Daisuke sat in the middle of his bed, hair and skin still damp from the shower, snuggled into a slightly too big pair of pyjamas. Outside of the window, the moon sailed serenely over head, and he could make out the warm squares of lighted windows in the town below. His sketch pad lay in his lap, pencil limply hanging between his fingers as he stared out into the darkness beyond his room. With was curled up beside him, his rabbit ears brusking tickleishly against Daisuke's arm. Even Dark seemed pensive tonight, retreating into his own thoughts and leaving Daisuke to himself.
Emiko hadn't been angry at his tardy arrival home earlier, instead smiled wordlessly as he came through the door and served his reserved portion of the dinner he had missed. When he had falteringly asked whether she was angry with him, Emiko had laughed.
"Of course not, Dai-kun. It's barely seven o'clock, and there were no notices sent, so you are free to see your friends," She laughed and winked at him slyly. Daisuke had blushed, she had obviously thought he had been with Risa.
Daisuke sighed and shifted position. Glancing down at the notebook in his lap, he winced at what he saw there. A half formed sketch was outlined, long limbs only half formed. A line for a mouth, a hint of a nose, the barest outline of wispy hair. The eyes though were fully formed and seemed to leap from the page. They were sharp, hard and cold, staring back at him. In their depths though, he had drawn in something else. Somehow instead of seeming sharp or angry they seemed achingly lonely. Daisuke wished that he had the right shade of blue to colour them.
Well, it's definetly something new to add to the pile of Risa sketches, Daisuke thought to himself, leaning over the edge of his high bed to toss the notebook onto his desk. I haven't drawn her in a while.
Sighing, Daisuke slid into the comforting welcome of his sheets and blankets, gathering his pillow into the crook of an arm. One hand curled into a loose fist beside his face, lips slightly parted, Daisuke fell quickly asleep. Later when his mother came in to check on him, she cooed and ran a hand through his hair lightly, thinking of how he always looked like an angel when he slept.
Daisuke was dreaming. At least, he was fairly certain it was a dream. He stood in the dark hallway of his school, the clock outside the window read ten minutes after mindnight. The moonlight slanted in sharply, refracting off of something shiny and silver clutched in his gloved hand. He wore all black, snugly fitted, and his heart was pounding like he had been racing through the school.
A glint caught his eye, and he turned to see Hiwatari step out of the darkness before him, his face icily dispassionate. The depths of his eyes were frigidly cold, chilling Daisuke to the core as he gazed helplessly into them. Hiwatari brought out a pair of handcuffs with a snap, and reached to grab Daisuke's shirt with his other hand.
Daisuke's heart pounding, he turned to run in the opposite direction. But he couldn't move. His boots seemed to be nailed to the floor, and his arms felt like they belonged to someone else. He could only watch helplessly as Hiwatari slammed him against the wall and slapped the cold steel cuff around one wrist.
Gasping with pain at the constriction, Daisuke twisted his other arm away and was caught off guard when Hiwatari suddenly grasped his face with a chillingly painful grip and pushed his head back against the wall hard. Without any other warning, Hiwatari pressed his mouth to Daisuke's and forced his way inside with his tongue. Daisuke's thoughts swimming madly, he tried to turn his face away from the onslaught, however Hiwatari's grip clamped down harder against his cheeks, and he used his body to pin the smaller boy.
Hiwatari caught Daisuke's lower lip between his sharp teeth and bit down. Daisuke felt his breath involuntarily catch, and knew his body was trembling. Hiwatari's lips pressed again to his, taking advantage of Daisuke's disorientation to deepen the forceful kiss. Daisuke stopped struggling, and for a moment his arms hung limply at his sides. Then, almost against his will, they slid around Hiwatari's neck and his hands tangled themselves into Hiwatari's feather soft hair. A murky thought halfway surfaced in Daiuske's brain; he didn't think he'd ever had one of these kind of dreams before.
Daisuke felt Hiwatari's hand snaking up his chest, skimming over his tight fitting shirt caressingly. Daisuke's pulse sped up and his fingers locked themselves in Hiwatari's hair, pulling him as close as humanly possible. Without warning, Hiwatari's hand clamped around Daisuke's throat, blocking his breathing. Hiwatari drew away and watched with an ammused smirk as Daisuke clawed and kicked frantically, choking and trying to gasp for air. Daisuke's eyes widened in shock as Hiwatari shimmered and was replaced by an elegant, beautifully sculpted golden replica of Dark.
Krad's golden hair cascaded and snaked behind him as if it were alive and enjoying Daisuke's struggle for air, and his angelically pretty face was twisted in maniacal glee. Dressed in vestments of gleaming white with his expanse of gleaming wings unfurled, Krad looked like an angel of death. Large honey-gold eyes traced Daisuke's writhing body up and down predatorially, and soft lips parted in a teeth baring feral grin.
Viselike grip never wavering, Krad leaned close to Daisuke and lightly rubbed his satin soft cheek against Daisuke's. Almost tenderly, Krad kissed Daisuke's jaw and nipped at his ear before whispering into it.
