Disclaimer: I don't own DNAngel. plain n simple.

A/N: Sorry, this story got put on hold for a while to make way for some of my Naruto stories. *__*

And to make up for my lack of updates for the past... couple of weeks?... I present to you an unusually long chapter... although I still couldn't fit the whole episode in. T^T

He'd had a rough night, and Krad was getting so much worse. At school that day, every time he even glanced in Daisuke Niwa's direction, Krad tried to escape. Several people had asked him if he was sick, one including Niwa himself. It was because he'd been sweating with the effort at keeping Krad contained, and wouldn't they all be surprised if he just exploded into a demon with an angel's face right there in the middle of the classroom?

Eventually, one of the teachers sent him to the nurse's office with a note, despite his assurances that he was fine. He made the nurse leave him alone too though. He insisted that he was okay, he just needed to sit down for a minute. So at least he'd had time to sit and relax - away from Niwa, away from anyone. Time to think and breathe while Krad seethed inside his mind like a poison. Satoshi's other half was getting tired with being trapped inside Satoshi's body. It had been almost a year since he'd awoken, a year since he'd even been out at all. Krad was getting impatient. He wanted Dark, and he wanted to be free. And Satoshi just worried about what it would be like later in the night, because Krad's strength always seemed to grow in the darkness.

Satoshi had been right to worry.

The night had been hell, and he hadn't gotten any sleep. He'd struggled blindly, knocking books from shelves, and throwing the mouse and keyboard from his computer desk. There been times when Krad seemed to calm a bit, and Satoshi had tried to take a bath. However, as soon as he was in the water, Krad momentarily took hold of his body, and taken off guard, Satoshi didn't have time to put any of his defenses up. Out of irrational anger, Krad had tried to drown Satoshi, not thinking at all that Satoshi dying meant that he would also be dead.

Satoshi had managed to throw his other self off again so that he could breathe, but it had definitely been a close one. I can't let down my guard again....

After that incident, Krad had begun to fight even harder than ever, tasting victory in his grasp but just unable to get a hold of it, and Satoshi was plunged into a world of pain, unable to breathe, unable to think. He'd never had a chance to put his clothes back on.

Finally, finally, after a night of pain that had seemed like it was going to last forever, light began to show dimly in the sky outside, and Krad weakened.

Exhausted, Satoshi sat on his bed with his head down and his eyes closed, losing track of time until the morning light shone brightly through his window like a blessing from above. Perhaps he should skip school today. It wasn't like it would matter anyway, and he wanted to sleep. "What a night," he said to himself, holding one of his hands before his face. Beams of light shone in between his fingers. "I'm just barely myself this morning."
One final, weak wave of pain rolled over him as Krad tried one last attempt to break free. Satoshi clenched his hand into a tight fist, breathing hard as he fought Krad back. A tiny noise distracted him then, and he glanced over to see that his cell phone was buzzing. The only person with Satoshi's cell phone number was his father....

Satoshi had his limo driver take him to his father's mansion - the place where Satoshi himself had once lived. He didn't think anything significant of having a limo and a personal driver. He supposed that he could get his own license and a nice car if he really felt like it, but why deny such simple pleasures when he had them at his disposal? It's the way his life had always been. Besides, being behind the wheel of a car made him nervous, and he wanted to at least wait until he was the proper age, as all normal kids have to do.

In no time he was there, standing before his father's office door and sighing heavily, just as he always did whenever the man called on him.

Though he probably didn't have to, and it would probably tick his father oof to do otherwise, Satoshi knocked politely and said, "Hello?" before entering. His father looked up absently from his paper work, and a smile instantly lit up his face when he saw who it was. "You wished to see me, father?" Satoshi asked coldly. He didn't play games, like his father did.

"Satoshi! It's been so long!" the man said in false happiness at seeing his son. He was practically dripping with ill intent. Satoshi's father began making his way over to him, arms outstretched, and Satoshi had half a mind to turn around and run before he could get any closer. "I'm sorry I've kept you isolated like that."

His father's embrace was not what it used to be. Yes, there had been a time when Satoshi's father had loved him, and there had been a time when the man was a proud father. A time that seemed so long ago now, when Satoshi's father would take time off work, and they would spend days together just hanging out. Satoshi's father had always been fascinated by watching Satoshi paint. In fact, in the very office where they stood now, the walls had once been adorned with several of Satoshi's artworks from when he was a child.

