He awoke from a sound sleep, his covers askew. Panting he did his usual scan of the room, searching for danger. His search came up empty. He sighed as he tried in vain to sleep. Finally, his eyes rested on the calendar. He swore, as he realized the reason he woke up. His nanites kept track of time, and unfortunately, the date.
"Might as well wake up...I'll never be able to sleep now."
He got up and went to make breakfast. He quickly turned, grabbed his roommate and hogtied him without breaking a sweat. Then he went back to making breakfast.
"Honestly Gabriel, do you have a damn homing beacon that tells you when I'm making food or something?!"
"Yup."
Daichi sighed as he went back to making breakfast.
"What woke you up though? It's not even 6 o'clock."
"You think I don't know that? Haven't you checked the date?"
Gabriel looked up, then said, "Oops. Unlike you Dai, I don't check the date everytime I wake up."
"And you never bothered to have the GPS feature installed. So you always get lost!"
"Too late now."
"You know that isn't true. All you would have to do is trade Wing programs with me for five minutes and it would be installed."
"Yeah, but I don't want most of those programs you have."
"What's wrong with the programs? If you had that taste sensor installed your cooking would improve!"
"Haha. After that dollop of doubt, you do laundry!"
"No way. I cook, you clean, those are the rules and you know it."
Daichi untied Gabriel when breakfast was on the table. Gabriel stretched then sat down and ate. Daichi handed him his bento, then went to school. Gabriel finished cleaning up, then followed him.
"Hey Daichi, Gabriel, isn't your birthday in a week?" asked Risa.
"Hai..."
"What do you plan to do then?"
"Nothing. I haven't celebrated my birthday in four years, and Gabriel's family was never big on parties."
"That's no fun. Why don't we help you celebrate?" asled Risa.
"That's alright, we never really celebrated it to begin with," said Gabriel quickly.
OoOoOo
Daichi stared at the painting he just made. He suppressed tears before they could appear, and he took the painting with him to the roof. Daisuke found him there crying. He tried to approach, but Daichi sent a very clear 'leave me the hell alone' vibe before he could come near.
"Who was she?" was all he would ask before leaving.
"My little sister, Ritsuko."
"You going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. So long as the teacher doesn't send me to the therapist again that is. If they do, I'll destroy the school."
"I'll help. I'm sick of making doppelgangers to avoid their so-called well-meaning intentions."
OoOoOo
Everytime they went to class, Daichi could be seen doodling before the bell. Whenever someone other than Gabriel went to see what he was drawing, he closed the book so fast it made heads spin.
"I don't see why you always close it. It's not like you have anything embarrassing in there...is it?" said Takeshi.
"Actually, I prefer to keep it private. If the teachers ever got ahold of it, I'd never see the end of the therapists."
"You really don't like them, do you Daichi," said Riku.
"Absolutely NOT. I have enough issues that I don't want them to add more."
"Kyuuun..."
"There's that rabbit again! Where on earth does it keep coming from?!" said Daichi.
"Is it yours, Daichi?"
"I don't remember having a rabbit!"
Gabriel kept silent. When he saw the rabbit, he held back a laugh. He recognized the rabbit. But he was more interested in HOW the creature ended up with them. The last time he saw that particular rabbit, it was in their own time!
It stayed next to Daichi, and didn't cause a stir. When he went up to the roof later, it was on his head. He noticed something odd about the rabbit. So long as he didn't draw attention to it, no one seemed to notice it was there. Which he thought was odd.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Kyuun..."
"Don't you remember her Dai? It's Ritsu!"
"Ritsu? You mean that familiar you made me for..."
"Yuppers! I recognized her immediately. And since I placed that see-me-not spell on her, only those who have magic can see her. Unless you make a big deal about it, then she can be seen."
"Cool. But I think we should leave her at home."
"Can't...she has a tracking spell on her so she can be located whenever you call. Or when she's lonely."
"Oh crap. We've left her alone for four years! If it weren't for the fact that we needed her to keep the mirror stable..."
"So now she'll be in your bag every morning."
"Oh joy. Does she like candy?"
"Kyuun!"
