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

-o-o-o-

Aoi.
Chapter 7: Coming closer

"Huh?"

The intelligent question had been mouthed by both Dark and Keiji. The first one had barely registered what Daisuke had told him and the latter could not believe the boy had agreed so easily. It was all so unexpected to the two friends that they could not even bring themselves to keep their mouths closed.

"What did you say?" asked Keiji, slowly coming out of his shock.

"I said 'okay.' He asked me to be in the play, right? Well," Daisuke explained, "he's my friend and I want to help him and if this will work for him... Hell, I've watched too much Gravitation..." He started giggling nervously, already regretting having given in to Dark's request.

"That's great, Dark-kun!" Keiji smiled mischievously as he turned to his friend. "Now you won't be nervous," he added as an afterthought, clearly making fun of the boy.

"Yes, no, I won't, I'll be..." Dark mumbled incoherently as he tried with all of his might to force his brain to work; he needed to process all that information somehow.

"I'm curious, though," Daisuke stated thoughtfully, addressing Keiji. "If you two belong to the same acting school... why didn't you play the, um, boyfriend role? I mean, you're his friend, too."

Keiji scratched his head and laughed in a goofy way before answering, "ah, but I already have a part in the play... I'm supposed to be Dark's boyfriend's friend, the insufferable homophobe."

"Oh," Daisuke replied, "but... isn't there someone to be the boyfriend? Won't he get mad at me for stealing his part?"

"Nah," Keiji waved him off, "don't worry about that... after all, we haven't found the boyfriend yet... no one really wants to play that part, though I don't know why..."

Daisuke's left eye twitched as he focused his attention on Dark. The boy had a suspicious half-smile on his face and was looking silly in his dream-like state. It was quite the picture, Daisuke decided. The redhead turned to dress up, but stopped mid-step to talk to Keiji. "There's only one condition, though," he told him, "we are going to keep this secret, even from Krad and Satoshi." Keiji nodded once and gestured with his hand over his mouth as if he were zipping it. Then -and speaking of Rome- he left the dressing room and went to bother Krad and his cousin. Daisuke turned to look at Dark once more; the boy had finally got over his shock and was getting dressed. The redhead looked flushed as he tore his gaze away from the sight of a pair of boxers. Dark smiled, humming happily as he minded his own business and ignored everything else but Daisuke's agreement.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Satoshi as he walked inside the dressing room to talk to his friends. Daisuke mumbled something about having no clue and continued changing. The blue-haired boy waved a hand in front of Dark's eyes, but the only response he got was a happy sigh. Shaking his head, he turned to tell Daisuke that Krad and Keiji wanted them five to go have lunch together. Daisuke agreed and, once they managed to take Dark from out of his reverie, they dragged him to where the two blond boys were and headed for the nearest fast-food restaurant.

"I have to admit," Krad told the four of them as they munched on their hamburgers, "that I was surprised at the improvement. You were... not so horrible." Dark elbowed him in the ribs, making him choke on a french fry. Once he managed to swallow, he poked his tongue out at the boy. Daisuke and Satoshi shook their heads while Keiji snickered. He had his mind set in other matters, for one, introducing Daisuke to his and Dark's acting class.

-o-

The day next to the play, everyone turned to either giggle or squeak at the sight of Dark. The girls had stopped chasing after Krad and Satoshi to send love letters to the boy, making him flush and then brag about having fans. Daisuke couldn't hide his jealousy anymore and it was making him nervous that Dark seemed so comfortable with all the attention.

Satoshi dragged him to the furthest corner of an empty room during lunch break. He wanted Daisuke to admit once and for all that he was jealous and why instead of simply sulking his way through the halls.

"What do you want?" asked Daisuke irritably. Satoshi raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't complain. Daisuke could be quite complicated when he wanted to and he knew just how to handle him.

"I want to know what is going on with you," he answered. "Yesterday, everything seemed fine and today you're seething with rage over who-knows-what. What the hell happened, Daisuke? Did someone hurt you?"

"No," he quickly replied. Then he added, as an afterthought, "at least not intentionally."

"Is this about Dark?"

A nod. Satoshi sighed, letting his body collapse to the ground as he sat cross-legged. Dragging his friend down with him, he looked at him in the eye and motioned for him to talk. "It's just that," he stammered, "I can't stand him being all... conceited about the attention he's getting."

