Disclaimer: I forgot to put this in the earlier (because I'm a goofball) - so hopefully it will count now. ahem I do not own, in any way, shape, or form, D.N.Angel or the characters within it, except for the ones that I have made in order to create a new plot. I hope you all enjoy the story!

Chapter 3: Snowfall of Feathers

Daisuke was in a daze for the rest of the day. Who was that voice he heard when he touched Maya's hand and what did it all mean? Did Maya know that he was Dark in the past? Was she going to use that information against him somehow? Needless to say, the young boy was very worried.

"Dai?"

No answer.

"Hey Daisuke?"

Still nothing.

"Niwa!" Riku's voice was shrill and tinged with playful anger. It was enough to rouse Daisuke from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh sorry, Miss Riku," he said as he looked up from his school work. He had been at Riku's house since school had ended, doing homework and just hanging out.

"Niwa, is something wrong?" There was concern in Riku's voice.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong at all," Daisuke said embarrassed. "I was just…" He trailed off and shook his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry." He smiled brightly and resumed to writing in his notebook.

Riku opened her mouth to say something but shrugged and said nothing.

"So Niwa… do you want to take me out to the movies tomorrow night?" Riku looked at Daisuke expectantly and reached out to hold his hand.

"The movies, tomorrow night?" He asked as he blinked a couple of times. Oh no, I can't. I promised Hiwatari I'd go with him to the museum tomorrow. "I don't think so. I mean – I don't think I can go. I would love to take you but I can't – go that is. I can't go."

Riku looked at him a bit dumbfounded from the corner of her eyes. "What do you mean you can't go? What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I promised Hiwatari I'd hang out with him."

Riku's gaze lightened. "Oh. Well what are you two going to do?"

"Think fast, Daisuke!" Daisuke smiled for a moment before he replied. "Well you know… we might do some paintings together or something. I don't know, we haven't decided yet."

Riku arched a brow at Daisuke and laughed. "You're so cute when you're flustered," she said as she leaned over to kiss him on his reddened cheek.

----

"Niwa."

Daisuke looked over his shoulder and found Hiwatari standing behind him. But before he could say anything Satoshi and moved into the empty art room, holding the door open for Daisuke. The red-haired boy wasn't sure how to take Satoshi's actions; granted this little meeting was more than likely about their plan to capture the Dark imposter. But he knew what everyone would think, he knew that some of the girls still reveled in the idea that he and Hiwatari made a "cute" couple. He rolled his eyes at the thought and dismissed it quickly before he entered the art room.

"What's going on, Hiwatari?" Daisuke asked quickly as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

Satoshi moved over toward one of the windows and leaned against its frame. He pushed his glasses further upon his nose with one finger before he looked over at Daisuke.

"Are you still coming to the museum tonight?" Satoshi wasted little time getting to the point.

Daisuke nodded and began to pace slowly. "I was thinking about that. I mean, you're the only one who knows about the note, right?" He paused to gauge Hiwatari's reaction before he nodded. "Well, the only way we'll be able to get in would be-"

"Would be for you to break us into the museum," Satoshi said, finishing Daisuke's sentence. Daisuke's eyes widened as he opened his mouth to talk. But no words escaped his throat. There were words in his mind, words that protested even the idea of breaking into someplace; words that told him that he was done with that part of his life. But then there was a voice deep in his soul that reminded him of the adrenaline rush he used to feel when he was with Dark. That was a feeling he deeply missed.

"Right, we'll break in. I'm pretty sure we can handle it."

Satoshi smiled. "Good. We'll meet at the museum at 11:30, break in, and wait for the imposter." The blue-haired boy moved toward the door and opened it. "Don't be late, Niwa." And with that, Satoshi left Daisuke alone in the room.

"Can I really break into the museum?" Daisuke asked himself as he slumped into one of the chairs in front of an easel. His brown eyes spied pastel chalk in the basket hanging from the side of the easel and he immediately picked it up. His nimble hands moved toward the paper and began to sketch idly as his heart desired. Several minutes passed, maybe even hours, but time at that moment mattered very little to Daisuke. His passion for art oftentimes made everything else disappear, placing the young man into his own world.

"He's the only artist in the family." He remembered Dark saying once. The memory made him smile and for an instant he thought he could feel Dark's aura surround him.

