Lenora- Sure, I'll have to get around to it eventually.
Yuki-chu- Woot! Dark's not the only one who thinks Satoshi needs some action!
Satoshi- blush! That's not what she meant!
Kloudy Reignfall- Thankies!
Dragon Tears Wing- Aishiteru means I love you. (joins group hug)
Kikiro Tsuatashi- Dark Trembles
KageKitsune16- Thankies!
Golden-flame4- Woot! Thanks!
Hikari Fubuki- authoress shudders of even attempting to keep Daere on a leash and being caught up in his bondage fetish, Krad also shudders somewhere, not knowing why
Hikari Fubuki- Eriko and Cadell both hold out cheerleader fans while karaoke-ing we will survive
Hikari Fubuki- Kitsune- Yay! Someone likes my villain!
Daere- hovers ominously over Kitsune's shoulder
Kitsune-shudder
Krad- Where's my plushie? I mean- Evil weapon of doom!
Hikari Fubuki- Kitsune- waves cheer flags for Emiko
Daere- chews on HF's leg
Krad- My plushie! wails
Dark- muttering I'm cuter than a damned plushie!
Baka Chibbi- Lol, That's Satoshi alright - And yes, Daere is a bastard! kicks Daere before running away
Silvertears- YAY! You're alive! hugs Daere… Realizes who she's hugging
Daere- smirk
Kitsune- 0.0 faints
Krad- I know the feeling. ¬.¬
Dark- Oh great! Now she has to postpone the lemon scene!
Krad/Daisuke- 0.0 faints
Animegoil- Cadriko! Lol! I dunno, probably!
Leiko- Cadriko…Why didn't Daisuke think of that? ¬.¬;;
KatBell- Leiko puts authoress in a headlock for naming her arrogance
Daere- Yeah? Well she named me fiend!
Whole Cast- stares
Daisuke- You are the bad guy,
Daere- …SOB! I know! WAILS
Kitsune- Um…I'll update soon? pats Daere on the back
Koji ametsurugi- Thanks! I'm so flattered that you say that because I do that too- not with my own story naturally, but some of the more well written ones, but I never thought that I was so well written! o
Ichigo12- Thanks! Poor Kitty! Runs away from Daere who's angry about being killed
LuceScuro- Thankies! Stupid school's been keeping me busy, but I'm back for the weekend!
Fireandflames- More to come soon my heated friend!
Blizzi-chan- I did?!? I'm sorry! Must have been distracted or something…mewi…Well! More story and maybe eventually a two hundredth review picture.
Mutou Yasu- Oh don't even tell me about the school thing! I've been drowning in work! TT.TT Freaking homework has been out to get me since freshman year!
Please- Only upon your request milady or lord,
Surrealgreen- Knew I'd lost a review somewhere! I put this in the wrong folder and almost didn't respond! I'm glad you ended up reviewing- and reading of course. I tried to evenly dole out the Dark/Krad, and Daisuke/Satoshi sweetness. I'm very glad you liked it!
CH16- Lull Before the Storm
Daisuke murmured declarations of love as Satoshi pressed heated kisses to his throat, seeming to wish to treasure every inch of his lover. He'd never seen Satoshi's eyes this particular shade of blue before and it occurred to him that it was likely no one else had.
"I love you." repeated Satoshi.
Daisuke suddenly caught his hands in his. "You won't lose me. I love you."
Satoshi leaned his head down so his bangs covered his eyes. "I came so close Daisuke. That Daere-"
"There's things more powerful than hate." said Daisuke confidently. "Besides, he's a walking cliché, too evil to win," he said smiling.
Satoshi put on a weak smile as well, "You certainly know how to make light of apocalyptic situations."
Daisuke suddenly pulled away from Satoshi, turning his back on him. "Have you…Have you ever heard of the fall of Icarus?"
"…What?"
"The fall of Icarus," repeated Daisuke. "Icarus and his father were imprisoned in a giant maze, so his father made wings of wax and feathers. Before they flew away, his father told him not to fly too close to the sun. Well, he didn't obey his father, in the joy of flight he got too close to the sun and plummeted into the sea."
Satoshi raised a brow. "Well naturally…If it were even possible to fly that way-"
Daisuke cut him off with a laugh. "Leave it to you to consider that factor in a Greek myth. That's not the point. It's been used for a long time as a fable to tell children to listen to their parents, but I think there's more to it. Icarus' father lived. But he never felt the joy of flight. Even if he plunged into the sea, for a moment, he was happy,"
Satoshi's eyes widened a bit along with his smile. "A moment in the sun," he mused. "It makes sense."
