A/N: OMG I AM SO SORRY! I just got stuck on this chapter for a really long time. But trust me, I was working super hard to make this chapter great, and a little funny! ^^ enjoy!
P.S. I took this out of my summary, so I have to say it, I DO NOT own D N Angel! Although I wish I did!
Chapter 10: Untold Future
Seiji's POV:
"Come on..." I said, since she was giving me that look that I had gotten to know so well, and was hard to forget. Shizuku was giving me that 'how can you be serious?' look. One of the last looks that I would have wanted you to see right now.
"What would it take for you to forgive me, I'll do anything..." But after a few seconds a realized what I just said, "...I mean, as long as it's in reason!" I quickly added, since I was willing to bet that Shizuku would be able to be able to think of some pretty horrible things if she wanted to.
But as I said that, I noticed that a small smile had emerged on her face, and if I had remembered my sister correctly, that could only mean that she probably had a devilish thought in her mind. After all, she just loved to have some fun once in a while, despite her innocent look which would be able to fool any one, that is, except her brother.
"What are you..." I started to say, but was interrupted mid-sentence.
"OW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?" I yelled, as I held my injured foot in my hands, now hopping up and down on the other. But of course, I just had to obtain a rotten sense of balance, causing me to fall over on the cold concrete sidewalk. I could have sworn when she stomped on it, I had heard a loud cracking sound. I forgot how hard my sis could pack a punch.
If you couldn't already tell, this really isn't my day.
I looked up, only to she that she was already walking away, not even bothering to say anything in response. You know what, I have done some rotten things to her in my life, but this was just plain rude!
I started to get up on my feet again, and realized that the pain was actually worse than I thought it would be. Slightly limping now, I struggled to catch up to her, and noticed that she didn't even turn her head the slightest towards me, and just kept on walking like normal. Like her brother who she hadn't seen in years wasn't even there.
But then again, maybe I'm just not that important to her, that could be a possible.
"So you're just going to ignore my heartfelt confession on how I missed you? And just ignore me?" I found the courage to say, I mean come on, it wasn't suppose to turn out like this. According to my plan, we would be hugging and making up, and we would be together, living as family. That's how it's suppose to be right? Happy endings?
"You really don't get it do you?" She asked, continuing to walk forward, not talking to me face to face, but I knew that it was very clear that she was implying to me.
After that, I decided that I had had enough of all this "mysterious" and "meaningful sayings that we all could learn a life lesson from" answers from her, I wanted it straight, and I was gonna get it. I grabbed her elbow, and spun her around, now holding her other arm so that she would have to face me.
"Get what? Just what the hell do you want? I yelled in her face, "We should be a family again, just the two of us, you know we should. And deep down inside, you want a family to call your own, no matter how many times you may try to deny it, you want one!" I yelled, and apon looking at her shocked expression, my grip on her loosened, and so did my attitude.
"And, I want one too... And... we're family, the only one we have left." I said, finally letting go of her.
"You're so naive" She practically spat at me. (not literally, but you get the point)
"What?" I said, me, naive? What in the world about what I just said naive in the slightest way?As a matter of fact, I was very tepmted to yell back 'you're naive!' as a joke, but decided that it probably wasn't the best move.
"You just honestly thought that you could show up, and everything would just fall into place, didn't you?" She said, now folding her arms in annoyance.
"Uuuhhh..." Was the only sound that was able to escape my mouth. Because, I really couldn't think of anything, since that was exactly what I had been thinking.
"That's what I thought," She said, before giving a sigh, and and stared daggers into my eyes. (Again, not literally, but still, you get it) And I have to admit, she was really confusing me now, although I get confused all the time, it's still annoying.
"You have to pull your head out of those little fantasies that you dream of, and just face reality..." She said, and she said it in a tone like she was teaching a physics class or something.
"This isn't some fairytale story when they all live 'happily ever after', this is the real world. And if I were you, I would just start to accept reality, because that's life, and there's nothing you can do to change it."
This time, she ran, and I was too shocked to run after her. What she just said, was that how she felt? That reality is just layed out in front of us, and there's nothing we can do to change it?
"No, that's not true!" I yelled out into the street, not even knowing if she could hear me or not, but she still needed to hear this, and I needed to give myself a pep talk.
"People can be whatever they want to be! And you do have the power to change your future, if you just try!" I yelled, and at this point I started to run in the direction that she had headed, only to see her waiting, probably for me to catch up.
"That's what I'm trying to do!" She yelled back, her hands now clenched into fists. "And the future that I'm making certainly doesn't involve you!" Now on the brink of tears once more, she turned around, her back to me. "Just leave me alone... I mean it."
