I do not own DNAngel

"Alright class, now I know you're all excited about winter break, but you have midterms coming up, so let's review…" Said the teacher, trying to be enthusiastic. The whole class groaned. It was the day before winter recess, two whole weeks of no studying.

"Hey, Niwa-kun! I don't have after school activities today, so do you wanna walk home with me?" Asked Riku. Things had been pretty much normal at school. Satoshi and Shizuka came back, and were able to cover up their coinciding absences, and no one thought anything of it. Dark hadn't stolen much lately, so he hadn't had any more confrontations with Krad since then.

"Oh, sure…" he said. Satoshi and Shizuka began hanging out with Daisuke, Riku and Risa regularly, which was weird for Satoshi, who usually declined any invitations to sit with them at lunch. Shizuka was still quiet around her classmates, but Daisuke noticed she was more talkative with Satoshi than anyone else. Dark didn't say anything else about that night at Shizuka's house, and stopped trying to uncover anything else about the Inochi family. He just decided to let things unfold on their own.

……….At lunch………..

"So, Niwa-kun! Have you asked Riku to spend Christmas with you yet?" Asked the younger Harada, mischievously. She wanted to go with Dark, but she hadn't been able to ask him, since he hadn't stolen anything in a while. Instead, she would go with her friends to the festival in the park.

"Risa!" snapped Riku, blushing.

"O-oh, well… that is… if she wants to go with me…" Said Daisuke, panicking.

Dark! What do I do???

'I dunno. She's your girlfriend, after all.' He snickered. Of course, he would never help Daisuke in a situation like this!

"I'll go with you, Niwa-kun…" She said sheepishly.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Risa.

"Stop it! You're so annoying, Risa. I swear…"

While the three of them were arguing, Satoshi and Shizuka tried to sneak away from the table without Risa noticing. It was only a matter of seconds before…

"Ah! Hiwatari-kun! I think you should go with Shizuka-chan!" Said Risa loudly, so the whole class could hear. Both of them immediately started blushing, and Shizuka spoke up first.

"Well… I don't …I mean…" She stuttered.

What am I supposed to say? Thought Satoshi. If I tell them I already asked her, the entire class will know…

RING

"Oh, that's the bell! We'd better get to class!" Said Daisuke, saving them. They walked out of the cafeteria, and Risa spotted a friend, so she left them behind.

"Wow—sorry guys! Risa's such a pain!" Said Riku. "She just wants more gossip to spread."

"Oh, it was nothing…"

After school, Shizuka went to Riku's house to help her pick out something to wear for the Christmas festival in the park, so Satoshi ended up walking home with Daisuke.

"Hey, Daisuke. What are you going to do with Harada-san on Christmas? Where are you going?" Asked Satoshi. He had no idea where to take Shizuka yet, so he figured he'd ask Daisuke for advice.

"Oh, I guess we'll go to the festival in the park…"

"hmm…"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well… I asked Inochi-san if she wanted to spend Christmas with me. But I don't really know where to take her." He said quickly.

"Oh my god! You did? That's great Hiwatari-kun!" Gasped Daisuke cheerfully. "I'm so happy for you two! Why didn't you say so before?"

"We didn't want to broadcast it to the whole school…"

"Right, that makes sense. What with your fan girls and all…" Said Daisuke, thinking about the army of girls in their school (and others!) that sent Satoshi daily love letters and followed him to class. "How do you ignore them?" He asked curiously.

"It's nothing." He said nonchalantly. Then he smirked. "How do you deal with Dark when you're on a date with Harada-san?"

"W-well, I just kind of try to ignore him."

'What? You're constantly paranoid about transforming! Liar!'

"Anyway, I'd rather not take Shizuka to the festival. I don't know how well that would go..."

"With the fan girls?"

"With being around that many people. Her body's a lot weaker than normal." And the fan girls.

'pfft—excuses! He's not that healthy himself, anyway. He's just afraid of his fans.'

"Oh, really?" He said, concerned. There was a long pause.

"Well, anyway, thanks. I'm going to head home now" Said Satoshi, turning down a different road than Daisuke.

"Oh, okay. See you…" That was weird. But I can't believe he asked her! That's great! Hiwatari-kun needs to cheer up once in a while.

'Krad might not think the same.' Dark reminded.

…………..

"What do you think? The black one, or the red one? I'm not really good at this kind of thing… that's what Risa's for, I guess." Said Riku. Shizuka had come over to her house today to help her decide what to wear to the festival. Every year, the park decorated the trees with lights and hired a DJ to play music. This was the first year she was going with a date.

"You should wear the red one—it'll be more festive." Replied Shizuka. She decided that, since Risa was at a friend's house, she could tell Riku that she was going to be with Satoshi this Christmas. It was amazing how close she had gotten with Riku and Daisuke in a matter of a couple of weeks. "Yeah, that's what I thought too!" Said Riku.

