Satoshi had barely lain down on the sofa to sleep when the phone rang. It was six o'clock in the morning, and he'd spent all the previous day and all night looking for Dark. He'd spent all day tired, cold, hungry, and wet. The sky had lamented with him, casting tears of sorrow upon the thirsty city.
Without bothering to open his eyes he rolled over on the couch. The phone itself was goodness-knew-where, but the base was situated on the end table nearest his feet. He ignored it and listened for the answering machine to pick up the call. The tape whirred to life, setting up the prerecorded message, and then slowed as the speakers came on. After the beep, a feeble-sounding elderly voice came over the speakers.
"I'm looking for a… Hiwatari Satoshi-san, regarding an urgent matter…"
"Ugh." Satoshi kicked off his shoes, vaguely hoping to hit the machine with one of them. Stupid telemarketers, he thought as he pulled the throw pillow over his head. They call at all hours, it ought to be illegal, stupid people…
The woman's voice was somewhat muffled by the pillow, but her next words stopped his breathing.
"A young red-headed boy appeared on my stoop, muttering about something a dark fire. He says his name is… Niwa? Niwa Daisuke-san. If you have any information—"
Satoshi sat bolt upright and tripped over his shoes as he dashed around the living room, searching for the phone. The woman was halfway through reciting her phone number and address before he gave up and instead all but slammed the "speaker" button.
"Hello? Hello, ma'am? This is Hiwatari Satoshi. You found Niwa-kun?"
The woman sounded relieved. "Yes, I suppose I did. Would you mind coming to pick him up?"
After a bit of searching, Satoshi found a nearly empty Sharpie in the drawer of the end table, but no paper. The woman was already nearly finished with her phone number, and so he twisted his wrist up and jotted it down on the inside of the heel of his hand, and her address on the back of his hand. He was out the door in the time it took to change clothes and brush his teeth. He combed his hair in the car.
The woman lived above a bakery across town. Mildly Satoshi wondered why Daisuke had ended up there, and why Daisuke had ended up there. Hadn't Dark been on the outside when they'd run off? And what was with the "dark fire" Daisuke'd supposedly mentioned? His thoughts were mote wholly consumed, however, with thanks that the boy had been found, no matter the circumstances.
Standing on the porch in the rain, Satoshi was suddenly nervous. What if Daisuke rejected him? He raised his hand to knock on the front door, but he wasn't sure if he had the courage to take the chance. Come on, Hiwatari, you came all this way!
Coward. You don't need him, anyway. If you truly loved him, you would have already broken down the door, whispered the insidious voice in the back of his mind. Why don't we just go home and I'll make everything up to you?
Before he could respond, the choice was taken from his hands and the door swung open. A pretty girl, perhaps Satoshi's age, held a black umbrella up over the blunet's head to shield the rain and held the door open. The uniform she wore had a pretty crescent moon design on the front of the apron, and the cloudy blue of the apron stood out against the black silk dress shirt and short, school-length skirt. Compassionate blue-violet eyes blinked at him through a shower of brown hair. She smiled. "Welcome to the Moonshine Bakery! Come in out of the rain." Cheerily she bounced back to let him through.
Flushing somewhat, he brushed past her and into the store. Rainwater dripped from his clothing onto the rubber mats on the floor. The girl slipped his sopping jacket off and hung it in a closet.
"Hiwatari-sama, I presume?" the girl asked. At his nod, she giggled. "I thought so. Gramama is upstairs with your friend. This way." Still giggling, she took his hand and tugged him upstairs. "Gramama said to bring you upstairs right away."
Face bright red, he followed after her. She's so forward! he thought. Nothing like Niwa. He's scared to touch me half the time. Who is she?
Upstairs the hall branched off into four or five rooms. The girl stopped beside one and threw the door open wide. "Gramama, Hiwatari-sama's here!" Cheerily she bounced into the room.
A tired-looking woman was leaning over a bed in the corner. Wearily she stood and rubbed at the space between her eyes. "I hope you weren't rude to our guest, Mio-chan." She cast Satoshi an apologetic glance. "My granddaughter, Hio Mio-chan, Mr. Hiwatari, was raised in America. Unfortunately she adopted their manners." This last part was sternly directed towards Mio, who rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly and grinned.
