A/N: Ok I'm updating. I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter so I don't know if you liked it. Hopefully you did :P. Anyway, this is the last chapter of the sports/festival, beach prom arc. Let's see what happens? Will Dark win or will Ukawa get his way? Read and learn. And please review ^_^
Chapter 11 Beach Prom
"Riku-san do your best!" Dark shouted innocently with Daisuke's voice from the stands. Riku didn't even look at him. A girl from the lacrosse team turned and looked at him and then commented with a huge smile, "Riku, your boyfriend is so supportive! You're so lucky!". Riku shrugged without answering. /That… That kaitou.. If he thinks he can take Daisuke's place… Ughhh!/. That day had taken a toll on Riku's sanity.. Seeing Niwa's face… And knowing it's actually not him… She missed him so much and although he was there… He wasn't… And her confusion grew more and more…
…..
After the first half of the game, Riku's team was behind in score, with Riku looking obviously off her game… Dark, Risa and Satoshi were all watching from the sidelines. Risa looked really carefree now.. Satoshi would have sworn that she had started crying when she entered the school building but now she looked so calm. She was even commenting on the game with Dark. Dark had joined the two of them to watch the game and had forcefully sat between Risa and Satoshi. He could be childish like that.
"I don't know what's wrong with my sister… This is her sport… Maybe you should go cheer her up Niwa-kun." Risa told him as the half-time whistle blew.
"Maybe I should…" Dark said with a smirk. He got up from his seat and walked to the bench were Riku was sitting pensive.
"What happened Riku? And here I thought you were ready to play for the men's league…" he said mockingly. Riku turned and looked at him, he was still limping from the race's knee wound.
"Still hurts?" she asked plainly ignoring his comment on her abilities. That was not good. Was he losing his ability to taunt her? He frowned his face. Then he playfully said "Yes, a lot… Want to kiss it? It might get better..", putting his knee in front of her face on the bench. Riku jolted from her position and looked at him with anger.
"What are you doing idiot?" she said in that familiar tone of voice. /That's more like it../he smirked.
"What? It's common sense. If you kiss a wound it's more likely to heal… Now that I remembered, I have one right here on my cheek too" he half-closed his eyes and turned his cheek to her showing it with his index finger. Riku clenched her fists.
"I am not going to kiss you, you pervert!" thankfully the other members of the team were not around to hear this dialogue. Dark grinned, turned and started walking away.
"We'll see about that" he said. Then he stopped in his tracks and turned to her again.
"Just make sure you win this ridiculous sport" he shrugged and started walking away.
Riku's eyes became almost red with fury.
"Lacrosse is NOT ridiculous" she protested.
"Of course it is. It's two dozens of girls chasing a ball with fly swatters" he said plainly from the distance, with his back on her. He had managed to infuriate her again.
…..
"Look how cute they are!" Risa said pointing to Riku and Daisuke with a huge smile. "They are made for each other…" she paused. "I wish Dark-san and I…" then she suddenly stopped and looked at Satoshi.. "Never mind.."
Satoshi felt a pinch in his heart as he heard Risa saying that… Not only because he had started to experience some affection toward her, but also because he knew that she would undoubtedly and irreversibly get hurt if that situation continued.. He looked at her with concern.
"Risa-chan… Why do you like Dark so much?... I mean… He's just a.. a thief.. a criminal.."
Risa averted her eyes from him. "He's… He's not a criminal… There is a reason he does what he does… And.. he's saved my sister and me so many times… I mean…" the she paused again and drew a silly smile on her face.
"Don't mind me Satoshi-san.. I'm just a silly fangirl..". Satoshi prepared to speak but right at that moment Dark came back and the game was about to begin again.
/You're anything but silly Risa…/ is what he wanted to say.
"Ok, I cheered her up alright!" Dark said grinning and sat between the two again.
"Uhmm… Niwa-kun… She looks kind of… angry…" Risa noted looking at him puzzled. Without losing the silly grin Dark winked at her. "Oh well…"
….
/You jerk! Lacrosse is a noble sport that requires not only the body, but the mind to work perfectly also… I'll show him who's ridiculous/ Riku thought and entered the field for the second half with newfound determination.
