Live Through

A/N: The second chapter of Live Through. This is based off of the anime, not the manga! They are two seperate storylines, so if any of you manga readers think something\'s off with the story, that\'s why. ^^; The characters and universe aren\'t mine.







Trust by Amity Bell



Chapter One



Daisuke sighed. He\'d been confused lately...He missed having Dark in his head, always teasing him; the thief had been his greatest companion, despite being his greatest annoyance. He went back in his mind to the time when Dark left him for a while until he figured out his feelings for Riku. This was so much the same, except he couldn\'t test his reactions like he could before. Yes, he loved her, she was his Holy Maiden, but...The relationship had become droll, just a daily routine. It was like he was only loving Riku and living his life because he\'d always lived that way, not because he wanted to. A small knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.



"Who is it?" Daisuke called. Only a tiny, rapidly fading giggle answered him. A mischevious grin curled over the man\'s lips and he snuck to the door. Opening it just slightly, he peeked down both sides of the hall before come out.



"Oh where, oh where could my Dai-chan be?" he said loudly to himself.



"Hmmm." He walked towards Daiichi\'s room as he spoke.



"Could he be...here?!" he said, jumping into the room. No giggle greeted him, and he didn\'t see his son peeking out anywhere, so he walked out. Coming to a closet, he grinned and carefully wrapped his fingers around the doorknob.



"Is he...here?!" Daisuke yanked open the door only to fall flat on his back as a squealing bundle of toddler tackled him. The redhead laughed and picked his son up under the arms. He touched his nose to the child\'s, wearing a grin to match the little redhead\'s. His eyes sparkled with an idea, and he quickly rolled Daiichi onto his back and yanked up his shirt, then plopped a big raspberry on his stomach while tickling him. His kid screamed with laughter and struggled to push his dad\'s head off.



"Daaaddyyy!" Daiichi finally managed, and Daisuke quit with the raspberry but kept tickling him. The man glanced up to find his wife smiling at him and quickly grabbed his son with one arm around his waist while he stood up.



"Hi Riku," he said, smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head with the free hand. Riku smiled knowingly.



"Hello Daisuke," she returned. "Emiko-san says that dinner is ready if you two are free." Daiichi struggled in his dad\'s arm at this. Daisuke looked down at him and smiled.



"Are you hungry, Dai-chan?" he asked, setting the boy on the ground and turning him to face him.



"Yes!" the boy chirped, sticking his tongue out at his father. Daisuke poked it and Daiichi quickly pulled it back into his mouth, giggling.



"Hey, none of that now! Go on, you little imp," he said, turning Daiichi enough so he could give him a short pat on the rear to get him moving. The smaller redhead laughed and ran toward the staircase. A faint "Grandmaaa!" was heard as the toddler disappeared. Daisuke stood up as Riku walked towards him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his shoulders away from her so he got a clear view of her face.



"I don\'t know how you\'re so energetic all the time, he\'s so excitable," he said, and she stuck her tongue out at him just like she used to. He poked it, and just like her son she pulled her tongue back into her mouth and giggled.



"Now I remember where he gets it from!" Daisuke exclaimed and started tickling his wife. She went into a fit of giggles and clung weakly onto his shoulders under the assault. After he felt she\'d received enough punishment for "corrupting" their son, he stopped and gave her a kiss. Riku pulled back first, smiling at him and backing away from him. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned foward, sticking her tongue out at him again, but scampered off before he could pat her rear just like he had his son\'s. A smile lingered on Daisuke\'s lips at the glimpse of the girl he fell in love with so long ago, until his earlier thoughts came back to him and he sobered up. He didn\'t have time to linger on them as he heard his mother calling him down.



"I\'m coming, I\'m coming!" he called back, throwing his hands up in the air and following his son and wife.





~





Daisuke sat up with one hand to his face, gasping for breath. He still had dreams of what happened after the miserable encounter with Freedert, flashes of Krad\'s face and the feelings of helplessness. Still, he could hear Dark screaming in his mind for him to change to him before it was too late. He covered his face with his hands, the familiar self-rebukes rising in his mind. If only he\'d been stronger, if only he\'d tried just a little harder, then maybe...He glanced to his side, where Riku lay sleeping, and quietly slipped out of bed. Never had he told Riku what had happened, in all their years of marriage. It was Freedert\'s voice in his ears that had kept him there for Riku, to take care of her and make sure she was happy.



