--31st December—

I stared at my laptop. I had nothing else to do but work. I wished that someone would come round and help me out. But who was there? Only Daisuke, but he was with his family for New Year.

I know it was sad to work on the Christmas holidays but I nothing else to do. After I came home from Daisuke's house, I nothing to distract me.

RING RING!! The phone frightened the life out of me. At least it meant I had something to do. I was only called when Dark had a note sent out.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Satoshi-kun!" Okay, scrap the thing about work…

"Daisuke-kun, why did you call?"

"I wanted to know if wanted to stay over tonight, for the New Year."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I want to be with you. Then you'll have somebody to share it with. You've already spent Christmas with us, you may as well come over for New Year…" he reasoned.

"What time should I be over?"

"Can you come later this afternoon?"

"Okay, see you then."

"Oh, before I totally forget, mum says to bring some pyjamas or something comfortable to wear."

"I will, I'll be over later."

"See you!"

I put the phone down and went back to my laptop. I had three hours to waste before I went over there. I settled into the uncomfortable silence of my apartment and completed all the stuff I had to do, which was odd because it should have taken me much longer.

I grabbed a rucksack and shoved my drawing pad, pencils, nightwear and anything else I would need in it. I exited and locked the door. I passed through the lobby and headed out down the street.

It took me half an hour to walk over there and when I reached the Niwa's house, I was knocked over by Daisuke as he tumbled into me. I landed hard on the floor, dazed, with Daisuke on top of me. He blushed furiously as he got up and offered me his hand.

"Sorry about that, Satoshi-kun," he mumbled as he helped me up.

"It's alright. I'm just a bit sore," I said, reassuring him I wasn't hurt.

"Come in…" he said, pulling me through the door. I slipped off my shoes and followed Daisuke to his room. I placed my bag on my previous bed, which didn't look like it had been moved at all.

I started to think. I was spending more and more time with Daisuke. He was the only person who liked me for who I am. Most people like me for my looks, or so I've been told.

"Satoshi-kun, dinner's ready," Daisuke said, bringing me back to the real world.

"Coming. Why do I always make it to yours just in time for dinner?" I asked as I crossed the room.

"I dunno. You must really like mums cooking if that's the case," he replied, sitting at the table. I slid into the seat next to him.

"What's this I hear about my cooking?" came Emiko's voice as she brought the food to the table. Daisuke looked at me.

"I said, Satoshi-kun must really like your cooking because he always makes it here just in time for dinner," he explained.

"Why thank you, Hiwatari-kun," she said, turning to me.

We ate dinner in relative silence and then Daisuke and I retreated to his bedroom.

"This is strange…again…"I sighed as I sat on my bed.

"What is?" he asked, fetching his drawing pad and sitting on the chair.

"This…It feels…it feels weird just to have people caring about me…Up to now, I've been pretty much ignored by everyone…You were the first person that showed me that they actually cared…"

Daisuke placed his pad on the desk, came over to me and sat next to me. He put his arms around me and hugged me to him. One of his hands reached up and gently wiped my face. I leant over and rested my head on his shoulder.

"People do care about you, but they decide not to show it. They don't want to be teased or made fun of. I know I hated it when Dark started teasing me for worrying about what Krad was doing to you," he whispered, laughing a bit at the last comment.

I sighed. It was just so weird.

"You can always find a way to stop me withdrawing into my mind, you know that?" I asked. He laughed.

"I care about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself - emotionally or physically…" he replied, hugging me closer.

He got up and looked for something on the desk. He returned with a sheet of paper and a pencil.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"It's for a drawing game. What you do is we take it in turns to draw the head, body, legs and feet. It's got to be based on someone we know. We unfold the paper and see what we have."

"Okay, shall I start?"

"Yeah," he said giving me the paper and pencil. I thought about what to draw and decided on Takeshi's head. I folded the paper and passed it to Daisuke. He drew something, folded it over and passed it back. I drew Dark's trousers, folded and passed the paper. He drew some feet then gave the paper to me to unfold.

I unfolded the paper and then did something that I had never done before. I laughed. Daisuke snatched the paper off me, looked at it and joined me laughing. The figure had Takeshi's head, Wiz's body, Dark's trousers and Emiko's feet. It was enough to set anyone off laughing.

We kept playing that game and soon had a pile of hybrid monsters. We took them downstairs and gave them to everyone else. We explained what they were and then retreated back upstairs.

Daisuke opened the glass door onto the balcony. The opening of the door sent a rush of cold air into the room and I shivered. Daisuke noticed and closed the door. He came over and wrapped his arms around me.

"Are you cold, Satoshi-kun?" he asked.

I smiled. "Well, I was…but now I'm fine," I said. He rested his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. I looked down on him and smiled. My Daisuke. My hand reached up and I stroked the soft, spiky hair. I liked the way it felt, slipping through my fingers.

I sighed happily. It was the first time I had ever felt this safe.

"Dai-chan, there's one minute!" shouted Emiko from downstairs. Daisuke pulled away and looked at the clock. 11:59.

"One minute," Daisuke breathed, settling his head back on my shoulder.

30 seconds. I looked down at him.

10 seconds. I placed my hand under his chin.

9

8

7

6

5 I lifted his head up so he was looking into my eyes.

4

3

2

1 I lent forward…

--1st January—Happy New Year--

…and pressed my lips against his.

Daisuke froze at the unexpected contact. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. They showed…shock…but mostly happiness.

He hugged me, pulling me back towards him.

"I'm sorry, Daisuke-kun. I had to do that…" I whispered in his ear.

"It's alright," he mumbled. "Um…can you…can you do it again?"

"I suppose so…" I leant down slightly and pressed my lips against his, lightly at first.

He pulled back, a blush covering his cheeks, and hugged me close. We stood there for a while, happy in each others company.

"Satoshi-kun…you are going to stay up and watch the sunrise with me, right?" Daisuke asked.

"I'll try but I don't think I'm going to make it. I haven't slept well lately…"

"You should sleep then, if you need it. Actually, I'm pretty tired as well."

I fetched my pyjamas out of my rucksack and headed to the bathroom to change. When I returned, Daisuke had changed and was sat on his bed with his drawing pad on his knees.

I carefully folded my clothes and put them at the end of my bed. I went over to Daisuke and tried to see the picture he was drawing, but he was too high up.

He saw me and turned the pad round, blushing lightly. In the picture, I was laughing, holding a piece of paper. The sketch was in its roughest stages but it was still amazing.

"You should have more confidence in yourself, Daisuke-kun, your drawings and sketches are amazing," I said.

"They're not amazing compared to yours," he replied, his blush deepening slightly.

"Yeah, but you and I can't help that. It's my genes, I can't do anything to change that. I'm a Hikari whether I like it or not…" I finished bitterly.

"Yeah, but still…"

"Think about it, Daisuke-kun, you're the only artist in the Niwa family. That's an achievement in itself. But you are also a very good artist. You have talent, without the genes."

"I suppose…" he mumbled.

I walked back to my bed and lay down, snuggling underneath the duvet and blankets. I really liked staying here. Even if Emiko and Dark didn't like me all that much, I still felt welcome here.

"Night, Satoshi-kun," Daisuke said from the other side of the room, putting his pad away and climbing on to his bed.

"Night, Daiuske-kun," I replied, slowly starting to fall asleep, in the one place I had ever felt safe and welcomed.