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lal-nila-syrin · 10 years ago

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An Inconvenient Sleepover

For shinichihattori o3o (Jaelin told me to get a move on on this haha...)

Kind of an oddball of a story, but I wanted to experiment with the idea of Takeshi finding out Daisuke's secret. (Partially inspired by this post by Sarah.) Because more Takeshi is needed please... plus I got the idea that maybe Takeshi figured it out on his own.

I apologize ahead of time for any OOC--I don't have a very good grasp of Takeshi's character yet.

~~~

"Oi oi, Daisuke!" Takeshi waved as he ran to catch up with his best friend after school, throwing his arm around the redhead as said redhead turned around.

"Ugah!" Daisuke nearly toppled over, just barely managing to keep his balance as the black-haired reporter charged into him. "Saehara! Geez... what's up?" He sighed, shaking his head in fond exasperation.

"Y'know when we were younger and we used to have sleepovers all the time?" Takeshi said in a low voice, continuing to walk with his arm still slung over Daisuke's shoulders, effectively pulling him along too.

"Yeah...?" Daisuke lifted an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Whatever happened to us? Y'know ever since you turned fourteen it feels like we're drifting apart!" Takeshi lamented dramatically, and Daisuke flinched ever so slightly. So Takeshi had noticed Daisuke had been keeping his distance to keep his secret safe... "So! I propose we have a sleepover this weekend! We can hang out and do homework and play video games or something."

"You just want to copy my homework," Daisuke rolled his eyes, "You didn't even start it, huh? You know it's due on Monday."

Takeshi gave a wide, sheepish grin. "Oh c'mon! Help a pal out!"

"Why this weekend though? Isn't Dark having a heist this weekend?" Daisuke lifted his eyebrow again, "Would've thought you would be chasing that headline instead of wanting a sleepover..." He trailed off, and then his eyes snapped up to his friend abruptly. "You want me along for some plan catch him, don't you."

Takeshi gave a loud, gaudy laugh. "Yep, you caught me! So, whaddya say?!"

"I can't say no, can I." The redheaded Niwa deadpanned, sighing heavily.

"Nope! C'mon, bud! It'll be great, I swear!"

~~~

"Oh? Daisuke, Takeshi, welcome home." Inspector Saehara waved as the two boys made their way into the living room, "It's been a while, Daisuke."

"Sorry for intruding," Daisuke grinned sheepishly.

"Nah, nah, you're welcome here any time," Saehara grinned, "I was just about to head out anyway. Make yourself at home, as usual. You two boys stay out of trouble, yeah?"

"Yes sir!" Takeshi chirped cheerfully, waving as his dad left and locked the door behind him.

Daisuke smiled and shook his head, setting his stuff down and finding a place on the couch to sit. The living room, much like the rest of Takeshi's apartment, was a mess, but he supposed that was expected considering the usual occupants of the house--but he didn't mind much. He was used to it, having spent nearly half his childhood in this apartment.

"So, what's your plan to catch Dark this time? You never told me." Daisuke asked casually, glancing at the clock. There was two hours before the heist... if Takeshi's plan involved them going to the scene, it would be easier to switch places with With there and go do his job...

"Ah, ah, ah," Takeshi wagged his finger mischievously, pulling up a rolling chair and sitting down backwards in it, "You don't get to know it yet. First, you gotta help me with this line of thought I've been having lately."

"Is it a headline title?" Daisuke asked dryly, leaning forward with his head resting on his palm and his elbow on his knee.

"Ha, ha, those aren't hard to make y'know." Takeshi replied back in a similar tone.

"Really? The ones you've put out lately are kind of lame." Daisuke joked, and Takeshi laughed.

"Are not! They follow all the rules of good journalism!"

"Suuure."

Takeshi shook his head, folding his arms over the back of the chair as he leaned toward his friend. "Whatever, that isn't the point!" He pointed almost accusingly at Daisuke, "Tell me what you think of Dark!"

