Daisuke wasn't there when Erina was announced to be pregnant. Daisuke wasn't there when Miyako was announced to be pregnant. And now Daisuke was here to witness Sora's announcement. The announcement was met with excitement, but one thing he did not expect is for this happiness.

Since that day at the mall, it seemed things were happier. Like a switch, Sora was coming over to Hikari's apartment way more as result. As if new things are being planned.

It made Daisuke wonder one thing. How different it was when Hikari was announced pregnant. He heard different things and knew it was more depressing. Hearing that made his heart ache, he couldn't imagine seeing her go through it.

He couldn't help, but to be silent. As if speaking about Sora's pregnancy would trigger something within Hikari.

This was made easier since Hikari and Daisuke did not sleep in the same room. Daisuke slept in the guest room or his old room while Hikari slept in her room or Daisuke's parents' old room.

Daisuke laid down on his bed. Rei didn't need him for the week. Daisuke simply cleaned up the apartment which was difficult since Hikari had started her studies to finish high school online. Miyuki going back to school was another factor.

Daisuke sat in the darkness. His eyes adjusted to see the room with only a few technology blinking light, he could feel his eyes begin to tire.

As he closed them, he found himself in an abyss of darkness once again.

"Daisuke-kun," he heard a familiar voice and at the same time heard the clanging of chains. "Daisuke-kun, time to play…" a giggle in his ear made him freeze. But suddenly he could hear an echo of a call: Miyuki's voice.

"Dai-san!"

Daisuke awoke, sitting up before hearing "Dai-san," once again. He got up and jumped out of bed. He ran out to the hallway and bolted to Hikari's room. He flung the door open as Miyuki was going to call.

He saw Miyuki sitting beside Hikari concerned as the bed seemed soaked at the end with a black seaweed vine wrapped around Hikari's leg. Hikari seemed stunned to move, shaking as her daughter held her.

"Mommy had a nightmare!"

Daisuke ran over and grabbed the sea weed, Hikari shivered as he removed it from her leg. "Don't worry, I'll throw this away first." Daisuke dashed to the kitchen and tossed the sea weed into the trash. He paced back to the room, now observing Hikari wearing thick pajamas were soaked, even her hair.

"Hikari," he said calmly.

"I felt something wet and woke up to see mommy this way!" Miyuki said with tears forming.

"It's okay," Daisuke tried to calm before turning to Hikari. "Hey, hey," Daisuke grabbed the sides of her head to make her face him, "everything okay?"

Hikari shivered, "it's the Dark Ocean…"

"thought so," he looked at Miyuki who was also soak from probably holding onto Hikari. Daisuke lifted Hikari up bridal style. "Miyuki, can you walk?" Miyuki nodded and stood up. "Alright, follow me," he said gently holding Hikari close.

"I'm getting your shirt wet…" Hikari said.

"That isn't my concern," he said almost sternly, he could feel Hikari was more limp. He knew if he carried her like this in any other scenario, she would be not want to be so close.

He got to the main room bathroom and immediately set Hikari down on the dry mat. "Forgive me…" he said as Miyuki soon followed in and turned on the water for the bathtub. He rushed around to get extra towels & shampoo, every so often checking on the water to make sure it was warm.

He turned off the faucet and then looked over at Hikari who seemed a bit disassociated. He cursed under his breath and said, "Hikari-san, I need to get you off those cold clothes…"

Daisuke saw a look from Hikari that indicated she was scared of being in her clothes. "Miyuki," he turned to his daughter as she slowly began to peel off her clothes. He turned to Hikari as his spine shivered. "Please, give me permission, I can't do this comfortably unless you give me consent…"

Hikari blinked quickly, "yes, do as you need to…"

Daisuke groaned, "don't say it like that," Daisuke could hear Miyuki hop in the bath tub as water splashed. As if it broke through his discomfort, he reached over and began to slowly unbutton her pajama top. Each button he removed, he could see her soaked white shirt underneath become more revealed.