However, over time, the paintings were the only things that Satoshi's father had become interested in, and despite being little over a child, Satoshi had entered college. Suddenly, father and son had no time for one another, as Satoshi breezed through his classes, and his father sat locked up in his office anticipating the praise that would surely come his way for all of his son's hard work. In fact, it had been Satoshi's father who had suggested that he go to college in the first place. Of course, all of Satoshi's special doctors and therapists that he'd had at the time - monitoring his strange fast-paced progression in life - agreed that he should go, as long as he was willing.

At the time, Satoshi had known that it would be something special, something that would make his father proud again, because even then he could sense his father turning cold. So, Satoshi had agreed to go, though he hadn't really wanted to. He'd wanted to be normal, to play with people his own age, who he never seemed to fit in with.... All the doctors had said, "You can never be normal Satoshi. You're special." But he hadn't felt very special. And somehow, Satoshi had ended up focusing even more intently on making his goal in life to capture the Phantom Thief.

"You'll be free once Dark's captured," his father said then, as if reading his mind and imitating his reminiscing.

"Can't breathe," Satoshi complained. Of course he hadn't bothered to hug his father back. Sometimes he wondered why the man even bothered to pretend that he still care, but then he remembered. His father liked the attention he received at having a genius for a son, and even more than that he knew that pretending to love him got on Satoshi's nerves.

"What?" his father asked now, giving him another little squeeze. Yeah. He definitely liked to irritate.

"You're squeezing me too hard," Satoshi muttered, and was finally free of his father's stiff embrace.

"Oh... sorry," the man half laughed. "It's just been so long since I've seen you. I wanted to give you a hug. This has been hard on both of us."

"It's okay, father," Satoshi replied, barely listening to his father's words in the first place.

"So how's the work coming along?" the man asked conversationally. And so here it was, the real reason why he had called Satoshi here. "It would be nice if you could capture Dark alive." Of course, if Satoshi managed to capture Dark, it would only mean more praise thrown his father's way. "I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. It's just you keep sending me reports saying that no progress has been made. I guess I was hoping there was something more you could tell me."
I'll capture Dark, Satoshi thought. But I won't do it for you.

"Not really," he said aloud. "Nothing worth mentioning anyway."

"I see," his father said. The false care returning once more, he placed his hands on Satoshi's shoulders. Satoshi glanced around at the room, and couldn't help but notice how bare the walls were. His father had long taken his paintings down. He only cared about Dark's capture now. "Well, take your time. I'm sure you'll think of something." The thought of Dark's capture had completely consumed the man, and unlike Satoshi he didn't care how many people he'd have to step on or kill to get to it.

Suddenly his father hugged him again. Ugh. "Then I guess we'll be saying goodbye again for now."

"Anything else?" Satoshi made the excuse of being late for school so that he could finally escape. Somehow, he felt like he would never truly be free of his father. It was... an unsettling thought.

His father, being the kind of father that he was, insisted that he wouldn't keep Satoshi, despite how much he'd been saying he'd missed him just moments before. His father hadn't approved of him going back to middle school at first - at least, not until he learned that it was in order to get closer to Daisuke Niwa. Then he'd been all for it, of course.

As Satoshi left for school, he could only imagine what his father must be thinking now.

Satoshi was still thinking about his father when he got to school, and that was never a good thing. The more he thought about the man, the angrier he became. And he was tired too. His body was exhausted from fighting with Krad all night, damn him.

Too lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the girls whispering about him behind their hands as he made his way down the hall to his classroom. He was surprised when none other than Daisuke Niwa himself caught up with him. "Hey," the redhead said to him. "Is something wrong?" Satoshi couldn't believe that there was actual concern in the other boy's eyes. Why did Niwa go out of his way to care about him when he knew that Satoshi's goal in life was to capture him and Dark? Didn't he think that it was kind of dangerous to just walk up to him and say hello?

"No. Why?" Satoshi replied.

"No reason really... except you don't seem yourself much lately." Satoshi watched the boy as a smile appeared on Niwa's face, and Daisuke ran off to his class, advising Satoshi not to be late.

What a strange guy. He really made no sense.

The redhead tripped halfway down the hallway. How typical. Simple, clumsy Daisuke Niwa. But Satoshi knew another side of him, a side that most other people didn't see. Daisuke's other half. No one would ever suspect at all that the boy was really....