"Hiwatari is mine. You can't steal him from me, little Phantom Thief." He pulled back and stared unrelentingly into Daisuke's face as the red haired boy began to lose consciousness. Swinging up his free hand to slap Daisuke sharply back awake, Krad snarled. "I will kill you, Niwa," Krad hissed, "I will slice you to shreds for what you made him do to me. You are nothing to him. Nothing."
Daisuke's mouth gaped fishlike, his vision narrowing. He knew he was going to die.
Daisuke clawed his way layer by layer through inky blackness to finally burst free and take huge gulping breaths of chilly nighttime air. Burying his face in his hands, he took deep breaths and wiped the sweat from his face as his heart descended into it's normal steady rhythm. His covers and sheets were in chaotic dissaray, somehow they had become wrapped around his head as he slept.
No wonder I dreamed I couldn't breathe,Daisuke thought, lowering himself down the ladder beside his bed, I was suffocating under my blankets.
Padding on silent feet into the kitchen, Daisuke filled a tall glass with water and sat heavily in a kitchen chair. Rubbing his hand again over his face, Daisuke shook his head.
Being the Phantom Thief on top of school and everything else must just be getting to me, he took a long drink from his glass and sighed. I am just getting stressed out, thats all.
"Kyu?" With had climbed up into an empty chair beside Daisuke and pawed at him, large bunny eyes full of uncanny concern.
Daisuke smiled and scratched the little creature's head. It was easy to forget sometimes that With was much more than any regular pet.
"I guess it's hard on you sometimes too, huh?" Daisuke took a few strawberries from a basket in the center of the table and offered it to With. With took them and gobbled them down speedily, then hopped into Daisuke's lap. Curling down, he sighed contentedly and fell promptly asleep.
Daisuke smiled and finished his water. Gently shifting With into his arms without waking him, he set the glass in the kitchen sink and headed back up the stairs to his bedroom. The movement didn't disturb Daisuke's fuzzy little rider, who cuddled more closely against his chest and snuggled his head under Daisuke's chin. Finding his way lithely in the dark, Daisuke lifted the gently snoring With into his bed before reaching for the ladder. Turning, something caught in a splatter of moonlight on his floor caught Daisuke's eye.
A long white feather gleamed in the moonlight, bright as a star. With suddenly trembling fingers, Daisuke picked it up. Soft and slightly warm as he turned it over in his hand and tried to rationalize how it could have gotten there.
He was still trying to puzzle it out when he drifted back into uncertain sleep.
Daisuke woke up late the next morning and panicked. Throwing on his clothes and grabbing a piece of toast from the table as he dashed past it, Daisuke wasn't really awake yet as he pulled open the door and turned to yell behind him.
"I'm going now!" Daisuke halfway choked on his toast,eating it in huge gulping bites as he ran down the sidewalk.
"Dai-kun! Wait! There's no school today!" Emiko stood in the doorway shaking her head at her son.
Daisuke came to a sudden screeching halt in the middle of the sidewalk. Closing his eyes, he mentally counted off the days of the week in his head. Heaving a huge sigh, he turned and trudged back toward the house.
How can I be so dumb?he questioned himself glummly, I can't even remember what day it is anymore.
Plodding back up the stairs and into his room, he stripped off his school uniform and struggled a sweater over his head. He was staring morosely into a mirror and trying once again halfheartedly to flatten the unruly spikes of red hair that sprung defiantly from his head when he heard voices shouting outside his window.
"Niwa-kun!" Risa stood beneath his window with a hand cupped around her mouth shouting up at him. Beside her, perched on her bike, was Riku.
Daisuke pulled open his window and leaned out. Both girls spotted him and waved happily. Risa looks beautiful,Daisuke thought, admiring her pretty lemon yellow skirt and white sweater. With her dark hair swept up and her sweet friendly smile, just from looking at her Daisuke felt his heart speed up.
She is cute, but what about Riku?Dark interjected. Daisuke wondered why Dark sounded so smug.
Riku is-- Daisuke turned his attention to the second girl and paused. Perched on her bicycle clad in a pair of jeans and a red and black sweater, Riku smiled up at him. Her hair was wind-blown and messy, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling from the chill. Riku is adorable too Daisuke admitted.
Dark chuckled knowingly. You don't know what you want, do you Daisuke?
"Niwa-kun, we were going on a picnic in the park. Do you want to come with us?" Risa called up to him, tossing her hair back and smiling.
"I made the food, not Risa-chan, so it's safe," Riku added, winking at Daisuke to share the tease.
"Riku! I'm getting better--" Risa pouted cutely at her twin
"I'm comming down," Daisuke called, grabbing a jacket before racing down the stairs.
"I'm going now!" he called to his mother for the second time, and not waiting for an answer stepped out into the crisp fall air.
