o.O GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA----h! How long did it take me to freakin' post this up! I'm so so so sosososososososososoooo sorry to everyone out there who read and reviewed this fic! I don't know what came over me and everything! Aaahh… (sobs) I feel like an idiot now…

Five months since the last chapter? Okay, I have no idea what I was doing… guess I broke that year's resolution pretty easy, huh?

Thanking Beta Readers Section: Staryday and Rekkaboziegirl, thanks for all your wonderful help and tips! (group hug) I did listen to most to all advice given… although some I was like… well, you know. (shifts eyes) Oh yeah, I took forever and hey, whatever. You guys were great though. And… uh… Sachi-Ami? Where'd you go? You haven't replied for a long time…

Disclaimers: If I owned anything, would I tell you?

Summary for Chap VI: Daisuke feels like he's being stalked, Dark seems to be really out of it, Satoshi confronts with Luke, and Luke is… being very mysterious. The pathway to doom seems to only stretch further at this point…

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

: Satoshi

: Krad

Also, there are translations to the (very little) French placed in this chapter.

Chapter VI: Questions, yet no Answers

Daisuke looked up to see who had woken him from what could only be described as a nightmare gone terribly, terribly wrong.

… Oh.

It was no one other than his crush and girlfriend, Riku Harada. She blinked down at him as he stuttered an apology to her.

"Ah! Sorry! Sorry! Riku-san…" he stopped when he noticed that they were the only ones still in the classroom, "Is… something wrong?"

"The entire class went to the library, since the teacher noticed that we weren't really paying much attention to what he was saying…" Riku gave the redhead a concerned look. "Doesn't that hurt, Niwa-kun? Staying in that position…"

"Uh…" Daisuke blushed as he sat up properly and rubbed his throbbing head, "Yeah, a bit. Sorry about that…" Riku merely smiled at him before waving the apology aside and the two made their way to the library. They were wreathed in an awkward silence, neither one wanting to say anything – Daisuke because he was embarrassed, and Riku was just feeling a little tense with being around the redhead on her own.

The library, which was placed on the bottom floor of the school, was currently full of students and a bit too much noise, since the teacher obviously couldn't keep them inline. The librarians were looking strangely hostile, Riku noted as she was quickly dragged off by her sister, leaving Daisuke on his own. The redhead sighed slightly before sliding past a group of students currently engrossed with a murder and mystery novel and flopped down on the uncomfortable seats that were placed on the opposite side of the room.

He really didn't want to think too much about what had happened just a few minutes before, but he was certain that he had heard Dark's voice near the end, before Riku had called him. Hesitantly, he called to his alter ego. (Dark, are you still awake?)

((Zzz… come back in ten hours… zzz…))

(…) Daisuke sighed with relief, knowing that Dark's presence was still with him. It was strange, in a way, now that he thought about it: upon finding out that he was going to play host with the Phantom Thief, Daisuke had refused to accept his destiny and wanted nothing more than for Dark to leave him, but now… it just seemed right. Having been separated from his other half countless times before only confirmed the realization of just how strong the bond between the pair had become. Besides from the odd snide comment and embarrassing topics, Dark was quite tolerable.

Pulling a random book out from the shelf, the redhead took a seat next to Sekimoto – who was currently trying to keep Takeshi out of trouble – and flipped it over to read the title. It was blank. Daisuke wasn't unduly worried since many of the books in the library were over twenty years old – going on thirty – and there were a number of them that didn't actually have titles on the front. The redhead slowly opened the torn, faded cover and quickly scanned the first page…

"…?" Daisuke blinked. Nothing was written there as he flipped the pages through carefully, not wanting to destroy school property – that was left to Takeshi and the other rowdy students. Every page looked the same to him: aged and yellowed.

"Hey, Daisuke! What'cha doin'!" Takeshi asked unexpectedly, looking over the boy's shoulder. The redhead jumped slightly before snapping the book shut. "What kind of junk are you trying to read this time anyway?"

"Students, I asked you to take a book referring to the war in--" their teacher wheedled, but no one was paying attention. It wasn't strange to see the librarians become more hostile with each passing minute as the troublemakers of the class seemingly got louder. Daisuke chose to edge away until he was relatively safe with the students who were just sitting silently and reading. He sighed heavily, silently thanking Kami that Takeshi hadn't chosen to follow him.

"Niwa-kun, what are you reading?" The younger Harada twin asked curiously, coming over to see what he was doing.

The redhead could only shrug as he replied: "There's no title to the book."

"Really?" Risa blinked.

"Yeah. I mean--"

"Ri---saa---" called Ritsuko, waving the twin over while Riku stood next to her, "Come on! I think I found what you were looking for!"