"Excuse me!" a girl cried out from behind a little while later, and Satoshi turned to see two girls approaching him. "This is for you!" the one with the brown hair stammered, handing him a letter and bowing her head.

"You don't have to respond if you like," her friend said, a look of pleading in her eyes. "But she'd had a crush on you for so long-"

"I'm sorry," Satoshi interrupted. "But I really don't have time for this." He walked away without a backward glance.

Satoshi didn't even consider that the girl might be heart broken. Of course he couldn't get involved with her. He doubted he even knew her name. Maybe she was in one of his classes? It's not like he paid much attention to any of his classmates - other than Niwa, of course. He just didn't have the time or patience to put up with girls like her. He might have thought she was pretty, if he ever decided to look at her again, but she'd looked kind of stupid too. All girls looked stupid now, especially after attending college with adults. Sometimes the immaturity of Satoshi's classmates aggravated him.

Satoshi followed where he had seen Niwa go... into one of the empty computer labs. He tried the door. Locked. Glancing around to make sure that no one was paying any attention to him, Satoshi smirked slightly as he cracked the lock and slipped silently inside.

Niwa was sitting at one of the computers in the back, and he looked like he was concentrating hard on whatever it was he was doing. Satoshi crossed the room silently, and stood a ways behind Niwa so that he could see what he was doing. A look of surprise crossed Niwa's face, and then Satoshi saw that the other boy was looking at his profile.

Satoshi smirked, and put a hand on the back of Niwa's chair. He lowered his head so that he could put his face near the other boys'. "Are you really that interested in me?" he asked with a smile as Niwa gasped and said hello. "You were so into all this that you didn't hear me coming up right behind you, did you Niwa?"

An innocent tone immediately entered Niwa's voice as he replied. "Why no I didn't. I was sure I'd locked the door behind me." He looked so honestly guilty that it made Satoshi want to laugh. Cute. Daisuke Niwa was very... cute.

"I do know a few tricks," he said in the redhead's ear. "But not as many as you do."

"There you are!" someone cried, and the two of them looked up to see Risa Harada silhouetted in the doorway. Satoshi sighed a little. How unpleasant.

Of course, Niwa was up and at her side in an instant, making a quick excuse to Satoshi so that he could leave with her. "Let's go Miss Harada!' the redhead exclaimed, and they were gone.

Also very typical. Satoshi had watched Niwa closely enough over the past few years to know that the guy was in love with Risa Harada. Satoshi's own impression of the girl was that she was very demanding and selfish. She was cute he supposed, but annoyed him enough that he almost couldn't stand to look at her. The girl never missed a chance to take advantage of Niwa's quiet adoration of her. It made Satoshi angry. People shouldn't have the power to play with others like that. And Niwa was so stupid to go along with it, time and time again. He had to know that nothing would ever come of it.

In silence, Satoshi took Niwa's seat and worked to pull up what the boy had been looking at. He had it on the screen in just a minute, still thinking about that look of concern that had been on Niwa's face that morning, and the simple innocent guilt he had portrayed just a moment before when Satoshi had caught him looking at his profile.

"He seems absentminded," Satoshi thought. "But he gained access to almost all of my data.... I can't take him lightly. Maybe I'll try... a direct confrontation."

In silence, Krad listened to Satoshi's thoughts in anticipation. Satoshi could feel his other half growing excited.

Satoshi watched Niwa and Risa Harada chatting in the courtyard of the school. From where he stood, Satoshi couldn't hear what they were saying, but it looked... almost as if they were arguing about something. The plain look of admiration and sympathy on Niwa's face was quite frankly, sickening.

He watched in silence as they bantered back and fourth, and Satoshi was guessing that the topic of conversation had something to do with the boxed lunch on the ground at Harada's feet. She looked embarrassed and sad, and Niwa just looked... like he was prepared to jump in front of a bullet for her or something. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Suddenly, Risa said something that caused a look of total surprise and devastation to cross Niwa's face. Satoshi rolled his eyes at his own concern, because a tiny part of him wanted to demand to know what she had said to cause such a reaction from Niwa.

After a short minute, Niwa was standing, looking rather depressed. This was what Satoshi had been waiting for.

He turned and headed back inside the building as Niwa started his way. Satoshi ran ahead of him, knowing exactly where Niwa was headed because the boy had left his school bag in the classroom. Sure enough, after a moment there he was, trudging slowly down the hallway. Satoshi picked up the stack of empty boxes he'd left on the floor, in preparation for what he was going to do.