"In that case, I'll be sure to make you some every day!"
"Kyun!"
Daichi headed home with Ritsu on his shoulder. He picked up the ingredients for hard candy, then went inside. He started the stove, then immediately hogtied Gabriel. (Somehow, Gabriel has a homing beacon for whenever Daichi cooks. Lol.)
"Could you at least untie me? The smell is driving me wild!"
"Absolutely not!"
The candy was done. Gabriel took a bite, after it cooled, then declared it delicious. Ritsu immediately started chowing down. Daichi laughed as the candy started sticking to her fur.
OoOoOo
"Hold still Ritsu! I won't be able to clean your fur if you don't quit moving!" said Daichi irritated.
Gabriel pinned Ritsu as Daichi systematically removed the sticky candy. Then they dragged the rabbit to the sink, and rinsed her fur. When she came out, she was as fluffy as the towel. Her fur glinted silver in the light, and her eyes were sapphire-colored. The tips of her ears were a light amethyst, and her tail was curly.
Daichi whistled, "Wow Gabriel. How on earth did you come up with such a cute rabbit?"
"I imagined what With's girlfriend would look like. And this is what I came up with."
OoOoOo
"What's that on your head Daichi?" asked Daisuke.
"Her name is Ritsu. She's the rabbit who kept following me around yesterday."
"Did you bring your apron? You'll get detention if you didn't," said Riku.
"Yeah I brought it. As did Gabriel."
"Yay! We're cooking curry today!" said Takeshi.
"Oh crap...Sensei paired Risa, Gabriel and Satoshi together..." said Daichi in horror.
"Why is that bad?" asked Riku.
"Hold on sec. Sensei, can I go to the bathroom?" said Daichi quickly.
"Hurry up."
"Hai, hai," said Daichi as he left the classroom. He made a strange hand sign and said "Niwa teleport!"
He was in his apartment, and he rushed to the kitchen, grabbing one of the three fire extiguishers. He went back, quickly placing a don't-see-this spell on the extiguisher. He walked in calmly, then waited for the disaster to happen. Sure enough, ten minutes later, while Gabriel was handling the stove, it inexplicably caught fire. Daichi pulled the pin, then aimed and fired. The fire was quickly doused before it could get out of hand. Gabriel sputtered, and before he could complain, Daichi nailed him with the foam again.
"Gabriel, what specific rule do we have about cooking?" he said calmly.
"You cook, I clean."
"And why do we have this rule?"
"Because I catch things on fire."
"And what are you allowed to do in the kitchen?"
"Anything that doesn't involve heat."
"That's right. Now what are you going to do?"
"Step away from the stove, and let Satoshi handed the actual cooking."
"And if you don't?"
"You'll spray me again...until I do."
Gabriel quickly backed away. Then the teacher went to Daichi and gave him a look.
"Sorry Sensei, but I guess I forgot to mention Gabriel's problem with cooking. I brought this from home when I remembered we had this class today."
"Daichi-kun, why did you spray your brother?" asked Risa, who was covered in foam.
"Because he KNOWS I don't let him near heat for a reason."
"Does he really catch things on fire when he cooks?" asked Daisuke.
"Are you kidding? He caught Instant Ramen on fire, and he was only using the microwave!"
Riku and Daisuke stared at him in shock. Daichi shrugged, then turned when he noticed something was off. The teacher came up from behind him, and said, " Since you ruined the food, you get to cook the replacement."
"Fair enough."
Daichi stood at the station he soaked, and Gabriel had cleaned it thoroughly. He sent Gabriel a look, and the blond immedaitely started throwing the ingredients to him all at once. In a blur of motion, Daichi drew a pair of knives bound together by an unseen string. His hands never left the hilt once as he rapidly prepared the food. In seconds, the food was cooking. Since the rice cooker was untouched by foam, he didn't bother preparing it. In less than three minutes, the food was done. Everyone stared at him in shock.
"Done."
"That...That was amazing Daichi-kun!"
"Where did you learn to do that?"
"How were you two so coordinated?"
Daichi smiled as he said, "When you have to feed a bottomless pit like Gabriel everyday, you learn how to cook good food quick!"
