D. N. Angel Fan Fiction ❯ Oh, Dear. ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel. It's as simple as that.

 

A/N: Hope you liked my chapter, I know it was a little random and abrupt at times but just bear with me for the moment please, okay? Hopefully things will seem a little bit better in this one and the pace will start to pick up.

 

Dark grimaced as he headed for the boss' office. Takeshi had informed him that `His Royal Highness' wanted to see him in the office as soon as he got back. Dark had hastily dumped the bag of untouched food in his niche of the office, grabbed a random stack of files and hurried to the polished wooden door; the only obstacle between him and his doom. Dark knocked on the door, crossing his fingers and praying fervently that the boss was taking a bathroom break. A voice coming from the inside of the room soon shot his hopes down and with a slightly shakier hand than usual, Dark turned the shiny golden door handle and stepped into the room.

 

“Dark,” his boss sighed. “Late as usual.”

 

“Hey, what do you mean, `as usual'?” The purple-haired man demanded. “This is only the first time, and that was because I got a scoop!” The man sighed again. “Don't tell me it was that murder in the alleyway?”

 

Dark blinked. “As a matter of fact, yes it was,” he answered carefully. The boss rubbed his forehead irritably and then sighed again. Dark wondered just what on earth was wrong with the man today; it seemed as though he was just that tiny bit more irritated than usual.

 

“I hear you got a witness,” the man replied. Dark nodded silently, wondering where his boss was trying to go.

 

“One Daisuke Niwa, right?” Dark nodded impatiently, trying to figure out in which direction the man was going.

 

“Listen, what do you want?” Dark's boss steepled his fingers and looked at the purple-eyed man, pale grey eyes boring into amethyst ones.

 

“I want….him,” the man hissed out, the grey suddenly turning red and his shape distorting to become something hideous and deformed. Dark was rooted to the spot, transfixed by the horrible image emerging before his very eyes. The thing reached out and before the journalist could react, he was dragged brutally forward. “I…want…him…” the creature breathed into his face, its foul breath reeking of dead flesh and old blood. Thoughts rushed through his brain and he fervently began to pray, suddenly believing in God. His life flashed before his and Dark closed them, hoping that there would be no pain. Suddenly, a cool breeze wafted past him and he cautiously cracked one eye open, wondering. To his surprise and bemusement, all he saw was the polished wooden office of his boss with the expensive décor. What…the…hell…? Dark thought. He looked at his boss, who was sitting there quite placidly as though nothing had happened. “Uh…sir?”

 

“What the matter, Dark?” the man asked. “You look like you've seen a ghost or something worse.”

 

“I-uh-I…” Dark trailed off lamely, not quite knowing what to do. He was sure that his boss, of all people, had turned into a raving monster. Yet here the man was, sitting here calmly.

 

“Dark?” The man was now looking at him with something very close to concern and the journalist felt a shadow of a shiver run up his spine. “Haven't been using drugs, have you?” The younger one jerked back to life and flared up instantly at this accusation.

 

“I have not, sir! Pardon my lack of respect, but I have never, and never will use drugs!” Dark's eyes flashed angrily and his voice rose before falling to a deadly whisper. The older man shrugged.

 

“Very well. I think I'm finished with you, then. As to that murder and your witness…someone got to the event earlier than you did. And your witness doesn't seem to have yielded very much information.” How in the world did he know that? Dark stood there, waiting for his boss to finish speaking. “Out you go, now. And remember: your job is now on the line. If I don't see at least three headlining articles from you within the next month, I'll fire you.” In a daze, Dark walked out the door.

 

Daisuke:

 

Daisuke sat glumly on his own doorstep, wondering just why he had to forget his door key today. It could have been yesterday, the day before yesterday or even last week, but it had to be today. Of course, nothing could top being seen by someone, even if they didn't realise it. He had seen the flash of light that his Power always generated and the struggle between the two men. The normally cheerful man sighed despondently and waited for someone to arrive home.

 

Two hours later:

 

The lift chimed happily and the doors slid open smoothly, but Daisuke didn't bother looking up. Every time he had done so, it had always been one of his not-so-friendly neighbours. The footsteps came closer, but still he didn't look up. Finally, a voice sounded through the empty corridor. “Daisuke,” it said coolly, “Just what on earth do you think you're doing?” The university student looked up and smiled slightly at the blond in front of him.

 

“Hey Krad.” The senior eyed him, mild curiosity written all over his face. Daisuke sighed and began to explain. “You see, I left my key in the apartment and didn't realise until—“ he stopped at Krad's smirk.

