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

-o-o-o-

Aoi.
Chapter 6: Fantasy

Daisuke had been most surprised at Dark's reaction. Watching as the boy ran hurriedly away from the group had confused him; what could it be that had upset him so much that he had to leave? He had no answers to that question, but one thing was sure: he was going to pay a little visit to that old grocery store. Maybe he could find out what had troubled his friend so much. Meanwhile, he turned his gaze to where Krad was sitting. He imagined the blond boy had something to do with Dark's sudden departure, since he had been the last one to talk to him before he left. And that boy, Keiji Saga, he seemed to know Dark very well so Daisuke doubted he would have anything to do with what had happened. Still, it had all been so sudden and unexpected... what had happened? He needed to find out.

Krad looked at his redheaded friend with narrowed eyes, studying the gestures he did while thinking and the worried look on his face. Yes, he had screwed everything up. Or at least he had slowed things down more than they already were going. He had started to plot a solution to the mess he'd caused without intending to, when a hand was placed on his left shoulder.

"Ne, Krad-kun, don't you think it was odd for Dark to go away in such a rush?" the boy asked, making Krad forget -once again- what he had been thinking.

"I have a vague idea..." Krad said, to what Keiji's ears pricked up. The latter swore to eternal silence and Krad nodded. The blond Hikari apologised to his cousin and friend and left to talk with Keiji, determined to explain the situation to the boy.

Once Krad and Keiji were gone, Daisuke and Satoshi were left to themselves, stealing glances at the other as they tried to speak. Being best friends it was really hard for them to feel so awkward in each other's presence, but unfortunately there was nothing they could do to change the way things were. Feeling particularly hopeful, they both decided that they would get accustomed to what had happened with a little patience and time. Until then, they would wait; it was the least they could do...

Later that day, once lunch was over, everyone returned to their respective classes. Daisuke and Satoshi walked together in utter silence to their first year classroom, arriving a little late for class and frowning at the commotion caused by their classmates. The situation got even worse once Daisuke stepped inside the room as the entirety of the student group erupted into applause and cheers. This cannot be good, Daisuke thought. In fact, I bet it's even worse...

"Congratulations, Dai-chan!" An overly excited Takeshi Saehara said as he patted his friend on the back. "You've got the main role in this year's school play!"

I knew this had to be a nightmare... "And... what is this play you're talking about?" he asked Saehara. He hadn't heard anyone speaking about a play until then, something he considered to be quite weird if not even suspicious. In fact, considering all past experience, he thought it might have been a conspiracy.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, mate! Guess what: you're Harry!" Great, just great, Daisuke thought to himself. Not only he was worried about Dark and on non-speaking terms with his best friend, now he had to be part of the year's school play AND with the leading role, no less. It seemed fate was laughing at him, these days. Well, at least it's a story I enjoy... it could have been worse; they could have chosen Cinderella or some other fairy tale of the like...

"Come on, Daisuke, cheer up! You should be happy about this, everyone voted for you! Well, everyone present at the time..." Saehara explained to him, not feeling the slightest bit guilty, even when he knew that everything had been his idea. "Don't you want to know about the rest of the cast?"

Daisuke shook his head, feeling more annoyed than he had been in a long time. "No, thanks; I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later, anyway." And he had been right. As he took his seat behind Satoshi's, he shifted his gaze to the blackboard were the rest of the cast had been listed.

HERMIONE GRANGER: HARADA RISA
RON WEASLEY: SAEHARA TAKESHI
DRACO MALFOY: HIWATARI SATOSHI
SEVERUS SNAPE: MOUSY DARK

Daisuke's brain stopped working at that exact moment. Dark? Playing the character of old, greasy bastard Snape? Dark... the Potions teacher? That surely was unexpected... and plain weird. He shook his head, his classmates were crazy. But then again, looking up at the list, he reread the choice for Draco's role and was suddenly on the verge of tears. Not only they were crazy, but also -maybe without meaning to- quite cruel. Why did it have to be Satoshi of all people? Why? I just know this isn't going to be good... I know how fangirls feel about Harry and Draco, this is only going to lead us into trouble. Why me, kami-sama? Haven't I suffered enough?

As he saw Satoshi bury his head in his hands, he realised that he had been selfish. He had only thought about what he would feel, all the while ignoring his best friend. He knew him well and he knew that even when he was trying his best to deny it, he was probably suffering more than he was. He had always been quite shy and reserved, after all. Summing it all up, they were both in quite a mess.

-o-

That afternoon, Dark was sitting behind the counter of the grocery store. It was nearly time for him to go home and he was waiting for his boss to come back from the bank. He was twiddling his fingers in a bored way, watching as the clock ticked by and feeling quite nervous, actually. He was also so tired and the pain he still felt was so strong... he could barely believe he was feeling so bad, let alone understand it. He had a vague idea of what his problem could be, but just like it had happened before -back in the cave that other night, to be precise- he refused to accept it. He had almost fallen asleep, when he heard the bell that hung from the door's handle ring. Looking up, he expected to find a customer, but he was soon taken off guard by his unexpected visitor.

