Author's Notes: GASP! What's this?! You mean…she REALLY finished that frigging long flashback!? Wait! Where is the hellfire, the brimstone, all the signs of the apocalypse, for surely the end of the world hath come!
Alright, here's your chapter, you people who are so eager for more Dark and Daiichi cuteness, end of flashback and all. Enjoy ^_^.
"Ah, Riku! It's great!" Harada Risa all but squealed as she took in the whole of the room they were occupying at the moment. "And at such a low price too!"
"I know! We saw it advertised just a few days ago, it was almost too good to be true; I practically had to force Daisuke-kun to call the realtor—he thought it was a scam! But now that I see it, I still can't believe it…" The sisters wandered around the room, heels clacking loudly on the hardwood floors as their eyes ran up the long walls to the tall ceiling overhead, eventually falling away to the large stone fireplace, everything bright with sunshine streaming in through the windows. "Our first house!"
"Won't it be nice to finally get out of that guest bedroom back at Niwa-kun's?" Risa reminded her sister, "Ah, I can't wait to see this place all decked out! Have you decided what you're going to put where?"
"Yes! I have the perfect floor plan already set up. You see…"
Hiwatari Satoshi yawned loudly and quickly tuned out the girls' idle chatter. Whatever obscure fields his interests might lie in, home décor was not one of them. A sofa was a sofa, and if you asked him it didn't matter where you put it, someone would sit on it if they were tired enough. It would not be more comfortable in the corner as opposed to along a wall, so what did it matter?
This was perhaps explanation enough for the state of his apartment, which Risa could only describe as, "…Eew, Satoshi-kun…" Ever the subtle one, that girl was.
The three were currently standing in the middle of what would eventually be the living room of the new single bedroom home Niwa Daisuke and Riku had just bought. The twins were, of course, chattering away discussing which piece of furniture would go where, unnerving Satoshi, while Daisuke was busy with some mundane task in the kitchen. He silently prayed that the boy would return soon and relieve him of the pressure of being the only male in a room positively bursting with estrogen.
In an effort to distract himself, he shuffled away from the twins towards the large fireplace and cocked a head as he stared into the grate. As it was wont to do, his mind wandered away, pondering what memories might be made by the newlyweds in front of this fireplace.
In his mind's eye, scenes flashed in quick succession before he could register them as coherent thoughts, ephemeral as shooting stars. A candlelit dinner for two on the eve of the New Year…Niwa seated, penitent, before a canvas, smiling contentedly as he put the finishing touches on another masterpiece, with his wife peering over his shoulder, congratulating him with a chaste kiss on the cheek…a Christmas morning, with a child ripping open packages with feverish haste, exactly how he might have pictured a young Daisuke…
So many images, so many potential memories…images and memories he wished he could have the chance to participate in. He laid a hand on the mantle and leaned forward slightly. Riku's voice cut the air as she suddenly remembered something and rushed from the room into some other area of the empty house, leaving Risa and Satoshi alone. The younger twin's eye fell on him over by the fireplace and she wandered over.
"Brooding again?" she playfully tested, taking his hand in hers, and he quickly turned around, the images fading from his mind as his mask fell back into place.
Slowly he shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, it's…it's just that…I'm happy for them, you know? For Niwa. He…he deserves some happiness in his life, and I'm glad that he's finally accepted the fact that he can be happy this way."
Cocking her head, Risa chided, "Hey, don't you go all, 'Niwa Niwa Niwa' on me now. You're saying that as if you yourself don't deserve any happiness—and you do." Clutching his arm closer, she laid her head on it and pulled him away from the fireplace and any images he might have seen there. "More than I can say, you do deserve a chance to get over the past, just like Niwa-kun's doing. So the only one keeping it from you is you. Now—" She stopped and turned around, facing him, and straightened his shirt, "—put on a smile and let's go. Niwa-kun's taking us all out to dinner tonight to celebrate selling that new piece of his you were showcasing down at the museum." She began walking into the kitchen, pondering aloud, "What was its name again…?"
Dutifully, he supplied, "Menou was the title, I believe."
"Yeah! That's it!"
It was night, it was December, it was freezing, and Hiwatari Satoshi was late! His feet slapped loudly on the concrete as he jogged across campus, late from his final lecture of the evening. Glasses bouncing around on the bridge of his nose, nearly falling off a few times, he clutched a sheaf of loose papers fiercely in one arm, while with the other he maintained a firm grip on his briefcase. His lecture on, of all subjects, the Cultural Revolution had gone wonderfully—almost too well, as curious students overflowing with questions regarding the mysteries surrounding the event kept him a half hour late. He'd thought forty-five minutes would be plenty of time to allow him to get across campus in time to greet Risa as she exited her 7:30 class, but apparently he'd failed to factor in post-lecture questions.
No longer enrolled in his single-semester elective class, Harada Risa had finally settled into a major over in the Human Resources department of campus—as bubbly and social as she was, this seemed the perfect career field. She'd study and specialize in something like sales, the specifics of which she had many choices—perhaps even the wedding organizer job she'd pondered a month prior.
He slowed down in front of the dilapidated offices of the Human Resource Department and allowed himself to finally catch his breath, arranging his things more neatly. Swiftly he shoved the sheaf of papers into his pack and proceeded to sling it around his shoulder, but just as he finished, a pair of glass double doors flew open, spewing students out into the chilly night air. Among this flood of bodies was a petite brunette, chatting excitedly with an unknown blonde at her right, oblivious of Satoshi for the moment.
At length, though, the unmistakable presence of a tall pale stranger was noted by Risa, who donned a sheepish smile as she pulled away from her friends. What a turn-around this was! Here he was, never one to initiate anything, waiting for her outside her class rather than the other way around as it usually was.
