Daisuke Niwa sighed heavily as he examined himself in the mirror.

Man, I look like a total dweeb... He thought.

He was wearing a black T-shirt which was far to baggy on his skinny form and black trousers that he knew were going to trip him up. His messy red hair and too innocent eyes looked completely out of place.

"Hurry up, sweetie or you'll be late for the notice!" His mother called from downstairs.

"Alright, alright..." Daisuke called back. He took out the school photo he had gotten from the yearbook of his crush and instantly his heart started thudding. His body shifted form, growing taller and stronger, fitting into the black clothing with ease. His hair grew slightly longer in parts and turned a dark shade of purple as Daisuke vanished and Dark took over. Dark stretched, glad to be out again. Checking the watch on his wrist, Dark grinned. "Just in time for some fun." He opened the window in Daisuke's bedroom and walked out onto the balcony there. Black feathered wings unfurled from his back and he took off into the air, headed for the local art museum.

Searchlights lit up the sky, searching for the Phantom Thief's arrival. Half the town and dozens of reporters and photographers were waiting outside the building, hoping for a glimpse of the Legendary Phantom Thief Dark or to be there to witness his capture. The police were on edge as the time for the notice drew closer. Dark smirked as he saw the searchlights and changed the direction of his flight slightly to be picked up in them. After all, what fun was it if he didn't taunt the police? As the light began to follow his flight, the reporters and photographs went crazy, trying to get him in focus as he circled overhead.

Meanwhile, a young girl ran quickly down the museum halls, still holding the stolen police radio. She didn't need it anymore, now that she knew where Dark was going to be. Honestly, she'd forgotten it. She reached the room with the artistic peice, hid herself, and transformed as well, furling her redorange wings as soon as they appeared. He's not getting this one, she thought. He's stolen enough. It's time someone stopped him!

The thief smirked and then his form shimmered and vanished, leaving the crowds outside stunned. The police were informed and pulled into the museum. Just before they entered the room where the artwork was, hundreds of black feathers swarmed around the marble bust, known as the 'Holy Maiden' and made it vanish. The police chief charged into the room and stopped dead, seeing it gone.

"What the-? How'd he-?" A guard stumbled into the room, clutching his arm as if wounded.

"Sir..." he panted. The police chief whirled.

"What is it?"

"Dark...he just appeared at the entrance, sir."

"Damn him!" The chief growled, rushing out and calling his men after him. They all followed except the guard who had informed him of Dark's appearance. A smirk was playing about his mouth and once silence fell he removed his cap. Long strands of unruly dark hair fell about his face and he smirked.

"Idiots." Dark chuckled, snapping his fingers as he walked towards the piece. The black feathers around the bust flew away from it and vanished, the Holy Maiden returning to view.

The girl chuckled in her mind as she silently stepped out from behind the Holy Maiden, bow drawn, wings still folded unseen on her back. He was so cocky, it was incredibly easy. She aimed and shot, with the arrow passing through his left wing.

Dark jumped as if in surprise, his wings melting away into shadow and vanishing. He straightened, not looking at all pleased with the interruption.

"That was uncalled for." He said. A hand snatched the bow out of her hands and Dark smirked. There was a double of him behind her but the only difference was his left arm was wounded.

"I hope you know my wings are never pleased when they are attacked." The Dark in front of her said cooly, tapping out an override code on the security field of the Holy Maiden, then reaching for the bust.

Not put out, the girl reached behind her and grabbed the double holding her bow, literally throwing him at Dark and jumped for the sculpture. Dark dodged to the side and lunged for the sculpture at the same time. The two managed to grab it in the same instant and Dark scowled at her.

"You'd best let go." He told her, reaching into a pocket to draw out a large black feather. The girl merely met his gazed and unfurled one wing, a golden feather dangling, ready to drop. Dark had no idea who this person was but he couldn't risk losing the bust or having his reputation trashed over something as silly as this. His eyes narrowed and he moved forward in a sudden movement to place his lips on hers.

Without hesitation, he pulled the statue from her grip and his wings returned to his back. Drawing away, he winked at the girl and raced for the window, jumping through it and unfurling his wings. His flight was unsteady but it held and he made his getaway, placing the Holy Maiden into a special protective casing before picking up the speed of his flight. The mysterious girl ran for her bow and then the window, jumping and shooting two arrows at once but missing. She stopped and hovered in mid-air, shaking all over and cursing him in her mind.

