A/N:
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Satoshi Hiwatari is just minding his own business, heading to his next class by himself like normal. Nothing is different about today, or at least it used to be.

"Satoshi! Satoshi Hiwatari!" The blue-haired boy turns to see his classmate Lucia Tanaka running up towards him, waving at him. He decides to not be rude and stop for her.

"Yes, Miss Tanaka?" Satoshi asks politely, expecting her to need something from him. It is unusual for anyone to approach him for any other reason.

The raven-haired girl laughs, shaking her head. "I told you to call me Luce!" she giggles with a bright smile. Unlike him, his classmate could easily talk to anyone.

Satoshi recalls her dislike of her surname because of her father who her mother had divorced about 2 years ago. From what he heard, Luce had caught her father one day with another woman. The betrayal did enough damage to her trust that his classmate no longer liked to be referred to by her father's last name. Still, it didn't seem to have affected Lucia's personality.

"Did you need something?" he asks.

Luce lightly shook her head. "Oh, nothing really. I just wondered if you'd walk with me to class," she answers.

"Gladly," Satoshi nods, "We are headed the same way."

So the duo begins walking to their next class. However, an awkward silence comes in between them. Luce knows that he is quiet, but usually he would speak with her since they sit next to each other in homeroom. She can tell there's something off as he gets this weird expression on his face.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Lucia asks concerned, breaking the silence.

Satoshi stops suddenly. He cocks his head confused by what she means exactly. He replies, "No, why?"

Lucia shifts her satchel on her shoulder. "It's just..." she starts, "You just don't seem like yourself lately and I'm-"

The light blue-haired boy doesn't respond. He just walks away from her abruptly and into their classroom not too far down the hall.

Fearing she overstepped somehow, she blushes in embarrassment. She follows suit and silently takes her seat next to him. Every time she tries to catch his gaze, her crush averts his sapphire eyes. She bites down on her bottom lip. Sullenly, she decides it best to leave him alone for the time being, figuring she must have insulted him in some way.

As Lucia leaves class, her violet eyes catch Satoshi being approached by two girls in her class. She pauses in the doorway to observe.

"Excuse me!" The light brown-haired girl says, "T-this is for you! Here..." Her classmate holds out a letter which Luce can only assume to be a love letter. The girl shyly, bows her head, avoiding Satoshi's gaze.

Her friend continues, "You don't have to respond if you like, but she's had a crush on you for so long."

Luce pauses, waiting for his answer. She felt it would be beneficial for her to stay for the answer. If he said yes, then she would have to give up her own crush on him.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have time for this..." Satoshi rejects the letter and the girl's affections.

Seeing enough Luce follows after Daisuke who she spots heading down the hallway. They should be leaving school, so she wonders what he's up to. She finds him on the computer in the computer lab with the lights off. Shutting the door behind her so that it locks, she strides up to see exactly what he's looking at. She's horrified to see that her best friend has hacked into the school records to look up Satoshi.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Luce shouts, angered that Daisuke would hack into the computer system here to look up someone's school files. This could easily get him arrested if someone found out.

Daisuke pays her no mind, motioning for her to take a closer look at the screen. "Luce, look! He graduated high school at the age of 8 and briefly studied abroad!" the red-haired boy explains, "At 13 he graduated from Lagoon University and worked at Police Headquarters before becoming chief commander of Dark Countermeasures!"

Luce whistles, "Woah..." She'd never known that about Satoshi. She also was surprised to find out her crush was in charge of Dark's capture.

Suddenly, she feels two hands grip her shoulders from behind her. "Are you two that interested in me?" Satoshi asks, leaning close to Lucia's ear. He lets her go as soon as she squeals in surprise, holding his hands up in submission. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Luce," the light blue-haired boy apologizes.

"H-hello there, Hiwatari..." Daisuke stutters, knowing he's practically been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Satoshi smirks, "You two were so immersed into all of this, you didn't even hear me creeping up from behind you."