 

“How typical,” the elder drawled out. Daisuke snorted and slowly pulled himself up, dusting his pants off. Krad silently reached into his shirt and pulled out his key to the apartment, dangling on a fine golden chain next to a crucifix. Daisuke sighed in relief as his roommate pushed the door open and picking up the bags, walked into the house. Krad followed from behind, his golden eyes automatically searching for any signs of a break-in. There were none (as usual) and he sighed quietly.

 

Daisuke dumped the bags of food on the kitchen counter and quickly sorted through them, placing each item where it belonged. His friend wandered in, golden eyes lazy and hooded as usual. “My, someone's anti-social today,” he murmured. Daisuke shrugged, continuing to sort through the food. “Care to share?”

 

“I witnessed a murder today,” he dully said. “Though it didn't go as planned.” Krad raised an eyebrow. He could tell by the tone in Daisuke's voice that something wasn't right.

 

“So…?”

 

“I lost control.” Krad kept silent; he knew that Daisuke wasn't finished. Indeed, after a short pause, Daisuke continued to speak. “It just came out, Krad. It just…bubbled up inside of me.”

 

Krad mulled over what Daisuke had told him and finally hazarded a question. “So what happened?”

 

“This time? This time, the guy disappeared somewhere; I don't know for sure where. I have a pretty strong feeling that he's somewhere in the middle of the Sahara, but I can't be sure.” Krad had to snicker at this point; the middle of the Sahara always made for an interesting experience.

 

“What was that, Hand of Judgement?” Daisuke ran fingers through his messy hair and sighed.

 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

 

“Ah. Anything more?”

 

Daisuke immediately rolled his eyes and smiled slightly, whilst Krad burst out laughing. “Yeah. Some idiot of a reporter came up to me and began to ask questions. He didn't seem too intent on figuring out where the light came from, though. I just pretended that I had passed out before anything major happened before my eyes.”

 

“You look really pissed at the mention of this guy, any more?” Daisuke laughed softly and pretended to smack Krad.

 

“You're nosey today, aren't you?”

 

“Oh yeah. When it comes to you, I'll be very nosey.”

 

Daisuke laughed then sobered up quickly as he continued. “He seemed really hell-bent on taking care of me; he was carrying my shopping bags and all.” Krad raised a sceptical eyebrow at this point. “Then he took me to a café and insisted on buying me something to drink because I looked `out of it' to him.” The blond snickered. Suddenly, he snapped up as though he'd just remembered something and quickly turned to Daisuke, bright golden eyes now deadly serious.

 

“There's another one out, by the way.” Daisuke winced immediately.

 

“How'd you know?”

 

“I felt it, just as I was passing the newspaper office. There was a really strong black aura around the whole place and it smelled of Sharak.”

 

Daisuke winced again; Sharak were well-known for their bloodlust and their ability to track down anyone who held even a dribble of what he and Krad both had. A bad feeling coursed through him as he remembered just where Dark worked and his interest in him. “What if…” he trailed off, hoping that Krad would guess. After all, the blond was not an idiot.

 

“Oh, hell no,” Krad incredulously blurted out.

 

“Looks like it,” Daisuke dully replied. “I'll have to check it out.”

 

Krad nodded. “I'll come along, just in case…in case you need back-up,” he offered. Both of them knew that the back-up excuse actually meant, `In case you die.' The two males sat down on the battered old sofa and began discussing possible tactics and ways to contact Dark without seeming too suspicious. The discussion continued throughout dinner and well into the night, neither seeming to tire of it.

 

Dark:

 

Dark growled quietly in frustration. Tonight was Takeshi's turn to drive their weather-beaten, lamppost-dented, coin-scratched, ancient, dusty old excuse for a Colt. “You retard!” he roared at his colleague. “Can't you go faster?”

 

“Ask the car that,” Takeshi sarcastically shot back. “I'm sure it would run like a dream just for you.”

 

“You know it would, Sally here loves to be ridden,” Dark laughed. Takeshi rolled his eyes at the joke and growled back something along the lines of how Dark always used that joke.

 

Dark thanked Takeshi for the ride and walked into the lobby of his building. He entered the lift and after pressing the button, leaned silently against the wall and rested his head against the cool surface. His mind kept flashing back to the incident with his boss and Dark frowned quietly. He knew that the man couldn't be a demon; he was too prim and proper for that-but he was pretty sure that he'd seen the man transform into something unholy. Probably just the product of too little sleep and too much caffeine, he thought wryly. Indeed, that would explain why he was hallucinating. After all, for the past three weeks he had been up late every night, typing up articles and researching obscure topics.

