Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

People screamed as the Box Ghost levitated all the boxes in the university bookstore, running for the doors. “I am the Box Ghost! I will take over the world with these corrugated squarey evilness of dooooom!”

"I think you need a new hobby!" Came a loud, slightly arrogant voice as a black and white blur sped by the fleeing crowds. When it slowed down, a white-haired teenage boy was hovering in front of the blue-skinned ghost, his arms crossed impatiently, "You give the same spiel every other day y’know. Can’t you see it’ll never happen?"

"Not if I don’t try! Beware!" The Box Ghost threw the boxes of bookstore supplies at the ghost boy, but he sighed and turned intangible, phasing through it.

"When will you learn that Real World items don’t work like that?" He held his hand up, a fire of sickly green forming in his palm, growing until it became an orb, which he threw at the other ghost. The Box Ghost screamed, falling to his behind on the ground, and the teenager pulled out a silver thermos from behind him, uncapping it and aiming it at the Box Ghost.

"Nooo! I am the Box Ghost! You will not capture me in your cylindrical—ack! BEWARE!" The Box Ghost tried to fly away, but he was caught in a bright blue-white light, and soon there was nothing in the bookstore except a mess of toppled boxes and the floating ghost boy.

He sighed, capping the thermos and tucking it away again. He turned to fly away, but froze when he saw someone standing a few paces behind him, staring at him with wide, surprised red eyes. The ghost boy gave a surprised squeak, having not expected anyone to be there. Most people ran at the sight of a ghost. He was sure everyone was out by the time he got there—when had this man gotten here? He hadn’t even heard the man walk up!

"Uh, hi!" The ghost managed out slightly nervously—what was the man even doing here? Paranoia kicked in as he thought that the man might be here to catch him and turn him in, especially since there was a million dollar bounty on his head.

The man blinked, schooling his face. Then, to the ghost boy’s utter surprise, he smiled a little, tilting his head. “Hello.” He replied in a slightly accented voice—his L’s sounded a bit like R’s, and it took the ghost boy a moment to realize the man was foreign. “You can fly.”

The ghost boy blinked in confusion. That wasn’t the normal reaction people had when they saw him. Not at all. The man was just staring at him in intrigue now, his strange red eyes trailing over to the ground beneath his feet, and the couple of inches between him and the floor.

"Uh, yeah, I’m a ghost. It’s a thing we do." He quipped, laughing nervously as he rubbed his head. "Uh, sorry, I have to go. Before the hunters get here. Yeah. Sorry about the mess!"

The young man nodded, and watched as the boy flew up. After a beat, he called out, “Wait!”

The ghost boy paused, turning back and looking down at the man. “Huh? Uh, what?”

"What’s your name?" The man asked curiously.

The ghost boy found himself once more completely taken by surprise. No one had ever asked before. No one.

"Uh… Danny. Danny Phantom." He introduced himself awkwardly, lowering a bit and offering his hand to shake the stranger’s.

The man eyed his hand calculatingly, before he took it and smiled kindly at the ghost boy. His smile faltered slightly when a chill ran down his spine, but his expression quickly returned as he let go of the ghost boy’s cold hand. “Nice to meet you, Danny. I am Daisuke Niwa.”

Danny nodded—he was right, the man was foreign. And judging by the messenger bag with the art supplies sticking out of its opening, he could guess that Daisuke was an art student at this university.

"Thank you for taking care of that strange blue man. I’m glad no one got hurt." Daisuke said, "You said you had to go, right? Take care, okay?"

Danny jumped a little, nodding. “Right, uh, thanks. Bye then!” He said, and waved a little as he shot through the roof, disappearing with his intangibility and his invisibility.

What a weird guy, Danny thought as he flew through the sky to head home. Daisuke was plain-looking, even for a Japanese guy in an American city—he wasn’t noticeable, and he didn’t look special. And yet… he didn’t show a hint of fear. If Danny didn’t know better, he would have thought that Daisuke had run toward the commotion when the Box Ghost showed up, instead of away from it like everyone else did.

But… no, that couldn’t possibly be true, right? No, he just didn’t know about ghosts or ghost attacks, he was a foreigner. Or he had been there long enough to get used to it, but the ghost attacks hadn’t been happening long—it hadn’t even been a year yet since the attacks started.

Still, what sensible person didn’t run from ghosts?

~~~

The thought of that man bothered Danny all week—mainly because he was the first person to ever ask his name. Everyone else called him Inviso-Bill and that annoyed him to no end. He protected Amity Park all the time, the least they could do was call him by his proper name, even if he was Public Enemy Number One. Or maybe that’s why they didn’t bother to call him by his name—they hated him that much.

But Daisuke… he had asked Danny’s name. And he had thanked him.

When Friday night rolled around and Danny was flying home after a long chase by Skulker which ended in Elmerton, he looked down and saw the university below him. The thought of Daisuke came back, and he frowned as a stray thought came to the front of his mind: I wonder if I can find him.

He shook his head, mumbling to himself, “That’s ridiculous, why would he even be out this time of night?”

And even as he said that, he looked down again and found himself recoiling to stop. He floated there, stared, and blinked twice.

There was a light shining from some point below him, illuminating the figure next to it. Sitting on the edge of one of the roofs of what he assumed was a dormitory or apartment building was a man whose red hair could be seen even in this darkness.

Daisuke…?

Danny turned invisible, flying closer to where the strange man sat. He had a small portable lamp on the ledge beside him, and a notebook in his lap. He appeared to be doing homework, but Danny couldn’t tell, since he was writing in Japanese.

After a moment, Daisuke looked up at the moon, shivering a little. There was a pause as the young art student looked puzzled, probably trying to figure out what to write next, before he looked around warily.

Danny found himself unexpectedly surprised by this man once more—that look of alertness didn’t come from superstition like most of Amity Park’s people’s did. Daisuke’s wariness was more trained, though a little subdued, like a soldier retired from a war. Something about him screamed experience—but what dangerous things could someone so young have had experience with to learn that look?

Daisuke’s expression matched one of his own. Danny knew it well—it was a look he often got whenever ghosts appeared or whenever he was in the middle of a battle.

Danny soon learned why Daisuke was looking around like that, because he called out, “Who’s there?”

The green-eyed ghost boy blinked in surprise, making himself visible and holding his hands up peacefully. “Whoa, hey, uh, it’s just me.”

Daisuke blinked slowly, then relaxed and smiled. “Oh. Good evening, Danny. Out for a night time flight?” He asked as if it was the most casual thing in the world and Danny wasn’t floating a good thirty feet off the ground in front of him, considering he was on a roof ledge and Danny was eye-level with him.

Danny quirked an eyebrow at him—Daisuke was pretty strange indeed. Most people usually asked “what are you doing here?” when he appeared out of the blue like this. Getting small talk in this form was unusual.

"Something like that." Danny answered slowly, "How did you know I was here?"

"The air got colder. It usually gets colder when ghosts are around, doesn’t it?" Daisuke tilted his head, his spikey red hair flopping over a little, "Though yours feels less cold than others, for some reason."

Danny stared at him. Most people couldn’t feel the drop in temperature around ghosts until the ghosts were literally right next to them. Danny was only a half-ghost, so the air around him wasn’t as cold, but the difference was minute. How could Daisuke tell so easily?

Then again, this was a guy who shivered when he shook Danny’s hand. Maybe he just got cold easily.

"What are you doing out this time of night?" Danny asked him, as curious about the strange man as he had been all week.

"Writing a letter to home," Daisuke grinned, patting the spot next to him to offer Danny a seat.

Danny looked at it, and after a moment’s hesitation, joined the young man on the ledge of the roof. Daisuke glanced at him in fascination as his ghostly tail split into two legs, but soon went back to writing his letter.

"I really like the night time. It reminds me of a friend of mine. So I don’t mind if it’s dark out… sometimes I like to just sit here and think about him." Daisuke said softly.

Danny opened his mouth to make a comment, but decided better of it since he was more than sure the kind-looking man would be offended. He sat there quietly, watching Daisuke do his thing and realizing the silence between them wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable at all—it felt almost like he was hanging out with one of his friends, or his sister.

Daisuke seemed to exude a kindness that made him feel like he would be everyone’s friend, and it didn’t matter if it was a ghost boy or not.

"I did some research on you."

Danny blinked, not realizing he had spaced out while staring at Daisuke. “Oh yeah? Nothing good I bet.” He wondered if that was why Daisuke asked his name.

"Oh, not at all. But the way I see it, you’re a very brave young man." Daisuke chuckled.

Danny lost track of the number of times Daisuke surprised him. “Huh? Brave?” Of all the things he expected Daisuke—or anyone, for that matter—to say, this was not it.

"The media lists the things you did as menacing—stealing, kidnapping the mayor, destroying a lab, supposedly attacking people… but the way I see it, there are two sides to every story and I know the news is more likely to have only one side of it." Daisuke’s red eyes flickered toward him before returning to his letter, "They report so many of these stories, and ones where you face off against other ghosts, and yet… you keep appearing and fighting, despite everyone’s disapproval. That takes courage."

"Wha… why do you have so much faith in me? Everyone else thinks I’m evil ectoplasmic scum." Danny frowned.

"In my country, spirits of the dead are revered and respected. It’s what I believe. I see no reason for that to change while I stay in another country with different beliefs." Daisuke shrugged, "Besides… you were helping, when I met you. You took that other ghost, the one that was causing trouble, and you didn’t cause any more trouble. I like to think I’m a good judge of character, Danny. Don’t prove me wrong."

Danny stared at him in confusion. “You don’t hate me then?”

Daisuke grinned in a charismatic way. “Why would I hate you? I don’t even know you.”

For a moment, Danny forgot that Daisuke was a complete stranger. They had been talking as if they had known each other for more time than the few hours they actually knew each other.

Daisuke’s genuine kindness and honesty caught Danny off-guard, but he found it endearing. Daisuke was definitely something else.

"Thank… thank you." Danny managed out, still trying to process that a complete stranger—a foreigner whose perspective was different from anyone he had ever met before—was more accepting of him in two meetings than an entire city had been in the almost-year they had known him.

Daisuke gave him a confused look for a moment, trying to figure out why Danny had thanked him, before he waved his hand and returned it with, “You’re welcome.”

Danny caught sight of Daisuke’s watch. “Oh!” He jumped straight up, and didn’t come back down. He floated for a moment, his spectral tail reforming as he prepared to take off at high speed. “Sorry! I have to go!”

The redhead’s previous confusion grew, but he nodded. “Alright? Well, have a nice evening then, Danny. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”

Danny grinned and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I just noticed the time and—uh, well, I just have to go. Hey, do you come out here every night?”

"Just about," Daisuke nodded, "My room’s the one right down here," He pointed to the window and balcony right below his dangling feet, "Stop by any time if you want, my roommate is almost never here."

"Cool," Danny grinned, "See you around then, Daisuke."

Daisuke waved, “Good night!” And Danny saluted, flying off until he was a speck against the moon.

The twenty-one-year-old smiled, going back to writing his letter.

"I’ve met a strange apparition—a young ghost, a boy named Danny."

Chapter Text

Danny decided to sneak out after his 10 o’clock curfew—just for a little bit, he told himself, since it was a Tuesday and he did have school the next day. He’d be back by 11, and that wasn’t so late, right? Plus, no ghost attacks happened today, so he figured his luck wouldn’t run out for another hour.

He flew over the skies of Amity Park, turning over and letting the wind hit his back instead of his face, staring up at the stars. He always did like the stars—even if he was doing badly in school now, he swore to himself he’d get into NASA and make it up there some day. Besides, it wasn’t like it was his fault his grades had dropped—it was more of the fact that he prioritized saving the town over doing homework. He was smart, though, and he knew it. The fact that he could scrape by on C’s despite not having time to sleep or study had to mean he was good at something there.

He was smart. He might not get into the best college that most NASA astronauts went to, but he knew he still had a chance, albeit a slim one.

Speaking of colleges…

He turned over, looking down. He had flown over to the university subconsciously… but he had planned to go there anyway. He grinned when he saw the little lamp light on the edge of a rooftop.

"Yo." Danny grinned as he flew up in front of Daisuke, who had been staring up at the stars like he had been doing not too long ago. In his mind he knew the man was still a stranger, but speaking this casually to him felt natural for the reason that Daisuke exuded friendliness.

The redhead looked down and smiled warmly at him. “You know, that’s the first thing my dad said to me when I saw him for the first time in ten years.” He chuckled, “Hi.”

Danny blinked his glowing green eyes, tilting his head. “Why didn’t you see your dad for ten years?” He asked curiously, a look of concern making its way onto his face.

Daisuke patted the spot next to him, drawing up one leg and wrapping his arms around his knee. “Dad went travelling for work. He was something of an art historian. He went all over the world doing research.” He explained as Danny took the seat next to him, more relaxed than the last time they met. “Amity Park is actually one of the places he visited, but it was nowhere near as supernaturally active as it is now.”

Danny’s tail flicked curiously. “What was it like? I mean, both not having your dad around and Amity Park back then.”

"I missed him, but I did okay. He wrote all the time, and called." Daisuke shrugged, "As for Amity Park back then… well, according to Dad, it was a great place to research things with all its supernatural history, but it really was ‘a great place to live’ like your city’s sign says."

The ghost boy rolled his eyes, snorting. “Yeah. Nice.”

"So were you born here?" Daisuke asked, noting his sarcasm. He was well aware that Danny’s opinion might have been biased due to all the ghost fights and people who hated him.

"Yep," was Danny’s clipped reply, and he didn’t expand. Daisuke decided not to ask any more questions after that.

There was a comfortable silence, like before, but this time, Danny broke it. “Where are you from, exactly?” He asked, genuinely curious.

"Azumano, in Japan—it’s a small town near the coast." Daisuke grinned, "It’s kind of quaint, and has a small-town feel despite being about as big as your own city, and maybe a little bigger." He explained fondly, his red eyes locking with Danny’s toxic green, "It was the sort of place where everybody knew everybody—at least, the part I’m from."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Danny sighed, and he saw Daisuke’s eyes flicker to his chest for a moment, no doubt wondering if he actually needed to breathe. "Is that why you came out here? For the small-town feel?"

"Not really," Daisuke shrugged, dismissing his own curiosity, "It was part of my university’s exchange program. It was either here, Kansas, or Tennessee."

"Those two other places are kinda in the middle of nowhere huh." Danny chuckled, and Daisuke laughed too. "Have you always wanted to come to America? Your English is pretty good."

"Thanks. I’ve always been really good at English—it was my best subject in secondary school. Besides art." Daisuke grinned, "I wouldn’t say I’ve always wanted to come here, but… I do like travelling, I guess. I must get it from my dad."

Danny didn’t miss the hesitant tone in his voice right before he paused. The end of the sentence felt like a white lie—Danny would know, he used them all the time.

But if he was lying, he sure was good at hiding it—his face didn’t even change from its usual grin, and Danny got the feeling that Daisuke was the type of guy who smiled a lot. Even when he was hiding something dark.

Danny stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he should press, before Daisuke changed the subject and he lost his chance.

"How about you? Do you—or did you like travelling?” Daisuke tilted his head.

Danny blinked in confusion. “Of course I like travelling… why would you ask if I used to like it?”

"Oh, sorry… I just thought, as a ghost, you couldn’t leave your haunt—that is, Amity Park—anymore. That’s what my books say about ghosts…" Daisuke blushed in embarrassment, "Is that a wrong presumption?"

"Uh, well, yeah—at least, in relation to Amity ghosts." Danny frowned. "I mean, I went to Wisconsin before, so I’m pretty sure I can leave this town if I wanted to."

"Oh. That’s, ah, cool." Daisuke grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "I’m not too familiar with ghost etiquette, I guess."

Danny smirked, laughing. “Nah, it’s okay, it wasn’t rude or anything. Just caught me off guard.” He patted the older boy’s shoulder, “Though the only piece of advice I can give you in that department is: never ask ghosts what their obsession is, it should be obvious; and never ask how they died. Most can’t remember anyway, but the ones that do get really mad if you ask.”

Daisuke gave him a look of mixed shock and disbelief. “Have you… asked, before?”

"Oh, yeah, but it was an accident on my part. There’s this ghost couple, Johnny 13 and Kitty—they’re always getting into fights and breaking up," Danny started to explain, "One time when I was breaking up their fight and trying to get them to make up, I asked them how they died and ended up together in the afterlife. Not a good move, since Johnny didn’t remember but Kitty did, and Kitty went ballistic. I spent a good three hours in that weird void of hers before Johnny managed to convince her to bring me back."

Daisuke listened to the younger boy with a look of growing confusion. He didn’t understand some of that, but basically it was a bad idea to piss off a ghost, as much as he could gather.

"I never did find out how they died. I figured it was some motorcycle accident." Danny shrugged.

Daisuke looked thoughtful, chewing his bottom lip. “…Would you get mad if I asked you how you died?” He asked quietly, a hint of nervousness in his tone.

Danny flinched in surprise, locking eyes with the redhead. Danny frowned and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw Daisuke’s melancholy expression, opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again without answering.

He wasn’t quite sure how to answer that—if he was honest with himself, he still didn’t even know if he had died that day or not. Sometimes he wondered if he was just a ghost capable of emulating a human… but most of the time he really preferred to think of himself as a human with ghost powers. Not that Daisuke needed to know that.

Daisuke became increasingly nervous, so he looked away, his hands fiddling around his knee. “I’m not asking. I was just wondering if you’d get mad.” He shrugged halfheartedly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. “It’s just… you’re so young.”

The white-haired ghost opened his mouth wordlessly, couldn’t find a response once more, and closed his mouth again. Daisuke’s emphasis felt exasperated… desperate… and completely sympathetic.

He had never known anyone who felt sorry for him. Even though pity usually irked the white-haired teen, somehow when it came from Daisuke it made Danny feel guilty. Daisuke was sad for him—no, Daisuke was mourning, Danny realized. And Daisuke was the first person, once more, to see everything differently than the rest of Amity Park: he saw Danny for the fourteen-year-old he really was, and he had realized that Danny Phantom was a dead fourteen-year-old. And to be a dead fourteen-year-old, he had to have been a living fourteen-year-old before.

No one in Amity Park acknowledged that he or any of the ghosts had once been living people. They were afraid—ghosts were no longer human, and Danny didn’t know if they ever even realized they had been human in the first place. And that was sad.

Daisuke continued, almost rambling, as if he wasn’t expecting a response from Danny. “Ghost or not, someone your age, however old you are, couldn’t possibly be so brave and selfless, I think… I may not know you well, but you do amazing things when you fight those ghosts and protect the town… I don’t know any kid who willingly does that. I don’t… I mean, not really, I don’t know any kid who will run into danger like you do and face it for everyone’s sake but his own. Most adults don’t do that, and they’re the ones who are supposed to protect you—the children. However you died… I hope it wasn’t because someone couldn’t protect you.”

Danny finally found it in himself to speak, interrupting him. “You did.”

Daisuke stopped, turning to look at him. “H-huh? I did what?”

"You’re not much older than me, I think—like, six years or so, give or take. But you ran toward the danger when we first met. I know—I saw everyone run out, I made sure they did." Danny’s gaze remained steady, "But not you. I didn’t even hear you come up—you just appeared, like a ghost." He grinned at his own pun, but his expression was brief. "You came to try and protect people, too, though, right…?"

The redheaded art student smiled almost tiredly, but he nodded in answer. “You’re very kind, to make sure everyone else made it out safe.” He whispered softly. “I’m glad no one got hurt.” He had said that before—when Danny first met him, and Danny couldn’t help but feel like Daisuke genuinely did care.

He didn’t expand on why he had this protective nature. Danny wanted to ask, but he refrained. Daisuke was kind, after all… maybe protecting people, like Danny did, was just something as ingrained in him as his smile.

"Last time you asked if I hated you like everyone else, because they think ghosts are monsters." Daisuke looked away, his gaze directed at the sky once more. Danny couldn’t help but feel like the way the word ‘monster’ rolled off Daisuke’s tongue sounded slightly bitter, but he couldn’t place why. "Maybe most of the ghosts are evil, like the ones you fight, but the fact that you’re not like them, for whatever reason…" Daisuke paused, taking a deep breath. "I think you’re an angel. And who can hate an angel."

Danny blinked, caught completely off-guard by the declaration. Daisuke was smiling warmly at him, like before, but Danny could still detect a hint of sadness.

"Thanks… I think." Danny whispered dumbly, still not quite sure how to respond.

Daisuke looked up at the night sky once more, his smile remaining on his face.

"You remind me of my friend. He was an angel too."

Danny stared at him. He struggled to form words in his mouth. “The same one you think about at night?”

"A different one," was Daisuke’s only reply, and Danny almost missed the melancholy hint in his voice.

Danny couldn’t figure out what else to say. They sat quietly, looking up at the stars, until Danny realized the time and got up to leave. Daisuke gave him a smile—still warm but a little sad—and bid him good night.

Danny drifted back to his room, looking up at the stars the whole way. He fell asleep wondering why Daisuke was able to smile so kindly, even when he was sad.

~~~

Danny saw Daisuke in town on Friday—the redhead was sitting in the park, a sketchbook open in his lap and a pencil moving across its pages, held delicately in his hands. Daisuke hadn’t noticed him yet, and he probably wouldn’t have recognized him anyway—he was still human, with his black hair and blue eyes.

Sam and Tucker, who had been walking beside him as they made their way home from school, stopped when they noticed him staring at something across the street.

"What’s wrong, Danny?" Sam asked, tilting her head slightly and following his gaze. "Who’s that?"

"Remember that guy I told you about? The Japanese college student," Danny nodded toward the redhead, who seemed caught up in his own little world, "That’s him."

"He doesn’t even look Japanese." Tucker looked over, "He’s the kinda nice guy right?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded, "He’s really easy to talk to, and… I dunno, he’s just really genuine. He was sad when he thought I died at fourteen."

"Be careful, Danny," Sam warned, "He might be easy to talk to, but don’t get too comfortable. What if you accidentally spill your secret? How do you know he won’t tell anyone else? You’ve met him like, three times. You don’t know him."

"I know," Danny sighed, "But… I like to think I’m a good judge of character." He smiled to himself, echoing Daisuke’s words, "I don’t think he’ll prove me wrong."

Tucker and Sam exchanged a look, but they nodded—they trusted Danny, and if Danny thought this guy was good in his books, then he’d be good in their books too.

"You guys go ahead. I’m gonna go talk to him." Danny stepped away from his friends.

"You sure?" Tucker frowned, "He looks busy."

"I’m just gonna go see what he’s drawing," Danny grinned, "He’s an art student. He ought to be good, right? I think it’ll be okay to talk to him for a bit."

"You’re not usually one for small talk like that," Sam quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but… he’s Phantom’s friend. Friends talk." Danny shrugged, adjusting his backpack over his back. "Just like us… but you guys are my friends, not Phantom’s. Daisuke doesn’t know about Fenton… but he’s Phantom’s friend regardless.”

"Heh, no one’s gotten to know Phantom enough to call themselves friends with him, huh." Tucker laughed, "No wonder you’re kinda attached to him—he’s Phantom’s first friend, technically."

"I’m not attached!" Danny protested, waving his hands and blushing. "Geez."

Tucker shook his head, patting him on the shoulder. “We get it dude,” He grinned, “See you later. We’re playing Doomed tonight, right?”

Danny nodded, “Yeah! See you then.”

Sam shook her head, waving a little. “Still, be careful Danny. See you later.”

Danny waved goodbye to her too, then turned back to the park, crossing the street. Looking around to make sure no one else was in the park, he hid behind a bush and let the rings of transformation surround him, changing his form from living to dead.

He flew over to the bench Daisuke was sitting on, hovering just over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

Daisuke was so absorbed in drawing the landscape that he didn’t seem to notice the temperature drop. Danny didn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt his concentration.

He thought Daisuke wasn’t aware of his presence, so he jumped in surprise when Daisuke spoke. ”Odd to see you in the daytime without a ghost fight going on.” Danny peeked around to his face, and saw he was grinning mischievously. “Hello, Danny.”

"Hey, Daisuke," Danny replied when he recovered himself, shifting his legs over the bench and settling down next to Daisuke. "I was just passing by when I saw you. What’re you drawing?"

"Some landscape stuff for class," Daisuke shrugged. "It was a nice day out, so it was the perfect time to come out here."

"Yeah, it’s pretty quiet out here. I, for one, am grateful there aren’t any ghost attacks." Danny grinned in a carefree manner, leaning over to look at Daisuke’s drawing, which he was continuing to fill out even as they talked. "You’re really good… hey, what’s college like? I’ve never been there before, so…"

"Oh, it’s not much different from high school, I think," Daisuke replied easily, though his hand had faltered when Danny mentioned going to college, and a worried look flitted across his face as he glanced at the younger boy. Seeing that Danny didn’t seem phased, Daisuke turned his pencil to erase the stray line he had made when his hand twitched, and he continued, "The workload is a little harder but you can be almost as flexible with your schedule as you want. Most of my classes are in the evening, but it’s not like any of them are hard—it’s art. I’m good at art, I think."

He paused, glancing over at Danny. “Can you draw?” He asked curiously.

Danny laughed, “Ah, no, not much at least. I mean, I doodle in class, but they’re just crude little drawings. I’ve drawn maps of the Ghost Zone, though, and all the landmarks are recognizable, so I don’t think I’m half bad.” He grinned.

The white-haired teen watched as Daisuke’s expression shifted from amusement to confusion to curiosity, seeming unable to settle on one as he listened to Danny. He hesitated, looking like he wanted to blurt out a bunch of questions but he was unsure of which one to ask first. Finally he settled on asking about what bothered him the most out of what Danny said, and Danny’s eyebrows raised as Daisuke’s ruby red eyes locked on his glowing green.

"You doodle in class?"

"Well, yeah," Danny tilted his head in confusion, "What kid doesn’t?"

Daisuke bit his lip, realizing that Danny didn’t understand what he was implying.

"You have class."

Danny opened his mouth to respond, gaped for a moment, and then slapped his forehead, dragging his hand down his face. “Right, sorry. I forgot I’m just a ghost.” He laughed nervously.

If Daisuke noticed the half-truth, he didn’t show it. Danny had already deduced from the few times he had met with Daisuke that, despite being plain and unnoticeable, Daisuke took notice of things that most people didn’t. He was far too observant for a regular college kid, and Danny knew that Daisuke had undoubtedly picked up on the fact that Danny was hiding something.

Thankfully, Daisuke also noticed that for whatever reason, Danny was uncomfortable, so he changed the subject.

"What is the ‘Ghost Zone’?"

"Oh," Danny let out a small sigh of relief, "it’s sort of like an alternate dimension. It’s the place where ghosts live—er, hang out, when they’re not terrorizing Amity Park or something. I put the ghosts there after I defeat them."

"Ah, so you don’t destroy them." Daisuke smiled, though he was facing his sketchbook, continuing his drawing of the park, "You really are kind. It actually reminds me of a friend of mine. He did something similar."

Danny tilted his head in confusion. “He captured ghosts and put them in an alternate dimension?”

Daisuke laughed, shaking his head. “No… but you know, there are other dangerous things in this world, not just ghosts. He dealt with that—even though the world wasn’t aware, he took those dangerous things and put them away where they couldn’t hurt anyone.”

Green eyes widened. “More than just ghosts?”

"Yes… much more." Daisuke grinned.

As Danny looked on at the other boy’s grin in wonder, he got the distinct impression that, even if Daisuke was “normal”, Daisuke had seen the dark side of the world and come out of it extraordinary. But it was an odd impression to have, almost paradoxical, since it made no sense whatsoever. Daisuke didn’t give off any sort of aura that suggested greatness—everything about him was just… humbleness, maybe. Yet the casualness with which he spoke of things as dangerous as ghosts… it almost seemed as though he was used to strange happenings.

Danny didn’t know what to think, so instead he asked, “So… your friend was kind, too, then?”

He was surprised when Daisuke snorted, shaking his head. “Oh, he was far from kind. He was arrogant, really full of himself and totally overconfident, and he teased me all the time about even the littlest things.” He stopped his pencil, tapping it against his sketchbook as he recalled the memory of his friend, “He was a jerk, but somehow all the girls liked him.”

"And I remind you of him?!" Danny gasped, playfully offended.

"Yeah, down to the witty banter." Daisuke joked, laughing. When his laughter died, he said, "But… his heart was in the right place. He was saving people, even if they didn’t know it."

Now Danny was curious. “What was he protecting people from?”

"Magic."

The answer took him aback, and Danny stared with wide, incredulous eyes at the redheaded art student, whose grin was mischievous and whose eyes twinkled with mirth. He didn’t know if Daisuke was joking or not.

"Magic?" Danny repeated, confused. He almost didn’t believe him, but then he realized: Ghosts exist, why not magic too?

"There were these magical artifacts, and sometimes they caused trouble, so he took them away." Daisuke explained, "He really was like you, though… people disapproved of him for what he did, but he still did it. Well, it wasn’t really that he had to, but he also just thought of it as a challenge, the big show-off." Daisuke huffed, blowing some hair out of his eyes as his gaze returned to his drawing, and he added some more strokes in with his pencil.

Danny took a moment to process what Daisuke had said, but he was still confused. “Why would people disapprove of…?”

Daisuke chuckled nervously, locking eyes with the younger boy. “Even if the artifacts were dangerous, like I said, people didn’t know about it so they kept them.” When Danny continued to look puzzled, Daisuke sighed and ran his hand through his hair, setting down his pencil as he elaborated. “So it’s not like the things he took were his…”

Suddenly the penny dropped.

"He stole them!?”

At Danny’s shocked look of disapproval, Daisuke gave an exasperated sigh. “It wasn’t like he had a choice…” He mumbled.

"But—stealing is wrong!" Danny protested, "How can you be okay with that?!"

"I wasn’t—I’m not," Daisuke looked away, "But… he was saving people. Even if no one understood that, I did. I knew him—he was my friend. I helped him, too… because sometimes it meant one more life saved.”

Danny stared at him in disbelief, unsure how to feel about his new friend. It was now that he was reminded that Daisuke was a stranger, and he didn’t know what dark things Daisuke held in his past. But now that he thought about it, the war-wary look Daisuke had the other night made sense now, if he used to deal with dangerous things regularly. But still… if it really was that dangerous, why did they have to resort to stealing, and why didn’t people know about it, like Amity Park knew about ghosts?

"Look, Danny… my friend was what people called a monster. Many people didn’t like him, never mind the fangirls. But that was because they didn’t know him, or understand him, or bother to find out his reasons. To them, he was just a thief out for a thrill, and he was despicable." Daisuke sighed heavily, finally looking back and meeting Danny’s eyes. "Doesn’t that sound familiar?"

Danny stared at him until realization dawned.

So that’s why Daisuke is so okay with ‘monsters’.

"How many people can you say actually take the time to know you, before they shoot at you first?" Daisuke questioned rhetorically, "How many people know why you protect this town, and not run from you just because of what you are?"

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but found his words stuck in his throat. Daisuke nodded, deciding Danny had nothing to say on the matter.

"He may have been a thief, but I believed in what he was doing. Just like I believe in you, even if you’re a ghost. I don’t really understand you, but that’s okay—I don’t think anyone ever really can, huh?" Daisuke looked down at his sketchbook, forgotten in his lap, "But my friend… I understood him, just as if he were ‘me’. He did what he had to do, and didn’t care what others thought… because as long as he was protecting them, it didn’t matter."

Daisuke picked up his pencil, beginning to draw again. “He… we did it for a long time, together—saving people. So I think I know what I’m saying when I tell you… ignore what people think, and continue doing what you do. You’ll be great.”

Danny stared at him, still unsure how to respond. He still didn’t approve of the idea of stealing to save people, but… well, maybe that was a can of worms he shouldn’t open. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel like he was still missing something.

After a long silence, broken only by the scritch-scratch of Daisuke’s pencil, he asked, “…Your friend… does he still steal?”

"No."

Danny almost looked relieved. But then Daisuke continued.

"The artifacts were dangerous, remember. One in particular…" Daisuke’s voice trailed off. He didn’t finish that sentence, changing to a new one completely before melancholy overtook. "He was saving people, right till the very end. I wouldn’t be here right now, if it weren’t for him."

Danny’s eyes widened in horror as he realized the implications. When he fought ghosts, he didn’t have to worry about things like that—but Daisuke and his friend… they were mortal, obviously. It never even occurred to him that in doing dangerous things like that… death was a risk.

One he never had to take, because he was technically already dead.

He was a little glad that Daisuke didn’t appear to be doing any more dangerous things. For some reason, the thought that his friend might die didn’t feel right.

"Is that how you became the protector of this town?" Daisuke wondered out loud, putting the final touches on his drawing, "Saving people until the very end… and then some."

Danny paused and thought about it. “…Before I became a ghost… I didn’t really think about saving others.” He admitted. “Now… it’s my responsibility.”

Daisuke glanced over at him. He didn’t question Danny’s resolve or his reason—Danny could tell him on his own time. But for now, Daisuke offered him a friendly smile, putting the rest of the conversation behind them. “Then I do hope it’s not one you have to bear alone, all the time. If you ever need help, you can ask me. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll do my best.” They both knew his offer was valid—Daisuke had experience that Danny couldn’t even imagine. Who knew what other war-worn scars he had. Maybe he knew a few things Danny himself didn’t.

"I’ll keep that in mind." Danny nodded thankfully, getting up and stretching. Maybe he should head home soon. "Thanks, Daisuke."

"You’re welcome." Daisuke nodded, about to ask if Danny was leaving when the white-haired ghost boy gasped, a blue mist escaping his mouth. At his annoyed groan, Daisuke quirked an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Ghost attack," Danny sighed in annoyance, looking up at the sky for any threats. "That’s my cue. Gotta go!"

"Take care!" Daisuke called after him as he shot into the air, and he couldn’t help but smile proudly as the younger boy flew off to protect his home.

Chapter Text

Daisuke had never met a ghost up close before—he had only ever seen them in the papers, or on TV. At least, a malevolent ghost. Danny was a ghost, but Daisuke often found himself forgetting that little fact—it had just seemed so natural to talk to the boy like a friend, or a little brother.

The truth was, Danny reminded him a lot of himself, when he was fourteen. He was smiles and sarcasm and trying so hard to do what he thought was right.

Danny did it better than him though.

So Danny was often the reason he never ran into malevolent ghosts. He did his job in protecting the city well. But this time, it was by pure chance that Daisuke was there first.

He had heard the screams when he was on his way to the park to finish a painting he had started the other day. He didn’t even need to see the danger, but his feet and ears led him to the park fountain, where a green-skinned ghost with long black hair was waving her hands, forming a glowing green dog with monstrous red eyes. The little boy nearby shrieked, running away as the dog gave chase.

The ghost lady cackled, muttering something about wishing for a pet dog, before she turned her sights on the next person nearby the fountain. Seeing as everyone else had run, that person was Daisuke.

Daisuke was too preoccupied in trying to catch up with the little boy, to help him get away from the apparent ghost dog, before the ghost lady slithered in front of him, smiling alluringly.

"Hello there, young man. Do you have a wish? Your heart’s desire is my command." She purred, her spectral tail swishing expectantly.

Daisuke’s eyebrows raised. He knew that ghost from the news—it was Desiree, the wishing ghost.

"No thank you. I can make my own wishes come true." He said straightforwardly. Desiree’s expression morphed into confused surprise.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Danny fly up and scan the area. He met Daisuke’s gaze briefly, before he looked in the direction the boy had run, and Daisuke thanked the heavens when Danny flew in that direction first.

"Nothing?" Desiree caught his attention again, "You have nothing extraordinary you want, something so out of reach you can’t do anything but wish for it?"

Daisuke smiled ruefully. “I do. But I know wishing for it would do no good.” He said calmly, “Thank you for the offer though, Miss.”

Desiree looked absolutely dumbfounded. People were greedy, and lazy, and selfish. They made wishes all the time, and she granted them. But this man said nothing, and didn’t even show a flicker of fear at the presence of the genie-like ghost. People were usually running with their metaphorical tails between their legs at the sight of her, even if she was a wish-granting spirit. Everyone knew she twisted their dreams into monsters, but this man—did he even know? It was almost as if he thought he wasn’t talking to a dead spirit.

"What is your wish?" Desiree asked almost curiously, "What could possibly be so bad that you won’t wish for it?"

"Honestly, Miss, I know your reputation, so I’d really rather not." Daisuke continued smiling at her, "But it involves bringing back the dead, and I know no amount of magic or ghost powers you have can do that in the way that I want."

Desiree looked taken aback. The lighthearted tone Daisuke spoke with caught her off-guard.

"Though I do wonder," Daisuke continued, "if you have a wish?”

Desiree’s wine red eyes widened, and she physically recoiled. Daisuke blinked, wondering if he had said something wrong. But then, in a slightly quivering voice, Desiree whispered her disbelief.

"No one has ever asked before.”

"You know, I think he has that kind of effect," a new voice interrupted, and Desiree jumped, spinning around. Danny was standing behind her, his face a mixture of incredulity and guilt. "Sorry to interrupt, Desiree, but you’ve caused some trouble today," Danny held up his metal thermos, the cap unscrewed, "so you know the drill."

Desiree scowled, charging magic at her palm and screeching as she launched toward him, but he turned the thermos on and shot a bright white light at her. She shrieked as she was sucked in, her echo fading as Danny capped the container.

Daisuke watched with morbid fascination, but after the light was gone, he shifted his gaze and met Danny’s glowing green eyes. The calculating stare made him slightly uncomfortable, so he looked away, shifting his messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Hello, Danny."

"Hey, Daisuke." Danny replied, "You really know how to ask the hard questions, huh."

Daisuke shrugged. “My girlfriend says I always say the right things at the right times.” He commented offhandedly, “I don’t really understand it myself, but apparently it’s a gift.”

Danny quirked an eyebrow curiously. Daisuke never mentioned that he had a girlfriend before. He filed this away to ask about it later.

"Thanks for distracting Desiree, though," The white-haired teen hopped up and hovered, floating over. The danger was gone and all of Desiree’s magic was undone, so he didn’t have to worry about getting attacked again.

"Was that boy safe?" Daisuke finally looked back over, concern in his red eyes.

"Yeah, he’s fine. He found his mother and they went home."

"That’s good to know." Daisuke smiled in relief, waiting until Danny was next to him until he started walking. Danny followed. "That ghost… her obsession was twisted, wasn’t it?"

"Yeah. It might have been something nice a long time ago, but now she’s just bitter she never got her dream, so she’s making sure everyone else doesn’t get theirs either." Danny shrugged. "Most ghosts here are like that. I think they feed off the chaos."

"And you’re the opposite?"

"I guess so." Danny looked up at the redhead inquisitively. Daisuke had stopped at a bench, sitting down and pulling out his art supplies.

Danny simply floated nearby, content with their comfortable silence. Until he decided to break it.

"You talked to her like she wasn’t a ghost."

"I talk to you like you’re not one either." Daisuke replied nonchalantly, squeezing paint onto his pallet. "I don’t see why I should talk to you any differently than I do a human. You’re not less intelligent, nor are you superior, regardless of your supernatural powers."

Danny stared at him, both intrigued and shocked. Daisuke didn’t look up.

"Besides… you were all human, once. I’d like to respect that."

"…You said before, that spirits of the dead are respected in your country." Danny sat down next to him, careful not to sit too close in case his cold aura caused his paints to dry faster or something. "I think I’d like to visit your country some day."

"That would be nice. Maybe you can come visit me after I go home next year."

Danny blinked. “You’re leaving America?”

"I’m only studying abroad for a year." Daisuke replied, glancing at Danny out of the corner of his eye. "But I won’t be leaving until the spring, don’t worry."

"Right." Danny sat back. "Well, maybe you’ll be seeing a lot of me before then."

Daisuke looked up and gave him a full, unrestrained grin. “I do hope so. I really like you, Danny.”

~~~

Danny sighed tiredly as he floated grudgingly over the university. He paused, glanced Daisuke’s room on the third floor of that apartment building, and after a moment of decision, he changed course.

He peeked into the window to make sure he had the right room, saw Daisuke sitting at his desk, and knocked. Daisuke looked up from his book, smiled brightly, and motioned Danny inside.

Danny phased through the glass, not even bothering to open it, and flopped onto Daisuke’s bed, completely exhausted. Daisuke said nothing, quirking an eyebrow quizzically and turning in his swiveling chair to face the bed. He watched the younger boy patiently, until he decided to lift his head, his green eyes narrow and his eyebrows furrowed.

"I really hate Skulker."

Daisuke gave a weary grin, feeling sympathetic. “The hunter ghost?”

"Yeah. The Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter.” Danny said in a mocking voice, shifting to sit up. “He’s persistent and I hate him.” Daisuke’s eyebrows raised, but he said nothing, urging Danny to continue. “He always comes when I’m busy with—something else, and he’s the one that attacks the most, besides the Box Ghost, and I swear he’s the reason I can never catch a break! Actually, he’s a more well-equipped, more dangerous version of the Box Ghost who’s out to get specifically me, and that makes it worse! I can take out my misplaced aggression on Boxy, but Skulker? Every time I have a run in with him, I have to run for my afterlife!”

Daisuke looked increasingly worried as Danny continued to ramble. “What exactly does he do?”

"He’s always telling me how he’ll have my pelt on his wall." Danny shuddered, and Daisuke looked disgusted, "Yeah, I know. Gross. Like, out of all the ghosts I fight, he’s literally the only one out to actually kill me. But the thing is, he claims he’s the greatest hunter, but really that’s like my p—eherm, the Fentons claiming they’re the greatest hunters in Amity Park. They literally can’t catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof!” Danny sighed in frustration, motioning wildly with his hands.

Daisuke had heard of the Fentons—no one could live in Amity Park without hearing about them. He understood the Fentons wanting to catch Phantom, but he idly wondered why Skulker did. Maybe Danny had just pissed him off before—he seemed to have a knack for doing that.

"The Fentons are always trying to catch me too, like they keep telling me they’ll rip me apart molecule by molecule for their experiments. I bet if Skulker and the Fentons teamed up they’d actually get somewhere in catching me. Too bad the Fentons would rather rip him apart molecule by molecule first.” He snorted.

Daisuke took a moment to process all of this, and then asked, “…You just had a run-in with Skulker, right? Are you okay?”

Danny blinked. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just really annoyed.” He sighed, propping his head up in his hands and his elbows on his knees, “Skulker’s beatings are the worst, even more than Dash, but I’ll be okay.”

Daisuke didn’t ask who Dash was. “Are you sure?”

"Yeah, I’m fine. If I have bruises or cuts or burns, they’ll be gone in a few hours." Danny shrugged, "Crazy ghost healing or something."

"If you say so," Daisuke still looked worried. His eyes trailed over Danny, as if looking for any signs of damage.

"I say so," Danny said firmly, flopping back on the bed again. "Sorry for crashing your room. And for the rant. I just had to get it off my chest, and my other friends are a bit far from here."

Daisuke wondered what other friends Danny had. Other ghosts, perhaps? Well, it was good to know he had friends at least.

"Danny, I did say if you wanted help, you can ask me. That includes listening to angry rants. I’ll be happy to listen." Daisuke chuckled, "And I also said you could drop by any time. So it’s no problem."

Danny lifted his head, looking around again. Half the room was plain and empty, except for a bed and a desk. The half he was in was decorated with countless paintings and posters, photos of what Danny assumed was Daisuke’s family, and little charms hanging on chains. Daisuke’s desk and its makeshift bookshelf were stacked messily with books on art and history and the like, and there were bins of art supplies and an easel in the corner of the room next to the closet.

"Nice room, though, dude." He finally commented. "You were right about your roommate, it looks like he barely lives here."

"He’s always out partying or staying at his girlfriend’s." Daisuke shrugged, fiddling with the bookmark in the book under his arm on the desk.

"Speaking of girlfriends," Danny sat up, grinning mischievously, "Is that yours?" He pointed to a photo on Daisuke’s desk, of a younger-looking version of the redhead standing next to a short-haired brunette. Both of their faces were pink but grinning, and they were standing in front of some sort of amusement park attraction.

Daisuke’s face turned as red as his hair, even his ears. “Y-yeah. We’ve been dating since middle school.” He said shyly.

Danny whistled. “Wow, that’s a long time. She must be awesome.”

"Yeah. She is." Daisuke smiled, looking away bashfully. "We’ve been through a lot together. We sort of talked about getting married after we graduate, too."

"Whoa, that serious? Congratulations." Danny grinned, genuinely happy for his friend. "Hey, I’ve ranted enough about my day. Your turn. Tell me about her."

"Huh?" Daisuke looked back, seeming surprised that someone was taking an interest in his life, like he was so plain that no one normally did that. Seeing Danny’s genuine interest, he smiled, nodding. "Oh, well, her name is Riku. We met when we were thirteen…"

Chapter Text

"So then Ember lit up like a firework, she was so pissed!”

"All because she missed a note?" Daisuke stared in disbelief, pausing in his walk back to the university.

"Well, yeah, singing is her thing, you know?” Danny gave a wry grin, crossing one leg over the other as he floated lazily on his back, almost as if he were relaxing in a pool. Except he was just floating in mid-air.

"I suppose I’d be upset too, if I spent that many years in the afterlife perfecting my song." Daisuke chuckled, "I feel a little bad for her."

"I don’t, that messed up note broke her spell." Danny unfolded and refolded his arms behind his head, "It was pretty easy to capture her when she was distracted like tha—"

"Freeze, ghost boy!"

Danny immediately snapped to attention, losing the lax position he had been in before in favor of a more alert, battle-ready stance. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and just barely twisted away in time to avoid getting trapped in a glowing green net.

In that one fluid movement, he spun around, facing his would-be captors. He groaned. “Oh, geez, not you…”

Daisuke looked taken aback, his eyes shifting from Danny to the pair before them—a man and woman in brightly-colored orange and teal hazmat suits, respectively, with bazookas over their shoulders, aimed directly at the teenage ghost.

The woman in teal was holding a device with an antenna on top, and it was beeping not-so-surreptitiously. It had been quiet enough that they hadn’t heard the pair come up, at least. Daisuke could easily guess that it was a tracking device—and it had honed in on Danny Phantom.

"Citizen, step away from the ghost!" The orange-clad man bellowed, his bazooka humming dangerously. "This is a dangerous ectoplasmic entity, and fear not, we are here to take it down!"

It took a moment for Daisuke to realize they were talking to him. He glanced up at Danny, who looked like he was about to protest the threat, then back at the couple.

"Why? He wasn’t doing anything."

The hunter pair looked surprised by his nonchalance, exchanging a glance, before the woman looked back at him suspiciously. “Oh dear, I wonder if you’re overshadowed.”

"Hey, you leave him alone!" Danny gasped, his eyes glowing angrily, "Geez, it’s one thing to shoot at me, but an innocent stranger? That isn’t like you, Maddie.”

The ghost huntress, Maddie, turned her attention back to him, aiming her bazooka at him now too. “You’d like me to think he’s innocent, wouldn’t you. What evil things have you brainwashed him with?” Her voice dripped with accusation, and her violet eyes were narrowed. She widened her stance defensively when she saw Danny’s aggressive expression.

"Danny," Daisuke spoke, catching all of their attentions. When Danny saw the calm look on Daisuke’s face, he settled down, frowning. Daisuke turned to the hunters. "It’s alright. I’m not possessed or brainwashed, and I’ll be happy to prove it, ma’am. But Danny really wasn’t doing anything, so he’ll be on his way now."

Danny’s eyebrows raised, but he caught his cue, nodding eagerly. “Right, yeah, I’ll do that. Bye!” He said hastily, popping into invisibility and flying to the nearest alley to transform, hoping it would get him off that radar for now. He didn’t want to stray too far, just in case Daisuke got in trouble with his parents.

"Hey, wait!" Maddie yelled angrily, upset that their target had gotten away. "Darn."

"Aw, man," her husband pouted, his shoulders sagging as he lowered the bazooka. "I didn’t even get to hit him!"

"There’s always next time, dear," Maddie patted his arm, turning back to Daisuke. "Now, as for you…"

Daisuke shrugged, adjusting his bag over his shoulder. “You must be the Fentons, correct? I’ve read about you.” He said just as nonchalantly as before, having already figured out who they were, “Jack and Maddie Fenton, the ghost hunters of Amity Park. Supposedly the best ones.”

"Flattery won’t get you anywhere." Maddie narrowed her purple eyes at him.

"It wasn’t a compliment." Daisuke replied easily.

Maddie stared at him, taken aback. “Who are you?”

"I’m just an art student," The redhead shrugged, "I happened upon Danny Phantom while he was patrolling the town for any ghostly activity, and he was accompanying me back to my university."

Jack scoffed. “Patrolling for activity? He’s the one that causes it!”

"I wouldn’t say that, Mr. Fenton," Daisuke replied, "While he shows up often at the sign of trouble, I doubt he’s the one drawing it here."

Maddie stared at him inquisitively. “What makes you say that?”

"What makes you say he’s evil?" Daisuke returned, his red gaze even and unwavering.

"He’s a ghost. All ghosts are evil—it’s in their natures." Maddie retorted.

"According to your research, ghosts act on their obsessions, and that often makes them vengeful. That’s not to say their obsessions are all evil." Daisuke said, surprising the couple. They hadn’t realized that when he said he read about them, he had meant that he also read their work.

"But Phantom’s obsession is the attention. He’s willing to do anything to be idolized," Maddie shot back, getting frustrated with this young man. "Anything. That’s why he puts on that hero act.”

"I don’t think that’s the case. I think his obsession is to protect people." Daisuke tilted his head. He certainly knew better than the Fentons in that department—at least he liked to think so. "Though I guess we can’t be sure, since apparently it’s rude to ask."

"No, he’s shown his true colors before," Jack interrupted before Maddie could say something about that last comment, "He’s kidnapped the mayor! Stolen from banks and jewelry stores!"

"But even your analyses in the news reports say that the mayor, as well as many other citizens, were overshadowed at the time due to their loss of memory," Daisuke pointed out, "And it was proven that that man named Freakshow was the mastermind behind the robberies, and he admitted to controlling the ghosts."

Maddie and Jack opened their mouths to protest, but found they couldn’t argue. Daisuke was right—and he had used their own words against them.

"Whether Danny’s obsession is idolization or protection, he’s doing something good for this town. How many ghosts has he taken off the streets before you can even get in your car?" Daisuke glanced toward the side of the street, where a large metallic van was parked haphazardly next to the curb, "How many casualties have there been because of these ghost attacks?"

"None." Maddie answered slowly, "But that still doesn’t… change the fact that he’s a ghost! He’ll turn evil eventually! He can destroy us all with how powerful he is right now, even!”

"But according to your books, ghosts aren’t very adept to change," Daisuke sighed heavily. And neither are you, apparently. “They stick with the one thing they are obsessed with and they don’t change their ways. What makes Danny’s obsession any different? If his obsession is attention, why would he start destroying the town if protecting it satisfies his obsession well enough?”

There was a shocked silence. They hadn’t even thought of that, apparently.

"Danny will likely continue protecting this town for hundreds of years. I don’t think he’ll be destroying anyone." Daisuke shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he continued, "But I suppose that’s just my opinion, and you’re the so-called experts. Maybe you know better—after all, you’ve never stopped to get to know him, since you’re so busy trying to dissect him." He said dryly, almost sarcastically. "Do you even realize he was human, once? He was probably a good kid."

"We—we are the experts,” Maddie seemed appalled, “and that’s just it, he was human once! But humans become evil as ghosts! Even good humans! Even if his intention is to protect the town, as soon as it gets boring, or it’s not enough anymore, he will turn!” She argued vehemently.

"Even good humans, huh." Daisuke shook his head in disappointment at their stubbornness, as if used to dealing with people like them, "If all humans will become evil as ghosts… then I dread to meet yours."

With that, he turned and left, not even giving them a goodbye.

The Fentons couldn’t do anything but stare in shock and awe, not sure how to respond or even if they could. Danny, hidden in the shadows of a nearby alley, could only gape.

No one had ever defended Danny Phantom like that before. But like all the other times, Daisuke Niwa was the first. But what froze Danny in place wasn’t Daisuke’s insistence that Phantom was good—his faith in Danny was somewhat refreshing, if not a bit confusing. It was the fact that, as he watched his parents’ faces morph into expressions of incredulous horror, Daisuke’s words had reached them.

Danny had always wanted them to question what they really knew about ghosts. He knew there were good ghosts out there—he had a few friends in the Ghost Zone, and whenever he went there most of the ghosts were relatively docile as long as he didn’t bother them. And maybe it was selfish, but he had always wanted them to accept that not all ghosts were evil, so that maybe he could tell them his secret without worry of being dissected.

His parents had always thought they were doing a good thing, by getting rid of ghosts. They thought of themselves as heroes—and sometimes, people did acknowledge them as such. People accepted the Fentons as heroes more than Danny Phantom, and they took pride in that. They knew they were a bit eccentric, and maybe a little obsessed, but their hearts were always in the right place.

They thought they were good people. They thought they always would be.

Daisuke had made them question themselves with just five words.

Chapter Text

Daisuke had only heard about the Ghost Zone from Danny briefly. He had not expected to actually ever see it.

It was a swirling green and black sky, and islands of what looked like asteroids floated all around the misplaced city of Amity Park. The whole town was in panic. Even Daisuke, normally fearless and open to the unexpected, trembled as he clenched his fists and stared up at the menacing world around him.

He had dealt with danger before. But he knew his limits now—he was only a human. He couldn’t do anything here… he couldn’t help at all.

And while he knew it wasn’t his business or his right to help, he wished he could do more than just stand on the sidelines and watch the ghosts invade—the skeleton army marching through the city and causing so much chaos.

He hadn’t felt this helpless since he was fifteen. Not since he lost the crutch he had so desperately depended on, and was forced to realize he had to stand on his own two feet. Not since he had resolved to gain the strength to do things with his own power.

But his own power wasn’t good enough here.

All he could do was stand on the roof of his dorm and watch. He watched and saw that in the far distance, a black and white blur shot up into the sky. He watched as the pillar of bright, dangerous-looking spectral energy emanating from somewhere across town disappeared, along with any form of calm the city might have had up until this point. The walls separating the ghostly world and their small slice of the real world were collapsing. The real invasion was beginning, he could tell.

And he could do nothing but pray that Danny would save them, like he always did—like Daisuke knew he always would—and hope the ghost boy would come out okay.

~~~

The incident was on the news for days afterward. Daisuke smiled as he overheard the news channel, playing from his roommate’s computer. The other man was home for once—not that Daisuke was surprised. After all, no one really wanted to walk the streets or go out to parties when they were all too relieved the invasion was over but were still on edge that it might happen again.

The news anchor said that half the town approved of Danny now, heralding him as the hero who saved the city from the ghost invasion. That was the only thing on the news—there were no ghost attacks, as of late. No one had seen Danny or the other ghosts for a few days—they were all taking their own rest after that ordeal, as far as Daisuke could tell, seeing as that ghostly king had almost destroyed their world too.

Danny deserved the rest, Daisuke thought, he really did. And the redhead couldn’t help but feel proud of the fledgling hero, his grin hidden from his oblivious roommate and anyone else who might be looking, because his face was buried behind his sketchbook.

See, what did I tell you, Danny? You’ll be great… you are great.

He glanced out the window, the late autumn sun shining through, and imagined the ghost boy flying through the sky.

Just like the figure on the page in his lap.

Chapter Text

Daisuke had just gotten back from shopping for groceries, and was midway through putting them away in the kitchenette when a loud crash from the bedroom startled him. He quickly spun around, his muscles tense and his eyes wide and alert as he searched for the source of the sound.

His expression softened into relief when he heard a quiet, “Daisuke?” and spotted a familiar shock of white hair as it stumbled into the kitchenette. The expression didn’t last long, however, before he saw the rest of his friend and his face morphed into deep concern.

There was something thick and green and glowing streaking the ghost boy’s hair unevenly, and the white parts on his jumpsuit were soaked in it. Even the black parts seemed darker than normal, and obviously damp with the stuff.

Of course, it was all probably because of that huge gash on his shoulder.

"Danny," Daisuke gasped, rushing over to the teenage ghost, grabbing onto him—ignoring the chill that accompanied the touch—before he could collapse when he no longer had the wall to support him. The green stuff was sticky, he realized, and it had a smell like sulfur. It didn’t take him much to deduce that this was Danny’s blood, after the initial shock of seeing his friend in this condition passed.

Still, the fact that a ghost, which was already dead, seemed to be on the verge of dying of blood loss in front of him was a little more than startling.

“Na—nani?! Danny, dou ka shimashita ka?! Aaa, anou, aa, etto, nani wo suru ka…!" Daisuke began rambling in Japanese unconsciously, more talking to himself than actually talking to Danny.

Danny frowned, trying to push away from Daisuke and support himself—failing to do so, but at least Daisuke hadn’t let go of him. “I—I’m okay.” He stammered, holding his head with one hand—Daisuke then noticed his head was bleeding too, and gave him a worried and somewhat stern look. “Okay, uh, I’m not okay, b-but I’ll be fine, promise—uh, crazy ghost healing, remember.” He muttered, “Just… uh, can I rest here for a while?”

Daisuke nodded quickly, leading Danny over to the kitchen table and letting him sit in the chair there. Danny looked relieved, now that he wasn’t staggering around on his feet, but he still swayed a little. He looked down at his shoulder, frowning in frustration at it, moving his opposite hand to it to apply pressure to the wound there. Daisuke watched in morbid fascination as the white glove was quickly dyed green.

"What happened?" Daisuke finally asked when he had had another moment to gather himself, moving around the kitchen when he was sure Danny wouldn’t fall over if left on his own.

"Well, Skulker again," Danny sighed, wincing at his arm before he looked up to see Daisuke wiping his hands clean on his shirt and beginning to search through the cabinets for something. "And then I kind of sort of had a run in with, uh, a hunter that doesn’t like me so much."

"None of the hunters like you." Daisuke pointed out, glancing over his shoulder, "Which one?"

"Valerie, er—the Ghost Slayer. But no one’s supposed to know that." Danny shrugged, cringing at the motion and then reminding himself to sit still, "Anyway, she sort of has a personal vendetta against me and I was still beat after the fight with Skulker, and then she showed up, and… well, I’ve got burns in places you can’t see because I was too wiped to avoid her in time."

Daisuke frowned, turning to face him. “Does it hurt?” He asked, his voice serious but soft.

"I’ve gotten burns and cuts before but I’ll be honest, I can’t say I’ve ever gotten this many at one time. And the shoulder thing’s a bit new." Danny admitted honestly—he had already learned that lying to Daisuke was pretty futile, since Daisuke always seemed to be able to tell. Not that Danny was the best liar anyhow. "Skulker had a new ax he wanted to test on me. It’s the biggest cut I’ve ever had I think."

"That is no cut.” Daisuke’s lips twisted down further in exasperation, “And you didn’t answer me. Does it hurt?" He repeated, this time with more strength.

"S—sorry," Danny flinched, "Defense mechanism. Uh, yeah, it hurts like—uh, a lot." He bit his tongue, "It’ll be gone by tomorrow or the day after, but…"

Daisuke shook his head, turning back to the cabinets to continue looking for something, until he opened the one under the sink and finally found it. Danny blinked in surprise when Daisuke pulled out a first aid kit.

"Wha—what’s that for?" Danny asked dumbly, "I mean, you shouldn’t waste your stuff on me, it’ll go away and…"

"No, you said it hurts. Even if you can’t die again or get sick from infection, you should still get that treated," Daisuke chided, bringing the kit over and setting it on the table. "Haven’t you gotten hurt like this before? How come you never got help?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"I—I did, sometimes. Usually my friends bandage me up if it’s really bad." Danny stuttered, "I think this one’s going to need stitches though… one of my friends did one for me before when I had this cut on my leg, but you know, we’re just kids—she was lucky I’m a ghost or else the health code or stitching procedure violations would have been a lot more painful."

Daisuke watched Danny ramble, wondering if this was the “defense mechanism” he mentioned before. He seemed to ramble about slightly irrelevant things when he didn’t want to answer the question.

"You’re lucky I know how to do stitches then." Daisuke said after some consideration, earning a surprised look from Danny. "One moment." He disappeared into his bedroom and came back out with a sewing kit, what appeared to be some fishing line, and a couple of towels.

"Wait, but—I’ll be fine, I swear, you don’t have to…"

"Ghost or not Danny, no one should be walking around in this condition. I’m patching you up, whether you like it or not." The redhead said firmly, and Danny nodded mutely, not wanting to argue. Actually, it was kind of nice that someone else was looking out for him like that—Sam and Tucker were great friends, but Tucker was hopeless when it came to anything related to injuries and Sam was still inexperienced.

He wondered what Daisuke had gone through, to appear to know his way around this stuff.

He sat quietly as Daisuke checked his head for a wound or something, and Danny knew it was still there, since most of his energy was redirected to healing up his shoulder. At least he didn’t have a concussion, and Daisuke seemed satisfied when he found the head wound to be not as bad as he thought.

"So what is this green stuff?" The older boy asked, using a towel to dab away the "blood" as he absently rummaged through the first aid kit to find some medicine to put on the wounds or some gauze to wrap Danny’s head in.

"Ectoplasm. It’s the stuff that makes up ghosts."

"I thought so. And the red?"

Danny froze, his cheeks coloring—green, Daisuke noticed—in what seemed like embarrassment. “What red?”

"There’s something red inside the green." Daisuke noted, "It’s barely visible, but I can see it if I look hard enough. I don’t know what it is though."

"Oh, uh, that’s normal for me. Just some discoloration." Danny fiddled with his free hand, the other one gripping his shoulder tighter, "Don’t worry about it."

Daisuke elected to ignore the obvious lie. Danny had acted like he didn’t know what it was, then he explained it. But he wouldn’t press—it was obvious Danny didn’t like talking about it.

"Take your… whatever that is, off." Daisuke made a face, motioning to Danny’s suit once he was done wrapping his head, "What do you call that in English?"

"Uh, this is a hazmat suit," Danny looked down at it, noting all the sickly green color for the first time, "or jumpsuit, maybe."

"Yes, well. Take it off so I can do your stitches." Daisuke turned away, grabbing the sewing kit and preparing what he needed, disinfecting the needle and fishing line thread with some alcohol from the first aid kit. He was fortunate the wound was big enough that he didn’t need one of those special curved needles to fix Danny’s wound.

Danny squirmed uncomfortably, but took off his glove and unzipped his suit from the top of his collar. He carefully peeled the ripped material from his injured arm, hissing in pain when he moved his shoulder too much.

Daisuke glanced over at him in worry, with some subtle interest. There were scars under Danny’s suit, probably from those other times he got injured… or maybe there were from before he died. Daisuke couldn’t tell, they all looked years old—likely due to the “crazy ghost healing”.

He pulled up a chair next to the boy, beginning his work—cleaning the wound first. They were quiet, and it wasn’t like their normal comfortable silences. Danny cringed at every poke of the needle, and he watched with morbid fascination as Daisuke skillfully sewed up his shoulder.

Daisuke seemed to hate the awkward, pregnant pause, so he spoke up. “So that huntress has a personal vendetta against you?”

Danny chuckled weakly. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” He told him, and began recounting the tale of how Valerie first became a ghost hunter. Daisuke was listening, his ears perked, but he didn’t interrupt, content with Danny’s storytelling.

"So it started out with this ghost dog, and it pretty much trashed her dad’s workplace… he lost his job and she basically had her whole life turned upside down. She thought it was my dog, and thus my fault, so then she gets all this ghost hunting gear somehow, and… well, next thing I know, the Ghost Slayer’s the most competent hunter in Amity Park. All because of a grudge against me for something I didn’t do—she hates ghosts with a vengeance now. I try not to provoke her, or get her mad, and I tend to avoid her when I get the chance so I don’t hurt her, but… some days, like today…" Danny sighed, "Even if the ghost dog thing wasn’t my fault, I know I’ve hurt her before. So… I don’t really blame her."

When he finished, another silence followed. It was less weird, but still not as comfortable as what he had gotten used to. Daisuke didn’t say anything else, focused on stitching up his shoulder.

His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he asked what had been eating at his mind for a while now. “Why do you know how to do stitches?”

"I worked with dangerous things, remember? Going to the hospital meant giving an explanation, and most of the time we just couldn’t do that." Daisuke answered simply, not looking up, so all Danny saw was a shock of red hair. It took Danny a moment to realize ‘we’ meant him and his thief friend. "For instance, how do you explain how someone gets burned straight in the chest, in a perfect circle, without making it sound like someone tried to brand you?"

Danny opened his mouth, about to say that that situation sounded a lot like the times he got hit by ecto-blasts, but he couldn’t figure out if Daisuke was talking about his own experience or if he was referring to Danny himself.

Daisuke continued, not noticing that Danny had wanted to comment. “Because a lot of the stuff my friend faced, and the fact that he was a known figure, we couldn’t just take him to the hospital. So I had to learn how to take care of things like this—my family taught me mostly, don’t ask why they knew. But I’ve never actually had to use these skills often on my friend… it was actually because of my girlfriend that I got practice on these things.” He chuckled weakly, “She and I are both pretty clumsy, so between the two of us, I’ve had to treat more wounds than my friend could tease me for if he were here now.”

"So you’ve stitched your girlfriend up before?"

"No, you’re the first."

Danny’s eyes widened in surprise. Daisuke looked like he had had years of practice with this stuff—his hand was steady, and it didn’t hurt too much when he pulled the thread through, and he was calm and looked practiced. He wouldn’t have thought that he was Daisuke’s first attempt at stitching anyone up at all.

He wondered if it was because Daisuke was an artist—artists always paid great attention to detail, and that kind of focus and patience was definitely necessary for things like doing stitches. But as he stared at Daisuke’s careful hands, just finishing up the last stitch, he couldn’t help but notice the faded callouses on them—like he wasn’t meant to be an artist at all.

"There, all done." Daisuke leaned back, putting down the needle and leftover thread on the table. He grabbed some bandages and gauze, making to wrap Danny’s shoulder so the wound wouldn’t open again.

He gave Danny a look, his eyes shifting to the black jumpsuit, and Danny sighed in defeat, pulling off the other side so Daisuke could wrap his torso properly. He tied the sleeves around his waist and looked down at himself, examining his other scrapes and trying to determine if anything else needed treatment, but none of them had hurt as badly as his shoulder, and by now most of the pain was numb.

"Do you want me to… fix anything else up?" Daisuke asked hesitantly, as if trying to decide whether he needed permission to continue treating Danny or if he would do it even if Danny protested. He had noticed the burns on Danny’s arms, and he could clearly imagine Danny holding them up to defend himself from a blast. He cringed at the thought of how painful it must have been.

"No, the rest should be fine in a few hours." Danny shook his head, "The worst thing was the shoulder, so thanks for helping me out with that." He said sincerely.

Daisuke nodded, moving back and beginning to put away the first aid supplies. “No problem,” he got up, giving Danny the first smile he had seen on Daisuke’s face since Danny arrived.

Danny suddenly realized that Daisuke, the most smiley person he currently knew besides his dad, hadn’t smiled at all when he was worried about if Danny was okay. It made Danny feel guilty—he had never known someone so truly sympathetic.

"Yeah, to be honest, you’re way better at this than my friends," Danny grinned, hoping to widen Daisuke’s smile, and admitted sheepishly, "and, uh, you were the closest. Skulker chased me all the way to Elmerton again, and Valerie lives there, so… well, I just needed a place to recharge for a while, I didn’t actually expect you to help me. So really, thank you.”

"I said I was always happy to help, so thank you for coming to me." Daisuke chuckled, "Next time you get hurt, you come to me again, okay? You really shouldn’t be walking—or flying—around full of cuts."

"I’ll keep that in mind," Danny nodded. "So, uh, can I stay here a little longer? I do still need to recharge, after two fights in a row…" And I can’t go home with this many bruises again, Mom’s already starting to notice…

"Of course," The redhead smiled warmly, handing him a clean towel, "The bathroom is over there, you can wash up in there."

"Thanks." Danny headed over, locking the door behind him. He made a face as he caught his reflection—he was so dirty. His torso was still bare, and he cringed at the numerous scars across his front. He turned on the faucet, beginning to clean up. His suit, he decided, would have to stay ectoplasm-soaked for a while, but it would fix itself next time he transformed, so he didn’t worry too much about that.

When he was finished, he exited the bathroom and found that Daisuke wasn’t in the kitchen anymore. He idly noted the abandoned grocery bags on the floor, and wondered if Daisuke secretly minded his sudden intrusion. Nah… he’s not that kind of guy.

He turned to go to the bedroom, which was the only other place Daisuke could be, and poked his head past the door. “Hey Daisuke, here’s your towel…” He paused, catching sight of Daisuke’s back just before he turned around.

He stared, because Daisuke had taken off his shirt and Danny could see that he wasn’t the only one with scars. But what had caused him to stop was the fact that he could have sworn he saw two large, long scars on Daisuke’s back. Danny didn’t know how he could have gotten scars so big, much less survived from the blood loss that must have occurred because of their sheer size.

"Oh, thanks, just leave it over there," Daisuke motioned to a pile of clothes in the corner, which Danny noted after the fact were all green-stained towels and the shirt Daisuke had been wearing before, "I’ll do the laundry later."

The ghost boy nodded, drifting over and dropping the towel on the pile, not taking his eyes off Daisuke. He couldn’t see his back anymore, but Daisuke’s front also had a few scars. They weren’t that notable, except for the thick, nasty-looking line of lighter skin near his shoulder that looked like someone had once tried to cut his arm off, and the long-healed mark of a bullet hole in his chest.

Danny once again found himself wondering what Daisuke’s past was really like.

His thoughts were interrupted when Daisuke pulled on a faded red t-shirt and threw him one, noticing he hadn’t put his suit back on. He looked down at the pale blue shirt, mentally shrugging, putting it on as Daisuke asked him, “So were you and the huntress friends?”

Danny blinked in surprise. “What makes you say that?”

"You said no one was supposed to know who she was, but you call her by name. And you don’t want to hurt her, you said so, and you actually seem to like her." Daisuke mused, "She may hate ghosts, and you, but you’re not angry that she shoots at you all the time."

Danny looked taken aback. He knew Daisuke was observant—sometimes it annoyed him—but he hadn’t expected Daisuke to gather that much from the few things he talked about.

"…Yeah," he admitted after a moment, sitting down on Daisuke’s bed and crossing his legs, looking away, "It’s complicated, but we are."

Daisuke noted the present tense in Danny’s words, but didn’t comment. This wasn’t the first time Danny had used present tense when he supposedly meant the past.

"Then why does she hate you?"

"She doesn’t know."

Daisuke blinked in surprise. “Know what?”

"That I’m me." Danny sighed, fiddling with his thumbs, "I don’t exactly look like I did as a human, you know."

It made sense—what normal kid had white hair and such unearthly green eyes. Daisuke wondered what he used to look like, now… and if Danny Phantom was even his real name.

"Then why don’t you tell her?" Daisuke asked, grabbing his desk chair and spinning it to sit facing Danny, "You still care about her as a friend, right? I’m sure that if she knew it was you, she’d stop trying to hunt you."

"Believe me, I’ve thought about trying and I’ve tried." Danny looked back at him, "We used to date, you know. So I wanted to tell her it was me, because I really, really liked her. Still do, a bit." He shrugged, "But she thinks all ghosts are evil. Even if you used your magic ‘say the right things at the right times’ thing on her, she wouldn’t change her mind any more than the Fentons."

Daisuke was quiet for a moment. When he finally thought of something to say, he surprised Danny. “Even if she thinks you’re a monster… you’d be surprised what can happen once she knows the truth. Nothing might change, or everything might—if she accepts you for who or what you are, maybe you can at least be friends again.”

"How do you know?" Danny looked up at Daisuke hopefully. Daisuke was older than him, and wiser, and Danny found himself trusting Daisuke more and more every time they met.

"Because, I went through the same thing with Riku," Daisuke smiled comfortingly, "She hated my friend, and didn’t know I helped him. The secrets sort of… piled up and built a wall between us. I was afraid of what she would think if she knew, but we were drifting apart because I never told her anything. The fear of rejection is very real, Danny, but once you face it, you may find it was never a real threat at all."

"So… you told her?" Danny asked curiously.

"Yeah, I told her about what I did… and helped her learn to like my friend, at least, because he was important to me, as much a part of me as I am of myself. It took a while to regain her trust, but look at us now." Daisuke grinned, "We’re on our way to happily ever after, you know?"

Danny looked thoughtful. “I guess I’ll never know until I try, huh.”

Daisuke nodded. “You don’t have to tell her right away, and you should still be prepared for the worst and hope for the best, but I promise you… if you and her were good friends, and she’s the good person I think she is, then it will turn out okay.”

The ghost boy stared at his redheaded friend. “Why do you think she’s a good person? You haven’t even met her yet.”

"Because she was your friend," Daisuke smiled warmly at him, "I told you before, right? I like to think I’m a good judge of character. And often, people are shaped by those who surround them—so if you’re as good as you are, and she was your friend… either she made you good, or you made her good.”

Danny had never thought of it that way. Valerie did turn out to be okay around the time they started dating—and now she wasn’t anything like the arrogant prep she was at the beginning of the year. He didn’t know if it was the change in environment for her, or if he brought out her softer side, but he remembered clearly how she had chosen to try protecting him when she thought there was danger.

And when she had broken up with him to keep him safe.

"I guess you’re right," Danny smiled sadly, "She’s definitely a good person. A little misguided but… if she did know, it probably would be okay."

Daisuke smiled and stood up, noticing that Danny was beginning to get wrapped up in sad memories, so he decided to distract him.

"Hey, can ghosts eat?"

Danny blinked, shaken from his reverie quite abruptly. “What? That was random.”

"Well, I’ve got to start making dinner, I’d love it if you stayed."

The white-haired ghost boy grinned and nodded. “We don’t have to eat, but we sure can,” He answered the previous question, “I still have to recharge after all, so I wouldn’t mind joining you for dinner while I wait.”

Daisuke grinned, leading the way back to the kitchen. Danny floated after him, his legs still crossed, and watched as Daisuke put away the forgotten groceries and began to cook.

With nothing to do, Danny asked, “Hey, can I use your phone? I gotta let my friends know I’m okay.”

Daisuke glanced over at him, surprised. “Ghosts can use phones?”

Danny lifted an eyebrow. “Of course we can…?”

Daisuke scratched his head in confusion. “Ah, no, I meant, ah, do ghosts have phone numbers or…?”

Suddenly Danny realized why Daisuke was confused. “My friends are humans.”

Daisuke tilted his head. “Ah. Alright then.” He shrugged, not questioning it even though he originally thought Danny’s friends were ghosts, considering how most of the humans in Amity Park hated him. “It’s on my desk in the room, feel free to use it.” With that, he went back to cooking.

Danny nodded, entering the room and picking up the cell phone. It took him a moment to figure out how to work it, since everything was in Japanese, but when he did, he dialed Tucker’s number and hoped they weren’t getting charged long distance or something.

“Hello?" Tucker’s voice picked up after five rings, "Who is this?”

"It’s Danny," the ghost boy replied, rolling his eyes at Tucker’s suspicion.

“Danny? Where are you? It’s been hours since school let out!" Tucker gasped, "What happened to Skulker? Did you get him?”

"Yeah, I got him," Danny confirmed, "But I guess that explains why Valerie didn’t show up until after I did."

“Ouch, man. You ran into Valerie? That must’ve been one heck of a detour.”

"No kidding. Skulker and Valerie both did a number on me." Danny sighed.

There was silence from the other end. Danny could tell Tucker was assessing the damage. “…How bad of a number?”

"Skulker’s new toy almost cut my arm off, and Valerie got in more hits than usual."

“Do you need me or Sam to come pick you up?" Tucker asked, worried. "Where are you calling from, anyway? Some sort of payphone?”

"Actually, I’m at Daisuke’s. This is his phone." Danny chuckled, "He helped patch me up, so I should be good for tonight."

Tucker made a gagging sound over the phone. “That guy? Geez Danny, you sure like hanging out with him." He said almost jealously, "I mean, I’m sure he’s nice and all, but why didn’t you come to us first?”

"Dude, I was in Elmerton. You guys are across town, and he was closer." Danny pouted, "Besides, I nearly got my arm chopped off. Do you really wanna see that mess?"

The cringe was audible. “No, but you’re my friend, and you were hurt, so you come first.”

"I know, but I doubt you or Sam are good enough at stitching to help me out in this case," Danny sighed, "I actually didn’t think Daisuke would be either. It turns out he’s really good at medical stuff."

“I thought he was an art major.”

"He is. He just knows stuff, I dunno." Danny shrugged, before wincing in pain and reminding himself not to do that, "Anyway. I’m gonna try to make it back home before curfew, but I’m gonna stick around here for a while to let the rest of my wounds heal so my parents don’t get suspicious. Would you mind covering for me? If my parents call, tell them I’m having dinner at your place."

Tucker sighed. “Yeah, I know the drill, Danny. And remember what Sam said—be careful around that Daisuke guy, okay? Even if he’s a good guy and he patched you up.”

"I will." Danny nodded, "Will you let Sam know I’m okay?"

“Yeah. See you later, Danny.”

"Thanks, Tuck. Bye!"

Danny hung up, grinning to himself in satisfaction. He replaced the phone and went back to the kitchenette, where Daisuke was putting food on the table.

"Just in time. I think the rice should be done soon too." Daisuke grinned at him.

Danny tilted his head, looking over what Daisuke had cooked—broccoli and beef, and apparently they were having rice. He took as seat as Daisuke checked on the rice cooker, and a few moments later he placed a bowl of steaming white rice in front of him.

"Dig in." Daisuke grinned at him, clapping his hands and murmuring, "Itadakimasu,” before he picked up his pair of chopsticks and began to eat. Danny blinked curiously, looking back at the table to see that Daisuke had set out a fork and a pair of chopsticks for him to pick from.

After a moment of deliberation, he decided to just go with the fork. He didn’t know how to use chopsticks well.

Danny complimented Daisuke’s cooking, and they began talking about that in general. Danny mentioned that he cooked for his family, and Daisuke’s face grew curious about Danny’s life before he died—he was assuming Danny was talking about that, of course.

There was still a flicker of worry that talking about Danny’s past might upset him, but Daisuke had long noticed that Danny never quite got upset when he talked about his family or friends from before he died. And judging from the fact that he said he had dated that huntress, he could easily deduce that Danny’s family was still alive. He wondered if that was where Danny’s haunt was—with his family. Maybe he still had a home to go home to at night. Daisuke did notice that Danny tended to leave at a certain time, sometimes in a rush, whenever they met at night—almost like a curfew. Yes, maybe Danny did have a home.

He wondered if Danny’s family knew he was still… there. Obviously Valerie didn’t.

When the conversation died down, they ate in comfortable silence. This was the relaxed air the two were used to—it was an atmosphere that was missing when they were in this kitchen not one hour ago.

Danny broke the silence.

"Hey, uh, Daisuke? I was wondering… what were the magical artifacts like?"

Daisuke glanced over at him, lifting an eyebrow. After a moment, he returned the question with a flat statement. “You wanted to know where I got my scars.”

Danny blushed, embarrassed. Oh, yes, Daisuke was far too observant for a normal college kid—sometimes it was annoying, and other times it was just plain embarrassing, and every once in a while it still surprised him. Of course Daisuke had noticed that Danny was staring at him earlier.

"I talk a lot about my adventures and enemies. I want to know about yours." Danny bit his lip, wondering if he was wandering into dangerous territory. He couldn’t possibly be, right? Daisuke was a kind man, who saved people who didn’t know they were being saved, and he was so plain he couldn’t have secrets, right?

Daisuke gave a mysterious smile—somehow, it made his face look older. No, not older… it was a smile that twinkled in his eyes and said “do you really want to know?” It was a smile that beguiled one like a mischievous laugh.

"Once upon a time, there was a story called Ice and Snow. It was a fairytale about sacrifice and true love—a prince and a peasant girl fell in love, and the prince went to war and was killed by an arrow to the heart. The girl went to the village deity, something called ‘Toki no Byoushin’… I believe in English that would be the ‘Second Hand of Time’. She prayed to this deity to give all of her remaining time to her love, and the deity listened. The prince awoke surrounded by red rose petals, and returned to the village and found out what she did. Distraught, he prayed to the deity to give her time back. But the deity could not give her time back. However, the deity was so moved by their love that she took their time, so they could be together.”

Danny blinked in confusion. “So it’s like… Romeo and Juliet? What’s that gotta do with your scars?”

"The story was a diluted version of a darker fairy tale called Ice and Dark.” Daisuke mused, pushing his bowl aside with a quiet murmur that Danny missed, since he was done with his dinner. “Most of the same things happened, except for a few things—the prince and peasant had another friend, who was also in love with the girl. He was so jealous that when the prince went off to war, he prayed to the deity that the prince should lose his life in battle. The arrow that pierced the prince was a large clock hand—like a second hand.” He leaned his head on his hand, sighing wistfully at the dark reminiscence, “The deity really was moved by their love though, even before the prince came to pray to her. She had kept the girl’s spirit alive within her own spirit, and when the prince’s time was taken, his spirit was put into a sword—something called the ‘Chock of Time’, I think.”

"I’m still not getting how this is related." Danny frowned, putting his own dishes aside now too, leaning in closely.

Daisuke chuckled, “I’m getting there.” He promised, “Anyway. The story of Ice and Dark was a real story—written by the third friend, who survived after his two friends were immortalized. He felt so guilty about what his actions caused that he tried to die, but the deity would not let him until the story was written, so it could be preserved forever I suppose. The story was real—and so is the Second Hand of Time and the Chock of Time, which held the girl and prince’s spirits.” Red eyes gazed to some faraway place, and Danny watched as Daisuke grew sad. “They were never reunited, as the sword was hidden or lost soon after it was made. The two were magical artifacts, though… and I sort of got trapped in the Second Hand of Time when my friend and I went to steal it.”

"Trapped… in the thing?” Danny’s eyebrows raised. That “Second Hand of Time” thing sounded a lot like Clockwork…

"Yeah. Most artifacts had an internal world, and most of the time people get drawn into them. When I went into that one, I met the girl. She befriended me and helped me out. My friends—both of the ones you reminded me of—meanwhile had found the sword to reunite it with the Second Hand of Time… but not before one of our enemies got a hold of it and did some damage." Daisuke rolled up his sleeve, showing Danny the scar on his shoulder. It looked pretty bad, even now.

"So he tried to cut off your arm with an antique sword?"

Daisuke nodded, not telling Danny that it was actually his friend that got stabbed with it, but that was one technicality he didn’t want to explain. “He was actually aiming for the heart, I think.” The redhead looked amused at Danny’s horrified expression. “Yeah, he was the worst enemy. He tried to drown me when we first met… and he’s tried to choke me to death before. So it wasn’t surprising, really.”

"Geez, what’d you do to piss him off?" Danny asked, his eyes wide.

"I was the friend of his enemy. He wanted everyone related to my friend to suffer." Daisuke shrugged, standing up and grabbing the dishes, putting them in the sink. "Even our, ah, pet rabbit."

"Even a rabbit? Geez!" Danny gave an exasperated look, "I hate that guy already and I don’t even know him!"

"You won’t have to. He’s gone now." Daisuke shrugged.

Danny stared at him. He was tempted to ask what happened, to ask if his friend killed him or something, but he didn’t know if that was okay.

Daisuke started washing the dishes, continuing quietly, “That sword may have scarred me, but… at least the prince found that girl again. In the end, the deity herself ran out of time, and all three of them died. I think seeing her—the girl and the deity—die was more scarring than that.”

Danny stared at him, frowning. Was watching a spirit die like watching a ghost die? He didn’t even know if the latter was possible. But spirits were once people too, and Daisuke had said he befriended the girl… her death must have hit him hard.

"Anyway… I don’t mind telling her story. It’s a great one, and I like to honor her memory—I even made a painting of her before." Daisuke forced a smile on his face, finishing his chore and turning back to his guest, "But I sort of went on a tangent, didn’t I?"

"Uh… right," Danny tilted his head in confusion, wondering why he was changing the topic back, "We were talking about your scars."

"And my adventures," Daisuke grinned, "The adventure inside the Second Hand of Time wasn’t one of the more dangerous ones, but the enemy that showed up was. He’s the cause of most of my bigger scars."

"Even the bullet wound?"

Daisuke faltered. He didn’t think Danny had noticed that.

"…That’s… a slightly different story." Daisuke shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe some other time, Danny."

Danny blinked. Daisuke wasn’t normally one to withhold information, so this was weird. “Right. Sorry.” He didn’t press—Daisuke was patient in letting him take his own time to explain things. Danny would be a jerk if he didn’t do the same.

He glanced down at the floor, a couple inches beneath his feet. Picking at the blue shirt Daisuke had lent him, he looked back up. “Is that big scar on your back off limits too?”

Daisuke nodded, looking away. “Some other time.” He repeated, almost like a promise but not quite.

It was times like this Danny was reminded Daisuke was still a stranger to him.

"Uh… maybe I should go. I think I’ve recharged enough." He shifted positions in the air, awkward now.

Daisuke looked back over. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Danny nodded. “I’ll be fine—thanks for the dinner.” He floated up higher, “And, uh, sorry about the mess, again.” He paused. “Uh, hey, can I keep this?” He motioned to the shirt.

"No problem, Danny, and yes, go ahead. It’s just an old shirt." Daisuke smiled, "Stay safe and don’t move that shoulder too much."

"Thanks. See you later."

"See you later."

Chapter Text

The Egyptian exhibit at the local history museum was a nice change from the art museums that Daisuke usually visited. Granted, the visit was, like most of his other museum visits lately, for a class, but at least he wasn’t there for a job.

He passed a teacher giving a tour to a group of students on his way toward the exhibit of King Duulaman—they all looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, and like they didn’t want to be here at all. Daisuke chuckled a little bit—when he was their age, he spent more time in museums than they would even believe.

There was one pair of students trailing behind the rest of the group by several paces—the black-haired boy was patting his dark-skinned friend on the back, saying, “Trust me, it’s for your own good,” and Daisuke couldn’t help but notice how mildly annoyed and peeved the African-American looked. Neither of them noticed him, looking at each other or ahead at their group.

He didn’t give the pair a second thought, going into the exhibit—and then stopped dead and frowned. There was a gaping hole in the wall, looking fresh and smoking with rising greenish-black smoke, and some of the artifacts were in a disarray.

The first thing Daisuke noticed was that one of the display cases was empty, and a quick glance at the plaque told him it was supposed to be a gold scepter of some sort. His cursory glance caught the fragmented words of Scarab and dark magic.

The second thing he noticed was that a coffin—the sarcophagus of Hotep-Ra, judging from the plaque next to the empty space on the wall where the thing should have been—was open and scattered. The casket of the sarcophagus was on the group near the hole in the wall, and the lid was laid heavily in the middle of the floor, obviously not where it should have been.

It was obvious something happened here. Perhaps a thief had gotten in—and Daisuke snorted at the irony of the thought—but that didn’t explain the obvious gaping hole in the wall. Why make an escape route so glaringly there when the scepter’s display case looked barely touched? He knew a certain someone would have loved to know how the culprit got away with the scepter while leaving its protective case undisturbed.

And then there was the misplaced sarcophagus. Had it simply been knocked over in the blast of whatever made that hole? He contemplated what to do about it, maybe call the museum curator over, when he heard a voice echoing from inside the hollow shell of the coffin’s lid.

"Guys? I like a good coffin as much as the next goth, but the novelty is wearing thin." It was a girl’s voice—she sounded young, and not at all worried about the fact that she was trapped under a heavy coffin. “…Really thin. Guys?”

Daisuke blinked, going over just as she called out, “Danny? …Tucker?”

He idly wondered if it was the same Danny he knew, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Danny was a common name, and why would he be here of all places? It was just a coincidence, surely.

"Hello?" The girl inside knocked on the shell, sounding worried now. "Guys?"

"I think your friends left, Miss," Daisuke said softly, setting down his bag. The girl inside made a surprised noise, like she hadn’t expected his voice—she probably didn’t. She was expecting her friends, obviously. He entertained the thought that maybe she had been victim of a cruel prank, but he decided not to jump to conclusions.

"Oooh, I’m going to kill them." The girl groaned, "Um, sorry, sir, can you…"

Daisuke chuckled a little, “I’m going to try and get you out, okay? So don’t be scared.” Daisuke carefully tucked his fingers under the edge of the sarcophagus, grunting as he set his feet and pulled upward. It lifted a few inches, but the heavy stone coffin was a little too much even for him.

"I’m not scared." The girl grunted, and Daisuke felt the weight lift a little more—she must have been helping him lift it from the inside.

Daisuke glanced to the side, eyeing a piece of rubble from the hole in the wall. With some quick thinking, he shifted one foot and kicked it closer, then nudged it under the little crack they had made.

"Hold on, I’m going to make a lever." Daisuke informed her, letting go of the coffin. He grabbed a nearby display staff after disconnecting the velvet rope and another piece of rubble, jamming the end of the thick metal stick under the crack and carefully pushing his weight against the other end after resting it on top of the piece of wall.

It took some effort, but he managed to lift the coffin up enough for the girl to slip out. When he was sure she was safe, he let the staff go, and the sarcophagus fell back down awkwardly.

"Whew, thanks," the girl sighed, sounding relieved, "It was getting stuffy in there."

Daisuke looked her up and down as she dusted herself off—she was maybe fourteen, looking far too skinny and pale, which was only emphasized by her black hair (was that dyed? It looked dyed), purple makeup that brought out similarly colored eyes, and slimming black clothes accented with purple and green that showed off her too-thin midriff and build. He idly wondered if she ate enough, but he said nothing, since it wasn’t his place to judge.

She looked annoyed, perhaps because her friends had left her behind. Her eyes shifted, surveying the damage to the room with an unfazed expression—like she expected it to look this messed up. Had she seen the culprit? Maybe that was why she was in the coffin—but that didn’t explain why she thought her friends would be there to help her out.

Then her lavender gaze landed on Daisuke, and she stifled the beginnings of a gasp as a spark of recognition lit up her eyes. Daisuke tilted his head, looking puzzled—of course he had noticed the gasp that hadn’t quite escaped and the way her eyes widened, and it confused him.

Had they met before? Daisuke certainly didn’t remember her—and he prided himself on his good memory, though he would never admit that.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern, reminding himself to prioritize—after all, she had been trapped in a sarcophagus. That she recognized him didn’t matter much, as long as she wasn’t scared of him for whatever reason. Or suspicious, he thought—why does she look suspicious?

"I’m… fine, I’m not hurt anywhere," the girl said after a moment, "Thanks… but I think I should be getting back to my class now."

Daisuke nodded, idly noting that she didn’t seem worried about the fact that she had been trapped in the first place. “Alright, but can you tell me what happened here? Or come with me,” he paused as her eyes narrowed at him, “to tell the curator that this exhibit is… ah, what is the English word for this… damaged? People should not be visiting here. But I do not know what happened, so…”

"Oh, uh… right." The girl nodded, considering a moment, "Yeah, I’ll come with you."

Daisuke nodded, picking up his bag and leading the way to the front desk to report the incident. “I am Niwa Daisuke, by the way.” He introduced himself politely.

"Sam… Sam Manson." The girl said slowly, and he could feel her stare on the back of his head. "You know, I didn’t expect my savior to be…"

"So scrawny and skinny?" Daisuke grinned at her over his shoulder, "I’m stronger than I look."

No, I didn’t expect my savior to be you. Danny’s kind of scrawny and skinny too. Sam shook her head. “I believe that.” She tilted her head at him, “Why were you at the exhibit?”

"I was planning to do a study on ancient Egyptian sculptures for my class, but I suppose that is going to be postponed now." Daisuke shrugged.

He’s so… normal, Sam found herself thinking. From the way Danny talked about him, Daisuke had seemed bigger and more extraordinary than he appeared now. And now that Sam was getting her first close-up look at him, she couldn’t find anything that marked him as anything but ordinary. Even the way he talked about doing schoolwork was normal—and Sam couldn’t help but recall the times she had heard Danny doing the same. The times Danny spoke and acted like a normal high school teenager were few and far between, but when he did talk about things like homework instead of ghost fighting, it felt unnatural because he wasn’t normal.

When Daisuke spoke, Sam couldn’t help but feel that twinge of familiarity, like “normal” shouldn’t be what Daisuke was either. It was an odd, paradoxical feeling—especially when for all appearances Daisuke was definitely a regular human. Danny hadn’t told them anything otherwise, and she knew he would if Daisuke really was “special” somehow—Danny told them everything. She knew Danny. But Daisuke? Daisuke was a mystery.

And while she didn’t like this mysterious man hanging out with Danny… the way he smiled betrayed nothing but honesty, and his patient demeanor made her realize a little too late that he had never asked about what exactly happened to get her trapped.

When they got to the curator’s office, Daisuke looked surprised when Sam told them that a ghost attacked—which wasn’t exactly a lie. She made up the excuse that she had been hiding when the coffin fell and trapped her.

Sam, in turn, looked surprised when Daisuke said that it looked like someone had stolen something from one of the displays. She was under the impression that this was Daisuke’s first time at the exhibit—and she was sure that he hadn’t been in that room long enough to even notice something so small was off, between her friends leaving and him arriving. When had he had time to look around?

The curator sighed—no doubt as tired of the ghost attacks as the rest of the town—and thanked them. He went to check on the exhibit after he excused them. Daisuke said he was going home, since his visit was now purposeless, and bid Sam farewell as she went to find her class.

She was suddenly reminded that she wanted to kick Danny and Tucker’s butts when she found them.

~~~

"…so in the end, I guess I should’ve listened to him."

Daisuke chuckled, shifting his lax position as he sat on the edge of his roof, his portable lamp situated comfortably between himself and Danny. Danny had just told him of his most recent adventure, in which his friend got possessed by an Egyptian spirit, as far as he could tell.

"Friends do crazy things when they’re mad at their other friends, I suppose," Daisuke tapped his knee with one finger, smiling fondly. "So I guess you’re the one responsible for the Scarab Scepter mysteriously reappearing at the history museum?"

"W—yeah." Danny blinked in surprise. "How did you know about that? I mean, that the scepter was even missing in the first place."

"Do you not watch the news? It was in the papers too." Daisuke lifted an eyebrow quizzically, "It mysteriously disappeared after a supposed ghost attack… but I guess you already knew about the ghost attack. Judging from the green smoke I saw, you must have been there."

Danny stared at him. “You saw—”

"I happened to be at the museum for a school project," Daisuke explained, "I was the one who reported the damage of the exhibit to the curator. And there was a girl trapped in a coffin that I helped, and she told us it was a ghost attack."

Danny went quiet, wincing. “Oops,” he murmured quietly, not looking at Daisuke, “I didn’t realize… oh, so that’s how she got out…”

Daisuke gave him a long hard stare. It was obvious that Danny had been at the museum, but now it was apparent he knew that girl was there too. He looked guilty, though…

"At least no one got hurt, right? That’s what’s important." Daisuke tried to reassure him, "That coffin might have protected her from whatever ghost was there."

"Yeah. Guess so."

Danny did seem relieved, and the two settled into their comfortable silence. They were quiet for a while, until Danny changed the subject.

"Did you ever have friends who did crazy things when they got jealous or mad?"

Daisuke grinned. “Oh, a few. And a few who weren’t my friends too. Even I had my moments of heat.” He leaned back, looking up at the stars. “My… thief friend was quite hotheaded, remember? There are many stories where either he or I did something stupid because we were mad at the other, and wanted to prove something.”

Danny laughed. “You? I honestly didn’t think you could get mad. I can’t imagine it.”

"It’s rare." Daisuke gave a half-smile, half-wince. "The first time I felt real rage, I got those scars on my back. I tried not to do it again." He said offhandedly, not looking at the younger boy.

Danny looked taken aback. He had assumed that those scars were from something attacking him—he didn’t think that they could possibly have been self-inflicted somehow. What stupid thing did Daisuke do when he was angry, to get such big wounds?

"But I digress," Daisuke moved on nonchalantly, "One of my friends, she was a maid at my house, and she got along well with my mother since they were the only girls. When we got a butler and my mom fawned over him, she got really jealous and started a fierce rivalry with him. The accusations she made of him were ridiculous." He laughed at the memory, "She kept calling him a snake, and she got mad whenever he did more work than her… even though she used to complain she had too many chores."

Danny’s green eyes widened in surprise, his previous thoughts forgotten. “Wait, wait, wait! You had a maid? And a butler?!”

The redhead glanced at him askance. “I suppose it was odd for a family in Japan. All of my friends reacted similarly when they found out.”

"Are you loaded or something?" Danny gasped, "Wow, that’s…" He paused, noticing the look Daisuke was giving him. "Err, I mean, are you rich? I mean, only rich people have maids and butlers…"

"No, not particularly," Daisuke laughed, "Those two volunteered to work at our house. They were… well, I guess the technical term would be ‘homeless’. When I met the one who became our maid, she was abandoned and forgotten, and I promised I’d take good care of her—she sort of became attached to me ever since. And the butler… well, I might have said the right thing at the right time again, when I met him, because it changed his life, and he chose to help us. Both of them would be very close friends of mine, as it would turn out, so they stuck by me more than they stuck by the rest of my family.”

Danny blinked. “You took in a couple of homeless kids and they just…”

Daisuke nodded. “A little kindness goes a long way.” He grinned, “We didn’t have a big house, but we had a big home. Mom loved those two a lot, and so did my pet rabbit. Grandpa and Dad never minded them either. They even warmed up to each other, eventually.”

Danny looked thoughtful, staring at Daisuke as if looking at him in a new light. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, “So what crazy things did she do, besides accuse him of… whatever?”

"Let’s just say our butler was glad he had a hard head and was good at fixing vases and, ah, brooms." Daisuke laughed, "But… one time, when she thought everyone was ignoring her because they liked him better, she tried to run away. It didn’t last very long, because she missed us and had nowhere else to go, but it worried us a lot."

Danny laughed a little. “She sounds cute. At least it turned out okay in the end, right?”

"She would have liked you, I think," Daisuke commented, "She even had the green eyes and silver hair. Though in more natural shades."

Danny blinked, tilting his head. What teenage girl had silver hair? Maybe it was dyed. “Well, she definitely sounds interesting. Maybe I can meet her, when I visit you in Japan.”

Daisuke faltered, his expression falling before he looked away. “Ah… you can’t. Not anymore.”

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed. He opened his mouth to ask, but found the words stuck in his throat. He had suddenly realized that Daisuke’s use of past tense when referring to his friends was deliberate—just as Danny’s use of present tense was, albeit that he was supposed to be more conscious of what tense he used in his ghost form.

"Did they," Danny’s throat felt dry and hoarse, and he swallowed, "did they help you and your friend, with those dangerous things…?"

"Yes." Daisuke nodded sadly, "Our maid helped find the artifacts, and our butler was somewhat of a repairman for them. In the end… I lost them both as well."

"Why did they get involved? If it was dangerous?"

"They were always involved. Even before I was, they were involved." Daisuke shook his head, "It was their choice, but no one expected them to die too. I’m just glad they were surrounded by people who loved them… and they must have been happy, in the end."

"Daisuke…"

Danny couldn’t imagine the mourning Daisuke went through. From the sounds of it, Daisuke had lost all of his friends in one go—the thief, the maid, and the butler all sounded like they were involved in the same incident.

"One of my friends… he tried to help them, so they could stay, but… it only worked for a little while. My dad tried to help too. But their deaths were inevitable… and the only thing I could do was stay with them till they passed."

Daisuke wasn’t looking at him. Danny couldn’t see if there was hurt or sadness in his eyes, but his voice… it was calm. It was even and measured and only a little strained, like he was controlling what was coming out but it was hard. It was the voice of bitter reminiscence, of pain, of loneliness, but it was also the voice of strength—of someone who had made his resolve and moved on.

"I lost a lot of friends in a very short time, Danny. But I cherish the ones that remain." Daisuke sighed, tilting his head up to the sky, "Your friends… your human ones… they must be lucky, to still be able to see you—they must cherish what afterlife you have. But… you’re going to live forever, huh? So… maybe you should cherish them, too, because time is short and flies by so quickly."

Danny nodded numbly. He didn’t know what to say.

"Maybe I should take a lesson from you, and listen to my friends—the ones I have left." Daisuke looked back over at him at last, "I didn’t listen to them when they said I should stay. And now I miss them."

"During that incident?" Danny guessed—it was only one incident, right? Daisuke… he had been there, when his friend—friends?—died…

Daisuke gave a soft laugh, surprising the white-haired ghost boy. He shook his head. “No. I didn’t listen to them when they told me I shouldn’t go to America.”

"Huh?" Danny blinked, "Your friends told you not to come here? Why?"

"Because then… I’d be alone." Daisuke’s melancholy smile tugged at Danny’s heartstrings, and the ghost boy felt the pull of sympathy. "But at the time… I didn’t see the difference. I thought that, if I stayed… I’d feel even more alone."

Danny’s eyes met Daisuke’s, and Danny wondered what it was like, to go home to a place where his friends used to be, and not see them there.

"I just needed a change of scenery… I’ll be honest. That’s why I’m here. I could do art anywhere in the world… but I just needed to get out of there, for a little while."

He wondered what things haunted Daisuke’s dreams, to make him feel so lonely that he would leave his home to clear his mind halfway across the world.

Danny finally found words. “Do you feel better?”

Daisuke’s smile turned real at once. It was a soft but genuinely happy smile, despite the the sadness that still laced his eyes. “Yes. And I suppose I should thank you.”

"Me?" Danny tilted his head, "You don’t have to."

"No, I insist," Daisuke patted his back kindly, "Even though it was unexpected… I’m glad we met. You’ve given me a perspective I never thought I’d have."

Danny looked surprised. He wasn’t aware that he had made any sort of impact on Daisuke. He had always thought it was the other way around. “What did I do?”

"You were just… you." Daisuke shrugged one shoulder, looking up at the bright half-moon, "It’s been a while since I made a new friend. I forgot what it was like." He smiled earnestly, "I had worried that if I made more, I might lose them too. You changed that."

"Oh?" Danny blinked, "So… you’re not afraid of losing any friends you make anymore?"

"No. You’ve made me brave enough to realize I don’t have to be." Daisuke grinned, "It’s been a long time, but… just like you… I want to save people again. Even if it’s just a few people—the ones close to me… I want to save them."

Danny’s face softened. “I’m glad. And hey, y’know what? If you ever need help, too, let me know! I’ll be happy to!” He grinned cheerfully in return, “Friendship is a two-way street you know!”

Daisuke laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Chapter Text

"…So then he takes it from her and runs away from my friend, and he’s even climbing over the rooftops, and predictably, that’s dangerous! He fell off, and I was so scared for him!” Daisuke shook his head, “Luckily he didn’t get too badly hurt, but he passed out after that. The necklace broke when he fell, though, and the girl gave it to my friend anyway, like she promised. So taking it was sort of pointless—but his heart was in the right place.”

"That sounds… incredibly stupid." Danny laughed as he leaned back on the roof of the building, gripping the edge for support. "He barely even knew her, right? But gosh, he sounds like such a loyal guy. Did he end up with that girl? She must’ve been lucky for a guy like that."

Daisuke smiled sadly. “Actually, as it turned out, she had been dead for forty years. She was going to fade away that day, and my friend was going to break the necklace anyway to make sure she rested well. I gave it back to her though—it was hers, after all.”

Danny’s eyes bulged out of his sockets, and he stared at his redheaded friend in surprise. “She was a ghost?”

"More or less. More like a spirit attached to an item," Daisuke nodded, "It was my first encounter with something like that."

"I thought you said your friend dealt with magic!" Danny whispered in disbelief.

"He did. This one was special though—my grandpa knew about the girl, and wanted her to rest too, so he sent us to get the necklace and break it." Daisuke shook his head, "I didn’t find out till afterward that he knew about it, though, or that she used to be his friend. I was glad, though, that I helped her move on for him. She didn’t really know she was dead, I don’t think—she had been waiting to meet my grandpa all this time, and she thought I was him when she saw me, like time hadn’t passed. She was really happy, in the end… so I don’t mind that I lied, just a bit."

Danny looked at him in awe. “You said you were your grandpa so she could move onto the next world peacefully… that’s…”

"More than you ever thought to do with the ghosts here, huh." Daisuke looked up at the night sky, "Though I suppose getting them to move on is a little harder than finally meeting the person they’ve been waiting forty years for."

The white-haired ghost boy smiled wryly. “Somehow I get the feeling you’d be able to do it. Maybe not me—my specialty is kicking butt. But somehow, you’ve always got the right words, huh? I know Desiree is still stuck on yours, she hasn’t left the Ghost Zone in a while.”

Daisuke glanced at him, surprised. “Is that so?” He blinked his big red eyes, “I’m no ghost whisperer though. I don’t think I could do it.”

"Don’t underestimate yourself." Danny chuckled.

"What about you? Have I said anything that could make you move on?”

Danny froze, his glowing green eyes wide. “Wh-what?”

Daisuke flinched. “Sorry. Ah, um, is this the same thing as asking how a ghost died? I didn’t mean to be rude, but…” He looked away, running his hand through his hair as his lips twitched, stuck between a lighthearted smile and a concerned frown.

"No, I—I just… never thought of it?" Danny’s mouth worked slowly, unsure and bewildered. "I mean, no, you haven’t said anything, but… why would you want to?”

The older boy shook his head. “I don’t want to, but you know me—I tend to say things that ease people’s souls. Or eat people up. I suppose it depends.”

"No kidding, I think the Fentons are still hung up on that thing you said to them after we met them last time," Danny feigned ignorance of the actual words, "Jazz—err, their daughter—thinks it’s pretty fascinating how you did that."

"Oh." Daisuke blinked, "Well… still. I wonder if I can even say anything that would rest your soul—we’ve spent a lot of time together, but to be honest, sometimes I forget you’re a ghost. You’re so… human." He smiled warmly, and paused as he noticed Danny flinch at those words. He stared quietly for a moment, before he continued, "The other ghosts… they’re a bit easier to tell what might make them pass. But with you… it’s harder."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not meeting his gaze. “What do you mean by that?”

"Desiree would probably pass if she got her own wish granted. Skulker might… if he finally hunted the thing he’s been looking for so long. And I’m not sure, but I think the Box Ghost might pass if someone acknowledged he was good enough to, ah, ‘take over the world’, I think you said he wanted to do?" Daisuke looked thoughtful, "I can name a few other ghosts too, but… you…" He tilted his head at the teenage ghost hero, "If your obsession is satisfied by protecting people… you should have passed already—you’ve done a lot. And you’re great at what you do… but it seems there’s never an end to your work. So… when there’s always something to protect… how do you move on?"

Danny’s green eyes snapped back to his companion. “I… don’t.”

Daisuke’s steady gaze met Danny’s slightly trembling one.

"Do you want to?"

A silence.

Finally, “No.” Danny paused, “Maybe… eventually. But right now… as I am right now… no.”

"…As you are right now?" Daisuke repeated, tilting his head.

Danny shook himself free of that piercing red gaze, looking back up at the stars. “…Maybe there’s another way, but it’s just a dream.”

Daisuke looked confused now. He remained silent, studying the young boy beside him with furrowed eyebrows. It seemed like Danny changed the subject, as he was wont to do when he was uncomfortable with a subject or avoiding the question.

"I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut. Before… before I became this, I wanted to go into space and see all the stars.” Danny smiled longingly, and Daisuke’s gaze grew sad. “There’s no way that can happen now, huh.”

"I… I’m sorry."

Danny blinked. “Why are you apologizing?” He looked over, “It’s alright. It might not be possible, but I can still dream.”

Daisuke gave him a melancholy smile. ”That’s nice, then, Danny… that you can still dream.”

~~~

"Hey, it’s you!"

Daisuke blinked, turning around. He almost instinctively backed away at the sight of the silver barrel of a gun aimed vaguely in his direction.

"Oh, hello, Fenton-s—ah, Mr. Fenton." Daisuke greeted politely, tilting his head.

Jack frowned, lowering his gun. “Not hanging around that ghost kid huh?” He asked almost accusingly.

"Contrary to popular belief, Danny has other friends and better things to do—like protecting the city—than hanging out with a random college student like me." Daisuke said brightly, though he was sure his sarcasm was lost on Jack.

"That’s what you’d like us to believe, huh," Jack crossed his large arms, though he didn’t let go of his gun, "You never did prove you weren’t possessed!"

"Like I said, I’d be happy to prove it—however that works." Daisuke tilted his head to the side curiously, "Is there really a way to tell if someone’s possessed?"

"Of course!" Jack puffed out his chest proudly, "Well then, you’re coming with me!"

"What, right now?" Daisuke blinked, "I was going to do some shopping though… will this take long?"

Jack frowned at him. “No, of course not—but you’re not getting away this time.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Ah, very well then." Daisuke sighed, following the man. However, as soon as Daisuke stopped beside him, Jack had slapped a pair of silver and green handcuffs on his wrist. Daisuke’s eyes widened. "Wh—what’s this?"

"The Fenton Handcuffs!" Jack grinned proudly, "They’ll negate any ghost powers, and keep any spook locked in if they’re overshadowing someone!"

Daisuke groaned, more annoyed than worried about the handcuffs—not that Jack could tell. “Why me… Well, I suppose taking precaution is standard for you, but why can’t you just believe me when I say I’m not possessed?”

"Because we’re going to Fenton Works!" Jack led him to the bulky silver van Daisuke had noticed the last time they met, "Can’t have a ghost enter the premises without making sure he can’t destroy it!"

Daisuke rolled his eyes, getting into the back of the van after Jack opened it for him. Inside were various gadgets and high-tech looking gizmos, all in colors of green and silver, with the occasional bright hazmat orange. He sat in one of the backseats, his eyes wandering about. The tech stuff was likely all ghost hunting gear of some sort—probably too advanced for Daisuke to bother messing with them—and the redhead counted four seats, including the ones he and Jack were in. He recalled that Danny had said the Fentons had a daughter, but judging from the seats they must have had another kid too. He tried to recall if he read anything about the rest of the family, but he couldn’t remember coming across much on the Fentons other than the two parents.

He lurched forward in his seat as Jack started the van, and quickly braced himself as Jack made a sharp turn. “Wh-whoa! Hey, can’t you drive more safely!?” Daisuke gasped, grabbing the edge of his seat the best he could with his hands cuffed. He eyed the cuffs in disdain, as if he wanted to do something about them.

Jack wasn’t listening to him, of course, and the twenty-one-year-old really contemplated breaking out of the cuffs—the man could have at least let him buckle in properly, if at all! His driving was horrible!

Daisuke screamed a little when the car skidded around a corner so badly the van itself felt like it was going to tilt over. Daisuke really regretted agreeing to come with this man—at least he should have picked a time to go with them when his wife was there! She had to have been a better driver than this!

He was dizzy by the time the van stopped, and the stillness was even more disorienting. He took a moment to gather himself, shaking his head clear. “Next time I’m definitely walking.”

"Here we are!" Jack opened the back of the van, grabbing Daisuke by the shoulders and practically picking the boy up as he pulled him out. Daisuke stood in a daze for a moment as Jack locked up the van, and then he looked up and gasped. Jack grinned proudly. "Welcome to Fenton Works, kid."

Daisuke stared up at the glowing neon sign and what looked like a UFO on top of a three-story, brown brick building.

"Uh… is this your house?"

"Yep. And my workshop!" Jack nudged Daisuke toward it with a slap on the back, which caused him to stumble clumsily before he righted himself and let Jack lead him in. "Now, kid, if you’re really overshadowed, even the house’ll be able to tell, so no funny business!"

"The house?" Daisuke blinked, "How can it tell?"

