Author's Notes: Ooh, lookie, a new chapter! The more I write this story, the more I personally wanna know what happens. Isn't that a little strange for an authoress? I'm supposed to be the one who actually knows what's going on! Eh, whatever. Chapter two, dead ahead…
…Risa-san…died…fourteen years ago…
Say it again. Once more. I don't believe you.
…Risa-san…died…fourteen years ago…
"Daiichi-chan!" Niwa Riku captured her son in a great bear-hug and held him close. Though he'd been there in body the whole time, it appeared the shock of hearing Daisuke's words had wrenched control over Daiichi's body from Dark and returned it to Daiichi. Oddly, though, the boy wasn't returning her affections, and she loosened lightly, pulling back to stare at him. "What's…wrong?"
Something was wrong, that much was apparent; the child's chilled skin was white as a sheet, his pupils tiny dots floating on a sea of white, and he was clutching the sides of his head with his fists as if trying to squeeze the invader out. With a harried gasp he released himself and looked up at his parents, fearful. "…D—dad! It…it hu—rts!" Again he nearly toppled forward, and this time it was Daisuke who rushed to his aid, suddenly comprehending what was going on: it was a mental battle for control over Daiichi's body.
'No…NO! What happened?!' Dark's voice screamed in a raging frenzy, rattling the invisible bars of the cage which trapped him inside his winghost's mind. 'TELL ME!' Daiichi's entire head felt as if it was being slit with a thousand needles from the inside, pounding to be released, and crashes of light exploded in his vision. "St—stop… please…Da—aah!" the child choked out, voice quavering, as it took all his strength to force the few words over his dry lips; again, he shuddered, crying out in pain.
"Dark!" Daisuke's warning voice slit the air as he clutched his child, engaged in a heated internal battle, to his chest. The phantom thief was—unconsciously?—thrusting against all barriers trying to reinsert himself in control. Had the shock been that much? Could he possibly be unaware of the pain he was causing Daiichi? Whatever his motives, at this rate he would kill the boy—or at the very least drive him mad with pain. He had to calm him down somehow. "Dark! Stop it—now! Dark! You're hurting him! Get a grip on yourself!" As if heeding his own words, he shifted his grip to the boy's shoulders, shaking him slightly to bring him back to his senses. Riku gasped sharply, but Daisuke ignored her.
For a moment that seemed to stretch to eternity, no one said anything, as all waited to see the effect the pleas had had on the phantom thief; Daiichi was no longer heaving or screaming in pain, but his eyes were tightly clamped shut, leaking stray tears that glimmered faintly on his cheeks, leaving behind salty trails to his eyes. He was bent over, his chest resting on his shaking legs, and his father laid a hand tentatively on his back.
"…Dad…" he whispered at length, voice raspy and quavering. "…He wants to know…make it stop…"
Hiwatari-kun…was this what he felt, all those times when Krad had battled him for control over his own body? As he looked down at Daiichi, scared, frail, he couldn't help but flash back to the countless times he'd watched this scene, with the rust-colored hair replaced with ice-blue locks, just as frightened of his own fate, with just as great a thirst for life, for his own body.
Yes, Daiichi, Hiwatari-kun. Inside, they were both the same. Neither wanted this fate, and before the spirits of Dark and Krad were through with them, they would be irrevocably changed, inside and out.
Turning to glance over at his wife, he met her gaze of equal concern and acceptance, and she nodded slowly, averting her eyes from her son. After all these years, the pain and memories had faded into the deep dark corners of her mind, corners she didn't often visit for obvious reasons. And now she was about to relive them before a being she would have sooner forgotten than poured her heart out to. Dark would wrench them into the glaring daylight to be searched and surveyed. He would violate her precious memories of Risa, the few happy ones she had left.
You weren't there with her, you left, and good riddance. You don't deserve to see her now.
Dark…how dare you…
Twenty Years Ago…
"Riku! Niwa-kun! Come on!" Harada Risa called from the front stoop of the Harada mansion into the main foyer, stamping her foot in irritation. "How long does it take you to carry a few bags of luggage down to the car?!"
"Most of this stuff is yours, Risa! If you're in such a hurry to leave already, why don't you get up here and help us?" came the angry reply of her twin at the top of the stairway, and she faintly registered the light, embarrassed laughter of Daisuke as he tried to calm her down, saying, "It's OK, it's OK…I'll get Harada-san's things!" Riku merely rolled her eyes in disgust and reminded him not to spoil Risa, and lugged her own bags down the plushly-carpeted staircase.
Taking a quick glance at the grandfather clock stationed in the hallway, Riku continued on out to the limousine which Tsubouchi, the butler, normally shuttled the twins around town in. Riku had been successfully able to convince their parents—currently in France on business—to allow her to visit a traveling winter carnival a few towns away with Daisuke for the weekend.
Somewhere along the way, though, "Riku and Daisuke" had turned into "Riku, Daisuke, and Risa," and from there the Niwa boy had insisted it be, "Riku, Daisuke, Risa, and Satoshi," a far cry from the romantic snowy weekend for two it had been planned to be. Winter vacation was already upon them, and this carnival came but once a year—it had seemed to be a perfect chance to spend some quality time with Niwa-kun!