"Ah, okay!" She smiled briefly at Daisuke, "See you later, Niwa-kun." Not waiting for a reply, she walked off. The redhead sighed as he returned to the untitled book in his lap and decided to put it back where it came from. As he slid it back onto the shelf, he felt someone watching him from behind and quickly turned, his crimson eyes darting back and forth as he scanned the library. Most people were preoccupied with annoying the librarians and the teacher, but no one was looking in his direction.

How… odd. He always had that sixth sense, ever since Dark came into his life, but he couldn't find who was watching. Giving up for the time being, Daisuke chose another book and went off.

Hidden behind another bookcase, a shadowed figure hummed to itself.

"… Ainsi…"

---

"Niwa-kun, you don't look too well, you know," Akane pointed out, as lunch finally came around. Satoshi had disappeared without a trace – as usual – so the other two had set off to the school roof, knowing that the blue-haired boy was bound to be there. Daisuke shook his head silently and continued to stare at the floor tiles below him. "Is something the matter?"

"Well, besides everything…" he muttered, not really in the mood to talk about it. Too many questions were popping up in his head and his mind was in a whirl – which then led to a rather painful headache.

"I see…" she fell silent, seemingly aware of Daisuke's current mood and allowing him some thinking time.

And thinking was about all he could do. He hated how everything seemed to revolve around himself and Dark, since it always meant someone else got hurt and he was never going to have a normal life. Never.

It wasn't that he hated having Dark inside him – even if the thief made constant attempts to embarrass him and annoy him at the worst possible times – since he had someone who truly understood him now. But there was just no chance of the redhead ever living life like another nobody – just a person who lived in and out without worrying about what was going to happen the next night.

And despite the close call that had happened just last night, Dark was going out to steal another art piece again. Daisuke couldn't even remember what it was…

And that was because too much had happened in that short amount of time. He was considering telling his family about it – no, he really had to tell them – but Dark seemed rather self-conscious on the topic and insisted that the matter would come to pass on its own.

Ha ha… yeah right.

---

The sky was as blue as any other day and Satoshi was just sitting on the roof for the last… however long he had been sitting there. Lunch had started ten minutes back, so that was about how long he'd been here. He was just thinking – nothing in particular, since his brain didn't seem to want to cooperate, for the time being – and looking disdainfully at the bag that held his lunch… if it could be called that. Then he wiped his glasses for no apparent reason.

Well, it was either that or talking/listening to Krad ramble on about who knows what: probably about killing certain purple-haired thieves and redheads.

That topic got boring really fast, so the blue haired boy had learnt to ignore the blonde whenever they got pulled into that discussion. If it could be called that, anyway - he wasn't too sure anymore.

He stopped his musings and started slightly when he noticed the door opening very, very slowly. Then he saw a silver haired person poke his head out, almost cautiously.

Oh. Him. The new student who was apparently very popular, not to mention very smart, or something. But it wasn't that that caught Satoshi's attention, but the fact that the same person obviously had something in the back of his mind – something that shouldn't be there. Like Krad – or Dark – but not exactly. Not to mention he seemed to have some sort of interest in Daisuke, since he had talked briefly with the befuddled redhead before moving off again, leaving said boy looking worried and confused.

Satoshi remained silent, not gaining the boy's attention, who stepped out onto the roof. Luke moved until he had reached the edge of the school roof and leaned over it, watching the scenery below him, remaining completely silent as he did so.

The blue haired boy could only frown; how long had it been since someone else had come up here without noticing him at all? He doubted there was such a time. But before he could think of what to do – bail or stay and talk – Luke began to speak, not turning.

"So, you enjoy the scenery up here then?"

This received a raised eyebrow, "Does it really matter to you?"

At that, Luke turned to face Satoshi, smiling disarmingly, "Are you Hiwatari-kun then? I've heard a lot about you."

"Really?" Something in the back of the blue haired boy's mind, which, for once, wasn't Krad, tugged at him warningly, but it wasn't really necessary, since he wanted to stop the conversation anyway. "So, what brought you up here?"

"It's more peaceful up here, oui?" Replied the boy, still smiling, "I can see why you enjoy it so much." The smile then faded into a smirk, "Or maybe you're scared, mon petit cher?"

"What are you talking about?" Okay, something was definitely wrong with this guy, Satoshi could see that clearly, so maybe it was time for him to leave before something really bad happened.

"Hiwatari-kun, sorry, are we disturbing you?"

Satoshi turned as he saw Daisuke and Akane walk up to him. "No." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at Luke, who continued to smirk.

"Well, I best be going," he said briefly, "À bientôt." He gave the redhead the same smirk he'd been giving Satoshi but stopped slightly when he saw Akane. His face was neutral for a second before being replaced by a bored look and he left, closing the door behind him.

"What a weird guy," commented Akane, bemused.

"I think you mean that in more than one way," muttered Satoshi.

"What were you talking about before we came?" Daisuke asked, out of mere curiosity. All he got was an unreadable look.

