A/N: As always, I don't own DN Angel, but I do own OCs such as Shizuku and Seiji. And to all who celebrate it, Gung Hay Fat Choy! Year of the Rabbit, yay...

Chapter 13: Awkwardness and Arguments

Shizuku's POV:

Okay class, make sure you pack some warm clothes for the trip, and I'll need all of you to get these permission slips signed by a parent or guardian to make sure that you are allowed to go. See you all tomorrow!

I sighed, walking home, which was still probably occupied by my *cough* guardian, who of which would need to sign this stupid permission slip. And if he didn't break down into signing it for his 'darling and cute' little sister. (Which he probably would, considering I was prepared to play the tear card) I could always do my best to forge his penmanship. It couldn't be too hard... right?

Anyways, I did my usual routine for opening the front door, which of course would include getting out my key, turning it into the lock... blah blah blah, really exciting, I know. Overall today, nothing exceptional had happened, or nothing with extreme significance had caught my attention. But, I guess with everything that has been going on with me recently... That could be accounted for a good thing.

I started to pull my keys from out of my pocket, but as soon as I had them in my sight, I didn't even have the chance to use them. As a head splitting migraine started to emerge, and instantly had me feeling fatigue engulf me.

Feeling my knees buckle, I was now leaning up on the door for support, desperately trying to regain balance once again, or just keep myself from keeping conscious. The slim piece of metal was still in my hand, and I was gripping on it even tighter, causing the somewhat sharp grooves to dig slightly into my skin.

These sudden migraines were starting to get very annoying, and causing me more agonizing pain than the last, and every time that they happened, I feels like all energy I have suddenly leaves me, but returns right after the headache leaves.

How my pain get much worse you might ask? I wasn't really sure, until of course, the front door of my house started to open. And remember how that door was the only thing keeping me supported on my feet? Well, as it started to swing inward, I felt myself start to fall forward, and desperately tried to brace myself for the impact. But, I wasn't feeling all that prepared to endure any more pain right now, but prepared or not, I knew what was coming...

"Ow..." I managed to mumble as the hard wood met up with my body. I guess it hurt more because my defense system was already pretty low, if I still had any defense system left in me.

"Yesh, Suki, since when have you been so clumsy?" I heard Seiji say sarcastically. Oh thanks bro, I feel so much better now that you say stuff like that. I felt him help me up, and as usual, he had a stupidly cheerful smile plastered on his face. I swear, sometimes to me, he resembles a cheshire cat.

He picked me up bridal style and just dumped me onto the couch. At first, the sudden impact of the furniture had took me into shock, and made me feel even more sore than I already was. But, I really didn't feel like moving, because in just a very short while, that couch had gone from painful, to actually quite comforting.

"I do the nice thing by opening the door for you when you come home, and you just fall to the ground?"

"Well, for your information..." I started to say while I stood up from the couch, but then I suddenly realized something. "Wait, how did you know I was at the door?"

"Uh, I... uh, heard your keys turning in the lock! Yes! That's what!" He stuttered out, slightly spazing out as he did so, which of course caused me to roll my eyes at him. Mainly because I knew for a fact that he was just making this up as we went along. But, he had forgotten about one minor detail, and like any annoying sister would do, I had to point it out to him.

"You unlocked the door for me..." And at that point, he looked completely blank, like he didn't have a thought in his head, and was just standing there dumbly, so I took this opportunity to walk up to my room and start packing for the upcoming trip.

Looks like I'll just forge the signature, because there really wasn't any reason why I had to put up with Seiji for something like this. And besides, I could probably use the week away to relax a little bit, and finally get away from the insanity that was my older brother. I mean, for a moment, I thought it could have been okay to have him around, but then, well, I actually started spending time with him. I guess it's like when you meet someone for the first time, and you think you can be friends, but then you realize that they are super annoying, and start clinging to you...

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was going through right now with Seiji. Except, he was living with me now, so I really couldn't get away from him very easily. Trust me, I don't know how he suddenly just decided to move in with me, or how I allowed it, but it was happening, and man was it one of the most aggravating things that you can go through.

The teacher said it would be cold... right? I thought to myself, and tried to account on my horrible memory of class time, but I realized that it didn't really matter all that much, because I always wore long-sleeved shirts no matter what the weather.

I started packing a couple of sweaters, shirts, and some other clothing into my duffle bag, which I usually kept around incase I wanted to move again. Although this time, that didn't seem to be the case of the bag's purpose.

"Oh no!" I heard a voice say from the doorway to my room. And guess what? Think of the idiot, and he suddenly appears! Although he looked like something was wrong, which knowing him, could just be about anything, starting from spilling a glass of milk. (Yeah yeah, think no one ever cries over spilled milk? You'd be wrong there.)