Daisuke shuts off the computer quickly. He laughs nervously, "Why no, we didn't. I was sure Luce locked the door behind her..."

"I do know a few tricks," Satoshi replies, "But not as many as you do..."

"There you are!" Risa's voice comes from the hallway. She's standing in the doorway. "What are you three up to?" she questions, smiling. Daisuke looks so happy to see her. "I've been looking all over for you, Niwa!"

She gave Daisuke all he needed to escape. "M-Miss Harada!" he exclaims, bolting over to her, "You need me for something? I've got to take care of this, Hiwatari, we'll catch up later! Let's go, Miss Harada!" He quickly leaves with Risa, ditching Lucia with Satoshi.

Satoshi stares down Luce, making her flush uncomfortably. "I... I uhh..." Luce stammers, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation herself.

"Luce?" her crush asks, not letting his gaze waver.

Luce gulps, "Y-yes?" Her eyes can't help but look away for any escape routes. For some reason, she feels threatened, like she shouldn't be here.

"What do you know... about Dark?" Satoshi continues, taking a step towards her.

"A-about... D-Dark?" she repeats, drawing back as he steps closer.

With every step back his fearful classmate takes, Satoshi takes another forward. He interrogates, "You must know something... anything is fine..."

"I... uhh..." Lucia gasps as her back hits the wall. Shoot! He's got me pinned! She blushes and tilts her chin down as Satoshi draws his face near hers.

"Why are you running?" Satoshi asks calmly, "I just want an answer..." His sapphire eyes lock onto her face and her trembling, visible, violet eye. Then a sharp pain in his chest causes him to flinch and back up. He hunches over, coughing.

"S-Satoshi?!" Luce questions, concerned for his well-being. She takes a step forward but is stopped by him shooting her a look.

Satoshi pants, "I'm... fine... j-just go..."

Taking this as her one chance to escape, Luce flees to the courtyard.

Satoshi cringes as he watches her leave the room in a hurry. I should have known... every time I get close to her...

Luce spots Risa and Daisuke sitting on a nearby bench in the courtyard. "Help me... cook for Phantom Dark!" she hears Risa request. That makes her blood boil. Risa! How could you?! The German-Japanese girl can't believe Risa would be so selfish as to ask Daisuke when she knows how he feels about her, to help cook a meal for her crush.

"Niwa?" Risa asks, "Niwa, can you breathe?!"

Daisuke nods and gets up slowly, "I... I'm alright..." He starts walking away from her, slouching in depression.

Risa calls after him, "Are you sure?"

"Yes... see you..." Daisuke mumbles back, heading into the school again.

Risa catches eyes with Lucia only to receive a glare and a shaken head. Luce turns around to chase after and comfort Dai. Once she finds him, she sees that he's on a collision course with Satoshi, who can't see because of all the ice trays he's carrying. "Daisuke! DAISUKE, LOOK OUT!" Luce screams a little too late as the two boys slam into one another. The trays go crashing to the ground. Luce runs up to make sure no one is hurt.

"Are you two okay?!" the raven-haired girl asks.

"Yes, I think so..." Satoshi responds, seeming to be back to his normal self.

Daisuke offers, "Tell you what, I'll carry half to make it up to you."

"Let me take a few too," Luce adds, "Since I'm here."

Satoshi smiles, "Well, that is a nice gesture. I'd like that."

Each middle schooler takes 2 trays to carry to the freezer. Of course, they had to pass by the school's track. Luce notices Riku practicing with the lacrosse team. Seeing that she is busy, the raven-haired girl decides not to call out to her friend.

Once the trio reaches the freezer, Daisuke asks the question that had been pestering him since they met up with Satoshi, "How'd you get stuck doing this? Shouldn't it be someone from the cafeteria? Did you get in trouble or something?" Even Luce knew that wasn't a possibility. Satoshi was never in trouble.