"Well well, what brings the professor all the way over to this side of campus? Quite a ways from the Archaeology Department, aren't you?"
He replied in mock offense, "What, can't I walk you back to your room every now and then?"
She smiled and replied lightly, "And escape suspicion-free? Not a chance."
Blushing pink under her curious gaze, he turned to face forward again, "Well, I just…just…felt like it…" he finished in a small voice, eyes falling to the ground as he continued to walk straight ahead. He tucked his chin closer to his chest in a failed effort to hide his face in the shadows cast upon him by the moon.
Risa stopped suddenly and stared at his form, back turned to her, strangely. "Satoshi-kun…" He too stopped upon hearing her footsteps behind him slow to a halt, but her grin merely widened, and she laughed, "You are a strange one." She then rushed forward and took up his hand as she pulled him ahead with her. "So walk me home, that's why you came!"
The next ten minutes drifted by in silence as the two ambled slowly along a park sidewalk towards the women's dormitories. One block ahead, the old stone building Risa lived in rose up to meet the two, and Risa turned her head slightly to the left, peering at the man walking beside her out of the corner of her eye as subtly as possible—quite a feat indeed for her. The moonlight was streaming down as if a cascading waterfall of light, unhindered by the few foreboding clouds lingering nearby. Looking upon him this way, it was all but impossible for anyone to tell where the beams of moonlight ended and where this Hikari boy's pale alabaster skin began, for he all but glowed, giving off the aura of a demigod walking beside her, treading across the unworthy ground.
Risa quickly turned her face back forward and lowered her eyes as her pace slowed, until she'd come to a complete stop. Slowing down with her, Satoshi was pulled away from his thoughts, and queried what was wrong.
She shook her head as if to wave it off as nothing, then her hand fell from his, limp at her side, "Satoshi-kun…doesn't it feel like…" She trailed off, her voice inaudible, and his eyes narrowed slightly in concern.
"Like what, Harada?"
"Like…" Her hands clenched into tight little fists—his voice, it was concerned, but that was only because he hadn't heard her clearly, it wasn't because he felt what she felt at that moment. It wasn't because he understood. "Nevermind…it's nothing, just me." As if putting an end to the conversation and moving on to another topic, she physically began to move forward as well, leaving him standing behind her, until he suddenly reached a cold hand out and snatched the tail of her long coat, halting her in her place.
"What…what was that about?" His tone was at once both confused and slightly offended, though through it could not be missed the undercurrent of worry that spiked at her strange behavior. This Harada was never one to keep things bottled up inside—it was all but physically impossible for the girl to keep quiet about something that was bothering her, he'd been around her long enough to realize that. "What were you going to say? 'Doesn't it feel like…' what?"
Still she kept quiet, and he reached around and gripped both of her arms, forcing her to stand in front of him and face him, refusing to let her simply walk away. "Like what, Harada?"
Slowly she raised her head, and in all the years he'd known her, this was the first time he'd seen her show him this face: her cheeks were flushed, not from the wind though, and a thin film of tears covered her deep brown eyes, making them shimmer in the moonlight. When she spoke, it was not in her usual cheery voice, but with a tone that suggested this was something he should have known. "Doesn't it feel like…we're stagnating here, Satoshi-kun? That's what I was going to ask you. Don't you feel like we're just doing the same things over and over, day in, day out? Neither of us getting any closer to the other, having lunch together, sometimes walking home together, visiting Niwa-kun and Riku together, but…not moving forward…together?"
His brows knit over bottomless blue eyes, marring his face with worry, "Harada…?"
She shook her head again, though this time it was in a manner that almost seemed as if she was trying to humor some naïve child that was having trouble grasping a concept she'd been diligently explaining, and laid a palm gently on his cheek. "Satoshi-kun…we can't keep doing this—it's not helping either one of us to be stuck in this loop, not with our whole lives ahead of us, waiting to be lived…We can't—"
But she could not continue to say what it was the two couldn't do, because her lips were suddenly occupied in a forceful kiss initiated by Satoshi. It was searing, it was sudden, it was…new. This kiss was not gentle as their first had been, a stolen one exchanged at the carnival on the staircase, nor was it filled with the joy and excitement of their surroundings as when they'd posed for a picture at Riku's and Daisuke's wedding after they'd caught the bouquet and garter. This time, it was hurried, rushed, almost…desperate. It seemed to serve little purpose beyond silencing Risa before she voiced her rash decision to break off their relationship, as it appeared she had been trying to do moments before.
"Don't you dare…" he breathed in a throaty voice against her lips as he slowly pulled away, resting his forehead on hers, eyes boring into hers. "Stagnating? Is that what you call this? You see Niwa and your sister, then you look at us—they're married, they've just bought a house together, his work is selling wonderfully, so we're stagnating?" Mere inches from her own, his eyes seemed a bit wild, and he had to force himself to get a grip on his emotions, pulling away and releasing her from his spell at last. In a very small voice that seemed to summon his whole strength, he muttered, "It's not as if I wouldn't like to be closer to you…"
Now it was her turn to eye him curiously and press him with, "…What?"
He repeated with conviction, eyes not once leaving hers, "It's not as if I wouldn't like to be closer to you. You've pulled me this far—I'm not one to give up so easily. Do you remember, Harada, when I asked you years ago if you liked me?" She nodded slowly. "And do you also remember, when I asked you why you liked me?" A follow-up nod. "And you said it was because…"
He trailed off, and she picked up, "…Because…you fascinated me."