"Security systems, of course! Built ‘em myself! No ghost can make it in here and come out in one piece!" Jack boasted, "We rip them apart molecule by molecule first!"

Daisuke cringed, stepping into the rather quaint-looking home and trying to push the thought out of his mind. It really was no wonder Danny didn’t like being around them.

He took a moment to look around as they went through the normal-looking interior of the house—there was nothing off about it to the naked eye. But Daisuke’s trained eye could see thin lines in the walls and ceilings that hid secret panels and whatever was behind them. The sheer amount of them made him wonder how they even managed to hide that many weapons or whatever other security measures in such thin walls.

"Why is the base of the city’s ‘best’ ghost hunters a residential living space?" Daisuke wondered out loud. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the kids of these two hunters—if they really got attacked by ghosts so much they had a security system for it, the kids must not have been normal at all.

The idea was such a contrast to the sight of the house. And the living room. And the kitchen. Where a girl with bright orange hair was sitting. Looking positively normal.

She was reading a book, with papers in front of her and a pencil tapping idly on the table top, obviously doing homework. She didn’t seem to notice anything else.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow quizzically, pausing in the doorway as Jack ambled on, toward another door in the kitchen.

"Maddie!" Jack bellowed, "I found that one kid again! Get the Ecto-detector!"

The girl looked up, her eyes first going to Jack—her father, he guessed—before her teal gaze came to Daisuke himself. Her eyebrows raised in surprise, before she caught sight of the handcuffs and her lips twisted into a deep frown.

The first thing she observed formed the first thing she said: “You’re not a ghost.”

Daisuke gave a wry, exasperated grin. “No, I’m not.”

"The house would have fried you otherwise." The girl noted, "So why the cuffs?"

"Your, ah, father, thought I was overshadowed." Daisuke rolled his eyes, "We had met before, some time ago—he and your mother seem to think Danny has brainwashed me."

"Danny… as in Danny Phantom?" The girl’s eyes widened, and Daisuke could detect a hint of anxiousness next to the shock.

Daisuke nodded, though he was confused by her reaction. He had almost expected the daughter of a ghost hunter to be more… hostile about the mention of the infamous ghost.

"Then you’re…"

Before the girl could continue, Jack burst back upstairs. “What’re you doing up here, kid? You were supposed to follow me, not socialize with my daughter!” He frowned.

"Ah, sorry dad, I stopped him to talk to him," the girl said smoothly, "Why’s he here?"

"He might be overshadowed, Jazz, don’t acquaint yourself with him." Maddie said as she came upstairs too, holding a little device that beeped and buzzed.

The girl, Jazz, rolled her eyes, standing up and leaving her work on the table. “Uh huh. Mom, I’m pretty sure if he were overshadowed, he wouldn’t have so willingly gotten himself cuffed or so willingly walked into our house. Most ghosts avoid us, not try to walk into the lion’s den.”

"Hmm, well," Maddie came up to Daisuke, who had remained quiet since the two hunters had come up. The boy looked puzzled, at least, glancing at her device curiously. It didn’t do anything other than beep and buzz occasionally. "There’s no trace of ectoplasm in or around him. He’s clean."

Daisuke sighed, holding up his hands. “Great, so can I take these off now?”

Jack pouted, taking a key from his pocket and unlocking the cuffs. Daisuke rubbed his wrists lightly, looking down at them and remembering all the other times he had been cuffed—not that he said anything out loud about that.

"Is there anything else you need of me?" Daisuke looked at the ghost hunter pair, "I’ll be happy to answer some questions, but I really do have other things to do today."

Maddie pursed her lips, looking contemplative, and maybe a little hesitant because of what he had said last time. Finally, before Jack could interrupt this time, she asked, “Why do you know that it’s rude to ask what a ghost’s obsession is?”

"Simple, I asked Danny about ghost etiquette. I don’t like being rude on accident." Daisuke shrugged, "Didn’t you know that, since you’re experts?"

Maddie frowned deeply. No, she didn’t, apparently. “You just… asked it? Why?”

"Because I was curious? Because I talk to him enough that it’s okay to ask and polite to know.” Daisuke emphasized, frowning at her, “You’d be surprised how easily he’ll answer when you’re not threatening him with a gun.”

"Actually, the same goes for humans." Jazz rolled her eyes, "Like I keep telling you, mom, there’s psychology involved that you’ve never even considered, and ghosts and humans aren’t that different."

"They really aren’t." Daisuke smiled at the girl, glad for her support.

Maddie scowled. “They’re post-human consciousnesses imprinted on ectoplasm. They aren’t human.”

Daisuke shrugged, sighing as he realized his words hadn’t gone through to them, like Danny had said. They might have sat on it for a while, but by now they were back to thinking Danny was evil.

That was a little disappointing. But he supposed it didn’t matter—they were ghost hunters, after all. Who was he to change the beliefs they built their entire careers on?

"So," Jazz started, coming closer now that Maddie and Jack had backed off, "You’re the one who supposedly hangs out with Phantom and defended him when my parents accused him of being evil, huh?"

"I see you’ve heard." Daisuke smiled shyly at her. "Are you a ghost hunter too?"

"Oh, god no!" Jazz laughed, shaking her head, "I’m sorry about my parents, though. They probably just kidnapped you off the streets. They’re so troublesome sometimes, they don’t think things through."

Jack pouted. “Jazzypants! How could you say that? I didn’t kidnap him!”

Jazz cringed. “Daaad, not in front of guests!”

"He’s not a guest." Maddie sighed, and reluctantly added, "Sorry for the trouble—you can go now."

Daisuke nodded, and Jazz offered to show him out. When he was out on the front doorstep, Jazz stopped him.

"My name’s Jazz, by the way. Jazz Fenton."

"Daisuke Niwa," The redhead nodded in return, "Nice to meet you—even though the circumstances are odd."

"Yeah—it’s really nice to meet someone who supports Danny, for once." Jazz smiled softly, "I wanted to thank you for defending him—and being a good friend."

Daisuke blinked in surprise. “You know Danny?”

Jazz grinned and nodded, “Yeah. There’s a few of us who support him, give him help during ghost fights, and that sort of thing.”

"Ah, so you’re one of the human friends he mentioned." Daisuke tilted his head in a friendly manner, "I never imagined one being related to a ghost hunter. Isn’t that dangerous, for him to be friends with you?"

The carrot-top simply laughed, as if he had said something funny. He didn’t get the inside joke, but he didn’t ask about it. “I do my best to protect him from them. He’s… really important to me.” She said softly, “So really, thank you… he’s told me about you. How human you treat him and you’re just there to listen to him, and you never really ask for anything in return, like some of the people who try to befriend him.”

"There are people like that?"

"Mostly girls who want to date him." Jazz chuckled.

Daisuke blinked slowly. “So you don’t want anything like that out of him?”

Jazz made a face, shaking her head hastily. “I just… want him to be safe, that’s all. He’s off fighting ghosts and the most I can do is distract my parents for a while—I know I just get in the way whenever I try to help, so I’ve just learned to stay out of it unless he asks. He’s good at what he does, but he doesn’t need them shooting at him… he already gets enough injuries from the ghosts alone.”

Daisuke stared at her. “You just… want to protect him, don’t you,” The girl nodded in response, a little solemn, “because… you knew him when he was alive. And he died…”

Jazz flinched, cerulean meeting red abruptly. Daisuke could tell she was definitely protective of their young friend—she was older than Danny, so she had a certain sisterly feel about her. Maybe it came from experience with her own sibling, whoever they were.

"I—yeah," She sighed, looking down and clenching her fists, "I should have been able to protect him, then… then he wouldn’t have gotten into that accident. But I didn’t… didn’t even know until…"

Daisuke frowned. So this girl knew about how Danny died—and maybe she was even there for it.

"It’s alright. I think I understand—he was hurt badly before, badly enough to die, and you don’t want him hurt again despite that." Daisuke hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at the taller man, "But you’re doing all you can. I think that’s wonderful."

"He’s fourteen—he shouldn’t have to be out there fighting ghosts and getting hurt." Jazz sighed, acknowledging his attempt at comfort with a weak smile.

"If he doesn’t do it, who else will?" Daisuke gave a crooked, awkward smile in return.

Jazz didn’t reply to that, but he saw her eyes flicker with hesitance. They both knew Danny protected the city, but Jazz apparently knew something more about the ghosts that haunted Amity Park. It wasn’t surprising—she was the daughter of two ghost hunters after all.

"At least he doesn’t do it alone," Daisuke continued, unsure what else to say, "He’s got you and a few other friends, right?"

"And you." Jazz smiled more genuinely this time, "But his other friends don’t seem to trust you very much, for some reason…. They’re too used to strangers showing up and gaining their trust only to betray them, I guess."

Daisuke tilted his head, withdrawing his hand. “I wasn’t aware I was disliked.” He chuckled wanly, “It’s alright, I don’t blame them—he probably told them I used to help out a thief.”

"I heard about that," Jazz’s eyes flickered with interest, "Maybe we should get together and talk about that more, I’d love to hear how that happened."

Daisuke chuckled nervously. “Maybe.” He said without any real promise, quickly changing the subject. “Hey, uh, you… seem to be okay with me. I mean, in comparison to his other friends.”

The redheaded Fenton girl grinned warmly. “I trust Danny, and I know he doesn’t easily make friends with truly bad people. He speaks sort of highly of you… so I’m really glad I finally got to meet you.”

Daisuke blushed in embarrassment. “I-is that so? Uh, I’m glad I got to meet one of his friends, too—it’s really nice to know he has other friends. It would have been sad if he were alone all this time.”

"Yes, well… not many people treat Danny that normal, Daisuke.” Jazz couldn’t help but smile—Daisuke was sort of cute, in a Danny sort of way. She imagined Danny would be somewhat like Daisuke when he got older—all smiles and blushes and awkwardness and kindness—and the thought warmed her heart a little. “Even me, and his other friends… we acknowledge his ghost-ha—ghostliness more than he likes. You’re… the first person who talks to him without acknowledging that.”

Daisuke tilted his head. “Do I? I didn’t even notice.”

"He told me you forgot he was a ghost." Jazz chuckled, "And that when he talks to you, sometimes he forgets he’s one too."

He smiled. “I kind of gathered that.” He stood awkwardly for a moment, the both of them not quite sure how to continue. He glanced at his watch, noting the time. “Ah, I’ve spent longer than I thought…”

"Oh—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up." Jazz jumped, holding out her hand. "Again, it was nice to meet you. Please continue looking out for Danny, okay? Maybe not the way I do it—but just… keep being you."

Daisuke nodded, shaking her hand briefly before he let go. “Next time you see him, tell him I said hello, yes?” He turned, stepping off the front steps and stumbling a little as he missed the second one. “Oops,” He chuckled when he caught himself, “Ah, yeah, I’ll be going now. See you around, maybe.” He waved, beginning the walk to his next destination.

Jazz waved back, grinning. “Goodbye, Daisuke!”

Chapter Text

"Hey Daisuke."

Daisuke looked up, grinning at his friend as he drifted over to their usual rooftop spot. It was early evening, and the sky was still orange-turning-purple. Daisuke had his sketchbook in his lap, a half-finished sketch of the skyline stretching the pages, partly colored in by the color pencils Daisuke had in his shirt pocket.

"Good evening, Danny."

"Drawing again?" Danny asked as he took a seat, his spectral tail shifting into legs, which kicked almost childishly as he sat back and relaxed.

"The colors here are brilliant. I can’t seem to capture it properly though." Daisuke chuckled, "Long day?"

"Actually, it’s kind of a slow one. I just got off patrol. No ghost attacks today." Danny laughed, "I’ll probably jinx myself though."

"Well, then don’t say anything to jinx it." Daisuke changed color pencils, outlining pink clouds.

They settled into their usual comfortable silence. Daisuke hadn’t seen Danny in a few days, so there was usually at least a few things to talk about, but it was normal for them to sit like this—Daisuke had figured out long ago that often, Danny didn’t get a lot of rest. His time with Daisuke was a welcome, restful reprieve from ghost fighting and whatever else Danny did when he wasn’t protecting the town.

The ghost boy broke the silence after several minutes, his eyes closed as he leaned back.

"So you met Jazz."

"I did." Daisuke nodded, not looking up, "She’s nice. You’re fortunate to have a friend like her."

"I know." Danny smiled, "I really shouldn’t take her for granted so often."

"Is this a regular problem?" Daisuke glanced at the other boy out of the corner of his eye, curious and a little concerned.

"No, but I think I should tell her I appreciate her more." Danny gave a wry grin.

"I think she’d like that. I know I would."

"Well, then I appreciate you too." Danny smirked, laughing as Daisuke blushed. "No, really, I mean it."

"Th-thank you." Daisuke nodded, grinning shyly at his young friend. "Not many people say that to me."

"You don’t have a lot of friends, do you?" Danny tilted his head.

"I don’t help people like I used to." Daisuke shrugged, "I haven’t given anyone any reason to thank me." He paused, noticing Danny’s raised eyebrow. "Except for you, recently."

"I know you stopped that saving people thing because your, ah, friends died," Danny said cautiously, "but… those artifacts are still out there, right? How come you didn’t continue trying to find them?"

"There are no more." Daisuke said simply.

"Wha…?" Danny blinked in surprise, his eyes wide, "How can you possibly know that?"

"My friends… gave their lives to make sure they were all rendered harmless." Daisuke shrugged, "The physical artifacts are still with whoever owns them, but there’s no reason to steal them away anymore. Sealing all that power… it was… their final act." He smiled sadly, going back to focusing on his drawing. "Besides, my friend was the thief."

Danny stared at him blankly. Daisuke didn’t look up.

"Hey Daisuke… those magical artifacts… you said no one was supposed to know about them, and… it seems like even now, no one knows about them or what your friend was doing." Danny started slowly, "So… why did you tell me?”

Daisuke looked startled, looking over at him at last. “Huh?” His red eyes were wide, as if he was caught off-guard by the question. “Oh, uh… I don’t know, actually. I guess it was because… well, you reminded me a bit of me, when I was younger. It seemed okay to tell you, I guess. And, well, I thought you of all people would be willing to believe the impossible, seeing as you are, well, a ghost.”

Danny quirked an eyebrow at the slight ramble, but continued staring, his toxic green eyes steady. “Most people would’ve thought you were crazy.”

"You’re not most people. And I don’t normally tell anyone." Daisuke shrugged, shifting shyly, "I just thought… well, I said I was a good judge of character, right? I didn’t think you’d be the type to talk to other people about that sort of thing. It just seemed natural to be able to tell you a secret, despite how loud you can be sometimes."

Danny bristled. “H-hey, I’m not loud!”

"I’m sorry, but I do recall hearing your voice as clear as day from 20 meters in the air while you were fighting Skulker once. Do you even realize the whole four blocks could hear you when you quip at your enemies like that?" Daisuke’s eyebrow raised in amusement, "The other ghosts, too, seem to have that same echoing voice property."

Danny pouted. “I… okay, fine, I might not realize my volume a lot. But you’re right about me being able to keep secrets.” He paused, “Though, uh, I might’ve mentioned the magical artifact thing to a few of my friends.”

"That’s alright," Daisuke smiled wanly, "I trust you, so if you trust them, I do hope they’ll keep it a secret too."

"Oh, they will. Who have they got to tell anyway?" Danny grinned brightly.

"It’s not like it makes much of a difference, there aren’t any more around." Daisuke chuckled in response, going back to his sketch.

They fell into silence again. Danny watched Daisuke draw until the picture was nearly complete, and the light of the sky was dying more rapidly. The ghost boy fiddled with the lamp between them—it was off, its services not quite needed yet, but as the stars began to pop out, he flicked the switch.

The light in the room below them came on, and Daisuke paused briefly when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. He finished the drawing, ignoring the voice of his roommate from inside the room below.

"Daisuke? Hello, are you home?"

Danny quirked an eyebrow. “Your roommate?”

"He’s probably just coming home for dinner. He’ll be gone again soon I bet." Daisuke shrugged.

"He’s probably on the roof again…" The voice in the room sighed in frustration, muttering, "How does he keep getting up there?"

Danny’s ears perked at that, and he glanced at Daisuke. He wasn’t sure if Daisuke heard that—after all, the voice was muffled and the words were said quietly, and Danny had the advantage of ghost hearing.

Of course, Danny didn’t realize Daisuke’s hearing was keener than most humans’.

The half-open balcony window below them rattled, and Danny had a split moment to turn invisible. He only did so out of reflex of course, because he couldn’t be too sure how Daisuke’s roommate would react to seeing Amity Park’s infamous ghost hero just sitting on the roof with the redhead.

Daisuke glanced at where he had once sat, a mixed look of confusion and amusement on his face. He looked down when the window opened all the way and his roommate poked his head out.

"There you are. I thought you were up here."

"Welcome home." Daisuke smiled at him, "Did you need something?"

"I’ve got to do a project presentation for my class. Do you mind if I borrow some of your markers to make it? I’ll bring them back tomorrow." The man leaned on the windowsill, tilting his head up to look at his roommate. Danny thought he was Chinese, or maybe Korean—he had a slight accent, like Daisuke, but his was more noticeable.

"Sure, go ahead," Daisuke nodded, "Take as long as you need, I don’t mind."

"Thanks." The man nodded, disappearing back into the room.

Danny, still invisible, pushed himself off the ledge and hovered, looking into the room. Daisuke’s roommate had implied that he didn’t know how Daisuke kept getting on the roof… but Danny knew there was a door—he always saw it when he came by. It never seemed like anything of importance—it was just a door, after all. Did Daisuke’s roommate not realize there was a stairwell to the roof?

Curiously, he floated back up, flying past Daisuke, who had started drawing something else by the light of his lamp. Daisuke didn’t seem to mind that Danny hadn’t reappeared, though he might have assumed Danny was still invisible next to him.

Danny went up to the roof door and inspected it—his eyes widened when he really looked at it this time, instead of just noticing that it was there.

The hinges looked rusted, like the door hadn’t been used in a long time, and an experimental jiggle of the knob confirmed what Danny was beginning to realize—the door was locked. Sealed shut. No one entered or exited through this door anymore.

So how did Daisuke get on the roof?

Danny glanced back at his redheaded friend, intrigued and a little bewildered. He briefly entertained the thought that Daisuke might be a ghost, or have ghost powers, but the thought was pushed away quickly. It was impossible—Daisuke was definitely human.

And then he remembered that magic existed. He wondered if Daisuke had magic—and if that made him less than human, just like Danny.

"He’s gone now." Daisuke said suddenly, and Danny floated back over, looking down. The light to the room had been left on, but Danny could see that, three stories below them, a car was pulling out from the curb in front of the apartment.

The ghost boy retook his seat, turning visible. “So what’re you drawing?” He asked as if nothing had happened.

"My grandpa." Daisuke smiled fondly, "I suddenly missed him."

Danny looked at the drawing, tilting his head. Daisuke had drawn an old man with a beard, and slightly spiky-looking hair, like Daisuke’s own. His eyes were aged and old but smiling, and there were wrinkles of humor all across his expression.

Danny couldn’t help but grin. “I like his nose.” He commented, hoping Daisuke would laugh.

He got the reaction he wanted. “It is a bit funny isn’t it?” Daisuke shook his head, “He was definitely the funniest person in my life when I was growing up. I miss his jokes.”

Danny noted the past tense again. “Did he die?” He tilted his head, hoping he wasn’t being rude.

"Yes, of old age, so don’t worry." Daisuke smiled in a melancholy way, as he often did when he was thinking about people he missed. "He died the year before I went abroad. At least it was before I left, so… I didn’t miss the funeral."

"Oh." Danny looked into Daisuke’s eyes, and after a moment, decided to lighten the subject. "Hey, can I see your sketchbook? I mean, if you don’t mind."

"Ah? Sure." Daisuke shrugged, brushing away any stray eraser debris before he handed the book over.

Danny held it carefully, knowing how precious it probably was to Daisuke, and started flipping backwards through the pages. There were mostly sketches of the scenery, a few of people that Danny recognized to be Daisuke’s family and friends, some people he didn’t know but appeared to just have been part of the scenery Daisuke was drawing at the time, and then…

"Huh?" Danny gasped, "Is that—me?”

Daisuke blushed and grinned sheepishly. “Ah, yeah… I hope you don’t mind? Sorry I never showed you, it always slipped my mind before.”

Danny blinked, looking from Daisuke to the drawing of him and back. “Wow… this is really good. It looks just like me.”

"Really? I don’t think I did that good…"

"No, you did! This is so cool!" Danny said earnestly, "I like this effect with the eyes." He smiled at the glowing green eyes on the page. The drawing was a mix of graphite, markers, and color pencils, and Daisuke had used color pencils to fill in a slight trailing glow around the eyes, which almost appeared to be looking back at him.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Daisuke rubbed his head, looking away shyly, "Uh, there’s a few more in there, somewhere… I tried to imagine what you looked like when you were fighting, but I don’t think I caught it right. I did draw you flying, though."

Danny looked surprised, flipping to the next pages. Sure enough, there were a couple more sketches—some were incomplete, half-drawn figures in what looked like martial arts stances, and others were just head shots of various expressions. Danny was amused that Daisuke had drawn almost every expression on him—sad, happy, angry, surprised, and so on—and that they were pretty much spot on, even if Daisuke had never seen Danny with half those faces.

Then he found the picture Daisuke drew of him in mid-flight. His breath caught. His hair was blown by the wind at just the right way that made it seem like the Phantom in the drawing wasn’t flying very fast, and his face was serene, his arms spread like he was just enjoying an evening flight—complete with stars in the background.

He just looked so happy to be flying, and Danny couldn’t help but feel like Daisuke had caught his most private moments of bliss perfectly. He had always loved flying, but he never knew he could look that peaceful… was that really him? The drawing felt so much like… Daisuke knew the feeling personally, to be able to capture it in a drawing so flawlessly.

"Wow," he said again, "wow."

Daisuke blushed even darker at his near-speechlessness, stammering, “I-it’s not that much, really.”

"I’d love to have a copy of these." Danny shook his head, "These are really, really awesome."

Daisuke’s face was about as red as his hair by now, even his ears. “W-what? Really? Ah, um, thanks? I’ll, uh, make you a copy, then.”

Danny smiled at him sincerely. “Don’t think of yourself so lowly, Daisuke. You’re a great artist—isn’t it what you’ve always wanted to do?”

"Y-yeah." Daisuke smiled, his shoulders relaxing a little as he gave up denying his skill modestly.

Danny continued to flip through the book, stopping at another drawing—it was a man with black wings and a playful grin on his face. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. This wasn’t like what Daisuke usually drew, but the way the man was drawn, flying happily through the sky… it had the same free feeling as the drawing of Danny’s flight.

How curious.

"Who’s this?" Danny asked, looking up at Daisuke. His face had returned to its normal color, at least, but now his expression looked sad again.

"My friend."

"The one who you said was an angel?" Danny guessed, looking back at the picture.

"The other one."

Danny paused, then frowned a little. “The thief?” He glanced up to see Daisuke nodding, and he asked, “Why does he have wings?”

"That was his signature… the wings. Everyone knew him by that." Daisuke smiled at a fond reminiscence, "He could go walking around in daylight because no one realized the winged thief wasn’t always winged."

Danny blinked in surprise. “Did he really have wings? I mean, he wasn’t just wearing some outfit and everyone thought he did?”

Daisuke seemed to contemplate that answer. “He doesn’t really have wings, technically. He had something like a magical familiar that transformed into wings, though, and helped him fly.”

Danny stared. “So he could fly.”

"Yes."

"With… a magic familiar… thing."

"I told you, magic exists." Daisuke chuckled.

Danny looked back at the drawing, inspecting it even more. “He seems cool.” He said after a moment, finally turning the page. He didn’t really understand it, or why a thief would need wings—maybe it was a theatrical thing, Daisuke did say the thief was a showoff—but he didn’t ask any more about it. He figured he would just continue to be confused by that world outside of his own—the dark side Daisuke knew.

"I doubt you two would have gotten along." Daisuke shook his head, "He looks cool but he’s totally egotistical. Did I tell you that he sent out a notice before he stole things, just to set up a challenge for himself?"

Danny stared at him, “That sounds like the dumbest thing a thief could do. Wouldn’t the police have upped the security if they knew a thief was coming?”

"Yeah. That was the point." Daisuke rolled his eyes, sighing, "But he always got out of it—well, maybe there were a few times he got caught, but he always escaped in the end."

"…He must be good." Danny frowned, "Or… uh, well, I don’t know. A thief escaping is a bad thing, but since the artifacts were… well… Geez, I don’t know whether he’s good or bad!"

"A bit of both, but definitely good—but I’m biased." Daisuke grinned wryly.

Danny shook his head, looking back at the book. He paused at a picture of the park—Daisuke had been drawing the view of the intersection near it. His eyes widened as he recognized some of the figures crossing the street—it was Sam, Tucker, and Danny Fenton.

He glanced nervously at Daisuke, who had started looking back up at the stars, a longing look on his face—he was probably thinking about his friend now. Danny wondered if Daisuke realized he had drawn both of Danny’s forms—or that if the resemblance in the uncolored picture was noticeable enough that Daisuke would recognize Fenton as Phantom. Danny quickly realized that, in a sketch, there wasn’t much difference between his two forms.

He quickly shut the book, deciding not to draw attention to it. Daisuke looked over in surprise at the sound of the sketchbook snapping closed.

"I should go now," Danny handed it back to him gingerly. "See you later?"

"Yeah." Daisuke grinned at him. "I should probably eat dinner… I haven’t done that yet."

"You do that," Danny chuckled, and with that, he popped out of the visible spectrum, flying backwards enough that he knew Daisuke wouldn’t be able to feel his cold, ghostly aura anymore.

He was about to actually leave, but he watched Daisuke for a while longer, curious to see how Daisuke would get down from the roof. Maybe he had a key to the door? Even so, that didn’t explain the rust…

Daisuke stared up at the stars for few more minutes, as if searching for the place Danny had disappeared to, and then gathered his things, turning off the lamp. He grabbed a bag he had left on the roof behind him, putting his sketchbook and the lamp in before he shouldered it, standing up.

Danny watched in fascination as Daisuke looked down, as if contemplating jumping. When Danny thought he might just, he instead stood there, spreading his arms as a cool breeze blew by, and he closed his eyes.

He seemed to enjoy the wind, that longing smile still on his face. Danny wondered if Daisuke was imagining himself flying—he seemed to like the idea a lot, to have drawn both his friend and Danny in such empathetic ways.

And, just when the wind passed and Danny thought Daisuke would get off the ledge since he turned around, he leaned back and fell.

Danny gasped, about to swoop down to grab him, but he stopped, his eyes wide as he watched Daisuke grab the edge of the roof and swing his legs forward, right into the open window. One hand steadied him on the side of the window as he passed through, and then he landed harmlessly on the carpet in a crouching position.

Daisuke stood up, setting his bag down beside his art supplies as if he hadn’t almost fallen three stories, nonchalantly heading into his kitchen.

Danny could only stare in awe. What kind of plain, normal person could do that?

When nothing more happened, he turned and flew home.

What a weird guy, indeed.

Chapter Text

"So what did you think of Amity Park when you first got here?"

"Hmm?" Daisuke glanced over at his unexpected companion for the afternoon—the charming young Jasmine Fenton. He had run into her at the library when he had gone there to do some research, and they had begun talking. He had invited her out to coffee after they both finished studying.

"I mean, did you get here before the ghost attacks, or after?" The carrot-top girl tilted her head, brushing some hair behind her ear.

"A little bit before." Daisuke shrugged, "I didn’t really believe it much when the ghost attacks started happening, but when they did I decided to read up on ghosts. I came across a lot of your parents’ work."

"Ah, so that’s how you knew about them," Jazz mused, sipping her coffee, "It’s alright, I didn’t believe it at first either. I refused to, until one pretty much appeared in front of me. But weren’t you scared? Most people are pretty scared of the ghosts, especially around the time they first showed up and no one knew what was going on."

Daisuke tilted his head, “I was a little more awed that they existed in such bright and colorful manners. I’d met ghosts before, in Japan, but they weren’t so… gaudy.” He chuckled.

Jazz laughed. “Really? Are they so different?”

"Yes," The older redhead sipped his tea—he wasn’t one for coffee—and smiled in amusement at her reaction when he said, "They looked completely human. No one could even tell they were ghosts."

Teal eyes were wide, lips tight. “Is that… really? You couldn’t tell?”

"Not until they faded away, pretty much," He shrugged, "One of my friends fell in love with this one girl who had turned out to be one. She faded away when she met the person her spirit had waited for."

"That sounds fascinating. Can you tell me more about it?" Jazz leaned forward, her interest piqued. "She wasn’t malevolent? She didn’t try to attack anyone?"

"I’ve honestly never seen a ghost in Japan do some of the things I’ve seen the ghosts here do," Daisuke chuckled, "Honestly I don’t think they even realized they were dead. If they did, they didn’t act like it."

"Interesting… I wonder if ghosts who don’t realize their deaths act and look more human than the ghosts who do? That might explain why the ones here are so powerful and malevolent… admitting their deaths to themselves and spending a long time in the Ghost Zone must do that…" Jazz hypothesized, "The psychology of a ghost must go through stages like that, a stage where they don’t realize they’re dead, a stage where they realize it, a stage where they deny it—or in some cases, come to terms with it, I suppose… Just like humans! Humans have a stage of denial like that too, but for…"

"Ah…" Daisuke blinked slowly, but Jazz kept rambling, "Um… Miss Fenton?"

Jazz stopped, looking over to him. Her face turned bright red as she realized she had been talking too quickly for him to keep up—even if his English was great, it was apparent that he had gotten lost somewhere in her babbling. “Oh, sorry, Daisuke. I just find it really interesting—how different the ghosts can be… how human they are, sometimes.”

Daisuke nodded. “I understand. Like Danny, right? Danny is very different from the other ghosts, huh.” He smiled softly, leaning back in his seat and sipping his drink again.

"Yes… it’s interesting to see how his psyche develops, considering…" Jazz trailed off, looking down at her hands. She fiddled with the cardboard sleeve around her cup.

"Considering how young he is? That he’s somewhere between denying and accepting that he’s dead?" Daisuke tried to finish absently, mostly wondering his thoughts out loud than actually continuing for her. "He’s so different from the other ghosts that it makes you wonder why he hasn’t turned out like them…"

Jazz blinked and tilted her head. “…Yeah. Something like that.” She replied quietly. “I’ve seen what happens if he lets go, though. When he lets grief and despair overtake him… it’s not something I’ll let happen again, if I can help it.” She said determinedly, her teal eyes blazing with her resolve.

Daisuke turned his gaze toward her slowly, giving her a long, unreadable stare. No smile quirked at the corners of his lips like it had the rest of the afternoon. She faltered and stared back, surprised by how impassible his face could be—she was usually good at reading people like open books. Daisuke wasn’t just harder to read—he was impossible to.

How peculiar, she thought, his eyes… they look so… sad? No, it’s something else… something like PTSD, maybe… he’s got the same eyes as people who have gone through war and come back barely themselves… like they lost themselves somewhere else, and the only thing they can do is pretend to be who they used to be.

Jazz had never felt more intrigued and uncomfortable than she did now—not because she realized Daisuke was a stranger, but because she got the distinct feeling Daisuke was hiding something, even if he was being so open about the things he had seen in the past. It wasn’t a lie, or something bad that would make him untrustworthy, but there was something dark in his deep, longing gaze. Something that was eating him up inside—or maybe something that already had. It was something she wanted to ask about, but at the same time she was a little afraid to—because she knew he either wouldn’t give an answer, or she wouldn’t want to hear it.

"I’m jealous," he finally said, and she flinched in surprise after the unexpected silence and the unexpected way he broke it. "Even though Danny is… a ghost… you can still protect him."

Jazz’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but the words died before they could form, the other redhead’s poker face melting into deep longing as he looked down, effectively ending their staring contest.

"I wish I could still protect my friends too, sometimes. You’re lucky… You can do more for Danny than I could have ever done for the ones I loved…"

Wide cerulean eyes didn’t dare move from the redhead, who was gripping his cup tightly in one hand and tracing the rim of it with the index of his other.

He had lost people—Jazz knew he lost people, only because Danny told her. But it never occurred to her how exactly Daisuke thought about the situation—he didn’t know Danny was still alive, like she knew. Daisuke thought Jazz had mourned too… that she could sympathize with him. And the thought that she never truly experienced loss made her feel guilty for lying to him.

Daisuke had lost people, and he was never going to see them again. Jazz didn’t even want to imagine never seeing Danny again.

"You never had that chance…" Jazz sighed, "It’s… not easy, is it?"

"No, it’s not. But… to be honest, I’d rather nothing changed." Daisuke still didn’t look up, "I said that sometimes I wished I could still protect them, but more than that, I wish they were here. So given the chance to protect them like you protect Danny… I wouldn’t take it, because it would mean they’re not okay.”

"…What do you mean?" The redheaded girl frowned, leaning closer.

"I don’t want them to have become ghosts." Daisuke said quietly, "I’d really rather continue living, thinking they’re resting peacefully."

"They probably are," Jazz said after a long moment, reaching over and touching Daisuke’s arm, "And you’re right. If you haven’t seen them again… that’s not a bad thing. Not at all."

Daisuke glanced at her hand and then finally looked up and smiled at her—it was a moist but warm smile. “Thank you. I think I needed to hear that.”

Jazz nodded, sitting back and finishing off her coffee. Daisuke’s tea was only half-finished and cold, and he didn’t feel like drinking the rest of it, so he dumped it in the proper trashcan and left the coffee place with Jazz.

"You know," Jazz started, hoping to lighten the apparently dim mood they had settled into, "I still want to hear about that thief friend of yours. His mentality must have been the most interesting thing! I mean, what kind of person has all the righteousness to save people, yet the lack of morals to do something normally unethical, just for his cause?"

Daisuke chuckled, giving in to her attempt to distract him. “Ah, well… his mind was definitely not uninteresting, Miss Fenton.” He smiled knowingly, amusement dancing on his lips as if he were about to laugh at an inside joke.

Jazz was about to ask when he meant, when a voice from above interrupted them.

"Oh wow, never thought I’d see you two around here." The boyish voice smirked, "Are you guys on a date or something?"

"Danny!" Jazz gasped, and her eyebrows furrowed angrily. "It’s so not like that!"

Daisuke didn’t seem offended at all, rolling his eyes. “I have a girlfriend, Danny.”

The white-haired ghost boy laughed, laying on his stomach in the air with his arms folded under his chin. “I know, I just wanted to annoy Jazz.” He grinned toothily, “But seriously, never thought I’d see you two out here. How did that happen?”

"Ran into each other at the library," Daisuke shrugged, "and then we decided to get some coffee together and talk about you.” He smirked when Danny’s face turned a slight green. Jazz laughed, deciding to go with Daisuke’s semi-fib, exchanging a mischievous look with him.

"Aaaooookay I’m not even gonna ask." He rubbed his head in embarrassment, "Anyway! It’s kinda late, right? Need a ride home, Jazz?" Danny grinned at the orange-haired girl, though the blush still hadn’t cleared.

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Don’t you still have patrol?”

"Done," Danny shrugged, "C’mon. If Daisuke doesn’t mind, I’ll take you home."

"I don’t mind, I should get back to my apartment anyhow, and it’s a bit of a walk if I took her home first like I was planning to," Daisuke nodded, then looked at Jazz, "Well, today was nice, Miss Fenton. We should get together again soon."

"Sure. Why don’t we swap cell numbers?" Jazz offered, pulling the small device out of her pocket. Danny looked over her shoulder curiously as she and Daisuke exchanged numbers, then the two redheads bid each other—and Danny—good night before Daisuke took off.

"Hey, were you really talking about me?" Danny asked anxiously, grabbing his sister around the waist and launching into the sky.

Jazz chuckled, hanging onto Danny’s neck. “Yeah, but nothing bad, we promise.” She grinned. “Daisuke’s pretty interesting.”

"Yeah, he is. You like him?" Danny looked down at her, "I figured you’d have a field day with how weird he is sometimes."

"He’s definitely something else. PTSD, maybe, and still in mourning over whoever he lost." Jazz decided, "Though it doesn’t seem quite right. I wouldn’t say he’s unsound of mind, since he does seem to genuinely be trying to move on, but there’s something about him…"

"Yeah, I noticed too," Danny dropped Jazz off at the corner near their home, before he turned back into Fenton and they began walking the rest of the way, "He’s a good guy though. Definitely."

"No doubt about that," Jazz nodded, "But maybe he’s a little misguided. You said he believes magic exists, right? But… to have also said it doesn’t anymore, I can’t help but wonder if maybe he made all of that up, to cope with his losses."

Danny stopped abruptly, his eyes wide. “No way, Jazz. He wouldn’t… he’s not crazy.” He frowned, “You and I both know nothing’s impossible—I’m a half-ghost, for goodness’ sake! If that’s not the most scientifically impossible thing, I don’t know what is.”

"I know, Danny, but there isn’t much to prove Daisuke’s words. He made a way to explain things but also made sure they couldn’t be sought after." Jazz looked back at him, "He’s sweet, but there’s something about his eyes that makes me think he’s not okay."

"He’s… lost a lot of people. Of course he isn’t." Danny shook his head, "I thought you liked him Jazz."

"I do, Danny," Jazz sighed, "but… Danny, you know better than I do. What kind of person walks so lightly he doesn’t make a sound, gauges every new environment like he’s being hunted, and says so much and yet nothing about his past?"

Danny frowned deeply at his sister, not quite following. “He… he is sort of like me, huh.”

"Danny, he’s never even said the names of his friends," Jazz shook her head, "He’s someone with something to hide. Maybe even something really dangerous. And while I do like him… maybe Sam’s right. Maybe you should be careful."

"Or maybe someone needs to show him he doesn’t have to be.” Danny crossed his arms, “Jazz, if he’s hiding something and getting criticized for it, then I’m no different. There’s a reason I hide my real identity. I’m not going to push Daisuke to reveal his. I believe he’s a good person.”

Jazz stared long and hard at her little bother.

"I trust you Danny. I want to believe he’s a good person too."

"Don’t want—just do." Danny shook his head, walking past her to get into Fenton Works, "He’s done a lot for everyone else… and me. I think he deserves at least a little faith."

Jazz followed him quietly, watching the way he walked. It was like a ghost—soundless, even and rhythmic, and not a footprint to be seen. Danny glanced around in the same manner she had seen Daisuke glance around when they were at the library, despite that it was his own home. Jazz didn’t blame him, their home did have the habit of shooting at him occasionally.

A little faith, huh. Maybe she was being a little overprotective, but Danny was right. Even if Daisuke was a little off…

She didn’t have the right to judge Daisuke after meeting him only twice now. Danny knew him better.

But, as the door shut behind her, Jazz couldn’t help but wonder…

Does Danny know him better?

Chapter Text

Danny was fidgety when Daisuke saw him drifting across the sky above the Amity Park skyscrapers. He seemed to be pacing, moving back and forth along the same path.

The redhead’s eyebrows lifted, and after ten minutes of watching and waiting to see what would happen, he decided that Danny probably wasn’t going to be moving from his spot for a while.

So he climbed the tower—he entered the nearest skyscraper and took the elevator up to the viewing platform. There was no one up there, of course—it was nearing winter, and people were in school. It was too cold to be out on the roof of one of Amity Park’s highest buildings, where the wind beat wildly at him, biting at his cheeks and nose, unprotected by his scarf.

"Danny?" He called, trying to grab the ghost boy’s attention.

Danny whipped around, surprised. “Daisuke? What are you doing up here? Wait, why—”

Daisuke answered before he even finished. “Saw you floating about and thought I’d come up and see what’s wrong. Are you okay?” He asked in concern.

"Yeah—well, mostly," Danny ran his hands through his hair, sighing in frustration, "Sorry, Daisuke, I’m not really in the mood to talk or anything. You didn’t have to come all the way up here for me."

"It’s alright, I wasn’t busy." Daisuke shook his head, "If you want to be left alone, I understand, but… you seem troubled. Are you sure you don’t want to talk? Maybe it would help?"

Danny was quiet, looking away and beginning to pace in mid-air again, a nervous look on his face. Daisuke’s red gaze never left him, a patient and hopefully comforting smile on his face.

Finally, Danny turned to look at him again. “Hey, you know how said I could ask you for help whenever?” Daisuke nodded, lifting an eyebrow. “I think I’m going to take you up on that.”

"Oh?" Daisuke tilted his head, "I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll try my best." He smiled earnestly, nodding reassuringly to the younger boy. "So what appears to be the problem?"

Danny looked around nervously again, his head turning from side to side as if someone could be listening in even up at this remote height.

"Not here." Danny murmured, flying closer and beckoning with his hands. "Come on, grab on."

Daisuke looked surprised, but stepped forward, taking one of Danny’s hands. Danny wrapped one skinny arm around his waist, lifting him up with ease and hovering a little. Daisuke’s eyebrows shot up even more, if that was possible, at the sudden feeling of the lack of gravity. Not to mention that he just realized that Danny was much, much stronger than he appeared to be.

"You okay?"

"It’s… been a while since I’ve flown." Daisuke chuckled quietly, nodding in answer. Danny stared at him inquisitively, so he grinned and said by way of explanation, "My friend had wings."

"Right…" Danny shook his head, beginning to fly off. He watched Daisuke out of the corner of his eye, taking note of the comfortable smile on the redhead’s pleased face.

"So are we being followed?" Daisuke asked, his expression falling to a quiet seriousness.

"Possibly. He has a habit of planting bugs everywhere and following me like a creep." Danny muttered.

"How do we lose him?" Daisuke asked, not questioning which of Danny’s enemies was worrying the boy this time.

"He knows all my hideouts and usual spots. You pick." Danny whispered.

Daisuke frowned, a look of concentration coming over his face. Whoever it was knew all of Danny’s usual spots… did that mean he knew about Daisuke’s apartment? The thought was unsettling.

He pulled a little book out of his breast pocket, fumbling with the small pen tucked inside until he got a good grip of it, writing in loopy, slightly elegant letters, "Museum."

Danny’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. It seemed like an odd place, but he realized it was brilliant. Daisuke went to museums all the time, Danny knew, since he was genuinely interested in art and history. Danny himself would never be caught dead going to one willingly—no pun intended. It probably wouldn’t be too crowded at this time of day, so it was a perfect place to talk, and if the bug was following him there were at least enough walls to obscure them from its view and make it obvious if it showed up.

He nodded with a little grin, and Daisuke put away his book, looking down. He wasn’t afraid of heights apparently—though Danny should have known that from the fact that he spent almost every night on a third story roof.

He phased out of visibility as an extra measure against the bug, surprising Daisuke, who shivered a little at the cool sensation falling over him.

"Does it always feel like this?" Daisuke whispered.

"Pretty much."

Danny neared the museum, looking around again for the bug and circling a little to find a good spot to land. Then Daisuke’s voice reached his ears, “There’s a loading dock at the back. They don’t have any new collections coming in, so no one should be there.”

Danny idly wondered how Daisuke knew that. He didn’t even know museums had loading docks. But he held Daisuke tighter, coasting around to find the garage-like door at the back of the building, and phased them through the wall.

"Still a weird feeling." Daisuke shivered once more, and Danny finally put him down and let him go, dropping both the invisibility and intangibility. He took a moment to readjust to gravity and rubbed his arms, looking down at his hands in awe. When he looked up again, his face returned to seriousness. "Now, what’s this about? Who is following you?"

"My arch nemesis, Vlad," Danny sighed, rubbing his head, "He sort of stole something from my… uh, friend’s… Jazz’s parents? The Fentons?"

Daisuke nodded, “Uhhuh…?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Arch nemesis?”

"Long story short, we hate each other for reasons." Danny said irritably, "But… okay, so I know how he stole the thing, my problem is getting it back before the Fentons find out. They kind of already blame me for a lot of things, and I have no doubt they’ll think this is my fault too. Especially since Vlad set it up to scapegoat me."

Daisuke was quiet for a moment, and Danny could see some confusion in his eyes—the ghost boy had seen it a few times before, mostly when he said words or phrases that Daisuke found unfamiliar. After a moment, he pieced together the context clues and nodded. “So he framed you, and you need to get back… whatever it is, before they come after you.”

Danny nodded. “And it’s not just that—he stole the Ecto-Converter. The Fentons built one before, but it was destroyed.” He sighed in exasperation, “They only recently rebuilt it—and as much as I’d rather it not be in the Fentons’ vicinity, I don’t even want to think about what Vlad has planned for it. Probably something to take over the world. Again. So I’ve got to get it back.”

Daisuke hummed in thought, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “And… you can’t just go get it because…? I’m sure with your powers you could just phase through any building and…”

"That fruit loop has a ghost shield in place." Danny’s lips pressed together in a thin line, clearly annoyed, "I could always go in as—uh, there’s another way I can get past it, but Vlad’s probably counting on me doing that. And if I do, I’ll be powerless and falling right into his hands."

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “Is he human?”

"What?"

"The person called ‘Vlad’."

Danny thought about it for a moment. If he was going to get the Ecto-Converter back, they would be going to Vlad’s mansion. If Daisuke somehow helped him, then he couldn’t transform into Fenton with Daisuke there, but neither could Vlad turn into Plasmius. That is, if Vlad caught them. He really hoped not to get caught—he wasn’t in the mood to go at it with Vlad.

"He’s a human." The ghost boy said after a long pause, "Though… he’s the worst kind."

Daisuke gave a sympathetic wince, running his hand through his hair. “I know that kind,” He sighed, “I suppose his shield, as well as whatever else he has that might make you powerless, is some sort of ghost technology?”

Danny nodded. “Duh.” He crossed his arms. “Is ‘ghost shield’ not enough of a clue for you?”

"And he’s expecting you to go get the… Ecto-Converter back?"

Danny nodded again, not quite sure where Daisuke was going with this. “Yeah, so I need some advice on what to…”

Daisuke interrupted him. “So he’s not going to expect a human to get it back.”

Danny opened his mouth, about to say that yeah, he was expecting one—Danny Fenton. But he knew that Vlad would have never expected Daisuke. So he nodded. “Yeah.”

"Thus, you want my help with that." Daisuke looked away, running his hand through his hair thoughtfully.

Danny paused, hesitating. He knew Daisuke was only human, and he didn’t know how well he would fare against Vlad if something did happen. Daisuke had clearly gotten into dangerous scrapes before, but it was more than obvious he had already moved past that phase in his life, and he didn’t do it anymore. What could he even do, even if he was stronger and faster than he appeared at first glance? Surely that weird agility he had seen Daisuke with the other week wasn’t going to be helpful when trying to break into a billionaire’s mansion…

"You don’t have to," Danny finally said slowly, deciding that he didn’t want to involve a normal human—not when he could get hurt. "I just… need some advice."

Daisuke looked back at him, an uncomfortable but amused look in his eye. He laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t want you falling into his trap. I don’t like the sounds of this guy.”

Danny stared hard at the red-haired artist. Daisuke really was too kind.

"Surely I can’t give you advice either, since I don’t know the whole situation. For instance… where did this Vlad person take the Ecto-Converter?" Daisuke tilted his head almost innocently.

Danny flinched. So he knew I was hiding details from him. “A mansion on the upper side of town.” He relented, “And you could, I don’t know… suggest an alternative…?”

"An alternative to stealing back the Ecto-Converter?" Daisuke grinned, "Well, you could ask him nicely, but I don’t think that would work out very well."

At this, the ghost boy chuckled. “Alright, you got me. Fine, you can help me.” He paused, “But how are you going to do that?”

"You’re talking to the guy who helped a thief for two years.” Daisuke shook his head fondly, reaching over and patting Danny’s head affectionately, much to the ghost boy’s surprise. “What would I be if I didn’t pick up a few tricks in that line of business.”

The mischievous grin didn’t fit Daisuke. Danny found it odd—Daisuke had said before he didn’t like stealing, and yet… now he seemed like the thought of it was exciting. A twinkle lit his eyes like he was a kid about to steal cookies from the cookie jar after midnight. A kid doing something he wasn’t supposed to do, but loved doing anyway.

Daisuke was weird.

~~~

Danny took Daisuke back to his apartment so he could pick up a few things. He watched curiously as Daisuke rummaged through his closet and pulled out a small pouch, sticking it in his pocket, and then an empty duffel bag. When Danny asked what it was for, Daisuke simply said, “We’ve got to have something to carry the Ecto-Converter in, right? Is this big enough?”

Danny, still worried about Daisuke, gave him the Fenton Thermos and a Wrist Ray he had been keeping on him for emergencies. Daisuke looked amused, but accepted them and put them in the duffel bag before they headed out.

Danny led him to Vlad’s mansion—Daisuke’s eyes were wide when he saw how big the house was, and the grounds surrounding it. They stopped just outside the back wall, and Daisuke looked around with a strangely well-trained eye—Danny could tell because he seemed to be looking for something suspicious.

"This is about as far as I can go," the ghost boy put his hand on the wall, which rippled with green energy, "that’s the ghost shield."

Daisuke didn’t say anything, looking up at the wall before his eyes darted back to Danny’s hand, still connected to the shield. He put his hand out experimentally, and while there were faint distortions, no green field made itself visible, and his hand could pass through to touch the cement wall beneath.

"Is there a machine that controls this shield?" The redhead finally asked, looking back at Daisuke.

"Yeah, but it’s in Vlad’s office—first floor, next to the library with the fireplace and the obnoxious painting of himself." Danny rolled his eyes.

This earned a look of amusement from Daisuke. “You’ve been here before?”

"Did I mention that Vlad and I have history? And it’s not pretty." Danny crossed his arms. "Yeah, I’ve been here before—I haven’t completely memorized it, but I know my way to the important places. And my bets are that he put the Ecto-Converter in the basement lab—that’s one of the most important places too… and the first place he knows I’d look."

"Can you draw a map?" Daisuke plucked the small notebook out of his shirt pocket again, handing it to his young friend. Danny looked puzzled, but did as he said and quickly drew out a map of the first and second floors, and the basement.

He handed it back to Daisuke, who studied it briefly before putting it away again. “Alright, so I think I know what to do. I’ll go in and try to disable to shield, so you can come in if you need to. If I see the Ecto-Converter on the way, I’ll get it and come back out, then you won’t need to come in at all.”

Danny looked alarmed. “You’re just going to… walk in there?” He asked incredulously. Daisuke’s casual manner scared him a bit—he knew he shouldn’t underestimate Vlad, but that was because he knew what Vlad could do. Daisuke was obviously going in thinking he was just dealing with a human. And that was reckless. “That’s dangerous! He’s got… goons and… stuff… everywhere!” And ghosts. He has ghost goons. And probably Skulker. Oh, no, this is bad.

"I can handle myself, Danny," Daisuke reassured him confidently, "I might be out of practice but how hard can it be?"

"Daisuke, you’re not a thief. You might’ve picked up a few tricks from your friend but there’s no way you can…"

Daisuke’s laugh interrupted him. Danny didn’t see what was funny. “That’s why I’m going to just disable the shield. You know this place and Vlad better than I do—I’ll leave it to you. If I get caught, you can save me too, then, right?”

Danny bit his bottom lip, worry evident in his bright green eyes.

"I promise I’ll be careful—just watch me, Danny." Daisuke grinned softly, taking a few steps back from the wall, looking up at it once more.

He turned, going to the nearest tree and grabbing the lowest branch, hoisting himself up. He climbed until he could get a good view over the wall. “The switch is on the first floor, so I won’t have to be climbing any pipes, right?” He mused to himself. Danny floated up next to him nervously, nodding. “Then according to your map… it was that room? That’s not so far away. And it looks like no one’s there.”

Danny stared at him. Daisuke hadn’t spent more than fifty seconds looking at that crudely drawn map. How the heck did he know—?

"Alright then, I’m off. You can watch me from the sky, you can still see me through the window there, right?"

Danny nodded wordlessly. It was slowly sinking in that Daisuke really was going to do this, and no one was going to stop him. But he found he was speechless, because Daisuke showed absolutely no fear or remorse at the idea of breaking into someone’s home and stealing something.

He wore the same expression as always—seemingly naive and kind, smiling in that odd manner of his. He wore that expression when he first met Danny, and Desiree, and the Fentons… and Danny didn’t know if it was fearlessness or just numbness.

Suddenly he realized that Daisuke had said he was going, and before he had time to properly register it, Daisuke shifted his feet on the branch and launched forward, jumping straight over the top of the wall.

Danny gasped, flying up and looking down into Vlad’s property—Daisuke had landed unharmed, and was already on his feet. He glanced up and smiled reassuringly at Danny, then ran forward, heading toward the mansion, making sure to keep himself hidden behind trees and bushes.

The ghost boy stared, watching Daisuke’s path for a moment, before looking back at the tree they had been in. It was at least ten feet away from the wall. How the heck had Daisuke managed that jump?

When he looked back, he was surprised to find Daisuke further up the path toward the house, looking around to make sure there were no servant or guards around. He seemed confused, as if expecting more security, but he plowed on toward the back door.

Danny held his breath as Daisuke made it there and tried the knob. It was locked, of course. But the ghost boy was shocked when instead of giving up and looking for another way in, Daisuke knelt down, seeming to examine the knob before he pulled something out of his pocket and began fiddling with the door.

He stared in confusion when, a few moments later, the door swung open.

The redhead disappeared into the mansion after one last look back at Danny, giving him a thumbs up to signal he was okay so far.

Danny found his thoughts reeling. Daisuke had just picked the lock. He knew how to pick a lock—sure he could have picked that up from his friend, but what about that pouch he had? There was obviously something in it that had helped Daisuke.

And then it hit him. A lock picking kit. Daisuke had had a lock picking kit, and he had known he would use it here. While that wasn’t an odd assumption… why did Daisuke have a lock picking kit in the first place?!

~~~

Daisuke peeked around the corner, frowning at the lack of security. Just where was everyone? Danny had said Vlad had goons, and surely a big mansion like this should have had maids or something wandering around…

It was too quiet. Daisuke’s guard was officially up.

He hadn’t felt this tense in seven years.

He counted the doors as he passed, pausing by the large double doors that led to the library, and then making a beeline for the room next to it. He tried the door, found it locked, and once again pulled out his lock-picking kit.

The door squealed softly as he pushed it open. The room inside was dimly lit from the light outside, so he didn’t need to disturb any of the lamps.

He stepped in quietly, closing the door behind him and looking around. “Okay, now to find the switch…”

The office looked normal enough—a big desk, a TV across from it, a computer, couches, a coffee table…

He frowned. Okay, no obvious switches. Then again, a ghost shield wasn’t exactly normal, was it? Why would the switch be out in the open?

He started searching the crevices, pressing suspicious-looking panels in the walls, and pulling out drawers until he finally found it: a remote in the bottom of the desk drawer, several buttons labelled with their functions.

One of the labels read “camera 1”, another said “lock down”. Daisuke grinned and pressed the one he was looking for—“security system on/off”.

He quickly replaced the remote, going to the window. He couldn’t see Danny—the boy must have gone invisible—so he just gave a thumbs up and turned to go.

Only he stopped dead in his tracks. A huge, glowing green vulture with a fez was floating in the doorway, glaring its pupil-less red eyes at him. Or maybe it was squinting—not that it mattered.

He stopped breathing for a moment, as if that would help him turn invisible to the obviously ghostly creature.

"An intruder!" The thing squawked, and Daisuke cursed. It flew at him, and he rolled under it to dodge, slipping out the door and slamming it in the vulture’s face before it could get out. A satisfying thud resounded on the other side, followed by a quiet groan of pain, "Awwwk…"

Daisuke didn’t waste time, turning to head out—he had been caught. He needed to get out. Why were there ghosts in this mansion anyhow? And why a talking vulture that spoke as if he owned the place, or at least worked there? Was it because he disabled the ghost shield?

He turned the corner and froze again—two more vultures.

"It came from over here!" One shouted at the other, "Intruder! You get the boss!"

The other vulture did as told, and Daisuke was faced with yet another ugly green bird.

"Oh, ghosts so aren’t my thing." He muttered to himself, ducking again as it charged him. The other vulture from before phased through the wall, grabbing his arm. "What—hey!"

"I got ‘im, I got ‘im!"

"Hey, leave him alone, turkeybrains!" A blast of green nearly seared Daisuke as it flew past, but it effectively got rid of the vulture from his arm and stole the attention of the second vulture.

Daisuke turned toward the familiar voice. “Danny!”

"I got these guys. They’ll be focused on me—go find the Ecto-Converter!" Danny grinned at him, and he nodded in understanding.

The spiky-haired man took off, heading toward the library to find the secret basement lab.

~~~

Danny cursed at himself for forgetting to get the Fenton Thermos from Daisuke before he left. He was stuck dealing with these bird-brains, and Plasmius too when he showed up.

"I didn’t expect you to get in here without my detection, Daniel," Vlad sneered, "How did you manage that? I had all my sensors set, too."

Danny smirked. “Oh? Something you don’t know? That’s a first. Well, besides that time you found out about me.”

“You were supposed to be impossible. That was expected. This, it was not.” The vampiric blue-skinned ghost fired magenta-pink ecto-rays at the ghost boy, “Nevertheless, you’re not going to get what you came fo—”

They were interrupted by a small explosion, and both ghosts and the vultures looked over. There was a hole in Vlad’s wall, smoke billowing green and hazy.

"Get back here, intruder!" Skulker’s voice boomed, and a figure came stumbling through the smoke.

Danny gasped, his eyes widening. Daisuke!

He wanted to go to help his friend, hoping desperately that Daisuke wasn’t hurt, before the smoke completely cleared and Danny realized that Daisuke’s stumble was because he had just ducked out of the way of the blast that caused the hole in the wall. He straightened out quickly enough, catching Danny’s eye—and he patted the duffel bag, grinning. He had gotten the converter.

The moment was short-lived, however, as Skulker emerged from the smoke as well, growling at Daisuke. He looked up and saw Plasmius. “This one was sneaking around the lab!” He pointed his arm canon at the redhead.

"Oh, what’s this? You have a friend, Daniel?" Plasmius laughed.

"Drop the act. You already knew about him." Danny snapped, firing a sickly green ecto-blast at the elder ghost.

Vlad simply shielded and continued as if Danny hadn’t said anything. “And he helped you! What a foolish boy—both of you.” He grinned darkly at Danny, “You know, the more friends you have, the more weaknesses you do.”

"Don’t you dare.” Danny hissed, charging up another ecto-ray.

"Skulker, be done with him already, would you?" Vlad laughed.

The metal ghost huffed. “Alright. And then the ghost child is mine!” He sneered at Danny, then turned back to Daisuke, who was adjusting the bag over his shoulder. The nonchalance of the action caused Skulker to falter. “You! Why aren’t you trembling in fear? I am the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter, and you are my prey tonight!”

Daisuke blinked his big red eyes, playing innocent. “Sorry, sir, that title means nothing to me.” He said politely, “And I’m just a human. Do ghosts normally hunt humans?”

Skulker glared at him. “I’ll make it mean something then—congratulations, you’re going to be the first human in my collection!” His canon whirred dangerously, lighting up bright green.

"That doesn’t sound good." Daisuke frowned, his feet shifting subtly, widening his stance.

"Prepare to die, foolish human brat!"

Danny gasped when Skulker shot the canon, and his eyes shot to his friend. Daisuke didn’t look worried or scared, however—his face was deep with concentration, and Danny nearly missed the next moment.

He dodged. The canon fired and Daisuke dodged at the very last minute.

"Oops! That would have been bad if that hit me!" Daisuke mused. He seemed almost entertained, or giddy, that he had been able to dodge.

Skulker looked surprised as well, before he charged up another shot and fired again. Once more, Daisuke bent fluidly out of the way, more agile than a cat.

It had to have been the same ability Danny saw the other night, whatever that was. He’d have to ask about it for sure. Danny stared for a moment longer, before he remembered Vlad. He looked up, and saw Vlad was also watching in curiosity, confusion, and growing annoyance.

He was distracted. Danny landed a good hit on Vlad, smirking.

"Ooh, playing dirty now, are we." Vlad growled, returning his attention to Danny.

Down below, Daisuke gritted his teeth as he dodged yet again—yet another close call… too close for comfort. He had to stop that guy from firing somehow.

He looked up briefly, caught sight of Danny fighting Plasmius, and then remembered the thing Danny gave him before. As he dodged another blast, he whipped out—the thermos? He was hoping for the wrist gun thing, but this would do. He popped off the cap and, after taking a moment to examine the thing as he dodged, he aimed it toward Skulker.

"You know, I lied. I’ve heard a lot about you." Daisuke grinned at him, catching him off guard. He had stopped firing for a second. "But that still doesn’t mean your title has any significance to me." And he hit the suction button, engulfing Skulker in a bright white-blue light.

Daisuke stared in awe at the empty space Skulker once stood, then turned and looked up at Danny and Plasmius. He frowned, trying to get a good aim, but he couldn’t get Plasmius without getting Danny too, so he decided to aim for the unsuspecting vultures, circling overhead and occasionally diving down to peck at Danny.

The bright light distracted Vlad and Danny. Vlad looked like he had been in the middle of a sentence—Daisuke hadn’t been paying attention. He aimed the thermos at the blue-skinned ghost, eyes narrow.

"Your friend has quick reflexes," Plasmius sneered at Danny, "I know when I’m beaten… but this is only a temporary victory for you, Daniel. You cannot defeat me.”

Danny glowered at him. “Wanna bet, fruit loop?” He charged up the most powerful ray he could conjure, his eyes glowing brightly.

Vlad simply chuckled, grabbing his cape and sweeping it dramatically as he disappeared in a swirl of magenta-pink.

Danny flew down to Daisuke, quickly grabbing his arm after he put the thermos away. “Let’s get out of here!”

Daisuke nodded, not protesting as Danny picked him up and flew off at top speed.

~~~

The pair took a rest at Daisuke’s apartment, and Danny checked to make sure the Ecto-Converter was still there and in one piece.

"What an adventure. I don’t think I want to do that again," Daisuke sighed, running his hands through his hair, "It was too close a lot of times! I really am rusty…"

"How’d you manage to dodge Skulker, anyway?" Danny asked curiously, fiddling with the Ecto-Converter, making sure it was definitely off while he did so.

"I’m good at running away," Daisuke shrugged, "I’m not much for fighting, and my mom didn’t want me hurt, so… I’m just used to dodging a lot of things." He coughed, tossing his things in his closet after he gave Danny’s ghost hunting gear back.

"And the lock picking kit?"

Daisuke blinked, turning around to face the white-haired ghost boy, who was staring at him curiously. “Oh. That was… from my friend.” He murmured, pulling the little pouch out of his pocket. He looked down at it for a moment before he turned back to the closet, safely stowing it away to wherever it had been before.

"Oh. Uh, sorry I asked?"

"No, it’s okay. This little kit has gotten me in about as much trouble as it’s gotten me out of it," Daisuke laughed, going to sit down on his bed. He stared across at Danny at his desk, fiddling with the device. "…What exactly are you doing?"

"Making sure this thing can’t cause me a world of pain." Danny winced, sticking his hand into the device and pulling out a screw here and a bolt there. "Jack tends to screw things up anyway, they won’t know I did it if I can get this back before they notice."

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow. “Do you always sabotage their inventions?”

"Only when I have to," The boy grumbled, "They do make a bunch of things that are helpful, like the thermos… but things like this are dangerous to everyone, not just me."

"What exactly is it, anyway?"

"It converts ectoplasm into a renewable energy source or… something. Or it makes a lot of energy out of a little bit of ectoplasm, I can’t remember." Danny shrugged, "Basically it’s like a machine that liquefies a ghost, completely breaks them down, and makes enough energy to light a few cities."

"I can’t see how that’s bad, except for the destroying a ghost thing. I can see why you wouldn’t like that." Daisuke grimaced.

"It could be used to power a super weapon too."

"Ah, I see your point now."

When Danny finished tinkering with the device, he took it and bid Daisuke farewell, since he needed to get the device back to Fenton Works. Hopefully he wasn’t too late.

And as he raced home, he still couldn’t help but wonder about the oddity that was Daisuke Niwa. Even after all this time, there was so much Danny didn’t understand.

But… Daisuke had been honest and true, when he said he would help Danny. And Danny couldn’t think of a better friend than that, aside from Tucker and Sam. Danny was grateful—even if he couldn’t tell the redhead his secret… he was glad that he had found a real friend in Daisuke.

Chapter Text

Daisuke wasn’t on the roof, for once. Danny came by after patrol—it had been several weeks since the incident with Vlad, and Danny came by slightly more often to make sure Daisuke was okay.

After all, what Vlad said had struck a chord in the young ghost boy.

“The more friends you have, the more weaknesses you do.”

Daisuke was usually fine, and he insisted to Danny that nothing had happened and that the boy should stop worrying. Danny had begun to ease up, last time, but not seeing Daisuke on the roof as usual made his stomach drop anxiously.

The window was closed, but the light was on. He reminded himself that it was getting colder—it was well into December now—and that maybe Daisuke was just keeping warm for the winter these days. Daisuke always did seem sensitive to the chill.

Still, he couldn’t completely convince himself that Daisuke was okay until he saw him, so he flew up to the window, peeking in.

Danny sagged in relief when he saw Daisuke at his desk, on the computer—probably doing homework. He paused, remembering that Daisuke had said that winter break was starting for him, so he didn’t have classes anymore. It couldn’t have been homework, then.

Curious now, he tapped lightly on the window. Daisuke looked up in surprise, but relaxed when he saw Danny. As he watched the tension in Daisuke’s body melt away at the abrupt interruption of whatever he was doing, Danny wondered if maybe Daisuke was more cautious than the ghost boy gave him credit for. Despite how lax and confident he was around Danny, always reassuring him that he was okay, Daisuke really was keeping his guard up against Vlad—or, rather, Plasmius. Danny had been smart enough to warn Daisuke about Plasmius, at least.

Daisuke smiled and motioned him in. He phased through the window, and it became caked with a light frost as his natural ghostly body temperature caused the air around him to shiver.

Danny was about to speak, but Daisuke wasn’t looking at him—he was looking back at his computer, speaking to it.

“—Aa, nandemonai. Gousuto-kun ga ima asonde kiteiru." Then he turned to Danny, grinning. "Good evening, Danny."

“Gousuto-kun…?" A voice came from the computer, girlish but tense-sounding.

“Uwaah, ano hito ka?" Came a second voice, more girlish than the other, but so similar in pitch that Danny almost couldn’t tell them apart.

"Uh, evening, Daisuke. Am I interrupting something?" Danny tilted his head. Daisuke seemed to be on a webcam chat with someone, or maybe just an internet phone call.

"Not at all," Daisuke shook his head, motioning him closer. "Would you like to meet my friends?"

Danny blinked, coming closer curiously and peering over Daisuke’s shoulder. He stared in surprise at the two side-by-side images on the screen—there were two brunette women, and both looked identical, save for the fact that one had shorter, shoulder-length hair. He felt like he was supposed to know who they were…

“Nee, ano hito wa Gousuto-kun desu, ne!" The longer-haired woman looked intrigued, grinning and giggling, "Niwa-kun, Gousuto-kun no ke ga hontou ni yuki no you ni shiroi desu ne!”

“Gousuto-kun no me ga… kira kira da, ne." The shorter-haired woman remained stoic, her eyebrows furrowing.

Danny tilted his head in confusion, not sure what they were saying, but he was more than sure that they had said “ghost” quite a few times. And they didn’t seem scared of him—it puzzled him, even if it was nice to be treated somewhat humanely.

“Hai, kore wa Gousuto-kun da, Danny da." Daisuke chuckled, looking at his friend. "Danny, these are my friends—Riku and Risa Harada."

Danny suddenly remembered where he had seen the women before—in Daisuke’s photos and drawings. “Ah, Riku’s your girlfriend, right?”

Daisuke nodded. The shorter-haired woman blushed, brushing some hair away from her face. “Nice to meet you,” she finally said in English, though her words were accented, “Danny, right? Daisuke has told us a lot about you.”

"Ah, I was wondering if you could speak English." Danny grinned at her brightly, "Yeah, I’m Danny. Nice to meet you too… uh—"

"Riku." She provided, smiling uneasily.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Riku." Danny nodded, "Then you must be Miss Risa," he looked to the other woman, "Daisuke’s told me about both of you too."

The long-haired woman giggled. “Glad to know!” She smiled widely, “I did not believe him at first, but…”

"Yes, I’m a real ghost," Danny chuckled, floating back a little so they could see him hovering, "See?"

"He’s flying!" Risa smiled in amusement, glancing at the redhead beside the ghost boy, "Ne, Niwa-kun, ano toki ni…" She paused, trailing off, then changed course. "Oboemasu ka?”

Daisuke nodded. “I got to fly with Danny, too,” He said in English, if only to not exclude his young friend, “It’s different, it’s like weighing nothing.”

"What did she ask?" Danny tilted his head, settling in the air next to Daisuke again, crossing his legs.

"She asked me if I remembered what it was like to fly, with… my friend." Daisuke whispered softly, "She was close to him too, so we both know what it was like."

Danny blinked, but nodded in understanding. Daisuke seemed to be past mourning, for the most part, but judging by his quiet tone, he wasn’t quite sure if Risa was.

"Really? I wish I could fly too," Risa sighed dreamily.

Riku cleared her throat. “Danny-kun,” She paused, a smile tugging at her lips when Danny gave her a strange look, “Ah, Danny,” she corrected herself, “Daisuke was just telling us about your latest… adventure?”

Danny laughed, shaking his head, “I wouldn’t call it an adventure. But it’s good to know Daisuke thinks of it as one.” He flashed his friend a grin.

"Is that so," Riku leaned back, her arms shifting in the view of the camera, and she was clearly crossing her arms, "He didn’t give us the exact details. He said something about helping you get something back?"

Danny blinked slowly. “Uh… yeah. I had to get this machine back, and I couldn’t get past the security, so I asked Daisuke for help.” He paused, wondering how much was okay to tell her, if Daisuke kept out bits. “He disabled the security for me, and got the machine while I distracted the, uh, guards.”

Riku’s eyes narrowed. “Daisuke…”

"I didn’t do anything rash," Daisuke huffed, blowing some hair out of his eyes, "It was ghost technology. He couldn’t get past it, that’s all."

Danny lifted an eyebrow at him. Obviously Riku didn’t like the idea that Daisuke had apparently helped him break into some place.

Risa just seemed amused. “It could not have been as easy as walking in and turning it off. What happened, Niwa-kun?”

"Okay, so I might have picked a lock or two." Daisuke admitted shyly, blushing sheepishly. "But I promise, I didn’t get into any trouble!" He said quickly when Riku looked like she was about to reprimand him.

Danny found their interaction to be surprising—he was under the impression that they were pretty much living happily ever after. It seemed they still had their differences on some things—the idea just served to make Daisuke seem more normal, strangely enough.

Riku groaned. “Okay, I’ll believe you,” She muttered, then looked at Danny, “He’s told us about the ghosts in your town. He didn’t get hurt by any, did he?”

"No, though it came pretty close." Danny answered before he could stop himself, earning a mild glare from Daisuke and widened eyes from Riku and Risa. "I mean!" Danny gulped, "He ran away, but uh, yeah, it was some impressive running away, and…"

Daisuke shook his head, elbowing Danny to shut him up. The ghost boy quickly complied.

"Daisuke, you promised you’d be careful." Riku fretted.

"I was." Daisuke replied shortly, looking down at the keyboard, though he didn’t touch it.

"Geez, so close to that date too… I worry about you, all alone over there, you know." Riku sighed.

"Uh, I make sure I don’t involve him in ghost fights or something, Miss Riku," Danny offered, "I promise, last time was the first and hopefully only time."

Risa caught their attention by leaning in. “It’s alright, we trust you—Niwa-kun does.” She smiled kindly at him. “Besides, if Danny is there, Niwa-kun is not alone, right, Riku?”

Danny looked surprised, staring with wide eyes at the long-haired brunette. She reminded him a lot of Jazz… he wondered if they would get along.

"Yes… I’m glad for that, at least." Riku sighed, "I have to go to classes now. Talk to you later, Daisuke?"

Daisuke nodded. “Hai, ja ne." He smiled at her reassuringly, seeing that she still seemed uneasy.

She bid him farewell, and her webcam screen blacked out. Risa was left with them, seeming amused. “She’s just worried.”

"I know." Daisuke smiled, "I guess Danny made her a bit uncomfortable too."

Danny blinked. “Me?” He asked, taken aback. He hoped he hadn’t said anything to offend Daisuke’s girlfriend…

"You’re a ghost. Riku and Risa are a bit keen to these sorts of things… and magic and the supernatural gives her the creeps, basically." Daisuke shrugged, "We’ve gotten into a few scrapes with them before, so I don’t blame her for being wary."

Danny stared. So Riku and Risa had been involved in the magic business too, huh.

"Don’t mind her—she’ll warm up to you soon. You seem like a nice kid." Risa grinned. "Anyway, Niwa-kun… I’ll make a prayer for you too, okay?"

Daisuke nodded, “Thank you. Tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t come this year, but I’ll be thinking about him.”

Risa smiled sadly, and somehow it was a stark contrast to her previously playful demeanor. “Alright. I’m going to go to classes too. Bye—and it was nice meeting you, Danny. I hope to talk to you again.” She grinned brightly at him.

"Uh, yeah, same." Danny smiled back. After she hung up, he asked Daisuke, "What was she talking about?"

Daisuke glanced at his friend, then turned back to his laptop, shutting it. “Today would have been my friend’s twenty-first birthday.”

Danny took a moment to process this. “…Which one?” He asked slowly. Daisuke had used past tense…

"The one like an angel."

"Oh."

"We—my living friends and I—went to the shrine and made prayers every year on his birthday… wishing he was resting well, and hoping he was watching over us." Daisuke said softly, "This is the first year I won’t be able to go… but that’s alright."

Danny frowned, tilting his head. “Why didn’t you just fly home? You’re on winter break now, right?”

"The break is too short and I hadn’t planned ahead of time," the redhead shrugged. Danny wondered if he hadn’t planned because he didn’t know what to do, or if he planned to not go home for the break at all. He did say he had wanted to get away from home for a while.

They were quiet for a long while. Danny floated, sitting in the air, and Daisuke hadn’t moved from his desk seat, staring down at his lap. It was obvious Daisuke missed his friend, but his face didn’t give him away. Danny knew Daisuke—he didn’t show his mourning, trying so hard to move on, so he plastered a smile on his face and kept going. It was hard to tell his true feelings when he was like that. But it was times like this, when his face was blank and showed nothing at all, that Danny knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Hey, you know, if I meet him in the Ghost Zone somehow, I can probably give him a message." Danny offered awkwardly, fiddling with his hands.

"No," Daisuke shook his head. "Even if you did meet him… Don’t tell me."

"Huh? Why?"

Daisuke finally looked up at him, his vivid red eyes suddenly seeming much wiser than their age.

"I don’t want to know that he’s not resting peacefully." Daisuke shook his head solemnly, "I don’t want to believe he had regrets."

Danny was quiet, and after a moment, he straightened, his feet tapping the ground lightly. Green met red and didn’t leave.

"Daisuke… can I ask you something?"

Daisuke nodded mutely, and he had a feeling he knew what Danny was going to ask.

"How did your friend die?"

"…"

The silence stretched, a look of pain entering Daisuke’s eyes. Danny could visibly see the man remembering his earliest days of mourning, and the ghost boy couldn’t help but feel as if he had just trodden on freshly fallen snow, fragile and untouched and glistening in the morning sunlight. The look in Daisuke’s eyes now reminded Danny of a frozen battlefield, the snow hard-packed and slippery.

He thought Daisuke wouldn’t answer.

He did.

"He killed himself."

Danny flinched at the coldness in Daisuke’s voice—it was a tone he had never expected to hear from Daisuke of all people.

Daisuke wasn’t finished.

"He used magic, and it killed him. In the end, even if he was finally free from the monsters that controlled his life… he sacrificed a life he never held dear—his life… and it hurt me. Because I held him dear." Daisuke finally broke his gaze, looking down at his lap once more, "He tried to use his magic to save my other friends. In the end I lost all of them."

Daisuke had said something like this before—when he talked about the maid and the butler. So his angel friend was the one who tried to save them…

"Giving up his life like that… I think he hoped he finally had meaning. So I refuse to believe… he had regrets. Because even if none of them survived… if he was glad with his decision, then I’ll be glad to accept it."

"…You’re right. Maybe he is an angel." Danny said at last, earning a melancholy smile from Daisuke. "And it sounds like his life used to suck a lot… maybe it was better, then."

Daisuke nodded with a small sigh. “You don’t know how many times I’ve told myself that.”

They fell into silence again—the ghost boy stood motionlessly in front of the artist, trying to imagine his friend’s pain. He couldn’t.

"Danny? Can I ask you something now?"

"…Sure."

"When— …How old were you, when you died?"

Danny desperately wanted to tell him that he hadn’t died. That he didn’t have to have one more friend who was technically beyond the grave. That he didn’t have to mourn because Danny wasn’t dead. But he knew it wouldn’t change anything, and at this moment, it didn’t matter.

"I was fourteen. I died a year ago."

Daisuke gave a melancholy smile, looking up but not quite seeing Danny.

"I knew it… you were so young…"

Silence again. Then…

"Can I ask you something, and you won’t get mad?"

"Yes…?"

"Did it hurt, when you died?"

Danny frowned deeply, staring into Daisuke’s ruby red orbs, and then closed his eyes, recalling the day of his accident.

In a moment of decision, he answered, ”It did. A lot. I was electrocuted.”

At this, Daisuke’s eyes snapped to focus, and he stared at Danny in muted shock.

"I felt all of that pain… every volt through my body… but it was only for a second." Danny said softly, hoping to reassure Daisuke that it didn’t bother him. It did, but only when he thought about it. "I don’t feel it anymore."

Daisuke’s shoulders sagged, and he sank deeper into his chair. “That’s… a relief. At least that means… he didn’t suffer long.” He whispered, forcing a smile to his lips.

He knew full well that wasn’t true, though—his friend had suffered for a very long time, alive but dead and wishing for an end.

Danny didn’t need to know that. Daisuke didn’t want to think about it. So he moved past it, putting it out of his mind.

The ghost boy said nothing, waiting for a cue from Daisuke, trying to figure out what to say.

Daisuke spoke again after a long, pregnant pause.

"…He was fifteen. Not much older than you."

Chapter Text

Christmas time was nearing again—the decorations were up, the presents were under the tree, and the arguments about whether Santa existed or not started early this year.

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation, tapping his foot impatiently. When he got tired of the yelling, he called out, “I’m going out, I have no idea when I’ll be back!” And neither of of his parents noticed.

Danny sulked, reaching for the doorknob. Jazz stopped him, made sure he had a scarf in addition to his jacket—the cold never really bothered him anymore so he didn’t need it, but he let Jazz fret over him, smiling gratefully because at least she knew he’d be out.

He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and trudged through the streets of Amity Park—it was the one time of year he wasn’t constantly around his friends. They were all warm at home celebrating the holiday with their families—and sometimes he wished he could join them.

He remembered once when he spent Christmas at Tucker’s when he was in sixth grade. That had been the most peaceful, relaxing, fun Christmas he had ever had.

He sighed heavily, his breath materializing in front of him. He felt no shiver up his spine, so he knew it wasn’t a ghost—just the cold. Not that it mattered, this was also the one time of year the ghosts didn’t constantly attack.

It was too quiet, too peaceful. He pouted to himself as he kicked the icy ground. It was nice without the yelling, at least, but he felt a little lonely, walking around town all by himself.

He looked up as snow began to fall. His eyes wide, taking everything in, his lips remained in a thin line, unsure if he should curse the weather or play in it.

After a moment, he moved on. Maybe he’d go to the arcade, spend some quarters, kill some time.

He passed the park and stopped. Daisuke had a lot of places he liked to hang out, and the park seemed to be one of them, because the redhead was walking toward it briskly from the other side of the street. Danny watched as Daisuke paused on the corner, looked up and held out his hands to catch the snowflakes, a soft smile on his face.

At least he knew how to feel about the snow.

Daisuke continued on after a moment, but it didn’t seem like he was looking for a place to sit down. He was just wandering, looking around at the frost-covered everything, occasionally adjusting his scarf around his neck.

Despite the icy ground, Daisuke didn’t have any trouble navigating, somehow easily side-stepping the cold patches or hop-skipping over them even though he wasn’t paying attention to his feet. He stumbled only once, but that was because a couple with their dog had passed him and he had moved to get out of the way, and instead tripped over the dog’s leash.

Daisuke had caught himself before he actually fell, flailing a little and twisting his feet to regain his footing. When he righted himself, he apologized to the couple for his clumsiness, rubbing his head sheepishly and grinning shyly, as if his clumsiness was a joke he was used to telling.

As he knelt down to pet the dog and calm it since he had startled it, Danny couldn’t help but take note that Daisuke’s clumsiness was extremely controlled—yes, he had tripped, but the way he caught himself had held the subtle grace of a trained martial artist. Danny would know, his mother and his ex-girlfriend were both black-belts—and he himself was used to making quick recoveries like that in his ghost fights. He’d recognize those reflexes anywhere. Not only that, Danny knew from personal experience what faking clumsiness looked like—he did it more than often enough in his human form, to divert others from thinking he might have a connection with Phantom.

He knew that Daisuke had a couple of agile moves, but he honestly couldn’t imagine that plain, unnoticeable man with any sort of fighting ability. It was surprising, though, that Daisuke could move so fluidly—Danny had seen it before, but when he really, really looked, he noticed that Daisuke always moved like that. He had to wonder why the man played clutz when there wasn’t a real need to—and why he only did it when he thought other people were looking. Normal people. Like that couple and their dog.

Daisuke stood up, apologizing to the couple again, and they parted ways—Daisuke continuing into the park, and the couple heading out of it.

There was a pause. Bright red eyes were suddenly aimed in Danny’s direction, and he flinched, quickly looking away and moving on, hoping Daisuke didn’t notice how long he had been staring. He didn’t look back.

Of course Daisuke had noticed the blue-eyed boy across the street, watching him since at least the time he tripped in front of that couple—there was very little that actually escaped Daisuke’s notice. But after the boy moved on, he decided he should too—a single boy watching him trip probably wasn’t anything much anyhow.

The powder was starting to accumulate—some patches melted into more ice, and Daisuke didn’t think twice about where he was stepping, navigating his way around or over them without consciously realizing it.

There was a lake deep in the park. Daisuke had wanted to go see it—that was his destination.

"Most people avoid going out in the cold," came a voice above him, and he startled, looking up.

Danny seemed amused that he was able to surprise Daisuke, for once. He normally moved soundlessly, but Daisuke had always been able to tell he was there before because of his ghostly aura. Now that it was winter out, Daisuke probably didn’t pick up on the minute difference in temperature so quickly.

"Oh, hello, Danny," Daisuke smiled at him, continuing on his way, letting the ghost boy tag along without a word, "I rather like the cold, actually. Or, the snow, I suppose—not so much the cold."

Danny lifted an eyebrow, drifting after the redhead curiously. “I didn’t think you liked the cold—you seem pretty sensitive to it.”

"I’m not—I’m just good at reading the environment," Daisuke grinned now, "I don’t mind a lot of weather… what ever gave you the idea that I didn’t like it, before?"

"You always shivered around me and stuff," Danny tilted his head, "Most people sensitive to the cold don’t like it."

"I grew up in Japan. We get snow there regularly—and a lot of it—so this isn’t odd for me." Daisuke shrugged, looking up at the sky. "Winter is my favorite time of year, Danny—so no, I don’t think I dislike the cold."

Danny looked surprised. “It is? I kind of hate it—winter, that is.” He muttered.

"The snow reminds me of many of my friends… one of them made it snow for me, once, to cheer me up and tell me goodbye. I’ll never forget that." Daisuke said softly, "Among other things."

The ghost boy stared at him curiously. “Made it snow?”

"The girl from the Second Hand of Time… she made it snow for me." Daisuke smiled as if he knew she was up in the sky, listening to him, "I might not have known her long, but she still thought of me."

"So that’s what magic can do, huh?" Danny mused. Magic sure was a strange thing… he still couldn’t get a grasp of what it was, but as far as he could tell, people could wield it and most of the time it was dangerous… even life-threatening to its users. To hear that a friend of Daisuke’s had done something incredible, without the imminent danger involved… he wondered if he would ever understand the complexities of these things.

"Just about, yes." Daisuke glanced over at the teenage ghost, changing the subject as he looked ahead again, still heading for the lake. "So why don’t you like winter, Danny?"

Danny’s expression fell, and he didn’t look up at Daisuke, though he didn’t lose pace. “My parents always fight—fought—whatever… around this time of year. We never had a normal Christmas because they were always arguing.” He answered honestly, sighing heavily. “And everyone else is so busy with their holiday celebrations, I can’t hang out with them. I’d ask to celebrate with them, but… I wouldn’t want to bother them, you know? It’s a time of family and stuff.”

"Oh… I see," Daisuke frowned, tilting his head. "Well, if you want, you’re welcome to hang out with me." He offered with a small smile, "I’m not much for American holidays—even in Japan, it isn’t much of a family holiday. It’s more of a holiday for couples… sort of like an American Valentine’s Day?"

Danny glanced over at him, lifting an eyebrow. Daisuke had not commented on the situation with his family or friends, but instead had offered Danny a distraction… one he kind of desperately needed right now. It was unexpected, but not unpleasantly so.

"Is there a difference between a Japanese Valentine’s Day and an American one?" Danny asked curiously, grinning to show that he would accept Daisuke’s invitation.

"In Japan, Valentine’s Day is more of a holiday where girls can confess their feelings for a boy. In America, it’s more of a day where couples can celebrate their relationship, right?" Daisuke mused, "In Japan, the reciprocal of Valentine’s Day is White Day, where boys can return the girls’ feelings in a way. So our Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and White Day celebrations are quite different from America—America doesn’t even have a White Day holiday, correct?"

"I’ve never heard of it." Danny blinked, surprised. "That’s actually pretty cool."

"Is it? I don’t know." Daisuke chuckled, glad that Danny was effectively distracted from his previous depression, "You know what I think is cool? In Japan, getting Kentucky Fried Chicken is so hard around the holidays because it’s as much a tradition for families in Japan to have it as it is for Americans to have turkey on Thanksgiving. In America, well… I think I can have some this year without calling the store two weeks in advance to reserve an order."

Danny stared at him. “You guys eat KFC on Christmas?” He asked, apparently befuddled.

"I don’t know why it’s a tradition either, but it is." Daisuke laughed at his expression. "It’s a little funny, isn’t it? I know in America, that stuff is considered fast food, and homemade meals are preferred, right?"

"Yeah," Danny answered slowly, "But actually, I think you have the right idea. I think I’d rather have fast food for Christmas dinner than poultry that’ll come to life and eat me."

At this, Daisuke stopped, a puzzled expression on his face. “Excuse me?”

Danny blushed deep green and rubbed his head. “Ah, um… that’s another reason I don’t like the holidays so much. In my home, my parents… they were scientists, and sometimes their experiments brought the food to life. Most of the time they tried to eat us during Christmas dinner.” He explained, “Actually, I’m pretty sure the rabid hotdogs the last experiment brought to life are still locked in the bottom of the refrigerator.”

Daisuke stared at him, and after a moment, gave a wry laugh. “Your family sounds interesting.” He shook his head, continuing down the path, “Well, if you drop by on Christmas, I promise I won’t have any man-eating hotdogs.”

Danny followed after him, a semi-surprised expression on his face. Daisuke had not questioned the experiments or who his parents were… and he was still offering to spend Christmas with Danny.

"Is it really alright? I mean, surely you have friends to hang out with here, or a Christmas party to go to? I heard there are a lot of parties in college." Danny commented offhandedly.

Daisuke nodded. “It’s fine,” He assured the boy, “I’ll be busy on Christmas Eve, because it will be Christmas over in Japan and I’ll be online with my friends and family, but Christmas day is just another day to me. I don’t have any plans to go anywhere. So yes, stop by… unless you have your own things to do?” He inquired curiously, wondering if ghosts still celebrated Christmas or if they had their own traditions.

Danny looked thoughtful. “…Actually, I might have someplace to be, for once,” he said, “All of the Ghost Zone has this Christmas Truce thing—basically, no one attacks and it’s pretty peaceful. They even have a party in the Ghost Zone—I was invited too, even though most of the ghosts there hated me every other day of the year. They’re pretty nice, though, when they’re not trying to destroy me.”

"Oh?" Daisuke’s eyes glinted, his curiosity piqued. "A party in the ghostly realms?"

"Yeah, I didn’t believe it either—ghosts have this code they go by, and the Christmas Truce is one of them," Danny grinned, "I only found out about it last year, but that was on accident because I pissed off a ghost by destroying his Christmas poem. He attacked me for that. All the other ghosts got mad at him for breaking the truce."

"Wow." Daisuke paused as they finally came to the clearing with the lake, and the snow was just starting to pile up everywhere and freeze the water. He found a fallen log to sit on, looking up at Danny. "Care to tell me that story?"

Danny laughed, nodding as he folded his legs in the air, getting comfortable. “Well…”

Chapter Text

The new semester had started and it was back to the norm for Daisuke. It was early evening—Daisuke had just finished his classes for the day, and as he headed home he wondered what to do for his class art show.

As his apartment building came into view, he found himself looking up at his usual spot, wondering if Danny would stop by tonight.

A shiver ran down his spine, and he stopped and frowned—there wasn’t a breeze, and while the chill of winter was still dominant, he noticed the temperature seemed to drop ever so slightly. He had learned to detect Danny’s aura in the cold over the winter break, but the muteness of this temperature made him concerned.

"Danny?" He called out, wondering if the boy was just keeping his distance. Danny did seem to like to try to surprise him, ever since he found out Daisuke could be surprised, but he was normally sneakier than that.

"Afraid not," came a low, raspy chuckle, and Daisuke whipped around in alarm, his body going tense. His red eyes scanned the area for the imminent threat—and he knew it was one, because he recognized that voice.

"Plasmius?"

There was no one there, but the amused owner of the voice appeared once his name was said. He shimmered into view, his blue skin seeming paler in the dying light of the winter day, and his narrowed eyes glowed brighter. He gave the young college student a fanged grin. “So you remember me.”

"I expected you to attack earlier, after I helped Danny," Daisuke frowned at him—Plasmius was very calm, his position lax, like he wasn’t expecting a fight… or at least a hard one. "It’s been nearly a month. What gives?"

"Oh, I never make a move without knowing what I’m getting into," Plasmius sneered at him, his smirk growing. "I never quite realized how close you and Daniel were. It makes this move rather interesting."

"What are you talking about?"

"I’ve been watching you for some time now, Daisuke Niwa," Plasmius chuckled deeply, "You certainly are rather plain—I don’t see how a boy like you could even garner Daniel’s interest, but somehow you have."

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow. “I could say the same about you… what about me has made me so interesting that you would be standing in front of me right now, hm?” He shifted his stance—his feet better positioned for flight or fight. It didn’t go unnoticed by the vampiric ghost, who laughed.

"Because the plainer you are, the easier it is to make you disappear unnoticed.”

Daisuke tensed even more, his fists clenching at his sides. “You can’t just make me disappear—Danny won’t let you. I won’t.”

"Oh, my boy, you have no idea who you’re dealing with,” The ghost said with a flourish of his hand, “and it doesn’t matter if you won’t—nothing you think or say or do will make a difference.”

Daisuke’s stance widened even more, his eyes narrowing calculatingly. Plasmius only laughed, as if Daisuke was completely defenseless and anything he did was futile—Daisuke knew that even if Plasmius had been watching him a long time, absolutely nothing gave away Daisuke’s true strength—he never showed it, and kept it well hidden and under wraps for his own personal reasons. Plasmius wouldn’t have known anything about what Daisuke could really do.

And that was foolish on Plasmius’ part, despite his claim of knowing what he was getting into.

"I imagine your disappearance would cause some delicious grief for young Daniel, hmm?" Plasmius smirked, his feet leaving the ground, "If he goes looking for you… he’ll be distracted, now won’t he."

"I’m not going anywhere." Daisuke growled. It was obvious Plasmius had some sort of plan, and he needed Danny out of the way for it, but there was no way Daisuke was going down without a fight. Maybe if he bought some time, Danny would come by…

His eyes widened as, in the near distance, he saw that speck of black and white on the dying purple sky.

Great timing! He thought in relief, Just a few more minutes!

"You don’t have a choice." Plasmius laughed, "You see… it wouldn’t do if anyone saw you coming with me. But if you got yourself lost somewhere, it wouldn’t be my fault, and Daniel couldn’t come blaming me for it." He smirked, and before Daisuke could open his mouth to ask how he’d conveniently get lost without the blue-skinned ghost’s intervention, he lunged at the redhead.

"D—Daisuke!" Danny’s voice cried out, too far away to help but close enough to see what was happening.

Daisuke braced himself for an attack—but his eyes widened in shock and he gasped as Plasmius turned intangible and went through him. Suddenly the world seemed to recede into blackness… distant and dark and familiar.

"Butter biscuits," Plasmius growled through Daisuke’s mouth, glaring up at Danny. "Here I was hoping to get rid of the boy without you knowing I did something."

Danny skidded to a stop in the air before the overshadowed redhead, glaring angrily. “Let him go, Vlad!”

Vlad glowered, but smirked. “Ah, my original plan was to get rid of him myself, but a backup plan is always necessary for things like this. You wouldn’t attack your friend, would you?”

Hearing Vlad’s arrogant intonation in Daisuke’s voice was sickening. Danny’s face contorted in disgust. “I will if I have to. Now let him go, Vlad.” He demanded again.

"I think not," Vlad tipped his nose up, "You know, it’s strange—he’s surprisingly easy to overshadow,” he laughed, “Most people put up some sort of resistance… but he was gone the moment I came in. Humans are so fragile, don’t you think?”

Danny’s green eyes glowed dangerously, and he shifted his stance to attack. “You underestimate him,” he hissed, “If you think I won’t attack Daisuke because he can’t take a few hits, then you don’t know how strong he can be.”

"I know plent—"

"You really don’t."

Vlad froze, his eyes widening. Danny paused at the unexpected stop, confused.

"I don’t appreciate the take over. Now get out of my head."

The voice Vlad was hearing was low, seething with subtle anger.

You’re supposed to be out! Go to sleep, child, and you’ll remember none of this, like all the others!

"I don’t think so." Daisuke’s uncharacteristically dark voice replied, "I don’t know how overshadowing usually works, but I can assure you, your tricks won’t work on me."

"D… Daisuke?" Danny asked tentatively after the redhead hadn’t spoken for some time, standing frozen with a dazed look on his face.

To his surprise, the one who answered wasn’t Vlad.

"Sorry, Danny, give me a moment to deal with this creep."

Danny stared at him, completely confused. Though his eyes were still glowing to show Vlad was overshadowing him, the voice that came out was definitely Daisuke. It couldn’t have been Vlad—Vlad never called him “Danny”.

How… how are you doing that? Vlad stammered mentally, suddenly finding himself in a black void. The redhead was standing in front of him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Vlad couldn’t help but flinch in surprise.

"Oh, you have no idea who you’re dealing with." Daisuke chuckled, throwing the man’s words back at him, "This body is mine, and mine alone now. I would be nothing if I let someone like you take it so easily.”

Vlad frowned. Suddenly he was regretting not doing more research on the foreign boy. Who could have this much control over their mind—their body—that they could force outside invaders into a place like this?

"You have ten seconds to get out.”

And what if I don’t? Vlad sneered back, You’re a valuable token against that nuisance of a ghost boy.

"If you don’t, well… Otherwise, I’ll either kick you out myself, or I’ll trap you in my own personal hell. Either way, you’re in for a world of pain." Daisuke replied, unfazed. "You don’t get it do you? This is my territory. And your ten seconds start now."

Vlad stared at him for a few moments, his eyebrows furrowed. Daisuke stared back unblinkingly, and then he smirked. Despite that nothing was in the void, he could almost feel the darkness around them as it swirled and moved, and suddenly everything ached. Daisuke turned away as Vlad’s eyes widened.

Tendrils of black reached for Vlad, and he gasped in pain as Daisuke’s voice, mellow and deep and almost not entirely his own, echoed throughout the dark chamber.

"Roku… Go… Shi… San… Ni… Ichi."

Danny yelped and flew out of the way as suddenly the blue-skinned ghost’s white-clad form was thrown from Daisuke’s body, hitting the ground forcefully almost twenty feet away. Danny’s head quickly swiveled around to see Daisuke shaking his head, blinking his eyes twice, slowly. His eyes were back to normal, and a deep frown marred his face.

"Daisuke? You’re all you, right?" Danny asked in concern.

"I’m perfectly fine, Danny," The artist assured him, glaring at Plasmius, "That was not something I wanted to do though."

Danny stared at him. What had Daisuke not wanted to do?

He didn’t have to ask, because Vlad had gotten back to his feet, his eyes wide and bewildered as they locked onto Daisuke’s. “What did you do?”

"I gave you a taste of my hell and then kicked you out." Daisuke replied simply, tilting his head almost innocently, "Now you see why possessing me is unwise, yes?"

Danny looked between them, confused. He had never seen Vlad look as genuinely scared as he did of Daisuke.

"How… how did you…"

Daisuke’s face split into a grin. “Obviously you don’t know grief if that hurt you the way it did—that was only a fraction of what I felt and you look like you haven’t seen worse. By the way, the pain of losing a girl to another guy? That’s so petty.” The redhead commented offhandedly, “Honestly, haven’t you ever heard that ‘first love isn’t your only love’? Not that she ever liked you back, it seems like.”

Plasmius’ eyes widened, and he took a step back involuntarily. Even Danny looked surprised. “Why do you know that?”

Daisuke chuckled. “Oh, that’s the consequence of getting into my head, sir.” He answered easily, “I can get into yours too. And it appears you can’t even rummage through a mind like I can. I may be easily overshadowed, like you said, but that doesn’t mean you can get off easy.” His eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Who are you?” Plasmius asked, his eyes narrowing now that he had had time to compose himself, “You’re nothing, and yet… why do you know how to do all of this?”

Daisuke gave a wry smile. “I’m just an art student from Japan.” He said simply. ”So, are you done trying to use me as a pawn, or should Danny get the thermos out now?”

Danny jumped at his sudden inclusion back into the conversation, looking at Daisuke in questioning before he focused his attention on Vlad. He shifted his stance into the defensive, reaching for the thermos clipped to his belt.

Vlad glared at Daisuke suspiciously. The boy was calm and subtly threatening despite that nothing he said really gave away any intention of harm. Just who was Daisuke Niwa? The boy was right… he had no idea who he was dealing with.

"I know when things like this are over." Vlad floated up, "Don’t think this will be the last of me, Niwa… Daniel."

"This never began to start with." Danny frowned at him, keeping his stance as Vlad shot off, disappearing into the sky.

He relaxed when he was sure Vlad was gone, and he turned to his friend, worried. “You sure you’re okay?”

Daisuke nodded, turning to continue his way home, as if nothing had happened. “Nothing I can’t handle. I’m glad no shots were fired, though. I think that would have hurt, if you shot at him while he was in me.”

Danny followed after him, rubbing his head. “Oh, yeah, uh… I mean, I wouldn’t have tried to hurt you, just get him out of you.”

"I know," Daisuke grinned at him, pushing open the door to the stairwell just inside the entrance of his apartment building so he could head up to the third floor. "I knew you would save me somehow. I was trying to hold out till you got there, but I didn’t expect him to possess me like that."

Danny drifted at him, strangely quiet.

"…About that…"

"If you wanted to see what it was like, I wouldn’t mind. I wouldn’t do the kicking out thing either." Daisuke shrugged, "Or rummage through your mind. I’m not that rude. Though sometimes I can see stuff by accident if you’re thinking about it."

Danny’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you been overshadowed before?” How else could he have known such things? “Not that I would, but…”

"Aside from Plasmius?" Daisuke glanced over his shoulder at the ghost boy, "…Yeah, I guess you could say so. It’s how I learned to control my own body. It wasn’t any of the ghosts here, though."

"Was it like magic ghosts or something?" Danny asked curiously, waiting as Daisuke fumbled with his keys to get into his apartment, "Since I didn’t hear about any other ghosts aside from those girls you mentioned…"

Daisuke paused as the door unlocked. “…It was exactly that, actually,” He blinked, opening the door and going inside, closing it after Danny floated in. “I think I was made vulnerable because of that.”

"Is that what Plasmius meant when he said you were easily overshadowed?"

"Yeah," Daisuke nodded, putting his school things away. "I was possessed, in a way, for a long time once, and that left a hole in my soul after he went away."

Danny winced. “Sounds harsh. I’ve only ever overshadowed people for like, a day, tops.”

"I imagine if you possessed someone for more than that, they’d start to feel a hole too." Daisuke mused, "Once, one of the magical artifacts I was checking out for my friend took me and Harada—Risa, that is—into its world… there was a boy there who messed with my memories and tried to ‘erase’ me so that he could take over my body and leave the artifact’s world. It was because I had that ‘hole’ that made it so easy to pick me out I guess."

Danny got the feeling that Daisuke’s vague story was only touching the surface of the truth of what happened. But he didn’t ask.

"So artifacts could possess people too?"

"Yeah," Daisuke sat down at his desk as Danny took a seat on the bed, as usual, "Actually, my dad and I had a theory that most of the artifacts were connected to spirits—they could manifest in human forms, so we thought that maybe those forms and the worlds inside them came from a person of the formerly living."

Danny’s eyes widened. “So, uh, you dealt with ghosts a lot then.”

"Somewhat. The artifacts and their ‘spirits’ never really knew they were ghosts, and it was never really confirmed by their creators." Daisuke shrugged, "Though theoretically… I could confirm it myself."

Danny blinked slowly. “What do you mean?”

"The creators came from a long line of a certain family with magic. My family was rival to it—so we had magic too. While we didn’t or couldn’t use magic ourselves, my friend from the Second Hand of Time sort of enlightened me to my ability to… do what her creator could do." Daisuke shrugged uncomfortably, "Apparently it was a skill I, if not my entire family, could always do—we just never used it."

"And… you’re still not using it?" Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, wondering why Daisuke was uneasy with the topic.

"The first person in the rival family who used it, and his descendants from then on, turned out… ah… mad." Daisuke rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "It started a curse that lasted four hundred years. So… excuse me if I’d really rather not mess with magic and spirits. Even if it is tempting.”

Danny turned over this information in his head. He frowned deeply.

So Daisuke has the ability to make magical artifacts out of… spirits? Is that different from ghosts? Probably. Danny thought, And… he said it was tempting… why? I mean, creating magic sounds cool, but why doesn’t he…

He stopped his train of thought abruptly as realization struck.

"Oh."

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow, giving him a look. “Hm?”

"…Daisuke," Danny shook his head, "You once told me I was brave for doing what I did. I think… you are too, for not doing what you can do.”

Daisuke blinked in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”

"You lost a lot of people, like you said," Danny gave him a remorseful, sympathetic smile, "And you just told me you have the ability to see them again, technically. You can make a way to see them again… but you don’t do it."

"Well yeah. I spent a long time trying to stop those things from getting out into the world… even if the things I made didn’t turn out dangerous, why would I make more? I’d rather not start the cycle over and cause another curse on accident or something." Daisuke laughed softly. Then he averted his eyes, his laugh dying too quickly. "Besides… I could spend a lifetime working on the masterpiece that could bring them all back. But it wouldn’t be the same."

"They wouldn’t be the people you remembered, huh?"

"Not one bit. Those two or three ghosts I met before were flukes, to have remembered their pasts." Daisuke smiled bitterly, "I think if I tried to bring back my friends… it would hurt too much to see them look at me and ask ‘who are you’."

Danny felt a pang of sympathy tugging at his heart. Daisuke’s normally friendly aura had taken on that melancholy feel again.

"That’s… why I think you’re brave," Danny said slowly, and Daisuke’s eyes trailed back to him, "It takes a lot not to give into that kind of temptation, and even more to accept that your friends are gone and won’t come back."

"…Thank you, Danny. But I’m not brave." Daisuke shook his head sadly, "I’m just a coward who’s good at running away."

"Don’t doubt yourself," Danny smiled reassuringly, then his expression dropped. "You know what? I saw my future once—in an alternate future, I turned evil because all of my friends and family died. I destroyed the world—everything was on fire, and I leveled entire cities, including this one. I still have some nightmares about it."

Daisuke’s eyes widened at this, staring at the ghost boy in shock.

"I met that future and I decided to change it when I got back home, here." Danny looked away, "But… I know it’s always a possibility, that I might turn into that… it keeps me straight. It scares me straight—it makes me a coward too, I think, but at least I’m a good one. But I know it’s still there, that future I just narrowly avoided—I mean, I gained his ability. I do have the ability to level an entire city… and I don’t use it—not unless I have to, at least." He shrugged weakly and looked back to the older man. "I think it’s a bit like you, right? To have the ability to do something and not do it because it’s wrong. So… don’t sell yourself short. You’re brave and strong, and… I’m honored to be your friend."

Daisuke smiled warmly at his young friend, who grinned humbly at him now.

"I guess so." He finally conceded, "I’m honored we’re friends too. And… hey, if you ever start going down the wrong path somehow, I’ll make sure to scare you straight again with that story."

Danny grinned widely in return. “And if you start seriously thinking about bringing back the dead with magic, I’ll do the same.”

"Deal!"

Both boys laughed, and when they calmed down, Danny commented, “Besides, you ought to be brave if you can face Plasmius without flinching! You even scared him off! Even I can’t do that!”

"He does seem like the type to be rather intimidating, but… I’ll be honest, I’ve seen worse." Daisuke chuckled, "He looks like a rather comical cartoon character, to be honest. Are you normally scared of him?"

"Well, no, he’s just a crazy old fruit loop. But I swear, every time we meet he’s almost always trying to choke me. That in itself is kinda terrifying. I mean, what’s with that?"

Chapter Text

Danny poked his head into Daisuke’s room—it was one of those evenings where the redhead was not on the roof, and Danny had learned that it was never quite necessary to ask to come in anymore. He came in invisible, though, just in case Daisuke’s roommate was home, and caught the tail-end of a conversation Daisuke was having on the phone.

“Kaa-san, shipai shinai ne?" The art student sighed, seeming exasperated, "Hai, hai, tou-san ga kiita no nara, sore wo yarimasu.”

There was a cheerful voice on the other end that Danny couldn’t quite make out—not that he would have been able to understand it anyhow.

“Hai… aa," Daisuke paused, looking around, "Tomodachi wa koko he kita." His eyes stopped in Danny’s general direction, and he flinched, making himself visible. He waved shyly, grinning sheepishly. "Un. Sayonara, kaa-san." He hung up the phone, grinning at Danny. "Good evening. How long have you been there?"

"Only a minute." Danny shrugged, "Hi. Hope I didn’t interrupt?"

"Not at all. Come to check up on me again, hm?" Daisuke chuckled, getting up from his seat to head to the kitchen, "I keep telling you, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry so much."

"Oh, I know, I just, uh… well, I wanted to hang out, you know?" Danny sighed, drifting after him, "And, well, it’s been a long week."

"Oh?" Daisuke looked over his shoulder, "What happened? Was a ghost being particularly annoying?"

"No. The Guys In White—those hunters—mostly." Danny paused, blinking in surprise when Daisuke grabbed two sodas from the fridge and tossed one to him. "Uh, thanks?"

Daisuke gave him a smile, motioning to the table and urging him to continue. They plopped down together, and Danny explained, “See, there was this guy hanging around my, uh, friend… and he was getting way too cozy with her, and I thought he was suspicious. At first I thought he was one of the Guys In White, and maybe he was trying to get close to her because they realized she was my friend, but… I guess my jealousy got the better of me there. She kind of blew up at me when I, uh, followed her on her date.”

The art student lifted an eyebrow, idly fiddling with the tab on his soda can until it opened. If Daisuke didn’t know any better, he would have guessed that the ghost boy had a crush on that friend of his. Could ghosts get crushes? Maybe one as human as Danny could.

"Um—uh, anyway, I thought he was with the Guys In White, but it turned out the Guys In White thought he was me, and they attacked him, so obviously he wasn’t with them. And then they attacked me too, so, uh… It was a huge mess, in the end, and he turned out to be a fraud and my friend kicked him to the curb pretty fast.” Danny sighed, “Still, it wasn’t fun having that paranoia about the Guys In White being on my tail all week, or having her mad at me.”

"So it’s been a long week." Daisuke nodded in understanding, "Well, you’re free to unwind here, as always."

Danny smiled weakly. “Thanks, Daisuke.”

He popped open the soda and took a sip.

~~~

"Nothing, absolutely nothing…!" Vlad growled in frustration, banging on the table with his fists, scaring Maddie the Cat off with an irritated yowl.

It was hard enough gathering information on Daisuke Niwa, aside from the fact that any data on him was in Japanese—once he had the data translated, he found that the boy was cleaner than a white shirt.

His school record wasn’t perfect but there was nothing odd about a B-average student, his previous university recommended him as outstanding in art and English, and his transfer record was as average as his high school records. He had had no criminal records or even a suspension from school, and his family was just as clean—his father was an art historian and his mother was a homemaker. Vlad did find it odd the mother had an engineering degree she apparently never applied to any sort of job, but it wasn’t unusual for a woman to become a full-time mother after getting married and having a kid straight out of college.

Nothing about Daisuke Niwa made sense.

Vlad had seen the redhead picking locks, dodging ghost attacks that should have been far too fast for a normal human to dodge, and escaping Skulker of all people with ease. Not to mention, his ability to control himself when he was being overshadowed was one that Vlad had never seen before. Sure, Jack had been able to kick him out of his body, but Niwa had done something when Vlad overshadowed him, not just kicked him out.

Just who was he? Daniel probably knew, but it would be futile to ask him, considering how much the boy hated Vlad…

He needed to know Niwa, and know his weaknesses. Niwa had taken him by surprise when he showed his power—but Vlad knew that surely, someone with that kind of power had to be vulnerable somehow.

He had tried approaching Niwa directly, but the young man had been able to sense his presence somehow—so Vlad knew he couldn’t try gathering information by going himself. He had sent bugs before, but that had misled him—Niwa was so strikingly normal that Vlad had not even expected him to be able to stand up for himself.

He needed someone who could spy on Daisuke… and maybe provoke him into revealing just the right information.

A smirk made its way onto his face. He had just the right pawn to complete such a task—competent, but gullible.

~~~

"Hey Daisuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you… uh, teach me how to pick a lock?"

Daisuke blinked slowly. “Oh. Um, sure?” He was perplexed by the sudden request, lifting an eyebrow at the ghost boy. “Can I ask why?”

"It just seems like something handy to know," Danny shrugged, drifting after the college student awkwardly as they made their way down a quiet street, "I mean, I wouldn’t use it to do anything bad, but sometimes, in a pinch…" He trailed off, looking off to the side and searching the area for any ghosts, like he was supposed to be doing, though this was more to distract himself than because he had to.

Daisuke chuckled. “Yes, in a pinch.” He agreed, giving the white-haired boy a lopsided smile.

"You don’t know how many times knowing how to pick a lock would have come in handy in school—I mean, getting stuffed in a locker with a combination lock is one thing, ones that needed a key were a pain to get out of." Danny admitted.

The art student paused, turning to look at his younger companion quizzically. “Stuffed in a locker…?”

"Yeah, didn’t kids ever get bullied at your high school?" Danny tilted his head.

Daisuke shot him a worried look. “Bullied?” He frowned, shaking his head, “No, I didn’t. Perhaps it’s a difference in culture, but bullying never got so physical in Japan. I won’t say there wasn’t peer abuse, but our lockers were only big enough to fit our shoes—how can one stuff a student into a locker when they’re that small?”

