Thank you, ladies and gents, for your words on concern on my best friend. FadingEcho12193, she has told him many times, as well as pretty much anybody that has a say in whether or not he gets to keep her. Honestly, I don't even know how that side of her family (father's) managed to put this idea on the table; to prove they are worthier of having my friend, she has to like them, they have to be able to take better care of her, and the school care has to be either better or at least equal to ours. Here are three telling points AGAINST that.

She hates her stepmom (fairytale flashback anyone?) and loathes her dad.

Her stepmom (under admitted goading from my best friend) hit her so hard in the arm that it left a purple bruise between the size of a dinner plate and an apple when she came to school, several days later.

The school care (she has the same mental disorder I do) our system has is one of the best there is and my parents seriously doubt the one she might have to go to is better.

Anyway, I've had some complaints about having too long of the foreword and afterword's, so I'm gonna go ahead with the story.

Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage.

-A

DK's POV:

Once Hazel was shown around the apartment, Kage and Akuma left to get started on their training as I settled down with my train wreck of a partner to do more of the same. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing off, I took in a slow breath and opened my eyes. She was staring at me with an expression that looked uncannily like a deer about to be crashed in the headlights, her copper eyes looking wide as coins. "Relax." I said ponderously, lightly tapping her in the center of the forehead with the point of my index nail, and she squeaked, scrambling back as her arm turned fluid and glowing. Well…at least she's better at shifting now. I thought irritably as she realized her mistake and sat back down with a flush, hiding her face best she could with her rough-cut bob of black hair. "Has it occurred to you that at this point in time I have no interest in harming you in any way shape or form?" I asked drily, and she blushed deeper, mumbling something and fidgeting with her hands.

I sighed heavily, locking my hands together and cracking my fingers expertly, like a pianist. "Well, let's get this party started. One of our main problems with you at this point is you really don't like going in the shadow realm, do ya?" She gulped slightly and shook her head as I mentally grinned. Smart girl knows what's coming. "And you really don't want to go in them any more than ya have to?" Another head shake. I allowed the wicked grin to emerge on my face as she paled slightly, swallowing audibly. "Tough luck squirt, we use it often and we use it fast. For instance, using shadows I can be right here-" I reached down to forcefully scoop my wayward partner up in the air as I came out behind her back "-right here-" I faded back into existence on the ceiling, placing my hand in the middle of her chest and shoving back down as she nearly drilled a hole in the ceiling. "-and right here almost all at once, ya got me squirt?" I asked, catching her neatly bridal style as she came down again, grinning smugly to myself. Still got it…

I waited for her to regain her breathing and heartbeat to a more relaxed pace before dropping her on the floor again, stepping over her to find my seat again and stare at her evenly as she sat up, her eyes burning molten in a way I found most amusing. "DO. NOT. EVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN." she said slowly and menacingly, and I yawned lazily, making a shooing motion at her. "Yeah yeah kid, bad me. But in all seriousness, I'm gonna be popping in and out of the shadows all the time, and it kinda wastes the whole idea if you have to wait until I pop out and then scamper on over, get it?" I asked, and she bit her lip, shrugging sheepishly. "So then, we're gonna have to get rid of your shadow phobia." I said briskly, snapping my fingers (for dramatic effect don't cha know) as shadows swirled up from all corners of the room and enveloped us, making her give a tiny cry of panic and curl up in a ball. "Kid…you have problems…" I said wearily, rubbing my forehead with both hands.

"Look! The cat! Even the cat doesn't care!" I managed to growl, jabbing a pointer at said feline, busily grooming itself about three feet away, the shadows forming a dome over our heads with her curled up against one of the walls. She hissed and promptly walked right through them, making Hazel squeak. "C-cat! Why is the cat gone?!" she squealed, pointing to where the black shape had disappeared as I made a face, rubbing my temples with one hand as I wearily shoved her own down. "One, the cat's name is Salem, and she's Kage's. Two, that should be explanation enough, but if it doesn't click with you, Kage is the freaking queen of shadows; she can do it in her sleep. Three, I didn't make the shadows solid, you can pass right through them." I said at great length, and she blinked, then flushed slightly in embarrassment, and I snorted before folding my arms. "So then kid, get to it."

She gave me a blank look. I made a lazy shooing motion with one hand. "Go on. Scoot. Move it. Pack the bags and hit the road." I elaborated, and she still stared at me like I was going crazy. I rolled my eyes and casually stabbed my hand through the wall of shadows. "Touch them. You aren't leaving this bubble until you are completely comfortable with passing through the shadow realm, at least in quick bursts." I growled, and she blinked, scooting around on her bum to look nervously at the gently pulsing wall of shadows behind her. "But…" I rolled my eyes, getting her attention by nosily getting up to my knees and backing through the membrane, pausing as she cried out in fear. "Hey wait no! Stop it! I can deal with them! I can deal with them!" she shrieked, and I smirked, leaning back in. "I know squirt. That's what this is for after all. All you have to do is leave the bubble, which as you may notice you can't do unless you learn to deal with the shadows." I said soothingly, and she blinked at me stupidly, then her mouth dropped open indignantly.