Niwa was staring down at the floor, not paying even a scrap of attention to where he was going. Well, that just made Satoshi's job a little easier. He wouldn't even have to try very hard. So... he waited until Niwa was just where he wanted him, steeled himself, and carelessly walked right into the other boy.

Satoshi allowed most of the boxes to fall out of his arms as Niwa snapped back to reality and began apologizing. "Are you okay?" the redhead demanded. Satoshi had actually knocked him off his feet.

"Yes. I think so," Satoshi replied, and it was a little hard not to be amused.

Just as he'd suspected he'd do, Niwa offered to help carry some of the boxes. Typical, typical. Daisuke Niwa was distinguishingly nice.

The freezer in the building nearby was their destination. They walked past the girl's sports team stretching and practicing as they made their way over to it, Niwa trailing along behind just as Satoshi had planned. "How'd you get stuck doing this?" Niwa asked as Satoshi opened up the big freezer door. It was heavy. That was good. "Did you get in trouble or something?" Satoshi simply ignored his questions.

"Sure is cold in here," Niwa stated as they set the boxes down. He really didn't seem to have any problem at all with just chatting on, even if Satoshi didn't reply.

"Negative twenty degrees Celsius, to be exact."

Satoshi had rigged the door to shut and lock behind them on its own, and right then, it did. Niwa rushed to it in a sudden panic, and Satoshi followed suit. "It's no use," Satoshi told him, slipping false panic in with his own voice. "It seemed to have locked itself automatically. We're completely shut in."

He watched Niwa carefully as the redhead continued to pointlessly call for help. "No one's there," Satoshi said impatiently. For a short moment, he wondered if his plan would even work... but it would have to, if Niwa became cold enough. Satoshi had to admit, it wasn't exactly foolproof, this plan of his. But he wanted to talk to Dark, and anyway, there was no chance of being locked in here forever.... Dark would eventually emerge. He would have to let them out sometime, if he didn't want Daisuke to die. Not to mention that Satoshi was the only one who knew how to unlock the door from the inside now. So even if he became cold as well, there was nothing for Satoshi to worry about.

After a moment, Niwa attempted to crack the lock. Well, well. The boy was showing off a bit of his thieving side. Satoshi hadn't thought he'd even go that far, but he'd known there was a possibility. That's why he'd been careful with the lock. "Looks like you'll have to be more creative than that," he said, somewhat amused.

Niwa stared down at the lock, looking puzzled. Satoshi thought, it was the first time he'd seen the guy looking so serious. Niwa actually looked like he was in business - for once, not a bit foolish or empty headed. Satoshi thought, he liked this Daisuke better.

"Negative twenty degrees Celsius," Satoshi repeated, looking down at the temperature. "Don't your fingers feel numb?"

Continue taunting him, Krad urged. Make him show us Dark.

"We need to keep moving around," Daisuke said, rubbing his arms for warmth. "Hey, I've got it. Maybe we should run around while trying to think of a way out of here."

"I don't think so," Satoshi replied. "Breathing in the frigid air might freeze both our lungs. No, I don't see any way out of this... unless one of us goes by the name of Dark." Krad laughed at that while Satoshi eyed Daisuke's reaction.

A look of shock crossed the redhead's face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"A joke," Satoshi said, looking away. "I thought I'd lighten the mood."

Satoshi could almost see the little wheels turning inside Niwa's head as the boy realized what Satoshi was doing. He had to know now that Satoshi was pushing him to change into Dark. Maybe this was finally it. It's only a matter of time now, Satoshi thought darkly. Remember, kindness is a weakness.

Suddenly, a sharp jolt from inside his chest made him double over in pain. Krad again - and suddenly it was almost as bad as it had been the night before. "No, not now," Satoshi grunted, and he fell to his knees.

"What's wrong Hiwatari?" Niwa cried, rushing to his side. "You alright?"

"Cold..." Satoshi gasped. Of course he'd known that it would be cold. That was the whole point. He'd known that it'd be cold, but he'd also known that he wouldn't be in the freezer for very long, not if Dark decided to show himself. Still, that had been planning and thinking logically - that had been before they'd actually been in the freezer. Even while he knew it was -20, he still hadn't expected it to be quite like this. Satoshi's body had never dealt very well with temperature extremes - he became weak whenever he was too hot or too cold. And now, his fingers really were going numb, and Krad was taking advantage of the situation. "I will do things my way now," Satoshi's other half purred, and Satoshi cringed, falling into Niwa's lap, still clutching at his chest in pain.

