Note: /.../ «-- Daisuke's thoughts Dark's thoughts --» italics
A/N: I know I said I wouldn't update but... I'm a nice girl and besides... baka-chibi-puffs? No one in his/her right mind would take the time to do what you did. I LOVE YOU!!!!!! All of you, fangirls, you can thank her for these two (yes, 2) updates.

-o-o-o-

Saa, me o tojite.
Chapter 11: Separate ways.



Dark opened his eyes; taking an examining look around, he realised he was in a hospital room. The white walls, the cold iron bed, that unbearable smell of disinfectant... yes, it just had to be a hospital. He wondered for a while about the possible reasons for his being there; he couldn't remember much of what had happened that night, except...

Daisuke...

He sat bolt upright with a start. He now remembered... he had put on the pendant and then he had been embraced by complete darkness. There were also red threads tightly wrapping themselves around him, choking him; and that voice... that voice that asked him what his wish was. But all he could think of was Daisuke. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on his will to live, the only image in his mind was that redheaded boy. Daisuke... and then... emptiness. The same emptiness he was feeling at that exact same moment, in the apparent solitude of the hospital room.

One thing was sure, though; he was alive. That meant that the voice, the being behind it, it had granted his wish. But that overwhelming emptiness... that had to be a bad omen. Daisuke wasn't within him anymore; he couldn't feel him. Then, what had happened to him...?

Dark swung his legs over the edge of the bed and jumped off of it. His feet felt numb and he had to hold on to the iron edges of the bed to stop him from collapsing on the ground. His knees were shaking, something he couldn't remember ever having happened to him, and he was shivering from head to toes. To make matters even worse, his stomach ached and he felt nauseous. Dark forced his feet to move and slowly, step by step, he made his way to the bathroom without tripping. Once there, he maniacally dashed for the toilette and threw up.

Wiping his mouth dry with a piece of toilet paper, he unsteadily stood up. He walked to the sink to wash himself; the splashing of water over his tired face felt heavenly. He stood there for a while, enjoying the cool feel of water in his hands before he reached for the towel to dry himself off. Looking up at the mirror in front of him, he screamed.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

My face... Daisuke's...

It's all my fault...

A soft chuckle behind him brought his attention back to the room. The towel left forgotten on the floor, he left the bathroom and came to a halt when he saw someone he wasn't expecting, sitting on the bed.

Satoshi Hiwatari smiled up at him and stood up. "I think you should lie down for a while longer," he said. Dark was still rooted to the spot, the look of horror still intact on his face. "Relax," the blue-haired boy laughed as he walked to where the thief was standing, "it's just a concealing charm." Dark was looking even more confused than he had been before, when he had seen Daisuke's face staring back at him from the mirror's surface. Satoshi sighed, he knew he would have to do a lot of explaining when the time came.

"You're wearing the Mask of the Denouncer," he explained as he led Dark to the bed so he would sit down. "I take it, you don't know much about the things you've stolen, right?" Dark nodded, half-smiling nervously. He couldn't understand why someone who had always wanted to arrest him was being so nice to him. "This Mask, as any other work or art of the Hikaris, has magical power. The charm within, works so that the face of the one who wears the mask, takes the shape of the face of the one he loves."

Dark looked away from Satoshi; he was blushing a bright red colour. So, that was it; Satoshi now knew that he liked Daisuke. Great, just what he needed... but then again, and speaking about Daisuke, he knew Satoshi was in love with the boy, but he didn't look sad or even slightly worried. That might mean...

"You should consider yourself lucky," Satoshi went on, "you could've turned into a breastless woman..."

"You know," Dark spoke, his voice feeling rusty and harsh from lack of use, "I'm not exactly in the mood for jokes." Satoshi only smiled at him and chuckled some more. "Say," Dark started saying as he tried to remove the mask, "what happened to...?"

"Daisuke?" Satoshi completed the question for him, his face darkening for a moment. "He's fine," he told the thief, who breathed in relief. "He's really worried, though," he said, staring pointedly at Dark, who stared back at him, unsure of what to make of that weird look he was getting from Satoshi.

"Is he worried... about me?"

Satoshi nodded. Dark let his gaze drop to the floor in embarrassment. Even though he knew it wasn't really his fault that the boy was feeling like that, he couldn't help but feel guilty. He didn't deserve Daisuke's concern. Looking up, he found that Satoshi was still staring at him. "What am I doing here?" he asked him. He had no idea of what exactly had happened and why he was locked in a hospital room; he didn't even know what day it was. The only thing he knew was that his suspicions had been correct and that the Curse of the Twilight had finally freed him; he now had a body of his own, a life of his own.