"That's not fair! You made it sound like I had to deal with them scaring me and attacking me and whatever!" she screeched, and I grinned, lazily making a motion with my fingers as tentacles of shadow freed themselves from the bubble to waft towards her. "We can learn that way if you really wanna." I said mischievously, and she squealed again, making me laugh as I retracted the shadows quickly into the bubble. "Just teasing kid. I'll be waiting outside." I said, leaning back out and leaning against the couch, mentally envisioning the inside of my little "bubble" and watching as Hazel stared at the spot I had last been, making a tiny whimpering sound in her throat. I sighed, running one of my long-nailed hands through my fine hair, again feeling the strangeness of being the only one to comb my hair out and feel how soft it was on my palm. This singularity business was turning out to be a learning experience.

Hazel's POV:

I stared at the blank curving wall, trying to curb my whimpers. Calm down Hazel! It's just a big blank sheet of…of something! It isn't going to eat you! It's just shadows! They can't hurt you! You can do this! I thought mentally to brace myself, then inhaled deeply, crawling over to the blank wall and setting my palm against it, pressing gently. It gave a little, but firmer pressure had my palm pressing through the black stuff, which felt thinner than paper, but giving and membranous. I drew it back with a little gasp, wiping my hand against my pants rapidly. The shadows felt cool and slick to the touch, a bit like jello but stretchier somehow, more tough. When I broke my hand through the thin barrier it was the same suction-like sensation of sinking your foot into a deep patch of mud that squelched when you pulled it free, although it did not cling the same.

You got this Hazel. You can do this. DK did this, how hard can it be? He's an annoying meanie demon, so you can do it too, right? You don't want him to show you up do you? That thought was more than enough motivation, and holding my breath, I shoved against the barrier of shadows, feeling them part around and for me, but squeaked in shock as I continued to fall forward, almost smashing my nose on the hardwood floors before I brought my hands up to stop myself. I heard the familiar laughter of DK, looking past my bangs to see him lounging on the couch, laughing his head off at me as I growled, starting to get up but freezing as my knee hit resistance. I looked down at myself nervously, squeaking and scrambling forward as I realized only my torso had come through the shadows and my legs were still in the bubble, slamming into what I thought was the couch as I panted heavily, staring at the evil bubble as my heart galloped at a million miles a minute. "Ahem." A sharp fingernail tapped demandingly on the crown of my head, and I looked up, only to stare deep into DK's face, his mouth stretched in his familiar cocky grin. "Yo."

I squeaked again, realizing I was sitting on his feet and between his legs, scrambling backwards for the millionth time that day, my heart pounding for an entirely different reason now as he started laughing again, which only made me want to punch him, my fists curling. He laughed like an evil genius does in the movies, his head tossed back and his pointy teeth on full display as he chortled like I had told him a killer joke. "Do you LIKE scaring me out of my mind?!" I hissed at him, and he snorted, raising his hand as if to say "gimme a minute" as he continued to laugh, toning it down to a chuckle before tilting his head back down, smirking at me pityingly. "Kid, you are just too much fun to scare. Your face was priceless…" he managed to gasp, breaking out into maniacal laughter again as I sighed, cradling my temple in one hand as I tried to stop from launching myself off the floor and pummeling him into an apologetic paste. Finally he stopped, taking in a deep breath before looking at me somewhat seriously. "Good job though kid, I was beginning to think I'd have to drag you out by the ankle." he said honestly, making me flush for some odd reason. "Er…yeah."

He gave me a raised eyebrow, and all was silent for a few moments. "Well squirt, we've overcome the whole shadow problem. Let's try some psychical training now. Hit me." I jumped to my feet, a bit startled, and stepped forward, lightly punching my fist at him. He did not move and it flashed to the right an inch from his face. "Hit me like you actually mean to genius." he said with a "really?" look, and I flushed, trying to hit him harder. He leaned to the side a little, and I stumbled forward, my fist missing his face by a few inches. "Not bad, not bad, but your stance is off. Watch how you hold your feet, otherwise-" I quickly braced myself for a leg sweep, but he surprised me, lightly bopping my head with his fist –which hurt a lot more than anyone normal doing it– and as I was trying to think through the pain of that, his foot hooked around mine and jerked, sending me to land butt-first on the ground as he folded his arms. "Someone sends you down to meet terra firma, permanently and otherwise. I have yet to hear of someone winning a fight from the ground." he said sarcastically, offering a hand to help me up as I glared at him, rubbing my head.

"I hate you." He smirked, making a "c'mon" motion with his hands and settling into a comfortable pose. "I try. C'mon squirt, we have all day and you still haven't scratched my pretty face." he teased me, and I growled, sending my fist forward as he lightly jumped back, following up as he smirked, ducking his head and jumping backwards again, landing perfectly on the coffee table as I stumbled, expecting to have hit something apart from air. "Move it squirt, if I wanna see someone trip over their feet I can go to a bar. Brace your feet as you move them forward, don't expect to hit me even though I'm going easy on you." he said helpfully, arching his body away from my fist again and jumping away, somehow not losing a microbe of balance as he went from the coffee table to the floor in a double step and hop. I screamed in frustration and swung harder, trying to remember what he said as I fought him across the room, trying to at least get him to give ground as my punches didn't seem to be doing anything.

Well, this chapter and the next one were the same, but eventually I just split them apart because this was stretching on WAY too long. Review Request Rcomment and read the next chapter. Auf Wedersien!