Title: What If…
Genre: Romance
Rating: K+
Pairing: Daisuke x Risa
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: My name is Might Have Been…
Word Count: 1163
Warnings: N/A
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Just a thought I had when I was rereading the manga. What if Risa had reciprocated Daisuke's feelings at the beginning? What would have happened to Dark then? We know the love gene doesn't activate in the female Niwa, but what if it's never activated in the first place.
"This letter, I know it means a lot to you – "
Niwa Daisuke held his breath, his heart was in his throat, butterflies the size of pigeons were threatening to fly from his stomach and out of his mouth. This was it, he had finally mustered up enough courage to write down his feelings, to tell Harada-san how he felt, and now…
" – and I'm glad, because it means a lot to me, too. I – I like Niwa-san, too."
And for a moment Daisuke thought he had hallucinated the answer. But no, Harada-san was glancing at him bashfully from under long, lowered lashes, her cheeks were dusted with a pale pink blush, she was fidgeting with the hem of her school uniform, with her hair, with her book bag.
"Niwa-san?" Her eyes darted up to him, shy expression turning hesitant, unsure. "Did I misunderstand - !"
Risa's question was cut off abruptly as Daisuke grabbed her by the hand and tugged her to him, folding her against his chest. Heedless of the bag crashing to the ground, the love note fluttering away in the breeze, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, nose buried in her long, long hair.
"Harada-san I – " He took a deep breath. "I'm so happy!" He pulled away in order to flash her a tremulous smile, the way only Daisuke could: wide and bright and breathtaking. He stared at her a moment, cheeks reddening as he said slowly, deliberately, "I love you, Risa."
A shy smile, soft and slow, "I think I l – love you, too … Ni – Daisuke."
And inside his chest, right below the tight bundle of happiness Risa's words caused, Niwa Daisuke felt something like the flutter of wings…
Daisuke was still soaring high above the ground on a cloud called 9 when he returned home. He floated through his mother's roadblock's, barely paying attention to the booby-traps, to the lasers, to the maneuvers he had to perform.
"Hi, mom!"
"D-Daisuke?" His mother was looking at him with surprise. "You already made it through? Are you – are you okay?" She took a few strides forward in order to grasp him by the shoulders, forcing him to meet her prying gaze. "Harada-san – did she…?"
"She loves me!" Daisuke all be crowed. He slid out of his mother's suddenly slack hold, hugged her once, tightly, quickly, around the middle, then spun around to grab his grandfather as he walked curiously into the room. "She. Love. ME!" His grin so wide it would start hurting his cheeks before too long, he stared at them, radiating happiness.
"I – she – what?" Emiko seemed shocked, wide-eyed with surprise, arms still extended as if she wanted to grasp hold of her son again. "She – she said she loves you?" She turned to stare at her father. "What – what does this mean?"
Daisuke felt his smile wavering, his happiness cracking with uncertainty, and, underneath that, just a little bit of anger. "What's wrong with Risa-chan, mom? Didn't you want her to return my feelings?" The first inklings of a frown appeared. "Don't you like her?"
Backtracking with a violent wave of her hands, Emiko assured her son, "Oh yes, Daisuke, of course! Harada-san is a sweet, sweet girl. It's just that – what I meant was – " She looked pleadingly at her father.
"The men in the Niwa family traditionally do not have their first loves returned." His grandfather said slowly, deliberately. "They have to earn their loves. That girl has to accept everything they are."
His frowned deepened, his lower lip began the slightest tremble, a glisten of tears shimmered in his bright eyes. "A – accept me? She doesn't – "
"No, no, no, Daisuke! It's just that –" She looked helplessly at her father again. "I already sent out the notice."
"The notice? Mom, what are you talking about?"
She signed. "I think your grandfather and I have something to explain about the Niwa family."
"Wait – so, you're telling me that, Risa-chan should have turned me down. And then, the Niwa family love gene would have activated, and I would have turned into the Phantom Thief Dark, who hasn't been seen since grandfather was young, because he was, in fact, the last Phantom Thief." He glanced between his two relatives. "Is that right?"
His mother and his grandfather both nodded.
"And as the Phantom Thief I would have been forced to steal priceless pieces of art from museums under high levels of security in order to take them back from the Hikari family, who brought the artwork to life?"
Two more slow nods.
"What's more, I would have had to continue to do this until I won the love of my Sacred Maiden, my one true love, who should not be Risa, because of the Niwa family curse. Am I missing anything?"
Two head shakes.
Daisuke stared at his family. "And this is why I had to go through all of this crazy training?" He stared at them silently. "You know that all of this sounds pretty weird, right, mom? Grandpa?" He looked from one to the other. "I mean," he rubbed at the back of his head sheepishly. "Why would I ever steal stuff?" He laughed.
Dark wings began to tremble and crack…
"What am I supposed to do, dad? I already sent out the invitation! People think Dark is going to be there tonight!"
"Well, Emiko, I guess we just hope that the police think it was a prank." He sighed. "I honestly don't know if Dark will appear." In the past hour, he seemed to have aged a decade. "I don't know what's going to happen to Dark at all."
"Grandpa – " Daisuke paused. "I'm sorry if I messed up some big, family tradition – "
"No, no, no, baby!" Emiko gushed. "It's not your fault, Daisuke! We just didn't expect this to happen – it's – it's unprecedented! And – and I'd always wanted to meet the Phantom Thief."
His grandfather seemed apprehensive and sad, "I'm worried about him. Dark skipped your generation, Emiko, because the love gene only affects the males in the family. When a Niwa reaches 14 years old and his love is unrequired, Dark appears until the Sacred Maiden accepts him for everything he is. But to never have the gene activated…" He was starting at his grandson intently. "So, you don't feel… any… different?"
Daisuke thought about the question for a moment, chalked up the fluttering in his chest to nerves, and said, quite honestly, "No, not at all."
The wings in his heart shivered…
… and shattered.