Disclaimers: No, I don't own this. Only my characters and the entire strange, eerie concept. Oh, and all the spelling and grammatical errors you can find. I own them all! … To some extent.

Warnings: Nothing short but slight coarse language, and if you really want Dark and Krad, as well as Daisuke and Satoshi to be pairings, fine, whatever. Not like I'll actually mention it. They're just good friends, really. AU. Oh, and me being violent so that Dark ends up hurting himself quite a bit, so yeah.

... Right.

"There is only so much that can be said, but not before it is too late.

We just hope that the right thing is being done now."

Emiko Niwa

"Onii-san? If there was another path to life, would you take it? Would it be right to take the risk?

… What is it that we are looking for? Dark-san?"

Christina

- Five: Some things just don't have to make sense -

Aeka was fuming as she stomped around the hallways for no clear reason. It was obvious she was in a bad mood but why was unknown and so were all the little details that would have made it make more sense. It didn't take a genius to work out that what had just been said made no sense whatsoever.

After a while of stomping and silent cursing under her breath – which meant she was in a REALLY bad mood, since she never swore – she arrived at Dark's bedroom door and knocked on it lightly. She had learnt enough not to break down doors and now wasn't the time to do that.

"… What?" asked Dark from the other side of the room. "Go 'way, busy."

"Kyu!" agreed Dark's… pet. Sometimes she had to wonder what it really was. Since the boy wasn't going to say anything, that really didn't help much.

"When was the last time you were 'busy'?" she snapped impatiently, "Sitting in bed and snoring your head off, that's what it was!" It was also a fact that she coming close to a mental breakdown.

There was incoherent grumbling and then Dark managed to say something that actually DID make sense, "Fine, come in, if that's what you want."

Satisfied, Aeka turned the knob and entered, only to notice that Dark was actually surrounded by a pile of homework sheets that had half done notes scrawled on it. Pens had been thrown around as well, she noted, navigating past the chaos before her. She looked over to her brother.

Well, if he'd been doing homework he wasn't doing it now, she thought to herself, since Dark was sitting on his chair and playing his gameboy, looking like he was deep in concentration as he tapped the buttons as fast as he could.

"Dammit! Not again! You're supposed to run away from the stupid flames!" he yelled in between intervals. "Stupid gloves, like that actually helps as well… makes it close to impossible and those fireballs hurt…"

"Playing again?" Aeka said lightly, taking a seat on his bed, "For a moment I thought you were actually doing homework. That would be a new one."

"Hey! I despise that!" replied Dark without looking up, "Damn bats are starting to annoy me as well. Why won't they die already!"

"Dark, I need to talk to you about Raine," the girl finally burst out. Dark jerked his head up for a moment, looking surprised, one of his fingers in mid-hit. Looked like he was about to kill something as well.

"Really? What did she do this time?" he asked. "I mean, if she's beginning to believe in human sacrifices and blood then I'm outta here."

"Not quite," Aeka said through clenched teeth. How could her own brother be so dense at times? It was really getting annoying, and he was older than her. Surely that meant he had a bigger brain and picture of the situation, right? By the current situation, it seemed impossible to believe. Okay, Dark was a pretty stupid guy at times. That was siblings for you.

"Oh, well then, proceed," Dark shrugged the remark off and turned back to the small screen, "… Damn! He died again! That's what I get for getting distracted… I really need a lock on that door…"

"That, and a brain," came the testy reply.

The violet-haired boy switched the gameboy off and sat back, looking calm, "Okay, I'm going to listen. So, what do you think about Raine?"

"Her way of thinking is getting really weird…" she started, "I think there's something going on. I don't know what, but Nina is thinking the same thing, and I'm worried to what is going to happen to the family. Especially with Christina. She's still really young."

"I know what you mean. She's gone from freak to psychopath, really," agreed Dark lightly, "Do you think she's being possessed? The Creep told me about it once; sounds like 'great fun'." He frowned and Aeka looked surprised.

"Wow, you do pay attention to what happens around you," she joked all of a sudden, "And I thought all you thought about was yourself and that guy… Krad, was it?"

"Hey, I'm not that shallow! And Krad and I are just friends."

She smiled, "Of course, Dark. Well, you do know Nina is… like that, so what's the point of denying it?"

"I'm not denying anything!"

"Yeah." Aeka was still smiling as she left the room, "Well, at least you know. I think we have to think about this more carefully, but as long as you're actually aware, that's all I need to know." She paused to pet With on the head, "Well, later Dark."

When she was gone, Dark stared after her, confused. "Well, I can't believe she thought of bringing that out. Must be pretty bad…"

After that, of course, he went back to playing his gameboy, his one comment being…

"If you're so great, you talking tree, why don't you just TELL me where the lake is next time, huh!"