As she now an once more, I didn't even bother to chase her, finally realizing her point. She wanted to be alone, but now for the reason that she may think.
I understood the way she felt since a couple years ago, the day that I had left. She had always been alone, and that was her reality. That being by herself was all that she needed, and all that she ever knew. The one thing she always knew...
The feeling of loneliness.
"Don't worry Shizuku, I'll protect you..." I mumbled to myself, knowing that no one else could hear. "No matter how many times you push me away, I'll make sure that you're not lonely, not anymore."
And I knew for a fact that she would push me away, and she would refuse my help. But I don't care, it will only time some time to earn her trust, I think.
But then again, it was me who thought that she would forgive me tonight, and that didn't turn out so well.
You know what, you can't win if you're too afraid to lose! I won't give up!
The next day at school...
Daisuke's POV:
I walked into class that day like any other day, except something about today was different. Today, my mom followed in behind me.
Don't worry, it wasn't like I was in trouble or anything, at least, I hoped not. Since today was parent teacher conference day, and my mom had been so persistent on showing up.
You see, in Japan, parent teacher conference day works a little different than in other places, such as America or where ever. Yeah, it was still a half day, but instead of the parents coming later in the evening to talk to the teachers, the parents would stand in the back of the classroom and observe the class for the half day. And after that, the conferences would take place in alphabetical order by last name.(1)
Usually, there would mostly be a bunch of moms in the back of the room, and only a small amount of fathers.
"Oh Daisuke, I can't wait to meet all your little friends!" I heard my mom chirp behind me, causing me to sigh.
"Mom, please don't embarrass me!" I said, probably having a slight blush on my cheeks.
"Embarrass you?" She said, almost loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, and I could tell that she was angry. But hey, what's new? "Well I'm sorry that I wanted to see all of your friends... Especially that one called Shizuku..." She said, whispering that very last part in my ear, so it would only be audible to me.
Shizuku... I just remembered. She doesn't have any parents... I wonder what she's going to do? Even Satoshi had someone come in with him, probably some driver of his. But Shizuku wouldn't have anyone to come in at all, and that might make the teacher suspicious.
And as if on cue, Shiuzku had walked into the classroom, and I might have been wrong, but she had a certain annoyed look on her face. I guess you could describe it as a scowl. Since class hadn't offically started yet, I started to get up from my seat to ask her if anything was as I had started to stand up, something had stopped me halfway, something that had given me a shock.
Following closely behind Shizuku was a man, who I must say held a striking resemblance to her. He had short, dark brown hair, which he was flattening out as he entered, and dark blue eyes. And as they walked in, he had actually put a hand on her shoulder, and whispered something that I was unable to hear, but Shizuku nodded in response to whatever he had said, and when she looked up at him, she smiled.
It wasn't like she never smiled or anything, but, if I could make an educated guess, it would look as if this man was Shizuku's father... But that's impossible, isn't it? Wait, maybe I got it wrong! I thought, and before I knew it, Mom was by my side, gesturing that we should walk up to the two of them. Well, I guess that this was the only way to find out.
"Hello there! My name is Emiko, and I'm Daisuke's mom!" She said cheerfully, and both of them lightly bowed in response.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Niwa..." Shizuku said while smiling.
"Oh no need for 'Ms. Niwa' dear! Just 'Emiko' will do." She said, and I noticed how she always wanted everyone to call her by her first name, maybe she's starting to feel old...
"Nice to meet you, Miss Emiko..." The man started to say, "I'm Shizuku's father, but you can just call me..." He seemed hesitant, and it may have just been me, but for a brief second, I could of sworn that the two of them exchanged a glance.
"You can just call me Seiji!" He finally said, with a small laugh, although I didn't really understand what had seemed so funny to him. Wait, SHIZUKU'S FATHER? Reality hit me like a brick, and I felt just like some dumb kid who just kept standing there and staring, but fortunatly, the teacher had started to speak.
"Hey, Dark, are you there?" I called inside my mind, assuming that this would be more important than whatever Sensei was saying at the moment.
"What do you want?" He replied back, sounding tired and annoyed. "You should know by now that I always sleep through school..."
Point proven, wait, back to the main topic here!
"Didn't you say that Shizuku didn't have any family?" I asked nervously, but Dark didn't seem to pick up on my tone.
"Yeah, she told me herself. The girl lives alone Daisuke, and... wait, YOU WOKE ME UP JUST TO ASK A STUPID QUESTION?" Dark yelled, sounding very annoyed, but I didn't really care at the moment, since all I was thinking about was how it was all possible.