"Did I ever tell you…why I accepted that? Why I allowed myself to return those feelings, rather than once again to push you away?" Here he raised a hand and brushed a stray hair from her cheek, palm lingering on the wind-burned flesh. "Did I ever tell you…why I liked you?"
Her eyes widened slightly, and she somehow found the strength to now shake her head. "No, I didn't, did I? You never let me. It was enough for you that someone you cared for returned your feelings, never mind the reasoning, wasn't it? I had been alone all that time and was finally opening up myself to another—that, too, was enough for you, wasn't it? But…that wasn't enough for me.
"Harada, you were and still are the most naïve, unworldly, single-minded female I know—and I say female because Niwa has surpassed you to become the most naïve, unworldly, single-minded person I know. I could leap the length of your attention span when it comes to topics which don't interest you, and I'm still trying to decide between you and Niwa's mother on which is the more…how can I put this gently… bubbly.
"But…all of that is what makes you the person you are today, Harada Risa." She started, for it was the first time he'd ever actually called her by her first name, and her heart gave a little jump as a tremor ran up the length of her spine. "I would take all those traits and more, good and bad, if I could just once hear you tell me again to 'Stop brooding,' or simply to see you smile at some strange quirk you seem to find in me. No matter how much I wanted to slip back into the darkness back then, you absolutely refused to let me, even after you found out what I was. When you saw me in front of that fire, you could have taken your tea and climbed those stairs up to your own room, yet you instead came and held a civil conversation with someone who only thought of you as 'that annoying girl who hung around Dark'."
"That's how you saw me?!" she interrupted in mock anger, blushing lightly, and he smiled softly at the outburst, glad to see her somewhat returned to her normal state.
"There is so much more depth to you than I'd thought…that it scared me at first. So many things I'd taken at face value only to have them transform into something more than I ever could have hoped they'd be. I'd wanted Niwa to simply be a clumsy fool whose own kindness would be his destruction. I'd wanted Krad to be merely a means to an end, a quick and easy way to capture Dark and fulfill my duty as the last remaining member of the Hikari clan. You…well, I don't know that I'd wanted you to be anything special, truthfully. Just to sit there, quiet, living happily in your own little world, completely oblivious to the fact that there were more things in heaven and earth than your mind could ever comprehend…and there you went and turned me all around again.
"You and Niwa…I thank you."
He pulled his hand back and slowly tucked it into an interior coat pocket and pulled out an item to show her. "The very last one…" he spoke softly: it was a white feather, almost identical to the pinion Risa herself kept locked away in a drawer at home. He brought it to his lips and laid a single kiss on the vein, then placed it in her palm and wrapped her fingers around it.
"Now…everything…everything of my old life…belongs to you. I hold nothing for myself."
He paused for a moment, then remarked, "Today was St. White's Day, Risa, did you know that?" At the sudden change in topic, she was a bit startled, but nodded slowly. "Something white…for the person you love…and then, snow will come, or so the spell goes. Me…I've always thought that magic…should never meddle in the affairs of love, but some things can't be helped, I suppose…"
He raised a hand to the heavens, drawing her gaze, and she looked up, momentarily blinded by the moon's brightness until something soft and wet landed gently on her eye, causing her to rub a glove over her face, trying to blink it away: a single snowflake. More followed, until the entire night sky seemed lit up with the moonlight dancing from glittering flake to glittering flake. She turned her gaze back to him.
"For so long…" He clutched his chest with one hand, "There's been this hole in my heart…A void he made when he left. Even though I hated him so much, I never wanted to admit it, but he was a part of me, no matter how hated a part. And when that part was cut off and sealed away, he did take some piece of me with him, and just like with Niwa…it hurt…" Eyes as cold and frozen as the arctic could not hide the tension which burned in his heart.
"Harada Risa…will you help me fill the void?" A pause, and the world slowed. "Will you marry me?"
Whoa…mental step back! "M—marry?" Risa whispered, voice tenuous as a spider's web, threatening to break and spill out all the emotions running wild inside her at the moment. She searched his face as she processed the question, seeking some clue as to whether or not he could really be serious before reminding herself that this was Satoshi-kun: he's always serious.
But right now…right now, behind that usual cool exterior of his, she could almost feel him shaking inside, nervous…afraid. Had he really meant to do this tonight—no, surely not! It had to have been just some rash gesture brought on by her nearly leaving him! Had he changed so much since they'd met that he would make this kind of life-altering decision so suddenly?
Her questions and wondering, though, were halted when his voice cut the air, floating on the currents like the snowflakes wafting down from the heavens about them. "You're wondering at my motives…it isn't wrong of you…I'm wondering at them too. But, I know this, and it is enough for me: you found me first, when I wasn't even looking for you. And now that I've finally realized that it's you who I needed, I…don't want to let you go…
"It's…selfish, I know it is, looking at it. But that kind of person, I would walk though Hell to be with…and I have walked through it. So now…I'm scared. So scared. Because, you don't understand—I've never been scared before, not really scared, not like this! Afraid of losing something, someone…I'm afraid, because it's become so natural, being with you.
"Having lunch with you, walking home with you, visiting Niwa and your sister together…and I want…to move on…together…but I'm afraid, that by wanting to do so, I'll lose you—"
"You won't!" she interrupted firmly and snatched up both his hands in hers, "Never! It's not selfish, and it's alright to be scared—but not because of me, because I'll never leave you! You will not run me off, you will not scare me off, and I'll stay by you—yes! I'll marry you, Hiwatari Satoshi!"
Two Weeks Later…
Niwa Riku idly thumbed through the mail as she strolled into the kitchen, depositing the few bills into a specifically labeled receptacle before slumping into a chair at the table, sifting through the rest. Postcard from her parents—this time they were in Turkmenistan—advertisements, junk mail, just the usual.
