Realization

Daisuke was led by the hand to meet the colorfully dressed man in the doorway. Although he invited him inside, the man insisted to leave them to enjoy their party. Before departing, however, he granted the teen an interview for next Saturday morning.

"Kaoru's said a lot of good things about you and a strapping young lad such as yourself shouldn't have to work in a fish market."

"A-Ah…it's not too bad, but...t-thank you!" the man, introduced as Takeru, turned Daisuke's attention to Kaoru and told him that Kaoru was the one who'd suggested it. Kaoru then squeezed his hand a bit tighter and Daisuke, although hesitant, returned the gesture.

"Bye Takeru! See you later, okay?" Kaoru bid with an enthusiastic wave, and the man responded with air kisses, "Haha! Takeru's like my big brother. We've been close since I was-ah! Oh…sorry…"

"Don't be." Daisuke kindly reassured before returning to the party, "Anyway, I hope you're hungry!"

He let the crowd swallow Kaoru in a circle of greetings as they all moved towards the kitchen for the main meal. Once everyone was settled with their slice of vegetarian pizza, Akira started the conversation with Kaoru's expected interrogation of what he'd been up to.

"So, what happened when you disappeared like that? We were all so worried, even Daisuke!" the teen hissed to himself as he was called out on his evident concern for the boy.

"…Y-Yes, I…" the two momentarily matched glances and Daisuke shrugged in response to the implied question of whether or not he could mention their online reunion, "Daisuke actually…logged in to play with me."

Akira and Ryoko sharply switched their attention to the frozen teen.

"You logged in?!" they exclaimed simultaneously, "Why didn't you call me?!"

"Because I didn't want to log in." Daisuke quietly admitted, "It's just that…Kaoru needed my help. I'd do the same if one of you was in trouble, but I don't really enjoy 'The World' anymore."

The girls backed down a bit at this, but Akira's eyes were still narrowed tellingly.

"Why don't you enjoy it?" Ryoko interjected.

"It doesn't concern you guys, so don't worry about it." he dismissed, but his friends wouldn't end the conversation.

"With how you've been treating us, I'd say we deserve some sort of explanation!" Akira pressed, "What, are you too good for us now?"

"Akira…" Kazu uttered in the background, but his sister was too bold to reign in. It was a quality Daisuke had always admired in the girl.

"N-No, it's just-"

"And it seems that you spend quite a bit of time with Kaoru!" Ryoko noted heatedly.

"So what if I do?" Daisuke retorted, poison on his tongue, "He lives on the next street."

This response issued a chuckle from Shouta's girlfriend, Mimi.

"I don't think that's what she meant, but that's your business." she said as she continued to feed Shouta pieces of fruit. It was strange to see the awkward gamer enjoying himself like he was, but Daisuke was happy he'd found someone like her.

"What?..." Yasuhiko cleared his throat at Daisuke's cluelessness, "…What is it?"

"Well…you do spend a lot of time together. We were just wondering if you two were dating or something." The teen gawked, red-faced, at the unexpected claim. He tried to deny it, but was too shocked to do even that. Luckily Akira took his speechlessness as a good sign and grinned triumphantly.

"See?! I told you guys it was ridiculous! Of course he's not gay!" Akira sounded. Daisuke sank into his seat a little to hide his embarrassment. Mimi, Shouta's girlfriend, nudged him from the side and seemed to understand his sudden change in character. She didn't mention it, however, and instead turned their attention to the karaoke machine the front room.

"Now THIS I wanna hear!" Natsume exclaimed, "I've never heard Daisuke sing before!"

"My mom usually uses it for her house parties, but I like to use it, too." the teen shyly admitted. This somehow called Ryoko to lead him into the front room by the hand, the other guest following after. When they settled on the couch, Akira forced her way on his other side while Natsume sat at his feet. Kaoru lightly giggled at the sight and joined Yasuhiko in his teasing in regards to his 'playboy' status.

"Oh hush!" Akira defended, "We're all just good friends!"

"Hahaha! You guys are too cute!" Mimi noted from the floor, "Anyway, you should go first, Kaoru! Since you're the birthday boy!"

The microphone was then given to the lanky teen, who surprised them with an old song from the nineties. While it was a popular, Daisuke especially hadn't expected him to be the one singing it. His musical preference wasn't something he'd ever thought about, even when they did play 'The World' together. Kaoru wasn't a bad signer, either, even with his new voice.

"Wow, Kaoru! Great pick!" Akira cheered amongst the group applause, "Who's next?"

"I wanna hear Daisuke!" Natsume pressed, and soon the microphone was passed to the sandwiched teen. He was planning to pick some cheesy pop song everyone would know, but he found a song by one of his favorite punk bands and couldn't resist. Of course no one except Yasuhiko recognized the tune, and that was only because Daisuke listened to their album all the time.

"W-What? Is this in English?" Ryoko breathed as the roman letters popped onto the screen. He was able to mask his Irish accent, through which he had learned English, in song and his friends bought the excuse that he'd only memorized the lyrics.

"Your accent is really good!" Mimi encouraged, "I bet you get straight As in English class, huh?" this only earned a chuckle from his classmate, Yasuhiko, however.

"He never participates and he's always trying to skip class. I didn't think he had any interest in English!"

"Well, I like this band." Daisuke reasoned, "They sing in English, but it doesn't mean I enjoy English."

"You don't enjoy a lot of things anymore." uttered Ryoko, "I hope that changes, so we can enjoy many things together!"

"Hmph…" Akira huffed from the opposing side, "Kite isn't interested as the same things as you are!"

"How do YOU know?!" the other fired back, "You should let him speak for himself for a change!"

Daisuke deeply sighed as the attention was somehow turned back onto him. He knew it'd been a mistake to invite both Ryoko and Akira, but Ryoko had apparently been asking Shouta and Yasuhiko about him. She and Kaoru had gotten along rather decently, so Daisuke tried to be efficient and braved another opportunity to unite everyone at once. Next time he'd definitely make an excuse to invite one or the other; he hated being in the middle of these petty arguments. The fact he'd been trying to forget about 'The World' made him all the more bitter about it, too, and he eventually moved beside Kaoru on the floor.

"Ah! Kite!-"

"Daisuke doesn't like that, y'know." Kaoru kindly reminded, "I've learned that he's very different from his character…and I don't think he appreciates you two trying to blend worlds together."

The two blinked at the teen's sudden claim, which earned a grateful smile from the boy at his side. Ever since Mister Ichinose had told him about Kaoru's call out to Kite's player: 'Daisuke Izumi', it'd been a little easier to be with him. He was beginning to see them as two different people, and the fact he'd called out to Daisuke rather than out to Kite….well….it was kind of…

"Daisuke may not wield twin blades, but he's amazing just the way he is."

…Touching.