"Actually, that man over there is claiming to be Shizuku's father, Dark. So that's why I asked..." I said calmly, but he didn't seem so calm. I could tell that Dark had started to yell how that wasn't possible and everything, but I was too distracted by cheers that had erupted from my classmates.
I was kinda confused by what everyone was cheering about, and I had a feeling that it had something to do with what teacher had said when I was talking to Dark. Guess I should have been listening.
"Hey Daisuke!" I heard my name being called, I turned around and noticed that the voice had been Riku's.
"Hi Riku!" I said in response, and I noticed that the other kids were leaving the classroom, but wait, didn't we have class today?
"Can you belive that the kids get to go home and only the parents have to say this year?" She asked me, and for a moment, I was confused.
Oh wait, I guess that's what the teacher had just said.
"Uh, no I can't!" I said quickly, acting like I had known all along, but probably failing at doing so.
"I was just about to ask if Shizuku wanted to hang out, but she said that she wanted to wait until her dad was finished with the conference. So, you wanna do something?" She asked me, and for a second, I was wondering if I should be upset, since it seemed that I was now her second choice to hang out. But then, I just remembered that Riku was still attempting to become friends with her.
Just as soon as I was about to agree to her offer, that little voice in the back of my mind started talking to me, and of course I mean that literally.
"Daisuke, tell her that you have plans with your mom..." Dark suddenly said out of nowhere, but I decided not to question it.
"Uh... sorry Riku, I would really love to, but I have plans with my mom after she's done with the conference." I lied, wondering what Dark was planning.
"Oh, that's okay!" She said, I could tell that she was a little disappointed, but she barely showed it. Man, I hated disappointing Riku, and for what reason did I just let her down? I didn't know.
"So what was the point of that lie?" I asked him, and over time, I had found that it was best not to question Dark on his actions, but this was one of those times when I just dared to ask what he had in mind.
"Well, you're confused about the whole 'Shizuku father thing', and so am I. So, let me just find out the truth, once and for all!" He said, and I really didn't understand what he meant.
And just like the rest of my class, we piled up into the hall, along with most of the parents, waiting their turn to talk with Sensei. But all the other students were soon heading home, or probably to hang out. But I soon stopped after I saw Shizuku waiting in the hall with her uh 'father'. Since I wasn't sure if he actually was or not.
I walked over to the two of them, and it sounded like they were arguing about something, but they stopped when they saw me coming.
"Oh hi Daisuke!" Shizuku said, and it was easy to tell that she seemed a little nervous, although her 'father' was pretty cheery, with a huge, genuine smile on his face.
"So you're one of Shizuku's friends?" He asked me, and in response, I nodded. "Well, that's good that she's making friends!" He said, followed by a small laugh.
Although, Shizuku didn't really seem comfortable by the conversation, and was now glaring at him.
"So how come I've never seen you before Mr. Sakishima?" I asked, but quickly realized that the question I just asked would have probably bothered her, and maybe him. But neither of them seemed uncomfortable by the question.
"First of all, Daisuke, I would just like you to call me Seiji, Mr. Sakishima is way too formal for me!" He said, now kinda reminding me of my mom, but it he also answered my question as well
"Actually, I'm away on business trips almost all of the time, so I have to leave Shizuku by herself, unfortunately." He said, and I could have been wrong, but for a split second, I could have sworn that his all cheery face had softened just a little.
"Mr. Sakishima, you can come in now." I heard the teacher say, and with that, he stepped into the classroom.
"That sure is strange..." I heard Shizuku say, staring at the closed door to the classroom.
"What's strange?" I asked her, ya know, besides her having a father even though she admitted that he was dead!
"My last name begins with an 's', and as far as I'm concerned, that letter is pretty far back in the alphabet." And as soon as she said that, I realized that it was kinda strange, if it was in alphabetical order, Shizuku would have been near the end, not the beginning.
"Maybe they're just doing things differently this year!" I said, since I couldn't really think of any other option. "After all, this is the first time we never had classes on parent teacher day!"
"Really?" She asked, and she looked a little confused, "Oh, so that's why everyone was cheering..." Shizuku said, looking as if she finally solved a 500 piece puzzle.(2) But then again, it wasn't really her fault if she didn't know that.
"What are you waiting for?" Dark yelled making me slightly jump, but thankfully, Shizuku didn't see.
"What do you mean 'what am I waiting for'?"
"Ask her about this whole mess! Ask why she lied to us! I don't care, as long as you don't just stand there like an idiot!" Note to self, get some aspirin on the way home to treat my new headache.
