Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Heh, sorry I'm so slow! Blame it on Daylight Savings time...

Edit: long... edited... chapter... how did you people READ this the first time through! My gosh... so many contradictions and screwups and non-explanations...

Anyhow! Thanks so much to everyone who reviews:dances: I love them and they are all muchly appreciated.

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"Risa..."

I can feel that hated burning creep up behind my face, but it won't overtake me as it did Risa. I won't let it.

Curse horomones. Curse them to an unthinkable place.

Getting to school should be the first priority at the moment, so I brush past her still-smiling figure as if she's a manniquin. I can't waste time on all these... frivolous pursuits.

No, those are NOT joy and relief that are rising inside me.

"I don't like guys with glasses."

She doesn't truly care about me, despite what she says (because she couldn't, she just couldn't). She's happily oblivious even, that while I was 'asleep' in the Niwa house, the only face that kept dancing through my subconscious was hers, smiling, pouting, asking if I was all right...

That information will NEVER become public knowledge. Especially the knowledge that when the stupid idea that I might die from being whacked from a baseball bat (no, I'm not going to list the chances of that happening) flickered through my head, the immediate followup emotion was regret.

Regret that I never got to tell her...

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When we enter the school, no one apparently noticing that we entered -together-, there is a collective gasp. My wings attract more attention then I give them credit for. However, with a few well-placed glares, the students back away, still shedding their compliments off on me like feathers from some molting bird.

"Wow, where'd you get them!"

"Hiwatari-kun, they're so beautiful!"

"He's even more beautiful then before! And what happened to his glasses?" --that is, of course, my scary fanclub's addition to the mix.

And despite what I told Risa, my glasses, or rather the lack of them, is getting annoying, watching the slightly fuzzy students mill around and finally disperse to class (thankfully).

"You look just like Dark's opposite!" One well-meaning student calls to me, disappearing into a doorway.

"Indeed, Satoshi Hikari. You look just like Krad."

There is nothing well-meant in that second tone. Risa has gone on ahead, to her own class, so I am left with this wonderful creepy person standing at the top of the stairway, looking down at me. It's a boy, a junior by his appearance, black hair having taken over his head in spikey chunks that resemble the aftermath of a weedwhacker. Disturbingly green eyes peer out at me from beneath the black bangs, his arms crossed, mouth pulled into a devilish smirk.

He'd be "adorable" in the shallow girls at our school's opinion, but I couldn't care one way or other. I already dislike him in any case. His confident stance resembles Takeshi on a fresh Dark tip, but he obviously has much more of a clue then the reporter-wannabe does.

"Do I have your attention Angel-boy?" He spits out, treating the "nickname" with the hatred one would usually reserve for mass murderers. Oh wait, Krad is one. Surprise, surprise.

I take a step backwards as the boy leaps from top to bottom step in one long leap, coming up to smirk at me proudly.

"And -I- never had wings to do that." He says smugly as he straightens.

"What?" Maybe it's not the most articulate thing in the world to say, but it conveys the point rather well while my brain draws a blank.

"I know exactly who and what you are. And you don't know me from Adam. But I'm sure if you checked "Mokuta" up in that fancy database you're so proud of, you'd find all you'd like to know." He rattles this off self-absorbedly, and STILL hasn't told me exactly what he wants with me. So he knows I'm--no, I was, I WAS Krad. Join the club, since it doesn't seem to matter much anymore. Though if he tried very hard, maybe he could get me sent to jail. If I wasn't a minor.

Maybe Krad did something to him?

Wonderful, I'm going to be playing with my alter ego's enemies now as well as anyone else who crops up. Thanks a lot Krad.

"Anyway Hikari, you're going to be seeing a lot more of me. A lot more."

Combined with a menacing twitch of his eyebrows, he's truly ridiculous/terrifying. Anyway, didn't I already explain that I'm straight! These people!

"And Harada might too... so keep your eyes open."

Having finished his threat/pickup-line/closing statement, "Mokuta" starts stalking off darkly, while trying to look sweet and innocent at the same time. I believe the effect of his 'excellent acting' is truly demonstrated when three fangirls hurl themselves out of a classroom and tackle him to the ground.