 

Dark stepped out of the lift and slowly opened the door to his house. Normally the darkness was comforting to him and he revelled in it, but tonight it seemed a little heavier and more ominous. He left the door ajar and walked quickly to the wall, flicking the light switch. With a small sigh of relief, the journalist returned to the door and shut it, locking it and kicking off his shoes. He plodded to the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of hot coffee, uncaring of whether it gave him insomnia for the rest of the night. He sighed contentedly as the hot liquid rushed through his senses, calming him down for the moment and waking him up at the same time. There was just something about caffeine that could soothe him, Dark reflected silently. His brain continued to try and process the day's events; even if he consciously did not admit it, he was still trying to wrap his brain around the day's events and come up with a rational explanation. As if that weren't enough, Daisuke's face suddenly emerged from the dark shadows of his mind and Dark winced. Er…right. That was so totally irrelevant that I don't even want to think about it. He stretched lazily in the battered easy chair and picked up one of the many magazines littered about the place. Fifteen minutes later, he found himself slipping into blissful oblivion.

 

The next day:

 

Daisuke slowly opened his eyes and winced at the sore stiffness in his back. He wondered why he was sitting on the couch, but then remembered that he and Krad had stayed up late last night. We must have fallen asleep, he thought blearily. Looking around, he saw no signs of anyone else having entered the house. I wonder where Riku and Risa are? I don't recall hearing or seeing them come home at all last night. Just then, Riku appeared in the doorway, already dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She looked at the two men on the couch and hid a smile behind her hand, although her eyes were filled with concern. She didn't know anything about their alternate lives, but she did know that they had an alarming tendency to have `accidents'. “I'm all right, Riku, really.” Daisuke reassured the girl. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, much to his gratitude.

 

“Come on,” she said instead. “You're going to be late for Mythology.” This one small sentence was enough to send Daisuke into a frenzy and he rushed all over the place, looking for various small objects that were supposed to have gone into his bag the night before, such as his door keys, his wallet and his mobile phone. Riku, on the other hand, merely stood there watching the red whirlwind dash to and fro. To her amusement, Krad slept through it all.

 

Without warning, Riku heard the door slam and immediately realised that Daisuke had left without her. “Why, you…” she muttered to herself before dashing out the door as well, leaving Krad in peace.

 

12:00pm:

 

Krad groaned, carefully twisting his head this way and that to make sure that the stiffness was well-worked out of his neck. Thanking the heavens that he had a class only later on in the afternoon, the blond staggered into the kitchen and automatically began preparing what he would call breakfast and what any other normal person would call lunch. He'd never believed in making breakfast for Little Miss Risa Harada (as he privately called her), although for some reason his more generous partner preferred to cook for everyone. The blond looked at his ingredients and then the memory of Risa's `cooking' popped into his head.

 

-Flashback-

 

Risa walked into the kitchen reluctantly, her lower lip stuck our in a pout. It was her turn to cook tonight, because they had finally gotten around to buying groceries and everyone agreed that another evening of pizza would simply be too much. They had drawn lots to see who would get to make their first meal. Risa drew the short straw and as a result was forced into the kitchen.

 

He had been sitting on the couch, laughing with Daisuke and Riku. They had all been deep in conversation when Daisuke carefully sniffed the air. “Hey,” he murmured, “Is it just me, or is there something burning?” Coughing sounds were heard from the kitchen and clouds of black smoke were billowing out of the kitchen door. Above all, the acrid odour of something burning floated into the living room.

 

Everyone rushed in, holding their breaths. Riku and Daisuke quickly hauled the coughing Risa out of the burning kitchen whilst Krad doused the flames. That night, they'd had to order takeout. Again.

 

-End Flashback-

 

Krad shuddered at the mere memory and sighing to himself, went back to the fridge and pulled out more ingredients. Sighing to himself, he began to cook Risa's meal.

 

Dark:

 

Dark had woken up at exactly 7:00am in the morning, eyes snapping open. As usual, he took his morning shower, changed and prepared breakfast before brushing his teeth and then setting off for work with a smirk on his face. He arrived at 8:00am promptly, thanking the gods for buses. It was Takeshi's turn to take care of Sally and since the guy was always late, there was no point in waiting for him to drive over. Dark ran a hand through his unruly hair and promised himself silently that he would not do anything to earn `special attention' from the boss. After yesterday's events, as silly as it might seem believing them, he still didn't want to know if there would be a repeat performance.

