Dare You to Live

By ElveNDestiNy

April 21, 2011

A/N: I've been pretty much out of the D.N. Angel fandom for good (as I suspect most people are, since it doesn't seem like Yukiru Sugisaki will finish the manga) and I have other angels on my mind these days—namely this one from Supernatural called Castiel. Anyway, thank you all for the encouragement and thanks for coming back to read this. I never thought it would take this long to finish and there will be less chapters than I'd planned. Also, sorry for the typos, I haven't edited this much. Feel free to point out any you notice; it actually helps me.

Okay, some shameless self advertising: If you like angels, know a bit about Yu-Gi-Oh (really just Seto Kaiba), and don't mind yaoi, I think you'll like Angel's Grace. It's downloadable as an ebook, just check my profile.

- 12: Relativity -

Riku held the folded sheet of paper between her cold fingers and tried to make sense of it all. For a moment, she could almost believe that the stalker was right—Risa had to be watching over all of them right now. Why else had she found those ripped-out diary pages? It was as if Risa had sent her a message, a warning: I hope she never tries to steal Dark from me because I would never forgive her…

"But I let go," Riku said to no one at all. And if these blank letters were somehow sent from heaven or if her twin had somehow written them as a ghost, angel, whatever—it didn't matter, because she just couldn't read them.

It was a distraction that she needed desperately, however. As long as she focused on this new mystery, she didn't have to think about what she'd done. She didn't have to look around and see the empty balcony, or examine the single black feather he had left behind.

The paper was blank and unblemished, no sign of erased pencil or indentations from pen marks. It looked exactly like the envelope she had found earlier. Dark had taken it, but he hadn't been able to find anything either, so unless it was some kind of super special invisible ink or something—

Riku scrambled to her feet, the paper crumpling in her hand as she stared down at it. In third grade, she and Risa had gone through a Magic Marker phase. There was a special marker with invisible ink. They'd passed blank notes to each other and to their friends, the kind where coloring over the paper with another marker would make the invisible writing show up.

Maybe this was a message from Risa after all. Could it really be that simple?

Riku walked back into her room and flattened the paper on the surface of her desk. She had read about invisible inks out of curiosity before and now she tried to remember what she'd learned back then. She didn't have any markers, but there were some kinds of security markers with fluorescent inks. The problem was, she didn't have a UV light to test that theory. Still, there were some inks that changed color if exposed to heat. It was the easiest thing she could try.

The lamp she had on her desk was old-fashioned and had a regular light bulb instead of one of the newer, twisty, energy-saving bulbs. Riku turned it on and pulled off the lampshade, holding the paper almost directly over the light bulb. After a few moments, she could feel the heat on the back of her hand, but nothing appeared. Holding her breath, she kept the paper close to the bulb, careful not to accidentally burn it. Perhaps the bulb simply wasn't hot enough?

Riku was starting to wonder if she should try it over the stove or if she could somehow find an iron when she glanced down and saw the distortion on the paper as it heated. Slowly but surely, yellowish discolorations appeared and then darkened to a golden brown. It looked like random markings at first and then she could just barely make out words.

Dear Risa, the first line read, and Riku's heart jumped into her throat. If this wasn't from Risa, then there was only one other possibility…

I wanted these words to be seen by your eyes only. I know they will be, because you are truly my angel. I need to see you, Risa. I want to understand why you have come back to earth. Meet me at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in the northwest tower. I will be there at 9 o'clock tonight. Risa, come alone and don't tell anyone, or your dark one will suffer for it.

Riku's stomach roiled and her hand was shaking so badly that she accidentally touched the bare light bulb. She drew away sharply at the burn, but the smell of scorched paper assaulted her. 9 o'clock—she glanced around the room for a clock and her eyes landed on the digital one on her nightstand. The glowing red letters proclaimed it to be 9:23. She was already late, if she was really going to this meeting.

It had to be from the stalker, but who did he mean by "the dark one"? If he was deluded enough to think Riku was Risa and some kind of angel, then he might have seen Dark's wings and assumed he was some kind of dark angel. No one else came close to fitting the description. But the letter had been left on the balcony before Dark had flown off, so it had to be an empty threat. He couldn't possibly be in any danger.

Unless the stalker had planned beforehand somehow to separate the two of them but hadn't found it necessary after Dark had flown off on his own. Riku bit her lip. By now, the stalker knew that Dark was almost always with her—he had stepped in to stop the kidnapping attempt, too.

She reread the letter, caught by indecision. Should she tell Dark? Should she tell Daisuke and Satoshi—but what if the stalker wasn't bluffing and actually did have some way of hurting Dark?

