Chapter 2: Searching in the Dark

Daisuke could hardly believe his eyes as he read the note in his hand.

"Wha-What," he finally managed to utter. "I don't understand."

"Neither do I," Satoshi said with narrowed eyes. "Niwa, I need you to be honest with me. Did you write that note?"

"Hiwatari…" Daisuke didn't know what to say. "My mom usually wrote the notes for Dark back then but, No… NO! I…we… didn't write this note!" He gripped onto the piece of paper tightly. "I … You know that Dark and Krad were both sealed in the Black Wings. There's no way… "His brown eyes were wrought with confusion as he looked down at the note.

"Dark…" Daisuke said quietly. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he did miss his other half; the other half of himself that taught him how to be brave, to stand up to his true feelings, and how to have fun. The person who quickly became one of his closest confidants, the part of himself he could never forget. The part that he oftentimes wished he had back.

"Niwa," began Satoshi, pulling Daisuke out of his reverie. "The department doesn't know about that note yet. I intercepted it before anyone else could see it." He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as his eyes gazed out the window. "I want you to come with me tomorrow night to the museum. If this is a hoax, then we'll find out about it first and catch the culprit. If not, then we have to find out if Dark somehow escaped the Black Wings. And if he did then-"

Daisuke looked up and nodded. "Then Krad may have as well." The red-haired boy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to admit that I don't believe it's Dark. I mean, if he had come back I would have sensed him and I haven't felt anything."

"Neither have I," Satoshi said. "But that doesn't mean it's not possible." He stepped towards Daisuke and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, we'll find out tomorrow night for sure whether or not Dark sent that note or if a copycat did."

"Right," Daisuke said as he looked over his shoulder. "And we better get back to class before we get in trouble for being out here."

Satoshi laughed. "You forget I don't have to be here. So I can't really get into trouble, now can I?"

"I don't think I'll ever understand why you come here if you don't have to," Daisuke replied with a sigh as they walked back to their classroom

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"Daisuke, Maya, you two are up next!"

Daisuke moved to the white chalk line on the track and bent over to stretch his legs. He glanced over at Maya who came to stand next to him. She interlaced her hands behind her back and stretched them out before she looked over at Daisuke from the corner of her eyes. She smiled slightly and knelt down into a starting position.

"You'll be running this obstacle course," said the gym teacher gruffly. "You'll be trying to beat your previous time as well as trying to beat the person you're racing against."

Daisuke looked at the course in front of him, a mish-mash of tires and monkey bars and ropes that swing over puddles of mud; nets that you crawl under and climb on like a spider, ending finally in a huge climbing wall and a sliding rope apparatus leading to a large, air-filled mattress. A smirk crossed Daisuke's face – he hadn't done anything like this since the training his mother put him through and since Dark had been sealed. There was a part of the young boy that knew he was going to enjoy this.

"Good luck," said the Maya softly as she waited in her crouching position.

Daisuke looked over at Maya, who had her hair pulled back in a ponytail this time around. She looked so focused and determined. Daisuke almost felt sorry for her because there was no way she could beat him considering the training he had in the past. And before either Daisuke or Maya realized, the air gun went off indicating the start of the race.

"Oh, I hope Niwa wins. Don't you, Riku?" Risa asked as she bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"I know he'll win," Riku said under her breath. She knew of Daisuke's previous life and his alter ego of Dark. She knew that Daisuke was more than capable of handling the course easily.

But the race wasn't turning out as everyone expected. Maya was keeping up with Daisuke inch for inch. The tire course was easy enough, their feet going in and out of the tires with skill and ease. Next was the monkey bars, but instead of climbing the ladder up to the bars themselves, Maya leapt from the ground and grabbed onto the first bar. Daisuke's eyes widened as he did the same, making up the distance that Maya had put in between them.

"Wow, she's good," Daisuke thought as he found himself actually struggling to keep up with her. Satoshi in the meantime watched stoically from the stands. He found it interesting that the new girl seemed very skilled in such arduous tasks, as if she had some experience in it before. He also noticed that she was surrounded by a mysterious aura, one that exuded some kind of power. It captured his interest as well as his suspicions.

The two students were almost done with the race as they were faced with the climbing wall which was at least 25 feet high. Both Maya and Daisuke were breathing heavily but neither was ready to give up. Maya placed a hand on the first ledge and began to pull herself up. She looked over her right shoulder at Daisuke who had started to climb as well.

"Come on, Niwa. I know you can do better than that." Her green eyes twinkled mischievously as she continued to climb. Daisuke took the statement as a challenge and began to move faster up the wall. The two were neck in neck as they reached the top and as they slid down the rope on the handlebars. They landed on the air mattress and the gym teacher clocked their time.

"That's amazing! You both finished the course in less than five minutes! No one's ever done that before!"

Maya rolled off the air mattress, her chest heaving heavily from the exercise.

"Good job, Niwa," she said as she held out a hand to him as he got off the mattress.

"Huh… uh yeah… thanks." Daisuke said with a blush as he took Maya's hand. Suddenly, the young boy felt the power that everyone said the girl possessed. In his mind, he heard a mysterious voice. It was garbled at first consisting of nothing more than what sounded like a song being sung in the distance. And then he heard it.

"Come out, Dark Mousy…"