23It's been a while…but here we go!
Kosuke had been rummaging through their family library the whole day, as the sun began to set he snapped shut the dusty book in his hands and smiled.
"Found it!"
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"Dai-chan! Dark! Kosuke-san! Its dinner!" Emiko and Towa were setting the table and Daiki was the first there, followed by Dark and Daisuke. "Eh? Where's Kosuke-san?"
"Yo, Emiko!"
"Kosuke-san! Look at you! What have you been doing?"
He held up the book and opened it to a page. "I've been looking for the next target."
"Oh?" Dark took the book and saw a picture of the Atlantic Stone, and beside it was a list of all her creations.
"It looks like Krad's hunting them down in chronological order," Kosuke explained, "so the next one on the list is another statue, 'The Goddess of Valentine'."
"Towa, can you look for her?"
"Of course!" She fell into deep concentration and then returned to normal with a satisfied smile. "It's on a small island off the east coast, in a shrine somewhere in the woods."
"I guess we should start packing!" Emiko said cheerfully. "It's about time we took a little vacation."
"No, gomen Emiko, it's too dangerous."
"Hmm…!" Emiko pouted and looked to Kosuke for some support.
"Listen to Dark, Emiko. We can stay here and look for the other art pieces just in case."
"Daisuke, call Satoshi. We're leaving tomorrow morning."
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Riku woke up earlier than usual; silently tip toeing out of the house on Saturday morning. 'Ok…surprise Daisuke and bring him out for ice cream! He's been under so much pressure lately with this Krad thing…a little cheering up is just what he needs!' As she came up the road that lead to his home, she saw the door ajar and her head spun with the unimaginable.
"Daisuke-kun?"
"Ah…Harada-san…"
"Niwa-san! What happened?" Kosuke approached her hugging his stomach and using the wall to keep him from falling. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's everyone?" She was scared. Her heart was racing. What was she meant to do? Riku ran up to Kosuke and put his arm around her shoulder and brought him to the couch. "Wait here, I'll get you some ice-"
"No…Daisuke…is upstairs…"
Without another thought, she ran up to his room and found it practically destroyed. One entire wall was gone, flooding the whole room with bright light from the newly risen sun.
"Riku-…san…"
"Daisuke…" Riku knelt down and lifted some rubble off him and lifted his head onto her lap. "Are you ok?" She asked as calmly and as sweetly as she could, hopefully lightening up his spirits.
"Mm…but Dark…and Satoshi…" Daisuke closed his eyes and lifted his palm to his forehead, tired and frustrated.
"They can take care of themselves, you need to rest." Suddenly Daisuke's eyes widened and he jerked up and ran to a corner of the room and began digging through the rubble.
"Towa-chan…" He lifted the little pink bird gently into the palms of his hands and stared at her with remorse.
"Daisuke…Emiko-chan's light is fading…she's in the garden…"
"Riku-san, take care of her." She quickly nodded as Daisuke jumped out of the hole in his room and landed in the garden. Emiko and Daiki were leaning against the balcony, bruised and bleeding.
"Oka-san…"
"Dai-chan…" She said in between coughs. Daisuke picked Daiki up, who was completely unconscious while he supported Emiko's arm around his neck. He brought them to the living room, resting them beside Kosuke. Riku came downstairs with Towa, back in human form and they began to heal their wounds.
"Daisuke-kun…what happened?"
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"KRAD! THIS ENDS HERE!" Dark flew at full speed and tackled Krad, kicking him down towards the ocean, but he recovered and darted back towards Dark.
"You don't deserve to live!" Satoshi threw an energy ball at him, which sent Krad crashing into the sea. Satoshi and Dark hovered above and glared menacingly at the white feathers in the ocean.
"We were about to leave to find the next art piece…but Krad came here first to make sure we didn't interfere."
He burst out of the sea and sprays of water blinded Dark and Satoshi. As the water cleared and fell back into the sea, Krad threw dozens of feathers, but Satoshi lifted his shield just in time.
"He attacked all of us…Oka-san, oto-san, jii-chan…"
"Dark! I can't hold this much longer!" Krad was trying to penetrate his shield with his beam and was succeeding. Dark's fists clenched as he charged towards Krad and punched his stomach over and over again, then finally began to charge up an energy ball and pushed it directly onto Krad's torso.
"Krad knocked me unconscious and threw me against the wall before I could even do anything."
Blood dripped and stained the blue of the ocean. Dark, Satoshi and Krad were all exhausted, but they stood ready, prepared to react to whoever intended to attack first.
"But then, Satoshi used his wings and Dark summoned Wiz…they started fighting and lead Krad away from the house."
"Dark…" Satoshi whispered, "we can't beat him here…we're going to have to reach the island before he does." Dark nodded and threw dozens of feathers, making Krad put up his shield and letting Satoshi get a head start. "C'mon! Dark!"
"They're on their way to the island, but something tells me that they won't have the time to search for the statue unless I'm there to help take care of Krad."
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"I'm coming with you."
"Riku-san…why?"
"Because…if something happens, there'll be no one to take care of you…and…" Riku blushed a little and hid her eyes under her fringe as she continued. "…if I stay, I'll have nothing to do but worry about you…so…so I'm coming okay?" Daisuke smiled at her concern and looked to his parents for approval, and they did.
