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Dai-chan!

Hey Dark! What's up?

I'm going to visit my auntie Towa-chan this weekend!

Oh, how fun! That's cool. :D

No, no, that's not all. Towa-chan lives in…

Yeah, Dark?

She lives in…

Spit it out, baka! You know I don't like any form of suspense…

AZUMANO!

WHA?! Seriously?! Oh my GOD, Dark – I live in Azumano!

Uh…yeah, that's kind of the point. x)

- - - - - -

Dark stared at his surroundings with immense relief, happy to finally be free of the bus that had brought him from the airport to his aunt's house. He was not a fan of cramped vehicles at all. Dropping his bags onto the floor and stretching his arms out tiredly, he let a hushed yawn escape his mouth, not bothering to stifle it.

"Dark, manners," came the disapproving reproach.

Dark rolled his eyes and retracted his arms, throwing his head back to get several deflated locks of hair out of his face. "Sorry Dad…" he murmured, his voice monotone and not at all sorry. He didn't care much for his father, whose younger sister they were visiting. The sole reason he had agreed to accompany him to Azumano was to meet his cyber friend Daisuke.

Dark had known Daisuke for roughly two years, ever since that fated day he had stumbled in on a Loveless chat room. They had somehow gotten to talking about the very blatant Lolita vibe that simply radiated from the anime and manga. Dark had been gushing madly about it while Daisuke had been regaling him with stories about his mom and her obsession with shounen-ai.

The two had hit it off immediately, and somehow, both had found the time to talk online – everyday…for two whole years… As impossible as it seemed, neither had missed a single day of instant messaging, due to the fact that instant messaging could be done practically everywhere: with the computers at school, with laptops at home, and even with cell phones with that special capability.

After just the first year, Dark had felt a strong bond with the faceless boy he messaged each day. He felt as though he could tell him anything and everything about him, with absolutely no inhibitions. After all, Daisuke lived on a whole separate island – how could he hurt him or humiliate him when he couldn't even see him? Dark didn't even tell his best friend Krad his deepest dreams or his darkest secrets; the blonde was simply too nonchalant about everything to truly sympathize with him. But Daisuke wasn't like that; he was kind and charming and he never laughed at Dark when they talked about things as serious as that.

However, that was what scared Dark about their long awaited, yet unexpected, confrontation. What if he didn't know Daisuke as well as he thought he did? What if he wasn't what he had expected? What if he had told all his friends Dark's secrets, and was just waiting for him to appear in Azumano, so they could all laugh at him?

Dark shook his head to rid himself of his negative thoughts.

No, he shouldn't think like that. He really wanted to meet the boy. He was funny and nice, and together they always had something to talk about. He wanted to become the boy's friend, in a normal, non-cyber way.

Most of all, Dark wanted to fix Daisuke.

Although Daisuke seemed to tell Dark everything about him, Dark had a strange feeling that what Daisuke had revealed to him about his great life wasn't the entire truth. Dark had this odd feeling that Daisuke was a bit of a…loser.

It wasn't as though Dark inwardly insulted the boy as they messaged. He just had that nagging thought at the back of his head at times when the boy's words were somewhat pathetic. Dark suspected that he didn't have many friends, and was sort of a mama's boy. After all, what respectable sixteen-year-old boy still let his mother choose his outfits for friends' birthday parties?

Dark also inferred that Daisuke was a bit of a nerd. His best friend was a boy named 'Hiwatari-kun.' They spent weekends studying. Out of all the things Daisuke could be doing on a weekend…he spent it all alone with another boy, studying. STUDYING! And Daisuke had also admitted that this Hiwatari-kun wore glasses…

Dark could do the math in his head – boy plus glasses plus studying equaled total nerd. Hiwatari-kun equaled boy…plus glasses…plus studying. And thus, Hiwatari-kun equaled NERD.

In addition to his oddly close relationship with his mother and his friendship with a geek, the fact that Daisuke was often chased around by others boys in his grade also reinforced the whole 'loser-vibe' he sometimes radiated online. He had never specified why he was being chased…but Dark had assumed bullying had been the answer.

Thus, Dark had long ago resolved to help Daisuke become more masculine, more confident, more Dark-like, should he ever been given the chance to do so; and now, he had been given the chance! Dark was more than resolute in his quest to help Daisuke out and transform him into the epitome of charisma.

But in order to that…Dark had to find Daisuke first.

- - - - - -

Dai-chan? This is you, right? Dark typed into his cell phone. He sent the message and waited, feeling slightly awkward. He wasn't used to communicating with Daisuke through text message. He was much more used to the fast, instantaneous conversations that one usually associated with instant messaging, but Daisuke had gotten that application on his phone taken away last week.

