"I wish for someone to see me as Harada Riku, an individual, and love me for it." The winds carried these delicate words up the sky as the falling stars were devoured by the horizon.

--

She had decided that anything would have been better than having him crushing on her very own twin. Anything. If he liked a gorgeous supermodel that happened to appear as a normal teenager at the school, at least then she would have had a semi-valid reason for not being good enough for him. Or maybe if he was gay, then she definitely would have had no reason to be hurt for him not choosing her. But no, the situations made it seem as if he took pleasure in messing up her mind and chose of all people, the one that looks identical to the girl herself. Now she definitely had something to fight for. After all, what did her very own twin have that she didn't?

She's spoiled, but that wasn't exactly a trait that she was envious of. In fact, Riku felt that it was despicable that her sister was given anything she desired. Maybe just once, she thought. Maybe if I ask for something within reason, it'll really be possible to attain it to make up for the lack of things I ever wanted. And so she asked for Daisuke. That was something in reason, was it not? He was a boy that gave her those annoying butterflies, made her do those crazy things, and set off all the alarms in her entire existence. He was the boy she wanted. He was the boy that loved her twin.

--

"Hey! We've got a new student in our class!"

"Are you sure that isn't just some insanely hot guest speaker?"

"He better not be. I hope he's actually here to stay!"

"And I hope I can take him home!"

The girls around her desk interrupted her little thought bubble with their ridiculously loud talk. Harada Riku looked around to analyse her surroundings and searched for this new boy that had caused a commotion. Her eyes grazed over vibrant purple hair, a face, and a body that belonged in a magazine.

"He's not that big of a deal."

The girls gasped in shock at her outburst as if she had committed a life-threatening sin and turned away. And this was her chance. While nobody was glancing her way, she quickly shifted her eyes towards a boy with brilliant red eyes. She did not want to believe that looking into somebody else's eyes can be such a thrilling experience, but she knew that deep inside, she was just another believer. As she stared into the set of ruby-coloured jewels, it made her feel as though she had found the greatest treasure of all.

Then it hit her. She normally never got the chance to look into his eyes the way she did now. As she pulled herself away from the depths of the deep pools of red, she realized that Niwa Daisuke had just caught her stare. Casually, she raised her hands from the desk to cup her face in hopes of shielding her blushing cheeks from visibility.

This isn't obvious at all, she thought sarcastically.

--

There was only one girl the boy liked. It had to be her; it just couldn't have been anybody else. Of all the girls in the classroom, she was the one that did not show any interest to somebody like himself. How could that have been possible? He had followed her gaze and it had headed straight for that red-haired boy. He knew that the idea of him being the star of everyone's attention was beyond unreasonable, but he hadn't truly experienced this feeling before. Rejection, was it? He appeared to be uninteresting to the lady, and that compelled him. He had to know her, he had to have her.

There she was. She was passing him in a hallway filled with only two classmates, him, and her. Of course, the other two people in the hallway did not count. In his eyes, he only saw the girl. In his eyes, he saw the world. This was his opportunity.

As he was about to take a step towards her, he was interrupted by an avalanche of heavy books. After rubbing his head from the injury, he took in his surroundings and noticed that the librarian had obviously not gotten her prescriptions for her eyeglasses updated, causing the Mt. Everest of books and her to collide with him, thus stopping him dead in his tracks. He was back up on his feet after he quickly handed back the knowledgeable stones to the librarian. Looking around, he felt a sense of relief as he watched her walk in his direction again. A bit surprised at how he was able help the librarian out after falling and still had time to talk to the girl, he shrugged it off and filed it as another great feat of his.

Just when the words were about to exit his mouth, he closed it. There was suddenly something different about the girl. When he looked at her, there wasn't a general focus. He saw her, and one other classmate some distance behind her. He assumed that the other classmate had left. Here was the hallway that was the world for a moment, and now, it had reverted back to the way it was before, a school hallway. He looked at the girl carefully. She looked exactly the same. As he continued analysing, he caught the girl's gaze. She blushed. And he knew something wasn't right.

