#6 – Promise

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There had been a time, at some point, when Daisuke had found a meaning in his life that was worth more than just living up to his family name, less than simply surviving without being locked up in a police cell or sent off to the generic-nightmare-type freak show for being so weird.

That, he would admit to himself, had been when Freedert had pleaded with him to live, and not just to continue existing, but to live happily for others, specifically for the one person in whom his happiness would mean their happiness.

He could say that it meant Riku, and he would be right. Yet he could also say the same of so many other people, too – his mother and his father were both those type of people who meant so much to him, and he meant that much to them, too. The elder Harada, Risa, still meant a lot to him, even if it wasn't in the same way as before. He had never had a younger or even older sibling – not mentioning Dark, though he would make up for the whole annoying older brother role all too well – but that was what she now felt like to him, after so long.

It had been a while since Dark and Krad had been sealed, now. A while since he and Riku had been in a steady relationship with no deceit on either part. He supposed he was allowed to feel that way about her sister.

Yet the oath held true for Hiwatari-kun, as well.

Having lived most of his life to hold and cage the demon inside him, Hiwatari hadn't really known what to do when freed. And so, Daisuke had given him the only thing he could think of – the promise that Freedert had asked him to keep for her. To live for that other person who would mean the world to him. For whom it would mean the end of a world for them to die.

Although Daisuke did not think of Hiwatari-kun in the same way as he did Riku, he did not think that his world would be the same without the blue-haired boy. It brought something warm to his heart to see him smile his rare true smiles – less and less rare nowadays, and more and more common around Risa-san. A feeling of pride whenever he saw the other participate in class group activities of his own free will, rather than being bribed and cajoled. A gnawing worry whenever he was sick or missed classes.

But then again, he supposed that that was what it felt like to have someone who really was just your best friend.

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Satoshi supposed that in a way, he had started life afresh from that moment in his mindscape, when he had been stopped from ending his life and given a reason to live all in the same timeframe. The dawn had felt new, every sensation heightened as he felt things as though for the first time.

Being free took a while to get used to. He simply wasn't used to it. For a while, he kept his defences up out of nervous habit, something that still happened ages afterward even when he didn't realise that he was doing it.

Niwa, however, was almost always there. Not obsessively or compulsively, but simply there. The words and motions that had once annoyed him now reminded him that he did not have to be opposed to the boy any more. That he could trust.

Which was probably, he often thought, exactly what Niwa intended.

The promise that the redhead had pulled out of him that day stayed with him. Not a day went by when he didn't think about it in at least some way. After all, if it hadn't been for those words, he wouldn't have been alive to think about them.

Sometimes, he let his mind wander to the new relationships he was now able to make and – more importantly – keep. He had never been able to keep a non-hostile relationship going for so long, before.

More often, he thought about how things had changed between him and Niwa. Before, there had been a tentative camaraderie, tense and taut. Now, as the days and weeks went by, he was able to be more and more relaxed around the boy and his family, more and more at ease and informal. He hadn't quite come around to calling Niwa by his first name, though.

Every so often, he would come over for dinner, or the Niwas would invite him out with them, and they would go somewhere together. It was a strange feeling. Almost like being part of a family. Ironic, really, since these were the people he had taught himself to hate. Yet here he was, worrying about them, doing things for them and being there for them.

It was, he would readily admit, all Niwa's fault. If Niwa had not irritated his family, he would never have met them in the first place. If Niwa had not bribed and cajoled him at first, he would never have started to make friends outside of the select group who spoke to him first. If Niwa had not been there, he would never have tried. He supposed that if Niwa had not been there, he would not have known what to do.

That feeling, he thought, was what it must feel like to have a friend that special. The reason why Niwa. . . Niwa Daisuke, called him 'best friend'.

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Based almost purely on the anime. Hints of manga. At the moment, I have ten of these written, including those posted, but if enough people want it, I may post them up sooner rather than in order.

If anyone's interested, Kyouson is in the latter stages of its second chapter, wherein most of the beginning of the plot has already happened. That chapter alone has three pieces of art. Which will get posted to my art site once I've finished the chapter x_x