Note: /.../ «-- Daisuke's thoughts Dark's thoughts --» italics
-o-o-o-
Saa, me o tojite.
Chapter 7: Blackmail?
Once again Daisuke had skipped classes. His mother had been to his school to tell the professors about his current condition, so they wouldn't worry. Meanwhile, he was lying in bed, his blankets wrapped around him up to his nose, and Dark was nowhere to be seen. He had woken up with a headache, coughing and sneezing. Just as he had predicted, he caught a cold. His temperature had risen to nearly thirty-nine degrees and his cheeks burned; his hands were freezing and he was shivering even though he felt hot. He imagined Dark wasn't much better; after all, they shared a body. When one was sick the other was just as bad. Maybe that was the reason why he hadn't show up yet.
And that was another thing that bothered Daisuke that day. Without Dark to talk to him and nothing to do in his room by himself, he was absolutely bored. Towa came and went away carrying medicines and soup bowls and other various things, but she never stopped to simply stay with him. He felt bored and alone and he wasn't sleepy, therefore couldn't sleep. He really had nothing to do.
Fortunately, or so he wanted to believe, Kosuke entered his room. "How are you feeling?" he asked to his son, showing concern.
Daisuke answered him in a most weary voice, "I feel like shit."
"Daisuke!" Kosuke scolded his son "language. You shouldn't be that rude."
"Sorry." The boy apologised sincerely.
"That's okay, I know how horrible it is for you to be lying in a bed and doing nothing." Daisuke smiled at him gratefully. Just a little company was enough to make him feel better. "I also wanted to know how you were feeling... on the inside."
"Ano..." Daisuke muttered. What could he say to his father? The man knew him so well he had suspected he might know something about his infatuation with Dark. He wasn't sure of what to say, because he thought that anything he told his father could be misunderstood -or actually, it could be understood, which is what Daisuke didn't want to happen-. He opted to say he was fine.
"I see..." Kosuke didn't seem convinced in the least, but he let it pass. He wanted to help his son more than anything, but he couldn't do so until the boy told him what he was going through. He tried not to worry too much, though.
"Seeing you are rather lonely and bored, do you want to play chess?"
Chess had never been appealing to Daisuke before, but seeing that there wasn't anything better to do, he nodded to his father. The man left momentarily, only to come back with an old box in his hands. Daisuke sat up on the bed and his father sat on a chair next to him. Opening the box, he blew away the dust that had accumulated before taking out a chessboard that looked as old as Daiki. He then proceeded to order the chess pieces on the board. Daisuke chose the black ones, letting Kosuke make the first move.
The game didn't last long, though, mainly due to the fact that Daisuke was a terrible player. But it didn't stop him from having a good time, since his father and him had been talking all through the short duration of the game. It was a nice change from all the tension that surrounded both Daisuke and Dark these days.
When it was time for lunch, Kosuke left the room. Towa came minutes later carrying a tray with a steaming vegetal soup and a glass of water. She waited for him to finish eating so she could take the tray downstairs, but didn't speak much. The only thing she said, she muttered it on her way out of Daisuke's room.
"Thank you for defending me yesterday," she said, "I wasn't mistaken when I decided to stay with you."
Daisuke only smiled and told her that she shouldn't let his mother mistreat her, even if the woman was nervous and scared. Nothing was her fault and she had already helped enough. Towa was blushing furiously then and left the room squealing like a schoolgirl in love.
Daisuke shook his head and lay back on the mattress. He wanted to do something, but, in his current condition, there wasn't much he could do. So he just closed his eyes and simply let his body rest.
-o-
Keiji Saga sat at his office, with his feet propped on the desk. He was bored, fumbling with a loose thread on his otherwise impeccable shirt. He had got no response from Dark or even Daisuke and he was getting upset. He didn't want anything bad, just a signed contract. He would be doing the thief a favour, but no one ever considered him in that way. He sighed as he picked up the phone and dialled a number.
"Yes? Keiji Saga here," he spoke to one end of the receiver.
"I have something that might be of interest for you."
-o-
Seeing that he hadn't much to do but think, Daisuke thought about many things. For once, he didn't think about Dark; he was thinking about Riku.
He was still the girl's boyfriend, even though he didn't love her anymore. He supposed it was because, deep inside, he was hoping to forget about his crush on Dark. That, and the fact that he didn't have the courage to tell her; he was afraid of how she would take the news. He never wanted to hurt her, but it seemed the only option at the moment. And if he didn't speak now, then it would be too late. Still, he felt miserable for having to break up with her. She'd been so nice to him, despite all of those times in which she thought he loved Risa... He then noticed that maybe Riku would misunderstand his feelings. After all, he couldn't tell her he loved Dark and he didn't want to lie, but that would inevitably lead to trouble. Risa was always in her twin's mind as something of a threat and Daisuke was only going to make matters worse.
Life was so difficult for him. He just wanted to have a normal life, someone to love that loved him in return... not much. But everything he had were problems; it seemed sad, but it was true. It was funny too, since all of his problems had to do with Dark. He wondered why... But back to the topic at hand, he was now resolute. If tomorrow he felt good enough to go to school, he was going to speak to Riku. He couldn't lie to her anymore, it wasn't fair.
You're going to break up with Riku?
Daisuke froze mid-thought. Dark was talking to him, but how much had he heard? He was sure by now he'd learnt to shield his mind from Dark, but apparently he couldn't. Then again, if he had heard anything about the 'crush' he would have said something else, if anything at all. He shook his head; whatever the circumstances were, he wasn't going to falter in Dark's presence. He'd learnt from experience that being nervous without apparent reasons always made things more difficult.