"Something wrong?" She asked, looking a little concerned for me, but I knew that no concern was actually needed.
"Uh, not with me, but Shizuku, I need to ask you something... and you need to be honest okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be honest Daisuke?" And I hear Dark make a type of groaning sound, showing that he was a little annoyed.
"Shizuku, why did you say that your father's dead if he really isn't?
Seiji's POV:
I walked into the classroom, but only to find that Daisuke's mother, what was her name, Emiko?, was in the room as well. And now that I thought about it, wouldn't I be one of the last ones to go? After all, 'Sakishima' would be pretty far down in the alphabet.
"Mr. Sakishima, Ms. Niwa, I thought it would be best to have your conferences at the same time." The teacher said, and I fixed my brown wig just a little bit to make sure none of my real blonde hair was showing. Yeah, I was posing as my sister's father, what are ya gonna do? Sue me? I thought not. But I have to say, it was a bit of trouble talking Shizuku into letting me do this.
~Flashback~
I watched as Shizuku came out of her house this morning, obviously looking rushed, after all, school for her would be starting pretty soon.
I quickly caught up to her, although she didn't look to happy to see me.
"Hey, how's life this morning?" I asked her, and in return, she gave me a cold glare.
"Didn't you understand anything that I said last night?" She asked me sarcastically, and as a matter of fact, I did.
"Of course I did!" Looking down at her, and man, I noticed how much we kinda looked alike. Despite the fact that her eyes were a crystal blue, and mine were a chocolate brown, her hair had turn a light burnette, and mine was still a dirty blond, we looked a lot alike.
"Then why are you still bothering me?" She said while scoffing, and I only laughed at the response.
"I guess you could call it sibling love, but don't you have a parent teacher conference today?" I said, quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah, but what does that... hey, how would you be able to know that?" She yelled angrily, oops, guess I didn't really think this trough.
"I, uh, have my sources, but anyway, don't you need someone to come in as a guardian?"
"Where are you going with this Seiji?" Man, why did she have to be so clever? Might as well tell her now...
...
"NO WAY! There is no chance that you are going to pretend to be my dad!" She yelled at me, and by this time, we were halfway to her school, and it was about half an hour until school started for her. (Don't ask me how I know all of this.)
"Oh come on! It's not like you had anyone else to do it! And what harm could come from me doing it?" I asked her, and actually, that was a bad question. Since I bet that she could think of 20 good reasons why I couldn't right of the top of her head.
"But what would you tell your teacher when you don't show up with anyone?" I said, knowing Shizuku, she had probably thought of something, either that, or she would have just faked sick for that day.
"Simple, my 'dad' is on a business trip that came up at last second and couldn't make it, and if they ask to make another appointment, I'll say they can, but as time goes on, my 'dad' will just become more busy, and even go to meetings out of town." And I have to admit, it was a pretty good plan overall, but it had one single flaw. She didn't expect me to get involved.
"But what if such a person, such as myself as an example, would walk into your classroom, claiming that they were your 'father', and that you just didn't tell your 'father' when the conference was." And she was about to protest, but I had already thought of a comeback. "And of course people would believe such a person to be your 'father', since they have a similar appearance to... What would you do then?"
"You wouldn't dare!" She yelled at me, no longer walking forward like she had been since she had sensed my presence, but looked at me straight in the eyes.
"Try me..." I said mockingly, pulling out a short brown wig and a pair of blue color eye contacts that I had uh, conveniently, brought with me.
"I hate you..." She mumbled, but I absolutely knew what she really meant by that, even though she would never admit it.
"Hehe, love ya too, sis!"
~End Flashback~
"You see Mr. Sakishima, Shizuku is an excellent student, although she sometimes tends to drift off during my classes..." The teacher said, and I tried my hardest to hold back a chuckle, since I knew that would have been impolite. But hey, I guess my sis and I are one and the same when it comes to attention spans!
"But also, it seems that she also has a small problem in making friends, and I have also noticed that as of now, Daisuke has been her closest friend, I'm not trying to be nosey or anything, but has she ever mentioned any... problems she's had in school?"
Man, I wasn't sure if Shizuku would be really comfortable about her teacher talking about her like this, especially in front of one of her friend's mother.
"No, she never mentions anything of the sort..." Which, technically was true, since we really hadn't talked about well, anything.
"Um, excuse me, not to insult you Sensei, but why did you ask to have our conferences at the same time?" Emiko had asked, and I have to admit, I was pretty curious to the reason as well.
