"Hey! Sakura's awake!" Cerberus shouted, his ears erect, "Still seems a bit weak, but she's awake."
Tomoyo chuckled. "Must have something to do with Niwa-kun…?" Cerberus prepared for fly up to Sakura's room before Tomoyo neatly grabbed his tail.
"Kero-chan, it'd be dangerous for Niwa-kun to see you – I'm sure he is not accustomed to seeing stuffed animals flying around and talking with an Osaka dialect,"
Cerberus reluctantly flew back into the kitchen with Fujitaka, who smiled and offered to let him eat some of the cookie dough.
Tomoyo tiptoed up the stairs, stifling her giggles. She quickly swung open Sakura's door.
"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" she said excitedly, trying hard to laugh at the sight of Daisuke falling off of Sakura's bed in horror and embarrassment.
"Maa," Tomoyo said, grinning. "Niwa-kun, daijobu?" she asked politely. Red-faced, Daisuke got up.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good," he muttered. He stood awkwardly to the side as Tomoyo asked about Sakura's condition. Daisuke felt the need to break the silence and suddenly announced, "OKAY. I GUESS I WILL BE LEAVING NOW." And he stumbled ungainly out of Sakura's room. Tomoyo giggled.
"What happened?" she asked Sakura. Sakura looked worried. She opened her mouth and prepared to speak, but nothing came out of her lips. Tomoyo gently stroked Sakura's hair.
"Tomoyo. What you said yesterday…" she began.
Tomoyo nodded. "It's okay if you and Niwa…"
"No," Sakura said firmly. "I don't think… I don't think it'd be okay. It's not okay."
Tomoyo was taken aback. This was definitely not what she was expecting. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think I can betray Syaoran," she said.
"Sakura…" Tomoyo began, but Sakura cut her off.
"I may be attracted to Niwa-kun, but I love Syaoran. There's a difference,"
"Sakura-chan, this may the best thing for you right now… and I'm sure whatever you do, Syaoran would be happy for you," she said. Sakura shook her head violently.
"No. I said I'd wait, so I'll wait," she said. "Tomoyo-chan, I had a premonition. I think… I think it means I'm hurting Syaoran, for not staying loyal. My dream showed Syaoran dying. It must mean something."
"Sakura," Tomoyo gasped. "Syaoran… he's…?"
"No, it's just a dream," Sakura muttered. "It's not true."
She reached for her teddy bear, and hugged it to her chest. "It can't be."
+++
You embarrassed yourself again, Dark said, after a long period of silence. Daisuke ran home immediately after shooting past a surprised Fujitaka at Sakura's house. He also shocked Emiko and Kosuke after practically flying passed all of his apartment's security, then running into his room. Dark hadn't said a word the entire time, only now, speaking up.
"Shut up," Daisuke said, as he lay on his bed, trying to sleep.
I know what you're thinking, he said. You're wondering why Sakura didn't chase after you.
"Why should she?" Daisuke asked, annoyed.
Because. She's practically throwing herself at you.
Daisuke could feel the cold edge in Dark's voice. "Dark? What's wrong with you?"
…
"I don't know how she feels," Daisuke muttered. "And I've only known her for a few days, but –"
It's like… she's it. Dark finished.
"Yeah," Daisuke murmured, closing his eyes. "There's something about her personality – makes me want to make her smile, always,"
Dark and Daisuke simultaneously made a dreamy sigh.
I wonder what she'd do if she met me? Dark wondered. Daisuke felt a pang of jealousy. Dark felt it too, and sighed. Don't worry, Daisuke. I'll try not to scare her away, okay?
"Yeah, right," Daisuke said warily. "I could transform at any minute when I see her, and you just might pounce on her…"
Pounce? Dark repeated.
"Yes, POUNCE," Daisuke said loudly. "That's how you scare all the girls away,"
I'll have you know, Dark said, very offended, that more girls are interested in me than you.
"Yeah, the girls looking for a one night stand," Daisuke scoffed. To his surprise, Dark didn't answer. Although he had partially won, Daisuke was feeling a bit uneasy over his victory.