"Sorry," Daisuke muttered before fully removing her top. "Tell me if you feel uncomfortable," Daisuke said. With Hikari's white shirt wet, he could clearly see her breast and nipples. But despite that, he felt no sexual feelings. Daisuke peeled off the white shirt.

Hikari shivered a bit, making Daisuke stop, but he realized this was more because she was cold than his action. He gulped and began to peel off pajama pants. He gulped again when he saw the tight running shorts underneath and reached back to peel that away. This time getting Hikari fully naked.

This was the second time Daisuke had seen Hikari as such. First time was obviously their first. He didn't feel the same way though. She was scared and pale, not bright and confident. He once again said, "tell me if you feel uncomfortable…" and he went over to the nearby bucket. He got some water of the bathtub, now noticing Miyuki who was peeking with her body almost submerged.

"Everything is going to be okay," Daisuke smiled lightly before putting the bucket full of water beside the chair Hikari sat on. He grabbed a cup of water and dipped it to the bucket. He lifted the cup over Hikari and doused her with the bathwater. She closed her eyes and let out a breath of relief.

Daisuke did it three more times, each time her reaction was more subdued and once Daisuke saw she didn't react to the water, he lifted the bucket up and said, "just going to completely soak you…" he then doused her completely. She water instantly overwhelmed her before as quickly splashing to the ground.

Daisuke could see Hikari blinking afterwards as he went to get another bucket full of bath water. He turned to Miyuki, "can you bathe yourself in soap?" Miyuki nodded as Daisuke replied, "good, do that, if you need help, tell me…"

Daisuke grabbed a second bar of a pink soap, it had a nice lavender scent. He lathered his hand with the soap before seeing his hands full of bubbles and soap and began to rub it on Hikari's back. She winced in the first touch which made Daisuke stop, but when she leaned against his touch, he continued.

Daisuke rubbed the soap all over her back, if he felt somewhere a bit slimy, he did a pass through it. He grabbed the cup and doused Hikari's back with water.

"I should have started first with your hair," Daisuke commented, getting a giggle from Miyuki. He saw Hikari get a slight smirk. He grabbed the shampoo bottle squeezed out a handful. He lathered it and began to comb Hikari's hair with it. Once her hair was stringy with shampoo, he grabbed the bucket once again and said, "close your eyes for me."

"Okay…" it was weak, but Hikari speaking made Daisuke more confident.

He doused Hikari with the bucket of water, collecting more and did it again until the shampoo was washed off properly. Daisuke then placed the bucket beside Hikari, glanced Miyuki who was starting to fill her head with shampoo.

He turned to Hikari, looking at her in the eye, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable… if you need to disassociate…"

"No," Hikari said quietly, but clearly, "do it, I'm not afraid of you…"

Daisuke's eyes softened before grabbed the soap and lathered it. "Like I said…" Hikari nodded before feeling Daisuke lather her all over with soap. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was far from sexual. Daisuke averted his eyes when he need to lather the more private areas like her arm pits, her chest, her buttocks, and her groin. But he never did anything sexual.

Hikari said, "thank you," and was then was doused with water once more to clear the soap. She took a deep breath as she could hear Miyuki giggle. Hikari kept her eyes closed, but she could hear Daisuke go to the bathroom closet for towels.

She could hear gentle splashing from the bathtub before wet footsteps indicating Miyuki was outside. "Here," Daisuke voice's brought this fatherly comfort Hikari couldn't help to admire.

Now that she could think, there was a lot to admire about him. She soon felt a towel wrap around her as she stood up and opened her eyes. Daisuke wrapped the towel around her and held her close. Both stopped to look as Hikari admired his protective look.

"Need help drying up?" Daisuke asked.

"No, but can you get some clothes…"

"Right," Daisuke broke from the embrace and turned.

"Running shorts and the yellow tank top. Drawer to the right…" Hikari said as Daisuke looked back.

"No pajamas?" Daisuke asked and due to the steam build up, she couldn't see her reflection. But even Hikari knew she had a face of fondness written on her face. "I'll be right back," Daisuke said with a flustered look.