Daisuke blinked twice, confused. "What?"

"You heard me. Tell me what you think!" Takeshi demanded with a smirk, "Your intuition's as good as mine when it comes to stuff like this! And you obviously fanboy over him too!"

"Wh--what?" Daisuke looked appalled, vehemently ignoring the voice in his head, "I do not!"

"You so do," Takeshi rolled his eyes, finally lowering his arm just to bring it up again to motion as he spoke, "Come on, you always seem to know all about his heists, what happened during them, what was stolen--and you're always the first to jump to his defense whenever someone accuses him of something, like when younger-Harada was kidnapped! You're totally a fanboy!"

Daisuke groaned, letting his head drop. "I am not," he grumbled with a pout, "I just happen to--watch the news a lot, and... Harada-san is always talking about those things, and so do you!"

"But you know stuff even before I tell you." Takeshi pointed out, "Come on, admit it, you're a total fanboy."

"No, I'm not." Daisuke rolled his eyes, looking up at his friend suspiciously.

"Fine, fine, stay in your fanboy closet," Takeshi waved nonchalantly, then his tone turned a little more serious as he continued, "I meant it when I said you have a good intuition with this stuff though. So I want your honest opinion--what do you think of Dark?"

Daisuke opened his mouth, then closed it, giving the black-haired boy a hard stare. "He's... not a bad guy, I guess. I mean, yeah he's a thief, but he's never hurt anyone--not even the police officers." He answered just as seriously as his friend, "And he may be flirty and a little perverted, but... I haven't seen him doing a lot of that stuff lately--you noticed it too right? He's a lot more tame than he was a year ago--at least when it comes to flirting on camera."

Takeshi nodded, putting his hand to his chin in thought. "Yeah, I thought so too. Your opinion on him is just like mine."

Daisuke tilted his head. "Weren't you the one slandering him and accusing him of kidnapping Harada-san a little while ago?"

"Only to get a rise out of him," Takeshi grinned, "It seemed to work. He saved younger-Harada, proved he wasn't the kidnapper, and... y'know, he kinda showed he was more than just a thief."

"More than a thief?" Daisuke blinked.

"If he were just a thief, he wouldn't have saved younger-Harada." Takeshi shrugged, "I know she and him are close, somehow, and I don't really know how that happened, but the fact is, he does care about her--anyone in the know could see that. Which is probably why she was kidnapped in the first place."

Daisuke stared at him stoically, frowning a little. If Takeshi noticed, he didn't say anything, continuing, "He's not so bad a guy, basically. Like you said. He might even be a hero or something--you think so too right? 'He's never hurt anyone', you said. I think it goes beyond that--I think whatever his M.O. is, he's not just stealing stuff for kicks."

"...Maybe a little bit, for kicks." Daisuke finally said, shaking his head.

"Okay, yeah, maybe a little bit for kicks." Takeshi chuckled, "You know him better than I do, so I guess you're right."

Daisuke's shoulders stiffened. "What makes you say that? I don't know him any better than you do." He said evenly, giving the reporter an inquisitive look.

Takeshi tilted his head innocently. "Daisuke, I'm a reporter. I've got an eye for detail. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

The two friends stared at each other for a long time. Daisuke's eyes hid apprehension, while Takeshi's oddly serious face showed anticipation.

Finally, the black-haired boy spoke again, "Daisuke, we're friends, right? We've been best buds since we were kids. You know you can trust me, right?"

Daisuke averted his gaze, glancing downward.

"I know there's something you're not telling me, and that's fine. But if you're not telling me because you think I'll put reporting the truth before keeping your secret, well..." Takeshi's gaze dropped down too, "man, that kinda hurts."

Daisuke looked up at him abruptly. "What? No--I... it's not like that at all! I swear!" He said hastily. "I do trust you!"

Takeshi gave a wry grin, locking gazes with his friend. "Good, then I'll trust you." He looked over at the clock. "You don't have to tell me anything--I get that there might be reasons. But if you're gonna leave in like an hour, I don't need an excuse--just... at least tell me about it when you get back, okay? Even if it's a diluted version of the truth."