"TARO-SAMAAA!"

Taro then. Taro Mokuta. It sounds suspiciously like something you'd eat... maybe I'm simply mixing it up with tako. (AN: takooctopus in japanese)

In any case, perhaps I should notify Risa--

And the late bell shrieks through my thoughts. Curses! I duck inside the classroom to a sea of confused faces, wings towering over my head like the curse they are.

The teacher is the first to break the shocked silence, clearing his throat and shuffling papers.

"In the future Hiwatari, it would be appreciated if you would not cosplay during school hours. I will overlook it this time but don't let it happen again."

Nodding mutely, I try to fit myself into the desk space and finally end up sitting on the floor. This is undignified. Especially being mistaken for a cosplayer...

But even my irregular seating can't keep my mind from wandering. What does Mokuta want with Risa? Should I be worried about safety? How does he know about the computer database and the fact that he's in it?

Why did his eyes look ever-so-faintly familiar?

What is he?

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Later that night...

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Loading file, please wait-

As if I had a choice.

Taro Mokuta-

Junior at Azumano High School-

17 years of age-

Newspaper articles on him pop up as well but I'll look at those later; the last thing I need is to drudge through someone's honor roll achivements at the moment.

Taro Mokuta is the son of late security officer Yamato Mokuta, and his also-recently-deceased wife Yui Mokuta. Taro has a history of theft and hacking in the computer industry. (Recent searches he's run) He has created over forty-five viruses currently infecting the net-

"HIIIIIIIIIII!"

Eh!

Abruptly, a voice blares like a bullhorn out of my computer's speakers and I leap backwards, sending my chair over with the involuntary flapping of my wings. The large chibi which has suddenly appeared on the screen smirks, it's eyes disappearing into upside-down U shapes.

"I know I'd find you on here." The chibi leans back on it's hands casually, looking bored. "Having fun? You haven't looked at the newspaper articles yet. If you did, me stalking you might make a bit more sense, but since you're Hikari and hate taking advice, I'll leave you to your own devices."

I'd thank you to do just that and get out of here you figment of someone's warped imagination.

"By the way, I set a virus up on here for you to discover. But I don't think I'll trigger it. Aren't I nice?" It grins cheekily, and I suddenly realize that it looks a lot like the anime character "Ed" from Cowboy Bebop. That's rather disturbing, either that Taro knows of it or the fact that I still can't determine the gender.

Abruptly, it just vanishes from the screen as quickly as it appeared, not even waving a hand to give any hint. Strange creation.

It's started raining now outside. I can hear it and imagine the snow becoming slush even though it doesn't sound like it's coming down very hard. Back to busines however.

The newspaper articles.

I click on the first and come up with a tabloid headline.

"Freak accident due to psychotic white angel! Kills one, but not the last!"-

Congratulation Krad, you always wanted to make the tabloids didn't you? That's quite a bad picture though... I KNOW he doesn't look that much like me and those wings look like they were pasted on with bad clip art.

I can't resist the urge to look up and make sure the wings don't really look that moronic. Safe so far in any case. I click on the next link.

"One killed in tragic stakeout."-

"There was a commotion and a tragedy as our defender of art and therefore enemy of the imfamous Phantom Thief Dark Mousy, killed a police officer who ventured too close. The thief and defender were engaged in a furious battle and apparently didn't see, or didn't care that Yamato Mokuta, 52, was standing just in the shadows, ready to cuff the thief when the timing was appropriate and Krad, as the white-winged angel is currently being called, had captured him. Mokuta had been cautioned before on his overeager tendencies, but this time they came to a tragic end. A stray energy blast caught the man by surprise, killing him instantly as it impacted. Mokuta leaves behind a 16 year old son, Taro and a grieving wife Yui. Obituary on next page."-

Civilian casualties... why couldn't Krad value innocent lives as much as he claimed to value his 'Tamer'?

He just didn't... that's the only answer.

In the next link, I find exactly what I expected.