Satoshi opens the door and the group places the ice trays on the floor to the side.

Luce shivers at the frigid temperature in the room. She rubs her hands together, trying to heat them up. "It sure is cold in here..." she comments beginning to shake.

Daisuke takes notice and question, "You okay, Luce?"

"Y-you know me... I'm not a fan of the c-cold..." she lightly laughs while starting to chatter.

"Negative 12 degrees Celsius to be exact," Satoshi adds.

Without warning, the door makes a loud clicking sound.

"THE DOOR!" Luce and Daisuke shout in surprise. They both run over to the door and struggle with it. Satoshi calmly walks over and tries the door himself.

"It's not use," he concludes, "It seems to have locked itself automatically. We're completely shut in..."

Luce loudly and frantically bangs on the door before giving up to huddle by a nearby wall.

Daisuke continues banging and yells, "ANYONE THERE?! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! WE'RE LOCKED INSIDE OF HERE!"

"No one's there, you're wasting your time. The staff has gone home for the day," Satoshi scolds.

"Then let's get creative!" Daisuke says, trying to hack the lock. To his surprise and suspicion, he fails at unlocking the program.

Satoshi shakes his head, "You'll have to get more creative than that..."

The two boys begin to think of ideas on how to get out of the freezer. They watch as the temperature begins to drop. Luce continues to sit, cuddling her cold knees to her chest in an attempt to stay warm.

"Negative 20 degrees Celsius, don't your fingers feel numb?" Satoshi turns to his classmate sitting against the wall, "How're you holding up, Miss Tanaka?"

Luce is shivering so badly, she doesn't even respond to being called by her last name like usual. The girl doesn't even look up. She looks like she's in a lot of pain.

"Luce?!" Daisuke cries, taking notice of his best friend's deteriorating condition, "Hey, are you alright?! Luce, answer me!"

Satoshi sighs and takes off his long sleeved, uniform shirt. He walks over and drapes it over her head to lock in some of her body heat. "Here... this should keep you warm," the sapphire-eyed boy gently and kindly murmurs. He smiles as his classmate nods in gratitude ever so slightly. Satoshi turns back to Daisuke, "I don't see any way out of this... unless one of us goes by the name of Dark..."

Daisuke turns defensive, feeling that Satoshi may be onto his secret, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"A joke... I thought I'd lighten the mood..."

Daisuke pauses, biting his bottom lip. Is he trying to make me become Dark? The redhead looks over at his shivering friend on the floor and frowns. If it's the only way to save Luce...

Suddenly, Satoshi flinches and gasps in pain. He pants, "It's happening... no, not now!" The boy grips at his heart before collapsing to his hands and knees in front of Luce, who is now forgetting her own problems.

"S-Satoshi! Satoshi, w-what's wrong?!" Luce shouts, rubbing his back, kneeling beside him.

"C-cold..." Satoshi manages to mutter before falling in her arms.

Luce blushes, but soon gets over it as she realizes the direness of their situation. She hugs him close to herself before draping his own shirt back over his shoulders. Luce faces Daisuke, starting to cry. "Daisuke! I'm... I'm s-scared! I... I don't know w-what to do!" the German-Japanese girl sobs, shaking now because of her fearfulness. She hiccups, trying to hold back her tears as she sees how much pain Satoshi is in.

"Tell Lucia to let go of him, Daisuke! She's in serious danger if she's near him any longer! Change into me so I can free you two!" Dark orders from inside Daisuke.

Daisuke disagrees, "You know Luce won't leave him behind! And she's right! We can't just leave him in here!"

Satoshi interrupts their mind-argument by gripping Luce's shirt. He struggles to pull himself off of her and leans his forehead against the wall. He turns himself to sit with his back against the wall. He quietly mumbles, "S-sorry... I'm not handling this very well, am I?"