"Hey! I am NOT a bottomless pit!"
"You're stomach is. And if you could cook without catching things on fire I wouldn't complain so much."
"It's not my fault they catch fire!"
"You burn instant ramen, and over cook everything. How does that not qualify as burnt?!"
Several of the class laughed, as they realized this was normal for the two. They were so used to each other, they drove each other nuts everyday!
"So Daichi, do you and Gabriel really have nothing planned for your birthdays?" asked Daisuke.
"Not really. We've never really celebrated our birthdays in a long time."
OoOoOo
Two days before the joint birthdays...
"Ritsu, can you turn into a human like With?"
"Kyun!"
"Okay...I want you to turn into...her," said Daichi as he handed the rabbit a photo.
"Kyun?"
"Please Ritsu? Even if it's only for a moment, I want to see her again."
"Kyun!" said Ritsu as she transformed into the girl. Daichi held her tightly, and nearly jumped when Ritsu said clearly, "Not so tight, Dai-san!"
"You can talk?!"
"Only while in human form."
"Damn that Gabriel! Why didn't he warn me he that he taught you to talk?!"
"What would the fun in that be?"
"Gabriel!"
"I wondered when you'd turn her into Ritsuko," said Gabriel calmly.
Daichi said nothing, but his brother continued.
"It's okay to miss your little sister Dai. I do too. She was a pest, but she was our pest. It's not right that she had to die so suddenly with your family."
"..."
OoOoOo
Ritsu stayed in human form for a full day before returning to rabbit. Daichi seemed a quite a bit happier. The next morning, he woke up a five. He was irritable as hell because of it. He cooked breakfast, then headed to school.
Riku and Daisuke tried to cheer him up, to no avail. Finally, his brother locked him on the roof, and told Daisuke, "Bring out Dark. I can help you get him close before he realizes that it's him. HE might be able to reach Daichi."
"Why bring him out? Doesn't Daichi hate him?"
"Because Dark caused the most harm to his personality, he could also heal it the most too. That's what I think anyway."
"I'll try..." said Daisuke as he transformed into Dark. Gabriel let him onto the roof, and masked his aura with his own.
"Aniki?"
Dark approached Daichi, then gently held him. By the time Daichi realized it was Dark, he had fallen asleep. His tears had finally run out, and he was emotionally exhausted. Dark flew the teen to Daisuke's house, then laid him on the bed. Daisuke turned back, then went downstairs.
OoOoOo
Emiko quietly snuck up to her son's room. When she saw the red-hair, she assumed Daisuke was asleep. She snickered silently, as she went to activate the trap. Daichi awoke suddenly, then did a scan of the room. He then looked up, saw something he dreaded, then quietly got down thirty seconds before the trap could crush him. (He's well aware of Emiko's love of traps. And a little too aware of the traps in the room! lol)
"Oh darn...I was hoping to catch Dai off-guard!"
Daichi hid behind the door, not wanting Emiko to find out she had the wrong boy. Daisuke groaned aloud when he saw the bed.
"Mom! Why did you turn on THAT trap?! I hope you didn't crush Daichi!"
"Nope. I woke up a full minute before she set it off. If I weren't aware of her little problem, I wouldn't have bothered getting off thirty seconds before it fell," said Daichi as he came out from behind the door.
"Daichi! You're alright."
"Yeah...but who brought me here? I thought the idiot locked the door!"
"Idiot?"
"My annoying brother, who shall pay dearly."
Daisuke looked a tad freaked out by the look in Daichi's eyes, so the other teen dropped the look of DOOM. When he heads downstairs, he is surprised to find out that the Niwa's had no clue Dark brought him home. Daichi sighed as he sat down. Emiko tried to act like the family was normal, but Daichi dashed that hope.
"I know you guys are the family of Phantom Thieves. So you might as well drop the act. To tell you the truth, I can do magic too."
They stood there shocked. Then Daiki said, "How do you know of us?"
"No memory spell will work on me you know. And by the way, there's a reason why my brother's last name is Hikari."
"So your brother is of THE Hikari clan?"