"Hey," he gave a little wave to the girl. And it only deepened the scarlet across her cheeks.

"H-Hi, you must be the new student. My name's Harada Risa, you?"

"It's Dark. I was actually wondering, is there somebody who–"

There she was. His vision minimized to a girl pacing their way, everything else just blurred. He couldn't see the girl that was standing right in front of him, the girl that he was just having a conversation with. His eyes were locked to the girl who walked closer and closer until she tapped Risa on the shoulder. It was then that everything blurry was back into focus again, and that the girl who tapped Risa looked exactly like her.

"Risa, sorry for making you wait. My group's finally finished the project, we can go home now."

They're twins.

"Oh. Um. Okay, just give me a moment, can you wait for me at the doors?" As Risa turned to speak to the boy, she noticed she was no longer at attention. Riku had walked past the two as she made her way to the front doors.

"Wait!" He cried out as he ran in front of her to block her way.

She stopped abruptly in her footpath, almost bumping into the stranger, "Eh?"

"I believe you're in my class," he said, and gave his infamous smile that would immediately melt any girl's heart.

The girl raised an eyebrow, "I believe you're in my way."

He felt it. It was like a paper cut on his heart. This was definitely not the response he was hoping to get. He didn't give up hope.

"And what might your name be, miss?"

"Has my name suddenly become a password that'll get me through this stubborn door that's blocking my way right now?" She was annoyed.

"Possibly. I'd prefer to be called Dark than a stubborn door. But since it's coming from you, you can call me whatever you want." He smiled.

"Okay, Purpletop, the name's Riku now it'd be greatly appreciated if you could work with me and make way."

While giving a smirk, he bowed, stepped aside, and gestured with his hands a pathway for his lady. He liked this girl.

--

"I can't believe he likes you," Risa said as the two of them made their way home.

"He never said he did. And even if he did, why is it so hard to believe?"

"Well…" The truth was that she wasn't used to it. It was normally Risa who was liked as more than a friend if the two sisters were ever to be compared. She was always the "prettier" one despite the fact that they looked the same. She was always cuter or sweeter. She was always better, and she always won. So when Dark came along and put forth all his attention on Riku, she was definitely not used to it and she was not going to share that with her sister. "I wonder what we're going to have for dinner! I hope it's something warm and comforting, it's been such a rough day with the school work we've been getting!"

Riku knew her sister better than Risa would've thought she did. And Riku knew what the answer was. She knew very well that her sister was always the one most commonly chosen and loved in a way beyond friends. It was something she was envious of, especially when the most important person to her does not look at herself the same way as he does to her. "You know, you have nothing to worry about. It's not like you're getting less pretty by the day, Daisuke likes you a lot. I wish you wouldn't put his feelings aside like that and just move on to that new kid."

"His name's Dark!" She retorted.

"Purpletop's catchier."

"And I never promised Daisuke anything… I never said I would return his feelings. So what I choose to do, it shouldn't matter if it hurts him or not! It shouldn't stop me from what I want to do." By the time she finished, the two were already at their door. Risa stepped in quickly and headed up the stairs to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Riku was hurt by these words. She was pained and angry. How could her sister say such terrible things about Daisuke's feelings? As much as Risa's words frustrated her, there was a hint of truth that she couldn't deny. Risa really never promised Daisuke that she would love him back. Daisuke was doing this because he wanted to, because he loved her. He was waiting for her while every second of time was bringing in more aches because he believed that she was worth the wait.

Did he not know that he didn't have to wait if he loved her instead?

--

His heart was glowing. If his flesh was translucent, it was possible for one to see the radiance that emitted from his chest. It wasn't the best way to end a conversation, let alone, start one. But it was the best because it was a conversation with her. And he wanted more. He wanted much more than conversations and talk, but he figured he could settle with conversations for now. Dark was willing to wait because his heart was in a drought and her love was the long-awaited rain that could save him. It was all he needed.

And her number would be nice too.