Love in Seven Stages

"answer me... do you like me?"

It starts like this. He's not really sure why he kisses her, he figures mostly to piss Daisuke off and partly because he wants to. She is beautiful and Dark can appreciate beautiful things. He should know he steals them every other day. He presses his lips to hers and he doesn't see fireworks, his heart rate doesn't increase and his palms certainly don't sweat. But she does fit quite nicely into his chest, her lips are soft and her hair feels nice under his fingers. Daisuke is having a tantrum and he decides that it was most definitely worth it.

She stays on his mind. This is not normal, not for him anyway and he refuses to go down that route because didn't he already decide he loves her sister? But he keeps an eye out – or rather Daisukes eye out for her in that damn school and feels a certain thrill to see her ever present glowing smile and shining eyes. He wonders why she seems so delighted to see everyone in her path; though of course not as delighted as when she sees him (he's kind of glad.) He figures that if Riku won't smile like this for him then her twin must be the next best thing. They're basically the same anyway and for now he can always imagine.

"why are you always like this...you're always trying to avoid the topic, you know that I like you Dark"

She literally runs into him. Daisuke has very almost kissed Riku and he is feeling faintly jealous and faintly proud, he has her first kiss though and that will never change. But the point is that he is a wanted criminal in a very public school and he needs to be out immediately. It's only natural that he's not concentrating on every aspect surrounding him other than the exit which is why it's such a surprise when he hears a faint girlish squeal and a force against his chest strong enough to take his breath away. He puts his arm around the small figure to stop her toppling over and he looks down and there she is with pink cheeks and lips parted and his breath is taken away for entirely different reasons . She says his name with her pretty voice and he really needs to go. Uttering some words he is on his feet and running off and before he knows it he literally can't breathe and she is on top of him on the damn floor and god she is stronger then she looks.

"Why do you have to go? I finally get to see you again." "I'm sorry... but I have things to do."

He says this and yet his hand is slipping into her hair and it's as soft as he remembers and it smells of apples and he thinks he likes it. Thinks he likes her. The next thing he knows her lips are on his and he is anything but unresponsive and goddamn it his heart is fucking racing and he feels pathetic but she is just so damn persistent so damn there, all the time. Suddenly he feels lighter (how disappointing) and he sees her rounding the corner. "Quick! Run away! It'd become a problem if someone saw you!" The next thing he knows is that he is looking from Daisukes eyes and this is not happening he refuses for this to be happening.

Daisuke is awake. He is awake. "Why did you transform back to me?" "How should I know?" He thinks of her and her lips against his, her body against his and thinks he just might be lying

"hey… if… I was a monster…what would you do?"

"monster?"

"if I wasn't a human being… if I was some unpleasant being… what would you do?"

"love you."

He asks her on a date because he wants to and for no other reason. She's been plaguing his mind for too long and he needs to find some resolve or closure or something. Daisuke is furious and has been for the last eighteen hours but that's nothing really new. He's almost annoyed when Daisuke makes plans with Riku which is weird because he didn't ever really think he wouldn't want to see her, but this was his date with his twin and now like with everything in his life he has to share it. It's finally his turn and he is running through the sewers of all things with a feeling that just might be anticipation, he feels the way he feels before he's about to make a big steal and he's not sure what to think about that. He sees her smiling serenely at him and she is breath-taking so he slings an arm around her and she just fits so damn nicely there. He can just look down at her as she is chattering incessantly at him and although he can barely understand what she's on about, her big brown eyes are gazing at him in adoration and he feels a wave of depression crash down on him. This is very unusual. He does not feel depressed, he has a strict regime of feeling and depression, sadness, and anxiety do not feature on that list.

He asks her what she would do if he were a monster - this is probably stupid in itself, but he feels it's imperative that he knows, he doesn't know what he expects her to say but not that not an answer so simple that a revelation comes swooping down on him. He loves her. It's suddenly so damn obvious that he feels stupid for not realizing beforehand, he isn't sure how it's happened but she's crept into his mind, into his heart when he wasn't looking and carved out a place for herself. It also seems strikingly obvious that he has to let her go, she is too bright too happy to keep her with him she deserves, perhaps more than anyone, to be happy and he knows that in the long run that won't be with him. But for now his heart his racing like crazy so he does what he spends his life doing. Throws a smirk and a see you later and he's gone.

"I will never forget the times I've met you, the first time we met, and today, and…"

The fireworks make her skin glow; orange, yellow, he can see them reflected in her eyes he has no interest in watching them when she makes such a prettier picture. He feels oddly contented, just standing here with her. She is suddenly turned to him and telling him that she will never forget him and he feels a rush of love towards her, he pulls her towards him and into his chest buried a hand into her hair and another wrapped around her waist. He puts his lips to her ear and tells her what he needs to, for her sake, not to come after him anymore – they can never be together in the way she and probably he want them to be. "It's time… to hand back your heart which I stole." His heart is aching and tears are clinging to her eyelashes. But they do not fall as she plasters on a smile "Can we take a ride on the Ferris wheel? As a final memory?" He thinks he might do anything for her; he worries that just a few more minutes together would be enough for him to cave in – to do what feels right, keep her and damn the consequences. But he is weak so he agrees.