Satoshi sighed. He walked to the bed and sat by Dark's side. "A week ago -last Friday, to be precise- you went to the Hikari graveyard to get the Curse of the Twilight. Krad was there, you two had a fight and you won; that much I'm sure you remember." Dark nodded. "Well, I didn't see anything else, so I don't know what happened inside the vaults. But... when I opened my eyes... it was myself that was lying on the ground. Krad was just a shadowy figure hovering over me, with smiling yet sad eyes; I'd never see him like that before. It was almost... heart-breaking. But, anyway, I remember he said your wish had finally been granted and then... he just vanished. I knew then that your curse had been broken and that you had won the battle, Dark.

"Then, I stood up and walked to the vaults. I was surprised at first, to find Emiko Niwa kneeling by her son's side, but then again... she always shows up in the most unexpected situations. I also remember... the look of utter disgust on her face when he saw me standing by the door of the vault. But then, as I apologised and talked to her, that look disappeared. She just listened to my ideas and helped me get you both safe. We took Daisuke home and she gave me this mask. I put it on your face, already knowing whom you would look like, and took you to this hospital for treatment. You were close to death, Dark, but I couldn't risk bringing you here without some sort of disguise. After all, you still are the legendary thief Dark Mousy."

Dark was back to staring at the floor; his eyes were expressionless and his limbs didn't seem to respond to his commands. He was immobile, petrified in shock after the information overdose. When he did look up, though, it was to do the unexpected. "I'm sorry," he said. Satoshi was now the one looking shocked. "I'm sorry for having been a burden in your already complicated life. I'm sorry for stealing all of those works of art that belonged to your family. I'm sorry. I'm just... sorry." Tears were flowing freely over his pale cheeks now, his back shaking with silent but desperate sobs. He took the mask from the pillow where he'd left it and handed it to Satoshi. "I'll get everything else I've stolen and I'll return it to you, it's the least I can do for you; and even then, it wouldn't be enough to repay you for all of your help today and this past week." After saying those last words, he turned his back to the boy and walked away; however, before he could make it past the doorway and into the hall, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Do you know why you became a thief now?"

Without looking back, the thief answered him. "I became a thief so I could gather enough magical power to make the Curse of the Twilight work and break the charm bonding me to the Niwas. Am I right or wrong?"

"The Curse of the Twilight's only power, as ironical as it sounds, is to borrow power from other sources." Satoshi explained, a smirk evident on his voice. "It wouldn't have worked on its own. From the very beginning, your prime target had been that pendant, but it would have been useless hadn't you stolen all of those other works of art. To activate the countercurse within, the Curse of the Twilight needs the totality of the Hikaris' power. It's like the last piece of a big and intricate puzzle.

"An old, tattered book I found in the Hikari Ancient Home's library helped me understand your separation and Krad's death. Apparently, it depended on love. You had to find the true love of your life, the one that would make you whole. You met Daisuke then and slowly and almost without realising it, you fell in love with him. This love you felt, even though it was disguised as mere fondness, maybe even gratitude, was what made you whole. Krad wasn't lucky enough to find the love of his life because he could never get over you. Therefore, when you put on the pendant, despite your being in denial, your curse was broken; because you felt whole and because you wanted nothing but to have your life returned to you. And since Krad and yourself had once been the same person... this part's hard to explain..."

"Since he and I were the same person," Dark carried on with the explanation, "now that I am whole he's an unwanted leftover. So, instead of lurking in the shadows like a ghost, he just disappeared. Yes... apparently, I won." And then he just walked out into the hall, leaving Satoshi feeling strangely pleased with himself. Freedom wasn't something he was accustomed to and he supposed Dark was even worse off than himself. "Oh, Father is going to be very disappointed..." he snickered as he himself walked out of the room and into the hospital's hall.

-o-

/I wonder.../

Daisuke had been doing nothing in the last two weeks but think. He had no idea where Dark was or if he was alright. The only thing he knew was that he was alive, because his mother had told him so. How was she to know that that affirmation would only serve to make him worry. Of course, Dark was alive, but he could be only a foot from the grave without him even knowing; he could have been caught by Satoshi, he could have been run over by a car and many other things. Daisuke wanted to know not only if Dark was alive, but also if he was feeling alright. But then, every time he thought about that, he supposed that if he really were alright, he would have come for him. But of course, that could have been just him, daydreaming.