Danny laughed, “Oh—right, I forgot about the cultural difference. Lockers here are pretty big—I could fit in one if I pulled my knees up.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “I was kind of a wimpy kid, so… I got bullied a lot. It’s alright, though,” he said quickly when he saw Daisuke’s growing look of concern, ”better me than the other kids! I could handle a few bruises, you know?”

"How noble." Daisuke smiled unevenly, "I knew you were brave. You don’t sound wimpy at all."

"Nah, I just provoked the wrong dudes." Danny waved his hands dismissively, "Ghosts are worse though. I think I’d take the bullies any day."

Daisuke opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes flickered to the side just then, and he abruptly pushed Danny back and twisted his body to side-step, both of them narrowly avoiding the red beam that shot past them.

Danny gasped, his eyes wide and his head whipping around, looking for the source of the attack.

"Valerie!"

"So this is the human who’s been rumored to be helping you, huh." The huntress came down on her hoverboard, her gun smoking. She seemed to be glaring at Daisuke from behind her visor, her eyes narrowed threateningly. "Even before the huge Ghost Invasion, he was helping you… what’d you brainwash this one with, Phantom?"

Daisuke blinked slowly. “He didn’t brainwash me with anything… why do people keep thinking he brainwashed me?” He asked in exasperation, “And why are you asking him like I can’t answer? Does brainwashing mean I can’t answer for myself?”

"How do I know you’re not being controlled right now?" Valerie replied back. "Even if you’re not, you’re a traitor to humankind. I don’t trust you."

“Mooou, Amerika-jin wa totemo… utagatte iru da ne." Daisuke muttered dryly.

"What’d you say?" Valerie growled at him. He rolled his eyes in response.

"How’d you know about Daisuke anyhow?" Danny frowned—he knew Valerie didn’t stalk him whenever he hung out with Daisuke, and he had never talked about his friend to her.

"Mr. Masters told me! He was helping you steal something from his mansion!" Valerie snapped, "A sympathizer, but also a criminal! He should be put away!"

Daisuke looked alarmed. “He didn’t steal anything, technically.” Danny defended quickly, “And besides, with that logic, Masters should be in jail too.” He glowered.

"And you, for shooting at a civilian…" Daisuke added, tilting his head with a deep frown, "Are you even old enough to own a gun?"

Valerie bristled. “None of your business!” She said hastily.

"Danny’s told me about you. You really don’t seem like the kind of girl who would knowingly attack a human, even if they are a ghost sympathizer." Daisuke stared up at her unflinchingly.

"I wasn’t aiming at you.” Valerie flew closer, charging up her gun and aiming it at Danny for emphasis, then paused. “Wait… he’s told you about me? Nothing good, I bet.” She snorted.

"No, he said you were the most competent ghost hunter in Amity Park," Daisuke tilted his head. "He says nothing but good about you, ma’am."

Danny blushed, flustered. He took his eyes, cautious and wide, off of Valerie for only a moment, to glare at the redhead. “Daisuke! You’re not supposed to tell her that!”

"Oh. Sorry." Daisuke said in a manner that was entirely unapologetic, sparing the ghost boy only a brief glance before he looked back at Valerie. "I know about you, your determination to catch him, and how hard you work to protect everyone in this town—it’s very admirable. But I don’t understand why you aim your gun at Amity Park’s other hero, instead of working with him."

Valerie faltered, then scowled deeply. “The ghost kid is no hero! He’s a ghost! Ghosts are evil! He causes as much trouble as he claims to stop!” She argued vehemently, “What’s he to you anyway, if you really aren’t being controlled?”

"He’s my friend. He could be yours, too, if you put away the gun." Daisuke replied calmly.

Valerie frowned. She obviously didn’t believe him. After all, ghosts didn’t have friends—they didn’t have emotions, they only faked it. This kid must have really got strung along, to think Phantom was his friend. “Just who are you?”

"I’m an art student." Daisuke answered, as usual.

"No, you’re not. You don’t learn that kind of defensive stance from just studying art." Valerie snorted.

Danny and Daisuke blinked in unison, the former looking over to his friend, the latter looking down at himself. He had consciously shifted stances. Then he looked back up, apparently not caring, and a fire of determination sparked in his eyes. “Like I said. He’s my friend. And I’m not about to let you shoot him.”

"You’re stupidly brave, art-boy." Valerie said slowly.

"I promised myself I wouldn’t lose any more friends—not if I could help it." Daisuke said resolutely, stepping forward—right into the path of Valerie’s aim.

"Daisuke—" Danny started, his eyes wide. He quickly rounded on the red-headed art student, and his face was hard as his green eyes met Daisuke’s red. "I can handle myself. Get out of here before you get hurt—she’s only after me."

Daisuke shook his head. “I’m not afraid.” He replied, “I’m tired of people thinking you’re a monster… when they don’t even know you.” His gaze softened as he looked toward Valerie, “You told me she’s a good person—and I still think she is. So if you’re right, Danny… step aside. I won’t get hurt.”

Danny stared at him for a long time, then turned his head away, facing Valerie too. To Valerie’s surprise, he backed down. He didn’t hide behind Daisuke, and he was still tensed to fight, but Daisuke was still clearly in her line of fire—and she couldn’t fully comprehend the strange trust the two shared.

The huntress faltered visibly, her hoversled raising a few inches. “…Don’t do this.” She said quietly in a strained voice, disbelieving. Why would the ghost boy tell this stranger he thought Valerie was a good person? That didn’t make any sense!

"Can you shoot, knowing I’m just a human?" Daisuke asked levelly, staring hard into her eyes, as if her visor wasn’t hiding her face and her expression was as clear as day. She was feeling hesitance.

She lowered the gun.

Daisuke smiled.

She didn’t move, watching the pair warily. Phantom looked surprised, but he quickly and carefully masked it back under his caution, watching her for any sneaky draws. Daisuke, the innocent human, was smiling like a triumphant child, beaming like he had just accomplished a great feat.

But he still hadn’t lost that fighter’s stance—his arms were tense like he would flee or fight, and he was balancing firmly on the balls of his feet, almost like he would spring into the air at any moment and not come down.

His eyes flickered, reading her once more.

"That wasn’t really what you were here for, was it?"

Valerie flinched, frowning. “What are you talking about?”

"You didn’t come here for Danny—you came here for me. You never were going to shoot." Daisuke tilted his head curiously.

"Gee, isn’t that a little conceited, Daisuke?" Phantom snorted jokingly, "I thought you were more modest than that."

"But she said so herself—Mr. Masters told her about me. She came to find me." Daisuke replied with only a brief glance over his shoulder, "Did you want to meet the human helping Danny Phantom?"

"My bet’s that she thought you were as evil as I supposedly am." Danny commented, crossing his arms.

Valerie bristled. “No—that was just a coincidence!” She blurted out quickly—it was a lie, of course. Vlad had asked her to find the human boy and gather information on him because he was dangerous—because he was a threat to Amity Park, and Vlad just didn’t know how yet, but he was helping Danny Phantom so he had to be devious. “My goal was and is to eradicate you, Phantom! Don’t take that lightly!”

"Did I turn out anything like you expected?" Daisuke inquired, his face oddly serious, ignoring her last statement completely, as if he had seen right through her lie.

Valerie didn’t answer, but she thought, No. You remind me a lot of Danny—you’re nothing like Phantom.

And that train of thought made her more uncomfortable than she would admit out loud. Daisuke was helping Phantom, he had to be evil and devious, right? The realization that he was like that sweetheart boy was disturbing. It was hard to imagine someone like Daisuke—or Danny for that matter—doing all the criminal things that Vlad said he did.

Her eyes trailed toward Phantom, and she narrowed her gaze.

"You really pulled the wool over this one’s eyes, huh?" She raised her gun and shot once, hoping to catch them by surprise. Daisuke however, seemed to have anticipated the move, but he didn’t jump in the way.

He dropped down and Valerie’s eyes widened as he swung his leg in an arch beside him, surprising Danny as his knees were kicked out from under him, eliciting a yelp from the teenage ghost fighter. Danny had tripped right on time to narrowly miss the shot.

Valerie cursed. “Stop helping him!” She shouted, “I don’t wanna hurt you!”

"And you won’t," Daisuke shrugged, straightening as he stood up again. Danny was on the floor for only a second longer, before he gathered his wits and got to his feet too, more alert this time. He glared gratefully at Daisuke, both annoyed he had been tripped and grateful because at least he didn’t get burned.

"I will if you keep getting in the way of the ghost boy’s demise." Valerie threatened slightly hesitantly.

"I wonder." Daisuke tilted his head. "Miss Ghost Slayer, why do you hate him? Why do you want to destroy him?"

"Because he’s a ghost! All ghosts are evil, it’s common sense!" Valerie answered, frustration leaking into her voice.

"And who taught you that?"

"All the books, the Fentons, Mr. Masters, the attacks, the ghost boy himself—he destroyed my life, so I’ll destroy what’s left of that imprint of his!" The huntress hissed.

"So what you know is based on what someone else told you, and the first encounter you had with Danny Phantom, and none of the ones after that?" Daisuke assumed, staring patiently at her.

"What are you getting at?"

Daisuke frowned, stepping closer to her, slowly, like approaching a rabbit. “You’ve never stopped to question any of those other people’s beliefs? Or is it that you’ve clouded your own judgement with your first impression’s bias?”

"I—"

Danny didn’t know if he wanted to smile at the exchange—on the one hand, Daisuke was probably doing that thing where his words would eat away at Valerie’s mind for a whlie. On the other, he didn’t know if he liked the direction this conversation was going.

"If this is what you think of ghosts, what do you think of humans?" Daisuke asked, "I do hope it’s not as bitter."

Valerie found herself stammering, flabbergasted by the onslaught of sudden questions and Daisuke’s lack of fear and his complete nonchalance as he stared up at her, despite her gun and threats.

"Of course not! Humans—humans are humans! They’re the innocents being terrorized by ghosts like Phantom!" She said hotly, gripping the handle of her gun tighter. "They haven’t done anything wrong, unlike Phantom!"

"If doing wrong means hurting and scaring others, like you seem to think Danny does, then what are you to the ghosts? Does that mean you are no better than them, in your own terms?"

Teal eyes widened. There was no answer.

"If he is evil for being a ghost, and I am an innocent for being human…" Daisuke was feet away from Valerie now, his voice low, "and your assumptions are based on only what others have told you… I’m sorry, but that’s quite short-sighted."

Valerie only had a split second to register his hands moving lightning fast—and by the time she did, he had grabbed her wrist and flipped her off the hoverboard. She landed loudly on the ground—thank god her suit protected her—and he had twisted her hand just right so as to not hurt her, but make her drop her gun.

The whole action took no longer than three seconds, and she heard him mutter, “I must be getting rusty, I’m usually faster.”

"Valerie!" She heard the ghost boy gasp—sounding genuinely worried about her, oddly enough. "Daisuke, what are you doing?"

"She’s really quite… what’s the word, racist?" Daisuke tilted his head, letting go of Valerie’s wrist and picking up her gun, stepping back, "To not trust ghosts simply for what they are—simply because she was told. She’s a smart girl, I know she is—but really, she should learn to think for herself."

He looked down at her as Danny approached, offering his hand to help her up. “I’m sorry about that, but I just wanted to show you—you put too much trust in the fact that I’m simply human, and therefore unable to hurt you like Danny might be able to.” She eyed his hand warily, slapping it away as she pulled herself up, backing away from Danny, who stopped when he saw her glare.

"You really aren’t just an art student."

"I’m not evil, Miss, but I assure you, I’m not the only human out there who can do what I do, but the others might not be as nice as me. You shouldn’t blindly trust us because we’re human—just as you shouldn’t blindly distrust a ghost because he’s not." Daisuke sighed, flipping the gun so he was holding the barrel, holding it out to her handle-first. "It’s short-sighted," He repeated, locking eyes with Valerie, "because I was able to get close to you, simply because you believed humans are alright. Do you see?"

Valerie carefully took the gun, but decided better of aiming it again. A begrudging but thoughtful look came to her eyes—because Daisuke was right.

Danny sighed, grabbing Daisuke’s arm. “Look, Daisuke, even if you were trying to make a point, that wasn’t cool.” He turned to Valerie, “But… he’s right. I get that you’re trying to do something to help this town… but really think about it and do it on your own terms. Not Masters’.” His eyes narrowed, and she frowned at him, because she had always found the fact that he knew about her business relationship with Vlad Masters to be disturbing, and it made her uneasy.

"Let’s get outta here, Daisuke—enough damage has been done." Danny said, and before Valerie could protest—Daisuke didn’t seem to mind much—Danny turned them invisible and took off.

"Hey!"

Valerie fumed for a while, but grit her teeth and got back on her hoversled. She had to report back to Vlad, but she’d keep the part of the conversation about herself a secret. Vlad had only wanted to know about Daisuke, after all.

While it was true that Daisuke was helping Phantom, Valerie honestly couldn’t see anything sinister about him—either he was a fantastic actor, or he was truly just… a friend. He was Phantom’s friend, and that much was obvious.

Phantom had backed down when the older boy asked, and he hadn’t made so much as a disrespectful quip when Daisuke was speaking. Not only that…

Valerie knew what it was like to want to protect her friends. But she honestly couldn’t understand Daisuke, not really, when she thought about what he said before.

"I promised myself I wouldn’t lose any more friends—not if I could help it."

She shivered in fright at the thought that someday, she might be able to say that too.

She hoped that wasn’t true.

Everything else Daisuke had said… it had set her mind reeling too, and she knew she would have a lot to think about that night.

Chapter Text

Valerie had decided she needed to watch Daisuke when he was apart from Danny to really see what he was like. It wasn’t that she needed to report to Vlad—though Vlad did seem pretty angry that he had technically learned nothing new about Daisuke Niwa—but the redhead was truly baffling to the huntress.

On Friday, she had finished her work and studies early enough to tail the foreign college student for a few hours—and he was so exceedingly normal that Valerie got frustrated.

He was just like every other college student—spending all day studying, maybe throwing in some chores and errands here and there, a nap before dinner, and staying up late to grasp at whatever free time he could. Oddly enough, he nimbly climbed out the balcony window and pulled himself up onto the roof for this, simply sitting and writing in a notebook in the light of a lamp.

Valerie stayed hidden on the roofs of some nearby buildings, using binoculars and her visor’s enhanced capabilities to keep watch on the art student.

Danny Phantom stopped by in the late evening, and while Valerie was so tempted to come out and hunt him down, she held herself back, and just watched. Phantom had popped out of nowhere, but Daisuke had seemed hardly surprised, not even reacting or looking up—but he spoke, she could tell because his mouth moved. Apparently, it was a normal thing for Danny to stop by, because he greeted Daisuke casually—Valerie could tell from both of their body languages that they were comfortable with each other.

Phantom sat down beside Daisuke, and they just talked. They were smiling—Daisuke was looking down at his notebook, and Phantom was looking up at the sky, occasionally pointing at something. When Valerie looked up, she saw the stars just starting to twinkle into existence, and when she looked back, she saw Daisuke looking up at them too, his smile growing as a gentle breeze passed them by.

Valerie had never seen this side of Phantom before, but she was still skeptical. There was no way Phantom could look so… innocent. It had to be a trick. This had to be how he was fooling the art student.

It took all of her will not to come charging in and shooting at him for his sneaky ways. For some reason, watching them like this made her feel like she was intruding, like this was their sanctuary and she wasn’t supposed to be there.

It was a ridiculous thought. They were just sitting on the roof. It wasn’t special.

Not to her, at least.

She watched a little longer, and was about to leave when she saw Daisuke put his notebook away in the bag he had brought up with him and pull something else out.

Danny leaned over his shoulder, looking puzzled as Daisuke held it carefully for him, fiddling with it. Valerie squinted, but she couldn’t see what was in his hands—his fingers were in the way, and it was obviously small.

Daisuke was talking, and Danny had turned from puzzled to attentive, taking in every word with a look of fascination. After a little while, Daisuke handed the object over to the ghost, and he began fiddling with it too. After a few minutes, he looked frustrated, and Daisuke laughed. It must have been some kind of toy that the ghost boy couldn’t solve.

He handed it back to Daisuke after some time, and Daisuke did something again, obviously showing him how the toy worked. He went slower this time, smiling patiently at his young friend.

Valerie sighed, deciding that she wouldn’t learn anything more today, and taking off before she gave in to her desire to shoot the ghost boy where he sat.

~~~

On Saturday, Valerie—out of suit—tailed Daisuke around town. He didn’t seem horribly busy for a Saturday afternoon, and he still seemed so strikingly normal to her—she didn’t understand why Vlad thought he was suspicious, and was beginning to think maybe what Daisuke and Phantom had said were right—maybe she needed to start thinking for herself instead of just believing what everyone else said.

She shook her head quickly. No, she wouldn’t believe the words of that devious ghost boy! It was just a trick!

She took a deep breath to compose herself, pushing away the encroaching doubt.

She had to focus. She had to figure out Daisuke—but it was hard when Daisuke didn’t do anything suspicious. He got up late like every other kid would do on the weekend, he did his homework and he went out. He didn’t seem to have many friends, but then again, she thought as she followed him into the local museum, he hung out with a ghost regularly. Despite how friendly he appeared, he did seem a bit weird in that one respect.

The huntress flinched when she thought he looked her way, and quickly went to looking at the nearest painting, pretending to appear interested.

When she looked back, Daisuke was headed toward an ancient jewelry and gemstones exhibition. Odd—wasn’t he here to study something for his class? Or maybe he was just an art-in-general appreciator. That was rare these days.

Valerie lingered by the entrance, looking at the information plaque there, idly keeping an eye on him until she decided to go in herself. Daisuke was looking around, and she thought his eyes darted suspiciously upwards a few times—not in her direction, which confused her, but when she tried to follow his gaze, she didn’t see any other people he could have been looking at. There was nothing but walls and the corners of the room.

He stopped by a display with a collection of rune-carved rings—something Gaelic, Valerie vaguely recognized as she dared to come closer and take a look too. The plaque read off the names—“Ring of Grá Buan”, “Ring of Mallachd”, “Ring of Bendacht”, and so on.

The redhead glanced at her, and she fought to keep a straight face—but then he smiled at her kindly, and she almost raised her eyebrows in surprise. She covered it with a small smile back, then quickly looked away and moved on.

He hadn’t seemed suspicious of her at all. He had that same innocent look Danny Fenton had whenever she caught his eye across the cafeteria.

She stopped by a display of necklaces, watching him out of the corner of her eye again. He was still lingering by the case of rings, inspecting it closely. He seemed to be eyeing the big black one in particular. Maybe he was going to do a project on it.

He stepped back after a little while longer, his gaze sweeping the room as he began to move around once more.

Valerie couldn’t help but notice he didn’t spend as much time looking at the other stuff as he did at the rings.

~~~

Valerie had found nothing else to report on Daisuke. She didn’t go back on Sunday.

She had woken up in a frenzy when she realized the time, and hastily got out of bed to get ready for work. She was late.

She grabbed a banana on the way out, slamming the door behind her. If she hadn’t been rushing, she might have glanced the Sunday paper her father left on the kitchen table.

If she had, she might have seen the article headlined “Ring of Mallachd Stolen by Mysterious Phantom Thief”.

Chapter Text

Daisuke huffed as he came to a stop, doubling over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He stayed like that for a moment, before he took a deep breath and straightened, cracking his back a little before he ran forwards again, vaulting over the next stone wall.

I’m out of shape. He thought as his feet hit the ground running, and he didn’t stop. That shouldn’t have taken as much effort as it did. It’s only six feet.

He remembered a time when twenty feet, as ridiculously high as it had been, was no problem for him—and he had been shorter, then.

After he had told his mother this, she had insisted he get back into his training regimen. He rolled his eyes and told her it was impossible—he couldn’t find a training course in America like the one he had back home.

Still, he had promised her he would practice something again, and Riku had started to get worried about the ghost attacks in Amity Park, so if nothing else, he had to brush up on his escape tactics.

And last night had proved that he was definitely rusty.

~~~

Unlike a certain thief, Daisuke wasn’t one to announce his heists. He had wanted to go through this quickly and quietly—after inspecting the museum’s security earlier that day, memorizing the entrances and layout, and pinpointing the location of his target, he was sure he could at least pull this off without the said certain thief if he didn’t announce himself.

He wished he could have made a replica of his target to replace it so no one would even know it was gone—unfortunately, his mother wasn’t there and his metalwork skill was poor, so he had to resort to just stealing it. He knew there would be news about it, but if he was careful, he’d never get caught.

Not that he was ever caught in the past anyhow.

Donning the face of a much younger thief, just for self-reassurance, Daisuke entered the museum in the dead of night. Security guards—of course there were security guards, he mentally cursed—roamed the halls with flashlights. He knew he was right to wear a disguise.

He had slipped in past the security room itself—there was a guard there, but the thief blended so well with the shadows that the guard didn’t even know the man was standing right behind him.

Daisuke hesitated as his eyes flickered to the television screens that showed the bright, gray scale images of the museum. The shadows wouldn’t help him further inward, since the cameras were so sensitive to light. Disabling them now would be suspicious.

He wished his familiar was there, his familiar could have at least caused a distraction. But he was alone, and for the first time ever he was truly on his own when it came to a heist. He silently took a breath, bracing himself—he could do this.

Knocking out the security guard was easy enough, though Daisuke felt bad for it. He smiled a little to himself, though, glad he had had the foresight to wear a uniform exactly like the security guard’s, having seen them earlier in the day. Satisfied with his work, and with the slightly comforting knowledge that at least no one was awake to see him on the camera for now, he left the security room and made his way deeper into the museum.

Squaring his shoulders, he took up the role of a guard, shining his flashlight around so the security cameras would not suspect him of being anything other than a guard. He made sure to carefully avoid the path of the other guard, so the man would not have suspected anything was going on at all.

Daisuke took a deep breath as he made it to the gemstone exhibit and unlocked the door, carefully keeping his head down and face hidden by the officer’s cap on his head. There was a lot of cameras in this room in particular—it was a closed room, unlike the others, due to the high value of the gemstones. There was only one way in and one way out, and that was through the thick steel door he had just come through.

He swung the flashlight around just to make it look like he was checking every corner of the room. He was really blinding the cameras momentarily as he made his way toward the display case with the rings in it.

All he needed was a few moments, he thought as he circled the case, his back to the cameras and his light flashing into the ones that could see him. His free hand moved nimbly to disable the alarm that surrounded the case, and he glanced down briefly to check if he entered the right code in the discreetly hidden lock-pad hidden just beneath the display stand.

It beeped inconspicuously, and he glanced around before placing the flashlight between his teeth, lifting the lid of the glass case gently with both hands and setting it only slightly ajar on the stand. He balanced it just enough to free one hand so he could grab his target, the Ring of Mallachd. He stuffed it into his pocket before he quickly replaced the glass case and re-entered the code to lock it in again.

Too easy, he thought, there’s not even any lasers.

He didn’t waste time blinding the cameras as he left, knowing they had already seen him take the ring. He tried to flee the museum as fast as possible, and leave the two other security guards none the wiser, but unfortunately, right as he reached the vault exit, he ran into the wandering guard.

He cursed to himself, as he hadn’t heard the footsteps until it was too late. The guard yelled, demanding who he was since he certainly didn’t look like the other guard who was supposed to be on duty. Daisuke backed up, his eyes narrowing, mentally grinning as the guard came further into the room, reaching for a baton at his side.

It was all the opening Daisuke needed, because he took a running start and flipped right over the surprised guard, running out the door and not looking back. He took his nearest mentally-mapped-out escape route and ran up the closest flight of stairs. The guard gave chase—Daisuke idly noted he should have locked the guard in the exhibit room, but he knew he couldn’t be that cruel, so fleeing it was.

He reached the second story and ran for the balcony he had seen earlier in the day. The guard behind him was slower, his breath more uneven and obvious, and Daisuke didn’t spare him a moment as he thrust the balcony doors open and cleanly vaulted over the railing onto tiled shingles. By the time the guard caught up, he could do nothing but watch as the thief just jumped off the roof. He could only stare in awe as the thief sailed quite a ways through the air, like he was flying, before landing gracefully on the ground outside the museum’s gates.

Daisuke threw a glance over his shoulder, and the guard caught sight of dark red eyes, before the thief turned tail and disappeared into the night.

The guard found his coworker out cold in the camera room, and reported the incident to the curator and police right away. When the morning news interviewed the security guard from the camera room, he didn’t tell them he thought he had fallen asleep, but instead confirmed that the thief knocked him out.

The security guard who had been wandering the floor told the news that he had seen a strange light in the gemstone exhibit, and found the door open when it shouldn’t have been. When he described the thief, he said the thief escaped by practically flying off the second story balcony—almost like a ghost.

He thought maybe he had scared away the thief before he could steal anything, but a check to the gemstone vault made him quick to realize the Ring of Mallachd was missing—because the thief had ever so politely left a note behind, glaringly white and rectangular against the collection of rings.

The note didn’t help the police investigation one bit. All it said was, “Sorry, I’ve stolen the Ring of Mallachd. Phantom Thief D.”

Daisuke did have a nasty habit of leaving those behind, even if he didn’t send one to start with. Old habits died hard, he supposed. And he really was sorry.

~~~

Daisuke had nearly been caught, and he felt like his old friend would have been laughing at him for such an amateur mistake. Sure he had gotten out of it unscathed, but he knew his friend could have done a lot better, and a lot faster, and he wouldn’t have been so foolish as to get noticed unless he wanted to be.

He smiled sadly at the cheerful thoughts of his playful friend, and continued on his way through the campus, back toward his apartment.

As he jumped over the last bush, he finally took a break. He sat against a stone ledge, swallowed and licked his lips to moisten them, the air dry in his throat. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before he stood and took a step, making his way back to the apartment complex just across the block.

"Out for an afternoon jog?" Came a voice above him, and he was startled not for the first time by a certain ghost boy. His heart had been thrumming so loudly in his ears after his sprint that he hadn’t heard, seen, or felt the boy come up.

He grinned cheerfully. “I suppose you could say that,” He replied, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. It was damp with sweat. “How rare to see you on a Sunday afternoon, Danny! How are you today?”

Daisuke caught Danny’s gaze and faltered, though. Danny wasn’t smiling.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, pausing as he stopped his stride toward his home, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"I dunno. Maybe." Danny frowned, reaching behind him and producing a crumpled newspaper—he clenched it in his fist as if he had grabbed the roll in a rush before, and hadn’t let it go since. He thrust it toward Daisuke, his face hard. "Care to explain this?"

Daisuke looked puzzled, tilting his head and furrowing his eyebrows as he took the paper, opening it up and smoothing it out. He scanned the articles briefly before he found the one that he knew Danny was talking about—the headline emboldened in the middle of the left column, “Ring of Mallachd Stolen by Mysterious Phantom Thief”.

"…Which one?" Daisuke asked quietly, his eyes softening.

Danny’s lit up with angry green. “You know which one!” He nearly shouted, and his voice clearly betrayed how upset he was. “Daisuke, did you—did you do it?” He asked hesitantly, as if he didn’t want to believe, and his voice cracked.

Daisuke stared at him, then looked back down at the article, and then back up. He had never lied to Danny before, and he didn’t see a need to now. But that didn’t mean he would tell the truth.

"Why are you asking me?"

Danny bristled. “Because! I wouldn’t have even noticed if Jazz hadn’t told me about it! If the Fentons suddenly hadn’t gone gung-ho on me because they think I did it. It’s bad enough the guard described the thief as a ghost—I would have been able to handle a ghost. But that note? It practically pinned the blame on me!” His voice was steadily rising, his eyes opened wide and his pupils dilated as they lost and found focus, as if not quite seeing Daisuke in front of him. “One look at the word Phantom, one look at the initial ‘D’, and suddenly I’m the bad guy again!”

Daisuke winced. “Danny—calm down. Please.” He said quietly, his voice so soft that Danny snapped to attention to catch it. “I… I didn’t mean for you to be…”

"So you really did do it." Danny’s eyes narrowed accusingly, distrust evident and growing in his voice. "You said you weren’t a thief. That you only helped your friend. That you only dealt with dangerous artifacts. Then you go and do this?”

"Let me explain." Daisuke stared up at him unblinkingly, but Danny didn’t simmer down, his rage still burning. It hurt Daisuke that Danny was looking at him like that, but Danny didn’t flinch at how Daisuke’s expression reflected his feelings.

Instead, he shook his head fervently in denial. “Was your ‘friend’ even real? Was it you all along?” He asked incredulously, recoiling almost in disgust, “How could you, Daisuke? I trusted you—I thought…”

"I never meant for you to be involved in this." Daisuke interrupted before Danny stopped listening, his voice firm, "It was a stupid mistake on my part, leaving that note behind. I’m sorry."

"Phantom thief… just who are you?"

"I’ll fix it. I—I’ll try to. I didn’t mean for you to take the blame. I didn’t think they—the town—the news—I didn’t think they would do that." Daisuke said desperately, "Please, believe me. Let me explain."

The ghost boy ignored the pain in Daisuke’s voice, as if his last words had set something off in the thief. He shook his head again, moving back a few more paces.

"Please, Danny—"

A shot went off somewhere nearby, and Danny had to jump to avoid it. Their eyes widened, and Danny turned to see two men—cropped hair, white suits, dark sunglasses—running and aiming guns at him. They were shouting something about how he was under arrest for thievery.

Danny spared Daisuke one last glare before he turned and sped off, avoiding the ectoguns’ blasts as he zigzagged his way back into town.

Daisuke was left feeling helpless and regretful, and he could do nothing but watch as Danny became nothing more than a speck in the sky, the Sunday paper falling from his hands.

Chapter Text

“I’ve never seen you so upset, Danny.”

"He lied, Sam.” Danny gave an irritated grunt, “He said all of those things, and then he… you were right. I should have been more careful.”

He had never felt so betrayed—he wondered if this was how his parents would have felt, when they found out how long he had been lying to them.

Jazz, over the Fenton Phones, hummed in thought. “I always thought he was a little peculiar, so I guess him being an actual professional thief was a little unsurprising… but Danny," she paused, and the white-haired ghost boy looked down at her—driving her car as they patrolled—from his flight path above, "does him being a thief… a real one… change what he did before you knew?”

"How do we even know that was the truth?" Danny scoffed, "Maybe you were right, maybe he did make a bunch of things up to cope with his losses."

“Actually, maybe not so much," Tucker said slowly—he was in the car with Jazz. Danny frowned and flew higher, looking to the adjacent street to see Sam on her scooter, and he waited impatiently for Tucker to continue. "I mean, the making stuff up thing, not so much. Sort of. You said his hometown was Azumano, right?”

"Yeah…?"

“How come no one ever thought to look it up?" Tucker mused, chuckling, "And he even had the foresight to look you up when you first met, Danny. I checked Azumano just now—turns out he might not have been lying when he said there was a winged thief.”

“What?" Came all three voices of Sam, Danny, and Jazz all at once.

“It’s a bit hard to translate, but… Azumano is famously—or infamously—known for being the home of a thief that only shows up like every twenty years or so. He had black wings and he stole fine art. He was last seen about seven years ago, after a forty year absence." Tucker read from his PDA, "Weird stuff went down whenever he appeared—there’s been kidnappings, the destruction of some old ruins and buildings, and even the appearance of a white-winged angel, seen fighting with the thief.”

“But… wait, every twenty years?" Sam asked uncertainly, "For how long?”

“Uhh… three hundred, maybe four hundred years. Hard to tell, apparently all the really old records were destroyed.”

"So… like a ghost?" Danny’s surprise was evident in his voice.

Suddenly he remembered Daisuke saying that he had been possessed before.

“I guess so. That means Daisuke hadn’t made up the thief," Jazz started, and Danny’s eyes widened as he realized where she was going with this, "and he hadn’t even been born yet when the thief showed up before seven years ago. So he couldn’t have been…”

Danny groaned. “It couldn’t have been ‘him all along’. God, I think I owe him an apology for that one.” He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, “But—but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that he lied about who he was.”

“And you haven’t?" Jazz pointed out, "I can sort of see why he would have though. You’re the hero, and everyone’s either a villain or not, right?" She sighed heavily, hearing Danny about to retort when she started again, "You’re the one who said have a little faith in him, Danny—you said you really believed he was a good guy, and… you said he looked pretty bad when you confronted him last weekend. I can’t say for sure, but that sounds like guilt to me—and someone who can feel guilt can’t be all bad.”

Danny’s lips twisted, and he looked up at the sky, scanning it for distractions—he found none.

“…Jazz is right," Sam said quietly, "I was starting to think he was kinda cool, Danny, from the way you kept talking about him, and the way he helped you. And plus, he really didn’t seem that bad when I met him. I think you should have at least listened to his explanation.”

Danny groaned. “Yeah… yeah, I know. And I probably would’ve, if it hadn’t been for the Guys in White.” He murmured, guilt hitting him now that his friends had talked him down. Calmer now, he realized that maybe he had been a bit rash and quick to jump to conclusions. Daisuke had never even said it was him—just that he never meant Danny to get involved. Which still meant Daisuke was involved, but didn’t necessarily mean Daisuke was the thief.

Maybe the ghost of his thief friend—if he ever was something other than a ghost to begin with—was haunting him.

“Danny, dude," Tucker came in again, "Even if we don’t know him as well as you do… he was your friend. At least give him a second chance.”

Second chances, huh. Danny smiled bitterly, “Yeah. I will.” His shoulders sagged, and he looked around before swooping downward, flying next to Sam. “It looks like it’s quiet tonight, maybe we should call it quits.”

"Don’t jinx yourself, Da—"

And just as Sam was saying that, Danny was shot out of the sky by a bright blue ecto-ray.

He hit the wall and impacted painfully, falling to the ground.

"Danny!"

Danny grunted, getting to his hands and knees, looking up and glaring at his attacker. “Skulker!”

"Tonight I shall have your pelt, whelp!"

"Oh, not this again…."

“Danny, you okay?" Tucker asked in concern.

"Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just Skulker—you three stay away, head home. I got this—I’m heading back to the lab after I finish him off." Danny said lowly as he charged up an ecto-ball, his eyes narrowing as he took aim and threw it at the mechanical ghost.

“You sure?”

"Yeah, I’ll meet you there." Danny launched toward Skulker, his eyes ablaze. He had a day’s worth of pent up frustration to take out, after all.

~~~

"And that’s home run!" Danny snickered as he capped the thermos, "Or is it goal? Whatever, I don’t pay attention to sports anyhow."

He clipped the thermos to his belt, turning around to head back to Fenton Works when he saw a shadowy figure sitting on a nearby rooftop, watching him. He frowned deeply, because once he caught sight of the shadow, the figure stood up. How long had he been there? Actually, how the heck had he even gotten on a fifth-story roof?

Danny felt an intense stare on him, and he didn’t lose his fighting stance—especially when large, menacing black wings sprouted from the stranger’s back.

The figure jumped, hovering in the air with a few powerful flaps—Danny could feel the wind brush his face, warm from the early spring air.

"You know," a deep voice emanated from the figure, who was coming closer until he saw Danny’s fists clench in defense, and he stopped. He sighed, "I think this is the first time I’ve had to seek you out—I didn’t know how to do it until I remembered you only showed up during ghost fights. They’re not very hard to spot."

"Who are you?" Danny demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Danny," the man spoke, and he flapped his wings to come just a pace closer, until he was bathed in the dim light of Danny’s glow, "I know you probably don’t recognize me at all, I’ve been looking for you for days for a reason."

Danny stared at the young but familiar face that was now cast in his light—long, feathery purple hair flared from his head, and red eyes bore deep into his soul. If Danny didn’t know better, he would have thought he was talking to a ghost.

But that was no ghost.

“Daisuke?" Danny asked incredulously, scrutinizing the black-clad winged man before him who looked completely different from the aspiring art student he had known.

And when the man grinned, suddenly some of the familiarity came back.

"I can’t go flying around with my own face, right? Someone might see." The man chuckled, "I wonder if it’s a good thing you recognized me, then, that’s sort of bad for my disguise."

Danny made a befuddled sound. Daisuke looked exactly like… exactly like the man Danny had seen in one of Daisuke’s drawings, once.

"Who… what are you?” He asked warily, “Some sort of shapeshifter? Is this some sort of magic?”

"If you let me explain, I’ll tell you everything." Daisuke said simply, "Please, Danny—I never meant to hurt you, and I want to fix what I did. Can we talk?"

Danny stared at him long and hard, before he nodded and turned, motioning with his hands. “Let’s go back to your place, then. I was planning on listening anyhow.”

Daisuke lit up brightly, flying after Danny until they were side by side. Danny glanced over, and couldn’t help but notice the gleeful grin on the older man’s face.

The flight was quiet and slightly awkward to Danny, and Daisuke lost his grin as soon as he realized the air felt cold and stagnant, like Danny’s somber aura.

They landed on the roof of Daisuke’s apartment ten minutes later, and sat down silently. Daisuke’s wings, very real and very solid, brushed against Danny’s arms as they settled behind the redhead. He stared in awe as Daisuke reached over his shoulder, touching the soft black mass gently.

"So, uh… where should I start?" Daisuke asked quietly, not looking at him.

"You’re the one who wanted to explain." Danny replied shortly, looking away now too. The warmth of the wings nearby him didn’t leave, and it was somewhat comforting, despite the mix of raw confusion and dying anger passing through him.

"Right, well then…" Daisuke fiddled with his thumbs nervously, "I did steal that ring. But!" He said quickly as Danny opened his mouth to respond, "It wasn’t just for fun or anything! I really don’t like stealing—I almost got caught. I’m not as good as my friend was."

"So then why did you do it?" Danny frowned deeply at him, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes—he desperately wanted to believe Daisuke was still good. Even if he was a thief.

"For the same reason I used to—to keep people safe." Daisuke sighed, "My dad found out that an old magical artifact, the Ring of Mallachd, was in Amity Park… he’d done research on it in the past, but he couldn’t buy it off the owner when he found out it was dangerous, and it fell out of his reach. Until now—it showed up here. So he asked me to steal it."

"How was it dangerous?" Danny asked skeptically, "I thought you said there were no more magical artifacts. That your friends sealed them all away."

"I…" Daisuke’s mouth worked nervously, and his hands clenched the ledge of the roof till his knuckles went white, "I might have not been specific when I said that. Only the magical artifacts made by… my family’s rival family… were sealed off. There are a few scattered magical artifacts across the world, but they’re scarce and few in between, and they’re not as powerful as the ones I used to steal. So I never thought I would ever run into one myself, or have to do something about it."

He sighed heavily. “My dad though—it’s his job to research these things. He tells other people he’s an art historian, but he’s really looking into these other magical artifacts. He used to bring them home and use them to help me and my friend steal things or get past other problems. The latter happened more than we ever liked to admit.”

"So you stole… a magic ring."

Daisuke nodded. “Do you know what Mallachd means? In Gaelic, it means ‘cursed’.” He reached into one of his pockets, pulling out a chain—the ring was strung onto it. He held it up and admired its dark obsidian-colored finishing as it glinted in the moonlight. “The handler who brought it to the museum is already in the hospital because she had touched it. Everywhere this thing goes, it has brought misfortune. The last person to wear it died of a mysterious cause.”

Danny stared at him, one eyebrow lifting. “Wow, now I feel like a jerk for yelling at you, but… still. Even if you had a good reason, you stole it, Daisuke. I mean, if we weren’t friends, I would have turned you in.”

Daisuke’s deep red eyes turned on him now, lowering his arm slowly. “I know. And in some other lifetime, I’ll pay for my sins. But right now…” He sighed, shaking his head as his gaze fell away, “I’m glad you still think of us as friends. I’m relieved.”

"Relieved?" Danny blinked, "Why would you be relieved?"

"You sounded a lot like Riku, when she found out about me. I almost lost her, then." Daisuke shrugged helplessly, clutching the chain in his hand tightly. Carefully, he tucked it away again, then absently tugged at his black gloves. "I really am sorry for not telling you the whole truth—I really should have learned, after my time with Riku. But… it didn’t seem at all important to me. Stealing, being a thief, that is. It was something I tried to leave behind, and that I never can. I thought I wouldn’t have to be that here."

Danny frowned again, but didn’t say anything, his eyes never leaving the currently purple-haired thief—ex-thief.

When Danny remained silent, Daisuke sighed and continued. “I was raised from birth to be a thief. It’s a family business. But… I never wanted to be one. So when my friend… he was so much like a brother, really… when he died, I was finally able to quit. Fifteen years… of that… it was a part of who I am, but still, I know I’m much more. My grandfather was a fantastic thief without question… but me? I’m clumsy and too kind and too creative to be one, according to Harada-chan. I’m much more than what my family wanted me to be. But I’m still that person too.”

Disbelief was evident in the ghost boy’s eyes. He had thought Daisuke was skilled from helping his friend, but he hadn’t expected that.

"I hate stealing, because it’s not who I am—it’s what I was expected to be. But… I can’t help but love doing it, because it reminds me of my friend." Daisuke shook his head, "Even if I’d rather not steal… Sometimes, I have to remind myself not to forget."

"…So if you come across another cursed artifact, you’re going to steal it?" Danny inquired almost curiously.

"If it means saving people… always." Daisuke nodded with a soft smile, as if remembering something from long ago, "Maybe it’s not much, and maybe it’s wrong to everyone else… but if it’s the only thing I can do, I’ll do it. Without a doubt."

He finally turned to look at Danny again, his expression sad but resolute. “So. Are you still going to turn me in, knowing that?”

Danny gave a little grin. “Nah, man, what kind of friend would I be if I did that!” They both laughed, shaking their heads.

"You still have a lot of explaining to do, though." Danny said when he recovered himself. He paused, looking Daisuke over. "First off… starting with that.” He motioned with one hand to Daisuke in general, “What’s up with the getup?”

Daisuke blinked, looking down at himself and then grinning sheepishly. “Like I said, I can’t go around wearing my own face when I do something like a heist. I borrowed my friend’s look… just for old time’s sake.” The red-eyed man smiled fondly, reaching up and pulling off the purple hair, “Don’t worry, it’s just a wig though.”

"Dude, are you… are you wearing makeup?" Danny stifled a laugh, noticing how Daisuke’s face still looked younger than normal.

"Yes. Is that odd?" Daisuke’s grin grew, but he quickly wiped his face with a handkerchief—it probably had something on it, because the makeup came right off, dyeing the little square of fabric a tan brown color. Daisuke, now looking more like his correct age, stuffed the handkerchief back in his large pocket, which seemed to be where he kept just about everything. "It comes with the whole ‘raised to be a thief’ thing. I’m a master of disguise."

"I’ll be sure to call you next time I go undercover then." Danny said dryly, then paused at the soft ruffle behind them. He looked back. "And the wings? Are they real?"

He reached a hand out to touch them tentatively, but the wings visibly shivered and pulled back, folding against Daisuke snugly.

"Yes, they are," Daisuke’s grin never left as he held up his arm, and a small, furry head popped up from behind his shoulder. It was sort of like a fox or a dog, but its eyes were big and red, and its ears extended back into the large wings instead of normal ears. Tiny paws padded at Daisuke’s shoulders, barely visible against the black of Daisuke’s trench coat.

The redhead pet the strange creature affectionately, and Danny noticed for the first time that the wings on Daisuke’s back were actually a living creature clinging to him. “You remember I mentioned a familiar who helped my friend fly? I asked him for a favor.”

"How is that—whoa!" Danny moved back as the black creature’s wings flared a little before it settled back on Daisuke’s shoulder, making a soft purr that sounded vaguely like ‘kyuu!’. "That’s really cool." Danny breathed in awe. "That’s a… magical familiar, right?”

Daisuke nodded, holding out his arm like he would for a bird, and the black creature shifted from clinging to Daisuke’s shoulders to sitting on his arm.

"Danny, this is With. With, this is Danny." Daisuke introduced cheerfully, and the creature made another ‘kyuu’, this time louder and as cheerful as its apparent owner.

"Wow. Nice to meet you, With?" Danny wondered what kind of name With was, because it sure was weird. Who named this thing? Oh well. Did it even understand English, he wondered. "Can I pet him?"

"Kyuu." The creature nodded in acknowledgement, then nuzzling Danny’s hand when he held it out for him. Danny smiled when his fingers met its fur—it was soft. Then the creature shivered, sneezing cutely before it retreated, going back to nuzzling Daisuke for warmth.

"With’s just here visiting," Daisuke chuckled, closing one eye as With’s feathery black fur almost touched it, "And to deliver the goods back to my parents. I can’t exactly send it in the mail, you know?"

Danny nodded. “I guess… wait, did this thing fly all the way from Japan?”

"He’s getting older now so the trips are harder, huh, bud?" Daisuke sighed, "He got here yesterday, but I’m letting him rest before he gets on his way home. That, and I think he missed me."

With huffed indignantly, as if to protest being called old. Daisuke grinned and pet him on the forehead, choosing not to respond.

"You sure do go all out." Danny said after a moment, "I mean, just for one ring, you bring in a freaking magic animal thing."

Daisuke shook his head. “It wasn’t really my choice,” He shrugged, “And… that’s not the only thing he’s here for.”

Danny blinked. “What? What do you mean?”

"Well, I meant it when I said I wanted to fix my mistake," Daisuke said honestly, "I’ve been thinking about how to do that. And I finally figured it out when With showed up."

"But…"

"Danny, I know how much you hate being called a monster, a bad guy." Daisuke said softly, "And it was my fault this time. So I’m going to make it up to you."

"How?" Danny asked incredulously.

"Simple. The Phantom Thief strikes again," the redhead said, his voice nonchalant and serious, but with a hint of amusement, "and Danny Phantom is going to stop him this time."

Danny stared at him in bewilderment. He tried to piece together everything Daisuke was saying—With was here for a reason, Daisuke was going to steal again, Danny was going to stop him—and the only thing that managed to tumble out of his mouth was a confused, “Huh?”

Daisuke couldn’t help it, he laughed. “Just watch the news for the next few days, alright? It wouldn’t do any good if we staged everything. But I promise, whatever happens, I’m not holding back.”

"What?" Danny was even more befuddled now.

"Just… go home." Daisuke shook his head, "I’ll handle everything, all you have to do is show up. I’ll clear your name, I promise."

Danny nodded numbly, pushing himself off the roof and beginning to drift off, before he turned back. “Hey Daisuke?” He asked.

Daisuke paused in the mid-movement—he had been about to jump off the roof to his balcony. “Yes?”

"I’m really sorry I got mad at you."

"No, you had every right."

Danny stared hard for a long time, his green eyes seeming all the more brighter in his silhouette against the moonlit sky.

"We’re cool, then?" He asked hesitantly after a moment.

"Of course, Danny." Daisuke nodded, smiling earnestly. He idly scratched With under the chin, and the black creature purred, shifting to settle around his shoulders and folding his now-shrinking wings against his back.

"No more lying about stealing stuff?"

Daisuke paused. “I make no guarantees,” he said after a moment of contemplation, “but I promise, if I do, it’s probably for the better.”

"…Yeah, for the better." Danny nodded.

He didn’t really need to know what kinds of things Daisuke went through in the past. He didn’t need to know why Daisuke spoke so casually about stealing, as if it didn’t weigh heavily in his mind. He didn’t even need to know why Daisuke’s grin seemed sad whenever he talked about it.

Daisuke would surely tell him, someday, on his own terms. And maybe on that day, Danny would tell Daisuke his own secrets too.

He gave one last strained smile before he turned around and flew off, and soon Daisuke was nothing but a shadow of his former self.

Chapter Text

"Last night, a mysterious shadow appeared in the sky over Amity Park—people originally thought it was a bird, but several witnesses claimed the shadow looked to be of human shape." The news woman said, "Citizens are speculating it’s a new ghost—or an angel."

Danny perked up, looking at the news channel as he munched on his toast. That must have been Daisuke… when he was looking for me…

"A new ghost?" Maddie turned up the volume, trying to listen to the story, but the news lady had already moved on, and she gave a disappointed sigh. Danny rolled his eyes—of course his mother was only interested whenever the word "ghost" was uttered.

"Danny, come on, we’ll be late for school!" Jazz called.

"Coming!"

~~~

"The winged ghost has appeared again—no one can see him clearly yet, but citizens have started keeping a look out at night. They see him flying above the city, just circling. No one knows what this mysterious ghost’s presence means for Amity Park, or what his malicious intent is. We warn citizens to be cautious, and do not approach if he shows sign of malevolence."

"What is Daisuke up to…" Danny muttered, frowning as he paused in front of the TV. He hadn’t seen Daisuke in a few days, still hesitant after their argument, but… Daisuke had promised to clear his name. If this was how he was planning to do it… Danny couldn’t help but wonder what the outcome would be.

~~~

"This just in—the police have received a strange notice from the museum curator!"

Danny blinked, looking up from his homework. He frowned, slowly reaching for the remote, turning up the sound.

"It’s an odd case, but the museum curator has informed the police that a thief has announced a robbery! On the screen is a copy of the note—it reads: I will steal the Ring of Bendacht tomorrow night at 10 o’clock. And it’s signed Phantom Thief D.”

The raven-haired boy’s eyes widened. Dread pooled in his stomach—half because he knew what was coming next, half because he knew what the note really meant.

"It seems Phantom strikes again—is he finally turning from hero to menace, like our local ghost experts have predicted?" The news anchor turned, "We have Lance Thunder live on the scene! Lance, have there been any more details on this announcement?"

The screen split in two, and the blond news reporter turned up mumbling before he straightened himself out and cleared his throat. "No, there have been no developments here. But we do have Maddie and Jack Fenton here with us! What are your thoughts on the situation?"

"That darned ghost won’t be stealing anything!" Jack announced proudly, "We’ve just had a chat with the curator, and we’ll be putting up ghost shields around the premises for the next forty-eight hours! We’ll be here tomorrow night too, when Phantom attempts this dastardly deed! And then we’ll catch him and rip him apart molecule by molecule!"

Danny winced. Great, just like them and the whole town to assume Phantom is really the culprit. Peachy.

"Though it is odd the ghost boy would send a notice," Maddie put in, and Lance moved the microphone to her, "He must be getting overconfident, just because it would be a normal anti-thief system. Or it’s a challenge to us, we don’t know. Either way, he’s in for a surprise, and we’ll take him down!"

Danny shivered. He knew he had to be there even if he wasn’t the thief—Daisuke had said “all you have to do is show up”. He wasn’t too sure how comfortable he was with knowingly walking into anti-ghost territory.

Still, Danny was filled with worry now. Sure, Daisuke sort of brought this on himself, but Daisuke hadn’t sent out a notice in advance last time, and that was how he was able to steal the ring. He knew Daisuke’s friend used to send out notices, but that was because he was a show-off who liked the challenge of heightened security. Daisuke wasn’t like that—he was modest and quiet and hated being noticed or anything like the limelight.

How was he going to pull this off with almost all of Amity Park watching?

Then again, Danny realized—Daisuke didn’t need to even steal the ring. He just had to show up alongside Danny to prove that Danny wasn’t the thief.

"Oh—so that’s his plan." Danny breathed. "Well… better hope it works, Daisuke. If things go wrong… I dunno if I can get us out of this one."

~~~

The stars were bright and the evening was warm. A green dome glowed over the museum—Daisuke could see it from a mile away. He chuckled, though. “Did they really think that could stop us…?”

"Kyuu," came the reply from the black creature on his back, seeming equally amused.

"Yeah, you’re right. They’re totally expecting Danny, just like I thought." Daisuke shifted his weight, coasting off to the side. "At least they’ve got search lights—which is just what we need. Time to put our plan into action."

It had been a long time since Daisuke flew on those wings, but he would never forget how to. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as excitement escalated—this time, he really would pull off the heist the way his friend would do it, and he would do it on his own. Well, except for With.

He backpedaled in the air, hovering just over the reach of the lights. “Ready, buddy?”

"Kyuu!"

Daisuke put on his best mischievous grin and dove. The movement caught the attention of the search lights and the news cameras, and the crowd of people who had come to watch gasped as Daisuke stopped right in the path of the light, covering his face to keep himself from getting blinded.

"That—that’s not Phantom! It’s the winged ghost!" One of the news reporters shouted.

Daisuke lowered his arms, smirking when they saw his face. “That’s definitely not Phantom—but he’s still a young ghost, it seems!” He saw some of the crowd look disappointed but awed—namely the girls in the black and white DP shirts, and Daisuke would be sure to laugh about it later.

He narrowed his vivid red eyes against the light, looking for Danny—anywhere… he had to be somewhere. Danny had to be there for the plan to work.

A few cops, armed with ectoguns, shot at him, and he dropped ten feet to get out of the way. Mustering up what acting skills he had left from his thieving days, he laughed mockingly.

"That all you got?" He called down to the cops, "Bullets are faster than those things!"

They, for some reason, seemed surprised by the taunt. After a moment of shock, they took aim to shoot again.

"Kyuu," With murmured to him as they dodged, and he nodded.

"Better get on with it even if he’s late." Daisuke agreed, snapping his fingers.

They vanished from the spotlight, and the crowd below gasped. A few news reporters talked rapidly, trying to cover every event.

"He’s vanished! The winged ghost has just vanished! Where did he go?"

"He probably turned invisible!"

"Is he going after the ring? Impossible—the ghost shield is up!"

~~~

Inside the museum, Jack and Maddie were standing guard in the gemstone room. Their earpieces gave them the scoop from outside—the chief of police was feeding them the play-by-play of the situation, warning them that the ghost had disappeared.

"Keep an eye on the walls—if he does manage to get past the ghost shield somehow, he’ll probably phase through any one of them." Maddie ordered, and Jack nodded, looking up at the ceiling.

"Or he could, you know, walk through the front door."

Jack and Maddie jumped in surprise, spinning around quickly and aiming their guns and bazookas instinctively. There was a young man leaning on the display case, grinning proudly. He had deep red eyes—such an unnatural shade, Maddie thought—and wispy purple hair, and his posture was completely relaxed despite the guns aimed at him.

"How did you get past the shields, ghost?" Jack demanded, his gun whirring dangerously.

"Weren’t you supposed to have wings?" Maddie muttered, then her eyes widened. "No—there’s no way he could have gotten here this quickly either. There must be two of them—they’re accomplices!"

"Nope, just me, ma’am." The young man laughed, "And sorry to disappoint you… but I’m not a ghost."

He stood up straighter, one hand reaching for the display case to grab his target, but his eyes never left the two hunters’. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a ring to steal.”

Maddie’s eyes flickered, and as he moved she dove forward, shooting her ectopistol. He cursed and side-stepped away from the case to dodge, and jumped up just as Maddie swept her leg under him to try and trip him. He flipped backward, landing in a crouched position on top of another display case, carefully balanced on its metal frame.

"Oh, I might have underestimated you. I didn’t know you knew karate." The thief looked amused, as if he actually did know and was only acting surprised.

That ticked Maddie off. “Where’s your partner? Is it Phantom?”

"I already told you, I’m working alone." The thief frowned now, "I have no idea who ‘Phantom’ is."

"Yeah, right," Maddie smirked, and the thief’s eyes widened as they flickered around to find the one person he had forgotten about in their little scuffle—Jack.

Only a second too late, he turned his head to see behind him, and a glowing bolas met their mark. He tumbled forward with a yelp, hitting the ground with a solid thump.

"I got ‘im!" Jack cheered, grabbing the thief by the shoulders and holding him up. "Ha! Take that, ghost! You can’t phase through the Fenton Bolas even if you tried!"

The thief glowered. “I told you, I’m not a ghost! I wouldn’t be able to phase through anything anyhow!”

Maddie stepped up to him, pulling a pair of handcuffs from her belt and clipping them around his wrists. “Like we’d believe a ghost. These will short-circuit your powers—so no blasting your way out!”

"Wow, you’re pretty good, you caught me." The thief rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jack put him down next to the original display case he was aiming for, his chest puffed up proudly. “I’ll go inform the police guys we caught the ghost! Then we’ll take this one back for testing!”

"Yes, you do that dear," Maddie grinned and looked at the thief, who paled a little. "I’ll keep an eye on this one."

Jack thundered off loudly, and the thief suddenly looked amused. “I’ve got to admit, for a guy who looks like he can’t make a silent footstep for the life of him, he sure can sneak up on a guy. Give him my props.” He said dryly, struggling lightly against his restraints.

Maddie rolled her eyes. “Be quiet, ghost scum.”

"How many times do I have to tell you, I am not a ghost?” The thief gave an exasperated growl, “I really don’t know what you superstitious nuts were expecting tonight. I’ve done a lot of heists, and generally people expect, you know, a human thief. The green shield is new, but it doesn’t work on me because, and I keep saying this, I’m not a ghost.”

"Uh huh, sure. Obviously we need to make adjustments if you can get past.” Maddie glared, then a look of surprise overcame her face as someone over the communicator came in.

"It’s Danny Phantom! Phantom’s arrived, he’s up in the sky!"

"Phantom’s here?" Maddie turned away, holding her hand to her ear to hear better, "What’s he doing?"

"He’s shouting about how he’s here to catch the ghost thief we’re expecting! He’s not doing anything but dodging our shots!"

"Stop him? They must be accomplices, Phantom must be here to bust his pal out." Maddie snorted, looking back at the purple-haired man who was sitting still against the display case, his ears perked, looking interested.

"As awesome as that may be, I wouldn’t be a very good phantom thief if someone had to help bust me out." The thief grinned innocently—a little too innocently.

Maddie narrowed her eyes in suspicion and turned around to give him her full attention again… only to finally notice that the Fenton Bolas were untangled and on the floor, and the thief was sitting on top of the display case, dangling the anti-ghost handcuffs tauntingly with a smirk.

"I don’t need any help from some ghost, thanks." He tossed the handcuffs at her, then holding up his other hand to wave goodbye. His grin split his face as Maddie’s eyes widened and focused on the white silver ring on his finger. "And I got what I wanted, so I’m out of here! See ya!"

"Wait!" Madie gasped, and gave chase as he jumped over her and ran out the door.

He’s… not phasing through the walls? He’s taking the human route? The blue huntress noticed as she tailed him down the hall. He was fast—but not inhumanly so. Maybe he really is as human as he claims.

He ran for the second floor—where he pushed open the nearest window and jumped out.

Maddie cursed, about to climb onto the ledge to jump after him—she could survive a ten foot fall, no problem—but then she saw it. Black wings unfurled from the thief’s back, and he shot off into the sky.

Okay, scratch that—there’s no way he’s human! She fumed angrily—he had tricked her! That piece of ectoplasmic scum tricked her, and she was the one who always told herself to never fall for a ghost’s tricks!

"We’ve got a situation," she pressed her earpiece, "The thief has the goods, and he escaped. He’s in the air now."

"We know! He’s facing off with Phantom right now!" A police officer told her, and Maddie—like everyone else—looked to the sky, surprised.

"He’s facing off with Phantom?"

"Phantom did say he was here to stop the ghost! Just like the hero he is, huh?"

"He’s no hero!"

"Say what you want lady, but he’s stopping the thief pretty well, it looks like."

~~~

Daisuke flew up to the edge of the dome, looking behind him and saluting playfully to Jack, who was currently shooting off a bazooka at him. Looking to the cameras and the crowd, he put on his best charming grin and, making sure they were all watching, phased through the shield effortlessly, as if it wasn’t even there.

Some people gasped—murmurs of “he’s not a ghost?!” erupting from the police and some spectators. The ectoguns stopped shooting—even Jack’s.

He looked forward again and grinned at Danny, who was floating cautiously several feet away. “Ah, you must be that Phantom kid they keep mistaking me for.” He said loudly—just loud enough to be heard below, but not so loud that it sounded unnatural. He was glad Danny kept a distance—it made shouting seem like a reasonable way of communicating.

"And you must be the thief they think I am." His eyes narrowed to a glare—and Daisuke got the feeling it wasn’t all fake. "I’m not going to let you steal anything you… whatever you are!"

"Calling me ‘what’ is such a degrading term," Daisuke waved his hand flippantly, showing off the white ring with a wide grin, "it’s not like you can stop me—I’ve already secured my target."

Danny’s eyes widened, and his gaze went from the ring to Daisuke’s fake grinning face. He saw a look of apology hidden in those red eyes, but he still couldn’t help but feel angry.

"You ruined my good name and you really thought you could get away with stealing twice? I’m not going to let that happen!" Danny dove in, and Daisuke gasped, flipping in mid-air just in time to dodge and kick Danny in the back. A quiet "sorry!" reached his ears.

"Hey, it’s not like I knew someone here was called Phantom! Not my fault people mistook my title for my name!" Daisuke called back, flying far away enough that he wouldn’t get attacked again easily, and making shouting necessary again.

"What is your name then, huh!? Who are you?!" Danny demanded—and the force of his question seemed more real than Daisuke felt comfortable with.

Danny charged up an ecto-blast, looking menacing in the green glow of his would-be attack.

"I—" He looked down at the crowds and the cameras, almost nervous for a second. When he returned his gaze to Danny, a determined fire blazed in his eyes. "I am the Great Phantom Thief Dark! I am me… and me alone!”

That last part… that was for Danny. And Danny’s eyes softened just a little bit.

He had only a moment to put his act back on. “Dark huh? What a dumb name. Any relation to Pariah Dark?”

"A name is a name… and a name holds power," said Daisuke—no, Dark, as Danny had just learned was the name of the face he was wearing. "And this is mine."

He flapped his wings, a powerful gust of wind swirling in the air, knocking Danny out of the spot he hovered in and extinguishing the ecto-blast. Danny grunted, flipping upright to give chase. He caught his friend’s eye.

"Dark" was backpedaling, his eyes on Danny—and then they flickered downward to the crowd. Danny looked too—they were captivated. They were convinced now, the Phantom Thief was not Danny Phantom. It was enough.

Time to end this, it seemed. “So you have power, big deal. I’ll deal with you like I do with every other ghost!” Danny paused, remembering the flash of white on Daisuke’s hand. “So give back what you stole before I do some real damage to you!”

"Not a chance," Daisuke grinned, "I already told those hunters inside, I’m not a ghost! You can’t deal with me like you do with them! If you want me, you’ll have to catch me first—though you should know, no one ever has."

"Then I’ll be the first." Danny charged up the ecto-blast again, firing it in rapid succession. Daisuke dodged it nimbly, flying up and down and backwards and twisting away like a graceful bird.

Danny had planned to chase “Dark” away from the scene, into quieter territory so they could really talk and he could find out why Daisuke had actually stolen another artifact. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that chance—just as Daisuke dodged one of his green ecto-blasts, a red one fired from somewhere aside, and hit the purple-haired thief square on the shoulder. Danny had moved back just in time to miss a second red blast.

"Augh!" Daisuke’s voice cracked for a moment, falling out of the "Dark" voice he had been using all night. He held his shoulder in pain, his flight faltering before it corrected itself, and he turned to face his new threat. His eyes widened. "You—!"

"Oh? Do you know me?" The Ghost Slayer’s hover board steadily descended, guns in both hands aimed at the Phantom Thief and the Phantom.

Daisuke faltered, then quickly recovered himself. “You shot me!” He yelled angrily, “What the hell!”

"Watch your language, you’re on the news." Valerie smirked, "Though I guess, why would a ghost care."

"Why does everybody think I’m a ghost?!" Daisuke gave an exasperated growl, "I am not! What’s it going to take for people to believe me?"

"To be fair, you’re a lying, sneaking thief." Danny put in, earning a glare from his supposed opponent.

Daisuke turned his not-so-real glower to Valerie. He wanted to remind her about her morals on shooting a human, but the fact that he was flying on black wings right now didn’t really support his ‘I’m a human’ case. “So what if I am, I’m unarmed! She shouldn’t have shot me! And you know what, this crazy town won’t be seeing me again after this, so if you would kindly let me go—”

"Not a chance!" Came two voices at once, and Daisuke and Valerie looked in surprise at Danny.

"Give back the ring you stole." Danny said firmly, "The Ghost Slayer here is probably only here for me, so give back what you stole and you won’t have to deal with her again."

"And I can’t be sure you’re not lying when you say you’re not a ghost," Valerie looked back at the winged thief, "No normal human has wings.”

"I never said I was human, just not a ghost! You need proof or something? Fine, here!" Daisuke bit his tongue in frustration, wrenching his hand from his shoulder and shoving it in Valerie’s general direction, "Is this enough proof?!”

Valerie gaped at the gleaming red substance covering the man’s fingers and the swelling red burns that showed through the singed fabric on his shoulder. Danny’s eyes widened in fear and disgust, paling ever so slightly.

"Red—your blood is red." Valerie whispered, fear tugging at her heart as she realized that, at least, he was a living creature.

Daisuke winced, replacing his hand on his shoulder. “I thought so. Now if you’ll excuse me,” The wings flapped powerfully, and Danny and Valerie had to brace themselves to not get blown away.

"This isn’t the grand exit I was hoping for, but," He looked down to the crowd, giving a half-grin, "Thank you for coming to watch me tonight, you’ve been a great audience! I bid you adieu!"

"Dai—Dark!" Danny called out, looking at where he had last heard Daisuke’s voice, only to find nothing but a flurry of feathers and a vanished shadow.

His senses on high alert now, he glanced toward Valerie. He couldn’t just get away from her, she’d chase him.

"Shoot, he got away!" Danny shouted, unnecessarily loud, and promptly shot off, turning invisible.

Valerie, for a moment, was too stunned to move, and by the time she did, Phantom was well out of range of her radar.

~~~

"Daisuke!" Danny phased through the roof of Daisuke’s apartment, his eyes wide with worry.

He panicked when he didn’t find Daisuke in his room, until he heard a soft, “In the kitchen, Danny,” and he shot out.

He stopped dead in his tracks, staring as Daisuke tried to peel his coat off without agitating his burn. With glanced over at him, whimpering a small “kyuu” as he sat on the table with his wing-ear-things drooped in worry. He seemed about as helpless as Danny felt.

"D-Daisuke… are you okay?" Danny asked tentatively, floating closer.

"Could’ve been worse," Daisuke gave a wry grin to reassure him, then winced as his fingers brushed the wound again, "It’s not as bad as it looks. The blood was just because I was digging my nails into it to draw some blood."

"Still, that’s…" Danny shook his head, coming closer and helping Daisuke take off his black coat, "Sorry… I didn’t know she would show up. You shouldn’t have gotten hurt."

"Her weapons aren’t as harmless to humans as the Fentons’ huh." Daisuke sighed, "It’s really alright, Danny. At least I was fortunate to have had the Ring of Bendacht. It really could have been worse." He looked Danny right in the eye, and Danny stopped, remembering his earlier anger.

"Wait—that’s right, you actually stole it. What gives, I thought you only stole harmful artifacts!” Danny said accusingly, stepping back, “I thought the plan was just to show up in the same place, that I was going to stop you from stealing…”

"You were supposed to try. You didn’t succeed." Daisuke shrugged his good shoulder, "And even if I stole again, the plan worked—your name was cleared."

"But—Daisuke, you stole…”

“Bendacht means blessing.”

Danny faltered, confused by the seemingly non sequitur. “What?”

"I said I was fortunate to have the ring. This ring is also magical—maybe not evil, but it is magical." Daisuke held up his hand, the silver ring glinting on his middle finger, "It’s the Ring of Mallachd’s sister. They have the opposite effects—the other one curses… this one cures. It brings luck."

"I… okay, so it’s magical, but I still don’t get why you had to actually steal it." Danny frowned.

"Well, firstly, I figured that With would need some protection when he took the Ring of Mallachd home." Daisuke said straightforwardly, beginning to pick off his shirt now too. "Secondly… the thing about magical artifacts is that if they’re part of a set… it’s never a good idea to separate them."

"What happens if they are?"

"They usually keep each other in balance. Without the other there, their power goes wild and causes chaos." Daisuke frowned at his sleeve, nearly melted to his skin, and glanced at With, motioning to one of the drawers in the kitchen. With jumped off the table, pushing open the drawer and nosing through it, before he came back with a pair of scissors in his mouth. Daisuke took it and pet him, then went to work on cutting off his sleeve. He continued speaking, not looking at Danny, "Even if this ring is good and it wouldn’t cause any bad trouble by itself, I thought that… I can’t take the risk and let its sister cause any trouble back home for my family. I wouldn’t be there to protect them if that happened. So I stole it too. I’m still stealing to prevent people from getting hurt… there’s no difference."

Danny’s eyes softened, and he stepped closer again, taking the scissors from Daisuke and helping him get his shirt off. “Anything else in this set I should know about…? Weren’t there more rings in the display?”

"None that were relative. So no." Daisuke smiled gratefully at him, "I know how you feel about stealing, so I’ll try not to do it again—but honestly, it wasn’t even my choice. If it weren’t for my dad asking, and then this whole mess with trying to clear your name—still sorry about that by the way—I would have stayed retired for good."

"…You looked like you were having fun." Danny said quietly, carefully pulling the shirt off Daisuke’s arm and torso once he finished cutting. He glanced over to the table and saw that With was nudging the first aid kit closer to them, and he grabbed it with a little smile to the black creature.

Daisuke blinked slowly at Danny. “I was acting.”

"Not all of it." Danny said, almost in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "Though you’re a pretty good actor."

"Okay, I’ll admit I like the thrill. But I don’t like stealing." Daisuke conceded, "I like flying… I like that I can dodge bullets and do things no one else can—because it’s all in my own power."

Danny paused in cleaning Daisuke’s wound, locking eyes with the redhead. “In your own power?”

"My friend… the person whose face this is… he used to do a lot for me. Sometimes I felt helpless, like I couldn’t do anything by myself. It took a long time for me to have the courage to realize I could do everything he could do… and then some." Daisuke said steadily, "And after he died, it hit me full force that he couldn’t do everything for me. Not anymore. So I had to do everything with my own power. And I… I loved it. That was probably how he felt, too."

Danny stared at him, then went back to cleaning the burn. Daisuke winced, but it was barely noticeable. “So his name was Dark?”

There was silence, and when Danny looked up, Daisuke was staring off into space.

"If it’s painful for you, you don’t have to talk about it." The white-haired boy said quietly, regretting that he asked.

Daisuke shook his head. “I meant what I said, Danny. A name holds power. Yours holds a power of hope, of safety… and to some, of fear and malevolence.” Danny’s eyebrows raised at this, and he opened his mouth to ask, but Daisuke continued. “To the people of my town, Dark was a mystery. He was a lifelong dream to my mother, and he represented the past to my grandfather. But to me… he was strength. He was my friend, my brother… my mentor, sometimes, but I wouldn’t say he was very good moral guidance.” The redhead sighed, “Still… his name now… when I think about it, it’s pain, it’s homesickness… and it moves me forward.”

Daisuke met Danny’s gaze again, “I wouldn’t say it means strength anymore—but the power he had over me… the power his name has over me now… it’s what keeps me going. Because he, and all my other friends… they wanted me to live, even if they didn’t. And that’s why his name, and all of theirs, have power. And, despite how much it inspires my will to move on… sometimes, it hurts to say their names. So I don’t.”

"…Sorry, Daisuke. I didn’t mean to, then…" Danny broke away, averting his eyes guiltily. He went back to the burn, holding his hand over it—he figured his cool temperature would be better for it than running it under some water.

"It’s alright. Once in a while… it’s okay." Daisuke smiled mournfully, pulling off his purple wig and holding it tightly in his hand. With came over, nudging him, and he let go of the wig, moving his hand to pet his familiar instead.

They were silent for a long time, and it wasn’t a comfortable silence either. The air was thick with tension and mourning and guilt. So Daisuke broke the silence and asked, “Are you still mad at me for stealing?”

"I… I don’t know what to think anymore. Stealing is wrong, but… to save people from the effects of those rings, and who knows what else out there… I just… I can’t wrap my head around it. Literally or figuratively." Danny shook his head, giving a weak grin. "Do I seem mad at you?"

"A little, not that I blame you," Daisuke sighed, "You know, you’ve got really strong morals… and that’s the best part about you, Danny. You’re strong in your convictions and duties… but you need to learn that there’s more to the world than just ‘black’ and ‘white’ like you seem to think."

"What do you mean?" Danny tilted his head.

"You’re still young, and it might be hard to change your ideals now, but I wonder if you learned this before you died… that right and wrong aren’t solid concepts, and the world is painted in shades of gray." Daisuke put his hand over Danny’s, surprising the ghost boy with how gentle the touch was, "I’m not saying you should question everything you ever knew as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’… but sometimes, someone will come along and they will challenge that. You need to be able to adapt once the world you know gets bigger than you ever imagined."

"…You’re talking from experience, aren’t you?"

"I’m the kid who was raised to be a thief, who hated stealing and thought it was wrong." Daisuke chuckled listlessly, "Dark was the one who challenged my world. Albeit to make me think stealing was okay, but the concept is still there. My judgement now is based on the justification… so I won’t ever forgive the robber who thinks a grocery store is a good way to make a quick buck. But Danny… tell me. If a kid on the streets had been starving for a whole week, and stole a single apple to have something to eat for one day… would stealing still be wrong in this case?"

Danny’s hands fell to his side, and he stared with wide eyes at the redhead. “I… it would be… wrong to steal… but if the kid really needed it, it would be wrong of the vendor not to let them have it.”

"So the kid is justified in stealing?"

The ghost boy hesitated. Finally, he decided: “…Yeah.”

"It wouldn’t be the same if, say… the same starving kid had threatened the vendor with a knife to get the apple? Because the vendor wouldn’t let him have it?” Daisuke inquired, his voice completely serious.

Danny paused to think about that. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “The kid is justified for stealing. Not for threatening harm.”

"But would you let him take the apple, knowing both of those things?"

"…I… I don’t know." He answered sadly, looking down at his boots, somehow feeling ashamed that he couldn’t answer.

Daisuke nodded. “That’s because it’s not clear if he’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Like I said… the world is filled with gray areas. You just have to start realizing that. And once you find a common ground… you’ll be much more at peace with the truth. With what you can decide is good or bad.”

There was another long silence, and Danny occupied himself by grabbing the medicine and gauze, helping Daisuke apply the healing cream and wrap it in bandages.

Finally, he said, “I guess I’m not really mad at you anymore.”

"That’s a relief." Daisuke smiled earnestly.

Danny finished wrapping his shoulder, and stepped back to look at his handiwork. “…Guess this makes us even for that time you patched me up, huh?”

Daisuke chuckled. “You’re not so bad at treating wounds, Danny.”

"I get some practice on myself." Danny gave a lopsided smile, "Like you huh?"

"Guess so." Daisuke stood up, discarding the rest of his shirt in the pile that had accumulated on the floor next to him, then heading to his room. "Thanks, Danny. I could have done it myself, but… I’m glad you were worried about me. So thank you."

"No problem."

Danny followed Daisuke—With did too, Danny noticed. Daisuke stopped in his room, looking around his drawers for a suitable shirt that he could put on without agitating his shoulder.

Danny stared at the long, faded scars on Daisuke’s back, this time getting a much better glimpse of them than he did before. He paused, realizing something, and looked down at With. Danny watched its strange black wing-ears twitch, its big red eyes following his owner anxiously.

"Hey… With is your wings, right?"

"Mostly, yes." Daisuke looked over his shoulder, going over to his closet to find a button-down shirt he could use.

"Then why do those scars on your back look big enough to be…."

"Because they are." Daisuke said shortly, finally pulling on a shirt, feeling self-conscious now, "I grew wings once. I didn’t know I could—it had something to do with my family’s magic and Dark, but I’m not sure if it was my bloodline, Dark, or just… me. In any case… I had been angry, because Harada-chan had been kidnapped, and I wanted to go after the kidnapper." Daisuke gave the ghost boy a sad look, "It was the most excruciatingly painful thing I’d ever gone through. I don’t know if it happens whenever I get mad, but I’ve never tried to get that mad again."

"Wow. You… grew wings." Danny tried to imagine the bloody black wings bursting from Daisuke’s back, then retracting, leaving the huge wounds on Daisuke’s back. It wasn’t a pretty picture—after all, only the largest and most gruesome of wounds became scars.

"Be lucky you’ll never have to."

Daisuke knelt down, pulling a chain from his pocket and stringing the Ring of Bendacht on it. Danny took a moment to realize the chain had previously already been occupied by another thing—the Ring of Mallachd.

"Here you go, buddy. Keep these safe for me, would you?" Daisuke pet the black creature, looping the chain around its neck, "You must be tired after tonight, huh… Take a rest. You can make the return flight home tomorrow."

"Kyuu."

Danny smiled a little. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired too. I’m gonna head home then.”

Daisuke nodded, looking up at him. “Alright, see you later, Danny.”

"You take care of that burn then. See ya!"

Chapter Text

Daisuke paused as he passed a big charity event happening on the outskirts of Elmerton—he had passed it on the way in, but it had started out as a quiet event at the local museum. Apparently some rich guy had shown up while he was running errands in the town, and apparently he was a big deal, because now there were cameras and reporters everywhere.

Normally he wouldn’t have paid any mind to such a thing—cast it a glance, sure, because he always did like a good museum and would have gladly helped out the charity—but the charity event itself and the news crews weren’t what drew his attention.

No, his attention was on the old rich man who had taken center stage, just like everyone else. And it had nothing to do with the man’s charisma, strange accent, enunciated way of speaking, what he was talking about, or even his nice suit.

That man… Daisuke had met him before, hadn’t he?

He frowned, an uneasy feeling tying his gut until he turned away, briskly making his way down the street and out of sight of the charity event. Had he stayed a moment longer, he got the feeling the pepper-haired man would have seen him—and that didn’t bode well to be a good thing.

~~~

"Hey, Daisuke!"

The redheaded artist startled, falling out of his chair when he leaned back too much at the sudden sound. He yelped in pain and Danny laughed, lifting his cloak of invisibility.

"Wow, didn’t think I could actually scare you this time." Danny offered the man a hand, which he took gratefully, shivering a little at the ghost boy’s touch. "You looked like you were concentrating on something pretty hard though… do you have art block or something?"

Daisuke gave a shy grin as he greeted the boy, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He straightened himself, setting his chair upright and sitting back down on it. He motioned to the bed, and Danny casually took the seat.

"Oh, it’s nothing much, I was just… thinking about something." Daisuke’s expression dropped and eyebrows furrowed, "It’s had me… unsettled."

Danny’s face quickly turned to worry. It wasn’t often that Daisuke looked this serious—the only other times he had seen Daisuke like this was when he was stitching Danny up the first time and when he was trying to apologize for the most recent fight between them.

"What’s wrong? Did something happen?" Danny asked quietly, feeling the tension in the air.

"No, nothing happened, but…" Daisuke hesitated. "Danny… do you remember that mansion you had me break into? The one with the ghost shield?"

"…Y—yeah?" Danny suddenly felt dread churning in his stomach. Oh, he suddenly realized where this was going and he didn’t like it at all.

"I just… it’s been bothering me for some time, but I didn’t want to ask you since you didn’t seem to want to talk about it—the person you called ‘Vlad’ who you said was your arch-nemesis."

Danny stiffened.

"You said he was a human, and I understand he must have something against ghosts if he has you as an enemy and the means to keep you from his home. Yet he had ghosts at his mansion, acting as if they lived there. And while I don’t know your history with him, nor do I need to, something just doesn’t add up."

Danny gulped. “Uh, well, I know I haven’t been completely honest with you, but…”

He was interrupted when the older man held up his hand. “Just… let me think out loud, okay? I don’t have to be right about this, especially if you don’t want to tell, but let me think.” Danny nodded mutely, watching intensely as the redhead got up and began to pace. Daisuke didn’t seem to mind Danny’s silence, tapping his chin.

"I didn’t really understand why Plasmius was at that mansion, nor why he later tried to kidnap me. I mean, I know it was to get to you, Danny, but it was really weird for a ghost to target me specifically—I’m sure you have closer friends than me, like Miss Fenton and those others who help you in ghost fights. And it was especially weird since he said he’d been watching me for a long time. I would have sensed him before then, if that was the case—as you know, I’m pretty sensitive to environmental changes, and anything supernatural near me for that long a period would have been noticed by—well, let’s just say I have a sixth sense for knowing when I’m being tracked."

The white-haired ghost boy blinked slowly, watching as Daisuke stopped pacing. He finally dared to speak. “Is this a thief thing? Or a magic thing?”

"A bit of both." Daisuke shrugged, "I mean, I usually sense you pretty easily, using both of those things. But I’ve gotten used to you by now.”

Danny coughed, blushing shyly. Daisuke gave him a little grin before he resumed pacing, folding his arms behind him thoughtfully.

"If I hadn’t sensed him, it means that he was using a non-supernatural bug. Which means he had help—human help, likely, and the only human relative to Plasmius with that kind of technology is the ‘Vlad’ with the ghost shield in the first place."

"…Why exactly are you worried about this? He’s not watching anymore, is he…?" Danny looked around cautiously, gripping the edge of the bed.

"If he is, he wouldn’t get anything, I jammed any micro-signals in this general area. I set that up shortly after you warned me about Plasmius the first time—I had thought it was suspicious that he hadn’t attacked after some weeks."

Danny’s eyes went wide, and he whipped his gaze back to the redhead. He was still pacing. When the ghost boy recovered himself, he asked, “Thief thing?”

"Thief thing." Daisuke nodded. "It was actually my mother’s idea, she sent over the program for me to run from my laptop—it’s riding on the wireless connection here, so it’s not affecting anything but unwarranted bugs and the rest of the building can’t complain the internet isn’t working."

"That’s… so subtle. Your mom must be brilliant." Danny commented, "I think our mothers might have gotten along."

Daisuke stopped and turned to look at Danny quizzically, tilting his head. Finally, he managed a small smile. “Remind me to tell you about her later, then.” He offered, then sighed and plopped back down in his chair.

Danny watched his display of exasperation, looking thoughtful. “Okay, let me get this straight. You’re worrying about Vlad’s motives? Even though he’s kinda left you alone by now? You did scare him off… I mean, you scared Plasmius off and he hasn’t really touched you since.”

Daisuke shook his head. “I don’t think I did.” He admitted, “You said that red huntress works for Vlad right?”

"Yeah…?"

"Well, she’s attacked you once while I was with you, followed me for at least two days, and attacked me without realizing it. She’s appeared a lot since that incident with Plasmius, and if they’re both working for Vlad, I get the feeling all of her appearances to me—unintentional or not—are because he sent her."

"Wait, when did she follow you?" Danny asked in alarm, almost missing the point.

"A couple of days before the first heist. Not important, she didn’t get anything useful out of me." Daisuke shrugged, "I have to give her props for not shooting you when I was teaching you how to pick locks though."

"She was there for that?!"

"She was hiding and I doubt she knew what we were doing, but yes. The glowing parts on her suit and board are kind of obvious at night. I sort of wonder how you didn’t notice her." Daisuke chuckled, "Anyway, because she was following me—and in secret, no less—I’d hazard a guess that Vlad’s developed some sort of grudge against me, and wants to do something about it. The grudge is possibly for rendering his bugs useless, but more than likely it’s because I’m friends with you."

Danny winced. “Somehow… I’m reminded of the time you said your friend’s enemy tried to kill you.”

"It’s almost exactly like that, isn’t it?" Daisuke wondered out loud, then shook his head and steered the conversation back on course, "But… the thing that never quite made sense to me was how exactly Vlad was involved in all this." He stopped, looking Danny right in the eye. "And then I remembered you called Plasmius ‘Vlad’. And you treated him like your most hated enemy too.”

Danny froze, shock still, unable to break his gaze nor work his mouth to form words.

"I understand that names can be shared, but I found it a little too coincidental." Daisuke shook his head, choosing to ignore Danny’s stiffness—it was almost as if Danny wanted to protest, but knew he couldn’t because Daisuke had already noticed. “I didn’t know who the human Vlad was. I couldn’t figure it out—and I didn’t plan to. It was just something that bothered me, but as long as nothing happened to either of us, I left the issue alone because I thought that was what you wanted.”

Danny bit his lip, averting his eyes guiltily.

"But then I saw him."

Confusion crossed the boy’s face as he looked back up. “What?” He asked in a small voice.

"Vlad Masters, right?" Daisuke leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his hands lay lax between them. "I saw him, when I was in Elmerton the other day. I found out his name and I looked him up."

Danny gulped, and had he had a beating heart in this form, he was sure it would have been going a mile a minute. “And…?” No way he could have connected Vlad and Plasmius from just looking at them right? Even if he’s super observant, Vlad and Plasmius don’t look all that much alike, and… oh, god, what would he even think of something like that? I know he’s not a judgmental guy, but what if…?

The two boys sat in tense, anxious silence for a few minutes. Then Daisuke hesitantly asked, “Danny… is Vlad Masters really a human?”

"W-what makes you say that?" Danny asked nervously, trying to squelch down any oncoming panic.

"Because… he looks just like the Plasmius I saw in my head."

Danny blanched.

"…What?"

"When Plasmius overshadowed me, I saw him in my head… He looked different. Not blue-skinned or red-eyed, but healthy and gray-haired and blue-eyed. I thought that was just what he looked like when he was alive—you said ghosts don’t look the way they did when they were alive." Daisuke’s worried gaze turned soft when his eyes landed on Danny, who seemed to be more nervous than Daisuke really understood why he would be.

"You… you saw his, uh, alive self? Was this when you were doing that… mind probing thing?" Danny was more than glad he never tried to overshadow Daisuke now. Very glad.

"No. That was just how he appeared to me—to my soul." Daisuke shook his head, "And he looked exactly like the man I saw in Elmerton."

Danny stared, completely shocked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Daisuke held up his hand again, stopping him once more. “I won’t pretend to know the intricacies of ghosts or their politics and inner workings—for all I know, Plasmius could be a shapeshifter. I don’t know what he is, and I don’t care. But if Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius really are one person… suddenly everything makes a lot more sense.”

When Danny didn’t say anything for a long time, Daisuke finally knew he was right. The uneasy knots in his stomach began to untangle as clarity unfolded.

"…Daisuke… what exactly are you planning to do about this?" Danny asked, fidgeting. His eyes didn’t leave Daisuke’s, awaiting an answer he would dread at worst and breathe a sigh of relief for at best.

"…You had a reason for not telling me, and I get the sense that you’re protecting him too. I’m not going to ask you why," Daisuke said steadily, meeting the glowing green gaze—Danny seemed all the fourteen-year-old he really was, frightened and anxious and a bundle of nervousness all mashed together. "But I get the feeling we’d be in danger if he knew I knew now, right?"

Danny nodded numbly. Daisuke’s trust in the ghost boy never ceased to amaze him, and despite being worried, Daisuke’s levelheadedness was calming, and it grounded both of them to the reality of the situation.

"Then for now, it’s my trump up the sleeve." Daisuke grinned reassuringly, standing up and going over to Danny, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders. "And he can’t hurt you for my knowledge—I figured it out all on my own, hm?"

Danny blinked slowly, replaying the conversation in his head, then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, “But, uh, just for the record… what exactly do you think Vlad is? Just to make sure he can’t use your lack of knowledge against you?”

What do you think of Vlad, knowing he’s not human in any way, shape or form… what would you think of me, if you knew I was similar?

"Hmm… a shapeshifting ghost seems more likely," Daisuke mused, taking a seat next to Danny on the bed, "though that doesn’t explain all the anti-ghost technology. So something about him is definitely not ghost… but something about him obviously is a ghost. Maybe he’s something like half a ghost.”

Danny’s heart would have leaped anxiously if it was working.

"But… with the way he acts, even his business seems as monstrous as he does. When I did research on him, he just seemed so shady. Like he lacks a moral compass completely… like he isn’t a human at all." Daisuke crossed his arms thoughtfully, then his face twisted up in disgust. "He’s like the ghosts the Fentons describe. But something about that doesn’t seem right…. Hm. Maybe he’s some sort of corpse walker."

"A… corpse walk… what?"

"A ghost possessing his old human body. Or that possibly got trapped in it." Daisuke explained, frowning deeply. "My dad told me about those once."

Judging by the face Daisuke was making, Danny could only assume nothing good came of corpse walkers, and Daisuke obviously didn’t like the idea of them.

Though he couldn’t help but wonder if that was a better description of himself than “hybrid”.

"I’m guessing you don’t like them," Danny said out loud, sighing dejectedly. Maybe he sighed a little heavier-hearted than he thought, because Daisuke fixed him with a confused stare. "Either way, Daisuke… If Vlad knew you knew his secret identity, he’ll hunt you down and shut you up. Just be careful, alright?"

"When have I not been okay, Danny?" Daisuke replied with a grin, touching his shoulder and making him look up. Even with his optimistic words, though, Danny could see Daisuke’s eyes still filled with worry. Over what, specifically, he didn’t know.

"He’s hurt my friends before, Daisuke. Nearly killed them. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to kill you, too." Danny said quietly, sighing in dejection.

Daisuke’s grin faltered. “They’re still alive, though, right?”

"…Yeah… but I doubt Vlad will make the same mistake twice."

~~~

Vlad Masters grinned wickedly as he paused the video recording of the news of the museum heist, pulling up a security footage he had kept from the boring days of Daisuke Niwa’s life—before the feeds had been jammed by some college radio tower of course.

His grin widened gleefully as he analyzed the photos. Similar facial structures—not exactly the same, but the two figures on the screen before him looked like they could be related.

It didn’t take long for Vlad to realize the connection between the two men the moment he saw “Phantom Thief Dark” on the news. A quick search had led him to learn that Dark hailed from Azumano—Daisuke’s hometown—and that was all the concrete fact that he needed on the Niwa boy.

Dark was obviously a ghost of some sort—one attached to Niwa somehow, but a ghost nonetheless—never mind the trick with the red blood, Vlad knew it had to be fake since ectoplasmic burns didn’t bleed. He was hundreds of years old, and any accounts of him all said the same thing—he never aged. All he ever did was show up and steal things.

And if Niwa had a connection to him, then obviously the boy was a criminal accomplice. Possibly a criminal himself.

A criminal and a ghost—that was one deadly combination when living in Amity Park. Vlad would know, he was both in one, though he hid it well from the public.

Niwa being related to a thieving ghost, however he managed to summon the damned spirit here, probably explained how the redhead had broken into the mansion so easily before. And why Vlad couldn’t secretly survey him—a professional thief knew better than to let himself get spied on.

Vlad smirked as he thought of the implications of that—of how good Niwa had to be.

Maybe he didn’t need to kill the boy or make him disappear—no, perhaps he would be just as useful a pawn as Valerie, given the right incentives.

A plan hatched in his mind.

Oh, yes… this is exactly what I need to make young Daniel suffer.

~~~

Daisuke frowned at the news website, replaying the video clip of the report again and leaning back from his computer, deep in thought as the anchor announced the most disturbing news.

"The Phantom Thief known as Dark strikes again! A note has been sent to the Elmerton Museum of Fine Arts, which has recently received a collection of authentic paintings, courtesy of the generous donation from Vlad Masters. It seems Amity’s new resident angel thief has moved to the next town over—and his first heist there is the Vampire Hunter painting by—”

The redhead scowled. He never did like copycats—the copy of the notice they showed on the screen looked like it was typed on plain white printer paper, and the signature was all wrong. It might have used a fountain pen, but the thickness of the stroke wasn’t right and the “r” and “k” weren’t loopy enough.

Besides, if Daisuke was going to steal again, he would have used his own personal “Phantom Thief D.” signature, not “Phantom Thief Dark”. He wasn’t Dark, as much as he had shouted it out to all of Amity Park, and he would never soil his friend’s record by giving credit where it wasn’t actually due. If he was going to do a heist, he would take credit for it in his own way, even if no one else knew.

Whoever did this was an amateur. And it pissed him off.

How dare they use his name.

A chill permeated the room. Daisuke’s eyes widened and he whipped around, expecting to see Danny—last time Danny found out he stole, the ghost boy had been pretty mad. He really really hoped Danny didn’t see this and automatically assume it was him. Daisuke had promised not to steal again if he could help it—and this time, he could definitely help it. He just hoped Danny would trust him this time—and believe him when he would explain that the thief in this case was a copycat.

He did not, however, expect to see Plasmius.

The blue-skinned ghost was leaning in the doorway, smirking his fanged smirk. The redhead bristled warily, his eyes narrowing.

"I thought I made my message clear last time." Daisuke hissed venomously. "Leave me alone."

Plasmius pretended to examine his nails nonchalantly, unfazed by Daisuke’s tone. “I don’t particularly care about the words of someone like you… unless they’re helpful to me.”

"Why are you here, Plasmius?" Daisuke demanded, shifting into a defensive stance.

"Oh relax, I’m not here to kidnap you again—don’t get me wrong, that would be most entertaining. No, I’ve come across something far more interesting about you, and kidnapping you would be a poor business decision." The ghost’s grin grew fiendish.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I’m talking about… phantom thief."

Daisuke frowned, but didn’t flinch. “And what exactly makes that interesting?” He inquired suspiciously, as if it meant nothing to him.

The ghost was amused to find no denial. “Oh, plenty of things, but most of all… I wonder what dear Daniel would think if he knew his friend was a criminal? He does feel quite strongly about these things.” Plasmius chuckled. “You two seem close—you wouldn’t want to lose him, and by your own hand too, now would you?”

Daisuke hid a smirk. Obviously Vlad wasn’t aware that Danny already knew about Daisuke’s little secret. He decided to play along.

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"That depends. Are you a thief-for-hire or some punk out for a thrill?" Plasmius straightened, trying to loom over the redhead intimidatingly, "Either way… you and your ghost friend can either work for me, or I reveal your existence to the whole town."

"…Ghost friend?" It took a moment before it clicked, and Daisuke had to hold back a laugh. He managed to hide his loud mirth with a small mischievous grin, and the lie easily passed his lips without his good conscience stopping him: "Sorry pal, he’s back in Japan."

He could have corrected the older ghost, but where was the sense in that? Besides, it was more fun letting Vlad make assumptions.

"Even if there’s only one of you, it’s still enough. You just do as I say, or else Daniel will know of your illicit activities—as well as the rest of the town." Vlad leaned closer, his completely red eyes locking onto Daisuke’s fiery red orbs. The light of determination the white-clad ghost saw there pleased him.

"The town won’t believe you. You have no proof. I’m just a foreign exchange student." Daisuke argued, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Vlad knew he was right—there wasn’t much proof that Daisuke himself was a thief, other than video footage from Vlad’s own mansion. And he wasn’t about to release that—people would start asking why he never reported the robbery in the first place. Even if Daisuke did have any incriminating stolen goods around, if he was as professional a thief as Vlad thought, then there would be no trace of them anywhere.

"Besides," Daisuke continued, breaking Vlad from his brief train of thought, "If you reveal me or my friend for what we are, I’ll just reveal you, too.”

Vlad was caught off guard by this, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Daisuke grinned victoriously. “Come on, you came in right as I was watching a video of Vlad Masters making a donation to the Elmerton Museum. You really think I wouldn’t recognize you?”

Plasmius looked taken aback, then he scowled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

"I was in your head—I know what you really look like, under all that ectoplasm. I know what you really are," Daisuke smirked wickedly for effect—he was totally bluffing on that last one, but Vlad fell for it. “Do you really think you could keep fooling me with your cartoon vampire look? It’s a ridiculous look by the way, has anyone ever told you that?”

Vlad’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Daisuke didn’t lose face.

Oh, he had underestimated this boy indeed.

"You’re… you’re lying. Daniel told you, didn’t he?"

"What are you talking about? Why would I lie? And why would Danny tell me about you? He told me Masters was a human and referred to Plasmius as someone completely different." Daisuke shrugged. "It was almost like he was protecting someone—but now I know, for whatever reason, he was protecting you."

It was then that Vlad realized that Daisuke didn’t know Danny’s secret. Danny didn’t tell him—about himself, about Vlad, about hybrids or anything.

"Im—impossible…"

"That I don’t have Danny’s complete trust? Man, your judge of character sucks," Daisuke laughed, "if you thought we were something like best friends right away. No, we’re just friends.”

Plasmius took a step back. This was the second time he underestimated Daisuke—he really needed to stop doing that.

"So, still want me to work with you, Masters? Because you know, if I really am the thief you think I am, I’m going to steal all your secrets and show the world. Do you really want me that close?"

Vlad paled, his blue skin whitening enough that it was visible on his cheeks. Daisuke’s smirk grew.

"You can’t. I’ll tell the world who you are. Who you’ve been working with."

"You can try—I’m actually retired, and there’s no proof. So really," Daisuke leaned toward Vlad this time, "even if you do tell the world… who will believe you? My record is clean—I know you’ve done enough research to know that’s true. And I haven’t played the clumsy idiot all these years for nothing—no one suspects a thing, and no one ever will."

Daisuke played a good villain when he wanted to. The best part was, he wasn’t lying that much—everything was either harsh truth or white half-truths. He might be playing the antagonist right now, but he knew better than anyone what was wrong and right. Blackmailing was usually wrong—but he didn’t have a choice in this case.

And if he was honest with himself, watching the look of horror dawn on Vlad’s face was fun.

"You on the other hand… I’ve done my research on you. Though you might not have a criminal record, your rise to power is a bit spotty, wouldn’t you say? I think Plasmius explains those spots pretty well, Masters." Daisuke smirked knowingly, "So yeah, if you reveal me, I’ll reveal you.”

Vlad had said it right the first time—he really didn’t know who he was dealing with. He had no leverage against the boy—Daisuke didn’t even seem to care that Vlad would reveal him, even openly inviting him to. Of course, the accompanying threat was very real and gave Daisuke every confidence in his words.

The redhead’s voice lowered to a threatening whisper as his eyes flashed darkly. “So I want you to think very carefully… who has more to lose with this gamble of a ‘business deal’? Me, a normal foreign exchange art student… or you, a multi-billionaire with a secret ghost on the side?”

At Vlad’s speechlessness, Daisuke turned up the charm, his sweet smile somehow more threatening than his malicious one. “I thought so. Now…”

He clenched his fist, cracking his knuckles with his other hand, “I believe that,” he pointed to his computer screen, where the article detailing the fake notice was open on a web browser, “this was your doing?”

Vlad opened his mouth, but found he didn’t quite know how to answer that without putting himself at a dangerous disadvantage. He might have had ghost powers, but he got the feeling that Daisuke had more tricks up his sleeve than a devilish side and unexpectedly good blackmail material.

"Neither I nor my friend appreciate a sloppy fraud. At least do it right if you’re going to forge a heist." Daisuke huffed, "But that’s not in your control, is it. Anyway, as long as people know it’s a fraud, I won’t come after you. So make sure people know it. Understood?"

Plasmius broke from his stupor, scowling. “Come after me? You brat, you don’t even—”

Daisuke ignored him. “There are two things we can do tonight, Masters. You can leave, take your stupid bugs with you—I know you planted some here—and forget I ever existed. Never come back, leave me alone for good. Or you can make the ‘poor business decision’ and continue trying to argue and get me on your side. I couldn’t care less. I will reveal you if you continue to harass me, blackmail me, use me as a pawn, or try to hurt me or my friends—like Danny. I don’t have much else to lose. You, on the other hand, have everything to lose. So don’t try my patience—scram if you know what’s good for you. And take your lackeys with you—I never want to see them or you again.”

Plasmius growled deep in his throat. “No one tells me what to do,” He spat out, and tried to blast Daisuke with a fiery magenta ray from his hand.

Daisuke easily sidestepped, and Vlad continued to fire at him. Daisuke’s eyes narrowed calculatingly as he ducked to avoid the second blast, rolled to the side to dodge a third, and used the crouching position he had come into to launch into a high jump—narrowly avoiding Vlad’s fourth ectoplasmic energy blast. His attacks were too powerful, unfocused—nothing like Danny’s, which were powerful but sharp with precision even in a rage. Vlad had lost his cool, just like Daisuke had wanted.

Still in mid-air, he used the weight of his jump to propel himself forward, bringing up his knee and landing it square on Plasmius’ shoulder, sending them both to the ground.

He cried out in pain, then gritted his teeth, flipping Daisuke off him, sending the redhead crashing into a stack of art bins.

"Who are you to make demands of me, boy?" The blue-skinned ghost gave a feral growl, floating up and righting himself, his posture straight and rigid as he glared down at the ex-thief, "What makes you think I’ll let you live long enough to let anyone know my secret?”

Daisuke scrambled to his feet, cursing to himself. Danny was right, Vlad was definitely serious business—and even if he had expected this sort of reaction, he wasn’t sure if his little plan to provoke Vlad would work.

"I won’t, if you just leave." He said resolutely, his legs shifting for fight or flight.

"You already know too much." Vlad sneered, lunging after him.

Once again, Daisuke twisted out of the way, and Vlad flew past him and crashed into a chair in the kitchen. Using the brief distraction to his advantage, Daisuke grabbed something off his bed, making a beeline for the window. If Vlad wanted to fight, then Daisuke needed a field advantage.

Plasmius’ voice came from the kitchen doorway, “I had just wanted you to work for me. But it seems now, you need to be out of the picture.” A subtle tremble gave away the fact that he knew he had lost control of the situation—and now he was going to do his damnedest to regain that control.

Daisuke shoved the window open before he turned to face Vlad, careful not to keep his back to his enemy for too long. He didn’t even get a word in as Vlad shot another magenta ray again. The redhead stepped backward and jumped up to dodge it, pulling his legs up just in time for the shot to whiz past him and fly out the window. And in that single action, he had reached up beyond the window frame, grabbing a hold of the ledge and hoisting himself seamlessly onto the rooftop.

Vlad phased through the roof, and Daisuke was once again face-to-face with him. Daisuke scowled, his mind going a mile a minute, formulating a new plan.

"You’re as stubborn to live as Daniel. Except," Vlad’s eyes glowed dangerously, "you can actually die."

Daisuke leaned to the side, Vlad’s energy beam grazing him. He used the momentum to flip backwards, throwing out his hand to spring himself upright again. He winced—he had put just a little too much pressure on his whole arm, trying to use it like that.

"Sorry, but," Daisuke shook the thoughts of pain away, rushing forward and dodging another ecto-blast, "I promised everyone I would live. So I’m not going to die today."

Plasmius, having not expected the sudden change from defense to attack, turned intangible as Daisuke’s leg came up to his chest and the redhead proceeded to send his foot through it, instead of impacting like he thought he would. The redhead gasped and shivered, his eyes wide, and Vlad smirked, coating his hand in pink energy and creating a fist. Daisuke had had only a second to gather himself, retracting his leg just in time to throw his weight to the side—but not in time to completely avoid the attack.

"Augh!" Daisuke cried out in pain when Vlad’s fist connected with his bad shoulder, and he tumbled back, holding it gingerly. There was no visible burn on his clothes, but he could feel the wound hidden underneath being agitated by the presence of the hot, supernatural energy.

Vlad chuckled, finally feeling like he had the advantage. “You might be sneaky, but you’re only human, Niwa.” He leaned down, his still-glowing hands lighting up his face in a sinister way. “Maybe you’ll become a ghost when I kill you—but even if you do… I’ll come and destroy you again. And I’ll look forward to it.”

Daisuke gritted his teeth, staggering to his feet. He didn’t give Vlad the pleasure of an answer, because he let out a frightening, angry roar, charging Vlad again even if he was injured. Vlad, surprised by the move, barely had time to turn intangible before Daisuke could tackle him.

Unfortunately, this was exactly what Daisuke had wanted him to do—the earlier display of that ability had inspired Daisuke’s crazy and unlikely plan, and the only thing Daisuke could do was hope it worked.

The moment Vlad went intangible, Daisuke planted his feet firmly to the ground where the ghost stood, forcing Vlad to overshadow him.

It wasn’t as easy as taking over Daisuke’s body, this time—no, Daisuke had been prepared, not taken by surprise like last time. There was no fight for dominance, and the first thing Vlad saw when he realized what happened was the black abyss of Daisuke’s mind.

~~~

"I’m not dying today." Daisuke’s voice, dark and determined and rage-filled, echoed around him menacingly.

The redhead stood before Vlad, just like last time, but he wasn’t calm and relaxed as he was before. His shoulders were tensed, raised like a cat on its hackles, and his eyes flashed violently—actually, when Vlad really looked, it almost seemed as if they had turned a shade colder.

"What—what is the meaning of this?" Vlad tried to pull himself out, but he found himself trapped. He couldn’t walk out of Daisuke’s body—this had never happened before!

"Most people try to kick ghosts out of their bodies, so I’m not surprised it hasn’t happened to you before," Daisuke smirked, "I’d be surprised if any ghost has come across someone who wanted the ghost to continue overshadowing them. Not that I want you here—but, like I said last time, this is my territory—it’s my advantage. So now we’re playing by my rules, Plasmius.”

Vlad growled. “Just because it’s your mind, doesn’t mean you have the advantage. I’m not falling for the same trick twice, boy. Now that I know how your mind works, I can just…”

He was cut off by a barrage of attacks from the darkness around them, shadowy tendrils constricting Vlad’s entire form—suffocating him until he gasped and choked for air, tears involuntarily forming at the corners of his eyes.

"You were saying?" Daisuke tilted his head in mock innocence, falling quiet as Vlad screamed. Daisuke knew those screams—they were his own, after all. This was his mind, and the darkness encompassing them were his thoughts—he knew how painful they could be. He knew how many times he had wanted to scream and cry and die because of them. But he was stronger than them now—he was alive, and he would continue to live.

Briefly, he entertained the thought of not letting Vlad do the same.

"I’m not here to play around, Vlad. You can’t kill me in here—you have no power here." Daisuke stepped up to the man after waiting several moments, his voice low and serious. The shadows receded as he came closer, obeying his silent command to hold off for now, and Vlad dropped to the ground. "I don’t care what things you can do to me physically, because I’ll live. But how many things… can I put you through… before you break till you don’t want to? If you’re even still really alive.”

He punctuated his pauses by giving Vlad a good kick in the chest, then he bent down and pulled the man up, his breath short and haggard and his gray hair mussed up like he had just run a mile.

"To think you’re in this kind of shape… when I haven’t even gotten started.” Daisuke mused, smiling wickedly. Vlad’s eyes widened—he knew his fear wasn’t his own. It was just Daisuke instilling it into him through the power of this environment, but it felt real to him right now. “I’m not letting you out until we come to an agreement.”

Vlad took a breath, pushing Daisuke’s hands off of him. “I’ll kill you first.” He snarled. “I’m not letting you walk away with my secret, and since you didn’t agree to work with me, I have no other option.”

"No, I think you have it wrong," Daisuke tilted his head, crossing his arms behind him—Vlad’s eye twitched, because Daisuke was clearly mocking him. Vlad himself often used that pose—it was a pose of power, straight-backed and exposed and showing control. Something Vlad didn’t have right now, and Daisuke had completely. “Like I said, we’re playing by my rules now. And they’re new rules, Vlad. With new options.”

Vlad blanched.

Daisuke grinned darkly. “See, since we’re in my head… I can see any and all of your memories, should I choose to. So it wouldn’t be just who you are that I find—it would be all of your dirty secrets.”

The once-blue-skinned ghost regained himself, his eyes narrowing. “All the more reason for me to kill you.” Vlad hissed.

"That isn’t the only thing I can do, though," Daisuke continued, "Like I said before, I can easily trap you in here, and you can spend an eternity in my head, surrounded by the pain I keep in the hole where someone important used to be. You don’t deserve his spot, but it was a prison for him—it might as well be for you too."

Vlad gritted his teeth, grabbing Daisuke by the throat in an attempt to harm him—Daisuke only laughed, completely unfazed. “You cannot keep me here—it’s impossible.”

"Probably. People would notice if Vlad Masters went missing." Daisuke mused, "So there’s a third option too."

Vlad’s eyes narrowed. “And what would that be?”

"I get into your head and I erase any obsession you have with me." Daisuke smiled cheerfully, his eyes still dark with threat, "It means you’ll have never noticed Danny hanging out with me, never done any research on me, never sent those bugs to my place… of course, I’ll have to erase the physical evidence from your computer and security footage, because I know you have some,” Daisuke smirked, grabbing Vlad’s wrist and twisting, forcing him to let go, “but that’s easy work for a thief like me.”

The billionaire’s eyes grew wide now. “You—you can’t do that. It’s impossible.”

"You don’t know that," Daisuke shoved Vlad to the ground, despite that Vlad was bigger than him, "This is my mind, and I’m the one who knows how it works. Do you really think I’d bluff?"

Vlad growled angrily, pushing himself up. He wasn’t used to being looked down upon, and he didn’t like it. “So my choices are to kill you and get my revenge, walk away and both of us will keep quiet, stay trapped here for god knows how long, or forget everything about you completely. You’re saying those are my options right now?”

Daisuke hummed thoughtfully, pretending to consider. “I’m a fair man, Plasmius. I’ll listen if you do—are you suggesting you have an alternative?”

Vlad opened his mouth, but after a few moments he closed it. Daisuke had planned this out pretty well.

"You would have made a great business partner, if you didn’t have morals as stubbornly ‘good’ as Daniel’s." Vlad sneered, "You’ve given me all your options, and yet none of them are to kill me before I get you first."

"I’m not a murderer." Daisuke frowned, "Just a thief."

Vlad stood up straight, slowly brushing himself off in an attempt to recompose himself. Daisuke watched him carefully, still tense despite that this was his turf.

"…That kind of divide is what makes you weak," Vlad finally spoke after a long silence, "If I chose to walk away, what’s to assure you that I won’t come back and take my revenge later? Or even right when I get out of here?"

"All the options have their flaws—any of the new choices would result with me having you as an annoying voice in my head, whether it’s actually you or just your memory imprint." Daisuke shrugged, "But letting you walk isn’t because I trust you not to do anything. Danny will probably be here once you get out, so you can’t do anything to me then. And after that, do you really think I’d let my guard down? I won’t be so stupid as to let you get into my home practically undetected again."

Vlad clicked his tongue. Daisuke was certainly more quick-thinking, intelligent, and mindful than he had first thought. Then again, he was a criminal mastermind—a thief who had never been caught. Who was Vlad to expect any less? Perhaps Daisuke’s “normality” had even put Vlad off his guard.

He needed control of the situation again, and fast. He really didn’t like how Daisuke was consistently dealt the upper hand.

"I can hear your thoughts you know. You really should consider yourself lucky that, unlike you, I don’t want to kill anyone." Daisuke’s eyes narrowed, his hands tightening at his sides.

"Ah, ‘want to’… implies you can. Interesting. So if you were given no choice… if it was kill or be killed, I wonder if you would change.” Vlad’s steel blue eyes met Daisuke’s head-on, betraying no emotion, “Would you become a murderer to save your own skin?”

"No, I won’t." Daisuke replied firmly, a tone of simpleness in his voice, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. "I’m not going to stoop to your level, I won’t become a murderer. If it’s just me… I’d die first."

Of course, if you were planning to hurt any of my friends after you killed me, then I’d take a different course of action… but I still wouldn’t kill you. Daisuke thought, his mind closed off from Vlad. In this case… he’s definitely planning to use Danny somehow. So I can’t give up now.

Daisuke knew that in addition to knowing Vlad’s secret, the ghost had another reason to kill Daisuke—possibly two. The first was that he now saw Daisuke as a potential threat and needed to get rid of him since he wouldn’t become an accomplice. The second reason was that Daisuke’s death would devastate Danny—it would distract the ghost boy and cause his guard to drop, leaving him vulnerable, or it would push his rationality aside so he would do something reckless.

There was no way Daisuke would let that happen.

"So, Vlad. Are you so paranoid about the fact that I know your secret that you would stoop to murder to keep yourself safe, or are you smart enough to walk away when a good opportunity is handed to you?" Daisuke inquired.

"Why don’t you care?"

The question caught Daisuke off guard. “What?”

"Why don’t you care about your identity being exposed?" Vlad’s eyes narrowed, secretly gleeful at the confused look on Daisuke’s face. At last, it seemed that Vlad had regained some control!

Daisuke stood still for a moment, before he shrugged and answered, “Because I don’t have an identity to be exposed. You can tell the police or whoever I’m a thief, but nothing I’ve ever done or been has ever led me to be a real thief.” Well, until recently. ”It was all my friend’s doing, really.”

"And you’re not worried about him being exposed?" Vlad tried to prod for more information, "You’re not worried people will connect you two as accomplices?"

"There’s nothing to connect us, he’s been dead for… well, years." Daisuke replied stonily, "And he’s a public figure anyhow. What is there to expose?"

"Public figure or not, no one knows a thing about him." Vlad countered, "That pseudonym he goes by is obviously not his real name."

"It’s as real as yours, Plasmius—as real as the you with the monster’s face." Daisuke narrowed his eyes. He knew full well what Vlad was trying to do—gain leverage on him. Not like that would ever happen. "And you’re avoiding the real question here. What option have you chosen? Because if you don’t choose… I will."

Vlad growled. “Don’t give me a false sense of control—I don’t need that, or your pity.”

"Fine. But the options are still there." Daisuke leaned toward him, his eyes flickering violet, "In every case, I just want you to leave me alone, so both of us can get on with our lives. Relatively, at least. So you either walk away here a smart man, or I’m taking your memories and you’ll walk away not knowing any better.”

"What happened to trapping me here?"

"It was a last resort." Red eyes narrowed, and the black tendrils began creeping their way up Vlad’s legs again. He flinched in pain at their touch, and they receded. "I’m sure we both know the complications of Vlad Masters disappearing."

Vlad’s lips settled into a begrudging frown. After a long, hard staring contest, he finally said, “Release me, Niwa. But rest assured, this won’t be the last of me.”

"You know, I changed my mind, I think I will take some of your memories… and remind you of what real pain is." Daisuke mused nonchalantly, challenge in his expression.

The ghost clenched his fists, glaring. “Now, now, I thought you were ‘good’. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

"I’m a lying, sneaking thief, did you expect me to play fair?" Daisuke said dryly, leaning back almost casually. However, his face betrayed his anger.

"And who are you to say that wasn’t part of the deal?" Suddenly his voice took on a dangerous tone again. "My terms were clear: you walk away, and I never see you or your minions again. If you will assure me that ‘this won’t be the last of you’, then I will assure you that you won’t be walking away from here with your mind completely intact. I will break you.”

For a moment, Daisuke recalled a time when a certain black-winged angel uttered those very same words. At that time, he had been frightened… but now—he understood it completely. Daisuke, like his friend in the past… had something he wanted to protect, too.

And he couldn’t do that if he was dead.

"So, do we have a deal?" Daisuke asked, watching Vlad as he quietly weighed his options. The tension in the air was thick, almost tangible, even in a place like Daisuke’s mind.

Finally, smart enough to realize the thief boy had left no loopholes, he nodded. He grunted begrudgingly, “Yes, Niwa. We have a deal.”

Daisuke smiled, letting the black tendrils stroke Vlad once more to remind him of the consequences of not following through, and finally released the trap of his abyss.

