-- esp. for meg-neesama and sakki-neechan xmas y2k XD --

insert standard disclaimer here

Notes: For max enjoyment, it's recommended you read Meg-neesama's What Dreams May Come before this. The dream Dark refers to is the one in her lemon. XD I've never seen Dark and Daisuke speak mind-to-mind, but can't see no reason why they shouldn't be able to. Inner flares and Dark's mind being able to take over Daisuke's body are not canon, but the whole DNA thing is so screwed up I figure more screwiness can't hurt. XD;;

= Blurred =

Niwa Daisuke was dreaming - or at least he *thought* he was.

He had climbed out of his window, leapt to the ground and was walking away from home. That in itself was hardly unusual; he did that at least once a week on a thieving job. Now, however, it was past midnight and he had no recollection of his mother giving out the notice that warned the police he would be up to his kaitou tricks again.

I should go back, he absently thought, trying to feel bewilderment. Yet somehow it didn't seem the least strange that his feet were still moving, and after a while he turned into a long street that seemed vaguely familiar, only he traversed it so seldom it was hard to place. Something to do with school...a project...

// Eyes of cerulean ice behind steel-rimmed frames and hair a slightly darker shade of the same colour; a low voice that spoke only what it needed to. Saehara-kun had been somewhat irritated. Those eyes lit on him, and he fleetingly thought that they suddenly warmed, but of course, it was only his imagination. //

...ta...ri...kun...?

There was a strong flare of /purpose/ inside him, and as he blinked there came the sudden realisation that it was his other form who had been driving his body all the while. Somehow. The knowledge broke the dream-state he had previously been in, and he locked down a hint of irritated confusion to send a tentative call. :Dark?:

No answer.

He tried again, but his kaitou-self didn't respond. There was another *flare*, and Daisuke suddenly found himself walking at a much faster pace than before. :Oi!: he mentally yelled. :Where are we _going_?!: Still no answer. He tried to stop, but his body refused to listen to him. Round a corner, two left turns, and they were standing in front of a block of flats. Whitewashed walls glowed eerily in the moonlight. He swallowed, desperately trying to think why it looked so familiar. Project...project...it had to be a classmate's house then, but which...

// glasses //

He started climbing a tree leaning against the building.

// pale skin and cold blue eyes and hair //

...No. No, no, *no*. It couldn't be. But it was. Hiwatari-kun's flat, to be exact.

:You're NUTS!: he screeched at the stubbornly silent Dark. :Do you WANT to go to jail THAT badly?! Let me GO!: Dark's only response was to make him shoot up the tree like an arrow before leading him onto a balcony. His hand reached out and pushed open sliding doors of glass, and then he was forced to step inside the small apartment.

Daisuke was quaking inside, every nerve screaming with fear. If he miraculously escaped being handcuffed and thrown behind bars tonight, a small part of him promised himself that he was going to make his seemingly insane other self very, very sorry. *Somehow*. Right now all he wanted was a miracle...maybe Hiwatari-kun *wasn't* home, maybe Dark had led him here to steal something to blackmail him...maybe...his eyes adjusted to the gloom, and his heart plummeted into his sneakers when he saw the pale blue head on the pillow of the bunk in the corner.

:I'm deadi'mdeadi'mdead...:

His feet moved against his will to stand beside the bunk. The sleeping figure made a sound suspiciously like a snort, and rolled over to face him.

Hiwatari-kun's eyes were open. And they widened upon seeing him, incredulity flashing through those ice-blue orbs.

"Ni...wa..."

For the third time that night, he felt a *flare* inside him. Light burst in his mind's eye and he finally saw Dark, looking curiously regretful. ::I'm sorry, Dai-chan. Forgive me - this is something I need to do.::

:D-Dark?:

::It's something you're better off not knowing. Forget...:: A small, apologetic smile; he tried to protest but the words were lost as he was _pushed_ back, further and further and even further -

- until there was nothing but darkness.

====

Daisuke-who-was-Dark exhaled slowly, and focused on the thin figure sitting up in bed. Satoshi was looking at him oddly, lips curved up very slightly.

"...You're not Niwa-kun."

"Heh." He smirked, flicking back a stray strand of hair. "Perceptive as always, Hiwatari-*kun*."

The edges of his mouth twitched. "What brings you here tonight? Aren't you afraid I'll throw you in jail?"

"You won't." Amber-red eyes locked with his own. "Not while I'm _him_. Not while you still want me."

