DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, or anything else. Understood? I'm sure you do... and, no, I don't own my brain either. It owns me.

WARNINGS: Uh... evil to such well-loved characters, slight (very, very slight) use of coarse language, horrible and bleak descriptions, strange characterisations, one too many new characters to contend with. Many, many subplots with the plot plots. Confusing, yeah? Oh yeah.

--- Darkened Heart ---

--- 11 ---

Dark had somehow managed to find his way back to Daisuke's room and upon entering, instantly saw that his cousin was fast asleep. He was so peaceful like that; so much like a child that should have never been exposed to the dangers that was now before them. But as it was, the redhead had been dragged into the chaos and pain that was the reality of life, and it made Dark realise how he had failed in his promise to take care of the younger boy.

Since Daisuke's parents had found out about the boy's… unique abilities, they had panicked, naturally, not wanting their only child to be killed for something that couldn't be controlled over. But people in society had strange ways of finding magic-potential people, and that was something they couldn't risk. Not for a child who had no idea on what was going on.

As a Phantom Thief and an expert in magical artifacts and similar cases, Dark was turned into a sort of guard for the Niwa family. They never talked much, true, before all that, but he was treated like family should be, and he came to care for the redhead like he was his own brother. Teaching the boy had been easy – it was clear that he had Phantom Thief blood – but Dark had no idea what sort of magic Daisuke possessed, so he couldn't put a hand in that to help the boy with those particular problems.

Emiko, Kosuke and Daiki… they never deserved the fate they received.

Grinding his teeth with uncontrollable rage, the purple-haired teen knew all too well the pain the younger boy had suffered, especially with the witness of his death. It was little wonder that he had been so scared; he had had to run, otherwise he would have been dead by now, and Dark did whatever he could to protect the boy and make sure that others didn't chase him. That was where black wings became quite useful, since they were a superstitious lot and… well, it had worked well enough.

And although he had no idea at the time, Daisuke was in safe hands. It was hard for the both of them, but knowing what had been faced by others; there were many who were suffering terribly. It was a never-ending cycle to nothing but pain and agony, and humans were just too dense to realise that they were putting themselves in danger by destroying those who could protect them.

Confusing, perhaps, but it was something that they would soon have to learn for themselves.

And it had been something the Phantom Thief himself had had to learn the hard way. Even those times when he had been with them it was hard, confusing, painful…

He never wanted to see Daisuke hurt like that. He was too innocent, too young, and he had suffered enough already. Separated from the people he loved and left with fragments of memories that could only be relived in dreams, hiding away from the people he once lived alongside… anymore pain and he might as well be dead.

True, he couldn't hide the boy and smother him away from the reality, but he knew that he could still protect the boy, to help him heal; they were family after all.

Damn. Celeste would have known what to do.

But that had been the mistake in the first place, and she wasn't going to come back anytime soon. It was best to go forward, keep an eye out for trouble, and make sure that no more people got hurt anymore.

Yet since it was beginning all over again… the loop that no one wanted to witness was back, and there was absolutely no way to avoid it this time. It may have been sealed, but had it been stronger than that? Had it been biding its time and waiting for the right moment? What could be done about it now and were they strong enough to actually destroy it this time?

Or would it destroy them first?

It was all in a matter of time that they would find out. It wasn't like they had a lot of time in the first place, but if the trigger of events were true, then the only way to find out was watch, prepare, and wait. Nothing more could be done than that.

And yet… the boy's abilities. What were they exactly? Dark had a couple of theories in his mind, but until it was proven true, he would have to tread along that path very carefully. Daisuke was strong, but this topic was quite unusual, so who knew how he would react. It involved a lot about his past as such, so it would hurt a lot.

Everyone knew that from the start though. Monster attacks were becoming more frequent, and people were blaming the magic potentials more than ever. They hated the truth that it was their fault in the first place, but they were too stubborn to admit it and to help the fight to protect them. That and the world; not just their world, but the worlds that connected to it. They all had to be in balance for peace to be definite, but how could it happen? Humans were stupid when it came to that.