"Why does it bother you so much? Would you rather have that attention set on you?"

"No!" Daisuke snapped. "No, I just..."

Satoshi snickered, making his friend frown at him. "I cannot believe this," he said, "you're jealous because of the girls that want to get in his pants?"

Daisuke blushed crimson and looked away. "You didn't have to be so blunt..."

"Yes, I had to," Satoshi replied still snickering, "otherwise you wouldn't have told me."

"Good point." Daisuke took a deep breath before he started speaking again. "I can't stand this anymore," he told Satoshi. "I want to let him know of my feelings, but I don't want to be rejected! And judging by his reaction to all those girls...."

"Now you're not making any sense," Satoshi told him, harshly cutting him off. "He's just kidding around, it probably helps him overcome his feelings of embarrassment." Daisuke shook his head, disbelieving. "Yes, Daisuke, that's what he's doing," he insisted. "He never liked the attention, always trying to keep to himself, why would he have changed?"

"It doesn't matter!" Daisuke spat annoyed. "The thing is, I know he's going to reject me."

"Then you are more idiotic than I ever thought you were," Satoshi replied, earning himself a not very effective glare and a mock gesture of hurt. "Believe what you want, Daisuke, but if you don't try to speak to him, you'll never know if you were right or wrong." Satoshi grinned wickedly at him before telling him, "Remember that well-known phrase, Daisuke: it is better to have loved and lost and to have never loved at all."

"When did you get so corny and... predictable?"

"Shut up, you didn't know I was going to say that!"

"Yes, I did."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Oh, just shut it..."

They spent a few more minutes in silence. Neither was uttering a single word nor did they move; they just breathed and looked around the room, trying to distract themselves. Satoshi wanted to laugh at Daisuke's naiveté, but his conscience stopped him. He checked his expensive wristwatch; they had enough time to run upstairs into the terrace and have lunch with their friends.

The blue-haired boy got to his feet and dragged his friend out of the room and into a corridor, where they turned left and found the stairs. As he climbed up each step, Daisuke's stomach started filling with annoying hyperactive butterflies. He was very nervous, almost close to hysterics and he didn't know why. He supposed it had something to do with what he'd talked to Satoshi about. Maybe he was afraid the boy might tell Dark, or even worse, Krad. Still, shaking his head, he decided that it was stupid to think such things. Satoshi wouldn't do any of those, after all; he could be trusted.

"Ne, where were you two?" greeted them one flushed-looking Keiji Saga. Daisuke already feared the worst.

"What's with the flushed face?" The redhead ask, completely ignoring the blond's question. Keiji raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck as he laughed nervously; Krad looked away, seemingly absorbed in the fascinating colour of his rice pudding. Something was decidedly out of place, Daisuke gladly suspected and Satoshi secretly agreed. Dark was looking between the two blond boys, finally setting his gaze on Daisuke and raising his arms, defeated; he honestly didn't have the faintest clue of what could have happened to those two.

Daisuke, practically forced by his dear friend Satoshi, walked to where Dark was and flopped down on the floor next to him. He noticed Dark didn't have anything to eat and, while he offered to share his obento, he asked him about it, simply trying to make non-embarrassing conversation.

"I had one, but," he snickered, "a girl came crashing over me and sent it flying to Kami-sama-knows-where..."

"Oh," was all the response he got.

Then, as Daisuke set the obento box on his lap, slightly inclined to his left for Dark to have easy access, the purple-haired teen surprised him with a question he wasn't expecting. "Um, what you said yesterday..." he stammered, blushing as he spoke the words, "did you mean it?"

"What?" Daisuke asked for reassurance; he already knew what he was referring to, but he didn't want to chance a wrong answer.

"You know... you... agreed to..." Dark was having trouble to complete his sentence. Fortunately, what he said was enough for Daisuke to understand and he cut him off.

"Oh, that," he laughed brightly. "Yeah," he admitted quietly, "I meant it."

"Good," Dark sighed relieved, "good." He reached out to take a piece of onigiri, unintentionally brushing his hand on Daisuke's; he hadn't noticed the boy reaching out his hand as well. The contact sent shivers running like thunderbolts down their backs, electric bolts that made their eyes widen and their neck hairs stand on end. They both tried to avoid the other's gaze as they argued over who should have the piece of onigiri. "Sorry," Dark mumbled.