Dark chuckled to himself as he flew away with his prize.

"Now that was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be." But who was that girl? And how and why did she have wings?

The Next Day

The next day, Daisuke was getting ready for school, yawning widely and feeling as if he'd got almost no sleep at all. His mother and grandfather had insisted on him being there as they performed a ritual over the Holy Maiden and he's hardly been able to keep his eyes open for it. By his window, his demon partner yawned, his left paw bandaged.

"Hey With, how're you feeling?" The boy asked. With lifted its head and just smiled at him.

"I'll bring you home something nice from the market after school." Daisuke promised. With that, he left and ran to make it to the tram station on time to get to school.

Another was getting ready for school but she hadn't managed to get much sleep, if any, the previous night after the heist. Her winged counterpart had been pretty huffy about what had happened and took a while to calm down. It felt like she had only closed her eyes when her parents were shaking her awake. They brought her to school, where she promptly went to class and fell asleep with her head on her desk.

Daisuke just made it on time for the bell and ignored the comments from his friends, though listening as they talked about Dark's most recent escape. One of the kids had managed to capture the escape of film, having been outside the building when it had happened.

"Look at this. See how unsteady his flight is? Something injured him while he was trying to get the statue. And my father says that there were signs of a struggle - he is the police chief after all - so there had to have been somebody there last night waiting for Dark. But none of the officers know who..." Daisuke rested his chin on his hand, also wondering at the identity of the winged girl who had fought Dark for the statue. He was tired but he had managed to keep himself awake during school so as not to draw attention to himself. The teacher entered the classroom and began the lesson, then pausing as she noticed one student wasn't paying attention. She kept talking to the rest of the class, walking casually over to the desk and then stopping, slamming her hand down on the desk to wake the girl up. Everybody else in the class jumped in surprise and then laughed.

Larei Meru jumped in suprise, sputtering. Looking up to see the teacher, became very upset and profusely apologized. She looked absolutely exhausted. Her black hairbraid was mussed, clothes wrinkled, and very dark undereye circles could be seen behind her glasses. The teacher ignored it.

"Miss Larei, how many times must you fall asleep in my class?" She asked sternly. Most of the class laughed but those that did not looked quite concerned at how tired she was. Daisuke was one of them.

"I am really sorry, Sensei, It won't happen again, I promise." She stammered, standing and bowing several times.

""It had better not Miss Larei or you will be going to the principal's office." The teahcer said, straightening and returning to the lesson. Daisuke and a few of the students watched Meru out of the corner of their eye, ready to do something should she fall asleep again. Others just giggled quietly amoungst themselves.

Meru pulled a very small clock out of her binder, and fussed with it for a moment. She set it to go off in 10 minutes, then placed it on the corner of her desk, then put her elbow on her desk and cradled her head in her hand while she listens to the lesson, her brown eyes already drooping. She really was very tired. After about five minutes into the lesson, a note is tossed in front of Meru as the teacher's back is turned.

If you're that tired you should go to the nurse and get her to send you home. Crumple this up if you want me to ask for you.

Daisuke was watching her out of the corner of his eye, to see what she would do with his note. He didn't like how tired she looked and thought she might be ill or something was wrong. He was well known for helping out others and some people in the class took big advantages of his kind nature. Especially Risa, the girl he had a crush on. She always asked him to do her cleaning duty whenever it was her turn. Meru slowly took the note while the teacher's back was turned and scanned it. Then while she still has her back turned, slowly crumpled it, making sure to keep it quiet. How nice of them... she thought.

Daisuke glanced across at her, watching her crumple the note. He waited a moment and then raised his hand.

"Miss?" The teacher turned towards him.

"Yes, Mister Niwa?"

"Meru doesn't look very well. Perhaps she should go to the nurse?" He asked. The teacher glanced over at Meru, looking her over carefully.

"Very well. You can escourt her." Daisuke nodded and got up, waiting for Meru to grab her stuff and join him. Meru stood and collected her things into her bag, then followed Daisuke out into the hall. While they are walking, she spoke.

"This is really nice of you. Thank you. Is there something I can do for you in return?"

He shook his head and smiled kindly at her.

