FLYING WITHOUT WINGS
----
Before we met you,
We were birds that couldn't fly.
And locked ourselves up in gilded cages.
And our happiness was a lie.
----
Riku stared at the boy who was just sitting in front of her. The shock of bright red spiky hair made him stand out anywhere but currently, it only made the poor girl feel more nervous. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed another boy who seemed to have to same intentions as her. Under her breath, she cursed the bespectacled blue-haired Hiwatari-san.
As the students filed out quickly, the only people left in the classroom was Riku and Satoshi. For a moment, the crimson-haired girl faltered and swayed between the two choices she had at hand: interrogate Satoshi or scamper out and face the suspicions that the latter might be doing *something* to poor Niwa-kun.
Her companion was preparing to leave, his movement smooth and almost mechanical as he picked up his backpack and pushed in the chair. Then he turned to the girl and blinked. Satoshi hadn't noticed anyone else lingering in the classroom except for him. The girl- he knew was from his class and had some sort of a relationship with Dark. It had crossed his mind to investigate the situation further but most of the time, he had stayed away from the Harada residence in fear of an inopportune meeting with her over-spunky twin.
"Harada-san, are you okay?"
Riku looked up at his pale blue eyes as if she was going to say something but then hesitated. She looked oddly deflated as if her courage had been squeezed out of her. The boy almost felt a flicker of sympathy for her, but it was quickly squashed by the memory of being stalked by her delightful sister. Satoshi had an uncanny feeling that she wanted to talk about a certain red-haired boy.
"Do you want to talk about Niwa-kun?"
She was silent for a moment and flushed. This wasn't supposed to happen. First of all, boys weren't supposed to fall for boys except in those popular shoujo mangas. //Of course ordinary girls weren't supposed to meet perverted infamous thieves at night either//, she reminded herself wryly. Nevertheless her confrontation with her *competitor* was more awkward than she had expected, partly from her lack of experience dealing with boys who liked other boys and also the same boy being ever so earnest and polite.
"Um, well, I wanted to, er, what I mean is, um, damn," Here Rikua stopped momentarily to moan mentally and thwackd herself on her head with her pencil box. Things weren't going her way so far and she needed to collect her senses again. And if she was going to have to result to violence, so be it. Satoshi looked fairly concerned for her health as he stared at her before shaking his head and murmuring something incoherent.
"Hey, Riku-chan! Satoshi-kun!"
At the moment, the most unexpected person barged into the room. Poor Daisuke looked slightly perplexed at why his two classmates both turned very bright red (well actually Satoshi merely flushed a little) and looked down at the floor. There was an uncomfortable pause for a moment before the taller boy adjusted his glasses and looked in other boy's direction. Satoshi was unnerved by the presence of his current 'investigation and curiosity'. He didn't know what to do except get him out of the room as soon as possible.
"Niwa-kun, Harada-san and I will be out in a moment. We have clean up duty. "
"Hai!" he responded in his usual cheerful voice and skipped out of the door.
Which left Satoshi and Riku alone again. They didn't say anything to each other. The boy stepped towards the front blackboard and collected the erasers. Realizing belatedly at what he was doing, Riku rushed forward to grab the bucket of soapy water and start furiously wiping the surface of the board. She had almost completed the whole board and was appreciating the fresh clean lemon scent of the soap when the hairs on her neck pricked. As if someone was staring at her the whole time. Stiffening, the girl scrubbed harder until she realized her sponge looked much worse of the wear.
"Harada-san?"
Riku totally panicked. Whirling around as quickly as she could, she also managed to upset the bucket of clean water set neatly on the ground. It splashed over her companion with a dramatic 'whoosh' before the plastic bucket fell to the ground with a hollow clang. A horrible silence followed the little fiasco and Riku was praying furiously to Kami-sama.
She was so dead.
"H-h-hiwatari-kun," she stammered. Her voice was extremely small and she tried to hide behind the other bucket. She'd expected Satoshi to react in some way, either start screaming at her for her clumsiness or at least do *something* other than standing there, dripping and creating a puddle of water at his feet. It was really unsettling and Riku personally would've preferred the screaming to the deadpan silence she received. Then, she cringed as she heard the brush of clothing against skin and a rather wet splat as something fell to the ground.
Peeking out of the corner of her eyes, Riku then gaped at the scene before her. She didn't know if she was going to scream in an extremely high-pitched voice or fall away in a dead faint. Her sight was blurring now, come to think of it as she fell forwards and her body felt like a dead weight.