"Hey, Riku-san? About what Harada-san said earlier…"

"Oh, don't worry about it. She does that to everyone."

"Well, actually, Hika—" She caught herself. "Hiwatari-kun already asked me…"

"WHAT?! This is the first I've heard of it? How did it happen? When? What did you say?" Exclaimed Riku, shooting out questions.

"uh, he just asked if a wanted to spend Christmas with him, a couple weeks ago, and I said 'yes'…"

"That's great! I approve!" She said, taking the motherly role. "But if he does anything improper…"

"Oh, don't worry, Riku-san—He's not like that at all!" she said. It was true—Satoshi was a perfect gentleman, and it was easy to forget he was only sixteen.

"Are you going to the park, too? We could double-date!"

"Actually, no, we're not. He didn't say where we're going yet."

"Then how am I supposed to keep an eye on you?" She asked, winking. They laughed.

"Don't worry, Riku-san—nothing's happening!"

"Still, we need to double date, even if it's not for Christmas!"

………….

"Tadaima!" shouted Daisuke, walking into his home. He had just barely made it through the hallway—his mom sure hasn't been going easy on him!

"O-keari! So, have you asked Riku-chan to the dance yet?" Asked his mom.

"Oh, y-yeah…" Harada-san asked for me…better not tell her that…

"Good! Of course, that means you'll have to steal this new artwork the day after Christmas…"

"You would make me steal on Christmas?! Mom!" he whined. When would he get a break?

"Relax—I just said you didn't have to. Now, it's called 'Snowy Crystal'. It was just added to a museum one the other side of town."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it." Yawned Daisuke, on his way up the stairs. "Oh, Dark said you should know that Hiwatari-kun and Inochi-san are spending Christmas together, too. They're not going to the park, though…"

"What?! NO! Not with that… that Hikari! I won't allow it! Call her over here right now!"

"You can't just decide for her—she's not your daughter, Emiko." Said Daiki, coming out of the kitchen. "B-but…"

……………..

"Okay, so this dress, those shoes… that's it, then! Thnaks for helping!" Said Riku. It was getting late, but they finally finished decided on the perfect outfit.

"Oh, it's no problem. You have to take a picture with Niwa-kun!"

"We will! By the way, what about you?" She asked. "You really have no idea where you're going yet? What are you gonna wear?"

"No, he said it was a surprise." She replied smiling. "He said it was outdoors, and that's all he would tell me."

"Well, be careful! You never know—"

"Riku! Shizuka-chan! Were you two here this whole time?" Asked Risa, barging in the room.

"Jeez, you could knock."

"So what were you talking about?"

"Nothing! Go and call Ritsuko-san or something! We're busy!" Shouted Riku, pushing her out the door.

"Actually, Riku-san, I should get going." Said Shizuka. "I need to go to work soon."

"Oh, okay. Well, in that case, call me as soon as you get home after the date! I want to know everything!"

………………..

Dark?

'I know what you're going to ask. You want to know why everyone is opposed to Hiwatari dating Shizuka. I thought that'd be obvious by now—Krad doesn't like her.'

It doesn't seem fair—Hiwatari-kun and Inochi-san have it much harder than I do…

'Are you saying you want a worse curse?'

No, but how come Riku-san and I aren't suffering as much as them?

'Daisuke, they can deal with it. You worry too much about others.'

……………………

Ring. Ring. Ri--

"Hello?" Answered Satoshi. His father called him every week to check on how things were going with capturing Dark.

"Satoshi! It's been so long since I've last talked to you? How is school?"

Satoshi shuddered. He sounds just like Krad. "Everything's fine."

"Everything's always 'fine', Satoshi. Why don't you go into more detail? Have you made any new friends lately?"

What? "No, why?"

"I'm just curious—you never seem to talk to anyone… you should try talking to your classmates. I hear there's a new student in your class. Why don't you try being friends with her?"

Not good. "I busy right now—didn't you want to ask about work?"

"Oh, well, yes. I was going to bring that up…" After that, they had the same conversation they always did. How Satoshi hadn't captured Dark yet, and how Kei still believed he could do it someday, and to keep trying and keep him updated.

How did he find out about Inochi-san? Krad! Did you—

'I would never betray you, Satoshi-sama. Surely your father has other sources he could have gotten this information from.'

Satoshi placed the phone back on the receiver, and looked out the window.

What if he tries to confront her?

He picked the phone back up and dialed a number.

'Who are you calling, Satoshi-sama?'

Inochi-san.

AU: Well, I decided that the date will be in the NEXT chapter (sorry!).

Tadaima: I'm back! (said when coming home)

O-Kaeri (nasai): Welcome back (Said to person who came back.)

Here are two more…

Itte Kimasu: I'm leaving

Itte Rasshai: (Said to person leaving)