She grabbed her cell phone from her desk and called Dark's number, waiting anxiously as the phone rang. If Dark really was with the stalker, she would be putting him in danger. Still, Riku reasoned that if that were true, the stalker could have sent something far more frightening as proof, rather than simply a demand. The phone rang one last time without a response and she finally got his voicemail.

"Dark…" her voice trailed off as Riku realized she didn't even know how much she should say. "Call me back as soon as you get this. I need to talk to you." Riku hesitated—she sounded stressed and frightened, but what if Dark thought she wanted to talk about what had happened earlier? She was tempted to elaborate, but what if this crazy man already had him somehow? "I really need to talk to you," she repeated helplessly. "Please be okay, Dark."

Riku hung up and stared at the time displayed on her phone, 9:27 pm. She needed to leave right now if she was going to meet this man—but everything in her told her it was stupid to do so alone. Still, it was possible that if the stalker really thought she was an angel, she could reason with him, talk to him, even pretend with him. She just needed to confirm for herself that he had no way of hurting Dark.

She had to go. The fear she felt transmuted to anger over all of it—the stalker, Risa dying and leaving her alone, her parents' incomprehension over her grief, the damning diary pages she had found—Riku felt like she might explode with how much she felt. What right did this man have to do this to her, to threaten Dark?

She was sick of being afraid of everything. This was the man who was trying to terrorize her. He was perverting the memory of her sister, writing about Risa as though he actually had known her. Maybe he had even started stalking Risa before the accident.

Riku might have been able to forgive even that, but then this was the man who had tried to break into her house and had almost succeeded in kidnapping her. It had happened so fast that she hadn't actually understood how much danger she had been in, but he had slashed at Dark with a knife.

What else would he do the next time he thought she was vulnerable? Riku couldn't let him get away with this. She couldn't just go on living as if she didn't know there was always someone lurking in the shadows.

She texted Daisuke and Satoshi even as she left her house, telling them that she was going to meet Risa's stalker at the cathedral.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels looked more like a castle than a church. It was easily one of the oldest buildings in town and its high gothic spire towers looked like they were straight out of some fairy tale. While doing a project for school, Riku had learned that the cathedral was just over a hundred years old. It had been built by a French missionary Father and while it was mostly abandoned now for religious purposes, it was still open as a historic site.

Riku had always admired the sheer beauty of the architecture that had gone into the cathedral. Now, however, she struggled to hold back a shiver as she entered the dark and empty building. The gleaming wooden pews and floor were bathed in fragments of blues, reds, and greens from the light streaming through the stained glass windows, which depicted angels and martyrs.

Just looking at the intricate expressions of peace and suffering on their faces made her heart beat faster. This late at night, the place was deserted and should have been closed, but the main door had been unlocked when she had tried it. This was such a bad idea, but since she didn't have any good ones as alternatives, it would have to do.

Riku passed the statue of an angel at the base of the stairs to the northwest tower. She hesitated and checked her cell phone. She had put it on silent, so she found five missed calls and seven frantic text messages from Satoshi and Daisuke telling her to wait and that they were coming right away. No response from Dark, though.

Swallowing hard, Riku continued up the stairs. It was already 9:45. The tower went up almost five stories, but it took almost no time at all for her to reach the top. She gripped her cell phone tightly in her hand—she didn't even have a knife, since she figured that if she was overpowered, she would only be giving her attacker a weapon. All she had was Dark's black feather tucked in the front pocket of her jacket, as if it could give her protection. The best she could hope for was that the stalker was crazy but nonviolent.

There was a man standing in front of the floor-length stained glass window in the small room. He turned when Riku stepped into the room and smiled at her, eyes gleaming behind his glasses. Riku's mouth went dry as she remembered the name Satoshi had dug up from the website about her twin.

"Fukuda…Kohei?" He gave a slight nod in confirmation, a blue patch of light illuminating his lips in a macabre fashion. Other than that, he looked average in every way. Even knowing that he was Risa's stalker and seeing him in person didn't spark any recognition. Despite the warm weather, Fukuda was wearing a long, dark coat.

"You're lovely, Risa," said the man in a soft, almost monotone voice. He stepped closer to her and Riku backed away until she was in the doorway. "I'm glad you know my name, but I expected nothing less. I needed to see you…"

He held out a trembling hand but let it drop away when Riku made no move to take it.

"My name is Riku," she retorted, glad that her voice didn't quiver. "Where's Dark and what do you want with us?"

She should've guessed as soon as she stepped in that this man couldn't have laid a hand on Dark if he tried. Sure, Fukuda was just as creepy as she had imagined, if not even more so, but if she could just keep him here until Satoshi and Daisuke arrived, he would be arrested. This whole thing would be over and she could do one last thing for her twin—she could get rid of the stalker tainting her memory and prolonging her death into some kind of game.