-

The night wasn't any different from the day and Dark was just lying there. Not sleeping, not actually thinking of anything in particular, just… lying there. That and staring up at the blank ceiling. Maybe he was just really bored, or he was losing his mind, but something was really stirring. Something was just… there. He really couldn't identify it or locate it, since it just seemed to be hovering around him, coming and going. It was unnerving, of course.

"Kyu?" With stirred slightly and the violet-haired boy stroked the one-time demon thingy. He really needed to talk to the others, to see if the creature really was dangerous. He wasn't dangerous, and loved people and strawberries, as far as he was concerned. It was strange to think With as dangerous at all. "Kyu…"

Oh well, he was really spacing out too much. What had happened to the times where he could just argue and hang out with his friends? Okay, it was just yesterday, but it still felt like an eternity. Now that was SAD.

Wow… the ceiling had so many cracks etched in it. Wondering if the floor above would one day collapse on them, Dark began to count how many cracks there were. He stopped then he heard a rustling noise. He concentrated on the sound for a moment, but it was gone. He shrugged it off – probably just his imagination. It tended to play a lot of tricks on him for some reason. It didn't make much sense, but it was logical enough. Or not. Maybe that was why it made so much sense.

The violet-haired boy decided to count sheep – anything to get him to fall asleep. Really, sheep weren't that dangerous, unless they were killer sheep or something… okay, how about rabbits? Nah… With was already there, and he didn't want to be attacked at night – of be paranoid about it. What else could he count? Clouds? Stars? Carrots? Onions? How many strands of hair did he have?

Right, he had some really bad ideas there and his imagination was nowhere to be found. Great.

…

…

…

Pretty white feathers.

…

Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn't really place it. It reminded him of something or something… white, white…

Oh, right.

Krad.

Wait… did he like his friend that much? Hm… possible. But it was best not to think about it. Something creepy was going on and Raine would probably sacrifice him on the spot if she found out something like that. Not like he'd actually had any sort of girlfriend before. There was that weird girl – Risa something – but she was just trying too hard and she was three years younger than him. Her twin was more decent, but she seemed to hate him for no reason. He really honestly didn't know why this was so. Had he done something to her? Not that he could recall…

Unless it was that time he managed to convince the other three to play a prank on the girls during a camping trip. Hm…

He sighed, deciding to talk to the others the next day about Raine and With. It seemed right for them to know, unless the blonde's parents killed him first.

He pushed himself up to take a look at his clock.

Twelve midnight.

Damn. He was going to be up late tomorrow, that was for sure.

-

"Late again?"

"Hey, like I said, it wasn't my fault!" Dark protested.

"That's what you always say, Dark. It doesn't work more than once. And what was that about your pet bunny eating your homework?" Krad smirked as his friend fumed indignantly. Said bunny merely 'kyu'-ed in question.

"Well, he did!"

"Are you sure you didn't flush it down the toilet 'accidentally-on-purpose'?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

"And lying won't make any difference either."

"Kraaa-d!"

Since they were on the roof – it was lunch after all – Daisuke opened the door and entered, smiling happily, as per usual. "Dark-kun, Krad-kun, hell-" He stopped when he saw the two and Satoshi appeared next to him, pushing his glasses up in the process.

"What's wrong with those two today? Did someone put them on a new set of drugs?" he asked.

"Satoshi-kun…"

The two were on the floor, Dark grappling with Krad, who just looked highly amused by it all. That and the blonde trying not to get choked in the process, since it seemed that Dark wasn't in a good mood. Satoshi pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and commented lightly:

"I want to see those two kill each other."

Daisuke sweat dropped, "Satoshi-kun, have you been reading those horror-related books again? I don't think it's right to want to kill them…"

"Only because Dark's an idiot. Otherwise I don't care."

"…"

After a while Krad seemed to get annoyed as well and he finally managed to pry Dark off of him. "I'm not family. Go maim someone else."

The boy pouted before going back to eating like nothing had happened. He then looked up at the two younger boys, "So, why're you late?" Satoshi rolled his eyes at the question.

"We've been here for the last ten minutes. You were just so preoccupied with Krad to notice us at all."

"And who's this?" Daisuke added, not noticing that his friend's last statement was probably implying something else in the older boy's relationship and even if he did, he didn't seem to care. Instead, he was peering intently at Dark's rabbit, who was currently eating strawberries for the sake of it. And he was enjoying it. "Where'd you get him, Dark-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, With's a monster."

"Really?" the redhead stared at the bunny, "Who would have thought?"

"Not you, that's for sure."

"Hey…"

"Like you're one to talk," commented Satoshi lightly as he also took a look at With, "So you're now living with monsters."

