D. N. Angel Fan Fiction ❯ Snippets ❯ Walk The Line ( Chapter 10 )

Walk the Line:

 

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel.

 

Warnings: Fluff, shounen-ai, blah blah blah…oh, and AU.

 

A/N: Righty-ho, this is one area which I have never before explored, so please forgive me if it's a little…rough around the edges. Thank you for your lovely reviews all throughout this fic! Oh, before I forget; you're welcome to suggest ideas if you want. I can't guarantee that I'll write them all, but…well, you know, if there's a special thing that you'd love to see but don't want to write, just post it up and…yeah. ;) Enjoy!

 

Daisuke let out a frustrated howl as he threw his bag onto the floor. “He's so…ugh!” With cocked his head to one side, eyes blinking in innocent confusion. The object of his frustration was Dark Mousy, class president and top student. Although he was incredibly strong in the academic department, he was also amazingly arrogant. Much to Daisuke's dismay, he had been paired up with the other for a large project, one that consisted of 50% of their whole term grade. To the redhead's further irritation, Dark didn't seem to care; he'd spent the whole lesson aggravating his partner and fooling around on the laptop. It had taken all of Daisuke's willpower not to turn red in the face and faint when he accidentally opened one of Dark's `Recommended Websites' and found that it contained…well, let's just say that it contained non-scholarly material.

 

“What am I going to do?” He sighed at the rabbit. “I'll probably end up doing all the work as usual.” Then the phone rang, but Daisuke didn't bother to answer it. It was probably just a salesman advertising vacuum cleaners, anyway. To his surprise, the call was for him. “Hello?”

 

“Niwa.” Daisuke blinked. How did he get my phone number? “The project.”

 

“Um…yes?” Daisuke answered, unsure of what else to say. “What about it?”

 

“I was thinking…maybe we could work on it tomorrow afternoon after school? The classrooms will still be open, so we'll be able to get all the materials that we need there.” Daisuke hesitated, then decided to speak.

 

“Well…we could actually work at my place instead. I have a lot of arts and crafts stuff here, so if you want…” He trailed off, unsure of how to finish. There was a pause from the other end of the line and then Dark made an indistinct noise in his throat.

 

“Sure.”

 

Daisuke flushed. “Uh, okay,” he said, tugging at his collar. Why was it so hot?

 

“Cool. See you tomorrow then, Dai-chan.” The redhead blushed at the familiar nickname. “Oh, and one more thing,” the purple-haired teen added before hanging up.

 

“What?”

 

“That site?” Daisuke blushed at the memory. “I put it there as a joke. No harm intended.” The other was too stunned to react. When he'd finally come to his senses, the first thing he did was groan and cover his face with embarrassment. That…that idiot!

 

Dark:

 

At first, he'd been disappointed with his partner, to say the very least. Daisuke Niwa was hardly a promising choice; he was the sort of person who would walk into the same door five times and still not understand why he couldn't get into the room. The teen sighed and ran fingers through his hair. Well, he thought, better get it done. He picked up the phone and called the Niwas, intending to talk to his partner. God knows I'll probably be doing all the work. To his surprise, Niwa wasn't as passive as he'd thought he'd be. He'd even suggested that they work at his house, which was a first for Dark.

 

Looking around his empty house now, he guessed that it would be okay for him to go to Niwa's. It wasn't as though there was anything more here and the guy had sounded so…eager. Swinging his legs off the couch, he sauntered over to the computer and sat down, intending to finish the majority of the research tonight. Then the phone rang again.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Mousy?”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Dark Mousy.” Dark nearly fell out of the chair with laughter. How naïve can you get? He thought.

 

“That's me.”

 

“Oh. ARGH!” Dark blinked at this sudden noise, which was followed by a crash. Over the phone, he could hear Daisuke muttering to himself. Then, “Sorry.” Dark decided not to ask.

 

“Well, what?”

 

Daisuke's voice softened slightly and the other teen felt bad for just a split second. “Um…well…what part of the research do you, uh, want me to do?” Dark blinked. Well, that's new. Most of his old partners had immediately slacked off, making him do all the work, assuming that since he was the class president, he would be able to pull the perfect project out of thin air without any effort. My ass, he thought. Well, perhaps this project wouldn't require him to pull an all-nighter this time. “How about you see what you can find and we'll compare research at school?”

 

“Okay!” The cheery tone was back in Daisuke's voice and Dark was reminded of a child, resilient and always bouncy. Satisfied with his answer, Dark hung up and leaned back into his chair, grabbed his copy of Dickens' `David Copperfield' and proceeded to read the assigned chapters.