Daisuke sat in silence for a long time, unsure what to do or think. Takeshi sighed and stood up, going over to the kitchen.

"Hey, want anything to drink? I got soda and iced coffee."

Daisuke almost laughed at the normality of the whole situation--switching from serious to mundane topics at the drop of a pin. He shook his head and grinned.

"When you say iced coffee, I hope you don't mean it's just coffee your dad put in the freezer."

"Soda it is." Takeshi did laugh, apparently feeling the normality of the moment as well, "So, you brought the homework, right?"

"I hope you realize my work is usually C average."

~~~

"So your plan to catch Dark tonight was just... this sleepover?" Daisuke asked softly as he stared up at the darkened ceiling, his arms folded beneath his head, the futon below him not quite comfortable enough for him to fall asleep yet.

"Yeah," came Takeshi's reply a few feet away, muffled by his own futon.

"When did you figure it out?"

"It was sorta a slow realization after I got a bunch of puzzle pieces," Takeshi explained, "I mean, stuff just didn't fit together, you know? How you always disappear, how you knew stuff before I did, why you kept denying you knew anything about him when you were obviously a fanboy..."

"I told you, I am not a fanboy!" Daisuke grumped, sighing heavily.

Takeshi laughed, waving his hand in the dark as if to wave off the boy's complaints. "No but seriously. That time I thought I saw Dark at the school, but when I checked the bathroom he ran into I saw you instead... how he seems to hang around our school a lot anyway--he was here during St. White's Day, you know. He seemed to know me too--remember when I tried to stop him from stealing Menou-san's necklace? He knew my name, then," the black-haired boy mused, "Plus, your house always seemed kinda weird? And my cameras and recording devices kept disappearing whenever I went over... I figured you had some sort of secret you needed to keep if you stole them--I mean, you'd even reach down my pants to get them, and you're the only one who knows me well enough to know where I keep all my stuff."

Daisuke didn't dare tell his friend that his mother was also well aware of his secret hiding places, and that the secret he had figured out had extended to the rest of the Niwa family as well. He would continue letting Takeshi think it was a secret belonging only to Daisuke--for now, at least.

"And the real kicker was when I published that challenge... I'm just a middle school reporter for some small time newspaper no one actually reads. Dark's a famous phantom thief--why would he concern himself with a paper that never even leaves the school grounds?"

Daisuke was silent at that. Maybe they'd been a little more careless than they thought... but for Takeshi to be the one to realize the truth on his own...

"The only person who really read that paper that day was you, Daisuke."

"...I don't give you enough credit, Saehara."

"Oi." Takeshi chuckled, "Look, I get that this is sort of a big deal--I don't really understand how you lead this kind of double life, or how the whole secret identity thing works, but it mattered to you, to keep it a secret. So don't mind me, I'm just gonna keep on pretending Dark isn't you, and we'll go on as usual. Just let me have a good shot and maybe a quote every now and then, yeah?"

Daisuke laughed. "I'm sure Dark would love to pose for the camera sometime. You know, when he's not running away from your dad."

"Maa, I really don't get how you can refer to him as a separate person--isn't Dark just a really good act? Though I don't approve of you two-timing the Harada twins." Takeshi chided lightly. "I hope you're at least gonna tell them someday, to not would be kinda cruel, man."

"Dark is... both me, and not me. It's complicated," Daisuke sighed, "We're really two different people, though, I swear."

"...Is this one of those things you can't really tell me?"

"Sort of."

Takeshi was quiet for a while, and Daisuke thought that maybe he had fallen asleep. However, a few minutes later, Takeshi whispered, "Just know that you can tell me, whenever and whatever, Daisuke. I won't tell anyone else, I promise. You're my best friend--I'm with you all the way, no matter what weirdness you've got going on."

"I know. Thanks, Saehara."

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