"Nothing you have to worry about." The blue haired boy then took a seat on the roof's surface again. "We're here to discuss what happened last night, correct?"

"Yep," Akane nodded briefly and went over to where Luke had been only seconds before. "So, what happened first, Niwa-kun?"

Daisuke shifted, uncomfortable for a moment, talking with a well-awake Dark before beginning his explanation.

---

"So let me get this straight," began Akane, "You were stalked by this thing as soon as you got into the museum?" Daisuke nodded and she frowned, playing with the end of her plait as she did so before fumbling for the pendant she wore. "You didn't make any contact with the spirits?"

"No."

"Hm…"

"I was only there when the mist faded," muttered Satoshi, more to himself than anyone else as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "And Dark wasn't cooperating either."

"…" Daisuke ducked his head for a moment, not really sure on what to say with such a comment; it wasn't like Dark was telling him everything either, so it left him in a state of complete and utter confusion. His other half then promised that he would be told everything later, but only when the time was right.

Apparently, the time was never right.

"So you don't remember that much from last night, and Dark was the only one awake to see it all…" said Akane in a low voice, now swinging the crystal around and deep in thought. "Out of curiosity, was there any other time before this attack that you were being… stalked? Anything out of the ordinary happen to you?" Daisuke looked startled for a moment before opening his mouth to answer.

"Well--"

((Don't tell them!))

The redhead froze mid-sentence, surprised at the panic he had heard from Dark. He was about to tell them about the nightmare and then the whole Fortune Teller incident, but now he wasn't sure what to say.

(Dark?) He started hesitantly. (Are you okay?)

((I'm fine,)) came the sullen reply, ((Just don't tell them what happened before that.))

(What? Why?) Panic began to bubble into Daisuke's thoughts.

((Because this is something that can only be handled by us. Don't let them get involved.)) Then Dark refused to speak and the redhead sighed, depression almost overwhelming him.

"Niwa-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," that also meant he forgot that Satoshi and Akane were watching him carefully.

"So something did happen before this," the blue-haired boy asked softly, staring at Daisuke with an odd expression – was it pity? Or perhaps it was sympathy. The redhead couldn't tell.

"No, nothing happened before that," mumbled Daisuke, trying hard not to look guilty – he would respect Dark's wishes for the time being and had no intention of getting any of his friends involved with such a case. It could be dangerous and he didn't want anyone hurt. "Really," he insisted for emphasis, as Satoshi raised an eyebrow.

The atmosphere around the three was suddenly very stuffy and extremely tense and the redhead finally decided it was time to bail out, before he snapped and told them. He was just too worried to think straight, especially with the dream/nightmare he had had during class…

Excusing himself quickly, Daisuke left the area and, as soon as he was out of sight of the two, fell into an all-out run. He had no idea where he was going, but the overwhelming reality of the dangers he and Dark were facing were unbearable.

He wanted to run away from it all – for even just a moment – but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. After a while, the redhead just sat down on the cold floor of the hallways and mused.

What was it that scared him? What was it that was making him so afraid? Why had a mere dream scared him so much?

Where were the answers?

---

Akane had her head bowed as the door to the school roof – the only entrance and exit – swung closed behind Daisuke. Satoshi was the only person who didn't seem too worried about what was going on.

"He's hiding something," was all he muttered. Akane raised her head to look over in his direction, but he had his back turned to her.

"Like he said, he wasn't conscious when this all happened – Dark was. And Dark obviously doesn't want any of us to know what happened."

"But what happens if it's serious?" She asked.

"Then it's his problem. If he wants to tell no-one, and it leads to his downfall, there's nothing anyone can do about it." He stated coolly.

"And what happens if Niwa-kun gets hurt?"

"Then Dark brought it upon himself."

"… Maybe he's just scared," Akane decided out loud, "Maybe he just doesn't know what to think of the situation and he wants to keep it to himself until he can get the answers he wants."

"… Takada."

"Eh?"

"You were around during Dark's previous lives, watching over him, correct?"

"Well… yes… but I don't see--"

"Do you know if he had any other enemies? Enemies that could use mist and shadows as their weapons…"

"… What are you…"

"You know what I'm trying to imply here."

"…" Akane bowed her head slightly, as if trying to remember something. Then she shook her head while Satoshi watched her carefully. "No… except for Krad, I don't think there was anyone else who wanted revenge on Dark in that way."

"…"

"But then again, Dark was still in existence long before my birth, so you never know."

"…" The blue-haired boy frowned. "But there's someone after him."

"And they haven't shown themselves until now," she added, "For now, all we can do it watch, wait, and hope."

"Hope?" Satoshi raised an eyebrow. Akane almost smiled.

"Hope that no one gets too hurt before we work out what's going on."