 

Next morning:

 

Daisuke winced and shifted his schoolbag uncomfortably, unused to the extra weight on his shoulders. He'd crammed all the books he could find on the Russian Revolution into his bag, and now he was really feeling the weight. Why did I choose so many heavy tomes? He wondered ruefully. Luckily for him, the train was only a few minutes' walk away from the school, so he didn't have to worry about a sore back.

 

He entered the classroom and drew back, startled as he met a pair of cool blue eyes. Satoshi Hiwatari backed off, only making an indistinct noise in his throat as a greeting to the other. “Morning, Hiwatari-san!” Daisuke said cheerfully. He made his way over to his desk and promptly dropped his heavy backpack, relieved to get rid of the weight on his shoulders. He looked around the classroom and then groaned when he saw that Dark's seat was still empty. A glance at the clock told him that the purple-haired teen wouldn't be arriving any time soon. Luckily, he could leave his books in his desk for a while-well, until they were due back at the library, anyway. Sighing to himself, Daisuke selected a book and flipped through it, underlining lines of text with a pencil and tagging appropriate pages.

 

Dark sauntered into the room exactly two minutes before the bell. To his surprise, Daisuke was already there, a large stack of books sitting on his desk. The guy was studiously poring through them, stopping to make a note here or there or stick a tag on the page. Depositing his book bag on his desk, he walked over to his partner. “Niwa,” he said, by way of greeting. Daisuke looked up and smiled at him politely.

 

“Morning, Mousy.” Then he turned back to the task at hand. Dark was surprised, to say the least. Obviously his partner was a lot harder-working than most of the others were.

 

“Aw.” He leaned on the desk, and tipped the book downwards. He gazed into the wide red eyes of his partner and smiled sweetly, too sweetly for the other's comfort. “Such a cold greeting.”

 

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. “So? It's not like you could care less.”

 

“Ah, that's where you're wrong,” the other answered. “I like to get along with my partners,” he dryly said. Crimson eyes regarded him suspiciously before lowering to the book.

 

“We're getting along,” Daisuke answered serenely.

 

“No we're not.”

 

Daisuke sighed and looked up again. “What do you want then, Dark?”

 

Dark smirked widely and the rest of the class looked at him curiously, wondering. Then the bell rang and Dark hastily straightened up before hurrying back to his desk, flashing the teacher a cheeky grin as she entered the room.

 

It was third period and Daisuke already felt tired. Physics had been a bore and to tell the truth, he would have preferred to continue work on his project. It was due in for next Monday, and all he had so far was what he had come up with. He could only hope that Dark, arrogant idiot that he may be, had also done his part of the work.

 

Lunchtime came and Daisuke was sitting with Takeshi and Masahiro as usual. The reporter was engrossed in telling them about the latest developments in police's attempt to find the `Phoenix Reborn'. Daisuke wasn't particularly interested, and pretended to listen, hemming and hawing every now and again to reassure his dark-haired friend. “Daisuke!” The redhead didn't answer. “Daisuke!” Takeshi waved a hand in front of the other's face, but there was still no response. Finally, he sighed. “Daisuke!” He said loudly, “DARK'S GOING TO DO A TABLE DANCE IN FRONT OF YOU!” The redhead's head jerked up and he turned crimson as the other two laughed.

 

As the cherry hue faded from his cheeks, Dark swept by, talking animatedly to Krad. Daisuke shrank into his seat, not wishing to see the other more than was strictly necessary. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side and the other boy leaned over, poking him in the ribs. “What ho, Niwa.” Daisuke just glared up at him in annoyance and Dark rolled his eyes. What a drama queen. “Don't forget our little arrangement,” he told the other snobbishly before leaving.

 

After school, Daisuke waited outside the lockers nervously, hoping that Dark would come by himself. To his dismay, Krad showed up first. The other looked at him shortly, golden eyes large and unblinking like a cat's. Feeling snappish, Daisuke turned some of his frustration-at what, he didn't know-on the other. “What are you staring at?”

 

Krad nonchalantly leaned against the lockers, eyes cool as ever. “I was just going to tell you Dark's going to be out in a few,” he dryly said. “No need to be hostile.” Daisuke just glared all the harder at this, even though a part of him wanted to know why he was so wound up over working with Dark Mousy. Then the object of his thoughts came out of the classroom.