"No, please," Daisuke replied, "you can have it."

"No, it's your obento box, you have it."

"No, I insist," Daisuke said, sounding almost pleading.

"You are so pathetic," Krad told them as he took the piece of onigiri himself. "Arguing about this," he said pointing to the ball of rice in his hand. "You look like two... schoolboys in love or something..." He went back to his conversation with Satoshi, snickering as he ate what he'd took from his friend's obento box.

"That was..." Daisuke spoke, not very sure of what he wanted to say.

"...Krad," Dark completed the sentence, knowing exactly what he meant. He was glad for the interruption though, even when Krad had made fun of them both. At least it had taken the blush off their faces... almost. He once again turned to Daisuke, who had pressed a piece of onigiri into his palm, smiling. He returned the gesture and bit on the delicious food and kept silently to himself.

"So," Daisuke started saying, "when will you introduce me to your acting class?"

Clearly uncomfortable at having to discuss certain matters, Dark bit again on the onigiri in the hopes of Daisuke forgetting about his question. But as he swallowed, he noticed the redhead was still expecting an answer from him. He could not believe he had let Keiji fool him to actually ask Daisuke about joining the play's cast. "Our next class is in two days," he told his friend. "You can come with us then, if you want to."

"Sure," Daisuke replied smiling. Could it be he actually wants to do this? Dark asked himself, unable to answer. Shrugging, he went back to eating. Thankfully, Daisuke didn't ask any more questions.

-o-

The two friends introduced the redhead to the acting group a few days after having had that 'conversation.' Daisuke was his usual, friendly self and seemed to get along very well with everyone. Professor Azuma gave him the script, testing him as he read his parts. Having passed that test, he was officially incorporated to the play's cast. Dark was relieved to say the least; he couldn't even imagine kissing a boy he didn't like in front of everyone. Not that anyone knew he liked Daisuke, or any boy, to begin with...

Still, everyone seemed content, whatever the reasons were. The only problem was that they only had two weeks of rehearsals before the play, which was quite a short period of time, considering the length of it and all of the things that would also have to be taken care of. To make things easier, they split the class into different groups with different tasks to complete. The main group, the one where the play's cast belonged, had the only task of rehearsing. The second and third groups were in charge of setting the scenery and advertising the play, respectively. Daisuke found himself not-so-strangely at ease with his role and also with the whole environment. He had to admit that acting felt really good, as if he were draining his emotions through each line; it was relaxing, almost blissfully so. And having Dark so close to him made things a thousand times better...

The two boys had enough time over those two weeks of rehearsals to get to know each other more than they already did, even at a more intimate level -even when they skipped the kissing scene-. Still, it was always awkward for either Dark or Daisuke to tell the other he loved him, even if it was just a few words on a script. As time passed, it got harder for them to pretend they weren't attracted to each other and the situations at hand offered so many possibilities it seemed abnormal not to consider them. Unfortunately, in the end, both of them decided against their instincts and kept rehearsing their parts, speaking 'iloveyous' in little voices they seemed afraid of letting out.

-o-

The play took place in upper high-school, where a sixteen year old exchange student arrives. The boy is shy and keeps to himself most of the time, afraid of rejection. He spends his days alone, until one day when he gets hit in the face with a football on his way home. A cheerful boy of his age runs to apologise and they get to know each other. The two fell in love at first sight, becoming a couple just as soon. They had kept his affair a secret, but the cheerful boy's friend finds out about it and tries to get them apart. He sets a trap, making the boys believe they had been cheated on. Because of this, the main character decides to go back to his country. The cheerful boy finds out about his so-called-friend's plot and runs to the airport where his beloved's plain is about to take off. This last scene was taking place at the moment, full theatre-room and everything. Dark was sitting in a chair, the scenery reminiscent of an airport's waiting room, Daisuke kneeling before him with tears rolling down his cheeks as he cried his speech.

"...and all we've believed in has been a lie. I'm sorry for not trying to find out the truth sooner, but there's nothing I can do!" he cried into Dark's lap, tugging at his clothes in desperation.

"I'm sorry, Masuo," Dark replied, tears starting to flow after having heard his beloved's declaration. "My family is waiting for me, I have to go."