He shook his head. "You're going crazy, Daisuke," he said to himself as he put down the chalk. His brown eyes glanced up at the paper upon the easel and widened with shock. Without even realizing it, without any real intention at all, Daisuke had drawn a picture of Dark. It was like looking into the mirror again only to see his friend staring back at him. The purple locks that billowed about his face and the eyes that were filled with mischief were all too familiar to the boy. Daisuke sighed and took the paper from the easel, rolling it up nicely before he placed a rubber band around it.

"I should take this home to mom," he thought immediately as he left the art room. "She'd probably like it."

----

11:00.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky illuminating the seaside town beautifully, but this fact was unknown to Daisuke who was still in his room pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Why am I so nervous? It's not like I haven't done this before. This should be second nature to me. What if I get caught? What if the culprit really is Dark and he's escaped from the Black Wings somehow? If it is Dark, why hasn't he come to see me? And where's Krad? Is he still in the Black Wings? Will I have to start collecting cursed art pieces to seal them up again? I wonder what mom and dad and grandpa would think if they knew I was going to break into the museum?"

His frantic thoughts continued along this path for quite some time. He tried to tell himself to calm down, he tried to convince himself that he wasn't really doing anything wrong, but nothing he said seemed to matter. His black turtle neck suddenly felt as if they were choking him and his black pants felt a thousand times heavier. His palms were sweating within his black gloves as were his feet within his shoes. Daisuke finally moved over toward the window seat and sat down, sighing deeply.

"I should call Satoshi and cancel," Daisuke said quietly, never once noticing that someone had entered his room.

"Cancel what, hrm?"

Daisuke leapt up to his feet, startled. "Towa!" He grabbed onto his chest and breathed deeply. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"Awww, I'm sorry Dai," said the magical girl as she appeared at his side, hugging him tightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Daisuke grinned. "It's okay Towa, just… don't do it again."

Towa pulled back and saluted him. "You got it! Well, good night!"

She was about to turn around and head out the door when she noticed Daisuke's clothing. The black-on-black ensemble was usually reserved for stealing missions and Towa knew that. She narrowed her eyes at Daisuke and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where do you think you're going, Daisuke Niwa!"

"Towa… I… why do you think I'm going anywhere?"

"Because you're dressed like you're going to steal something, yes you are. You used to dress that way when Dark was with us."

Daisuke's face turned a deep crimson. "No… no. I just… I felt like dressing like this." He smiled brightly, eyes glancing up at the clock just in time to see that it was nearing 11:30. "Hey listen Towa, I gotta go. Please please please, don't tell mom that I'm gone."

Towa looked at him suspiciously but nodded. "I won't tell." And with that she flitted out of the room and left Daisuke alone. The red-haired boy sighed and moved over toward the balcony. He leapt upon the ledge and stayed there for a moment before he jumped off, landing deftly upon his feet. He looked around once more before he took off in a sprint down the street and toward the park.

"You're late," Satoshi said evenly as Daisuke arrived a few minutes past 11:30.

Daisuke was panting from his full-out run and was now struggling to catch his breath. "Sorry, Hiwatari, I had to make sure everyone at my house was asleep before I left."

Satoshi shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets. "C'mon, let's go."

Daisuke nodded and followed Satoshi to the museum which was only a few minutes away. They reached the outside gate and looked through the bars. The grounds were quiet and there were no signs of anyone nearby.

"Maybe they won't come," Daisuke said hopefully.

"No, they'll be here," Satoshi replied. He couldn't explain it to Daisuke, but he had a strong feeling that somehow Dark, or someone pretending to be Dark, would show up. He sighed and gripped the bars tightly with his hands and looked over toward Daisuke. "Give me a boost over the walls," he said in a whisper.

"Okay," Dai said as he knelt down, fingers interlaced to form a step for Satoshi. Just as the blue-haired boy was about to step upon Daisuke's hands a news van pulled upon the scene.

Hiwatari growled. "Hurry Niwa!"

In a panic, Daisuke placed his hands under Satoshi's lifted foot and catapulted him over the wall with all his might. Hiwatari had little control of the situation as he was hurled over the gate and into a set of bushes on the other side. There was a soft thud followed by a muffled 'ow' before Daisuke launched himself over, landing deftly beside Hiwatari.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Daisuke's face was painted with a sheepish grin.

"No, I'm fine," Hiwatari said through gritted teeth. He moved to a sitting position and dusted a few leaves from his shirt.

"What's the press doing here, Hiwatari?" Daisuke asked as he peeked out from behind the bush. "I thought you said you were the only one who knew about the note."

