A/N: Italics represent people's thoughts, usually Daisuke's.

-o-o-o-

Aoi.
Chapter 3: Rain



Daisuke was lying on his bed with his back against the mattress; he had closed his eyes and was happily letting himself be bathed in the sunlight coming from his bedroom window. Today was Tuesday, the day Satoshi and Krad would be coming back to Japan. The redhead was glad that his best friend would be back, since he needed to tell him everything that had happened while he was away. Everything related to Dark, that is. Daisuke was a little surprised, if he were to be honest, that the relationship between him and his new friend was evolving so fast. It just seemed like they were destined to meet, so good they got along. Conversation between them flowed naturally and they could discuss anything; there were no limits to their communication skills. It truly amazed Daisuke that someone as shy as himself could trust and be trusted so quickly and all of a sudden by someone he met only a week ago.

Slowly, the boy pulled himself out of bed. He had already got dressed, so he just grabbed his backpack and walked downstairs into the kitchen, where his mother was waiting for him. The curious thing was, Emiko Niwa wasn't alone that morning nor was she accompanied by her husband or her father. Indeed, his companion was someone much, much younger.

"Hello, mum, Dark..." Daisuke froze momentarily. "...Dark???"

"Um, hi, Daisuke..." the dark-haired boy smiled a bit nervously. He had woken up early and thought of picking up Daisuke to go to school. That's what he told the teen, who instantly turned to his mother, "why didn't you tell me he was here?"

Emiko just giggled and told him that she didn't want to upset him; she thought he'd been sleeping, since he never wakes up early. Daisuke stuck out his tongue at her playfully and then sat at the table to eat. When they were done, the redhead and his friend left the house to go to school, immersed in a debate about the new anime show about an innocent teenager that shared a body with a legendary kaitou.

The kids entered their classroom when it was still empty. They sat at their usual spots and waited for the rest of the students to arrive, while they carried yet another of their pointless conversations, this time about old toys. "I tell you," Dark said seriously, "Thundercats were way better than those stupid Silverhawks."

"Hey," Daisuke complained, "I used to love Silverhawks..."

"And I used to love He-man, but that's not something I'm particularly proud of." Daisuke turned to the source of the voice he knew so well. Satoshi was standing right in front of him, looking as cold and calculating as ever. That is, until his friend jumped off his seat and caught him in a bone-crushing hug. "Was that really necessary?" he asked as they pulled back. Satoshi sat on the seat behind Daisuke, since Dark had taken his spot. "So this is how it works..." he mocked the boys in his cool tone of voice, making every joke sound serious. "I leave for a week and you get yourself a new desk-mate? I'm hurt, really..." he said as he raised one hand to his chest.

"Oh, shut up," Daisuke told him. The boy was pensive for a while, before he asked him "did you really like He-man?" Satoshi blushed and looked away, Dark and the redhead bursting out laughing as the professor arrived. Go figure... Daisuke thought, the classroom filled and I didn't even notice...

"So, how did it go?" Dark asked the blue-haired boy, trying to make conversation. Satoshi raised an eyebrow at him, before answering nonchalantly.

"It was fine, I guess. I could've done without any of the experience, but... couldn't help it either." He admitted to the boys, "it could have been worse, though. At least Krad was there, this time."

"How is he?" asked Daisuke, as he started to copy down onto his notebook what the professor was writing on the blackboard.

"Krad? I haven't seen him that happy in years, actually. He likes to travel, you see, and he has a thing for Chinese people."

"A... thing?" it was Daisuke who spoke. He didn't understand what his friend meant.

"Yeah, it's like... I don't know how to explain it."

"Like: 'I think Chinese people are hot?'" Dark suggested mockingly. Surprisingly, Satoshi pointed his finger at him and exclaimed 'exactly!' making everyone start laughing.

"What are you laughing at?"

The three boys turned in the professor's direction, each murmuring apologies. Luckily, before any of them could be given a detention for disrupting class, a certain blond boy entered the classroom. Senpai Krad greeted the professor politely and asked for a minute of the class' attention. He was holding a sheet of paper that looked suspiciously like a list of names.

"Good morning," he greeted; his tone never changing from the bored-sounding drawl that was his trademark. "I have news for you," everyone's ears pricked up at that statement and soon the class went deadly silent.