 

“Yo, Krad. `Sup?” Daisuke blinked as Mousy struck up a conversation with Hikari and resisted the urge to walk over and smack the class president soundly. However, he did not give in to this impulse and waited. Five minutes passed by, and still Dark showed no signs of stopping the conversation any time soon. Finally Daisuke walked up to him and told him in no uncertain terms that they were going. Much to his annoyance, Dark looked down at him and squinted as though he were looking at a beetle. Then the purple-haired boy straightened up and grinned at Daisuke. “Hey Niwa. Didn't see you down there.” The redhead glared up at him, longing for a witty comeback whilst Dark laughed as though he had made the wittiest joke conceivable to man.

 

Two hours later and neither had backed down yet. “Niwa,” Dark asked. “Pass me the scissors?” He didn't bother adding a please, as it wouldn't make a whit of difference to the other whether he did or not. Daisuke scrabbled through the many layers of multi-coloured paper, searching for the required tool and upon finding it, hurled it rather savagely at his partner. Dark, expecting the move, shifted to the side and the metal blades fell to the floor with a dull thump. He picked them up and continued cutting, ignoring the other. Unfortunately, people like Dark Mousy were not made for the silent treatment, hence the words five minutes later. “Which side of the bed did you get out of this morning, sunshine?”

 

Daisuke looked at him coldly. “The usual side,” he replied. “There only is one side of the bed to get out from, you know.”

 

“Sorry, princess.” The pair worked in silence until Dark looked over at what Daisuke was doing…and his jaw promptly dropped. “What the hell…?! Niwa, what on earth do you think you're doing?!” Daisuke looked up at him calmly.

 

“I'm making my poster, that's what.” Dark stared at him as though he had gone mad.

 

“Are you insane?” He demanded. “I thought we worked out that you would do the decoration for the poster and the diagrams, and I would do the writing?”

 

“Yeah, well, maybe I just didn't think your stuff made sense!”

 

“Why the hell didn't you ask then?”

 

“Because you wouldn't have helped anyway!” Daisuke shot back irritably.

 

“Like you're contributing much, princess!”

 

“I'm finished with everything, Mousy! Look!” Daisuke thrust a handful of diagrams and the large A3 poster board at the other. Dark rolled his eyes.

 

“Tell me then!”

 

Daisuke snorted scornfully, eyes flashing. “Oh, and I'm supposed to report to you now?” Dark scowled, resisting the urge to smack the other or beat him up beyond all recognition.

 

“No, but it'd be nice if you helped me out here! The faster we get this done, the less we'll have to see each other!”

 

The pair glared and huffed at each other for a while before turning away and resuming their tasks, Daisuke grabbing some of Dark's stencils and cutting the shapes out deftly. Unfortunately for the pair, it was soon seven and Dark had to leave the work unfinished. The purple-haired teen got up and glared down at Daisuke contemptuously. “Thanks for letting me come over, princess,” he sarcastically said. “So nice to know that I'm always welcome here.”

 

Daisuke glared. “Thanks for everything, rat,” he coolly replied. “It was delightful having you over…playboy.”

 

“What, jealous are we?” Without waiting for an answer, he walked out the door. From that day on, war was officially declared between Daisuke Niwa and Dark Mousy.

 

Tuesday:

 

Daisuke walked into the classroom, expecting to see the usual scene of people either talking or sleeping on their desks, trying to get another twenty minutes' sleep. To his surprise, as soon as he opened the door, black greeted his eyes. Sighing, Daisuke looked up and scowled at Dark, who was blocking his way into the room.

 

“What do you want, Mousy?” He asked.

 

Dark smirked. “Feisty this morning, aren't we?”

 

Daisuke frowned lightly; something wasn't right. Then Dark's smirk grew even wider and Daisuke was drenched in water. The purple-haired teen smiled cheerily, tossing the bucket somewhere behind him and leaning forward. “Good morning to you too, Niwa,” he cheerily said. Daisuke stood in the doorway, stunned. The tips of his normally spiky red hair drooped sadly, like the leaves of a wilted plant. In contrast, his eyes were burning. Not only with irritation and the now roaring flames of a gorgeous morning temper, but also with the fact that Dark had effectively ruined his only clean white uniform shirt. Luckily for Dark, the teacher arrived and Daisuke was forced to `dry himself off' in the bathroom.

 

The rest of the day continued in a humdrum fashion and by last bell, Daisuke was back to his normal, smiling, dry self. Just as he'd placed all his books back in his locker, a hand fell on his shoulder and he turned around. “Niwa,” Satoshi's voice said. Daisuke turned around and smiled at the other boy. Before the other could say anything more, Krad showed up.