Still, he wanted to know many things. For one, he wanted to know what Keiji Saga had been doing at the Hikari graveyard that last Friday and how he had got there. He remembered having seen the guy's face from Dark's eyes while he was fighting with Krad. He had seen the blast of magic erupting from the blond's hand and exploding in Saga's chest. Sure, he never liked the man, but that didn't mean he deserved what he'd got that night. Still, Daisuke thought a little maliciously, it had been his fault for interfering in the first place.

The phone rang; Daisuke could hear the annoying sound from the attic, where he was at the time. He had been drawing multiple black and white Darks on his sketchbook. "Daisuke?" his mother called him from downstairs, "there's a phone-call for you."

Thinking it was just Riku or maybe Takeshi to ask how he was -he hadn't been to school since that last Friday- he groaned. He stomped down the steps to the hall and down more steps into the living room, where the phone was. Emiko was waiting for him and threw a worried look at him when he picked the receiver. "Yes?"

"Niwa Daisuke."

He knew that voice. That arrogant hint in its tone, the way it savoured each word like candy... it was none other than Keiji Saga. The same person he'd been thinking about only minutes ago. "Saga?" he asked for reassurance, "is that you?"

"The same that walks and talks... well... the same that talks, at least. I'll start walking again next week, I hope."

How could someone talk in such a nonchalant way about something so serious with such grave consequences, Daisuke couldn't understand. He just shook his head in disbelief; some things would never change. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked without even thinking.

"Actually," Saga started saying, making Daisuke wince, "you could try to forgive me for being such a pain in the arse for both you and Dark."

The boy could barely believe his ears. Surely the Keiji Saga he knew wouldn't apologise for something like that; after all, it was his job to make people uncomfortable, or so he thought. But still, the sudden seriousness in his voice made obvious that he wasn't joking. He was truly sorry for the troubles he'd caused. "This is rather unexpected," Daisuke laughed truthfully. "Yes... I think I can forgive you." Saga sighed with relief. "But," he feared for a moment, "I'll only do it if you tell me how you got to the graveyard. No one but Dark, myself and the Hikari descendants knew where the meeting was bound to be."

"Well, at least that's a question I can answer..." he thought aloud, making Daisuke giggle. "You see, the Hikari kid gave me a key -I think you know which one I'm talking about- and told me to give it to you. Why he didn't want to give it to you himself, I had no idea. That's what made me wonder what was exactly going on; I wanted to know what was the connection between you three -or rather, four-.

"I put a microscopic chip to track the key's location so I'd know what the thing was for and where Dark would be. Because I knew, and I always did, that you and Dark were the same person. The Hikari kid wanted you to have the key so Dark would be able -and this I found out later at the graveyard- to open the vault's lock. Also... I found out more than I had intended to. I now know the story between you; I know about the Curse, about the blond, creepy guy... I know almost everything. And... this is what made me phone you. I wanted to let you know that if I had known the story, I wouldn't have made your lives so difficult. So, I'm truly sorry."

Daisuke didn't say a word. He didn't know what to say, anyway. Instead, he just told Saga he forgave him and asked him if he knew anything about Dark. Saga stammered for a while, making Daisuke suspect he was hiding something. Still, the guy only told him that he was sure the thief was perfectly fine. "You, just relax, he'll show up eventually. I'm sure he has a lot of things to think about and not enough time to dwell on each of them. Go, watch a movie, maybe some anime or something. Everything will be alright... in the end."

"Saga?"

/He hung up./

The boy lingered with the receiver in his hand for a while. Those words... had they been just a coincidence, or had Saga hinted something...? He shook his head, he was thinking too much. He should do what the man had told him to, relax. He walked to the nearest couch and sat down. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV, zapping through the different channels. It was almost midnight, he was sure there was a channel that aired Ranma 1/2 at this time... However, his finger stopped pushing the 'channel up' button when his zapping led him to TV Tokyo.

Dark was there, giving a press conference between Satoshi Hiwatari and Keiji Saga, who looked as smug as he had always been. He couldn't believe his eyes; what was Dark doing there? Soon, he'd find out.

-o-

"...so, given the conditions and the fact that he returned each and every item he'd stolen, I, Satoshi Hiwatari, the last descendant of the Hikaris, have decided not to press charges against him."

A round of questions that varied from the obvious and annoying "why?" to the puzzling and rather pointless "is that possible, given your change of surname?" Satoshi only answered each question patiently and very politely, his smile firmly plastered on his lips. Though, this time it wasn't a sincere smile. Saga had convinced him to go along this press conference thing to clear things up and to give Dark the life he had longed for. He had to admit that the idea was good, but what he didn't like was the constant publicity for Saga Entertainment's new documentary "Dark Mousy: True Light."