For Daisuke, though—and partly for Satoshi as well—it was more of the perfect diversion of attention away from the events of barely three months ago. Life in the Niwa household now was starkly contrasted to life before the sealing, more laid back, more… normal. And he wouldn't pretend he didn't like this new sense of normalcy, but he also wouldn't lie and say he didn't miss Dark. He could never say that.
Hiwatari-kun, it turned out, had recently moved into his city apartment on a permanent basis, having raided his step-father's office thoroughly, leaving nary a breadcrumb behind as evidence anyone had occupied it before, and moving the delicate contents to his own residence. After all, there were still many documents and books relating to the long rivalry between the Niwas and Hikaris which were just better kept out of public sight. Better he should have them than some beggar who happened to be rummaging through his late-stepfather's trash.
"Niwa-kun—Hiwatari-kun's gonna be wondering where we are! It's almost three now, and we still have to pick him up." A pause. "You did tell him we were picking him up, didn't you?" A muffled affirmative reply emerged from beneath a mountain of luggage squirming slowly towards the trunk of the car, held up at the door. Riku rushed to relieve Daisuke of a few of the burdens, for which he thanked her profusely. "I don't understand why Risa has to bring so much stuff anyway—we're only staying overnight!"
Catching the tail end of the conversation, the younger Harada defended herself valiantly: "It's probably gonna be cold there—but you can never tell how quickly the weather changes in the foothills! I brought warm and cold-weather clothes, just to be sure. Didn't you, Riku?" Smirking, she continued, "No, you probably just brought something for today and tomorrow, am I right? Well—don't come begging me for anything!"
"You—I should just take a match to all your luggage right now! I can't believe—" It was here that a flustered Daisuke jumped into the fray and tried to soothe things over between the sisters, reminding them that this wasn't a very good way to start the weekend off, since they'd all be spending a lot of time together.
Tsubouchi dutifully followed up behind the trio and helped Daisuke load the last of the bags into the trunk before opening the side doors to let them in, and then sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine. As the car pulled out of the circle, Riku took one final glance up at her home and smiled. It was going to be a great weekend.
Barely fifteen minutes into the drive, Daisuke instructed the driver to pull off onto a side road jutting off from the main throughway, and the car slowed to a stop in front of a towering apartment complex. Carefully counting up and over, he pointed to an open window, through which they could spot thin curtains swaying to and fro in the slight breeze. Lowering the window, Risa leaned out over the side and called, "Hiwatari-kun! Hiwatari-kun!" Yet no figure came to the window in response, and she turned back to her sister and Daisuke. "Well?"
Sighing, Daisuke, stepped out of the car and sauntered up to the front steps of the complex, running a finger down a long list, staring at it intently. "Hiwatari… Hiwatari…Hiwa—ah!" He punched the small button next to the name and cast a glance back to the car, then up to the window. Nothing, still. Face wrinkling a bit in confusion, Daisuke was about to turn away, when the speaker to his right crackled to life.
"Niwa?" Hastily Daisuke scrambled to press the button and respond, but it seemed it was unnecessary, as at this moment Satoshi appeared at the window a few floors up, leaning out and motioning for his attention. "Niwa! The door's open—get up here and help me." With that he slipped back inside, and with a confused glance back at the twins, Daisuke shrugged, twisted the handle, and entered, taking the stairs two at a time as he bounded up to Satoshi's apartment. When he reached the appropriate floor, he eyed the apartment numbers carefully until he found himself standing at his friend's front door, and reached up to knock. This proved unnecessary, though, as the door was suddenly unceremoniously flung open from the inside, and he was beckoned in. "You're late, Niwa."
Crossing the threshold, Daisuke laughed out an embarrassed apology, chalking their tardiness up to Risa's boatload of luggage that had had to be toted to the car. "Well," Satoshi began, leading the other boy down a hallway into what must have been the master bedchamber, "I hope you've still got room for my stuff."
Daisuke's jaw dropped open and a tiny whimper pushed over his lips. "Hi—Hiwatari-kun…do you really need…" he whined. Casting his eyes about the room, he could count no less than four suitcases propped open atop the bed and on the floor, all packed full of clothes, toiletries, food items, and various other traveling knick-knacks, awaiting a final check from Satoshi. "…Four suitcases?"
Genuinely confused, he defended himself in a manner which startlingly reminded Daisuke of Risa's back at the mansion not a half-hour before. "Well, you did say it was at the foothills, didn't you? Aren't you aware of how quickly the weather changes there? What with the cold air blowing down from the mountains and the warm air blowing in from the plains—"
"Alright, alright!" The last thing he needed was a scientific explanation of just why so many suitcases were necessary. "Let's just get your stuff and leave, Hiwatari-kun… you're starting to pack like Harada-san with all this luggage…"
"…Wait, which one?"
"So, a whole weekend with Niwa-kun…" Risa sighed contentedly as she plopped down on the bed, turning her eyes to her twin who was hanging shirts on coat-hangers and placing them in one of the hotel closets. "Planning anything…special?" Riku paused her unpacking to glare daggers at the younger twin, who giggled girlishly and apologized, "I'm kidding! Only kidding! Niwa-kun's too…nice. Too nice to be any fun, anyway."