"D-don't strain yourself!" Luce objects, cuddling closer to him. Her cheeks heat up and she avoids looking at him by staring at her knees. Daisuke does the same except he sits on the other side of Satoshi. The raven-haired girl suggests, "W-we should stay c-close t-to keep w-warm..."

As the trio huddles together, another silence befalls them. Lucia struggles to keep her heart rate down as she continues to stay within close contact with her crush. She can't help but wonder if anyone notices that they've been missing for the past half-hour.

"By the way," Daisuke interrupts the silence, "Why are you still in school?"

"What do you mean why?" Satoshi deflects with another question.

"You've already got a college degree. What's the point of attending middle school again?" Daisuke clarifies.

Satoshi shrugs his shoulders, "I dunno... I guess I wanted to see what it's like to be a normal 14-year-old..."

"That's a relief. I thought there was something wrong with you," Daisuke surmises insensitively.

Lucia comes to her crush's defense immediately. She snaps, "Dai! That was uncalled for!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Satoshi pushes Daisuke away from him and lurches up. He looks annoyed now.

"Hey! What's gotten into you?!" Daisuke yowls.

"Stay away from me!" Satoshi screams.

Luce scrambles up herself and approaches the clearly distressed boy. "S-Satoshi, I'm sure h-he didn't mean anything-" she tries to explain, reaching to touch his shoulder.

Satoshi screeches, "YOU TOO!" The light blue-haired, recluse forcefully shoves his female classmate, unbalancing her on the semi-icy floor.

"Augh!" Lucia yelps as she falls sideways on the floor.

Daisuke rushes to her side and helps her up. "Luce, are you alright?! What the heck, Hiwatari?! How dare you knock a girl to the floor?!" Daisuke snarls.

"I don't need any friends, got it?!" Satoshi raves, "And I especially don't need to be friends with the likes of you two!"

Luce bites her lip. Finding the courage to speak, she tries to explain, "S-Satoshi... I was... We were only trying to help..." She silences herself when he sends her a glare. The raven-haired girl hides behind her thick, classic length hair.

"You idiot! Don't you get it?! We can't be friends!" Satoshi insults to the point of bringing his female classmate to tears.

Daisuke comes to her rescue, snapping, "Hey! Lay off her, Hiwatari! If I recall correctly, you're the one who was so interested in a friendship! Luce was only trying to be nice!"

Satoshi shouts back, "Don't you two know, you and I are-" Without warning, he hunches over, twisting uncomfortably. It is exactly how he was acting when he had Lucia pinned in the computer lab.

"S-SATOSHI!" Luce shrieks, lunging towards him in worry.

Satoshi snaps his head up, hissing, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" His warning isn't what stops her feet from moving. It's the fact that his left eye is golden. It's something that Luce can't fully comprehend.

"Daisuke! Pull Lucia back! He's using his power! She's in danger!" Dark warns, "He's finally come out... Krad..."

"Krad?" Daisuke repeats, not completely listening.

"Just as I live inside you, he lives inside Hiwatari."

Satoshi yowls in pain before going unconscious, except he's floating a few feet off the floor.

Scared for his safety, Luce squeals, going to take another step towards him to see what's wrong, "SATOSHI!"

Dark shouts, frantically, "Daisuke! Grab her!"

Daisuke listens, yanking his best friend back and not letting go. He yells, "Luce, no! You can't go near him!"

Luce fights against him, hissing agitated, "HE'S HURT! DAISUKE, LET ME GO!" She freezes as she witnesses the pure, white wings protrude out of her crush's back.

And suddenly, Satoshi is no longer standing in front of them. In his place stands a fairly tall, lean man with long blond hair which he wears in a high ponytail. He has a long strand of hair hanging between his eyes. He has a pointy chin, slender jaw and golden eyes that seem to be inspecting every aspect of Luce and Daisuke. He dons a long white robe with golden lining and a black belt with golden buckles. A small white poncho with high collar and golden lining is worn over the robe fastened by a black clip.

