Study Hall. A good 40 minutes in which students were left unsupervised to do homework. Not that most were doing their homework.

Faith frowned as she stared over at Hiwatari in the front of the room. Her homework was in front of her, but like most of the class, she was dutifully ignoring it. Unlike the rest of the class, she had a worried eye on her classmate. Something was...wrong...

"Niwa-kun?" she asked softly, looking over at the redhead. He, like Hiwatari, was actually trying to do homework. Such a good boy.

He turned to look at her. "Did you say something?" he asked politely.

She nodded towards Hiwatari. "Doesn't Satoshi seem a little...off?"

Daisuke frowned and looked over at his old nemesis in the front of the room. "He seems fine to me. Why?" he asked, looking back at her.

Faith's frown just deepened. She shook her head. "No, he's...he's not..." She narrowed her eyes, watching him closely.

To most people, Hiwatari did, indeed, seem perfectly normal. For him. He was calmly working on his homework at his desk. He didn't seem to have a care in the world.

But Faith could see more. The way he hesitated for just an instant every three words he wrote. The slight change in how he turned the pages of his textbook.

She trained her blue eyes onto his back. She stared into it.

There was a small lump on the side.

Her eyes widened and she shot out of her seat. Daisuke jumped at the suddenness.

"Hiro-san!?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Let's go, Niwa," she said, giving him a sharp look before charging straight for Hiwatari's desk.

Her suddenness had attracted everyone's attention. The classroom stared as she walked to Hiwatari's desk and grabbed his arm. "Satoshi!" she said, jerking him forcefully.

He blinked and looked up at her, dragged out of his chair only because he had not expected to be grabbed so suddenly. But he pulled back once he was standing.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Now." She pulled harder-harder than the small, frail girl should be able to-and he reluctantly obeyed.

Daisuke watched her walk Hiwatari out of the room, just as confused as everyone else.

"NIWA!"

Faith's yell made him jump. "Coming!" he called awkwardly and he smiled to everyone that was now staring at him and hurried out of the room.

Faith led the two of them to the art room. She slammed and locked the doors shut behind her and glared at the boys.

"Bring them out," she said. The boys shared a puzzled look. "Bring them out right now so I can kill them both."

"What're you talking about?" Hiwatari asked in that slow, calm voice of his. Sometimes his voice just made her want to calm down and see things his way. Sometimes it just pissed her off more.

She took a step towards them, shaking a finger at them. "Dark and Krad. Now."

Daisuke almost gasped in shock. "H-how do you-"

"Now!"

"I-I-I mean, let's not-"

"Niwa," Faith said, her voice getting lower. "Now."

Just do it, Daisuke. His voice was like music to Faith's ears. But it wasn't meant for her to hear. She kept up her stubborn look. We won't find out what this is all about until we do.

She watched as Daisuke's expression calmed and his body transformed to that of Phantom Thief Dark.

"So what's up, babe?" Dark asked casually. Faith ignored him and turned on Hiwatari.

He was clutching his side, his expression strained. But he stared right back at her. "Satoshi," she said expectantly.

"Why do you want them?" he asked.

"I told you so I can kill them!" she replied.

"OK, let's not be too hasty about that killing thing," Dark said. "I mean, we are on school property."

"Satoshi," Faith insisted. "Now."

He shook his head.

Faith closed her eyes and counted to three as slowly as she could. Didn't work.

"He's tearing you apart," she told Hiwatari.

He shook his head again. "I can-"

"Not for long, you can't!" she yelled at him. "At least let him out here and now where I can contain him."

"You?" Dark asked, stepping up to her with a laugh. "Yeah, totally, let the little girl with the heart murmur-AHHHHH"

His sentence was cut short as blue paint came out of her outstretched hand and hit Dark square in the chest. It expanded and knocked him against the wall, sticking him there. He struggled, but they held fast. "WHAT THE HELL!?" he yelled. Faith was glaring at him.

"I'm not just some human girl with a heart condition," she said before rounding on Hiwatari again. "Let him out."

Hiwatari glared back at her, but a second later he let out a groan and fell to his knees. A moment later, Krad was was up in the air, grinning egotistically like he does.

"You've just made a big mistake, little girl," he said with a laugh. He held his arm out towards her.

Before he had a chance to do anything more, the paint pinning Dark released him and went for Krad. It was Krad's turn to be stuck bound against a wall.

Krad grimaced as he struggled against the paint. And failed. Even his magic wouldn't work. "What are you!?" he demanded.