Riku furrowed her brows and turned to put up another shirt. "That's not true—he's just too…sweet to do anything like that."
"Well, you don't have to defend him to me," she laughed, "I prefer taller, older men. Who cares if they're sweet?" She turned over on her stomach and rested her head on top of her hands, staring at one of the plush pillows. The sun was bleeding the western sky a vibrant neon pink hue, and the evening was swiftly approaching. The four had opted to unpack first—the boys in their own room, the twins in theirs—and reconvene in the lobby in an hour to head out to the carnival.
"Riku…" Risa began softly, and she heard the rustling of clothes stop suddenly. "Riku…did you ever wonder what happened…to Dark-san?" Turning over, she met the other girl's confused expression, and tried to laugh it off, "I mean, I know you didn't like him and all…but he just left…and I thought it was weird. And Niwa-kun was…different afterwards, so I just wondered if…if you knew anything about it, or if you ever thought about why…"
Riku's breath lodged in an uncomfortable lump in her throat, and she tried to swallow her words to no avail. She'd never told Risa everything about what had happened those few months ago, particularly the details of Daisuke actually being Dark and all. She couldn't place an exact reasoning behind it, merely that she didn't want to tell. She herself wouldn't even know if it hadn't been for the accident which had forced the boy to transform in order to save her, so was it even her place to tell her sister the truth? If Daisuke ever wanted her to know, he would tell her…or so she convinced herself.
She probably already knew more than she let on, anyway. "You sense it too, don't you? That Niwa-kun might be Dark-san?" Those words still echoed as loudly as when they'd first been uttered, and it was there that Riku had first begun to question if there was in fact some relationship between the two she hadn't thought of before. It was, in a way, thanks to Risa that she'd finally found out.
"Risa…" she started, tentatively, stepping on eggshells the whole way, "I…"
"I know he was Dark-san," she interrupted, now turned over on her back and staring up at the ceiling, deep brown eyes following the slow spiral of the fan turning above them, and Riku bit her lip guiltily. "I think…I figured it out before you, really. When we were in that tower, and I saw Hiwatari-kun change, that time. I think I knew then…but I didn't want it to be true, so I told myself that it couldn't be, and I tried to forget…"
She felt the pressure of her sister coming to sit on the bed beside her, and smiled warmly. "They had the same eyes…"
"I know," Riku agreed, "…I…I'm sorry…that he's gone."
Risa pushed herself up on her elbows and cocked her head to peer at her sister, then broke into a warm smile. "…No you're not. You're just saying that for me."
"Wha—no! I…I mean, well, he wasn't that bad once you—" But any further explanation was stifled as Risa gathered Riku into a hug and buried her head into the crook between her shoulder and neck.
"…Thank you…onee-sama…"
"…I wonder what's taking Riku-san and Harada-san so long…" Daisuke pondered worriedly from a sofa in the lounge near the front entrance to the hotel. Tsubouchi had dropped the quartet off for the weekend, leaving note that he would return Sunday at four to pick them up again and bring them back home. The boys had quickly unpacked and headed down to the lounge to relax for a bit while waiting for the girls. They'd all planned to spend a few hours over at the carnival that night, and all Saturday as well, which would leave Sunday wide open for resting from the hectic weekend.
Satoshi sighed and leaned back into his chair, swirling the dregs of his tea around in his mug. "It's still early yet—they'll be down. You worry too much, Niwa."
"Wha—I worry too much? Did you just say that I worry too much? Are you really Hiwatari-kun?!" Satoshi glared up at him as Daisuke bent over to feel his forehead. "Last I heard I didn't worry enough, I believe you said."
"No no, I never said anything like that. It was more along the lines of you were just too trusting. There's a difference."
"Not much of one."
"But there is a difference." Daisuke huffed, conceding defeat to the Hikari boy, who smirked triumphantly and went back to swishing around the remnants of his tea. Having long since finished his own beverage, Daisuke lay down and propped his head against a cushion, staring at the ceiling.
"Hiwatari-kun…?"
"Hn?"
"Do you ever…wonder what happened to them?"
"Who, the Haradas?" Propping himself up on his elbows, Daisuke glared coldly, eliciting yet another smirk from his friend, who knew perfectly well whom he was talking about. After appearing to ponder his answer for a few moments, he easily retorted, "No. Never."
"…Never?"
Satoshi narrowed his eyes and gave him a knowing stare. "Really, Niwa. Why would I ever wonder? You forget, that sealing ritual was much more of a blessing for me than for you. I judge that had we switched places you wouldn't even be thinking about asking me this question right now, but rather reveling in the fact that for the first time in your life you are truly free. No step-fathers reminding you of your heritage, no voices in your head reminding you that you are theirs and theirs alone, no faded memories of generations past floating through your mind—memories that aren't even your own." He turned his gaze from the worried Daisuke. "No, Niwa. I don't ever wonder what happened to them. It is enough that they are gone. It should be enough for you too."