He crept to the door and opened it, planning to visit his son\'s room. Seeing his son always calmed him. With adored the little boy who\'d let him pig on as many strawberries as he could sneak out of the kitchen, and Riku always made sure they had plenty for the little sprite. \'Or should I say sprites? Dai-chan loves them as much as With!\' Daisuke thought to himself. The door to his son\'s room was ajar, so he pushed it open some and just stood leaning on the doorframe and watching him sleep. \'He really is cute like this, though not as cute as he is when he\'s being tickled,\' Daisuke thought, a grin curving his lips as the memory of his son\'s flushed and happy face from earlier flashed across his mind.



The redhead started as a hand touched his shoulder and whipped around to see who it was, heart pounding. He went limp with relief when he saw it was Riku, though the relief was short-lived when he saw her concerned eyes. She always was too perceptive for her own good.



"Daisuke...we need to talk," she whispered, slipping her hands into his. Daisuke nodded, but motioned towards the boy behind him with his head.



"Not here, Dai-chan\'s fast asleep," he whispered, then walked towards the kitchen with her hand still in his.



They were silent until they settled in at the table, and then the silence seemed to become awkward. Daisuke knew what was coming, they\'d done this many times through the years. Riku had her hands clasped on the table in front of her, though she kept fidgeting with her wedding band as though she was nervous. It had become his favorite habit of hers. Riku opened her mouth, paused, but then hardened her resolve, took a deep breath and continued.



"Daisuke...I know we\'ve been over this before, and that you don\'t want to tell me what you\'re dreaming about, but...I need to know! You always cry out Krad\'s name, and plead with Hiwatari and Dark to help you. I know you keep telling me that they\'re just nightmares about the final battle, but I know you\'re lying." She glanced up at him, then quickly went back to staring at her fingers. "I was there, as Mio-san, I saw what happened, and it was Dark the whole time...not you. Please, stop lying to me," she pleaded, looking up at her husband with tear-filled eyes and reaching her hands forward to grasp his. Daisuke met her gaze with his own pain-filled eyes, memories of Krad filling his mind until it was too much to bear. He closed his eyes and tilted his head down.



"You know I can\'t, Riku," he whispered. "It\'s too much."



"Daisuke, please!"



"I can\'t." A bitter smile crossed his face, and he looked up at her, hoping she\'d understand by his expression. Riku choked on a sob, and pulled her hands back from him. The brunette closed her eyes, her face revealing its few wrinkles from stress, and calmed herself.



"I have no choice, Daisuke. I can\'t live like this anymore. We\'re happy and yet..."



"We\'re not," Daisuke finished for her. She nodded and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She took another deep breath. Her fingers grasped the ring and started to pull it off. Daisuke\'s eyes widened in shock and he reached a hand toward her, but she quickly put up her own hand to wave him off. Riku pulled the ring all the way off her finger and set it in front of him.



"I\'m sorry, Daisuke. I want a divorce." Daisuke grimaced at those words, and unable to keep the tears welling up in his eyes from falling, turned his face away.



"We can fix this...There has to be--" he started, turning towards her with a pleading expression on his face. She just shook her head slowly.



"I can\'t share you Daisuke. I\'ve told myself that I shouldn\'t care that Dark still has a place in your heart, that it\'s only right, but I\'m not perfect! With these dreams of yours, I never have a full night of sleep and I feel like my smiles are just masks to cover myself up. Always hearing Dark\'s name on your lips while you lay next to me has worn me down, Daisuke. It\'s through," she sobbed, covering her eyes with one hand and leaning on the table. Daisuke slowly nodded, unable to say anything through the emotion choking his throat. Getting a grip on himself, he put forth his last argument.



"What about Daiichi?" he asked her gently. Riku wiped her eyes again and sighed.



"I don\'t know. He\'s so young...I think we should let him decide, but if he chooses you I couldn\'t stay, not even for him." Riku searched his eyes with her own. "You never used to have such sad eyes...These aren\'t the eyes of my Daisuke. They haven\'t been since I woke to see you crying in the woods, with the blank canvas." She stood and walked around the table, coming to a stop behind him. His wife placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly slid them down until she was clutching him in a fierce hug.



"I love you, Daisuke Niwa," she whispered into his hair, then kissed his cheek and pulled away. The sounds of her footsteps receded down the hall to their room, leaving Daisuke in a shattered silence. He let the sobs come then, wishing for Dark\'s voice in his head telling him that everything would be all right and hating himself for it at the same time.





~