"Daisuke?" he let the word slip through his slightly trembling lips. Suddenly, his throat had gone dry and his legs had started to shake. This boy is making a complete idiot out of me! was the last coherent thought he had for a while. The redhead didn't look any better than he was. He was balancing his weight from side to side, pretending to take in the details around him when he was simply trying to gather the courage to say 'hello.' "W-What are you doing here?" Dark asked, trying not to sound rude.

The redhead went, well, red as he looked away, searching for an answer. It was such a stupid question, yet it seemed to be the most difficult to answer. Sighing, he let the words flow, praying to whatever gods he had left that he wouldn't mess it up. "Well, I was worried about you. You know... earlier today you ran away from school for no apparent reason and it made me think weird things... you know, it... worried me." Great, Daisuke, great. Now that was reeeally bright of you.

Dark was taken aback by Daisuke's confession. He was worried, something he would have never expected to hear from him, but still... even when looking at his face made him feel funny, it also hurt. It hurt because he knew what he and Satoshi had done and Daisuke had fooled him. He had made him believe something that wasn't possible and he should be angry about it. Only that he wasn't. He couldn't be angry, not with Daisuke.

"Look," he said between sighs, "I'm busy right now, maybe... we'll talk tomorrow at school, okay?" Daisuke was a little shocked at the cold response from his friend, but shrugged it off, nonetheless. Smiling, he said goodbye to Dark and practically fled the store, nearly bumping into a chubby old man that was coming his way.

"Gomen ne," he yelled as he ran past the startled old man. Said man, at the sight of bright, red hair and such a strong energy radiating off that boy, smirked knowingly to himself as he entered the store. "I believe I have just met your dear Daisuke..." he said and Dark smiled sadly.

"Yeah," the boy said, "it might have been him..."

-o-

The next day at school, the rehearsals for the school play had begun. Krad and Saga had asked for a permission to skip classes that day so they were currently sitting at the back of the room, watching at two very-nervous Daisuke and Satoshi who were rehearsing -quite pathetically- the scene in which Harry and Draco meet at Madam Malkin's.

"Do you know what house you'll be in, yet?"

"No"

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been -- imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm..."

The boys kept reading the script as Keiji, Krad and Dark, as well as the rest of the class either watched them or studied their own parts. "They're hopeless," Krad snorted, making Dark snicker bitterly. The blond looked at his friend, frowning. "And just what on Earth is wrong with you?" he asked the boy. "You've been acting all weird since yesterday..." Krad suddenly stopped talking, remembering what exactly had happened the previous day. How could I've forgotten? He asked himself as he smirked. He was sure Dark was still jealous about the implications of what he'd heard him say and so he needed to make things right.

"Hey, Dark, do you remember what I told you yesterday?" Dark turned to look at him, his eyes had gone opaque and sad, making Krad feel a little pity for him. The purple-haired boy nodded weakly, waiting for whatever Krad was going to tell him, even when he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know or not. "Well, the thing is that there's been a little misunderstanding..." Dark raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of what he was referring to but resolute to find out. Krad addressed him with a knowing smile, making clear that he knew everything. The poor purple-haired boy was at a loss for words; he couldn't believe Krad had discovered his little secret. "Remember I told you that these two idiots had woken up in the same bed?" Again, Dark nodded even though it hurt him to do so. "Well, judging by your reaction... I'd say you got the wrong idea..."

"I don't think there are many ways of interpreting what you told me," Dark stated in a low, tiny voice that seemed about to crack. "They slept together, there's no big mystery about that..."

Krad shook his head, still smirking to himself. Looking up, he met Dark's eyes as he spoke. "They did sleep together, Dark," he said, "just not in the way you think..." At Dark's puzzled face, he explained further into detail. "The other day I took the two idiots to a bar. Needless to say, they got drunk. Really drunk." Dark's eyes had now taken the shape of saucers. He couldn't believe this story; Daisuke wouldn't do something so silly as getting drunk, he was too innocent... "Yes, they got drunk and I had to drag them home. The thing is, Daisuke's home was too far from the bar for him to walk in such an awful state and so, I took him home with us. I stripped the two drunken idiots off their clothes and lay them on Satoshi's bed. Finito; end of story. They did nothing; even if they wanted to, they wouldn't have been able to do it."

Dark breathed a sigh of relief; he could hear faraway bells ringing in his ears and his eyes now looked bright and full of life. Still, there was something that didn't make much sense. "Say, Krad-kun..." he said thoughtfully, "if they didn't do anything... how come they can't even talk between themselves? I mean, look at them," Dark said, pointing at his friends that even while rehearsing couldn't face each other. "They look guilty and embarrassed, if they hadn't done anything they wouldn't behave like that."