"A camping weekend has been arranged for all students of upper high-school from first to third year. It is necessary that you form groups of four; you can pair up with your own classmates or with students from a different class, it's all up to you. Remember: no group, no trip and that's it. Now, I'm going to pass this list to each of you; those who are interested, sign up with your name and come to see me tomorrow after classes." Krad passed the paper to the first student of the left-front row and walked past him to meet his friends.

"Hi!" Daisuke greeted him.

Krad nodded in his direction and took a seat next to Satoshi. "So... are you in?" At Daisuke's confused expression, the blond rolled his eyes and explained to him, "the camping thing!"

"Oh," the redhead laughed. "Sure, I mean, if I find a group to go with..." he looked at Satoshi and the boy raised his hands in defeat. He didn't need any words to express what he felt: Daisuke always got what he wanted in the end... Happy with the unspoken response, the redhead turned to Dark. The teen smiled and said 'sure!' and Daisuke turned to the only one left to become a part of the improvised group.

"Oh, no..." Krad warned him. "No, no, no..." Three pairs of pleading eyes turned in his direction, burning down his resolve. "No; travelling is one thing," he clarified, knowing what his friends were thinking, "camping is another. I'm NOT going to the woods and that's final."

"Hontoni?" Satoshi raised his eyebrow at him; he was sure his cousin would lose the battle.

"Hontoni."

"Hontoni, hontoni?" it was Dark who now asked.

"Hontoni..."

"Hontoni, hontoni... hontoni?"

There it was for Krad to see, Daisuke's trademark puppy-eyed stared, the same stare that had doomed his weekends for several years. The blond could feel his resolve weakening, but he shook his head and took a few breaths to regain his composure; he wasn't going to lose. Krad glared at his red-haired friend once before answering, between clenched teeth, "H-O-N-T-O-N-I."

-o-

At 5 pm the next Friday, Krad was helping his friends set up the tent, as he cursed and cursed and cursed once again his weak resolve. Fortunately, not many people were interested in having a camping trip, so there was plenty space to set the different groups' tents and still have an ample area where the recreational activities would be held.

"I tell you, you're getting it wrong!" Dark shouted as he tried to keep the tent's roof from collapsing. "Krad, let go of that rope!" Too late, the tent in its whole had fallen limply to the cold earth. Daisuke laughed while Hiwatari remained distant, keeping a list of all the things they've brought. Krad had stomped off after the incident, leaving Dark alone to set up the tent by himself. Seeing that the dark-haired boy wouldn't get far on his task, Daisuke tried to help him.

"So... how are we supposed to do this?"

Dark sighed, another futile attempt at building up a tent. He was slowly growing resigned to their fate of sleeping on the grass under the stars. Well, he thought, at least he's not as grumpy as Krad... And so, Dark taught his redheaded friend how to set up the tent and surprisingly, and much to Krad's annoyance, they completed the task successfully in less than half an hour.

But eventually, Krad's temper had cooled down a bit by dinner and the four boys could enjoy their meals in peace. They didn't do much after that; since the next day they'd have to wake up early, they all went to sleep as soon as they were done eating. Well, not really... actually, they stayed up until midnight, talking amongst themselves about many embarrassing things. But they were lying on their sleeping bags and inside the tent, so no one really noticed they were all but sleeping.

Naturally, when morning came, the four boys were in quite a poor state. The bags under their eyes were grey and heavy and neither, except Krad who always looked impeccable, were any better than a walking corpse, so tired they were. Of course they were the ones to blame for their current state of nearing-catatonia, though due credit goes to their camping co-ordinators as well, who insisted that they should all wake up at six. Too bad they hadn't listened to them at dinner, when they announced their plans...

And speaking about plans, the four boys were now participating in an improvised soccer match between first and second years. Dark and Daisuke were playing with their classmates while Hiwatari and his cousin went for a walk with the third year students. The dark-haired teen had become the star of the team, scoring three points. Daisuke was stunned, he had no idea Dark was such a good soccer player. Obviously, the first years won the match; after that and having a quick lunch, everyone went different ways.