"You hate me so much I'm driving you out of your own house!" He started to yell quite dramatically, and before I even knew what the heck was going on, he had pulled me into an ultra-tight hug, and now squeezing the life out of me.

God... Can't... Breathe...

"I'm so sorry Suki! Please don't move because of me!" He kept on yelping, and with each second, his grip on me was getting tighter, which of course cause me to desperately try of escape his solid clasp on me, but to no avail, I could barely breathe.

"Se-Seiji!" I managed to say while I was flailing my arms up and down, trying to get my message through to him. But instead of understanding that I wanted him to let go, he started to go on a sort of temper tantrum, while still holding onto me as air tight as he possibly could.

"I'm a horrible person! I've been so cruel to you! Now it's like I'm practically kicking you to the curb!" God someone help me before he hugs me to death? I need to think of something quickly to get him to let go of me!

How did I get rid of him in the past? Wait that's it!

Seiji's POV:

"I'm sorry Suki! Please forgive my jerk-like ways!" I kept repeating, I couldn't believe myself! Trying to fix things with her, and then it just turns out by doing so, I'm making her hate me! I mean...

"OW!" I yelped, letting go of her, and clasped my hands on my now injured foot, great, now she hates me so much that she's kicking me, what kind of brother am I?

"I'm... Not... Moving!" I heard he say, although between each word, she seemed to be desperately panting for air. Oh, I guess I may have been hugging her a little too tight, okay, so now I realize why she stepped on my foot so hard, but wait, what did she just say?

"You're not?" I asked, and I was starting to feel kinda hopeful, maybe I wasn't so horrible! But why would she be packing if she wasn't moving?

"I'm..." She started to seem hesitant, but let out a sigh, and continued to talk. "I'm going on a class trip next week, so I need to pack..."

"Oh..." I said dumbly, as I felt myself sweatdrop in my own dumbness. I had just made a huge deal about something that wasn't even happening.

"So, where are you going? Does your class need any chaperones?" I asked optimistically although I already had a pretty good idea what her answer would be.

"First of all, I don't know where we're going, second of all, no, we don't need any chaperones."

Yeah, well that figures, even if they did need some parent volunteers, I would highly doubt that she would allow me to anything like that. I don't mind all that much, but I kinda would like to see what kind of friends she has made, all I know so far is that she made friends with, that boy... Daisuke Niwa. I really hope she has made more friends than that.

Shizuku's POV:

"So, you gonna spend time with all of your little friends on this vacation?" He asked while taking a seat on my bed. And normally, I would have answered, but, for some reason, I didn't appreciate the way that he stated that question. It made me sound as if I was just a little child to him, something that I utterly despised.

I completely ignored him, and continued in my packing, as if suddenly finding it extremely interesting. He sat for a couple of the minutes in silence while I got some more clothes out of my drawers, and continued to place them in my duffle bag, although, the silence didn't seem to be any less awkward than when he was talking about something really stupid. But, surprisingly, he stayed strangely out of character, and didn't make a single sound.

All he did was sit there, and watch as I placed objects from my room into the open bag on the floor, and although I never looked directly at him, I could tell that his eyes never left me, and it felt as if he was giving me that, "I'm undressing you with my eyes" kind of look.(1) I knew he probably wasn't giving me that kind of look, I mean, come on, he's my brother. Yet... whatever kind of glare it was, I was starting to find it quite irksome.

"Stop looking at me like that!" I finally said, and by the reaction he had on his face, I guess it was expected to lose my temper like that, seeing as he didn't so much as flinch. But instead, after he took a second to study to scowl that had occupied my face, he just held up a piece of paper with an amused look on his face.

As I got a closer look to what he was holding up, I felt the deep frown on my face lighten up as I finally realized what it exactly was, and I now felt hopelessly confused and baffled.

How did he get the permission sheet out of my backpack? I questioned myself, and as if a reflex, I whipped my head around to my brown school bag that had been thrown on my desk. And what would you know, it was wide open as well.

"Okay, how in the name of all common sense did you do that?" I asked, slightly impressed with him, but tried to hide it in my tone.

"Don't you know all common sense is dead these days?" He said sarcastically, and finally stood up from my bed, his eyes now glued to the simple form, but looked somewhat intrigued by it.

"So, there is this dance at the last day of the vacation... That would be fun for you." He said while still scanning over the paper, and once he was done, yet another broad smile was spread across his face in a cheerful manner. And without being asked, he quietly picked up a black ballpoint pen from my desk, placing the paper down on the wooden surface. I heard the familiar sound of the paper being scratched, and I saw his left hand make the single movement that I recognized as writing, before he handed it back to me.