 

All throughout the rest of the morning, life had continued as usual; getting shouted at by Takeshi for making him wait (“You ass, why didn't you WAIT?!”), making lewd comments everywhere he went and of course, pissing Satoshi off even more. The long-suffering blue-haired man had emerged from the bathroom dripping from Dark's little present.

 

Towards the afternoon, though, weird things began to happen. At first they were only minor events where Dark thought he heard voices whispering outside his door, but soon events began to escalate. After talking to Dark, Takeshi found himself with a series of scratches and bruises on himself, not knowing where they came from. Masahiro found himself with a sprained ankle after helping Dark and tripping over the photocopy machine in the process. Worst of all, though, was Satoshi. After he'd given Dark some very useful tips on where to get the top stories and helped the other man to fix his computer, he began coughing up copious amounts of blood and a large gash opened in his back. He'd had to be hospitalised whilst Dark watched.

 

Towards the end of the day, everyone avoided Dark as though he carried the Ebola virus. Takeshi and Masahiro had both tried to act normal around him, but Dark knew that they would have much rather ignored him. Blinking at the screen, he grimaced at the amount that he had typed. Half a measly page and it was almost time for him to leave. Just then, the phone rang and annoyed, Dark picked it up.

 

“Is this Dark Mousy?” a familiar voice asked. Dark frowned; he couldn't place where he'd heard it.

 

“Yes,” he answered cautiously.

 

“It's Daisuke.” Dark blinked. He certainly hadn't expected to hear from the redhead after their little fight. “Could we meet up at Se Reposer? You know, the café—“

 

“Yes,” Dark cut him off. “I know the one. Why?”

 

“Just…” a pause. “Just for a chat.” Dark's eyebrows climbed onto the top of his head and stayed there.

 

“Yeah, right.”

 

“Look,” Daisuke said impatiently into the phone. “I can't tell you on the phone, it's dangerous. I'll tell you everything in the café, all right?”

 

Dark hesitated. All right, he thought, I guess the worst thing that could happen would be that it's just a hoax. “Sure,” he replied into the phone. “When?”

 

“Um…would 7 be okay?”

 

“Sure,” Dark answered smoothly. He replaced the phone on its hook and leaned back in his chair. A glance at the clock told him that he had half an hour before the appointment. Sighing, the journalist began to type again, not even stopping to glance at his notebook. Unbeknownst to him, there was a small mark in the margin that he himself had not made.

 

Daisuke and Krad:

 

Krad glared at Daisuke, hoping that this journalist would show up. It was 7:20 and the man still was not there, already making a bad impression on the perfectionist blond. “You'd better be right about this,” he growled quietly as he looked at the glass of soda in front of him.

 

“I hope so too,” Daisuke solemnly replied. Right on cue, they heard the bell announce another customer. Both men turned around to see Dark enter the café, looking extremely ruffled. Daisuke immediately stood up and waved, signaling that he and Krad were already seated at a table for three. The journalist nodded and picked his way through the tables and chairs, dodging waiters now and again.

 

“Hey,” he coolly said as he sat down. Dark immediately pulled out his notebook and a pen. “I'm listening.”

 

Daisuke blinked and Krad rolled his eyes. The nerve of this man, he thought. He shows up late and then expects us to tell him everything. Daisuke laid a hand on Krad's shoulder, sensing that the other Guardian was starting to get irritable. “Fine,” Daisuke replied. “It's about that alley way murder.” Dark sighed.

 

“Look,” he almost snapped. “My boss told me that someone got there first and it's coming out tomorrow. What, you want your name in the papers now?” At the look on the blond's face, Dark was about to continue but he sensed a dark presence building up around him and stopped. Then he began beating himself up for letting himself be intimidated by this idiot.

 

Daisuke didn't seem to take offense, though, which only served to rile the purple-haired man more. Instead, the redheaded man merely shrugged. “I just wanted to tell you that the light came from me. I made the light.” Dark raised an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah, right,” he replied. “You were lying on the ground unconscious. Just how are those two facts supposed to add up?” Daisuke sighed and ran fingers through his hair. Looking around to make sure that no one was listening, he leaned closer to Dark.

 

“Look, I have this ability to—“ The blond interrupted.

 

“Holy crap, you're actually going to give this guy the story?”