Beneath all the unwanted and unneeded junk mail was another postcard, but before she could examine it further, she looked up at her husband who was hovering over a pan of simmering vegetables, "Risa hasn't called lately, has she?"
Turning around to face her he shook his head, "And winter vacation's almost over, isn't it? Harada-san didn't say where she was going?"
It was now his wife's turn to shake her head in worry as she looked back down at the pile of letters she held in her hand. "No…I mean, I know she's an adult now, perfectly capable of handling herself in the real world—and if she wants to run off somewhere for the week, then that's her decision, but still…I would've liked for her to at least have told me where she was going. All she said was that she was going out of town for a few days and would call when she got back in. Didn't even give me a chance to ask where…"
Daisuke turned his attentions back to his cooking now, shifting the onions around a bit, which let out a loud sizzle and smoked as they contacted the pan. "Have you checked with Hiwatari-kun? Chances are he'd probably know where she was better than anyone else but you."
She tossed a few magazines into the trash and began flipping through the remaining bits. "I don't—" she began, but dropped off, and her husband turned around curiously. In her hand was the final piece of mail: a postcard—not from her parents, from the look of it. On the back side was printed an image taken of a carnival completely lit up at night, gleaming brightly from across a snow-covered plain: the Midwinter Carnival the four friends had frequented in the past.
"…Riku-san? What is it?" His wife's face grew pale, all the color draining from it as she flipped it over and read. "Riku-san?" At this, he quickly turned off the heat and rushed over to see what had caused her pallor. Peering over her shoulder, he read aloud, "'Hey guys, weather's awful down here, but the company's great. Riku—now we're even. Next challenge: Who'll be the first to have a baby? Love, Hiwatari Risa and Satoshi, P.S. Satoshi-kun and I are determined to win this one.'"
After a moment of silence, the two turned to one another, blinking stupidly, unable to completely process exactly what had they had just read. "Hiwatari…Risa?!"
"You mean…they…Hiwatari-kun…and Harada-san…"
Riku slapped her forehead, "Except she's not 'Harada-san' anymore…" Resting her aching head in her palms as she leaned onto the table, she continued, "Of all the people in the world…they were the last two I would've expected to ELOPE!"
Upon their return, the new Hiwatari couple was bombarded with questions—mostly from the female half of the Niwa couple. Riku snatched away Risa as soon as she got in touch with her once the newlyweds had returned home, and grilled her with just how this had all transpired. Risa, though, always the garrulous one, had no problem excitedly spilling the details of just how the proposal had gone, how Satoshi wasn't one for a big wedding bash, and how they'd decided to simply elope and get married at the Mid-Winter Carnival, since it was, after all, where they'd had their first kiss.
"That's so…romantic!" Riku beamed as her sister finished the tale over a cup of tea at a local eatery, and Risa couldn't help but giggle an agreement. "You couldn't tell from just looking at Hiwatari-kun that he could be that way—it's just like with Daisuke-kun!"
"I know!" Risa added, "That only makes them cuter though!"
"So, what're you two going to do now?" Riku pressed, taking another sip of her tea, and Risa smiled smugly.
"Satoshi-kun's apartment's more than big enough for two people, so I'm moving out of the dormitory before the new semester starts. He's got his job down at the museum still, showing off Niwa-kun's works, and I'll be finishing up in the spring since the Human Resources Department requires less credit hours for a degree than other departments. After that…hmm, who knows? I've got a few contacts already set up for meetings, everything's looking great! Oh, Riku! It's just—just—"
"Too good to be true, isn't it?" her sister remarked softly, and Risa nodded, "I feel that way too…with Daisuke-kun…It's almost like I'm afraid that none of this ever happened. That maybe this is some dream that seems to have spanned years, but really I'll just wake up and I'll still be in middle school, and he'll just be Niwa-kun again…but deep down, I know it's real—and that's what makes it all the more precious. We're here, Risa—we finally made it, to the life we've been dreaming about! With husbands we love, friends who love us, our whole lives ahead of us, just waiting to be lived! It's here, it's now! It's…it's…"
"Amazing…" Risa finished, and her twin couldn't help but agree.
The beginning of the end of his happiness was not sudden. It did not arrive with banners and sirens announcing its arrival, but rather crept in undetected, while all were unawares. It insinuated itself in his household like a long-awaited guest, making itself at home, still unnoticed. Looking back, anyone would agree that there really was nothing which could have been done to stop it, so furtive was the "happening". This, however, did nothing to make it easier for him accept.
Hiwatari Satoshi was down at the museum for his evening shift. Niwa Daisuke was at his studio, engaged in the last-minute touch-ups of his newest piece, Elliot, for the following week's showing. So their wives, being wives, got together that night for dinner, a movie, and of course—gossip.
"And he snores too! But, no—listen, it's not really loud or an annoying sound actually, it's kind of this cute little whine, like his throat isn't opened all the way and it's just barely forcing the air out, it's so adorable! What about Hiwatari-kun?"
"Satoshi-kun? He sleeps like the dead! Not a peep will you hear from him once he's out—though, granted, he is usually quite worn out by the time I let him go to sleep—"
"Risa!" her sister exclaimed in mock horror, and the younger twin giggled, displaying a slightly devious expression.
"Oh come on Riku! We're married women! We can talk about things like that now—how else do you think this happened?" She gestured to her protruding midsection proudly, of which her shirt was having a hard time keeping covered. Nearly seven months prior, their little group had been rocked with the revelation that yes, the Hiwataris had won the unspoken contest between the two couples: Risa was pregnant.