"Here you go!" He yelped, and he was still holding it in his outstretched hand while I started to eye it suspiciously. I would have thought there would have been some kind of catch, or maybe some kind of favor I would have to owe him...

An eyebrow arched in curiosity, I hesitantly reached for the paper, but just like the time with my glasses, he quickly snapped it out of my reach.

"Oh, I see..." I muttered sarcastically, for some reason, I had been expecting this from him. "What do you want in return?" I asked with my usual sigh, although his plastered ear to ear grin didn't change the slightest.

"I just want you to answer one simple question, about this trip."

"What is it?" And if he was going to try to ask where the trip was again, then it would really show his true ignorance. I thought that maybe deep down, he might have an intelligent side with some kind of deep knowledge. But still, highly unlikely to be true.

"Who is your partner, and what are the significance of having one?"

"Hm..." I pondered, placing my hand under my chin and ever so slightly pouted, probably looking as deep in thought as I was. "Well, what a particular question to ask." I muttered under my breath, but I didn't think that that he actually heard me. But still, I kinda wanted that permission slip, and I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being able to have something over my head.

"Well, if you're really that curious, my partner is Daisuke, and why are you asking about this anyway?"

Seiji's POV:

So, she's paired with the Niwa... what incredible coincidences she gets herself into. I thought in my head, and I felt myself mentally smirk, although I kept the fake smile still tug my lips upward.

"Oh, I was just curious, the paper touches upon the subject, but doesn't explain it much." I quickly told her, although, I knew for a fact that we weren't near to done talking.

"So, what do the partners do? Were they just randomly selected or something?" She started walking out of the room, her back now to me, but, for some reason, I had this feeling that she wanted me to follow her. So likewise, I was right behind her with every single step she took throughout the house.

"Actually, they were selected randomly, and the significance of it all is just a couple activities that you and your partner do together just to ensure the safety of everyone on the trip." She stated matter-of-factly, geez, didn't she just love to hear the sound of her own voice.

"Well, could you name a couple of these, activities of which you speak?" I once again asked, using air quotes around the word 'activities'. In all honesty, I wasn't thrilled about my little sister being friends with the likes of that boy... Let alone be partners with him on some class trip where I wouldn't be able to watch over her.

"I don't know, exploring the place we're going to, depending where we are, hiking, skiing, meeting up at meals, sharing rooms, looking at museums," She was about to continue on her somewhat endless list, but I needed to stop her mid-sentence.

"Wait a minute, what did you just say?" I asked surprised, because unless I was mistaken, one of the things in that list struck me in a very negative way.

"Skiing? I don't know, teacher just said to dress warm, so I'm not so sure..."

"No, after that..." I urged on because I had a feeling she might have been avoiding something, although her face did not falter.

"Looking at museums? Yeah, it's kinda a natural thing for me to do... After a while, you pretty much memorize all the pieces of artwork you own family museum contains."

"Yeah, why did Mom give you the museum?" I asked, I mean come on, I was her first born! Wait I'm getting of topic! "I mean, no, but before that activity!"

"Oh! You mean meeting up at meals!" She said, her head no longer visible because it was now hidden inside the refrigerator which she had so 'conveniently' opened, and retrieved a bottle of water. How plain, I had bought cans of both iced tea and soda for her, and she still just drinks bottled water? It's just not right.

"No, but after that part! And don't try to avoid what I thought I heard you say!" I practically shouted at her, and by now, my smile had been completely dissolved into a half scowl, half frown.

"Oh... I guess you mean the... sharing rooms part." She said quietly.

"YES, THAT PART!" I said, completely outraged by now. I mean, sharing rooms with a boy? She was 18! I mean, that's a really bad idea, and the boy was a Niwa! That just made this kind of situation three times worse, I could never allow her to do something like that!

"I can't allow you to do something like that, you're not going on this trip."

"Excuse me?" She said defensively, and glaring straight at me, setting her bottle on the counter. "I'm eighteen, legally an adult, so you, of all people, have no right to boss me around!"

"I'm older than you, and your brother!" I cried back at her, "If I say you're forbidden to go, you can't go, simple as that." I told her once more, and started to walk over to the living room.

"Give me one solid reason why I can't go!"

"Because you'll be there with a Niwa!" I retorted, barely thinking, but then I just realized what I said to her.

"A... Niwa? What does that have to do with anything?" Suki practically whispered, but I barely heard her. But considering I did, I guess that means I would have to explain this whole situation to her. Man, I didn't really want to have this talk right now.

I felt myself sigh, and run my fingers through my short, blond hair. I couldn't look directly at her, because I never could explain this correctly in a way that she would ever understand, and I knew that fairly well.

"Listen, I have a hunch that you already know about the..." I felt a lump start to form in my throat, just thinking about the subject, but I knew she had to hear this. "The, um, Black Wings..."