 

“Oh hello there,” he said, golden eyes mischievous. “How are you today, Sato?” Satoshi rolled his eyes and ignored the blond, focusing his gaze on Daisuke's. He opened his mouth to speak again, but right at that point Krad interrupted once more. “Is this a cut?” Satoshi sighed and glared at Krad, who promptly pretended to swoon.

 

“Lay off, Krad,” he growled before turning to Daisuke. “About Dark…”

 

Daisuke rolled his eyes. “I don't want to see the idiot until this afternoon.” Krad's laughter stopped and he looked sharply at the redhead. Satoshi, on the other hand, chuckled lightly. Of course, Daisuke was far from laughing when Dark raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

 

“So glad to see I'm loved,” the other drawled. “But then again, I guess it's not a great loss coming from you, midget.” Krad snorted at the insult and Dark smacked him before turning once more to Daisuke. “Finished the work?” He asked. Daisuke nodded, unwilling to say any more lest he become involved in a fight. “Wow,” Dark sarcastically remarked. “I hope you did the right thing. When did Lenin take over Russia, and what was the name of the government he overthrew?”

 

Daisuke frowned indignantly as the other two watched. “17-18 October 1917, and he overthrew the Provisional Government, which was headed by Alexander Kerensky.” He shot a challenging glare at Dark, who leaned against the lockers looking bored. “And you don't have to quiz me.”

 

The other teen rolled his eyes. “Please. Who was the moron who f---ed up the project yesterday?” Satoshi winced at the language and shot a dirty look in Dark's direction, whilst Krad continued to observe the interaction between the two.

 

“There's no need to say that,” Daisuke defended himself irritably. “You just didn't explain things properly!”

 

Dark cast him a pitying look. “For someone who's supposed to be good at History, you're terrible at listening.”

 

“For someone's who's top of the class, you're awfully stupid,” Daisuke retorted hotly. “You can't even explain things properly!”

 

“Yes I can; you just can't listen and understand!”

 

“Look at the pot calling the kettle black!”

 

“I'm nothing like you, Mousy!”

 

“Whatever, Niwa! At least I get my grades through hard work and not giving teachers blowjobs after school!” Daisuke snarled in anger, furious that Dark would even dare to insinuate that he was guilty of something like that.

 

“Well, I'm not the one famous for bedding five women in one night!” There was a shocked silence afterwards and even Daisuke himself was appalled by what he had just said. Dark was now enraged and his eyes were snapping with dark fire.

 

“Say that again,” he hissed angrily, taking a step forwards and fully intending to beat the living daylights out of his partner. At this point, Krad and Satoshi intervened, the blond holding a fistful of Dark's shirt in his hand and the blue-haired teen holding Daisuke's arm.

 

“Stop it, both of you,” Satoshi ordered. “Let's get out of this building before either of you do anything stupid in the school and we all get detention for it.” The two enemies reluctantly complied.

 

Outside the school grounds, Satoshi stared challengingly at both Dark and Daisuke. “If the pair of you promise not to attack each other, we'll let go of you.” The look on Krad's face was one of distaste at the patronizing tone Satoshi took, but he nodded in agreement anyway. “Do you?”

 

Dark snorted and Daisuke sighed irritably. “Fine,” they said in unison. Satoshi immediately released his grip, nodding at Krad to do the same thing. Both boys were now free, but neither made a move. Finally, Daisuke turned around. “I'm going home,” he announced. “I need to work on that project.” Dark stood still for a moment, dislike warring with the need to finish the blasted assignment.

 

“I'm coming,” he grudgingly said. “But it sure isn't for the joy of your company.” Daisuke snorted. Watching the pair leave (and smirking at the miles of open country between them), Krad remarked on how `Pride and Prejudice' the entire relationship seemed to be. Satoshi rolled his eyes at his stepbrother, but secretly he agreed.

 

Three hours later:

 

Dark and Daisuke were close to tearing each other's throats out. Neither boy was willing to admit that the other had done a better job than expected, so they were now nitpicking. “The colour scheme sucks,” Dark flatly said. “Just why on earth would you even consider using yellow when this poster is supposed to be Communist themed?”

 

Daisuke sighed. “Because of the flag, maybe?” He sarcastically replied. Dark just rolled his eyes.

 

“It's white, dolt,” he hissed. “It's red on white.”

 

Daisuke gave him a scornful look. “Your poster's got the same colour scheme,” he pointed out. “I don't see you rushing to make it look Communist.” Dark scowled even harder, but it was soon replaced with a fake smile when the door opened and Kosuke looked into the room.

 

“Hullo boys. What are you two up to, then?” To both teens' dismay, he walked over to look at the project.

 

“Niwa-san,” Dark smiled politely up at Kosuke. “We were just discussing the colour scheme for the poster.”