By the time May—and graduation—had rolled around, it was becoming startlingly obvious to any onlooker that the younger twin's stomach was starting to protrude just slightly, and between then and now—late July—she'd ballooned. Risa, being Risa, though, simply used this as an excuse to go shopping, and off she'd dragged her sister.
"I can't believe it…in just two months…I'm going to be a mother—and you're going to be an aunt! Auntie Riku!"
Her sister smiled and laid a hand on Risa's. "A mother…think about it Risa…a child of your own, to love and care for…you'll get to watch it grow up, go to school, see it living the life you lived not too long ago, hear it cry, hear it laugh, tuck it in at night, get hugs from it…I mean, I always felt kind of mad that Mama and Papa were always away, when we needed them most, but when I think about what it means to have a child…I think I pity them more than anything, because they didn't get that from us. Ne?" Risa squeezed her hand back.
"I understand that, Riku…" The two lapsed into silence as Risa slowly rose and half-walked, half-waddled into the kitchen, refilling her glass and leaning onto the counter, taking a moment to catch her breath. Man, if pregnancy always felt like this, no wonder her mother had stopped after having her and Riku. She was almost out of breath from a simple walk across the room and up a step into the kitchen area.
"Risa?" her sister called from the living room, twisting on the couch to see her better, "You alright?" The deep panting could be heard from across the room, but the worry was waved off as the mother-to-be slowly made her way back to the couch and slumped into it, all but exhausted.
"I'm fine, I'm fine…"
"…Are you sure? You look a little pale—do you need some aspirin or something? Daisuke-kun keeps a bottle in the cabinet in the bathroom, I can go get some for you—"
"No, really, I'm perfectly fine!" She made a fist as if to prove her strength, "Good to go. Now—" She leaned over and reached into her bag and pulled out two very large, very thick books and slammed them down on the coffee table with considerable effort, "—help me pick out a name!"
He didn't get the message until nearly one in the morning, when he was dragging his tired body into the apartment, eyelids sagging with exhaustion as he crawled into his bedroom. Peeling back the covers while sinking into sleep, though, he couldn't miss the unmistakable absence of another warm body on the other side. Where was his wife?
Sleep dropping in priority for the moment, he blinked in the darkness, trying to focus on her side—she was most definitely not in their bed. Had he perhaps missed her sleeping on the living room couch? A quick check of the den assured him that this wasn't the case, for in the empty room only the television flashed an infomercial silently, temporarily blinding him. He flipped on lights, even called her name, to no avail—she didn't appear to be in the house at all. Where on earth could she be at such an hour?
He padded in socked feet over to the phone to call up her sister in the hopes that they'd gone out that night and she'd simply slept over, when the blinking red light of the answering machine caught his eye. Frowning, he pressed the play button.
"You have one unheard message. First message," the monotone female voice spoke loudly over the receiver. After a moment, though, this voice was replaced by a more frantic, more urgent crackling one: Niwa's. "Hiwatari-kun? Hiwatari-kun! If you're there, pick up now." A pause, as he no doubt waited to see if Satoshi was there, "Alright, you must still be on your shift—I couldn't get through to the museum, though. Listen, it's 11:45 right now, just—as soon as you get this message get down to the Azumano Hospital downtown, and hurry. It's Risa-san, she—just hurry, Hiwatari-kun!"
But Satoshi did not hear the end of the message; he was already in his car, squealing out of his driveway.
The hospital was not crowded by any means—as it was such a late (or was that early?) hour, most of the patients had by now been settled into beds for the night or sent home, healthy once more. The only staff on hand was the meager night crew of a few doctors, nurses, and desk officials. So the sight of a wild eyed man bursting through the door in the dead of night and scrambling up to the desk demanding to know where "Hiwatari Risa" was being treated was a bit startling to say the least.
"Sir, please calm down or I'm going to have a lot more trouble locating her—Hiwatari, you said?" He nodded, breathing heavily, and the woman behind the counter thumbed through a few pages before her finger settled on his wife's name, "They have her as being assigned to room 343, but she's—" Too late. He was already sprinting down the hallway.
As he rounded a corner his eyes flashed when he sighted two familiar forms hunched over on a bench at the end of the hall. "Niwa!" he called, only to be loudly shushed by a passing nurse. Daisuke's head shot to attention and he swiftly stood to greet his friend, though his grave face was anything but glad to see him. "Niwa—what happened? I just got your message—where is she?" Daisuke's eyes fell. "Niwa? Where. Is. Risa?" He stamped out the final words in a near-growl.
Instead of answering, he merely turned to his side, by which Riku was now standing, face red from crying. "She…she called me around 11:30…" she began softly, "She was crying, saying her stomach was hurting and didn't know what to do, and her breath was short and…Daisuke-kun and I went and picked her up and drove her to the hospital as quickly as we could. And they just whisked her off and started asking us questions as soon as we got here, but we—we couldn't answer them really, we had no idea what was going on…" She trailed off, tears clouding her vision as she clung to her husband for comfort.
"They took her to surgery, Hiwatari-kun," Daisuke stated bluntly, face serious, and Satoshi's eyes widened in shock.
"S—surgery?! What's wrong with her?! You don't even know why she's here, and you just let them put her under a knife without a second thought?!" he cried.
"Hiwatari-san, I presume?" came a new voice from behind him, an older, deeper male voice. "The husband of Hiwatari Risa-san?" Satoshi whirled around, suddenly faced with a short, balding man, dressed in a long white, immaculate lab coat, and scribbling something on a clipboard. His tiny eyes seemed disproportionate to his rather round midsection, and they peered up at him from behind thin wire frames much like the ones Satoshi himself used to wear before he finally succumbed to contacts.