"Look! How beautiful Dark-san!" "…yeah…you're right" They are right back to where they were – she is gazing into the distance and he is gazing at her. Then he is rudely interrupted as the ride jerks to a halt and every light in view goes out, he is holding her to him before she can blink, making sure she's alright – he thinks it would be hardly out of character for her to start having a panic attack. He can suddenly sense magic crackling in the air. He realises instantly that chances are this has something to do with him which means that he has to leave immediately, for Risa's sake. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be back soon!" "I promise to wait here so make sure to come back and get me!"

He is with Riku as himself and he just cannot seem to turn into Daisuke. He remembers once thinking that Risa and Riku were practically the same person but now he doesn't know how he could have been so blind. Risa's eyes are just that much lighter, her lips that much pinker, personally he thinks that his twin is superior though he can hear Daisuke vehemently protesting this. Luckily for them both he is able to turn back through use of the bracelet. Yet he still feels unsettled, he wants to go back to Risa now.

"Risa… has been kidnapped."

"DEFINITELY UNFORGIVABLE"

Risa has been kidnapped and his world is shades of red, every fibre of this body is strained and there is something throbbing in his temple. He is ready for blood, ready to kill someone, ready to do whatever it takes to get her back to him. He doesn't know who this Argentine is or he thinks he is coming to his town and stealing his girl but this is anger like he's never felt before and he swears he will tear him bit by bit for this. Before he knows what's happening there are lights blinding him, people calling at him and he is no longer Daisuke. Then there is a pain in his chest and he realises Daisuke couldn't handle the sudden magic forced upon him and he is falling from the sky and everything goes black. When he wakes up he finds himself more alone then he's felt for a long time, Daisuke's conciseness drifts around him and there is a little voice in the back of his mind beating Risa, Risa, Risa in a constant stream – he barely remembers what happened. He knows Risa is kidnapped by someone called Argentine and to him this is all he needs to remember.

Daisuke is finally awake and impatient to leave as soon as possible and then there is shouting and blocking of doors and Daisuke says something alarming "Dark will help me! He also likes…" he refuses to let that sentence end "Daisuke I... this time I can't help you." This actually pains him to say, he feels like it his duty to save Risa, his responsibility. "Why? This time of all time…your feelings?" Daisuke seems to have a sudden understanding "They're too unstable…it's too dangerous." He wonders what Daisuke means how he figured it out so quickly, if they are truly that closely connected "my… feelings?" "Don't you remember? You created the wings by yourself. You connected to me with your rage." He remembers none of this but he thinks it probably makes sense.

"Y'know, I could just smash you pieces right now and be done with you… I mean you made me look like an idiot and I can't stand shit like that.

And to top it off… you stole something that belongs to ME."

As always it has fallen to him to save Risa and the day but as always he doesn't really mind, especially this time, he is Risa's hero and he doesn't ever want this to change. He sees her holed up in the tower in a different dress to what he left her in, he wonders if Argentine changed her and the thought makes him feel physically ill. He reaches out for her, she is almost there, almost back with him and then in one swoop she is in the arms of this boy, this Argentine. The way this boy touches her, the way he holds her makes him feel irritated, possessive. As far as he is concerned the only person who should be able to hold her like that is himself. He starts crushing the boy's face with his hand, each crack soothing him just a little more, he can hear Daisuke faintly shouting to him, but at this point he doesn't care or want to listen. Then he feels vibrations under his feet, cracking in the walls he realises what's going on and shoots towards her. But she is already falling down, down and he won't make it in time and everything is in slow motion, he hears her scream, he can see her fall, he can do nothing.

He never thought he would be grateful to see Krad in his life, but there he is like some kind of angel saving her from certain death and placing her on the ground. They exchange words and she gazes at the sky and he flies away, he feels that possessiveness swelling in him again – he almost saved her, but not quite. Someone else is her hero today. But then she looks at him well Daisuke as him anyway with the same gleam in her eye and the same smile on her face and he realises that for some reason he cannot understand that he is always her hero whether he saves her or not and that she really might love him for him. He thinks underneath it all, she is a complex girl.

After she is kidnapped he takes to checking in her room late at night, or early in the morning some might say. He doesn't stay or anything - just sees that she is in her room and in her bed, but he still feels appropriately pathetic. He traces her lips with his thumb, strokes her cheekbone with his fingers, just to make sure she is still here. He finds that she has a highly annoying habit of climbing out her window and going for walks when she can't sleep, the first time she is gone he panics for twenty minutes until he finds her roaming an empty street. She is delighted to see him of course, although less so when he shouts at her for five minutes for being such an idiot and doesn't she know what could happen to her? He takes her home and bans her from anymore walks with the ultimate threat of I will tell your sister on you (he also kisses her but this is becoming a regular occurrence) Considering how pathetic he thinks all this is he can only imagine what Daisuke thinks of him, but the boy always keeps strangely quiet during these late night visits.

He wonders how much longer this can all last, before he is ripped away from yet another life. He has never wanted to stay so badly, he doesn't want to leave Daisuke, leave her and everything else he has made for himself and so he closes his eyes and he hopes that for once, just once he will get his happy ending as well.

Please be awesome and review.

Ok so long story short, I just got into DNAngel expecting to be Dark/Riku and Satoshi/Risa and bam, these guys just hit me like a ton of bricks from nowhere they are cute, and fluffy and heartbreaking. I'm a bitch for a ship that will never happen or a doomed ship (guess where these are coming in) so I guess I can't help myself. I realise I'm one of about 2% who ship Dark/Risa so I thought I should contribute to our very limited fandom, although I am actually surprised they don't get more love, each to their own I guess.