"Risa…" Fukuda said, drawing out the name in a way that made Riku feel filthy. "I saw you that day, Risa. I thought I killed you… I read about how you died. You haunted me and I thought the only way I could be absolved of my sins was to kill myself. But then you came back, and I knew. I had to see you. I had to ask for your forgiveness—"

"Risa was my twin." Riku gripped the frame of the doorway with one hand, her fingers turning white from pressure and nerves. Her voice was hard compared to Fukuda's whispery words, but she couldn't take any more of his rambling. "She died."

"I know, Risa. I killed you." Fukuda held out his hands wide, palms up, as if expecting Riku to understand. "But I didn't mean it, you know that! I was afraid, so I drove away—"

The blunt statement threw Riku off track and she stared at the man, too many puzzle pieces suddenly fitting together in her mind. He couldn't possibly be… "W-what do you mean?"

"You never should have died, Risa. But I made you into what you are. I made you into an angel."

His face seemed to blur before her eyes. It seemed impossible. He had followed her here—he had been there from the very start of this nightmare, and she hadn't even known. "You were the cab driver," Riku whispered through dry lips. "You hit her and then you just drove away."

"I didn't understand until later that I hadn't sinned," Fukuda continued, ignoring her. "I hadn't taken your life. No, I gave you life. I made you into an angel. It was my gift to you and now, now you can finally be mine."

Riku was too lost in her own thoughts. This was the man who had killed Risa. Even though it had been an accident, he had disappeared afterward, leaving Riku with the shattered pieces of her life and far too many dreams of a nameless, faceless man hidden in the shadows of her memory. How could she have stood before him and felt nothing—no recognition, no sudden knowledge that this was that man?

It had been an accident and she could still have let that go, but now he was back and this was no accident.

"Risa was my twin," she repeated, anger threading through her voice along with grief. "Risa is dead! You drove away and she never woke up again. You broke her—you killed her."

As soon as Riku uttered the words, she regretted them. She couldn't afford to provoke him. Her goal was only to stall for time. Satoshi and Daisuke would probably arrive at any minute. But she had never expected this—that everything would end up where it began again: her, the cab driver, and Risa's memory hanging so heavily over both of them that it was almost as if she were still here.

And Dark was nowhere.

Fukuda stared at her with wide eyes and took another few steps forward until Riku had to force herself not to back away. He cocked his head to one side and looked at her again, then suddenly lunged and grabbed her wrist in his hand. "You're lying," he snarled.

The total change in tone and his death grip on her wrist freaked her out, but Riku kept still. "You're confused. I can explain everything," she tried. She inhaled and then let out a breath slowly, feeling a trickle of cold sweat down her spine. How many times did she have to say it before he believed her? Or was he too far gone in delusion? "My name is Riku. Risa was my sister."

"Shut up!" Fukuda's fingers squeezed tighter until Riku felt as though her wrist bones were grinding together. "I understand now. You're a devil, aren't you? That's why you're always with the dark one. I should have known when I saw his black wings. No angel would look like that. And you! You have the same face, but you're not her. What have you done to Risa?"

Riku's mouth fell open in surprise before her heart sank. If this man really believed all that, he was more than just delusional. The fact that Dark really did have wings just made this all the more impossible. She couldn't reason with him, but maybe… "I would never hurt Risa. I loved—I love her. She means everything to me."

"Liar." The next moment she screamed as Fukuda jerked her until he was holding her tight, her back to his front—or at least she tried to scream, because his other hand came up and covered her mouth, fingers pressing so deeply into her face that Riku's eyes watered with pain. His other hand twisted both of her arms behind her, her wrists slender enough that he had an iron grip on both. "You've been pretending to be her. You're trying to live her life!"

All Riku could do was make muffled sounds as she tried to break out of his grip, but for a man not much taller than her, Fukuda was insanely strong. All her struggles only made him laugh—it was another disgustingly wispy sound, more of a breathy chuckle than anything else.

She felt his wet lips touch her neck and she stopped struggling for half a second before renewing her efforts, fueled by fear. "You want to be an angel, don't you. You want to be Risa, but you're not worth half of her. You're pretty, but you're a devil. I've seen you with the dark one. Kissing him, your hands all over him… Come on, whore, how do you like this?"

He forced her body flush against his own and then Riku's world went white in a whole new level of panic as she realized that psychotic or not, he was aroused. Her stomach lurched and turned over, and then with a sudden rush of adrenaline she flung her head back and hit his nose with the back of her skull, more by accident than intention.

