Children of the Mirror 3: Acceptance
...Second Part: Dark...
Well, there we were, standing in the snow together. I had long decided that it was just so much easier to forget any hostility we may have ever had in the past and give in to the love I'd developed for Krad. Centuries wasted, and all it would have taken to fix it was getting sealed for a few years – or however long it was that we had been in there.
"It's beautiful," Krad said quietly after a while of silence.
"What is?" I wondered.
"The snow..." Krad held his hand palm-up to catch some of the drifting flakes and examine them more closely.
"Yeah," I considered, looking at him and the white scene that swirled all around him. "It is, isn't it?"
A smile graced Krad's lips again. I couldn't get over the amazement I felt when he smiled like that – it was a look that I couldn't even really remember seeing in the Mirror world. There had always been that urgency in the background of our lives there, but now it was only us, and we had nothing more to deal with except us.
And, yeah – Krad and I being an 'us' was still a little odd when I thought about it for a while, but I easily overcame that weirdness every time I looked at him.
Everything that was me melted when Krad smiled like that.
"Dark," he said, transforming the smile into a warning glance. "I told you not to look at me like that."
"Sorry," I muttered. Then an idea crossed me and I headed off toward the garage. "How would you like to take a ride on my motorcycle?" I suggested.
"In the snow?" Krad looked a bit skeptical, but followed me anyway.
Generally people would bring their motorbikes out in the summer, but I had just gotten mine within the month, and I wanted to ride it.
"Why not?" I shrugged and got it out onto the driveway before gesturing for him to climb on behind me. "Just remember to keep your hair tucked inside your jacket," I reminded him, smirking.
Krad scowled at me a bit for bringing that whole issue up again, but I felt I had to. I didn't blame him anymore for totaling my bike in the other world, now that I had a new one, but I still didn't want him dashing out into the middle of any potentially dangerous streets to retrieve the trinket that usually adorned his long hair.
So, with said hair safely hidden down the back of his coat, Krad straddled the bike behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I took off down the road with nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there, feeling pretty content. That is – until I nearly ran over a certain cute brunette girl, who just happened to be the youngest in a set of twins. Then... I wasn't so content anymore, to put it lightly.
I guess I still held a grudge with Risa, for going out with the Commander, also known as Satoshi Hiwatari – or Hikari, depending on how exactly you knew him.
"Jeez, Risa! Watch where you're going!" I shouted at her.
"Dark...!?" She scooted over to the side of the road, but stepped closer to get a better look at me. I hadn't realized it before, but Risa apparently hadn't known yet that I was back.
"Yeah..."
"You're back!" Risa exclaimed.
I laughed slightly. "I've realized that, thanks – and now I'm moving on again," I told her. "Bye."
"Wait – Hey, who do you have with you?"
Did I seriously detect a hint of jealousy in her voice?
Payback time, I thought. The smirk that already possessed my face spread wider with satisfaction. I twisted around to slip my arm around Krad's shoulders. "Just my long-lost boyfriend," I answered her. Luckily, Krad hadn't quite released my waist amidst mine and Risa's sort little conversation.
Risa's face was priceless. "B... boyfriend!?" she echoed disbelievingly. "But –"
"Is there a problem?" I interrupted her. "Even the great Phantom Thief can change his sexual preferences," I pointed out. It took all I had not to break out into a hysterical fit of laughter. Seeing that Krad was also looking amused rather than annoyed, I decided to take my confession to the girl just a bit further. I kissed Krad's gorgeous lips briefly and turned back to Risa. "I thought you were with Hiwatari now, anyway."
Risa was completely dumbfounded. "... Boyfriend?" she managed to say again.
"Yes. I have a boyfriend," I repeated. Krad still wasn't objecting, which made me feel great. "This is Krad," I introduced him finally, since she didn't appear to be catching on, still stuck on that word: boyfriend.
The level of shock in her increased. "But –"
"See you around, Risa," I said, turning forward again and giving her a curt wave before riding off again.
"That was cruel, Mousy." I could tell by the tone of Krad's voice that he was grinning. "I'm rather impressed."
"I thought you might be," I said.
"You must really be jealous of Satoshi," he commented next. I had a hard time reading the expression in his voice that time.
I thought a while before admitting, "I was, a little – but that was way too funny," I added. "You make up for it all a-hundred-and-ten percent."
"That's good to know," Krad said, and I felt his head rest against my shoulder-blades.