"Ah, that..." Krad smiled shyly, as if feeling guilty himself. "They don't know exactly what happened, I didn't have the opportunity to tell them..." he excused himself. Dark was frozen for a moment, taking in the information. Finally, he sighed and happily exclaimed, "ah, you still have time..." Then, looking sternly to his blond friend, he said "but do it, or else..."

"You know," Keiji cut into the conversation with a thoughtful statement; "you are actually good for Snape's role." Dark and Krad turned to look at him as if he'd lost an eye, making him shrug and dismiss the subject. The three boys were back to watching their friends rehearse. Dark was now relieved and calm and Krad felt as if he'd taken a massive weight off his back; he was resolute to tell the boys the truth, if only for Dark's sake... or maybe because of his threat.

-o-

When classes were dismissed that day, Daisuke, Satoshi, Dark, Krad and Keiji went to the park to have an amiable chat. Dark left with Keiji to get some drinks, leaving the other three boys alone, so that Krad would do what he had promised him. Meanwhile, Keiji was telling Dark about Daisuke's ability for acting.

"I'm telling you, Dark-kun, despite what Krad said, I think that boy is really talented. He was just nervous back there and with good reason," he explained. Dark shook his head, he knew exactly where this was going. "We should talk him into joining our group..."

"I knew you were going to say that!" Dark interrupted him, red in the face. "Forget about it, Keiji, we'll do fine without him!" Keiji shook his head, amazed at how stubborn his friend could be. Still, he knew he'd have the last say in the end and decided to stop pushing him for a while. Instead, they walked back to the playground in the centre of the park, where their friends were waiting for them. Dark smiled happily, as he looked at Daisuke who was talking fast to Satoshi with total ease, as if nothing had ever happened... which it didn't.

"I see you're back on speaking terms," Dark laughed, to what Daisuke poked his tongue out. "Hey, no need to be rude..." he said as he poked Daisuke in the ribs. The redhead started giggling uncontrollably, Dark didn't remember him to be so ticklish. With a wicked grin on his face, he seized the opportunity to attack his friend. Soon, they were engaged in a battle of poking and tickling... something Krad and Satoshi found disturbing while Keiji thought to be quite cute.

"Oh, please..." Krad sneered as he got up from the swing he was sitting on. "Get a room!" he said, making Satoshi and Keiji snicker. Dark and Daisuke stopped battling, both blushing and feeling embarrassed. They stood up as well and soon the five of them were back in the streets, walking to their respective houses as they sipped on their drinks. Krad and Satoshi said goodbye to the group and turned to the right, making their way to their apartment and soon Daisuke parted ways as well, leaving only Keiji and Dark. The two friends walked to the latter's apartment, where they would stop to eat before going to their acting class.

"So..." Keiji started saying in his drawling, mocking voice, "what was that sickening display of affection, Dark-kun? Tickling? I didn't know you were that corny..." At least, Dark had the decency to blush.

-o-

Another crazy day of school after the other, rehearses were over and it was time to get on the stage. The play took place at a small theatre near the institute and all tickets had been sold. Daisuke didn't forget a single word of his script and Dark was given a standing ovation for his role as Snape, the Potions Master. Satoshi did well in his part, too and Saehara was also applauded for an excellent direction. All in all, things had gone pretty well and everyone was happy. In fact, there was someone who was a little too happy...

Keiji Saga approached his friends backstage. "Dark-kun!" he yelled as he hugged his friend, "you were amazing, Dark-kun! These acting lessons are doing wonders for you!"

"Acting lessons?" asked a rather surprised Daisuke Niwa as he took off the long, heavy robes he was wearing. Keiji eyed him from head to toe as he did so, earning himself an elbow from his dear friend, Dark. "Hey, don't get jealous," he whispered jokingly to him. Turning to Daisuke, he congratulated the boy, "you were really good, Daisuke-kun, you are very talented!"

"Don't change the subject, Keiji-san, I heard you speaking about acting classes." He scolded the blond, mockingly, making funny faces as he did so. "Now, who is taking those lessons?"

"Actually, both of us are," Keiji explained in a conversational way, making Dark get more and more nervous with each passing minute. He just knew he was going to do it. "The only difference," he kept saying, "is that they only seem to be beneficial for Dark-kun, while I'm left looking at him from the stalls."

"Ne, are we jealous, Keiji-san?" Daisuke risked asking, seeing the gesture of mock-disappointment in the blond's face.