It still worked. In the moment of surprise, Riku jerked free of him but overbalanced with the force of her motion. She hit the ground hard on her hands and knees but flung herself up and forward again. Fukuda grabbed at her arm but she elbowed him hard into his stomach and he let go. Still, she fell again and he kicked at her, his foot catching her ankle dead on and so forcefully that it went completely numb after the initial fiery pain.

Fukuda threw himself on top of her, not caring that he was using her as a cushion for his fall. The impact slammed the back of her head against the floor and Riku's vision went dark for a moment. She shoved him with all her strength and succeeded in pushing him half off her and it wasn't enough, she was still trapped beneath him—

"Riku!" Over Fukuda's shoulder Riku could see familiar red hair and she could've wept with relief as Daisuke and Satoshi entered the room. But before she could even say anything, it was too late.

"Stay back!" Fukuda warned. "Don't come closer."

His demands were unnecessary. Both Daisuke and Satoshi had came to a stop at the entranceway. Riku stared up into Fukuda's face, the glare on his glasses obscuring his eyes from her view, and remembered how he had slashed at Dark with a knife when he had tried to pull her into the car.

She could feel the sharp metal edge of a blade pressed against her throat.

Riku was very much alive. She was neither a ghost nor an angel. There was nothing particularly remarkable or special about her; she was just a normal human girl. But she was alive and she wanted to stay that way. Somehow being threatened by a very sharp knife reminded her more of this fact than anything else that had happened.

"Please…let me go," she begged. She tried to look into Fukuda's eyes and made her voice as sincere as she could. It didn't take much acting on her part. "It doesn't have to be like this. They just want to help me."

"Don't hurt her," Satoshi added, his voice like ice. "If you do, this won't end well. You know that."

Fukuda was crazy, but he wasn't stupid. He stared hard at Satoshi and then nodded. "Commander Hiwatari. This has nothing to do with the police. Call off the men that are coming or I kill her right now."

Satoshi hesitated but Fukuda didn't. In a motion too swift for Riku to see coming, he took the knife and slashed across her exposed collarbone. Before she could even react to the sudden trail of pain, the bloodied blade was against her throat again.

"Do it right now. In front of me. I want to hear it, and no tricks or she'll have more to worry about than a little cut."

Riku bit her lip hard enough that she tasted blood. It was hardly just a little cut. It was also one thing to be worried that the stalker lusted after Risa, and by default, her. It was a whole different thing to find herself playing the part of the hostage in a standoff.

She stared at the marble statue of some kind of warrior saint in the alcove next to them and listened as Satoshi did as Fukuda ordered, relaying orders to stand down into his radio unit. She would have offered a prayer if she'd been able to think clearly enough to do so.

Just as the young police commander finished speaking to his men, Riku gasped as something burned against her stomach. Heat flared, almost as if someone was holding a flame against her bare skin. Fukuda looked down at her, his eyes widening in the first hint of fear she had seen in him.

Unable to move her head, Riku stared at the man until she saw what had caught his attention. A black feather floated up into the air—it was the memento of Dark that she had stuck in the pocket of her jacket. It was glowing a dark violet now and she caught her breath as it rose slowly until it was right before Fukuda's face.

Then suddenly the entire room was filled with swirling black feathers and she heard the sound of buffeting wing beats. Somewhere in the cathedral, a clock struck ten, the sound thundering through the floor that Risa was sitting on.

"Dark!" she heard Daisuke cry and then Fukuda finally let go of her, his knife swinging out in an arc. Above her, Riku watched as Dark dodged out of the way, the tip of the blade narrowly missing one of his wings.

"You," Fukuda snarled, thrusting the knife forward again, but Riku caught at his arm and his aim went wild. Dark landed a punch on Fukuda face but Riku screamed as Fukuda's knife slashed across her palm.

Too many things happened then for Riku to follow. Satoshi, Daisuke, Dark filled her vision as she tried to scramble backwards and out of the way. Finding himself outnumbered, Fukuda turned back to her. Dark dived at him, intent on bringing him down.

"NO!" Riku's cry came too late as Fukuda feinted and drove his knife into Dark's side. The blade reappeared and she watched as Fukuda slammed it into Dark's left wing and pulled it out.

She threw herself at Fukuda even as Dark ripped something from the statue of the warrior saint that Riku had seen earlier—it was some kind of dagger, a real dagger.

It didn't matter by then, though. Riku wasn't strong enough to take out Fukuda in any way, but the force of her collision with him shoved him up against the wall—only it wasn't a wall, it was a stained glass window, the colored panes gorgeous but thin.

They shattered. Riku tried to draw back but it was too late and Fukuda's arms were around her, pulling her with him.

Then she was falling endlessly.

A/N: Please review! :]