For a moment, she was completely silent, I actually turned around to her to make sure she was still there, which she was, but just looking at the ground, like some kind of isolated statue.

"I'm not having this conversation." She replied bluntly, apparently, she knew as well where this was going as I did.

"No, you need to, and seeing the fact that you don't want to talk about it, just proves my hunch to be true. Now sit down!" I told her, pointing downward toward the couch, and reluctantly, she did.

"Can't we talk about anything else?" She said with a sigh, pressing her fingers against her forehead, obviously annoyed by all of this. But, like I said, I'm about as comfortable about this little talk as she is. Although, I had a feeling I could persuade her to be open with this idea, and I had the perfect plan for it too. I wasn't expecting to fully go through with it, but it might still work.

"Okay, I know what we can talk about!" I said once again cheerful, but this time, with a mischievous smirk.

"And... it doesn't have anything to do with the... previous topic?" She asked me nervously, and I shook my head as an answer, just to satisfy her.

"Not at all!" I exclaimed, sitting right next to her, and draped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, although, I saw it as a way to assure that she couldn't run away. "This has to do with puberty!" I looked straight into her eyes, and for some reason, enjoyed that look of confused fear in them. This could actually prove to be enjoyable fun...

"You see, you're still pretty young, and in your body, hormones are mass producing every second, and those teenage hormones can drive you to act pretty stupid, and those hormones also always crave something, and..." I felt her trying to get up, but in response, I held a tighter grip around her shoulders, keeping her next me, much to her disappointment, and I could tell. "Where do you going? I haven't given my whole science lesson on the reproductive system to you!"(2) And by this, her fear seemed to increase substantially, seeing as she suddenly turned completely white, and there was literally no color on her face.

"Okay, you win! You happy? Just... stop talking about this!" Ha! I had a feeling that would work on her! But, I still needed to talk to her about the main issue at hand.

"I just want you to stay away from them, okay? You never know what could happen, or what that family might do." I told her, and I was sincerely concerned for her welfare, but based on the look she gave me, I had a feeling she just didn't understand.

"Daisuke is my friend, and is really nice, so you should just relax okay?" She was still very bland in her responses to me, and acted as if there wasn't any reason for concern. Oh, how naive you are... But you still have a lot to learn, little sister. "And, I'm still going on the trip."

"Says who? I never gave you the permission slip." Which, for some reason, I had not remembered what I had done with, but it was more than likely that I just left it on the counter-top or something. But now, it was her turn to put on a victorious smirk, because in her right hand, which she showed proudly, was that form, with my signature written clearly on the bottom. Well played Suki, well played.

"Alright, since you've been a good sport about things, I'll let you go, but..."

"But what?" She cut in before I could finish, and just to make sure she wouldn't do that again while I was explaining, I put my hand over her mouth, preventing her from making another sound. She was probably going to bite the skin off of my hand the second I finished talking, but oh well.

"But, we do need to have a certain talk when you come back, and after that talk, I'll let you decide if you want to continue to befriend that Niwa and Hikari. Sound fair?" I might as well be reasonable, I couldn't let her hating me, but I still wanted to be a responsible guardian for her to look up to. I removed my hand from her mouth, and waited for an answer from her.

"I'll agree to the talk," She admitted, and I took that as a cue to make my leave, getting up from the couch, and heading for the front door. No need for me to stick around the couple days before she leaves...

"But, what Hikari? I don't understand who you mean, there isn't anyone who I know of those roots..." I heard her voice say from the couch, and I was now right in front of the door, no longer looking at her.

"You know Suki, you shouldn't believe everything you hear..." I told her, and then turned my head around, and as I predicted, she looked hopelessly confused.

"All I'll say is... the Hikari's could be known for two things..." I swung the door open, and held up a finger, "The first, creating artwork..." Then, I held up a second finger, "The second, having hair and eyes that resemble the color of ice." Then, quickly turning my head back around before I could see her reaction, if she had any, I was already gone, walking down the empty streets of Azumano as the sun had been starting to set in the distance, giving of an orangish and vibrant red hue. And somewhere else in the world, it would be rising, symbolizing a new day, and hopefully, a new perspective.

1) Gah, I'm sorry! I just couldn't resist! On Friday, there was this creepy random guy giving my friends and I that... "look", and now we call that guy, "banana pervert" it is a funny story, tell me if you wanna know it, because I found it hilarious! XD

2) 0.o This is why Science class is not one of my favorite classes. (Also, because I love Literature, but you get the point)

A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I'll try to update really quick, also because when March comes around, I won't have much time to update, and at the end of April, I'm going to an Anime Con. But hey! Next week is break for me ^^ Look forward to it!