--27th December—

My eyes fluttered open and I looked out. I wondered where I was.

Then I realised. Daisuke's room. How could I forget? But wait… I could see my bed straight in front of me.

I tried to move but something tightened around my stomach. I felt the comforting heat and suddenly remembered what had happen during the night.

--During the night—

I looked around. Where was I? I was in a room. The walls and floor were totally white and there was no furniture of any kind. I looked to be stood in the middle but I didn't want to turn around. I had a very bad feeling.

"Satoshi-sama!" called a voice from behind.

'Oh, this is just great,' I thought to myself. Only one person called me Satoshi-sama. Krad. That explains the very bad feeling.

I turned, dreading what was going to happen. Krad was stood about two metres away, grinning like a maniac. Not that that was surprising.

"Satoshi-sama, it's been too long!" he said as he took a step forwards. I backed away. I didn't want anything to do with him. I had only just got rid of him months ago and I didn't want him back.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted at him.

"Come on, Satoshi-sama, I want to show you something…" he said as he took another step forward.

"No way!" I said backing away even more. I hit something solid, a wall. 'Damm.' I was trapped. There was nothing I could do except wait.

He slowly walked towards me, dragging out the torture. I sighed. I had a vague idea what he was going to do. I had had these sorts of dreams before, when Krad still resided inside my mind.

He finally reached me and grabbed my arm, pinning me against the wall. I didn't want to think of what he had hidden inside his robes.

"It's your lucky day, Satoshi-sama!" he exclaimed, sounding way too happy. "I've got a surprise for you!"

He released me and spun me into the middle of the room.

"There's something I want to show you, here, watch this," he said, pointing to a television that I hadn't noticed before.

He turned it on and a news channel came into the screen.

"Breaking News! We go directly to Sakura at the scene," said the newsreader in the studio.

Another picture came into shot. There was a woman there holding a microphone and a police officer.

"Thank you, Tomoyo. We have recently been told about a serious crash. A pedestrian crossing the main road was hit by a car and thrown across the road. He was killed instantly. It was a young boy around 14 or 15…" She broke off, listening to her earpiece. "The young boy has been identified. His name is Niwa Daisuke. If you have…" I tuned out at this point. Why???

I screamed.

I opened my eyes and sat straight up. I was sweating all over.

"Satoshi-kun…are you alright? You were screaming," a sleepy voice said on the other side of the room.

I couldn't speak. I heard movement on the other side of the room and a light flicked on. I shielded my eyes. I felt a weight on my bed and arms surrounding my shoulder, pulling me into Daisuke's body.

"It's alright, it was a dream…" he said as he wiped my cheek. I brought my hand up and found moisture. I was crying. I had never cried. Not even when I was little, I never remember crying.

Daisuke rocked me within his arms, comforting me.

"You can sleep in my bed if you want…I don't mind…" he mumbled in my ear. I stared at him.

"Are…are you sure?" I asked, uncertain.

"Yeah, it'll make you feel better."

"Okay…"

He stood up and pulled me up. I climbed up the ladder as Daisuke went to turn the light off. He climbed up to join me and lay down. He wrapped his arms around me and fell into sleep.

I soon joined him in dreamland, the heat helping to relax me.

--In the morning--

A came a voice from behind. "Satoshi? Do you feel any better?" it said.

I twisted round in the arms to face a sleepy Daisuke.

"Yes. Um…thank you for…you know…" I said.

"It's alright."

We got up and found our clothes. I headed to bathroom to get changed. When I returned Daisuke had finished changing and was at his desk, his pencil skimming the paper underneath.

I deposited my nightwear and went over to join him. I put my arms over his shoulders and rested my chin on the top of his head. He leant backwards into me but kept drawing. A picture of Dark was slowly forming in its early stages.

"BREAKFAST EVERYONE!!" Emiko shouted from the kitchen, waking anyone who wasn't already up. Various voices replied and we were all down at the table within two minutes.

Breakfast was set out on the table; cereal, toast, yoghurt, fruit etc.