Daisuke took Satoshi's hands again before standing on his toes to press a kiss to his lips. "You are my happiness Satoshi. Death, separation…Anything. Nothing can take that away from me,"
A second later Satoshi pulled Daisuke to him breathing in the scent of his lover and allowing comfort to overcome him. "My obstinate one," he murmured. "Never willing to stay away from the sun where it's safe,"
XxXxX
Leiko sat on the table, her feet swinging in some type of hazy Deja-vu while lyrics she didn't know belonged to who's memory crossed her lips. "I hold on, As if we belonged, To some, Precious pure dream, Cast off, You see what's beneath, Now fail me,"
"You'd have to remember the sad ones," murmured Drem leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"…Is that what I was like…What Eriko or Cadell were like," she murmured.
"Sad? Yes, very." said Drem walking over to the kitchen to pull out a glass. "I would have thought you'd be happier now,"
"I…I should be…But, I'm confused," she admitted. "So confused,"
He poured himself a glass of water and took a sip before responding. "I can see why. Your souls were alike, but separate."
She looked at him, her black eyes busy with a thousand emotions and thoughts. "Are you…Mad at me?"
He knitted his brows a bit. "Why would I be?"
She stared at her feet, clad in all too familiar Mary-Jane shoes. "I think you liked Eriko, and because of me she's gone."
His eyes widened for a second before he walked up to her and lifted her chin with his hand. He looked in her eyes thoughtfully before lowering his mouth to hers slowly giving her time to protest or push away. She did neither.
The kiss was slow, searching, and heady. Small shock waves went down Leiko's back and she couldn't help but respond. When they pulled away slowly she looked into his eyes in awe and confusion. She'd felt something in that kiss. Something…
"Leiko." he said calmly.
"…Why did you kiss me?" she murmured, almost sounding frightened.
"Eriko is part of you. And Cadell is part of you. Apart, they were broken, and incapable of growth. But you're their innocence reborn." he said brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Eriko was important to me. Cadell was important to Eriko. I don't want to see you sad, and without you, I'd be miserable. So I'd like you to give me a chance to make you happy."
She looked up at him in disbelief. All of Eriko's feelings came to the surface and she threw her arms around him with a sob burying her face in his chest. He paced his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes. He'd never known Eriko to cry, and he was sure Cadell hadn't.
A smile came to his lips. They were both within this beautiful creature, and because of that she was stronger than she'd ever know.
XxXxX
Daere seethed quietly. It wasn't possible for that girl to have simply bypassed his poison as if it were nothing! And that boy! Pure and innocent, maddening. Like a blank canvas in a world that couldn't appreciate anything that wasn't painted and beauty was a sin.
He would be the first to go. Daere knew this. Otherwise his defeat would be inevitable. Where he had been created by a dormant energy, his enemy was not. Daisuke's hope and tenacity continued to keep her strong and healing.
"Sickening creature," he muttered. His beasts were in the corner licking their wounds. He honestly hadn't expected the pretty blonde or the bluenette to be able to fight as well as they had. That wasn't a mistake he intended to make again.
XxXxX
Daisuke yawned, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes when he woke up. Satoshi, by some miracle, wasn't awakened. He crawled slowly out of Satoshi's protective arms not wanting to wake the beautiful bluenette who'd had a great deal of difficulty falling asleep in the first place.
He used all the training he'd received to sneak out of the room though he could never know that Satoshi had awoken the moment he'd stirred, smiling at the consideration of his former friend and knew lover the moment Daisuke quietly pulled on his clothes and walked towards the kitchen.
XxXxX
It wasn't hard for Daisuke to remember the last time he'd been completely alone with Krad in a room. It had been only a few days ago, though it seemed an eternity of events had happened since then. He fingered the bruises on his throat nervously as his previous enemy blew delicately at a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
He had to admit, it should amuse him. Krad was sitting, pretty as you please on a stool, wearing loose khaki slacks, a shirt that was a little too short and bore his torso, with his wings out, half folded in to fit in the kitchen, with his perfect hair looking like hell as he kept brushing it out his eyes to do something so mundane as reading the paper.
Daisuke wanted to rub his eyes but he was mildly afraid to move. After all, Dark and Satoshi were sound asleep…
Blue eyes connected with crimson ones.
Daisuke found himself trapped within a gaze much like Satoshi's, only far less familiar. But he was a Niwa, and as thus he was stunningly polite. He nodded at Krad. "Krad-kun."
Krad raised a brow before nodding back. "Niwa-kun."
"Good morning."
"…Good morning…I used some coffee…and the coffee maker…I hope your mother won't mind…"
"I'm sure she won't…Cereal?"
"…Please."