Stricken dumb, he could only muster the strength to nod for a few moments before snapping from his stupor. "Wh—where is she? Where is Risa?"
The doctor held up a hand to calm him, "Hiwatari-san, your wife…is being cleaned up. We just performed a Caesarian section on her—you're familiar with the procedure, I'm sure?" Satoshi nodded. "I thought as much. When she was brought in, she was suffering not only from an acute respiratory attack, but had been forced into labor, nearly one month premature. A coughing attack had rubbed raw a section of her lungs which became infected, leading to even more complications. From her medical history—" He gestured to the tablet he held, "it was apparent to us that she already had a history of respiratory problems stemming from early childhood, making her even more susceptible to these kinds of infections. Add to that the new stress of childbirth, and it was apparent that surgery was the only path to take at this juncture."
"But where is she now?"
"She's being wheeled back to her room at the moment. She's still under anesthesia right now and will not wake for some time. Once the attendants get her settled in, you may go and see her. The baby is being cared for in ICU at the moment, and we'll set her up beside the mother some time within the next few days."
The baby…he'd completely forgotten about the baby, "How…how is she?" his voice was slightly calmer now that he was sure his wife was fine.
"Both are stable—for the moment. Had the pregnancy gone on uninterrupted, I couldn't have projected a healthier pair. But your new daughter is dangerously underweight right now, and we're rushing to get her the best care possible." He gestured to room 343 to their right. "The aides should be wheeling your wife in any moment now. For now I'll have to excuse myself. If you should need anything, please have the nurses at the front desk page Yamagi-sensei. Good evening." The short doctor bowed out and turned, walking down the hall before disappearing through a set of double doors.
Satoshi stared blankly at the floor before slipping onto the cushioned bench in a coma-like state, with Daisuke and Riku hovering over him worriedly. "…Hiwatari-kun?" No reply. "Are you… going to be alright?" Still nothing. "We need to be getting back home…call us if there's any news, will you?" Again, no reply. Casting worried glances to each other, the Niwas returned home for the evening, leaving Satoshi alone with his ever-darkening thoughts.
It was starting to rain as Daisuke and Riku climbed into their car, wiping off the light drizzle that had settled onto their exposed skin, and the two made the journey home in stark silence, neither knowing quite what to say, as both were still in shock as to the evening's events.
Was this what had been bothering Risa a while back? Riku recalled now with startling clarity the few times they'd gone out to lunch together, when her sister would seem to slow for a moment, short of breath, and then wave it off as nothing. When she'd broken down in a harsh coughing fit, claiming it was simply that something she'd just eaten had gone down the wrong tube, momentarily choking her. All those times…could she have done something to stop this from happening—a premature birth and a room in the ICU, from a cough!
She closed her eyes as the car sped along the highway and leaned her forehead against the glass, recalling a conversation the sisters had had only a few days before…
"Kara!" Riku had looked up, blinking dumbly at her twin who had just shouted out the name as if having some sudden epiphany. "It'd be perfect, if the baby's a girl!"
Riku narrowed her eyes, "Wasn't that the name you gave to that ragged old rabbit of yours that Grandma Makieda gave you back when we were little?" Risa nodded brightly, greeted only with a bout of eye-rolling, "You're seriously thinking of naming your child after a stuffed bunny?"
"And why not? Kara's just as good a name as any! And it's very elegant too, the way it simply rolls off the tongue…Kara…Ka…ra…Kaaaaaaara…" She amused herself for the next five minutes by playing with the syllables in varying ways, while Riku pushed herself up and went to replenish their snacks.
"Ne…Risa…" she called from the kitchen.
"What?" she returned, idly flipping through the book of baby names once more, paying little attention to her sister.
Riku filled a cup with water and downed it in one gulp. "I…I think…"
As she faltered, Risa looked up from the book, now curious. Her elder sister had always been the one who was best at expressing herself, the more articulate of the two. And here she was stammering… "Riku? What's wrong?"
Glass of water in hand, she wandered back in, taking a seat on the far end of the couch opposite Risa. "Daisuke-kun and I…"
Risa's face twisted with worry the more her sister stalled, but after a moment she brightened with realization, "Ah, I see what's going on…"
Startled that her normally dense sister had already picked up on what Riku was trying to discuss, she stumbled over her words, "You—what? You do? But—"
"You and Niwa-kun are having trouble in bed, aren't you?"
"WHAT?!"
Risa nodded sagely, then gripped her sister's arms, speaking in a serious voice, "It's alright, Oneesama. You can talk to me about this—I'm here for you, that's what sisters are for! And…if you and Niwa-kun are…well, having less than stellar performances at night, I want to help you through this. I mean, if you need some tips or something, I'm sure Satoshi-kun would be more than happy to—"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!"
"Really, it's not that big a deal, Riku! All couples go through something like this at some point in their relationship, and you and Niwa-kun are no exce—"
"I SAID THAT'S NOT IT!"
"Riku," her sister chided, "Stop interrupting me. Now, running away from a problem like this will only make it worse—and once you get through this, trust me, your sex lives will be much better than bef—"
"I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU I'M PREGNANT, YOU IDIOT!"
"…"
"…"
"…pregnant?"
Riku huffed angrily, face flushed with embarrassment. "If you would have let me explain to you earlier before jumping to far-fetched conclusions—"
"Really! I mean, obviously if you're pregnant then Niwa-kun and you certainly don't appear to be having any problems at all!" Riku flushed darker. "So, you really are?!" A nod. "Riku—that's—that's great! You're gonna be a mother too! We're gonna be mothers together!"