Hesitantly, he nodded his agreement. "Gomen…Hiwatari-kun…"
Satoshi's expression changed at the penitent attitude the other boy was taking, and he actually seemed slightly remorseful for his blunt comments. "Look, Niwa, let's just…let's just forget this for right now, alright?" He pushed Daisuke up into a sitting position and straightened his clothes. "You can't look all down like that when the twins get down here, or they'll think something's wrong. Do you want to spoil their weekend?" He shook his head and smiled a bit. "There—that's more like you."
"Niwa-kun!" came a voice calling from the top of the stair, and the two shifted to see the Harada twins descending the staircase, both now dressed in warmer clothes, eager to get out of the hotel. Once they'd reached the landing, Riku continued, "The desk clerk gave me a brochure for the carnival, with a schedule of all the events."
"Great! Should we go, then?" A nod, and the four hurried out the door to catch the next trolley.
The Mid-Winter Carnival appeared to have deserved every bit of praise it received. Riku, Daisuke, Risa, and Satoshi all gaped in wonder at what appeared to be a small village of nothing but rides, games, shows, shops, and anything that might even remotely be associated with "fun". A towering multi-colored Ferris wheel stringed with glittering flashing lights was visible from the entrance, along with a roller coaster and even a big-top tent. The ticket-master smiled warmly at the friends as he took their tickets and ushered them inside, slyly hinting that the Tunnel of Love was located towards the rear of the carnival, and all present blushed a furious red hue and quickly moved on.
Once inside the main gates, Riku whipped out the map and began surveying it like an army general, picking out the "must see" spots immediately, mentally setting the next day's schedule as she went over the grid.
"The Ferris wheel and roller coaster, of course, and it looks like there's supposed to be some kind of show in the main tent tomorrow. There are tons of little shops all over the park, with games and souvenirs and stuff. We should try and visit them all while we're here."
Daisuke nodded firmly, then looked up from the map to meet her gaze, a devilish twinkle in his eye. "…Let's go, Riku-san!" With that he snatched up her wrist and jerked her away into the crowd, leaving behind Risa and Satoshi standing in the same spot, frozen with shock, mouths hanging open. "Meet back here at ten o' clock!"
"Niwa-kun…is certainly aggressive…" Risa observed blankly as she watched her sister's protesting form disappear from sight, swallowed up by the other carnival-goers.
"…I suppose so…" Satoshi, too, found it difficult to come up with a response to the rather rash action on the redhead's part. It was at this point, though, a moment after their two friends had disappeared, that the two realized they were very much alone, and looked very much like a couple. Instinctively Satoshi put a few feet of distance between himself and Risa, feigning interest in the map Riku had left sitting on the bench. He realized too late that this was undoubtedly some ploy of the elder Harada's or Niwa's—or they could have even both been in on it. He was so going to pay for putting him in this situation when they got back to the hotel.
"…Well?" Risa's cheery voice interrupted his dark thoughts of how best to kill Daisuke (Drown him in the tub? Too wet. Roast him in the fireplace? Too many witnesses. Suffocation, then? It was always a possibility…). "Are you reading that map or just looking at it?"
'Looking at it,' was his acrid mental retort, but he stifled it right away and carefully picked up the map from the bench, folding it neatly and moving to place it inside his coat pocket. He turned to face her full, and noted how much she seemed to be the incarnation of "impatience." Her arms were folded stiffly across her chest, with a single booted-foot tapping angrily on the ground, her sighs manifesting themselves as icy puffs.
For a moment he considered simply handing her the map instead and finding a nice warm restaurant set up in here and waiting around until it was time for them to all meet up again—then his better sense told him how stupid that would be. The whole reason he'd come up here was to reinsert himself into the real human world—not the nightmare he'd been living most of his life. He would make friends—force himself, if he had to—and be happy. Well, the "happy" part was negotiable, but he felt he'd earned a break from brooding. What was the use of finally being free of Krad if he didn't enjoy it at least?
Straightening up, he adjusted his coat and pulled the zipper up a bit higher to keep the wind out. She cocked an eyebrow up at him as if to say, "Are you ready yet?"
"Here." He shoved the map towards her. "You pick something."
The same twinkle which had flashed in Daisuke's eye a few moments before now flashed in Risa's, and a sudden sinking feeling clutched his heart: perhaps he shouldn't have given her free reign to drag him wherever she felt like going.
"…Fortune telling?"
Risa narrowed her eyes indignantly. "What's with that tone?" She spread an arm out, encompassing the crowd. "With so many people, it has to be a great show! Do you really think everyone here could be wrong about this? And besides—you certainly weren't tossing out any ideas! Beggars can't be choosers, you know." Snatching his hand in hers, she hastily jerked him forward into the mass of humanity towards the front stage, upon which a tall man with a proportionately tall top-hat was standing, a microphone in one hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We regret to inform you that seats for tonight's final performance of The Crazy Garu Fortune Extravaganza have been sold out. We have no more room for the evening, but please—come back tomorrow morning for another chance to see great feats of magic and fortune telling at their best, right here, under the big top!" The microphone gave a bit of feedback as the announcer hastily returned it to the stand and hurried off the stage, eager to get away before the crowd turned angry.