Dark had succeeded in his purpose. On the second half there was a new Riku on the field. She really could have played for the men's league. It was as if she was the only player on the field.
"That's my Riku.." Dark mumbled admiring his achievement on getting her fired up. Risa lifted her eyebrow and looked at him. He noticed her and took that silly look again, trying to seem innocent like Niwa..
"I mean… Go for it Riku-san!"
/Idiot…/ Satoshi thought pouting.
…
The lacrosse game had ended with Riku's team victorious. Now Riku was officially the winner of the day and the honored girl in the beach prom. But little did she know of the plans the girls' club had for her and either Dark or… Ukawa…
"WHAT?!" she yelled as Risa explained a little about the final event while she was getting dressed after her last long shower of the day.
"Well" Risa said in a teaching tone showing with her index finger toward the ceiling "That's right. You had the greatest score for today's events so you're the beach prom queen. Which means you can't wear that" she said with her finger pointing at Riku's clothes now. Riku looked down on herself.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" she asked puzzled. She was wearing knee-long denim shorts and a white T-shirt.
"Everything" Risa said plainly.
"Huh?" Riku was a little offended, but she didn't have time to show it. Risa with a huge smile pulled a bag out of her locker.
"However your sister is so very smart… I knew you wouldn't be prepared so I brought these" she opened the bag and took a whole outfit. It was a black pleated skirt, a red top and a black short jacket along with a pair of knee-high black socks.
"I am not wearing those…" Riku said averting her eyes and taking a pouting expression.
"Yes you are, because with what you have on you're going to freeze at the beach…" Risa said completely confidently. She was right. Riku's attire was way too light for the beach.
"I don't want to go…" Riku said still pouting.
"But you will. Come on sister please… Do it for me! " she paused. "Besides… if Niwa-kun wins the final event he'll be your king… Don't you want to dance with him? I mean…" she looked down a little sad "You barely had the chance to last time… So now is a good chance…"
"Risa…" she looked at her sister and smiled a sad smile. "You're always so considerate.." she moved toward her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Then she took the clothes from her.
"Ok… I'll wear this before we go to the beach.."
"That's better" Risa said and smile a glorious smile. "Now how about we go watch Niwa's event?"
Riku snapped… That was the last event. And she was the honored girl… Then.. /I will have to dance with Dark or… Ukawa!/ at the mere thought of it she panicked. She didn't really want to dance with Dark, but it sure beat dancing with that horrible cheating creep..
"What's wrong Riku?" Risa got worried.
"Nothing it's just that…" Riku paused. She couldn't tell her sister that the idea of dancing with Dark didn't exactly thrill her. There were so many things she couldn't tell her. Risa approached her and caressed her head.
"Don't worry Riku. I'm sure Niwa-kun will win… From what I saw today he's an excellent athlete" she said smiling. "Now let's go or we'll miss it." She added and pulled Riku by the hand out of the locker room and to the basketball court.
Satoshi was with Dark at the bench. When he saw them he went toward the stands.
"I still don't know why you're doing this… But make sure you win" he told Dark before he left to go to the girls.
Dark took one last look at Riku and moved to the field, trying to limp as less he could. Ukawa was already there smirking sure of his victory. How could limping Niwa defeat him?
They took their positions. The contestants were five. Three more boys besides himself and Ukawa. The aim was to shoot hoops from 16 different positions on the field. The one with the highest score at the end of those 16 shots would be the winner.
The other three guys didn't stand a chance, but Ukawa and Dark hadn't even missed one hoop and they were already in the 15th try. Dark was pretty sure he wasn't going to miss one of them but his knee wound was giving him a really hard time. He could endure pain much better than a normal teen, but still, that was not his body…/Damn it… Just a little bit more/.
It was time for the hardest shoot. Left side three points line. They both succeeded. It was a tie. The instructor entered the field and announced "We have a tie. There will by one last shot. The first one who succeeds a hoop from the middle of the court shall be the winner."