~~~

Just like the first time, Vlad was launched forcefully out of Daisuke’s body, coming to a skidding halt at the edge of the rooftop.

Daisuke stood there for a moment, shaking his head and blinking to clear his mind—it was always as painful for him to mentally torture someone as it was for the person he was torturing, after all. He was just more used to the pain, and most of it was numbed by now.

His eyes flickered to the rising figure of the blue-skinned ghost, and he reached into his pocket as Vlad turned to face him. Vlad didn’t seem to notice what Daisuke had brought with him, nor that he had moved it into almost plain sight.

"Don’t make me regret playing hero, even to you, Plasmius." Daisuke said quietly, locking eyes with the ghost, "Leave now, and don’t come back."

Vlad gave a fanged grin… and laughed. “You really thought I’d keep my word?” He lunged toward Daisuke, a feral snarl escaping his lips.

Daisuke only sighed, hitting the on button of the device he had been keeping in his pocket before.

Vlad shrieked in pain as his hand collided with Daisuke, an electric green shock twisting up his arm and coursing through his body. He fell back with smoke rising from his skin.

"Danny thought you might come and try something like this, so he left me a gift. A Fenton invention that repels ghosts." Daisuke smiled wryly, motioning to the Specter Deflector around his waist, "You can’t touch me. So don’t even try, or I’ll figure out a way to get into your head again—I can promise you that."

"Butter biscuits—I hate that thing." Vlad hissed, backing off, his eyes narrowed. They shifted calculatingly, before he assessed the risk of dealing with Daisuke to be too much, and he took a step away.

"Hmph… Fine. I’ll keep my word… for now. Don’t think I’ll be tricked into overshadowing you again, though, boy—I will come to silence you!” He sneered as threateningly as he could, floating up.

"I’ll make sure Danny can stop you, then." Daisuke offered a disarming smile, "So, shall it be farewell for good?"

"With any luck, you won’t be faring well at all."

And with that, Vlad waved his hand angrily and disappeared in a swirl of magenta mist.

Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief—the vampiric ghost was gone. He climbed back down to his room—wincing once he remembered his shoulder burn had just gotten worse—and then carefully made his way to the kitchen to find his first aid kit and fix up his shoulder again. At the back of his memory, he remembered that he had promised Danny he would take better care of himself. What would Danny even say if he saw Daisuke now? His burn was still mending itself after all—he didn’t have crazy ghost healing like Danny did.

He looked around his apartment and sighed once he finished with the first aid kit. This was going to be a long night, he thought as he surveyed the damage Vlad had done. The room temperature was back down to normal, but the burn marks from Vlad’s destructive energy were everywhere. He was silently grateful his roommate wasn’t home.

Getting to work on cleaning and fixing up his room, he reflected back on the whole night, debating what to tell Danny later. Just a little bit, he couldn’t help but feel bad about all his lying.

That was one of the hardest acts he had had to do yet—but, hopefully, that would be the last time he ever saw Vlad.

Chapter Text

"Wait, so… can you actually do that?" Danny asked, his eyes wide with awe. "Can you really erase someone’s memories if they’re in your head?"

Daisuke shrugged, leaning back as he finished explaining what had happened the other night. “Honestly, probably not. But Vlad fell for it, so I guess that’s what counts.”

"Vlad likes having control—losing his memories wouldn’t give him control. I can see why he chose to walk—granted, he tried to back-stab you too, but… that’s kind of typical of him." Danny frowned.

"I noticed."

"Still… I’ve never seen him so murderous. It’s kind of scary." Danny shook his head, "I mean, he tried to kill my two friends before, but that was only because he infected them with the same disease he had." An angry frown twisted his lips, "He knew I would save them, and then I would be forced to save him too. He had planned it so no one would die at best."

"I didn’t think he could be merciful." Daisuke commented.

"He’s kind of a coward, really." Danny shrugged, "Like when we were fighting Pariah Dark. He tricked me into going into that fight, did I tell you? He asked me to team up with him, but then he ran away and left the hard stuff to me—he only came to help at the end, and all he did was shut the sarcophagus." The ghost boy scoffed, "Probably trying to steal credit for saving the day or something. Not that it worked."

Daisuke gave him an enigmatic smile. “Coward, manipulator, and mastermind he may be… he’s not a very good liar.” He mused. Danny gave him a strange look, one eyebrow cocked in confusion. Daisuke laughed. “He’s very over-dramatic, from what I can tell, and he covers up his tracks well, but… he couldn’t tell I was bluffing.”

"What’s that got to do with Vlad being a liar?" Danny asked, befuddled. "I mean, he is one. A pretty despicable one—uh, no offense…?"

"None taken," Daisuke shook his head, "But… you know what they say. It takes one to know one. And believe me, I’ve lied enough to know when someone else is lying too. If Vlad couldn’t call me out on my lie, it means he’s not as good."

Danny stared long and hard at him, frowning deeply. “Well… that explains why you can tell whenever I lie.” He said slowly, unsure how to respond.

"That, and you’re a horrible liar." Daisuke chuckled lightly, "Your tells are everywhere."

Danny blushed light green. “Oh. Um.” He coughed uncomfortably, “I guess I would be. I don’t exactly like lying.”

"Yet you always do."

Danny froze, looking over to his friend. Daisuke was nonchalant, looking up at the stars.

"I—uh…" Danny stammered, unsure what to say. "Y—you can tell…?"

"It’s alright. It’s not like you’re secretly evil or something—and… good lies exist too." Daisuke said softly, "A lie is still a lie, but I like those ones better."

Electric green eyes remained unmoved from their fixation, and the ghost boy’s mouth worked soundlessly until he squeaked out, “You’re not mad? I mean… you don’t think I’m horrible for it?”

"Why would I be?" Daisuke finally glanced over, his head tilted back so his gaze was sideways, "I’d be a hypocrite for thinking you a monster for lying, when I do so myself."

Danny’s eyes widened even more, if that was possible. “Uh—wait… do you still lie—I mean, are you still lying to me about something?”

"Not particularly," Daisuke replied calmly, "I’m just not telling the truth. Like you seem to constantly do, I’ve noticed."

"…" Danny’s lips pressed together tightly, forming a thin line. As always, Daisuke had surprised him.

"I don’t really care about whatever you’re hiding—everyone’s got their secrets. I’m not going to ask for yours, even if you know one of my darkest ones." Daisuke’s red eyes never left Danny, a sense of peace surrounding the pair as Danny’s panic subsided at those words. "I learned a long time ago that sometimes… people lie for good reasons. Whether it’s to keep someone happy, to keep them from hurting, or to protect them, people will lie to others because they think it’s what is best—or, sometimes, it’s for the better."

Danny blinked in surprise, speechless as he watched Daisuke’s eyes soften with a longing reminiscence—he could tell Daisuke had spoken many lies before… and he didn’t regret any of it. He had lied to protect people… to keep them safe.

Even if Daisuke was a thief, a criminal, a liar… Danny couldn’t help but think that when he saw Daisuke like this, he was reminded just how much he wasn’t any of those things. No, Daisuke was, like Danny himself, a hero, a soldier…

An angel.

He remembered, when they first met, Daisuke had called him an angel. And when Danny really stopped to think about the implications of that, of why he would say that so resolutely, he realized that Daisuke himself was similar.

Never mind that his wings were black. Daisuke was definitely an angel, too.

Daisuke’s voice broke him out of his thoughts—he hadn’t even realized he had zoned out until he heard his name.

"Danny? Are you alright?"

Danny blinked his daze away, then smiled earnestly and shook his head. “I’m fine. I was just thinking,” he paused, his grin growing a little bit, “maybe someday… I’ll stop lying to you.”

Daisuke tilted his head. “Are you sure?” He asked, concern lacing his voice for a reason Danny couldn’t fathom.

"Well… yeah," Danny shrugged, "I mean, I didn’t tell you some stuff before—like the stuff with Vlad—because I thought you might get hurt if you knew. But you already got hurt, and you already know—well, most of it—so it should be okay, I think." He paused, looked thoughtful, "I mean… I admit, I keep my secrets to protect everyone—not just you, but this entire town—to keep them safe from ghosts. The only ones who know are the handful who help me with this hero gig, and that’s because if they didn’t know, they’d get hurt when they try to help me."

"I hope you don’t expect me to join your little motley crew of helpers," Daisuke gave a wide, playful grin, "I may be a retired thief, but I’m in no way a hunter—ghost or otherwise. I’m done with the adventurous life—I’ll stick with the art classes. The most exciting my life has been lately is because of the occasional visit from a ghost boy—and all the trouble he brings. I don’t think I can deal with much else."

Danny tried to stifle a laugh behind his gloved hand, and failed miserably. Daisuke’s grin split his face, and Danny finally let the laugh burst out. “Am I really that much trouble?” He asked jovially between breaths for air.

"Isn’t ‘Trouble’ your middle name?"

The laughter only got louder, and went on for several minutes until it eventually faded to giggles and then died out peacefully, the two boys grinning at each other mirthfully.

Danny sighed, leaning back in complete content. “Alright, but seriously, you were right. I sort of lie—well, more like I just don’t tell the truth. But I think… I think I can trust you, so yeah, maybe someday I’ll tell you.”

Daisuke glanced over at him, surprised by the declaration. “Don’t feel obligated to,” he said gently, “I’ve really done nothing, lately, to deserve your trust.”

"You’re right about that too," Danny didn’t deny, "And… besides, I think my friends would be mad if I just up and decided to tell you, even if it’s my secret. We’ve all shared it so long, it sort of feels like it’s theirs too… so I guess I gotta make sure they’re okay with you knowing, too.”

The red-haired man tilted his head curiously. “You’re… lucky. When I was your age, I had no one to share my secrets with.” He said softly, “I lied to a lot of people, and didn’t let them get close enough to know. The one person who could have understood… he knew more than I did about my secret, and there was a mutual agreement between us to not say anything. So I’ve never had to put my secret into words before. Not… not in the way I wanted to really articulate it, at least.” His gaze trailed away, “Not even Riku and Risa really know. They just know the basics… they can’t begin to understand how deep it really runs—though they try.”

Danny stared at him, a quizzical expression crossing his face. “…How could your friend know more about your secret than you?”

"That’s what you take away from that?" Daisuke chuckled calmly.

"Well… I mean, secrets are secrets, it’s no surprise other people didn’t know—and it’s cool that you’re so good about not telling." Danny shrugged, "I get it. But I didn’t get that."

Daisuke contemplated for a moment before he explained, “He had the same secret too.” He shrugged his good shoulder uneasily, “So… I guess I know how you feel, actually. Even if he’s not alive anymore to stop me from telling anyone… I know what it’s like to feel like you have a secret that isn’t entirely yours. It’s why I can’t tell you.”

Danny went quiet, then nodded slowly. “Then I won’t ask.” He said resolutely, “Just… don’t lie about it.”

Daisuke smiled gratefully at his friend. “The absence of truth isn’t a lie.”

The ghost boy returned the smile with his own little grin, then looked up at the sky. Daisuke watched him for a moment before he did the same.

There was a long, comfortable silence between them, and Danny hugged his spectral tail close to his chest with a relaxed, serene expression. He missed this feeling—the feeling of hanging out with a friend, with no impending danger, and the aura of calmness and friendliness coming off of the redhead beside him.

"I think I’ll start with at least introducing you to my other friends. Besides Jazz, of course."

Daisuke didn’t startle at the broken silence. He nodded and smiled softly. “I’d like that.”

"Yeah. One of them said she was starting to like you, too—my friends didn’t like the sound of you at first, and she was really worried about how much I trusted you, but… you know, around the time we had that ‘fight’… she said she thought you were cool." Danny grinned with a mixture of fondness and guilt. "She’s the one who noticed just how good a friend you were to me, since I got that upset about you lying."

Daisuke turned his gaze to the ghost boy, nonplussed. He didn’t say anything for a long time.

Finally finding words, he said, “I’d be glad to meet her. She sounds like she’s pretty special—you must be close, if she noticed those things about you.”

Danny’s face blossomed bright green, but he forced it back to its normal color a moment later.

"She’s pretty awesome, yeah."

Danny still felt Daisuke’s eyes on him, and he frowned, looking over. “Um… what?”

"Sorry, but… I was just wondering exactly how much your friends know about… me." Daisuke said, unsure about what exactly he was feeling. He was tense though, like he was holding a breath of anticipation. "Do they know I am—or, I was, a thief?"

"Uh—yeah, they kinda know." Danny scratched his head meekly, "I kinda ranted off about that angrily, but that was before the whole… uh, before you explained." He shrugged, "I didn’t tell them about With, or your disguise… I didn’t know if that was my right." Danny said softly, "I mean… I tell them a lot of things. I tell them everything. But I knew there was a reason you didn’t wear your own face when you flew around town. So… I didn’t think it was my right to tell them about that part of you."

Daisuke’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you.” He said gratefully, “I knew I was right about you.”

"…I know what it’s like to keep a secret identity, Daisuke," Danny said softly, hesitantly putting his hand on Daisuke’s shoulder. "My parents don’t know about me. Valerie doesn’t. So… yeah, I kinda get it."

"I know." Daisuke smiled at him to reassure the ghost boy that he was fine, "So who do they think the winged thief was?"

"Well, like Vlad, they sort of assumed he was a centuries-old ghost. They know from what I told them before that he was your friend, and that he died. So they thought you called on his ghost or something to help clear my name." Danny explained, removing his hand to use it to gesture, "They don’t think it’s you at all."

Daisuke nodded approvingly. Danny stopped moving for a moment, staring at him, and then abruptly asked, “Wait—he is a ghost, right?”

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked, confused.

"Your friend… he’s four hundred years old, isn’t he? Or something like that? He had to be a ghost, right…?" Danny asked hesitantly, wondering if he was treading on dangerous ground, "Does that mean his ghost died…?"

"…He wasn’t… really a ghost.” Daisuke shifted uncomfortably, looking away.

"Was he one of those magic ghosts? Like that thing you said before?"

"Somewhat, but he wasn’t quite that either." Daisuke sighed dejectedly, "He was… alive. He was very much alive."

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “But… for four hundred years? Humans can’t live that long.”

"I never said he was human."

"…Oh."

Daisuke’s voice had been quiet but deadpan, and it sent a shiver up Danny’s spine. He decided he’d better drop the subject, and quick—it seemed to be dampening Daisuke’s previously cheerful mood.

When he couldn’t think of something right away, he blurted out the first thought that came to mind. “You know! I think Jazz said she wanted to talk to you! Since it’s been a while, for her!” He said a little more loudly than he intended. He blushed in embarrassment when Daisuke threw him a half-amused look.

"Did she now."

"Y—yeah. When she found out you were a professional thief she—uh, oh, man I nearly forgot, I should probably warn you. The next time she meets up with you, there’s a 90% chance she’s going to drag you off to do a psychoanalysis." Danny rambled, "She’s kinda crazy about doing those, it’s scary. She said she’s not gonna turn you in for being a thief, so don’t worry, but she’s super interested in how your mind works. Especially since she knows about the thing you did to Vlad."

Daisuke stopped him with a soft chuckle. “I don’t mind. I think it would be pretty hard to get in my head, though.”

"…Most people run away from her psychotherapy or whatever session attempts." Danny’s eyes were wide with bewilderment at Daisuke’s nonchalance. "You’d have to have the patience of Clockwork to deal with her."

Daisuke laughed. “Ah but remember, I’m a fantastic liar and actor. Even if she did try to psyche me out… who’s to say I won’t get to her first?” A mischievous twinkle lit up in Daisuke’s ruby red eyes, “Let’s see her try me.”

Danny gaped, but then a grin came to his face. At least Daisuke had been successfully distracted. “I want front row seats.”

"Be my guest."

Danny settled back comfortably again, grinning at his friend. “Hey, you should teach me some of your tricks sometimes. You know, so I can psyche Jazz out too.” It wouldn’t hurt to get better at lying—it had its advantages in keeping his secrets, but also the benefit of annoying Jazz when he could successfully lie to her with a straight face. After all, what were little brothers if not downright annoying?

"I can try, but you seem like a lost cause," Daisuke chuckled, ruffling Danny’s hair affectionately, "You’re way too honest."

"I thought you said I was constantly lying!"

"I also said you were only hiding truths, and that you were horrible at lying." Daisuke replied easily.

Danny huffed, crossing his arms in a pout. Daisuke laughed, shaking his head.

"The first step is to realize your tells. The next is to control them."

Danny blinked, looking over to Daisuke. The man was grinning, and Danny lit up excitedly.

"Okay—like… how?"

"Ideally, you have to recognize them in yourself, but I can get you started." Daisuke turned to face him more, his eyes coming into sharp focus as he abruptly changed the subject, "What is your name?"

Danny blinked in surprise at the sudden question, but he answered anyway. “Danny Phantom.”

"Who is your arch-nemesis?"

Danny had to pause for a moment, unsure which name to say. “Vlad Plasmius.” He finally decided. Daisuke’s eyes flickered.

"What color is your blood?"

"Green, and it’s ectoplasm," Danny’s eyebrows furrowed. These questions all seemed so random…

"How fast can you fly?"

"One hundred and twelve miles per hour, last I checked." Well, might as well answer these questions—maybe Daisuke was trying to test him somehow?

"Why do you breathe?"

"Because everyone does." Or maybe he was trying to get Danny to start noticing his own tells.

"What is your ex-girlfriend’s name?"

"Valerie." But that didn’t really make sense, all Danny was doing was answering truthfully.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen. I would be almost fifteen." Danny answered automatically, then mused, "Maybe I should stop saying I’m fourteen when my birthday passes."

The redhead paused, studying the ghost boy for a minute.

"Do you hate the Fentons?"

"Of course not."

Daisuke’s eyebrow twitched, but didn’t raise. He was quiet for a moment, then he continued with the questions. “Were you alone when you died?” He asked almost hesitantly.

"No."

At the short but unemotional answer, Daisuke looked surprised. He had expected Danny to get upset, but Danny just looked puzzled. The redhead continued again. “Do you have a crush on your friend?”

"Wha—no!" Danny blushed, eyes wide.

Daisuke chuckled. “Do you have siblings?”

"…No."

The artist frowned, but he didn’t comment. ”Did you know that door over there is locked?”

Danny decided that Daisuke probably didn’t need to know he had snooped around before. Besides, if Daisuke wanted to see how good he was at lying, he had to lie first.

He raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise. “No.”

"Do you get your supply of ghost hunting gear from Miss Fenton—ah, Jazz, that is?"

"Yeah, mostly." Daisuke nodded.

"How’s that lock-picking practice going?"

"I think I’ve got it down, mostly. I haven’t had much chance to use my skills yet though."

"Hmm…" Daisuke hummed, finally leaning back and averting his gaze, looking to the sky thoughtfully.

"Are we done playing twenty questions?" Danny asked, still confused as to why Daisuke was asking all those random questions in the first place.

"You really are too honest." Daisuke commented, then paused to collect his thoughts.

"You pause when you think about what to answer, and when you do you go with the best one, rather than what’s really true. You choose what’s safest—it’s not quite a lie, but it's not the complete truth either. Saying Plasmius rather than Masters, that you don’t have siblings, and that you weren’t alone when you died… those are all the safest answers for you, huh."

"What do you mean?"

"Plasmius is a ghost, somewhat, and you’re a ghost. You can’t very well say a human is your arch-enemy. And you say you have no siblings because most of the time, people knowing you have family that’s alive is dangerous, right? Because it can put them in harm’s way. I can see why you’d lie about that. But from the way you normally act around me and people like Miss Fenton, I’d definitely think you had siblings—but your lie feels conditional, and that’s why you had to think about it. As for you being alone when you died—did you happen to know Miss Fenton implied to me that she was there when you did?"

Danny blinked in surprise. “I—she—huh?” Jazz was definitely not there when he “died”. Then again, Daisuke said she only implied it… when was this?!

"I didn’t think so. Well, that aside, my point is that the pause is a tell. Experienced liars know it in a heartbeat." Daisuke continued, shrugging, "I can’t help you control that one. Maybe you just have to think faster."

"Oh." Danny frowned, "And… did I have any other tells? I think I noticed a few of your ticks, by the way. You definitely noticed something."

Daisuke took a moment to review his mental notes. “When you tell a subjective truth, you blink.”

"…How is blinking a tell?" Danny asked incredulously.

"You literally blink every time you start to tell a subjective truth—that is, a truth that you believe, that might not be true to others or might not be true all the time. Your name, the color of your blood, your age, whether or not you have a crush on your friend… every time, you blinked as you started speaking—it didn’t even matter if you blinked just half a second before, you still blinked."

Danny’s eyes widened in amazement. “Oh—uh. But those aren’t lies, right?”

"They can still be, even if you believe them to be true." Daisuke answered softly.

Danny squirmed uncomfortably, nodding to show he understood. Daisuke was too good—Danny didn’t know how to feel about Daisuke knowing something like “Danny Phantom isn’t really my name”. The fact that Daisuke had gleaned that just from what he said and a blink made Danny pale.

"Now, when you flat-out lie… you tend to look around a lot, and your voice goes a tiny bit higher. You look like someone is about to accuse you of a crime. It’s a normal paranoia, really. The trick is to look the person right in the eyes, it makes it look less like you’re afraid of being accused of lying. But you tend to look more toward the left, even if you’re facing your conversation partner." Daisuke patted his shoulder to reassure him, "I know you knew about the locked door; I don’t know why you’d lie about where or who you got your ghost hunting gear from; and I don’t know why you’d answer truthfully about lock-picking practice but lie about actually practicing." He looked puzzled, "But… you know, what I find most fascinating is when you tell the truth."

Danny bit his lip, looking up at the redhead, a feeling of dread forming in his stomach. “What do you mean by that?”

"It’s not that you have a tell when you do that… but some of the questions I asked… had some interesting answers, and I’m not sure you even realize that." Daisuke gave him a curious look, "You really are far too honest. And knowing that, it means you answer truthfully without thinking. You should be careful about that."

"What answers?" Danny frowned. He needed to know—what if Daisuke had somehow figured out Danny’s secret? He had figured out Vlad’s…

"Of note are when you answered that you don’t hate the Fentons, and most interesting to me was when I asked why you breathed." Daisuke looked him dead in the eye, not elaborating.

"…Even if the hunters hate me, I don’t hate them back. That’s not me." Danny shook his head, though he got the feeling Daisuke already sensed that his lack of hate for the Fentons ran a little deeper than that. He didn’t explain.

He paused for a moment to think about the other answer that Daisuke found interesting, and then he froze.

Daisuke noticed his grim expression and nodded. “When you said ‘everyone does’, you implied humans, because humans breathe—not ghosts. You also implied that you believed you were still a part of ‘everyone’—that you were human—and thus had a need to breathe.” He gazed at the ghost boy intently, “And this wasn’t just a subjective truth or an incomplete half-truth either. You said it like it was a fact, like that fact about how fast you could fly. And I have noticed, consistently, that you do breathe—albeit shallowly.”

Danny turned stark white. Daisuke stared at him, until the silence built up too much and Danny still hadn’t said a thing.

"…Danny, are you alright?" The older man asked in concern, patting his back gently. "You know, I didn't ask you to explain. I just thought it was interesting."

"I—I’m fine," his voice cracked, "It’s just… uh… the breathing thing is a psychological, uh, habit—that’s what Jazz said…"

"Really…?" Daisuke frowned, obviously not believing him. "I know your tells, Danny, I just told you at least three of them—and there are plenty more."

"I…"

When Danny refused to say anything more, they fell into an awkward silence.

Finally, after several minutes of fidgeting and avoiding Daisuke’s stare, Danny got up. “I, uh, I should go.”

"If you want to." Daisuke nodded in understanding—he knew he had crossed a line somewhere, and it had set off panic in his young friend. Danny needed time to calm down.

He watched as Danny hovered skittishly in front of him, rubbing the back of his head. “Um… yeah. Bye then—see you later.”

Daisuke grabbed Danny’s arm before the boy could drift away, though. Something was still obviously eating at him, and though it was against his better judgement, he pushed the question from his throat. ”One more question, Danny. I hope it’s not too personal or offensive… but…”

The dread in Danny’s stomach had not gone away—it was slightly subdued before. But at Daisuke’s words, the dread increased tenfold.

"Danny… are you… really a ghost…?"

Chapter Text

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam asked in concern as they stopped by their lockers. The raven-haired boy had been rather jumpy that day—more than normal, at least.

"Yeah, fine, it’s just…" Danny sighed, working the lock on his locker with the tool Daisuke had given him—ever since he got his ghost powers, he had stopped bothering to bring his locker key to school, preferring to phase his hand in and grab what he needed when no one was looking. Though in times like this, when the halls were full and it was likely someone could see, actually opening the locker was more discrete—plus he got to practice picking locks.

"Was there a ghost attack this morning? Was it Skulker again?" Tucker looked up from his PDA, lifting an eyebrow as Danny successfully opened the lock and pocketed his pen-like lock-picking tool.

"No, actually. See, I was talking to Daisuke yesterday," Danny grabbed his books, then shut his locker loudly and turned to face them, "and I think he’s started to figure out my secret. I mean, he hasn’t yet, but…"

Sam and Tucker’s eyes widened in alarm, and they exchanged a concern glance. “It’s not so bad that he knows, right…?” Sam bit her lip, “He’s your friend, Danny. Plus, he figured out Vlad… you had to have seen this coming.”

"Except he didn’t figure out Vlad—not entirely," Danny shook his head, "He knows Masters and Plasmius are one person, and that’s about it. As far as I can tell, he thinks Plasmius is some sort of shapeshifter or corpse-walker."

"Corpse-walker?" Tucker shivered, "Okay, I don’t know what that is, but that sounds creepy. Is that what he thinks you are too? Or did he actually figure out that you’re half-human?"

Danny’s gaze fell away, and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “No… I think he meant it when he said it the first time—he might think I’m literally an angel.”

At this, Tucker stifled an amused snort. “Why would he think you’re an angel?”

"Well, he actually believes in them," Danny frowned, looking back up, "His friend had wings, Tuck. And he told me last night that the guy wasn’t human—and that he wasn’t a ghost. I’m pretty sure he was an actual angel. So it’s not a stretch to say angels are real, and that he might think I’m one."

Sam looked thoughtful. “Okay, so he hasn’t exactly figured out your secret yet… so why are you so jittery?” She tilted her head, “What did he say last night?”

Danny shrugged, turning to head to class, not looking at them. They followed, keeping pace easily. “He knows I’ve been lying about a lot of things—you know, the whole secret identity thing? And we were talking about those kinds of things and he made it seem like it was so easy to tell I was lying.” He shook his head, “I thought he actually would figure it out, and he was so close. Then I started to wonder who else could, since I’m apparently a horrible liar.”

"Well, to be fair, Daisuke sounds a lot smarter than most people," Sam pointed out, "I mean, even if you are a horrible liar, no one here has figured out your secret yet, and not everyone is a professional thief."

"Ex-professional thief," Danny corrected her absently, "Even so… I think I’ve been careless with my secret. Heck, if I had been more careful way back then, I bet Vlad wouldn’t have figured me out. Or Jazz—not that Jazz knowing is a bad thing, but, you know—the whole thermos fiasco…"

Tucker snickered. “Jazz has gotten a lot better at the ghost hunting thing, though.”

"That’s beside the point," Danny shook his head, "Last night, Daisuke pointed out stuff I never even realized—like that I breathe in my ghost form, or how I look to the left when I lie for some reason… and he asked me if was really a ghost. I kind of panicked and ran away, but I feel bad for leaving him hanging, because I told him before that I wanted to actually tell him my secret myself sometime. I just… didn’t think I’d have to tell him so soon."

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “You were going to tell him?”

"Yeah. I don’t know what he thinks of me right now, but…" Danny stopped in front of their classroom, and the bell rung. He cringed, glancing at his friends as he reached for the doorknob. "We really need to talk about this later."

Sam and Tucker gave a single nod in unison—it was serious when Danny wanted to actually tell someone his secret, and they understood that. It was different from Sam and Tucker being there when he became a half-ghost, it was different from Jazz finding out, and it was different from feeling obligated to tell Danny’s parents someday. It was Danny choosing to do it, and it was something he could do with virtually no consequences.

And they would support him, no matter what he would do.

~~~

"Is Riku still mad at me for the Bendacht heist?” Daisuke murmured, sighing heavily as he put his phone down—it had gone to voice mail again.

"To be fair," Risa piped up from the video screen on his computer, "She’s not really mad about the heist. She was worried about you, and you go and get yourself shot in the shoulder."

"No, I’m pretty sure she’s mad at me for stealing stuff again. Not that I had much choice."

"Actually, you did on the Bendacht ring." Risa giggled, "Your dad only asked you to get the Mallachd one."

Daisuke pouted, and Risa laughed at his face. “Okay, but I wasn’t going to let With go back without protection, and I had to help Danny clear his name!” He defended himself weakly. “I wish Riku was as understanding about this thieving stuff as you are…”

"I still can’t believe you did that," Risa said slowly, looking contemplative, "I mean, when I saw the news report… I didn’t think it was you. You looked like the real deal." She said softly.

"It was the only way to prove Danny innocent—of my crimes, at least," Daisuke said quietly, not looking at his best friend, "As much as I would have preferred not to wear his face… I couldn’t show up as myself. What would happen then? This isn’t Azumano anymore… he’s not the police commander anymore, here nor there. Getting caught is a real possibility now.”

Risa was quiet for a long time. Daisuke didn’t want to see her face—he knew that she had seen the report and thought he was really back. The person she had loved most… the person closest to both of their hearts. Realizing it was just Daisuke, because reality wasn’t that kind, probably broke her heart. And Daisuke hated that he had brought her hopes up like that.

"You looked cool doing it at least," Risa finally said, and he looked up in surprise to see her soft features, a melancholy-tinted but genuine smile adorning her lips, "You’re really cool, Niwa-kun."

"Harada-chan…" Daisuke released a slow breath of relief, "I’m not. I can just pretend."

"No, you really are. You’re amazing." Risa’s smile grew less sad. "Hey, if I had known that you’d become this back then, I would have dated you."

Daisuke chuckled. “This kind of confession is… ironic, considering you were my first love.”

Risa blushed, looking away. “Yeah, well… I was a shallow girl,” She shook her head, “I don’t regret anything back then, because I got to meet him… but you know, if it weren’t for Riku, I think I might have fallen in love with you.”

"Might have?" Daisuke gave an amused smile. "You technically did.”

"Technically—but you and I both know you were never the same person as him.” She looked back at him, “Having loved him, though… I don’t think I’d ever love anyone else as much. I don’t think I’ll marry anyone, you know? But even if the love wasn’t as strong, if I could marry anyone… I’d marry you. You’re my best friend, Niwa-kun, and you’re a great person, and I wish I had been able to see just how great you were back then.”

The redhead blushed, his face becoming nearly the same shade as his eyes. “Th—thanks, Harada-chan.” He stammered shyly, “You’re—uh, not actually in love with me, right?”

Risa giggled and shook her head. “No. I care about you a lot, Niwa-kun, but knowing you love Riku… my heart has never gone to you, because of that.”

"I care about you too," Daisuke leaned his head on his hand, "and… Harada-chan, I’m glad you can talk about this. I was worried you’ve been heartbroken too long."

The brunette smiled. “I’m moving on just fine, thank you,” She shook her head, “As you are, right? Danny-kun has helped you, hasn’t he? I’m really glad about that… but I haven’t seen him since you introduced him to us. How is he?”

Even if Risa was moving on, like she said, Daisuke couldn’t ignore the change of subject. He didn’t make a comment though, leaning back in his chair.

"He’s fine—I mean, we’re back to normal, mostly. Aside from his arch-nemesis potentially targeting me, that is, but Danny’s given me protection for that." Daisuke shrugged.

"…What?" Risa blinked in confusion.

"It’s nothing—I promise, I’m not getting hurt. Err, any more than I already have been," Daisuke waved his hand dismissively, "Don’t worry about it."

"I certainly will—what sort of friend would I be if I didn’t worry!" Risa exclaimed in mock appall, "What happened?"

Daisuke sighed, explaining the events of the past few days, much to Risa’s growing horror. Daisuke kept out the slightly darker details, and the fact that Plasmius wasn’t exactly all ghost, but it still sounded pretty bad.

"Ooh, Riku won’t like hearing about this. You’re sure he won’t bother you again?" Risa asked when he finished his recount. Worry filled her eyes.

"Mostly. I get the feeling that he has a grand master plan, and that he was only targeting me to throw Danny off the trail of that plan. He seems to have been placing small distractions all over the place to scatter his attention, you know?" Daisuke looked thoughtful, "Danny’s not exactly the brightest of the bunch, so I don’t think he realizes what Plasmius is up to, but…"

"Don’t get involved," Risa warned abruptly, "Whatever Danny-kun and this other ghost have in their history, it doesn’t involve you. So just… stay out of it and don’t get hurt?" She bit her lip, a slight desperation in her voice as her eyes flickered to Daisuke’s shoulder.

Daisuke sighed, and nodded. “I know. I told Danny as much too—I didn’t want to get caught up in this kind of craziness again, but… somehow I have, huh?”

"You always seem to." His friend gave a weak smile.

"I’ll get out of it fine. I’m sure Danny will too, once he figures out Plasmius’ master plan." Daisuke shook his head, "I think… Danny definitely has the power to stop this strange kind of madness."

"What do you mean?" Risa asked curiously.

"Just last night, I was talking to him… and honestly I think he’s a lot more powerful than he lets on." Daisuke smiled in reflection, "I mean, he’s got skills and abilities I could never dream of, and he once told me he does have the power to destroy an entire city. But he doesn’t. He’s kind. He’s brave. He’s a hero, and he’s got compassion, and he’s so honest he can’t effectively lie—not for the unimportant stuff, anyway. He’s got a lot of people who give him power just by being there, and… aside from his will to protect even the people who hate him, he’s surprisingly human."

"Humans certainly are powerful, hm…" Risa mused, watching Daisuke’s face carefully. He seemed to be in deep thought, and he was talking like he would about a painting—he was speaking passionately. When he didn’t say anything after a moment, she continued her train of thought, "If he can emulate that ‘power’ as a ghost…"

She was interrupted. “He claims to be a ghost, and he seems to genuinely believe he is one, grouping himself with the monsters he fights every day,” Daisuke closed his eyes, holding his hands across the table, “But he’s so different from them, and there’s something about the way he lies that makes me think that’s not so true.”

"What do you mean?"

"I think he’s an angel masquerading as a ghost." Daisuke said simply, opening his eyes as Risa’s face contorted in confusion. "And he doesn’t even know it. Well—maybe he does. He ran away when I asked him if he was really a ghost."

"…An angel, huh…" Risa shook her head, "Daisuke… you and I both know angels aren’t real."

Daisuke smiled sadly. “I know. There are only those who pretend to be angels, huh. But even they are not perfect.”

Like Dark. Like…

"So is Danny-kun like them, pretending to be one?"

"He’s not pretending. He may lack the wings, but really…" Daisuke smiled gently, "really… he’s true. He’s good… and he’s more angelic than anyone I’ve met before."

Risa blinked slowly. “But if he’s not exactly a ghost as you say, and he’s not pretending to be anything else, and angels aren’t real, then what is he? He’s obviously not human… nor is he like anything we’ve dealt with here.”

"I don’t know about that," The artist shook his head, "Because the only angels I’ve ever known have been very human.”

Risa went silent.

"He acts so human that I forget he’s a ghost." Daisuke said softly, "And… because Danny is the way he is… he makes me want to believe in angels."

Chapter Text

Riiing. Riiing.

Daisuke blinked, checking the caller ID on his phone. “Miss Fenton…?”

Click.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Daisuke, it’s been a while!"

The spiky-haired redhead chuckled. “It sure has. How are you?”

"I’m fine. Actually, I have something I need to ask you." The girl on the other end of the phone sounded cheerful, and Daisuke could tell she seemed excited about whatever it was she was going to ask him about.

"Oh?"

"Are you free this Friday?"

"I have class but it ends at six." Daisuke responded, "Did you want to meet?"

"Not me—Danny. He wanted to meet you at the park before he goes on patrol on Friday." Jazz said, "I know he usually visits you after, but he wanted to talk to you earlier this time."

"Oh. Alright then." Daisuke blinked slowly, "I haven’t seen Danny all week… is he alright? I’m afraid I might have scared him last time we talked."

"He’s fine. He’s been working out some stuff, that’s all," Jazz chuckled, "I know he feels bad for leaving you hanging, though."

"I don’t blame him. I crossed a line I probably shouldn’t have." Daisuke sighed.

"I heard about that," Jazz hummed thoughtfully, "Don’t feel so bad about it. Danny just isn’t used to people figuring out his secret—the rest of the town hasn’t so far, but you’re pretty special."

"I know he said he would tell me someday," Daisuke shrugged, "so I’m not going to pry into his secret if he’s not ready."

"You don’t seem real, Daisuke," The other redhead giggled, earning a confused look from the artist that she couldn’t see over the phone, "You know… I was the same, when I found out about him. I wanted him to tell me on his own time, though, so I didn’t say anything."

Daisuke smiled. “That’s sweet.”

"Danny probably isn’t going to actually tell you for a while… he’s always so worried about the consequences. But I think with you… he might not have to worry." Jazz mused, "I’m a little jealous. He was afraid to tell me, but when it turned out I already knew, he was okay with it because I’m not like my parents. With you, he’s not afraid… he’s just nervous."

"That’s nothing to be jealous about though, right?" Daisuke wondered.

"I wish he had trusted me enough to tell me on his own, Daisuke, but I had to reveal my knowledge in a dire situation. I didn’t have the option to wait patiently." Jazz chuckled, "I think the universe stole the opportunity from me and gave it to you."

Daisuke smiled sympathetically. Jazz obviously cared about Danny a lot, to want to be involved so intimately in his afterlife. Or whatever it was.

"I’d steal it back for you, but there are some things even a phantom thief can’t steal."

~~~

"You came."

Daisuke looked up from his spot on the bench, tucking his sketchbook away as he stood up. “Of course I did. I didn’t know what time you wanted to meet me, though, so…” Daisuke shrugged, looking up at his ghostly friend, hovering before him with slightly tense shoulders.

"Better to be here early than not at all," Danny grinned playfully at him, though Daisuke noted the hint of nervousness, "I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long."

"Not at all," Daisuke shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hey… I wanted to apologize for last time. I didn’t mean to make you nervous."

"No, it’s okay." Danny landed, planting his feet firmly on the ground. Daisuke took a moment to count how many times he had actually seen Danny do that, but he was quickly broken from his musings when Danny continued, "I mean… you’ve always been observant. And you always manage to surprise me, even now. I should have expected you would have noticed."

Daisuke tilted his head. “…That you aren’t a ghost?” He asked carefully, hoping Danny wouldn’t panic again.

Danny looked away, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh. “I know I said I’d tell you. But not yet. So for now…”

The redhead nodded in understanding. After everything… Danny had to be careful, and Daisuke knew that. Whether it was because he didn’t know the consequences of telling his secret, whether it was to keep Daisuke safe from people like Vlad, or whether it was because he still didn’t trust Daisuke completely, Daisuke understood.

"At least you’re not lying. I won’t ask for more."

Danny blinked, looking up at him. He smiled in relief. “Didn’t I ask the same of you? I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He nodded as if to reassure himself of his conviction, looking Daisuke directly in the eye. In the warming darkness of the spring evening, Danny’s eyes seemed to glow more brightly than normal.

"So why did you want me to come out here so early?" Daisuke questioned, curious. "I doubt it’s just for apologies."

"Actually… I meant what I said when I mentioned that I wanted you to meet my friends." Danny looked over his shoulder, making a waving motion with one hand. From behind a few trees, two people emerged.

Both newcomers were teenagers—one was a dark-skinned boy with glasses, and the other was a skinny, pale girl with black hair and purple makeup.

Daisuke blinked in surprise, staring at them and taking a moment to scan their faces. He felt an unshakable familiarity, like he had seen their likenesses before. It took him a moment to realize he knew one of them.

"Ah—you’re… Sam Manson, aren’t you?"

Sam grinned. “You remembered my name.” The boy next to her looked between them in confusion.

Danny stared at Daisuke, bewildered for a moment before he remembered that both Sam and Daisuke had told him on separate occasions that they had met each other. “Oh—right, you saved Sam before.”

Daisuke nodded in confirmation. “How are you, Miss Manson?” The redhead grinned kindly. “I hope you’ve fared well since the little fiasco at the museum.”

The goth girl made a face. “Just Sam.” She insisted, “And I’m fine. I gave these two a good butt-kicking for forgetting me that time.”

Danny and the African-American boy both blushed and exchanged sheepish glances. Danny cleared his throat. “Right, well, anyway, you’ve already met Sam. This is Tucker,” he motioned to his best friend, who waved.

"That’s Tucker Foley, techno-geek extraordinaire! I’m the one who keeps that dork from getting into too much trouble." The boy puffed out his chest proudly, and Daisuke couldn’t help but grin as Sam rolled her eyes and Danny gave a "hey!" of protest. Tucker was definitely amicable, and he had a certain charisma that Daisuke thought indicated Tucker’s potential to go great places. Just like Danny, actually, but in a slightly different and definitely more human way. Besides, with his apparent lighthearted nature, Daisuke could easily see why the two were friends.

"Nice to finally—and formally—meet you both. Danny has told me a lot about you." Daisuke nodded, "As you probably already know, I’m Daisuke."

"Nice to meet you too," Tucker nodded, holding out his hand. Daisuke shook it politely. "Hey, are you really a thief?"

Daisuke gave a lopsided grin as his hand dropped back to his side. “I used to be. I hope it’s not weird.”

"Well, we’ve got a superhero for a friend, so it’s not as weird as you might think." Tucker laughed.

"Danny’s told us about what you really do, though," Sam added, leaning forward curiously, "but it’s a little hard to believe. Is it really true? Does magic exist?"

"As much as ghosts do." Daisuke replied easily, though he scratched his cheek nervously.

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, eyeing Daisuke in concern. He could tell the redhead was getting uncomfortable with the questions about his former profession—especially since Danny knew that he had actively tried to leave behind that life.

Sam didn’t see the same thing, however, as her eyes lit up excitedly. “So is that how you summon ghosts? Is it some sort of dark magic?”

Daisuke blinked slowly, his smile dropping. “Summon… ghosts? Dark magic?” He repeated slowly, his brow knitting together as he tried to confirm he heard the girl correctly.

"Well yeah. I mean, we get ghosts here all the time, but we’ve never had a way to summon them," Sam explained, then gasped and hastily added, "Not that we want to, I’m just curious. What did you do to summon that winged—"

"Aaanyway," Danny cleared his throat a little too loudly, catching everyone’s attention, "We should start patrol like, now, if we’re going to finish on time for you two to get home before curfew," he said quickly, "Granted, we don’t run into any trouble."

Daisuke wondered if Danny knew saying that would jinx his luck. Maybe he was counting on it.

Still, he was grateful that Danny had changed the subject—he knew where it had been going, and he didn’t like it. He was glad Danny knew him enough to save him from discussing that particular topic.

"Right, you should do that," Daisuke nodded to the ghost boy, "I shouldn’t be keeping you. You’ve got a town to protect, right?" He beamed.

Danny nodded, grinning back. “Sorry for calling you out here tonight. See you later?”

"Definitely." Daisuke nodded, looking toward the other two teenagers, "It really was nice to meet you. Please do take care out there."

"Yeah, maybe we’ll see you around sometime." Tucker nodded.

Sam looked a little disappointed she didn’t get to find out more about magic, but she nodded too. “Right, it was nice meeting you. And… thanks for being friends with Danny.” She added as an afterthought, giving him a small smile.

He relaxed at this. “Of course. And thank you for being so brave as to help him, too.” He said earnestly, grinning at the teens, “Keep up the good work.”

The groups bid farewell, and Daisuke went home for the night. Danny turned to his friends. “He took that better than I expected.”

"What, meeting us?" Tucker grinned.

Danny only laughed nervously in response, thinking, no, I meant the fact that the subject had veered down a path Daisuke didn’t want it to take but at least he took it well.

"Did you think he wouldn’t like us or something? Come on, dude, who can hate this face!"

Sam rolled her eyes. “Dash, Paulina, Star, virtually every other girl in our school…”

Tucker’s face fell. “Well you don’t have to put it like that.” He protested weakly.

"Daisuke’s a pretty nice guy though—I don’t think he can actually hate anyone." Danny grinned, lifting his feet off the ground, "I wasn’t sure how he would react, though, so I guess it didn’t go badly like I might have thought."

Sam grinned reassuringly at him. “You worry too much.” She chuckled, “Now come on, are we going to patrol or what?”

"The usual formation?" Tucker asked as he and Sam made their way back to the trees, grabbing their scooters and the ghost gadgets they left there.

Danny launched into the air, tapping the Fenton Phones in his ear. “Would it be any other way?”

Chapter Text

"I still think you should have saved them in the first place."

"Okay, okay, but I did phase all the meat off them afterward!" Danny defended, "I mean, Tucker would’ve just eaten through it anyway…"

"It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt when it hit them, Danny." Daisuke sighed, shaking his head. "I know they’re the ones who volunteered to help you, but it doesn’t mean you should take them for granted. They don’t bounce back as easily as you do."

Danny rubbed the back of his head, grumbling under his breath. “I’ll give you the Lunch Lady, but it’s not like that thing with Cujo was dangerous…”

"Personally," Daisuke glanced over, eyeing the young ghost who flinched when he realized his older friend had heard him, "I would have been a little disgusted too, if I got giant dog slobber all over me. Dangerous or not, that was rather careless of you."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’ll be more considerate of them next time." Danny sighed heavily, and Daisuke once again found himself staring in fascination at the rise and fall of the boy’s chest. "It’s things like this that makes you glad you didn’t join my ‘ragtag team of ghost busters’ huh?"

Daisuke couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, don’t you know it.”

~~~

Daisuke hadn’t seen Danny in a few days now. As he listened to a few incidents reported on Ghost Watch, he couldn’t help but think that Danny’s destructiveness was getting a little out of hand. He understood that Danny was getting more powerful, and that overpowered attacks could usually take out a ghost in record time, but Danny used to take care that no one was hurt when he fought the ghosts. Now Daisuke was listening to a report on a mini-golf course that had been almost entirely demolished. Witnesses had said it was a ghost attack, but the ones who were allegedly to blame and the ones who fixed up the course were a pair of teenagers.

He had no doubt that that was Sam and Tucker, given how often they usually hung around before and after a ghost fight, according to what he learned from Danny. But that was the problem—it was a pair who had cleaned up the golf course. A pair—not a trio. For a ghost who claimed he wanted to help the city, couldn’t he have at least stayed behind to help rebuild, especially if it was a ghost attack?

The redhead made a mental note to reprimand Danny next time he saw him.

~~~

"Have you talked to him lately, Miss Fenton?"

"For the last time, Daisuke, call me Jazz. We’re better friends than that, right?” The carrot-top rolled her teal eyes, leaning her elbow on the table across from Daisuke. They sat at a booth in the Nasty Burger, and she sipped at her milkshake, waiting for their orders to come up.

"S—sorry. It takes some getting used to." Daisuke grinned sheepishly.

"No problem." Jazz chuckled, "Anyway… I admit, I’ve noticed Danny acting strangely lately, but I thought it was because the ghost attacks were starting to get easier."

"Are they?" Daisuke quirked an eyebrow, sipping his own milkshake.

"A little—he’s definitely more powerful than he was last month. He senses the ghosts faster and his instincts kick in faster—but his common sense is still a little lagging." She sighed, "What can we really expect, though. He’s fourteen—fifteen."

Jazz shrugged, stirring her milkshake with her straw. “He does seem to be having a little more fun, now that the attacks are easier to deal with.” Though I wish he’d use that extra time to study more, instead of goofing off, she added mentally.

"I’m all for that, but it seems like he’s leaving his friends in the dust…" Daisuke frowned. "Do you know how Tucker and Sam are?"

"They’re definitely fed up with his behavior." Jazz pursed her lips, "But I can’t say how much longer Danny can try their patience—they’ve always been by his side, but Danny’s gotten ungrateful for that. Hopefully it’s just a phase though… Those three will probably get through it together somehow. They always do."

Daisuke wondered about that. Just how long have they all known each other? Was it since before Danny’s death… or whatever it was?

The two stopped their conversation when the young African-American cashier called their order number, and Daisuke looked over to find her very distinctly avoiding his glance for whatever reason. He lifted an eyebrow at this, but made no comment, as he supposedly didn’t know who Valerie was—in or out of her suit. Jazz got up to go get their order, and Daisuke watched as they talked a little, straining his ears to catch snippets of the conversation.

"Yeah, no problem… no, it’s not so busy today…"

"No, I’m not on a date… he’s a friend… would be a weird place for a date anyhow…"

"…How’s Danny… right… should let you go back now…"

Daisuke blinked. Why would Valerie ask how Danny was? How did she even know Jazz knew him? Didn’t she hate him—and why did she look so sad when she asked about Danny?

His train of thought was derailed when Jazz came back, putting their food in front of them.

"So, onto more pressing matters—"

"Danny’s not pressing enough?" Daisuke joked with a small grin, taking his fries and burger from the tray.

Jazz laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve been looking into applying to some colleges—since you’ve already been through the process, maybe you could help me.”

Daisuke smiled and shook his head, allowing her to change the subject without another comment. “I think the way schools in Japan work and the way schools in America work are different, though…”

"Well, I guess. But didn’t you have to apply here when you signed up for study abroad?"

"It’s not exactly the same, but…"

~~~

Daisuke was cooking dinner for himself that weekend when he heard a slight rattling in his room and felt the temperature drop several noticeable degrees.

"…Danny?" Daisuke called out, frowning.

He didn’t get a response right away, so he stopped what he was doing and opened his eyes and ears, reaching for the Specter Deflector’s on switch.

Ignoring the steaming of his rice cooker and the tiny popping of the oil in his frying pan, he stepped closer to his bedroom door. He reached out with his inner sense and felt a very familiar presence—it was a ghost, and it felt like Danny, but the temperature was much colder and the presence itself felt like it was small and fluctuating between being there and not.

Was Danny hurt somehow?

He reached for the doorknob, slowly pushing it open. His eyes narrowed as he searched the darkness of the room, and then he flicked the lights on—there was no one there, but he still felt that coldness in the air.

"I know you’re there. Why don’t you show yourself?" If this was Danny’s way of attempting to scare him, like countless other times, it wouldn’t work—like, once again, countless other times.

His semi-suspicious glare and the subtle intimidation in his voice finally garnered a response—but it wasn’t one he was expecting.

"How… how did you know my name?"

The ghost that materialized in front of him was certainly not Danny.

At least, not the one he knew.

His eyes widened at the sight of the small white-haired ghost girl floating in front of him, looking up at him with narrowed, suspicious green eyes that for all the world looked just like Danny’s. In fact, the girl looked like she could be his little sister—she had the same messy white bangs, though it was longer and only slightly neater, and the same round face, only rounder. She even had his emblem on her chest.

"I…" Daisuke paused, his eyebrows furrowing. "I thought you were Danny—that is, my friend Danny… Danny Phantom."

The girl now looked surprised, no longer suspicious. “You know Danny? He’s my—cousin. Sort of.” The girl grinned, then paused. “How did you know I was here?”

"As Danny puts it, I have freakishly good hearing and I’m too observant for my own good." Daisuke chuckled, making sure to turn off the Specter Deflector before offering his hand to the girl, "I’m Daisuke Niwa."

The girl looked at his hand for a moment, as if deciding whether or not she should take it, before she hesitantly reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake. He shivered at her touch. “Danielle. That’s Dani—with an ‘I’.” She grinned.

Daisuke smiled back, letting go of her hand, and their arms both fell back to their sides. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Dani with an ‘I’. I didn’t know Danny had a cousin.” Or that ghosts could have cousins in the first place. How does that even work?

Unless she died too.

Daisuke pushed away the thought, deciding not to dwell on it too long.

"Believe me, he didn’t know it either till recently." Dani giggled.

Daisuke gave a lopsided grin. “I guess so,” He guessed that Danny had already run into her, then. “So what can I do for you, Miss Dani?”

Dani was taken off guard by the man’s politeness, blinking in befuddlement. “Wha…?”

Daisuke cleared his throat, “You came into my apartment for a reason, didn’t you?” He inquired, tilting his head.

"Oh," Danielle realized, "Well, I’ve kind of been flying around all day and I needed a break, and everyone else had their lights on so I thought maybe this room was empty so I could crash in it tonight." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "But… I guess not."

"Instead you happen to stumble into the room of one of Danny’s friends. You’re very fortunate." Daisuke chuckled, "You’re welcome to stay tonight, then. I don’t mind."

Dani perked up excitedly. “R—really?” She stopped, frowning. “Wait—why are you being so nice to me?” She asked suspiciously.

"Well, I like to think I’m this nice to everyone, but I’m probably not," Daisuke shrugged, motioning her to follow him. She reluctantly did, but she didn’t regret it at the smell of food wafting in from the kitchen. "You’re Danny’s family, right? Danny’s a very, very good friend of mine. I don’t know why you’re not with Danny, but I’m always happy to help Danny out—or Danny’s friends."

"Oh, I was with Danny a little while ago, but… Y’know, there’s a whole big wide world to see, so I left to go see it." Dani crossed her legs as she floated in his kitchen, her mouth watering as she watched Daisuke go back to cooking his dinner, "I just can’t really stay in Amity Park right now, either."

Daisuke blinked, looking over his shoulder. “Mind telling me why?” He paused, grabbing two bowls from his cupboard, “I’ll give you dinner if you do.” He winked playfully, waving one of the bowls.

"That’s blackmail!" Dani accused, though when Daisuke laughed she realized it was a joke. "Oh. Um…" She blushed that same greenish shade that Danny did.

Daisuke shook his head, scooping out some rice and distributing some fried eggs he had been making. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

"Nah, it’s fine." Dani sat down at Daisuke’s table properly, "I’m… trying to get away from my dad."

Daisuke blinked, placing a bowl in front of her, along with a fork. “Your father… is he alive or dead?” He inquired curiously.

"Hard to say. I’d say dead though." Dani shrugged. She grabbed the fork and began wolfing down the food, obviously hungry and tired.

The redheaded man frowned, trying to puzzle her out. “So what happened that you’d need to get away from him?” He asked, murmuring a prayer before he started eating too.

"He tried to kill me." Danielle sighed and shook her head, lowering her bowl a little bit. "It wasn’t even just that—he was willing to let me die, for his perfect experiment. If it hadn’t been for Danny, I wouldn’t have ever seen what a horrible person he was or been able to get away from him and his madness."

"That’s good that Danny got you out then." Daisuke smiled softly.

"Not only that. He destroyed that fruitloop’s lab, too, so no more experiments would end up like… well, me." Dani motioned to herself. "I’m glad Danny did that… I didn’t even think about it at the time. But I’m glad."

"Experiments—you said that before. What do you mean by that?" Daisuke asked, wondering if it was okay to.

"Huh? Well… me and a few others, we were created as experiments."

"Created?"

Danielle hesitated. “…Cloned. From Danny.”

Daisuke stared at her. “Oh.” Well, that explained the family resemblance. He paused, trying to think of if that was even possible. Whoever was conducting those experiments had to have had a lot of money, and was probably smart, but why clone Danny? Was it because of Danny’s unique species, whatever it was, or was it because of his ever-growing power?

With those thoughts, the pieces finally started to come together. “Your… father… wouldn’t happen to be Vlad, would he?”

Danielle’s eyes widened and for a moment looked stricken with panic. Daisuke quickly raised both of his hands to placate her. “I didn’t mean to bring it up if it upsets you!” He said hastily.

"How do you know him?" Danielle demanded, her fists clenched on the table beside her bowl and fork.

"I had a… dispute, let’s say, with him before… he targeted me to get to Danny." Daisuke explained, "He’s no friend of mine, that’s for sure."

Danielle breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly relaxing. “Oh. Yeah that seems like something he would do.”

"That aside," Daisuke attempted to obviously change the subject, "feel free to help yourself to seconds, I don’t mind."

Dani lit up brightly, hopping up and going over to the rice cooker, scooping out a generous portion before she went for another egg.

"So you’re really okay with me staying here tonight?" Dani asked, just to clarify.

Daisuke chuckled, sticking some eggs in his mouth. “Of course! But you might have to sleep on the couch or my roommate’s bed…”

"Dude, this is already better than the tree I was planning to crash in if I couldn’t find any other place."

Daisuke frowned. “Don’t go sleeping in trees all the time, that can’t be good for you.”

"It’s not as bad when you can defy gravity." Dani grinned in return, which brought Daisuke’s enigmatic smile back with it.

"Don’t I know it." Daisuke murmured vaguely, finishing his meal and watching Dani go for thirds. "You sure do eat a lot. Where does it all go?"

Dani shrugged. “No idea. I guess that the ectoplasm in me can convert it to energy faster than people can. It helps me stay stabilized and looking normal. Though that doesn’t explain the other me.”

"Other… you?"

"Yeah." A flash of bright white light made Daisuke squint and turn his face away, and when he fully opened his eyes again and looked back, he stared in shock at the now black-haired blue-eyed girl sitting at his table, eating rice and eggs. "I’m still kind of skinny in this form—but I wear baggy clothes all the time so it’s hard to tell. I’m pretty sure visible rib cages aren’t a good thing though."

Daisuke sputtered in surprise. “You—you can shapeshift!” He exclaimed, “Well—Vlad did make you, why should I be surprised about that, but…”

"Huh? This is just part of—" Danielle stopped, staring at Daisuke. Oh—oh. He doesn’t know, she realized quickly, her baby blue eyes wide. “Uh… never mind. I guess shapeshifter really is kind of the right word for it.”

Daisuke stared at her, taking a deep breath and calming himself, before he muttered a small prayer under his breath and stood up to put his dishes away. “Danny hasn’t told me his secret yet, but I get the feeling you can infer that. I don’t know what you or Vlad are, or if he’s the same, but… I promise, I won’t tell anyone. And you’re still welcome to stay of course—your… abilities don’t change that.”

Dainelle nodded, unsure what else to do.

She quickly finished her meal and offered to help him with the chores.

~~~

The next morning, when Daisuke got up and walked out of the room, the first thing he noticed was that Dani was gone from the couch.

The second thing he noticed was a small note nearby it.

“Thanks for the food and the place to crash! See you around, maybe. -Dani”

Daisuke smiled and shook his head. He wondered what Danny would have to say about his new-found cousin.

Chapter Text

Danny grinned when he saw Daisuke sitting on his usual perch on the roof, gliding down after doing a loop-de-loop and casually taking a seat beside him, as usual.

"Evening."

"Good evening, Danny." Daisuke looked over at him with a warm, welcoming smile, "I trust you’ve had an interesting week?"

"Oh, yeah, you bet. Sorry I didn’t come to visit." Danny chuckled.

The red-haired man shook his head. “You should never have to feel sorry about that.” He patted the ghost boy’s shoulder, “So, what happened?”

"Well, you were right about me needing to be more considerate about my friends." Danny admitted sheepishly, "I should have listened to you."

"Oh, right, speaking of that," Daisuke blinked, suddenly reminded of something, "Did your sudden revelation have something to do with that destroyed golf course last week?"

Danny blinked. “How did you—” Daisuke gave him a look, and Danny shook his head with a sigh. “Right, it was probably on the news, huh? Yeah, it did have something to do with that.”

"Good, I was going to give you a long lesson about leaving your friends behind like that, if you hadn’t learned it." The redhead smirked, and Danny stared at him with wide eyes. "Sorry, continue with your story?"

"So at that golf course, this weird bed-sheet ghost attacked, and…" Danny trailed off, deciding to omit some details apparently. "It was weird, after I hit him with a powerful blast, he melted into goop. At least, I’m pretty sure he did." He shook his head, "The next thing I knew, when I got—uh, home, I guess… I met this girl, who said she was my cousin. I didn’t even know I had a cousin like her."

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow, slightly amused, but didn’t say anything. He wanted to know what Danny thought after all.

"Before I could find out much about her, another ghost attacked—this guy was a big Frankenstein’s monster! My cousin and I blasted a hole through him and he turned into goop too." Danny explained, "And, as you probably know, that’s not normal.”

"Normal ghosts don’t turn into goo when you hit them with a normal-powered blast," Daisuke nodded, "So these weren’t normal ghosts."

"Nope," Danny shook his head, "Anyway, my cousin fainted, I guess because she used too much power, and the next day when I went to find her, she was gone. She only showed up again when I was with Sam and Tucker, and then another ghost showed up—this one was tiny like a bug.”

"While ghosts frequently attacking are normal… I take it you were weirded out by this too?"

"Yeah. My cousin challenged me to a race to catch it," Danny looked down, "and… while I was distracted by that, Vlad attacked me."

Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed in worry. He didn’t like Danny’s expression.

"We were pretty evenly matched—we were sort of in a stalemate, but he was winning by a little bit. When I saw my cousin again, I asked her to help me, but…" Danny fiddled with his thumbs, "It turned out that she was working for Vlad. She attacked me instead, and I heard her call him her dad. After they knocked me out, they apparently kidnapped me."

"…"

"It turned out that Vlad has spent months watching me and studying me and trying to get my DNA to make a clone of me. My cousin and those other ghosts that turned into goop were also clones. It was kind of terrifying, to see that tiny one with my face—his eyes melted out and he disintegrated after he tried to overshadow me." Danny shivered at the thought, "I tried not to pay attention to it, but I’ve had a few days to kind of process it all and it’s really disturbing, when I think about it."

"Then don’t think about it." Daisuke patted his back comfortingly, his voice soft.

"I know," Danny nodded.

"So why did Vlad kidnap you, if he already had his clones?" Daisuke asked curiously. He only knew part of the story from Danielle, after all.

"None of those clones were perfect clones—they were unstable, and couldn’t keep their form very long. So he wanted to take me apart and… well, he did say I’d be obsolete once he had his perfect clone." Danny frowned, "He didn’t care what would happen to me, and I’m pretty sure he was planning to kill me. There’s a scary thought."

"And… what about your cousin?"

"Vlad didn’t care what happened to her either—people are tools to him, whether they’re real people or not. She was only useful to him as long as she was clueless to his real motive… and I opened her eyes to the real Vlad, because I didn’t want to fight her and turn her into goop too." Danny smiled a little, "In the end, I managed to show her that Vlad wasn’t a good person, and she betrayed him and helped me out. We defeated him together and my friends came to save me too—I didn’t think they would, after how much of a jerk I was being to them. My cousin sort of disappeared right after my friends showed up though."

Daisuke sensed there was something left hanging in the air, by the way Danny’s voice trailed off. “And…?” He tried, knowing there was something more.

"After I had some time to really process everything, I kind of realized how betrayed I originally felt because of her—I mean, the relief was there when she helped me out, but…" Danny shrugged, "I guess, ever since I met you, I wanted to see the best in people. I was right about her in the end, but for that one moment, when I saw her standing next to Vlad with that smirk on her face… I started to doubt myself."

Daisuke blinked in surprise, then wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulder, giving him a light squeeze. “You should question your judge of character, from time to time, but you shouldn’t doubt it.” He said gently, “Your judge of character is gut instinct and right like your morals. So don’t doubt it.”

Danny nodded, finally looking up at him, searching his eyes for any sort of dishonesty. He found none.

"It’s always okay to try to see the best in people—and like you did with your cousin, you can bring it out in people, too, if you believe in it enough." Daisuke grinned earnestly at him, patting his back encouragingly, "Sometimes, all it takes is one person and a single word, after all."

Danny nodded. “I think I know what you mean.” He sighed, looking away at last, “But still. It’s been a while since I’ve met someone I thought I could trust and they betrayed me.”

"Isn’t that why your friends were so wary of me at first?" Daisuke mused, hoping to lighten the mood. "Does it really happen that often?"

"Yeah," Danny looked up at him, "I guess that’s why I let my guard down this time. But my cousin turned out okay in the end… so I guess it was all in all okay."

Daisuke nodded in agreement. He looked at the other boy curiously, “And what happened to Vlad after that?”

"My friends temporarily disabled his powers and my cousin punched him in the face." The two boys laughed at this, and when Danny calmed down he shook his head, "But… man, you should’ve seen the look on his face before my friends showed up. It was pure murder—and he actually went and tried to kill my cousin too, because she was the last clone left—he couldn’t complete his perfect experiment anymore, and I think he wanted to put all the blame on her." A shiver ran down his spine and he wrapped his arms around himself, "It was the scariest face I’d ever seen him make."

Daisuke was silent for a moment. He stared up at the sky, dark and almost starless that night. “…Why did he want to clone you?”

Danny blinked in surprise. “He—um…” He trailed off, “He always wanted a son. A family. And power… but mostly he wanted love—or that’s what he said, anyway. I don’t know if I truly believe him—he told my cousin that she existed to serve him, and he had a hologram program of the woman he loved, and she said things like ‘I am happy I serve you’, too… That’s not love, not by a long shot.”

"It almost sounds like he has no idea what love really is." Daisuke commented, "I… sort of feel bad for him."

"I would too, but he’s too far gone." Danny shook his head, looking up at the stars now too. "Whatever his plans were that he wanted a ‘powerful son’ for, I want nothing to do with it, and I made sure he couldn’t involve me or any other poor kid again somehow—I destroyed his lab, so no one else like my cousin could be made and used by him."

Daisuke smiled ever so slightly, “I’m glad. But as for Vlad…” His smile dropped, “You should be careful.”

"Aren’t I always?" Danny joked.

"No, I mean it. Whatever happened that scared you so much in that lab… when he made that face… it made him snap." Daisuke said seriously, looking down at Danny’s wide green eyes, "I’ve been in his head, Danny. It’s not exactly the most sane of places. He’s a broken man—and I think that was his limit."

Danny gulped. “Uh… what… what do you mean by that?”

"I knew someone similar, once. He was someone who wanted something so badly that when he couldn’t get it time and time again, he snapped in half when he reached his breaking point." Daisuke shook his head, looking away, "No one took his wish seriously… and looking back on it, I wish I had spent more time trying to understand him, rather than going along with the blind hate that my family and friends showed toward him. I think if I had, I would have truly understood why he kept trying to kill me."

Danny stared at him. “That… man… the one who—?”

"Yes, I’m talking about that same person." Daisuke nodded, "Vlad reminds me of him. They are people who have nothing left, who give it all up to insanity in the end…" He sighed, one hand reaching up and touching the spot on his chest right over his heart, "And people who have nothing left… who have reached their limit and broken beyond it in the worst way possible… they’re dangerous. So be careful, Danny. You’re never going to know what’s going to happen next now, with him.”

Danny stared at his friend for a long time, and then his eyes trailed over to Daisuke’s hand, still clutching at his chest.

"…Did you die, before?" Danny asked, remembering the bullet wound that Daisuke had never explained.

"I might have. I’m still not sure what happened that night." Daisuke shook his head, his voice quiet, "But I nearly lost a dear friend—nearly lost two of them. And I think that’s worse than the death I would have faced that night, had that gun worked the way it was meant to.”

Danny nodded, the two of them falling into an uncomfortable silence and staring up at the stars.

Finally, Danny broke it, changing the subject. “By the way… after that whole thing, I learned that I should be more grateful for the friends I have. I mean, I wasn’t sure my friends knew I had been kidnapped, much less would come to save me, you know? But they did somehow find out and they came for me… so I was glad. I have some pretty great friends.” He said lightly, obviously trying to move past the previously ominous mood. He gave Daisuke a sideways glance, grinning as he asked, “Do I ever tell you thank you, for everything you do for me?”

"You’ve told me once or twice." The redhead returned, his face breaking into a wide smile.

"Well I’m going to say it more. Starting now. Thank you for everything." Danny grinned.

"Don’t worry about it." Daisuke laughed.

They grinned at each other, shifting positions and settling down more comfortably this time. “So, how has your week been?”

"It probably won’t be as interesting, after your grand tale," Daisuke smiled slyly. Danny didn’t seem to notice, looking up at the stars.

"I’d still like to hear about it," The white-haired boy said honestly, "Really, I would."

"Well, just the other night I had a girl in my room." Daisuke steeled his face, keeping it completely straight as Danny’s head whipped to face him. His green eyes were wide and bewildered, and Daisuke fought down a laugh as it got even more shocked at his next statement, "She stayed the night."

"Wha—but what about Miss Riku?" Danny gasped, unable to see past Daisuke’s unreadable poker face, "Daisuke, how could you—"

"Cool your jets," Daisuke laughed, breaking face, "Nothing happened. She slept on the couch."

Danny settled down, his shoulders relaxing. “Jeez, don’t scare me like that. You said you and Miss Riku were having trouble, especially after that last heist thing, but I didn’t think you’d be the type to cheat.”

"I’m not," Daisuke assured him, chuckling still, "Geez, why are you doubting me? You do know me better." Danny grinned sheepishly at this, and Daisuke continued nonchalantly, "I think you’d be interested in my visitor though. She was quite a remarkable young lady—she told me all about how she wanted to travel the world and go into space someday."

"Wow, really? Is she like, an astronomy major?" Danny guessed, wondering if Daisuke had a friend from the college that he didn’t know about. His eyes were wide in awe, his lips parted in thought.

"Nope." Daisuke leaned his head on his hand, watching his friend with barely hidden amusement, "She’s not in college. In fact, I doubt she’s in school, seeing as she left to go travel after staying the night at my place."

Danny wilted. “Oh. Man, I wish I could’ve met her though, she sounds interesting, like you said.”

"You already know her."

Danny blinked, looking up in confusion. “Huh?”

Daisuke gave a mischievous grin. “You already know her,” he repeated, “Care to take a guess?”

Danny frowned in thought, wracking his brain to try and figure out who he knew that was travelling the world and liked astronomy. He couldn’t come up with anyone.

"Oh—I don’t know. The tooth fairy?" He tried lamely, giving the redhead a sarcastic grin.

The said redhead laughed and shook his head. Danny pouted. “Okay, fine! Who is it?”

Daisuke leaned in, still smiling, and said ever so smugly, “Danielle.”

And then he burst out laughing at Danny’s face.

Chapter Text

"Uhhuh. I miss you too, Riku." Daisuke said softly into the phone as he leaned back against the wall, his feet hanging lazily off the side of his bed, "Yeah. Hey, sorry again about before?"

"I told you, stop apologizing for that. I forgave you last week." His girlfriend chuckled, "Good luck with midterms, okay? And… think about it."

"Yeah, I will, when I have time." Daisuke nodded, "Bye, Riku."

"Bye, Daisuke."

He snapped the phone shut gently, looking up when he felt a cold presence at the window he hadn’t opened. Danny was sitting on the windowsill, one leg hugged to his chest and the other one grazing the ground.

His green eyes stared at the redhead quizzically, as he hadn’t understood a lick of Japanese. “Was that Miss Riku?”

"Yeah." Daisuke nodded, shifting to sit up better, "You should be happy to know she finally forgave me, by the way. Not that she wouldn’t, but you know—she takes some time to cool down."

"Good," Danny chuckled, "So what were you talking about? If you don’t mind me asking."

Daisuke stood up, stretching. “Not much—she was checking up on me, making sure I ate right during midterm season… asking me if we could spend time together over spring break.”

Danny blinked, hopping off the windowsill and hovering near the art student. “You’re going back to Japan?”

"No, it’s too near the end of the semester for that. Riku and Harada-chan were thinking of coming here, though." Daisuke grinned, "I’ve got to think of living arrangements for that, and maybe think of things to do while they’re here."

"I could help," Danny offered with a small laugh, feeling relieved—for some reason, the idea of Daisuke going back so soon bothered him. "I mean, I did grow up here after all."

"If you don’t mind. I know Harada-chan wanted to meet you," Daisuke nodded, heading over to his desk and pulling out his books from his bag on the floor, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, the water park should be really good this time of year," Danny looked thoughtful, "And there’s amusement parks and I think a county fair should be coming up around spring break, too. I took Valerie to the amusement park on a date once, it was pretty sweet."

"That would be nice to take them too." Daisuke glanced over as Danny plopped down on his bed and got comfortable. He frowned a little. "…Danny, did you have a quiet patrol tonight?"

Danny blinked in alert at this, looking down. “Admittedly, uh, no.” He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck gingerly, “Aside form the Box Ghost, I ran into a ghost tiger and a shark—don’t ask, I don’t know how those things become ghosts either—and… well, I just need to recharge for a while.”

Daisuke’s eyebrows knit in worry, but he nodded. “Take all the time you need.”

"Sorry, am I bothering you?" Danny looked up at him, "You did say it was midterm season…"

Daisuke shook his head, “Not at all. I’m afraid I won’t be very entertaining, though, since I have to study,” the redhead gave an apologetic smile, sitting down at his desk, “I’m not going to be a very good host tonight.”

"Dude, you never had to be a good host," Danny laughed, then winced, his hand coming to his side, "I mean, I never noticed—uh, no offense? It’s just fun hanging out with you."

"I see," Daisuke opened his book in his lap, eyeing the ghost boy critically, "And… what about your other friends?"

"They’re kinda recovering from their own bruises from tonight too. I didn’t want them to get in trouble so I told them to go home early and rest up," Danny shrugged one shoulder, "That was before I ran into the shark though."

"So they don’t know you fought more, and you don’t want to worry them more than they already were."

Danny cringed, but nodded a little reluctantly. Daisuke sighed. “I worry too, Danny.” He said softly.

"Don’t trouble yourself, it’s just a few bruises." Danny insisted, shaking his head.

Daisuke eyed the boy’s hand, gripping his side a little too tightly, and decided he didn’t believe him. “You know where the first aid kit is. Call me if you need help?”

The white-haired boy’s eyes widened in surprise. He stared at his friend for a moment before he grinned gratefully. “Thanks, Daisuke.”

The man nodded slowly, turning to his book and beginning to study as Danny floated up, drifting toward the kitchen. If Danny wanted to handle his wounds himself, Daisuke would let him—if he didn’t want Daisuke to see how bad the wounds really were, Daisuke would at least respect that. Danny came to him often to recharge, and Daisuke was used to letting him do his own thing by now. Daisuke had resolved long ago that, as long as his suit was in one piece and there wasn’t any visible blood, he would leave Danny to his own devices.

After all, Daisuke wouldn’t be there forever. Danny would have to get used to that.

He heard Danny rummaging around in the kitchen, and a few minutes later he heard the water running. He frowned, but didn’t move, refocusing his attention on his studies. Years of nightly heists and drills in memorization training had taught him how to study quickly, so it wasn’t like he really needed to study—but a little review never hurt.

He looked up twenty minutes later when the kitchen fell into silence and Danny came back into the room, settling himself on his usual spot, perched on the bed.

"…All better?" Daisuke lifted an eyebrow quizzically.

"It was nothing." Danny grinned reassuringly at him. He grabbed the pillow and leaned back, completely comfortable. "So, what’re you studying?"

"Art history."

"Sounds boring." Danny frowned.

"I find it fascinating," Daisuke shrugged, "But then again… considering my former profession as well as my father’s occupation…"

Danny gave a half-grin. “Right, I guess you would find that interesting.” He folded his hands behind his head, “Please, continue.”

Daisuke rolled his eyes, going back to his book. There was several minutes of silence before Daisuke noticed Danny beginning to fidget out of the corner of his eye. The ghost boy was kicking one leg and tapping his gloved fingers along his arm impatiently. It was another several minutes before Daisuke decided to address it.

"If you’re bored, I can give you my laptop. You can play some games or something." Daisuke offered.

Danny blinked at him. “Oh—I, uh, didn’t want to seem like I was imposing or something,” he shrugged one shoulder again—Daisuke had to wonder if the other one was really alright—and he admitted, “but I kind of wanted to talk to you.”

"About… what?" Daisuke’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, wondering if it wasn’t something too urgent or important.

Danny contemplated continuing and telling him what was really on his mind, or if he should pick a different topic and divert him from the truth.

The truth won out. Daisuke would have been able to tell if he was lying anyhow. “Well, uh… about Danielle.”

Daisuke slowly closed his book, placing it aside. “Did something happen to her?”

"Well, no, I haven’t heard from her since she left," Danny shook his head, "But you said that when she was here, you saw some of her more, uh… interesting abilities."

Daisuke quickly figured out where this was going. “And by extension, yours, since she’s your clone.” This wasn’t about Danielle at all, was it?

Danny flinched when he saw Daisuke’s knowing look, shifting his gaze out the window. “What did you see?”

"She could shapeshift, like Vlad, if that was what you were asking about." Daisuke said straightforwardly.

"…Is that so."

Daisuke frowned, his eyes narrowing at the way Danny kept his gaze steady and away from his own. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know.”

"I’m not." Danny huffed, clasping his hands together.

"She had black hair and very bright blue eyes." Daisuke said slowly, and Danny’s gaze snapped back to him. "…Is that what you used to look like too?"

Danny sighed, not answering. He lowered his gaze.

Daisuke understood right away—it was one of those things he didn’t want to talk about. At least he didn’t deny it.

"If you don’t want to tell me yet, that’s fine. Miss Dani didn’t say anything either, if that makes you feel any better—she seemed to realize that I didn’t know your secret… whatever it is. And I think she realized it was not her secret to tell."

Danny chewed on his bottom lip. “…You know anyway, don’t you?” He asked quietly. How could Daisuke not? He was given literally all the clues to figure Danny’s secret out, and he was too observant to let those things slip by unnoticed.

"Probably," Daisuke nodded affirmatively, "but I won’t know anything for sure until you tell me."

Danny laughed almost bitterly, weakly as to not agitate the wound that had made him wince earlier. “This is actually a little frustrating. I’ve never known anyone as patient as you, Daisuke.”

The redhead gave a wry smile. “I’m sorry my demeanor frustrates you.” He said half-jokingly.

"God, just… everything about you just makes you seem so trustworthy and like I can tell you anything," Danny shook his head, "and that might be why I haven’t told you yet. Someone who can make me feel that… is it dangerous? I don’t know."

"Your caution is justified." Daisuke said simply, tilting his head in slight confusion.

"I’ve never known anyone so genuinely nice—and that’s a little sad.” Danny finally met his eyes, the glowing green seeming older than their youthful brightness and his expression too aged for his round face. “Ever since the accident, most people are only nice to me for their own reasons—I mean, other than my friends. But everyone else—they want to know who I am or who I used to be because of what I am now—a ghost, a hero… I’m a celebrity now, both a good one and a bad one. Paulina wants to date me. Harriet what’s-her-name wants to expose who I was when I was alive. Dash only wants to be my friend because I’m a hero. Vlad wants to use me. The Guys in White—while they were never nice to me—want to figure me out on their dissection table.” He shook his head. “But… no matter what, I can’t think of anything you could ever want from me.”

Daisuke stared at him. “I don’t want anything.” He stated, as if it were obvious. “We’re friends. I’ve never had an ulterior motive.”

"I know, and that’s weird.” Danny gave him a frustrated grin, “I’ve never had a friend I could willingly tell my secret to. It wasn’t Jazz, and definitely not Valerie… but it was you.”

"Is that… bad?"

"You came into my life—afterlife—whatever this is—like… half a year ago. But I feel closer to you than I did to Valerie." Danny looked away again, gripping the edge of the bed. "And you’re closer to my secret than she ever was."

"We certainly aren’t strangers anymore," Daisuke nodded, "And certainly… I consider you a close friend as well, Danny. But… why is it that you are upset?" He asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I don’t know. When I look at you, I see myself, Daisuke. I see what I could be in seven years, maybe—that look in your eyes is the same one I see when I look into the mirror, and I know you would get it, and it would be so easy to tell you, somehow.” The teenage ghost sighed heavily, “And I’ve never met anyone like that before, or ever thought I would. I don’t think either of us ever thought we’d be sitting here right now, talking about this.”

Daisuke stared at him, and after a moment, he stood up, closing this distance between them and sitting on the bed next to him.

"Jazz said that you were always worried about the consequences of telling your secret." Daisuke said softly, "What would they be?"

"If people knew… they’d get hurt. Vlad might go after them, or the other ghosts might. Or they’d try to help me and they’d get hurt when I fight ghosts. Or I might hurt them, on accident—like that time with Valerie, and… god, there were a couple times with Tucker and Sam, too." Danny shook his head, "Or… people might think I’m a… a freak, an abomination of nature… something not meant to exist… and turn me in to the nearest lab for experimentation. Danielle would probably have it worse, if she stopped to think about these things—she’s a clone of this abomination. I don’t know if that’s worse.”

"You’re fortunate she doesn’t seem to have the philosophy of a grown teenager having a mid-life crisis." Daisuke said dryly, his voice direct but light.

If he was trying to cheer Danny up, it seemed to work, because the ghost boy’s lips quirked upward slightly.

"There are people I wish I could tell, believe me, but… I don’t know how they’d react." Danny’s expression dropped again, "They’re… the people I thought I could trust most, but they’re also the people I’m most afraid to tell. And yet… here I am, half a year after a complete stranger comes along, and I’m not afraid to tell him at all.”

"…" Daisuke began to wonder if he truly knew what Danny’s secret was. Certainly it came with dark aspects, if Danny was hiding it this long, but he couldn’t imagine what was provoking Danny’s fear here.

"Daisuke… do you want to know?"

Daisuke blinked. He looked down at the ghost boy, staring hard. “Do I want to know your secret…?”

Danny nodded, turning his gaze up and to the side to meet Daisuke’s strange red eyes once more, “You’ve been given almost everything you need to figure me out… but do you want to?”

Daisuke frowned. “…Will it change how I see you?”

At this, Danny flinched. After all… people finding out about him usually meant they would find out exactly how different he was—whether he was a human or a ghost, he was too unique to fit exactly into one category. And most of the time… they changed. Jazz was more protective, Sam was more strict, Tucker was more jealous… the ghosts just attacked him more. Some wanted his power, some wanted him… in the case of Vlad, he had wanted the idea of him.

Daisuke sensed this, and shook his head.

"Danny, I’m your friend for who you are. Your secret doesn’t seem bad, and it doesn’t seem like it changes who you are drastically—so telling me is completely up to you," Daisuke said firmly, emphasizing his next words slowly, "and completely optional."

Danny stared at him with wide, electric green eyes.

"…You didn’t answer my question." He finally said after a moment, "Do you want to know?”

Daisuke took a moment to consider it. Danny swallowed nervously.

"…"

There was silence for a long time, Daisuke’s hand resting on Danny’s back, their eyes never breaking their gaze.

Finally, “No.”

Danny blinked in surprise, a gasp escaping his lips before he could stop it. “What?”

"I said, no." Daisuke smiled earnestly at him, his voice sincere and honest, "If you want to tell me, that’s fine. But I’ll never ask you to, nor do I feel I need to know. It’s completely up to you. If you’re so stressed about this… then I don’t want to know. If it will keep me safer and you saner… then I don’t want to know."

Danny’s eyes grew wider and Daisuke could have sworn he saw them shine. “W… wha… wow. Really… wow. Jazz is right, you can’t be real.”

Daisuke blinked, then laughed, patting Danny’s shoulder jovially. “The world doesn’t center around you or your secrets, believe it or not, Danny.” He grinned, “Besides, I guess it’s only fair. I’ve still got my own secrets, after all, remember?”

Danny blinked. “Oh—right, I completely forgot about those.”

"Did you want to know?" Daisuke lifted an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Danny gave a wry smile. He only thought about it for a brief moment before he decided, “Nah—I can’t even begin to imagine what it is…. Besides, it’s part of your past, isn’t it? I don’t need to know that,” And he knew he would stick with this decision—he knew that the last time Daisuke talked about it, it seemed painful for him, like something he was still trying to get away from. Maybe it was even the reason he was in America, since Danny still got the feeling he never got the full story on that. But as long as Daisuke was alright with not knowing… Danny would be too.

"Right. Even with our secrets… the world still spins and life goes on," Daisuke smiled enigmatically, "So… don’t worry about it so much, alright?"

Danny, considerably more calm now, nodded with a grin. “Hey Daisuke? You’re a great friend. Thank you.”

"You really don’t have to keep thanking me." Daisuke laughed gently.

Danny only smiled.

Yeah, definitely… I think I can tell him.

Chapter Text

"…Mr. Foley?"

Tucker looked up in surprise, involuntarily taking a step back. “Oh—oh, it’s you. Daisuke, right?”

"We’ve met a few times now, haven’t we." Daisuke smiled kindly, then looked up at the sky. "Is Danny around?"

"Yeah, he’s fighting off Technus again," Tucker nodded, "and didn’t want me around, considering the amount of ammo I could provide that guy."

Daisuke blinked. “The technology ghost?” He tilted his head, looking at the PDA in Tucker’s hand. “I… see.”

"Do you?" Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Not really. But you seem upset, Mr. Foley." Daisuke gave a wry smile, "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine, I’m used to this kind of thing," Tucker grinned, "And please, just Tucker. Only adults call me Mr. Foley."

"Am I not an adult?" Daisuke retorted playfully, but he nodded, "Alright, Tucker then. Are you upset?" He asked again.

Tucker blinked slowly, looking down at his reflection in his PDA screen. “Geez, Danny was right when he said you were super empathetic or something.”

Daisuke motioned to a nearby park bench. “Would you… like to talk about it?”

"Why not, I’ve got time to kill while waiting for Sam and Danny to get back." Tucker shrugged, sitting down at the bench with the redhead.

"Are you worried about them?" Daisuke asked knowingly, running his hand through his hair as his eyes still searched the sky, looking for a sign of black and white.

"Yeah," Tucker nodded, "What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t…"

"That depends. If you think they can handle themselves, then you’d still be a good friend for being confident in them." Daisuke told him, "Worry isn’t the only sign of good friendship."

"Yeah, well, I haven’t exactly been the best friend, so I guess I wouldn’t know."

The red-haired man looked over in surprise. “What makes you say that?”

"More than once, I wished I were in Danny’s place… I wished I were the hero. I wanted the attention and the fame, and… it took me a whole year to realize that even Danny didn’t want it. It wasn’t Desiree granting my wish, or becoming Dulaman that really taught me that… it just… took time.” Tucker shrugged. “I’m a pretty lousy friend—I told Danny and Sam to listen to me more, but in reality I guess I should have been the one listening too.”

Daisuke didn’t get some of his references, but he got the general idea. “You’ve learned since last year, though, haven’t you? Do you still think you’re not a good friend, even after all of this?”

Tucker was quiet for a while. “You know, I was jealous of you too.”

"Me?" Daisuke tilted his head, not entirely surprised.

"Danny kept going on and on about how great you were… how you always listened and how he could talk to you. Sam thinks you’re cool too, since she knows there’s some stuff he doesn’t want to talk to her about that he can probably talk to you about. But… if it’s a guy friend thing, I thought, why couldn’t he come talk to me?” The African-American boy laughed bitterly, adjusting his red beret, “I mean, no offense or anything, but… Danny and I have been friends since we were in diapers. I thought he could talk to me about anything, you know?”

Daisuke stared at him, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. “I’m sure he talks to you about the more important things. I only know some things about him—he mostly just complains about ghost fights to me.” He reassured the boy, “I don’t even know his secret, which you obviously do… and like you said, you’ve been friends longer. I can’t imagine what you know about him that I don’t.”

Tucker looked up at him, his teal eyes calculating. “Yeah… I figured after a while that maybe sometimes Danny just needed an adult to talk to. And it wasn’t me or Jazz… we’re not adults, as much as Jazz likes to think she is. There are some things you understand that I don’t have experience in, huh?”

"Perhaps," Daisuke gave a small grin, "I’ve been through a lot more, but… I’d hardly consider myself an adult."

"Which is why it’s weird when you call me Mr. Foley." Tucker agreed, "I don’t really consider you one either, but at the same time, I kind of do. How do you do that thing where you get kids to talk to you so easily?" He asked incredulously, "Jeez, you’re like… a teacher or something. One of those nice ones."

"I have thought about becoming a teacher,” Daisuke admitted jokingly, “I don’t know. I guess I’m just naturally good with brave kids. They’re pretty easy to connect to, since I guess I was one too.”

"…Brave? Me?" Tucker blinked, "I’m probably the most cowardly of my friends." He huffed, looking down in disappointment. "Look at me, I’m sitting here on the sidelines while my friends are off fighting a technology ghost. I could help with that, y’know! Like, hack him or something!" He paused, frowning deeply, "…Maybe. Probably not, but I could try."

Daisuke smiled. “Are you sure you’re a coward? That sounds brave to me—trying something in a dangerous situation even though you don’t know if it will work. That definitely takes guts.”

Tucker looked up again in surprise, “Huh? Really?”

"You shouldn’t underestimate yourself." Daisuke smiled at him encouragingly.

"Wow, I… well, I guess being friends with Danny does give me the guts to do stupid stuff like that." Tucker laughed a little, shaking his head. "You know, two years ago… even last year, I wouldn’t have thought about doing that at all. Man, how times have changed."

"Or maybe it’s just you." Daisuke’s smile grew. He didn’t know Tucker too well, but from what he did know, Tucker was a bright young man—with maybe a few self-esteem issues. Still… his potential for the future was obvious. If only Daisuke could find the opportunity to show it to him.

"Maybe. Maybe Danny’s changed me," Tucker noted, looking up at the sky like Daisuke had been doing earlier, "I mean… Danny himself has changed too, but… no way that’s not going to affect the rest of us."

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked curiously.

"Well… when he first…" Tucker shifted uncomfortably, his gaze darting to his PDA, as if for comfort, "well, when he had that accident… god, it was the scariest thing. Sam and I, we didn’t know what to do, or how to handle it. The first few months, we were shaking in our boots at even the idea of a real live ghost."

Daisuke suddenly got the feeling that Sam ad Tucker had actually seen Danny die, and his chest tightened. After all… he knew the horror of such a sight, himself.

He almost wished Tucker didn’t have to know such a thing. But that sort of thing… Daisuke knew he could sympathize with Tucker well because he had been through it too. So he continued to listen quietly, not speaking his wish out loud.

"Danny… Danny was always afraid of ghosts too. So to have suddenly become one… it was weird for all of us. We didn’t want to tell anyone, and we couldn’t." Tucker shook his head.

If Daisuke caught the implication that people didn’t know Danny was dead, he didn’t say anything.

"When other ghosts started attacking Amity Park, Danny manned up and took them on. It was the biggest transformation I’d ever seen—he went from wimp to hero, and… I think Sam and I did the same. We had to, and we didn’t really have much other choice." Tucker clutched his PDA tightly, "But that was okay. We wanted to—we wanted to back Danny up no matter what."

"That takes courage." Daisuke said softly, "To make such a heavy decision and change… has anyone ever told you they were proud of you for that?"

Tucker looked up in surprise, shaking his head. “No. I—I mean, they don’t know.”

"Well, I’d like to say I’m proud then. You’re a brave, courageous young man, and you deserve the credit for that. Not Danny—just you." Daisuke smiled gently. "And you seem smart and funny too. I’m sure that counts for something, right?"

Tucker found himself smiling back.

"I’m totally funny. You know, back when Danny first started this superhero gig, I made jokes all the time. Stupid ghost puns, you know? It… helped us deal. The jokes were essential." Tucker laughed, looking away, "Because Danny being a superhero, when he used to be such a wimp, like me? Well, like I used to be. It all felt like one big inside joke, and we had to feel that way, because… well, that accident… it was scary. And we had to make light of that strange and scary situation."

Daisuke nodded in understanding. Making light of a hard situation in itself was difficult, but if they didn’t, they might not have been able to get through it. Tucker and Danny and Sam had somehow managed… it was a wonder. But maybe, just maybe, Tucker had been the one to pull them through that.

"It was how I dealt with it back then. I think it’s how Danny still deals with it, cracking jokes all the time. He doesn’t say it out loud, but I know he still wonders about who and what he is." Tucker shook his head, "But you know… he’s pretty strong. I don’t know when it struck me, but when it did… I realized that that dork, my best friend… he really is a hero. He can put aside all those things that make normal people crumble and tremble, and he fights. People can hate him, or slander him, and he’ll still take flight and save the day."

Daisuke smiled. “I know how that is. It’s that feeling when you finally see him in that new light for the first time, and he becomes somebody you look up to—someone who inspires you to be a better person. Right?”

Tucker looked up at the redhead in surprise. “Y—yeah. How did you know?”

"That’s how you know when someone is truly a hero." Daisuke patted his shoulder, "You should know, I’m looking at you in that same light right now."

"You—you are?" Tucker seemed shocked at this, like not a lot of people told him they thought he was cool or heroic. Actually, this was probably truth.

"You said you started out scared and shaking… but alongside Danny, it sounds like you’ve grown and changed. Like I said before, that takes a lot of courage… so give yourself a little credit, hm? You’re as much of a hero as Danny is." Daisuke said reassuringly, "It takes a lot to do everything you do and not crumble. You’re anything but normal—you’re extraordinary too."

Tucker stared at him for a long time, and then a grin split his face. “You know what, I think I was wrong to be jealous of you.”

Daisuke laughed gently. “That’s good to know.”

"I like you. I can see why Danny does, a lot." Tucker nodded approvingly. "Thanks, man. I didn’t know I needed this talk, but thanks."

"A friend of Danny’s is a friend of mine. I’m glad to have gotten to know you a little better, too, Tucker." Daisuke smiled earnestly, "You can feel free to talk to me any time, as well."

"I still have your number in my phone from when Danny called me that one time. I might take you up on that." Tucker joked.

The redhead blinked in surprise. “Really? So he called you, then…”

"Yeah," The younger boy nodded, "Don’t worry, I won’t spam you or something."

Daisuke laughed. “I’d appreciate that.”

A loud boom somewhere a few blocks away caused both of them to jump, and they looked toward a pillar of smoke rising from somewhere between the buildings.

"Guess that means Danny beat Technus?" Tucker mused, standing up, "I think that’s my cue, at least." He turned back to the red-haired college student, "Sorry if I kept you from… whatever. What’re you doing down here anyway? The university’s all the way near Elmerton."

"I had to visit the museum for a report once, I figured I’d come visit it again to refresh my memory for my midterm." Daisuke grinned, "I wasn’t busy or doing anything too urgent, so don’t worry."

"If you say so," Tucker nodded, "See you around, then?"

Daisuke nodded in return as he stood up. “Sure. Good luck!” He called as Tucker waved and ran off, toward the smoke in the city.

When he was out of sight, Daisuke’s smile dropped, his gaze becoming distant as he eyed the blackish smoke.

A quiet whisper escaped his lips.

"…They’re just kids…"

Chapter Text

Jazz tapped her pencil idly, looking across at the red-haired man in front of her. He was absorbed in the papers he held, shuffling them whenever he slid one page to the back of the stack. His eyes darted rapidly for a person whose native language wasn’t English, and she couldn’t help but smile gratefully for his help despite that. He was, after all, the only friend she had that was older than her and knew this stuff, besides her parents—and she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask them about her college application forms.

"So what kinds of questions did they ask you when you applied?"

"Things like ‘why do you deserve this scholarship’ or ‘what are your goals for your career’, that sort of thing…" Daisuke said distractedly, making a mark on her paper, "They all tend to be the same for most colleges."

"What about my level of writing?" Jazz tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw him cross something out, "Do you think I’m doing okay with that?"

"As long as you’re honest, I think, and there aren’t any typos, they don’t really care what you write." Daisuke’s red eyes darted up to her for the briefest of moments, "And even if you think that longer is better, keeping it short and simple is also beneficial."

"But—" Jazz frowned when he made a big cross somewhere on her paper, "what about essay format? You know; intro, thesis, body, conclusion?"

"It works for academic papers. But most papers in college don’t really require it—trust me, I know." Daisuke chuckled, "They mostly care if you get your point across." He shuffled the papers into order, holding it out to hand back to her.

Jazz looked down at her essays as she took it, her eyes narrowing at all the words crossed out, a few typo corrections, and some notes in the margins questioning her grammar and vocabulary. She huffed in indignation—she had worked hard to make this essay sound sophisticated! Daisuke looked to have dumbed it down a lot.

"Thank you," Jazz said, and though she appreciated the effort he put into helping her with her essays, she knew they were only suggestions and she didn’t have to follow it if she didn’t want to.

Daisuke seemed to sense this, and he said sagely, “Keep in mind, Jazz, that the people reading these essays are not doctorate degree professors. They often only have middle-school level reading comprehension, and they also have thousands of applications to go through. Long ones like this, despite your hard work, might be skimmed over.”

Jazz sighed heavily, nodding as she sunk into the kitchen chair a little more, beginning to read through the paper in an earnest effort to see the sense in and accept Daisuke’s advice. He was right, for the most part.

Daisuke chuckled, pulling his sketchbook out of his bag as Jazz worked. He began outlining a wire frame when Maddie came into the kitchen, and they locked eyes when he looked up.

"Oh, it’s you." Maddie said slowly, her eyes narrowing, "What are you doing here?"

"He’s my friend, if you didn’t notice, Mom, and I invited him over," Jazz rolled her eyes, not sparing her mother a glance, "he’s helping me with some essays."

"What could he be helping you with that I can’t?" Maddie frowned, looking over her daughter’s shoulder.

"He’s just proofreading my college application essays, Mom, it’s no big deal." Jazz waved her off, and Maddie sighed, knowing that her daughter didn’t appreciate the invasion of her space.

"If you say so—but if you need help, you can always ask me too." Maddie threw a glance at Daisuke, who shrugged innocently.

"Are you still suspicious of me? I said I wasn’t possessed before, and I’m still not." The redhead leaned one elbow on the table nonchalantly, still sketching.

"You’re still friends with Phantom, aren’t you?" Maddie pursed her lips, "I don’t trust you."

"Mom, get off his back. He’s not a bad guy." Jazz gave a frustrated sigh, "Even if you don’t trust him, don’t you trust me?"

Maddie gave her daughter a surprised look, before she shook her head and decided to leave the topic aside. She moved around them, going to the cabinets to find ingredients to make dinner.

"Is your… friend… staying for dinner?" She asked reluctantly. She would hardly be a bad host, even if she didn’t like the kid.

Jazz looked up from editing her papers, blinking and exchanging a look with Daisuke.

"No, it’s alright, Mrs. Fenton. I was going to leave soon—I have one more midterm to study for, so I should probably get back home before it gets dark." Daisuke answered.

Maddie stopped, turning to face the pair at the kitchen table. She had forgotten that Daisuke was a college student—a normal, everyday college student. And as much as the fact seemed so normal to him that it was hard to think of him as anything else, she had been so busy thinking of him as Phantom’s partner in crime that she hadn’t realized he had a life outside of ghosts—probably, at least. And now that she did take a moment to reflect on it, it really was quite hard to see him as anything but a plain twenty-one-year-old art student.

After a long stare, in which Daisuke stared quizzically back at her, she shook her head and said, “If you say so.” She looked at Jazz, clearing her throat to get her attention, as she had gone back to looking at her work. “Jazz, do you know if your brother is home?”

"He’s out with his friends." Jazz shrugged without looking up, "he left with them after school, so they’re probably at the Nasty Burger or the arcade or something."

"Oh," Maddie nodded, turning back to the cabinets to continue her task.

Daisuke glanced at her, then looked over at Jazz, who was still absorbed in her papers. “You know, I don’t think I ever met your brother.” He commented. He knew Jazz had a sibling, but Jazz barely mentioned that said sibling—he didn’t even know it was a brother, until just then. He thought maybe something had happened to them, and nobody talked about it. It was strange that it was coming up now, but it sounded like he was missing a lot, like it was normal for him to never be home.

Jazz’s shoulders tensed, and Daisuke didn’t miss a beat when she looked up in surprise, her eyes widened by just a fraction. After a split second, she composed herself, but Daisuke could see that her neck muscles were just a little too tight. “You probably will, soon.”

Daisuke wondered about her words, but he nodded in acceptance. While he found it odd that she never talked about her brother, it was probably nothing and he was over-thinking it all. “Is he older or younger?”

"Younger. He’s fifteen," Jazz chuckled, about to say more when Maddie interrupted.

"And always getting into trouble like teenagers do," she sighed, "I hope he and his friends aren’t goofing off somewhere they aren’t supposed to."

Daisuke raised his eyebrows. “Does this happen a lot?”

Maddie glanced at him before she turned back to the stove, “I was actually surprised Jazz didn’t say he had detention again today.”

Jazz shook her head, going back to her work with the roll of her eyes—as if she knew better. Or she was in on some kind of inside joke about her brother’s ‘detentions’.

The redhead blinked slowly. He tried to imagine what Jazz’s brother looked like—probably kind of burly like Jack Fenton, and ripped clothes like a delinquent. But the fond smile that was currently gracing Jazz’s lips made him think otherwise—it was as if she was thinking about all the things she knew her brother might be doing now, instead of being in detention. It didn’t seem like the smile of a sister who disapproved or disliked her brother’s after-school activities.

Daisuke found himself sketching what he thought the boy might look like—broad shoulders, maybe an angled face like Maddie and Jazz’s, possibly red hair like them too… but the image didn’t seem quite right. The mischievous smirk he drew didn’t seem to fit.

He gave up after some tries, putting his sketchbook aside when Jazz asked him to look over her paper again.

When he finished, he grabbed his sketchbook and his bag and said to her, “I think you should be fine, Jazz. I didn’t see any more edits I could make—maybe you should ask your mom for a second opinion.” He smiled at her.

"Alright. Thanks for everything, Daisuke," Jazz grinned at him, "I think I’ll do that, after dinner. Should I walk you out?"

Daisuke shook his head, standing, “No, I can let myself out. Have a good night, Jazz.”

"You too, and good luck with your midterm." Jazz returned graciously.

"Thank you." Daisuke turned to go, but he paused as he heard light footsteps approaching the kitchen door—they were so quiet that Daisuke, even with his keen hearing, could barely pick them up. It was a strange sound to hear, because the only people he ever knew with footsteps that quiet were himself and his late grandfather.

He was about to take another step, when the door opened and a still-maturing and oddly familiar voice called through, “Hey mom, I’m home! What’s for din—”

The young boy in the doorway stopped completely, frozen with his eyes wide as he came face to face with Daisuke.

Shocking red met a shocked baby blue, and Daisuke couldn’t help but stare at the raven-haired boy as an overwhelming sense of familiarity sunk in.

"—ner…" the boy finished lamely, his words seeming to die in his throat for a reason Daisuke couldn’t comprehend. He didn’t notice Jazz looking between him and the boy anxiously. His initial, too-fast thought was that the boy was shy around strangers, but that sinking feeling from before was beginning to drown him as he took in the boy’s messy hair and round face and lanky frame.

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and Daisuke’s mind was in overdrive. He knew that face. He knew those big eyes with that haunted look, too old for their time and too scarred for their innocence…

A second passed before realization finally dawned on Daisuke. His mouth worked slowly to form a round shape, and he could only find one word to express his multitude of emotions.

"Oh."

Chapter Text

Danny’s heart was racing a mile a minute, but he was unable to break his gaze from the red-haired man in front of him. He couldn’t move and his breath was caught in his throat, and he just barely kept himself from sweating nervously. The world stilled and time slowed down, and all sounds faded to silence and then white noise.

Something less like surprise and more akin to fear gripped his heart. Nothing else mattered but those ruby red eyes locked onto his, stealing his words before they could form and causing all of his thoughts to crash.

"Oh."

The quiet word fell from Daisuke’s lips and broke the spell, and Danny was finally able to move again, the world coming sharply into focus. His mind jumped into hyper-drive as he tried to think of a way to respond without giving himself away, just barely registering that his sister and his mother were still in the room.

He knows. There’s no way he doesn’t now. He’s got to—it’s possible, isn’t it? No, I’m impossible, there’s no way—but Daisuke already knows about Vlad and Dani? So there’s that chance…. Oh, god, he knows. He definitely knows.

He took a subtle but deep breath, trying to compose himself and keep his face straight, hoping that maybe—just maybe—Daisuke had not realized everything just yet.

Or at least, if he had, that he would at least play along.

"Are you a friend of Jazz’s?" He asked, forcing his voice to stay neutral and casual.

Daisuke blinked slowly, taking another moment to collect himself before he smiled enigmatically and nodded. “I am. You must be her brother.” He held out his hand, “I’ve heard about you, but I don’t think I ever caught your name.”

Danny eyed the other man’s hand before he reached out and shook it awkwardly, earning a surprised look from Daisuke. Red eyes darted down to their connected hands, narrowing at the smaller, paler fingers held in his own—they were too cool for a human, Danny knew, but too warm to be suspicious… but it didn’t matter, since Daisuke could sense even the smallest differences in these sorts of things.

The only thing Danny could do was answer Daisuke’s implied question.

"Danny. Danny Fenton."

Daisuke scrutinized him for a moment, before he let go of Danny’s hand and nodded. “Nice to meet you, Danny. I am Daisuke Niwa.”

Danny was very suddenly reminded of their first meeting. He held his hand tightly to his side, fighting the urge to squirm nervously. “Likewise. You know, I think I’ve heard about you, Jazz talks about you a lot.” He grinned shakily, unsure about what Daisuke was really thinking, “Were you helping her with something? Are you staying for dinner?”

"No, I was just on my way out, actually." Daisuke nodded over to Jazz, who waved back nervously. He gave her a puzzled look, as if confused by her demeanor, and then made to move around Danny to leave. "Maybe some other time."

"Let me walk you out then," Danny insisted, following after him and falling into step beside him.

The short traverse to the door was silent, and the pair kept stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking, trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

When they got to the entrance, Danny stepped out onto the front stoop with Daisuke, leaving the door only slightly open so their voices wouldn’t drift through too much. The black-haired teen looked up at the other man meaningfully.

Daisuke, in turn, gazed down at Danny thoughtfully. “When Jazz mentioned her brother… well, I must say, you weren’t what I expected at all.”

Danny stared at him. He got the feeling that there was a double meaning hidden in those words.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked carefully.

"Not at all." Daisuke smiled gently at him, "Well, I’m off then. Again, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Fenton. Maybe I’ll see you again soon."

"Uh… yeah. See you, then." The raven-haired teen blinked as Daisuke turned away, heading down the steps. He stopped on the sidewalk and threw another glance over his shoulder, and his gaze lingered on Danny for just a moment longer before he finally faced forward and walked on.

Danny honestly couldn’t figure out if Daisuke knew who he was or not. Not when Daisuke’s poker face was the best Danny had ever known—Daisuke was hard to read, so it was impossible to know what he was thinking. Even Jazz had a hard time, and she was studying to read people like books.