"But Gramama, I try!" She pumped her fists and a determined glint came to her eyes. "From now on, I'll be a demur girl, just like any Japanese girl!" She nodded as if to emphasize the point. Bowing low to the Commander, she said softly, "I apologize most humbly for any offence I may have given you, Hiwatari-sama."
"That's all right—" Satoshi began.
Downstairs the bell over the door chimed, cutting him off, and Mio bounced back up, her eyes sparkling. "A customer! I'll get it!" Laughing, she ran past Satoshi and down the stairs, her feet making soft thumping sounds on the stairs.
The woman in the corner sighed and leaned on her cane. "I'm terribly sorry about her. She's a bit headstrong, but perfectly harmless. My name is Harada Rika, and I own this bakery. Your friend arrived early this morning in such a state. I couldn't understand a word he said. When he finally calmed down and gave me your name and phone number, I called you."
"Harada... Any relation to Risa and Riku, two of my schoolmates?"
She laughed softly. "My granddaughters. Mio-chan is adopted," she added quietly.
Satoshi nodded, then glanced over behind Rika. "Is… is Niwa-kun all right?"
The redhead's deathly pale face, stark against the dark sheets, was still. His chest didn't even seem to stir beneath the quilting. The blunet bit his lip and reached out to touch the youth's hair softly. His hand stopped a few inches from the boy's face and hung there, quivering in the air. Slowly he retracted the limb.
"He'll be fine," Rika came up behind him and leaned on her cane. Her hand dropped with a surprising heaviness onto his shoulder, startling him. "Let him rest; he did not sleep until shortly before you arrived."
"I'll take him home. He'll sleep better there, have no worry. Thank you for taking such care of him. If there is anything I can do to repay you, do not hesitate to let me know." After a deep bow, Satoshi knelt and scooped the featherweight redhead into his arms. Instinctively the slumbering boy cuddled against the blunet's chest, his face nuzzling into the older boy's breast. A contented sigh escaped his lips.
Mio held the door open for him, then followed him out to the car, shielding the boys from the rain with her umbrella. Nodding his thanks, Satoshi laid the unconscious teen out in the backseat. He closed the door softly so as not to disturb the boy.
The brunette smiled at him genially, an all-knowing twinkle in her eyes. "Don't worry, Hiwatari-sama. Daisuke-kun cares deeply about you. You two will be okay." Rising on her tiptoes, she pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, then danced back inside the bakery. The bells chimed as the door closed with a cutting finality behind her.
Satoshi stood in the rain, stupefied. What does she mean? How does she know? Rainwater dripped into his eyes, and he shook his head to clear it. Without a word or a backward glance he got into his car and started the engine.
He could not help but constantly glance in the rearview mirror at the sleeping boy in the backseat during the ride home. Distracted as he was Satoshi nearly involved them in three separate wrecks before they were even halfway across town.
Why'd you have to go get him? Krad pouted in his mind. Aren't I enough for you?
I love him, Krad. You are a nuisance. I don't like you.
I love it when you play hard to get, the voice purred. Satoshi shuddered and pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex.
Daisuke stirred as Satoshi gathered him up into his arms, whimpering softly and wriggling a bit to move closer to the warmth of Satoshi's body. The blunet flushed softly and pressed a swift kiss to his forehead. His body accepts me even if his mind won't. He carried Daisuke upstairs to his apartment. For a moment he hesitated in the hall, and decided resolutely that he wouldn't leave the poor redhead alone any longer. Satoshi made his way to his own room, still holding tight to the sleeping boy.
Very gently he lay the slumbering boy out on the mattress and pulled the blankets up to Daisuke's chin. Satoshi's clothes were damp and cold, and he stopped only long enough to change into warm, dry cotton pants and stretched out on top of the blankets beside the other boy. He draped his arm across the redhead's waist and pulled him closer. Daisuke sighed contentedly and slipped a little further into the vast abyss that is sleep. Echoing the sigh, the exhausted commander nestled his cheek into the curve of Daisuke's neck and slept.