 

“If he's who we think he is, it'll be worth it.” Daisuke replied with a firm look and a decisive tone. Dark didn't like the way the pair of them seemed to be intently focussed on him. Suddenly…”Ouch!” The journalist glared suspiciously at the duo, who were frowning. He felt as though something had tried to drill through his mind and it hurt like crazy. He glared suspiciously at the pair in front of him. The blond was intently staring into his cup of coffee, whilst Daisuke looked concerned. Letting a sardonic smile play on his lips, Dark decided to go for the all-out.

 

“Look, I have absolutely no clue as to what you're talking about so just tell me in plain words.” Daisuke and the blond traded looks and Dark felt a shiver go up his spine because he felt that the two shared something in their gazes that he would never comprehend. The blond one finally opened his mouth again, but Dark cut him off, smiling slightly even though he didn't feel like it.

 

“Your name first, please.”

 

The blond huffed and rolled his striking golden eyes. “Krad.” Dark grinned at him, knowing just how annoying he looked at the moment.

 

“Hi, Krad.” Daisuke hid a smile behind his hand, but something registered on his senses and he quickly tugged at the older one's sleeve to alert him to its presence. Just as the blond managed to extricate himself from Dark's annoying conversation, a gigantic serpent materialized out of nowhere and landed on the table in front of Dark, whose face immediately turned pale. The creature immediately turned to face him, its unblinking yellow eyes fixed on him. Suddenly it opened its mouth and just as Dark had prepared himself to die, a crash registered itself in his senses. He cracked open his eyes to see that Krad had tackled the creature from the side whilst Daisuke was standing in front of him, a slender glowing katana in his hands. What the hell…was all Dark managed to think before he passed out from the shock.

 

Krad belaboured the serpent with his two-handed sword, grunting as he slashed at the scaly coils. “Come on…” he growled at the reptile as it turned to face him, bleeding from the cuts upon its body. Snarling, Krad aimed his sword at one of the eyes and pushed it forward. To his relief, the sword slid in and the thing thrashed around in agony. With its one good eye, the snake suddenly darted forward and with terrifying speed latched onto his arm. Swearing, the blond tried to stab his sword into the thing but already he could feel the poisonous black liquid seeping into his bloodstream. Even as he watched with drowsy eyes, a sword seemed to grow out of the snake's back and the creature went completely limp.

 

Daisuke threw himself into the fray, his sword slicing through the air. He kept an eye on Dark whilst the man was still unconscious, but he had to help. The thing had already sunken its fangs into Krad's arm and judging from the way his friend reacted, the poison was already starting to work. Luckily, he managed to kill the snake quickly, but to his dismay Krad had also passed out. Looking around, the redhead noted that a crowd had gathered around the little café and they were now all staring at him and Krad. Dark's form was fortunately hidden behind the table. Rushing over to Krad, Daisuke quickly checked his pulse. He could hear someone behind him talking on the phone; it seemed that they had called an ambulance. Sighing, Daisuke decided to take care of Krad, because he knew that the poison could leave nasty side-effects. Rushing over to Krad's side, he quickly began to speak softly and soothingly to the other man, hoping that he was still conscious and that he wasn't panicking. To his dismay, the blond began to ramble nonsense and thrash around, signaling the nature of the poison. Daisuke hastily looked around the room and grabbed a tilted plastic bottle of vinegar. Yanking the cap off, he poured it onto the wound and hoped that it would neutralize the poison enough to give Krad a chance. Behind him, he dimly registered the arrival of the ambulance. He felt himself being pulled off Krad and watched silently, keeping an eye on Dark all the while.

 

Dark cracked an eye open, surprised to find himself on his back. Remembering the events and the snake and shot bolt upright and looked around for it. To his surprise, the snake was gone. Any traces of it had completely disappeared. However, he did see a flash of gold being carried onto a stretcher before he felt warmth encircling him. He looked up into ruby eyes and stared deeply into them, drawing energy from the way they burned. Slowly, he felt energy infuse him and he sat up groggily, looking around. Daisuke knelt beside him, smiling slightly. He looks good like that, Dark thought. Even if he has more secrets than the sky.

 

Okay, super long chapter here! I know it doesn't really have much to do with the two meeting up and all, but I have to show you guys how they live and stuff, just to give you a better indication of their characters and how they would therefore react to situations. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and review please! Reviews are to the author what maize is to the Africans. Please please please review, and thank you for reading! Thanks for the support as well!