He stood in front of the door for a few more minutes, wondering if he should visit Daisuke as Phantom that night.

~~~

It was the weekend before Danny finally saw Daisuke again. Jazz had convinced Danny to leave Daisuke alone for a few days, and made a convincing argument from the fact that Daisuke had midterms. Danny had been anxious all week, though, and he took off from patrol early on Friday after sucking the Box Ghost into his thermos. Sam and Tucker had offered to go with him, but he declined their offer, deciding that he needed to talk to Daisuke alone.

Daisuke was, of course, sitting at the usual place on his roof, sketching by the light of his lamp. But still, even without the warm yellowish light, Daisuke’s red hair stood out even on a dark night—and even without his night vision, Danny could have seen Daisuke clearly.

Danny slowed his flight when close to the apartment building, and he stopped and looked down at the scene—a scene that he couldn’t help but feel was so similar to the first time he ever saw Daisuke sitting there.

And, just as nervous as the first time, he turned invisible and flew in close, hovering just before the red-haired artist. He studied him for a moment, his eyes widening when he realized exactly what Daisuke was drawing—Danny Fenton.

Daisuke shivered a little, and the pencil stopped moving. His shoulders tensed for just a moment, before he seemed to realize why he shivered and he relaxed.

"You know," He said nonchalantly, not looking up even as he started sketching again, filling in the boy’s hair with lines of black, "it’s a little late for those cool spring breezes."

Danny laughed nervously, dropping his invisibility. “I can’t be one?” He joked.

"You can try, but I think the wind spirits would be mad if you did their job wrong." Daisuke chuckled, finally looking up and greeting the young ghost with a friendly smile. He patted the spot on the ledge next to him invitingly. "It’s been a while, Danny."

"Well, you said you had midterms, so I didn’t want to bother you." Danny shrugged, his flicking spectral tail splitting into legs as he took a seat, "How did those go, by the way?"

He wasn’t prepared to talk to Daisuke about that yet. And Daisuke didn’t seem to mind that he didn’t want to.

"I think I did pretty well." Daisuke grinned in a carefree manner, and Danny couldn’t help but think that it was much more relaxed than the grin he had seen on Daisuke’s face half a year ago. He paused to wonder how much Daisuke had changed since then, even as Daisuke continued speaking. "My history professor liked the essay I turned in, and of course I aced my project in art. I didn’t do so well in physics—I’m still waiting on that grade, actually, though I like to think I at least got a decent grade."

"That’s good to hear." Danny nodded, his fingers fiddling as he glanced over at Daisuke’s sketch again, "So you’re on break now?"

"Yeah. Spring break… Riku and Harada-chan are coming on Monday," Daisuke smiled fondly, "My roommate is leaving for San Francisco tomorrow so I said they could stay at my apartment while they were here, since there are two beds in the room."

"Where are you going to sleep then?" Danny blinked, "I mean, unless you and Riku plan to—?"

Daisuke laughed, shaking his head. “I was going to sleep on the couch in the living room. I’m not so immodest as to share a room with two girls.” He ruffled Danny’s hair playfully, and the boy pouted. “What do you take me for?”

"R—right." Danny shoved his hand away, blushing green in embarrassment. "Sorry."

The redhead grinned and went back to sketching, continuing, “I was thinking of introducing Harada-chan to Jazz. I think they would get along really well. I hadn’t had the chance to get them on video chat together, but since Harada-chan is coming here… what better time to introduce them, hm?”

Danny blinked. “Really? Is Miss Risa into that psychology stuff too? Or is she super into books?”

"Hmm…" Daisuke tapped his chin with his pencil thoughtfully, "It’s not so much that they have hobbies in common—Harada-chan never did as well as Riku in school, and she’s more selfish than actually sympathetic when it comes to helping other people, unlike Jazz, but… well, I think they’re both a little lonely, so it might be good for them to become friends."

"…Lonely?" Danny tilted his head. He understood Risa’s loneliness a little, but he had never known his sister to be outwardly lonely—sure, she was a little introverted, but she was always giving him pep talks and she never seemed to need any herself.

"Jazz doesn’t really have any friends aside from us, right? And Tucker and Sam, but they don’t seem to hang around her much. But from what I gathered from the times we hung out, she doesn’t make friends very easily, even if she really wanted to. So I’d like to introduce her to someone new, so that at least she has another girl to talk to when she needs to." Daisuke explained quietly, glancing over at Danny, "Besides, I think that since they’re both the overprotective sister type… they can understand each other."

Danny froze, and he didn’t miss the meaningful look Daisuke was giving him. Their gazes didn’t move from each other’s eyes, and Danny felt his throat become inexplicably dry. He swallowed, managing out a small, “Is that so.”

Daisuke was quiet for a moment longer, scrutinizing the white-haired teen calculatingly before he returned to his sketchbook, penciling in the pupils of Danny Fenton’s eyes.

"I met Jazz’s brother the other day. He seems like a nice kid," Daisuke said conversationally, his tone completely nonchalant, "But I can see why she’d be protective of him. He looks kind of small and like he gets hurt a lot. Mrs. Fenton seemed convinced that he got in a lot of trouble, and I wouldn’t actually doubt it. I mean, all teenagers get into stupid situations."

Danny only stared in sheer confusion.

But—he knows. Doesn’t he?

Why was he acting as if Fenton and Phantom were two different people? Unless he genuinely didn’t know….

"Though," Daisuke continued, and Danny froze up again—if Daisuke noticed how the ghost boy’s shoulders stiffened, he didn’t indicate it—"Jazz seems to accept that maybe he can handle himself."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked nervously.

"Even if her brother gets into trouble of the painful kind… she seemed confident that he’s doing okay," Daisuke said gently, looking down at his drawing, "like she knows he’s really a good kid, despite all the trouble. I get the feeling that he’s the type that knows when to ask his big sister for help, too, because she’s certainly always there to help him. She has faith that he will ask, too, I think. Jazz is kind of amazing like that, wouldn’t you agree?"

Danny’s mouth worked uselessly, befuddled by the soft passion in Daisuke’s kind voice. Daisuke was right on all accounts, but he was speaking in questions and observations, like he thought he could have been wrong.

When Danny finally found words, he stammered, “Yeah. She’s… something else.”

Just like you.

Daisuke tucked his pencil behind his ear, looking up at his ghostly friend again. “Have you met him—Jazz’s brother, that is. Have you met Danny Fenton?”

Danny was completely taken off guard by Daisuke’s innocent yet wise eyes—it felt as though Daisuke was looking through his soul, seeing past his ghostly shell and stripping away his secret with only a single look.

And finally, Danny understood. Daisuke’s words struck him as if it should have been obvious the whole time.

Daisuke was giving him an option.

Daisuke already knew—he definitely did. But he was respecting Danny’s secret as if it were his own—so as far as he knew, Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom… were two different people.

At least, until Danny told him otherwise.

Danny’s shoulders lost all their tension, and he laughed as if the universe had just told him the most ironic joke in the world.

"Oh, boy," he finally answered when his laughter died down, and he watched Daisuke’s expression crease with confusion, "you don’t know the half of it."

And, just like Danny, Daisuke realized that no matter what Danny said now… nothing would change between them. Danny’s secret, still left without words, didn’t mean anything to Daisuke except that it meant Danny completely trusted him. And Danny knew that now.

Daisuke would still have faith in him, so the next words slipped from his mouth more comfortably than anxiously.

"Every super hero has a secret identity, right?"

And Daisuke smiled widely at this, finally breaking his gaze and looking back down at his sketchbook. A smiling Danny Fenton met him there, his grin identical to the Phantom beside him. And, unlike the sketch he had tried before, this image… it seemed right.

"At least come up with a better alias, if you’re going to be a superhero."

"I was fourteen, shut up."

Daisuke glanced over, a stray thought flitting through his mind. So was I. He didn’t voice it.

"So, Danny Fenton, huh?" He closed his sketchbook, leaving it in the bag behind him, his attention completely on his friend, "How did this happen…?"

His voice trailed off questioningly—he decided not to press too hard, and let Danny tell his story at his own pace.

"Well…" Danny looked up at the sky, "my parents built this machine, a portal into the Ghost Zone," he said slowly, knowing he didn’t need to explain the Fenton ghost hunters, "and it didn’t work. I looked into it on a dare, and accidentally hit the on switch while I was inside… and I guess I died."

Daisuke’s smile fell, and his mood instantly sobered. Danny must have realized this, because he quickly added, “Well, I guess more like—I half-died? We—Sam and Tucker and I, that is—we never really figured out what happened. But I came out of it with ghost powers,” he explained hastily, “I’m still alive! I mean, when I’m… Fenton. I mean… I don’t really have a heartbeat, like this, so I’m not really sure… but like you said, I still breathe, so that must mean I’m still living even in this form, right?”

Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed, wondering if the question was rhetorical or not. He didn’t get to voice his opinion, because Danny continued in his rambling manner.

"Right, uh, this form… I can change back and forth between Phantom and Fenton, so I’m not like, a ghost possessing my dead body or something. I guess shapeshifter, like you said before, is a little more accurate. Transforming is just… one of my powers at this point."

He paused, looking over at Daisuke. “So I’m not a corpse walker or whatever. Uh… is it weird, though? What I am?” He asked before he could stop himself—he couldn’t help it. He had been worried about what Daisuke would think of him for ages.

"It’s… certainly unusual, but I don’t think it’s strange." Daisuke replied slowly, his answer feeling measured and calculated, as if he was still trying to come to grips with the idea. Danny didn’t blame him.

Daisuke stared at him for a moment, suddenly remembering how insecure Danny felt about his secret—how conscious he was about being an abomination… a freak.

Memories of his own teenage years brewed sympathy in his heart, and his eyes softened as he realized why Danny had asked for his opinion.

"It’s odd, but it doesn’t change who you are, Danny," he decided with a resolute firmness in his voice, "so don’t worry about what I think. I still think you’re incredible—more so because you can deal with having become something not quite human, and you deal with it well."

Danny blushed, his gaze falling away. “Yeah, well, you’re the only one.”

"What about Sam and Tucker? Or Jazz?" Daisuke inquired, worry seeping into his tone.

"I know they think I don’t take it as seriously as I should. Actually, I’m pretty sure they’re still coming to terms with what I am too. The truth is, even with all the jokes and witty banter… I do think about it—not being human anymore, that is. I know they still think about it too. It’s a scary thought, even now, and I have to worry all the time about being caught—just because I’m not human anymore." Danny shrugged helplessly, "I know my friends worry too—not just about what I am, but what I might become. They saw my evil self in the future, and the only other person like me was Vlad. And look how he turned out."

“‘Being human’ has nothing to do with what you are or might become, Danny,” Daisuke said softly, his voice projecting an aura of comfort, “It’s what you do, how you think. It’s how you treat the people around you, and how you hold yourself. The difference between a person and a monster is this—a monster doesn’t care. Vlad… is a monster. But you aren’t—you’re everything he’s not, so don’t compare yourself to him.”

"…Thanks, Daisuke." Danny sighed, shooting the man beside him a tiny grateful grin, "I guess so. I mean, I decided to use these powers to protect people. That’s more than Vlad has ever done—I mean, I’m pretty sure he was the one sending half the ghosts to Amity Park when my parents first completed the portal. But ever since then… I’ve tried my best to keep them, and the rest of Amity Park, safe from the ghosts. My parents do too, but—they think I’m just another ghost, so they hunt me too.” The ghost boy shook his head, “I don’t blame them. They never saw ghosts before I opened the portal, and they stick by their belief that all ghosts are evil, so it’s easier to hunt them. They don’t know there can be good ones.”

"They don’t know they’ve been hunting their own son?" Daisuke frowned, "That’s…"

"It’s alright, Daisuke," Danny shook his head, running his hand through his snow white hair, "I plan to tell them someday, but… not now. It’s something I have to do—it’ll be different than telling you, that’s for sure. You don’t hate me."

"…Want me to do my magic ‘say the right thing at the right time’ thing on them again?" Daisuke asked with a weak joking tone. "Let’s see if I can’t change their mind this time."

"I’m sure if you try, you can do it," Danny chuckled, "but it didn’t really work last time. I mean, it got them thinking, but it didn’t change them."

"And you’re okay with this?" Daisuke inquired seriously. "You’re going to tell them even when they still think ghosts are all…?"

"No, but… it’s something I’ll worry about when I get there." Danny brought his legs up and hugged his knees to his chest protectively, trying to keep his voice firm when he said, "Right now… I’m okay."

Daisuke frowned. It wasn’t right that the Fentons were hurting a child—even a ghostly one—for the sake of their science, and that it was their own son, at that. It didn’t matter if ‘all ghosts are monsters’, Danny was far from one by a long shot. The idea that the Fentons still went after him was horrifying, and for a moment, Daisuke wondered who the real monsters were.

He assessed his friend with a worried, critical eye. And after a long, pregnant pause, he finally sighed and nodded in reluctant acceptance of the situation. “If you say so.”

Danny nodded too, and changed the topic. Daisuke didn’t protest. “You know, you really surprised me when I saw you the other day. I thought for sure that you knew. I was so confused when you pretended not to, tonight.”

"I did know. I assumed that if Vlad had shapeshifting powers, you could too—given his interest in you and your history with him, I thought that you two at least had one thing in common. And you have the same color eyes as Miss Dani, so it was easy to tell it was you. I had a few other clues, too, that finally made sense when I saw you—I heard Valerie mention a Danny to Jazz once, and I didn’t get why she wasn’t hostile about it at that time. Plus, everything your friends mentioned about your accident… they never said you actually died. And now, the way Jazz treats you makes sense." Daisuke shrugged, "But it was your secret, Danny. I said you could tell me if you wanted to. I wasn’t about to make assumptions or go poking around for answers, either."

"Yeah, well, I think I should have told you sooner then. Thanks for, uh, that, though. I’ve never known anyone so respectful of my privacy." Danny shook his head, sighing heavily but somewhat contentedly, "You’re really a great friend, you know that?"

"You really don’t have to keep thanking me for these things."

"I think I do."

Danny grinned up at Daisuke—and he felt his heart warm when Daisuke grinned lovingly back.

Chapter Text

"Hello?"

"Hi Jazz. It’s Daisuke."

Jazz lit up, tucking her pencil behind her ear. “Hey, it’s been a while. What’s up?”

"Well, I’m on spring break now."

"Oh—that must be fun. I’m not on break till next week." Jazz sighed wistfully, shaking her head as she looked down at her homework, rereading her latest draft of her history essay.

"I know, Danny told me." The redhead on the other end of the line chuckled, "I don’t think we could have hung out so much this week anyway. My girlfriend and her sister are here visiting."

"Oh! That definitely sounds fun," Jazz giggled, "Are they enjoying the states?"

"I think so. I took some suggestions from Danny and showed them some of the local amusement parks and stuff," Daisuke replied, "and a few other attractions."

"I hope you didn’t show them Danny’s ghost fights too, then—as amusing as it is for some of the locals, they do tend to be dangerous." Jazz looked up as Danny came into the kitchen, ignoring his sister as he rummaged through the fridge.

"Oh, they saw one on the news, but nothing live." Daisuke assured her, "Anyway, I was calling to ask if maybe you’d like to join us this weekend. I mean, you and Danny—and I take it that he told you I know his secret now, so I thought I’d ask you two and Sam and Tucker if you wanted to come. I was going to ask him but he hasn’t come by all week."

"I see," Jazz raised an eyebrow as she watched her brother pull out a large cup of something that was questionably thick and brown with white on top and specks of pink inside. It must have been one of his weird milkshakes—he always had the oddest tastes… she would have pinned it as a ghost thing, but Tucker had the same tastes as him, so she had stopped trying to understand them long ago. "I can ask him if he wants to go then."

Danny perked up at this, looking over at his sister with a curious raised eyebrow. He kicked the refrigerator door shut, coming over and sitting down at the kitchen table across from her, sipping his milkshake thing.

"Cool. We’ll be going to a movie on Friday and the fair on Saturday before it leaves town. Let me know if you guys can make it?"

"I think we can, I’ll ask about Tucker and Sam though." Jazz nodded.

"Alright—also, I really want you to meet my friends, Jazz. I think you’ll get along well with them. So even if Danny can’t go, I’d like you to, at least." Daisuke’s grin could be heard through the phone, and Jazz found it contagious.

She grinned widely, answering, “I’d love to meet them too. Now, Danny’s giving me a weird look so I should probably tell him what’s up.” She laughed a little, and Danny pouted.

"Is he? Tell him I said hi, then." Daisuke laughed too, before someone in the background caught his attention and he could be heard turning away to talk to them. When he came back, he said, "I’ve got to go. But call me back later, okay?"

"Sure thing. See you later, Daisuke."

"Bye, Jazz."

Jazz flipped her phone shut, looking up at her brother again. He blurted out his words before she could even speak.

"Was that Daisuke?"

"Of course." Jazz chuckled, "He was inviting us out to movies and the fair this weekend. Want to come?"

"Us? Like, me and you? And what was that about Sam and Tucker?" Danny tilted his head.

"He wanted to offer all of us an opportunity to have fun, I guess. And meet his friends." Jazz nodded, "Did you know his girlfriend and her sister were visiting?"

Danny nodded, running his hand through his hair. “Yeah. I figured it wouldn’t be a good time to visit him and all that because they were here, but… I mean, I don’t know about meeting them. As Fenton, that is.”

Jazz blinked. “Why not?”

"When I first met them, Daisuke’s girlfriend was a little wary of me. And Daisuke said both of them were keen to supernatural stuff, so I get the feeling they might recognize me if they saw me." He shrugged uncomfortably.

"I get it. It took you a while to tell Daisuke your secret, and having more people know this soon is a bit overwhelming, huh?" Jazz leaned forward with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, "If you’re worried they might recognize Fenton, why not go as Phantom?"

"Phantom. In a public movie theater. And at the fair. Gee, I wonder how well that will go over." Danny drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he sipped his milkshake again. "It’s hard enough being discreet as Fenton."

Jazz tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “Well, you don’t know if they’ll actually recognize you, Danny. If anything, they might just feel something weird around you, if they’re as keen as you think they are, but they might not say anything—especially since they’re Daisuke’s friends.”

"I guess. But there’s also the fact that I haven’t hung out with Daisuke as Fenton before." Danny shrugged, "That might be weird."

"If anyone asks, you could just say you’re hanging out with your friends at the fair and I’m supervising you so you had to come with me." Jazz suggested.

Danny’s face screwed up in a sour frown. “What, like you’re my babysitter? No thanks.”

"Just try meeting them, Danny? I think it would be fun to go to the fair." Jazz sighed, leaning back and taking her pencil from behind her ear, picking up her essay. "It’s up to you, really. I’m going, though."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “I guess. I’ll go call Tucker and Sam and see if they want to go then.” He stood up, grabbing his milkshake as he made his way out of the kitchen.

~~~

"Harada-tachi, this is Jazz. Jazz, this is Riku and Risa Harada."

"Nice to meet you." Risa smiled kindly, bowing in greeting just as Jazz stuck out her hand. "Ah—sorry, I am not used to American customs." She blushed, quickly straightening and taking the other girl’s hand, shaking it firmly.

"No problem," Jazz giggled, "It’s nice to meet you too. You can call me Jazz."

"Then please call me Risa—and my sister, Riku," The brunette woman motioned to the shorter-haired woman next to her, "It is less confusing."

"Nice to meet you," Riku held out her hand to shake Jazz’s as well, "Daisuke has been telling us about you all week. We are glad to finally meet you."

"Has he?" Jazz’s cheeks turned a slight pink, "I’m nothing much, I’m sure. What have you been saying, Daisuke?"

The redheaded man chuckled, shrugging and rubbing his neck sheepishly. “The truth? That you’re brilliant and brave and going places?”

"Oh—that’s not… okay maybe a little." Jazz laughed. "But I haven’t heard much about your friends!"

"Niwa-kun!" Risa gasped playfully, "You have not told her all about us?"

Daisuke turned red in embarrassment. “Err—I haven’t had the time, lately, so…”

"It’s okay, I can tell you myself," The redheaded girl shook her head, "Why don’t we all sit down and get some dinner while waiting for the movie then, and we can talk?"

"Good idea," Riku nodded, following when Jazz led the way to a small restaurant across the street from the theater.

"Your brother didn’t want to come?" Daisuke asked Jazz curiously.

"Our parents made him stay home to finish his homework tonight," Jazz chuckled, "So he can go to the fair tomorrow."

"Ah, at least he can come for that, then." Daisuke nodded in understanding, holding the door open for the girls as they entered the restaurant.

"So you have a brother, Jazz?" Riku asked, "I think Daisuke mentioned he was younger…"

"Yeah. His name is Danny," Jazz replied, finding a table for them to sit down. A waiter came by to give them menus, and after he left, Jazz went back to asking, "You’re an older sister too, right, Riku?"

The brunette nodded, picking up a menu as her sister looked through hers curiously. “Yes—but Risa and I are twins, so it does not matter much.” She paused, “Ah—Danny… isn’t that the name of… Ghost-kun?”

Daisuke chuckled nervously, “It’s a common name, here, I suppose. I was surprised too.”

Jazz coughed to clear her throat, changing the subject. “So Riku, Risa—have you been enjoying America so far?”

"Yes. It is not our first time visiting though," Riku grinned, "We have been here a few times with our parents, when they went on international business trips."

"Oh? The kind of job where you can travel must be fun. What do they do?" Jazz asked curiously, idly looking over the menu.

"My father owns a big investment company, and my mother is in finance." Riku shrugged. "They both work at the same company though, so they work together closely."

"Riku is in line to inherit our father’s company." Risa grinned over at her sister proudly, "She is just one year away from getting her business and finance degrees."

"Oh—stop it. It might take two more years." Riku blushed.

"Wow—you’re double-majoring?" Jazz asked, awed, "That sounds impressive."

"Probably not as impressive as you." Riku glared at her boyfriend when he laughed lightly at her obvious attempt to change the subject. He promptly quieted down.

She was more relieved that the waiter came by just then, and it offered the group a brief respite from the conversation. After the waiter took their orders and left, Risa continued for her, but thankfully they were veering off from the subject of her studies.

"Niwa-kun tells us that you are applying to Ivy League schools. That is a really important thing here, isn’t it?"

"Ivy Leagues are some of the best schools around, yes," The redheaded teenager smiled, "I’ve been studying for the tests and preparing for the applications all year."

"What are you majoring in?" Risa asked.

"Psychology, though I guess if I had a choice I’d be interested in taking a course for parapsychology." Jazz admitted with a slight blush.

"Para… psychology?" Riku and Risa asked at the same time, their faces equally as confused as the other.

"The study of paranormal psychology, basically. You know—ghosts, psychics, that sort of thing." Jazz ran her hand through her hair consciously, "But, uh, don’t tell my parents, they’ll flip out."

"Aw, I am sure they will support you no matter what choice you make," Risa offered with a supportive smile.

"Oh, don’t get me wrong—when I say they’ll flip out, I mean they’ll be ecstatic. Mom studied parapsychology too, and Mom and Dad somehow managed to create a major all on their own for ghost studies." Jazz sighed, "They can get really over-the-top sometimes, though, so I’d rather not excite them when I don’t even know if the school I’ll get into will even have a parapsychology course."

The twins blinked at her, looking confused, and Daisuke chuckled awkwardly to get their attention. “Did I mention that Jazz’s parents are ghost hunters?”

Dawning reached Risa’s face faster than Riku’s, and she giggled a little. “Ohh, that explains a lot.”

"Right—that is how you met, isn’t it?" Riku asked slowly, still letting it sink in.

"Yeah—my parents thought Daisuke was overshadowed or something because he kept hanging out with Phantom. So they brought him in to de-ghost him." Jazz shook her head, "It all ended up good though, since he wasn’t overshadowed. It turns out Daisuke’s pretty hard to possess. At least, that’s what Phantom’s told me."

"Phantom… Niwa-kun, that’s Ghost-kun, right?" Risa asked curiously.

Daisuke nodded. “Depending on who you talk to, they’ll refer to him differently.” He shrugged.

"What do you mean, Daisuke is hard to possess?" Riku asked curiously.

"I don’t know—apparently he has enough will to kick ghosts out of his body whenever they try to possess him," Jazz replied easily, "I’ve only ever seen my dad do it. I heard about Daisuke from Phantom."

"Wow, I didn’t know that about Niwa-kun! Cool!" Risa grinned at her best friend, who blushed sheepishly.

"I didn’t know it either, to be fair."

Riku frowned. “Did you find out when that vampire ghost tried to attack you?”

"Uh—yeah." Daisuke rubbed his neck consciously, "Don’t worry, I got out of that mess fine, see?"

Jazz lifted an eyebrow at them, deciding to change the subject as the waiter came back with their food. She thanked him, and as he walked away, she turned to Risa and asked, “So what’s your major?”

"I am studying to become a lawyer." Risa grinned, "I wanted to be a cop, but I could not pass the physical fitness exams."

Jazz looked surprised. “Really? A cop—and you’re studying to be lawyer? That’s admirable.”

"You know, I get that reaction a lot for some reason," Risa poked at the burger she ordered idly. "Even from people who don’t know me. I wonder why."

"Well, I guess—I don’t know. You just don’t look like the type.” Jazz answered honestly, “Uh, no offense.”

"None taken. I know I do not look the type, and six years ago I definitely was not that type. But I got some inspiration from some very dear friends—and I decided that this is definitely what I want to do." Risa smiled, a longing entering her voice as she spoke, "It feels right. Maybe I can protect someone, this way, you know?"

Jazz stared at her in awe. Daisuke smiled fondly, and leaned over to whisper to his girlfriend. “Told you they’d get along well.” Riku simply nodded in agreement, looking at her sister with an unreadable soft gaze.

Risa smiled at the younger girl, nonchalantly changing the subject. “Your burger will get cold if you do not eat soon.” She said, taking a fry from her side-dish and dipping it in some ketchup before she ate it.

Jazz blinked. “Huh? Oh!” She blushed sheepishly, picking up her food and taking a bite. “So, uh—are you looking forward to the movie tonight?”

"I suppose, though I can’t say I might be able to keep up with it."

~~~

"This is my brother, Danny, and his friends Tucker and Sam," Jazz introduced the Haradas to the trio after they arrived at the fairgrounds and greetings were exchanged.

"How cute—I like his hat." Risa giggled, and Tucker lit up brightly.

"Thanks, it’s a Foley signature," He gave his most sparkling smile, "And I like that bow in your hair, ma’am."

"Thank you very much—it was a gift." Risa smiled, fingering the white ribbon that held her hair back, "And—Sam, was it? I really like your look too. Purple is a favorite color of mine."

Sam grinned, “Not black?”

"Black too." The brunette giggled, "You wear both well."

Riku found her eyes on Danny, and the raven-haired boy shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “Uh… sorry if we’re intruding on your date or something.” He said awkwardly. “We have to stick with Jazz, so…”

"No, I understand—sometimes my parents made me stay with my sister when we were out, too." Riku shook her head, looking over at Daisuke, "And we don’t mind—the more the merrier, right?"

"Right," Daisuke smiled kindly at the boy, "It’s nice to see you again, by the way, Mr. Fenton."

Danny lifted an eyebrow at him, confused. “Uh—you can call me Danny, you know.”

"Ah—we’ve only met once before, I didn’t know if it was alright." Daisuke nodded with a knowing smile.

Danny caught on quickly and smiled back. “Oh—yeah, it’s totally fine.” He glanced over at Riku, who still scrutinized him a bit, but she apparently didn’t feel the need to voice her suspicions.

"So, shall we get going? There’s a lot to do at the fair and it only comes once a year," Jazz clapped her hands, leading the group into the fairgrounds. She fell into step beside Risa, and the two women quickly started talking about all the rides and food they wanted to try. It was apparent they had the same tastes.

Daisuke chuckled and grabbed Riku’s hand. “So, what do you think?” He whispered to her in Japanese, looking over his shoulder at Danny and his friends, who had already stopped to get ice cream at the nearest stand.

"They’re nice kids, I guess," Riku shrugged, "Though… I can’t place my finger on it, but Fenton-san looks familiar."

"How so?" Daisuke blinked, his brow knitting a little in worry.

"I don’t know. Something about his eyes creep me out." Riku shook her head, "I mean, I don’t mean to feel like that, and he really does seem like a nice kid, but… it’s a little scary."

"I think he tends to have that effect," Daisuke smiled comfortingly, "I haven’t seen eyes that bright since Towa-chan, actually."

Riku blinked, her eyes wide like a light bulb just lit above her head. “Ah—I just realized why it seemed a bit off. His eyes remind me of Argentine’s.”

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked, confused.

"He just—I don’t know. He seems young and innocent, but there’s something behind his eyes that’s seen something scary and dark." Riku shook her head, "And it just feels like that part of him is older than the what he appears to be."

"I—I never thought of it like that." Daisuke looked over his shoulder again, watching Danny converse with his friends as he licked his ice cream and followed his sister, "But… he’s definitely different from Argentine."

"Yeah… he’s not as sad." Riku sighed, "That’s… good, for him, at least." She looked up at her boyfriend, "And… your eyes seem the same, you know. Now, at least. You don’t seem as sad anymore."

Daisuke smiled softly. “That’s because I’m not.” He squeezed her hand gently, “Come on. Let’s just forget the creepy feeling and have fun today, okay? Though I feel bad that we have to drag Danny and his friends around with us.”

"It’s only dragging if they don’t want to be here. Though I guess we should include them." Riku paused, turning around to face the trio. She switched back to English, grinning, "Hey, why don’t you guys pick the first ride?"

Danny and Tucker exchanged excited looks. “Can we go on the roller coaster first?!” The two boys asked simultaneously.

Sam rolled her eyes, “Guys, we just had ice cream, you’re going to throw it up if you—”

"Aw, c’mon, Sam! Please?" Tucker gave her his best puppy dog face, pouting playfully.

"Sure, why not." Daisuke chuckled, looking up and waving Jazz and Risa over, "Hey, let’s go on the roller coaster!"

"Why do boys never listen?" Sam sighed, "Don’t complain when I say I told you so, later!"

Chapter Text

Risa hummed cheerfully as she packed her suitcase, sighing wistfully. “Oh, yesterday was so fun, Niwa-kun,” she said as she folded her shirts to put away, “I really like Jazz-san, she’s so interesting. You were right, she’s brilliant, and genuine.”

Daisuke chuckled, glancing over from where he was helping Riku shut her suitcase—it somehow seemed more full than when she had come, and the zipper just wouldn’t close.

"Well—I like to think I’m a good judge of character. I knew you two would hit it off." He smiled.

"I sort of wish I had a little brother like her—the way she looked at him was so… what’s the word I’m looking for… maybe ‘loving’. They were both cute." Risa sighed, holding up the teddy bear she had won at the fair the previous day—a memento of her time there.

"I kind of agree. A little sibling would have been fun. I mean, an actual little sibling, not just a younger twin." Riku gave a half smile, pushing down on the top of the suitcase as Daisuke did the same.

"Oh? Ah, I just realized I never asked, Harada-chan, but what do you think of Danny-kun?" Daisuke asked curiously. Riku looked up too, but said nothing as she grunted, finally managing to pull the zipper closed.

"He’s a real sweetheart," Risa giggled, putting the teddy bear down, "Did you see him help his friend up when they tripped over each other? You know, I think he has a crush on her."

Daisuke laughed and nodded in agreement. “That, I think he does. And he doesn’t realize it yet.”

"His clumsiness reminds me of you, Daisuke." Riku grinned when Daisuke blushed, sitting down on top of her suitcase with a relieved sigh. "You know… you were right about him. He’s really a good kid."

"Even though he crept you out a little?" Daisuke tilted his head, stepping back.

Risa’s eyes widened in surprise. “He did what?”

"That was more my fault than his." Riku shrugged, "He didn’t do anything—there was just something about him that seemed weird, that’s all."

"Well—yes, I noticed that," Risa frowned, "but it didn’t seem like a bad thing. Why did he creep you out?"

"His eyes reminded me of Argentine."

Risa blinked slowly. For a moment, she didn’t respond. Daisuke looked between them worriedly.

Finally, she said, “Funny, I thought they seemed like Towa-chan’s.”

"You and Daisuke both have the same optimistic ideas." Riku chuckled nervously, hoping to lighten the mood, "The kid did seem as bright and cheerful as Towa-chan, though, so I can see how you got that impression."

"Actually, I thought it was the way he looked at Niwa-kun that reminded me of Towa-chan," Risa tapped her chin in thought, either not noticing or ignoring the looks of surprise her sister and best friend were giving her. After a moment, she shrugged and went back to packing, putting the teddy bear into her carry-on bag and shutting the suitcase.

"The way he looked at me?" Daisuke asked slowly, waiting for her to expand, "Was he looking at me funny?"

"There was something in there that seemed like—I don’t know what it was. Admiration? Appreciation? Gratefulness? I’m not quite sure what the right word is." Risa pushed down on the suitcase, inching the zipper closed little by little. "Did you not notice, Niwa-kun? You normally notice everything."

"I—I guess I did, but I don’t know why Danny-kun would be looking at me like that." Daisuke shrugged. "I didn’t really take note of it—it didn’t seem important."

Riku and Risa exchanged a glance. Riku stood up so she could meet his eyes and crossed her arms. “Really.”

"Really!" The redhead waved his hand hastily, "I don’t know why!"

Riku sighed, “Alright, if you say so.”

Risa opted to change the subject when she realized that Daisuke was lying for a reason—and probably wouldn’t tell them why. “Speaking of ‘Danny’—at least, the other one,” she finally got the zipper all the way closed and turned to face them fully, “We haven’t met Ghost-k—ah, sorry, Phantom-san yet!”

"It’s not like I can call him and meet up with him, Harada-chan, he’s a ghost." Daisuke gave a half-smile, "He doesn’t have a phone. I usually only see him when he stops by."

"So why hasn’t he?" Riku tilted her head.

"I guess it’s because I told him you guys were visiting." He shrugged.

"Aw, is he shy?" Risa smiled in amusement, giggling.

"No, but he does get a lot of bad reactions from the people in this town who think of him as evil," Daisuke explained, "So I don’t blame him for not wanting to meet you guys in person. It’s a little different from meeting him on the video chat, isn’t it?"

Riku flinched a little, remembering how quickly she had signed off on the day she met Phantom—and he no doubt noticed her behavior as well. If that was just her reaction to seeing and hearing him, she couldn’t imagine what she would have felt if she actually met him. It was a little sad to think the ghost boy was used to getting a negative reaction from people—and it was probably her fault that he was most likely avoiding them.

"I guess you’re right…" Riku tilted her head, trying to push the thoughts away, "Though he also seems busy—he was on the news five times this week."

"That’s actually an average week for him," The redhead chuckled. "I wouldn’t be surprised if he was fighting a ghost right now."

"Hey Dai—oh! Uh—hello," said a new voice at the window, causing Riku to shriek and throw her arms around Daisuke.

Daisuke blinked twice, then laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back comfortingly. “It’s okay—it’s just Danny.”

The aforementioned white-haired teenager lifted an eyebrow. “Uh—sorry, is this a bad time? Or should I have used the front door?” He chuckled, pulling his head back from the window as he straightened up.

"No, it’s fine." Daisuke shook his head, "Though the front door probably would have been a better idea."

Risa looked toward the newcomer curiously, watching him float through the window and wall as if it wasn’t even there. “Well, this is… how is the phrase in English? ‘Speak of the devil’, isn’t it?”

Daisuke chuckled and nodded. “Yes, that’s right.” He confirmed, patting his girlfriend on the back as she pulled away, pouting. She looked toward Danny as well, though with less curiosity than her sister and some trepidation.

Danny glanced at her and stopped where he hovered, not coming closer. She relaxed a little, and he grinned sheepishly at her in apology before he shifted his gaze to the longer-haired twin.

"You were talking about me?" He blinked—he hadn’t understood a word they said until Daisuke had switched to English for him, and Risa had thankfully followed suit.

"We were just wondering why you haven’t visited," Daisuke explained, "I wanted my friends to meet you in person."

"Sorry, I was busy." Danny muttered with a blush of embarrassment, rubbing his head, "But I just caught Ember over in Elmerton, so I thought I’d swing by on my way back to Amity."

"Well, I am glad we get to meet you before we leave, at least," Risa stepped toward him and held out her hand amicably, "You are much… younger looking, in real life." She commented.

Danny blinked blankly, taking her hand and giving it an awkward shake. She shivered at his touch, gasping at the cold. He withdrew his hand the moment she let go, grinning sheepishly like before. “Ehehe—um, sorry about that.”

"No, it is alright. How interesting!" Risa giggled. "It feels like snow! And this… flying thing, it is really cool!"

The ghost boy looked down at the floor, which his feet were currently hovering four inches above. “Oh, uh, thanks.” He blushed lightly, “It’s part of the ghost deal. Ah—uh, by the way, sorry if I scared you earlier. I didn’t mean to.” He verbally apologized to Riku this time, “I guess that’s part of the ghost deal too.”

"Uh—no problem." Riku nodded in acknowledgement, "And nice to meet you."

Danny stared at her, realizing that she was squinting ever so slightly at him, though she quickly averted her gaze when she saw him looking. Danny’s brow furrowed—she was looking at him in the same way she had been looking at Fenton…

"Jazz told me you guys said you would be leaving in the evening," he explained, "I thought it’d be rude to not say hi, at least."

Daisuke gave him an amused smile. “I’m glad you came. We were actually just about to call the cab and leave for the airport—but we can wait a little while longer. You have good timing.”

Danny grinned at him, and Risa blinked in recognition. His smile…? It’s familiar…

"Well, hey, I don’t see the harm in staying for a while, then. I can help you bring your luggage down or something." The white-haired teen offered.

"Are you sure you’re not too busy saving the city to do that?" Daisuke chuckled, and Danny laughed cheerfully.

"I think I can take some time out to hang out with my friend."

Riku’s eyebrows raised, and she exchanged a look with Risa. Risa was smiling fondly at the pair, and when Riku looked back, she couldn’t help but see why. Daisuke was smiling the widest smile she had seen on his face in a long time.

"If you do not mind," Risa spoke up, "I wonder if perhaps we can be friends, too?"

Danny looked over at her, surprised. “Oh—well, sure. I mean, we already met before, and Daisuke likes you, so… I mean, you don’t need to ask.” He blinked his big, glowing green eyes innocently.

"Well," Risa giggled, "I meant that… we do not know much about you, other than what Niwa-kun has told us. Do you mind if we get to know each other?"

"We have time to kill, so why not." Danny nodded with a big, dorky smile that reminded Risa of a younger Daisuke—a Daisuke that had been the same age that Danny would have been. "I don’t know much about you either, you know. We could play twenty questions or something, I guess, if you want—then we can get to know each other."

Risa grinned, sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to her. “Well, no use standing around then, since—as you say—we have time to kill.”

Daisuke and Danny glanced at each other, and Daisuke grinned encouragingly at him, making a nudging motion toward Danny as he sat down on the bed opposite, tugging Riku down next to him. Danny shrugged and floated over to Risa, crossing his legs in mid-air before lowering himself next to the brunette.

"So—I have a question, and it’s been bugging me for a while," Danny spoke first, "Why do you call each other—uh… Niwa-kun and Harada-chan?"

"Ah," Risa blinked, "That is…" She trailed off, thinking about how to explain it in English.

"In Japan, it’s polite to call each other by our surnames." Daisuke supplied, "The honorific is also polite, and something of an indicator of relationship too—the ones we use on each other puts as as equals or friends, but it’s mostly used on younger people."

"Is that why you kept calling me, um—Ghost-kun? At least I think I heard you calling me that before," Danny looked between the twins, and Riku blushed in embarrassment.

"Ah—yes, sorry." Risa grinned sheepishly, "Before we met, Daisuke sent us letters about the spirits here, and how they were called ‘ghosts’ in English. He also told us about you. We had not known your name, and did not know what else to call you, so we called you Ghost-kun."

"I think that’s the equivalent of the people here calling you Ghost Boy," Daisuke chuckled. "Except… more polite, maybe."

"Well, it’s better than Inviso-Bill," Danny smiled with a grimace, "so thanks… I think."

Riku raised an eyebrow. “Inbi—”

"Don’t ask." Danny chuckled wryly, "It’s a horrible pun, and I’m usually one for horrible puns."

"Well, at least we know your name now," Risa changed the subject back, "But—ah, Niwa-kun told us you are referred to differently depending on who we talk to. Your full name is Danny Phantom, isn’t it? Which do you prefer?"

Danny blinked, leaning back a little as he thought about it. “Actually, I don’t really know. I mean, my closer friends call me Danny. But I guess… like this, I should prefer Phantom…”

Riku narrowed her eyes at him. What does he mean, ‘like this’…? She glanced up at Daisuke to see if he knew what Danny meant—and judging by his amused look, he did. And it was pretty unlikely that he would explain, too.

"Well! I’ve been calling you Phantom-san. Is that okay?" Risa asked curiously, apparently not noticing what Riku did, or or if she did, she wasn’t commenting.

"Sure, but what does ‘san’ mean?" Danny tilted his head. "I mean, you can just call me Phantom if you want."

"Um… Mister." Risa said after a moment of thought, "Well, I think it means both ‘Mister’ and ‘Miss’ in Japanese. But it is polite language."

"Oh," Danny grinned, "Cool. So what does it mean when you don’t use one of those honorific things?"

"It’s a sign of familiarity and intimacy," Daisuke answered, "but if a person has not given you permission to call them so familiarly, it’s extremely rude."

"Oh—so Miss Riku and Miss Risa call each other by first name without honorifics because they’re sisters… and you and Miss Riku call each other by your given names because you’re dating?" Danny’s eyes crossed in thought as he spoke his musings out loud.

"Yes—I asked him to call me that, when we were younger." Riku sighed, "Also… I did not want to be called the same name as my sister."

"That’s understandable," the white-haired boy nodded, looking around at the three adults, "But if you’ve all been friends and stuff since you were young… why do Daisuke and Miss Risa still call each other by their last names?"

The Japanese trio blinked, exchanging glances. Daisuke shrugged. “Habit?” He offered, “I’m used to people calling me Niwa. Actually, so is my dad—and he wasn’t even born a Niwa.”

"I would not mind if you called me Risa," The brunette across from him giggled, "We have definitely been friends long enough and been through enough together for it to be okay."

"Oh. I’ll—try?" Daisuke blinked, surprised. "It will take some getting used to…"

Danny laughed. “You know, I think Jazz told me you said that exact same thing to her, when she told you to stop calling her ‘Miss Fenton’.”

Daisuke grinned sheepishly. Risa giggled. “Okay—if you do not mind, can I ask a question to you now, Phantom-san?”

"Sure," Danny nodded, tilting his head curiously. He didn’t see the harm—unless it was something personal like "how did you become a ghost". Yeah, that wouldn’t go over too well—but at least Risa seemed smarter than to ask it.

"Would you take me flying?"

The ghost boy blinked and nearly fell over from leaning sideways too much, caught off-guard by the question. “What?” He sputtered, blushing shyly as he righted himself.

Risa stared in fascinated amusement at the green that colored his cheeks. “Niwa-kun told me before that you lifted him into the air and took him flying, once. He described it as… feeling weightless.”

"Ah—I remember that, actually… that was when I first met you, Miss Risa." Danny realized, "You said you wished you could fly too."

The brown-eyed woman smiled softly. “Yes… so I hope you don’t mind granting my wish, Phantom-san. It’s been a long time since I’ve flown.”

Danny blinked slowly, then looked over to Daisuke and Riku. Riku looked worried, her eyebrows knit together as she scrutinized her sister. Daisuke had averted his gaze out the window—but Danny could still catch the glimmer of longing reminiscence in his ruby eyes.

When he finally looked back at Risa, who smiled hopefully at him, he gave his most charming grin and answered playfully, “So you have wished it, so it shall be.”

Daisuke snorted, looking back at them. Risa giggled, even though she didn’t get the reference. Riku lifted an eyebrow at him in confusion. Danny simply grinned triumphantly—he got to crack a joke and cheer Daisuke up. Not that he needed cheering up, exactly, but it was a good distraction for the moment.

"Let’s go outside then." Danny hopped off the bed, floating toward the door, "A quick sunset flight! You’re in for a treat."

Risa giggled, standing up and going to follow him. Daisuke took Riku’s hand before he followed suit and grabbed his keys, stuffing them in his pocket and letting Danny lead the way out of his apartment.

They got outside, where Danny bowed politely and playfully to Risa before he offered his hand in a gentlemanly way. Risa took it excitedly, squealing in surprise when he suddenly pulled her forward and swept her up in a bridal hold instead. She shivered a bit at the cold against her side, but after a moment she got used to it and grinned up at the ghost boy.

He smiled at Riku. “It’s safer this way, hm?” He said reassuringly when he saw her worrying, even when he was only hovering a few inches off the ground.

"Huu! You’re much stronger than you look, Phantom-san." Risa commented with a giggle.

"I get that a lot," the white-haired boy replied cheekily, rising a few feet to let her get used to the feeling of floating.

Risa looked over at her friends, her chocolate eyes bright like a child’s. “You were right, Niwa-kun! It is like… there is no gravity!”

Daisuke grinned. “It really is different than flying on wings.”

Riku gave him a side-glance before she looked back at Danny and her sister. “Be careful, Risa.”

"I will, I will! Stop worrying!"

Danny chuckled. “Hold on tight,” he warned her, “I’m going to just take you up there and back down, okay?”

Risa nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck securely. He rose several meters quickly, angling his body forward so that he wasn’t flying completely vertical. She squeaked giddily, looking around as the ground got further and further away. When he got higher than sixty feet, he slowed down and stopped his ascent, circling back to the apartment building.

Risa looked down, spotting her sister and friends and waving at them. They waved back, and Risa looked up and around again. “Wow… the sunset is so beautiful up here!” She gasped, looking out to the orange horizon.

"Isn’t it? The stars are even prettier above the clouds, too." Danny grinned fondly, keeping his eyes on the sky ahead of them, "Flying is one of my favorite things."

Risa’s smile grew melancholy, and she gazed at Danny softly for a few moments before she returned her eyes to the sky. “Yes… It was one of his favorite things too.”

Danny blinked, looking back at her, but she didn’t meet his green gaze. Is she talking about Dark? He wondered, but he didn’t voice it—he remembered how much the name had an affect on Daisuke. He couldn’t imagine what it would have done to Risa. He didn’t know Risa’s relationship to Dark, but… they had obviously been close.

Risa closed her eyes, letting the gentle wind brush through her hair and caress her skin, and Danny smiled a little as he continued to fly in wide circles above Daisuke’s apartment area.

And he would have done that a little longer—had it not been for the shiver that ran up his spine and escaped through his lips in a puff of mist.

His eyes widened, and Risa must have heard his gasp because she opened her eyes and looked at him. “Is something wrong?”

Danny’s eyes darted around. Even if it was just a minor ghost, he didn’t want to put his passenger in any danger. “Sorry, we’ve gotta go back down. Now.” He said hastily, turning his body and quickly diving back to the spot Riku and Daisuke stood. Risa screamed at the speed, hanging onto his neck for dear life—it hurt his ears and it was slightly suffocating, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it, focused on getting her back down to the ground as fast as possible.

Riku looked up when she heard the scream, and Daisuke looked alarmed when Danny suddenly touched down harshly and skidded to a stop in front of the pair. “What? What happened?” The redhead asked urgently.

"Ghost sense went off," Danny said shortly, setting Risa down, "Get inside, I’ll deal with it."

Risa wobbled a bit, dizzy from the quick descent. Riku went over, worry etched onto her features. Risa shook her head to clear her daze. “What…? What is a—”

Daisuke shook his head, “I’ll explain later, let’s just do as he says.” He ushered them back toward the apartment building, helping Riku to support Risa while she was still gathering herself. He looked over his shoulder at his friend, his eyebrows furrowing.

Danny nodded at him, then returned to looking around. “I’ll be fine.” He said, trying not to sound worried.

Daisuke paused, letting the girls go ahead first. His eyebrows raised at the teenage ghost, having detected the hint of dread. “Is it Skulker? Or just the Box Ghost?”

"As much as I’d like it to be one of the regulars, I already captured them earlier today—they’re still in the thermos." Danny frowned, not taking his eyes off his surroundings, "It’s… been a long day. Just—get somewhere safe."

"Good luck," The artist nodded, turning back to follow his friends—only to spot a dark shadow forming by the door, just in front of the twins.

Without thinking, his hands darted forward and grabbed the backs of their shirts, pulling them backward as the shadow rose from the ground and took shape in a flurry of flames.

"My, my, my! What delicious misery we have here!”

The Haradas screamed, tumbling backwards due to Daisuke’s pull but also in fear of the shadowy, woman-like form before them.

"Spectra!" Danny growled, launching toward them—only to be suddenly tackled sideways by a giant wolf. He struggled under the menacing, glowing green thing, glaring up at its red eyes. "And Bertrand. Of course."

"So glad you remember me." The wolf ghost thing snarled through large, sharp teeth. His nostrils flared as his massive jaw opened, his tongue darting out and eagerly licking his lips.

"Uhg! Get a breath mint, you mangy mutt!" Danny kicked upward with an ecto-energy-coated foot, flipping the shapeshifting ghost onto his back and springing to his feet.

He quickly looked over to see Daisuke pulling the girls away from Spectra, never taking their eyes off her. He lunged toward them, but Bertrand once again tackled him, and they were wrestling once more. Spectra simply laughed, smirking at the distracted hero before she returned her attention to her prey.

"You know, I always thought teenagers were a goldmine of misery—but college students work just as well!"

"You stay away from us!" Daisuke barked defensively, pushing Riku and Risa behind him protectively. He didn’t know this ghost—Danny probably didn’t face her enough to complain about it. That meant he had no idea what he was up against.

The shadow ghost—Spectra, Danny had called her—simply laughed cruelly. “Oh, but that would be a waste of good food, though!” Her spectral tail flicked as she leaned her hand on her hip, smirking a shark-tooth smile, “I can sense it in you all… you most of all, young man. The misery boiling deep inside you… just under the surface…” She purred seductively, advancing on them. She watched the way Daisuke stood in front of his friends, his stance wide and ready to attack if he needed to, and she quickly realized why.

"You’ve lost someone precious, haven’t you? Oh, and the poor baby doesn’t want to lose more."

Daisuke’s eyes narrowed. A ghost who feeds off misery, he deduced quickly, backing away slowly. “Doesn’t matter if I have.”

"Oh, but it does… it does, doesn’t it?" Spectra mused, giggling as the trio flinched when she began to circle them.

They shifted to stand back to back, and Daisuke’s fists clenched anxiously. Their eyes darted to her and each other—and Spectra noted with amusement that only Riku looked absolutely terrified. Daisuke glared at her with a fire of fierce determination in his bright red eyes, wary and suspicious and not at all frightened. Risa on the other hand, while scared, had an expression of mixed fear and grief, and Spectra knew at once that her words had reached the girl.

The shadow ghost cackled with glee. She could already feel the power coursing through her body—but she needed more. She needed their misery to show.

"Those wounds I see in you… they’re so old," she drawled, "yet you still feel them—they still pain you…. You cannot tell me that it doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t still hurt if it did not matter." She stopped in front of Daisuke and leaned toward him, inhaling deeply and relishing the tightly-held negativity she felt radiating off him. "Oh… you’ve lost a lot of people, haven’t you! How many died?” She asked excitedly.

"I don’t need to tell you." Daisuke gritted his teeth, moving back in disgust, "I may be in pain… but I am not miserable."

"Oh… well I suppose that happens when you’ve had so much time," Spectra pursed her dark purple-colored lips in a mock pout, "But… no—you wouldn’t be miserable, I suppose… if it wasn’t your fault that they died." She smirked, circling them again—and stopping in front of Risa, who backed away with a flinch, until her back touched the other two. "But oh… ohoho! It was yours, wasn’t it?"

"Th—that’s not true." Risa frowned, trembling.

"You hesitated!" Spectra exclaimed in a sing-song voice. "It was! It was your fault that someone died—someone close to all of you!"

"Stop it!" Risa shook her head furiously, "It wasn’t—it wasn’t like that!"

"You blame yourself, don’t you? For causing the death of that person… if not for killing them yourself! Even if you didn’t, it was like you did, isn’t it? It was your fault.”

Daisuke pulled the younger brunette behind him again, glaring. “It wasn’t. Now stay away from us.”

"Or what?" Spectra challenged, "A petty little human like you… what can you do against a ghost?”

"This." Daisuke reached under the bottom of his shirt and hit the on switch of the Specter Deflector he always wore, then his hands darted out and grabbed Spectra by the shadowy shoulders.

She shrieked like a banshee as electricity ran through Daisuke’s hands and danced all across her body, which convulsed and twitched in pain. Daisuke did not let go, holding her firmly in place as Risa and Riku gasped in awed terror at the scene.

"Get inside!" Daisuke commanded over his shoulder, and the Haradas flinched, not saying another word as they nodded and darted away. He looked back at his captive, then over at Danny, who was busy wresting a large, ferocious-looking gorilla now.

"Let go!" Spectra screamed, struggling against him, her shadowy face contorted in pain, "You miserable little whelp! Let me go right now!”

Daisuke stared hard at her contemplatively, then grinned mischievously. “If you say so!” And with all the strength he could muster, he spun for some momentum and threw her toward Danny and the other ghost—bowling the latter over and causing them to tumble several feet.

Danny blinked in surprise at the sudden lack of weight on top of him, then looked up as Daisuke leaned over him. “Are you okay?” He asked, making sure to turn off the Specter Deflector before carefully pulling the younger boy up by the arm.

"Think so—but that’s gonna leave a bruise," Danny winced, rubbing his wrists. He looked over to the pile of Spectra and Bertrand, then lifted an eyebrow and looked back at Daisuke quizzically. "Nice aim."

Daisuke chuckled, watching Spectra grunt and groan as she tried to slip out from under the gorilla ghost’s weight. “No problem—just get them in the thermos before any other damage is done.” His eyes sparked darkly, glaring at the black ghost almost threateningly—and Danny gulped, getting the feeling that Daisuke didn’t mean damage by the ghosts.

He unclipped the thermos from his belt, opening it and aiming the device at the two ghosts just as Bertrand was getting up and changing form again. Danny quickly hit the suction button, and one blue flash of light later, the courtyard was empty once more.

Danny capped the thermos and shook it next to his ear, listening for the sounds of the ghosts stuck inside. He chuckled at the rattling and muffled sounds of protest. “I’m going to have a lot to dump into the portal tonight.” He commented lightly, looking up at his friend.

He blinked, seeing Daisuke visibly relax, all the tension releasing from his shoulders the moment the thermos was capped and put away. “Uh—you okay?” Danny asked tentatively, “Spectra didn’t hurt any of you guys, did she?”

"No—at least, not physically." The red-haired man shrugged, his eyes flashing with that same darkness from before.

"Yeah, she tends to, uh, get under your skin. Don’t worry, the effects aren’t too long lasting." Danny reassured him, patting his arm gingerly, "I’m actually surprised you were able to grab a hold of her like that. She’s usually pretty fast and slippery. Good thinking, though, using the Specter Deflector like that."

"I wasn’t about to let her hurt my friends." Daisuke sighed, turning abruptly and heading back to the apartment building, worry evident in his eyes.

Danny frowned, flying after him—he was walking more quickly than normal, and the ghost boy wasn’t sure what to make of that dark look. The darkness still lingered at the edges of Daisuke’s vision, he could tell—it was like a haze of fury, a thing Danny himself could only remember feeling very few times before.

As they headed up the stairwell, uncomfortably silent, Danny realized that unlike the other times Daisuke had met ghosts, he didn’t seem so keen on giving this one the time of day. He was usually quick to understand a ghost and their motives, and was the first to spare them some sympathy and compassion.

But during those times, he had been alone.

I guess he plays a different tune, when there’s someone there to protect. Danny thought with furrowed eyebrows, glancing at the redhead worriedly.

They got back to the apartment, where the girls were waiting outside the door. Riku perked up when she saw them. “Daisuke! You’re alright!”

"Of course," The redhead gave her a reassuring smile, "Why wouldn’t I be? I promised I’d be careful, before, didn’t I."

"Stupid, you worried me," Riku grabbed his hands when he was close enough, "Geez…"

Danny floated up to Risa, who stood with her back against the wall, leaning heavily against it for support. “…Uh… are you okay, Miss Risa?” He asked carefully, watching her blank stare flicker up to him.

"Ah—yes. I am fine. Just a little… shaken." She whispered quietly, and he could see her trembling despite how much she tried to hide it.

Danny was at a loss, unable to figure out what to do or say. He didn’t know what Spectra had said to them, but obviously she had gotten to Risa.

Unsure what else to do, he reached out and patted her arm gently, saying, “It’s okay. It’ll be alright.”

She nodded numbly. Danny kept his eyes on her, and her rich brown eyes never left his, seeming to find his touch at least slightly reassuring.

"…It wasn’t your fault." Daisuke said softly beside them, and Danny looked up in surprise. Daisuke was holding out his hand to his friend, and Risa stared down at it stoically. Behind him, Riku was opening the apartment door with his keys, though she watched her sister and boyfriend out of the corner of her eye. Daisuke’s gaze was soft as he locked eyes with Risa, the darkness completely gone in favor of a comforting light. "None of us blame you."

Risa nodded wordlessly, taking his hand and letting him lead her into the apartment. He offered the twins a chair at the kitchen table, and the three of them gladly took a seat. Danny floated nearby, fiddling anxiously—he would have sat down too, to keep himself from pacing, had there been another chair.

They were quiet for a while, before Riku finally spoke up. “That was scary.”

"Ghost attacks tend to be," Danny offered meekly, "Even I still get scared of a few ghosts. Spectra’s one of the worst, though… sorry you had to go through that."

Daisuke patted her hand gently—it was trembling. “You’re safe now, don’t worry.”

Riku chewed her bottom lip, not looking up. “How… how do you do it? How come you weren’t scared?”

"Well, I guess I’m used to it," Danny shrugged, "Spectra sucks the happiness out of you, but she’s not—"

"Not you," Riku interrupted softly, looking up at the man next to her—at Daisuke. "How come you weren’t scared?" She repeated.

Daisuke blinked slowly, meeting his girlfriend’s eyes without missing a beat. “I was,” he answered nonchalantly, and Danny couldn’t tell if he really meant it or if he was actually only saying it to seem… normal or something. “But I wasn’t scared of the ghost… I was scared that you would get hurt.”

Riku, Risa, and Danny all looked at him blankly, before their faces slowly morphed as realizations dawned.

Risa’s eyes softened with gratefulness, and it pushed away the guilt and sorrow that had been bubbling just below the surface ever since the attack. He was always putting others before himself, and she knew she never thanked him enough for that. And he always did know how to say the right things at the right times, didn’t he? And it was whenever she needed him most that she would hear those words louder than ever, like a beacon to guide her home in the darkness. A darkness that surrounded both of them, ever since they lost their most precious person. She never did know if she could help him the way he helped her, but… even if there was darkness all around, Risa wanted to believe in the most optimistic outcomes, and that in the end, maybe he could turn the light to himself, and find his own way home.

Danny’s eyes widened as he realized that he had never, ever seen Daisuke truly afraid of anything. Most people ran away screaming at the sight of ghosts and monsters, but never Daisuke. Daisuke never so much as trembled or shook or got frozen in place—he always faced the world head on without turning his back. But fear was what kept people alive—it was an instinct that told them that something would hurt them, or that danger was imminent. It was how people survived and persevered through the unknowns of the future and the world around them. Even the most courageous people who had the power to face the things most people were scared of—like Danny himself—still got scared. With Daisuke, it wasn’t just a matter of being stupidly brave or a lack of thinking—Danny had truly never seen so much as a flicker of fear grace Daisuke’s war-worn face and distant red eyes. And he didn’t know what it meant.

Riku’s eyes filled with sadness—it was the understanding kind of sadness that came with years of knowing someone so well and loving someone so much that the exact meaning of his words were not lost on her. Despite how much he smiled now, and despite how well he was doing at moving on, she knew that not all was right. She had realized long ago how numb Daisuke had become, and it broke her heart because she knew just how much he had lost, and exactly what he had left to lose. But in the lengths he would take to protect what he still held dear, she knew that he would fight as if he had nothing left to lose—because he put so many others before himself that he didn’t care about himself anymore. If it meant he could save what was precious to him, he wouldn’t care if the darkness people usually ran from would consume him—he was no longer afraid.

And she wished he would be afraid again—it was selfish of her, but she wished he would be selfish, like when they were younger. When he didn’t know who he was or what would happen or what he could do. When he was someone who would cry when he was sad and worried about the future like everybody else. She wished he wasn’t someone who had looked into the darkness and embraced it—who no longer looked for the light he had become for everyone else but himself.

Daisuke watched their expressions, trying to gauge their reaction. He smiled at Risa, and she smiled back, nodding to let him know she was alright now. He lifted an eyebrow at Danny, who blinked back in bewilderment, though something was obviously still bemusing him.

But when he looked to Riku, she averted her gaze—but he didn’t miss the mournful look in her eyes, nor did he miss the pang of hurt that shot through his chest when she did that.

The group was silent, and the air was thick with tension. No one said a word, still absorbing the earlier events—some of them fighting internal struggles to move past their turmoil.

Finally, Daisuke sighed and stood up. “I should… probably call the cab—we don’t want to miss your flight.”

"Right," Risa nodded—and when Daisuke looked over to her, she smiled reassuringly. "I am fine now. I promise."

Riku bit her bottom lip. “I just… want to go home. Today was very…” She trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence.

"I understand," Daisuke nodded, "I’ll be right back." He exchanged a glance with Danny, nodding a little before he disappeared into the bedroom to find his phone.

Danny looked between the Haradas awkwardly. Riku had lifted her gaze and was now scrutinizing him with slightly narrowed eyes, and Risa was staring down at the table contemplatively.

"Sorry about today," Danny rubbed the back of his head meekly, crossing his legs as he sat in mid-air, "I mean… I hope you had fun on our little flight, even though it got cut short."

Risa looked up at him, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. “It was worth it, even if it was for a short time, Phantom-san. Thank you for that.” She said softly, “And I am sorry we did not have a longer chance to get to know each other. There are still many things I would like to ask you.”

"Maybe some other time," Danny grinned, "It was fun while it lasted though."

"…You’re not so bad." Riku spoke up suddenly, surprising the other two. They looked over at her—Danny’s eyes were wide, and Risa lifted an eyebrow. "I did not treat you very fairly because you scared me too. But… you are not so bad."

"Uh—thank you." Danny blinked, then smiled genuinely at her too, "I’m really glad you like me, then."

"Me?" Riku blinked.

"Well… yeah. Daisuke’s… a great friend. I’m honored to be his friend—he’s a great guy." Danny shrugged, not really sure where he was going with this, "And he loves you, he’s told me before… So I’m honored that someone Daisuke loves—and someone who loves Daisuke—would like me, even though I probably did come off as creepy and weird at first."

The short-haired brunette stared, nonplussed, at the ghost boy, unsure how to respond. Her twin giggled, shaking her head.

"Uh—that wasn’t your fault at all." Riku managed out, "It was all me—and even though I can’t explain why I felt wary about you… when I find the words, one day, I will try."

"You don’t have to," Danny chuckled, waving his hand dismissively, "I’m… a ghost. I give off that vibe, I get it. It’s better you feel that way around ghosts—it means you’ll run from ghosts like Spectra in the future."

Riku gave a wry smile. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Daisuke poked his head back into the room. “Well, the cab will be here soon,” he said awkwardly, hoping he wasn’t interrupting something, seeing as his friends were smiling. “Do you want to check to make sure you didn’t forget anything, before it gets here?”

Riku and Risa nodded and stood. “Sure.”

Danny sat idly in the middle of the kitchen airspace, and Daisuke joined him as he left the girls to check their belongings in his room.

"Are you sure you’re okay?" Danny asked quietly. "Spectra… doesn’t normally come out for just three people."

Daisuke blinked, looking up at him. “I’m perfectly fine. Don’t worry so much.”

"So you’re not… feeling depressed or angry?" Danny stared up at the ceiling, resting his hands on his knees. "That’s what she did to me, you know. And… I didn’t handle it very well."

"I’m fine," Daisuke said again, "You said the effects aren’t long lasting, right? I’ll be fine."

Danny didn’t lower his gaze, but he said nothing else.

I wonder.

Chapter Text

Daisuke took a deep breath and slowly rose from his usual perch on the roof. He balanced on the ledge easily, spreading his arms and closing his eyes as the spring breeze floated by, gentle and soft like his lover’s kiss.

His roommate had been home from his trip to San Francisco for a few days now. He was down in the room with his girlfriend—Daisuke could hear their muffled voices as they went over the pictures from their trip. Daisuke had left them to be alone, much preferring the quiet solitude of his favorite place to watch the sunset.

His arms dropped to his side when the breeze passed. The sky was cooling as the sun sunk away, and the stars twinkled into existence as he opened his eyes and looked up at the fading purple sky.

He turned on his heel, absentmindedly hopping off the ledge to the safer part of the roof. He took a few steps before he turned around again, his head still tilted up. He kept his eyes on the stars, thinking back to the days when he could watch them wink down at him from a much closer distance.

As night wrapped him in its silky coolness, his mind drifted into his past like it had on many other nights—on nights when the sky was so dark and the stars were so bright that he couldn’t help but think of a certain thief.

And he remembered him—remembered the pain, the grief, the crying, the loneliness after losing him and everyone else… all of it was a tug in his heart, a sting he barely felt anymore but was ever present in his every waking moment.

He remembered the emptiness in the abyss of his soul, how it was a deep hole filled with an ocean of hurt—and he sat at its edge now, his feet dipped in so he could feel its permeating chill. His outward facade was nonchalant as if he was only merely standing in a shallow tide pool, and not an endless pit of misery.

For a while, he had somewhat forgotten about it—he had done well in pushing it all behind him and letting it sit, out of sight but there, and he had grown comfortable with the numbed pain in the depths of his heart—he was so used to it that it never quite bothered him anymore. In fact, it was rather comforting to know it was still there—it meant that he had not forgotten.

And as he looked up at the night sky now, the thought of his thief wrapping up his mind and his very being in its painful, cool embrace, a smile graced his lips.

It was a longing, reminiscent smile. His lips curved softly as the memory of his friend brought with it another feeling—something other than grief.

Something that, he realized, brought warmth to his heart—and filled the emptiness just a little.

This was the first time in a long time that he allowed his memories to sweep him away, and let himself drown in that nice, peaceful feeling.

Every sensation fled from his thoughts, and he couldn’t even feel himself moving as his light, soundless footsteps hit the floor. In an instant he was at the ledge again—one foot springing him upward a good twenty feet as he spread his arms and let the feeling of weightlessness wash over him.

The muted sensations did not return to him until he was riding the wind without a care in the world.

He grinned as he closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of the fall—the rush of the wind blowing past his ears and ghosting over his skin. The slow grip of gravity as it tried to reclaim him when he was slipping away. The air shifting with his body as he shifted his legs as if to land—or rather, as if he were bracing himself to lunge upward on wings he didn’t have.

He opened his eyes to see the world blurring past him faster than he could ever remember.

In the past, he had felt apprehension—he remembered worrying in the back of his mind as someone else took control, thinking, With will get here on time, With will catch us. The familiar was faithful and fast and always came at his thief’s call—he always came right on time, and Daisuke never had to feel the ground touch him.

He didn’t feel that apprehension anymore—he had not felt it in a long time. He wondered now, when he could never fall faster, if the black creature would still come when it was him calling, and not the thief. He wondered if his wings would even reach him on time, when they were so far away.

Yes, he did not feel that apprehension anymore, he thought as he prepared to shift his weight and catch himself. He was still some twenty feet off the ground and he couldn’t find it in himself to fear the impact—yet he still closed his eyes and the memories of the few times he flew for himself flooded his mind.

The feeling of falling. The wind rushing past his ears. The grip of gravity. The fear of pain. The sudden presence at his back and the jerk upward as he did what no other human could ever possibly dream of doing—

And his ruby red eyes snapped open abruptly as he realized that, like in his memories, he was being caught—his arms whiplashing and sending a shock through him as something cold jerked him upwards, effectively stopping his fall.

"Are you freaking insane?!” The voice of his friend chided in his ear, obviously worried.

"Danny," Daisuke breathed, a bit winded but managing to gather himself as he shifted his arms, trying to shake the shock away. He turned his head upward a little, catching a glimpse of pale, glowing skin and snow white hair.

Danny didn’t wait for an answer, flying them back to the apartment building and letting Daisuke down on the roof. Once Daisuke was flat on his feet, rolling his shoulders and listening for the light cracks as his arms realigned themselves, Danny floated backward, facing the red-haired artist with concern written all over his face.

"Are you trying to kill yourself or something?" He demanded, though precariously, "Geez, falling like thirty feet…"

"Fifty, actually—I had a jump start." Daisuke tilted his head with a lopsided smile, though the lighthearted expression did nothing to reassure the ghost boy, whose eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the redhead. Daisuke sighed, "Thank you for your concern—and for catching me, Danny—but I would have been fine. It’s not the first time I’ve fallen fifty feet or so."

"But why were you falling in the first place? And how can you be so sure that you would’ve been okay?” Danny asked, crossing his arms, not believing him.

"I was raised to be a thief, remember?" Daisuke sighed again, moving past Danny to sit on the ledge once more, looking up at the sky. "A height like that… it was nothing, even if I’m a bit out of practice. I would have been able to recover from the landing."

"You still didn’t tell me why you were falling in the first place." Danny muttered, sitting down next to him. Daisuke couldn’t help but notice that the white-haired teenager was keenly not taking his eyes off the older man.

"…I remember what it’s like to fly."

The softly spoken whisper caught Danny off guard, and his eyes were large as he looked up at Daisuke. “But… you can’t fly anymore.” He said slowly, sounding unsure. “And you can’t even grow your own wings anymore, right? You said you could only do that when you were angry, anyhow…”

"No, I can’t." Daisuke shook his head, pulling one leg up and wrapping his arms around it, "But I still can remember the feeling of it. Falling, these days… is the closest I can get to feeling like that again."

"God, Daisuke, I leave you alone for a few days and—wait, how often do you do this?" Danny asked incredulously, "I think I saw you doing it once, but…"

"I haven’t done a full-out free fall since…" Daisuke trailed off, his gaze dropping from the sky to the dark ground below, "six… no, seven years ago."

Seven years ago. Danny’s glowing green eyes searched Daisuke’s face—a hint of melancholy in his eyes, no doubt just a leak of whatever he was hiding deep under the surface of his exterior shell, and a smile that just didn’t seem to match his mood. The ghost boy looked away, Daisuke’s unspoken implication dawning on him: Seven years ago, when everyone died.

"It’s… different." Daisuke said quietly, surprising Danny—he didn’t expect the man to continue. "Risa remembers what it’s like to fly in someone’s arms—she got to relive that feeling of being carried, when she asked you to take her flying."

"…And you… you remember actually flying with your own wings, don’t you." Danny murmured, glancing up at his friend again.

"I do," Daisuke lifted his eyes at last, dim red meeting electric green, "There were only a few times I flew with my own wings—there were only a few times With became my wings instead of… Dark’s." The name came out choked, and he looked away again, "They were usually in times of panic. When I was falling—falling so fast and refusing to ask Dark for help, or being unable to. So I called on With—and he caught me… just like you caught me, tonight… and I flew."

"…It’s different from my flying, isn’t it?" Danny asked curiously, "I’m kind of literally defying gravity or the normal laws of physics or something. When you’re flying, with wings… gravity still applies, doesn’t it?"

"It’s an experience few will have, and it’s wonderful. I can’t even begin to describe it.” Daisuke smiled fondly, longingly—finally looking up toward the sky again, “And I’m the only one left alive who remembers that experience.”

Danny stared at him. The gears of his mind went to work—and then, when everything clicked into place… “There was another person? I mean, other than Dark? Who—who knew how to fly, on wings?”

Daisuke was silent. Danny opened his mouth to apologize, thinking maybe he had overstepped his boundaries, when Daisuke spoke again. “The man who tried to kill me. And… my friend who was like an angel. He knew. I can’t say he ever enjoyed it the way I did, though.”

Danny knew better than to ask why those people knew how to fly on wings—or how they had wings at all. He cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say that would lighten the mood. ”Hm… Flying really is kind of the best—it’s my favorite power. Especially when I don’t have to use it to fight or run away—I can just ride the wind and let it take me wherever it wants to, and not worry about myself.” He chuckled awkwardly and softly, though the sound died out far too quickly.

That’s… not going to cheer him up, is it. He sighed when he realized that Daisuke’s mood hadn’t lifted at all. When he spoke again, he tried to keep his voice sympathetic. “I’m… I’m sorry you can’t really experience it again. I guess offering to take you for a flight wouldn’t help.”

"No, not really… but thank you for thinking about me." Daisuke laughed quietly. The laugh was hollow, but the sentiment was there.

"No problem, Daisuke."

Their silence became a little more comfortable, like it used to be—it was how they liked it. They stared up at the stars, quietly counting them in their heads.

Danny broke the silence after several minutes.

"…Is that why… the first thing you ever said to me was ‘you can fly’?"

Daisuke nodded. “I had not thought about it in years, but I had missed it. You reminded me of it… and you reminded me of myself, at that time.”

The ghost boy blinked, trying to comprehend what Daisuke meant. “You mean… like, saving people or something? Being awkward because you were the first person I met who didn’t run away from me?”

"Well, yes, but… when I looked into your eyes, I thought… you looked kind. So you deserved to fly—and it must have been nice, to fly and have that freedom to…"

Danny stared. Daisuke turned his head when the younger boy didn’t say anything, and their eyes met once again. There was questioning in Daisuke’s eyes—curiosity, wondering what Danny was thinking.

When he realized he had not said anything for a long time, Danny shook away his slight daze and asked, “You thought I was kind?”

"I told you then, Danny. I’m a good judge of character." Daisuke ruffled his hair gently, "I might not have known you back then, but I still knew you were a good person."

That’s right. He was the first one who didn’t think of me as a monster, Danny recalled—the memory of their first meetings seemed like so long ago. It felt like he had been friends with Daisuke since forever.

"You know, I don’t think I ever told you how grateful I was, back then, for not doubting me and staying faithful in me even when the whole town was saying I was the bad guy." The white-haired boy shook his head, "If it hadn’t been for you… I don’t think we would have become friends."

Daisuke tilted his head, blinking slowly. “No… it wasn’t all me. You never did tell me, but… why did you come talk to me here, on that first night?”

"I…" Danny gaped, then blushed. "I, uh, kept thinking about you, since you were the first person to ask my name. And thank me. I just sort of… happened to be in the area, and I saw you, so… I thought I’d come watch you a bit and see what you were like and if you were always that nice, but… well, I guess the rest is history."

Daisuke laughed softly—it was a genuine laugh this time, happy and kind. “Yes. The rest is history.”

They settled once more into comfortable silence, more content than before and their spirits definitely lifted. Beneath them, Danny could hear Daisuke’s roommate talking with someone—a girl, most likely his girlfriend—and a door closing. She must have left, because the light was still on and shining from the window just beneath their feet.

"Why did you come out here tonight, anyway, Danny? It’s spring break for you, isn’t it?" Daisuke asked suddenly, "Did you have no plans?"

"Well, there’s the ghost fighting," Danny shrugged, "but not really much else. I came out here to check on you—you know, since that… that happiness-stealing vampire had attacked you and your friends.” He paused, “How are they, by the way?”

The redhead grinned. “They’re completely fine, now.” He assured the boy, “Riku wasn’t very comfortable around here, but there was so much supernatural stuff going on, so I don’t really blame her. Risa is…” His smile faltered, but he shook his head and informed his friend, “She says she’s fine.”

Danny lifted an eyebrow. “Says. I’m guessing you think she’s really not.”

"Sort of." Daisuke sighed, "I think—Spectra, was that her name? I think Spectra really got under her skin."

"…And not yours or Miss Riku’s?" Danny ventured carefully.

"Riku is… our strength. She’s been the one to help both of us get past our grieving, because she was never as particularly close to Dark or the others as much as we were. If she felt sad, it was sadness for me and Risa and our other friends." Daisuke shook his head solemnly, "As for me, I’ve… I’ve come to terms that Dark and the others… died the way they wanted to. I don’t think their deaths could be anyone’s fault, and I know they wouldn’t have blamed us in any way."

"So what about Miss Risa?" Danny asked carefully, "What did Spectra say to get to her like that?"

"Risa blames herself for Dark’s… departure." Daisuke sighed, "She was in love with him. And…" He hesitated, biting his lip. "Well, do you remember that curse I told you about? The one my family’s rival family instigated four hundred years ago by messing with dangerous magic."

"Sort of? The one about bringing artifacts to life, right?" Danny tilted his head, "I didn’t get the details about what exactly it was, though. And what does this have to do with Miss Risa?"

"The curse had several effects. For the rival family, it gave them and all their descendants the ability to bring artifacts to life—but it also significantly shortened their lifespan." Daisuke explained quietly, looking away. Danny didn’t miss the flash of hurt in his eyes as he said the last part—but he bit his tongue, deciding it was probably best not to ask. "The curse affected my family as well."

Danny blinked. “You never—you never told me this.” He gasped.

"I know. I haven’t been completely honest with you—but that curse… was my secret. Is my secret.” Daisuke sighed, not meeting Danny’s eyes.

"…You don’t have to tell me." Danny reminded him, his voice slow and startled into a stutter, "Remember? I—I don’t need to know." Especially if it hurts you to talk about it.

"I…" Daisuke swallowed thickly. "I want to tell you. I will—sometime. But for right now… all you need to know is that my family was cursed, and it mostly pertained to why Dark had been around for so long. Risa… broke the curse. Risa and Riku—and a lot of our friends, really—we worked together to break it, but Risa took it upon herself the hardest," he took a deep breath, "because when she broke the curse… Dark died."

Danny was silent. Daisuke’s red eyes were distant, like the ghost boy had seen them more than a few times before—when Daisuke thought of something painful. Something he never wanted to talk about.

Something that became the reason he put up a facade and guarded it like nothing else.

"She still blames herself, it seems." Daisuke said softly, "Even though it really wasn’t her fault."

Danny wondered if Daisuke was lying when he said he had come to terms with his friends’ deaths. Maybe Daisuke himself didn’t realize it—maybe he was even lying to himself… hoping that if he lied about it enough, he would start to believe it.

Daisuke sighed, drawing up both knees close to his chest and turning his head to look up at the moon.

"It wasn’t her fault. It was her sacrifice."

It shouldn’t have had to be.

I should have been able to save them.

Chapter Text

Danny didn’t know what to think of Daisuke these days. Ever since meeting Spectra, it was like Daisuke had gone backwards. Something in his eyes just didn’t seem as bright as it did before.

He still smiled and laughed and talked with lighthearted ease to Danny on the few nights a week they met—Daisuke’s friendly aura had never faded, and his facade of absolute normalcy was guard-catching as usual.

It was only when Daisuke saw him on the street again, walking alongside Sam and Tucker as Fenton, did he find the words to describe his worries.

The redhead had stopped to talk to the trio—asked how Jazz was doing, how they were doing in school, how ghost hunting was over the spring break—and Sam had watched him closely, having known of Danny’s concerns.

After he left, Sam said to her friends, “It’s like he’s dead.”

The statement caught Danny by surprise. “Wh—what do you mean?”

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “He—he has the same look as some people I know from the Skulk and Lurk,” she explained, “The kind of look of someone who’s seen death and darkness and doesn’t want to look away from it.”

"He—uh, didn’t have that look before, did he?" Asked Tucker nervously, "I mean, Danny—you’ve known him longest, man. Is that normal?"

"No! I mean, not recently," Danny fidgeted awkwardly, his hands stuffed in his pockets, "It was like that when I first met him—but then… he was still mourning, a bit, then. It’s been like a year—I thought he was getting better."

"…He might not have been afraid of Spectra, but I think she got to him too." Sam shook her head, putting her hand on Danny’s shoulder to get his attention. "Has he said anything about it?"

"No… he’s stupidly good at hiding his emotions behind a smile. If I didn’t know him as well as I did, I would’ve thought he was just some normal smiley guy off the streets." Danny took one hand out of his pocket, running it through his unruly black hair.

"I didn’t think he looked mournful or anything," Tucker commented, "It really did look like nothing was wrong with him."

Danny nodded solemnly. “He’s been acting way too weird lately—he even… he even said he’d tell me his deep, dark secret sometime. He hasn’t mentioned it in a long time; I forgot he even had one of those.”

"You know," Sam crossed her arms thoughtfully, "telling people important things and giving away precious belongings is a sign of suicide. Has he given away his stuff lately?"

"Sam! No!" Danny shook his head furiously, "Daisuke’s not—even depressed, he’s not suicidal!"

Sam raised her hands in a placating manner, frowning in concern. “Sorry—but… you know, it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on him.”

Danny sighed and shook his head, running both hands thought his hair now. No… he said he would live. He promised he would—not to me, but… he said he would live…

He wondered if Daisuke still meant to keep his promise, after a long year away from the ones he had made the promise to.

"I think it’s not just Spectra," the blue-eyed teen sighed heavily, "I think it’s because… he’s going to be going home soon. Maybe that’s why he’s kind of depressed."

"Why would he be depressed about that?" Tucker blinked in confusion.

"He left his home because too many people he loved had died there," Danny said quietly, looking down at his shoes—scuffed and worn and old. He stuffed his hands in his pockets again. "And soon he has to go back and face that."

Tucker and Sam exchanged a glance. They didn’t know Daisuke as well as Danny did, but the man was kind to them, and he had indeed proven worthy of their faith, trust, and friendship. So like they would worry about Danny, they worried about Daisuke too—especially since he was close to Danny.

Danny sighed and looked up at his friends. “I don’t think he’s ready for that, yet.”

~~~

Danny flew up to Daisuke’s usual perch—the red-haired artist was missing, but he heard voices in the room below. When he listened, he could hear Daisuke talking to his roommate, so he turned invisible and sat down, deciding that he shouldn’t go inside for now.

He sat quietly for a while, looking up at the stars and trying not to eavesdrop. Eventually, the conversation below died out and stopped, and the lights turned out. The window below his feet creaked open, and Danny watched as Daisuke slid out onto the balcony, expertly grabbing the top of the window frame and swinging up till he could grab the ledge of the building.

He pulled himself up with practiced ease—Danny saw that he didn’t have his usual bag with him, and there wasn’t a lamp to guide his movements. It was almost as if he could see in the dark—and Danny actually wouldn’t doubt it if he could. Or maybe he had just memorized the way to climb up.

Daisuke settled comfortably on his perch above the window, seeming not to notice his invisible friend as he let out a long sigh, looking up at the night wordlessly.

Danny lifted an eyebrow, wondering if maybe Daisuke was losing his touch, when the redhead shivered a little and his eyes narrowed, looking around warily.

It had been a long time since Danny had seen that look.

Daisuke hovered one hand over his belt—the Specter Deflector, Danny realized—before his eyes stopped in the spot next to him, where Danny usually sat, and his shoulders drooped as he relaxed. He went back to looking up at the sky, and Danny remained still and breathlessly silent as he watched his friend.

"You’re not usually here before me." Daisuke said after a long moment, "I didn’t notice any temperature change, but it’s far too late into the spring to still be this cold."

Danny appeared next to him, grinning sheepishly. “I can’t ever surprise you anymore, can I?”

"Only in the winter." Daisuke chuckled.

The two fell into their normal comfortable silence, and Danny leaned back, folding his hands behind his head.

He had caught a glimpse of Daisuke’s eyes, and he saw what Sam had seen. Emptiness… loneliness… fearlessness.

Fear is what keeps people alive, he remembered thinking that day when Spectra attacked. He hadn’t understood Daisuke’s fearlessness, in that moment.

Now it was dawning on him.

For all the world, Danny realized that it seemed like Daisuke was alive simply for the sake of it.

He’s not truly living.

And he probably had not been, for a long, long time.

"…Daisuke… are you really okay?"

Daisuke blinked, looking over at his friend in confusion. “Of course I am. Why do you keep asking that?”

"Because," Danny frowned, gazing at the man’s face, lit only by the dim glow of his ghostly aura, "you never answer truthfully."

"Danny…"

"You promised you wouldn’t lie," Danny sighed heavily, "Even if you don’t tell the truth, don’t lie. You promised."

Daisuke fell silent, but he didn’t look away. Danny looked into his eyes once more, and that was all the answer he needed.

"You were doing so well, before…" Danny murmured sadly, "Before, it wasn’t a lie."

The art student shook his head solemnly. “You really did make me feel better. But it’s not your fault—or any of the ghosts or my friends’ faults—that I’ve been… depressed, lately.”

"Then why…?"

Daisuke was silent. Both of their eyes fell away, and Danny wondered at the back of his mind if the older man trusted him. He didn’t seem to want to talk to Danny about what was bothering him so much, despite the numerous occasions Danny had confided in him—because the younger boy trusted him.

Had Danny not earned that same trust?

Daisuke surprised him by speaking again—answering when Danny didn’t think he would answer.

"I used to feel relieved when I saved people—or when my friends were safe, in general. Like the time my friend collapsed at school—I took him home and took care of him till he got over his fever. Or the time Risa fell from a tower that was crumbling to the ground, and I—" Daisuke paused, "Dark couldn’t catch her in time. Someone else did though—and he got jealous. I was just relieved that she was safe."

Danny couldn’t help but notice how often Daisuke had been saying Dark’s name lately. Dark, the name which broke his heart every time he said it—every time he remembered…

How close to oblivion could he have been, to say it so much as if to constantly remind himself, now?

Daisuke ran a hand through his hair, his voice quiet and a little lost sounding. “When we saved Risa and Riku from Spectra… I didn’t feel like that, like I used to. I didn’t think, thank god they’re okay like I did when I was fifteen. I had thought… I saved them—why couldn’t I have saved you too?”

Danny stared at him. You. It could have meant anyone, or any number of people… but it didn’t matter who Daisuke was talking about.

He suddenly understood exactly what Daisuke meant.

"It’s that feeling where you have these amazing abilities and you know how to use them, but you feel like you should have done better—you should have found a way to save them, even though your right mind knows there’s nothing you could have done. Right?" Danny asked softly, not taking his eyes off his friend, "It’s that feeling of helplessness, that you’re supposed to have been able to do something—anything because you’re the hero. But right now, even after all of your accomplishments… you still feel useless.”

Daisuke nodded. “I knew you would understand—I was about your age when I thought that, too. Though… I can’t help but think it’s sad, for us both to know those feelings, even though we’re so young—you, more than I.”

"I may not have lost my friends and family in this timeline, but I know that feeling—I felt it, if only for a few moments, before Clockwork saved everyone." Danny clenched his gloved hands in his lap, looking down, "I didn’t save them—I couldn’t. I tripped on a rock and I looked up at their faces as we all realized I couldn’t make it in time. That I wasn’t good enough to save them.”

"…"

"I’ve gotten better since then—but you know, none of them remember that look or that feeling except me. They know what happened because I told them, but the timeline reset… so they don’t remember the feeling the way I do. That feeling of helplessness and uselessness." Danny sighed.

"It’s… a burden, isn’t it?" Daisuke’s voice was melancholy and soft, "A terrible burden… the weight of others’ lives on your shoulders. And yet we still choose to carry it all…"

"Not by ourselves, though." Danny looked over at him, "I’ve always had my friends helping me… and you, too. You had friends who helped you too, right? Don’t forget about them."

Daisuke shook his head. “I would never.” He smiled hollowly, “Never.”

Silence reigned. Danny kept staring at Daisuke, but Daisuke would not meet his gaze.

"…I’m sorry you couldn’t save your friends." Danny said after a long time. "But… you really are a hero, Daisuke. Never forget that, either."

Daisuke finally turned to look at him again, and Danny startled at the vivid crimson eyes that met his electrifying green—those eyes were visible even in the dark of night, and Danny wasn’t sure if it was his otherworldly aura that lit up Daisuke’s eyes the way they seemed to be lit up now.

"I’m… not." He whispered mournfully, and despite the lack of volume in his voice, it seemed to echo as clear as day in Danny’s ears. "I told you before, didn’t I? I’m nothing but a coward who’s good at running away."

Danny’s mouth worked, but no sound came out. He did remember—he remembered when Daisuke had said that. He had thought Daisuke was just being modest at the time, trying to deny his bravery. But… could it have meant something more? Daisuke’s words always did seem to hide a much deeper meaning, but he was far too good at hiding it for Danny to fully realize what he meant.

But now…

"Stop lying. Even if you believe it’s true… you’re lying." Danny put his hand on Daisuke’s shoulder, and the redhead furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the ghost boy’s words. "Do you remember when we met? You ran toward the danger, not away from it. You still wanted to help people."

"Helping people is different from being a hero." Daisuke said softly, but didn’t dare shift his gaze away from Danny’s intense eyes.

"No. It’s not. Listen to me." Danny said firmly, "Before we met, the whole town hated me—I was Public Enemy Number One, and I couldn’t help anyone without them thinking I was terrorizing them."

He took a deep breath, recalling the invasion that had started it all—recalling his mother aiming the mouth of a bazooka just inches away from his face. Recalling Walker’s words—that this town would be his prison. Recalling the newspaper headlines slandering him for city damage that wasn’t his fault. Recalling the screams, the people running even as he tried to defend himself, to show them that he was the good guy.

No one had believed him. Not till Daisuke showed up. But before then—everything was miserable.

"You don’t know how many nights I thought, what’s the point? I could have just… stopped, and let my parents hunt the ghosts, and maybe catch some sleep or something. God, do you know what it’s like, running on barely two hours of sleep with a test the next day? That’s how hard I worked to keep this city safe—the ghosts were always invading, and it was my responsibility to stop them. I had the power to stop them. But sometimes I wondered why it had to be me.” Danny sighed heavily and finally broke his gaze, running both hands through his white hair.

Daisuke continued to stare, transfixed by the look he had seen in Danny’s eyes—haunted, like his own… and for a moment, he could almost feel Danny’s distress. He didn’t know if he could compare—not when he hadn’t been through the trials of hate as intensely as Danny had.

"That whole Public Ghost Enemy Number One thing… it was exhausting. Almost every night, I’d just… quit. After the end of a long day of ghost fights, it didn’t feel worth it. There was no gratitude, no appreciation, not even any acknowledgement that I was helping anyone at all. So I’d just lay in bed and promise myself, tonight will be the last time—this is going to be the last time I’ll stick my neck out for Amity Park, and I wasn’t going to do it anymore. I wanted so badly to quit, Daisuke—I was fourteen. Fourteen and trying to save an entire city practically on my own.”

Danny was breathing hard, and he clenched his fists in his lap tightly. Daisuke hesitantly reached his hand out, his fingers brushing the cool texture of the back of his hazmat suit. When Danny didn’t flinch, the redhead gently rubbed his back, and waited as the motion calmed the boy.

He took another deep breath before he continued. “But then… you know, as much as I wanted to quit… as soon as I’d hear the screams of terror, or a cry for help… I couldn’t help it. Before I knew it, I’d be going ghost.” His eyes met Daisuke’s, wide and innocent despite the deep haunting swimming below the glow of his green orbs, “It didn’t matter if it was a ghost attack… people needed help. And I… I wanted to help people. It wasn’t just a responsibility, it was… instinct. It was what I wanted to do; even if it didn’t seem worth it, or no one liked me, or it was hard.”

Daisuke smiled in understanding, finally getting what Danny wanted to make a point of. “And… that’s what makes you a hero.”

"Just like you." Danny replied resolutely, "Even if you say you’re not a hero… even if you say you’re retired, or that you quit… you still ran toward the danger when you heard screams. It has nothing to do with the people you couldn’t save—it has to do with the people you still can.”

The older man blinked and stared at him, his hand falling away abruptly. He didn’t say anything for a long time, and Danny opened his mouth hesitantly.

"Daisuke… even if you’re not a hero to a whole city like I am… you’re still a hero—to Miss Risa, and Miss Riku, and whoever else you have back home. And… you’re a hero to me, too." He admitted shyly, "You’ve helped me out a lot—and… you know, Tucker once told me that a hero is someone who inspires you to be a better person. I just wanted to let you know that I do count you as someone I look up to, Daisuke—because you inspire me to be better than I am. And… I’d be proud, I think, if I could end up like you in seven years."

"…Oh, Danny…" Daisuke sighed softly, "Thank you. You’re my hero, too. But you don’t want to be like me."

Danny gave a lopsided grin. “Right—I wouldn’t want to be as sad, huh.”

Daisuke smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood, nodding. “Thank you, though… for saying that. I didn’t think there was still someone out there, who could inspire me like that.”

"You better be thankful," Danny chortled shortly, "that was all really hard to say." He looked away awkwardly, "I’ve… never told anyone before. The whole thing about wanting to quit."

The redhead beside him nodded slowly. “I’m glad you told me, then.”

They fell into silence—it was a warm silence, though Danny could still feel a twinge of apprehension in the air. He didn’t know if it was Daisuke’s or his own, or if both of them were just trying to figure out what to say next, if anything at all.

The silence was broken only by the chirping crickets and the occasional wind ruffling the trees, and Danny contemplated going home for the night.

And then Daisuke spoke, his voice barely audible and quivering with something of a shocked realization. Though why, Danny couldn’t fathom.

"I’ve never told anyone before, either…"

Danny’s head snapped over, and he stared at his friend in surprise. Daisuke was staring blankly ahead—not up at the stars, nor down at the darkness.

Daisuke seemed to sense that ghostly gaze on him, because he shivered and closed his eyes, as if he didn’t want Danny to see into the window of his soul.

"Seven years ago… I’ve never had to talk about it, before."

"Daisuke…?"

The artist shook his head, hugging his knees close. “They were all there… I never had to explain.” Danny wondered if he meant Riku and Risa. Did he never talk to them about the incident that occurred seven years ago? Daisuke didn’t elaborate, but he did continue, “You’ve been the first friend I’ve made, since then. At least… the first friend that’s gotten this close.”

Danny tilted his head inquisitively, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean, Daisuke?”

"…Go home, Danny." Daisuke shook his head again, taking a deep breath as he opened his eyes.

There was a resolute fire burning in them.

"Next time… I’ll tell you—my deepest, darkest secret."

Chapter Text

It was the weekend before Danny saw Daisuke again, though Danny had considered waiting another week. Still, there was such a thing as missing an opportunity because he waited too long and Daisuke would lose his nerve or something.

So Danny drifted over to Daisuke’s usual spot, floating in front of him for several moments in complete silence. Daisuke didn’t look at him, his eyes trained on the orange evening sky and his hands held loosely around his knee—brought up close to his chest—while his other leg swung gently and idly.

He looked oddly relaxed, Danny thought, despite that both of them knew that this meeting would probably be anything but.

He wondered if staying away for the rest of the week gave Daisuke enough time to gather himself. Danny himself had needed some time to sort out his feelings before telling Daisuke his secret… and if Daisuke’s last words to him were any indication, Daisuke didn’t seem all that ready to tell him.

It was weird to see his posture, calm and serene yet contemplative, and reconcile it with the uncertainty and unpreparedness that Danny was sure the older man was feeling.

The silence was uncomfortable. Daisuke had never been this quiet before—and Danny thought that maybe this was how Daisuke was when he was apprehensive. And he had every right to be, really.

Danny noiselessly took a seat next to his friend, as anxious as Daisuke apparently was—even through his relaxed demeanor, the too-calmness of his outward appearance tipped Danny off when he still didn’t say anything.

And Danny didn’t make him. They could just sit through this meeting in total silence, and Danny would understand—if Daisuke had changed his mind and didn’t want to tell him, Danny would understand.

Daisuke’s secret was different from Danny’s. Danny’s was about protecting himself so that he could continue to help people and not get hurt or experimented on or hated for who and what he was. The difference between Danny and Daisuke was that Daisuke had already figured out Danny’s secret by the time he finally worked up the courage to tell him himself.

Daisuke’s secret was something Danny couldn’t even begin to guess at. What could he possibly be hiding, when he had told Danny so much yet so little? Danny knew about the magic, about Daisuke’s friends, about the thief, about the angel, about the man who had tried to kill Daisuke… but yet he still knew nothing.

Danny didn’t want to tell Daisuke his secret in the beginning because his risks were present and real. He had everything to lose.

And as Danny watched his friend’s unreadable red eyes, he realized that Daisuke never told him was because that secret was the last thing he had left to lose.

The ghost boy let his gaze fall away, clasping his hands in front of him as those haunted red eyes lingered in his thoughts and the irony hit him.

Danny was a ghost who wasn’t dead, and Daisuke was alive without living. Their eyes said it all—the lively electric green that stared down at the earth, and the dull rusty red that never left the heavens.

Silence reigned as the stars started to wake up, and Danny wondered if maybe Daisuke was waiting for a cue. Maybe Danny needed to speak first—it would probably calm both of their nerves.

As Danny opened his mouth to remind Daisuke that he didn’t have to tell his secret, whether or not he had even changed his mind about telling it, Daisuke finally spoke.

"My mom used to tell me stories about Dark, when I was younger. I thought it was just a fairy tale."

Danny blinked, closing his mouth. He didn’t know how to respond to that, so he just looked up at Daisuke, listening attentively.

"She would tell me grand tales of a master phantom thief, who’s specialty was the art that captivated its audiences, as if under a spell." Daisuke’s voice was mellow, milky with reminiscence and quiet with longing. "She would tell me, ‘this is not a fictional story. The phantom thief’s name was Dark. His identity? No one knows…’ and I still never believed her. Not until I met Dark myself.”

"…Why?" Danny dared to ask, hesitant and not wanting to interrupt but curious.

Daisuke chuckled a little, though it was halfhearted. “I was raised to be a thief, remember? Like my grandpa, like my ancestors before me… they were all raised to be phantom thieves too, and they became famous for it. I was always told that someday, I’d become the great phantom thief as well… and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be a thief… so I didn’t believe the stories, as if that would help me get out of that life.” The redheaded artist shook his head, “I don’t know why. It was stupid to think I could escape what they called my ‘destiny’… it was in my blood. It was in everything I did. It was in the way I picked locks when I was three years old, the way I jumped a twenty foot gate when I was five, and the way I hacked into a security system for the first time when I was nine.”

Danny stared at the man in awe. Some of the things he said he had done… it didn’t seem believable, yet at the same time… it was Daisuke. He had seen the way Daisuke operated—he moved with a grace that could only have been ingrained in him over the course of many years, if not a whole lifetime. It didn’t seem impossible when it was Daisuke.

"So… you became a master phantom thief, like Dark? You became his partner, right?" Danny asked slowly, trying to figure out Daisuke’s point. This didn’t seem like Daisuke’s secret—he already knew most of this stuff. Just not in so many details.

At this, he saw Daisuke visibly hesitate, his eyes finally dropping from the sky to meet his own. They stared at each other—one confused but patient, the other reluctant but resolute.

"I became Dark."

The silence that followed was not totally unexpected, to Daisuke. Danny had a dumbfounded, befuddled look on his face as he tried to process what Daisuke had just said. His mouth moved, trying to form words but unable to find any, and his hands parted to try and gesture at his meaning—before he gave up and squinted at the redhead in total and utter confusion.

“What?" He finally asked, finding that to be the only appropriate word and question when his voice returned to him.

Daisuke’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly, and he looked ahead, toward the horizon and Elmerton’s skyline. “I know, I know—it’s… a little difficult to explain, but…”

"You said you weren’t Dark before," Danny frowned, "You said you weren’t your thief friend."

Daisuke shifted uncomfortably, one hand tightening around the wrist of the other, still wrapped around his knee. “That is… technically… both wrong and right.”

"What do you mean?"

"Dark is a separate person. He really is. But… like I said… becoming ‘the’ great phantom thief was in my blood." Daisuke sighed heavily, "I do not know the words in English… but Dark was something like… a genetic curse."

Danny stared at him. Daisuke, trying to stay cool and collected, continued reluctantly.

"He was a part of my family—a spirit-like being with unimaginable power, who possessed my family for four hundred years. The males in my family gain Dark’s magic and transform into him when we turn fourteen. Dark never appeared before then, so I didn’t think he was real. I only met him when I became of age, too. When I first met him, he told me, ‘I am you’, and for a long time… I believed him. So I may have been lying a little when I said I wasn’t him. I am Dark as much as he is—but it was, weirdly, never the other way around." Daisuke closed his eyes, moving one hand to his chest and pressing his palm there, listening for his heartbeat—slow and rhythmic and there.

"He was part of my soul… and he always has been. He was in my blood from the moment I was born, and though he never told me, I think he was always watching out for me since then too. And when he died… I lost my guardian, my best friend, my brother, and a piece of myself… and there’s been a hole in my heart ever since." He admitted sadly, "It wasn’t just because we were close, that I mourned him… it was because he was me. And, like I said, I could never escape that."

I am you. Those were the words he had said to Dark, when he finally understood.

"So… that’s your big secret?" Danny tilted his head, "You were the secret identity of an apparently famous phantom thief, and… he died?"

Daisuke blushed a little, moving his hand to rub his head almost sheepishly. “It’s not a secret to the people who were there… but I felt that it was one, because I didn’t want to tell you. Even after you said you were okay with me being a thief, sort of.”

"It’s kind of like my secret. It’s not a bad thing, Daisuke." Danny said gently, smiling reassuringly.

"It’s… not all." Daisuke looked over at him, biting his lip momentarily as Danny stopped smiling and returned his complete attention to the redhead. "When Dark died, there was… something else. And I never told anyone. Not even my family or Riku and Risa."

There was a long silence, and Daisuke shifted his position, moving his hands back to his knee. Danny said nothing, waiting for him to find the right words.

"But… perhaps I should start from the beginning."

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, but he didn’t stop the man from stalling. He was obviously still uncomfortable with the idea of telling his real secret, whatever it was.

"Four hundred years ago, there was an artist named Hikari." Daisuke began, looking back up at the sky—like he had been doing when Danny first arrived. Danny got the feeling that it was a comfort to the Japanese man. "He created the most captivating works… his masterpieces seemed to come to life, to breathe like humans could. His work enchanted a thief, who wanted the beauty for himself. That thief was my ancestor, the one whom my family considers the first Niwa."

"They… used to be friends, I think. No one’s really sure—there aren’t really any records about them, other than Hikari’s artwork and the reports Niwa kept to keep track of what he stole." Daisuke muttered thoughtfully, as if the statements were an afterthought.

"Then why do you think they were friends?" Danny blinked.

"I—remember…" Daisuke shrugged one shoulder, "When Dark was inside my soul… sometimes, I saw his memories. Or, I think they were his memories. I saw Hikari and Niwa there—just flashes of them, in my dreams, but… it was enough to figure it out. They… knew each other’s names." Daisuke said slowly, and Danny thought he saw his eyes darken to a warm shade of maroon for a moment. "I understand Niwa knowing Hikari’s—not knowing the artist you’re stealing from is kind of a sin. But Hikari knew Niwa’s name. Which, given that Niwa was Hikari’s thief and no one knew his identity, didn’t add up. So I think they were friends."

The ghost boy tilted his head curiously, looking up at Daisuke in anticipation. “Did Hikari know that Niwa was stealing from him?”

"I’m not sure. I think he did… at least, after a while." Daisuke shrugged again, "I think Hikari purposely started making grander and grander things, to challenge Niwa to steal it. They had something of a rivalry going on."

Daisuke paused, his gaze dropping from the sky to the dark distance, where they could no longer see Elmerton. “And then Hikari became obsessed. He wanted to make the perfect masterpiece… and he traded his soul to the devil to do it. He traded his soul for the power to infuse literal life into his artwork.”

"The cursed artifacts that were able to manifest as humans." Danny realized immediately. Daisuke nodded in confirmation.

"It started out fine, and no one realized they could manifest, but the artworks enchanted more people than before. Hikari became renown, but he was never in it for the fame." The redhead continued, "And the more Niwa stole his artworks, the more he realized that Hikari had begun creating monsters. The works were lively and captivating, but Hikari’s desire for the ultimate masterpiece caused him to cast away anything less than perfect, and the works he breathed life into… they were like abused children. Thrown away by their father and told they weren’t what he wanted or that they were ugly. Some became bitter—others strove to become perfect so that they could be the masterpiece he wanted. And more still… became dangerous, lashing out at the world that Hikari thrust them into.”

"And… those were the dangerous magical artifacts you—uh… Dark—um, you and Dark stole." Danny breathed.

"Yes. But most of these artworks became so dangerous that even their loving audience noticed, and about a hundred or so years after they were created and had wrought their havoc, the Cultural Reformation happened." Daisuke sounded sad as he said this, closing his eyes. He could sense Danny’s next question, so he explained, "The Cultural Reformation is a monumental event in art history—people became afraid of Hikari’s works… his monsters… so a majority of them were destroyed during that time. They tried to erase the history that Hikari inadvertently wrote. Only a few people know the truth—people like my family, who saved their records and stayed hidden from the reformation, and my father, who looked so deep into it that he was able to find the relics that managed to escape destruction."

Daisuke sighed, opening his eyes again. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m not done with Niwa or Hikari’s stories yet.”

"There’s more?"

"Of course." Daisuke managed a wry smile, before his expression dropped and became serious again. "When Niwa realized that Hikari had gone mad with his power… he tried to stop Hikari from creating his ultimate masterpiece. Stealing became a matter of saving the artworks—and he made his own deal with the devil. Or maybe it was an angel, I’m not too sure." He shook his head, "But he gained the magic to seal the artworks so that they would go to sleep—so they couldn’t hurt anyone else and they wouldn’t go insane from the loneliness instilled in them by their creator."

"So… when you stole those artifacts, you weren’t just saving people… you were saving the arts." Danny blinked.

The redhead nodded. “They’re people too, no matter their form. Some of my closest friends turned out to be artworks, actually.” He chuckled sadly, “But anyway. I’ll explain about that later. I need to explain about Dark first.”

"Is he an artwork?" Danny lifted an eyebrow.

"Sort of." Daisuke shook his head, "You see… Hikari’s ultimate masterpiece was an artwork called Kokuyoku—in English, that means the Black Wings.”

“Black Wings….” Danny echoed, letting the name sink in. Doesn’t Dark have—?

Daisuke took a deep breath, and let it out slowly before he continued. “It was never finished. On the night Hikari meant to finish the piece and instill his magic in it, Niwa interrupted the ritual with his own magic, and…” He trailed off. “Both of their magics went wild, and I think they died.”

"…You think?”

"I’m… not quite sure. I remember motionless bodies, and Niwa laying on the ground looking like he had just been through a fire, and Hikari was leaning up against a wall in the same state…" His voice was eerily calm, and there was that odd maroon light to his eyes again. "There was something in his hand… and I’m pretty sure it was a blade, but it was hard to tell. No matter what it was though, it either killed Niwa, or Hikari’s magic did."

Danny paled suddenly. Death was one thing, but there was something odd about Daisuke’s story. When it clicked, the ghost boy paled even more, if that was possible. “…You mentioned, before, that you thought the magical artworks were made of ghosts. You can’t be saying that—”

To his dread, Daisuke nodded solemnly. “Kokuyoku may be considered an incomplete artwork, but the ritual had worked. It came to life—just… differently, from the other artworks.”

Danny remained dutifully silent, and Daisuke looked over at him with serious, dark red eyes.

"Because the masterpiece was unfinished, the magic used to create it didn’t have a suitable vessel. So the magic returned to their owners—but the magic cast by both the artist and the thief had mingled, and it was the mixture that had returned to them. So Hikari’s magic brought the artwork to life inside them, and Niwa’s magic sealed them away, asleep or dormant within their souls."

“Them… the artwork that came to life wasn’t just Dark?” Danny asked, “And you said the magic sealed it into both Hikari and Niwa…”

"…Dark was born that night, in Niwa’s soul," Daisuke said quietly, "And the other… was born in Hikari’s. They were both fragments of the Black Wings, and cursed into the blood of their tamers. And they would continue there, for twenty generations—even if the curse was only meant for the first of them.”

Danny paused, processed what Daisuke had said, and frowned. “The other…?”

"He was called the White Wings by my clan—the other half of our curse, the curse on the creator for dealing with the devil…” Daisuke wrapped his arms around himself almost protectively, his eyes closing once more, “It must have been the devil come to collect, when the White Wings cursed itself into the Hikari clan… because from the moment he was born, his goal was to end Dark—and by extension, my family, in which Dark manifested.”

"…" Danny opened his mouth, hesitant as Daisuke’s words sunk in. "It… wanted to kill your ancestor. And… eventually… you?"

"Yes."

"…The man who—"

It seemed Danny had already put the pieces together, and Daisuke didn’t need him to finish his sentence. “Yes.” He answered somberly, “His name was Krad. Like how I became Dark, the descendant of the Niwas’ rival family, the Hikari clan, became that… monster. Calling him a man would be too kind.”

Danny fell silent again, but this time it was in concern. Daisuke—kind, gentle, ever-so-understanding Daisuke—was the one who told him he wasn’t a monster. For Daisuke to use that word on such a person… he wondered what Krad was like, besides the whole “trying to kill Daisuke” thing.

"Hikari’s magic allowed Dark and Krad to manifest in the Niwa and Hikari’s male descendants. They were called Wing Tamers. But Niwa’s magic made them dormant so that they could only manifest when the tamers turned fourteen, and they could only manifest for so long as certain conditions were met." Daisuke sighed, looking away. "This is where it gets a bit difficult to explain, and I can’t fully explain it since I don’t know Hikari’s side completely… but I’ll try."

"Dark manifested when Niwas feel desire—over twenty generations, the reason became diluted into just ‘when we feel love’. But when the first Niwa died, he died wanting to do what he always did—steal things. Steal beautiful things that he desired with all of his heart." Daisuke explained, an odd lilt to his voice—like he had a deeper understanding that only came with years of contemplation. "Dark’s curse on our family was to steal what we thought was precious, so he manifested to hinder our ability to obtain our heart’s desires. With the generations, it became obvious that when we fell in love, Dark would appear and try to win over the affections of the girl of that generation’s desire. And the reverse condition caused Dark to disappear and become dormant in our blood again—when the girl would choose the tamer, it meant Dark was unsuccessful in stealing her, and the tamer had gotten his desire."

The redhead fiddled with his hands, looking up at the moon. “That was how it worked in the past, at least. He never died in the past—he just became dormant again, till the next tamer was born and inherited him, and then the cycle would repeat again. I feel bad, because I’m not sure if he ever genuinely loved those girls he tried to ‘steal’ from the tamers, as much as he claimed to. After four hundred years, I guess he was just used to it. It was duty, or routine, and he was good at pretending.” He whispered the last part a little sadly, shaking his head.

"So what happened when you inherited him?" Danny asked. "He never died before, so…"

"…I’ll get to it." Daisuke replied tersely, looking over at the white-haired teenager. "But… first I should probably explain Krad."

He took a deep breath again, and he said, “I used to think that he manifested for the same reason as Dark, but… I was Krad’s trigger, in this generation. And I know Satoshi didn’t desire me the way I desired Riku.”

"Satoshi?"

Daisuke went quiet. The pain that filled his eyes didn’t go unnoticed, and Danny regretted asking. He was about to tell Daisuke that he didn’t have to talk about it if it was painful, when the redhead whispered in a strained voice, slowly and longingly, “Hiwatari Satoshi. He was the Hikari descendant in this generation… and one of my best friends.”

"Oh." Danny blinked, wondering why he had never heard of him if he was Daisuke’s best friend. And then realized that Daisuke had never mentioned names before, so he would never really know. Unless… "Oh.”

The angel.

"Yes." Daisuke sighed, looking away once more, slightly uncomfortable. He changed the subject back, continuing his explanation, "I’m not sure what Krad manifested for. Hikari died wanting to complete his masterpiece—it was his insanity, his madness that drove him to cross a line between humanity and godhood, and he had lost all semblance of his former self due to it. I’m not exactly sure what Satoshi was thinking, those few times I saw Krad manifest, but… Krad seemed to just appear whenever Satoshi felt any sort of emotion—because Satoshi barred himself off from showing or feeling any to keep him at bay. Maybe Krad manifested when his tamer felt human—something the first Hikari had not been in the end. And Satoshi… was definitely the kindest, most human person I knew, constantly trying to keep me and everyone else safe from Krad.”

"…He didn’t like Krad, did he."

"None of us did, except his stepfather." Daisuke shrugged, "I can’t even begin to explain him."

"Right then…" Danny lifted an eyebrow.

"Krad’s curse on the Hikari was similar to Dark’s—except his lingering obsession with perfection played a part too, I think. Krad grew his own wings and used his magic recklessly, even at the expense of his tamer—there was a severe physical toll on the tamer’s body, and using magic shortens the human’s life significantly. He did it on purpose, to keep his tamers under his control because it wore them out and gave him an upper hand, but he might have also done it to kill them slowly—so they died young and beautiful too. Krad was a leech who drove his tamers to become insane just as the first Hikari had been, whose curse also naturally shortened their lifespan, so that they could no longer be ‘human’." Daisuke sighed. "I heard from Dad that Satoshi’s mother, Hikari Rio, had Satoshi at an extremely young age and died only shortly after Satoshi was born. And she didn’t even physically bear Krad, so him overusing magic couldn’t have explained her death."

Daisuke leaned back, shifting his hands to hold onto the ledge of the roof so he could balance himself. “But all the Hikari clan members used magic, anyway. Except for Satoshi, who avoided it like the plague. Hikari’s descendants inadvertently inherited his power to instill life into their artworks, and they all had the inexplicable desire to create. So every generation, new artworks made it into the world… but thankfully, the lot of those later artworks were less neglected than the first Hikari’s. A lot of them were the masterpieces of their creators, and they were well-loved, so they were rather docile and willing to come with us—the Niwa—when we stole them.”

"…Daisuke?" Danny interrupted hesitantly.

"Yes?" Daisuke blinked, looking over.