Dark jerked out of his thoughts and muses as Daisuke rolled over, mumbling something under his breath. Taking a seat next to the bed, the purple-haired teen watched him closely, wondering when it would all end and what would become of them.

In many ways, he didn't even want to know.

---

"If you knew a place once called home,

if you believe everything that was said and done,

would you remember me once more?

Would you know me again for who I was?"

"Lost is the word that is,

death is the word that does,

love is the warmth that flows,

life is the one long ago.

Why do we care? Can you not see?

Why is it that no one understands what we mean?"

Words that flowed endlessly from one room to another; words that made sense, yet no sense. A place of security and warmth; a place he had grown up in for all he could remember. And yet… he could tell that something was missing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was there, and it worried him; even if he was only a small child.

There was a sad ring to the words. Or, at least, that was what the feelings sounded like to him. His mother loved to tell him stories and poetry, yet this one was so… different. No real rhyming was one thing, but the reasoning behind the words was something that could not be placed. Not for a child who still had a lot to learn, anyway.

Why was his mother sad though? He couldn't understand it. Sure, she had been uptight since that time at the park when the weird scary thing had attacked him, but why was she still upset? He was okay now and that was all that mattered, right?

Apparently not.

He was supposed to be asleep, but he couldn't. He was scared; he didn't know why he was, he was just scared. Maybe of something he'd seen…

Or because of his family being all upset and uptight.

The words had stopped and now a normal conversation could be heard below. Crouching by the railings, he listened; curiosity getting the better of him, as always. Sentences that made no sense to him reached his head, and still, he listened.

"—but what will they do? We cannot let this happen!"

"There is no way to contain it or hide it. We have no choice."

"They can't do this!"

"They don't understand, that's why."

"Why him? Why did it have to be him! We never asked for it…"

"We know. But we still have to face the facts that they'll find out and he'll be labeled as dangerous. We cannot avoid it."

"My son is not a monster!"

More yelling, more crying, more words that made no sense. And he was still scared. Not knowing what they were talking about, not knowing who was going after who; it was all too much.

Crawling back to his room, he had no idea on what he was supposed to think. As a child, he wasn't supposed to know, was he? He couldn't understand it all, but it involved him being around, right? It had to be his fault… if they were talking about him and all the yelling and crying that had followed after it…it hurt so much.

Did the angels up in the sky understand? He hoped so; at least one of them knew what was going on. Not to mention he would more definitely forget about all this until, for one reason or another, it was necessary. Was it? No… he didn't know what to think anymore…

"Falling tears that know no end,

ceaseless pain for all who trend.

Lost in the heart of the ones we lost,

Come back to me…

Don't cry for me…"

---

As the two half-brothers expected, neither parent was at home. Which was considered a good thing for Krad, who didn't want them to overhear what he would be telling Satoshi; since it would be a sure case of getting them to be condemned and killed and all the usual junk they did? All the pointless stuff that was a waste of time because everyone else was so superstitious, but what could they do about it? Nothing, so that was the answer to it all.

There was nothing they could do in the end; it was kill or be killed, and by the looks of it, this world was fighting against themselves. Humans with no understanding in the magic concept feared it, didn't want to know about it, and so forth destroyed those with it. This also led to their doom, as they would soon come to witness, if his calculations were correct.

And they were always correct. Or very close to correct; so no one could question them. They never had before, so why start now?

Satoshi had been staring at the concrete floor and saying nothing, but that wasn't anything new anyway; seeing as they didn't talk much to each other in the first place. They were a sort of split family within, so that would make a lot of sense. But they were happy as they were, so why try to ruin it; no one cared enough anyway.

But something about Krad knowing Dark and all had to mean something to them. And it might actually help them to fight against whatever it was they were fighting against. No one was quite certain of this dark and evil foe – Satoshi snorted at this – but it was best to gather as much information as possible before trying to fight against it properly. At this point, it had been more of a hit-and-run process, and it was clear that everyone was getting sick of the standoff-like-situation. Although it was a lot safer than just rushing in, people were still being picked off slowly behind their backs.