"I just thought you could really do with going home and getting some sleep. You really don't look well." He returned his gaze to the hallway. "You don't have to do anything for me, I'm happy to help." She nodded, solemn.

"Okay, but if you ever need something, you can come to me, ok?" she says. She wass being stubborn about this. She was silent for the rest of the way, preferring to concentrate on not falling over, as being so tired had affected her balance. He made no reply to her comment but watched her carefully, anxiously in case she were to faint or something.

On reaching the nurse's office, he opens the door for her. The nurse there looked up and observed the two.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"Meru's been falling asleep in class. I don't think she's very well." Daisuke said. The nurse gestured for her to take a seat on one of the bed. Meru walked somewhat unsteadily to the bed and sat down with obvious relief. She didn't even bother to take her bag off, instead simply setting it down next to her. The nurse could instantly see Meru was in no condition to be in school.

"Meru, I'm going to call your parents. You should be home in bed. You can lie down while you're here." She said. "Daisuke, will you keep an eye on her until I return?"

"Uh...sure." He replied, a bit surprised. As the nurse left to call Meru's home, Daisuke hovered at the end of the bed, unsure what to do. Meru put her bag down on the floor and lay down on her side. Her eyes begin to droop.

She asked Daisuke, "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know me."

"Do I have to know you just to help?" Daisuke replied. "I think if anybody needs help then there should be somebody there to give it, whether they are a stranger or not." He smiled. "But if you don't want to believe that I just wanted to help you, then take as it got me out of class too."

He didn't care what she thought now, glad she was going to go home and get some much needed sleep. Though on closer look, he too seemed tired though not half as bad and Meru was. She studied him intently, then appears satisfied with his answer.

"I don't mean to offend, it seems as though I have...You shouldn't be here either, you look tired too, you're not sick, are you?" She says rather slowly, repeatedly opening and closing her eyes, as if unsure whether she wanted them opened or closed.

"Nah, my mom got a little carried away with showing me old stuff last night." He replied, not completely lying to her. "I'm not that tired." He looked back at her to find that she had fallen asleep at last and shook his head a little. He smiled a bit, glad to see she was getting some much needed rest, even if it would only be until her parents came to bring her home. The nurse returned and then sent him back to class.

Meru turned over in her sleep as the nurse came in, but remained sleeping. Her amulet fell out of her shirt as she slept. Inside Meru, Starflower stirred.

Meru, tuck the amulet back in...we wouldn't want to turn here in school... She said gently. Meru opens one eye to see the orange feather with white hair strung on the black leather cord. She reaches out and tucks it safely back inside her shirt, then goes back to sleep

Thanks, Star.

The Larei parents came and got Meru around the end of first class. She slept all the way home, and her father carried her to bed.

"Poor girl. I wish she wouldn't stay up so late. Why do you suppose she stays up every night?"

"I honestly don't know. Let's just let her sleep."

As school ended later, Daisuke couldn't be more relieved. By the last class he had felt as drained at Meru and his friend had had to tell him to stop yawning. Sighing, he headed for the tram station and hoped he wouldn't be surprised by his mother having sent out yet another notice. Especially not with With injured. He stopped by the market after remembering to get With something and then ran for the tram.

I wonder how Meru's doing now. Hope she's feeling better. He found himself thinking. Then another voice entered his mind; Dark's.

Jeez, don't tell me you've got a crush on her too...

I have not! Daisuke replied through thought furiously.

Yeah, yeah...just remember that until you get your 'Holy Maiden' I'm gonna be sticking around. With that, the thief's voice vanished from Daisuke's mind, for the moment anyway. Even when he wasn't out causing chaos as a thief, Dark sure knew how to wind Daisuke up and make his mind race even more than it had before. Daisuke made it home and pushed open the door.

"Hey! I'm home!" He called into the house.

Meru awoke sometime in the early evening.

Uhhh...where am I?

We're home, and you're in bed, said Starflower. You've slept the whole day. Did fighting Dark tire you that much? It wasn't really that bad.

Star sounded amused and Meru pulled a face

Yeah, well, if we'd gotten to thrashing, we don't know who would have won. Meru thought, throwing herself back onto the bed with a thump. Star's thoughts came back, curious.

We know he's a thief, but we don't know why...

"Leave it alone, Star," said Meru. "it doesn't matter why he does it. Only that he does."