Hey Daaark! Well of course this is me. I wouldn't give you a false number. x) So what's up? Let's see… You said you'd text me when you arrived in Azu– HOLY CRAP. Are you in Azumano?! Ohhhhhhh! This is cool!

Daisuke's text message had arrived rather swiftly, something that made Dark smile. He replied to the text quickly, though not as animatedly as his hyper cyber-friend. Ahaha. Chill, Daisuke. Yepp, I'm in Azumano. I just arrived at my aunt Towa-chan's house like ten minutes ago. My dad let me walk around town and I'm kinda just wandering around… Confused…lost…without my Dai-chan!

A cheerful ringing filled the air, alerting Dark of his new text message. Confused and lost without your Dai-chan. Why doesn't that surprise me? xD Well I'm with Hiwatari-kun right now – 'Studying, no doubt,' Dark thought fondly – but I'm sure he won't mind meeting you. He's heard so much about you from me! Er…we could come pick you up right, if you don't mind the extra company.

Oh, no, it's okay! I'd love to meet your friend. I…er, somehow ended up at a big tower. It's like…big and…pink? Dark stared up at the tower in front of him after sending Daisuke his text, inwardly wondering why it had been painted such a ghastly color.

Oh! The Harada Tower? M'kay, me and Hiwatari-kun are headed over there, fifteen minutes tops. I've gotta turn my phone off though; it's losing battery… I'll see you there!

Dark stared at his phone's screen blankly before a sudden thought jarred his mind. Daisuke, wait! Don't turn your phone off! He sent the text in a hurry, hoping that the other boy's cell was still running. Five minutes later, still with no text from Daisuke, Dark knew that it wasn't. He plopped onto the ground and leaned against a tree several yards away from the grotesquely painted tower, watching it with a bland yet crestfallen expression on his face.

"Damn," Dark whispered to himself. "We've never seen each other's faces…" He stared despondently at his phone's wallpaper, knowing that Daisuke would not be texting him anytime soon.

'I don't know…what he looks like.'

- - - - - -

Fifteen very long, very nerve-racking, very Daisuke-less minutes later, Dark decided to start scanning the crowd around the Harada Tower in search of the boy he would not recognize. He had contemplated standing right under the tower and yelling, "Daisuke, DAISUKE!" but that thought flew right out the window after just a moment's deliberation.

He chose, instead, to stare at the passersby around him, searching for a pair of boys; one with glasses, and both somewhat geeky. It wouldn't be too hard, now would it? How many awkward teenage boys could there be milling around a tower as randomly-colored as this?

Too many, Dark finally decided. More than three pairs of boys had passed him already, all of them somewhat gawky, yet none of them answering to the name Daisuke or Hiwatari. He had been just about ready to call it quits – and listlessly wander around town in an attempt to find his way back home – when something impossibly red caught his attention.

Dark stared quite openly at a rather eye-catching redheaded boy who stood uncomfortably under the garishly pink Harada Tower, looking confused and a little out of place among the other citizens of Azumano around him, all of whom looked very much at ease. However, it wasn't the boy's puzzled expression that had attracted Dark's attention.

The boy was absolutely stunning. He had a pale, heart-shaped face, framed generously by locks of flaming red hair that stuck out in all sorts of ways, looking haphazardly spiky yet soft and pliable at the same time. His ruby red eyes nearly matched the shade of his hair, and his lips, although pulled into a grim pout, were a rich shade of pink and perfectly shaped.

Just as Dark was about to evaluate the teen's greatly accentuated body, the target of his somewhat intense gaze turned to face him, casting him an expectant look before his face split into a freakishly bright smile that made Dark nearly reach for his sunglasses.

Startled and a little more than flabbergasted as to why a complete stranger – albeit a hot one – had just grinned at him, Dark was about to send the redhead a hesitant smile back when a sudden movement to his left caused him to turn. Another boy, perhaps two or three inches shorter than him, stood at his side, silently shaking his head and shrugging, the faintest hint of a frown tugging at his lips.

The redhead looked away with a slight sigh and walked over to the other side of the tower, hips unintentionally swaying. Dark…couldn't look away…

"You know… It's a little weird, staring at someone for so long without blinking…"

Dark nearly jumped at the emotionless voice that suddenly filled his ears, whirling to his left where it had originated. "W…what?" He stared the teen beside him down, eyes tracing over the other's light blue hair and eyes, impossibly pale skin, long-sleeved oxford shirt, and faded jeans. He ended his elevator stare, looking back up to find penetrating cerulean eyes staring at him and filling him with an odd sense of hostility. Who was this guy?

"Well, you oughta know, it's a little creepy appearing out of nowhere and quietly standing next to a stranger with no intention of talking to him," Dark retaliated.

"This tree is not your property," the blunette hissed back, eyes narrowing slightly behind stylish-looking glasses and giving him a barbarically civil look. "I can stand wherever I want."

