She would give him one of those radiant, beautiful smiles that she always gave... although they were
not usually directed at him. Then she would take the roses in one hand, and take his hand in her
other. And he would get shivers up his spine, just like he always did whenever she touched him.
He straightened the collar on his shirt with extra pride, and combed through the mess of his hair, it
not looking any different than it had before. He put his hand to his head, and slowly grabbed the
goggles that rested there, pulling them back and off of his head. He combed through his hair once
more, trying to make sure that he looked absolutely perfect for her, and then walked out of the
bathroom.
His sister walked by, her steps bouncy as she, too, prepared for the dance. Obviously she was thinking
of her dream date too, the darling blonde with the dreamy blue eyes. He rolled his eyes. Wish I could
be that happy about the same situation... he thought begrudgingly, thinking of the poor blonde
heartthrob she was in love with.
"We're going to be late." He stared at her as she adjusted her short sea-green dress. She only looked
back at him with a look that said What's your point? ... "You don't want to miss out on the
music,
do you?"
She gasped and ran to the door, spraying perfume on herself all along the way. "You're right!"
He rolled his eyes again. "I knew that would work," he muttered to himself.
Through the whole car ride, he could think of nothing except for sinking into his daydreams. He could
see her beautiful brown eyes. And her hair - hair that he could run his fingers through while he
whispered sweet nothings into her ear. It had seemed so hard to tell her before... By now she had to
know that he had an infatuation with her, but he was dying to tell her that there was more there than a
simple puppy love... That he really and truly adored her.
He looked down at the flowers and picked one of them out of the bouquet. He broke the stem on it to
make it shorter, then tucked it in the front pocket of his shirt. When he told her that he loved her,
he would put it in her hair, and she would be the most beautiful girl on earth. Not that she isn't
already... he thought to himself with a smile.
They pulled into the parking lot at their school, and he stepped out of the car nervously, flowers in
hand. He walked into the dance, the loud music blasting onstage, and his eyes scanned the gymnasium,
searching for her. But she was nowhere to be found.
"She must just be late," he told himself. "She's just not here yet." But then his face fell as he saw
the familiar shape of her brother in the middle of the dance floor, holding his auburn-haired
girlfriend close to himself. He sighed, then hesitantly walked over to the pair.
"Uh, Taichi?" Taichi turned to him, looking a little surprised (and mildly annoyed) to have him
interrupt them. He continued. "D'you know where Hikari is?"
"I think she's outside," Taichi replied. "I haven't seen her around here in a while." Sora leaned over
and whispered in the older boy's ear, and Taichi tried not to smile. "You may want to stay in here,
Daisuke. She'll be back."
The young brunette boy furrowed his eyebrows and walked away from the pair, muttering a thanks as he
left. He wasn't just going to let her sit outside while he waited in here. And yet, he thought in the
back of his mind that maybe there was something out there he wasn't supposed to see, something he
didn't want to see.
But his curiosity overtook him, and he walked out the large double doors anyway. He was immediately
bombarded by the contrasting silence of the night as opposed to the loud atmosphere of the dance. He
held the door and slowly closed it to conserve the tranquility of the darkness.
There was a very gradual, grassy hill in front of him, and he started to climb it. At the top of the
hill, he could see a large flat space at the top. He could map out every inch of the school
playground... but in the night, everything looked so much more different, like a cape of romance and
darkness had been thrown over it.
He could see the top from where he was now, and he could see two figures sitting on the bench at the
top of the hill. No..... his mind whispered. No, please...
But it was. Hikari and Takeru were sitting at the top of the hill, on the bench, looking into each
other's eyes, sitting close to one another... holding hands... Daisuke felt his heart start to fall.
Maybe they're just talking... he thought desperately, his mind grasping for ideas like he was drowning
and reaching for a lifesaver. And in a way, he could feel he was drowning.
He reached the top of the hill, ready to call out to Hikari, desperate to separate them, to wrench his
hand from hers and throw him down the hill. He held the bouquet of flowers so tightly that his hand
began to shake.
That's when Hikari leaned forward, gently placing her delicate hand in Takeru's uncovered hair, and
kissed him softly on the lips. Daisuke inhaled sharply, and turned, not even thinking enough to realize
that he had dropped the roses.
Those perfect, long-stemmed roses that were sure to make Hikari fall madly in love with him.
He ran, not having enough sense to know where to stop, and ran through the gymnasium as fast as he
could. He felt someone grab his shoulder, probably Taichi, but he jerked away and continued to run. He
burst out the front doors of the school, the silence overtaking him again, but now there was another
sound. His heartbeat. He could hear it, in his head, deafening, pounding.
How could I ever think that Hikari could possibly love someone like me... he thought to himself as he
continued to run. He knew that he had to stop sometime, but he just didn't want to... Didn't know where
he would stop if he did want to.
