A.N. (11/8/20) - Just a reminder, midterms are coming soon for me, so I might not have time to post.

DNAngel (10) - Talks Over Tea

There are a few benefits of being a kid again. Or in his case, young teen.

"Kirameku utsukushi~ kono~ ho - shi."

And one of those is the freedom to sing children's theme songs at the top of your lungs without anyone judging you. Well, at least not too harshly.

"Oh! YES! YES! Let's go! Feathermennn~!"

Nagi heard a few kids in the background singing along with him, and even a couple of enthusiastic parents. Seeing that the song was ending, Nagi sang the last words at the top of his lungs.

"Fushichou Senta - iii — Feathermaaaaan!"

A few kids started clapping and cheering, and Nagi gave an exaggerated bow at the gathered crowd of children and parents.

"Thank you, thank you. I very much love Japan." Playing up his foreigner act, he spoke in slightly broken Japanese to several kids around him. "Red Hawk is best Featherman."

Spending several minutes playing with the kids, Nagi finally left the toy store with several small bags full of gifts. He may have overindulged himself there getting stuff for Misaki… and maybe a few things for himself. Say what you will, but a full set of Featherman action figures will definitely earn him a pretty mint once a dozen years pass.

"Wow, who knew you could sing so well."

"Uwah!" Nagi jumped as he heard someone speak behind him. Turning around, he found himself looking at a familiar-looking girl. "Don't just sneak up on someone like that."

She giggled at his words. "Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out."

Wait a minute, isn't she...

It took Nagi a few seconds to recall her name. Snapping his fingers, he pointed at her and exclaimed, "Rika Harada!"

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Close, it's Riku Harada." She gave him a weird look. "How'd you know my name anyway?"

The look she was giving him wasn't exactly friendly. Which made sense, considering he just shouted out a butchered version of her name without thinking.

"Err… I'm friends with Saehara."

"Huh," her face showed that she took that as answer enough. "Well, I guess that's fair. I already know who you are."

"Really?" Is she talking about the rumors?

"Yeah, Nagi Fujikawa right?"

This time, Nagi was the one who gave her a look. "Are you doing that on purpose? It's Kujikawa."

She smirked at that but didn't answer his question. "So, what's the mysterious transfer student doing singing Let's Go, Featherman at a toy store?"

"Oh god, you saw all that?!" Nagi covered his face and groaned into his hands when he saw her nod. "Ugh, and I'm assuming you saw what happened afterward."

"I dunno." This time, she was grinning widely. "I was certainly not aware that you weren't used to the language yet. But somehow - gasp - you're so fluent! What an amazing learning capacity. Truly, a once-in-a-century genius."

He grumbled at her. "Okay, you can stop mocking me now. I admit, fooling people with the dumb American blond act is something I do sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." He slung his bags over his shoulder. "So… did you want something from me? No offense, but I really doubt you're here just to praise my singing skills."

She hummed, then began to look up and down Nagi's body to his confusion. She did so for about a minute, being as thorough to move around him to look at his body from all angles.

Seemingly satisfied with something, she nodded. "Good, you're not him."

"Him?" And then it clicked in his mind. "You thought I was Phantom Dark?"

"Huh, yeah. How'd you know?"

"You're not the first to ask me today." He covered his face in embarrassment once more. "Seriously, the guy looks like he's a head taller than me and has long purple hair. What makes people think we're the same person."

Let's just ignore the fact that Daisuke is nothing like Dark either. Magic is cheating.

She blushed and looked away. "Well, it seemed like a reasonable conclusion to me." Her face turned angry all of a sudden. "Besides, I have something to settle with that pervert. So I had to make sure that you really weren't him."

"Pervert?"

Her face flushed again. "N-Never mind that." Coughing into her fist, she awkwardly waved at him. "Well, it's been nice meeting you but I have to go now. My sister's acting like an idiot and she needs a good knock to the head. See you tomorrow!"

Quickly, she turned around and dashed off quickly. Nagi stared as she disappeared into the distance.

Huh, wonder what that's about?

Nagi shook his head and continued on his way home. Guess teenagers really do think on a different wavelength than him.

}-{

"Really? Does that make you an old man?" Misaki asked. She laid on the table and stretched her arms forward. "I mean, compared to me, you're practically a fossil. But surely you aren't that much worse than people your own age."

Nagi sweatdropped. Isn't she technically older than him? At least, if you didn't consider his past life.

"I consider myself an old soul." Truer words have never been spoken. "Everyone else just seems too much for me sometimes."

"Hm," she took a sip out of a small teacup. "How about that other friend of yours? The red-haired one. I haven't heard you talk about him yet."

"Well, Daisuke said he was busy with something tonight." Nagi took a sip of his own out of the teacup in his hands. "Knowing him, he's probably getting into a bit of trouble."

}-{

Daisuke was flying above the skies while transformed as Dark. This time, he was in control of the body.

"I can't believe Mom didn't tell me she sent out another warning letter until it was almost time!"

"Well Daisuke, a proper phantom thief is always prepared for the unexpected." The voice of his other half, Dark, echoed throughout his thoughts. "Besides, you did okay. Didn't even need my help this time."

Daisuke Niwa, a normal middle school student by day. But as the youngest male in the Niwa line, he inherits the duties of being a phantom thief and the curse of Dark. Upon his 14th birthday, the curse causes him to transform into the legendary Phantom Dark every time he experiences feelings of love towards his crush, Risa Harada.

"Isn't Mom getting a bit impatient? We already went on a heist just yesterday."

"I'm not too sure myself. From what I've seen since I've been back, things around here seem a lot more active than usual. A lot of the artworks in the city are manifesting physical forms and growing stronger, way more than from what I remember."

Daisuke recalled the bird relief from the Central Church's bell tower that he was tasked to steal yesterday. It was causing a lot of accidents around town the past few days until Dark sealed it away. "Does that mean something?"

"There could be a root cause as to why it's happening." Somehow Daisuke got the mental image of Dark shrugging his shoulders. "Or it could just be a coincidence. Either way, there are way more important things to worry about."

"Like what?"

Dark's voice took on a teasing tone. "Like what should I wear on my date with young Risa of course."

"Dark, no!"

"Dark, yes."

This chapter is mostly to show what Nagi talks about with Misaki, telling her various things that happen to him during the day.

The song that Nagi sings at the beginning is the Phoenix Ranger Featherman theme song, an in-game joke based on Tokusatsu programs like Super Sentai (or something more familiar like Power Rangers). Although the theme song I used is based on a newer series, the franchise is as old as 1999 (according to Persona 2: Innocent Sin). I couldn't find an English translation of the song, so here's a scene of Nagi singing like a weeb.

And repeating the last chapter's question: How do you want me to spell Dark's familiar's name? With or Wiz? So far, I got more votes for Wiz on the SB version of this story.