Once they were in Krad's room, Satoshi gave him a pointed look, "Okay, spill it. What's going on, how do you know Dark, and why the hell have you been refusing to tell me all this beforehand?"

The blonde clucked his tongue and shook his head at his younger half-brother, "My my, you're rather impatient, I must say. Although I can't blame you; seeing as it's really getting a bit bothersome; and not only because of the society going against people with magic."

"I really couldn't care less about that at the moment," snapped the blue-haired boy, "You know something and I just want the questions answered. So just explain all this already and I might consider leaving you alone."

"You always leave me alone, and that was a good thing," he replied calmly, a small smirk playing on his lips, "But I suppose it does concern everyone… in a way. And I am sure you already know about what is going on, so there would be no point of me explaining that to you again.

As for why I never told you and kept on changing the subject and avoiding… well, it's a lot better if you didn't know about what I'm going to tell you, and the other reason was to annoy you," the smirk widened at the glare on Satoshi's face; "And I've known Dark for a while now, if that's what you're wondering as well."

"Well, obviously," the blue-haired boy impatiently rolled his eyes, "But I'm not asking about your actual relationship with him; I just want to know why you know him and in what circumstances."

Krad mused thoughtfully for a moment, "I suppose telling you that now won't hurt… too much. It's what comes after that might make you think a bit more," he grimaced, "Not that you'd need that." Pointedly ignoring the glare shot at him, he continued coolly, "Whole damn story is a lot longer than I would like to think of it; so let's just start it from the top…"

---

Walking down the street while engrossed with some thick volume of something or other, Krad muttered random thoughts to himself as he tried to make sense of what was going on. Strange and somewhat frightening things were occurring and no one could explain what it all meant. That was probably the worse part of it; but they had said something about 'them'.

Those who could use magic. Those who were controlling a force that normal beings should not have possessed in the first place. It was dangerous, it was unwanted; and all those who had it and were caught were sentenced to death.

The blonde shuddered. He had seen what happened to the poor fools and it wasn't the most pleasant of sights. Why he had seen them; maybe his parents were hoping he'd follow in their footsteps once he was old enough, seeing as he was only thirteen at the current time. But he didn't like it one bit; sure, he could be cold at times and uncaring, but it didn't mean he went off and killed people because of something they couldn't control.

Well, that was one reason, but the other one was more risky, due to the fact that his parents were… that kind of people.

But being able to use magic himself… it had freaked him out a lot as well. He didn't know how and when he got it, but he had it now and that was the point. Nothing could change that and he wasn't about to confess to the sadistic, suspicious freaks who were his parents. They couldn't give a damn if their own son had magic or not; just hand him over for torture and kill him and then they would all celebrate for wiping out another one of "them".

It was only a few weeks back when he'd found out exactly what it was he could do; what he could control. It had come so suddenly it was scary, yet compelling, but he had had to speak to someone who knew what was going on.

The people already sentenced to death were willing to help those who were free, as he soon came to notice.

"So you just found out about it?" chuckled a teenager with dusty blonde hair, waving a chained hand at the ceiling nonchalantly, "Well, I've had it all my life, kept it a secret, and then my parents get caught out, get killed, and here I am now. Great, huh?"

Krad raised a brow from the other side of the cell, "I don't care about your life story."

"But you're still here," the other boy pointed out calmly, smiling thinly, "Most of the guards just walk away because they think that we can't do anything in this condition. Sure, it took me long enough to come to my sense and recover, but I can get out fine."

"And end up as a fugitive," the blonde finished bluntly.

"Heh, true," the smile widened at this, "I like you. Never had any friends before cause I knew that they'd get hurt if I stayed around them. But you're different. And I mean besides the fact that you have it as well and others haven't had a clue on it."

Crossing his arms and looking incredibly bored, the blonde inspected the iron bars, "And your point is? You get out, you run away, you get caught, you die. What's the point of getting attached to people if you're going to lose them anyway?"