He saw someone ahead, sitting on a bench on the side of the road, past the sidewalk. It was a bus stop.
The girl looked young, but she had a suitcase beside her. Her head was in her hands, and she was
shaking with sobs. She had a coat on, although he had not realized it was even cold outside, and a hat
over her head.
Daisuke wiped his own tears away, and approached the crying girl slowly. She sniffled loudly, and
Daisuke cringed and froze, thinking he was seen. When she continued bawling, obviously not noticing he
was there. Or not caring, he thought, becoming depressed all over again.
He sat down beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Is there any - "
The girl jerked her head up, her hat falling back, and her long hair falling down around her shoulders.
She looked at him, and both pairs of eyes widened. "Daisuke!?" she screamed, rubbing the wetness from
her tear-stained cheeks and blinking away her tears.
"Miyako!?" he yelled back. He yanked his hand back away from her and stood up. "What are you doing
here? ... And with a suitcase!?" He paused, then leaned forward, tilting his head to the side "... Are
you running away?"
She stood up and picked up her suitcase. "You dunce," she said, pushing him away. "Why don't you just
go back to the dance," she said coldly. With that, her eyes began to tear up again, and she turned
away.
Daisuke had pushed the incident to the back of his mind, but that comment brought it back to him.
"Oh." It was all he could say. He could barely breathe anymore. Then it occurred to him. "Yeah, why
aren't you there, anyway?"
She turned back, her face fiery. "You idiot!" she yelled. "How could you be so cruel!?" Her lip
trembled as she slammed her suitcase down again.
Daisuke blinked. "Me? What did I do?"
Her face contorted with anger. "What did you do!?" she repeated mockingly. "You only laughed at
my... note asking you if you would take me to the dance, and then you passed it off to Takeru."
He blinked again. "That was for me!?"
She continued, not hearing him or ignoring what he had said. "I know why you did it... You just wanted
some excuse to get Takeru to go with someone besides Hikari because you have your big stupid crush on
her! I just don't understand it!" she said, barely being able to get out the last statement as she
flopped down on the bench again. "I just don't understand..." she moaned. "Hikari throws herself at
Takeru and you're still in love with her. She constantly rejects you, and all I do is try to get your
attention and you don't even bat an eye."
Daisuke lowered his head. "I really did think it was for Takeru," he said softly. "Because I never
knew... All you do is yell at me anyway."
"I just wanted to be like Hikari! All she does is reject you and you still come crawling back!" she
yelled, burying her head in her hands again. "But I guess that's just not possible... All the pretty
girls always get the guys... Like Hikari and Mimi and Sora... But Miyako... she just gets ignored. If
only I were beautiful, like them..."
Daisuke furrowed his eyebrows. "You think you're ignored? Way to feel sorry for your... self..." He
drifted off, covering his mouth. Miyako was right. He was cruel, and he himself was guilty of the same
self-pity that she was anyway.
He sat down beside her, gently touching her hair. She jerked back away from him, and for the first time
he noticed that she didn't have her glasses on. She stared at him, and he started to notice that her
eyes were kind of pretty, in their own way. Intense, and yet cute at the same time.
"You're so..." he said quietly, thinking of something to say. What could he say? She had just exposed
her soul to him, let him know her insecurities, not to mention the fact that she was in love with him.
Now he was just discovering that she felt the same way he did about love... That they could never have
it.
"Well, what if..." he tried again. But he just couldn't figure out what to say.
Finally he smiled, remembering something. He picked the rose out of his shirt pocket and placed it
gently in her hair.
When he told her that he loved her, he would put it in her hair, and she would be the most beautiful
girl on earth.
"I... Miyako... I..."
She looked at him, totally stunned by the gesture.
"I love you," he whispered, leaning forward and gently kissing her.
~*~
Takeru took Hikari's hand, and they slowly started to walk back to the dance. Just at the crest of the
hill, he gently nudged something with his foot. He looked down to see a bouquet of gorgeous roses
sitting there. He picked them up, and he and Hikari looked at them curiously.
Takeru opened the tag. "For the most beautiful girl in the world..." he read aloud.
Hikari quirked an eyebrow. "I wonder what lucky girl was getting these?" she asked.
Takeru shrugged, and carefully lay the bouquet back on the ground. "Seems a shame to leave them there,"
he said. "But... somebody'll find them, I guess."
Once they walked back into the school, the music from Yamato's band reached their ears again, and they
started to dance.
"Hey look!" Takeru said. "I see Miyako and Daisuke over there!" he continued, pointing to the couple.
"Aww... That's so sweet," Hikari mused. "I'm glad. Miyako was so upset about something earlier....
Hey, Takeru, look! She has a rose in her hair..."
The two looked at each other, blinked a couple times... then shrugged.