/Yes./
Why? I thought you loved her. Dark sounded genuinely surprised. He had heard very little of Daisuke's thoughts, but enough to find out about that bit of disconcerting information. This time, though, Daisuke hadn't been yelling in his head like he did when he was angry, so Dark supposed that the mental shield between them had weakened due to the boy's sickness.
Daisuke sighed. /I did love her,/ he said, /but I don't feel the same way now./
Is this about Risa? Are you unsure of whom you like better?
The redhead groaned audibly. /Why does everyone presume that every time something weird happens with Riku is because I have doubts about her sister?/
It's not about her then. Um, is there... someone else?
What could Daisuke say? There was, indeed, someone else, but he couldn't tell Dark. If he admitted to liking someone else, he was sure the thief would press to know who that someone was. It made him feel upset and slightly annoyed to notice that even the littlest of predicaments were always so complicated for him. Taking a moment to think, he decided to take his chances; he had thought of a way in which to change the subject if necessary. And it was something that had been nagging at him since last night.
/Actually,/ he risked tentatively, /there is./
The news sunk deep into Dark's stomach. He felt a cold breeze enveloping him and he had suddenly lost interest in the conversation. There was something he did want to know, though. Who is this someone you like?
/I don't think you'd want to know,/ he answered truthfully. Having already prevented that the thief would ask for that someone's identity, he put to action his plan of changing the subject. /It's not important anyway. There's one thing though... Do you mind if I ask you something?/
Actually, it did bother Dark a bit, but he couldn't tell Daisuke. No, go ahead.
/Have you ever been in love?/
The question took Dark by surprise, even worse than Daisuke's revelation had, and he became slightly nervous. Sure, he'd liked a lot of girls in his life, those who usually triggered a change in his DNA to transform back into the body of his tamer. But he couldn't call that love. The closer he'd got to finding out what love truly was, was when he'd realised... No, not really.
/Oh. Then... have you ever wondered what it would feel like to love someone?/
Well, yes, everyone does at some point.
/Do you... love anyone at the moment?/
Dark was getting more and more nervous. He thanked, probably for the first time ever, that he didn't have a body of his own. Otherwise, he would be squirming in his seat and sweating. Probably even blushing; this wasn't the kind of conversation he liked to have with Daisuke. Not really... he lied. He couldn't tell him the truth.
The boy didn't seem too convinced, after all, he had more than enough proof that Dark was hiding something. Even the words Dark chose to deny being in love acted as proof against him. Last night when he'd been woken up by a deep voice singing about love -Dark's voice, he was sure- he had started doubting. /But... don't you even consider loving someone?/
No. Why was the boy suddenly so interested in his love life?
/I don't want to bother you, I was just curious./ He decided it was time to let the thief know of what he'd listened. /I heard you singing last night./
Dark remained quiet; there wasn't much he could say, anyway. Last night, while he was sitting, staring at the moon, he had let out his feelings in the form of a song. Somehow it had made its way to his subconscious and forced him to sing. He didn't like doing that, but it was as if he had no control over his actions. And so, almost resignedly, he sung as he let tears of frustration course down his cheeks.
/Dark?/
Yes, Daisuke?
The thief had become serious, Daisuke noted. It wasn't a part of his plan to make Dark feel uncomfortable, but now that he'd seen the change on his predisposition and the way he seemed to be nervous, he couldn't help but feel curious. He needed to know if Dark was in love and, if he was, he needed to find out who it was. /It was a beautiful song,/ he admitted to the thief.
If you say so...
/Was it yours?/
Actually, yes.
/What was it about?/
Nothing in particular.
/It had to be about something./
Not something, the thief corrected him without even thinking, it was about someone.
Both Dark and Daisuke became quiet. Dark wanted to die; how could he have said that? He had never wanted to accept what his true feelings were and all the times he thought about it he had believed he could deny them. But all of that changed in an instant. A brief moment that stretched like hours was all it took for him to finally realise he'd been lying to himself all the time. He couldn't deny what he felt anymore. He couldn't deny he was in love.
/Dark?/ Daisuke called after a while. He got no response and somehow he wasn't surprised. He wondered if it had anything to do with what he'd been talking with Dark. He smacked himself in the forehead; of course, that was it. He'd tried to persuade the thief into speaking about something he didn't want to speak about. And still... all his mind could record was that despite all of his pushing, Dark had finally admitted that he was interested in someone. He couldn't find a different explanation to why the thief would have been singing a song like that one. And he'd said he'd written it; that had to mean something. He felt bad for him because, judging for the lyrics, it seemed Dark was in love with someone who couldn't return his feelings. But, to be honest with himself, he felt a lot worse for himself.
-o-
Satoshi smirked as he eyed the photographs carefully. How could that Keiji Saga be so careless? Didn't he imagine that this didn't serve to prove the connection between Daisuke Niwa and the legendary thief Dark Mousy? Satoshi had to get rid of this man before he could complicate their situation further, though. Picking up the phone, he dialled Saga's number. He was going to have a few words with the man...
-o-o-o-
Sorry, but I have to leave it like that. Oh, poor Dark... a slip of his tongue and he's already running away... Quite a bloody coward, he is. Daisuke is sad, poor thing. Not only he's feeling awful, now his heart aches. Stupid boys...
Oh, well, I hope you liked it. Review, please, and feed my ego!!