We went back up to the bedroom. I didn't want to tell him, but I had to.

"Daisuke-kun?" I said from the balcony.

"Yeah?" he asked, coming out to join me.

I looked out over the water. "I can't stay any longer…I've got to go home today…"

"Oh…We'll still be together in a sense though…When are you going to go?"

"I was thinking of getting back after lunch…"

"We've still got this morning then!"

"Yep."

We decided to go to the park and just walk. The park wasn't very busy today; it was colder than any other day this year. We sat together on a bench watching the clouds go by.

I retrieved my pad from my rucksack, found a pencil and started to sketch the park. In front of us was the football field with a couple of boys playing who were well wrapped up against the cold. To one side there was the bandstand and to the other were the tallest trees in the park.

I didn't realise Daisuke had his pad out until I had finished my picture. I showed it to him and he turned his own pad around. There was his own version of the park, complete with football team, a band and a collection of tree climbers.

"Imaginative…" I commented. I looked at my watch. "Daisuke-kun, I think we should get back…"

"Why, what time is it?" I showed him my watch. "Oh no, this isn't good."

"I know." We quickly packed up and started to run back to the house. We made it to the door without falling over.

"Phew…Safe," I said.

"Not yet…" Daisuke said as he opened the door. "27th December is when mum puts the traps back together."

"Oh…" Together we worked out what tripped the traps, and quickly jumped, dodged and swung around the traps.

"Are we safe now?" I panted.

"Not yet, mum usually puts a live current through the door handle."

"Lucky I packed this then," I said holding up some insulation.

"Why…?"

"You never know."

I put the insulation between my hand and the handle and pulled. We made it in safely only to face a very angry Emiko.

"Where the hell were you?" she shouted.

"We went up to the park and lost track of time," I supplied.

"What were you doing you there?"

We both fished our pads out of our bags and held them open at the page with the picture of the park.

"Oh…" she started to walk away. "By the way, lunch is nearly ready so go clean yourselves up"

We took our bags up to the bedroom and dumped them on the floor. We then went to the bathroom and washed our hands. They had been covered with smudges from the pencils.

When we reached the table, lunch was set out. Soup and bread, the traditional winter lunch.

After we'd eaten, I returned to Daisuke's room and started to pack my things. Most of it was still in the suitcase, but what was out was quickly repacked. I knew what was in front of me when I got home. Washing.

Daisuke had come up to see if I needed any help. He helped to carry my bags down. He said that Kosuke offered to give me a lift home and I agreed.

The car ride went smoothly, and we made it to my apartment in record time. Daisuke helped to get my bag into the building.

"Daisuke-kun, thanks for inviting me," I said, as I leant against my doorframe.

"It's okay…you're welcome to come over any time…"

"Really?" I asked. I had never had anyone that welcomed me so much. I was hated by my few family members that were actually still alive. They despised me because I was the container of Krad.

"You're welcome to," he replied, smiling.

"Thanks. You had better get back to your father, he'll be wondering where you are."

"Yeah," he sighed. He leant forward and lightly brushed his lips against mine, sending shivers through me.

"See you…" he walked down the corridor, me staring after him. He turned at the stairs and waved. He then jumped down the stairs, leaving me alone.

I turned and entered my apartment. I withdrew any dirty clothes and dumped them in the washing machine.

I went to the sofa and collapsed. I sat up and dragged my laptop bag towards me. I needed to get some things done before school started. I settled into the uncomfortable silence of my apartment and got to work.

Now that I wasn't at the Niwa's I was started to feel lonely again. Maybe it was Daisuke's presence in the room which lit it up. All I knew is that I was starting to draw into myself again. Maybe Daisuke had stopped me doing that.

Maybe Daisuke just helped me to come out of myself. Maybe he was just wanted to help me.

I fell asleep on the sofa. Only one word was on my lips. Daisuke…

A/N: I didn't think I'd get any reviews at all for this story so thanks go to all my reviewers. If I get 25 reviews, I'll do a bonus chapter for New Year.

Sorry for the delay in updating, my computer's having trouble connecting to the internet.