"I am the only one in the department. But I suspect that our 'Dark' sent a duplicate letter to the press." He cursed the culprit under his breath and then moved his attention to the building. "We better go-" he began before Daisuke grabbed his arm.

"Wait a second, listen to what she's saying."

Daisuke's attention was no longer on the museum but on the words flowing out of the reporter's mouth.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Kyo Midori with a special report. Earlier this evening a mysterious letter was delivered to our station indicating that The Phantom Thief Dark was going to steal the priceless Heaven's Tears from the museum. This is an unprecedented case with Dark waiting only two years this time for his return. This could be a hoax or this could be the real thing, but we here at Channel 7 news intend to find out and-"

There was a sudden ruckus of police cars rushing to the scene and helicopters flying in the air. A crowd had gathered and people were trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the Phantom Thief.

Daisuke was in a daze before Satoshi grabbed his shoulder and pulled his eyes away from the growing commotion.

"We've got to get inside, Daisuke. Hurry!"

Satoshi sprinted across the lawn, dodging the lights from the helicopters and staying in the shadows as he approached the building. Daisuke did the same and had easily caught up with Satoshi who was now peering inside the room that housed Heaven's Tears, a pair of the purest opals the world had ever known.

"Daisuke, there's a motion sensor on this window as well as a pressure sensor. If the window breaks, the alarm goes off. If the window is lifted open, the alarm will go off because of the change in pressure. And"-

"Not a problem," Daisuke interrupted. He had broken into alarms so much while he was younger that doing so now seemed second nature. The youngest Niwa male found himself growing more calm and relaxed as the night progressed. He was retreated further into thief mode and was less worried now about whether this was right or wrong now that he was actually doing it. Within a few moments, the window was open with no alarms going off. Daisuke had tricked the motion detector circuit into believing it was still connected with a simple piece of foil and the pressure sensor was also quieted with a long stick that held up the window, preserving the pressure. The unlocking mechanism was quiet simple as well, easily displaced with a screwdriver.

Hiwatari couldn't help but grin as he entered the room with the jewels. It was quiet and there was no sign that anyone was in the room with them. Daisuke followed a few moments after and looked around the medium-sized room. He saw the sparkling jewels in the middle of the floor in a shatter-proof case. Bright lights shone upon them and made it look as if the jewels had a light all their own.

"They're beautiful," Daisuke said in awe. "I can see why someone would want to steal them."

"They're more than just beautiful," said a mysterious voice that seemed to surround the two young boys.

"Dark…?" Daisuke's eyes widened. "Is that… is that you?"

"Show yourself imposter!" Hiwatari demanded as he stepped forward.

"Tsk tsk," said the familiar voice. "That's no way to talk to an old friend, is it?"

Satoshi and Daisuke looked to every corner to try to get a glimpse of the person talking to them. But their eyes did not look to the ceiling from which a darkened figure was descending. The thief put their hand on top of the glass case and began a quiet incantation under their breath. Satoshi stopped and turned around in time to see the intruder.

"Hold it right there!" He leapt forward and caught a glimpse of the person, who was now illuminated from some light shining in through the window. Daisuke had turned around as well and glared at the figure that was not Dark at all.

"Who are you!" he demanded angrily. It offended him deeply that anyone would try to impersonate Dark.

"You'll find out soon enough," the person said as the jewels inside the case began to glow and rise from their cushion. Daisuke and Hiwatari stared in awe as the opals seemed to pass through the glass and right into the thief's outstretched hand. "It's a shame that the true Dark did not come tonight," the voice said. "But I'm sure I can lure him out eventually."

"Give those back!" Daisuke said as he leapt toward the mysterious person and tried to kick them in the gut. But the imposter-Dark was too quick and began to ascend back toward the ceiling.

Satoshi had grabbed the glass case that held the jewels (and thus set off the alarm) and hurled it at the intruder. The unknown thief grabbed it quickly with their left hand and tossed it aside.

"I see that we have company outside," they said with a laugh that sounded very much like a girl for a moment. "They expecting to see the Phantom Thief and who am I to disappoint."

In a flash of light, the thief had crashed through the window and flown outside. In the moonlight, the gaggle of people, the press and the police saw the Phantom Thief flying away on his black wings. Satoshi and Daisuke could hardly believe their eyes for they knew that the person that had just stolen Heaven's Tears was not Dark at all and yet looking outside, they saw Dark.

And in the room where the crime had taken place a litter of black feathers was floating to the ground.