XxXxX
If Dark and Satoshi hadn't witnessed the scene themselves they wouldn't have believed it. As it was they were making eye contact to see if they had witnessed what they just had. "Did you just see-" began Dark.
Satoshi held up his hand, stopping Dark before he could say anymore.
XxXxX
Leiko sat by the window gazing out. She knew for a fact that if Daere planned to attack he would hardly choose an entrance so mediocre as the front door, but at the same time she felt it was her responsibility to watch.
She shook her head as Drem came in the room before smiling at him weakly. "Up so early?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I was up all night. Just like you."
She scowled. "You're not supposed to do that!"
"Neither are you," he replied.
"I'm damned near four-hundred years old!" she protested. "I don't have a bed time!"
"If you want to get technical, you're two days old and I'm your senior." he said raising a brow as Leiko stood to her unimpressive full height gaping all the while.
"Am not!" she protested.
"Very mature," he responded. "Now, go get breakfast."
With a sigh she did what he said. She was a warrior, whether she'd seen battle or not, and staying walled up in the small house wasn't doing wonders for her nerves. She knew the lovers had needed time to rest, but she was all for going off and defeating Daere, despite any consequences she wouldn't feel she was straining the resources of this world.
She growled as she ran her hands back through her hair. She wasn't made for this world. She was made to fight, rip, tear, and render. She knew when it was all over, there would be no place for her.
XxXxX
Emiko sat on the edge of her bed smiling as Kosuke lay tangled up in the sheets. She often acted rather clueless, but she was Daisuke's mother. And as thus she worried, and often.
She ran her hand down her husband's cheek gently.
Her husband was a wanderer, her son was grown up, and her father was too wrapped up in ancient texts to notice her. But now here house was fuller than she'd ever had it. Filled with her child, her husband, her father, her dark thief, the innocent Leiko, Drem, and Krad, and Satoshi.
To be honest, she hadn't fully approved of Daisuke or Dark being with Hikari boys, but they'd proven themselves worthy, and her house had never felt more…Alive.
"Emiko," murmured Kosuke holding her hand to his face. He looked up to his wife with sleepy loving eyes. "You worry too much."
She put her lips against his hand gently. "I can't help it. I worried about Daisuke so much…And now I worry about all of them. Eriko- Leiko…She's so stunted. Satoshi, he's so hurt and lost, more like Krad than he knows. And Dark and Daisuke both, so very, very in love." she murmured. "Between the beauty of that and their youth, I'm afraid this Daere will ruin everything."
Kosuke sighed. "Hate can do that."
"He attacked my baby," she murmured. "And I couldn't do anything about it."
She let out a little gasp as Kosuke pulled her against his chest, his heart beat pounding against her back. "But you tried. That's what's important. And that's what Daisuke gets to remember about his mother. He'll never forget that." he murmured, his lips fluttering against her neck.
She put her hand back to the side of his neck. "He's grown up, and Dark… Dark has grown less cynical. I wonder at times, if they even need me."
Kosuke smiled allowing a breath to blow against her pale throat. "If they don't, more for me."
XxXxX
Satoshi sat, sipping the coffee Krad had made as he watched Daisuke thoughtfully. "How do you do that? You and Krad don't have the best history, but you can just share your home- and your kitchen with him,"
Daisuke looked at him, surprised at the realization that Satoshi had been watching him the entire time.
"Well, things are different now that we have a common enemy…His, schedule is different,"
"Don't you mean agenda?" asked Satoshi raising a brow.
"Well, that too, but I did mean schedule. Now it's "stay away from Daere." before it was, "Kill Daisuke, Kill Daisuke, Hurt Dark, Kill Daisuke, Kill Daisuke, Eat Sushi, Kill Daisuke."
Satoshi raised an incredulous brow. "Sound's like you've had time to think about this."
Daisuke blushed. "Maybe a little."
Satoshi shook his head and pulled Daisuke to his chest before breathing in the scent of the crimson locks. "That's one of the reasons I'm so damned in love with you," he murmured.
XxXxX
Emiko smiled from around the corner. She was confident in Satoshi's ability to protect her son, even if she couldn't. But that wouldn't feed anyone. Despite Kosuke's urgings to get one of the boys to escort her to the grocery store, it was just down the street and she didn't want to disturb either set of lovers.
When she reached the door however she was blocked by a shadow that had decided to solidify. "Where are you going Emiko? It's dangerous out there!"
"Leiko!" said Emiko in surprise. Then a smile crossed her face at the concerned look on the girl's face. "I'm only going to the grocery store. Would you like to come with me?"
Leiko looked uncertain at first and blushed at the kind tone, but soon enough she nodded abruptly and followed Emiko out the door.
XxXxX