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XIV - Reshape the Heart - Riku
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Daisuke looked at her hands, "Soon." he whispered.

"Soon?" Sakura asked confused.

"There will be a ring on that hand." he said.

She blushed.

Since that night when they both revealed their secrets to each other
Daisuke felt as if life was finally on track. Every time he looked at
her he'd see someone that knew what he was thinking what he felt.

/And I'm going to marry her./ Daisuke thought absolutely giddy at the
thought. He remembered that night a few weeks ago. Sakura had wrapped
her arms around his neck and she said in a broken breath, "Yes."
after which she cried on his shoulder. Daisuke held her as she cried
her heart out. He felt the same way, as if a weight had been lifted
off his chest.

"What's the goofy grin for?" Sakura asked as they walked to his
apartment.

"I was thinking about the day we introduced Kerochan to With." he
lied.

Sakura laughed. "I remember that day. Kerochan was angry that I
pulled him away from Ran's apartment. He made me promise him cake."

Daisuke grinned, "I'll never forget the expression on his face when
he saw cute With sitting on the table with a plate of takoyaki in
front of him."

Sakura smiled.

Daisuke wrapped an arm around her waist as they rode up the elevator
to his floor.

"They're inseparable now." she said when they entered his apartment.

"Heh With wrote me note." Daisuke said as he held up a scribbled
paper, "He's at Ran's playing video games."

Sakura smiled.

"I'm glad With can go to Ran's." Daisuke said, "I feel bad when I
leave him here in the apartment." He shuffled through the mail on the
kitchen counter.

"Well he can come visit Kerochan now." Sakura said.

"Yeah..." Daisuke said. He frowned at a letter and turned it over,
his hand hovering on the flap. He finally opened it in one quick
pull. His eyes scanned the contents of the letter and his face fell.
Daisuke reached for the ring around his neck, pulling it off his head
and staring at it.

"Daisuke?" Sakura asked concerned. She took one of his hands.

Sakura felt him slip from her grasp. "Daisuke?"

"I need to be alone." he said softly.

Sakura looked hurt and left quietly.

Daisuke stared at the ring in his hand and brought it to his lips.

"Harada-san is coming." he whispered.

Suddenly the door burst open, Daisuke looked up to see Sakura
marching up to him.

"Sakura-" he said getting angry.

"Daisuke." she said seriously.

"Yes?" he asked startled.

"I'm going to marry you right?"

He nodded slowly, "Well that's what we planned." he said.

"Then why won't you let me help you?" she asked.

"I need some time alone." he said.

"Why won't you let me understand Harada-san!?" she exclaimed.

Daisuke looked at Sakura. She looked angry.

"Daisuke..." she said, "I love you..." tears fell from her eyes, "but
I feel as if I will always be second to Riku!"

He dropped the letter and the ring, "Sakura of course not!" he
exclaimed. He took her in his arms.

Sakura cried on his chest. "I don't think of you the same way." she
sniffled, "Why do you love me second?"

"Its not true." he whispered as he kissed her head, "Have you been
thinking this all along?"

She looked up at him and shook her head, "Not all the time."

"Good." he said as he rose an eyebrow, "At least you know me well
enough." he ran his fingers through her hair, "Sakura... about this
time of the year is Riku's anniversary." he said softly.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she wiped her tears away.

"Harada Risa-san," Daisuke said, "is Riku's twin sister. She asked to
meet me to give me some things that belonged to Riku since I couldn't
tend to her grave." he said softly, "Letting her see me is the least
I can do."

Sakura looked up at him wide eyed.

He smiled down at her, "I love Riku, I always will," he kissed her
tears away, "but she understood that life had to go on. I love you
because you understand."

Sakura cried again.

"Sakura?" he asked worried that he said the wrong thing.

She took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. She smiled up at him
and said, "Take all the time you need. Just remember I'm here if you
need me" she kissed him, "I'm sorry I was so insensitive."

Daisuke kissed her, "I don't ask every girl I meet to marry me." he
said. "I hope this is the first and last."

Sakura sniffled and leaned against him.

"Besides," he said, "you can magically grow wings, how many flying
people are there in the world? We need to stick together."

Sakura laughed.

+-----+

"Niwa-kun."

Daisuke turned and for a moment, his chest constricted in finite
pain. For a moment Riku stood before him and as quickly as it came,
the pain went away and Risa stood before him. She was holding a bag.