"Is that... Krad?" Daisuke whispers to himself, but it is loud enough to be overheard by his best friend in his arms.

"K-Krad?" Lucia asks; confused as to how he knows this stranger.

The blonde man laughs, "It's been quite a long time... It's an honor to meet you again, Dark Mousy."

"We don't have much time! Change into me so I can protect Lucia!" Dark orders.

Before Lucia can react, a bright light blinds her and she hears a loud explosion from behind her and Daisuke's yelp in pain. She no longer feels his grip on her arms and whirls around to see a gaping hole behind her. "D-DAI... DAISUKE!" Luce screams. The raven-haired girl turns back to the man, shaking as Krad draws closer to her. Terrified, she screeches, "S-STAY AWAY!"

Krad shakes his head, but chuckles. He grins at her before softly murmuring, "Is that how you choose to greet me? After 40 years of separation? My dear... Lucia..."

"H-how... How do you know my name?!" Luce demands, trying to sound brave.

"I could never forget you, my love... Now... come here," Krad extends a hand towards the 14-year-old.

She screams, making a run for it, "N-no! Leave me alone!" To her utmost fear, the blonde male zips in front of her with lightning speeds, cutting her off.

"Are you playing hard to get this time?" he asks, "Has being separated for so long made you upset with me?"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about... I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! GO AWAY!" Luce shouts, trying to slap his face.

Krad easily catches her by her wrist and tilts her chin up. His golden eyes look annoyed now. He hisses, "I think this joke has gone on long enough, Lucia. Do not pretend anymore that you have forgotten me!"

"D-Dark... h-help..." she manages to say before fainting in this stranger's arms.

Krad grins at the prize in his arms. For so long he's waited for this. And now, the love of his life is finally his again. He can finally have her for himself and himself alone.

"I guess if a lady calls, I must appear!" Dark's voice mocks from behind the blonde alter-ego.

Krad whirls around to get a glimpse of his enemy before he disappears. Krad turns back around for Dark to appear right before him.

"I'll take her now!" the messy, purple-haired boy laughs, scooping up the unconscious Luce, and zipping away.

"NO! SHE BELONGS TO ME!" Krad roars in rage as he throws a feather that has the characteristics of a small bomb. To his dissatisfaction, his nemesis dodges it with ease though he is carrying another person. Angered by this, Krad sends out a flurry of feathers which explode all around Dark, putting dents in the walls, ceilings, and boxes of frozen food.

"He doesn't care about saving his power," Dark mutters to himself, flipping to dodge another barrage of feathers as he hops about the room. He tightens his grip on the girl in his arms, knowing that if she fell out of his arms, Krad would snatch her up in an instant. Returning his attention to said homicidal maniac, he scolds, "Krad, keep pushing like this and your tamer will die! You'll hurt Lucia too! Is that what you want?!"

Krad smirks, "Either way, it doesn't matter much to me. In due time this body and Lucia will be mine!"

The Phantom Thief scoffs, "You look like an angel, but you think like a devil!" Dark spots the incoming swarm of feathers and bites his lip since he's in mid-leap. Crap! If I let go of Lucia... Thinking quickly, he rolls on his back, somehow managing to drop her gently on the floor, and turns to block her from the blasts with a black feather. He flinches as he deflects much of the blasts but the force is still strong enough to almost unbalance him.

"That's the Dark I know," the blonde angel comments, holding up a single, white feather. He flinches as his host starts to regain control.

"Enough!" Satoshi growls, "You're going to have to take control of my body some other day! I won't let you harm Luce!" The 14-year-old boy forces the feather to dissipate.

Dark lunges while Krad is distracted, attacking with the black feather in his hand, "You let your guard down!" His feather connects with another white feather Krad manages to draw.

As the two magic feathers connect, a bright golden light surrounds them.

"Just like old times, Krad..."

"I'd say our little reunion went very well..."