"No. I only have With in that house… and a couple of imps. That's all!" Dark said indignantly, like everything was fine. In the end it was – since trouble seemed to follow them and Dark in particular – but it still didn't stop the underlining hostility that the two boys seemed to have for no apparent reason.

"You're still living with monsters."

"Shut up, you!"

"Guys," Daisuke sighed, "Why are they always fighting…"

"Must be a genetic thing that clicked in their heads," muttered Krad, "That and the fact that Dark always seems to attract trouble, no matter how hard he tried not to… Unless he likes the trouble."

"Ah…"

"Kyu!" With looked up and Daisuke smiled. "Hi there!"

"Kyu kyu kyu!" the hyper-active bunny hopped around excitedly before jumping on the redhead's shoulder and then on Dark's head, who had been arguing with Satoshi. Seemingly he was heavier than they thought and the boy yelped in surprise. "WITH!"

"Weird…"

"You're telling me."

As lunch finally came to a close, the argument that Dark and Satoshi had – 'One day ONE of you will end up on the streets, trust me' – really never came to a conclusion. The only useful part of the conversation that they had revolved around Raine's strange actions.

"Honestly, I do think she's been possessed by a demon or something. And no one ever came to the conclusion to that creepy voice, and I'm not talking about That Creep over there!"

Krad frowned as they made their way down: something really was going on, but what could they do about it? Maybe they would have to talk to someone with a larger amount of knowledge in that area.

And there was only one person he knew of.

-

"Hello… oh, Hikari-san?" Akane looked up, surprised. Both her parents owned a small convenience store and sine they were gone – reasons unknown – she was the only one there. One of the workers looked up at the blonde but then looked back down again. "Is something the matter?" The two rarely spoke – since it was Daisuke and Satoshi who conversed with her the most – but there were on pretty neutral terms and Akane was always willing to help on the sidelines. That was her forte.

"I need to talk to you… privately." The blonde said in a low voice. Understanding, the girl got up from her seat behind the cash register.

"Celes, can you take over for a minute?" she asked the obviously older girl, who nodded.

"Just don't take too long. You're parents won't be happy."

"I know." Akane nodded over to Krad. "Come on, then." She led him to the back of the shop and opened the 'staff only' door. The whole Takada family actually lived above the store, but since it was small… they had another house, where Akane usually kept to herself. The stairs looked a bit too rickety for its own good, but once they reached a proper landing, the place looked more stable and homely, if not cluttered.

"So, what is it?"

The blonde gave her a calculated glance, "Have you spoken to the spirits lately?" Although she talked more with the two younger boys, Akane had never talked about her abilities so Krad was the only one who seemed to know. But as soon as he had asked that question, she became alert.

"No. Why is that you ask?"

"I was… just wondering if you could contact a particular spirit. Unless it's too hard for you…"

Akane smiled slightly, "Oh, no. That's no problem. So, who do you want to contact?"

Krad didn't need to think to answer, "Who I want to contact is-"

-

As usual, the house was in complete chaos and Dark had locked himself in his room. With was just lying on his pillow, snoring, and the boy was… well, he was having a fun time yelling at the gameboy in his hands.

"Dammit! That's the last time I run into YOU!" he bellowed. Someone slammed a fist against his door.

"Dark! Shut up!" roared Aeka.

"No, you shut up!" he retorted.

"WHY YOU-"

Dark stopped playing as he noticed his desk calender lying around, in the middle of his homework papers. Picking it up, he read what date it was tomorrow.

"Oh…"

"DARK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE!"

"WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH!"

"YOU BETTER BE DOING HOMEWORK OR I'M GONNA KILL YOU! WE GET CALLS FROM THE SCHOOL, YOU KNOW!"

"HEY! WHAT I DO IS MY OWN BUSINESS!"

"WHAT! JUST DO YOUR HOMEWORK ALREADY!"

He heard his sister stomp off and shook his head. 'She must be in a really bad mood to do something like that.' He then turned back to the calender, "But what should I do about this…" he mused out loud.

Outside, birds sang melodiously.

Okay, it's brief, but yeah. Hope you enjoyed it.

Hakudoshi-chan: It's not my fault that I can't write romance! Waaaaaaah... Anyway, I'm going to do my best, but no assurances with that. Glad you liked the chap, though.

neko-nya: see! I did update... in the end. And Krad just has really, really good aim, so yeah. You might want to watch out, though, I think he might have hit a plane in the process...

Oh, and the first part with Dark playing with games, well, let's just say that I was playing the Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and I didn't know where Eyeglass lake was. Then my brother got annoyed and had to show me. Then I got angry at the talking tree. So yeah, that was just me using Dark to get even with the talking tree in the game. If anything, I would have killed it...