Dark and Daisuke, seeing that they were filthy and sweaty, went to the lake to clean themselves off. A few other students followed, like Saehara and Sekimoto, but most of them went back to the improvised soccer pitch for another game. Half-naked and splashing about the lake was how Satoshi and Krad found the boys an hour later. Krad was in quite a bad mood, mostly because of the many bug-bites he claimed to have all over his so-called perfect body, but seeing the boys play so innocently in the water made him forget about the mosquitoes for a while. He stripped off and dived into the blue depths. Satoshi sighed and shook his head at him, making his cousin take his hand and drag him involuntarily into the water. Satoshi lost his composure (and his unneeded glasses, too) and started to chase his cousin half-swimming, half-walking since the lake wasn't deep. Daisuke and Dark laughed at the scene taking place before them, as they themselves had a wrestling match in the water. Tired and wet, they went to bed early that day.

It was Sunday now, their last day of camping. It had been arranged with the professors that they would be returning to the Azumano district by Monday's afternoon and starting classes again on Tuesday, so everyone woke up early to make the most of the current day. And so, they did everything that came to mind to pass the time, from climbing mountain ranges to improvising more soccer matches and some other games that the girls could share with them. All in all, everyone at the camping field had greatly enjoyed their weekend, even Krad couldn't complain. But all good things come to an end and this camping trip wasn't the exception.

At midnight, when everyone was too tired and sleepy to move, a bonfire was lit in the centre of the field. All the campers sat around the sparkling fire to tell horror stories or sing a song while another played the guitar. Needless to say, they improvised a karaoke competition that, surprisingly, Satoshi won with his acoustic version of Kinya Kotani's Smashing Blue. He dedicated that song to Daisuke whom, blushing profusely, admitted to liking Gravitation. Before the snickers, though, every male stare had turned in the redhead's direction.

"So..." Dark said in a conversational way, "you like... shounen-ai?"

Daisuke didn't dare to answer, he just looked away and kept blushing. The strange thing was that Dark wasn't going to tease him, he just... couldn't believe it.

-o-

Later that night, after the fire had been put out and every story had been told, the campers went to sleep. Well, almost. Daisuke twisted and turned in his sleeping bag, fighting the current insomnia. Seeing that all of his efforts were futile, he grabbed a sweater from his bag and went out for a walk. He had tried with all his might to sleep, but somehow his eyes refused to remain closed, leading him out of the tent and into the open to end up sitting under a tree as he stared at the moon. That is exactly what Dark was doing when he found him half an hour later.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked the purple-haired boy, startling him.

After recovering from his near heart-attack, Dark spoke in a deep, hoarse voice. "I think that's already pretty obvious." The boy was holding a cigarette in his right hand, something that Daisuke found extremely odd.

"You never told me you smoke."

"You never asked."

Daisuke was a little taken-aback by Dark's sudden coldness, but he let it pass. He thought the boy was probably remembering things that made him sad and depressed and he wasn't in the mood for friendly speech. Sighing inwardly, Daisuke simply sat beside him and remained silent. He could hear the sound of Dark's breath as he exhaled smoke, a sound that somehow made his heart pick up speed and start pounding wildly in his chest. He was wondering about the reason for that feeling, when Dark threw away the butt of his cigarette and turned to look at him. He didn't speak, he just studied Daisuke's features until said boy met his gaze and forced him to look away.

"I'm sorry for treating you so coldly," he said, "it's just that I've been thinking and... well, you know, there are things from my past that keep coming back to me in the least opportune moments."

Daisuke shrugged, he was smiling relieved. "I figured that much, you don't usually act like this." Dark snickered bitterly and kept his gaze in the moon. After a while, Daisuke, bored of staring at things, took Dark's hand and pulled him out of his sitting spot.

"What the hell...?"

"I'm kidnapping you," was all the explanation he gave. Dark let himself be led through the forest and into a small-looking cave made or rock at the bottom of a mountain range. Once there, a thunder echoed in the sky and rain started to fall heavily, punishing the ground with every drop of water.

"How did you know it was going to rain?" asked Dark, perplexed.

"I like to call it 'sixth sense,'" he smiled, "really, you spent half an hour staring at the sky and you didn't notice the black clouds?" Staring out into the soaking distance, he confessed. "I thought of running us back to the tent, but we are way too far from it to make it there dry and clean."