"That's impossible.." Ukawa protested. "It's one in a million! We should just do the same 16 shots again. I'm up for it.." but Dark took the ball from the instructor and suddenly threw it to Ukawa.
"Impossible is nothing Ukawa-sempai… Are you scared maybe?" he said with his smug tone.
Ukawa's face became red with anger. He took his position as he was the first shooter. He bent his knees a little while aiming. /Now that I think about it this is good/ he thought. He had more chances to get that hoop than the wounded Niwa. It was really tough to shoot from such distance without knee support. He smirked, aimed and shot. The ball touched the hoop, made a few rounds on it and then, fell over the right part of the court without entering it.
Dark smiled and took the ball. He stood there, in the middle of the court and took position. His face frowned a little from the pain, but he endured it.
"Go for it Dai!" Riku yelled from the stands. He didn't turn to look at her. He closed his eyes and aimed. /Come on Daisuke, don't fail me now.. I'm doing this for your girl/. Right at that moment he really felt like becoming one with Daisuke. If he really had been there.. That was probably the closest he had gotten. With a swift, almost subconscious move, he shot and… succeeded. The ball passed through the hoop without even touching it.
The crowd started cheering frantic. Riku, Risa and reluctant Satoshi ran to his direction.
"Well done Niwa-kun" Risa said with a huge smile on her face.
"Yes.. Well done.. Niwa…" Satoshi said with concealed contempt. Riku was standing there looking at him saying nothing. Then finally she uttered "Congratulations". Before he could say anything, a horde of frantic boys swooshed over and lifted him on their hands.
"Hey watch the knee will 'ya?" he protested. Saehara popped from the crowd and started yelling.
"WOW Niwa! That was so awesome! Where did you learn to do all that stuff?! How about a statement for the school paper?"
"Sure" Dark said in a smug face. He turned to Ukawa.. "See how it's done?" and winked.
Ukawa gave him a poisonous look. He was seriously furious now… Dangerously furious… /How could that pathetic geek be so good… So much better than me even though I… Dammit! I won't let this go…He humiliated me in front of the whole school… In front of her…I won't forgive him/. He turned and looked at Riku, heading for the lockers.
/You will be mine… Whether you like it or not/. He was officially obsessed.
…..
Dark, Satoshi and the other guys had arrived at the beach with the first schoolbus. Risa and Riku were not in it. Neither was Ukawa. Dark started getting worried. Riku was back at school with that creep lurking.
"What's the matter? You look upset…" Satoshi noticed.
"It's nothing… It's just that Ukawa… Riku's still at school and he's there…" he answered.
"Don't worry, Risa is with her. Plus… Will you just tell me what's going on?"
"He's… He's a creep, that's…" and before he finished his phrase, the second school bus arrived and a bunch of girls swooshed out of it and started dragging him to the spot where they had prepared the Beach Prom. There was actually a sign, decorated with flowers. Everything was decorated with flowers. The lights, the chairs and… the throne! They had actually put a two-position throne behind a big beach fire. Of course all of the senseis were there to keep the peace.
The girls dragged Dark to the throne and sat him there. His knee hurt a little but he didn't mind, all those girls giving him the royal treatment. He smirked. Suddenly Satoshi popped up from right behind him.
"Hey Casanova… Lose all that smugness and overconfidence… You're out of character…"
"Wha?" Dark turned to answer him but he was gone. Then he remembered… He was the king, but where was his queen? He started getting really worried. What if Ukawa had gotten to her? What if he had hurt her? Seduction was out of the question of course… Riku was anything but stupid, however, Ukawa's extraordinary athletic abilities were worrying Dark even more…
/Where are you Riku?../As he was about to get up and start searching for her he saw her. She was being dragged out of the school bus the same way he had been dragged to that throne. First in dragging her was Risa..
"Come on now Riku… You promised!"
"But I don't want to do that… It's silly… I don't.." then she noticed him looking at her with his usual smirk and she pouted… /Do I really have to go through this?/.