The boy inclined his head, thinking about it, "True, I suppose. But hey, if you help me, I can teach you how to control that magic. I don't care about dying in the end, but if I can help someone who can remain free and able to control what they have, it'd be all I want. I mean, I've already lost my sister yesterday…" he faltered, letting an awkward and stiff silence fall over them.

"… If you're waiting for me to say 'sorry about your lost', you're going to be disappointed," Krad finally said in the end, breaking the silence. He froze, hearing someone entering the prison area and bent down, "But you have a point about the magic. I can help you get out, if you want, and hide you, but you better not think about betrayal or it'll be YOUR head on a pike."

There was a thin, humorless chuckle at this, "What would be the point of betrayal now? But no matter. I accept." They couldn't shake hands, but the looks on their faces were enough, "You're that Hikari kid, aren't you?"

"Krad."

"Yeah, okay. I'm Kirio. Nice talking to you."

---

"Wait, 'Kirio'?" cut in Satoshi, snapping out of his listening to give his blonde half-brother a long, long stare, "Isn't he that--"

"Yeah, that's him," was the dismissive reply, "He was the only guy to get out alive of that place, and only because I helped him. They all say he perished and they didn't even know his name, so that's what made it even easier for him to keep undercover."

"But as our GARDENER!"

"It works," Krad snapped waspishly, "And even you didn't work it out, did you? But just meeting him and knowing him was enough to get him to try and make me meet Dark… I never understood his reasons behind it though… and I still question it, even now…"

---

"So controlling magic is all about concentration and determination?" intoned Krad in a bored voice, not getting a thing that the other boy was getting at. Kirio nodded energetically, having gotten over his ordeal with the prison as such, but his hyperactivity was really beginning to get on the blonde's nerves.

Having already gone off and dyed his hair jet black and now seemed to have the tendency to wear sunglasses, the boy ignored the fact that he was beginning to annoy the person who'd saved him. They were in the blonde's room, which didn't have much besides the bed, table, and a bookcase, and seemed more interested with bouncing around than anything else for the time being. "It's all a matter of knowing what you want to do and doing it." He explained patiently, "You see, people think that we can't control what we're doing and that we don't know what we're doing, but they're in the wrong. Sure, you get those insane people who ruin our reputation by corrupting the magic that they possess, but we seem to have a committee for that… or, at least, we used to have one… until normal people began to… well… you know what I mean."

"…" Krad raised a lazy eyebrow in acknowledgment but didn't say anything; besides, they already knew what they were talking about. 'Them' again, as usual.

"So as I was saying," Kirio picked up, like there hadn't been a pause in the conversation, "It all depends on our actions in the matter. If we're in danger, then there's a good chance that we'll use our magic to get out of it, right? And if we just want to mess with people's minds, we'll do that as well. To put it simply; magic doesn't act on its accord. Someone HAS to be controlling it for one reason or another. Just because you're having a dream doesn't mean you'll set the house on fire; you have to be fully conscious of it and that's where being manipulated and hypnotized come at a disadvantage. Since the aren't acting on their own free will, there's no chance of using them as a puppet of destruction."

Again, the blonde said nothing, and that was all for the day's lessons. The other blonde – who now had black hair – left the house, which was empty, and Krad was left with his own thoughts and trying to put into practice his own magic. Stupid kid hadn't helped much except the 'all about you and your determination' concept but noting else besides that. He could assume some of the simpler things – like the fact that there were probably different aspect of magic and the like – but knowing what type and all that other stuff would be a lot more complicated.

The next day Kirio burst into the house in an excited frenzy and jumped around like a lunatic. The first thing that came to mind was that he'd had too much sugar in one go and it was time to lock him out until he'd calm down.

"What are you doing here?" snapped Krad, not liking the fact that he did have this lunatic in the house (thankfully both parents were out) and that said lunatic was too happy for his own good, "Get out of my house before I call the cops."