Dark was looking more uncomfortable than he was, though. He had barely spoken since the conference started and even though there were thousands of questions directed to him, he wasn't answering them. In fact, he only spoke when either Saga or Satoshi asked him to. He had other things in mind... Daisuke, for one. He wanted to get this conference over and done with so he could finally talk to the boy. He had to tell him...

I love him.

-o-

Daisuke sneezed. "Someone must be thinking about you..." Emiko teased him, making him jump. He hadn't noticed her entering the room. "I see Dark's not half as bad as I last saw him."

"You saw him?" the boy asked. Emiko regretted having spoken.

"Yes, I saw him," Emiko admitted to her son, feeling ashamed for having lied to him in such an important matter. "I was the one who helped Hiwatari-san get him to the hospital, after we brought you here."

"But that wasn't the last time you saw him, right?"

"Yes, you're right. I also saw him three nights ago, when he came here to take the works of art of the Hikaris to give them back to their last descendant. But I'm sure you've heard about that in the conference..."

"Yes, Satoshi-kun said he wouldn't press charges against him. And Saga made a documentary, but that's besides the point." He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands; he just wanted to see Dark, why hadn't he come back for him?

In the TV, Dark sneezed.

"You're thinking about him," Emiko stated between giggles.

"Why didn't you tell me he'd come?" Daisuke asked her mother seriously, feeling not only disappointed but also sad. Couldn't he even trust his own mother?

"He asked me not to do it."

The answer was short and it brought many questions to Daisuke's mind. Why hadn't he wanted him to find out of his visit? Maybe... he didn't want to see him anymore. Maybe he had find the person he was in love with and didn't need him anymore. Maybe he didn't have other choice, Satoshi could have threatened him and Saga could have extorted him with who-knows-what. /Nah, Dark wouldn't surrender easily to them. There has to be another explanation.../

"Didn't he tell you why?" Daisuke asked, needing at least one reason, never mind how hurtful, to understand Dark's behaviour. Emiko simply shook her head. "Ever since I told you I'd fallen in love with a boy," Daisuke went on emotionlessly to prevent tears, "you knew it was him whom I loved." Silence; that could only mean Emiko wasn't denying the accusation. "Still," resentment was becoming obvious in Daisuke's voice, "you didn't tell me anything.

"All of this time, these past two weeks, I've been eating my head with worry. I barely knew he was alive and yet you didn't say a word. I've cried and screamed, but you thought better to remain quiet. Why? Why did you do this to me?"

"I already told you, Daisuke. He asked me not to say a word."

"That's not enough!" this time, the redhead was shouting. He had reached his limit; he wanted to see Dark, only to slap him for being an uncaring idiot.

"Stop being selfish, Daisuke!" Emiko raised her voice, surprising not only her son but also Daiki and Kosuke that had just entered the room. "Haven't you stopped to think about Dark's feelings? Don't you think that after thousands of years of sharing other people's bodies, views, feelings and thoughts, he deserves a little time for his own?" Actually, he hadn't considered that. Her mother was right, he needed some time for his own, but still... he could have at least let him know he was ok.

"Just look at him, Daisuke," said Emiko while pointing at a sighing Dark on the TV screen. "Does he look happy? He finally has his own body, but he can't enjoy it. He feels empty and that's because of you, because you're not there with him anymore. He feels just as bad as you do."

"I don't think he feels THAT bad..."

"Well, you should think so, because he is." At those words, Daisuke's head snapped up in complete shock. Surely she didn't mean... "What the hell are you doing standing there like an idiot, Daisuke?? They're at the Azumano Hotel, go!"

He didn't have to think about it twice. Without even picking his coat, he run to the door and left, thanking his mother mentally as he let the door swing shut with a thud behind him.

"What on earth was that?" asked Kosuke.

"That was your son running to tell Dark he's in love with him."

The two men went speechless. Daiki just turned his back and practically fled the room, while Kosuke kept his gaze fixed on a spot on the wall in front of him.

"Boys..." Emiko sighed happily as he went to the kitchen to prepare some tea.

-o-

Daisuke arrived to the Azumano Hotel panting heavily and shaking like a feather. This was it, the final opportunity to make things right. His final opportunity to be happy. He was going to tell Dark everything... or at least he was going to slap him as he had told himself he'd do. /Stupid jerk could have at least send me a letter.../ he thought as he walked through the never-ending halls and up and down the several flights of stairs of the building.

/Where is that damned conference room?!/

"Excuse me."