"Yui Mokuta, 49, passed away in her sleep at 3:23 am, Thursday night. After her late husband, Yamato Mokuta's death, she had been "withdrawn, pale and ill" according to her teenaged son, whom she leaves behind with her death."

An orphan. Both parents taken by Krad, defender of the art, psychotic angel at large. Typically, he's vengeful.

I don't blame him for stalking me. However, Risa shouldn't be brought into this, whatever that offhand comment he made meant. There's no harm he can do to me, and I don't know what he hopes to accomplish by bothering Risa. He'll probably get his ear talked off, and for that I pity him. I pity him for his loss as well but... there's nothing I can do. He doesn't want money I assume, since his father was rich and he's an only child. There can be no great fun in trying to hurt me, which he hasn't attempted yet, and if he does, he'll fail. One of the remnants of Krad/Dark was the speed one would teach the other.

So what can he do to me? It's not like he can hire Dark...

My wings tremble suddenly with the memory of being thrown against a boulder with Dark standing over my unmoving body, demanding that Daisuke let him kill me. It's Krad's memory... and yet when I woke up it stayed with me. Daisuke could have said "bugger the whole thing" and that point and let Dark kill me.

But he didn't.

I wonder--

"Hiwatari-kuuuuuuun!" A yell comes from the window, dragging my name out as if I can't hear the echoes bouncing around the entire neighborhood. Pushing the chair away from the computer after carefully closing the database (in case this is some elaborate hacking organization.) and stalk over to the window, ready to shoot out a glare at whatever moronic fangirl feels the need to stand on the fire escape stairway and holler at me. Why didn't whoever it is come up the main-- oh, they lock the doors at 11:00 for the night in the main building.

The fangirl is wrapped up tightly in a black coat in the slush at one of the platforms on the stairway; a bright red scarf thrown around her neck against the background of the coat.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" She turns to smile at me and there's no mistaking her angelic brown eyes. My glare just... melts away in the heat of her smile.

...tell me I did not just think that. This is Risa, ditzy Risa, boy-obsessed Risa, annoying Risa, hates-boys-with-glasses Risa, standing-on-my-stairway-in-the-melting-snow-looking-beautiful Risa.

I hate horomones. HATE them. Heaven knows why I was blessed with so many...

"I'm still here you know!" She yells, shattering my mental conversation. She seems to do a lot of that...

"Can I come up?" She continues.

Inwardly, I wince and scream 'NO! NEVER! GO AWAY!'. Outwardly, I nod, because horomones and politeness rule evidently.

"One moment."

Darting back inside the apartment, my mind immediately starts going through a mental checklist.

All Risa-unseeable things hidden?

Check.

Horomones under control?

Currently finding something other then Risa to think about... octopi, popsicles, toasters, igloos...

Okay, check.

It is now safe to open the door. Where Risa stands, having just clambored in the window, her breath coming in large, white puffs.

"You need... a better system... of getting in and out... of your apartment..." She wheezes, gripping the doorway in an undignified manner.

"I usually use the door. If you had called politely to say you were coming, I could have asked the doormen to stay longer."

"You're in a bad mood aren't you? And I asked you earlier today, at lunch, if you wanted to study tonight and you said yes. Isn't that as good as calling?"

"When was this?" I must have been thinking about something more important. Taro, perhaps? --Otherwise, I never would've agreed. Even if I had wanted to.

Which I don't.

My sentances keep getting more and more disjointed when she's around. It's starting to get on my nerves.

"Lunch! So don't accuse me of being rude!" Ah, Risa is still on the issue of her coming over. No matter, we'll study, she'll leave, and the apartment will be peacefully silent again.

She must be infecting me. She's becoming the annoying voice in the back of my head, talking happily at me while both bringing up and drowning out memories of Krad. Even so, I never would have agreed to a private sudy session with her before.

Before what, I don't know. Before she appeared with her psycho babble. Before... feelings that I just don't get. She's certainly not PRETTY enough for me to be attracted for her, merely for that fact.

I have seen beautiful women, my 'father' often dated then. Many of Dark's girlfriends were beautiful. Risa Harada does not rank.