"Harada-san." he whispered.

"Its been a while." she said.

"Yes." he said.

"I was..." Risa stopped, her gaze shifting.

Daisuke followed her gaze and turned to see Sakura walking up the
path.

"Sakura." he whispered.

Risa looked up at him questioningly.

Sakura smiled at him, "Hello." she said. She stopped short when she
saw the girl standing next to him.

"Harada Risa." she said with a bow.

Sakura bowed back, "Kinomoto Sakura." she said.

She turned to Daisuke, "I was in the area. I wanted to pay a visit. I
see you're busy Niwa-kun, so I'll just leave these with you." she
handed the bag to Daisuke, bowed to the both of them and walked away.

Daisuke watched as Risa walked away, shaken. He looked down at Sakura
who also was looking at her.

"She's Riku-san's sister?"

Daisuke nodded. "Twin sister." he said.

She looked up at him, "If you need some time I can-"

He took her in his arms.

Sakura squeaked.

"I need you." he said.

"Hai..." was all she could say. Daisuke smiled, /You don't know how
much/ he thought.

"Let's go upstairs." he whispered in her ear as he nipped it.

"Uhh okay..." she said her breath hitching. He chuckled at the
nervousness in her voice. He looked at her and winked, "You know I
won't do that."

Sakura blushed and looked away as they walked to the elevator.

"Oh!" she said. "Kerochan wanted to know if you had the latest Saga
game out."

Daisuke smiled, "They sent it to me." he said. "He'll have to wait
until Kentarou finishes beating it."

Sakura laughed. Kentarou was known for his all night gaming
hours. "Kero is so indebted to you once he found you worked for Saga."

"That was a long time ago." he said, "When they hired me while I was
in high school. I remember they wanted me and Dark to appear in the
same commercial. They had no idea what they were asking."

Sakura laughed. "I'm glad they never asked the Card Captor to do
that." she said.

They smiled at each other knowing they could both relate to their
alternate lives. Sakura felt her heart swell, /He knows so much of me
with out any explanation. How could I be so lucky?/ She felt his hand
take hers and give it a squeeze his eyes saying the same thing. She
blushed again. But something about Harada-san bugged her.

"Daisuke." she whispered.

"Yes?" he asked as they walked into his room.

"I-" she stopped.

He turned, Sakura was sitting on his bed, her face serious her eyes
dark green with thought. He sat next to her, wrapping an arm around
her and letting his face rest in her hair. He breathed in her scent.
Flowery and at the same time smelling like sandalwood. It was these
little things that he loved about her, he realized.

"Harada-san." she whispered.

He took another deep breath of her scent and let his head rest on her
shoulder.

"Did Riku-san look like Risa-san?" she asked after a moment of
hesitation.

He closed his eyes, "Yes." he said, "But Risa was much more
fashionable. Riku thought dresses were impractical things sometimes."

"Does it bother you that Risa-san looks like Riku-san?" she asked.

"At first," he said, "when Riku died... looking at Risa would re-tear
the wounds in my soul. That's why I transferred to Toudai. I wanted
to get away from my life. Everything reminded me of Riku."

"I'm sorry if I'm asking." she whispered.

"Its all right." he said, "Its not so bad." he kissed her hair. He
looked down at her, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head and smiled up at him, "You deal with your ghosts
your own way." she said.

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Or at least I think I've dealt
with them, dealt with them enough to have a normal life."

He laughed when he heard Sakura mutter under her breath, "I've
learned the hard way that life is never normal."

He held her face and looked down at her, "This is why I love you." he
said.

Her eyes went bright, "Why?" she looked pleased that her comment got
such a remark out of him.

He smiled down at her and said, "Because, we are two of the most un-
normal people on earth-" each word punctuated by a kiss.

"-with two un-normal lives." she said as she tried to kiss him back
but failing because he was everywhere at once dropping kisses about
her face.

"Yes." he said, the emotion in his voice matching the sentiment in
her heart.

Their lips met.

--------------------
+ 3 more chapters to go. To be honest it could end the way it did in
chapter 13 but I think it leaves some loose strings. I can't let
Daisuke and Sakura get away with a settled relationship.

+ I think Sakura is a bit out of character here, I may rewrite the
letter/door part.

+ Don't Sakura and Daisuke emit waves of waffy-ness? ^^ Its so cute!
(its okay to gag at the waffyness ^^;;)