Hikari held onto the towel around her, looking at Miyuki who smiled lightly. Hikari couldn't help, but to smile back. There was this worrisome delay before suddenly Daisuke came through the door, wearing a new long sleeve shirt and holding pair of clothing for both Hikari and Miyuki.

Daisuke put the pair of clothing by the sink and turned away, now showing a bit more embarrassment. Both Miyuki and Hikari began to dry up on their own, Hikari glancing at Daisuke to see if he would be caught staring, he wasn't even daring to.

Once Hikari and Miyuki put on their new sleeping clothes, Hikari said, "we're done…"

Daisuke turned, his cheeks still flustered as he then walked over and picked up Hikari bridal style. Hikari blinked in shock at first, but quickly adjusted to be more comfortable. Miyuki followed as Daisuke carried Hikari out of the bathroom, passed the soaked bed, to the hallway and into his room.

Hikari held her breath when she realized they were going to be sharing a bed. Daisuke gently set her down and said, "I'll sleep on the couch…"

"No," Hikari knew he would say this as he grabbed his arm and tugged on it. "I don't want to be alone… I want you and Miyuki-san by my side."

Daisuke looked completely unsure, he didn't make direct eye contact at Hikari until Miyuki said, "Please, Dai-san." Parental instinct or simply the protective nature of Daisuke kicked in as he nodded.

He nodded as Hikari laid down in bed, Miyuki quickly hopped on. Daisuke stared for a moment, seeing the empty spot in the middle that was clearly meant for him. He took a deep breath and walked over to the lights, flipping them off.

As his eyes adjusted, he naturally made his way to the bed. Once finding it, his eyes could see Hikari and Miyuki still laying on the bed. He slowly got on the bed, a slight creak made him stop before continuing. He maneuvered his way to the middle and laid down on his back.

And on cue, both Miyuki and Hikari tugged on him to move his hands. He couldn't argue at the moment as he lifted his arms. Miyuki immediately adjusted her pillow by his chest to sleep on it, she held onto his shirt.

Hikari, on the other hand, was more slower, but he felt her doing the same. Making sure she was comfortable and using his chest as a support for her pillow.

There was this silence, sounds of breathing from all three for minutes. Daisuke waited patiently to confirm both were asleep, but eternally he knew, "Miyuki is asleep," he heard from Hikari.

"Yeah," Daisuke shifted his arm where Miyuki was sleeping. As Hikari had said, she was a hard sleeper so nothing minor like this was going to wake up. Daisuke turned his attention to Hikari, "what happened?"

Silence.

"I had a nightmare. I was in the Dark Ocean. I guess some of the Dark Ocean followed me…"

Daisuke turned his head to Hikari's direction, he quickly realized how close they were. They were staring eye to eye. "Has this happened before… when I was gone?"

"No, weirdly," Hikari said, she nuzzled against Daisuke's neck as he lightly shivered. "Cold?"

"No, just not used to this," he whispered before adjusting his arm as it led to being wrapped around Hikari's back. "I'm not going to let the Dark Ocean take you. Not when I'm around…"

Hikari sighed, "Daisuke-san, the Dark Ocean… it's… it's…"

"I know, it's dangerous. Ken-san told me all about it. And I remember all those encounters you had with it…" Daisuke closed his eyes for a moment, "but I won't let it take you, I promise."

Silence.

Hikari shifted a bit, "w-why do you wear long sleeve shirts?"

Daisuke opened his eyes, "hm?"

Hikari nuzzled, tugging on his shirt, "why do you wear a lot of long sleeve shirt. Do you feel cold?"

Daisuke didn't say anything, "no, I don't feel cold…"

Hikari placed her hand on his chest, "then why wear it so much?"

Daisuke took a quiet, but deep breath. "It's hard to explain, I rather not do it right now after you had your nightmare with the Dark Ocean." Suddenly he felt Hikari stiffen and a disappointed noise was accompanied. "Once we handle the Dark Ocean, I promise, I truly promise I'll tell you…"

"You better keep this promise," Hikari said.