But then what IS it? It can't be her personality that awakens these... feelings, or semblances of them. How does someone like Risa slip under my defenses when they keep out everyone else? Maybe she's slipped under my notice for so long as superficial and hollow that--

"Satoshi?"

Glancing up at the sound of her voice, I notice that Risa has discovered and taken over the table, flooding it with geometry, chemistry, and some social studies books.

This will be a long night won't it.

(divider)

"And so the variable x goes here?"

"Yes."

For the millionth time tonight. Risa nods thoughtfully, and starts work on the next problem. It's slow going for her, she FLEW through the geometry questions, but the moment the chemistry book was opened, her brain seemed to hit the floor. As did her jaw when she realized I had already finished the questions in the chapter. And the next for that matter.

"Sometimes I could swear you're not human!" She sulked in frustration.

Ironically, so can I.

"By the way," She states coolly, flipping the long braid of hair hanging over her shoulder back. "I met someone at school today." Her tone is deadpan, but she wouldn't have mentioned it if it didn't matter to her. I just have to wait a few seconds until the rest spills out.

"His name is Mokuta, Taro Mokuta, a junior. He came and found me after school and walked me home, said you two knew each other already." She looks ever-so-slightly ticked off that she wasn't told of our aquaintanceship before and I mentally sweatdrop at contracting her anger, the disease it is...

Wait, why do I even care if she's mad? I've made entire police stations infuriated at me, I'm a disappointment to the Hikari family, Hikaris and Niwas are sworn enemies and I'm worried about the opinion of one insignificant Risa Harada? There's ridiculous, and then there's INSANE. I believe this crosses the line.

"We met today. "

Good, concise, me, terse. I don't sound like an idiot. I never had to censor my sentances for idiocy before SHE showed up. Why now? Why her?

But Risa doesn't notice, continuing with what may as well be a monologue.

"He's interesting, I'm surprised I haven't seen him before; but he says he's had some family trouble so I guess that explains it. Did you know his parents are both dead? It's so tragic, he has to live on his own like..." She hesitates and I almost want to yell 'just SAY IT already!'.

"Like you Satoshi."

Wonderful. The fangirl-wonder lives independantly and it's tragic. Don't expect me to bring over a casserole. My apologies, Mokuta just strikes me as a little strange; relating me and Krad instantly, speaking as though he's going to be stalking me and/or Risa, seeming to have both a public and private personality...

Such a strange list of characteristics. Suspicious, even. If I still had a 'black book' of suspicious people, he'd be in it. And circled in red.

"--don't you think so Satoshi-kun?"

"Hm?"

Abruptly, Risa's talking has screeched to a halt. A bad sign that she asked me something while I wasn't listening. At this point, Daisuke would probably say something along the lines of "oopsie!" and apologize for not listening.

The word "oopsie" is never going to slip out of my mouth, no matter what the situation.

"Weren't you listening?" Risa 'asks' patiently.

Honesty is the best policy, as was drilled into my head.

"No."

Insert dramatic sigh from Risa.

Whoever originally said honesty was the best policy never had any relation with the opposite gender.

Risa has stolen Glare #36: "The glare for the not-paying-attention and therefore worthy of immediate death."

It's actually kind of frightening that she has mastered that complicated a glare in this short a period of time. Who gave her permission to use my glares?

"I SAID," She repeats huffily. "That we're all going out tomorrow. Daisuke, Riku, me, you and Taro. To study at the library for our group project. Are you listening now Hiwatari-kun?"

"Yes, I'm listening. " A snap has crept into my tone, and I suddenly find myself sliding backwards into a bad mood at her assumption that I'll automatically go with them. What right does she have to make plans with this... TARO, and expect me to follow like a dog? I'm not her toy!

Satoshi, she's not Krad. She's not forcing you. You can just NOT GO, and she can leave you and your excessive paranoia to keep each other company.

"Okay then, we'll meet you there!" She says happily (assuming I'll go of course), and melting all protests rising in my throat by flashing a sweet smile that's outlined in dark red lipstick. The color of a rose in that 'Phantom' movie a while ago...