Daisuke turned around flush-faced in anger to see who had tapped on his shoulder. Funabashi, Saga's assistant was standing before him, holding up a plastic card for him to take. "What is this?" he asked.

Funabashi stared at him. "Third floor; second hall to the right; room number 16, the one with a sign that reads 'conference room.' Only authorised people can access the room." With that said, he turned away and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Daisuke wanted to thank him, but seeing that he couldn't find him, decided it would be wiser to simply go that blasted room and find Dark once and for all.

And off he went two floors downstairs, through the second hall to the right until he reached the door to the conference room. Inhaling a calming breath, he pulled it open and walked in. A huge guy with massive muscles that made Daisuke's hairs stand on end asked for his authorisation and examined it. Frowning, not entirely convinced about this boy's ID, he returned the card and let Daisuke walk further into the room.

There were cameras everywhere, people standing, people sitting, people asking, people chatting with the neighbour journalists... it was a mess, in Daisuke's opinion. But he walked further and further through the production teams and the electric cords and the blinding lights... yes, this was like a safari, only without the fun and the potentially murderous animals. The people there weren't any better, though. But finally, he saw it. The large table where Dark was sitting at, between Saga and Satoshi.

Daisuke moved a few more metres further, almost reaching the sitting rows where the journalists were. Standing right in the middle of Dark's line of vision, he just had to wait for him to raise his gaze from the floor. /Come on,/ he repeated over and over, hoping the now ex-thief would listen to him somehow. /Come on, Dark, look up./

Said man sneezed and looked up as he excused himself. Then it happened. Dark stared at Daisuke, his eyes betraying his nervousness and the unexplainable happiness he felt at seeing him there. The boy stared back, unable to do or say anything. Slowly, each pair of eyes in the room had turned to stared at them as if they were watching a tennis match. Left, right, left, right and still no one said anything. That is, of course, until Dark rose from his seat and walked past the tenths of shifting gazes to where Daisuke was standing. Almost nose to nose now, only centimetres separating them, they continued to stare at each other. Neither of them were smiling nor grimacing; they both had mixed feelings of both happiness and terror.

True to himself, Daisuke slapped Dark on his left cheek. The latter had the decency to look petrified. "That was for keeping me on the edge of my seat with worry, when you could have let me know you were alright."

Dark looked at Daisuke as if he'd grown another head. So, that was it; he was mad at him because he didn't told him he was fine... as usual, Dark's attempts of avoiding trouble had only led him to more intricate disasters. It was the least he deserved, he admitted. After all the two had gone through, he should have taken the boy's feelings into consideration. He'd been so selfish...

Dark felt a slight yet strong pressure on his lips. So caught up in his thoughts he'd been that he didn't notice the redhead closing the distance between them in a sealing kiss. "And that," Daisuke finished, as if he'd been lecturing him for hours without Dark even noticing, "was because I love you."

As soon as the words had left his mouth he regretted them. Daisuke went red like a tomato in sunlight, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as if he wanted to erase the bitter taste on his lips. His eyes wide open, shocked at his audacity, he turned to flee the room. Luckily for him, a hand taking grip of his arm stopped him. To Daisuke, it felt like the earth had collided with the sun, but in reality it was just Dark kissing him back...

/Wait... he's... kissing me?/

/.../

/Willingly?/

Dark pulled apart, his face just a little pink in the cheekbones, smiling like a fool with no cares... which was probably what he was at the time. "I love you too, Dai-chan."

Daisuke threw his arms around Dark's shoulders, crying with happiness as the people around them cheered and took lots and lots of pictures for tomorrow's headlines. Dark only kept smiling, too happy and confused at the same time to understand or even care about what was going on outside his and Daisuke's embrace. Fin.

-o-o-o- Ahhhhh!!! This is the END!!! I can't believe I actually finished this thing... I loved it, it has been amazing to write it. I mean, I love writing, period, but this story was (not only a pain in the arse but also) really entertaining. Um, about the stuff mentioned in this chapter, I don't own TV Tokyo (though I wish I did) nor Ranma 1/2 (that belongs to the amazing Rumiko Takahashi). And, of course, DNAngel belongs to the goddess of goddesses, the one and only, the bloody brilliant... Yukiru Sugisaki!! Go buy the mangas, they're amazing... Lagoon Engine is really good too and I want to get Megami Kouhosei's (the anime is so cool... the artwork... ah, I love that woman's art). Anyway, got off track. Thanks to my friends for calling me a f-cking pervert, you kept me going!! Thanks to pneumonia and the subsequent month-long winter break. More time to waste, yay!!
Please, review, people!! Otherwise I'll be a very, VERY sad girl...