Luce stirs after being unconscious for about 10 minutes. Lifting her head, her blurred vision clears and she looks to the side of her. She is horrified to see both Daisuke and Satoshi collapsed on the ground. "DAISUKE! SATOSHI!" the raven-haired, German-Japanese girl cries out, hoping for a response. She scrambles to her feet to rush to Satoshi's unmoving body. Tears form in her eyes as she notices the wounds on his back, figuring they must be from that Krad person.

"SATOSHI!" Luce screams, absolutely horrified of the idea that he might not wake up. She holds him in her arms and clutches his right hand. She can't help but shake, not because she's cold, but because she doesn't know what to do. They're trapped in here and both boys aren't waking up. "SATOSHI! DAISUKE! WAKE UP!" the raven-haired girl sobs, her voice cracking.

And then, the freezer door opens. The trio has finally been rescued by the Harada twins and Mr. Kaseda.

"NIWA!" Riku calls out, going to Daisuke's side, "Niwa, are you alright?! Can you hear me?!"

Daisuke mumbles, "How is Hiwatari? A-and Luce?"

Lucia consoles, "I'm okay, Daisuke." She still sniffles as Satoshi won't respond to anything she does. It doesn't help that she gets upset when Mr. Kaseda wrestles him out of her grip.

"And he's only got a small wound on his back," he reports, "Nothing to worry about." Mr. Kaseda lifts Satoshi onto his back while Risa restrains a distressed Luce so that Satoshi can receive proper care.

The next day, Luce and Daisuke tear off the trolley. The red-haired boy is a few inches in front of his friend. She complains, "Ooooh! Dai, we're late!" She tries to run as fast as she can to catch up. Unexpectedly, Daisuke stops right in front of her, giving her no time to react. "Oof!" Lucia exhales, slamming into his back. She peers over to see her crush peeking out of a fancy car. "S-Satoshi?"

"Hey, you two need a ride?" he asks in a much kinder voice than yesterday. Luce notices that he's not in the school uniform.

"Yeah..." Daisuke answers, taking a few steps towards the car.

Lucia smiles lightly and nods, "T-thank you." She gets in beside Daisuke and sits straight across from Satoshi.

Satoshi explains once the car begins driving towards their school, "I told them the freezer incident was due to a malfunction in the cooling system."

"Umm... good," Daisuke starts, "but..."

Luce interrupts, being quite upfront, "How are you feeling?!" She recoils and flushes once she realized how she sounded. She couldn't help it. She was really scared for him yesterday.

Satoshi ignores her bluntness. "Fine..." he replies to reassure his obviously concerned classmate. It was his fault for putting her in that situation in the first place. "Anyway..." he continues, "I have to leave for a while." He notices the shock and hurt on Lucia's face.

Her visible, violet eye quivers. Quietly, dropping her gaze to the floor, she murmurs, "R-really?"

"My plan got a little bit... out of hand... But irregardless of that, well, see... there's something I must do. I think it's better if I stay away," Satoshi enlightens.

Daisuke questions, "What?"

"W-what do you mean?" Luce demands, gripping the leather seat. Her crush doesn't get a chance to answer her before the car stops at the gate of their middle school. She follows Daisuke out but turns back around as Satoshi rolls down the window.

"Well, thanks..." Daisuke thanks.

Satoshi consoles Luce, seeing that she's clearly upset by all this, "We'll all meet again soon." With that said, the car rolls away and disappears around the bend.

Luce feels her cheeks heat up as the tears that began to form in her eyes spill over. She clamps a hand to her mouth to silence her hiccups. Satoshi... I don't understand this at all...

Daisuke looks at Luce sadly as she begins to cry. He knows that this whole situation is confusing to her and she doesn't know what to think right now. He also knows that Lucia really likes Hiwatari, so this must be hard for her. The redhead puts an arm around his sobbing friend, leading her away and inside the school campus.