 

Kosuke smiled slightly. “Ah, I see.” He looked over at his son, who was smiling as well. “Is this…” he squinted at the poster, “about the Russian Revolution?” Both boys nodded and Kosuke laughed. “All right then,” he said, “I just came in to check on you guys, and I'm going to go out for a while. I'll be back soon. Dai, if your friend or you get hungry, there are some snacks in the kitchen. Keys are in the top drawer near the door-you know the one-and if you guys need help or anything, call me or Emiko. Bye then!” With those cheery words, he walked out again and the pair immediately reverted to their previous facial expressions. They sat still, waiting for the door to close. As soon as the `click' of the lock reached their ears, both cast off all former inhibitions and launched themselves at each other. This time, there would be no Satoshi or Krad to interfere.

 

“F--- you!” Dark practically howled as he landed a fist on Daisuke's jaw. The redhead gasped but planted his leg firmly in the other's gut, lashing out wildly.

 

“You're the one who started this!” Daisuke panted as he desperately tried to avoid the flailing fists. Crimson eyes flared up as Dark managed to kick him in the chest, sending him a good foot away from the other. He didn't have time to recover as Dark launched himself again, effectively body-slamming him. The project lay on the bed innocently, unaware of the hell it had caused for its two makers. Then something startling happened.

 

Dark pinned Daisuke to the ground, one hand restraining the redhead's wrist and his legs entwined with the other's to lock them. Snarling angrily, Dark glared into those fierce red eyes and without thinking roughly pressed his mouth to the other's. Ruby widened for a moment before Daisuke kissed back, determined not to let Dark win this contest. It wasn't a lover's kiss; it was hot, hard and painful. The purple-haired boy nipped roughly at his partner's lips, thrusting his tongue in forcefully and at the same time tangling his free hand in those red locks. Gasping, the pair broke away for breath before Daisuke thrust his face upwards and forced Dark into another kiss.

 

Emiko Niwa entered the house, eyebrows rising when she realized there was absolutely no noise coming from Daisuke's bedroom. Normally she wouldn't have cared, but today Daisuke had one of his friends over, so it was odd that she didn't hear them talking. After all, Dark had come over yesterday, too, and there had been a lot of noise. Placing the groceries on the kitchen counter, she prepared a tray of cookies and drinks to take up to the two boys. As she reached the door…

 

“HHHMMPPH!” Emiko blinked. What on earth…? “Hmpf…ah…OH!” The lady blinked at the door and then decided to leave the foodstuffs outside, seeing as they were rough-housing. She didn't want orange juice spilled all over the carpet or cookie crumbs trampled into the carpet, thank you very much. With that thought, she left, missing the cry, “Da-AARK!”

 

Inside:

 

Daisuke flopped down, eyes now glazed over. “Mm…” he purred as Dark ran fingers through his hair. “How'd that happen?” he asked the one behind him.

 

Dark propped himself up on one hand, looking down at the smaller teen. “Dunno…just felt like it, I guess.”

 

“Mmm…” Daisuke looked over sharply at the purple-haired class president. “So what's this make us?”

 

Dark smirked, eyes warmer now. “C'mere,” he drawled, grabbing the other and pulling him in for a kiss. Outside, the cookies and juice sat forlornly, waiting for someone to notice them.

 

Three weeks later:

 

Dark entered the classroom holding a large plastic bag. He wasn't the only one, either; almost everyone else carried large containers of some sort, all used for storing their projects. History soon rolled around once more and the teacher stood in front of the class, pushing her coke-bottle glasses further up the bridge of her nose. She smiled awkwardly. “So…how did your projects go, guys?” She asked the entire class. Many grumbled, but Dark and Daisuke shared a grin, the redhead flushing slightly at the memory. “Mousy-san, is there something funny?” Dark grinned and tilted his chair backwards, leaning casually on the desk behind him for support.

 

“Oh, yes, Schieska-sensei,” he drawled, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Very much so…the project was most amusing,” he continued, the smirk becoming a smile larger than the Cheshire Cat's. “That indeed it was.” Two rows away, Daisuke squeaked in embarrassment and buried his head in his arms. Unsure of what to make of the response, the teacher opted to nod.

 

Done! What do you think-love it? Hate it? Too contrived? Send all your comments to me please, and constructive criticism will be welcomed. Just no flames and then at the bottom `This is not a flame' please, as those tend to annoy me more than anything else. Please review, and thank you for reading this fic. I hope you enjoyed reading it and thanks for supporting me!
Oh, and as for the title, it refers to the line between love and hate.