Author's Note: Of the chapters I've written so far, I'd have to say that this is one of my favorites. No warnings for this one, just sit back and enjoy.

11. Memory

Warmth.

The first thing that registered was that he was comfortably warm. This was extremely welcome, as he usually became chilled easily. That had happened ever since Krad had first manifested. It was unlike him to feel so relaxed, as the only times that he would be was when he was temporarily spared from Krad's torment after a battle with Dark.

A second feeling barely registered, since it felt so familiar. Something nostalgic…a sensation that he hadn't felt in many years. There were soothing, gentle hands running through his hair. The fingers of one swirled around a lock of hair near his right temple. The other moved from near the top of his head down to his forehead, where the fingertips brushed his face slightly, before the cycle was repeated.

"Mother?"

Satoshi's eyes fluttered open after a few moments. The hands stilled, and something shifted underneath him, before the hands dislodged themselves from his hair. Satoshi's vision was blurred due to his low blood pressure—all he could distinguish was a swirl of light blue and red. His sense of smell returned much faster than his sight, and he became aware of the scent of grass mixed in with a minute trace of summer flowers. Based on this, the endless blue above him must be the sky. When had he gone outside? And what was the red from? Red wasn't…

Frustrated and drowsy, Satoshi tilted his head back in hopes of getting a better view. A face came into his field of vision, staring down at him. It was still a bit blurry, but at least now Satoshi could identify the red thing as hair. His subconscious recognized the person before his brain and eyes did. "Ni…wa…?"

The redhead spoke in a soft voice, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

Satoshi blinked a few times, not immediately able to comprehend what was said. Then, after a moment, his eyes went wide with the sudden realization of the situation. He immediately sat upright, causing the person behind him to let out a startled cry and fall backwards. He then brought a hand up to his face and rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to get his vision to cooperate. While doing this, he organized the memories of what had occurred.

It was the last day of school before summer break, and the students had been given a longer lunch period than usual. Niwa had approached him, wondering if they could eat lunch together. Satoshi had agreed without really thinking about it. Eating lunch with Niwa was a common occurrence, after all. However, when he had attempted to head up to the roof, Daisuke shook his head and led him the other way. They had ended up near a few trees on the edge of one of the fields in back of the school that was sometimes used for sports. Apparently, Daisuke thought it was a good idea to enjoy the nice weather. Satoshi had held back the comment that the roof was technically also outside, as he had been too tired to care at the moment. Krad had been surprisingly docile the past few days, which made Satoshi feel apprehensive as opposed to relieved. As a result, he hadn't allowed himself a decent amount of sleep for several days. Besides, if he could spend some time with Niwa, no matter how dangerous that may be, he didn't want to resist.

The two of them had finished eating quickly, then conversed for a while until they fell into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying one another's company. Satoshi remembered feeling incredibly relaxed, and then…then…

Still with his back turned to Niwa, Satoshi tried and failed to control the heat flowing to his face. He really hadn't meant to fall asleep, much less on Niwa's lap.

"Hey…," Daisuke began, crawling over on the grass so that he was in front of Satoshi. He apparently lost his original train of thought when their eyes locked. Daisuke was staring straight at him, a curious expression on his face. Mortified, Satoshi looked to the side and focused his gaze somewhere on the ground behind Niwa. From the corner of his eye, he could see a blush emerging on the redhead's face. Daisuke fumbled with his words for a moment. "I-it's nothing to be embarrassed about, Hiwatari-kun. You mentioned earlier that you were tired, so…," he trailed off. It was then that Daisuke realized what he had been holding on to. "Here, your glasses."

Without a word, Satoshi took them from Niwa and stood up, preparing to walk away.

"Um…you muttered something in your sleep just before you woke up. Were you dreaming?"

Satoshi paused, then looked up at the sky. A few strands of hair had fallen into his eyes, but the color was so similar that it was almost indistinguishable. He returned his gaze to the earth as he walked slowly back to the school, and answered simply, "No."

Author's Note: The manga is vaguely inconsistent about when Hikari Rio died. Well, this is true at least in the Tokyopop translations, which are...well, let's just say I have a bit of a preference for scanlations instead. At one point, it was stated that she died fifteen years ago, and yet Satoshi seems to still have some memories of her, which would make the time frame impossible. (Unless Satoshi is a few years older than Daisuke, which is also highly unlikely, if not impossible.) At this point, unless it's explicitly stated otherwise, I will assume that she died when Satoshi was a few years old. (Maybe about 4 or 5?)

*headdesk* Anyway, enough with inconsistencies. I hope this chapter was enjoyable. ^_^