"What?! It took us twenty minutes to get over here—you're telling me it's sold out?!" Risa moaned to no one, obviously not the sort to take circumstances like this easily. The cloth flaps guarding the entrance were being pulled closed now, and she could see the lights inside the tent dimming, preparing for the final show. "And the brochure made it look so cool too…" Sighing, she turned back to Satoshi, putting her best pout possible on.
It took him a moment to even realize she'd been staring at him, though when he happened to look down at her he shuddered a bit, face taking on a pink tinge. "Wh—what? Whad'you want?" She raised her eyebrows in a knowing manner and turned to the tent. "Huh?" He followed her gaze around the side of the tent, where faint rays of light could be seen coming from what appeared to be a side entrance. She looked back at him, smiling more widely now, and his eyes widened in realization. "Wha—no! No, I'm not sneaking in with you."
"You don't have to come! Just help me get in! Come on, Hiwatari-kun!"
"Why don't you just wait until tomorrow? It's not like this is the only time we're coming, we still have the entire rest of the weekend!"
"Hiwatari-kun…" she whined, "It's not the same! Just, come on, help me out, this one time! And I promise I won't ask for your help anymore!" He stalled for an excuse, so she leaned in close and dropped her voice. "Jeez, you're worse than Niwa-kun. He at least would've tried to get me in, even if he couldn't do it."
Twitch.
"N—Niwa? You're comparing me with Niwa?!"
She looked innocent for a moment. "Comparing? Oh no, no, there's no comparing you two. He's just…better. That's all. An all-around superior guy," she finished, matter-of-factly.
Twitch.
He gave a low growl and cast a furtive glance to their sides, alongside the tent, then back to Risa. "There's no way you can think Niwa is better than me. Come on." With that he grabbed her hand and began pulling her to the makeshift alley between the tents, all the while looking around to make sure they weren't spotted. He pressed himself lightly against the tent canvas and made every effort to blend into the shadows cast by the light of the newly risen moon, motioning to Risa to do the same. "That guy couldn't sneak his way out of a paper bag…" Bringing a finger to his lips he signaled silence, and gently pulled back the flap, easing his way inside and holding it open while Risa followed.
"I thought you were just gonna sneak in—change your mind?" she spoke, her voice at a normal volume now, as the lights around them dimmed. Indeed, she had to speak more loudly or risk not being heard at all over the din of the conversations going on around them among the few hundred other audience members seated under the tent.
Satoshi rolled his eyes. "You have to have an explanation for everything?" She shook her head and smiled. "Then watch the stupid show I snuck you in here for." The lights blacked out suddenly, and a hush fell across the audience as spotlights flashed on, illuminating the center rings, and for the next half hour Satoshi leaned off to the side, shaking his head at the horribly corny fortune-telling display going on before them—one with which Risa seemed to be enthralled.
"See? Look, when he picks up the cards—he never looks at them until he's lifted them over his head first. It must be some technique I've never heard of…hmm hmm…" It was yet another excuse for him to roll his eyes, and he yawned loudly.
Apparently, it was loud enough to catch the attention of a show security official, who had been making his rounds outside of the tent and spotted the shadowy form of Satoshi standing just inside. He poked his head through and parted the seam, calling out in an authoritative voice, "Hey, you two!" Risa and Satoshi turned, momentarily caught off guard. "Let me see your tickets—why aren't you sitting down?" the two turned to each other, slightly worried looks on their faces. "Your tickets, please."
With haste that would have made Daisuke jealous Satoshi shot off under the bleachers before anything else could be said, dragging Risa behind him, and secretly reveling in the chase. Standing there for nearly forty-five minutes, he'd been nearly ready to nod off when the officer had poked his head in. Now, though, this was what he lived for. "Hurry up!" he urged the younger girl, and she stepped up her pace, keeping right on his heels as the two jumped over stray pipes and bits of trash littering the ground beneath the bleachers. Behind them, the single security officer had now multiplied into four.
Satoshi spotted another rip in the tent fabric, just wide enough for him and Risa to squeeze through, and directed her towards it. Once they were both through, he took a moment to judge his surroundings. "Here!" he hissed, and the two ducked into the dark shadow cast by a trailer, curling into small balls to hide themselves. One, two, three… finally all four officers had passed them by, hurrying off past where they were hidden, which he took as the cue for them to double back in the opposite direction now.
"There! The Ferris wheel!" They darted back through the crowd and stood in line for the ride, only a few people from the front, and within a few moments they were seated safely inside one of the chambers, on their way to the top.
"Hiwatari-kun…that was great!" she praised after catching her breath, and he found he couldn't help the faint blush which crept up over his pale cheeks as she stared at him in awe. "Where on earth did you learn how to do all that?"
"All what? Dodging those guys?" She nodded. "That's just basic police academy training—what else would you expect from the former Chief Commander?" She blinked, then smiled, embarrassed.