Dark nodded, agreeing, and took out another cigarette. The look of disappointment in his friend's face made him put it back into the pack, though. "I don't know when you started smoking," Daisuke told him, "but you should quit it."

"I've already quit doing a lot of things, might as well help myself ease the pain..." Daisuke gaped at the words that had come out of his friend's mouth. The funny way in which he'd pronounced each word and the irony in the message, it all served only to hide his real feelings. He was dying inside and not because he wanted to, but because he had no other choice. Daisuke, maybe for the first time, could really believe he understood what Dark felt. And it hurt.

"What is it that hurts you so much, Dark?" he risked asking, "what happened to make you so sad? What is that something you didn't tell me?"

After a short but insufferable silence, the boy snickered. "You're very perceptive, you know, Dai-chan?" Daisuke blushed at the use of that suffix. "There is, actually, one thing I didn't tell you." Dark sighed and walked in circles as he thought of the words; he didn't know how to say what he had in mind, because he couldn't understand the message. He didn't want to understand the message, never mind how much time he'd had to get used to the truth.

"The reason for my skipping two years of school, is that..." he paused; each word made his throat ache as he spoke. Tears were threatening to fall, but he blinked them all back. "Remember I told you my uncle helped me a lot? Well, the best thing he ever did for me was, precisely, to help me look for my birth father. He's a great man," he said, as the tears started to fall and he sat in the cave's ground. "He took me all around Japan to find him and we... did. We found him, though not in a way we would have expected." Daisuke sat beside him and lent him his shoulder to cry on. Dark was looking worse than ever, his eyes puffy and red and his cheeks wet and sticky from the tears. "This day, last year, we found out my dad had been dead for seven years."

He broke down again then, with Daisuke by his side as he cried. "There," the boy tried to sound soothing, "I know this won't be much help, but... you can count on me whenever you need me. Even though we've just met, I want you to know that I'll always be there for you."

Dark's sobbing decreased until he had completely stopped crying. All the while, inside his mind, Dark thought about his friend and smiled. The wind howled madly as the rain danced outside the cave; Dark and Daisuke kept each other company, save from harm and far from the curious stares they would get from their classmates if they saw them. The freezing cold forced them to stay close for warmth and the sound of the water droplets crashing in the ground lulled them to sleep. Dark said nothing, he just buried his face in Daisuke's chest and slept while the boy watched him, trying to relax and stop his rapidly pounding heart. The last thing Daisuke thought before falling asleep as well, was a simple question, something that he'd seen happen before but couldn't understand it now; it was the feeling he got each time he looked at Dark, the fluttering butterflies in his stomach that confused him.

"What is this feeling?"

-o-o-o-

Nyah, that's it. I'm sorry for the delay (I have little time now since... I GOT A JOB!! (yay!)), but this was the best I could do. It was really difficult for me to write this chapter; even though I have everything plotted and a guide for each chapter, I couldn't find the words to draft it. Talk about Writer's BlockÔ !! Ah, well, at least it's done... Oh, yes, this chapter's title is a wonderful song by Japan's god, Gackt. And don't forget: support this story!!! It HAS a plot, therefore it has an end. Please, don't give up on me! Um, about the 80's cartoon references... I used to LOVE Thundercats and He-man... and I always despised Silverhawks. I know this is irrelevant... Oh, yeah, also... could you PLEASE leave a review for me?????? ...Please?

Now, onto last chapter's reviews (they were only four... come on, be a little supportive here!):

KageKitsune16: here it is, a little later than expected, but it has arrived. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did... you know what to do, hint

baka-chibi-puffs: I do love you and you're the sweet one. AND you're not half as weird as I am, that much I guarantee... Nope, English is not my first language, Spanish is. I'm from Argentina, for those who don't know.

yamiinuyusuke: I'm glad you like it!! I'm also glad I have a #1 fan because that means there's more than one... hehe, I'm such an idiot... neh, keep reviewing and maybe I'll shut up and stop babbling "

sen: another reviewer, yay! I'm really glad that you think that about my fic, I'll let you know I do put a lot of effort in it, even though it doesn't show. It's just that words play tricks on me...