But there was nothing she could do. They were stronger than her. She gave up. She reluctantly followed them as they placed her on the throne next to him. Then one of the girls initiated the event by turning on all the lights and the music. The place turned into a real party. Lights, drinks, food, music, beach fire…
Dark looked at Riku. She was still pouting but she was so extremely cute. The sun behind them was nearly setting and the sky was painted with all the beautiful yellow, orange and pink colors of the sunset. And they were all reflecting on her beautiful silk hair and her soft skin. Dark stayed just looking at her. He could totally see why Daisuke was so into this girl… She was unrealistically beautiful, inside and out and so different from any other creature even he as a spirit had encountered. She noticed him staring at her.
"Wha… What is it?" she said annoyed.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that you're really beautiful" he said honestly and plainly.
Riku blushed like a tomato. A girl approached them. "It's time for your dance! Come on.."
Riku shook her head. "We can't…" she turned to Dark. "Your knee.."
He stood up "It's fine. It's a slow dance… I'll manage." He took a small bow with his head "My queen…" he extended his hand "Take my hand.."
The girls around him went crazy about how cool he was again. His stature was so noble, so uniquely hypnotizing. Riku looked at him and blushed even more. For some strange reason, she didn't find it in her heart to say no… As if she was mesmerized. She awkwardly pulled some hair behind her ear still blushing, and then shyly extended her hand and placed it over his.
He took another small bow and softly kissed the top of her hand. Riku's reflex was to pull it away but he managed to squeeze it before she had the time to. Then he led her in front of the fire, were everyone was gathered and made a small circle for them to dance in the middle.
He put his arm around her waist and led her arm around his neck. Riku felt shivers. The way she felt was really unfamiliar to her. She was there, in Daisuke's arms… But it wasn't him… Still, she felt her heart beating a little faster than usual. As he grabbed her other hand in his and pulled her by the waist so that their bodies would touch each other, that "little" became a lot more. Her blushing was now permanent and she tried not to look in his eyes as he started swaying her with the music, slowly enough for him to be able to move his knee.
/Focus Riku… He's not Niwa…/ she thought… But all the confusion had made her completely uncertain of who was who…/Or… Is he?.../
Dark noticed her frustration and leaned over her ear.
"You may have to lead at some point if my knee fails…" he whispered. His whispering voice on her ear, made her shiver even more.
"You'll be alright…" he continued "You're almost a guy after all"… he grinned.
Riku's eyes became angry again. "I am not a guy! You keep saying that… Just because I'm stronger than most girls doesn't mean…" she stopped and looked down.
"You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" she said and then looked into his eyes.
"Maybe" he said playfully."
"Why?"
"Because it amuses me…" he answered smiling.
Riku took her cute pouting face and tightened her lips. But he continued.
"Don't worry princess… Tonight you look really… really girly.." he said and continued swaying her to the music.
Risa was looking at them from the distance. For some reason she felt a strange sorrow, looking at them, dancing like that, him whispering in her ear… It was Niwa… Was it not? The same Niwa she had so easily rejected... But now… Why did she feel like that?
Satoshi who was standing a few meters from her saw her sorrowful look and approached her. He touched her shoulder softly.
"Would you like to dance with me.. Risa-chan"
….
Suddenly, Dark felt a strange pinch in his chest. He pulled a little back from Riku.
"What… What's wrong? Are you in pain?" she asked concerned.
"No it's just…" the feeling was almost similar to when he was transforming… For a moment there, he could have sworn he felt… Daisuke's presence!
He looked at Riku. Her expression had turned from worried to surprised.. She was looking right over his head.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Uhmm… It's… Wizu" she said pointing at the little white bunny that was sitting over his head, on his hair. He grabbed the little guy with the hand that was holding her and the stopped dancing. Their own royal dance was over anyway. Now the whole place was full of people dancing. Dark looked at the little bunny. His eyes looked anxious.
"You felt it too, didn't you buddy?" he said and his eyes darkened. /Daisuke is somewhere out there… I'll find you no matter what Dai… Just wait for me…/
…..
A/N: What happened now? Thankfully, Dark beat that Ukawa jerk but something tells me we're not over with him..Riku has softened a little towards Dark… But the confusion is still too great… On the next chapter, Daisuke appears again! Thanks for reading and please review ^_^