"Did Krad have a reverse condition like Dark did?" The ghost boy asked carefully.

"He killed his tamers too quickly for one to ever really be discovered, but I presume it’s similar to Dark anyway. The tamer, perhaps, must feel human or content, and can rest in peace." Daisuke said softly.

"Like… fulfilling an obsession." Danny thought out loud. "…Like a ghost?"

"The Hikari… were very much like ghosts, I think." Daisuke sighed and shook his head. "Hikari the first was very much like one. He threw away his life, breathing magic into his artworks… I wonder if maybe he died, the moment he made the deal with the devil… and his spirit continued on the Earth to complete his goal."

"That’s a scary thought." Danny frowned, "So what happened? After your families got cursed and stuff."

"Krad and Dark were born hating each other, so our clans ended up clashing as a result. Dark and the Niwas developed something of a symbiotic relationship, and we—the Niwas—began training their bodies so Dark would have a fit body to manifest into. With that, we worked together to steal all the Hikari artworks, and seal away their magic and put them to sleep, so they wouldn’t hurt anyone. Krad was sort of a hindrance on that goal, because he either stopped us or destroyed the artwork before we could steal them. Dark hated him for that, because he had something of a collection going on, and he didn’t like the more innocent artworks being destroyed. He and the Niwas wanted to kill Krad as much as Krad wanted to kill him." Daisuke explained slowly, leaning forward again and stretching his legs out when he felt them falling asleep. "The Hikari wanted to get rid of Krad just as much as the Niwas did, though, so they tried to get rid of the Niwas for Krad’s end goal. They wanted to be able to create in peace, without their work being stolen or the curse shortening their lives or that parasite manifesting and trying to take it over." He paused, looking thoughtful. "That was actually how I met Satoshi. He was intent on capturing Dark so he could finally end his curse. But… he didn’t want to get me involved, since I guess he had been observing me for a long time and he knew I didn’t want to be a thief, or Dark, willingly."

"…You’re not telling the whole story, there." Danny quirked an eyebrow.

There was silence for a moment, before Daisuke conceded and decided to tell the truth. “Satoshi was my classmate, who only went to school so he could observe me, seeing as I was a Niwa and would eventually manifest his family’s hated creation.” He sighed, “But… back then, I was still that kid who was clumsy and honest and anything but a thief, and I didn’t even believe in Mom’s stories about Dark. And I guess Satoshi saw that, or realized that I didn’t know anything about my family’s curse, so he was… kind to me. I don’t know why he chose to be kind to me, when he could have easily arrested me.”

Danny waved his hand. “Hold on. Arrested?”

"He was a police commander—his stepfather was in charge of the police and Satoshi himself had already graduated college, so he put Satoshi on the task force charged with capturing Dark." Daisuke explained, and cracked an amused smile at Danny’s incredulous look. "I know. I didn’t believe it either."

Danny stared for a few moments, then sighed and nodded in acceptance of the explanation. “Go on.”

"Satoshi and I became friends, despite our family feud. He even helped me stop a few of the more dangerous artworks, and he helped me deal with all the stuff about the curse that I didn’t know about—like the time I grew wings. Satoshi… he went through that every time he transformed, and he understood my pain and anger at that time better than anyone. I cherished him, dearly, as my friend." Daisuke shook his head, "It was unheard of, a Niwa and Hikari being friends—Dark disapproved, though he seemed to have fun with the idea of running around in my body and knowing Satoshi couldn’t arrest him because he wouldn’t touch me." He laughed a little at this, but it still died far too quickly to seem real. "Krad tried to kill me—not just because he hated Dark, but because he wanted to destroy all that was precious to Satoshi. We were different from our families and our ancestors—him, because he didn’t create and tried to fight his desire to. Me, because I didn’t want to be a thief, and because I wanted to create. And since I was the one Niwa raised without knowing anything, I didn’t have the same prejudices against the Hikari that my mother and grandfather did. I didn’t even know Satoshi was a Hikari until they told me.”

There was a moment of silence, and Daisuke let Danny absorb all the information before he said quietly, “My generation changed the paradigm almost completely—because I was also the first to try finding a way to coexist with Dark, rather than just… bearing him, as my forefathers did.”

"…It didn’t work, did it?"

"No," Daisuke sighed. "And if it did, I think I would be in a very different place right now—and thinking back on it, it was a bad idea anyway. Because coexisting with Dark… also meant coexisting with Krad. And no one wanted him out and about, and out of control." He chewed his bottom lip, "Satoshi might have hated him, and Krad tortured him every day in their mind, but… Satoshi knew that when he was there, he could control Krad. He could cage him and keep everyone else safe. He chose his prison, and I never realized it until it was too late."

They fell quiet, a wind passing them by with its gentle whistle and ruffling the leaves of the trees below. Daisuke was trying to figure out what to say next. He knew he couldn’t stall for much longer, even though Danny was being incredibly patient and understanding with him. Still, when he looked over, he saw the white-haired boy fidgeting, glancing over at him in worry every now and then.

"I could talk about how great a person Satoshi was… but I don’t think I’m ready for that yet." Daisuke sighed, "It hurts to remember."

"…I’m not asking you to tell me about him." Danny replied softly, "You can tell me whenever you want."

"Thank you, Danny," the redhead shifted his position, hugging his other knee close to his chest like he had been doing before.

They were silent for a while, and Danny looked up at the sky, watching the moon and wondering how long he had been there. He was glad that he told his parents he was sleeping over at Tucker’s that night, and that it was a weekend—he knew it would take time for Daisuke to admit everything, and Danny wanted to be able to give it to him. Daisuke could take as long as he needed.

When Danny looked over again, Daisuke inhaled deeply, trying to relax, but the tenseness in his shoulders didn’t go away. Regardless, though, he plowed through with his story.

"Seven years ago, Satoshi and I lifted the curse. Riku and Risa helped… and we all broke the spell that bound Dark and Krad to us."

Danny tilted his head, trying to look into Daisuke’s eyes, but the older man’s face was obscured by his hair. “How did Miss Riku and Miss Risa play into this?” He asked, confused.

"Do you remember when I said Dark manifested due to my desire?" Daisuke glanced over briefly, before returning his gaze to the dark horizon. "When I was fourteen, I had a crush on Risa. She was the trigger than turned me into Dark. But she had rejected me, and fell in love with Dark when she first saw him on the news. And Dark, acting on some part of my subconscious or something, fell in love with Riku, and she was his trigger for turning back into me. Unfortunately, she thought he was a pervert and didn’t return his affections… and she had a crush on me."

"That’s… one heck of a love rectangle you’ve got going there." Danny commented with a quirked eyebrow. Daisuke merely chortled quietly. "So how did it end up that you fell in love with Miss Riku?"

"Dark… he reminded me, ‘I am you’, and pointed out that he wouldn’t have fallen for Riku if some part of me hadn’t liked her too. He saw Riku through my eyes—and that’s how he fell for her. So when I started getting confused about my feelings for Risa… I saw Riku through his eyes, and… well, in his words, we became rivals." Daisuke smiled fondly at the distant memory, though the melancholy that colored his voice and expression did not fade. "But then, with Risa, what started as a celebrity crush ended up becoming something much more deep and genuine… and eventually, Dark saw that she loved him regardless of what he was, and began to fall for her instead."

"The problem with the whole thing was that this was the first generation where Dark and his tamer had two different ‘sacred maidens’, as my mother called them. In the past, Dark would compete with his tamer for the affections of the tamer’s sacred maiden, and in the end when the maiden would choose the tamer, and Dark would become dormant. Because Dark and I loved two different girls, who each only had feelings for one of us and not the other… things got messed up. The curse’s reverse condition worked for Dark too, and no one even realized it because this had never happened before. If Riku had chosen me, while knowing about Dark, Dark would have disappeared like in the other generations. But…"

"…If Miss Risa chose Dark, what would happen to you?" Danny realized where this was going, and his eyes widened in shock, staring at his friend.

Daisuke was silent, not meeting his gaze. He stared stoically ahead, his lips tight.

"It was actually sort of peaceful, dying for a moment. If what happened could be considered dying."

"What happened?"

"There was this school dance… and I went with both Riku and Risa, since Risa couldn’t call up Dark and have him go with her. I let Dark use my body to dance with her, even if she didn’t know it was him, but… at this point, Dark and I were so… synchronized that when I realized I couldn’t tell Dark apart from myself anymore, I freaked out and ran.” Daisuke said softly, “Risa found me, but… I wasn’t me. I was Dark. And… at some point, Dark had taken over, and I was just… numb. I think Risa must have realized the truth of us, around that time—she was smart, and she had been through a lot, as Dark’s sacred maiden… it was only a matter of time before she put the pieces together. But she didn’t know everything. So when Dark asked her if she had chosen him… something happened. I guess it was the start of whatever usually happened every generation, when Dark was supposed to become dormant…”

Daisuke took a pause for breath, and he exhaled slowly before continuing. “Grandpa never told me what was supposed to happen, when Dark left… but I was sure that he asked his tamers in every generation, do you want to become one with me?" He closed his eyes, the former abyss of his mind flashing behind his eyelids. It was white… Dark stood before him, offering his hand. The words echoed in his mind. "They always answered no. But me… I think it was his way of trying to save me… to stop me from fading like he usually did, every generation. We didn’t know what would happen, since the tamer wasn’t meant to fade. And… at that time, I thought I couldn’t be without him anyway. So I said yes… and I was at peace with that decision."

He remembered feeling warmth, like he was immersed in an ocean… and he had wanted to fall asleep, even knowing he would drown if he did so in that ocean. But he had been okay with it. The warmth had been inviting and cozy, and he had never wanted to leave its embrace.

And then he remembered the cold, hard grip that had jerked him back into the biting air of the surface.

"We were merging—into what, I don’t know… but we were stopped. Satoshi… Krad had driven him to the point of breaking, and he was desperate. So he took a gun meant to kill Krad and Dark… and he shot me with it."

Danny gasped at this. The bullet wound scar—that was where he had gotten it?!

"It was a magic gun, a Hikari artwork made to kill other artworks. It didn’t kill us—I nearly lost Dark, but the bullet forced him into being dormant, since we were halfway to merging. Me still being there… it saved us. But I couldn’t hear him anymore." Daisuke clasped his hands together, fiddling with them anxiously, "Satoshi was so desperate to get rid of Krad, to end his curse… that he used that gun on me and Dark, and then on himself. He tried to shoot himself in the head, because if he couldn’t end Dark, he could at least keep me safe from Krad trying to. I think at that time, he was merging with Krad too, and it seemed like he didn’t know who he was anymore—he was halfway to giving in, but still strong enough to fight with all his power. I don’t know what was going on inside his head, but I know he was fighting… he still had the will to protect me. And he would have died trying to do that."

"…But he didn’t."

"No. I wouldn’t let him." Daisuke shook his head, "I wouldn’t let him lose to Krad, and I had realized… I shouldn’t have given in so easily, to the idea of fading from existence. It took Riku to put some sense into me."

Danny frowned. “Miss Riku?”

"She was there, for my confrontation with Satoshi… and she found out about me and Dark that night too. And, while I was scared at the time… I told her everything. I told Risa everything too, when I realized I couldn’t hear Dark anymore. She was worried about him, after all." The redhead sighed heavily, running his hand through his spiky red hair. "When they found out everything… well, to say the least, they were shocked and scared, and didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. I was so scared Riku would hate me for lying to her about Dark all that time, and she did… for a little while, at least. I gave her space, and let her think. Risa convinced her to help us through this, though. Risa—god, Risa was so strong. She wanted to help save Dark from whatever happened when I got shot, and to help me find a way to coexist with Dark too—so that he could, maybe, have his own body and be free of his four hundred year curse."

"What happened to Satoshi?"

"After Riku, Risa, and I got my family involved, Risa was the one who went to find him and talk him into helping us, and not committing suicide. I hadn’t realized how close friends they were, back then, but… you know, she was the only girl in the whole school that didn’t have a crush on Satoshi, besides Riku at least, and she didn’t take any nonsense from anyone, even him. She scolded him—she actually scolded him, even if he wore the face of a monster. I don’t think I’d ever seen Satoshi so shocked in his life. And… he listened to her.” Daisuke’s hands grasped each other tighter, and he stared down at them mournfully. “She got him to realize he wasn’t alone, and that… that made all the difference. The Hikari, in the past, tried to break their curse on their own. They had never asked for help before, and never thought to ask the Niwas for help—and this was the one generation that could have possibly changed the curse entirely, and that gave him hope. Risa… Risa changed everything, just by loving Dark back—and that made all the difference to Satoshi too.”

He sighed again and let his legs dangle, holding one hand over his heart once more, listening again for the steady rhythm inside his chest.

"After that… we had to save Dark, though we didn’t know what had happened to him. Riku was the one who saved him—because, after all… she was still the girl I loved. She was my desire. And when Risa finally talked her out of being mad at me, and trying to accept the whole situation, however crazy… she told me that she didn’t know how she felt about me anymore. And that rejection… surprisingly enough, it brought Dark back. It meant I didn’t successfully steal the object of my affections… and because she didn’t choose Dark either, it became like the first time I confessed to Risa and got rejected. Dark appeared."

Danny saw Daisuke begin to tremble, and he hesitantly put his hand on Daisuke’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “It must have been hard, hearing that from her.”

"It was. It broke my heart—but having Dark back, at least… quelled the panic I had been feeling a little bit, back then." Daisuke murmured, his voice strained, "I said it before, right? Dark was a part of my soul… and losing him was losing a part of myself. I couldn’t stand that."

"…"

Daisuke took a few minutes to recompose himself, and when he did, his entire body slumped, as if exhausted. “But even with a broken heart… even with Dark back… none of us could focus on our relationships at the moment. Our time was short—Satoshi was fighting hard, every day, to keep Krad under control… to keep himself in control… and we didn’t know how long he could hold out before Krad shattered his mind completely.”

The redhead felt Danny squeeze his shoulder again, and without realizing it, he placed his hand over Danny’s, squeezing back. Danny made no move to protest, and let his presence comfort his friend. “My family and everyone else… we spent days researching some sort of alternative. A way to separate the curse from the tamers. In the end… nothing worked, and Krad overtook Satoshi. Dark and I… we had to fight him.”

Danny held his breath in anticipation. This was the moment when Dark died, wasn’t it? And maybe Satoshi too…?

"It was a long, tough fight… but Dark was holding back. He didn’t want to use magic—it would have hurt me." Daisuke shook his head, "We were losing, though… badly. My whole body hurt, and—well, you’ve seen the scars, right? Krad didn’t hold back. He had nothing left to lose—Satoshi was the last Hikari, and he knew it was the end of the line for him. And he was so intent on taking Dark down with him."

Daisuke shut his eyes.

He remembered the white abyss, the bright red streams of his thoughts dancing warmly around them… and the phantom thief before him, his expression somber and guilty.

"And as we lay beaten… Dark decided he would end it his own way. He couldn’t let me die… he wouldn’t. And he decided he would save Satoshi too. Satoshi… or any of the Hikari… they never deserved what Krad did to them."

He remembered those eyes—violet-red and ancient and old. All of Dark’s youthful facade had faded. There was tiredness in those eyes—eyes longing for the end to come, waiting for the day where they could close in peace and never open again. The wistful maroon of someone else flashed there for a moment, and Daisuke could only stare back tearfully. Words were lost to him, and unneeded between them, because as much as he didn’t want Dark to go… he knew he had no right to ask him to stay.

"He used some magic to fight Krad off, and said his goodbyes to everyone. He said sorry to Risa—and while they knew that one word from her could stop him… she didn’t. And that was her choice—because she decided then that she wouldn’t choose him over what he thought was right. So she helped break the curse her own way—by letting him go and do what he needed to do. She had said, at that time, I love you, but I always want you to be free. That was all Dark needed. And then he did the one thing he knew would end the curse, once and for all, without putting me or Satoshi in danger.”

Daisuke took a deep breath, and held it for a moment.

"He asked Krad to destroy the Black Wings.”

He remembered Satoshi showing them where the massive artwork was, in trying to help them break the curse. It was hidden underground, along with so many other dangerous Hikari arts… and maybe Satoshi had known that the ultimate outcome would be its destruction, whether or not it would be by his own hand.

"Why didn’t he destroy it himself?" Danny asked quietly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hikari arts, especially ones of Kokuyoku's grandeur, can only ever be destroyed by their creator.” Daisuke said softly. “And… Krad was, after all… the Creator. He was the one who told me that only Hikaris could destroy Hikari arts. There was a reason Dark only ever sealed them, after all—he couldn’t destroy them if he wanted to.”

"…Did he do it?"

"Dark tricked him into doing it." Daisuke explained somberly, "Krad was insane at this point… out for blood, and unable to listen to reason. Dark told him that if he destroyed the Black Wings, he would destroy Dark once and for all. He wasn’t easily tricked though, because he knew destroying the Black Wings meant destroying himself. But Dark put himself up as a target—and when Krad attacked, he didn’t see the artwork behind Dark, and when Dark moved out of the way… it was destroyed.”

There was a pregnant pause, as Daisuke breathed in and out through his nose, his lips sealed tight together. Danny shifted his hand, squeezing Daisuke’s over his shoulder.

"And… it was over, just like that. Satoshi and I blacked out when we fell from the sky, and when we woke up next… we were home. Life after that, for a while… was a blur."

"…"

"Risa was pretty devastated by Dark’s death. She had gotten to say goodbye, but it didn’t seem like it was enough… She had wanted to save him. She understood why he did what he did… but I don’t think she ever accepted it. And I guess I was the same with her—I thought it was selfish, and we could have found a way if only we had had a little more time… but there was and still is no more room for ‘what ifs’.” Daisuke sighed dejectedly, “Riku was… shocked, by all the events… but she helped us through it. Even if we weren’t on the best of terms, I was grateful for her friendship… and eventually we did patch things up and get back together. Because she learned to understand… and she became our strength.”

"…What about your other friends? The, uh… the butler and the maid. You mentioned them before, that they were involved in this… Where were they in all of this?" Danny asked.

"Towa-chan and Argentine. They weren’t directly on the front line, but they had helped in trying to find a way out of the curse… and in the final battle, Argentine did help distract Krad a bit so that Dark had time to recover." Daisuke sighed, "But… they were Hikari arts. And a few months after the destruction of the Black Wings, the magic that kept them alive faded, and they died.”

"What… what do you mean? The magic faded?"

"Hikari arts are very connected to their creators—in this case, the ‘creator’ was the one at the start of it all, no matter who actually created the artwork. Krad and Dark were the essences of the first Hikari and the first Niwa—so when Krad died… the rest of the Hikari Arts were supposed to, too, with time. Towa-chan and Argentine were only living off whatever magic they already had left. It helped that the two of them were, in a sense, free from the Hikari clan’s ownership—Satoshi had freed Towa-chan when I promised I’d take care of her, and he had sent Argentine to us after fixing him when he… turned to stone and broke. So that saved them—and Satoshi told me, as their magic depleted, that he was the one keeping them alive all that time."

Danny smiled gently, sympathetically squeezing his hand to comfort him—to reassure Daisuke that he understood that these were painful memories for the older man. He doubted anything he could say would lighten the man’s mood or his heart, but he could try. And when he finally figured out what to say, he whispered, “…He really is kind.”

Daisuke nodded. “He was. He told me what happened that night the Black Wings was destroyed—he and Dark had apparently had the same idea, because for a moment… Satoshi had taken control and had been the one to destroy the Black Wings. And when he did, he and Dark had poured the last of Dark and Krad’s magic into connecting the Black Wings with every other Hikari art, so that when the Black Wings shattered… every other Hikari Art was magically sealed as well, in a sort of pseudo-destruction state.” He shrugged helplessly, “Satoshi had used his own power, after that, to keep Towa-chan and Argentine alive… because he knew that after losing Dark, I couldn’t lose anyone else. I couldn’t take that, not so soon.”

Daisuke let his hands drop to his sides, leaning back and looking up at the sky. Danny hesitantly followed suit, his hand returning to his lap. The moon had hidden itself behind some clouds, so it was just pitch darkness out there, aside from the patches of stars peeking through.

"When Towa-chan and Argentine found out, they told him to stop. They owed him so much already, for saving them, for letting them come to me so that they could be happy… and they knew that keeping them alive was shortening his life. So they told him to stop, even at the expense of their own lives." The forlorn tone Daisuke’s voice had taken on made Danny’s heart ache—because he quickly realized that this was the moment that Daisuke lost some of his closest friends, all at once. "Satoshi… he didn’t listen. He looked at me and told me that he owed me everything… and he would save them for me. And while he did lengthen their time… he reached the end of his, and I lost the only person who I thought would understand the empty feeling in my chest better than anyone else.”

There was silence. Danny stared up at Daisuke, who stared up at the sky unblinkingly. There was something off about him, but Danny couldn’t put his finger on it.

And then he realized.

"Thank you for telling me all of this, Daisuke… but that’s not your big secret, is it?"

Daisuke chewed his bottom lip, silent for several minutes.

"I… before the destruction, I saw Dark in my mind… he was facing me, and I realized what he was going to do. And I didn’t stop him—because… there was this look in his eyes. His eyes looked old, and tired, and peaceful. He had come to terms with what was going to happen—with his death—and he saw it as a gift. A chance to finally, finally move on… and then maybe, we could have met in the next life."

Danny wondered if there was such a thing as reincarnation at this point. Daisuke seemed to believe in it… and even if it didn’t exist, he wouldn’t tell the man otherwise. It seemed like he needed a little hope.

"Before, he just… he seemed so numb. He’s seen so much in his lifetimes, done so many things, lost so many people… I can’t compare, but I understand. Time will make you numb—and I’m well aware how numb I’ve become." Daisuke sighed quietly, "But when he saw this as the end… he was suddenly lively. He was hopeful… and he was happy—because for the first time in four hundred years, he could finally rest.”

There was a strain in Daisuke’s voice when he spoke next—his words came out choked and broken. Danny was alarmed to see a shiny wet sheen forming at the corners of Daisuke’s eyes.

"I wanted to be happy for him, but more than that, I wanted to be selfish—I wanted him to stay. I didn’t like his choice and I couldn’t accept it… and I don’t think I ever will. I couldn’t lose him—I didn’t know how to be myself anymore, and I had been okay with that as long as he was there—I thought I’d figure it out with time, as long as he was there to help me. But when he was about to die… he told me he was happy. He told me ‘thank you’, because I had made his final lifetime one of his best. And he wanted me to… to be happy and to live, and finally be normal. He said I was free now—that I didn’t have to steal anymore… so smile, he said. Because freedom was the best feeling to him… and he was about to feel that with his long-awaited death. He was going to be free from the curse, at last. He was happy.”

Big, round teardrops slid down his cheeks. He didn’t seem to notice, and Danny’s eyes never moved from his, concern gracing his expression but no words coming to his mouth.

He got the feeling that this was the first time Daisuke had cried in a long, long time.

"So… I smiled for him. And I didn’t stop smiling, because Satoshi and Towa-chan and Argentine all wanted me to smile too, for that to be the last thing they saw… and I didn’t stop smiling. I don’t think anyone ever noticed I didn’t stop." His breaths were coming shorter, but he still didn’t stop. A hiccup escaped his lips as he inhaled but he ignored it. "And it became so much easier to pretend I was okay, when no one noticed I didn’t stop."

"Daisuke," Danny said softly, "it’s… okay to cry." He paused, watching as Daisuke noticed the tears streaking his face for the first time, and his cheeks became bright pink. Danny smiled a little, speaking with more resolve this time, "It’s okay to cry."

Daisuke rubbed at his eyes, squeezing them shut. The tears wouldn’t stop, and he didn’t try to stop them—not really.

"I miss him a lot. I miss all of my friends. But most of all, I miss Dark. He was me. And that part of me… it died that day.” Daisuke gasped between hiccups, “And the rest of me feels like it wants to join him.”

"But he wanted you to live. Everyone did." Danny rubbed his back soothingly, "And… you want to live too, right?"

There was no answer, and Danny froze.

"…Right?"

Daisuke didn’t answer, hiccups and sniffles being the only sound that escaped his lips for several moments, and Danny started to worry when he didn’t get a reply.

And then, “Yeah,” he finally answered between sobs, sincere but broken, “I want to live. I promised I would. And I don’t know what I’ve been doing since they died… but I know I’m not living. I’m just running away and I don’t know what to do.”

"Dai—"

"Seven years, Danny. I’ve spent the past seven years in a daze, and I don’t know what to do.”

Danny had never seen Daisuke so vulnerable. He hadn’t stopped crying, and he hadn’t moved his hands from his face. He sniffled and sobbed, and despite his age, he looked for all the world to be the teenager he was when he lost his friends, no older than Danny himself. And Danny didn’t know what else to do, so he pushed himself off the building ledge to hover in front of the man. After a moment of indecision, he hugged him, awkward but gentle. He wasn’t good with this sort of stuff—Jazz was good at this sort of stuff. But Daisuke needed him now, and Danny would be there for him no matter what.

"You told someone how you felt. That’s a start," he whispered reassuringly, "It will be okay, Daisuke. I think you’ve been doing fine, even if you think you don’t know what you’re doing."

Daisuke’s arms came up, wrapping around Danny desperately, and he held onto the ghost boy tightly. He quietly sobbed, not saying any other words, and Danny let him just hold him, waiting for him to calm down.

It was ten minutes before Daisuke’s tears finally subsided, and he took a deep breath to gather himself, letting Danny go. Danny continued to hover in front of him though, in case he still needed to cry stuff out. But Daisuke sat there quietly, his hands clasped together awkwardly, his eyes not rising to meet his other’s gaze.

"…I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, Daisuke," Danny said slowly, trying to find the right words but none of them seeming good enough, "but I don’t think I can tell you what to do. You need to be honest with yourself and find that out on your own."

Daisuke looked up at him—vivid crimson eyes met neon green, and Danny stared for a moment.

Crimson… not maroon.

Danny offered a small smile, awkward and dorky in all his teenage glory. “I think you’ll be okay.” He said brightly but softly, “Just… let go of your obsession… and move onto the next life. Or whatever is next.”

"…Obsession… is that what I was feeling?" Daisuke murmured, averting his eyes almost shamefully.

"You kept holding onto those thoughts for so long… you keep thinking back to them, and you can’t seem to move on for real." Danny replied sadly, "I noticed, Daisuke. You’re like a ghost. That was your obsession."

"…"

"It’s up to you, really. But I’m here if you need me." Danny reached out, patting his shoulder gingerly.

For a moment, he thought Daisuke wouldn’t say anything—and for that dreadful moment, he thought that maybe Daisuke didn’t want to let go. That he was stuck, like most ghosts tended to be—and like most ghosts, he liked staying where he was, trying to fulfill an obsession but never quite reaching his goal.

But as he watched Daisuke’s expression, he saw the man’s tears, a few still escaping down the rivulets staining his face—and he saw the man’s lips, curled downward in thought.

He wasn’t smiling. And maybe that was a good thing.

"Thank you for telling me everything, Daisuke. I know it was hard for you, so thank you. It’s a lot to take in, though," the ghost boy gave a wry grin, "and a little anticlimactic. I expected your secret to be something totally criminal!"

To his surprise, Daisuke snorted. The redhead looked up with a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips. “I’m sorry for dumping all of that on you at once.”

"Nah. You were right though, about Dark’s story… it sounded like a fairy tale. I can see why you didn’t believe it, when you were younger." Danny reclaimed his seat next to Daisuke when he felt the man would be alright, grinning widely and hoping it was contagious in its genuineness.

Daisuke’s lips quirked up a little more, but there was no other movement. It was enough, though, because Danny could tell it was at least effort on Daisuke’s part. To smile like that… He’ll be okay.

"I’m sorry I kept you here so long… and for crying on you." He apologized awkwardly.

"Yeeeah, I gotta say that was a weird experience." Danny laughed, "Uh, don’t tell Sam or Tucker? They might make fun of me."

"My lips are sealed."

There was a moment of stillness, and the air felt lighter. Daisuke gave him that small but growing smile as his gaze mellowed in gentleness and affection. Gratefulness shone in his eyes as he wiped away his tears—and he finally stopped crying.

The silence was comfortable now, like it always used to be, except it felt warmer than before—as if they were sitting with family, or with their best friends as they went stargazing on the rare nights away from the city. It was peaceful and they let it linger for a few moments, trying to make it last.

The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, and Danny finally broke the silence.

"So wow, it’s really late. I doubt Tucker will be awake…"

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow. “Why would Tucker being awake matter?”

"Well I told my parents I was sleeping over at his place. And I kind of didn’t tell him, so I doubt he’d like it if I randomly crashed in his room for the night." Danny chuckled, "Well, actually he probably wouldn’t mind since this isn’t the first time, but I usually have to wake him up and tell him I’m there. I don’t really feel like interrupting his beauty sleep tonight."

Daisuke got the feeling that Danny was still worried about him—after all, the secret he confessed wasn’t exactly a comforting one, on the subject of death and living. He could tell the boy didn’t want to leave him alone after learning all of that—and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to be alone that night either.

Inhaling the crisp night air, he strained his lips to grin and tried to keep his voice light when he spoke next.

"My roommate’s not home again. You can sleep here if you want."

Chapter Text

Danny was exhausted. Somewhere around three in the morning, his ghost sense had gone off and he had gotten out of bed to deal with whatever had made it this far out of the portal. His mind still half asleep, he didn’t fully register his surroundings, and let his body go on autopilot to capture the hoard of slippery ectopi that managed to come this far out of city limits.

He had forgotten that he was spending the night at Daisuke’s. And he didn’t notice that, when he got out of bed, Daisuke wasn’t in his.

He collapsed back into bed in human form two hours later, after he put away the thermos he always kept on him, and didn’t wake again until an alarm clock went off at 8 AM.

He groaned in annoyance, burying his face in his pillow, his hand flailing around to find the blasted noise-making clock—before his movements abruptly came to a stop. He slowly lifted his head with a deep frown. The tone of the alarm clock was unfamiliar—an annoying periodic beeping sound rather than the consistent ringing he was used to.

His groggy blue eyes looked to the side to find himself in a plain, empty room, a black digital clock with glowing, blinking red numerals being the culprit that woke him up.

It wasn’t his room. That wasn’t his clock. There was another bed across from him, empty and unmade.

He shot up, alert, quickly rubbing the sleep from his eyes—before his mind caught up to him and he realized where he was.

Right… I’m at Daisuke’s. He relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief… before his muscles tensed again and he realized he was alone in the room. But where’s Daisuke?

He slowly got up, hitting the off button on the alarm clock as he passed it, going over to the other side of the room and looking around in concern. He wondered how long the redheaded artist had been up, since the alarm had obviously gone ignored. Was he even in the apartment?

He vaguely recalled the empty bed in the corner of his memory, and worry began to seep into his eyes as he realized Daisuke had probably been gone for hours. Where was he…?

Just as he was about to go check the roof, as that was Daisuke’s favorite thinking spot, he heard a soft voice drifting in from the kitchen, and relief flooded over him when he recognized it as his friend’s.

“…Un… ureshikatta desu, Risa-chan. Ukabarenakatta ga… ima…”

Though he could only catch snippets of what Daisuke was saying, and he couldn’t understand any of it, the older man’s tone was so filled with melancholy that Danny became worried again. Danny silently made his way over to the door, hesitating before he turned the handle as quietly as he could, peeking out when he was able to make a small crack.

Daisuke was sitting at his kitchen table with his back to his room. His shoulders were hunched a bit, his head bowed and leaning on one arm, and his other hand pressed his phone to his ear.

“Nn… shitteiru kagiri… ano hito no tama wa tengoku ni irun desu." Daisuke spoke quietly, his voice strained with sad hope. Danny’s lips tugged down as as he slipped into the kitchen, listening as Daisuke seemed to repeat himself. "Ureshikatta da, Risa-chan. Risa-chan mo… ano hito wa, Risa-chan ga ureshikute hoshikatta desu.”

He must have been talking to Risa, Danny knew that much—and as he came around to Daisuke’s side, he saw a sad smile gracing Daisuke’s lips. If Daisuke noticed him—which he undoubtedly did—he didn’t acknowledge him.

“Gomen, Risa-chan, Riku… ima made, boku wa anata-tachi ni iwanakatta desu. Demo, ima daijoubu desu—iimashita…" Daisuke closed his eyes, sighing. There was a pause as he listened to the other side, and he opened his eyes, looking confused. "…’Yakusoku wo mamotte hoshii desu’—tte? Riku, boku no yakusoku—”

He straightened his back a little, and found Danny’s eyes for the first time that morning. Danny stiffened a little upon seeing his slightly swollen eyes—he could tell Daisuke had been crying again, though by the looks of it he had stopped some time ago. After a moment, he waved awkwardly and offered a reassuring smile. Daisuke only nodded in return, and continued talking on the phone without taking his eyes off Danny… as if he needed the moral support right now.

It didn’t take much longer for Danny to realize that Daisuke had been telling his friends what he had told Danny the previous night.

“…Un. Yakusoku wo mamorimasu. Boku wa… iki nagaraemasu.”

There was a fire in his eyes, brighter than Danny had ever seen it before—and just a little bit, he thought he saw a spark of happiness.

Daisuke straightened and shifted his position so he was no longer leaning on his arm, looking down at the table and breaking eye contact with Danny.

“Mou osoi wa ne? …Un, oyasumi nasai, Risa-chan." He said softly into the phone, and then listened to someone talking for a while. He smiled lovingly as he did, and when he spoke next, his smile became less sad and more genuine. "Mochiron, Riku. Amerika kara kaeru to… sono koto wa hanashi aoimasu. Yakusoku wo mamoru kara. Riku ni kekkon shitai kara.”

There was a few moments as the other person—Riku, now, it seemed—replied. Daisuke’s smile widened in something akin to amusement before he said gently, “Oyasumi nasai, Riku," and finally closed his phone.

Danny stared at him patiently and a little curiously. Daisuke stared down at the phone in his hand for a while, before he met Danny’s gaze again. “Good morning, Danny.”

"Good morning," the black-haired boy replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "Uh… sorry for eavesdropping? Though I didn’t really understand you so it totally doesn’t count." He grinned, coming over to the table and pulling out a seat next to him. He coughed a little and changed the subject as he sat down, "Err, was that Miss Riku and Miss Risa?"

"Yes," Daisuke sighed, getting up and leaving his phone on the table, going over to the kitchen sink to wash his face, "I… I told my family and my friends everything."

Danny watched him for a moment, knowing it was probably fruitless to ask how it went, or if he was okay after that. His smile, though strained with effort, was mournful and real. It was enough of an answer for Danny.

"…How long have you been up?" He asked instead when Daisuke turned back to him, rubbing his still slightly pink eyes.

"Haven’t slept."

"Geez, and I thought I didn’t get enough sleep," Danny rolled his eyes, "That can’t be good for you, and I should know. Did you at least try?"

"Yes," Daisuke turned back to him and rolled his eyes in return, giving a wry smile, "And you? You were out for a long time last night…"

Danny blushed sheepishly. “Oh, uh—you noticed that, huh…”

Daisuke merely lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at him as if to say “you thought I wouldn’t notice?” and Danny blushed even more because, Right, Daisuke always notices.

"What was it this time?"

"Pod of ectopi." Daisuke raised his eyebrows and blinked at the half-ghost boy, and Danny immediately clarified, "Uh, a group of octopus-like ghosts? There were like a dozen of them, and normally they’re really weak and catching them is nothing, but these ones were fast and smart enough to have some keep me octopied while the others escaped, so I had to go chase them around and—"

"Did you just make a pun?" Daisuke interrupted, staring at him incredulously.

Danny paused, looked playfully thoughtful, then grinned and replied cheekily, “So what if I did?”

While this wasn’t the first time Danny had done this around him, it had been some time since the two had been comfortable enough around each other to relax and tell jokes. After all the serious business of late, it was an odd change of pace.

And Daisuke couldn’t help it—he laughed. Danny’s grin split his face as he watched Daisuke try to cover his mouth politely, and he was glad—even though Daisuke was still going through a hard time… his laughter reached his eyes, and there was a twinkle there that Danny knew he was blessed to be able to see.

"You don’t even try to be discreet about it, do you." The older man snickered behind his hand, shaking his head as he leaned on the counter behind him. "You’re terrible, Danny."

Danny was playfully appalled, putting one hand to his chest as if wounded. “Terrible? Me? How mean, Daisuke—you should know by now, puns are terrible on porpoise!”

Daisuke laughed louder again, shaking his head. “Sea animal puns, Danny? Couldn’t you have stuck with the octopus jokes?”

"I didn’t come very well-armed with those.” Danny admitted with a sly grin.

Daisuke snorted, shaking his head fondly as his laughter died down. “Keep this up and I’ll feed you an octopus for breakfast.” He crossed his arms in mock threat, meeting Danny’s mischievous eyes as seriously as he could.

Danny only laughed, because when Daisuke said that with such a straight face, it only added to the hilarity. “Speaking of breakfast,” Danny gasped between laughs, “what’s on the menu?”

Daisuke hummed and shook his head again, going over to the fridge and looking through it. “Whatever you want, really… I’ve got cereal and fruit… I could cook some eggs if you want, but I’m not really feeling up to cooking.”

At this, Danny sobered up pretty quickly, watching the slow and deliberate way Daisuke moved. “…I could cook, if you want.” He offered awkwardly, and when Daisuke looked over at him questioningly, he added by way of explanation, “You’re tired, right? Let me handle it—I’m mooching off you anyway, so I might as well help out.”

The redheaded college student looked like he was about to protest, before he noticed Danny’s slightly concerned look, and he sighed, closing the fridge door. “Alright. The kitchen is yours, my friend.”

Danny got up with a small grin, and Daisuke sat down in his previous seat at the table and watched the black-haired teenager curiously. He leaned his head on his hand and his elbow on the tabletop, his entire body sagging from exhaustion, but he still managed to keep his eyes open.

As Danny pulled the first pan he saw from the dish rack, asking where the oil and the spatula was as he moved around the kitchen to find said objects and get some eggs from the fridge, Daisuke idly remembered the first time he had invited Danny to eat here. Danny had said he could cook, hadn’t he? He never thought he’d actually someday get to taste Danny’s cooking, however simple it would be…

"So… how did they take it?" Danny’s voice broke Daisuke out of his reminiscence, blinking in confusion at the teen working over the stove. "I mean… your secret. About Dark’s last moments…"

Daisuke looked down at the table, his eyes drifting over to his abandoned phone. “My parents were glad… but I think they knew in their hearts already, that he was at peace. Risa… finally got some closure, I think. Real closure… not just accepting he was gone… but knowing he was happy. That was all she ever wanted for him.” He answered somberly, “And Riku… I know she didn’t care much for Dark. But she was glad to hear it… because… I guess she knew I was holding on to an obsession, like you said, and she was glad I could finally let go.”

"…Sounds like you’ll all be okay."

"Nn…" Daisuke nodded, "You were right, Danny. I was like a ghost… I won’t be anymore. And somehow, knowing this—deciding this… my spirit has become lighter."

Danny smiled a little, glancing over his shoulder to see his friend smiling too, but still staring down at the table.

"It’ll take some time… but it seems that I’ve got it, now. Time, that is. I’ll be alright." Daisuke lifted his gaze, just as Danny went back to focusing on cooking the eggs. He played with his phone idly, the conversation still dancing at the surface of his mind.

Danny scooped the eggs out of the pan and onto some plates, bringing it over. He blinked as he set Daisuke’s plate in front of him—the man seemed to be ruminating about something.

"You okay?" Danny tilted his head, going to go grab some forks and salt and pepper before he sat down again, placing the new objects on the able too.

Daisuke nodded absently. “I was just thinking about… well, Riku. Riku said back then that she wouldn’t marry me until I was alright—until I was completely over what happened. And no matter how much I said I was fine, she never believed me. I thought she was just being overprotective—she worries about me a lot, you know?” He glanced over at his blue-eyed companion, “But now that I think about it… even though she never said anything, I think she was the only one who saw through my smile.”

Danny nodded, remembering the way Riku looked at Daisuke in the short time he got to know her. He could tell the two had their moments—distrust, doubt, betrayal, and lies littered their past, from what Daisuke had told him, and sometimes it seemed like it was all still bubbling under the surface, waiting to boil over and burn them again. He had seen Daisuke worrying about that—about hurting her again by lying like he used to… but he had seen Riku worrying about Daisuke—about how he was hurting himself by putting on that fake smile.

Yet Riku hadn’t done anything—she hadn’t known what to do. What could she do but wait? So she waited—she waited for him to get better, on his own terms. And maybe that was all she could do… and maybe that was the right thing to do.

Because Daisuke was getting better now. Riku had heard it in his voice, and Danny could see it in his eyes. He was getting better now.

"…I’m going home next month. I hope then… I can smile a real smile, when I see her."

Danny froze, his eyes wide. Daisuke would only be here for another month? It seemed like such a short time…

Daisuke noticed this, meeting his eyes firmly. “I’ll… be alright, Danny. I think I can go home, now… without worries.”

Big, baby blue eyes blinked at the redhead, then smiled a bit. “Of course you’ll be fine. Why wouldn’t you be?”

Daisuke chuckled and shook his head, clapping his hands with an “itadakimasu!" before he picked up his fork and began eating the eggs Danny had fried for them.

Danny watched him for a moment before he dug in too.

They mutually decided to drop the subject, and when Danny spoke next, his tone was lighter.

"So… when’s the wedding?"

"We haven’t decided a date yet, but it will probably be next summer. I should send you and Jazz an invite." Daisuke grinned amiably.

Danny perked up. “Really? That could be cool. I did say I wanted to visit Japan, it could be a great opportunity.”

"And then I suppose our mothers can meet. You did mention you thought they’d get along, right? Now that I know who she is, though… Ah, did I ever tell you more about mine?"

Danny blinked slowly, chewing on his eggs thoughtfully. “You know, I think we both forgot about that.”

Daisuke chuckled, “Well. For starters, she’s definitely brilliant… but subtle, not so much—depending on what she’s working on.”

"I knew our mothers would get along." Danny laughed, "What does she do? Is she a scientist too?"

"She’s an art collector, obviously, but she does know a lot of engineering stuff… and I guess you could count her as an inventor, seeing as—" Daisuke stopped, his eyes widening for a moment. "Oh. I never told you about my house."

"Your house?" Danny tilted his head in confusion at the non sequitur.

"You know how your house has all these hidden panels and weapons that could harm a ghost?"

"Yeah. How did you—oh.” Danny lifted an eyebrow, “Right, of course you noticed.”

"My house—the one I grew up in… is kind of a thief’s death trap." Daisuke winced in remembrance, "My mother invented and built all sorts of traps into our house to train me so when I became a thief, I could get out of those kinds of situations… no matter how medieval some of the methods were. It’s a wonder no one else got hurt.”

"Ouch," Danny grimaced, "We’re more alike than I thought—crazy moms who build houses that could possibly kill their hero sons?"

Red eyes met blue, and they simultaneously shuddered as the same thought crossed both of their minds.

"Now I almost don’t want them to meet."

~~~

"You know, it’s a little odd, now that I think about it."

"What is?"

Daisuke gave the half-ghost teen a side-glance, watching as he transformed from Phantom back into Fenton and landed next to him.

"I don’t really hang out with this version of you so much, but I don’t really notice much of a difference when I talk to you." He mused, "Though this is the first time I’ve seen you transform… that’s odd too."

Danny blinked, then shrugged. “I guess I felt like being human today.” He said as he resumed walking with Daisuke, easily falling into step beside him and looking idly around the college campus. It was empty for the most part, since it was the weekend, and Daisuke had offered to show Danny some of his favorite spots.

As they passed a big statue of the school’s founder, Danny said, “And if anyone asks, Jazz convinced you to give me a tour to try getting me interested in college. It’s more inconspicuous than hanging around you as Phantom.”

Daisuke nodded in understanding. “That was the second ghost attack today, though… there usually aren’t that many out here.”

"I’m usually closer to the portal at home, so I can sense them right when they come out and stop them before they get too far." Danny explained, "I guess a lot of them try to get out of city limits before I can catch them… it’s not like I can’t leave the city, but it does make tracking them a bit harder when they’re further away."

"Ah. That explains the sleepless nights."

"Yeah…"

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow at the younger boy—while Daisuke was indeed tired due to not sleeping the night before, Danny seemed to always be exhausted. He suspected that his night at Daisuke’s was the most sleep he had gotten in some time—yet he didn’t seem angry or upset about his normal nights, like he was when he was younger.

Despite admitting that sometimes he didn’t want to be the hero, there was strength and resolution there that Daisuke remembered noting when he first saw those glowing green eyes. But now, even as a human—even in the weak and wimpy persona of Danny Fenton, and not the brave and courageous Danny Phantom… when Daisuke looked into those bright blue eyes, he saw someone much older than fifteen—at least in all the ways that mattered.

Yet… in other ways, Danny was still a child. And sometimes, Daisuke thought, children shouldn’t have to worry about being heroes or saving the world. Sometimes they ought of have the worries normal children had. He wondered if Danny had those same worries, too.

"So, are you interested in college?” Daisuke asked curiously. Those were the things most kids worried about, after all—get into college, get a good job, make money, make a life…

"Well, I do still want to be an astronaut. Though with my grades, I doubt I can do it… but if I did get into college, I wouldn’t mind at least taking up some astronomy, you know?" Danny shrugged. "But I guess I’ll worry about that when I get to it. I’m only fifteen, after all."

"I suppose. But don’t put it off too much, Danny—if it really is your dream, you shouldn’t procrastinate on it."

Danny blinked, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Daisuke grinned at him, then looked up as they wandered into another area of campus, toward his next favorite spot to hide or hang out at and study. There was a big brick wall in front of them, and Daisuke jumped up, grabbed the ledge of the wall, and effortlessly pulled himself over the top.

The black-haired boy below stared up at him in awe. “Dude, that’s like… ten feet tall. How did you…” He paused, then laughed. “Right, thief thing.”

Daisuke merely grinned, motioning with his hand as he crouched with impeccable balance on top of the wall. “Come on. It’s just on the other side.” He said, as if Danny hadn’t just pointed out that the wall was too high for normal people to jump.

Danny shrugged, looking around before he turned intangible, about to step through the wall when Daisuke chuckled above him. “No, come up here. Trust me on this.”

Danny’s eyebrows raised inquisitively, and he used his powers to fly up, grabbing the ledge and positioning himself on the wall like Daisuke was. He gave the older man a bemused look before looking out to the other side of the wall.

There was a large garden on the other side, filled with wildflowers scattered in colorful patches. In the distance, where the garden ended, he could see open fields and clear sky and clouded mountains. It took his breath away—it looked like a great place to just lay in the grass and bask in the summer sun.

Certainly, he couldn’t have gotten this view if he walked through the wall.

"I think this is the great part about being on the edge of the city. There are places like this on all sides of us." Daisuke commented softly, "There’s another spot where we can see the river and the bay. But I like this one better."

"Wow… that’s so cool." Danny breathed, looking back at Daisuke. "Are you gonna miss it, when you leave?"

"Of course. It’s nice and quiet out here. But I don’t think I’ll miss anything more than the friends I’ve made here."

Danny blinked slowly, staring at his friend. They sat on the wall quietly, looking out to the field, and Danny wondered what it would be like to fly over it. He most likely had, in the past—he just never noticed it before.

There were probably lots of places like this that he had missed because he was too busy enjoying the view of the sky—he had never thought of looking down before, or looking at the view like a relatively normal person would look at it.

"Hey Daisuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you teach me to do some of the thief stuff?" Danny asked innocently, looking over hopefully. "Not that I’m gonna steal or anything, but… it’d be cool, to get up to a place like this without my powers."

Daisuke chuckled. “I already taught you how to pick locks. Why not?” He grinned, “Though I don’t think we should call it ‘thief stuff’ in public. Maybe… ah, what’s the English word for that… parkour?”

"I’ve heard of that! It sounds awesome." Danny exclaimed with wide, childishly excited eyes, "Can we really?"

"We can start now, if you’re up for it." Daisuke stood up with a wide grin, standing on top of the wall like a balance beam, "Think you can keep up?"

Danny tried to stand up too, but he wobbled a little, attempting to keep as balanced as Daisuke was—how did he make it look so easy? “Uh… can I have a powers handicap?”

"Sure, but then I won’t wait up for you."

~~~

Danny was sore by the time he got home that day—and surprisingly, it wasn’t from any ghost fights. Jazz lifted an eyebrow and got a pack of ice for her little brother, looking up at the man who had helped bring him inside.

"What were you two up to, Daisuke?" She asked quizzically, curious.

"I showed him around my campus," Daisuke answered with a bright grin that gave away nothing. He and Danny exchanged a look, and Danny grinned back.

Jazz looked between them suspiciously, but didn’t say anything else, simply sighing and offering Daisuke a drink. Danny went upstairs to change, seeing as he was still wearing the same clothes from the day before, and Jazz gave Daisuke a pointed look. “It wasn’t ghosts, was it?”

"No, I promise." Daisuke shook his head, sipping his glass of water, "I was just… I needed some distraction today. Danny offered it to me by making me teach him how to parkour."

"Parkour?" Jazz blinked, then paused. "Distraction… are you alright?"

"Yes, Jazz. I’m fine now." Daisuke reassured her, "As for Danny… he wanted to be able to do something with his own power, I suppose—as Fenton. Today was a start."

"What do you mean? You’re not going to do it again, are you?" Jazz frowned. "He looked a little worse for wear."

"Well, I go out to practice every Sunday and some odd days of the week, and he’s of course invited to come." Daisuke shrugged, "He looks a little worn out right now, but that’s because he’s not used to it—he’s used to relying on his powers for everything. I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to learn to be able to do something as Fenton just in case he couldn’t access his powers."

"Oh—I suppose. There have been a few instances where he couldn’t use his powers…” Jazz said thoughtfully.

"Really?" Daisuke blinked, "Like what?"

Jazz opened her mouth to answer, but just then, Maddie and Jack came upstairs from the lab. Maddie frowned when she saw him. “Jazz, sweetie, you didn’t tell me we were having guests today.”

"Oh—I don’t plan on staying," Daisuke said quickly, "I was just dropping Danny off."

Maddie’s eyes immediately narrowed suspiciously, zoning in on Daisuke. “What were you doing with Danny? He told me he was sleeping over at his friend’s yesterday.”

"Jazz had convinced me to give him a tour of my campus," Daisuke replied easily, waving his hand in a placating manner, "I wasn’t aware he was sleeping over at someone’s house? He came over this morning and I took him around, told him a bit about college life, had some lunch, and took some pictures with him."

Jazz was impressed by Daisuke’s ability to lie—he didn’t flinch, shift around, avert his gaze, fiddle, tense up, or do any of the things that were tells for habitual liars. In fact, he didn’t break his gaze from her mother’s at all, speaking casually and confidently as if he had nothing to hide.

She caught onto his words quickly, adding exuberantly in her normal peppy voice, “Yeah! I thought Danny wasn’t so interested in college, so I asked Daisuke for a favor. Danny’s almost sixteen after all, he needs to start thinking about which colleges he wants to go to! What better way to get started than by talking with a real college student, right?”

Maddie bought the lie after a moment of contemplation, and she nodded reluctantly, “I suppose…”

"Wow! Well, thanks for goin’ through all that trouble!" Jack exclaimed, not suspicious of the young man anymore at all since their last meeting, unlike his wife, "I hope he was a good boy. Y’know, since ya went through all that trouble, you should stay for dinner, kid! And you can listen to me blather on about ghosts!"

"Oh, no, I don’t want to be a bother," Daisuke shook his head hurriedly, "And I really shouldn’t stay—"

Maddie seemed to have thought of something, because Jazz noticed the way her eyes widened and how she blinked and focused her gaze on Daisuke. Suddenly she was also insisting he stay, hastily agreeing with her husband, “Jack’s right! You went through all that trouble, at least let us repay you.”

Jazz and Daisuke exchanged a glance, both equally suspicious, having caught the curious tone in Maddie’s voice. Daisuke hesitated before sighing and answering, “If you insist…”

"Great!" Maddie smiled widely, "I’ll get started on dinner right away. Why don’t you go hang out in the living room? I’ll call you when it’s ready."

"Oh, boy, I can get started on telling you about ghosts, too!" Jack threw his arms around Daisuke and Jazz, all but dragging them to the living room, "And about my inventions! Guess what, I’m re-designing the Ghost Finder, since the old one keeps leading us to Danny for some reason…" He scratched his head bemusedly with one hand, accidentally allowing Jazz to slip out of his grip.

She gave Daisuke a pitiful, apologetic look, as he seemed to be struggling to breathe under the weight of Jack’s arm. When Jazz got Jack to let go, Daisuke took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, as far away from Jack as he could. The orange-clad giant was still rambling about fixing his invention, occasionally straying off with a proclamation to dissect every ghost he captured.

They were interrupted by Danny coming downstairs, and Daisuke shot the boy a desperate look as Jack invited him to join the conversation.

"Uhh—oh hey, is Daisuke staying for dinner? Oh man—Jazz, did you leave mom to cook? You know that always turns out badly! You know I think I’ll go help her yeah I’ll do that okay bye!" Danny hastily rushed out, heading into the kitchen to hopefully prevent their dinner from coming to life—and avoiding one of his father’s rants about ghosts again.

Daisuke inwardly groaned and Jazz rolled her eyes. Jack continued rambling, and after some time Jazz quirked an eyebrow as she watched Daisuke actually fall asleep sitting up. His eyelids had drooped and what was visible of his eyes was far away and not quite there, though Jack didn’t seem to have noticed. He had simply dozed off in a way that Jazz had seen Danny do before—generally after a long night of ghost fighting.

Jazz wondered if his exhaustion had anything to do with the “distraction” he mentioned he had needed earlier. She ignored her father and observed the sleeping redhead, hoping at the back of her mind that Daisuke would tell her what had been wrong, and let her help him if she could.

Nearly an hour later, Maddie finally called, “Dinner!” and Daisuke jolted up as if he hadn’t been asleep at all. Jazz wondered if he had really been faking it, or if maybe he was just resting his eyes the whole time.

They all made their way into the kitchen, where Danny had set up an extra chair at the table, and Maddie watched Daisuke curiously. He was polite—he waited for everyone else to sit first, was the last to take some food onto his plate, and quietly mumbled something—maybe a prayer?—under his breath before he started eating too. For a moment, the Fenton matron found herself wanting to ask if Daisuke was religious.

"So what were you talking to our guest about?" Maddie asked her husband instead, glancing over at him. She ignored Danny’s groan, since the kids not wanting to listen to their ghost talks was a normal occurrence. Now that she thought about it, he probably only offered to help her earlier to get out of that.

"I was just telling Jazz and the kid how I was recalibrating the Ghost Finder!" Jack replied enthusiastically, stuffing some steak and mashed potatoes into his mouth. He opened his mouth to speak again, but a stern look from Maddie made him swallow first. "It’s going to work like a beauty after I’m done with it! We might even be able to find Phantom!"

Danny shifted uncomfortably, and Daisuke and Jazz glanced at him wordlessly as he quickly and deliberately stuffed his face with a corn on the cob. They looked back before the Fentons could notice.

"I don’t know Dad, you know how elusive Phantom can be." Jazz pointed out casually, "I don’t think it’ll be that easy to find him."

"Speaking of Phantom," Maddie cut in before Jack could answer, "Daisuke—may I call you that?—have you seen it—him a lot lately?"

Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed a little, but otherwise he kept his face carefully neutral. So that’s why she wanted me to stay. “More or less,” he replied evenly, “We’re friends, after all. Why do you ask?”

"How can you actually be friends with a ghost?” Jack huffed, “Ghosts don’t have friends—they don’t have the mental or emotional capability to have friends, they’re just blobs of post-human consciousnesses.”

“Ghosts were once human,” Daisuke reminded him simply, sighing. He knew it was fruitless to argue, though. Maddie had opened her mouth to protest, and Daisuke pinned her with a sharp look. “Even if you think he can’t have friends, it does nothing to stop me from thinking of him as one. And I really don’t appreciate that you’re trying to use me to get to him or find him, especially since you’re doing it in such a roundabout way. So don’t dodge around the subject—please ask me straight, if you want to know something.”

The table was silent. Jazz and Danny stared at Daisuke, impressed that he had stunned their parents into speechlessness.

Maddie slowly put down her fork, locked in a staring contest with the art student. After a while, the intense red began to unnerve her, and she cleared her throat, looking over at her husband before she looked back. “Alright then. Tell me about Phantom.”

"Mom," Jazz frowned, not looking in Danny’s direction but knowing how extremely nervous he was, "can you not talk about ghosts at the table for once? Especially since Daisuke is my friend, you really shouldn’t be bothering him about…"

"It’s alright," Daisuke shook his head, nonchalant as he went back to eating. "I don’t know what you want me to tell you. If you want my opinion on him as a ghost, all I can say is that he’s different from the kinds you’ve published books and papers about."

"How can it be different?" Jack scoffed, "Phantom’s the most stable ectoplasmic entity we’ve ever seen, sure, but it acts on its obsessions and causes havoc just like all the other ghosts."

"Surely that can’t be the only thing you’ve noticed about him." Daisuke glanced at Maddie, as she seemed to be the more observant of the ghost hunter pair.

"Well, it is definitely powerful, more than it should be for such a young ghost, though we don’t know exactly how old it is." Maddie started, then paused. "You wouldn’t happen to know, would you?"

Daisuke hesitated for a moment, glancing at Jazz and Danny, though the flickering of his eyes was so quick Maddie barely caught it. “It’s rude to ask that to a ghost, too, but I think he’s been around for about two years.” He finally answered, mostly honestly. He kept the attention on him, at least, so the Fentons didn’t notice Danny squirming nervously.

"Well, then I was certainly right to think it’s an anomaly in that respect, since it can take on ghosts apparently much older than it without much trouble." Maddie observed. "It’s also able to elude hunters and homing devices very well somehow, and I’ve seen it even get past ghost shields…"

"He’s also able to think freely," Jazz pointed out, "adjust to changes in his environment, unlike other ghosts, and respond accordingly to different situations. Not unlike regular people."

"It’s not a person, Jazz." Jack frowned, "Right Danny?"

Danny flinched. “Uh… I don’t know? I mean, he seems like one. I see him a lot around the school and stuff, and he’s pretty friendly. He acts like a regular kid, and he protects us.” He mumbled hastily, rubbing his neck.

"He has the psyche of a growing teenage boy, Mom, Dad," Jazz cut in before more attention could be drawn to her brother, "He’s not just a blob of post-human consciousness that’s unthinking and unfeeling. It’s obvious he thinks and strategizes and plans and adapts, just like humans do. He’s been known to feel pain, and he shows it. He also reacts to other people’s emotions towards him in a human manner, and he can obviously enjoy human companionship, seeing as Daisuke is friends with him."

Maddie looked at her daughter calculatingly, taking in her words but not really believing them, just as she did in the past whenever Jazz tried to convince them that ghosts had psyches.

"Ghosts are evil, Jazz. It’s only doing those things as an act, to trick people like you into thinking it’s good." Jack frowned at her.

"But his behavior is consistent!" Jazz protested, a fiery passion burning in her eyes. "Even you have noticed that—"

"If I may," Daisuke interrupted, speaking up for the first time in a while, and when everyone turned to look at him, he was looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Jazz, I understand that you’re trying to appeal to your parents’ scientific minds, but I must wonder if it’s not possible."

"What do you mean?" Maddie narrowed her lavender eyes at him.

"Scientists are always discovering new and strange things, are open to new ways of thinking and progressing past old ways. Science isn’t just about proving theories, it’s about improving them." Daisuke’s gaze fell back to the Fentons, calm and unwavering, "But it seems that, unlike scientists, you aren’t very open to accepting the odd and strange and different as a great opportunity to study something new."

Maddie and Jack looked appalled. “Excuse me? That’s why we’re trying to capture ghosts, to study them!” Maddie protested.

"Yeah! To find new ways to rip them apart molecule by molecule so we can protect humans against them!" Jack added.

Daisuke gave them a pointed look. “Phantom seems to be doing a good job of that without destroying anything or anyone.” He mused, “Are you trying to study ghosts to find a way to protect humans, or are you doing it to prove your own outdated theories that all ghosts are evil and must be contained or destroyed? Are you doing it out of a sense of justice, or a natural fear?”

Maddie and Jack exchanged a glance, then stared at him—as did the Fenton kids. Danny’s mouth was agape, his eyes wide and frightened as he worried about where Daisuke was taking this conversation.

"You’ve already admitted that Phantom is an anomaly. But instead of trying to understand him, you’re trying to fit him in with your definition of ‘ghost’ and making up excuses when he doesn’t. Scientists aren’t normally so set on current data—when new information comes along, they usually change the theory to fit the data, or come up with a new hypothesis." Daisuke tilted his head at the pair, "If you were really in this to protect humans, then you would be focusing on the other ghosts, and not trying to destroy the one ghost that has managed to do well at what you haven’t—just because you think he’s one of them.”

Danny held his breath and glanced his parents’ dumbfounded expressions. Daisuke really did have a way with words, didn’t he. He didn’t think Daisuke would ever do that again, after the first time didn’t work. But would he reach them this time…?

"Alright, if you think it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the ghosts so much," Maddie started slowly after a moment, "what do you think it is? It’s obviously an ectoplasmic entity, and it even acknowledges itself as such."

"Well, given his behavior, I don’t think he quite fits the profile for being a ghost," Daisuke gave an amused smile, glancing at Danny for a moment as he stiffened. Jazz eyed him curiously as he continued, "but why does he have to be a ghost? Surely if ghosts exists, other beings can exist too."

"Of course it’s a ghost," Jack rolled his eyes, "What else can it be?"

"Personally, I think… with how much he’s saved me," Daisuke closed his eyes with a soft smile, "that he might be an angel."

Maddie stared at him, not noticing the way Danny and Jazz seemed to relax a bit and smile too. There was something about Daisuke that seemed so genuine, and even Maddie found herself questioning whether he might be right. Could angels have existed? Could it be true?

"Do you believe in angels?" She heard Jack asking, still sounding a little incredulous. Maddie perked up, curiously awaiting the young man’s answer.

"No." He replied nonchalantly, surprising everyone in the room—even Danny. "But he makes me want to believe in them."

Maddie and Jack fell into silence—and Maddie looked like she was seriously considering revising her theory about Phantom. Danny was the first to break from his shocked stupor, going back to eating and finishing his meal quickly to hide his jittery nerves. Daisuke followed suit at a more relaxed pace, as if he had simply been interrupted from his meal to talk about the weather instead of life-changing scientific hypotheses. Jazz gazed at him thoughtfully, matching his pace so that they finished eating at the same time.

“Gouchisousama deshita," Daisuke murmured, breaking the somewhat awkward quiet of the room. The Fentons’ eyes snapped over to him, and he smiled coyly. "Ah, that is—thank you for the meal. If you don’t mind, I should probably leave soon… I didn’t plan on staying out this late, after all."

"Oh—right. Alright then," Maddie said, shifting uncomfortably, "Erm… thank you again for taking Danny out today."

Daisuke nodded, politely excusing himself—and Danny quickly got up and blurted out, “I’ll go show him out,” and followed after his friend.

The Fentons didn’t say anything, only nodded a little in acknowledgement. Jazz quietly left the table too, leaving her parents behind and tailing her brother and friend to the door. Danny and Daisuke were there, talking in quiet tones. She only caught the second half of their conversation.

"…I wasn’t going to tell them about hybrids, Danny. It’s your secret—you can tell them when you’re ready," Daisuke was saying, "But… you should tell them. Maybe not now, but someday."

Danny heaved a relieved sigh, running a hand through his jet black hair. “I know. And thanks—I really hope you got through to them this time. Maybe they’ll become okay with Phantom, and… it’ll be easier, at least, to tell them that way.”

Daisuke gave a small smile. “In the meantime, work on your lying skills, Danny. You gave away too many tells tonight.” He patted the boy’s shoulder, “Didn’t you trust me?”

"Of course I do!" Danny huffed, "You’re just… really hard to read, all the time."

Daisuke chuckled a little, looking over at Jazz, who was staring at him quizzically. “Your lying skills aren’t bad, though.” He commented.

"I’m studying psychology, it’s my job to know how those things work," Jazz smiled in return, "I don’t really understand what happened tonight, but I feel like I should thank you too."

"It wasn’t anything I should be thanked for." Daisuke tilted his head. Then he shrugged, taking a step down from the porch. "Well, I’ll be off then. Thanks for having me."

"Wait, Daisuke," Jazz called out, and Danny looked up at her curiously as Daisuke turned back to them. "You’re alright, aren’t you?"

The redheaded college student blinked slowly, then smiled reassuringly—if not tiredly. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just been a long day, and I haven’t slept.”

"You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?" Jazz pressed, "Like… you know you can call me and talk to me about anything, right?"

Daisuke nodded. “Is that what you’ve been worried about all night? I’m sorry for worrying you, Jazz, and thank you for your concern. But I’m fine, I promise.” At this, he turned his smile to Danny, and Jazz could see gratefulness in his expression. “I now know what it’s like to relieve myself of the burden of a secret, after all. So… I’ll be fine.”

Danny nodded in understanding, smiling back gently. “Go get some sleep, Daisuke. See you later, alright?”

Daisuke nodded, bidding the pair goodnight and heading home, disappearing into the darkness of the evening. Jazz looked at her brother curiously, tilting her head. “What did he mean by that?”

"He told me one of his closest-kept secrets, Jazz. I don’t know if I have the right to tell you, but…" Danny trailed off, turning to go back inside, but he paused as he put his hand on the doorknob. "I can say this: Daisuke is in mourning right now… but he’ll move on. He really will."

"At last, huh." Jazz nodded, looking down the street where Daisuke had disappeared to, "Danny… is that what he meant, when he said you saved him?"

"Maybe. I really don’t know. But I guess sometimes, saving people doesn’t just mean beating up the bad guy."

Danny knew Daisuke was fully capable of saving himself in most ways. He had never saved Daisuke in the way he normally saved the people of Amity Park. Daisuke had needed a different kind of saving—but nonetheless, just like everyone else, Daisuke had needed a hero too.

"Sometimes by just being there, you can save someone’s soul."

Chapter Text

Danny found Daisuke asleep for once, when he went to visit in the evening after patrol. The man is curled up in his bed, blankets clutched loosely around him, his eyes shut with no sign of opening any time soon. He shivered when Danny phased into the room to check on him, but otherwise didn’t stir.

And the ghost boy smiled a little, glad to see his friend getting some rest—most nights, he’s not even sure if Daisuke ever goes to sleep, after he leaves. He’d never seen Daisuke sleep, and though Daisuke claimed to be more of a night person due to how he grew up, Danny suspected that there was more to the reason he went to bed late and got up early than just his circadian rhythm being forever skewed.

But as he was about to phase out of the room and leave, a small whimper reached his ears, and he stopped. He turned and looked—and though Daisuke hadn’t moved, Danny wondered if he was awake now.

The white-haired teen lifted an eyebrow as he turned slowly back to face his friend in the bed, frowning deeply—thinking that maybe his previous suspicions might not be too far off.

Daisuke’s eyes were squeezed shut more than before, and his hands grabbed blindly at his blankets, bringing them closer—curling up tighter. And then Danny suddenly realized that maybe he had stopped to check on Daisuke out of more than just friendly concern—subconsciously, he must have noticed that Daisuke wasn’t exactly sleeping in the most relaxed of positions. And as this thought was brought to consciousness, Daisuke turned over violently, as if trying to escape his tangle of blankets to run away from something… or perhaps, chase after it.

"Daisuke," Danny whispered gently, reaching out a white-gloved hand to shake his shoulder a little.

Daisuke tossed his head, not waking, tears beginning to gather in small drops at the corners of his eyes. Danny’s green eyes widened in alarm, and he shook a little harder.

"Daisuke, wake up!" Danny whispered more urgently—the man was having a nightmare, and a bad one, it seemed. Though Danny had never seen Daisuke sleep, or even knew he had nightmares, he knew that this wasn’t normal—he had pegged Daisuke to be a light sleeper, someone who would wake at even the slightest disturbance in the air. “Daisuke!”

It was like he was trapped now, though—something was trapping him in his dream. And though a rational part of Danny’s mind reasoned that it was just a normal nightmare, with nothing supernatural involved, the more dominant and currently irrational part of his mind was too worried about his friend to care.

Daisuke was thrashing more now, and Danny couldn’t think of anything but waking him up no matter what—if he kept this up, he’d probably hurt himself.

Which was why, without really thinking about what he was doing, he turned intangible and dove into Daisuke’s mind.

Danny had only overshadowed a few people before—generally, the people didn’t remember what happened when he overshadowed them, unless he let them. But whenever he overshadowed people before, he could hear their voices, sometimes arguing back at him to get out of their heads—and he was really hoping Daisuke would be one of those people. If not, at least Danny would get to see the glimpses of whatever his current thoughts were, and see if he was alright.

And he blinked owlishly when he didn’t find himself snapping Daisuke’s eyes open and forcing his body awake—instead, he found himself looking into a dark gray expanse of nothingness, silver fog swirling around him.

"D—Daisuke?" Danny called out uncertainly, unsure of what was happening. Normally he’d be looking through someone else’s eyes by now, seeing things from their vantage point. But all he saw was the rolling fog, and he almost flinched when he thought he saw something black and slimy-looking shifting under the fog a few feet in front of him.

Was this Daisuke’s nightmare? Was he seeing Daisuke’s dream?

At the back of his mind, he found himself commenting, Huh, so that’s what happens when I overshadow someone who’s asleep.

He saw no sign of his redheaded friend, and he stood there feeling completely lost and a little disoriented. Where was he, exactly? Was he seeing Daisuke’s dream from his perspective? Was that why he couldn’t find him?

The darkness moved beneath his feet again, and he stepped backwards instinctively. It had been closer, and from what he could see, they seemed to be tentacle-like tendrils of darkness, smokey and gaseous and mingling with the silver fog so seamlessly that he could barely tell where the two colors separated until the black moved.

He frowned, taking a deep breath—though it seemed he didn’t need to breathe in here—and shook his head. It wasn’t anything scary, and he berated himself for feeling the slightest tremble at the moving shadow. Nothing could hurt him as long as he had his powers to back him up. He could take on anything that came his way, especially since it was just a dream.

And it was then that he noticed, as he looked down at his hands to reassure himself, that his hands were bare.

His arms were bare—his shirt was too loose, and—that curtain of black framing his vision seemed a lot more obvious now.

When had he turned back?

He looked up and around at the silver fog, more tense now. As he tried to call up that familiar cold that meant protection and power, the only chill he felt was from the air around him. It was almost suffocating, penetrating his senses as panic rose—and the cold from within did not heed his call.

"D… Daisuke?" He called out again, nervous now. He could definitely understand why Daisuke had been having a nightmare now—this place would probably drive him insane if he stayed too long.

That inky black tentacle reached out of the sea of gray again, larger than before, and Danny stayed deathly still, as if hoping it wouldn’t notice him, whatever it was. But it just made its arch and sunk back into the ground, dissolving into black mist.

Danny didn’t relax even as it went away, but he couldn’t help but chide himself for being afraid. He had faced way scarier things than some fog tentacles… or whatever they were.

"Daisuke," he dared to call out a little louder this time, sucking in a breath through his teeth, "I’m… here."

That’s right—he was here because he had been worried about Daisuke. Because Daisuke had been having a nightmare…. and nightmares meant that, no matter how well Daisuke tried to pretend he was these past few days, he wasn’t okay.

But…

"It’s okay… I’m here." His tone was more resolute this time, and he clenched his fists tightly as he stared ahead, as if daring the darkness to come out once more.

Danny felt an ominous chill behind him, and instinctively whipped around to face it—but all he caught was a shadow moving through the fog. At first he was relieved because it sunk into the silver and vanished like the others, but then he realized the shadow had been shaped like a human.

"Daisuke…!"

And then he finally got a reply, but it wasn’t the one he was expecting.

"…Dark?"

Danny was both relieved to hear the voice, because it was Daisuke’s, but perplexed because of what he said—and where was it coming from, anyway?

"Wait, don’t go—"

He heard footsteps echoing behind him, soft and crunching slightly as if they were standing on freshly fallen snow, and he turned around.

There Daisuke was, his pace slackening as he approached, before he finally stopped a few feet away, staring blankly down at the black-haired boy before him.

Red-rimmed eyes told Danny everything he needed to know.

"Sorry," Danny said softly, his gaze matching his voice. He stared up at Daisuke, tilting his head back a little—Daisuke seemed to be on higher ground, at the top of some slope Danny hadn’t even realized was there. The redhead couldn’t have hidden his tears, at the angle Danny could see him at; and Daisuke didn’t bother to, except for rubbing at one of his eyes to clear the wetness on his cheeks.

"I’m not him… but I’m here anyway." Danny told him as gently as he could, and he could almost hear Daisuke’s heart sigh in disappointment.

But it wasn’t too much—and something warm filled the cold air as Daisuke let out a real, audible sigh and nodded at the younger boy. He crouched, holding out his hand and offering Danny some help up the steep slope. Danny gladly grabbed his hand and let himself be hauled up—he couldn’t find a foothold, he realized when he tried.

When Danny was on the same level as him, he looked behind him and realized that he hadn’t been on lower ground at all—he had been in a hole. A very large hole, judging from the diameter of the black that peeked through the fog. He wondered just how deep the hole went, before deciding this was a stupid line of questioning and abandoning it.

Daisuke finally spoke to Danny when he turned away from the hole—but Daisuke himself was still staring longingly at it. “What are you doing here?”

Danny grinned at him. “Like I said,” he replied simply, “I’m here. For you,” he added for good measure.

"…I’m not dreaming anymore… right…?" Daisuke muttered, as if to himself, and he seemed unsure, his voice hidden under his breath. He didn’t look up to find Danny’s eyes, but his gaze was almost calculating, and a little confused. "You’re real."

The black-haired boy grimaced a little. “Uh, yeah, I’m real. You were having a nightmare, and wouldn’t wake up, so I kind of… overshadowed you. Sorry about that, by the way.”

Daisuke shifted his exhausted red gaze to the younger teenager, staring blankly at him.

"Hey, you did offer, once."

Daisuke gave a tiny, wry smile and shook his head. He went back to looking at the hole. “So it was you…”

"What?"

"I… I was having a nightmare… about Dark leaving. It was an old one, but… that dream always scared me." Daisuke shivered a little, not meeting the half-ghost’s gaze, "There was this old, long corridor, and I have no idea where it is or why I dream about it, but I’d see Dark walking in front of me, and he wouldn’t turn back, even when I tried to chase him and reach for him…"

Danny blinked at him, wondering why his voice suddenly seemed older, deeper, more tired… it was as if here, wherever here was—and Danny wasn’t sure this was still a dream for Daisuke or not—Danny could see the raw scars time had left on him, making him older than he was. Actually, Danny could see actual scars on Daisuke, since he was wearing a loose white tank top. The cut on his arm seemed whiter, the peeking of the bullet wound seemed more pronounced, and what Danny could see of the wing tears, crawling just past his shoulder blades to his collarbone, seemed a lot more angry and red.

"And just when I’m about to reach him, someone would grab me from behind and pull me back… and they’d hold me so hard, I think I suffocate." Daisuke sighed, his hands coming up to his throat almost protectively, "I was having that nightmare… where I was suffocating… and I thought I would die, and Dark wouldn’t come back even to save me… but then, suddenly… I’m here. I’m safe… and it was you. I heard someone call my name… and it was you."

Danny blinked slowly, and then reached out and touched Daisuke’s shoulder, as if to reassure him, or maybe both of them, that he was there. “Hey… we’re friends. I’ll always save you. I promise.”

Daisuke smiled gratefully at him, as if realizing exactly how meaningful that promise was. Danny never broke his promises after all, and—as he soon realized—this was the first one he had ever really made to Daisuke.

The red-haired man pulled the younger boy into an abrupt hug, and Danny made a startled, awkward sound before he returned it wholeheartedly. When they pulled back, Danny looked around again as Daisuke rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, trying to clear away the rest of the tears.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw more of those black tendrils sweeping themselves under the mist. The fog was lighter here, but still an unsettling dark gray, and blue eyes found themselves cast warily toward the hole.

"Hey Daisuke?" Danny asked cautiously, "Where are we, anyhow? If you got out of your nightmare from me being here… is this a dream?”

Daisuke blinked slowly at him, looking around as if noticing for the first time where they were. “Not—really? Sort of. We’re in my heart.”

Danny opened his mouth to speak again, but could only find himself gaping dumbly. Daisuke chuckled a little sheepishly. “Ah—that might not be the right translation for this place… perhaps… soul? Spirit? Mind? Something like that.” He shrugged awkwardly, “I’ve always only ever called it kokoro. That means ‘heart’ in English, I’ve learned. But I suppose that’s not right… at least, not completely.”

"This place is…" Danny finally managed to find words, closing his mouth as he looked around. "…You’ve told me about this place before. This is the place you threatened to throw Plasmius. It also kind of explains, well… this." He motioned to the whole of his body, looking down at his bare hands and his t-shirt and jeans and sneakers.

Daisuke nodded solemnly, motioning to the hole, “If you’re not careful… you can drown, here.” He said quietly.

Danny glanced at the hole too, before looking back at Daisuke. “I was fine,” he assured his friend firmly, “though the weird shadow things did scare me a bit. What were those?”

"The darkness of my heart, obviously," Daisuke managed a small smile, "It’s… a little more physical here, than in most people’s. Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you."

Danny pondered that for a moment. Physical, actual darkness in a person’s heart… he wondered if his was similar. Or maybe it was because it was Daisuke, who had grown up with special circumstances running through his blood his entire life, unlike Danny.

"…Magic?"

"Probably."

Danny looked around again, watching the silver fog roll by, thinking that despite the few lashes of darkness here and there, crawling along the floor… it was a little peaceful. “Yeah, I can definitely see why Vlad didn’t wanna get stuck here. No offense—but it seems like the kind of place he’d hate.”

"None taken," Daisuke managed a weak chuckle, "I’m sorry you had to come in here, though… but thank you for worrying about me. I really appreciate it."

Danny nodded with a grin, before something above him caught his eye. He tilted his head up, squinting at the little, distant ball of red flame. “What’s that…?”

Daisuke looked up too—a look of surprise crossed his features before his gaze fell back to Danny and his eyes softened a little happily. “Well, if this is the sea,” he made sweeping motion with his hand, cutting through some of the fog, “then I suppose… that is the sun.”

Danny blinked at the metaphor, looking at the redhead in confusion. “The sun?”

Daisuke gave a genuine smile. “What else could cut through the darkness?”

~~~

Danny came to check on Daisuke the next night too. He wasn’t sleeping this time, but perched on his usual spot on the roof.

"Hey. How’re you holding up?" Danny asked when he flew up.

"I’m fine. Thank you for asking." The older man smiled at him, nodding at the seat beside him. "And sorry again, for worrying you yesterday."

Danny drifted into his usual spot. “Hey, what’re friends for.” He grinned, leaning back casually—but Daisuke didn’t miss the way his eyes searched him, as if for lies.

Daisuke may have been an excellent liar, but Danny was getting better at reading him.

"…So do you get nightmares often?"

"Straight to the point, hm." Daisuke mused, looking up at the stars, "Not in the past few years, no… sometimes, maybe during those times of the year when they died, the nightmares came back… but in the past few days… I keep seeing him. Dark, that is."

"You miss him, a lot, don’t you. Jazz says that’s natural, to keep thinking about him… it’ll help you get past your mourning, I guess." Danny shrugged, "But… it was just a nightmare, right, Daisuke? That thing where he walked away… that didn’t happen, right?"

He was your friend, wasn’t he? Would he really leave you behind like that…?

"No," Daisuke shook his head, "not in that way. But… I guess… it still happened."

"…But he looked back, didn’t he?" Danny asked with a light, almost innocent tone.

Daisuke gave him a wide-eyed, startled look all of a sudden. “What?”

"You told me, with that secret you kept close to your heart… Dark said goodbye. He looked at you and smiled." Danny clarified, "That means… even if he was walking away in the end… at least he looked back, right? Not like in your nightmare."

The redhead stared at him, then smiled softly and nodded happily. “Yeah.”

They were quiet for a while—Daisuke looked back up at the stars longingly, as if in reminiscence, and Danny still watched his friend with lingering concern.

The silence was comfortable, like it always was. The spring was warm now, and it was a nice night to be stargazing, not a cloud in the sky.

"Did he ever make you a promise?"

Daisuke was startled by the question, but he didn’t show it other than the slight shift in his expression. “…Plenty. But the jerk never kept them unless he benefited.” He snorted.

"…Did you promise him something?"

"…"

"…Daisuke?"

"I promised I’d change things… I said we’d have coexistence. I didn’t keep my word, mostly." Daisuke sighed, "More than anything… I wanted to keep it. But then, at the end… I promised I’d smile. And until recently, I haven’t kept that promise, for real, either."

"You’re beginning to. It’s a start," Danny patted his back, "And hey, if it means anything… you’re pretty good at keeping promises. You won’t let him down."

Daisuke glanced over. “How do you know?”

"You haven’t broken a promise to me yet," Danny grinned toothily, "I trust you."

Daisuke blinked at him. “Promises are important to you, aren’t they?” He asked, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips—Danny’s grin was contagious.

"Hey, I meant it when I said I wouldn’t turn into my evil future self, I meant it when I tried to have a better Christmas last year, and I meant it when I said I’d save you, Daisuke." Danny’s green eyes burned resolutely, "I don’t like breaking my promises. They’re important to me… just like the people I made them to."

Red eyes flickered between the green, shining with something he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Hope.

"Then they’re important to me too. And I promise, Danny… I’ll do the same. If you ever need me, I’ll protect you. I’ll save you too."

Chapter Text

"You’re kidding."

"Nope," Danny sighed, taking a bite of his sandwich, "He’s been so overworked and stressed and stuff lately that he actually got sick.”

Tucker snickered, shaking his head. “Man, I didn’t think that sort of stuff actually happened to, y’know, people. I mean, you haven’t gotten sick like that yet and you’re the epitome of ‘overworked’.”

Sam hit him in the shoulder and rolled her eyes, ignoring his petty whine of pain. “So… he asked you to come help him pack?”

"Yeah, he wanted to get a head start so he wouldn’t have to worry about it so much when he does have to go, and a lot of his stuff needs to be mailed home anyway since taking it on the plane would cost too much. Stupid airport fees and all," Danny explained with a shrug. "But since he got sick, well—I didn’t want him to do it all by himself, you know? He needs rest. So Jazz and I were gonna head over after school. Want to come too?"

"Well, hey, we can go to the Nasty Burger any other day. Why not?" Tucker grinned. "It’s been a while since we saw him anyway."

His raven-haired friend chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure he’d like to see you too.”

Sam forked some salad into her mouth and nodded in agreement. “It’ll probably get done faster with more of us there. I’m in too.”

"Cool. Jazz is driving, so let’s meet at the parking lot after school then."

~~~

“Achoo!" Danny winced at the loud sneeze that managed to sound itself even through the door. He opened his mouth to call out and see if Daisuke was okay, but the door opened a moment later, and a red-nosed Daisuke blinked dazedly at the group before him. Danny grinned sheepishly. "Hey. We brought backup."

Sam and Tucker waved in greeting, though Tucker took a noticeable step back. Daisuke smiled tiredly at them in return. “Hisashiburi da ne. Youkoso." He commented quietly, then looked at Jazz and Danny, stepping aside to let them all in. "Sorry for troubling you to come help me," he said in a nasally voice, his words more accented than normal, "Welcome—please come in."

Jazz grinned at him, “Nah, it’s nothing.” She waved dismissively, coming inside, followed by the other three teenagers. “We’re glad to be here.”

Daisuke closed the door after them, nodding. Sam tilted her head at him, “What was that thing you said before?” She asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh—um…" Daisuke blinked, blushing, "I just said it’s been a while, and welcome."

"Daisuke tends to slip back into Japanese when he’s worried or tired," Danny grinned, and Daisuke blushed even more in embarrassment. He was, evidently, used to this.

"So," Jazz clapped her hands just as Daisuke sneezed into the crook of his elbow again, and she paused to give him a quizzical look. "Where do we start? You know, with the packing?"

“Anno,” Daisuke scratched his head thoughtfully, “Uh—Tucker can start in the kitchen if he wants,” he said slowly, “I’ve just been packing up my room, so that’s not been done…”

"I’ll help him," Sam volunteered, "I get the feeling he’ll drop all the sharp objects on his foot." She grinned when her friend gave an indignant squawk. "Is there anything you want us to leave? I mean, since you’re still going to be here for a few weeks…"

Daisuke shook his head, “It’s fine, I have been using disposable utensils and plates, and mostly eating takeout lately.” He admitted, pausing to sniffle loudly, “All the stuff not marked with red or purple handles or colors is my roommate’s though, so you should leave those alone.”

Sam blinked. “Red or purple?”

Daisuke shrugged, “I like those colors.” He sneezed twice, sniffled loudly, then pulled his sweater closer around him. “Uh—there’s boxes in my room.”

"I’ll go get them for you. Hopefully the Box Ghost won’t show up and take them," Danny commented, heading into the room without much protest from Daisuke.

Jazz lifted an eyebrow at how comfortable he seemed in this place, and how comfortable Daisuke seemed to be with having him, but she supposed it was natural since Danny visited every other day or so. Mostly at night, but still.

"Have you been resting, Daisuke?" The redhead asked her friend, glancing briefly at Sam and Tucker, who looked around curiously—this was their first time here, after all. Jazz had visited once before, back when they were starting to become friends, but hadn’t had much time to visit since then. "Did you take medicine?"

"Of course," Daisuke snorted, just as Danny came back with an arm full of medium boxes. "I even slept in today… a little. I still had to get up and study you know."

"Don’t overdo it. I know finals are coming up, but you have to take care of yourself first." Jazz chided lightly.

"So, uh," Danny interrupted, setting down the boxes, "I see your roommate is home."

Daisuke coughed, then chuckled when he abruptly remembered said roommate in the other room. “Right, sorry. I normally don’t know when he comes and goes, but he does live here too, so…”

Danny grinned at him then shook his head. “No, it’s okay. It was kinda awkward for a minute there, but he kinda just stared at me then went back to sleep. He seems like a nice guy!” He joked jovially.

Jazz blinked in confusion. “Who sleeps at four in the afternoon?”

"He has a hangover, I wouldn’t blame him." Daisuke explained, "Though he can sleep through a bullhorn, so don’t worry about waking him up with too much noise." He looked over at Tucker and Sam, who watched their exchange curiously, shooting amused glances at their black-haired friend. "Well, why don’t we get started then. Jazz and Danny can help me in there—if you need anything, just ask."

Tucker nodded. “Sure, man. Though it sounds like your roommate has the right idea. Take a nap or something if you need to!”

Daisuke smiled at him serenely, nodding. “I will. Thank you for your concern.” He turned and led the two Fentons into the room, ignoring that Danny called over his shoulder, “play nice!” and that his friends rolled their eyes at him in return.

Jazz looked around Daisuke’s room thoughtfully—half of his art supplies and easels and the like had been put in the boxes against the walls, it seemed, though a few clear bins of pastels and paint tubes lay scattered about on top of the piles and stacks of cardboard. Daisuke’s closet was open, and a suitcase lay half-packed at the bottom, while some of his clothes were still neatly on their hangers. His desk was a mess of books, loose papers, a few sketchbooks, and his laptop, and the trash can next to it was filled to the top with crumpled and used tissues. In the other, almost untouched side of the room, a man lay with his back facing them and his blanket pulled up over his head to block out the light, snoring gently. 

"I, um… I’m sorry for the mess," Daisuke muttered sheepishly, "I would have asked Tucker and Danny to help me, since they seem more okay with messy rooms, but…"

Jazz’s eyebrows lifted inquisitively, but Danny’s raised in surprise, before he laughed and shook his head. “But he’s totally a germophobe and doesn’t like being around sick people,” he finished for the redhead, who nodded in confirmation. “Man, even when you’re sick you notice!”

Daisuke grinned half-mischievously, sniffling and wrinkling his nose a little as if to hold back a sneeze. “Um… yeah. So, I guess you guys can start with my bookshelf? I don’t really need those books to study, so it can all go in the boxes. A—achoo! Oh—sorry.”

Jazz and Danny nodded, grabbing a box and heading over, while Daisuke blew his nose on a tissue and then went to attempt to clean up his desk and organize it in some fashion. “So what finals do you have?” Jazz asked while she began taking the largest textbooks from the bottom shelf, arranging them at the bottom of the box she had placed between herself and Danny. Danny seemed more interested in looking at the titles of the books than actually helping to put them away, but he placed them in the box too when he realized he couldn’t read the Japanese characters.

"Oh, you know, history, physics, my final art project, the like…" Daisuke replied absently, "I’m almost done with my final art project. I still have to paint the foreground in one piece, and touch up the details in the other, and I haven’t even started the final part of the trio…."

"You still have a few weeks, don’t worry about it," Jazz giggled, "Though you better invite me to the showing—you said your professor was going to put them up in the classroom and do a walk-through, right? Like a museum?"

"Yes—it should be on a Saturday, so it shouldn’t interfere with your school." Daisuke shuffled his papers together after putting them in order, "Danny, you can come too, if you want."

"Wouldn’t miss it," Danny replied simply, still looking through the books one by one before he put them in the box. There was a pause in the conversation, and Daisuke blinked at the too-long quiet when he expected Danny to say something else.

"Danny?" He looked over, grabbing a tissue to wipe his leaking nose before he fully turned to face the pair of siblings.

Jazz looked over too, when she noticed what Danny had become so interested in. There were a couple of magazines that the Fenton pair knew all too well—Amity Watch, Paranormal Digest, Parapsychology Journal—though what really caught their eye was a relatively thick textbook… with their parents’ names on the cover.

The Ghost Zone, Ectoplasmic Entities and their Natures, and if they Exist by Jack and Madeline Fenton.

Jazz blinked slowly. She looked up at Daisuke. “I know you said you did research on Amity Park before, and read my parents’ published works, but I didn’t think you actually kept them.”

Daisuke blushed, looking away. “I might have picked up my dad’s research habits, I suppose.” He shrugged, blowing his nose before throwing away the tissue.

Jazz gave him a small chuckle and shook her head, going back to packing the shelf. Danny, however, was still staring at the magazines and textbooks bemusedly.

Daisuke watched him for a moment, slightly muddled thoughts trying to figure out what the boy was piecing together. After a moment, Danny stood up and came over, absently sitting down on the bed next to his desk, flipping through a few of the magazines he had placed in his lap.

Jazz rolled her eyes at him and continued her task. “You know, if you wanted to see what Mom and Dad said about Phantom, there is an archive of those magazines in our house.” She commented, “Dad likes to keep the ones they’re published in, you know that.”

Danny shrugged. “Doesn’t look like I’m in most of these ones. I haven’t seen them before.” He replied, though he looked up at Daisuke briefly. Daisuke sat at his desk, unmoving except for the occasional sniffle or cough, his eyes distant but focused on his young friend.

After flipping a few more pages, noting the places Daisuke had marked with stickies, Danny finally asked, “Hey Daisuke? Why did you read about ghosts when you first got here, anyways?”

Daisuke blinked owlishly at him. “Well… I wanted to know the town I was going to be living in. And if it really had ghosts.” He answered thoughtfully, though the way his voice cracked between the sentences made Danny narrow his eyes calculatingly.

Jazz had stopped and looked over at them, a similar expression on her face. Most people want to know if ghosts are real. He just wanted to know if there were ghosts? Then again, he did say he’d seen ghosts before he came here…

"I guess I was interested in knowing more about them—they’re different from the ones I’d seen before." Daisuke shrugged uncomfortably, looking back at his desk and pushing his laptop to the side slightly so he could organize his papers and sketchbooks next to it. "Of course now, I suppose, I know much, much more about them than I originally intended."

Daisuke, despite not actually looking, didn’t miss the way Danny’s eyes softened, before the boy made a grunt of acceptance at the answer, and went back to Jazz’s side to pack away the magazines.

Jazz looked between them in confusion, wondering what just happened. Danny had obviously realized something about Daisuke’s answer, but he didn’t say anything—and, she knew, he nor Daisuke needed to. She sighed, a little disappointed she didn’t have the same mutual understanding with Daisuke that Danny had, but she supposed it was natural—she was Daisuke’s friend. But Danny was someone Daisuke held dear.

He still had trouble letting people into his heart, and she shouldn’t have been envious knowing that.

~~~

The two Fentons finished packing up the bookshelf, then packed up the art supplies Daisuke didn’t need for his final pieces. And with little else to do—most of Daisuke’s personal belongings were going to be packed later and his furniture needed bigger boxes than what they had available—they went to help Sam and Tucker in the kitchen.

Sam and Tucker were almost done, though mostly distracted by bouts of arguments, so Jazz decided to take a break and sit down at the table. Danny went to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of soda in there, along with some plastic cups, pouring some for the four of them.

"Are you sure it’s okay to do that, Danny?" Sam asked him, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve done it lots of times before, and Daisuke doesn’t drink much soda anyway so he said I could always help myself—plus he’s sick, he’s probably going to stick to the tea." Danny replied easily, then paused. "Though I have the sneaking suspicion he only gets the soda because he knows I like it and I come over a lot."

Tucker laughed, grabbing a cup and taking a large gulp. “Hey, that’s like how my mom gets the really nice salads and fruit for Sam when she knows she’s coming over, or like how Sam always has those milkshakes we like!”

Sam chuckled too, “Yeah, and you guys always help yourselves. I guess this isn’t so weird—you really are friends with Daisuke, after all.”

Jazz raised her eyebrows at this, wondering if there was ever a doubt in their minds. Then again, they used to not trust the man.

"Hey Danny?" Jazz spoke up, "What was up with your curiosity with the books earlier? You’re never usually that interested in those things, especially when we have them at home."

Danny blinked, then shrugged. “It’s nothing. I just realized how much Daisuke had changed since I met him.” He said vaguely, earning confused looks from all his friends. When Jazz pressed him onward with her curious and demanding stare, he sighed and said, “The books were a little dusty. He hadn’t touched them since he got them, I guess… and he didn’t need to.”

“‘Cause he had you?” Tucker guessed.

Danny shrugged, “Maybe.”

He glanced over at the bedroom door, where Daisuke was now standing—the others hadn’t noticed him come into the room yet. The man’s soft red gaze locked with his baby blue, and he smiled an exhausted smile at the half-ghost boy.

He cleared his throat roughly, then made a face and spit some mucus into the tissue in his hand. The others turned to look at him, half surprised they hadn’t known the sick man was there.

“Etto… if you’re done in here, I just printed a bunch of mailing labels. Do you want to help me tape them on?” He asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Of course," Jazz nodded, getting up to follow him into the room and get the labels and some tape to seal the boxes with.

"We’ll finish up in here!" Tucker jumped up, going back to the last cabinet he and Sam were looking through before they sat down to have soda with Danny.

Sam and Danny exchanged a look, the latter shrugging before getting up to help his friend. Sam sighed, sipping her soda one last time before joining them, looking through the cabinets under the sink to see if Daisuke kept any of his things there.

They spent the rest of the afternoon helping Daisuke finish packing and taping up the boxes to be labelled and shipped. At some point, Daisuke’s roommate had woken up, and after Daisuke introduced them to him and they talked awkwardly, he joined them for dinner. Daisuke called for some delivery pizza, to treat them to dinner for helping him, before Jazz took them home for the evening.

Danny stayed behind, quietly telling his friends that he would do a little patrol of the city before he went home, and promised Jazz he’d try to make it back before curfew.

After helping Daisuke clean up his apartment a bit more, and Daisuke’s roommate left—probably to go out drinking again or something—Danny finally got to speak with Daisuke privately.

"Jazz is worried about you."

"I know—Risa tells me as much. They talk over the webcams a lot." Daisuke sighed, clearing his throat of some mucus. "I’m alright, though, I promise."

"I know you want to keep your secrets, well, mostly a secret still, but… Jazz is your friend too, isn’t she?" Danny frowned, "I know you’re getting better. But Jazz wants to help you like I know I do—and… well, you know, she doesn’t have many friends. And she doesn’t want to let down the few she does have."

"She’s not letting me down."

"Because you’re not depending on her." Danny replied back with a sigh, "She’s better at this… emotional and psychological stuff than me, you know. You could talk to her, even if you don’t tell her anything."

Daisuke shrugged helplessly, sitting down on his bed and pulling his blankets around him. “I’ll… try.” He conceded, “But don’t get me wrong… it’s not that I think she’s not trustworthy. I just… don’t want to talk about it. It was hard, with Riku and Risa and my family… and it was harder still, with you. I don’t want to do it again.”

He shook his head solemnly, sneezing twice and making a face as he snorted snot. “I’m really sorry, Danny, that I keep depending on you to help carry my burdens, when you have plenty of your own.”

Danny sighed and sat down in Daisuke’s chair across from him, his hands braced patiently on his knees. “Hey, what’re friends for, remember?” He shook his head. They were quiet for a moment, before Danny finally piped up again. “Did you ever figure out what you needed to, from your research?”

Daisuke’s gaze fell into his lap. “Not particularly. Your parents, experts as they are, don’t seem to realize exactly how or why ghosts are formed.”

Danny snorted, shaking his head in agreement. “So when you told me you didn’t want to know…?”

"…I’d come to the conclusion that the universe didn’t want me to find out."

Danny gave him an amused look at this. “You chose Amity Park to do your exchange with that motive in mind, huh.”

"Partly. I wasn’t lying before about Tennessee or Kansas," he shrugged, sniffling loudly.

"And now…?"

Daisuke’s red gaze locked on Danny’s rare soft blue as he contemplated the answer to that trailing question. At the back of his mind, he decided that he liked the otherworldly green better, but the blue was like a treat and he loved those too.

He made up his mind.

"I honestly don’t want to know, now, really… and I suppose I don’t need to," Daisuke sighed contentedly, giving his friend a meaningful, gentle smile.

"I might have come to Amity Park hoping to find out if my friend became a ghost. But I think I much rather prefer the ghost that became my friend."

Chapter Text

Daisuke lifted an eyebrow when he saw Danny phase through his window, a slump to his shoulders and a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

The white-haired ghost boy drifted over to Daisuke’s bed—as usual when they weren’t on the roof—and promptly transformed, letting the rings of white light wash over him, before gravity took hold and he flopped unceremoniously onto the covers.

Daisuke slowly lowered his paintbrush, turning to face his young friend. His eyes trailed over the boy, whose face remained buried in his pillow, looking for any sign of injury—but he found none, save for a few bruises.

"Long day?" He finally asked, tilting his head in concern.

Danny gave a muffled grunt, lifting his head to stare tiredly at the red-haired college student. “It’s one of those days I feel like quitting.” He admitted weakly, then let his head drop back onto the pillow.

Daisuke was silent for a moment. He placed his paintbrushes in a cup of water, then made his way over to his desk, pulling his chair out and sitting down in it next to the bed.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked gently, a memory flashing through his mind for a moment—a certain angelic boy had said that to him before when he was still getting used to the idea of an enemy-turned-friend. His voice had been so dry and slightly amused, yet knowing and sympathetic, and Daisuke couldn’t help but want to laugh at his response back then. It wasn’t too different from Danny now.

Danny sighed heavily and shifted, sitting up and propping his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. “Do you know how hard it is to be a hero when I’m trying to keep my friends from getting hurt?” He asked miserably, averting his baby blue eyes from Daisuke’s aged red, “I know they want to help me, but sometimes…”

"Sometimes you have to choose who to save, and you’re afraid it can’t be them someday."

Danny looked up at the other man in surprise, while said man just stared calmly. “Um—yeah, sort of,” he shrugged, “I mean… I really do want to keep them safe. They mean the world to me. But I know them, and I know me—if I was forced to choose between saving Sam and Tucker, or saving the whole school or the whole town… even if I wanted to choose them, they would tell me to save everyone else. And I’d do it.”

Daisuke smiled a little sadly as he watched the boy lament his troubles. “Oh Danny… you really are the kindest person I know.” When Danny gave him a perplexed look, he shook his head and shrugged, “I would have chosen to save my friends no matter what. I’m a little selfish like that.”

Danny let his gaze drop, and he clasped his hands in front of him. “Yeah, well… I’m a little selfish too. Sometimes I think that if I quit, they will too, and they’ll be safe… but that’s not like them. They’re as much of ‘Danny Phantom’ as I am… they’re the reason I’m a hero. They’re heroes too. They wouldn’t let me quit… and if I did, they’d still go on and try protecting the town from the ghosts. Sam especially—she’s got a huge righteous streak.”

"And then you’d be back in the game, trying to protect them, because they don’t have your abilities or endurance… and you don’t want to lose them." Daisuke reached out, placing his hand over Danny’s clasped ones. "You know… maybe you should tell them this. I’m sure they’d be more careful, or stop going after you so much, if you told them how you felt…"

Danny shrugged helplessly. “I know. But, like I said… they’re heroes too. And stubborn—”

"Just like you, apparently."

Danny snorted, a smile finally tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked back at his friend as the redhead withdrew his warm hand, and shook his head. “I am not.”

"You’re insisting you can’t reason with them. They’re your friends, Danny, and they would understand if you just told them," Daisuke said firmly, "Besides, I’m sure they really do think they’re helping, because you do constantly complain about all the ghosts. I know that I would help too, if I thought it would lessen your burden.”

Danny blinked. “What happened to not joining my ‘ragtag team of ghost busters’?” He asked, amused.

"I said I would help, not take up a job." Daisuke chuckled, "I don’t, because I know that I’d just get in the way—I’m not as experienced, nor do I want to end up being someone else you need to protect on the field."

The black-haired boy’s lips quirked in another smile at that. “Glad to know you don’t think you’re invincible.” He shook his head to clear it, “To be honest, I sort of forgot you weren’t.”

Red eyes blinked slowly. “I did not think I was so immodest as to give off that feeling,” said the redhead thoughtfully, grinning when Danny’s smile grew.

The boy shook his head, trying to explain, “It’s just—so far you’ve been able to take care of yourself pretty well—I mean, you held up against Skulker, and Spectra! And Vlad!”

"Only a handful of encounters, compared to the ones you have every day." Daisuke tilted his head, leaning back in his chair, "You, and your friends. They must think they’re very good at ghost hunting, if you’re worried they think they’re invincible."

Danny sighed, flopping back on the bed. “…Yeah…”

"…Danny?"

"I’ll talk to them," Danny finally conceded, "because, well… geez, as much as they give me strength, and make me feel like I can do anything—like I can be invincible too… seeing them get hurt is like a huge wake-up call. I mean, I can heal, but it doesn’t mean I don’t feel that, you know? And… they can get hurt, and they can’t heal like that. I can get hurt, and if I’m busy trying to protect them… I do get hurt. And then they feel guilty, and then I think I should just stop and quit and—”

"Danny."

Daisuke’s voice broke the rant mid-way, and the blue-eyed boy sat up to look at his friend again, confused by the gentle yet firm tone.

"They’re fine now, right?"

"Y-yeah," Danny sighed, "nothing too bad happened—it was just a close call today, but… I hate those. I always worry about if I’ll get there in time—if I can reach them in time to save them, if something did happen…"

Daisuke was quiet. He heard exactly what Danny wasn’t saying—I worry I’ll trip over a rock and I won’t be good enough to save them.

"You’ll be okay." Daisuke reached out and patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Do you want me to help you talk to them?"

Danny shook his head, blue eyes meeting red. “Nah—I’m not gonna chicken out, I swear. I mean, I appreciate it, but—you’re right. They’re my friends, and they’ll listen. Er, well, hopefully. Depends on Sam’s righteous streak I guess.” He chuckled weakly.

"Ah, yes, when she wants to save the world, she’ll stop at nothing when she puts her mind to it." Daisuke shook his head, letting his hand drop as he stood up. "Well, my offer was and always is still open—if you need help, in anything, just ask for it."

Danny nodded, watching as Daisuke went back to his stool—he supposed that was the cue for the companionable silence, the unspoken invitation to help himself to whatever drink Daisuke had in the fridge, but the silence didn’t feel quite right tonight, still laden with his earlier despair.

Well, he was the one who brought the mood here, he might as well be the one to lighten it. He shifted to sit more comfortably on the bed, perched easily on the edge. “So how’s your cold doing?” He asked after several moments of trying to think of what to say while watching Daisuke paint.

"I’m still sniffling every now and then, but it’s nothing a little medicine won’t fix in a day or so." Daisuke grinned amicably over at him, "Thanks for asking."

~~~

Daisuke sneezed, frowning as he paused to properly blow his nose and throw away the tissue in the nearest trash can. He continued on his way to the convenience store to get more medicine—he had run out, which was probably why some of his cold had returned.

Still, it wasn’t as bad as before—except for some congestion, he was fine. He could think fine, at least, which meant he had to get back to studying, but the sneezing was definitely distracting. So, maybe taking a break and going out to get more medicine would be more productive, he reasoned.

But now, he paused, because his nose twitched at the sudden coolness in the spring air—the reason he had sneezed in the first place, really—and his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he searched for its source.

The cold was more noticeable when he was sick. And it was too cold to be Danny.

The hum of small jet engines reached his ears, and he cast his gaze upward. There was nothing—the ghost must have been invisible, then.

He cautiously slowed his steps, trying to focus on his surroundings and not his sniffling, trying to pinpoint the source of the distant hum. Intangible and invisible ghosts still made noise, after all—though why was there the buzz of fired up machinery?

And then he realized why.

"You’re probably the loudest ghost, you know," he said to the thin air in the general direction of his left side, "It’s a miracle you haven’t scared off your prey more often, with the sound your hover pack makes."

There was a surprised sound, and then a laugh. “Impressive! You will make fine prey indeed!” The ghost jeered, appearing just to the right of the place Daisuke had been looking. He gave a wide metallic grin, the net-launcher popping out of his arm aimed right at the man.

"Skulker," The redhead said steadily, unafraid, frowning deeply, "You’re usually after Danny. What are you doing here? I thought I told Vlad that I never wanted to see his minions again."

"I’m not here on orders," Skulker growled, "I’m making due on my promise."

Daisuke blinked in confusion, thinking back and trying to remember what Skulker was talking about. It didn’t take long—they had only met a few times before, after all. “Oh—oh, well, that’s… disturbing. I didn’t think you were actually serious about making me the first human in your collection.” He said nonchalantly, making a disgusted face, “But I guess that’s okay that you’re not here to enact some sort of evil plot for Plasmius, then. Otherwise I’d have to do some extra work—and I really don’t feel like doing that,” he sighed in exasperation, earning a confused look from Skulker.

"You should be less calm under such a threat, human pest," his eyes narrowed, "or do you think you can escape? That the ghost boy will come for you? I assure you, he’s busy. Humans have their school after all.”

"Well, I’ve never been caught yet—by hunters or otherwise." Daisuke shrugged, "Good luck trying."

Skulker’s green eyes sparked at the challenge, and the whir of his net-launcher powering up filled the air. “You seem to have forgotten you’re at a disadvantage.”

Daisuke dodged deftly to the right as the net shot past him, the glowing bolas tangling on the ground behind him. “Oh? I don’t think having ghost powers on your end is an advantage.”

"No, I’ve been watching you—a good hunter always stalks until the right moment to pounce." Skulker smirked, firing two nets in succession.

Daisuke ducked one net—the other flew harmlessly by him, since Skulker had fired it with the expectation that he would dodge to the side again.

Skulker raised his other arm, aiming a tranquilizer from his finger as he continued, “You’re sick. And sick humans… well, I normally hate easy prey, but that will make it easier to catch you.”

"Couldn’t take me at my full power, huh?" Daisuke merely grinned cheekily, twisting out of the way of the tranquilizer, only for the net from the other arm to catch him by the elbow. His eyes widened as the force of the shot net kept his momentum going, causing him to spin half-way before falling. "Ku—”

Another net, fired rapidly after the previous, was suddenly engulfing him, and he tumbled across the ground, entangled in the glowing green threads.

"Ah, this is bad, isn’t it?" He mused calmly as he tried to untangle himself, but a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Skulker with a wide, manic grin as he aimed the tranquilizer at Daisuke almost point-blank.

He laughed, “Humans—so pathetic. No matter. You will make a fine bait for the ghost child, as well, human pest. Now sleep!”

Daisuke only smirked grimly in response, a glimmer of hope in his fiery red eyes, before the world went black.

~~~

"Danny, have you seen or heard from Daisuke today?" Jazz asked, fiddling with her cell phone and not looking up as her brother as he came into the living room with his two friends.

"No, why?" Danny blinked. Sam and Tucker exchanged a glance, shrugging before plopping down on the couch next to Jazz—Sam put her feet up, dropping her backpack on the floor.

"I haven’t been able to reach him by call or text. I was going to invite him to movie night with us, but it keeps going to voice mail." Jazz hit another button, then looked up as Danny whipped out his phone and tried to call Daisuke.

He waited a few moments, then frowned. “I got voice mail too.” He reported, pulling his phone away from his ear as he tried to text message his friend next, “That’s weird… he loves phone calls, I’ve never seen him not pick one up.”

Tucker blinked, taking out his PDA and typing stuff in it. “Oh yeah, didn’t you tell us that his face just lights up like a kid at a candy store, when he gets phone calls?”

"Either he likes the people calling, or he’s just excitable in general." Sam giggled.

"A bit of both, I’ve seen him even excited to say hi to telemarketers." Danny sat down on the couch arm, frowning down at his phone, "Maybe he’s asleep? No, he’d wake up after both me and Jazz called. He’s not a heavy sleeper…”

"Can you maybe go check on him?" Jazz asked, tossing her phone on the table in defeat, "I’m worried…"

"Eh, sure, I guess I can fly over to his place and see what’s up—"

"He wouldn’t be there." Tucker said suddenly, and his friends looked at him in confusion, "Actually, he’s not anywhere in Amity Park, it looks like. Or in the surrounding areas."

Jazz’s mouth gaped open in bewilderment. “How do you—”

"I just tried to track his phone using its embedded GPS," Tucker replied, looking up at them, "It came up nonexistent, which is weird since I was able to track it the first time, when Danny called me from his apartment."

Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why were you tracking it back then?”

"I was just getting ready in case you needed me to pick you up, back then." Tucker shrugged, "But anyway. It should have come up, even if his phone was off. Unless it was destroyed."

Everyone’s fell silent in concern at this.

Sam broke the tension first, finally asking, “Daisuke’s missing?”

"Uh, no way? He wouldn’t just up and go or something—he was probably kidnapped!" Danny gasped, jumping to his feet, "But who could—" he stopped, realization dawning. He growled dangerously under his breath, "Vlad…"

"Wouldn’t the GPS thing track him to Wisconsin or something, then?" Jazz asked, getting up too, "Either way… come on, I’ll drive."

Sam blinked, quirking an eyebrow. “You’re going to drive all the way to Wisconsin? In your little car that kind of barely fits four of us, let alone five on the trip back?”

"No, not my car—the Specter Speeder!" Jazz crossed her arms, "It’ll be faster if we get to Vlad’s place through the portals!"

"Oh, good thinking!" Tucker cheered, hopping off the couch, "Alright, rescue mission!"

The four of them nodded, racing downstairs—thankfully the Fentons weren’t home, out shopping for dinner and fudge. The likelihood that they would be home soon was high, though—they had left a note saying they would be back soon after school ended, in case they didn’t make it back before the kids. So if they wanted to get the Specter Speeder, now would be the time.

Jazz slid into the driver’s seat, and Sam automatically took the co-pilot seat, the two of them flipping switches and pushing the button to turn on the engine. Tucker and Danny were quick to follow, Tucker buckling in after the Speeder doors closed, while Danny opted to just stand behind the two front seats, fire burning in his eyes.

"I swear, if Vlad’s done something—"

"Buckle in, little brother," Jazz interrupted him, "I may not be as experienced at driving this, but I’m as good as Dad when it comes to getting us places quick."

Danny paled a bit, but nodded, quickly finding a seat as Jazz opened the portal doors and brought the now hovering Specter Speeder through it.

"I’m inputting the directions to Vlad’s portal," Sam said to Jazz, pressing a button to pull up the navigation system, when suddenly a computerized voice sounded.

“Real world item detected.”

Everyone stopped, the Speeder drifting to a halt as they stared at the radar on the dashboard.

"Real world item…? But—" Sam looked back at her friends, then at the radar again.

"Daisuke!" Danny and Tucker shouted at the same time—Tucker looked like he had been struck by a light bulb-lighting idea, while Danny looked slightly relieved—but only for a moment.

"He’s here? In the Ghost Zone?” The black-haired boy frowned, “But why would he… why would Vlad—”

"Maybe it wasn’t Vlad," Sam commented, looking at the radar and typing away at the navigation system, "Hey, do you have that map you made of the Ghost Zone?"

Danny nodded, rooting through his backpack, which he had never taken off since he had gotten home from school. He pulled out the map, handing it over to Sam, who immediately compared it to the navigation system map.

"Jazz, go a bit further in, will you? We need to pinpoint the direction the real world item is in."

Jazz nodded, steering the Specter Speeder forward quickly, until a blip appeared on the radar screen.

"Aha! I thought so!" Sam proclaimed, "I know where he is!"

"Where?" Danny demanded, worry lacing his voice.

Sam looked back at him, and said seriously, “Skulker’s Island.”