"Truthfully, I thought that the two of them were such good friends, it wouldn't really matter if the other parent heard what I had to say about either Shizuku and Daisuke, and this way, the meetings go by far quicker, since in previous years, it always took so long because of a couple of complaining parents! But both of your children are doing just fine, and I hope that they enjoy their day off!"
And I could have sworn, that probably only took 5 minutes, and both of us were out of there. And it had only had taken about 5 minutes for Shizuku to wander off somewhere... Of course...
Well, if she was still in the school, where would she be? I thought for a second, but the answer soon hit me like how to add 2+2...
The art room! Of course! The girl owned the family museum for crying out loud! But just where the art room be?
I guess I would just have to wander around until I found it, man, aren't my plans flawless? Yeah, I know they are!
Let's see, I think I'm gonna go down this hallway...
Make a right over here, nope, that's another classroom... Don't worry, I'll find it in no time!
Shizuku's POV:
"Now do you understand? I only lied when I said that... guy, was my father." I told Daisuke, we were both in the art room, since no one would really be in the school, I thought it would make a good place to talk.
"Oh, yeah, I was just really, confused when he said that he was your father, but it kinda makes sense now!" He said, I hadn't told him that Seiji was my brother, but just a close family friend, after all, he didn't need to know everything...
"By the way, Shizuku, can I ask you a random question?" He asked me, and I sat down on top of one of the empty desks in the room, nodding my head.
"Do you believe in magic?" He asked... Why the hell would he ask a question like that?
"Let's see, Dark, the great phantom thief who flies on wings lives inside of you... It's either that I believe in magic, or I'm mentally ill..." I said sarcastically. I mean, what was up with the world all of a sudden? I move to a new town, and suddenly, my brother comes back, I have friends, and... ya know, other things...
"I mean, did you believe in magic before you ever met me?" What the hell was with all the questions? They were just starting to get on my nerves, although I didn't really know why.
"Since when did you start asking a bunch of random questions, Daisuke? And yes, I may, have... wondered about the possibilities of the existence of magic..."
"But why would you..."
"SHIZUKU!" We both jumped, as Seiji came into the art room, oh man, was life ever going to be normal?
"What do you want?" I asked him, as I saw him slightly fix his wig, man he was obsessed with always having perfect hair, wether it was real or not.
"You just wondered away, did you forget that I planned a day together to get outside?" Actually, I did, he might have mentioned it this morning, but I probably wasn't listening, whoops.
"Uhhh..." Was all that I was able to say, as he practically started dragging me out of the room, muttering how 'great this day would be'.
"B-Bye Daisuke! I'll, uh see you tomorrow!" I said, as we started walking through the halls of the school, Seiji wearing one of his enormous smiles.
"You ready to have a day with your brother?" He asked as we started walking away from the school, now removing his wig, followed by the colored contacts... I found that disguise so ridiculous, but he didn't seem to think it was.
"Sure, whatever, but this is just a one time thing!" I told him, and he laughed while nodding, but I highly doubt that this would be the end of him bugging me.
"One time thing, got it, anything else you wanna yell at my face before I start to change my mind about spending time with you?"
"Just one thing, but I'm not going to yell it..." I said, and he took my book bag from my hand.
"Sure thing, what is it Suki(3)?" He said in his usual carefree tone.
"Thanks..." I said, and I could tell Seiji wasn't expecting that, because he suddenly stopped walking, and he had a confused look on his face.
"What did you say?" He asked, now leaning down to my eye level, but I refused to look him in the eyes.
"I, said, thank you..." Now looking up at the sky, so I wouldn't have to look at him, but I would tell that he had a playful look on his face.
"Oh REALLY... can you say that again, while actually looking at me?" And by this point, I knew he was just doing this to annoy me, but I still played along.
So I looked him right in the eyes, crossed my arms, and made sure it would be loud enough for him to hear. "THANK... YOU..." I said with extra emphasis...
"Yeah, I thought that's what you'd say! I knew you still loved me!"
Sure, keep dreaming bro...
A/N: Yay! it's done! I was inspired to write this b/c I have a big bro, and we have a... "love and hate" relationship, if you could call it that.
(1) I'm not sure if this is true or not, I'm just guessing.
(2) I just love puzzles! ^^ and I love the satisfaction of finishing one!
(3) Hehe, he already have a nickname for her! Remember, Seiji is used to Shizuku as "Himeko"
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Good, now I wanted to say that the next chapter will NOT be chapter 11! It will be a bonus chapter, like a fluffy one-shot between Shizuku and Satoshi! Man, I can't wait til winter break!