The flush on her cheeks paled a bit, and a tiny smile could be detected tugging up at the corners of her mouth as she was pulled into a great hug. Suddenly, though, she pushed away and made Risa look her in the eye, "Wait—wait. You have to absolutely promise me you won't tell Daisuke-kun! I…want it to be a surprise…when I'm ready to tell him…" Risa smiled knowingly. "Do you promise?"
"Oneesama…I will die before I tell 'Daisuke-kun' your dirty little secret."
"'Dirty little secret'?! What's so dirty about it?"
Risa giggled as if she were still fourteen. "Oh, you know that…Trouble in bed, yeah right…"
"RISA!"
"Riku-san?" Daisuke prodded his wife's sleeping form. "Riku-san…we're home."
Riku slowly stirred from the dream, a hand unconsciously covering her stomach. Risa's words those few days ago…"Oneesama…I will die before I tell 'Daisuke-kun' your dirty little secret."
Did she realize now how close she was to making good on that promise?
"We're sorry…"
No…
"The infection's worsened and spread…the antibiotics aren't having any effect—we suspect she's contracted the rarer form of this year's influenza virus, Fiji-A-H5N3…"
Liars…
"Hiwatari-san…she can't…she can't keep up like this, and we simply don't have the capabilities to fight for her…"
Capabilities? Don't have the capabilities?
"Your daughter's recovering beautifully, I've not seen a stronger premie in my twenty-five years working as head physician here, but your wife…"
But my wife…?
"We're sorry… It's killing her."
She looked just like an angel.
Her skin had lost its color, as if the pigment had been drained from her face, her neck, her arms, until she was as cold and seemingly lifeless on the outside as he had once been on the inside. In the week since she'd been rushed to the hospital, she'd only been able to slip in and out of drug-induced sleep, doctors claiming she needed rest to heal.
That was what they said, however, until she slipped into the coma in which she now resided. He hadn't even been able to have a conversation with her—the closest thing they'd had to one was one afternoon when she'd cracked open her eyes, smiled wearily at him, and closed them again. It was at that point that he first felt that something wasn't right.
The hospital bed was settled low to the ground, catching all the moon's rays and playing them across her face, giving her a sidereal look, as if she didn't belong on earth but rather in some celestial choir. Satoshi was seated beside her, cradling a limp cold hand in his own, while on the other side baby Kara slept contentedly in what was for all intents and purposes a plastic cage.
The EKG by her head was the only sign that patient #007846311, Hiwatari Risa-sama as indicated by the name-plate on the door, was even still alive. Every now and then she might let out a shuddery breath, followed by a hacking coughing bout, but other than that, she was as lifeless as the monitor itself. It gave a feeble "beep" every second or two, and the entire room was dark, save for the few beams of moonlight and the eerie green glow the machine gave off as it peaked, signaling that Risa's heart was still beating, still trying to survive, however faintly and futilely.
Sitting there, in the room with his new family, his dearest ones, Satoshi finally found the time to reflect on just how far he'd come since he first got involved with Daisuke, Riku, and Risa; just how very far he'd come…to get here.
It'd been seven years—seven. One-third of his life. And most of them, even then, had been spent dwelling on the past, on the horrors it contained and the marks it had left, though Risa worked her hardest to drag him forcibly into the light of the present: a new life, a chance to start over. His whole life he'd been isolated. Parents whom he'd never seen, a step-father whom he saw almost as rarely, further cut off by his mind, by the educational system, from children his own age…and ultimately cut off from anything and everything by his Hikari curse—by Krad. The demon who would not share him with anyone.
"My own…you are my own, and no one else may look at you, my Satoshi-sama…" the grating golden voice still chanted in his mind.
But the warmth of these three beckoned him closer and closer after the sealing, into their circle of friendship—and in some cases more than friendship.
He spoke, his voice a ragged whisper, as he stroked the back of Risa's hand, gently fingering the delicate bones of her hand before lifting it to his lips, breathing into it. "You were…such a brat back then…" he muttered lightly, though the comatose-Risa couldn't possibly hear him. "You were…I can't say it…but then, you never wanted me to dwell on the past did you? So never mind…it doesn't matter what you were. You are…you are…everything to me now. My everything. My Risa…My Hiwatari Risa…" He opened his eyes slightly and lifted them to look across the bed and invited his unconscious wife to look as well. "And she is mine too, my Hiwatari Kara…she is ours, so…so you…
"You can't leave! You can't leave me, Risa!" He squeezed her hand again and stood over her, leaning so that he was towering over her chest. "Do you hear me? Don't you even think about it—you said you wouldn't, don't you remember? You promised me! me! You…promised…me…
"Don't leave me all alone…please…" A single tear broke free and dripped down his pale cheek, flushed red with anger and sorrow.
The EKG flatlined.
"No…" Riku whispered in shock as she flung open the door to the room, ears now assaulted with the full force of the incessant single beep of the EKG which signaled the lack of a pulse. Daisuke was behind her, peering in, equally stricken, and before both of them Satoshi seemed frozen in horror, mechanically stepping back and shaking his head.
Riku rushed forward, shoving him out of the way as a great lump began to form in her throat, mangling her words, "No…no no…Risa—Risa wake up. Wake up now!" She leaned over and grabbed her twin's thin shoulders, pulling her upwards and shaking her lightly as if trying to rouse a determined sleeper. "Risa! Open your eyes! Wake up, wake up!" When this too failed, she did the only thing she could think of which would surely rouse her from her senses and slapped the smooth flesh of Risa's cheek, a red raw spot on a pale backdrop.
"Wake up, wake up! RISA! Risa…please…" She could scream no more and collapsed on top of the body, sobbing muffled pleas into the fabric of her hospital robe, back heaving as Daisuke tried to comfort her, even though he too simply wanted to break down with her.