Bad Satoshi. Stop thinking about kissing her. HER of all people. Remember the problem you two solved just this morning concerning kissing.

This morning... that was years ago now.

"I'd better be going. Riku's going to be annoyed if I'm late. It's my turn to make dinner and she has soccer tonight."

"Then don't keep her waiting." I reply apathetically, but before the girl leaves, Risa turns back to me, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown, lips firm in a concerned pout. Argh, stop staring at me!

"Hiwatari-kun... are you doing all right?" She questions. Her eyes stare almost through mine, the way you would look through a window, passing right through me, heart and soul and pain. It's all I can do not to look away, from guilt or any number of other things. Also, it's hard to lie when she's driving a jackhammer through my defenses.

"I'm fine Harada-kun."

"It's Risa. Are you sure? Don't lie." She repeats, that nervous look still in her eyes.

Don't lie. She knows, she knows that I'm not... I'm not really fine. Why couldn't she just leave me alone! Why doesn't she?

How does she know I'm lying, how does she know that I WOULD lie, do lie about myself...?

"Because if there's anything on your mind, I'm always here." She continues in her assurances, oblivious to the fact that behind my blank expression, she's driving me insane.

"No, I'm really fine... Risa."

And even though I'm sure she knows that I'm not okay, and there's no reason left to hide the obvious fact, I can't trust her.

Lover of Dark, loved by Daisuke, selfish, shallow little girl, so empty, so hollow like me. You only thought of yourself and sometimes your sister, while everything I did was for others. You were free to love, free with your love, bouncing from one rising prospect to another. I could never love or care because I would set him free, couldn't let anyone care about me, couldn't let anyone worry...

I envied you for your casual affection of all, for the way you could sum up your feelings, for the way you could lean on your sister, Daisuke, even Dark. Dark just pitied occasionally, never actually helped me; taunted and pulled me apart at the seams instead. And yet with all these people who helped you, you couldn't go two seconds without reminding me that I was 'not your type'? It didn't matter then, but now you want to be my friend.

Want me to tell you everything about myself when you did nothing but hate me before.

You can be involuntarily cruel to those close to you Risa Harada. I won't be thrown away when you've had your fun by being 'playmates' with the icy commander. I won't be, because I'll never be close to you.

I don't have to love you. I don't have to love anyone!

...love?

Aside from that, who's to say that you wouldn't bolt whenever Dark returned anyway? Though you might say you care about me; if Dark suddenly returned, like a life preserver thrown to a drowning swimmer, how quickly would you let me fall? But I won't explain any of this to you, silly meanderings of thought that they are. Because even as I orchestrate the words in my mind, it makes absolutely no sense and you couldn't comprehend my meaning.

"Penny for your thoughts Sato-chan!"

The voice interrupts my thoughts like an earthquake, sending them all out of order into a clattering jumble. Risa's been standing there, silently, for almost a minute as I zoned off on another planet. She brightens as I re-enter the atmosphere.

"Ah, sumimasen, there... is nothing wrong with me Risa."

"Okay... that's good then."

She moves toward the door and I can't help but halt her, asking,

" 'Sato-chan'?"

"It's cute!" She says, smirking. "Besides, you have been dressed as a girl on a few occasions."

"I try to avoid that whenever possible, and do not appreciate nicknames based on the appearence of my disguises."

"But you've gained one anyway. See you at school Sato-chan!"

And she skips off merrily into the snow. Such a strange girl.

As a wave of exhaustion washes over me, I fall onto the couch in an undignified manner. Finally, but unexpectedly, my wings shrink back into my back, leaving feathers strewn around the room like little testimonies of life.

I can almost hear Krad in my head...

'So, the snow begins to melt...'

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Edit: sheesh, long time, no update. No matter! It's up now.

Oh, and having read DNAngel 7 yesterday, I apologize for Satoshi's OOCness. :snickers: I like him and Daisuke fighting during the practices and reading in deadpan tones... mweeheeheehee.

Please review! If I can get up to 200 reviews on this fic, it'll be a new record for me. :le gasp: Be a part! Review!