"And what do you want?" Dark asked as he walked up to the girl.

She rounded on Dark. "I want you to get a clue!" she said. She quickly turned back to Krad. "And I want you dead!"

Despite the situation, Krad laughed. "Well, my dear, it's not exactly going to be easy to-" More blue paint shot from her finger and flew to attach itself on Krad's mouth, effectively shutting him up.

I think I like this chick, Dark noted to Daisuke with a laugh. Again, not meant for Faith to hear. But she heard everything. She turned back to him. "A clue about what?" Dark asked.

"About yourself, Dark," she replied. "And who you really are. And what your real job is."

"OK, but what makes you think you know anything about me?"

"How about the fact that I'm the reason your sorry ass is on this planet! You've embarrassed the Hell out of me ever since you stepped foot here!"

"You're crazy," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm a-"

"Your mind was wiped!" she said. "Krad's was, too. It was the only way I could get them to let you do this job."

Dark shook his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked, disbelieving.

"The Court of the Archangels," she said before rolling her eyes with a sigh. "Here." She reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out a crystal. It was the same dark blue as her magical paint was. She held it flat in her hand and it began to glow. Soon enough, what looked like a holographic image appeared over top of it. The image was of a girl with blue hair standing, encircled by people that stood (or sat?) behind tall podiums, raising them high above her. Something about the girl...something drew him to her. A familiarity. Like he used to know her so well...

"Faith, face it," one of them began to say, "he's not-"

"He's not what you think he is!" the girl in the center argued. Her emotions radiated the same energy and Keiko. "If you haven't noticed, he's ripped himself in HALF just to be a better person!"

"That doesn't excuse him from what he's done," another person said. "He needs to be disciplined."

"That's not discipline!" she said, turning to the other one.

"It's our only option," yet another one said. "The only way to keep everyone safe."

The girl sighed. "Let him go to Earth," she suggested. The people around her stared at her. "That's where Nadil's hiding out. Let him defeat Nadil. Save Earth. He will prove to you that he's not who you think he is!"

"Let him near Nadil!?" the first person asked. "Are you crazy!?"

"If he doesn't take to Nadil himself," the second one pointed out, "Nadil will seek him out and influence him. You know how well Nadil can-"

"He won't!" the girl insisted. "Please! Give him another chance."

The room was silent for a moment that felt like eternity. Finally, a person that had not yet spoken made the decision.

"He will go to Earth," he said. "His job will be to defeat Nadil. But," his eyes narrowed down hard at the girl, "his mind will be wiped. He will have no memory of this life. He will learn what he needs on his journey."

Another eternity of silence. The girl kept her eyes downcast, biting her lip.

"Adjourned," the final person said.

The image faded, as did the crystal's glow.

Dark frowned. "That has nothing to do with-" as he looked up, Keiko wasn't Keiko anymore. Instead, she was the girl in the crystal. Her brown hair was now blue like the crystal, and her skin had a much more healthy tint to it.

She was staring at him intently.

"The bastards didn't even let you in on your own hearing," she said. "And just to add insult to injury, they gave you some bullshit backstory for you to think you remember and make it even harder to learn what your real job is."

"This is getting old," he said, rolling his eyes. He refused to admit the growing feeling of familiarity he had with her. "You kids need to get to class."

Daisuke didn't let him off the hook so easily, though. Dark, you know her, don't you?, he asked.

Dark frowned. I don't know what you're talking about, he insisted.

I can feel it, too, Daisuke argued. You know you know her.

"Please, Dark," Faith said. He blinked and looked back up at her. Those eyes...

"Fine," he said with a sigh. "I'll play along. Where's this Nadil character?"

Faith's smile brightened the entire room. She jumped up and hugged Dark tight. After a shocked moment, he hugged her back.

When she pulled away, she said, "Nadil's power is growing every day." She let go of him and stepped away so her arms could flail easily as she spoke. "He's almost ready to attack. He's going to gather all of the energy and power he can suck from the planet. We don't know what he's going to do with it, but he's one of the most famous and dangerous demons out there. So you're not ready to fight him yet. We need to train." She began to pace as she thought. "School days are out. Daisuke and Satoshi need their education. But weekends, holidays. Every single day off we will train." She paused a moment to look him square in the eye. "Do not ever make me go looking for you. You will regret it." She continued to pace. "Your magic is strong but not strong enough. We need to get Daisuke strong enough to handle the stress. We-"

Faith. His laughter echoed in her mind. You really think this child can measure up to me? You're in for a rude awakening, darling.