"Wait a minute, didn't you introduce yourself as Daichi NIWA?!" said Daisuke in shock.
"I don't believe it...You actually caught on before Satoshi did..."
"..."
"You're right. My name is Niwa Daichi. But unlike you, I didn't recieve Dark. In fact, my brother and I have been fighting him for four years now."
"Why have you been fighting Dark?" asked Emiko.
"Because he broke loose from the mirror and went insane. Gabriel and I barely manage to keep him in Japan with a barrier as it is. When we talked to Uncle Krad, he told us the only way to stop Dark permanently was to seal him back in and place a permanent barrier on it. The only problem is that it would sink the country. So Gabriel and I evacuated everyone except us, and we began the spell."
"So how did you end up here?"
"A time wind blew us into the past. Before either of our parents even started dating."
"Who were your parents, Daichi?"
"If I tell you, it could ruin the future. So I'll show you my profile...edited of course."
He had them sit in the living room, then said, "Show visual profile (hold back mother's name) of Daichi Niwa after initial earthquake."
***
Name: Niwa Daichi
Known alias: Eclispe, Moon Wing, Lunar Blade-Master
Age: 18
Birthday: February 13th
Parents: Niwa Daisuke/*edited*
Family: Brother/Gabriel Hikari, Uncle/Satoshi Hikari,Uncle/Krad, Aunt/*edited*, Sister/Ritsuko Niwa **deceased**
Current Location: Unknown
Birthplace: Amazuno
Known enemies: Dark Mousy
Hobbies: Cooking, flying, devising new ways to tie up his twin brother and art
Weakness: none
Daichi is the leader of the Anti-Dark corp, known to most as the ANGELs. His second-in-command is his brother, whereabouts currently unknown. He is well known as the Blade Master. He is also the official chef of the corp, after many complaints about his second-in-command burning down the kitchen.
Daichi holds a longstanding grudge against Dark, after the former-thief killed his clan in an earthquake. Daichi is the only living Niwa left. Gabriel is also the only living Hikari left after the death of his father. His only goal in life is to seal/kill Dark.
***
"Wait a minute...you're dad's name is Daisuke?!" said Emiko.
"Yup. I came from about 20 years from the future. Uncle Satoshi taught me and Gabriel how to use magic, after we got our nanites. Since then we've been fighting Dark so the rest of Japan could escape."
"So Daisuke is...?"
"Yeah...Daisuke Niwa is my dad. Surprise!" laughed Daichi, when he saw the other red-head's face. Daisuke fainted, and Dark took over.
"So if he's your dad, what's your mom's name?"
"I can't tell you. Though Gabriel did give everyone a very good hint earlier. If I tell him now, he might not fall in love with her."
"Oh please, it can't be that bad."
"Obviously you've never heard of a time paradox. Keep it up Dark, and I'll introduce you to chat rooms," said Daichi evilly.
"Chat rooms?"
"You talk to people online. And unless they figure out who you are, you're completely unknown."
"Sounds interesting."
"I'm usually on during school, especially during history."
"But you don't have a computer!"
"Nanites are wireless."
"Cool."
"So how old are you going to be, Daichi-kun?" asked Emiko finally.
"Well, since my body reverted by at least 4 or 5 years, 14. I don't think Dark will be able to manifest in me though, since I don't have a Sacred Maiden."
OoOoOo
The day arrived, and Daichi was bored. His grandmother refused to let him cook at all! So, he started waking up very early to cook breakfast. Much to the Niwa family's surprise, it was delicious! As Daichi left for school, he noticed someone watching him.
"I still haven't forgiven you, Gabriel. If you want lunch, you'd better buy your own," was all he would say.
"COME ON! I'm starving here! You know I've been eating salads for nearly three days straight!"
"Salads are good for you."
"Not if you haven't had meat in days it isn't!"
"Fine...I'll give you this extra bento I made."
"THANK YOU!!!" said Gabriel, relieved.
"And this is also for you. Wait until later to open though," said Daichi.
"Happy Birthday, bro."
"Happy Birthday, Brother."
*****
Next chapter: Birthday chaos! What will happen when the Dark of the future steals Daichi's body? Stay tuned!