"Gee, and yesterday you were the one who helped me get out of that place," came the snorted reply as Kirio bounced around some more. "Come on, I can take you to some real professionals that can help you with your magic," he grabbed the blonde by the wrist and tried to tug him off the couch, "Come. On!"

But Krad wasn't about to move anytime soon, and it was clear by the glare he shot at the hyperactive teen, that he wasn't going to mess around or take it lightly. "I don't really care about that. All I wanted to know is how to control it and I've done that, haven't I?"

Shaking his head firmly, the former blonde tried to pull him up without much success and then sulked visibly as he tried to reason with him, "You never know! There are people around the place that have stronger magic than others and that's a lot harder to control! You have to remember this and this is serious business! Now let's get moving already! We don't have all day!"

"True," agreed Krad firmly, turning a page of a book that was easily within reach, "And I have a test I have to study for, so leave me alone."

"I hate you." Kirio finally gave up and sulked.

"Good for you. Now get out of my house."

Scarily enough, the teen did as he was told and the rest of the day passed uneventfully. Not that Krad really wanted anything to happen…

---

Late that night – again, his parents were out very, very late – the blonde stared blankly at the ceiling and began to count the cracks in it, calculating on how long it would eventually take for the roof to collapse in on them and kill them all. It seemed highly unlikely for the time being, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and besides, he would be out of the house by then, wouldn't he?

That was the last thing on his mind and staring at the ceiling was just so… inspiring. That was probably the wrong word to use, but he couldn't give a damn about it. Day in and day out people were just trying to live normally and deny the fact that people with magic lived amongst them. Denouncing friendships and family bonds, it was just so pointless in the end and he just didn't understand it anymore. They were fighting against themselves, in truth, and maybe that was the thing that honestly bugged the hell out of him.

But his very random rambling was interrupted when he noticed that someone was opening his window; from the outside obviously, otherwise he would have seen them in his room. Nevertheless, if someone was trying to get in, he'd just have to stop them; not that they had anything valuable, but that was besides the point at the moment.

So he did what any smart teen would do: he grabbed a heavy textbook, sauntered over to the window, yanked it open, and brained whoever it was. The fact that the person managed to keep his balance after such a horrible ordeal was admirable, but the blonde never paid much attention to the world around him aside from all the killing and 'cleansing', whatever the hell that was.

"Oi, shit!" was the muffled yelp he heard from the person he'd just brained, "That hurt you know!"

"Then get off our property and I'll consider not throwing more heavy object at your head," retorted Krad calmly, keeping the textbook at close hand, as he proceeded in shutting the window to get back to his staring-at-the-ceiling ritual. But the person didn't seem to want to quit anytime soon and shot a hand out to stop the blonde from closing it. "What, do you want to get brained now?"

A derisive snort, "And here I was, being told that I'd find a really strong magic-potential and who do I have to meet; a snottish blonde who doesn't give a damn."

Krad managed to punch whoever it was hard, "You know, I could just call the cops and it'd be over. And if you ever call me that again, I'm going to make you wish that you'd never been born."

"You bastard--"

"Dark, you idiot! What's keeping you!" a definite female's voice floated up to them, "We don't have anymore time! Come on!"

"Tch," the person turned away to yell back, "Fine! Just give me a sec to teach this guy a lesson!"

"We don't have time!"

Ignoring this, the person blinked when he noticed that Krad was now shining a flashlight at his face, looking bored with one eyebrow raised. Then he smirked in a teasing manner, "I suppose you want to tell me something, blondie?"

Krad decided not to take the bait, "What the hell do you want anyway?"

"Someone recommended it to me, so I thought I'd check it out," the purple-haired teen shrugged, "But I suppose you're just going to go and call the cops cause you can't fight for yourself and all that. Well, I shouldn't be wasting my time here. Later." He jumped down and landed neatly before sauntering away with a swagger, knowing that the blonde was still watching him.

"Hey!"