~~~

Daisuke woke up groggy but tense, and the moment his senses came back to him, he was on alert. His vision was blurry at the moment, and his entire right side was numb, though he could still hear things pretty well, so he focused on listening as he rolled over onto his back.

There was no sound around him—everything felt muted, as if he were underwater, but he didn’t feel any wetness. There was a distinct coolness in the air that made him feel like he was surrounded by hundreds of ghosts, and the smell of sulfur didn’t really help matters—it was a faint scent when ghosts were in the human world, barely noticeable and even less noticeable on Danny, but it was poignant here—almost overpowering, even with his congestion.

He squinted his eyes, but the only thing he could make out were blurs of swirling green—trees, maybe? No, it was too vibrant for that—the color was more like Danny’s ectoplasm than anything else.

There were many small, hard somethings poking at his back like scattered pebbles—something gravelly, so wherever he was was probably outdoors. It took him a moment to remember why he would be out cold in a place like this, and when he did remember, he groaned and hastily pushed himself up.

He dimly noted that his hands and feet weren’t bound—probably a good sign—and that the net that had held him captive was gone. As his vision cleared, he was able to see where he was at last—and he blinked in surprise, because he immediately realized what this place was.

And certainly, it wasn’t Amity Park anymore.

"Huh. Never thought I’d get to visit this place for myself." He mused to himself, staggering to his feet and stretching, rolling his shoulders, trying to get the feeling back into his arms and right side.

There was a forest in front of him, deep and dark looking and most likely hiding ferocious creatures in its depths, and the sky above him was green, green, and more green, dotted by the occasional asteroid-like rock as if they were clouds. He stood up slowly as the feeling came back to his sore and numb limbs, a well-trained eye assessing his surroundings for danger.

There was a near-invisible trip-line near the forest edge, what seemed to be a bear trap hidden under some foliage a few feet away from him, and he counted at least five more traps in his 10-foot-radius vicinity.

He looked around for Skulker, sure that he was watching from somewhere.

"I’m really not in the mood for this," he sighed, slowly and carefully maneuvering his way around the traps—he wasn’t sure how Ghost Zone physics worked, nor if the hunting traps were as advanced as Skulker’s suit, but from what he could gather, the traps seemed to be reminiscent of their real world counterparts. Perhaps Skulker’s attachments to the traditional ways of hunting meant that these traps worked just the same as the ones in the real world—which would have worked to Daisuke’s advantage, really. But he could never be too careful.

He paused to sneeze and examine the ground directly in front of him. “A landmine, really?” He wondered out loud, easily hopping over its activation area, heading into the forest against better judgement, trying to find a way out. Skulker still made no appearance, and Daisuke wasn’t even quiet—leaves and dirt crunched under his footsteps, carefully making their way past roots and low-hanging branches. He was normally silent on his feet, but even Daisuke couldn’t avoid inevitably making noise in the forest as he moved through it, so he didn’t try, deliberately leaving a trail of crunching leaves and footsteps in hopes of luring the hunter out.

He jumped over three more trip wires, stepped around an odd red button, veered left at a hidden pit, walked by a slip rope trap, and kicked a rock at a stray bear trap. Skulker still wasn’t appearing and honestly Daisuke was starting to get bored.

"So are you still planning to use me as bait somehow, or are you waiting until Danny gets here to hunt me?" He asked out loud, half expecting no one to answer. When there was a long silence except for his footsteps, he shrugged, walking up to the nearest tree and jumping up to grab its lowest branch, hauling himself up. "Frankly I don’t enjoy the idea of being in your collection, and I don’t plan on letting you get Danny. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to skip all those formalities."

He climbed upward, till he reached the top of the trees, and then made his way over the branches, lightly and nimbly as if they weren’t stick-thin and would snap at any moment.

He paused when the smell of sulfur got stronger, looking around. “Oh, there you are.” He said to the empty air, “What, have you got no words for me? I heard you liked talking a lot.”

"How do you do that?"

Daisuke turned around so fast he almost lost balance—and just barely managed to catch himself on the spire of the tree. “Do what?” He replied innocently, grinning at the now visible hunter ghost.

Skulker was seething angrily, a scowl etched onto his metallic face. “Do not play dumb, foolish vermin. I am the greatest hunter in all the Ghost Zone—how are you escaping my traps so easily? No one has ever done so before! Not even the ghost child!”

Daisuke tilted his head, feeling more amused than threatened by the ghost before him. “Oh, I’ve hurt your pride,” he commented offhandedly, “Well, to be fair, Danny’s fifteen and no one hunts like you anymore, so I don’t think he’d know how to escape you like I can.” He shrugged, offering a sheepish grin, “As for me—I’ve gone through this and more. It’s really child’s play to me.”

He took a step back when Skulker gave him a shocked, dumbfounded look, moving toward the next tree on his path toward what he thought was the edge of the forest. “So if you don’t mind, I’m going to take my chances outside your lair and, you know, not be bait for you to trap Danny with.” With a small wave, he hopped over the spires of the next few trees, feeling weightless in the odd other-dimensional air, and landed effortlessly several meters away on another branch.

"Hey!" The hunter roared, giving chase. The whir of engines signaled that Skulker was using his jet pack now. "How dare you challenge me—you must have a death wish, vermin! Instead of keeping you caged I should skin you!”

"I don’t fancy that idea either!" Daisuke called over his shoulder, ducking under the cover of the trees as Skulker shot a missile at him—it impacted the tree where his head used to be, splintering the wood and burning it at the edges.

"You are my prey, mortal pest!" Skulker boomed as he dove through the trees to find the redhead—despite being a bright shock of color among the green and darkness, it seemed the boy had an uncanny ability to blend into the shadows. He shouted angrily into the woods, "Run—run like the prey you are, vermin. The hunt is more fun when the prey runs!”

"And prey will run if they’re afraid," Daisuke’s voice echoed through the forest sagely, "which I am not."

"Then why are you hiding?"" Skulker sneered, "You are as cowardly as the rest of them!"

A laugh sounded behind him, “Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean I’m afraid.”

Skulker spun around to try and catch him, the net gun popping out of his arm again, but he saw nothing, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Where was that brat now?

"Oh, I almost forgot I was wearing this. I should probably turn it on."

Skulker blinked at the odd non sequitur, turning to the source of the voice again—to the right, this time. But before he could do anything, suddenly all he could feel was a painful electric shock going through his entire being—suit, real form, and all—just as he caught a flash of Daisuke’s grin and the redheaded human’s incoming fist.

~~~

Daisuke peered over the edge of the asteroid-island-thing curiously, trying to debate if falling through an endless, swirling green abyss was worth it, or if maybe staying here would better his chances of being found by Danny.

He honestly didn’t even know if jumping would result in falling to his doom in an abyss—there seemed to be some physics to the Ghost Zone, seeing as he wasn’t flying off into the ether due to a lack of gravity, yet at the same time he felt lighter here. Not to mention, all the floating asteroid rocks drifting around the green, ethereal sky like clouds were a strong indicator of there not being physics at all. And now that he was out of the forest and able to see the nonsensical doors floating about, his sense of gravity was even more confused.

In the end, he decided to take a deep breath of the sulfuric air—was that even healthy?—and make a running jump toward the nearest asteroid.

He suddenly found himself smiling at that feeling of weightlessness again—he wasn’t flying, but it felt something like gliding through the air, similar to when he jumped off his roof without a parachute—only slower.

He landed softly on the asteroid, and then jumped for the next one. He had no idea where he was going, but he did need to get out, so he thought that maybe he should find a friend of Danny’s or a friendly ghost in general and ask for help.

And now that he was out of immediate danger, sure that he wouldn’t fall to his death or that Skulker wouldn’t be catching up any time soon, he looked around in awe.

There was something hauntingly beautiful about the Ghost Zone—it was colorful, quiet, and it had a feeling like the one he had when he first woke up on Skulker’s island. Gliding through the air felt like swimming… like drowning in a muted, cool ocean.

"Ah… aren’t you…"

Daisuke blinked, looking ahead again—he hadn’t been paying too close attention to where he was going, but when he saw the woman in front of him, he flailed his arms a little, trying to stop himself mid-jump so as to not crash into her.

Thankfully, he drifted to a stop just before reaching her—however that worked, he was at least grateful he didn’t bump into her. That would have hurt—not for him, but for her, seeing as he had turned on his Specter Deflector in his fight with Skulker prior, and hadn’t turned it off for safety measures.

He looked up into deep red eyes, wide in surprise just as his own were becoming.

"Miss Desiree!" He exclaimed, floating backward a bit more at the breath he let out, "Ah—sorry about that?" He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

She blinked at him. “You are of the human realm… why are you here?” She asked in confusion, not making a move toward him—actually, despite what Danny had always said about her, she seemed rather docile at the moment, Daisuke thought.

"Skulker caught me and dragged me here. Uh, don’t ask." He chuckled, "I’m glad you seem to remember me? And aren’t attacking…?" He lifted an eyebrow at her.

"I am not trying to gather power right now," Desiree huffed, brushing some of her long black hair aside, "If you had tried to stop me from doing so, I might have. Like Phantom often does."

Daisuke blinked slowly. “I guess that makes sense. But why do you try to gather power, anyhow?”

Desiree stared at him similar to the way she had the last time he saw her, and he wondered if he had said something wrong. Maybe asking something like that was as rude as asking what her obsession was?

"To grant wishes," she finally answered, seeming a little hesitant despite that she tried to change her tone to sound more dry, as if it should have been obvious. "Speaking of… tell me, human, don’t you have a wish?"

"I told you before, it’s not one you can grant," Daisuke replied, "Though… there is something. It’s not a wish, but can I trouble you with a request?” He wondered if asking one of Danny’s adversaries was a good idea, but he really had no other options right now. Well, if he worded his request clearly, he shouldn’t have any problems with the wishing ghost. “Can you tell me where the Fenton Portal is?”

The green-skinned ghost looked at him oddly again. “I… suppose,” she said hesitantly, unsure, pausing for a moment of contemplation before saying, “if you grant me a request as well.”

Daisuke frowned, his grin dropping even from his eyes. “What is it?”

"You asked me what my wish was. I want to know why."

Daisuke stared at her for a moment. “Because I was wondering if maybe you couldn’t grant your own wish, somehow.” It must be your obsession, isn’t it? The reason you’re trying to gain power? To grant your own wish…

"I cannot," she frowned deeply, "I can never get what I want."

"So no one else does either?" Daisuke wondered out loud, and he received that curious and confused stare again before he shrugged. "Well, I answered your question. So can you take me to the portal now?"

Desiree sighed and nodded, motioning with her hand and beginning to float away. Without thinking, Daisuke did the same—not even realizing he hadn’t been standing on anything the entire conversation.

"So you have to grant every wish you hear right?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"Is it a requirement to make it all… twisted?"

"That’s simply for my entertainment. Do not mistake my current benevolence as a common occurrence, mortal. I am not kind." Desiree murmured darkly, "Besides, none of those fools deserve to take the easy way out."

"You teach a valuable lesson, Miss Desiree," Daisuke commented, and the genie ghost looked back at him in surprise, "Now if only people would learn. I certainly would not wish for something I can work for."

"How do you work toward the wish I cannot grant for you?" Desiree looked ahead again, her tone curious but trying to seem disinterested.

"I’m moving on from it, so that I may no longer wish." Daisuke answered in a soft voice, seeming distant and muted in the ethereal air around them. "So even if you could grant it… I wouldn’t need you to. I’d be okay.”

Desiree stopped flying, turning back to stare at him in total bewilderment. “…You are a strange human, mortal.”

"That I am," Daisuke grinned a little as he stopped too, lightly touching down on a nearby asteroid. He met her claret gaze, pausing as he remembered something. "You never answered me, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your wish. You never told me what it was." Daisuke elaborated, then quickly motioned with his hands in a peaceful gesture, "Not that you have to. But—you’ve never told anyone, have you?"

Desiree stared at him silently for a long time. “I suppose… it would be similar to yours,” she finally answered, “There is someone I want to see again.”

"Would it be worth it?" He asked softly, ruby eyes steady on blood red. Desiree’s wish was indeed similar to Daisuke’s—but the difference was that Desiree had never moved on—could never. It was her obsession, the reason she existed… and Daisuke knew asking her to change would be wrong. Their wishes were the same, but they were different—so to each their own.

"I don’t know. Things go wrong, with that kind of wish—even if I didn’t twist wishes as I do." Desiree sighed, looking away, "No matter. I will gain the power, one day, to grant that wish on my own—I’ll work toward it, just as you do yours, human."

Daisuke stared at her contemplatively. “…Say, Miss Desiree… would you be opposed to a little help, even from a human like me?”

"What do you mean?" Desiree’s eyebrows furrowed, confused.

"If I made your wish for you, would you be able to grant it?"

~~~

"That’s weird, it looks like he’s… moving?"

Tucker frowned at the radar, watching the blip they were following move away from Skulker’s Island. The Specter Speeder slowed as the island came into view, but the real world item they detected apparently wasn’t there anymore.

"Maybe he got out on his own?" Jazz pondered the thought. She had heard that Daisuke had been able to hold his own against ghosts, but to have escaped Skulker on the ghost’s turf? Even Danny hadn’t managed that easily.

"Hey, Jazz, head that way," Sam pointed in the general direction the blip on the screen had headed, "It almost looks like… it’s coming toward us?"

Jazz nodded, turning the steering wheel and moving the vehicle along. She glanced back at her brother, who was worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. “He’s probably fine, Danny.”

"But what if he got lost? What if Skulker—"

"Danny, dude, calm down," Tucker patted his best friend on the shoulder, "The Ghost Zone is huge but I think he can handle himself—like, you know, stay in one place till help comes? He probably knows you’re coming."

"But he’s moving, does that sound like staying in one place to you?” Danny snapped. “Oh god, what if he’s hurt? So much for—”

"There he is!" Sam called suddenly, pointing out the window.

Danny’s heart might have skipped a beat, because for a moment he froze, and then when the words finally registered, his gaze snapped outside.

There he was, several meters away, looking relatively unharmed. His hands were in his pockets as he hopped from a large asteroid to a few smaller ones floating by. He didn’t seem to be actually paying attention to where he was stepping, though, because his gaze was turned up and—

"Desiree!" In a flash, Danny had gone ghost, phased through the Specter Speeder, and shot off toward his friend, a look of fierce determination in his glowing green eyes.

Daisuke didn’t look at all worried—which wasn’t odd really—but Danny halted in abrupt confusion at the look on Desiree’s face—bewilderment, confusion, shock, and just a little bit of sadness all mixed into one big cocktail of emotion that Danny didn’t even know the genie ghost could feel.

He stopped completely just in front of them, catching only the tail end of their conversation.

"Th… that is within my power." Desiree stammered uncharacteristically, "Would—would you really? For nothing in return?"

Daisuke was grinning as he replied, “Well, sure—unless you’re going to twist the wish, I don’t see how that could go wrong.” He shrugged, “But first, the portal?”

"Ah, right—"

"Oh, Danny!" Daisuke exclaimed as he finally noticed his friend hovering a few feet away, "Well, this is convenient."

Danny eyed Daisuke’s companion warily, and she glared hostilely right back. “Daisuke, we’ve been looking all over for you and—why are you with Desiree?”

"Oh, I ran into her after I escaped Skulker. She was taking me back to your portal." Daisuke answered nonchalantly, then turned to the green-skinned ghost, "I think I’ll go with Danny now, but thank you for helping me, even if we didn’t get all the way there."

Desiree nodded. “You are… welcome, human.” She said slowly, not taking her eyes off Danny.

"Daisuke."

"What?" She blinked, looking back at him, finally.

"I just realized I never introduced myself. You can call me Daisuke." Daisuke bowed his head politely in greeting. She nodded back, looking a little confused and bewildered, still. "Well, I should probably get going, then. As for the wish… would you like me to make it now?"

"Um—Daisuke?" Danny asked, unsure, "What are you…"

Daisuke held up a hand, silencing him immediately. The redhead didn’t look at him, his eyes on Desiree only.

"Yes… Daisuke," Desiree said slowly, the name foreign on her tongue, "Please. And thank you."

Daisuke smiled softly. “I wish you could see the people you loved most. I hope the best for you.”

"So you have wished it… so it shall be." Desiree gave a smile—a genuine, not unkind smile—and her hands glowed pink before she was enveloped in a sparkling pink mist. In a few moments, she and the pink aura faded away unceremoniously, and the spot before him was empty.

Daisuke paused for a beat, before he turned to Danny and smiled widely. “I’m so sorry for worrying you, Danny! Thank you for coming to get me though.”

"I—uh… wait, what just happened?" Danny asked in confusion.

"I’ll explain on the way back, I guess," Daisuke shrugged, looking over Danny’s shoulder and waving at Jazz and the others in the Specter Speeder, who all smiled in relief and waved back.

Danny sighed and nodded, “You sure do have a way with ghosts, Daisuke,” he commented, reaching for Daisuke’s arm so he could fly them back to the Speeder—only to cry out in pain as the contact sparked with electricity.

Daisuke made a startled noise. “Danny!” He quickly stepped back, reaching under his shirt and turning off the Specter Deflector. “You okay?”

"Yep, fine," Danny managed with a grimace, shaking his hand so he could get the feeling back in it, "What was—oh, the Specter Deflector… wow, good thinking."

"Sorry—I should have warned you about that." Daisuke grinned sheepishly, hopping to the next nearby rock, "It’s alright, I don’t need you to fly me back, I can make it on my own."

Danny shrugged and flew alongside him, glancing at him periodically out of worry and curiosity. When they got to the Specter Speeder, Danny phased them through the doors—and they were met with three worried and confused faces.

"Daisuke, are you okay?" Jazz asked first, stepping toward him.

"Yeah, I’m fine—Skulker didn’t hurt me or anything. And neither did Desiree, if that’s what you’re worried about." Daisuke replied with a kind smile.

"Uh—no, I meant… we usually don’t go out into the Ghost Zone without protective gear. How did you—"

Even Danny paused at this, turning to his friend. “Hey, yeah, even Tuck and Sam stay in the Speeder when they can, and when they can’t it’s only for a short time. You’ve been in here for hours—are you sure you’re okay?”

"I’m fine?" Daisuke blinked, "I mean—even my cold is mostly gone now. I think I feel better than I did when I came in."

Everyone stared at him. He shifted uncomfortably. Mou… I know I’m weird, but this is a little more than normal, isn’t it? They’re right… why didn’t I suffocate or something out there? The air’s all sulfur, from what I could tell…

"Um, so… thanks for coming to rescue me? Sorry for making you all worry."

Tucker was shaken out of his stupor first, and he nodded. “Of course, why would we not come get you? Though it looks like you were doing pretty well for yourself.”

Daisuke chuckled. “Still, thank you. Shall we get back to the human world, then?”

Sam nodded, moving back toward the copilot’s seat. “Well, grab a seat, then. You’ll have to tell us everything that happened. Why were you on Skulker’s Island?”

The redhead grinned, taking Danny’s original seat, as the ghost boy offered it to him, opting to float instead. He launched into his tale of going to the store to get medicine, getting attacked by Skulker, waking up in the Ghost Zone, and then his subsequent escape.

"…so then I punched him and got his head off—Danny told me before he’s actually bean sized, so I reached in and grabbed him and threw him as far as I could—"

Daisuke continued with an explanation of why he was with Desiree, which awed the others, and Jazz remarked that he was truly kind, to have granted her wish like that—and wondered what would happen with her next.

Danny, while listening and being impressed by Daisuke’s quick-thinking and open-mindedness about people Danny considered enemies, couldn’t help but remain silent, staring at Daisuke’s back intensely. He had the odd feeling that something felt more whole about Daisuke.

Then Jazz said, “So then we found you… the end?”

"Pretty much."

"How did you do it?" She wondered out loud, "Staying calm in a situation like this… and when we first saw you, you were hopping those rocks like you were playing hopscotch…"

"Eh… twenty-two years of thief training?" Daisuke replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Jazz, Tucker, and Sam blinked. Sam mused out loud slowly, “Oh, right, I forgot you were raised to be a professional thief…”

And that was when Danny realized what exactly he was staring at.

Though he’d never tell, he would swear that he saw the faintest shadows of wings sprouting from Daisuke’s back.

~~~

"So, since you’re here already… do you want to stay for movie night?" Jazz asked when they managed to get the Specter Speeder back to the lab safely. Danny had to go ahead and distract their parents, who were home now, so they didn’t see the rest of them suddenly coming out of the lab.

"I’m here already… why not?" Daisuke chuckled. "I think I can take a break from studying today."

"You sure you’re okay, man?" Tucker asked, "I can probably use one of the doodads down here and scan you just in case you got ectoplasm poisoning or something."

"I promise, I’m fine." Daisuke repeated for the dozenth time, blatantly changing the subject when he asked, "What are we watching tonight?"

"Horror movie marathon!" Tucker grinned, "Dead Teacher, first through fourth—"

Sam interrupted and finished with, “then Nightmerica and Femalien!”

Jazz shook her head, leading them upstairs. Daisuke chuckled. “Aren’t those more like thrillers though? If you wanted real horror movies, I can show you some classic Japanese ones.”

"Which ones?" Danny asked, coming back into the kitchen after having effectively distracted the Fenton parents, "Do they scare you?” He asked with a grin, and Daisuke laughed.

"I haven’t seen them since I was a teenager, but maybe they still might." Daisuke replied, smiling widely.

"Hey, I’m all for it. All in favor say aye!" Danny raised his hand high, grinning at his sister and two friends.

"We watch Dead Teacher and those other two all the time anyway. Aye aye!" Tucker pumped his fist in the air.

The girls rolled their eyes and shrugged, “Oh, why not.”

Jazz went to make popcorn, and Tucker connected his laptop to the TV while Daisuke looked up online streams for the movies he wanted to show them. Sam looked over his shoulder curiously, while Danny…

A misty wisp escaped his lips, and he groaned. “Oh come on, I was lying when I told mom and dad there was a ghost outside!”

"That’s some seriously bad karma you got there, bud." Tucker said cheekily, getting up and turning to face him.

"Whatever. Going Ghost!" Danny was swallowed by those familiar rings of light, and soon black-haired Fenton was replaced by white-haired Phantom, and he shot into the air. "Don’t start without me!" He called over his shoulder, phasing through the ceiling.

"Come on, his parents are out there, we should probably make sure they don’t shoot him or something," Sam said, about to get up too when Daisuke grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down.

"He can handle himself," Daisuke said firmly, letting her wrist go as she gave him a hard stare, "Let’s just get this set up so he can relax when he gets back."

Tucker and Sam stared at him. Tucker slowly sat down again, reaching behind the TV where he had been connecting the cables. “He’s got a point,” he said slowly, “but… Daisuke, don’t you ever worry he’ll get hurt? I mean, his mom’s a pretty good shot…”

"Of course I worry. But I trust him." Daisuke said softly, "So if he does get hurt… I know he’ll at least come get help when he needs it, and that I’ll be there for him when he does. I don’t need to be there with him all the time to know he’ll be okay—because I’ll make sure he is, at the end of the day."

Sam’s lips twisted into a frown. “I guess you’re right, but…”

"There’s more than one way to help him, Sam, and it’s not always being there with an ecto-gun at ready. Sometimes, it’s this—movie night when he gets back, because he’ll need it.”

Sam and Tucker exchanged a glance, and Daisuke smiled softly at them. Danny might have told him he didn’t need help talking to his friends, but that didn’t mean Daisuke couldn’t give them a little advice of his own.

Jazz smiled at them from the doorway, shaking her head. She and Daisuke were really quite alike, but somehow Daisuke got Sam and Tucker to do what she could never tell them to do—to stay on the sidelines, because she did know that being on the front lines didn’t just mean being in harm’s way—it also meant being in Danny’s way, sometimes.

"So, Danny went to fight a ghost?" She asked, coming into the room and placing a bowl of popcorn on the table.

"Yeah," Tucker nodded, scooting back from the TV when he finished making sure all the cables were in place, "So, what’s first on the playlist tonight?"

"Well, have you ever seen the original version of The Ring?"

Chapter Text

Danny hummed cheerfully to himself as he headed up the stairs of the familiar apartment building. It was a nice, sunny Sunday morning, and it would be one of the last Sundays he’d get to go free-running with Daisuke. He normally would have flown, but Daisuke did say a good long walk was a good warm-up before they started their course.

He knocked on the door to his friend’s apartment, adjusting his backpack over his shoulder as he waited. He didn’t have to wait long, the door opened only a few short moments later to reveal a bed-headed, paint-splattered art student.

“Ohayou, Danny.” Daisuke grinned at him, stepping aside to let him in.

"Good morning. You look like you just rolled out of bed. And into wet paint." Danny commented with one eyebrow raised in amusement, moving past Daisuke with the casual comfortableness of someone who practically lived in this apartment. "Did you forget we were going to do some of that thief training today?"

The older man chuckled, shutting the door and heading back to his room, the black-haired boy in tow. “No, not at all—I’ve just been trying to finish my piece for my art final,” he explained, “I’ve only just started the third part and the show is next week, so…”

"I get it," Danny shook his head, "you do what you’ve gotta do, we can have a race after you’re done, right?" He paused, tilting his head curiously toward the two canvases leaned against the wall and the empty bookshelf.

"Thanks," Daisuke smiled sheepishly, "I won’t be long, I just want to get this layer done so the paint can dry while we’re out."

"No problem, I’ll just do some homework or something while waiting." Danny set his bag on the floor and sat down on Daisuke’s bed, still looking at the paintings Daisuke had already completed. The redhead had gone back to his stool and easel, dipping his wide brush in bright green paint before he resumed whatever he had been working on before.

Danny wasn’t all that good at art, nor did he really appreciate the finer points of the craft whenever he went to museums on field trips, but having seen Daisuke working on these paintings for the last several weeks, he couldn’t help but feel awed.

The last time he had seen the first of the works, a painting of a cathedral-like corridor that went on forever into a void, it hadn’t been covered in faded silver fog. Now it misted over the black point at the far side of the corridor which gave the illusion of never-ending eternity. Ice seemed to be crawling up the edges of the tall windows, obscuring the other side from view with soft grays and whites and blues, somehow making him feel chilled despite that it was just a painting. The earth-colored stone of the wall and floor pavings, the deep red curtains with shadows of violet, and the slightly shimmering gold highlights on the curtain drawstrings stood out more than the last time Danny saw them, especially in contrast to the dark nothingness outside the windows. Faint outlines of barely-there trees could be seen in the distance beyond the window, seemingly skeletons and ghosts of what they had once been.

The other work was a stark contrast to the first, a picturesque, quaint town with bright blue skies and lazily drifting white clouds. The buildings and cobblestone street in the foreground hadn’t been there last time, and Danny’s blue eyes trailed over the shadow of a laundry line until he caught sight of the painted woman in a second story window, putting out the first of her sheets to dry. He focused in on the details he had seen before when the painting was unfinished—the clock hands on a distant tower, the red-tiled roofs, the distant shoreline and turquoise horizon where the sky touched the ocean. He knew what this painting was supposed to be only because Daisuke had shown him real life pictures before—this was Azumano, Daisuke’s hometown.

It seemed quiet and friendly, just like Daisuke—it even hid secrets, if the magic that seemed tangible in the air of the painting was anything to go by. And if Danny squinted hard enough, one of the shadows of the birds flying in the background seemed almost human in shape. Any normal person would have dismissed such a notion, thinking their eyes were playing tricks on them, but Danny knew better—he knew that a certain winged thief was as much a part of Azumano as he was a part of Daisuke.

He had never been very art-minded, so Danny honestly had no idea where Daisuke was going with his masterpieces—but maybe it would all make sense when the final part was done.

Clear blue eyes pulled themselves away from the paintings and to their artist, watching his face—determination and passion were alight in those vivid red eyes, and Danny honestly felt glad. He had never seen Daisuke so honestly enthusiastic, even if he had seen the man excited about practicing his skill before.

He doubted he could break Daisuke from his concentration again, so he smiled to himself and bent down, unzipping his backpack and pulling his notebook out to at least go over his physics homework before he had to turn it in on Monday.

The scritch-scratching of a pencil joined the soft stroking of the paintbrush.

~~~

"You know, I really thought I had that under control," Danny commented, stopping to catch his breath after landing what was probably his highest jump so far. At least he didn’t hit the edge of the gate this time, even if it was six feet high.

"I’ve never seen it, though. It was…" Daisuke paused, slowing down till he was next to his black-haired friend, slightly out of breath but obviously more well-off than him.

"Funny?" Danny finished sarcastically, knowing the Japanese man was trying to find the most polite way to phrase himself. "I swear, though, I thought I was done falling through floors after the first few months!"

Daisuke merely offered a sheepish, not-even-guilty grin. “Were you really so focused on your homework that my voice startled you into intangibility?”

Danny huffed, blushing deep red as he crossed his arms. “No, I—uh…”

The redhead blinked, and then suddenly laughed. “Oh… you weren’t doing homework, were you?”

"S-shut up!"

Daisuke laughed again and shook his head. “Oh, now I’ve got to see what you were doing.” His teasing grin split his face as he turned and continued his sprint, effortlessly hopping over several rose bushes as he made the last leg of the race back to his apartment.

"Hey!" Danny whined, taking a deep breath and running to follow, though his jumps over the rose bushes were smaller and considerably less impressive.

And then he fell right into one in a moment of distraction, his leg catching on the thorns and scratching his hands as he reflexively caught himself before his face hit the ground.

He wasn’t worried about the scratches—because in a gasp of cold breath and a shiver running up his spine, a familiar mist passed his vision.

"Danny?" Daisuke slowed, looking over his shoulder when he heard the leaves rustle from Danny’s fall. By the time he stopped and turned fully around, however, Danny had dove further into the bush to muffle the flash of his transformation and shot back out as Phantom.

Alert green eyes scanned the skies, and Daisuke tensed along with the ghost boy as a distinct whistling wind reached their ears.

Danny dove, erecting a glowing green dome over them as a missile collided. Daisuke had to cover his eyes to avoid the blinding light that followed, cringing at the sound of the explosion.

"Skulker!" Danny growled in frustration, "Again?! Really? Really? Doesn’t he ever learn?!”

Daisuke looked up as the shield dissipated, carefully reaching for the Specter Deflector’s on switch.

"Well, I never thought I’d be seeing him again this soon." Daisuke commented, watching as the metallic ghost came into view.

"You!" Skulker pointed accusingly at Daisuke, "You dare humiliate me and think you can get away with it?"

"Why not, Danny does." Daisuke replied tersely, tilting his head with a slightly mischievous grin, "Is this about me escaping your traps? Sorry, I just have an aversion to being captured."

"I think I’m rubbing off on you, Daisuke," Danny chuckled, "Run and leave this to me?" The two friends shared a meaningful look, and Daisuke nodded in understanding, turning heel and disappearing faster than most normal people should be able to. Danny flew up to meet Skulker and stop him from following. "What, not after me anymore?" Skulker glared, a canon popping out of his arm as he aimed it at the half-ghost angrily.

"Don’t get your hopes up, ghost child. Of course I am! You are the prize of prizes! And I won’t rest until I’ve hunted you down and skinned your hide!" Skulker snapped, "But the human has challenged me, and I’d hate to disappoint."

"Yeah, okay, it’s one thing to want my pelt on your wall—which is still gross, by the way," Danny rolled his eyes, charging up an ectoplasmic blast in his hand, "but keep going after Daisuke and I’ll turn you in to Walker," he threatened with narrowed eyes.

"Please, whelp, Walker is more likely to go after you if you even set foot in his domain!” Skulker laughed, sneering for only a moment before Danny blasted him into the ground, hard enough to leave a crater.

"See, the difference is, I can escape him even if I get caught," Danny threw another ecto-ray before the mechanical ghost could recover, "Unlike you, I can walk through walls in the Ghost Zone."

Skulker grunted as the attack hit, activating his hover-pack and several of the rocket launchers in his shoulders. Danny dodged two and shot down the other four, zooming in an erratic path around the smoke and debris and straight toward Skulker.

"The things you do for those petty humans,” he caught the punch Danny aimed at his head, smirking at the metallic clang that sounded with the impact. Danny winced, but then pulled his other fist back, charged it with a bit of ectoplasm, and went in for another punch. Skulker caught that one too, and the two of them were grappling for dominance in the air, pushing their powers against each other and trying to gain ground without letting go or breaking away. “Though I must admit, that particular human is far more than he appears—I can see why Plasmius was so interested in him.”

"Leave him alone!" Danny snapped, his eyes glowing a brighter shade of toxic green, "I swear, Skulker, if you keep trying to hunt him, I’ll—"

"Turn yourself over to me?" Skulker suggested with a malicious smirk, his solid green eyes glimmering with amusement as Danny glared at him, "That’s one way to compromise."

"You’re as crazy as the fruitloop." Danny shifted his leg backward, and then thrust his foot forward with as much strength as he could muster, surprising the metal ghost and sending him back a good several meters.

Skulker flipped in mid-air, trying to activate the thrusters on his jet-pack to regain his balance. However, he was attacked again before he could recover—though this time it wasn’t Danny who attacked.

A red blast seared one of the jet-pack wings, sending him careening into the ground with a loud curse.

"You know, I’ve been meaning to get back at you for kidnapping me that one time," called a familiar rough female voice, hatred evident in her tone as she shifted the tip of her smoking gun to the white-haired ghost staring dumbfound at her. "I’d usually deal with you first, but I’ve got a bone to pick with that ectoplasmic scum. So stay out of my way, Phantom."

Valerie? Of course she’d show up. We’re nearer to Elmerton than Casper High is… Danny threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Really? Gee, I don’t know if I should be thankful or scared that I’m not your first target this time.”

The black and red clad huntress glared at him from beneath her visor. “You should be scared, seeing as you’re next.”

"Good to know," Phantom rolled his eyes, not scared at all apparently, which only served to further agitate her. "But he’s kind of after a good friend of mine, so until I deal with that—"

A blast to Valerie’s hover board interrupted their conversation, and Danny gasped as she was knocked off to the ground. He turned and glared at Skulker, not hesitating to charge right back into the battle. “You’re really asking for it, you know!”

Skulker laughed, firing a net as he flew backwards on half a broken wing, spinning through the air to dodge Danny’s attack despite his staggered flight. “You really do care too much about these humans! The huntress would make good prey again, when I’m through with the other foolish mortal!”

“Really asking for it!” Danny repeated, dodging the net, catching up in two seconds flat and delivering a swift but hard punch to Skulker’s gut. “You never learn!” The hit sent Skulker over the nearest building, and Danny quickly flew after him, a furious fire sparking in his eyes.

Valerie scowled angrily—not only had the ghosts gotten away, but she had been caught by Skulker’s misfired net. They’re still on my radar, I can still catch them if I can just get out of this! She thought as she struggled to get herself untangled, glaring at the display on her visor as the blips of Phantom and Skulker got progressively further away.

She was so busy seething to herself that she almost didn’t notice as a pair of calloused hands began to pull at the net and help her get out of it. Almost.

"Are you okay?"

She looked up suspiciously at the sound of the new voice, frowning at the familiar redheaded man who was now tossing the net aside as she pulled the last of her limbs free.

"You again?"

"Yes," Daisuke grinned nonchalantly, "Hello again, Miss Ghost Slayer. Out on patrol?"

"Patrol? You can’t be that dumb." Valerie snapped, "Everyone else heard the fight, and Phantom was obviously here to visit you or something. I was here to finally catch that menace, and that other piece of scum too!"

Danny tilted his head, humming. “I see,” he looked her up and down almost appraisingly, “and getting caught in that net was you catching them?”

Valerie was glad that her visor hid how red her face was. “Thanks for the help, but I’ve gotta go catch those darned ghosts!” She said quickly, calling her hover board back over and hopping on it hastily. Damn, they’re almost out of range…!

She kicked the board, rising in the air a few feet, but just as she was about to launch off, a strong grip wrapped itself around her wrist, pulling her back down, much to her honest surprise.

"Why?"

She blinked, frowned, and stared at the redheaded artist. “Why what?” She demanded impatiently, though she was evidently also genuinely confused. She tried and failed to wrench her hand out of Daisuke’s grasp, and she knew she couldn’t physically hurt him to get away even with all her fighting skill—he was just a human after all, and she didn’t hurt humans.

"Why do you have to catch them?" Daisuke elaborated, his face eerily calm and almost devoid of emotion except for the strange concern that tinted his gaze. "Why you?"

"Why do you care?” She replied back hotly, glowering intensely as though he could see it on her face.

"Because you’re so young.” The man frowned, “You and Phantom both are, but you are also human.”

Valerie bristled defensively. She obviously didn’t like being compared to that ghost boy, nor the implication of what being young meant. “You’re just trying to stall me so the ghost boy can get away!”

"I am," Daisuke admitted without missing a beat, "but I am genuinely curious. I want to know. Why you?”

The huntress hesitated, her lips pressing into a thin line as she contemplated answering him. He probably wouldn’t let her go until she did, and she scowled as she realized the elusive Phantom and his adversary had already disappeared off the map.

"Because—I might have started hunting because of that menace, but after the invasion of Pariah Dark… I realized I could do something.” She answered reluctantly, “It’d be a lie to say it wasn’t about the revenge, completely, but I’m doing this because I’m good at it, because I can—because others can’t and others need me to.”

Daisuke loosened his grip on her wrist, a small smile flitting across his face. You and Danny really are more alike than you know, he thought, though he was sure that if he shared this thought out loud she’d only get angry. “It seems as though my initial impression on you was right.”

Valerie absently let her hand fall to her side and looked quizzically at him, confusion overpowering irritation. “What do you mean?”

"I thought you were a good person. Though sometimes your actions are…unclear… at least you haven’t proven me wrong.” He gave a goofy, lopsided smile. “It’d break my good-judge-of-character streak.” Yep, Danny is definitely rubbing off on me. He chuckled to himself.

Valerie stared at him, something calculating in her eyes. “Yeah, well, you hang around that ghost menace. I’m not sure I trust your judgement.”

"So you don’t think you’re a good person?" Daisuke tilted his head, pausing for a moment. "Well… maybe that’s not wrong either."

The red-clad huntress frowned deeply, shaking her head to clear the fog of confusion building up. “I didn’t say that, but—oh, never mind.” She sighed heavily, “The ghosts are gone. I should go see if I can still catch up.”

Daisuke smiled knowingly, shaking his head. “Well, I’d hate to keep you more than I already have. Good luck, Miss Slayer.”

Valerie gave a halfhearted glare as she kicked her board, ascending into the air and flying off in a streak of black and red.

~~~

By the time Danny got back to Daisuke’s apartment, the redhead had already resumed working on his painting. Danny was slightly relieved when he saw that his notebook, left on Daisuke’s bed, looked untouched.

"I take it Skulker was caught?" Daisuke asked nonchalantly, dabbing his brush in some purple paint.

"Yep, and Valerie didn’t catch wind of me after we left campus, so I think she’s headed home by now." Danny shrugged, hopping back on the bed and grabbing his notebook, opening it absently. "By the way, Skulker won’t be bothering you anymore."

Daisuke blinked at the mischievous, slightly malicious grin that touched Danny’s lips. “That’s good to know?”

"Yeah, Skulker can track me and the other ghosts from our ecto-signature, but for regular humans… he’d have a hard time tracking you down after you go back to Japan. Not that I’d let him get too far from Amity Park." Danny explained with a shrug, grabbing his pencil from where it had fallen before he abruptly changed subjects. "So who won our race, technically?"

"I don’t think you could have won, realistically, Danny." Daisuke laughed, unperturbed by the non sequitur. "I got back before you, so even with technicalities, I still win."

"Darn."

"Maybe some other time, Danny." Daisuke rolled his eyes, "So, what had you so immersed in your work, this morning?"

"Err…" Danny blushed, shyly fiddling with his pencil. "I was doodling."

"I know you’ve gotten better at lying, but you’re still inclined to tell the truth, huh?" Daisuke glanced over, lifting an eyebrow in amusement. "Can I see?"

"Nooo," Danny whined, holding his notebook to his chest defensively, "They’re just silly little doodles! Nothing compared to your sketches, and—"

"Danny," Daisuke shook his head, rolling his eyes, "They’re probably not as bad as you think. Besides, you can’t compare us—that’s like comparing the Box Ghost’s power to Pariah Dark’s because both want to take over the world."

The black-haired boy frowned. “Guess so. Does that mean you’re the king that actually did manage to take over the world, and I’m the joke that wants to but can’t, in terms of skill, then?”

"Err—it’s probably a bad analogy," Daisuke admitted sheepishly, "But I promise, Danny, I won’t laugh, and they’re probably not as bad as you think."

Danny sighed, loosening his arms and letting the notebook fall into his lap. He opened it, flipping through the pages until he found his most recent doodles.

Daisuke put down his paintbrushes and palettes, coming over to sit on the bed next to his friend. He peered down at the pages curiously.

"Wow, these are actually really good," he commented honestly, smiling at the slightly crude sketches of the Box Ghost, Jack Fenton in his sleeping cap and holding a teddy bear, a clock tower on a floating island in the Ghost Zone, Sam sitting at a desk in what he assumed was a classroom, and…

He gave a pause, blinking in surprise, before a warm smile flooded his face and lit his eyes with a soft twinkle.

"Is that… me?"

Danny blushed deeply, stammering, “Err, yeah. You were kind being the perfect model, sitting over there at your easel, so…”

"Impressive," Daisuke ruffled his hair affectionately, "I like it a lot… it really captures a lot of feeling."

"Really?" Danny looked up at him, unsure.

Daisuke smiled earnestly. “Yeah. I didn’t know my eyes looked like that, when I paint.”

Danny’s lips twitched into a smile too. “I don’t think I got it right, but I tried.”

"Well, try on not-lined paper next time, see if that helps capture it better," Daisuke chuckled, reaching over to his desk and grabbing his sketchbook, presenting it to the boy. "I’d be honored if I could keep the next one."

Danny looked between the sketchbook and his friend with his eyes widened in surprise. Daisuke merely grinned at him.

"It’s—uh, you really like it?" The blue-eyed boy asked, rubbing his neck consciously with one hand as the other reached out to take the proffered sketchbook.

"I really, really do." Daisuke answered without hesitation, "You know, people like it when they get drawn. Isn’t that why you liked those sketches of Phantom I did?"

"Uh—yeah. I mean, I even hung them up in my room—err, they’re in my closet so my parents don’t see, but they’re there whenever I open the door." Danny admitted awkwardly, "I’m really not that good, though… you really want my drawing in your sketchbook?"

"I meant it when I said I’d be honored, Danny," The older man patted his shoulder with a kind, gentle smile. "You may not think you’re good, but I think you are. You have a lot of potential, you know.”

"Um, thanks," The raven-haired boy murmured bashfully, "I’ll try not to disappoint."

"I don’t think you can," Daisuke squeezed his shoulder comfortingly before getting up to return to his stool. "You can help yourself to any of my art supplies, too, if you want."

Danny blinked, biting his lip as he opened the sketchbook to a blank page and idly started sketching, though this time he was slower with his strokes, more careful. He looked up at Daisuke periodically, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

"I didn’t mean to make you feel nervous or pressured, Danny," Daisuke suddenly spoke up, not looking away from his own task, "Really. You don’t have to do it if you wan’t want to… I just thought it’d be nice to have something from you, when I go back to Azumano."

Danny shrugged, “I—I can do it, I think. Don’t worry.” He looked back at the page, a little determined to work on the drawing now—Daisuke was right, after all. Maybe he really wasn’t that bad, and honestly getting such a praise from a practically professional artist was kind of flattering. Besides, he did want Daisuke to have a little something to remind him of Amity Park when he returned home—even if that “little something” was a silly doodle. Steeling his resolve, he continued working.

Daisuke chuckled quietly and went back to his painting and the two of them fell into a companionable silence. His entire countenance beamed with pride whenever he looked back at Danny, working diligently and looking… well, relaxed and comfortable. The boy had surely come a long way from the ghost Daisuke first met at the bookstore, unsure and wary of the world around him.

Danny was thinking of the same things, taking in Daisuke’s friendly, happy aura and feeling completely content. It was similar to the feeling he got when he first happened across Daisuke that night so long ago, sitting alone on the roof of his apartment; only it was more genuine—more cheerful and inviting.

Daisuke was better now, and for that he was glad—the loneliness that haunted those deep red eyes, burdened with secrets and loss, had faded. Danny was proud to know that it was in no small part due to his friendship—a friendship he was grateful to have been blessed with, as unexpected as it was.

He smiled to himself as he started shading in the eye he drew, but he didn’t think he could ever capture the depth of their emotions more than the real thing could.

There was something soft and mysterious about his ruby red eyes, and that had always remained—but now it was less of a mystery, and while Danny understood it, he couldn’t think of any words that could describe them perfectly.

So with his clumsy, unskilled hands, he drew them—and he could only hope that he could convey the feeling he got from those eyes—safe and kind and warm and friendly… and entirely Daisuke.

It felt like something had come together now, because as Danny looked up at those shining, almost innocent eyes, lit with a peaceful smile, he got the feeling that Daisuke was more himself than he had been in years. Never mind that Danny had only known him for one year out of so many more—there had been something incomplete in his eyes, a missing vital part of his being, when they first met.

That had been the difference between their two war-weary souls—Danny had not yet felt, nor did he ever think he would feel, as lost as Daisuke had been in the beginning. And when Danny found out about Dark, about how Daisuke had literally lost what he thought was an essential part of himself, he finally understood why.

Sitting here in the quiet spring, the sun lighting the room with warming white-gold and casting soft shadows along the wall, Danny wondered if Daisuke really knew how much he had changed—because he caught those enchanting red eyes beaming over at him, and everything felt right and better and whole.

Danny smiled over at him, and without really thinking about it, he found himself penciling in Daisuke’s shadow, sprouting with wings that Danny could only see with his heart.

They were small and downy and entirely Daisuke’s own, only just big enough to start taking flight—because Daisuke was finally about to start living his life, never forgetting the past but forging forward on the promises he vowed to keep from then on.

Danny was glad to be a part of that.

Chapter Text

"Daisuke?" Danny poked his head into Daisuke’s kitchen, and the redhead perked up, looking over from his seat at the table, a pair of chopsticks still hanging in his mouth.

Daisuke swallowed his food and gave a toothless smile, waving the chopsticks. “Hey, Danny.”

The white-haired ghost boy floated over, settling into the seat across from him. “Chinese tonight?”

"Mmhm," Daisuke nodded, pushing over one of the takeout boxes in offering, "You’re early. No attacks tonight?"

Danny nodded and undid his transformation, turning the boy ghost into just a boy, smoothing out his black hair as Daisuke went back to his dinner, remaining unfazed by the flash of light.

"You know, it’s weird. I ran into Desiree today," he mused, picking up one of the unopened chopstick packages that came with the meal and absently ripping it open, "She didn’t attack or anything, but she was looking for you."

Daisuke blinked in surprise while Danny shrugged, breaking the cheap wooden chopsticks apart and opening the takeout box curiously. “Is she alright?” Daisuke tilted his head.

"To be honest I’m not entirely sure. She said she wanted to tell you something, and threatened to wreak some havoc if I didn’t tell her where you were." Danny explained, clumsily trying to pick up some chow mein with the chopsticks. "She’s in the thermos right now. I don’t really want to let her out because there’s a few other ghosts in there too, but I said I’d pass on the message."

Daisuke hummed, nodding at the other boy to continue as he idly chewed on some orange chicken.

"She said, ‘I was happy, but it was not enough,’ and then she said she’d continue trying to gain power until she could satisfy her own wish." Danny relayed, then sighed, "It’s more trouble for me, but she’s still obsessed over whatever she wants that she needs power for."

"Hmm," Daisuke tilted his head thoughtfully, "so seeing them wasn’t enough… she wanted the real thing?” He shook his head, “We really are the same. Or, were.”

"Huh?" The blue eyes blinked naively, and the older man shook his head.

"As long as Desiree’s wishes involve raising the dead, or changing the past somehow, I don’t think her wish will ever be truly granted," Daisuke shrugged. "It may just be a survival instinct, to find reasons to keep existing and fuel her obsession, but… I’m glad I was able to give her a little happiness, at least."

Danny was quiet for a moment, mulling that over as he idly shoved some of the Chinese food in his mouth.

"So Desiree wanted to see someone in her past again?" Danny glanced over at his friend, pausing. "…Like you did, once."

"To be honest, I still do sometimes," Daisuke shook his head, "but I’m working toward moving on, so that I no longer have to wish like Desiree does. Desiree can use her powers to see into the past, or dream of it, or change reality, or meet the shades of her beloved… but it will never be enough, and she won’t stop until she can bring them back to life."

The red-haired artist looked toward the wall with a distant gaze, and Danny saw the lingerings of longing in those eyes surface to the forefront of his expression. “We’re different though. I said before, I might have the ability to see my loved ones too… I could bring them back to life with my own power, or wish them back like Desiree wants me to, but it wouldn’t be the same, and I know that. And they wouldn’t want me to try bringing them back to life anyhow—it would defeat the purpose of the promises I made to them.” He sighed softly, absently fiddling with his chopsticks. “The only place I can see them is my memories, and I’m okay with that.”

"Have you been thinking about them a lot?" Danny asked, looking down at his Chinese takeout box contemplatively, pondering about what he would be like if someone he cared about died—in an alternate future, he destroyed everything in his mourning. He wondered, at the back of his mind, if his dark alternate self had ever thought of trying to wish his loved ones back, or if he had ever gone to Clockwork to fix the past before going to Vlad to rip himself apart. He hadn’t seen Desiree in the alternate future—was she destroyed when the wish couldn’t be granted? He would never know, he supposed.

He was broken from his thoughts by Daisuke’s reply, “I’m going to be heading home soon… I’m going to face the places they used to be. So yes, I have been thinking about them.”

The black-haired boy looked up in concern and found those soft red eyes looking back at him now. “I think I’ll be okay,” Daisuke reassured him, “my dreams of them have been nothing but good. I’m glad… there are no more nightmares.”

Danny smiled at that. “What kind of dreams have you been having?” He asked curiously, leaning one elbow on the table as he prodded at his food with the chopsticks, not as good at using them as Daisuke was.

"Mostly of flying, and memories of the old days with Dark and With," Daisuke chuckled, going back to his own dinner, "Some days I dream of my old butler and maid—I think they’re happy, wherever they are now, and this is how they’re letting me know. Argentine must have found Qualia, because sometimes I dream of him in a bright field with this light-haired woman—I’ve never met Qualia before, but I’m sure that’s her. I’m glad they’re finally together now."

"Argentine is… the butler, right? Wasn’t he an art?" Danny tilted his head, quickly scooping the chow mein into his mouth before it could slide off his chopsticks, and through a full mouth he asked, "And who’s Qualia?"

"Qualia was something like Argentine’s other half—they were the two parts of a set, like the Ring of Mallachd and Ring of Bendacht, only much more powerful. Qualia had lent her powers to Argentine, during the whole fiasco where we met, and it made him powerful even when the two of them were incomplete and broken." Daisuke looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "After that incident, Satoshi remade Argentine and revoked most of his powers, but he was still known as the repairman of the arts, and his greatest wish was to fix Qualia. As for Qualia… Dark once said Qualia was known as the destroyer of arts—she was a weapon, one of the only things that could kill him. So it wasn’t really a surprise that she was so powerful even when she was incapacitated."

"…Wait, a weapon that could kill—you mean, that gun?" Danny blinked in shock.

"Yes," Daisuke shrugged, "Qualia had broken before I had the chance to meet her, but I think Satoshi or his stepfather fixed her just for that purpose of destroying Dark. And even after that, I don’t think she was ever properly whole, since part of her artwork had been used to repair Argentine, so she never manifested. Still, Argentine talked about her a lot, so when I see him in my dreams with that woman… I know it’s her. His smile tells me he’s happy and that he finally got his wish, so it must be."

Danny smiled a bit, and the two fell into silence as they continued eating dinner. The black-haired boy was glad that the man could talk about his friends from the life he had before Danny knew him—and he spoke with such an innocent, happy smile, too. The sense of longing still laced the undertones of his expression but genuine bliss was prominent, as if Daisuke was reliving those better days rather than yearning for them.

"I never did tell you more about Satoshi, did I?" Daisuke suddenly said, and Danny’s head jerked up in surprise.

"The angel?" The blue-eyed boy asked after a moment, "You said he was your best friend, but… yeah, I don’t know much about him. You… you said you weren’t ready to talk about him, back then."

"I dreamed of him, last night," Daisuke remarked calmly, finishing his dinner and pushing it aside with a quiet prayer, "and, you know, it’s funny… I did dream of him as an angel. He hated the white wings, though—he always has, but I don’t blame him."

Danny tilted his head, listening quietly as Daisuke told him about the dream and then continuing on to tell him about how Satoshi had been when he was alive, how the boy’s bluntness and generally deadpan attitude were actually rather amusing, when one didn’t think about the monster he was holding back. Daisuke told him about some of the escapades they had gotten into, the contests between Satoshi and Dark, how fiercely the boy genius had tried to protect him…. He told Danny about how he met Argentine, how he and Satoshi had teamed up to rescue Risa from Argentine, who had kidnapped her when he didn’t know better and had thought Risa was the key to Dark’s power. About the time Satoshi admitted that Daisuke was the one thing in the world that made him truly happy, right as he admitted he wouldn’t live for much longer due to his family curse. About the promise they made to try to continue living and move forward, when all was said and done. Daisuke had made that promise to bring some hope into the doomed boy’s life—Satoshi had made that promise just to see him smile. And a younger Daisuke had denied that his friend would eventually break his promise—the Daisuke in front of Danny now only shook his head remorsefully and moved on from the memory, talking about their time together in the months after that fateful final battle.

"You know," Danny said slowly when Daisuke had trailed off with a fond, reminiscing smile on his face, "not to be rude or, uh, make him seem gay or something, but it sounds like he loved you a lot."

The redhead blinked at him, then his eyes and smile became soft, and he looked down at the table with a little nod, not offended at all by the implication. “He did. However deep the feeling ran… he did love me.”

Daisuke’s affection for his friends was written all over his face, it painted his every move and highlighted his every word. The blanket of comfort and kindness and protection that seemed to exude from Daisuke’s very being grew stronger, and as Danny watched, he couldn’t help but feel like there was a soft white aura around the man.

It wasn’t like a ghost’s cold, dreadful glow—it felt like the wings he saw in the Ghost Zone, which at once felt different from the downy shadows he had drawn in the sketch of Daisuke that he made. This aura, this thing he was sure he had felt from the very first night he talked to Daisuke… what was it?

Danny tilted his head thoughtfully, putting aside the food since it was mostly done anyway. He glanced over at the redhead, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of that white aura he could have sworn he felt. “Do you think he’s watching over you, wherever he is?”

"Yes," Daisuke laughed gently, "I think all of my friends are watching over me. They seem to be happy I’m moving on, at least I think so, if their visits in my dreams are any indication."

"Like angels?"

Daisuke blinked, his eyes large and almost innocent, caught off guard by the question. “What?”

The raven-haired boy shrugged. “You once said that you didn’t believe in angels, but that I made you want to believe in them. Why don’t you believe in them?” He asked, not really answering Daisuke’s question, “Is it because you believed in your friends more?”

There was silence for a moment, red eyes staring unblinkingly at clear blue, stunned speechless.

When Daisuke finally gathered himself, he sighed and shook his head. “Angels look out for you and protect you… they’re supposed to be good and kind and pure and just. They save you when you need to be saved. I never quite believed in any of that… I never had anyone or anything like that growing up, even if they were invisible or divine and I wasn’t supposed to see them. So yeah, I think I did believe in my friends more.” He shrugged, “Can you really blame me for not believing in angels? Dark and Krad may have looked like angels, but… Krad skewered the image of the white-winged purity, he was more of a demon despite his appearance. And Dark… he may have been good, by all technicalities, and he was certainly nice compared to Krad, but… I never said he was kind.”

"Then what about Satoshi? Before you told me his name, you said he was an angel." Danny pointed out in a subdued voice, "You said I was one."

"Humans masquerading as angels," Daisuke said softly, "You were protecting others, and despite what suffering you’ve been through, you remained kind and pure and just. It was the closest thing I could say to describe what I felt. Satoshi may have hated the image of angels, but I thought of him as my image of what an angel should be. And he was like you… he made me want to believe in angels."

"So why didn’t you?"

Daisuke shrugged listlessly. “I didn’t know what to believe in, for those years between then and now.”

"Do you still not know?" Danny tilted his head, frowning.

"I think you said it best. I believe in my friends more." Daisuke’s expression was solemn, the smile at his lips wistful. "What about you, Danny? Do you believe in angels?"

Danny paused at that. He had grown up believing ghosts were evil, but his parents had never said things like angels or demons existed, so he wasn’t really sure. Maybe at some point, he did believe in God, just a bit—just as much as the next average teenager who wasn’t all that religious. But angels…? Did he ever believe angels had been watching over him?

Maybe they were. Maybe that’s why he didn’t die that day—or at least, didn’t die all the way.

"Yeah," he finally decided, smiling brightly at his friend, "I think I do."

Daisuke chuckled fondly and shook his head. “Then maybe someday, I will too. Or maybe you really are an angel, saving me when I needed it most… maybe I should start by believing in you?”

"I think your friends are angels, so maybe you should believe in them first," Danny said in a esoteric voice, "because the way I’m seeing it… they’re definitely looking out for you and protecting you, and keeping you safe and healthy."

Like in the Ghost Zone.

Danny was sure that he wasn’t just seeing things—that the aura he felt wasn’t just his imagination. And he grinned widely when that aura flared, as if to acknowledge the half-ghost hero—to acknowledge Daisuke’s new close friend as something similar to itself.

"Danny?" The red-haired man blinked in bemusement when he saw the expression on his friend’s face.

"It’s nothing, Dai," Danny shook his head, "I just think that maybe Satoshi’s definitely still with you in spirit. Maybe someday I’ll meet him. Do you think he’ll like me?"

~~~

"You know, you never did explain who that winged thief was."

If the statement caught Daisuke by surprise, his reaction was too quick for Jazz to catch it. He looked up at her, bemused.

"What are you talking bout?" He asked curiously, a slight cautiousness in his voice masking a certain defensiveness that Jazz had to look for to pick up on.

"You know, a couple of months ago, that angel who stole those rings from the museum. He was your friend, right?" Jazz lifted an eyebrow, pausing in their stroll through the college campus to face him. He stopped too, when he noticed her glaring at him inquisitively. "You never explained who he was or how he got here. Or why he sort of just… disappeared after all that."

"I don’t see why I have to," Daisuke shrugged nonchalantly. "Danny told you right? My friend stole dangerous magical artifacts."

"Danny, and you, also said he died." Jazz pointed out, crossing her arms, "Not to mention, why would he appear now, after seven years, and then suddenly disappear again?"

"Why are you bringing this up, anyhow?" Daisuke sighed, running his hand through his hair, and the other redhead narrowed her eyes when she recognized the evasive maneuver for what it was.

"I overheard a couple of girls at my school were talking about him, I think they became fans of him. Which is kind of funny, because they used to be huge Danny Phantom fans," Jazz remarked offhandedly, "I didn’t see him other than in the news, but I can see his appeal—he’s young, handsome, mysterious, older than Danny, and humans have a general attraction to things perceived as good and ‘angelic’. It’s the opposite of ghosts, which are perceived as evil and ‘monstrous’."

Daisuke tilted his head quizzically. “And what do you think of him?”

"I don’t know," Jazz shrugged, her arms falling to her side, "Angelic he may be, there’s also the speculation that he’s a ghost—from both media and from Team Phantom." Her blue-eyed gaze became sharp again, locking with Daisuke’s red. "And, like I said, you never explained him."

Daisuke sighed, internally debating whether or not to lie to her. It would get complicated if he told the truth, and she was too smart to be satisfied with half-truths and assumptions. Lying would probably also come back to kick him in the rear end.

"He did die," he finally said after a moment, "and to be honest, Jazz, I don’t feel like talking about him."

Jazz’s expression softened at this, but she also looked a little hurt. Didn’t he trust her? Well, maybe he did, but he was obviously still trying to move on—it was too early, and his wounds were still just barely healed. Forcing him to talk was like opening those wounds with a knife—she didn’t mean to do that at all.

Daisuke caught onto her somber mood, sighing heavily. “I’m sorry, Jazz, but I can’t… I can’t fully explain it all, or what really happened that night. It’s… complicated.”

Jazz sighed too, shaking her head. “I understand,” she managed a small smile to reassure him, “It’s got to do with all that magic stuff right? I personally didn’t believe it existed before you came along, and even Danny says he doesn’t fully understand it, so… I can see how it might be complicated.”

"Something like that." Daisuke’s shoulders relaxed with relief, and he motioned, continuing to lead the way through his campus. "Thank you."

"No problem, Daisuke," Jazz’s smile widened as she followed him. "Though can I ask one thing?"

"Mm?"

"Well I mean I understand that those rings were magical somehow, Danny told me about it. But what about that Vampire Hunter painting in that Elmerton museum?” Jazz gave a pause as Daisuke suddenly stopped again and burst out laughing. She stared at him, genuinely surprised by the reaction, as well as his laughter—she had never heard him laugh like that, in such a genuine way.

"That was a copycat, the painting was never a true target nor was it magical at all." Daisuke explained when he regained his breath, turning to face her as his grin split his face, "I think Vlad set that up to lure my friend out, but it didn’t work."

"But… it was still stolen?" Jazz looked puzzled, "The guy wasn’t caught… I mean, he didn’t use wings or anything like your angel friend, but…"

Daisuke pressed his lips together in an amused smile. “Even if my friend never showed up, Vlad probably went through with the heist to frame him or something. He probably had a ghost steal it, but since there was no face to show for it, it can’t be accredited to the phantom thief. My friend is a lot more of a showoff, so doing a heist without boasting about it and putting his name all over it isn’t like him. The pattern is there for all his previous heists too—so copycats can send a notice like he does, but they can’t use his face. That makes it obvious it wasn’t him.”

"He’s a very overconfident thief, isn’t he, to let his face get out like that. Not that it matters much since he’s not… human, but it does make me wonder if he has a narcissist complex…" the carrot-top mused, smiling now too.

"He’s been at it a long time, he can afford his confidence," Daisuke chuckled. "He had pride in his work, and would’ve been appalled by that shoddy copycat."

Jazz tilted her head curiously. “Sounds like it was your pride too.”

Daisuke paused at that, looking thoughtful. “Maybe,” he finally decided after a long moment, shrugging and beginning to walk again. He opened his mouth to continue that thought when his phone chirped with the Ghostbusters theme song that Danny had thought would be hilariously ironic to use as Daisuke’s ringtone for him.

Daisuke smiled a little sheepishly, shaking his head as he pulled out his phone. Jazz rolled her eyes knowingly, nodding in acknowledgement to let Daisuke know it was okay to answer it.

"Hey, Dai!"

"Danny," Daisuke laughed, "Where are you? We had to leave the apartment without you, I didn’t want to be late to my own final."

"On my way, duh. Sorry, Technus was a pain as usual and the Guys In White were being particularly persistent this morning." The sound of wind could be heard rushing past the phone mouthpiece. "Don’t worry, I’ll find you. What’s your general area?"

"The gigantic building that says ‘Arts and Humanities’ on the side." Daisuke deadpanned, and Danny laughed on the other end before a quick affirmation, and they hung up. Daisuke stowed the phone away again, looking up at the sky periodically to search for his half-ghost friend.

"So, what’s the theme of this gallery showcase anyway?" Jazz asked as they resumed walking toward the art building, "I haven’t seen your work yet, so…"

Daisuke was a little relieved she changed the subject from before, and smiled a little as he answered, “Trio. The professor wanted us to work with themes that were commonly thought of in trios, and create pieces that would provoke thought and let the viewer question those themes. Her example work was called Black, White, Gray—it’s going to be part of the showcase too.”

"For some reason that makes me think of Danny," Jazz commented, "and a bit of Plasmius. Danny would be… white, I guess, seeing as it’s commonly associated with goodness and purity."

"On the contrary, I think he’d be ‘black’. Aside from that being his main suit color," the redhead mused, "black is… a very comforting color, I think."

Jazz looked at him for a long time, thoughtful. “…Maybe you’re right,” she said slowly as she realized that black was a color that was a common theme in his angel friend, so it wasn’t a surprise he associated black with goodness instead of white. “Who would be ‘gray’ then?” She wondered out loud, and the first thought that popped to her mind was of a certain red huntress.

"Perhaps Danielle," Daisuke shrugged.

"Who?" Jazz lifted an eyebrow.

The art student blinked bemusedly at her, surprised she didn’t know about Danny’s “cousin”, but he didn’t have time to answer because there was a blur of black and white zooming into a bush nearby them. Both redheads paused, watching as a light shone through the leaves of the bush before Danny hopped out with a big, dorky smile plastered across his face.

"Yo! Sorry I’m late?" He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"You’re not late, we’re almost there though," Daisuke returned with a friendly chuckle.

Danny grinned and fell into step beside him, looking up at his sister. “So, what were you guys talking about?”

Jazz still looked a little puzzled, but Daisuke supplied him with, “The gallery theme, trios.”

"Oh… is that why you were painting three pieces?" Danny scratched his head, "Huh. Okay, cool—what was your trio then?"

“Heaven, Purgatory, Hell.” The redhead smiled knowingly—there was an air of mystery around him, which puzzled Danny as he thought back to the pieces he saw in Daisuke’s room.

How did Azumano and a weird iced-over corridor tie into the theme of heaven, purgatory, and hell?

He was about to ask when they reached the art room where the showcase was, and he held his questions in, figuring he’d see the answers in a moment anyway.

The gallery, which Danny had assumed would be a lot of easels with paintings, actually consisted of several makeshift walls, forming something of a maze in the once spacious room. Each side of the walls had three paintings mounted on it in various orientations, accompanied by a plaque detailing the title, artist, and a brief description of the piece.

As they entered, Daisuke told them to wait by the entrance and went to talk to an older woman standing by a refreshments table. She glanced over at Jazz and Danny quizzically, then brightened when Daisuke said something to her. She handed him a clipboard and three sheets of paper—a program of some sort, Danny guessed—and Daisuke returned to them with a big grin.

"I have to analyze my classmates for my final, but you two are free to look around," he explained, handing them each one of the papers in his hand, "This is a critique sheet but you can use it as a guide if you want."

"Are we allowed to critique too?" Danny asked dryly, smirking down at the paper. It was an exam he didn’t have to do, after all.

Daisuke chuckled and rolled his eyes. “If you want. Now, I have only three hours to get this done, so…”

"We understand," Jazz giggled, "Do your thing. We’ll just go find yours. Oh, and your professor’s, I want to see hers too, since you mentioned it before."

Daisuke nodded, turning to the nearest trio of paintings and beginning to work, pulling a pencil from his messenger bag and chewing the back of it absently as he looked at the painting—Danny briefly caught the title, Devil, Human, Angel, before he shrugged and went deeper into the maze of walls with Jazz to look for Daisuke’s work.

Jazz looked around at the other pieces in curiosity, occasionally glancing down at her paper in thought. Danny wondered if she actually would do the exam too, just for the heck of it—knowing her, it would be a “fun exercise” to do anything related to what he considered as extra schoolwork.

They ran into a few other students working on their exams—a few even talked to each other, and from the looks of it the professor didn’t seem to mind. Danny wondered if all college classes would be this lax… or maybe it was just art classes.

"Oh, there’s Daisuke’s." Danny pointed, recognizing the glimpse of Azumano before he even saw the nameplate or the other two pieces. Jazz lit up, and the pair made their way over, careful not to disturb the art student already there, mumbling to herself as she analyzed the paintings.

The black-haired boy blinked in surprise at finally seeing the third piece of the trio—on the far right, next to the corridor painting set in the center, was a portrait of a very familiar green landscape.

"The Ghost Zone…?" He murmured quietly, his eyes wide as he stepped up to look at it.

The colors were vivid compared to the dark reds and pastel blues of the other two paintings; a cacophony of toxic, electrifying green and ominous black swirls clashing with the purplish doors. The vortex of greens twisted together in such a lifelike way, seeming to ebb and slither with every breath, that Danny could have sworn he was looking into a portal to the Ghost Zone itself. The purple doors in the distance didn’t seem to actually stand out as much as the one in the foreground, blending in with the abyss of ectoplasmic space on the canvas. In the center of it all, a crooked door with a detailed and ornate frame stood halfway open, seeming to move as much as the rest of the painting. It looked like it would continue opening if he just pushed it a little more, and he could clearly imagine the creaking sound that would accompany it. Beyond the door frame, there was a black field interrupted by a flame of ice blue that seemed like it should have been out of place but it wasn’t. The flame was surrounded by a stream of red-white light at its base, almost like a wreath.

Danny blinked slowly and tried to puzzle over why Daisuke had depicted a flame beyond the door, its bright colors competing with the purple and green that surrounded it for the attention of its viewers. That shade of blue looked oddly familiar, too, but he couldn’t quite place it.

"These three don’t look like they go together at all," he finally said, trailing his eyes over the trio of paintings in confusion. Their color schemes clashed too much with their neighbors, their settings were all so different, and nothing matched… Danny didn’t know much about art, but even on the way to find Daisuke’s painting, he saw several works that were more harmonious than this.

"It kind of works, in a weird way," said the girl standing nearby them and analyzing the paintings, though she wasn’t looking up at them, absently continuing, "All the paintings have the same shades of red and purple in them, somewhere, but in different lighting and hues. As a whole, he’s got the whole additive primary colors thing going on—red, green, blue. Very nice use of the trios theme."

Danny blinked at her, then looked over to his sister, who was reading the plaque set below the paintings. She read it out loud when he leaned closer to see it too. “Heaven, Purgatory, Hell… by Daisuke Niwa… ‘Normally when people think of these three things, they think of heaven having white clouds and pearly golden gates, hell with flames and eternal screams, and purgatory as a wasteland for the people who can’t go to either. I think each are unique to every individual though, so I created my works to represent my own personal experiences and beliefs.’ Hmm.” Jazz stood up and stepped back, examining the paintings. “I’m guessing this nice looking town is the trio’s Heaven… that’s his hometown, right, Danny?”

Danny nodded, but remained silent, reading over the plaque just as his sister had done. These are based on his own beliefs and experiences… but he doesn’t seem to believe in heaven or hell… he said once that he believes in ‘a next life’, like reincarnation…

"The Ghost Zone is obviously the analogy for purgatory, seeing as it is the land where spirits go when they cannot rest. It looks just like that other dimension we saw during that ghost invasion," the art student by them mumbled, "And that third place looks scary enough to be hell…"

"It’s in the wrong order though," Jazz tilted her head, pointing at the Ghost Zone painting on the right, and then the corridor painting in the center, "all the other artworks here put the title and paintings in the same order. So shouldn’t the Ghost Zone be in the center, if it’s Purgatory?”

The art student shrugged, tucking her pencil behind her ear. “Maybe whoever set it up did it wrong. Niwa should’ve corrected it before the showcase,” she said before moving onto the next wall to analyze the next set of paintings.

The redheaded teen sighed, looking over at her brother as he stood up, his hand on his chin in that manner he had whenever he was seriously thinking something over.

"Danny? What do you think?" She inquired curiously. Danny did watch Daisuke make half these paintings, maybe he knew something she didn’t.

"It’s not the wrong order, Jazz," he replied absently, tilting his head to the side, his sky blue eyes locked firmly on the painting of the Ghost Zone.

"Really? So this… hallway place is what Daisuke believes purgatory looks like?" Jazz frowned in confusion, "Then would the Ghost Zone be Hell? Is it because he thinks that to be stuck like ghosts is the equivalent of suffering through hell…?”

"These are representations of his concepts of the trio, Jazz. They’re not actual places, even if they look like it—Azumano is, but that portrait of the Ghost Zone isn’t. There aren’t any doors that lead to a place like that,” Danny motioned to the abyss with the blue and red flame, “and I’m pretty sure that corridor in the Purgatory painting doesn’t exist anywhere in real life.”

"What even is it, and why is it so empty?" Jazz asked in confusion, studying it more closely, her eyes trailing over the frost on the windows, "It’s kind of… eerie."

"I haven’t seen it myself, but I’m pretty sure that’s a place from Daisuke’s nightmares—he told me once, about a dream he had where he was running down this corridor, trying to catch…" he trailed off, a faintly melancholy look on his face as his arms dropped to his sides. "Oh."

"Oh?" Jazz repeated, turning to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I think I get it now. I was wondering why the Ghost Zone was on the right, too, but I think I get it now," Danny frowned, "Purgatory is where restless spirits go—like ghosts going to the Ghost Zone. But that painting is the representation of Daisuke’s personal purgatory—of that time in his life when he was trapped and didn’t know how to move forward, yearning for and chasing after the past like an obsession,” he explained in a strangely soft, sympathetic voice, finally looking up at his sister. “The purple shadows are the remnants of his friend haunting him, the emptiness is how lonely he felt during those years, darkness outside those windows reflects how he saw the world, the fog is him not seeing the end of the tunnel clearly, and the ice is his ‘frozen time’, to borrow a phrase from his friend Freedert.”

The carrot-top blinked in surprise. “You got all that from his painting?”

"No, but Daisuke’s deepest secret… the darkest years of his life… it looks like this. This is what it would look like, if it were a place, I think." Danny mused thoughtfully, turning his gaze back to the paintings. "Besides, I know Dai… I’ve been in his head, sort of. That’s definitely what he wanted to paint."

"Okay, what about the Ghost Zone and Azumano, then? What do those represent?" Jazz asked curiously, wondering what Danny would draw from his bond to explain the Azumano in Heaven and the Ghost Zone in Hell.

Danny’s eyes trailed from the right painting to the left, then he crossed his arms and looked up at his sister. “What do you think?” He returned inquisitively, smiling almost playfully.

"Well, Azumano is his home, I can easily see how that might be heaven to him. I mean, as much as I think our parents are crazy and that our house is an abomination and a violation of too many building codes to count, Fenton Works is still home, and Amity Park is always home. If I died and went to heaven, it would probably look like Amity Park for me, going by the idea that Daisuke is presenting, that every person’s heaven, hell, and purgatory are unique to themselves." Jazz paused, shaking her head to clear her thoughts before she got too far off topic, "The Ghost Zone… it’s the only form of afterlife that we actually know exists, so I can see it being a sort of hell—you don’t want to go there when you die. It’s an eternity of suffering, of your mind warping until you can think of nothing but your obsession… for normal people, that’s scary."

Danny tilted his head. He looked back at the paintings, and then said simply, “Jazz… Azumano is the Hell, here.”

A perplexed look made its way over Jazz’s face, as she tried to make sense of what Danny had just said. “Wait… what? But it looks so nice.” She looked over the painting again, as if to make sure she was right. It was a quaint little town, and there weren’t any odd symbols or metaphors that she could see, unlike in the corridor painting. “Besides, it’s on the left…”

"Daisuke is Japanese. He told me about a linguistic class he took in Japan before coming here, and how he learned that language affects us in our everyday lives without us even realizing it." The elder Fenton lifted an eyebrow at the supposed non sequitur, but said nothing as the younger Fenton continued, "Japanese people orient themselves right to left because that’s how they traditionally read stuff, and even their sense of cardinal directions is different from ours because their streets don’t have names, so they’re forced to give directions with north and south and right and left and stuff rather than by saying ‘get onto Elm Street and keep going till you reach Sawmill Road’. The paintings aren’t in the wrong order—Daisuke placed them how he would read them. Right to left."

Jazz blinked at him in astonishment, then looked back at the paintings. “But… I don’t understand. Why would his home town be Hell?”

"Because, that’s where he lost a lot of people. That’s where he suffered the most, and it’s where he’ll have to face his past when he finally goes home. It’s going to hurt, and it’s been his hell; and I don’t doubt that in the future, it still will be, at times." Danny explained just as solemnly as before, "Look at the people in that painting… they’re just doing normal things. The day is nice, the sun has risen, and they’re living life as if nothing’s happened, and they can’t feel Daisuke’s pain. The idea that life was moving on, even though Daisuke’s world had shattered when he lost the people he loved and he wasn’t ready to keep moving too… that was hell for Daisuke.”

"But he was getting better, right?" Jazz asked in concern.

"Yeah. To be fair, he made this painting before a lot of the gooey soul talks," her brother grinned lightheartedly, "which brings us to the third piece. I’m pretty sure he changed his original draft of the idea after we talked, because the rush-job on this just screams ‘sudden inspiration’. It’s a lot simpler than the other two, in terms of detail, huh?"

Jazz blinked, squinted her eyes to scrutinize the painting, then nodded. “It does look…”

She was interrupted by Danny’s sharp gasp, and she glanced over at the black-haired boy just in time to see a cold wisp escape his mouth.

"Uh oh," Danny groaned and ran a hand over his face, sighing as he looked apologetically over his shoulder as if Daisuke would see him. "I’ll be right back. Let Dai know where I went?"

Jazz nodded with a small grin, shaking her head as her brother dashed off and through the maze of the gallery, disappearing from sight. She looked back at the apparent Heaven painting, humming in thought as she tried to decipher its meaning.

She didn’t understand Daisuke’s thoughts as intimately as Danny did, and the Ghost Zone being the representation of anyone’s heaven was baffling at best, but she did know one thing.

The blue flame beyond the open door in the painting… was the exact same color as Danny’s eyes.

If this was the representation of Daisuke’s heaven, then Danny definitely had some part in it. Heaven, the place where one was happy and at peace… Danny had helped create that for Daisuke, hadn’t he? He was the spark that started the fire, the light in the dark to lead the way on Daisuke’s path to recovery.

Danny had opened the door to that path when he first befriended Daisuke—it was a door of opportunity, as cliche as that was, and it was one that Daisuke couldn’t have found anywhere else.

Jazz blinked, pausing. Anywhere else? She wondered about that thought. Daisuke couldn’t have found his heaven anywhere else, if it has to do with Danny. Which means… all that green and Ghost Zone stuff… is that supposed to represent Amity Park? Well, what better way to represent it without painting another city or town… that would have gotten boring, since he already painted Azumano as a physical place…

The carrot-top was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice her fellow redhead come up to her, standing next to her as he worked on his analysis of the next paintings over.

She was snapped out of it when he cleared his throat and chuckled. “Is it really that fascinating?”

Jazz jumped, turning around. “Oh! Daisuke!” She giggled as she calmed herself, “Sorry, I was just trying to figure out the symbolism in your paintings. They’re very nice, if not… puzzling.”

"Well, they are supposed to be thought-provoking.” Daisuke grinned, idly working on his exam. “Where’s Danny?”

"His ghost sense went off, so he had to go deal with that." Jazz explained. "I’m sure he’ll he back soon," she said as she checked her watch, blinking at the time. They had been there for over an hour already, and Danny had left maybe fifteen minutes ago… "Huh. Hey, how’s your exam going?"

"I’m about two-thirds done," Daisuke replied, nodding in understanding. "Did you find Black, White, Gray yet?”

"Oh, no, I haven’t," Jazz grinned sheepishly, "I was still trying to figure yours out, after all."

"Need a hint?" The older redhead asked playfully, laughing softly.

"Maybe," Jazz chuckled, motioning to the Heaven painting, “I was just wondering what that red light is, around the blue flame. That’s really the only thing I haven’t figured out…”

"Hmm." Daisuke finally glanced over, an amused smile on his face. "The answer is sort of cliche, but the metaphor is actually kind of personal, so I don’t think anyone would really understand what it means."

"Not even Danny?"

"I doubt it," the artist shrugged, "though he could probably make a pretty close guess."

Jazz mulled that over as Daisuke went back to his assignment. So the door was an opportunity—to heal and move on? To make new friends and be happy? Either way—if the door was the start of something good like that, and the blue flame represented Danny, then maybe the red light represented something about Daisuke himself. After all, this was Daisuke’s personal heaven—the other two paintings had pieces of the man so obviously dispersed throughout them, everything about them from the color of the curtains to the once-blue skies were parts of Daisuke’s past. So this one should have had that too, right?

But she couldn’t see anything in the Heaven painting that remotely resembled Daisuke except for that red light. Even the carvings on the ornate door didn’t seem very Daisuke-like, consisting of flourishing swirls and curves that twisted just as much as the green in the background. Maybe that red light represented Daisuke himself as a whole? But then, why was it wrapped around the flame—and why was it so small compared to everything else?

She sighed, shaking her head. “Well, I think I’ll give up on it for now. I’m going to go find your professor’s work and look around some more.” She told her friend, and he grinned over at her.

"Okay, sure. I’ll come get you when I’m done."

Jazz wandered off, and Daisuke moved onto the next paintings, sighing at the quiet atmosphere and the distant murmurs of his classmates.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at his own Heaven painting, smiling at the thought of what the red light represented.

The blue flame and the red ring were intertwined in their meanings, but the red ring surrounded the flame protectively while still letting it fester.

It was understanding, it was friendship, it was protection… it was hope, it was their promise.

The flame was nothing like the coolness of his phantom thief’s touch on his soul, or the calming ice of the angel’s breath-like presence.

It was a stream of thought that warmed his heart, and he was grateful to whatever destiny had led him to Amity Park to find that flame and let it in. So he held it close and precious, and he let it grow and flow and burn.

~~~

Danny yelped, ducking behind a stone bench as a bright blue shot soared over his head. He took a moment to catch his breath, taking a deep gulp of air and wondering at the back of his mind if he really needed to breathe this much in ghost form.

He should have been done with this chase ages ago—he had lost track of time but he was sure he had been fleeing for more than half an hour. It was supposed to just be the pod of ectopi, and that in itself wasn’t a hard fight.

But then the Guys In White had shown up. They would’ve been easy to escape too, if they hadn’t had some weird new technology that they decided to try testing on him.

He heard the whistle of a rocket, and his eyes widened. He hurriedly dove forward just as the bench behind him exploded in a rain of debris and dust. Cringing, he scrambled to get to his feet, darting off once more and trying futilely to fly. He only ended up stumbling, but sheer determination drove him onward, looking for another shelter.

He held his hand tightly to his side as he ran, trying to stop the bleeding from the shot he had taken earlier—whatever that shot had been, it wasn’t normal ecto-weaponry. He couldn’t use his powers—none of them worked, not even transformation! It had sent a shock through him, and the effects had been like the Plasmius Maximus, only he was stuck in ghost form this time.

Panting heavily and wearing thin quickly, he dove for the shadow of an alley, trying to seek refuge behind the dumpster—his body protested the quick movements, but he grit his teeth and bore the pain, curling up against the dirty, grungy metal surface.

He was losing a lot of ectoplasm—not good. And if the trail of glowing green blood didn’t give him away, then being stuck in ghost mode would—the Guys In White were tracking his ecto-signature. If he could just turn back, he could hide…!

The distant sounds of jet packs and running footsteps reached the range of his enhanced ghost hearing, and he panicked. Stuffing his free hand in his pocket, he groped for the phone he now normally kept on his Phantom half, flipping it open hastily.

Only Team Phantom had this number, and he had to reach someone, anyone… if he got caught before help could reach him, then at least one of them would know something was wrong and…!

The footsteps were getting closer. His head was spinning from the blood loss, and staying still long enough to catch his breath meant his brain was catching up to his injuries and they were starting to overwhelm him.

Tears of pain streaked his face as he blindly hit the redial button.

~~~

Daisuke jumped when his phone suddenly rang, and he brightened at the ringtone. Danny! The ghost boy had been gone for a while, Daisuke realized when he checked the time displayed on his phone—did he get caught up with Ember again or something?

Ignoring the looks he got from his classmates, he flipped open the cell phone, holding it up to his ear. “Hey, Danny! Where—”

"D-Daisuke?" Danny’s voice sounded small and weak on the other end, almost a whimper. Daisuke’s cheerful greeting died in his throat and he went still, his eyes wide and his face draining of color. Very rarely did Danny ever sound that small—in fact, Daisuke couldn’t recall any time when he sounded like that, and Daisuke had seen him in his most vulnerable moments.

"Danny? Are you alright?" Daisuke asked quietly, not raising his voice in fear that it would tremble. Something was wrong; something was very, very wrong.

"I—I got hurt, a-and…." The boy was struggling for breath, gasping between clenched teeth apparently, which was odd considering that he still held the echo of a ghost—his ghost form didn’t need to breathe so much, so why was he…? "C-can’t change back. No powers. Help, please—G-Guys In White on m-my tail—"

The sounds of shouting reached the receiver, and Daisuke paled even more as he heard Danny scream in pain.

"Danny!?" Daisuke yelled in shock, clutching the phone tightly in his hand even as he began trembling. He didn’t care who was looking at him now. Panic rose in his chest when he didn’t get an answer. "Danny?! Nan ka?! Nani wo shiteiru ka?!”

Scuffling and a blaster’s whine reached his ears, followed by the loud clattering of the phone being dropped.

“Daijoubu da ka?! Danny!”

Jazz was suddenly at his side, but he didn’t see her, didn’t hear her ask what was wrong, didn’t feel her hand on his shaking shoulder. All he could feel was numbness, horror coloring his expression as he listened to the sounds of the fight on the other side of the phone.

There was another scream, distinctly Danny’s, before it was abruptly cut off by an explosion, and the line went dead.

Chapter Text

"Daisuke—Daisuke, wait up!” Jazz called desperately as she chased the artist after he abruptly left his class with a hasty apology to his teacher, who seemed to have understood that an emergency had come up. Daisuke had seemed to be barely holding himself together, because the moment he got out of the room he practically bolted. Her eyes were wide and panicked—she had never seen so much turmoil coiling in one body like the way it was in Daisuke now, and his pace was fast—and despite that it wasn’t an outright sprint in any way, Jazz had a hard time keeping up with him. “What happened—? What happened to Danny—”

"Rrahg!" Daisuke yelled in frustration, whipping around to face his redheaded friend. Jazz skidded to a stop with a flinch—there was a fire in Daisuke’s eyes that hadn’t been there before, and he almost looked like he wanted to punch something. "Danny was—he was… the Guys In White!" He growled, gesturing wildly in the air as if that would help explain things, "They caught him!”

Jazz paled. “He’ll—probably get out. He always does…” She gulped fearfully.

Daisuke scowled, turning heel and continuing his fast-paced storm back to his apartment. “He can’t—he said he couldn’t use his powers, and that he can’t change back.” He explained lowly, not even waiting for Jazz as she squeaked and chased after him again, trying to at least keep a few steps behind him.

"He—what?" Jazz gasped, "I—I mean, it’s happened before, but usually he’s stuck in his human form—"

"It would have been worse if he were caught in human form," Daisuke grumbled, pushing open the apartment complex’s lobby doors and then the stairwell’s once he got there, not stopping his stride, "It will probably save him from his identity being discovered, but who knows what will happen in the meantime?"

Danny’s descriptions of nightmares involving dissection and weapons testing came to mind, and Jazz shivered involuntarily. “What are you—Daisuke, calm down!” Jazz shouted as he slammed another door open, and then made his way to his own apartment. He stuffed his hand in his pocket, trying to find his key, but when he couldn’t find it, he let out another growl of frustration. He ran his hand through his hair, nearly pulling on it, his eyes sparking angrily as he glared at the doorknob. Before he could even contemplate kicking down the door, Jazz grabbed his hand and spun him to face her. “Daisuke, calm down,” she implored him again, firmly with a stern tone of voice, despite how she was shaking, “Whatever you’re trying to do, or whatever you want to do… it won’t help him if you’re this riled up. Please, calm down.”

Daisuke stared at her for a long time, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Sorry,” he muttered, turning away from her again and looking through his messenger bag, finally finding his apartment key and unlocking his door. He pushed it open without much regard for the slam it made against the wall, and Jazz cringed as she followed him in and closed the door gently.

"What are you planning to do?" She asked him, watching as he dropped his bag, stuffed his key in his pocket, and went straight to his room. She frowned a little, following him, surveying the emptiness—his roommate must have already packed up and gone home. "Daisuke?" She turned her gaze back to her friend, blinking when she saw him digging through his already packed luggage for something.

"You said this has happened before, right?" Daisuke glanced over at her, the seething anger still coloring his eyes a duller red than she was used to seeing. "What happened those times?"

"Well, with the Guys In White, he just kind of broke out on his own—their technology isn’t as good as our parents’. And Skulker’s caught him before too, he’s better than them for the most part, but Danny still got out of his traps just fine." Jazz explained hastily, "As for not having his powers before… or at least, not being able to use them, he usually got by with his friends’ help. When he got stuck in Colorado with Mom and Vlad used the Plasmius Maximus on him, Mom pretty much defended him the whole trip, though he did trick Vlad and take him out with the Specter Deflector. And when that Pirate Radio thing happened, he teamed up with his classmates to rescue everyone’s parents…"

"…So he’s never been powerless and captured at the same time." Daisuke murmured, shaking his head and going back to looking through his luggage. He pulled out some dark clothes and then a small pouch of some sort, sticking that into his pocket before Jazz had much of a chance to figure out what it was. "Do you know where the Guys In White have their base?" He looked up at her again.

Jazz stared at him incredulously. “You can’t be serious.”

"I am."

"You’re seriously going to go in there, on your own, and rescue Danny,” she deadpanned. “Do you know how dangerous that is? This is a top secret, highly equipped government facility with agents who would rather shoot first and ask questions never!”

"It’s not the first time I’ve broken out of jail," Daisuke muttered irritably, standing up to his full height, "Albeit this is the first time I’m breaking into one to break someone else out.”

The carrot-top lifted an eyebrow—despite that they had been somewhat talking about his past involvement with criminal life just a few hours before, it was still a little daunting to hear something like that come straight out of his mouth.

"Daisuke… I know you want to help Danny, but you need to calm down and think this through,” Jazz stepped up to him, taking his hands. “You’re not the only one worried about him, okay?”

He gazed at her long and hard, silent and unblinking. She frowned at the strange tingling feeling suddenly under her fingers and looked down at their hands—and for the first time, she noticed he was trembling.

He was shaking ever so slightly, and her teal-blue eyes abruptly snapped back to his, flickering as she carefully surveyed his expression.

The dull red wasn’t anger—he had never been angry, despite his frightening behavior. She had never been good at reading him, and his poker face had always been a masterful mask crafted carefully into his very being, but when she looked into his eyes now… all she saw was raw, flowing emotion—and it threatened to spill over at any moment.

"I know," he finally said, his voice nearly stoic and trying to seem calm and collected, "but I don’t need to think this through, Jazz. Maybe I don’t have a plan, but… I made a promise. And I’ll keep it."

He was nervous, she realized—more anxious than she had ever seen—because something in him wasn’t as confident as his voice wanted to be. He was afraid, and the look in his eyes reflected that with an alarming clarity, so much that her own fear for her little brother resonated with it. Fear was an emotion she never thought she would ever see grace his features, but here he stood before her, afraid for his friend—and despite the dangers that the situation would have presented, he couldn’t think of anything else. He was focused on getting Danny out, and only that. Everything else—he was too worried to think about that.

Jazz bit her bottom lip, sucking in a breath through her teeth. Daisuke would probably not stop worrying until they rescued Danny. If Daisuke wasn’t going to be level-headed about this, then Jazz would have to be level-headed enough for both of them.

"Okay," she said after a moment, "okay. You want to save Danny… that’s fine. But we’re helping, alright?"

"We?" Daisuke blinked, a flash of confusion entering his eyes.

"Yeah. I don’t know where the Guys In White are stationed, but I know someone who can find out—and you know, he and Sam would probably want to help rescue Danny just as much as I do." Jazz grinned weakly, finally letting go of his hands and stepping back. "I’ll give them a call and tell them to meet us here."

Danny gazed at her contemplatively, and then nodded, turning away to figure out what else he would need to rescue his friend.

~~~

"They may have broken Danny’s cell phone but it kind of looks like they collected the pieces of it and kept it—if they manage to access the memory card I can remote wipe it so they don’t find the rest of us, but the GPS is running off the remaining battery, so…" Tucker reported as his fingers flew rapidly over his laptop keyboard, "Okay, they’re stationed under the huge prison on the east of the city—weird place to hide themselves, but I guess not too many people would think of that."

Daisuke nodded, shouldering his bag. “Then that’s where I’m going.”

"Wait, you’re seriously just going to storm in there?” Sam glared at him incredulously, “Danny’s our friend too, there’s no way you’re doing this alone. Besides, ex-thief or not, how do you plan on getting Danny out?”

The redhead paused at that, looking thoughtful. “…I have a plan, I think. But do you really think you can be helpful in there?” He looked back at the black-haired goth, who bristled angrily at his implication. “Besides the fact that we’re dealing with live humans here, and your specialties are in ghosts, you’re way too young to be in that kind of place.” He pointed out, and then when she opened her mouth to protest again, he quickly appended, “Everyone else in that place is an adult—you would stand out too much. I might not be much older than you, but I do have my ways of blending in. Having you guys along would just be…”

"A burden?" Jazz completed dryly, "Making it harder for you to do your job?"

Daisuke flinched. Okay, that sounded a lot like the way Danny had described these three too, occasionally. Danny really was rubbing off on him.

"Look, just let us in on your plan—let us help you," Jazz sighed. "You might have some tricks up your sleeve that you want to keep your trump cards, that’s fine. Just tell us what to do."

Daisuke slumped down, dropping his bag. “Fine,” he sighed. “I was going to sneak in, yes, and try to get Danny out of there without being noticed, but… considering how much the Guys In White consider him a threat, he’s probably under heavy surveillance, so there’s no way they wouldn’t notice when he’s gone. I was going to free him and help him out, and… I guess I’d need to create a distraction of some sort so I could use the commotion to my advantage…” He looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Well, I don’t know what to do about a distraction, but I can cut the cameras for a few minutes," Tucker piped up. "Take a pair of Fenton Phones with you and give me the signal, and that could give you some time to free him."

Daisuke blinked, staring at the African American boy. “…I knew you were going great places. Even I can’t do that without physically cutting some wires.”

Tucker grinned sheepishly and blushed lightly. He went back to his laptop shortly, still typing something out. “It’s only a few minutes though—think you can work that fast?”

"It will be all I need, if my plan goes through." Daisuke nodded. He looked at the still seething Sam, frowning in her direction. "But I still need some distraction on the outside to keep the attention off me and Danny while I get him out, and I think we’ll need a fast getaway as soon as we’re in the clear."

"Causing a ruckus is my specialty," Sam finally shook her head to clear her frustration, smirking a little bit, "Leave the distraction up to me."

"We could use the Specter Speeder," Jazz said thoughtfully, "Even if those guys have jet packs, the Specter Speeder can out-fly them—and it’s got shielding in case they use their ecto-weapons."

"I’m a better driver than you, Jazz," Sam commented, "I can help with that too."

"I’ll leave that to you then," Daisuke nodded in agreement.

"Then I’ll help with the distraction. We can probably wreak some havoc if we set some ghosts loose near the prison," Tucker said with a wide, toothy grin, "Oh, and Daisuke? I have a floor plan for you."

Daisuke blinked, sitting straight up in his seat as the boy turned the laptop toward him, showing him a blue schematic drawing on the screen.

"It’s just the ground level, but I have my bets that the door to the underground is somewhere around…" Tucker followed a path with his finger, stopping at what appeared to be an elevator, "here. The elevator goes downward but there’s no blueprint for any basement level, so that must be the entrance to the base. I bet if you get in while the elevator’s going up, you can head straight down."

"But how’s he going to get back up?" Sam frowned, "I mean, unless Danny’s got his powers back by then…"

"I’ll be fine," Daisuke said shortly, studying the map closely, memorizing every detail—everything from the exits to the ventilation paths. "This is great. Alright, I don’t want to waste another minute, so…"

The rest of them nodded solemnly, standing up. Daisuke grabbed his bag again.

"Let’s go."

~~~

"Daisuke, how exactly were you planning to sneak into that?” Sam asked with a frown, circling the prison in the Specter Speeder, trying to find a good, close place to land without being seen.

"I was going to disguise myself as a guard and get past the security that way…" Daisuke shrugged, eyeing the large, menacing looking gray building and its barbed wire fences.

"That place is huge. No matter how good you are, you’d get caught before you had a chance to get to the elevator," Jazz pointed out, tapping her chin thoughtfully as Sam found a clump of trees to land in, hidden from view but still giving them a view of the prison.

The other redhead gave an exasperated sigh. They really needed to stop underestimating him…

He opened his mouth to reassure them he’d be fine, but Jazz spoke again first. “I have an idea, but you’ve got to trust me, Daisuke.” Jazz’s blue eyes flickered over to him pointedly, knowing full well that he wanted to be doing this on his own for whatever reason. Maybe it would have been dangerous to go in there with him, but…

Jazz wanted to save her baby brother just as much as he did. And nothing was going to stop her.

Daisuke’s stare was carefully stoic as he met her determined gaze, gauging his chances of talking her out of whatever plan she had, but he saw that there was little use in fighting, so said nothing, waiting for her to continue. The lack of an actual answer made Jazz frown, but she continued nonetheless.

"Don’t give me that look. I said I had an idea to get you in—and while I disagree that you going into the Guys In White base alone might not be the best idea, you might be right about how we’d stand out." Jazz shook her head, crossing her arms, "Daisuke, let us help, okay?"

Sam and Tucker looked between them, as tense as the tension in the air. Their eyes were just as hard as Jazz’s, daring the older redhead to try leaving them out.

Daisuke sighed again. “What’s your plan to get in?”

"Simple—we walk through the front door. The prison is technically a public place, isn’t it?" Jazz grinned cheekily in a manner so very much like Danny’s, "Just follow my lead." She looked to Sam and Tucker, "You two, get ready to cause that distraction and cut the cameras, okay?"

They nodded. “On your cue.”

Tucker handed Daisuke a pair of Fenton Phones, and he stuck them in his ear as Jazz got her own pair and did the same. They got out of the Specter Speeder, beginning the fast-paced walk to the prison gates.

"Testing—is this thing working, Daisuke?" Tucker’s voice came in his ear.

Daisuke blinked slowly, reaching up to touch the earpiece. “Yes, I think so. I can hear you.” He replied, casually adjusting his bag over his shoulder.

"And you came through. Good. Just give us a signal when you need the cameras cut or the distraction."

"Alright."

He quieted when they got to the gates, and Jazz approached the security guard at the station there. She put on her sweetest smile, looking up at the man innocently. “Hi there! My name is Jazz Fenton, and this is my colleague. We’re here to do a research paper on the psychology of prison inmates who have been serving more than ten years,” she said brightly, holding out her hand amicably, “Is there someone we can talk to about that, perhaps the in-house psychologist? Or a director?”

The man lifted his eyebrow in confusion. “Uh… can’t say it’s not been done before, but usually people just call the publicist…”

"No, we wanted to talk to some of the inmates personally," Daisuke caught on quickly, adding to her lie with a shake of his head, "I made a call here earlier, but I couldn’t secure a guide. Is there any way you can get one for us?"

"Err, yeah, hold on." The guard went back into his station, and they saw him pick up the phone through the window on the booth. They couldn’t hear him, but the man occasionally looked over to them, seeming confused as to what to do with them.

After several minutes, he came back out of his station, nodding. “If you’ll go on ahead, the secretary will come get you and give you a tour.”

"Sure, thank you so much!" Jazz chirped, smiling brilliantly as he opened the gate a bit for them to get through, and the two of them slipped in as the guard smiled back courteously.

When the gate closed behind them, and they were out of earshot, Jazz smirked up at her companion. “See? Told you I could get us in through the front door. Now we just need to get actually inside the building.”

Daisuke gave a lopsided smile. “Yeah. Nice lie, by the way,” he nodded, looking down at his watch. His smile dropped when he realized it had been hours since Danny had been captured—he really hoped Danny was okay…

"If I’m correct, the older inmates are probably deeper in the building, so if we just follow the guide enough to get close to that elevator, you can do the rest, right?" Jazz looked up at him.

He nodded, determined. “Yeah, I can… I’ll go save Danny. Don’t worry.”