"Nah, he's a fine piece of... scenery, anyway," Dark's ears had turned red at the innuendo and Daisuke wasn't doing any better; his face was red all of a sudden as he started thinking -and trying to dismiss at the same time- what Keiji had meant. "Hey, Dai-chan," Keiji started, all traces of mockery left behind; this is it, thought Dark, he's going to do it. "You see, Dark and I are very much into acting and... well, our acting school is preparing a play about a boy..."

"Keiji, I just remembered!" Dark interrupted them, looking almost violet now and ready to explode. "What?" asked Keiji innocently, "that you are a pathetic coward?" Dark finally reacted, losing the odd tint in his face and returning to a normal colour, though he was burning inside. "What did you say?" he asked. Keiji smirked and answered calmly; he knew just how to manipulate his friend. "I only stated a fact. If you think I'm wrong, then prove it to me."

The unspoken (and reluctant) agreement was enough for Keiji. Dark stepped past him and faced Daisuke, sweating because of his rising discomfort. He was resolute to prove Keiji wrong; he wasn't a coward. "Daisuke-kun..." he started saying as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, "I was wondering..."

"Just spit it out, man!" Keiji yelled, sounding annoyed. "Tell him to help you and it'll be it, there's no big deal...!"

"What does he mean, Dark-kun?" Daisuke asked, suddenly intrigued.

Dark sighed, it was now or never. "As Keiji already told you, our acting school is preparing a play. Well, the thing is... I have the leading role, but there's a problem." Dark waited for the interrogation 'what is it' but it never came. Instead, there was an awkward silence and Keiji's snickering in the background. "It's a shounen-ai play, Daisuke! And I'm really nervous, because I like acting and I want to be a professional, but I'm scared of having to kiss another boy and..." Dark tried to relax before spitting out the last bit of sentence in a single breath. "i-would-feel-a-lot-better-if-you-joined-this-play-to-be-my-boyfriend-in-the-play-because-i-want-to-have-someone-i-trust-to-be-my-boyfriend-in-the-play-because-i'm-scared-and-sorry-if-i-made-you-uncomfortable-i-am-too-so-i'm-sorry."

Daisuke was stunned, to say the least. He wasn't sure he had understood everything Dark had told him -it had been quite confusing- but he was sure of one thing: opportunities were few and he'd already lost most of them.

"Okay."

Not it was Dark's turn to be stunned.

-o-o-o-

Ta-dann! Sixth chapter done, I hope you liked it. This chappie's title is a song by Atsushi Sakurai (Buck-Tick's singer) and I really like it.

I think this chapter was waaaay better than the last one. For one, it was better written (or so I think) and it had more content. And be glad I didn't include the play. Oh, yeah... sorry about that, but I'm a Harry Potter geek and I rather liked the idea. Those of you who know about this story and are wondering what on earth was I thinking when I decided to have Dark as Snape... well, I think Snape is a rather sexy character (in its own, twisted way) and that Dark would perform the role well. Yes, I'm sick, I know. Oh, and the reference to Harry-Draco-fangirls is, well, just that. Fangirls are rather sick (I'm included) about having the two arch-nemesis as a couple... though they'd look rather cute, ne? Now, it's time for me to thank the reviewers:

Aroa Nehring: Bueno, una niña que escribe en castellano (es un cambio agradable ). Mira, por ahora, lo estoy escribiendo en inglés, pero quizás en un futuru cercano, si tengo tiempo y me pongo vaga... no hay por qué descartar la posibilididad de traducirlo. Pero, si pudieras seguir leyendo este, me haría muy feliz! Gracias por la review, kisu-kisu! (Por cierto, de dónde sos? curiosidad, no más...)
Staryday: This chappie was better, so I think you may like it. I mean, if you liked the last one...
KageKitsune16: I'm glad you did, I just hope I won't disappoint you!
yamiinuyusuke: Ah, but that's okay... he's got over it, I guess. Maybe too quickly, but I can't stand being too cruel to Dark-kun... at least not when he's the star...!
myinuyasha04: Dai did went for Dark, but nothing happened there. I think we have to thank Krad here... he's good lad in the inside...
Pyro Demon: here it is! You don't have to wait any longer!! Though I have to admit that I had to struggle violently to finish this... it was like an epic fight between my brain and the keyboard... scary, indeed...
ShadowCat Rika: I will finish this even if it's the last thing I do, so don't worry. I'll change a dozen things while doing so, but the plot (IF you can call that a plot) is there and waiting to be put into a paper... or a Word doc...
baka-chibi-puffs: It wa a mess, but everything went right in the end. As usual, we love happy endings, don't we?

By the way, peeps, thank to the three people that reviewed Rakuen. Just those three reviews were enough to make my day. I was rather insecure with that one, so thank you for cheering me up and being so supportive. You inspire me to keep writing, that's why I'm starting a new (long) fic with an experimental pairing... Krad... and Daisuke!! Mwahahaa, I love this crazy things... Ahhh... I'm a hopeless case...