"I will." Daisuke felt Hikari loosen and their was silence. He could hear her breathing becoming a bit more noticeable, signaling she fell asleep. He didn't try to move much, not that he wanted to. His daughter and the woman he had the daughter with were holding onto him, he was far from uncomfortable.

Daisuke waited for minutes before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He kept his eyes closed and muttered, "don't let it consume you… don't let it consume you…" and he slowly opened his right eye. His eye had this orange glow it. Both sclera, iris, and pupil had this orange glow to it with his iris being shaped of a 'sun'. He looked at Hikari as he saw this light glow surround her for a moment.

He blinked his eye and it returned to normal. He felt Hikari moan in her sleep in comfort and Daisuke could finally sigh in relief. Slowly afterwards, he found himself dozing off to finally fall asleep.

It was the ocean, but it was different, it was colorful. The sun shined bright down at her. She could feel it's warmth. Yet, she knew this was supposed to be the Dark Ocean. She could see it, a distance away by the shore, the monochromatic world of the Dark Ocean was at bay. She looked over and saw Daisuke by the shore, his back turned to her and looking at the Dark Ocean part.

Hikari opened her eyes from her dream. She felt complete warmth as she could see the alarm in the guest room read 6:05 A.M. She moaned before realizing she was holding onto someone. It was Daisuke who was looking up at the ceiling.

His eyes turned to look at hers, "good morning."

"Morning," she said raising her head, "were you awake for a while?"

"No, I just woke up," he said chuckling, "I didn't want to wake you."

Hikari groaned as she sat up. Daisuke smoothly moved his arm away as Hikari stretched, yawning. She glanced over to see Miyuki still sleeping. "She isn't going to wake up," Daisuke chuckled as he gently pried her off of him and allowed her continue sleeping.

"She got that from you. She was late one time because she didn't want to sleep… 'one more hour' she complained," Hikari stood up, feeling a slight, yet satisfying shiver all over from the cold temperature. She glanced over and saw Daisuke averting from staring, "what?"

His cheeks were reddened.

Hikari got a smirk, "don't tell me these clothes make you flustered. I'm wearing a shirt and shorts, casual wear…"

Daisuke glanced at her, "sorry, not used to this… attire."

Hikari turned to the side, showing off her curves happily, "get used to it then," she practically sang.

"Will do," Daisuke gave a small smile before getting up. Hikari stepped back, her chest out forward, clearly flirtatious.

"Thank you for… helping me last night."

Daisuke rubbed the back of his neck, "I know you struggled with the Dark Ocean in the past. I wasn't going to ignore it…"

"I meant the shower part," she leaned up and put her hands on his shoulder to lean his down. She gave a kiss on his cheek. He fixed his posture, holding the cheek she just kissed. "It was a platonic shower… you were a friend helping a friend, right?"

"Y-yeah," Daisuke replied while staring down in surprise.

"A different type of shower and the kiss would have landed somewhere else," said pressing her finger on her lips before skipping away. She could feel Daisuke become embarrassed as she got to the door. She exit the room and stopped, looking at her hand. She realized something. In the past, the Dark Ocean effects would linger, but right now it was like it never existed.

She heard the door open behind her and turned to see Daisuke. "Miyuki-san is asleep and I wanted to help you get the bed cleaned up."

"Oh right, some of the Dark Ocean followed me…" Hikari remembered, "well, that just means me and you are going to share the guest bed for a couple nights. Attire and all."

Daisuke looked at Hikari with a blush, she's flirting with me.

I'm flirting with him, Hikari giggled.

Daisuke walked to the main room and looked at the still soaked bed. Hikari followed as they went on either side of the bed. "We are going to talk to Koushiro-san about this, right?" Daisuke asked.

Hikari lifted the soaked sheet and began to carefully wrapped them around, "of course, although, you know…" she looked down, "I don't want to get anyone involved."

Daisuke took the pillow and removed the pillow cases, "You know people will get involved. No one wants to see you in danger."

Hikari lifted the sheets and said, "I know.. I just… I don't want anyone involved."

Daisuke looked to the side before turning and saying, "I will protect you..."