"I didn't mean that girls are incapable of loving you," Daisuke said, sensing the problem. "It just seems to be difficult for them to love someone they don't see that much,"
It's because I'm chained to the Niwa men for eternity. Dark said. Sometimes I just wish…
Daisuke could feel Dark's anguish inside of him, and he felt the wetness pooling underneath his eyes. "I wish you could too," he said.
+++
To both Dark and Daisuke's surprise, the next day, Sakura ignored Daisuke completely. When Daisuke asked if Sakura was feeling any better she merely nodded curtly and walked away, insisting that she had to be somewhere. She seemed to be normal, with others. But whenever Daisuke got within ten feet of her, she got up and walked away.
After school, the door to the Niwa household flew open, and was promptly slammed shut. Towa didn't even turn around from dusting the bookshelf, as she announced, "Welcome home, Dark,"
Dark fumed angrily as he paced the living room. "What the hell is wrong with that girl?!"
Towa turned, "Kinomoto?" she asked. Dark twitched, and tugged at his long strands of hair.
"She and her mood swings!" he ranted. "One day, she's all over Daisuke like he's some sort of pretty toy –"
Toy? Daisuke repeated.
"--And today, she blew him off! She blew Daisuke off!" he cried angrily.
Why are you so frustrated? Daisuke asked.
"Why are you so frustrated?" Towa asked. Dark twitched again, and plopped onto the sofa. He pressed both of his hands into his face, and groaned.
"If she doesn't like Daisuke, that means she can't like me," Dark said.
I thought it'd be something like that, Daisuke said, after face faulting.
"Ah, I see," Towa said. "So you only want Kinomoto to like Daisuke because that'll make you one step closer to her?"
Dark tossed his hair, and stared at Towa, who stared back. "Don't make it sound that way,"
"It only sounds 'that way' because you think it's sounding 'that way'," she responded. Dark raised an eyebrow.
"When did you become so mature, Towa-chan?" he asked. "You used to worship me,"
"Oh, of course I still admire you," Towa said. "You rescue all these pieces of art that others neglect – you're a grade A hero." She lightly tapped his nose, "But I like Daisuke too,"
"Pfft," Dark muttered. "Everyone likes Daisuke,"
"Takes one to know one," Towa countered. She beamed, and left the room to dust other areas of the apartment.
Dark rolled his eyes. "This was supposed to be about me – when did it turn to be about Daisuke again?" he muttered angrily at himself as he prepared to walk into his room before Kosuke ambushed him.
"Dark-san!" Kosuke said excited. "That's interesting, what happened to Daisuke now?"
"ARGH!" Dark exclaimed. "DAISUKE DAISUKE DAISUKE! ALWAYS!" he was about to push his way past Kosuke, when Kosuke grabbed his shoulder. Dark was surprised at his strength, and he was forced back into the living room.
"We need to have a talk," Kosuke said.
"'Bout what?" Dark asked casually.
Kosuke held up a crystal orb the size of his fist, "This is the Abssorbire Orb. Can you figure out what it does?" he handed Dark the orb. Dark fingered it, running his thumb across its flawless surface.
"I'm going to assume from the name that it absorbs something?" Dark said smoothly, handing it back to Kosuke.
Kosuke grinned. "While you were at school today, Emiko-san and I were doing research on the Card Mistress,"
Dark straightened up promptly. "Well?" he asked urgently.
"From what you told us about the encounter, we figured that we better get you something to defend against her magical offensive attacks," Kosuke explained. "We looked through history books on wars that involved magic, and we discovered that an Abssorbire Orb was used in battle very often. Emiko-san remembered that she had an orb that looked like one of the orbs in our books, and she found it,"
Dark eyed the orb, "What does it do? Absorb offensive magic?"
"Right," Kosuke said. "However, there are some conditions,"
Dark felt his patience ebbing away. He tugged at the bandages on his wrists. "What are they?" he asked.
"One," Kosuke began, holding up his index finger, "We don't even know if the orb will absorb the girl's magic, since we don't know what type of magic she uses. She could use Sun, Moon, Darkness, or other modern types of magic that we haven't heard of. Since this orb is so ancient, we have no idea if it would work against the newer magics,"
Dark shrugged. "I'm sure that the absorber sphere thingie can pull it off – if the people who created it were intelligent enough, they'd probably figure out a way to prevent this. I mean, if they wanted to win wars, they'd make it as resilient as possible,"
"…" Kosuke replied. "Two," he continued, "We don't know how long the effects will last, or if the magic will be absorbed permanently, or if the girl will survive from having her powers disappearing…"
Dark groaned and quickly snatched the orb from Kosuke's hands. He stood up and walked around the living room, rolling the orb between his hands.