"Ah, I…forgot about that." Pressing her face to the cold glass, she surveyed the vast sea of multi-colored flickering lights below them. "I wonder what Niwa-kun and Riku are doing…"
"Whew…feels like we've been walking forever…" Riku breathed as the duo wandered past another row of vendors, toting the evening's souvenirs in heavy paper bags. At the previous kiosk, Daisuke had spent nearly half an hour sifting through bins and bins of art supplies, eventually winding up buying only a few paintbrushes and some charcoal pencils. Riku, on the other hand, felt she'd done well when she'd stopped by a flower vendor. Who would've thought he'd have one strawberry plant available among his wares? When Daisuke asked why she'd bought it, she playfully replied, "For your rabbit—With, wasn't it? Didn't you say he liked strawberries?"
In the more than an hour and a forty-five minutes that had passed since the four had split into pairs, Riku and Daisuke had explored many more of the booths along the eastern edge of the park, steadily working their way towards the back center section, where many of the rides were located.
Figuring they still had another hour to kill before meeting back up with Risa and Satoshi, Daisuke suggested they find a nice quiet ride to get on and relax for a few. With their luck, though, the first ride they set eyes on was—of course—the famed Tunnel of Love. Casting dubious glances at one another and struggling to keep blushes from taking over their entire faces, Daisuke admitted, "Well…it is quiet…"
Riku had to agree with him. "And slow…" she added. Oh, sitting was sounding better and better the more she considered it. "And if it's just…you know, to take a break…"
"Ah—right!" he agreed far too quickly, laughing embarrassedly. Apparently the matter was decided, and they hastily pushed a few tickets into the ticket-taker's outstretched hands, boarding one of the oversized swans while casting furtive looks over their shoulders, just to be sure no one was watching. "I feel like a criminal…" Daisuke moaned.
Once they were on their way inside, nearly lulled to sleep by the soothing romantic tunes pumped over the airwaves from a few strategically placed loudspeakers, Riku took the chance to confront Daisuke as she'd been trying to for a while.
"…Niwa-kun?" she began, averting her eyes for the moment, and he turned to face her, eyes curious. "Are you…alright?"
His brows furrowed, and he chuckled back, "Of course, Riku-san—why wouldn't I be?"
She just shook her head, "No, no…" She scooted nearer to him on the bench and looked him full in the face, deep brown eyes obviously masking the worry her heart held. "Are you really alright?" She laid a trembling hand on his arm. "Niwa-kun…you know what I mean…"
Indeed, he did know what she meant, and the sudden realization made him turn away his eyes in reluctance to answer. He pondered for a moment: was he okay now?
"…I won't pretend I understand what happened between you and…and Dark…because I don't understand what it was like…but I want to…so will you tell me—some day?"
Slowly a warm smile crept across his features. "As long as Riku-san is here…then I'm fine." He nodded, as if to reinforce the statement. "I'm alright now. You don't have to worry about me—and I'll tell you one day, if you want," he finished on a softer note. Sighing contentedly, she leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder.
And for the first time in a long time, he wasn't afraid of transforming.
The next few minutes passed in blissful silence as the two simply listened and rested, aware of the other's comforting presence, until finally the bright artificial light ahead made it known that the ride was almost over. The white swan cart slowed to a halt, and Daisuke played the gentleman and helped her back up onto the platform. Picking up their bags again, they were about to wander off to some other area of the carnival, when a look of recollection flashed across the elder twin's face. "Ah! Right!" she exclaimed, then turned to Daisuke and leaned forward, landing a light kiss square on his right cheek.
"R—Riku-san!" he exclaimed in a combined tone of embarrassment and confusion, his facial hue mirroring the ripening strawberries on Riku's plant, and looked to her for an explanation; she merely giggled playfully.
"Well, it was the Tunnel of Love! I thought a kiss was well merited!"
"Risa—I'm gonna take a bath now, alright?" Riku called, poking her head out the bathroom door, addressing the figure seated on the bed which was poring over a book. Risa nodded, not looking up, and her sister retreated into the bathroom to take a nice long bubble bath. After ten minutes of sitting through a few horribly off-tune strains of a childhood melody which Riku thought was perfect bath-time singing fodder, Risa slammed the book shut, frustrated, and decided she'd try some of the tea from the downstairs restaurant.
She generously tipped the cashier for the beverage and wandered into the main entryway, headed for the lounge. The evening at the carnival—following the escapade which resulted in her and Hiwatari-kun nearly being arrested for sneaking into the show—had been quite enjoyable. Riku and Daisuke had obviously had a profitable evening, judging from their bags, and she wouldn't say the time spent with Satoshi had been a complete drag, but had actually been pretty fun. There were certainly sides to that boy she'd never noticed before!