The elder Fenton bit her lip, but looked ahead again as a person came out of the building to greet them. “I know you will… but I wish I could too,” she murmured under her breath, before her concerned expression switched into her too-sweet smile once more and she greeted the secretary meant to guide them.

~~~

"Daisuke! What the heck?!"

Daisuke gave Jazz a nonchalant glance, then looked down at the secretary he had knocked out, unfazed. “You said I could handle the rest. This is far enough anyhow.” He stooped down, carefully pulling the man up and draping his arm over his shoulder, dragging him toward the maintenance closet nearby. “There aren’t any cameras in this spot, any further and we wouldn’t have been able to get away from him.”

Jazz stared at him in disbelief, shaking her head. Of course the former thief would have been looking for blind spots…

After their guide had been tucked into the closet, Daisuke stood straight and tapped his ear. “Tucker, how many times can you cut the feeds?”

"Maybe twice if I’m lucky." Tucker responded dutifully, "They’ll probably up the security after the first time, so if you need another cut it’ll be a while before I can crack their firewalls again."

"Alright, cut the feeds and give me a cue when it’s off." Daisuke nodded, then paused as he gathered his thoughts, trying to figure out what to do next. He clenched his fists at his side almost nervously, then turned toward Jazz. "Jazz, I need you to get back outside and help cause a distraction. I’ll make sure Danny gets out too, so make sure Sam’s ready with that getaway alright?"

"I’m already in here with you, why can’t I help you?” Jazz frowned. “Daisuke, we want to save Danny just as much as you do! Stop trying to do it all by yourself!”

Daisuke sighed heavily, shaking his head with enough force to make his spiky hair flip over. “Jazz, you remember how you stay on the sidelines because you know you’ll get in the way if you try to help Danny?”

"Yeah, but that’s because I’m not as good a ghost hunter as him," Jazz retorted, crossing her arms. "That’s different."

"But you know you’re not good at that!" Daisuke bit back, "You have no idea what you’re doing here!"

"And you do?" She shot back, "I get that you used to do dangerous stuff, but we’re not dealing with ghosts or magic here! These are humans—ones I have more experience with than you do!"

"It doesn’t matter! I’m not losing another friend!" Daisuke nearly shrieked—his voice was still low but it had risen, and his eyes were narrowed to hide the panic hidden behind them—and Jazz could almost hear the unspoken, I don’t want to lose you too.

Jazz’s breath caught in her throat, and before she could form a reply Tucker’s voice came over their communicators.

"Feed being cut in 3… 2… 1."

Daisuke didn’t wait, turning and sprinting toward the elevator. Jazz yelped and ran to catch up.

"You have six minutes before they’re back on again."

Daisuke tapped his ear as he skidded to a halt, replying with a hasty, “Arigatou, Tucker. Sam, cause a ruckus.”

Jazz stopped behind him and panted as he jammed his hands into the elevator doors, grunting as he pulled them open.

Alarms began to go off.

"Starting distraction now!" Sam called over the Fenton Phones, and Jazz could hear her beginning to run before she the line cut off.

"Daisuke, please, I want to save Danny too," Jazz started again, going up to help Daisuke pry open the doors. They were heavy, heavier than she thought at least, and Daisuke leaned on one side to keep it open as he dug his hand into his bag for something.

"Jazz, no. Go back out there, cause a distraction, and—stay safe. Danny would hate it if anything happened to any of us." Daisuke ground out in exasperation, finally finding what he was looking for.

Jazz’s eyes widened—was that a grappling hook? Why on earth did Daisuke have one of those? Oh, never mind, there were more important things to worry about.

"So we’re just here to… cause a distraction? While you do all the rescuing? All the dangerous stuff?” The blue-eyed teenager demanded in distress, “Why can’t we do more? We can help—I can help, just let us—”

"Jazz, just… please, do as I say." He bit his lip in frustration, using his free hand to dig furiously through his pocket before pulling out his apartment key and turning his head to his protesting companion.

"But—"

She was cut off when he took her hand, holding it gently palm-up. Her protests died in her throat.

"I trust you."

Jazz’s breath hitched as Daisuke curled her fingers around the key. The look in his eyes was pleading—desperate and filled with his unspoken words.

So please trust me.

He knew he had didn’t deserve to ask for her trust—not when he never dared to let her as close as she wanted to be, not when he had denied her an answer to the very same plead before. But right now… right now there was something he needed to do.

"I’ll get Danny out. You just get him home.” Daisuke’s voice was steady and resolute—it didn’t match the rest of his expression at all. “Please, Jazz.”

She opened her mouth to ask “what about you?” because something about the way his resolve burned in his eyes made her think that he didn’t plan to get himself out too—but the words never made it.

Daisuke trusted her. Daisuke was trusting her with something important to him. Something important to both of them.

Even if he kept refusing her help, it seemed like Daisuke didn’t think he was strong enough to do it all—not when other people were at risk too, never mind his own self. Or maybe he knew he didn’t have to be that strong, because he thought that Jazz was strong enough for both of them. And he was depending on her to get Danny home.

Home. He didn’t mean Fenton Works. Daisuke’s words always held more meaning than Jazz would ever be able to figure out, but the meaning of that one came to her clearly.

I’m trusting you to keep him safe.

She tightened her hand around the key and nodded, just as resolute as he was—and with every confidence that he would bring Danny home to her.

"Okay. But you have to come home, too. Promise me that."

Daisuke gave her a solemn smile, but he nodded wordlessly. He turned back to the elevator shaft, securing his grappling hook on one of the guide rails at the sides. Jazz nodded in satisfaction, turning heel to come back the way she came, set on causing the distraction Daisuke needed.

Daisuke didn’t look back at her as her fiery orange hair disappeared around the corner, rappelling his way down into the darkness.

Don’t worry, Danny, I’m coming.

Tucker’s voice came over again, informing him that he had three minutes. Jazz reported in that she was outside again a minute later, just as Daisuke found the doors to the Guys In White’s underground base.

Daisuke forced it open a bit, just enough to slip through, and quickly found a hiding place in the nearest closet.

There was so much white—the walls, the floor, the lights… everything smelled of cleaning products and hand sanitizer, and what little bit of hallway Daisuke had seen before he had ducked into his hiding spot all looked uniform. A voice over the intercom somewhere was giving out orders, warning the whole base that the cameras were off and agents needed to be wary of intruders. He wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow at it all, but he only spared it a moment.

He had to save Danny—and his plan had to work, now.

Sam came in over the communicators, "I’m releasing the ectopi. Daisuke, are you inside yet?"

"Yeah, I’m in. I haven’t seen any agents yet, but I get the feeling they’ll be swarming once that pod is free." Daisuke whispered in reply, peeking around the corner before he ducked back into hiding, changing into his disguise and stashing his bag into a nearby ventilation shaft.

"They’re catching onto me—I’m trying to keep the cameras off for a little while longer, but I think you have about thirty seconds left!" Tucker exclaimed frantically.

"I’m good now, thanks," Daisuke replied gruffly, stepping out of his hiding spot in a white outfit and his red hair covered by a wig. He quickly made his way down the hall, looking for someplace to start looking for Danny. He smirked when he found what appeared to be a lounge, and turned away from it with his hand on the knob, just as the cameras came back on again. He eyed the blinking red light on the camera at the corner of the hall, hidden under a neat black dome, and then continued on his way as if he had just exited the lounge.

He went deeper into the base, keeping his ears open for any sign of Danny, but he stopped when a pair of agents rounded the corner in a run, their shining silver guns in hand.

"Ectoplasmic activity detected less than 100 meters away," one of them was saying—he was a bald African American man with a buff build—Operative K, if Daisuke recalled correctly from what Danny had told him. Or was that Operative O?

"How many operatives are being assigned to catch them?" Daisuke suddenly asked, his voice a different timber and his eyes hiding behind black sunglasses like theirs, and they didn’t seem to think he was out of place.

"Every agent available, that means you too, rookie," the other operative replied shortly, checking his radar, "It looks like there’s a lot of them!"

"It may be an attempt to rescue the entity known as ‘Phantom’." Daisuke suggested stoically, "Or perhaps he staged this. How many are guarding him?"

The two agents exchanged surprised but confused looks. “Operatives L and M went ahead of us, they should already be outside—weren’t they the ones guarding the laboratory?”

"Yes—" The reply was cut off by an explosion from outside that shook the building, and the three of them looked up in surprise.

"You two get out there right now!" Daisuke suddenly barked, "I’ll go guard Phantom!"

They nodded hastily, not even replying as they ran off again. Daisuke ran in the opposite direction, cursing mentally because they hadn’t given him many clues as to where exactly the laboratory was.

No matter—he’d just keep looking, because he would save Danny at all costs. Who knew what kind of things they were doing to Danny in that lab?! He’d worry about the Guys In White themselves later—and when he did, there would be hell to pay for hurting his friend.

Yes, the ones who took something precious from him would pay dearly.

”Kowashite mo kamawa nee." He muttered darkly to himself, "Datte, karera wa… ore no mono wo nezundanda.”

He had made a promise, to himself and to Danny, and he was going to keep it no matter what. He didn’t think he could take another loss—and while he was afraid, he had resolved that despite his trembling heart, he would use his own power for the sake of someone close to him, this time.

I’m not going to lose anyone else. I’ll save you, Danny. I will. I won’t believe in anything else.

Chapter Text

Danny could barely open his eyes—he felt like he was floating, but he knew it wasn’t from his own efforts. The air around him hummed with energy and numbed him, and what little he could make out through the slit of his eyelids looked too blue and blurry to make out clearly.

Blearily he wondered how long he had been out and what was going on—and where he was now, for that matter. He tried to move, but he couldn’t feel his limbs through the numbness and something was constricting his wrists and legs.

He could hear voices though—the familiar deep baritones of the Guys In White operatives that had captured him. He could make out Operatives O and K in particular—those two who had an especially personal beef with him after he humiliated them during the million dollar ghost hunt.

“Operative L, Operative M, move the entity known as Danny Phantom to Lab 3 for the scientists to begin experiments.”

A soft hissing sound was followed by the release of pressure as the air seeped away and stopped humming so tightly around him. His mind had woken up more now, and panic was beginning to set in as he processed those words.

Lab? Experiments?! He struggled to regain control of his body, but there was no such luck—hands grabbed at him and shoved him onto a stretcher of some sort, and he could hear the wheels squeaking as he was pushed away from his previous confinement.

Memories of the past few hours quickly returned to him—he remembered encountering the Guys In White, having to run from them, getting hit in the side by one of their new weapons and not healing from it, and getting knocked out by some sort of grenade when he couldn’t call up a shield in time. Now that he thought about it, he probably still hadn’t healed since the side of his ribs still hurt—and the agents weren’t exactly being gentle, as every slight bump in the floor sent jolts of pain through him.

“The ghost is regaining consciousness,” one of the operatives remarked in concern. “Quick, let’s get him into the lab’s confinement unit.”

Gunmetal gray and electric blue quickly became blinding white in what little Danny could see through his obscured vision, and he made a strangled sound of protest.

No, no, no, this can’t be happening. What experiments?! What are they going to do to me?! He thought with rising fear, struggling as much as he could. Cold hands pushed him down, and he grit his teeth, wishing he had the strength to say something, maybe distract them enough to get his bearings—heck, he’d even settle for wiggling his toes. If he could move, he had a greater chance of getting out.

The rolling of the cart stopped, and he felt the stretcher being elevated so that he was at a somewhat upright angle. He managed to open his eyes a little more, squinting to clear his vision and take in the stark white room around him. There were computers off at the side, tables with machines for measuring stuff, and carts of dissection tools and weapons. Only one other agent was in the room with him aside from the two that escorted him there, and he was wearing a lab coat and holding a clipboard.

He gulped nervously, quickly pulling at his restraints even as he felt them putting more around him—one big metal clamp came over his torso and upper arms when his wrist cuffs were removed, and another clamp came over his ankles, and finally the last ones came around his wrists again to keep his hands from moving. Gritting his teeth, he tried to call upon intangibility, but only a spark of cold came to him before he lost his grip on the power.

“H—hey!” Danny finally managed out, grunting in frustration when he couldn’t get out, “What’s the big idea?!”

“Entity known as Danny Phantom is awake and attempting escape. Ghost-proof restraints appear to be working,” one of the operatives said with calm stoicism, turning to the lab-coated man, “Make a note that the restraints work on level 7 entities just as well as the lower levels.”

“What's going on!” The half-ghost demanded, opening his eyes wider to glare at them with his toxic green eyes, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Do not attempt escape,” the white-clad agent glared back from behind his black sunglasses, “you are the most powerful ghost we’ve been able to catch. We’ll be testing out our weapons on you—if they work on you, they’ll obviously work on the other ghosts.”

Danny’s expression fell, his eyes wide in shock. His gaze flickered down to his abdomen, where he could still see gooey green ectoplasm soaking into his suit and showing through the holes in the black. The wound was no smaller, and the fact that it was still there was worrying.

Suddenly the agents stood at attention, one hand coming to their ears and tapping their earpieces as an alarm started blaring. A voice buzzed through the intercom, droning, “Security is offline, we are working on rebooting the systems. Follow protocol 14, section D. Keep watch for intruders.”

Operatives L and M nodded at whatever they heard from their earpieces, Operative M going to stand by the door as Operative L went to talk to the scientist guy.

“What, not going to deal with that?” Danny grumbled, “Wow, overconfident in your fortress or whatever, much?” They ignored him. It seemed they were going to do the experiments, regardless of whatever intruder was out there. Danny cursed, wishing they would have run off to take care of it—he could have used that time to think of an escape plan.

The ghost boy growled in frustration, trying the restraints again—there was no way he’d let them experiment on him! He tried intangibility again—he managed it for a second longer, but it wasn’t long enough to risk phasing through anything without getting stuck. Besides, apparently his bonds were ghost-proof—intangibility wouldn’t work on them.

He clenched his eyes shut and tried to focus—he searched his core for the familiar cold touch of his powers, but it was little more than a cool sliver against his heart. He could feel the warmth of his human half, but he didn’t dare touch it—not here, not now. He couldn’t risk those government agents figuring out his status as a half-ghost. Besides, he was pretty sure that if he turned human now, he would have fainted of blood loss from his unhealed shot wound.

“Starting experiment W-1,” the scientist said, typing something into a computer at the side, “testing tolerance to level 1 powered shot from ecto-gun.”

Danny’s eyes snapped open, giving a yelp of surprise as the blue-white blast from Operative L’s gun hit him in the shoulder. It didn’t hurt much—a light burn which would have probably healed in two seconds flat had his healing powers been functioning. As it was, it left a stinging pain as the numbness from earlier began to fade.

“Not much effect. Testing tolerance to level 2 powered shot from ecto-gun,” the scientist said in a robotic tone, typing more stuff onto his computer. “Operative L, fire.”

Dany grit his teeth, prepared this time, and he forced himself to keep quiet so they wouldn’t know that that shot had stung. Before the agents could make note of this, however, the intercom came to life again.

“Systems are back online,” it reported almost cheerfully, just as the alarm changed from a constant buzz to a blaring screech.

“What?” The scientist jumped in surprise.

Operative L turned to Operative M, who had his hand to his ear. “Ectoplasmic activity detected, less than 100 meters from base!” Operative M reported hastily, drawing a silver gun from his jacket, “It’s too close! Multiple ectoplasmic entities detected! All available units are being dispatched to take care of it!”

Operative L nodded, putting his experiment gun down on the weapons cart and drawing his own gun. They left without a word, the doors swinging shut with a slam as they ran out.

Danny stared after him, a little bewildered. Multiple ectoplasmic entities, near a ghost hunter base? There was no way any sensible ghost would come near it if they knew it was here, unless...

Somehow I get the feeling my friends are behind this. He thought in relief—thank god he’d gotten through to someone before he got caught! He was going to be rescued!

“I guess I’ll have to continue on my own.” The scientist huffed, leaving his station at the computer and picking up the weapon Operative L had put down. He jumped a little when the building suddenly shook, but other than glaring at the ceiling, he didn’t move to react to the ghost attack obviously going on overhead. That made Danny pause—why would the guy look up? Were they underground somewhere?

Danny scowled—well, he was going to be rescued, sure, but he’d probably have to keep going through several more experiments first. “Joy,” he sneered, and the scientist only gave him a deadpan look in reply.

“Testing tolerance to level 3 powered shot from ecto-gun.” He said dully, almost bored, and Danny glared at him fiercely as he fired the silver-green weapon. He still refused to make a sound to indicate any of his pain.

Admittedly, the Guys In White seemed to be getting more powerful, technology-wise. Their shots and nets never worked so well before, but that was because they didn’t know what they were doing and they were new to ghosts. After all, the only people who believed in the threat of ghosts enough to develop actual effective weapons against them were his parents.

But now, it seemed they were catching up to his parents’ technology—their firepower hurt as much as a hot glue gun burn at the weakest level, and as the scientist tested more power levels, Danny could compare a level 6 shot to the power of his mother’s lipstick ray—without the condensed area of effect. The Guys In White had nothing on Valerie or his parents, though—except for maybe the amount of destruction they caused. The Guys In White could outclass Valerie when it came to the complete disregard of civilians.

Basically, the Guys In White were weak against ghosts but destructive to the public—and that generally wasn’t a good combination for Danny, who usually got the blame for any vandalism that happened during a fight. Their weapons weren’t safe—at least his parents managed to make their ectoplasmic weapons harmless against humans. If he turned human now, the scientist’s gun would still put him in excruciating pain.

Unfortunately, he was about three shots away from turning human again. Whatever that initial shot did to his powers seemed to be wearing off, because he could feel his core weakening as more and more ectoplasm dripped from every new wound—and if his powers were back to normal, then as soon as he passed out, he’d return to human form. He couldn’t tell if his healing powers were working, but if they were then they were still trying to work on that hole in his side, and the scientist wasn’t exactly helping that along considering he had two other burning holes in his body now.

“Ahhrg!”

Make that three.

“Level 8 is 20% more effective than level 7 powered shots,” the scientist muttered, going to his computer to write down his results, as he’d been doing after every test.

“How the heck are you even measuring how effective it is?” Danny ground out, trying to keep himself together despite how weak he was getting, “Like, seriously, you don’t even have some sort of scientific method or something going on. Are you just basing it on how much I scream?”

The scientist glowered at him, lifting the gun again. “Testing tolerance to level 9—”

The door opened suddenly, and another man in a signature white suit stepped into the room. He had somewhat cropped dark hair, tan skin, and he seemed a bit short and less buff than the other agents—he must have been one of the younger guys.

His face turned as he scanned the room—he frowned toward Danny, so Danny glared back weakly in an attempt at defiance. He turned to the scientist after finishing his survey. “Operatives L and M told me to come help you,” he explained stoically in a deep, toneless voice, walking over to the man.

The scientist nodded, “Oh, alright, why don’t you...”

“You were about to shoot level 9, right? Stay, I’ll record the data.” The operative interrupted, going over to stand behind the computer station. The scientist looked mildly confused, but he nodded, holding up the gun again.

“Testing tolerance to level 9 powered shot from ecto-gun,” the scientist drawled, firing the weapon.

Danny screamed without meaning to again, the shot widening the wound on his side, sending a searing hot jolt of pain through him. He bit down on his lip fiercely, trying to hide his whimper—it didn’t work, because the scientist looked amused and the other operative’s head snapped toward him sharply.

“Level 9 is 30% more effective than level 7,” announced the scientist, pleased—the operative nodded, typing rapidly on the computer.

Danny gasped, trying to gather himself and focus on his powers again. He could go intangible for a little while, but the restraints were anti-ghost, so he couldn’t phase through them if he tried. The attempt left him weary, and he panted for a breath he wasn’t sure he really needed, trying to find something to focus on to keep his mind off the pain.

That was when he heard it—the too-fast click-clacks of the keyboard on the other side of the room.

He narrowed his eyes at the dark-haired man behind the terminal suspiciously—he was typing rapidly, yes, but he seemed to be typing a lot more than necessary. The scientist guy didn’t type that much when he was entering in the results...

That, and the man was frowning darkly at something on the screen—something he obviously wasn’t typing. Something was strange about him.

“Since I missed it, why are you comparing to level 7 shots, sir?” The man asked, looking up from the console.

“This ectoplasmic entity has been recorded as a level 7 on our power meter before, and as expected the level 7 shot is the first one that had any significant effect on him,” the scientist explained, changing the setting on the gun, “so I consider the level 7 shot the starting point.”

“I see, sir,” the operative nodded, “is level 10 the last test?”

“Yes, then we’ll move onto the dissection and observation.” The scientist held up the gun, stating, “Testing tolerance to level 10 powered shot from ecto-gun.”

Danny braced himself, crying out again when the blast hit his shoulder. He was shaking in pain, slumped forward in a pathetic attempt to curl up despite the restraints. He glared up at the two Guys In White agents, barely catching the suspicious operative steeling his face from a grimace. Danny couldn’t catch his breath long enough to make a snarky comment, closing his eyes to concentrate on keeping his transformation up.

“Level 10 is only 35% more effective than level 7,” the scientist remarked in slight disappointment, putting down the gun on the weapons cart, “I’ll summarize the results later. Let’s move on to experiment B-2.”

“Which file is that?” The younger operative asked, clicking a few things on the computer.

“You don’t know which—oh, move over, I’ll do it. You get the scalpels ready.” The scientist grouched, coming over to the computer as the operative moved aside, going to the tools cart.

He paused next to Danny, staring up at him. “Does it hurt, ghost?” He sneered. “Oh wait, I forgot, ghosts can’t feel anything.”

Danny’s head snapped up to glower in return, but then he froze—the man was standing less than a foot away from him, but from the angle Danny was elevated, he could see the man’s eyes as he tilted his head down slightly. From over the rim of the black sunglasses, vibrant red eyes peered worriedly at him.

Daisuke.

Somehow he felt surprised, even though he knew he shouldn’t have expected anything less. His friends did come for him—even Daisuke. Actually, Daisuke was probably the only one of his friends capable of getting into a secret government facility like this. No doubt his sister and his best friends were somewhere nearby, though. They were definitely the cause of the ruckus before.

Yeah, he really shouldn’t have expected anything less of his amazing friends.

He fought back a smile, spitting as venomously as he could, “If I can’t feel, then do your worst. I dare you.”

Daisuke did smile, though it was only for a second before it dropped and he breathed almost inaudibly, “Can you use your powers?”

Danny nodded subtly—yes, his powers were back, but he didn’t know how much longer he could keep his form. Daisuke seemed to realize this, because he moved quickly.

He went to the tools cart on the pretense of picking up a scalpel. The scientist was distracted, muttering to himself, “Where is that file? I could have sworn I saved the data log in the same folder...”

The disguised ex-thief smirked, turning to the weapons cart picking up a miniature cannon-like taser instead and moving one hand to his ear, tapping the communication piece there. Danny’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the green and silver device—that was a Fenton Phone. How did he miss that before?

“Tucker, can you cut the video again?” He whispered, and Danny mentally cheered. He knew his other friends were around—and it figured Tucker was responsible for the security breach earlier!

Daisuke carefully tucked the silver-white weapon into his suit jacket as he listened for the reply, quickly turning to the dissection tools as soon as his hands were free.

Danny could faintly pick up his friend’s voice, “Guys In... catching... decoys... give me... minute!”

“Ah, there it is!” The scientist called triumphantly, “Alright, I have the file up. Now, let’s get started with experiment B-2.” He turned to the fake agent, oblivious, “Right then. Do you have the tools ready?”

Daisuke’s fingers curled around a scalpel, and his lips tightened anxiously—Danny gave him a meaningful look, to tell him he could last a little while longer if necessary, but Daisuke seemed hesitant. Still, he listened for Tucker’s voice as he turned to the scientist and nodded.

“What do I need to do?” He asked.

“You don’t know how to do the dissection?” The scientist shook his head in exasperation, coming over and taking the scalpel from Daisuke. Danny glared over at the man, growling. “Move over...” the scientist grumbled, pushing Daisuke over to the computer and making his way over to Danny, whose glare melted into a nervous flinch. “Record my observations. Let’s see the effects of a level 10 shot on this thing’s insides...”

The scalpel came within centimeters of Danny’s chest, and he squirmed anxiously. However, Daisuke suddenly grinned, and Danny heard why. Tucker was counting down. The ex-criminal reached for the weapons table, groping for anything he could use against the scientist.

“With pleasure, sir.” Daisuke droned in that deep, stoic voice that didn’t match his expression—it was weird to know Daisuke could do that so easily, even if Danny had seen the man do it before with different voices.

The scientist looked up in confusion at the somewhat odd response, only to get clocked over the head by the end of a bazooka and then punched in the face by Daisuke’s quick jabbing fist. He crumpled immediately, and Danny cringed.

“Ouch.”

Daisuke pushed the sunglasses to his forehead and rolled his eyes. He turned back to the computer briefly, clicking a few times and typing something in before he ran over to Danny’s confinement, pulling out his lock-picking kit. He made quick work of the restraints, and as each lock came undone the clamps opened themselves. Danny dropped limply forward due to gravity and a lack of strength in his limbs—Daisuke caught him easily, ignoring the green stains now ruining his white suit.

“You okay?” Daisuke asked softly, hugging him somewhat comfortingly as he pulled Danny away from the restraints. Danny didn’t miss the way his voice cracked.

“I've been better,” the boy grunted, returning the hug with one arm. “Got a plan for getting us out of here?”

“Can you turn intangible?” Daisuke pulled back, holding him at arms length and meeting his dull peridot eyes meaningfully.

“Dai, I can barely turn myself intangible—I can’t even fly. I can’t get both of us out of here, if that’s what you were depending on,” he leaned forward tiredly, his exhaustion clear in his entire demeanor—he was still bleeding out too, which worried Daisuke greatly. “Besides, this place is probably shielded and they’ve got tracking devices everywhere, we won’t be able to get like two feet before they realize where I am.”

“That wasn’t my plan.” Daisuke shook his head, “I want you to overshadow me.”

“...Say what?” Danny blinked, dumbfounded, at the disguised redhead. “They’ll still be able to track my ecto-signature even if I’m overshadowing you, Dai, and I can’t control you for long when I’m like this—”

“Danny! We don’t have time! Just trust me and do it!” Daisuke hissed, “I can’t carry you out of here and guarantee your safety and your secret at the same time, so please, just do it! The cameras are off right now, so undo your transformation, that should get the tracking devices off our trail. They’re not as good as your parents’ stuff, it’ll be fine.”

Danny gaped incredulously. “What? You want me to overshadow you while I’m in my human form? But—”

“You have to try,” Daisuke interrupted hastily, listening with slightly rising panic as Tucker reported his time limit. His grip on Danny’s arms tightened slightly. “We’ve got to go, now.”

Danny stared for a moment longer, before he realized that Daisuke was panicking for once—he was scared. He was worried about Danny and the rest of their friends, and he was desperate to go—to get someplace safe. This was their only chance at getting out, and even if it was an absolutely bat-crazy plan...

He trusted Daisuke. So he nodded determinedly, inwardly pulling at the warmth of his human side before immediately grasping desperately at what little cold was left in his ghostly core.

He dove forward into Daisuke’s chest as the last of his energy left him.

~~~

Danny felt like he was floating—he was used to floating, but not in his human form, and this felt different from the gravity-defying kind he was used to. No, floating wasn’t the right word—he felt like he was sinking, as if he were submerged in a warm, calm ocean whose waters cradled him gently as he fell further and further downward.

Where was he? The last thing he remembered was the blurry blue-gray metal and then the too-white ceilings of that secret government lab, and agonizing pain shooting through his ribs and shoulders and stomach and chest... and then two warm red eyes.

Right... he had overshadowed Daisuke. He must have fallen unconscious after he did that, because he felt groggy and disoriented now. Vaguely he wondered what happened after that, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes—he didn’t have the energy to.

Had Daisuke gotten them someplace safe? If he had... what was this warm ocean-like thing he was floating in? Why was he floating in it? And for that matter, if this was water of some sort, why did he feel completely dry?

Left alone with his thoughts, he realized just how quiet it was—there was no sound anywhere, the world muted except for his slow breathing.

The half-ghost shifted slightly, trying to get a better feel for his surroundings. That was when he felt his open wounds screaming at him, protesting the slight movement, and he cried out, forcing his eyes open.

He froze.

The first thing he saw was a bright, fiery red sun in a pure white sky. It flared and pulsed and let off streams of sparkling red light that stretched out far beyond his vision, seemingly endless. The white appeared to glow softly, despite the obvious lack of darkness to show it.

He stared at it in confused awe as he fell further and further away from it—it seemed to be the source of the warmth he was feeling. It wasn’t hot, and it didn’t burn—it was comfortable. Distantly, he realized that it was also familiar.

When Danny finally broke his gaze from the brilliant giant star, he started to question where he was—he’d never seen a sky so white or a red sun like that except in comic books, and the white that surrounded him was nothing like the cold, synthetic white of the Guys In White base. The oddly glowing sky extended into infinity, with no end in sight, and when he turned his head to look below him, ignoring the pain shooting through his shoulders at the slight pull, he realized he couldn’t see a ground either. He just saw more of those red ribbons of light, twisting and flowing like tiny rivulets of fire through the empty white landscape.

What was this place?

Was he somewhere in the Ghost Zone? No, the air here was too warm for that, and this place didn’t feel nearly as surreal. But there was no way this was any place in the real world... maybe he was dreaming? He did fall unconscious earlier... this world would make a lot more sense if this was a dream.

Except he just knew that he wasn’t sleep. His body was exhausted, his mind was restless, he could feel his energy draining, and he was still in pain... there was no way he was asleep.

How did he get to this place, then, wherever he was? He turned his gaze back to the red sun and he closed his eyes, wracking his mind, trying to recall anything that happened between the lab and waking up.

Suddenly it hit him—he had overshadowed Daisuke. The last time he had done that, he had ended up in...

Daisuke’s heart.

Suddenly he relaxed, knowing he was safe. He was still with Daisuke then—though he had no idea where Daisuke was. Overshadowing Daisuke apparently always had some odd effects, but he couldn’t be bothered to think about them right now. He was safe—that was all that mattered.

The red sun’s familiarity clicked into place, and he realized where he had seen it before. It had been small and distant and barely noticeable, but it was in the landscape of Daisuke’s dream-like world the last time he overshadowed his friend. It was much bigger now, and it seemed to have chased away the silver-gray fog he’d seen the last time he was in this place.

Or, he’d thought so, until he opened his eyes and realized that the further he sank from the sun, the more his vision was obscured by misty white clouds. He frowned and looked down again, and then he froze—the large black hole was still in Daisuke’s world, and somehow he was right over it.

He was falling into it.

The black tendrils he’d seen hiding in the fog last time were clearer, slithering in and out of the hole like eels snapping at their prey. He tensed, remembering what Daisuke had said about the hole—“If you’re not careful, you can drown here.”

Suddenly the feeling of sinking in an ocean felt a lot more threatening. And he still couldn’t move—he was in too much pain, he wasn’t healing, he had no power in this world, and even if he did have enough energy to access his ghost half, he knew from experience that Daisuke’s soul stripped him down to his true form and left him raw and vulnerable.

“Daisuke,” he called out weakly—this was Daisuke’s heart, after all, so he was bound to be here somewhere. Danny kept sinking—it wasn’t like free-falling or flying, and he couldn’t control it. He felt left open without his powers, and despite the safety and warmth of Daisuke’s white world, the looming hole made his heart tremble. He felt like he was captured by the Guys In White all over again, unable to help himself and powerless.

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Daisuke... I’m scared.”

The flutter of feathers suddenly broke the silence, and he stilled as something strong wrapped around him comfortingly—arms meant to protect and keep him safe. He felt himself stop falling, the beat of his heart slowing in tune with the gentle flap of wings.

“Daijoubu da. Ima ore wa koko ni iru ne.”

The voice echoed throughout the endless sky in a deep, comforting, mellow baritone, and Danny immediately relaxed in the arms holding him close to their chest. He didn’t even register that the voice didn’t sound quite right, just that it was as soothing as the innocent white world he had woken up in. He didn’t even need to know what was said—he had felt it more than heard it, a tender reassurance of, “It’s okay, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

He felt his body becoming inert as the whoosh of wind being swept away by something large and powerful ceased. The soft crunch of snow was the only other clue he had that they had landed, and gentle hands gingerly laid him down on the solid warmth of the ground.

Danny smiled and opened his eyes a crack, and sky blue met deep maroon.

~~~

Daisuke ran through the base as quick as he could, retracing his steps to find the exit rout he’d planned out in his head. He was thankful all the ghost hunting agents were still outside, because no one was around to question him or dress code him for the green marring his once pristine white suit—if anyone saw that, his cover would have been blown. Danny did say these guys had a weird obsession with cleanliness.

The alarm blared above his head, the droning intercom from before speaking urgently, “Ectoplasmic entity known as Danny Phantom has escaped! All available personnel, follow protocol 7, section N!” Apparently the scientist from before had woken up and alerted everyone. Great.

The cameras blinked angry red at him as he dashed down the hallway—the time that Tucker had bought him had ended minutes ago, but that didn’t matter anymore, since he had already accomplished the goal of that black out—which was, of course, getting Danny out of the lab.

The only people on the base, currently, were scientists—they weren’t very well-equipped to fight any ghosts. He had passed a few earlier—they were holding a homing device, and when they stopped Daisuke to ask what happened and where he was going, he said he had fought the ghost kid and needed to chase him. He noted with a smug inward smirk that his hunch was right—their detector didn’t pick up Danny at all, and he was standing right in front of them with the boy’s ghost overshadowing him.

The alarm above changed into a constant screeching, the voice on the intercom reporting its warning above it, “Warning! Warning! System breach! System failure! System failure!” The scientists scrambled over each other trying to figure out what to do—some headed for the computers to see what was wrong, others looked unsure if they should be helping Daisuke. He quickly barked orders for them to figure out the breach before he turned and ran off to “deal with the ghost boy”.

He couldn’t help but let his smirk tug at his lips, well aware that the system breach was a virus he had inserted earlier in the lab, to erase their entire database and crash all of their computers. He had made sure that any backups had a copy of the virus too—he really had to thank his mother for that later.

He made it back to the elevator and ducked into the supply closet adjacent to it. He grabbed his bag from the ventilation shaft, quickly pulling out the gun he’d stolen from the lab earlier and stashing it inside, exchanging it for his climbing ascenders. He slipped out of the closet again, diving for the elevator and jamming his hands into the closed outer doors, pushing them open with a grunt.

Once he split them wide enough to slip between, he lifted his leg and pushed on one half of the door while pressing his back against the other half, fighting against the motors trying to close them again. He reached over and grabbed the line from the grappling hook he’d used earlier, attaching the ascenders before pushing out of the doorway, swinging forward with a slight grunt when he hit the wall opposite. Wasting no time, he grabbed one of the lift cables to steady himself, then started scaling the wall upwards until he reached the next floor.

He stopped next to the closed steel doors and wrapped the grappling cord around his arm to secure himself, shifting his weight and swinging over to kick the motor behind the door to dislodge it—he didn’t have time to be careful and leave everything as it was like the first time—the first time he had been trying to not get caught. He didn’t care about that anymore.

The thing fell away, and Daisuke leaned over and stuck his hand in the middle part, pushing open one side—it slid open easily and stayed open, and that was all he needed. He pulled himself forward, and when both feet were on the floor, he leaned back into the elevator shaft and whipped on the grappling rope harshly, loosening the hook enough that a tug caused it to fall. He caught it, stashed it into his bag with the rest of the device, and turned around to make his way out.

“Aw, crud.”

A dozen Guys In White were there, aiming their ecto-guns at him.

“Freeze, you are under arrest for impersonation and intrusion!” Operative O barked, “And violation of the white suit!”

“This is ridiculous, I don’t have time for this!” Daisuke snapped, rushing forward without warning. He punched Operative O in the face, knocking him back, then spun around and used the momentum to kick Operative L into two other guys behind him.

“Open fire on the hostile!” Operative K ordered furiously, “He must be an accomplice of the ghosts trying to free Danny Phantom!”

Daisuke ignored them, nimbly jumping and ducking all of their shots as he ran forward, leaping over Operative K and using his shiny bald head as a springboard to flip, narrowly dodging a blast from a bazooka. He landed behind the man and shoved him forward, into the path of Operative M’s shot, causing the man to cry out in pain.

One other man physically rushed him, and Danny grunted as he was tackled, the breath knocked out of him. He recovered quickly though, bringing up his knee and getting the agent in the gut. He kicked him aside and dropped to the floor, tripping another operative as his hands shot up and grabbed the man’s arm to swing him around, bowling over another agent trying to sneak up behind him.

Operative O, who had recovered from his initial hit, managed to get close in that move, his elbow smashing into Daisuke’s face and snapping the sunglasses.

“Augh!” Daisuke’s head shot up as he glared fiercely at the man with fiery eyes, grabbing his head and mercilessly slamming him into the wall with as much power as he could muster. He was still mad at them for kidnapping Danny, after all—he wasn’t going easy on them just because they were pathetic humans.

He heard a satisfying crack, and he didn’t stop to think if that was the building or the guy’s nose. The whine of Operative M’s gun had him back in action, and he turned around in time to shove the barrel up before it blasted him. The blue-white ray hit the ceiling, leaving a burn mark, but Daisuke ignored it, twisting the operative’s arm behind him and loosening his hold on the weapon before hitting a spot on his shoulder, causing him to go limp. He shoved him forward, letting the dead weight pin two other agents, before he took the confiscated rifle and swung, hitting one guy on the side of the head—he fell back in a daze.

He spun the gun around so he was holding it properly, not hesitating to fire it at the one agent who remained armed and standing. He was caught unawares by the intruder’s quick trigger finger and promptly got blasted back the by force, hitting the wall and slumping down, not moving again. Glaring, Daisuke dropped the gun and ran forward without looking back, ignoring the shouts of the other pinned operatives as they pushed their fallen comrades off them, making to give chase.

Daisuke really didn’t have any more time to waste on them—he had to get out of there before Danny got worse. He could feel the boy in his soul, filling a hole he’d been ignoring for some time now—he didn’t have time to stop and think about that, though, more concerned with how weak Danny was getting. He must have been draining himself, trying to keep up the overshadowing.

He made a mad dash for the prison entrance, ignoring the secretary and the alarms and the Guys In White shouting at the regular prison staff to detain the impostor. He tapped the Fenton Phone in his ear.

“I need that get away, now. Coming up at the main entrance in about thirty seconds.”

“We’re on it, Daisuke.” Sam replied promptly, “Tucker and Jazz are already on board, we can get out of here as soon as you guys hop on.”

Daisuke grunted in affirmation. “I’ve got three or four operatives chasing me. Think you can cover me?”

“I’ve got the weapons at ready,” Tucker reported gleefully.

“Good. Don’t even stop, just open the door.”

The ex-thief let his hand fall, tearing off his wig and the other parts of his disguise that hid his face so that his friends would recognize him, stuffing them into the bag at his side as he ran. Red hair flew wildly into his vision before getting stuck to his face by the sweat rolling off his forehead, and he breathed heavily—he was almost at the entrance... just a few more feet...

The doors burst open, and he only paused for a moment to catch sight of the Specter Speeder racing toward him. The hatch opened and Daisuke crouched slightly, leaping as soon as the vehicle reached him—he dove through the opening, tumbling forward as Sam made a sharp turn to avoid a shot from an ecto-bazooka. Tucker quickly fired back and turned on the shields, grunting as Sam turned sharply again to straighten out their path and make the getaway flight. Jazz quickly pulled the door shut, panic and concern overtaking her expression as she looked over at Daisuke.

It was just Daisuke. Where was Danny?

The redhead shifted, groaning in pain as he rolled over and pulled himself into a sitting position, leaning against the cabin wall opposite of the door. He bowed his head slightly and rubbed the spot he had banged on the floor when he jumped in, slumping forward tiredly.

“Daisuke?” Jazz asked in a whisper, her voice choking up as she tried to keep calm. There was a lot of green on Daisuke’s white suit—undoubtedly, the ectoplasmic blood of her brother’s other half. Panic rose as she watched Daisuke pant heavily, not answering them. “Daisuke, where’s Danny?”

Sam and Tucker looked at them over their shoulders, their own eyes wide and fearful. They saw the blood too, and the worst began to fester in their minds.

“Oh, god...” Jazz’s hands flew to her mouth when Daisuke slowly lifted his head as his hand fell away. “Is he... did they...”

She was interrupted by a soft murmur, but she couldn’t hear it—Daisuke’s voice was so quiet. She held her breath, kneeling next to him, reaching out to touch his shoulder—he must have been devastated. She really hoped that he wasn’t blaming himself for this, he did try his best to save Danny after all, and...

“...He’s fine.”

She blinked and stared at him in wide-eyed bewilderment, especially when he lifted his head and opened his eyes.

His eyes were blue.

“Daisuke...?!” She gasped, gawking.

Daisuke’s normally red eyes were a piecing, familiar ice blue, surrounded by a faint green glow. He grinned weakly, nodding. “Yeah, it’s still me. Danny’s in here though—overshadowing me.” He leaned back against the wall, sagging in exhaustion. “He’s... injured, and I don’t think he can heal when he’s using his energy like this, but he’s in one piece. Relatively speaking, he’s fine.”

Tucker stared at him in confusion. “Wait, I’m confused—I knew you had a strong enough will to not get overshadowed easily, but how are you... I mean, usually when your eyes change color like that during an overshadowing...”

“How am I still the one talking to you? I’m used to taking control of my own body while not being the only inhabitant.” Daisuke shrugged, closing his eyes again as he let his head fall back. “Danny’s resting right now, he can’t exactly come to the phone.”

“But your eye color...”

“Danny’s in human form. I don’t know why my eyes changed, it must be a ghost thing. It’s a bit different from the magic I used to host.”

Jazz squeezed his shoulder gently. “Daisuke... are you okay? You look like you can use some rest too.”

“Y-yeah,” Daisuke managed out weakly, sighing heavily. “The escape and the fight inside the prison weren’t that bad, but I’m using my energy to keep Danny’s up... forgot how tiring that can be, lending a piece of your soul to someone else.”

“Daisuke!” Sam gasped with worry, “Geez, don’t wear yourself out! We’re safe now, Danny doesn’t have to overshadow you anymore.”

“Besides that there’s no room in here for him to come out,” Daisuke opened his eyes slowly, those eerie blue orbs gazing at the black-haired girl out of the corner of his hooded eyes, “he’s out of commission and can’t come out on his own, and I don’t want to eject him—that’ll hurt him.”

Jazz looked up at Sam. “Take us back to Daisuke’s apartment, we should be safe there. Hurry,” she commanded, and the black-haired girl nodded in agreement, looking ahead and pushing forward.

“How long do you think you can keep up this... shared body thing, or whatever?” Tucker asked in concern, a troubled frown marring his expression. “There’s not going to be any weird side effects, right?”

“Honestly? No idea, to both.” Daisuke struggled to sit up straighter, pushing himself further against the wall. “But as long as he’s with me... he’s safe. I promise.”

Jazz helped him sit up, staring at him for a long time, a grateful look in her teal eyes. “We know. Thank you, Daisuke,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his hair, “you saved him, just like you said you would. Thank you.”

Daisuke blinked slowly, raising one arm to hug her back, relaxing in her embrace. It felt warm and familiar, these gentle but safe arms—he felt secure and loved, like nothing could go wrong if they were together. It was an odd feeling, though. He thought that maybe it was Danny’s heart making him feel like this, but he didn’t care whose feeling it was—it was nice. It was something he distantly thought he missed dearly, and he didn’t know why.

“You brought him back safe, Daisuke. Rest now—leave the rest to us,” Jazz murmured, happy that her friend and her brother came back together, safe and sound for the most part. She echoed his words from earlier, and his shoulders sagged at her gentle whisper. “We’ll get him home.”

Daisuke nodded, closing his eyes and letting himself fall into that blissful, familiar, beautiful darkness.

~~~

Danny blinked slowly at the face hovering over his, wondering once more if he was dreaming. The red eyes staring back at him weren’t exactly the red eyes he had been expecting to see. They weren’t the bright, vivid color of the sun hanging in the sky, but a deep and rich claret color that was no less warm.

The long dark hair that framed those eyes shone purple in the light, and the smile that was growing on the man’s expression was soft but almost playful.

He had never met this man before—he didn’t know who he was, but at the same time... Danny did know.

“...Dark?”

The smile grew mischievous. “The one and only.”

Okay, now he was sure he was dreaming.

“No, you’re not dreaming, kid.” The dark-haired man laughed, leaning back and lounging on huge, soft-looking black wings. Danny’s eyes widened in shock at him and his wings, and he chuckled and shrugged. “Can’t hide thoughts from a mind that strips your soul.”

“But... this is impossible.” Danny managed out, still completely nonplussed, “You’re dead.”

“And? That never stopped me before.” Dark leaned over him again, his wine red eyes bright in a way that reminded Danny greatly of Daisuke. In fact, despite the color, Danny could see that the mysterious man’s eyes were exactly like Daisuke’s. They shone with the same concern and care and that enigmatic spark of something that Daisuke had been looking at him with lately.

“This is Daisuke’s heart, Danny. You should know more than anyone that the people Daisuke holds close will always live here.”

Danny stared at him, understanding dawning. “You’re not real.”

“Not technically, no.” Dark’s smile grew solemn, and he sat back again, turning away and looking out at something in the distance. “I’m a fragment of Daisuke’s soul, here to protect you.”

“Where’s Daisuke, though? Why isn’t he here, like last time?” Danny shifted his arms slightly, struggling to push himself up. One of Dark’s wings absently unfolded, sliding under his back like a gentle hand and guiding him into the sitting position he wanted, remaining there like a big, cool, silky cradle for him to lean against. He nestled against the soft but strong appendage heavily—it was oddly comforting, folded around him like a blanket.

“Do you remember what it looked like, when Dai was overshadowed by that vampire guy?” Dark asked him quizzically, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

Danny nodded, looking ahead—he could see the dark hole in the near distance, but other than that, the world was still quiet and white, interrupted only by faded white mist and the red streams of light.

“Yeah... he kind of stood there for a while and... oh. He was talking to Vlad in his head, and he just looked like he zoned out...?” Danny frowned at the memory.

Dark nodded. “Yeah, he zones out when he focuses himself inward like that. But right now, Dai’s working really hard to get you someplace safe—he’s gotta run and hide, so he can’t be here right now. It’s too risky to get distracted for even a second, so his focus is out there, not in here.”

“So, what, he sends you?” Danny quirked an eyebrow at the winged thief.

“Sort of. Not exactly.” Dark muttered, looking down at his legs where they were stretched out and crossed in front of him. Danny looked too—Dark had a shadow at his feet. It was inky and dark and stretched unnaturally, not following any light source, except...

Danny’s eyes widened as he followed the shadow’s end—it was stretching out from the black abyss.

“Right now, all Dai can think of... all he wants is to protect you.” Dark’s voice snapped the boy’s blue gaze back to the mysterious man, who was staring at him stoically. “All I want... is to protect you.”

“You’re the one that saved me from falling into that pit.” The black-haired boy said slowly, “But you’re... the darkness, aren’t you?”

The shine in Dark’s eyes didn’t change. “I am Daisuke. I’m part of Daisuke’s heart, part of his will; the manifestation of his desires. And...” He finally looked away, holding out his arm, his fingers threading through one of the red streams of light, disrupting it and splitting it into several smaller streams before they came back together. “Whether you like it or not... Daisuke’s got some darkness in him. That’s inevitable, after everything he’s been through. But that doesn’t change what he feels about you.”

Danny frowned. “What are those?” He pointed toward the fiery streams, watching as they twisted and turned and wove a wreath around the pair.

“Daisuke’s thoughts. His feelings. His dreams.” The winged man shrugged, moving his hand and disturbing another stream—for a moment, it tainted with purple when it split, but it was back to red when it reformed and continued its path. “Right now he’s thinking all about you... that’s why they’re circling like this.”

“What did you do to it?” Danny stared, looking for another hint of purple, but there wasn’t any, and Dark lowered his hand. He wondered if he should be worried about that purple streak.

“I’m Daisuke’s darkness, what do you think? There are occasions where he’s not the purest of boys.” Dark eyed him critically, “So I didn’t do anything, I’m just representing his mind.”

If Daisuke had thought something dark just now, Danny had no idea what it was. Dark—well, Daisuke, technically, might have been able to hear all of Danny’s thoughts, but Danny couldn’t hear any of Daisuke’s. “...What’s going on out there?”

Dark stared up into the pulsing sun, his eyes distant. “He’s beating the crap out of some of those white suit guys.” He suddenly grinned, snickering. “Ouch, that’s gonna hurt in the morning.”

Danny’s heart clenched. “Who? Daisuke, or...?”

“The other guy. Dai’s pretty mad at them for what they did to you.” Dark mused, looking back at him, “Don’t worry. Dai’s pretty capable, a little fight like this isn’t going to bring him down. And he’s not going to stop till you’re safe.”

Danny fell quiet, staring at him, then looked down at himself—at the wounds that still wouldn’t heal, at the green on his shirt and the red slowly joining it. He winced. He could still feel the pain from them, but only when he moved a lot, and he knew he couldn’t do anything to dress his wounds until he got out of here. He’d never been hurt this badly for this long before, and that concerned him—he didn’t know how long he’d last with open wounds like these.

He startled a bit when he felt Dark wrap his arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer.

“You’ll be okay.”

Danny blinked up at the man, a little bewildered by the genuinely worried look he was receiving. He had seen Dark in Daisuke’s drawings before, and he had seen Daisuke wear the man’s face, but somehow, none of that was quite like the gaze that met his now. He couldn’t have imagined an expression like that on Dark’s face if he tried.

It was deep and filled with pain and sorrow and hope, and there was something about the man’s aura that reminded him of the feeling he got when he realized Satoshi’s angel was following Daisuke around.

“...You sure you’re not the real Dark?” Danny couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You’re just so...”

“Real?” Dark scoffed, smiling despite himself, “Kid, you tell anybody I got all mushy and sappy with you, and no one would believe you. It’s such a Daisuke thing—these hugs and stuff.”

“...I dunno, I think Dai rubbed off on you more than you think, Dark.” Danny commented, leaning on Dark tiredly.

“You don’t believe me?” The maroon-eyed man quirked an eyebrow at him, “You really think I’m the real Dark?”

“Yeah. Because if the people Daisuke holds close were really alive in his heart, they’d be his hope and his faith—” Danny pointed up at the red sun, closing his eyes, “not his darkness.”

Dark was silent, his night-colored wing wrapping Danny up even more.

“I’m not an angel or something, like you’re thinking,” he finally muttered. “I told you, I’m just a part of Daisuke’s soul, in a different form.”

“Which is exactly what Dark was. Daisuke said so—he was Dark. Dark is a piece of him, a part of his soul.” Danny opened his eyes and looked toward the shadowy hole. “The part that used to be kept there... where you come from. Even if the Dark he coexisted with is gone now, I think some part of Dark is still here, still watching over Daisuke... and that’s you.”

“Clever kid, but you have no proof.” Dark chuckled, absently reaching up and ghosting his fingers through Danny’s hair—the boy paused, looking confused at the action, but neither verbally acknowledged it.

“Even if I don’t, I can believe it.” He sighed and closed his eyes again, “Just humor me for a moment, okay?”

Dark let loose a deep, quiet laugh. “Alright, fine. Why?”

“I’ve kind of always wanted to meet the real Dark. He meant so much to Daisuke, you know?” Danny shrugged. Dark said nothing, continuing to stroke Danny’s hair, and the boy couldn’t help but feel soothed by his warm, dark presence. Whether Dark was real or not, he did feel a lot like Daisuke, and that was comforting. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Why do you want to protect me?”

Dark paused at that. Well, if he were going to humor the kid...

“Because Dai’s still got some healing to do... and you’re good for his health, kid—barring all the trouble you get into.” He shook his head fondly, “As happy as he’d be to see me again, that’d be the worst thing for him right now. He’d cling onto me and never let go again. And as much as he thinks he needs me... he doesn’t. He doesn’t need me—he’s trying to move on from me. And you... you’re helping that along.”

“...You must really care about Daisuke.” Danny whispered softly.

“He’s my brother... my other half,” Dark sighed longingly, “and I love him. But the hole in his heart... it’s deep and dark, and it’s way too big. So I’m protecting you because I think you can fill that hole with light. Maybe you won’t fill the whole thing, but if you fill some of it... that’s good enough.”

Danny fell silent, and just when Dark began wondering if he had fallen asleep, the boy muttered into the quiet, “...I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you. It’s all I can ask.”

Dark’s hand fell still as Danny’s breathing evened out, the half-ghost boy fast asleep.

“Heh. ‘Why do you want to protect me’, huh...” He repeated to himself, shaking his head, looking up at the sun. “Isn’t it obvious, kid?”

A small smile graced his lips, and he trailed his maroon gaze from the sky to the ground, to the wisps of darkness crawling out from the black abyss. A tender whisper echoed throughout the white world.

“Kimi wo mamotte irunda.... Datte, ore no mono da. Kimi wa koko ni iru... kagiri anzen da. Datte ore no taisetsuna hito da... Danny.”

Chapter Text

Daisuke smiled fondly as he found Danny safely asleep in a pod made from the ruby tendrils of his thoughts. He stepped up and into the protective flames, kneeling beside the boy and reaching one hand down to smooth out his messy, jet-black locks.

“Danny... wake up,” he shook the boy slightly, “I don’t want to have to kick you out, but we’re safe now... we made it home.”

The teen stirred slightly, muttering something groggily that sounded suspiciously like “dark”, but Daisuke only sighed and stroked Danny’s head again. His hand paused, coming away slowly, and he stared at something caught between his fingers.

A raven-colored feather.

“...Danny?”

Danny opened his eyes this time, yawning—then cringing in pain as he tried to turn over and sit up. Daisuke yelped, dropping the feather and moving to help him.

“Daisuke?” He blinked blearily, looking somewhat surprised.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Daisuke grinned in relief, “Sorry it took me a while to get to you.”

“No, it was fine, I...” Danny trailed off, looking around in mild confusion. “This isn’t where I fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I think you fainted when you overshadowed me,” Daisuke chuckled, supporting Danny with an arm around his back.

“No, I...” Danny trailed off, frowning. “Never mind. This... this is still your heart, right? It... looks different, that’s all.”

Daisuke nodded. “From last time? Yes... I’ve healed since then, Danny—in no small part thanks to you.” He looked up at the glowing white sky, smiling fondly. “This is what it used to look like, for the most part... back when I was whole.”

Danny looked through the gaps in the protective flames, eyeing the black hole contemplatively. He wasn’t quite sure if he had dreamed up the man who came from it, but...

“I’m glad you’re healing Daisuke,” he shook his head, looking up at his redheaded friend. The bright, ruby eyes that met his were familiar, sparkling gently with relief and concern.

“Me too, but I think it’s your turn, hm?” Daisuke motioned awkwardly to Danny’s chest, and Danny looked down, once again reminded of the several gaping holes and burns. They both winced, and Daisuke shook his head. “Come on, we’re home now. Let’s get you out of here and take care of those.”

Danny nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on the sliver of cold deep in his chest, reaching inward and pulling on it.

Two simultaneous gasps sounded as the warmth of Daisuke’s world fell away, the peaceful silence shattering into the white noise of the waking world. Danny yelped as he fell forward with suddenly heavy limbs, the world seeming too colorful and blurry and spinning around him as gravity took hold—only to still when he was caught by two pairs of hands around his arms.

“Danny!”

“Whoa, dude!”

Danny blinked a few time to clear his vision, the view of the floor sharpening. He looked up and to his sides, meeting the worried gazes of his friends. Sam smiled in relief, but Tucker was pale and he looked slightly sick.

“Uh... hey guys?”

Behind him, he heard Daisuke collapse clumsily into a chair, and he looked over his shoulder to see the man blinking dizzily.

“You okay, Daisuke?” Jazz put her hand on his shoulder, steadying him.

“Yeah—just... haven’t been overshadowed that long before.” Daisuke held his head, shaking it slowly. He looked up at Danny, hastily commanding, “Go ghost now, before the blood loss kicks in.”

Danny looked down at himself, paling like Tucker when he realized the jerking movement of undoing the overshadowing had reopened some of his wounds. The blood soaking into his white shirt was a combination of fresh red and quickly aging brown. He squeezed his eyes shut, calling upon his ghostly core and pulling it to the forefront—the rings of light formed around his waist, splitting slowly, changing red to green and covering it up with his unbroken black hazmat suit.

He sagged in exhaustion as Tucker and Sam pulled his arms over their shoulders to support him. “Uhg, that took more energy than usual...”

“Those should have healed by now,” Sam commented in concern.

“I think I’m still feeling the effects of... whatever they used to disable my powers,” Danny shook his head, not protesting as his friends dragged him over to a bed and laid him down—it was Daisuke’s bed, he realized. They were at Daisuke’s apartment.

Daisuke scowled darkly, but said nothing, looking down at his lap. He didn’t move, and seeing that he was probably going to be okay despite the lack of energy—and he only had a black eye as far as she could see—Jazz left his side to tend to Danny.

“This looks pretty bad...” She muttered, “Let’s get him cleaned up, then we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

The other two teens nodded, and Sam ran to Daisuke’s bathroom to get some towels, while Tucker went to the kitchen to get the first aid kit. Jazz knelt beside Danny on the bed, murmuring soothingly as she reached out her hand toward him.

“Okay, Danny, I’m going to unzip your suit, okay? We’ve got to see what the damage is.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get it over with,” Danny sighed, knowing he was in no condition to move or do it himself. “It’s embarrassing no matter who’s doing it, so...”

Jazz chuckled a little, grabbing the zipper and pulling it down to his stomach, carefully peeling away the thick fabric to expose his chest and shoulders. “Did you get hurt anywhere besides your chest and arms?”

“No, mostly there. Worst thing is that wound near my ribs.” Danny muttered, looking up as his friends came back. He smiled weakly at them, almost sheepish.

“What happened in the Guys In White base, anyway, Danny?” Sam handed Jazz a small wet towel, and she began dabbing at the red-green blood on his torso.

“Not much, actually. I was out for a lot of it, but they weren’t doing anything to me, I think,” Danny’s brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to remember, “They only got through testing like, one weapon on me before Daisuke saved me. He managed to stop me from being dissected, so...”

“They tested weapons on you?” Tucker frowned in worry.

“Only an ecto-gun, nothing I haven’t faced before. I bet if they kept me longer there would’ve been a lot more painful experiments, though.” He shuddered a bit. “How long was I out anyway?”

“Well the ride back was only half an hour, but considering you were kidnapped around noon...” Tucker looked out the window, where the sun was already setting and the sky was orange-purple, “It’s been like six, seven hours dude.”

“Really? Aw, crud...” Danny screwed his eyes shut, wincing as Jazz touched a burn a little too hard. She apologized hastily, but otherwise didn’t stop. “I don’t think I can go home like this... Not unless these things heal in like an hour or two.”

“You can stay here tonight,” Daisuke finally spoke up—Danny couldn’t see him with his friends crowding around him the way they were, but he was sure the redhead was still in the chair. He sounded absolutely exhausted, which troubled the half-ghost boy.

“You okay, Dai? You don’t sound so good.” Danny tried to look around Jazz, but he couldn’t turn his head much without agitating the burning wound on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Just tired... I had to lend you some of my power to keep up the overshadowing, since you were low...” The tone of Daisuke’s voice made Danny think he wasn’t telling the entire truth, and he frowned.

“Really? Uh... thanks... Man, I couldn’t even tell.” Danny realized—he didn’t feel any different, and he was still worn out, so he wondered if Daisuke was so tired because he actually didn’t have that much energy to lend out.

Sam turned to look at the redheaded college student, a calculating look in her eye. “How does that even work anyway? You said before that you were lending him a piece of your soul.”

Danny’s eyes widened, and he looked up at the ceiling with racing thoughts. Daisuke had lent him part of his soul...? But Daisuke had said before he’d lost part of his soul when Dark left... he was walking around with only half a soul and he still lent it to Danny?

“I don’t know, it was mostly instinctive,” Daisuke replied thoughtfully, “I don’t know how well magical energy translates into ectoplasmic energy, but I just... did what I could to make sure he didn’t run out of power and accidentally eject himself.”

“So it’s a magic thing?” Sam’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. I haven’t used magic in years, though... I forgot how tiring it can be.” Daisuke looked away and out the window, resting his arm on his desk next to the chair. “Anyway, while we’re waiting for Jazz to finish cleaning Danny up... Tucker or Sam, can one of you go to the store and pick up some disinfectant and more gauze and bandages? I don’t think there’s enough in that small kit for all of Danny’s wounds...”

The teens exchanged a glance, not missing how Daisuke changed the subject. They didn’t bring it up, though, since this wasn’t the first time Daisuke had dodged any subject related to magic and his past.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Sam nodded, handing the rest of the towels to Tucker. “I’ll pick up some dinner too, I guess. With all this commotion... well, you know, it’s good to keep your strength up. Do you guys want anything specific?”

“Uhg, honestly not sure if I can even eat right now,” Danny moaned, “I dunno. You pick.”

“I think soup would be good for Danny,” Jazz piped up, still concentrating on cleaning up the wounds without hurting Danny too much. The towel in her hand was almost all green, and when sh e realized it wasn’t very useful anymore, she threw it on the floor next to Daisuke’s discarded white suit jacket and held out her hand for Tucker to give her a fresh one.

“I want the biggest, juiciest burger you can find, hold the veggies!” Tucker grinned as he gave her one of the damp towels. “And fries!”

“I’m not going to go all the way down to the Nasty Burger,” Sam crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I’m only going to stop by, like, one place for food.”

“There’s a Chinese takeout place not too far from the nearest drug store,” Daisuke suggested listlessly, shrugging.

“Oh, Chinese works too.” Tucker nodded in approval.

“Okay. Chinese it is. I’ll be back soon.” Sam nodded and headed out, and the group quieted as they heard the door click shut.

“Tucker," Daisuke spoke up after a minute, “there’s a small black kit under my bathroom sink. Can you get it?”

Tucker blinked, then did as asked. When he came back, he held it out for Daisuke. “What is it?” He asked when the redhead took it and opened it up.

“After the first time Danny came to me to get patched up, I figured it would be good to be prepared for next time,” Daisuke shrugged, “so I bought a surgical kit.”

Tucker blinked slowly. “Like, for stitches?” He asked, his eyes wide.

“Yes, for stitches. I think Danny will need some.” Daisuke chuckled weakly, “Last time it was done a bit crudely, given I was an amateur... At least I have experience this time.”

“You sure you’re up for it, man?” Tucker frowned, “You look like you can barely move yourself. Maybe you should lie down and get some rest—I’m not bad with a needle, I can do it.”

Daisuke quirked a slightly amused eyebrow. “You haven’t looked at Danny since you got back from getting the first aid kit. If you can’t even look at his wounds, how do you intend to sew them up?”

“You and your creepy observant thing,” Danny commented offhandedly from the bed, cracking a smile.

Tucker blushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “H-hey, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to patch Danny up,” he stuttered. “Sure I’m squeamish around anything that looks like it should be in a hospital, but if Danny needs my help, I can do it.”

Daisuke stared at him with piercing red eyes, as if reading his soul, and Tucker squirmed uneasily, frowning. After a minute, Daisuke held out the kit to him. “When Sam gets back with the disinfectant, make sure you clean everything properly.”

The African American boy blinked in surprise, but he grinned and nodded, taking the kit. “I could use the advice along the way, but you need to get to a bed, Daisuke.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going.” Daisuke nodded, finally moving from the chair, pushing himself up unsteadily. Tucker put the kit on the desk and ran over, looping the taller man’s arm around him to support him. He helped him over to the other bed in the room—it was just a mattress with no sheets or pillows, but it was a place to rest, at least. Daisuke sat down on it, leaning against the wall behind it.

“There, done,” Jazz finally sat back, sighing. “It’s not as bad as I thought. Two kind of bad burns—I think we can leave those alone to air—a cut on your head, and three... uh, bullet holes, for lack of better word.”

“Laser holes?” Danny supplied unhelpfully, shrugging one shoulder as he pushed himself up. Jazz helped him sit, and he stared taking off his gloves and pulling his arms out of the sleeves of the hazmat suit. “I think my healing powers should be able to take care of the burns once this stupid hole in my side is fixed. This thing is healing way too slowly...”

“It’s still weird that that one wound hasn’t healed yet. That’s where they shot you with the thing to screw up your powers right? I wonder what technology they used to lock your powers like that...” Tucker thought out loud, tapping his chin, “I mean, you were stuck in your ghost form too... was it some sort of molecular disruption to your ectoplasmic structure?”

“Heck if I know,” Danny muttered, grunting as he laid down again when his entire upper body was exposed.

“I do,” Daisuke suddenly piped up, pointing at the black bag he’d left by the desk, “I was worried about what could do that to Danny, so I stole the weapon they used to do it. It’s a prototype, so it’s their only one. I made sure to erase their database and I didn’t find any paper trails, so they don’t have the blueprints to rebuild it, either.”

Jazz and Tucker stared at him, bewildered. Danny just chuckled. “That’s what you were doing on the computer in that lab?”

“Yes,” Daisuke smirked slightly, closing his eyes. “Tucker, check my bag. It’s the taser canon thing. Maybe you can figure it out and see what it did to Danny.”

Tucker went over to the bag, blinking as he looked in the main pocket—there was a shiny silver-white weapon there, alongside the clothes Daisuke was wearing before he disguised himself, as well as part of the disguise and a few other odd gadgets. The only one Tucker really recognized was the grappling hook.

“Wow, I know you’re an ex-professional thief, but if you’re retired, what’s with all the tools?” Tucker couldn’t help but ask in awe, reaching in and grabbing the ecto-weapon before he set the bag down again.

“I got them when my friend came into town a little while ago,” Daisuke shrugged, “and I might have not thrown them away.”

“Handy.” Tucker shook his head, beginning to examine the weapon. “You know, it’s kind of like the Plasmius Maximus, with the whole shorting-out-Danny’s-powers thing.”

“That’s because Vlad Masters funded it,” Daisuke muttered darkly, causing Danny to jolt upright and Jazz and Tucker to turn to him sharply.

“What?” They all demanded simultaneously, and immediately after, Danny groaned in pain and laid down while curling up slightly. Jazz yelped and turned back to tend to him and make sure he didn’t start bleeding out again.

“Owwwww...” Danny whimpered, and Daisuke opened his eyes to glance over at the white-haired teen sympathetically.

“When I was looking at the Guys In White’s database, I saw that it was a design Masters gave them.” He sighed after a moment, rubbing his head as if it was aching. “They don’t really know what it does, they just tested it because he told them to.”

“Geez, what’s that fruitloop thinking?” Danny growled, “What’s his plan...?”

“I did warn you, Danny,” Daisuke looked over at his friend solemnly, “broken people are dangerous.”

“Yeah... they are,” Danny’s glowing green eyes didn’t move from the ceiling, but his frown deepened significantly. His eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head. “What do you think Vlad’s goal was, then? Was he just trying to weaken me? Distract me—maybe get me out of the picture so... ah! Mom!” He gasped, “Jazz, he’s probably after Mom and Dad again!”

“Danny, no,” Jazz scolded him, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him down before he could sit up, “you’re injured, you’re in no condition to go saving anyone.”

“But—”

“They’re probably fine. If it makes you feel better, I’ll be sure to turn on the ghost shield when I get home,” Jazz shook her head, “and if you’re worried they were attacked while you were kidnapped, just call them! You have to tell them you’re sleeping over at a friend’s anyway, since you’re obviously not going home tonight. You’re not moving till we stitch you up, mister.”

Danny groaned in frustration, shutting his eyes in defeat. “Fine! Hand me the phone,” he held out his hand blindly. Tucker shook his head, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone, putting it in Danny’s hand. It wasn’t long before Danny had dialed the phone and had it up to his ear.

Danny chewed his bottom lip anxiously, staring up at the ceiling again, breathing a sigh of relief when someone finally picked up. “Hey Mom! Just calling to let you know I’m sleeping over at Tucker’s tonight.” The ghost boy looked over at his friend, who nodded and made an OK sign with his hand. Danny smiled gratefully, then frowned at the response he got over the phone. “I know I sleep over at his place a lot, Mom, we’re best friends. At least I called, right?” He grumbled, “Yeah, I know, don’t be a bother—no, I already ate dinner with him, I’m fine.... Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

He hung up, laying back and holding out the phone so Tucker could take it back. “Okay, that’s one thing out of the way. Sounds like nothing happened to Mom and Dad anyway.”

There was a knock on the apartment door, and Jazz got up. “That’s probably Sam. I’ll get it.”

Daisuke nodded absently, finally breaking his gaze from Danny and laying down at last. “Tucker, get ready to disinfect the tools to suture Danny’s wounds,” he muttered, closing his eyes tiredly.

“Ah—right.”

~~~

The night seemed to pass too slowly. After Sam returned, the teens spent some time stitching Danny up and wrapping him in bandages until virtually his entire torso and shoulder were covered. Danny was happy to finally undo his transformation by the time they finished, and after a late dinner of the Chinese food Sam bought and catching Sam up to what they talked about while she was gone, the group was forced to go their separate ways.

Jazz and Sam headed back to Fenton Works—Jazz drove back ahead of Sam to distract her parents, while Sam took the Specter Speeder back to the lab. Tucker helped Daisuke dispose of the ectoplasm-covered clothes and towels before heading home himself.

Daisuke hadn’t been allowed out of bed by the three teenagers, so as soon as they left, he heaved a sigh and got up, stretching a little.

“Okay, now that they’re gone, talk.” Danny demanded abruptly, breaking the brief but tense silence. He pushed himself up on his good arm, sending his friend a narrow, icy stare.

“About what?” Daisuke replied absently, glancing over at his friend without flinching.

“You know about what. You’re not okay.” The black-haired boy frowned, “You’ve been out of it since we woke up... or whatever that was. What’s wrong? And don’t say it’s just because you lent me some energy.”

Daisuke was quiet, his dull red gaze meeting Danny’s sharp blue easily. They remained silent for a long time, the artist hesitant and the hero unrelenting. Finally, Daisuke gave up, his entire demeanor sagging. He came over and sat next to Danny on the bed.

“I feel like I can’t control my body... like it isn’t completely mine.” The red-eyed man murmured softly, “I haven’t felt this way since I lost Dark. I never thought I’d feel it again, but... when I separated from you...”

Danny’s expression softened, but it was still troubled. “You said you lent me a piece of your soul, Dai. Is that why...?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Daisuke shrugged listlessly, “You were going to be ejected if you lost power, and you needed another source. The only way I could lend you mine was if I tricked my soul into thinking you were me—it’s how I shared my energy with Dark before. So... I guided your soul into the hole in mine, and I gave you part of the space Dark used to reside in.”

The boy stared at him, his eyes widening. His mouth worked to try and find words, but he couldn’t form any. Daisuke smiled sadly at him.

“Don’t mistake me... You’re dear to me, Danny, but you can’t ever replace Dark. No one can. Still, having a presence there again... it’s a feeling I haven’t had in seven years.” He averted his eyes, but Danny didn’t miss the melancholy nostalgia behind them. “Dark had shared my body with me, he controlled it just as much as I did. I thought of my body as belonging to him too, without ever really consciously realizing it. I was so used it that when he left, it was like I forgot how to control the part of my body that he controlled—like flying a plane with two pilots who each only know how half the controls work, even though they should know all of them, and then one of the pilots evacuating. I struggled to figure out how to live with a body that belonged to just me again.”

“Your body didn’t feel like it was completely yours,” Danny echoed Daisuke’s earlier words, inhaling and holding his breath. “So when I left your body...”

“Yeah. It was the same feeling.” Daisuke shook his head, looking ahead distantly. Lending Danny the hole in his heart had filled it and made him feel whole, only to give him the same torn feeling of his soul being ripped apart as the time Dark had left him. He knew it wasn’t right, and that his relationship with Danny was very different from the one he shared with his thief, but the echo of that pain had left him feeling as crippled as he had the first time he’d felt it.

He shook his head determinedly and managed to whisper, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. It’s not like you were possessing me for a whole year—I’ll be okay soon. I promise.”

“You sure...?” Danny asked uncertainly, “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Well, I might be a bit sore, because when you became a part of my soul I could feel some of your pain too, but otherwise... yes, Danny. I’m sure I’m okay.” Daisuke offered a reassuring smile, but it was as worn and tired as the redhead sounded. “I’m honestly more worried about you, okay?” There was a flash of something in Daisuke’s eyes, but it was gone before Danny got a good look at it. The redhead shook his head and continued, “Let’s just... sleep it off. I bet we’ll both be better come morning. And if not—you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need to.”

Danny sighed doubtfully, laying down again. “Yeah... if you say so.”

Daisuke got up to turn out the lights, plunging the room into darkness. Danny listened as Daisuke got back into bed, not even bothering to get a blanket. He lay in the quiet of the night, his thoughts circling through his head.

He was slightly worried about his friend—he was sure Daisuke would be fine when it came to recovering from the rip in his soul, that part he didn’t doubt. Daisuke still got sad when he talked about Dark, but it wasn’t the longing kind of sadness he used to have—it was melancholy reminiscence, it was the defeated acceptance of the less-than-bright moments in his life. It wasn’t wallowing, so Danny was sure that Daisuke would continue moving on just fine.

No, the part that worried the half-ghost was the hint of anger he had been detecting all evening. Daisuke had been hiding it carefully, and none of his friends or his sister noticed it, but Danny had picked it out of his voice and the dark look in his eyes. It reminded him of something he’d seen a long time ago, back when Spectra had attacked Daisuke and his friends—it was something Danny hadn’t been able to understand in the past, but he certainly had a better understanding of it now.

He couldn’t help but remember Dark’s words in that strange dream-like world: “Whether you like it or not... Daisuke’s got some darkness in him.”

Danny had known that part—but it never fully registered in his mind until he realized what triggered it. Daisuke had only ever shown that hint of the darkness whenever his friends got hurt. And given the ordeal they had just gone through, Danny shuddered to think about what Daisuke would do if he ever acted on his darker side.

Daisuke’s earlier warning echoed in his mind, reminding him of the conversation it had originated from.

“People who have nothing left… who have reached their limit and broken beyond it in the worst way possible… they’re dangerous.”

He looked over to where Daisuke was sleeping, deep in thought. He knew that, once upon a time, Daisuke had been someone who had nothing left to lose. He had been broken when Danny met him, and Danny had no idea how repaired he was even with all of Danny’s help. Daisuke’s heart, Danny thought, was still fragile—and when he remembered the raw fear in Daisuke’s eyes when he came to rescue Danny, it dawned on him that that had been the first time he’d ever seen Daisuke afraid.

And Danny realized with a horrified tremble in his own heart that that was Daisuke’s limit. Like injured animals, fear made people dangerous. It made people unpredictable. There was no telling what Daisuke would do now—and Danny worried that his friend would do something he would regret.

They always did say the quiet ones snapped the loudest. But he really hoped he was wrong, and that his worries were unfounded.

~~~

Danny awoke the next morning feeling sore and like his chest was about to implode on itself. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked around blearily—it was early morning, and the sky hadn’t even turned golden yet, bathing the room in a soft, silver-gray light. He heard Daisuke talking quietly on the other side of the room, and he turned his head to look as he pushed himself up.

“Ee, tou-san. Sore ga boku ga okureta riyuu desu.” Daisuke murmured into his phone, “Gomen nasai...”

Danny stared at Daisuke’s back—the man was topless, probably because he had been in the middle of changing out of his pajamas, exposing the large twin scars that stretched from the small of his back to the top of his shoulder blades. The scars were pale pinkish-white, though Danny distantly recalled seeing them as a more angry red color in the abyss of Daisuke’s heart.

In the past, Daisuke had grown wings in a fit of rage, and that rage had left those marks on his body. It left him afraid of seeing the people he loved get hurt, and it devoured him in cold desperation and fiery determination, leaving his mind with nothing but the thought of doing whatever it took to protect his friends. He would do anything, even something as impossible as growing wings like an angel of vengeance, if it meant his friends would be safe.

Daisuke may not have grown wings this time, but the impact of Danny’s capture had been the same—it had sent a frightening, familiar ache through him, a feeling of helplessness deep in his gut that urged him forward regardless of the physical toll, and nothing could have stopped Daisuke short of getting killed.

Somewhere at the back of his still-waking mind, Danny was glad that Daisuke was still there—some part of him was afraid the man would have been gone by the time he woke up, off to do something rash and probably dangerous to sate his anger. Hopefully those fears were simply irrational, an odd reaction to the previous day’s trauma.

“Un—hai. Wakarimasu... doumo, tou-san. Jaa.” Daisuke sighed as he flipped his phone shut, turning around. He didn’t look at all surprised to see Danny awake—despite facing away, Daisuke had probably sensed Danny getting up anyhow. “Hey. Feeling better?”

“I feel like a truck ran me over,” Danny replied dryly. “How about you?”

“I did say I’d be okay after some rest,” Daisuke smiled cheerfully, motioning to himself.

The half-ghost teen quirked an eyebrow, his eyes roaming over Daisuke’s body in appraisal—the black eye hadn’t swollen up, at least, but it ringed the pale skin a dull dark brown. There were a few bruises on Daisuke’s abs and on his forehead near his bangs, but there weren’t any cuts or gashes anywhere that the man had hidden the previous day. He held his arms akimbo—he obviously didn’t have very much trouble moving, like he had before.

Danny blinked, catching sight of something on the side of Daisuke’s body, just under the rib cage—it looked like a reddish rash, maybe, or a faded burn scar. It was about half the size of his hand, splayed across the skin in a faint scorch-mark pattern. That definitely hadn’t been there before, but Danny had no idea what could have caused it.

Either way, Daisuke didn’t seem very bothered by it—he was still smiling almost obliviously, tilting his head innocently. “See? I’m fine now.” He reaffirmed.

“Yes, I can see that, bright eyes.” The younger boy scoffed playfully, “Glad to know one of us is doing okay.”

Daisuke chuckled, coming over to him and helping him sit up more so that he wasn’t leaning on his arm for support. “Come on, let’s check on those stitches and change your bandages.”

Danny obliged, sitting still as Daisuke unwrapped the medical tape and gauze, noting the way the wounds were healing. Danny couldn’t help but notice the way Daisuke winced and stared a little too long. After he put some cream on the burns and other small lacerations, he re-wrapped the boy and told him he should rest for another day or so—the wounds were only half-healed.

“Better than yesterday,” Danny frowned, looking down at his hands, flexing them. “It’s still a bit of a conscious effort to use any of my powers... but that Plasmius Maximus knock-off is definitely wearing off.”

Daisuke watched in amusement as Danny ran through his basic powers, turning invisible and intangible and coating his hands in ectoplasm experimentally. The man shook his head, turning and grabbing a clean shirt, pulling it over his head.

Daisuke offered to make breakfast, and Danny borrowed his cell phone to call his friends while waiting. He let them know he was okay, and that he’d head home later that day. He moved around to stretch his muscles, careful to mind his wounds, going to the kitchen to watch Daisuke. He frowned in thought, noting how distracted the redhead seemed.

By the time they finished eating breakfast, Danny realized why.

Daisuke had gotten up and said, “Hey Danny, I’ve got to run some errands. You can stay here, I’ll be back soon.” It seemed innocent enough, and any other person would have believed him, but Danny narrowed his eyes in suspicion and worry, realizing the excuse for what it was.

“Where are you going?” He asked, watching as Daisuke’s gaze sharpened slightly, having caught Danny’s expression.

“Just to take care of some things before I leave for Japan,” he replied easily, not changing tactics. “You know, I’ve got to reschedule my exam, delay my flight, do a little shopping if I’m going to stay here a bit longer—”

“Cut the crap, Daisuke,” Danny shook his head in disbelief, “You were upset last night, I could tell. And you still are—I saw how you were looking at me... at what they did to me. What are you going to do?”

Daisuke shook his head, not faltering. “I don’t...”

“No lies, Daisuke. That’s what we said, remember?” Danny snapped, “You’re good at acting but I know you, Dai. I was in your head for a while! This...” He motioned to his chest aggressively, “it’s bothering you a lot, isn’t it? Please, just tell me.”

Daisuke’s expression finally dropped, his facade fading into that same darkness Danny had seen the night before. The man averted his eyes, crossing his arms.

“Only if you don’t stop me.”

“Daisuke.”

“...You got hurt, Danny. And I just know Vlad was the one pulling the strings.” The ex-thief muttered reluctantly. “He gave that weapon to the Guys In White. He wanted them to hurt you. And I...”

“You what? You were going to go confront him?” Danny frowned, “Dai, as capable as you are, you can’t just take on Vlad by yourself—even I can’t do that most of the time. This is different from defending yourself, like those other times—going to seek him out? That’s a bad idea.”

“He hurt you, Danny.” Daisuke growled testily. “This is worse than those other times before. You were powerless and trapped. You were going to be experimented on. It’s sick and wrong, and I can’t let him get away with that!”

“Vlad’s my arch-nemesis! Of course he’s gonna end up hurting me—we fight every time we meet up!” Danny threw his hands up in exasperation, “I’m fine now, aren’t I? I mean, I’ll be fine. Just let it go—you can’t protect me all the time, and you can’t go running after my enemies every time I do get hurt! This isn’t the first time Vlad’s done something like this, and it sure isn’t going to be the last!”

Daisuke stared hard at Danny, who stared back with flashing green eyes.

“...I know,” he finally relented, his expression softening as he turned away, “but I’m still going. This is something I need to do.”

“Daisuke, no. You’ll get hurt.” Danny grabbed his arm, pulling him back, but the redhead didn’t meet his gaze. “Please, don’t. Just let it go, Dai. Please.”

Daisuke was desperate to make sure he couldn’t ever lose anymore people that he loved. He may have been healing, but the streak of darkness would remain as his scar—it would stay with him forever, as long as he had something he wanted to protect.

The lengths he would go to do so frightened Danny.

“I know you’re better than this. You know better than to go after revenge; you’re kinder than this. Don’t do this.” The boy pleaded again, “Just let it go. Worry about me, not him.”

Daisuke’s eyes snapped back to him, slightly bewildered looking. Danny lit up in relief, seeing that he was getting through to his friend at last.

“My friends and I, we’ll deal with Vlad later. He’s my enemy, I’ll figure out how to get back at him for this. You don’t have to do anything—you shouldn’t.” He tightened his grip on Daisuke’s arms, trying to keep his attention, his gaze never wavering. “You’re the one who said you didn’t want to get involved in my ghost business. You were always better on the sidelines, here—I counted on you to patch me up when I got hurt, Dai. To support me in other ways—to be my friend. I need you to do that, now. I never needed you to fight for me.”

The man blinked slowly, finally registering the concerned fear in Danny’s eyes, and after a long time, his shoulders sagged in defeat. He looked down in shame—he knew full well that what he wanted to do was beyond anything he believed was right, but he had still wanted to do it. The fact that Danny had to stop him from doing something so terrible... he wondered when he’d fallen so low.

Danny really was his hero, pulling him up from that dark, downward spiral.

“Okay,” he whispered brokenly, “okay.”

Danny relaxed his grip, moving his arms to wrap around Daisuke reassuringly. “Forget about it, okay? Just... worry about me, like you always have. I’ve always liked that about you.” He murmured tenderly, standing somewhat awkwardly as he felt Daisuke bury his face in his raven hair, “It’s not like you to be so angry, Daisuke. You were just scared, right? I know you were scared for me... so thanks—and I’m sorry I scared you. But I’m alright now. So just let it go; everything will be alright. You don’t need to do anything.”

Daisuke hugged Danny back gently, clinging to him like a lifeline. Like he would forget who he was if he let go—he had almost betrayed himself, and it took Danny’s words to make him realize that. Danny was worried about him despite everything that happened, and he had almost ignored that. He had almost let down the one person who mattered at that moment.

“Gomen nasai, Danny. Hontou, gomen...”

Danny said nothing about the trembles he felt wracking the other man’s body, and he stayed silent when Daisuke’s choked back sobs left warm, wet droplets in his hair.

“It’s okay, Dai. I’m okay now.”

Chapter Text

“...You sure you’re okay now, Daisuke?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I promise.” Daisuke said softly, walking Danny home from his apartment that evening. “Sorry if I scared you before, acting like that. I just... couldn’t stand the thought of almost losing you.”

“Dai, I’m a superhero. Almost dying―or dying all the way at least―is an occupational hazard.” Danny shook his head with a goofy, good-natured grin and an exaggerated shrug, “Thanks, though... it means a lot that you care this much.”

The two walked together in companionable silence, looking up at the sky as the light sunk beneath the horizon, painting the clouds lavender. Danny stuffed his hands in his pockets, his expression falling contemplatively. Daisuke looked down at the ground, idly kicking small pebbles out of their path.

“Sorry your last few days here turned out like this.” Danny said suddenly, “I mean, not that I meant to get kidnapped and hurt and worry you and stuff, but...”

“No, I think all of this adventure... it was exactly what I needed,” Daisuke chuckled wryly. “The thought of losing another friend... It reminded me that I still have people to lose back home too. And I’m pretty dumb for leaving them behind―I’m a little glad to be getting back to them.”

“Oh. That’s good.”

They reached Danny’s house, and before they could continue their conversation, the door opened. They blinked, looking up at Jazz as she stood there with her arms akimbo.

“Danny! I thought you’d be home earlier! Where have you been?”

“Err, hanging out? We took the long way home, through Dai’s campus and the park.” Danny shrugged his good shoulder, grinning sheepishly. “I’m fine now, Jazz, I promise. Sorry if I worried you.”

“Yeah, well, next time bring your phone with you, we were about to call Daisuke to figure out where you were.” Jazz shook her head in exasperation.

“We?” Danny and Daisuke blinked. Jazz nodded, stepping aside to reveal Sam and Tucker.

“What are you guys doing here?” Danny asked in surprise.

“We went to check on you at Daisuke’s, but you weren’t there. You said you were headed home this morning, so we came here looking for you, but you weren’t here either.” Sam crossed her arms, scowling, “Where were you?”

“Daisuke had some errands to run today, and he didn’t want to leave me alone, so I went with him and hung out.” Danny waved his arms in defense, “I’m sorry I didn’t exactly have my phone on me, what with everything that happened.”

“Don’t worry, he didn’t get into too much trouble, I was with him the whole time,” Daisuke offered with a mild grin, hiding his gratefulness that Danny had lied for him. The truth was that, while Daisuke did go out to make arrangements to stay in town longer, Danny was the one who didn’t want leave Daisuke alone. Daisuke had been slightly despondent all day, at a loss of what to do with any leftover rage, and he didn’t really blame Danny for worrying that he might still do something rash.

Despite everything that had happened, Danny was faring better than Daisuke in regards to how well he was taking the whole kidnapping ordeal. So he was Daisuke’s pillar for the day, supporting him until he had a good grip on his “self” again―and even if that meant lying to himself that he wasn’t angry anymore, they both knew that if he lied enough it would become true. Danny had watched all day as Daisuke’s strained, “really, I’m okay” smiles became more and more genuine, and while Daisuke hadn’t totally convinced himself, every reassurance helped him solidify his lie-turned-truth.

Danny stole a glance at his older friend, watching the way the man acted in front of his friends. His demeanor gave away none of his previous turmoil, exuding his normal calm, friendly aura to placate the others’ worry.

Sam’s glare softened, and she huffed. “You should’ve called us.”

“Sorry,” Daisuke rubbed the back of his head shyly, “I didn’t really think about it. I mean, it was a really quiet day... we didn’t even see any ghost attacks. Which was good, you know, considering his condition.”

“Even if any did show up, I think Daisuke could’ve taken care of them for me.” Danny added with a little laugh. “He’s not that bad of a ghost hunter.”

“Thanks for taking care of him, man,” Tucker shook his head in fond exasperation, “It’s good that someone else is watching Danny’s back when we’re not there.”

Daisuke beamed a little, nodding in appreciation. “Oh, by the way,” he dug into his pocket, pulling out the little black surgical kit, holding it out to the dark-skinned boy. “Here, you can have it. I think you’ll have more use for it than I will when I go back home.”

“Wow, uh, thanks,” Tucker blinked, accepting it.

“You can start using it right away, I think Danny’s well enough to cut those stitches out,” Daisuke grinned.

“He started healing normally again?” Jazz gasped, “That’s a relief!”

Danny pouted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, let’s go get this over with.” He moved past his sister and Sam, tugging Tucker along. “See you later, Dai! Thanks for walking me home!”

“Take care, Danny,” Daisuke chuckled and waved, then looked back at the two remaining teens. “Well, I should go too.”

“Wait,” Sam uncrossed her arms, stepping up to him, “You’re going home soon, right? I don’t know if we’ll actually meet again, so I thought I’d say thanks―for... well, everything.”

Daisuke’s eyebrows raised in surprise, then he smiled warmly. “Oh, uh... it’s nothing?”

“And I’m also sorry for distrusting you at first and all those times I made you uncomfortable.” Sam admitted, ignoring that Jazz gave her an impressed glance, “We didn’t really talk much but I know I’ve probably asked a few too many personal questions, so... yeah. Sorry.”

“Oh... that’s okay. Thank you for apologizing.” Daisuke blinked, “You seem genuinely interested in the stuff I did. I wish I’d gotten to know you better, then I could have taught you.”

“Well, there’s always time in the future,” Sam grinned, “You’re a good friend to Danny, so thanks for that too. Really. Keep it up.”

Daisuke smiled gratefully, nodding in acknowledgement. Sam excused herself to go upstairs and help Tucker cut Danny’s stitches out, leaving Jazz alone on the front stoop with Daisuke.

“Are you going to thank me for being there for Danny too?” Daisuke joked.

Jazz shook her head. “I think that’s been said enough,” she smiled, “I was actually going to thank you for trusting me.”

Daisuke blinked at her, his red eyes looking oddly owlish in the evening light. “I... didn’t do that enough, Jazz. You don’t have to thank me―in fact, I think I should apologize.”

“No, you trusted me where it counted. So thanks.” Jazz said softly, taking his hand with both of hers and squeezing it, “I know a lot of things happened recently, and I don’t really know when it happened, but you put Danny ahead of yourself, and that means a lot to me. You trusted me when you were scared and didn’t know how to trust me... with something you deemed more important than yourself. But I hope you know you’re important too.”

Daisuke smiled a melancholy smile. “I do. Thank you, Jazz.”

Jazz nodded, squeezing his hand again before letting go. “I know there’s a lot of pain and hurt going on in your life, both past and present―I talk to Risa a lot, you know. She’s getting better, just like you are... but you’re both not quite there yet. I realize there’s a lot that can’t be said even now―I don’t know your whole story, but that’s okay. I don’t think I need to know. I just wanted you to know I’m here for you just like Danny is, and I’ll listen if you need to talk.”

“Thank you. I think I got better, just a little bit, today,” Daisuke whispered softly, gazing deep into her turquoise eyes, “I might take you up on that offer some time. We’ll video chat when I get back to Japan, okay?”

Jazz smiled cheerfully. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“And Jazz? Please know that I count you as one of my treasured friends too.” Daisuke took a step back, turning to go, “You’re important to me, like Danny is. You’ve both helped me realize I’m not alone. I’ll miss you when I go home.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Jazz brought her hand up to wave, “See you around?”

“Yes,” Daisuke threw her a smile over his shoulder. “Good night, Jazz.”

“Good night, Daisuke.”

~~~

“Hey, Dai.” Danny waved as he phased through the window―the redhead looked up from his sketchbook and smiled in greeting. “How was your day? Doing okay?”

“I’m fine, stop worrying,” Daisuke rolled his eyes, “I didn’t go do something stupid if that’s what you’re concerned about. I went to finish my art exam today, that’s it. Oh, and I also dropped by the post office to mail my paintings home.”

Danny grinned sheepishly, dropping his backpack and lazily flopping down on Daisuke’s bed next to the desk. “Oh. Good to hear. How’d the exam go?”

“Good, and I got a full grade. The professor was understanding.” The man replied, idly continuing to sketch whatever it was he was drawing. “How about you? How was school?”

“Eh, could’ve been better, I’m still a bit sore from the... you know.” Danny shrugged, looking around the room―it was completely empty and clean, save for the furniture, giving off the feeling of a room that had just been moved out of. Daisuke’s suitcase and duffel bag were sitting up against the wall―he looked like he was all packed up and ready to leave any day now. Idly, the ghost boy continued, “Gym was a pain.”

“I thought our training sessions made you more physically fit?” Daisuke lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, it did, but pretending I’m weak and useless Fenton is a pain,” Danny grouched. “Tetslaff made me do laps because I was late, and I had to pretend I was out of breath after two.”

“Why were you late?” The redheaded artist asked curiously.

“I had to wait till everybody left the locker rooms before I changed into my gym clothes,” Danny folded his arms behind his head as he leaned back, “I didn’t want my classmates to see the fresh scars you know? I already get enough weird looks when people notice the older ones, but they’re practically invisible most of the time... these ones, not so much.”

“I know how that is―I used to do the same thing.” Daisuke frowned a little, but didn’t look up from his work, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “You should learn how to change clothes in a second,” he remarked absently, “my mom used to make me do that in the mornings... while simultaneously dodging the death traps she set on my bed.”

“Seriously? Isn’t that child abuse?” Danny shook his head incredulously, “Anyway. The laps weren’t really the worst part of gym. Dash kept targeting me during the dodge ball game and I couldn’t dodge because that would’ve looked suspicious. It’s better than his usual beatings though.”

Daisuke’s pen stopped abruptly. “Are you hurt?” He asked in concern, his red eyes zeroing in on the half-ghost boy, searching for any sign of injury.

“No,” Danny rolled his eyes, “it’s just dodge ball, Dai. I had worse when Johnny and Kitty came around today.”

“You fought them? You didn’t reopen any of your wounds, did you?” Daisuke set his stuff down on the desk, wheeling his chair closer to look. “You really shouldn’t be pushing yourself while you’re still recovering...”

“I’m fine,” Danny sat up straight, crossing his arms stubbornly, “stop being such a worrywart, it’s all part of the superhero business! My duty is to protect people from ghosts that attack, regardless of my condition. You know that.”

“That wasn’t a no,” Daisuke frowned sternly. When the younger boy refused to say anything, he started to scold, “Danny...”

The white-haired teen pouted and looked away, mumbling, “Okay so Johnny might have managed to get me with some bad luck...”

Daisuke sighed heavily. “You’re going to make me worry till the day I leave, huh,” he shook his head, standing up. “I know you normally take care of this stuff on your own, but with everything lately.... Well, you know the drill.”

“I was trying not to,” Danny rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat. He undid his transformation, revealing the tear on the front of his white t-shirt, edged in browning dark red. “But hey, this might be the last time you have to patch me up!”

The spiky-haired man shot him another fretful look before he went to get the first aid kit from the bathroom. Danny mumbled to himself about how the wound wasn’t even that bad, but nonetheless he took off his shirt, picking at the hastily taped-on square of gauze on his chest. It wasn’t long before Daisuke returned, and he lifted an eyebrow as he watched Danny peel away the bandage, revealing the small, scabbing slash that crossed one of the wounds from the Guys In White experiments.

“See? It’s healing, I’m fine,” Danny pointed at the scabs.

Daisuke reclaimed his chair next to the bed, placing the kit down. He inspected the cut critically. “It normally heals faster than this, though...” He muttered in concern.

“In ghost form. Crazy ghost healing mostly works in that form,” Danny shrugged, “I got this one in human form. It wasn’t too long ago, though, so I’d say it’s healing pretty well for a human-half wound.”

“Human form? How’d you manage that?” Daisuke asked incredulously, getting a tube of antibiotic ointment and some fresh bandages, quietly getting to work.

“Well it’s not like ghosts only attack Phantom.” Danny pursed his lips, explaining, “Johnny’s Shadow managed to break a mirror. As in, he made it explode all over the bathroom before I could transform. This cut was from the shrapnel―it sort of dug in deep.”

Daisuke shook his head in exasperation. “You should be more careful.”

“Yes, because I was trying to get seven years of bad luck.” The boy huffed sarcastically. Daisuke glanced at him quizzically, his expression curiously blank in a way Danny had long ago associated with the Japanese man not understanding the way he spoke. It had been a while since he’d seen that expression on Daisuke’s face. “Er,” he chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to explain, “it’s a superstition that breaking a mirror gives you seven years of bad luck. Don’t really know why though.”

“Ah,” Daisuke nodded in understanding as he finished bandaging the boy, “I wonder if that explains my and Riku’s collective clumsiness then.”

Danny blinked at him, tilting his head as he looked down at his chest, touching the bandage. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I told you about the Insomnia incident before, right?” Daisuke chuckled, moving to put away the first aid supplies. He was absently checking on Danny’s other scars to make sure they were healing alright―it had only been a day but the wounds were nothing but thin, pinkish marks on the younger boy’s skin.

“The one where that one spirit artifact kidnapped you and Miss Risa and tried to erase your existence and take over your body?” Danny’s brow furrowed in thought, “Yeah, I remember you mentioned it.”

“Insomnia’s physical vessel was a mirror. Riku broke it to get me and Risa-chan out of its world.” Daisuke continued nonchalantly, and Danny stared at him in wide-eyed bewilderment. “She took a... I don’t even know what it was. She took a pole? And swung it like a baseball bat. Regardless of if we were in the middle of the museum and it was four meters tall, she shattered it. I felt kind of bad for the Insomnia, but...” he looked to the side solemnly, “he was broken long before I met him. Even if his end was tragic, it was better he didn’t continue suffering alone like he was.”

Danny bit his lip, gripping the bedspread below him. He didn’t know what to say, unsure how to sympathize with Daisuke―he was so kind, to mourn even the antagonists of his life despite the way they had tried to hurt him. This was different from his rage when it came to Vlad, or the bitterness in his voice when he spoke of Krad. Those were villains who had hurt the people Daisuke cared about instead, whose motives were unclear. Daisuke strove to understand the things around him, and maybe that was why it was easier for him to forgive the spirit of Insomnia rather than monsters like Vlad, despite how loneliness affected them both.

“What about you?” Danny suddenly asked, drawing Daisuke’s attention back to his face, where blue eyes watched him in concern, “I mean, only Miss Riku broke that mirror. You said you had some bad luck too, right?”

The red-haired man’s lips tightened for a moment, and Danny wondered if he’d asked the wrong thing―it had been a while since he’d misspoken around Daisuke, given that Daisuke had been healing well and that there were very few secrets between them now. Usually they could talk about anything―but sometimes, Danny forgot that Daisuke was still hurting.

Instead of not answering, though, Daisuke gave a small, sad smile. “I broke the Black Wings.” He whispered softly, shaking his head, “Or, well... I helped break it.”

“...Oh.”

The artifact Dark had originated from... had been a mirror. Somehow that was oddly fitting―he knew that in some cultures, mirrors reflected the soul, and Danny could only imagine what Daisuke saw when he looked into the mirror that was Dark’s true form. Daisuke was Dark... maybe that was the only place he’d ever physically seen the black-winged angel.

And if Daisuke and his friends had broken the Black Wings... well, if a mirror represented the soul, then a broken mirror represented a broken soul―which was exactly what Daisuke was for seven years.

Danny shook his head to clear his thoughts, offering a grin to hopefully cheer his friend up. “Well, on the bright side, I’d say your bad luck should run out soon if it hasn’t already! You know, since it’s been seven years since that time.”

Daisuke’s smile became more genuine, and Danny inwardly cheered in success. “I suppose you’re right,” the man mused, “but I never believed I was unlucky for seven years. Just... lucky, after it.”

“Oh?” Danny blinked, tilting his head curiously, “How so?”

“Well, I met you, didn’t I?” Daisuke laughed softly, especially when Danny’s eyes bulged in pleasant surprise and a dust of pink came over his cheeks.

“Dude, that’s like, a super cheesy pick-up line!” He whined playfully, swatting at Daisuke’s hand when he reached over and ruffled the boy’s black hair.

“I was just being honest.” The red-haired artist shook his head fondly, standing up to go put away the first aid kit. He called over his shoulder, “If you’re going to hang out, feel free to help yourself to the kitchen. It’s not much but there’s also chocolate cheesecake.”

Danny stuck his tongue out at the man, rolling his eyes. He picked up his previously discarded shirt, holding it up to inspect the hole in it. “Mmm... if I go through the window Mom and Dad will never see...” He muttered to himself, shrugging as he put it back on, not all that bothered by the blood on it. He hopped up, intending to raid Daisuke’s fridge, but he paused when Daisuke’s sketchbook caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

He stepped up to the desk curiously, leaning over to take a peek at whatever Daisuke had been drawing. His eyes widened in awe.

It was a very detailed, beautiful, inked illustration―his eyes traced the changing values of the lines, noting how they thickened and thinned to give the drawing a more dynamic look. There wasn’t any color, and the lightly penciled sketch beneath it was still visible, but somehow it only added to the image’s charm.

It was a drawing of an angel, his short raven hair windswept and with loose clothes billowing in the breeze, with two large, graceful wings spread out behind him. They were black like shadows in the nighttime, though it looked like Daisuke hadn’t finished coloring them in yet, because many of the large primary feathers were still white, with one of them―undoubtedly the one Daisuke was working on before Danny interrupted―left half-finished. The angel in the drawing was holding out his hand as if to help someone up, a happy, boyish smile on his face that lit up his eyes with twinkling joy.

“Wow...” Danny breathed. He honestly didn’t know what to think of the drawing, too stunned for words.

Daisuke had drawn Danny Fenton as an angel.

He stared at it for a long time, then smiled and shook his head, turning away to head to the kitchen like he had planned. He didn’t really need an explanation for the drawing―after all, Daisuke had told him from the start: Danny was an angel. He had never imagined himself with wings before, but maybe Daisuke hadn’t either, and that was why he was drawing it.

He stopped abruptly in the short hallway, suddenly wondering where Daisuke was. Surely it didn’t take that long to put away the first aid kit, right?

A little worried, he turned to the bathroom door, knocking. “Uh, Dai? You in there?”

“Yeah,” the muffled reply came through the door, “sorry, I just... zoned out.”

Danny frowned, reaching for the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. He turned it, pushing the door open slightly, just to give Daisuke warning that he was coming in, and poked his head through.

He immediately caught sight of Daisuke wiping his eye. The older man turned to him―his eyes were clear, so Danny didn’t know if he was just really good at recovering from crying or he hadn’t been crying much at all. He rubbed his head in embarrassment. “Uh, sorry, did you need to use the bathroom?”

“Uh, no... you were just in here a while.” Danny glanced from Daisuke to the mirror, noting the faint smudges of a hand print. Was this because they had been talking about mirrors earlier...? “You okay?”

“...I’ll be fine.”

The redhead moved toward the door and Danny backed away, giving him room to come out. Danny looked up at him, scrutinizing. “Why are you upset?” He asked straightforwardly, “Was it because of the mirror?”

Daisuke glanced at him in surprise, his eyebrows raising. After a moment of deliberation, he smiled that fond-but-melancholy reminiscent smile and admitted, “Yeah. I was just thinking about Dark―I used to be able to talk to him through mirrors.” He walked past the boy and back into his room, “Let me tell you, it’s really weird to see your reflection talking back to you.”

Danny blinked slowly, following him. “I’ll bet.”

Daisuke looked over as he rolled his chair back to his desk, pausing. “...Sorry if I worried you. I really did just zone out.”

The raven-haired boy nodded in understanding, giving him a lighthearted grin to hopefully brighten the mood. “No problem. So, did you want some of that cheesecake too?”

The man chuckled and nodded, his spirits lifted. “Sure.”

Danny turned to go to his original destination, quickly grabbing the cheesecake out of the fridge and two paper plates and forks. He got a slice for each of them and brought them back to the room, plopping down on the empty mattress on the other side of Daisuke’s desk.

“Nice drawing, by the way.” He remarked, setting one plate down while keeping the other, already digging in.

“You like it?” Daisuke grinned, not at all surprised that Danny had seen. “Had to keep myself occupied today or else you would’ve thought I was up to something.”

“It’s really cool,” Danny nodded enthusiastically, ignoring the chocolate staining his teeth when he smiled. “Can I get a copy?”

“Sure, when I’m done.” The redhead reached for his cheesecake absently, forking a bit into his mouth as he continued drawing. “By the way,” he glanced over briefly before his eyes flitted back to his sketchbook, “if you need a new shirt, you can take one from my suitcase.”

“Dude, I’m not going to keep taking your clothes, that’ll look weird.” Danny rolled his eyes, looking down at the bloodied shirt, unfazed, “I’ll live with this one. I can come up with an excuse if my parents see it, but if I get home before curfew today I can throw it away without anyone noticing.”

“If you say so.”

Danny picked at the shirt contemplatively, recalling the first time Daisuke had patched him up. There was a nasty scar at the time, but now it was faded and blended so well with his skin that no one would have ever noticed that he’d almost had his arm chopped off unless they looked really, really close.

He paused, remembering that Daisuke had a similar scar on his own arm. He’d seen it again just the day before, along with the array of Daisuke’s other scars. Even that new one...

“Ah,” he sat up a little straighter, setting cheesecake aside temporarily, “by the way, Dai! When’d you get that burn mark thing?”

Daisuke looked up in confusion, blinking owlishly at the half-ghost boy. “What?”

“The one at the side of your abs,” Danny gestured to his own stomach area to indicate the spot he meant, “That wasn’t there before the, uh, you know. Did you get shot by one of the Guys In White during the rescue?” He frowned. If Daisuke had gotten hurt, even from a low-level blaster, why hadn’t he treated it properly...?

“Oh. That.” Daisuke shrugged nonchalantly, “No, I didn’t get shot.”

Danny’s eyebrows knit together, puzzled. “Then how did you...”

“It’s not mine.”

Danny stared blankly at his friend, noncomprehending. Daisuke gave him an amused look, tilting his head.

“Remember how I said I felt some of your pain when I shared my soul with you?” He slowly put down his pen, turning to face Danny fully. “I meant it somewhat literally. I didn’t have your worst open wound but when I felt it, it decided to physically manifest as that scar, I guess.” He explained gingerly, “I’m a little surprised you didn’t notice it was yours. It matches.”

Danny’s jaw dropped in disbelief, and he quickly looked down at himself, lifting his shirt to see the scar on the side of his body, just below the ribs―the same place Daisuke’s scar was. Now that he was really looking, he realized that it had the exact same shape as the mark on Daisuke’s body, if not a little thinner because they’d sutured it while it was healing.

“Huh.” He finally managed out after one long, unblinking minute, “It does match.”

Daisuke laughed softly. “Well, they do say the marks on our bodies tell the stories of how we are shaped. If this mark represents you, Danny, I’ll gladly bear it.”

Danny looked back up at him, letting his shirt drop. “What do you mean?” He asked curiously, his eyes wide with genuine interest.

“Well... scars are marks of hardship, and every scar has a story. I’m sure each one has their own tale, but overall your scars tell me you’ve been in a lot of tough battles. The fact that you’re still here and that they’ve faded means they’ve only made you stronger.” Daisuke motioned to the boy. Then he motioned to himself, smiling gently, “I treasure the scars on my body―they tell the stories of people who’ve made an impact on my life. You already know some of these stories, Danny. But there are others, of course.”

He held out his hands, showing the callouses and small cuts on the tips of his fingers. “I’ve had these for as long as I can remember. These were from the lock-picking tools my mom had me playing with when I was a kid, and some of these were from my youngest days, before I could properly run the trap course in my house.”

He let one hand fall and moved the other to point at a long, faint thin line on the under his jaw. “I got this when Freedert’s knights in the Second Hand of Time world accidentally nicked me with their spears.” He pushed his hair aside to reveal a small, roundish white mark slightly off-center on his forehead. “This one was actually from one of my clumsier moments, but I hit my head on a rock when I tried to save Riku from falling off a hiking path―again. Uh, the first time is a story for another time,” he chuckled when he saw Danny’s quizzical look. He pointed to three faded parallel scratches that looked like they were made by a bird or a cat, adjacent to the other scar. “This one is from Towa-chan and Argentine, they’d been fighting again and I was their battlefield. That’s, uh, also a story for another time.”

He let his hair fall over his forehead again and patted his knee, continuing, “I have a scar here from when I used to play soccer with my friend Takeshi, and I have this burn scar,” he motioned to a mark on the underside of his forearm near his elbow, “from one of the times Risa-chan asked me to help her cook something and―well, let’s just say she’s a hazard in the kitchen.”

Danny nodded in understanding, listening in fascination. Even if the stories themselves were mundane, all of Daisuke’s scars were made by people who changed his life―his family, the girl from the art world, his girlfriend, his butler and maid, his best friends...

His eyes flickered to the most prominent scars―the cut made by the maniac who had wanted to kill him, the bullet wound from the boy who loved him, and the wings given to him by his other half. Even if not all of the scars had lighthearted tales behind them, Danny understood―Daisuke wouldn’t have gotten those scars if he hadn’t met those people. They had made their lasting mark on his mind, body, and soul.

“And now,” Daisuke put his hand to his side, over where the scorch-mark scar was, “I have a scar from you, Danny. It’ll be an interesting story to tell, that’s for sure.” He chuckled, “I was marked without ever having gotten hurt. My friends won’t believe me.”

The black-haired boy grinned. “You can always tell them you got shot,” he joked, “I mean, that’s how I got the scar that’s technically on your body right now...”

“After this?” Daisuke jabbed his thumb to the center of his chest, where the bullet hole scar was, “I don’t think that’ll go over too well. Especially since it’s much bigger.” He chuckled.

“But it’ll be epic!” Danny gasped playfully, “You can tell them you were blasted on your way to save your new ghost friend, who you then had to drag out while fighting rogue government agents like a super spy!”

“More people will question why I needed to save a ghost when ghosts are supposedly already dead and no harm can really be done to them,” Daisuke shook his head fondly. “Do the Guys In White count as rogue agents?”

Danny opened his mouth to answer, paused to think about it, then closed his mouth, his face screwing up in thought. After a while he looked up at his red-haired friend, and they simultaneously burst into laughter.

“I’ll think of something,” Daisuke managed out between chuckles, “if they ever ask, anyway.”

Danny took a while longer to calm down, shaking his head as he went back to eating his cheesecake. “So, what’s the story behind your butler and maid apparently using you as a battlefield?” He asked curiously, “How’s that even work anyhow?”

Daisuke chortled and turned back to his sketchbook, continuing his drawing as he began to tell Danny the story of his two magical companions.

He brushed his fingers against the scar on his forehead as he talked, his mind drifting back to the memories of the friends he had lost. He remembered his home, the places they used to be, and how he could still see their echoes haunting him whenever he went back to those places in the past.

It used to hurt him to see his lively home so empty and lonely. He hadn’t been home in a long time because he had been afraid to dredge up those memories―but he resolved that he wouldn’t be afraid to face them anymore. Danny had helped him see that he could remember his friends fondly, rather than longingly, and that he could take their memory and hold it near and dear to his heart. The memories no longer pained him, as long as he never forgot the better times.

It had taken him too long to realize that he no longer had to stay still and fear the loss of what was already gone. Don’t worry about the dead anymore, he told himself, because they were fine―and so was he. He could move on with his life in honor of the people who couldn’t walk forward with him, and he would move forward with his head held high knowing he wasn’t alone like he thought he was. His friends would always be with him in spirit, as long as he kept them in his heart.

Danny had said that he believed Daisuke’s friends were angels, so maybe they weren’t just with him in his heart. He wanted to believe his ghostly friend, and that his friends were always watching over him. He wanted to believe that they had never left him alone, and that they never would.

He could almost feel their loving gazes as he told Danny about their antics, about all the times they made him laugh and smile―he hoped that in the future, they would still be smiling down on him as he forged his way forward in his life. He would go home soon and face the places they had left him, and he would make new memories there―memories he would hold just as dear, and speak of with just as much joy. He would gain new friends and new family, and he would share all of the good times in his past with them, just like he was sharing them with Danny now.

It felt good to talk about them, and maybe that was how it was always supposed to be. He missed the people that he had lost, but they didn’t feel lost when he was remembering them, reliving the times they had together, and treasuring those moments because he could never have any more of them with those people.

And he would treasure these moments too, sitting and laughing with Danny and feeling like there was nothing wrong in the world. There were many, many more moments like this to come―memories he had yet to make with Riku, Risa, and the rest of his friends and family that he had left back home. He would count every moment he could spend with those he loved as a gift, and he would never take them for granted again.

Daisuke had been through loss that had left him with open wounds, but like the scars that marred his body, he had healed and he was stronger for it. And for the first time in a long, long time, he was truly happy.

The angels watching over him must have been smiling, because that was what they had always wanted for him.

Everything was right in the world now.

~~~

Danny flew through the clear night sky with his arms spread out wide, inhaling the cool night breeze that buffeted his skin and hair. He looped around in the air, looking up at the bright, twinkling stars and the moon watching over him, peeking out from behind a drifting cloud.

He rolled over after a few minutes, looking down at the lamp-lit streets and the yellow windows lighting up the buildings below. He grinned mischievously when he came across the building he was looking for, turning invisible as he spotted the shock of red hair so bright he could see it even in the dark.

He swooped down, sneaking up on the man on the roof of the apartment building. He took a deep breath, and―

“I hope you realize ‘boo’ is just Latin for ‘I’m yelling’.”

“Pb-b-b-b-bt.” Danny dropped his invisibility and let out his breath in an exasperated sigh, deflating in disappointment. “Aw, you’re impossible to surprise.”

“When it’s not winter,” Daisuke amended with a quiet laugh, amused by his friend’s whine. He patted the seat next to him, as usual. “Long day?”

“Nah, just the Box Ghost,” Danny waved his hand, splitting his ghostly tail into two legs as he joined the young man on the ledge of the roof. He ran his hand through his snow white hair to fix the windswept look, grinning sheepishly. “And I took the scenic route on the way here. It’s a nice evening for a flight.”

“It would be,” Daisuke smiled nostalgically, looking up at the sky and its sparkling glory.

The two fell into their comfortable, companionable silence. The white-haired ghost boy looked over at his friend contemplatively.

Danny distantly remembered their first meeting, and how awkward he had been, so disbelieving that someone as patient and accepting as Daisuke could even exist. He remembered how war-worn, wizened, and weary Daisuke had looked at that time. Daisuke had once said, “I feel older than I am, a lot,” when Danny commented about how old and tired his eyes had looked back then. Looking at Daisuke now, though, he looked as young as he was supposed to be. All he could see was innocence and bliss and contentment―like he was finally at peace with the ghosts of his past.

He still had some healing to do, maybe, but at least he had healed, and Danny was glad he’d been able to help. The ghost boy was always protecting others, trying to keep them from getting hurt in the first place. Daisuke was the first person he met who needed a different kind of protection―he was a young man who had been at war with himself, who needed the kind of protection that provided him cover while he bandaged his wounds on the battlefield. Danny have given him that and helped him fix himself up too, and that was more than either of them had expected from the other.

Daisuke had been through pain and loss and suffering―and Danny was the first thing in a long time that he had gained. Danny was something Daisuke didn’t know he so desperately needed in that trying, lonely time in his life: a friend.

Danny was the friend who believed Daisuke could heal when Daisuke didn’t think he would ever. Even if their time together was short, Daisuke knew he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did without Danny.

It had only been a year―less than that, even―and Danny could now happily consider Daisuke one of his best friends. It saddened him to think that their year was over so quickly, their time ticking by as they sat together on their rooftop.

“...So tonight’s the night, huh?” He spoke up, drawing the man’s attention to him, “The last night we can hang out up here together?”

“My flight is in a few hours.” Daisuke nodded, leaning back and wrapping his arms around his leg against his chest to balance himself, “I’m finally going home.”

“Going home is still going to be hard, isn’t it?” Danny looked over in concern, his glowing green eyes searching.

“Yeah, but I’ll be okay. I’m better now.” Daisuke grinned reassuringly, and Danny relaxed―Daisuke’s voice had been so sincere and honest that there was no way he wasn’t being honest. And that was a relief, really, after everything they’d been through.

Danny would miss the once-winged man, but going home was something Daisuke had to do now―and Danny knew it was right for him, so he no longer got that uncomfortable dreadful feeling whenever he thought of Daisuke going to face his past. Daisuke was stronger now... and Danny was confident he’d be alright.

The redhead turned his gaze away, looking up at the stars―no doubt thinking about his thief. The night was serene and the air was cool despite that it was summer, caressing their cheeks gently as it passed by.

“Do you ever think about the future?” Daisuke asked quietly, “Like, what will happen from here on out?”

“Not really, no,” Danny shook his head, “Why? Are you worried about what’ll happen to us?”

“No.” Daisuke glanced over, his red eyes shining softly, “I know friendships like ours are... odd―it’s not everyday someone like me can call a fifteen-year-old ghost a friend. But that’s never mattered to me, and even if there’s a long distance between us, you’ll always be one of my best friends, Danny. I promise, that will never change.”

The white-haired teen grinned broadly and nodded, “You know you’re one of my best friends too, Dai. Which I really didn’t expect when I first met you.”

“Me neither,” Daisuke chuckled, “but I believe in fate, and I like to think we met for a reason. I think we changed each other’s lives just by being there. And whatever happens after... well, that’s for the future to decide.” He looked meaningfully into Danny’s dazzling green eyes, his expression laced with something Danny could only call love. “We’ll be apart, but wherever the future brings me... I hope I can be a part of your future too.”

“Of course! You wouldn’t miss it for the world, right?” Danny nudged him with his elbow playfully, “It’s not like you going home is goodbye forever. We’ll keep in touch! I’ll sign up for some of those Japanese classes over the summer, that way I can learn enough by the time you get married next year. And then when you have kids, I’ll be able to talk to them.”

“That’s right.” The spiky-haired redhead laughed softly, nodding. “You’re good with kids?”

“I dunno, probably not, I’m a ghost after all,” Danny gave an exaggerated shrug, a silly grin splitting his face, “but I’m also a superhero! Kids like superheroes right?”

“I’ll make sure mine do,” Daisuke shook his head fondly. “Maybe when they’re old enough, I’ll bring them here and you can take them flying. It’d be nice if they knew what it was like, even if it’s not the same feeling I know.”

Danny blinked owlishly at him, then laughed. “Look at us, talking about the future like this! Geez, I’m only fifteen, I don’t even know where I want to go to college yet!”

“Well, wherever you decide to go, invite me to your graduation. I’ll be looking forward to it.” The redhead said sincerely, “You’re going to go great places, Danny. Even if things look a bit hard right now, what with all the chaos of trying to balance a double life, I think things will work out in the end. And I’d be proud if I could watch you make it there.”

The ghost boy’s eyes widened in surprise at the genuine affection in Daisuke’s voice, and after a moment of staring, his expression softened and he held out his white-gloved hand. “I’d be happy if you were rooting me on. And I meant what I said before―I think we’re a lot alike, and I know I still see a lot of myself in you... so I’d be glad if I could end up like you in seven years.”

Daisuke reached out and shook his hand firmly. He smiled broadly, for the first time feeling no shame in himself―he was glad that he was someone Danny could look up to and admire. And Danny was someone Daisuke admired too―even if he was only fifteen, he was so much better and kinder than Daisuke ever was when he was that age. Daisuke was truly honored to know him.

“You’ve done so much for me, so I’d be more than happy to return the favor. Being there for you in the future is only the least I can do. If you ever need anything, I’m here for you―that offer has always been valid.”

“What’re friends for?” Danny asked jovially when Daisuke pulled his hand back, floating up and shifting to hover in front of Daisuke. His ethereal green eyes sparkled with joy and mischief, and he held out his hand invitingly. “Hey, my offer’s still open too.”

“Which one?” Daisuke tilted his head curiously, shifting and lowering his leg so both dangled over the ledge.

“The one to take you for a flight!” Danny grinned, “I know it’s not the same as flying on wings, but... you know, like I said, it’s my favorite power. I can show you my way. So, want to go flying with me? You know, one last go before you have to get on that plane? I promise I won’t drop you.”

Daisuke laughed mirthfully, and he stood up on the roof, taking Danny’s hand.

“It’s a nice evening for a night time flight. I’d be happy to join you, Danny.”

They shot off into the sky.

The wind was different in Amity Park, Daisuke thought as he watched the night blur around him. It was cold like Danny’s comforting aura, but it swept through Daisuke’s hair like a familiar friend. There was no warmth against his back, but a cozy feeling flooded his heart, and he closed his eyes, relishing in its gentle embrace.

When the vibrant red eyes opened once again, they were floating above the clouds and the stars were bigger and brighter than Daisuke had seen in years. He reached out his hand as if he could touch them―these shining diamonds that were the same no matter where he was in the world. They were the same stars he had flown under so long ago, alongside his best friend.

But now he was flying with a different friend, one he would gladly call his best friend, and his soul felt lighter and freer than he’d ever felt it before. Instead of looking inward for the sense of companionship he always had when he flew, he looked up, glimpsing lively green eyes as they streaked across the dark and their hair flew into their faces. They slowed down, and it felt like time had slowed down with them, the world tilting with no up or down to ground them. Danny had always loved the stars, so Daisuke wasn’t surprised that his flight had the characteristic weightlessness of space. It was very different from the daring, magical excitement of flying on shadowy black wings.

A smile spread across their faces as the blue-violet clouds swirled below them, and the summer wind curled around them like a protective blanket. The twinkling white lights danced around them, and the moon bathed them in its spotlight. Daisuke didn’t think he had ever flown this high before, and though it was the same sky he’d always known, the view was different―it was brighter and more thrilling than he remembered it.

Daisuke didn’t mind the different perspective, because Danny lit up the darkness to show it to him.

~~~

The End.