that Harada-san doesn't meddle with Krad anymore."

"I hope I can see that white angel again."

Whew! Another chapter finished! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but the plot bunnies had mysteriously vanished for a while. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you couldn't figure out the closing thoughts, the order of the thinkers was: Satoshi, Riku, Risa, Daisuke, Riku, Daisuke, Satoshi, Risa.

3's reviews and loyal fans.