Daisuke awoke very suddenly, very alone, and very confused. Dark? Where are we?
I'm not sure. What's the last thing that you remember?
I don't know… You transformed back into me, and it was raining outside. We went to a store to avoid the rain… and that's the last thing I remember. He sat up slowly and clutched his head. It's so dark in here. I can't see anything.
Relax, I'm sure everything will be all right. Can you get up and look around?
I think so. I'm not hurt or anything. He folded back the blankets and swung his legs out of the bed. When he stood, however, the blood rushed to his head, making him dizzy and faint. He sat back down abruptly.
The door opened, and a faint beam of light showed through for a second, and then was blocked by a body. Impulsively Daisuke pulled his knees up and scooted to the far corner of the mattress as whoever it was made their way into the room. Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't look at me, he thought steadily, his mindset back in the correctional facility. He bit his lip hard to keep from crying. The mattress dipped as the person sat down on the edge, and he squeaked with fright.
"Niwa-kun?" Satoshi sat very still. "It's Hiwatari. You're safe, Niwa-kun, relax."
"Satoshi?" Daisuke blinked, trying to peer through the cutting darkness. "Why are you here? Where are we? Why is it so dark?"
"We're in my apartment—I went and picked you up from the bakery. You've been asleep two days. It's about two in the morning. I went for a glass of water and came back and you were awake. How do you feel?" There was the sound of something heavy being placed on the bedside table and the blunet moved somewhat closer to the redhead.
"Dizzy. My head hurts." What he wanted, more than anything, was to throw himself at Satoshi and cry it all out, confess everything that had happened in the last weeks, everything he felt, but the fear of rejection kept him huddled in his corner.
Satoshi retrieved the glass and held it out to the boy. "Have some water. Sip it, now, don't drink too quickly."
Daisuke took the sweating glass and sipped at it. The ice chinked softly and charmingly, reminding Daisuke that he was indeed safe and had nothing to fear from the blunet. He leaned across the mattress to put the glass back on the table. He squeaked again when he was sharply pulled into the older boy's lap.
"S-Satoshi? What are you doing?" Satoshi had buried his face in Daisuke's hair, and Daisuke realized the older boy was shaking. Hesitantly he put his own arms around the blunet.
A few quiet moments passed: neither spoke nor moved, content to hold one another in the darkness of the night. Finally Satoshi broke the silence.
"I was so frightened," he said quietly. "You disappeared for a whole day, and then you wouldn't wake up… and it was all my fault because I blew up at Dark."
"Everything's okay. I'm all right, Satoshi, really…"
Satoshi shook his head, or as much as he could without taking his cheek off the top of Daisuke's head. "No, everything's not all right. I don't think I could handle another scare like that, Niwa-kun. Promise you'll never leave me again. Not like that. Promise me!" He clutched at the youth with all the strength of his being.
Daisuke winced at the slight pain, but ignored it. "I promise, Satoshi." He snuggled closer to the blunet and bit his lip, wondering whether to ask the question that was perched so precariously on the tip of his tongue. "Satoshi…?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you… do you love me?"
The blunet was quiet for a few moments and pulled back from the redhead slightly. In the darkness his hands found Daisuke's face, and he gently tipped the younger boy's face up. Unsure of himself though he was, he slowly leaned in and pressed a softly sweet kiss to Daisuke's lips. "I would've thought it'd be obvious by now," he whispered softly. "Yes. I love you." He brushed his hand distractedly through Daisuke's soft locks, still cropped and choppy from his stay in the facility. "I love you so much it hurts."
"I don't want you to hurt for me," Daisuke whispered. He felt hot and cold at the same time, like his skin was both on fire and yet frostbitten. Please, Dark, he pleaded, let me have this time…I love him so much…
Sadness and unfailing love in the dark recesses of his mind haloed the consciousness of the Thief. Be happy, my friend, Dark whispered and faded.
Thank you, other me, Daisuke returned.
"It's a sweet pain," Satoshi whispered seductively against Daisuke's cheek. "I'd gladly suffer it for you, only you. I love you, Daisuke."
"I love you, too, Satoshi…"