Krad could sense Dark stirring somewhere inside Niwa, and Satoshi's other half began to struggle even more violently. It took everything that Satoshi had just to keep him at bay....

Satoshi pulled at a handful of Niwa's shirt, using the redhead's leg as a support to push himself up. "S-sorry..." he gasped, sitting with his back against the freezer and trying to catch his breath, "I'm not handling this very well, am I?" It was somewhat embarrassing.

Niwa said something about being careful not to strain himself, and once again Satoshi found himself wondering why he cared. Finally, Krad was settling back a little, but he was still more restless now then he had been before. The closer they get, the more they try to take control, Satoshi thought. Either way, at a time like this....

He was so close. He was so close to capturing Dark himself, without any help from anybody. So close to having Dark Mousey in his grasp once and for all.

Satoshi was surprised out of his thoughts when suddenly Niwa put an arm around his shoulders and scooted close. If it hadn't been so cold, Satoshi probably would have blushed. "We should try to keep as close as possible," Niwa said with an embarrassed smile. "...to conserve heat."

Satoshi didn't really know what to think about that, so he stayed silent. It felt weird to have Niwa's arm around him, to be in such close contact with another human being. Satoshi just wasn't used to the close proximity. He'd always been a loner. He didn't like to be close to people - physically or otherwise.

"By the way..." Niwa said after a quiet minute. "Why are you still in school?"

"What do you mean why?" He wasn't used to talking to people like this either. Satoshi hadn't exactly thought out this part of the plan - the waiting. Because he hadn't thought that there would be much waiting. The freezer was cold, they were locked in with no way out - of course Dark would appear, if he wanted to save Niwa. So Satoshi hadn't exactly been expecting to run into a conversation here. He didn't usually have real conversations with people - at least, not the serious, one-on-one kind. He discussed things with the police group he was in command of. Occasionally he was forced into those talks with his father. But other than that, Satoshi was just not a social person. It was strange to him, almost surreal - Niwa's closeness, and they way his voice spoke so casually, conversationally. Niwa was perfectly at ease here. Satoshi felt like he was walking on thin ice. Things like this came very close to friendship, to actually caring....

"You've already got a college degree," Niwa explained. "What's the point in attending middle school again?" The redhead sounded honestly curious, just as he had seemed honestly worried about Satoshi that morning.

Satoshi had to think for a minute. What could he say to that? Of course he couldn't tell the truth - Niwa, even being the idiot that he was, should be able to figure that out for himself. Why did he think Satoshi was attending middle school - this particular middle school? Still, Satoshi had to say something, so he dug around in his brain for something that sounded credible. "Hiwatari?" Niwa asked.

"I don't know," he sighed finally, unsure of what else to say. "I guess I wanted to see what it was like to be a normal fourteen year old."

"That's a relief," Niwa said with a little smile. "I thought that there was something wrong with you."

...That did it.

Satoshi shoved Niwa away with a rough push and got to his feet. His arms were shaking - he really didn't do well in the cold. For some reason, Niwa's innocence, his seemingly ignorance and empty-headed concern just got on his nerves all the sudden. Suddenly he was just so angry, so irritated. Why did Niwa bother to pretend like this all the time? Was he just messing with Satoshi, trying to get to him? What did he want out of this? Did Niwa honestly think that the two of them could be friends?

"Hey! What's gotten into you?" Niwa demanded from the floor.

"Stay away from me!" Satoshi told him, but his voice didn't come out as strong as he had meant for it to. It was so cold.... "I don't need any friends, you got it? And I especially don't need to be friends with the likes of you!"

A little offended, and puzzled it seemed, Niwa looked as though he were lost for words. "But I was... we were.... Hey look, I was just trying to keep warm alright?" Niwa looked so sincerely taken aback that it made Satoshi want to... well, he didn't know. It was just frustrating.

"You idiot! You don't get it?' How did Niwa think that the two of them could be friends? Really? With Dark and Krad possessing their bodies, there was no chance of such a thing.

"What's your problem?" Niwa demanded. "As I recall, you were the one who was so interested in a friendship."

A surprising thought came to him then, suddenly shattering Satoshi's entire image of Daisuke Niwa. Did he really not have a clue? Could Niwa really be unaware of Krad's existence...? "Don't you know?" he asked slowly. "You and I are...."