Rating: K+

Genre: Romance

Author's Note: The final chapter is here! Thank you to everyone who kept on reading this, I'm really happy that you did. To my reviewers, thank you so much! I know that in the first chapter, I gave the order in which all the characters would show up but things got changed, I'm sorry. Anyway, my gosh... the last chapter... is this real? I've never finished a short shorty before, well, I have, but not on this website. This is really... something to behold, huh?! Haha, well, I'm happy. And I hope you'll feel happy too after reading this.


Maybe Someday, We Can Dance Like That

Chapter 4

Last Dance, Beginnings


"Riku... If you keep scratching at the snow your hands are going to get frostbitten." Daisuke warned me.

"I don't care! Do you even know the situation right now?! Risa's outside with that... with that..." I stuttered my words. I can't believe I almost forgot about my promise! Darn that stupid Satoshi...

Last year, he realized that Risa was falling for him, but being the scared wimp that he was, he transferred schools and ran away! Talk about pathetic! A guy like that doesn't deserve Risa! I obviously figured out what he was planning and I even confronted him about it. I told him that if he didn't feel the same way, then rejecting her would be a lot better than running away! But no... He ran away. What a sad little yeti. I banged my fist on the cold hard snow. It hurt, but I was sure that if Risa saw Satoshi, her heart would hurt even more. Darn this snow, blocking the entrance... Let's try climbing it and digging from the top down!

I lifted up my foot but I immediately slipped and fell. Before I landed on my back, Daisuke came and saved me.

"Riku, be careful!" he exclaimed. He had a bit of an angry tone in his voice. That scared me a little.

"S-sorry..." I stammered. "But Risa's out there, I want to-"

"Risa will be fine. She's a lot tougher than she looks, let's have faith in her." Daisuke told me reassuringly.

I couldn't believe my ears. Daisuke usually wouldn't be this calm about anything. I wonder if something's bothering him. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just nodded my head in obedient silence.

After we both settled ourselves down on the cold floor, I realized just how cold it was. I was wearing a jacket but seeing how thin it was made me think to myself, "How could I be stupid enough to choose this out?" I hope Daisuke's not too cold.

"Riku, you're not too cold, are you?" Daisuke suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

I jumped a little. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine!" I said energetically. "How can I be cold? I have steel skin!"

Daisuke looked at me, hinting that he didn't buy my act.

"Uh, so... Are you cold? You want my jacket?" I asked, starting to take off my jacket. Daisuke shook his head and laughed.

"No, you keep it. I don't want you getting any colder than you already are." he said.

Colder than I already am? Daisuke somehow always seems to know what I'm feeling... I thought back to all the times we hung out together and I realized that he did always know what I was feeling. I put a hand under my chin and continued on thinking to myself. Because of that, I didn't realize that he had taken off his own jacket and hung it around my shoulders.

"Daisuke? I don't need your jacket, really!" I implored him. "Keep it, I don't want you to freeze to your death."

"I'm okay. I'm more used to the cold than you are so I think it's best if you keep it on, Riku." he smiled.

"...Wierdo." I felt myself getting hot. Daisuke's jacket was doing a miracle job at keeping me warm, that's for sure. But gosh, a guy's jacket is really heavy. I felt the weight of his jacket upon my shoulders but I didn't mind. I leaned back on the wall.

"Daisuke's jacket... smells like Daisuke." I thought to myself contently.

"Riku," started Daisuke.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to ask you before... Um." he began to stutter.

"...Yeah?" I replied, urging him on. What did he want to ask me?

Daisuke looked at his hands, avoiding my gaze. "I wanted to ask you..." A pause.

"If you wanted to see if there are any other exits... leading outside..."

He seemed so depressed all of a sudden. What's the matter with him? I stood up.

"Yeah, let's go. I won't be able to sit still for another moment longer, anyway." I laughed.

We both began wandering the school halls. Everything seemed to familiar, and yet so strange. I guess walking around school with nothing but the moon as your light really changes things. Shadows grew up the walls as the night wavered on.

A classroom caught my attention. "Daisuke, look!" I tugged on his shirt sleeve and pointed to our classroom. I ran toward it and to my surprise, it opened. I guess Takeshi persuaded the teachers to keep the classroom doors unlocked just for tonight. I hurriedly walked in, excited on how everything would feel like at night.

Once inside, I ran to my desk. I touched it with my fingertips and looked around. All the other desks were pushed to the sides and corners of the room so that there would be enough space to store items in here. But because every had already taken most of the Christmas items out, the classroom was pretty much empty now.

"Everything's really different at night, huh?" Daisuke said, walking toward the window.

There he goes again, voicing my every thoughts. How can he do that? I decided to ask him.

"Hey, Daisuke..."

"Yeah?"

"I think we're really good friends!" I told him. He looked at me with an expression I couldn't really read. "We both think so much alike, I've never had a friend who always thinks the same things I do."

"Y-yeah... Hahaha..." he laughed awkwardly.

What's wrong with him? Why's he laughing? No, it can't be...!

"What's with that half-hearted laugh, huh?! What, you think what I said was funny?!" I exclaimed, looking him in the eyes. I walked up toward him and poked his chest with a finger, our faces inches apart.

"I'll have you know that right before now, I thought of you as a really good friend! Now I'm not so sure! What with that laugh of yours, makes me think that I'm the only one who cares for the other person!" I was shouting now.

Daisuke said nothing for a moment and during those moments of silence, I suddenly began regretting shouting at him. Why am I always jumping off the boat?! Man, I feel like such an idiot...

"Actually, it might be a good thing... for me. I almost gave up when you said the word 'friend'." Daisuke said, sighing in relief.

What is he talking about?

"What are you talking about?"

He suddenly looked at me with serious eyes.

"Riku... I wanted to ask you something before everything happened. I wanted to tell you something."

"Something? Like... what?" I had no clue on what he was talking about. His jacket was still around my shoulders.

"Riku, did you know?" he smiled at me kindly and softly touched my cheek with his warm hand. My heart stopped. "You're the one I want to dance the last dance with."

This has to be a dream. Something like this doesn't happen to someone like me... or at least not with me and Daisuke. I think. But, what is this feeling? I can't help but feel so happy right now, why is that? Is it because that I wanted to dance... with Daisuke too?

Risa's words rang loud and clear through my head. If you dance the last dance with the one you love, then your love will last forever. Those simple cliches, how can they make someone so happy? But, those reasons doesn't matter now. The only thing that matters is Daisuke.

He looked into my eyes, waiting for my answer. Only Daisuke and I share these emotions, no one else. I place my hands over his and smile at him.

"I also, want to dance the last dance with you..." I'm shaking, I'm so nervous. This is the first time I've ever felt like this. I look into Daisuke's eyes and suddenly, all that nervousness goes away. He's the one I care about the most. I finally realize that after so long.

"Riku." Daisuke pulls me into his arms and we embrace, the moon is our spotlight. I hug Daisuke tightly in my arms, only to feel his strong arms wrap around me even tighter. I've never felt such a warm embrace.

I noticed from out the window, two people dancing together in the snow. They look so happy together that I think to myself,

"Maybe someday, we can dance like that."

"May we dance?" Daisuke asks.

I smile. He takes my hand.