Blowing across the surface of the steaming drink to cool it off, it was only until she was nearly into the lounge proper that she noticed a lone figure seated on one of the couches, staring deep into the flames which danced upon the hearth before them. She hesitated a moment, then without a word she took a seat caddy-corner from him, so that she too might look at the fire.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? The fire…" Satoshi, apparently, hadn't even registered her arrival, for he looked up suddenly, startled, when she spoke. "An amazing element…it feels like it's not made of anything but heat and light, the way it moves and dances, never in the same place twice. So…so…" She closed her eyes and searched her mind for an appropriate adjective, "Evanescent. Yes, so temporal… But without it there wouldn't be any permanence, see? No life, no warmth, no humanity. Without the fire, we'd all still be sitting around in cold dark huts, regretting our own existence. And even if it hurts us, if it burns us, even if it kills us, we'll always come back to it, because it is our warmth…"
She paused here and looked up from the hypnotic flames, suddenly noticing that he'd been staring at her the whole time, with a look of utter speechlessness plastered on his face. She laughed an embarrassed apology, "Ah—s-sorry! I…I guess I was rambling there, I got carried away. Riku says I can get too philosophical sometimes, so I try not to do it at school…I've probably bored you…"
"N-no!" Satoshi interrupted, breathless. "No—it was…very enjoyable, actually. I've never heard something as simple as fire explained quite like that…"
She smiled, somewhat relieved. "I tend to…babble a bit when I talk about things I'm passionate about…and fire—well, fire is passion, you know?" Satoshi's eyes turned downward. "…What about you, Hiwatari-kun? Don't you have anything you're passionate about?"
Keeping his eyes averted, he paused in thought for a moment, then replied slowly with conviction, "My…freedom. Life. Mine…I guess those are things I'm passionate about, you could say." Eschewing a verbal response, she merely nodded and scooted a bit closer to the fire. She held her arms full out in front of her, and here Satoshi noticed that though it was chilly in the lounge area, she wore only a thin short-sleeved shirt. Tiny raised goosebumps began to populate the surface of her smooth skin.
He pursed his lips into a thin line, adopting the manner of an adult chiding a small child. With a half-annoyed/half-embarrassed expression, he removed the thin jacket he'd been wearing, folded it up, and shoved it towards Risa. Caught off guard, she stared down at it blankly for a moment, blinking stupidly.
Then, "Ah—oh, no! No, really, it's alright, I'm fine!" He cocked his head with a knowing look and gestured towards her arms.
"Your mouth doesn't quite agree with your skin—just take it, I only had it on because I was walking outside a few minutes ago." Blushing, she hesitantly took the proffered coat and prepared to draw it over her shoulders—though she wouldn't admit it, she was a bit chilly.
As she pulled it on, though, her fingers brushed lightly over the back of it, and she started. "Ara?" Turning the material over to view it more quickly, she ran a hand over what appeared to be two hole torn through the coat's backing, carefully stitched over, yet already ripping from the lack of care and attention paid to the repaired spots. At her small exclamation, Satoshi looked up and followed her eyes to what had caught her attentions, then gasped sharply, unable to mask it.
The quick intake of air called Risa back to him, and she looked up—he could practically read the thoughts coursing through her mind, and not one of them was good. Once again he looked away, hoping that perhaps she'd take the hint and not say anything.
No such luck.
She delicately fingered the stray threads for another moment, brows furrowing, before she spoke again. "Did it hurt…when he came out?"
Satoshi didn't say anything at first, but stood abruptly in his place, with his hands fisted at his sides, shaking with unexpressed rage and frustration. "…Every time," he managed to speak, voice quavering, then turned away and darted out the front doors into the snow, leaving Risa behind, calling him back.
She chased him out over the hotel grounds into a field on the western edge of the hotel's plot of land, which was covered in snowdrifts. Fifty yards in she began to tire, could feel the cold air burning her oxygen-deprived lungs, and was on the verge of fainting from the exertion when he suddenly stopped in front of her—perhaps weary as well. He would not turn and face her, but merely stood in place, ice-blue head bowed into his chest, body taut as a bowstring ready to shoot off again. "Hiwa…Hiwatari-kun…" she gasped out between breaths as she struggled to pull more oxygen into her lungs, but got no response—rather, he seemed to actually tighten up more. "…I'm…I'm sorr—"
"NO!" he shouted violently, and whipped his head around, eyes wide and shaking with anger, a far cry from the gentle ones he'd had a mere moment before when they'd been seated before the fire. "No—don't you ever say that about this. Ever." He clenched a single fist to his chest. "I don't want your pity, I don't want your 'I'm sorry's, and I don't want your sympathy! Because you absolutely cannot sympathize with me! If I ever want someone to feel sorry for me, I'll call up Niwa—at least he understands what it's like. But not you. Never you." He was breathing harder now, and without warning he sank down onto one know and pounded the stubbly snow-covered ground angrily. Risa could do nothing but look on in awkward, shocked silence.
"That fire of yours, back there, Harada…I'm completely different from it. Completely." He looked up at her again, eyes now a bit less wild and dancing than before, and began to speak more softly. "Do you know…my real name, Harada?" Her brows knit together in confusion, and she began to say, "Hiwatari," but he stopped her with a held-up hand before she was half-way through the name and shook his head, a wry smile inching over his lips as he shook his head.
"No, that's just the name my adoptive father gave me—it's not my real name. I was born Hikari Satoshi, newest addition to a great family of artists…and heir to its fate. You said that fire was warm, inviting…alive. But I…I am nothing more than a cold ice hunter, forever seeking the deep frigid darkness where the light can't get to me. I swore upon my life to kill the fire before it killed me…I failed…" He shoved his hands into his pockets, "How much more different can two things be?" Finding she had no response to his question, Risa lowered her head submissively.