---

Lunch ended in silence without any other ripples of disturbances for any of the students – Daisuke in particular – and as the school bell rang across the grounds to commence the day, he wasn't exactly in the lowest spirits, but he was getting there. Even Takeshi seemed worried about him enough to not choke the redhead to death, but then again, no one could really pinpoint what was going on.

So the only thing they could do was leave him alone and hope that he wasn't sick or something to that similar nature.

A single breeze swept over the streets, flapping away leaves that were on the footpaths. Students were already making their ways home and there was barely anyone in sight. Clouds stretched over the sky and all of this was ignored by the redhead as he made his way home.

Dark still wasn't speaking and something about it was unsettling. Especially with the dreams, the fortune teller, and then him getting locked out of what had happened when the mist came…

Daisuke shook his head slightly to clear the thoughts away.

Maybe he was getting paranoid.

…

But then again, maybe he wasn't.

---

"Don't let Dark get away this time!"

"Protect the artwork, no matter what he does!"

"He won't get away this time!"

As usual, the police were in the targeted museum, trying to stop Dark from stealing whatever art piece he was after. Even after the well acquainted knowledge that they would never be able to catch him, no matter how hard they tried.

But accepting such a fact seemed ridiculous to the people and so the continuous loop of take and run continued without fault or delay.

'…' from another building close by the museum – that was crawling with guards – Akane watched the processing with little interest, 'So, even now they keep trying… hm…' She made as to stand up but successfully tripped over herself. "Nggghhh---!"

Pushing herself up, she looked up at the sky, "What…" She fell silent but after a minute she sighed and walked off, trying to keep her balance as best she could. '… I wonder what that was…'

As she disappeared from the scene, there was a sudden yell. "Dark got away!"

"WHAT!"

"We still have a chance. After him!"

---

Dark was currently on the roof as he sped gracefully away from the catastrophe below. ((See? Didn't I tell you it would be easy?))

(Isn't it always easy?) Daisuke shot back, (But… at least nothing happened this time.)

((Must've just been our imagination last time,)) the Thief offered simply, ((You get easily stressed, Dai-chan, so it's only natural.))

(But it's usually your fault in the first place!) The redhead said indignantly, (You're the cause of all this!)

((Yep, I hear you,)) smirking, Dark continued into the inky blackness of the sky. As this was so, he – and his host – were completely unaware that someone was following behind them.

:Keep out of this, Satoshi-sama.:

:And watch you hurt them:

:But you said you wanted to catch Dark.:

:… So you're planning to kill him as soon as you get a hold of him.:

:No, I plan to see what the cause of all this is first, and then kill him.:

:Over my dead body you will.:

There was a thin, humorless chuckle from the statement.

:So you say, Satoshi-sama. So you say.:

---

Okay, final notes and quick translation:

Ainsi: so

Oui: yes. (okay, who didn't know that?)

Mon petit cher: It literally means boyfriend or something like that (so girlfriend is petite cheré I think) but Luke's just using it to, well, taunt Satoshi really. It don't mean anything literally. (I have also come to understand that it can also be petit ami and petite amie respectively… so yeah.)

À beintôt: Means 'see you soon' or something so yeah. That's about it.

Oh dear. Well, I mean… I don't know why this took so long to get this up. Really, I don't know why I didn't get this up… ages ago. Honestly, I had this for ages and I didn't touch it, even after getting it beta-ed and all. Oh well. I don't think this chapter was bad… but eh.

And please don't say too much about my horrible French. I know it's not great, so whatever.

Reviewers Segment:

Rekkaboziegirl: Ah… I feel terrible now… but I'm working on the next chapter finally… it could take me forever…

neko-nya: Ahahaha… five months. Oh well, I've been busy, or something. Okay, I've been doing other things. XD Took me forever to update, so… (hides)

Mujyakina-Hitokoroshiya: Really now? (looks over at Luke, who glares back) Oh dear, don't you like the compliment? (Luke: Don't start with me.) Yup, he likes the compliment! XD Hm… at the rate I'm going… who knows. Maybe, maybe not… kinda hard to tell at this point. Thanks for the review!

Kakarots-Frying-Pan: Aaaaah… now I feel really guilty of taking forever for this fic. I'm so sorry! (bows) I'm so glad you like the chap and all… and I'll try really, really hard to get the next chapter up sooner! Waaaaaaaaah! I'm so horrible…

Shadow Guardian of the Gate: Erm… savior? I don't… know… anymore… (sweat drops) My French is really bad… so who knows… Sorry for the no update 'til now…

xpeachiex: Actually… he was supposed to say not really, so… yeah, I messed it up. Whoo-hoo. (rolls ayes at own stupidity) I'm learning French, but I'm so bad at it, I don't know why I continue… same goes for this chap. I'm glad you like the story though.

I feel so stupid now… I can't believe that I left this story for so long… anyway, sorry again and, uhm… I'll try to update sooner… but you know… got other things to work on… and stuff…