"Listen, Kosuke," Dark said. "Screw the precautions. I survived once, and I can do it again – I'm not a weakling,"
"Dark-san, don't get too cocky about yourself," Kosuke said. "Not even the wisest person will use a mystical tool that they don't understand the side effects to,"
"Well, I never said I was wise, did I?" Dark said. "All right. With this, I'll go out tonight and swipe that Moonlit Walk painting – "
Kosuke suddenly punched Dark on the face. Dark fell back, and angrily shouted, "What's your problem?!"
"Dark-san, I must insist that you not put my son in danger and go flying into something that you do not understand," Kosuke said. Dark was amazed; Kosuke seemed to appear ten feet taller than what he originally was. "Until Emiko and I fully research the powers of this orb, you may not go out on any expeditions. Emiko will be the one who decides to send out an advanced notice – you, nor you, Daisuke, may send out one,"
They glared at each other a few moments, Dark's right eye twitching slightly from the harsh punch. Finally, Dark shrugged as if he didn't care, and handed Kosuke back the orb.
"Alright," Dark said. "But you better not take too long – that painting's gathering dust at that damn museum,"
"Deal," Kosuke said gruffly. He began to walk away, before he turned, and approached Dark again.
"Um, Dark-san?" he asked. Dark looked up at him moodily.
"Hn?"
"When I hit you, that doesn't mean I'm hitting Daisuke, right?" he asked. Dark snorted, and lifted the now tangled shreds of the bandages hanging on his wrist.
"Have you seen Daisuke walking around with bloodied wrists lately?" he asked.
"Oh," Kosuke said. "Oh, alright then,"
He left the room. Dark buried his hands into his face.
Your parents just love me, Daisuke. Dark said.
They mean well… Daisuke said softly. They don't hate you, if that's what you're thinking. Remember? Mom wanted to be you when she was small.
She wanted to be the things that I represented. She didn't want me. And remember? You didn't want me either.
Well, you're a part of me now, and I can't ever lose you, so don't go thinking stupid things, Daisuke said.
…Have you ever wondered whether things would be better without me? Dark asked, suddenly sounding much like a child.
Sometimes, Daisuke answered. Wouldn't be as interesting.
Dark ignored Daisuke's light answer. If it weren't for me, you'd have Riku.
You're a part of me, Daisuke said. You told me so many times before. If Riku couldn't accept you, she couldn't accept me as well. I was better off. If no girl can accept you, then I don't want her.
You'd be lonely. Dark said.
"No, I'll still have you," Daisuke said, walking into his room. He gently ran his fingers over his face, making sure there wasn't a sore spot. There wasn't.
He could feel Dark's uneasiness, despite Dark's effort to hide it.
"Have you ever gone through life, without having to live in the body of a Niwa?" Daisuke asked, out of the blue. He could feel Dark's uneasiness shift to confusion and a soft ache.
I don't remember. Dark responded. I wonder what it would be like.
"Me too," Daisuke said.
In response to Avelyn Lauren's "you're awful" review, all I have to say is that getting feedback on my writing is very important to me in the sense that it let's me know how I'm doing. It feels kinda bad when no one bothers enough to review, don't you think? I do enjoy writing and it's not I'm going to STOP writing to spite others because they don't read it (after all, this story was not intended at all for fanfiction.net until I finished it and deemed it worthy enough). I was depressing myself with the fact that no one liked my story enough to review. Sure, stooping to the level of "review so I can post more chapters" is pretty low, but desperation brings out the worst in us sometimes. Also, I do not find it very clever of you to call me awful and referring to yourself as someone better because YOU didn't prompt others to review (i.e. "I like to get reviews myself but whether I get them or not i still put the next chapter up."). Also, you are supposed to be reviewing the story, not me as a person. Thus, explaining why this here writer feels so injured by your remarks and also explaining this here paragraph devoted entirely to you.