Turning, he began to walk back towards the hotel, and a light flurry began to drift down silently from the dark heavens. "W—wait!" He didn't stop. "Hiwata—Hika—Satoshi…kun…" She struggled momentarily with his name, and he actually did stop at this, but still refused to face her; sighing, she gathered her strength to speak, fearing she wouldn't be able to get him to listen to her again.
"…You should just be yourself, see? Whoever you are, that's who you are, and you shouldn't try and be anyone different, because you can't. Even if you hate who you are, what you are, it's stupid to try and change your fate, because it isn't natural to go against it, if it's fire, ice, or anything. Hiwatari-kun is Hikari-kun, and…I may not understand you…but I will, at least, try…if you let me."
His breath caught in his throat, and he turned to peer at her from the corner of one eye. Her cheeks flushed prettily with a rosy red color, stained by the biting cold December air, and her long brown hair was blowing about in the stinging wind like a single sheet of chocolate silk. Returning his gaze to the ground, he waited a moment after her speech was done, then suggested they return, waiting for her to walk ahead of him into the hotel.
"Hiwatari-kun is Hikari-kun, and…I may not understand you…but I will, at least, try…if you let me."
Moments later they passed through the revolving doors into the warm entryway of the main-foyer, the check-in area, and trudged silently to the stairway which Risa had to ascend in order to reach her room—Riku was no doubt fuming silently wondering just where her twin had run off to. Pausing at the foot of the steps, she removed the jacket from her shoulders and shook off the bit of snow which had accumulated on it while the two were outside, then hesitantly handed it back to him, rushing out a quiet, "Th—thank you…Satoshi-kun…" Bringing her right foot up to the second step, she began to climb, when he suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist, holding her in place, and she gave a slight startled gasp.
His mind was a chaotic mess, impossible to sort out, with wild thoughts running to and fro, all over. This feeling…when she spoke his name with that voice…was this was Niwa felt, when he changed? He knew from his studies that it was this Harada which had started it all, had been the catalyst from the very beginning, and knew also that it had shifted to the other one near the end—but the feeling itself would have stayed the same, no matter who triggered it.
For Satoshi, though, the change was…different—to say the least. His was always spurred on by some sharp outcropping of anger or a violent tendency on his mental landscape, followed by the acidic flood of fury, a thirst for the death of the Niwa line which had been ingrained in his mind from the moment he was old enough to comprehend "death"—which was very young, indeed, in the Hikari household. In his blood ran the desire to right what was wronged, to blot from existence that which should never have been given life in the first place: Dark. That was what he felt, every time Krad knocked on the door to his mind; hate, anger, fear, a yearning for justice, for retribution. It was the Niwas' fault, make the Niwas pay.
But Daisuke…no, he never felt anything like that when he changed, did he? Instead, his "curse" hardly deserved that categorization, as it was triggered by love. He felt only the soft pitter-patter jump his heart would take when Risa looked his way, or when Riku smiled at him—that was his trigger, his fate.
So…what was this he was feeling? His chest constricted, but it was…not an unpleasant feeling. He would admit it had certainly caught him off guard, though, and was not all that comfortable with that. Looking into her eyes now, though, he was relieved: no longer were they tainted with the fear and confusion from the field.
"Risa…thank you…"
Truthfully, it was more of a statement of realization than of actual gratitude, as if he suddenly comprehended that he actually had something to be thankful for. Risa blinked for a moment, then opened her mouth to respond, when the very last thing she would expect to happen did.
Satoshi cut her off, leaned forward quickly, and captured her mouth in a kiss—a very soft, very slow kiss, but definitely a kiss. Without even the courage to make a squeak or ponder his reasoning, she plunged herself into darkness and closed her eyes, surrendering to the confusion. Yet through it all, she found herself able to note tiny details—ones she wouldn't later be able to recall, though: how cold his lips from being outside were upon hers, but how warm it made her feel inside; how she'd never been this close to anyone but Dark before, and how stark a contrast he and Satoshi were; how he was the last person she would have thought would try this, yet how little she cared—it was enough that it was happening.
The two held their awkward posture on the staircase for a moment before slowly parting, then both lit up like stop-lights upon realizing the position they were in, and what had just happened between them. Stuttering out a hurried, "G-good night!" Risa darted up the remaining stairs into her room. Satoshi watched her leave, stalled in the same position with shock, before regaining his senses and stuffing his hands into his pockets, ambling back to his own room with Daisuke.
"…but I will, at least, try…if you let me."
Post-chapter Notes: Well, the flashback scene was too long to fit into one chapter, so don't worry, this is far from the end of the "Twenty Years" bit. Also, regarding the Satoshi/Risa parts: This isn't me going, "Aah! I love this pairing!" or anything really, it's mostly just for the purpose of the fic. If you like that pairing, then I hope you enjoy the romance! If not, well, then, just bear with me, it'll be over soon ^_^. Once again, thanks to everyone who's been reading so far, and don't worry—there's more to come!—sage
