Disclaimers: Author does not on anything, so leave me alone.

A/N: Yes, I decided to continue it. If only because people have been asking about where the DarkRiku pairing comes in. Well, I suppose I should have never mentioned it until later… but… whatever. (shrugs)

Status: Multi-chapter fic. Incomplete.

Pairings: DarkxRiku, DaisukexSatoshi, others to be mentioned.

And please don't complain about my choice of other pairings; in the end, it's entirely focused on Dark and Riku, so yeah. Don't argue, just read, it's all very vague because I don't write romance anyway.

Oh yes, and thank you for reviews (I'd reply to them, but my brain's scrambled from doing that too much, so yeah) it's very much appreciated!

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Spiritual Side

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Fortitude Two

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"So you're positively sure that she isn't going to die now?"

"Yeah. Come on, I know what I'm doing. And you're pacing around is beginning to get on my nerves so quit it!"

"Not my fault. If you were a better healer…"

"Shut up already. Daisuke's powers, like any other healer's, can only go so far in helping people. And she was nearly dead when you brought her back."

"Shut up yourself, Satoshi!"

"Hey, hey… calm down you two."

Riku groaned. Damn annoyingly loud voices were stopping her from getting back into the nice little nothingness that had embraced her so welcomingly. The fact now that she felt sore all over was the only thing indicating that she wasn't dead. Great, now she had to lie wherever she was until either she died, fell asleep, or woke up.

"No! Damn! I'm going to kill Saehara when I get my hands on him! He knows this is dangerous work and there he goes, throwing himself into danger because he's a complete idiot!"

"That I'll have to agree on. He should have told us."

"It's in the past. Please, if you have to hurt him so badly, do it away from the homes and stuff… those children could be scarred for life."

The talking continued, continuing to jab her in the face and not giving her any peace. Finally, she just gave up and forced her eyes to open. Three, indistinct shapes came into view.

"Do you three have to be so damn loud?" she croaked, trying to glare at them and failing miserably, "I can't sleep."

"Hey! You're alive!" the tallest of the three figures suddenly approached her and she instantly drew back as her vision cleared.

"Not you again," she muttered, getting a hurt look from the violet-haired teen. "Go away."

Dark pouted at this, "How can you be so cold to the person who saved you? Huh? You know you're sister was close to choking me when she saw the state you were in."

Flopping back onto her bed, Riku stared at the ceiling, "I expected that much from Risa… wait," the brunette bolted up at this, looking amused, surprised, and disgusted all at the same time, "You're the one who saved me?.!"

"Oi… don't give me that look!"

The redhead behind him pushed him out of the way, "Dark, seeing as she's okay now, why don't you get some rest?"

"But--"

He was joined by Satoshi, who forcefully pushed him out of the room, "Get going or I'll send Mio to pick you up."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I've done it before."

Noting that their argument wasn't about to end soon, the blunette rolled his eyes before pushing Dark out and following him and closed the door behind them, muffling their voices from the occupants within.

Daisuke passed Riku a glass of water before taking a seat, "You're been out for a week already," he explained lightly, "I mean… the state you were in when Dark came back… we were all worried that you'd already…" trailing off, the redhead sighed.

Inclining her head at this, the brunette patted him lightly on the arm, "Well, I'm here now, aren't I? But… Dark!" she frowned, "Him of all people… I wish I was dead…"

"You do know that he does care a lot about you," Daisuke frowned slightly at her reaction with the situation, "or… wait… is this because he had to save you? Or that you just don't like the thought of being dependent on other people?"

Riku raised an eyebrow at him, "What the hell are you talking about, Niwa Daisuke-kun? Hm?" The challenge in her eyes was enough to warn him to draw back while he was ahead.

The healer smiled, waving a hand vaguely around, as if it proved his point, "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as you're okay now. My mother would have taken care of your herself, but Saehara's injuries were quite severe…"

"You mean mine weren't?"

"No! It just means that he has very low pain tolerance."

"Oh, right," that actually made a lot of sense, knowing Takeshi as they did. "It was his fault, though. Running in like that… he didn't even ask for an all-clear to warn the rest of us."

"I know," Daisuke swung his legs around, staring at the ceiling, "But you should've seen Dark when he heard the news from Mio-san. He completely flipped out and wouldn't even wait for Krad to back him up."