Dark turned around, only to get a faceful of magic that knocked him off his feet. Spluttering, he fought the strands for a moment and flailed about. Krad's mocking-laughter reached his ears and he spluttered indignantly.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he bellowed.

"Whatever, asshole."

Slamming the window shut, Krad flopped back on his bed, listening to the faint sounds of the teen below as he fought to gain control of the magic that was wrapped around him and continued to count the cracks in the ceiling. It wasn't like he had much else to do.

---

A week passed and nothing honestly happened, aside from the random we caught this person ritual where innocent people were put on trial because the rest of society had nothing else to do worth while. People were afraid all the time, and while the 'monster' were still living amongst them, it would remain so. Sure, as Kirio had said, there are some who are bad and do wrong, but it wasn't like people weren't like that either. With their pitiful reasons of conquest as such, it was just sad to watch them flail around like morons.

The blonde himself had had to face Kirio a number of times to learn about magic and all that stuff – not anything too new, but you needed someone to supervise once in a while – but he did mention some guy called "Dark" and how he was all pissed off because of some "blonde who had a pole up his ass", but Krad didn't say anything and the teen gave up in three days. Sure, the purple-haired jerk had no right to call him that, and if they ever came face to face again, he was going to wish that he had never been born. No one had the right to insult him in any way and he wasn't about to let it go.

It was Sunday night that he met the stupid-purple-haired Dark. And his parents were out as usual.

To put it simply, Krad had gone off for a walk down the street at eleven forty-five, which meant that there was no one around to tell him off for doing such a stupid and dangerous thing. It was a rather cloudy night and the dim lights of street lamps were all that could be seen. Sure, there might have been one house or so that had their lights on, but he didn't give a damn about them.

Returning home with emotions that bounced mostly around the grim spectrum, the blonde ran right into Dark, who was just about to walk out of his house.

Naturally, Krad punched him and he was out like a light. He raised a brow before shrugging and hearing a surprised shriek. Turning, he saw a young girl with the same wild purple shade of hair rush into the scene.

"You killed him!" she yelled accusingly.

Reaching them, she kicked Dark hard in the ribs, "Wake up, you stupid, stupid Dark!"

The crumpled boy stirred and groaned. "Can't people be a bit more respectful once in a while?" he grumbled. The girl spun around to meet a bemused blonde in the eye.

"You're the one who knocked him out first!" she snapped waspishly, "So you're just going to have to invite us in until he recovers!"

Krad shook his head slowly but allowed them in; people did some strange things these days. And it was probably made worse by the fact that they had purple hair. How many people have naturally purple-coloured hair anymore? No wonder they were a bit insane.

…

When Dark had recovered, there was nothing to be done about his already injured pride, so he just sat on one of the sofas and sulked, glaring at a wall. The girl was suddenly very cheerful and talkative again, asking Krad many, many questions as he reluctantly served some tea (being the 'host' and all, there was nothing to be done). The scariest part about her was the fact that she was speaking to Krad like they had been long-life friends or something.

And that in itself was enough to give the blonde chills.

"So thought you'd take a look around?" Krad finally asked Dark, who didn't turn to reply.

"Just thought it would be nice to see where you lived."

"Yeah, even nicer if my parents were to catch you. You would be hung by now, I expect." His tone betrayed nothing, but inside he was disgusted. Even though it happed all the time and there usually wasn't any sort of public killings, he could hear them, screaming in pain and the like, and it was just disgusting.

"Wow, I'm surprised they ended up having you as a kid."

This time the blonde stalked over to face the purple-haired teen, who was smirking again, "Are you referring about what you think my personality is, or the fact that I can use magic?"

"I don't know, both?" Dark seemed nonchalant as he waved a hand about, "But family would protect you, wouldn't they? They wouldn't let their precious children get dragged into the hands of the tainted and unwanted."

He seemed to be kidding around, but Krad snatched his wrist and they met eye-to-eye, "I wouldn't count on that, you know. But it's obvious that your own lives aren't all comforts." He nodded at the girl, not knowing her name, and Dark stopped smirking.