"Then you should go pack, we'll finish up here and we'll meet at the harbour okay?" Riku looked up at him and saw that pure, innocent smile, but behind it she knew there was nothing but fear. Fear for her life and everyone else's.
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"Riku? Rikuuu?" Risa frantically knocked on her door, impatiently waiting for an answer. "Riku this isn't funny! You were missing this morning, now you're locking yourself in?" Riku tried to ignore her twin and mindlessly threw things in a bag as she thought of a way to get out without getting caught. "Honestly, Riku!" Risa stormed off and went out, slamming the door behind her.
"Gomen Risa…" She picked up her bag and slowly creaked the door open, making sure no one would see her. As soon as she felt it was safe enough, Riku ran downstairs and went through the back door, through the garden, picked up her bike and rode out on the road. From behind the bushes, Risa watched silently.
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"Daisuke-kun!"
"Riku-san," Daisuke smiled and waved at her. She laid her bike against the railing and hugged him closely.
"What time does the boat leave?"
"In half an hour…have you eaten?"
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"Harada-san! Where are you taking me?"
"Urusai Takeshi!"
"Harada-san!" She pulled them behind a bush and pointed into the distance towards a certain café.
"Daisuke…and Harada-san? You brought me here to spy on your sister on a date?"
"That's not it!"
"Riku-san, it's almost time. Let's board the ship now." Daisuke picked up both his bag and Riku's and held onto her hand, but she pulled it back. "Riku…?"
"Are you sure…that it's okay for me to come? I won't be a burden…will I?"
"You will never be one, Riku-san…its okay." He held out his hand and smiled at her as she nervously took it. They stepped onto the ship with two others secretly following behind.
"Hurry up Takeshi!"
"Show me a little respect! You're the one who asked me here!"
"You wanted a scoop didn't you?"
"Yeah, but I see nothing news worthy about Daisuke and your older sister." He pouted, still being dragged around the ship by Risa.
"Ah! There they are…" Daisuke and Riku were leaning against the railing, alone at the back end of the ship. "Look, I'm sure they're up to something…and it's a big something if Riku won't tell me about it and you told me yourself that Niwa-kun was keeping something from you too!"
"Harada-san…" he whined. "I'm sure Daisuke is just surprising her with some romantic trip or something…"
"Just listen won't you?"
"Do you think they're alright?"
"He and Satoshi can handle it, just like you said…but I'm just worried for how long."
"Do you think this trip will take long?"
"Huh?"
"It's just…I left the house without a word…and Risa and I kinda left on bad terms."
"Don't worry, oka-san will make sure everything's handled back home…and you two are sisters, she can't be mad at you for that long."
"But…she knows I'm keeping something from her and it hurts that I can't say anything."
"Riku-san," Daisuke stood straight and looked deep into her eyes, making her realize that whatever he was about to say, she had to take it seriously. "If you can't take it, we could always-"
"No! Don't even think about it! You're not taking my memories of this away…"
"Are you sure?"
"Who else would be able to keep you and Da-"
"Harada-saaan!"
"Urusai! You just made me miss what she said!"
"Speaking of which, how long will Keiji have to stay at the school? Now that there's nothing to protect..."
"I don't know…I think he likes it there for some reason. Maybe he'll stay."
"But Daisuke-kun…is it okay for Risa to like him?"
"Why is she talking about that?"
"You like the new guy? Kiriyama?"
"Shh! Why can't you just listen?"
"Alright, alright!"
"It's just…she's becoming all dreamy again…just like she did for Dark before. Then when he disappeared, Risa wouldn't leave her room…if something like that happens again, I don't know what I'm going to do…"
"Don't worry Riku-san, we'll discuss this when we meet him at the island…we've arrived."
"Okay…"
Daisuke took Riku's hand and lead her off the ship and Risa and Takeshi quietly followed.
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"DARK!" Satoshi watched Krad throw a large energy beam towards Dark and it threw him crashing deep into the woods on the mountain.
"Don't think I haven't forgotten you Satoshi-sama!" Krad aimed another beam but Satoshi raised his shield, but it wasn't enough and he got thrown against the beach.
"Daisuke-kun! Did you see that?"
"C'mon!" Riku got on her bike as she tried to keep up with Daisuke who was running as fast as he could.
"Harada-san, what was that explosion?"
"I told you something was going on!"
"If we're going to find out, we have to catch up with them!"
"It's…" Daisuke ran closer to the body lying limp on the beach, bleeding, clothes torn and cuts and bruises were scattered all over his body. "Hiwatari-kun!" He helped Satoshi sit up and panicked as his wings disappeared. "Hey! Are you okay? Where are the rest?"
"He's…in the-" Satoshi coughed up blood and Riku looked at him uneasily. "He crashed in the…woods…we have to get there before-"
"Its okay, stop talking…I'm sure he can take care of himself for a while, but we have to get you cleaned up." Daisuke put Satoshi's arm around him as Riku supported his other arm and they began to walk towards the small town.
"Harada-san…what's going on?"
"I don't know…"
Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Arigatou!
TBC
Next Chapter: Will Daisuke, Satoshi and Riku find Dark before its too late? Will Risa and Takeshi find out? Will they get to the statue before Krad? Find out in the next chapter! Muahahaha!