"And I can stare at whomever I want," Dark declared, feeling a glare begin to form on his face.

"I don't want any creeps staring at my friend," the other boy stated, his face suddenly wiped into an expressionless mask. "He gets enough of that everywhere else, thank you very much."

Dark smirked. "I'd bet he does," he murmured, eyes straying back to the redhead to take a quick peek of him as he stared with confusion around the tower.

"Can you please stop that?"

Dark wrenched his eyes away from the redheaded teen to glare heatedly at the bespectacled one beside him. "Can you please stop being so creepy? C'mon, lighten up a little!"

"I would rather not."

"Yeesh… You're a bastard, you know that?" Dark didn't have to look at the blunette to see the enraged expression on his face. "Just like my friend Krad. You're both hot as hell, but you don't interact with the world like normal people do."

"…"

"Hey, I don't hear you protesting…so I must be right."

"…" Suddenly, the blue-eyed boy walked off, taking long and fast-paced strides in order to get away from Dark quickly. Was that a blush on creepy boy's face?

Chuckling, Dark watched as the hostile yet unemotional teen moved over to the redhead's side with his hand in his pockets and a faintly sullen expression marring his face. His lips were moving slowly, and the redhead started to smile again, his crimson eyes twinkling playfully. The redhead began to bounce away from his blunette friend…and towards Dark.

"Eeeep…" Dark turned away from the approaching teen, trying to avert his gaze to any bit of airspace that didn't contain the other boy. However, he just couldn't catch a break, and the redhead appeared beside him, grinning expectantly.

"Well?" The smile widened.

"Well what?" Dark muttered, staring at the other's mouth instead of his eyes.

"Do you like my friend?" the redhead questioned playfully. "He said you called him hot."

"I did not say that as a boast; I said it out of fear," the blunette suddenly remarked, his neck craning out from behind his friend's back. "Niwa-kun, step away from this creep immediately."

Dark arched a sardonic brow, turning his gaze to glare at the bespectacled boy. "Who's the creep here, creepy boy?"

The sapphire-eyed one stepped away from the redhead's form, holding himself upright in an attempt to make himself seem more dominating. "The one who was quite lewdly staring at this guy," he jutted a thumb back at the teen he had called Niwa, "like a freaky pervert."

"I was not!"

"Please, please! Stop! Guys…" Niwa moved forward to stand in between the two bickering boys, his palms pressed against both their chests. "Don't fight. Not in public, anyway…" He lowered his arms and stared resolutely at the blunette. "Hiwatari-kun, this is weird of you. You're always so apathetic, I just don't get why you're blowing up at some stranger. I've always told you to feel something that wasn't nothing, but this wasn't what I meant. Uh…stop, I guess?" He turned towards Dark, his expression softening slightly. "I'm sorry about my friend here. And sorry for approaching you like this. I just thought it was kinda cute how you called him hot, but I guess it was just some…misunderstanding? Well, we ought to leave right now, so… Bye!"

The Niwa grabbed his friend's hand and was about to tug him away when Dark held out an arm to halt them. "Wait a second. Did you just say…? …I mean, did I hear him right?" The two sent him looks – Niwa's was confused while Hiwatari's was sharp – as Dark continued to stutter to himself incoherently. "But you can't be… And he can't be…. I can't call that four-eyes! I mean, just look at you two…"

Niwa warily released Hiwatari and hesitantly waved his now free hand in front of Dark's rather distracted face. "Uhm…can you explain just what exactly you're mumbling about us?"

"I told you he was a creep," Hiwatari muttered quietly.

"Hiwatari-kun, stop it, please!"

"Hiwatari-kun." Dark stared dazedly past the two boys in front of him, his tone comically delirious. "He's Hiwatari-kun…"

"It's Hiwatari-san to you, you creep!"

"And," Dark continued without a pause, "if he's Hiwatari-kun, then that makes you…"

Niwa and Hiwatari exchanged glances.

Dark cleared his throat and finally locked eyes with the redhead, his gaze firm yet somewhat dreamy.

"Dai-chan?"

- - - - - -

Killah: Dude. …Another fic. Wtf? XD Okay – now I SWEAR this one's gonna be short. (Ahahaha. FAT CHANCE, BITCHES!!) Er…ignore that. X.x But hey…it's my birthday. I'm allowed to be an ass like this. A not-updating-WhyTheCagedBirdSings-and-Imperfect-ass. :D Ahaha. Take THAT, my lovelys! Erm… I'm kind of a jerk. XD But I swear, I've had this plot in my head since my Yu-Gi-Oh days! It's a doooooozy! It's addictive. It's…

Shit. I don't have a title yet. I'll half-ass it when I actually put it up on the site… Yaaaay! :3