====

*He* was the truly perceptive one, Satoshi thought, a little shaken. To be able to see through the game he had been playing and read his purpose so plainly - he wasn't used to anyone doing that. Hell, _nobody_ had ever done that, not even his stepfather. And he didn't like the feeling one bit. Hiwatari Satoshi was not vulnerable. Had sworn never to be vulnerable.

Yet he saw there was no use lying to himself, not when his greatest vulnerability was standing beside him right now.

Did he know exactly how many different shades of meaning 'want' could imply?

"Ne-e, Hi-wa-ta-ri-kuun?"

It was - confusing, to hear Niwa-kun's voice speaking in a husky drawl with the covertly mocking inflections only Dark was capable of, to see his classmate standing in one of Dark's languidly graceful poses and looking so...

But it isn't Niwa-kun, he told himself sharply, it's Dark.

He kept silent, watching Dark-as-Niwa smirk again. "...I thought as much."

"Why are you here?" he repeated.

A raised brow. "You welcomed me, didn't you? I felt your dream..." The smirk widened.

Satoshi looked unpertubed, but now he was truly thrown off-balance. How had he...the kaitou-tachi weren't empaths or anything of the sort, he _shouldn't_ have been able to... He looked at the impossibly smug expression on Niwa's face, and kept his fist from clenching with effort. Or was he playing a hard and fast guess, damn him? It was possible. But whatever the truth was, it wasn't his top priority now.

"I welcomed _you_," he said calmly, glad his voice betrayed none of his inner turmoil. "Not Niwa-kun."

"But I'm not Daisuke, you said that yourself." Niwa-kun's body planted his hands on the mattress and leaned forward until their faces were scant inches apart, still smirking. "What's the problem, Hiwatari-*kun*? I thought you wanted _both_ of us anyway."

He closed his eyes. "I don't want to hurt Niwa-kun." Ice-blue glinted out at the other again. "While I wouldn't mind hurting you, you bastard."

Dark drew back, blinking. He started to laugh as Satoshi stared at him uncomprehendingly.

Then without warning, his collar was grabbed, and a burning mouth was firmly pressed against his own.

====

// Niwa-kun... //

No. Not him. _Dark_. *Why* was that so infernally hard to remember? The kiss deepened, and it was very hard to think of anything else.

// amai... //

...want. I...want...him. But. But...?

// Riku-san ga...suki! //

There was a strange sadness that wasn't sad at the same time. But.

You're not going to trap me that way.

====

Dark finally pulled away, eyes flashing purple-grey for an instant. "Are you so sure about that?"

He drew a breath. "If you care at all for Niwa-kun, get the hell out of here. Or I *might* just make his nightmares of jail come true."

There was a pause as he was shot an unreadable glance from under half-lidded eyes. "You care, then."

Satoshi stared at him impassively. "Get lost. Now."

"What if I..." There was a brilliant burst of light, and when Satoshi took his hand down from his eyes, the real Dark Mousy was standing beside him in full black-winged glory.

"...did this?"

He raised a brow. "_You_ don't care."

"You might be surprised," he whispered. "Anyway, on Daisuke's behalf...thanks, you creepy jerk." He leaned forward again, and the last thing Satoshi saw before he closed his eyes and let sensation take over were eyes of glittering amethyst smoke.

The next kiss - and everything else that followed in the explosion of warmth surrounding him - were even sweeter than he had dreamt.

====

[next morning]

"Niwa-kun."

"H-Hiwatari-kun!"

"I think this is yours."

Daisuke stared at the small button in the palm of his classmate, eyes rounding in surprise. It looked awfully like the ones on his pyjamas, but how on earth could it have possibly ended up with *Hiwatari-kun*?

He met Hiwatari-kun's unreadable gaze, and was suddenly assaulted by a flood of images -

// climbing onto a balcony in the middle of the night //
// walking into a vaguely familiar apartment //
// mouth pressed against - //

Daisuke turned a brilliant shade of red and choked.

"Is there something wrong?" Hiwatari-kun asked calmly.

"N-no!" he sputtered, hastily ridding his head of the ridiculous image of himself kissing the boy in front of him. He'd _definitely_ gotten too little sleep last night. "Ano...uh, where did you find this?"

Hiwatari-kun cracked a tiny smile. "You dropped it." As Daisuke stared at him in bewilderment, he added, "Tell him I might care. But don't count on it." Then he turned and left.

::Heh. He's not _such_ a creepy bastard after all.::

:This coming from _you_?: Daisuke asked sceptically. :What was all that about, anyway?:

::...You're gonna be late for class, Dai-chan.::

Somehow he knew, as he grabbed his books and started running to the classroom, that Dark was smiling. And because of that, Daisuke smiled too.

= owari =