"Funny that," Riku sat up at this and crossed her arms as she thought about it, "those two have been close friends since birth, haven't they? They trust each other and all that usual stuff… and he wouldn't even wait? I've never seen Krad as one who would take forever to prepare."

The redhead stood up and began to pace the room, "Well, that's the thing. Dark didn't really go with all his equipment."

"Say what?.! He's… he's a complete idiot!"

"Yeah, that's what we were all thinking when we found out." Laughing nervously, he scratched the back of his head before walking over and pushing her back into a lying position, "But anyway, you need to get some more rest. I already put herbs in the drink you had, so it should be okay."

Riku yawned at this, "Right. Whatever. Risa isn't going to kill me, is she?"

"Uh… let's hope not. Although she'll have to get through Dark first," Daisuke smiled as he opened the door; Dark and Satoshi were still arguing loudly outside. "Just don't think about it."

"Uh-huh…" she heard the door click shut and the blanket of welcoming sleep swept over her. At this point, she also came to a simple conclusion.

When she recovered, kill Dark.

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"I can't believe an asshole like you'd be able to--"

"--and you're just a damn--"

"Guys!" Daisuke waved both arms wildly as he stepped in between the two, who shut up as soon as he intervened. Not that it stopped them from glaring at the other; ah yes, if looks could kill. "Riku needs rest and you're probably disturbing everyone else in here."

Dark pouted at this, leaning back against the wall, "Well, if Satoshi over here would just stop questioning my intellect for once…"

"You have none," snapped Satoshi, making a half-attempt to get past Daisuke, but then decided against it, "And what was that about going over to the mansion with only a long sword?"

"She was in danger! You saw how bad in a condition she was in!"

"Yeah! And you could've died as well if it hadn't been for Krad's timely arrival!"

"…"

"See? This is why we should never recruit the insanely rash people!" the blunette shook his head, pushing his glasses up, where they had slipped. "If he wasn't such an important member, I would have asked for his disposal already."

"Satoshi-kun…" Daisuke turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "You know you don't really mean that."

"Maybe not… but it doesn't stop him from being a bastard."

Fuming at this, the purple-haired teen retorted, "Stop insulting me! I'm three years your senior--"

"Not that you act like it."

"—and don't deny the fact that if Daisuke had been caught in that position, you would just sit there and wait for reinforcements!" he pointed a finger at the boy who was glaring at him behind his glasses and the redhead between them sighed.

Running a hand through his hair, Daisuke looked back and forth at the two with maddening patience, "Okay, we all know that Dark has emotional issues and Satoshi-kun tends to crack under pressure," he raised both hands as they opened their mouths to protest, "but that isn't the point here. Riku-san's going to be fine now, and if you two keep this up, she's going to wake up and kill all of us. Her sword's by the bed, remember."

"You can be so cruel, Daisuke," muttered Dark, scratching the back of his head, "but I suppose you have a point. Well, I'm off then."

He began to walk down the corridor, ignoring some of the complaints they could all hear within different rooms. "Oh, and Satoshi…" he turned, as if remembering something, "I'm seriously beginning to think you need a psychiatrist. You're really beginning to unbalance there, boy."

"Why you--" Satoshi tried to go after the teen, but was held back by Daisuke, "Daisuke, I'm going to have to kill him one day."

He crossed his arms and scowled at his boyfriend. "You know you can't or you'd be charged for manslaughter. Besides, Dark has a point."

"About what?" they both began to follow in the same direction that Dark took, through winding corridors. The lights were dimmed and the sky outside was nothing more than an inky darkness and, now that the shouting had stopped, silence was settling back in again.

"Sometimes when the person you love is in danger, you do irrational things."

"But Dark was just being the same idiot he always is. Not to mention everyone knows how much Riku hates him, himself included. What I don't get is why he keeps trying."

"How about me then?" Daisuke stopped by a window an opened it, allowing a cool breeze to filter in. "Even after I rejected you for three years you never gave up, did you?"

"…"

"Well, never mind," the redhead closed the window, "that's in the past, Riku-san will be alright in a couple of days, and then we're back to the daily tasks of our boring lives."

At this, Satoshi couldn't resist an amused smirk, "I suppose you're right about that. Fighting and risking our lives against demons can be a pretty tedious task."