***
"Harada-san?"
Light.
She didn't know what woke her up first. It probably had to be the cool air blowing in and settling near her or the warm presence of something or someone else near her. In fact, something soft was touching her face and it felt remotely like silk or stain, very hesitant and gentle at the same time. Whatever it was, it was obviously living and a trifle annoyed. At least the voice that awoke her held a hint of irritation and the not so subtle tone of one who has suffered too long under circumstances that were not the most appealing.
"Niwa-kun is here."
It was almost the magic word and Riku jumped up, regardless of her environment and she straightened her clothing and looked around wildly for a certain short boy. Satoshi found this behavior completely amusing even if he didn't show it, his pale blue eyes flickered with something indescribable and he was hit with the sudden urge to laugh or at least smile.
"Niwa-san?" Then Riku turned her back slowly towards the voice near her and swallowed hard. The shock of seeing Satoshi without her shirt on was slightly discomposing. Hell, that wasn't the word. In that one moment Riku had been assaulted about naughty thoughts what Satoshi could do with Daisuke and that if Daisuke had even the slightest bit of aesthetic mind he would probably ditch Riku for the latter any day. The slim and slender frame of the boy was probably going to be scar her mind for life. Riku sighed and scolded herself for those involuntary thoughts. //He was only shirtless. A lot of guys are shirtless!//, she remarked to herself indignantly.
//But not guys who you see at school every day.//
"You like him a lot, don't you?"
It wasn't really a question, more of a fact as if he was stating something nonchalantly. Satoshi peered down at her with his calm blue eyes and Riku felt more unfazed than ever from his steady stare. It made her feel nervous under the stare of someone who seemed so *magnificent*. Perhaps that was the reason why so many girls floundered around the boy at school, so eager to trade lunches with him or merely to get a smile from the callous ice prince.
"Hai."
There was a pause after that as she looked at the blue-haired boy. The look was of puzzlement as if she didn't truly understand something but she was willing to discover what it was and the meaning behind his words. For the first time in her life, Riku felt that Satoshi was a real enigma and not merely a creep who liked other boys. Though the second thought was most often in her thoughts she now had true doubts about it.
And it was funny but at the moment Riku felt like she could finally ask the question that had been bothering for her so long. It really wasn't 'bothering', but more like this sensation in her stomach that she was trying to have it off her heart for good so it wasn't going to weight her down and unburden her with more overwhelming surges of emotions and jealousy whenever she spotted Satoshi anywhere even near the object of her affection.
"Do you like Niwa-kun?"
Satoshi stared at her critically for a moment. Those eyes that could peer into anyone's soul but seemed blank to everyone else's constant pestering and everything going on around him stared into hers levelly. They were like windows that only opened to those who he trusted.
//A window to his heart//
Riku blushed furiously again as she was reminded that this wasn't exactly the most common question people were asked and kind of forward. Maybe even rude, come to think of it. But it was too late to retract her words and what was said had been evidently said so there was no turning back at all. Even if she wanted to turn back, she couldn't. Now the only thing she had left to do was pray to Kami that Satoshi wasn't going to stare at her as if she grew another head or something. It would be very humiliating to find out that Satoshi *didn't* like Niwa-kun and then Risa was going to get the satisfaction that She Was Right.
"H-hai."
It was the first time that she had heard the normally placid classmate ever even stammer. Turning her head to him, Riku smiled lightly. The sensation was strange but she was almost comforted by his answer. Who knows? It almost felt comforting for someone else to like the same boy she did albeit the fact that they were opposite genders but at least he understood part of her frustration at Niwa-kun. The boy who was oblivious to the most obvious things going around him and yet not so oblivious to the subtle changes in dispositions and little hints that so many others failed to ever notice. Of course, unless the little hints had anything to do with himself. Anything concerning himself, the poor boy was like a brick wall to. He was that dense.
"Well, that makes two."
----
From the crying sky, I've realized
What you mean to me.
We laughed through the tears.
As you set us free.
---
Well, this really wasn't that bad. I'm really quite fond of Satoshi since his character has so many personalities you can elaborate on. Eh, besides being the emotionless statue. I really don't know what category this would go under.
I've never written shounen-ai before and I wasn't starting with this one. If you minus the beginning, it's almost a little like an analysis of the two's relationship with Daisuke. I wrote the poem, so don't anyone dare steal it. It's actually only a small fragment of it- the ending and the beginning.
Besides that, D.N. Angel doesn't belong to me.