Risa skipped happily alongside him as they walked, stopping to exclaim over a cute puppy they passed in a yard and talking a mile a minute about Dark. As she spoke, Daisuke watched the play of sunlight over her shining hair and saw a flush creep into her cheeks as she spoke about his alter-ego. For once though, the twinge of jealousy he felt was very minor, and didn't even threaten to eclipse his sense of wellbeing.
Risa is adorable,Daisuke thought, She's like a pretty little kitten. You can't help but want to play with her and talk to her. But maybe...
Maybe Risa isn't the right one for you after all? Dark finished the thought.
Riku rode her bike slowly beside him and made a motion to catch his eye. Rolling her eyes at Risa's incessant chattering, Riku gave Daisuke a conspiritory wink. When he grinned back at her, she tossed her head and the wind caught her hair, lifting it away from her ears. She wore tiny red studs in her earlobes, which twinkled as they caught the light.
I didn't know Harada-san had her ears peirced,Daisuke noted to himself. I guess maybe there are a lot of things I dont know about her.
Daisuke felt Dark laugh. There are other things about her a boy your age should be noticing, Dai-kun. Dark said slyly, Now that is a kitten I would like to play with.
D-Dark! You pervert! Daisuke felt his cheeks flush as he struggled to keep his face straight. Risa never noticed his discomfiture, but Riku raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. Daisuke dipped his face into the collar of his coat and refused to meet her gaze. When she had rode ahead of him a bit, he risked glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She really does look pretty, he mused.
Does this mean you like her better than Risa-chan now?Dark's tone was laced with ammusement, Better than Hiwatari-san even?
God, everything is so confusing.
Dark slipped out of Daisuke's bedroom window sometime just before midnight. No notice had been sent out, and he wasn't in the mood to steal anything anyway. Instead, after an afternoon spent picnicking with the Harada twins in the park, he just wanted some time to himself. Except for the company of With, of course. Afixed to his back as an expanse of black wings, the creature had kept him company for centuries.
Now Dark sat perched atop a long abandoned lighthouse. Purple hair blown back in the freezing wind, Dark wrapped himself in a cloak of black feathers. Pushing a chunk of crumbled stone off of the edge of the roof, Dark watched as it plunged to it's doom into the icy water. He was feeling morose tonight.
It was his birthday, after all. Sort of. The aniversary of the night that a spark of life had entered a body created by his former master. He had awoken into a foreign world, and had watched bemused as life was called into a body that slept unfilled at his side.
"He is your twin, Dark. Your equal and your opposite. I have created you both to keep balance in this world."
Dark pushed the memories away. Lifetimes had passed since then. Hearts had been crushed and trusts betrayed. Lovers had become enemies. Dark exhaled slowly, breath escaping his lips to fling itself away on the wind.
"I can always find you when you are unhappy, Dark." A gleaming white and gold figure stepped out of the shadows beside him. Without looking up, Dark pushed a strand of hair behind his ear.
"Have you come to try and kill me?" Dark asked finally, without moving.
"No, not tonight. Tonight is for remembering the past." A gloved hand came to caress Dark's cheek and touch lightly across his lips. "I have a heart too, Dark. Or at least pieces of one."
Dark's eyes met ones of poured honey-gold and flickered down to lips he had kissed, once, and often. The wind had caught Krad's fall of hair, and spun it into a web around them both. Krad's touch on Dark's cheek became posessive, curling around behind his neck.
"What you did to me can never be forgiven, Dark," Krad purred, "But for tonight, let's make nice and pretend that you still love me."
Dark felt a scardonic smile curl up his lips. "Are you going to pretend you still love me too?"
Krad clucked his tongue reprovingly. "I do still love you, Dark. I love you as much as I hate you, and you already know that." Krad's other hand had come to rest on Dark's opposite cheek, cradling his face in his hands. "I'm just going to forget about the 'hate' part for now."
Krad lowered his face to Dark's and pressed his lips to Dark's chilled ones. Dark's breath caught in his throat and he raised his hands to push the slim golden form away from him, but instead caught his arms sliding around a familiar waist. Opening his mouth against Krad's, Dark felt their tongues meet and catch in a familiar twisting battle.
"You can't fight me now, Dark," Krad smirked triuphantly, his eyes alight with lust when the kiss finally broke.
Dark didn't answer, only quirked his own smirking smile back at him, grabbed a handful of golden hair and yanked his blond counterpart back into another hungry kiss.
That's assuming I wanted to, you idiot, Dark retorted, but only in his head.
Author's Note:
I don't usually write these because I like to let my stories stand on their own, but I felt compelled to write one for this chapter. I appologise if it seems disjointed or off, I have been adjusting to a new job and trying to write this at the same time.
Secondly, please don't kill or maim me for this! I am trying to give Dark and Krad a little backstory, and somehow this seemed appropriate. (For all of you yaoi fans, this scene isn't really over yet.)
And that brings me to my third point. I believe that upon posting the next chapter, I will have to change the rating to an "R". Just a heads up and a warning.
*meow*
Liegenschonheit