"Why would you care?" he asked.

"That," Krad let go, "is none of your concern. Now get out before someone catches you and I'll be put on the wanted list as well."

Dark did eventually move, but more slowly, looking at the blonde as if noticing him for the first time. "Let's go." He muttered to the younger girl, who shook her head. Pushing her ahead of him, he turned once more to face the blonde. "Name's Dark by the way. Kaitou Dark."

The blonde snorted softly, but introduced himself as well, "Krad Hikari."

Nodding, the purple-haired teen was nearly out of sight, but then said something, almost thoughtfully, "Our parents aren't that much different then, are they? Almost as soon as they found out we were magic-potential, they planned to hand us over or kick us out. Took the latter in the end, not wanting to see 'leste cry, but they always were bastards in the end."

"I couldn't care less about what my parents thought of me."

"But they don't know. That can come to be an advantage," Dark waved a hand around, "We should talk some more when we have more time. And on better terms."

"What makes you think we're on better terms?"

"We aren't? Well, my kid sister will come up with something and you'll have to give in. Then you can meet the rest of the gang and I'll explain the rest."

Something about that caught Krad's curiosity, "The rest?" he repeated.

The Kaitou was smirking again, "Yep. But you'll have to wait to find out, huh? Later." And then he was gone. Only to be yelled at by his sister, who was not happy the least and the blonde was left to think about what had just been said.

---

"And so that's my life story," Krad finished, not looking the least bit interested with what had happened in his life, "Before mother died and all, then father married your mother and here I am."

"But that wasn't all that long ago," Satoshi pointed out instantly, "And this was five years ago."

"Yes," he agreed, "There is obviously more to it, but you have to eat something now. So get out of my room."

The blue-haired boy allowed himself to be pushed out, "You never eat either."

"I don't need to eat."

"So you claim."

"Just shut up. I have nothing more to say to you."

"Whatever. You never answered the question properly though."

In many ways he had, but someone was missing. Something important, and Satoshi wasn't going to let it go until he had all the pieces of the puzzle in place. Who knew; it might actually help them.

---

Neither Dark nor Daisuke said anything when the redhead woke up a few hours later. Sure, Dark have been sleeping and all, but now that there were both awake, it seemed that they should really say something, but just couldn't. The awkward silence was very… awkward.

"… Hey… Dark…" started the redhead, not really knowing what he wanted to say. Sure, he had many questions, but was his cousin really the right person to ask? Sure, he was used to running around the place and such, but it didn't mean he would know anything in particular.

The purple-haired teen looked up from staring blankly at a wall and then faced the hesitant boy. There would have been more silence at this point, but they were rudely interrupted when someone burst into the room, followed by two others.

Dark was the first to recover and he jumped up, "Don't people know how to knock here!"

"You're one to talk," muttered Daisuke, looking down, "Akane-san?"

Grinning slightly as she got up, Akane inclined her head in Dark's direction before turning to face Daisuke, "So, are you feeling better, Niwa-kun?" she asked, ignoring the fact that the two people behind her were hovering around in the background, hidden by the shadows. He nodded, and strained his eyes to take a better look at the other two. Akane noticed this and turned around, "Come on, you two. We can't hide this forever," she muttered, before turning back, "These two are willing to help us with the fight, so I thought it would be best to show them around, you know?"

The redhead was about to say something, but the two figures moved forward and one practically threw themselves onto him, hugging him tightly. Next to him, Dark just gaped silently, as Daisuke was lost for words; but that didn't last for long.

"R-r-r-r-r-Risa-san! Riku-san!"

---

And not only does Satoshi get the beginning of a long and heroic (sarcasm intended) tale that Krad knows, Daisuke sees the two most unlikely people to ever get involved with a magic-based fight. There will be more talk, more warnings, and more lessons that will proceed so… yeah. Sorry for the wait, though.

Much thanks to kyo's little koneko (you mean the cliffhanger?) and SapphireAzumarill (thanks!) for reviewing. And everyone who reads. It means so much to me!