"Aren't you going to say anything else??" Daisuke spat bitterly, angry and hurt at the same time. "I can't live without you, can't you see? These two weeks we've been apart have torn up my heart; if you leave me, I'll die." There was no response from Dark. A beeping sound could be heard in the distance and a woman announced the boy's flight.

"I have to go."

"I beg you, Tenryuu," Daisuke pleaded, "don't leave me."

"There's nothing else I can do," Dark said, making the audience sob and sniffle and eat at their handkerchiefs. "I'm sorry, Masuo, I wish I had more time to show you..."

"To show me what, Tenryuu? Maybe how much you despise me? Please, don't play with my heart."

"No," Dark said, tilting up Daisuke's chin to meet his glassy stare as he smiled bitterly, tears finally falling freely down his face. The audience held their breaths as Dark's last words became audible and the script seemed faraway and non-existent: "...to show you how much I love you."

This is it, the two boys thought in perfect unison.

Dark leant forward to bring his lips close to Daisuke's. It seemed surreal, a fairy-tale experience, better than anything the two had ever dreamt. Dark was gentle and his lips were soft and sweet on Daisuke's. They tasted of cinnamon and honey, Daisuke decided as he let himself be wrapped in his beloved's arms and returned the kiss with passion. It got deeper with each second, more and more addictive, making the boys drunk. They had long stopped following the script as they simply let out all of their repressed emotions through the kiss. The female audience would have clapped and cheered, but they were all too caught up staring wide-eyed and drying their watery eyes.

The voice announcing the flight was heard again and the two boys were forced to pull away. Staring into Dark's eyes for the last time, Daisuke said, "we'll meet again." Dark nodded, before standing up and disappearing into a small group of people, leaving to take his flight.

The red velvet curtains closed and the play was suddenly over. Minutes later, the entire cast walked together to the front of the stage, Dark and Daisuke in the centre of it, and greeted the public as they were given an ovation. Daisuke hugged his friend as a white light blinded him for a moment. He became scared; he didn't want to imagine what could happen if someone found out about this.

-o-o-o-

Ah, how I hated to write this chapter...! I swear, this Writer's Block thing is going to kill me. Ah, well, notes, notes: this chapter's title is my favourite L'arc En Ciel song, from their most recent album, Smile. I love that album... About the names: Azuma is none other than the superbly cool professor of GOA in "Candidate for Goddess;" Masuo is my beloved Masuo Fuguno-san from "If I see you in my Dreams," and Tenryuu is my favourite character from "Sakende Yaruze!" (shounen-ai manga). Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and if you did, please, review. You have no idea of how much I need some of those at times like these... Still, I managed to write YET another DNAngel fic. Its name is Kirei, go check it out, the pairing will... surprise you (yes, Krad/Daisuke). Review, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase!

Staryday: imagine... Daisuke the seme... it's sounds hilarious... and bizarre... anyway...... glad you liked it, I'm trully struggling to get these chapters done. Hopefully, it will all settle down with next chapter. Or so I hope.
KageKitsune16: I hope this has answered your question. Sorry I rushed things up, but I need to get this thing flowing before I completely lose my inspiration and am forced to stop writing. Please, don't let that happen... review, those little things help wonders .
baka-chibi-puffs: here is your update, sorry but the three-day delay, by the way.
myinuyasha04: hell yeah. That's all I'm going to say vv!
Aroa Nehring: ya podés chequearlo, se llama Kirei y es super triste... pero es cute de alguna manera... yo tengo el mismo problema para dejar reviews, estoy en una máquina de acceso público en un cyber amigo y me bajo las cosas y las leo en casa... cansa y a veces no puedo subir cosas por quién sabe qué, pero... bueno, menos es nada, yo siempre lo digo. Bueno, muchacha, yo tengo 19, cumplo 20 el 27 de Enero (soy una vieja... --") y soy de Argentina. Mi MSN es shokoreito(arroba)hotmail(punto)com. De paso, y ya que hablás español, le hago propaganda a mi bloggy-thingie, Yami no Giyu, en http(2puntos,barra)www(punto)geocities(punto)com(barra)yaminogiyu .
Pyro Demon: here it is, I hope you liked it.
darksaphire: yeah, I'll take your word. Need.More.DarkxDai!!! Um, yeah, well, cough I hope you liked this, kisu-kisu!!!