Unnoticed by the Niwas, Satoshi was ever so slowly backing out of the room, head shaking back and forth in abject refusal to accept it…
Why…why…why was it always him…? Everything, every evil thing that could happen in a person's life…why did it always happen to him?! WHY?! It was like he was simply some divine plaything that whatever gods were watching over the earth liked to play with, testing him to see how he'd react to the most miserable situations they could envision for humanity.
Take away his childhood, take away his innocence, take away his friends, take away his family, take away anything and everything he ever loved…
And what do you get, the gods ask.
You get Hiwatari Satoshi, a battered shell that once was human.
It serves you right, my Satoshi-sama…
She had been the thread which held the two families together—the link forged in the absence of Dark and Krad. For from the moment of the encoding of the curse into the DNA of the two lines, the clans were destined to be forever linked, yet never coupled.
In order to maintain a balance of the curses, a thin invisible bond was formed between the Niwas and Hikaris. As Dark was fated to surface in the mind of a fourteen-year-old Niwa male, and Krad in a fourteen-year-old Hikari male, the threat of a male in one line and a female in the other loomed ominously. Yet somewhere in the maze of genetics, chromosomes, DNA, the lines were linked in gender: a male in the Niwa line would always be faced with a male in the Hikari, the same with females, thus ensuring that the lines would never cross, and that there would always be a Dark to fight Krad, and a Krad to thwart Dark.
The sealing of nearly seven years prior to Risa's death, though, completely destroyed this linkage, allowing something to happen which hadn't occurred for over three hundred years: a female was born to the Hikari clan, and a male to the Niwas.
It was now five years after the death of Hiwatari Risa at the tender age of twenty-one. Her passing left an enduring mark on all who knew her, but most of all on her sister, Daisuke, and Satoshi.
In the days following, a funeral service was held, which many from their childhood and college days attended, wishing to pay their last respects to the bubbly cheery Harada twin, who truly seemed too alive to be dead.
Satoshi did not go.
He retreated like a monk into a cloister, taking his new daughter into self-exile with him. Completely distraught over Risa's death, he raised the child alone, his precious Kara, cut off from Daisuke and Riku. Though the Niwas tried valiantly to get Satoshi to open up and let them help him—after all, she was their niece as well as his daughter—they failed. He returned no phone calls, refused all their visits, and dodged them anywhere they might by chance run into each other.
And it was because of this, that Satoshi was quite surprised to learn of the existence of Niwa Daiichi.
Kindergarten was something that could not be studied in books for single fathers, this much he now understood. While he'd taken over the role of mother as well as father for the past five years, studying as much on the subject of child-rearing as he could, nothing had prepared him for this kind of environment: loud children running around everywhere, toys strewn about the room, hair pulling, name calling, and he didn't even want to know what that smell was nor where it was coming from.
But he wasn't the only parent there for his child's first day of school—nor was he the only one who was somewhat unsettled by the seemingly lawless environment of the classroom. All around him were other parents, hesitant to let their children go off to play with others, but knowing they must, and he turned his eyes back to Kara.
The girl was a picture in a neat pleated blue skirt and vest, long golden locks pulled back into a ponytail topped off with a bright red ribbon which bounced atop her head as she chatted animatedly with a group of girls her age before settling down at a table to color. Behind the girls, he noticed, a small group of four or five boys seemed to be planning some joke to play on the girls, for not a moment later the leader of their group—a lanky boy with a crop of tousled rust-colored hair—dashed forward, with his cronies at his heels, and snatched up a box of crayons the girls had been using.
A new crop of fresh wails broke out as the girls complained at the action, jumping to regain their lost colors. The ring-leader, however, stole a chance and jumped onto a tabletop, loudly proclaiming in a childish cackle, "I've got the colors! All women are mine! Haha ha hahaaa!!!" How exactly this made all women property of the boy, Satoshi was not quite sure.
"Niwa Daiichi! Get down from there this instant young man!" came a furious female voice from across the room, and Satoshi's breath caught in his throat as his eyes darted from one side to the other, seeking out the source. This wasn't needed, though, for the mother of the boy stomped forward and jerked the child from his perch, returning the crayons and tossing Kara a warm smile.
Niwa Riku.
But—if she was here, then that meant—
"Daisuke-kun, please talk some sense into your son!" the wife loudly pleaded as she dragged Daiichi kicking and screaming over to the side. "Honestly, what have I told you about taking other people's things?"
"Mooooom….lemme go! I wanna go play! Lemme go, Mom! I was having fun!"
A soft chuckling and gentle reprimand followed a moment later as the boy was sent back to his playmates, only to have the child once more commence with teasing the girls with aid from his friends.
It didn't take long for one of the last people Satoshi wanted to see to realize that he too was here, on the first day of kindergarten. After a moment's shock, Daisuke walked over, confident that the Hikari man couldn't avoid him here.
"So…that's what she grew up to look like, is it?"
Satoshi kept his eyes facing forward, focused only on his daughter for the time being as he monitored her play—as well as now monitoring the Niwa boy as well. "A bit obvious now, isn't it?" he retorted shortly.
Daisuke, though, being the ever forgiving and bearing Niwa that he was, merely smiled and shook his head, turning his sights also to his child. "They grow up so fast, don't they?"
Unable to bear the remark, he turned to his old friend, "Is that your idea of a conversation starter, Niwa? 'They grow up so fast'?" He sighed with a loud huff. "As corny as ever, aren't you?"
Smile unconsciously growing wider at how they seemed to have slipped back into their old manner of conversing, Daisuke replied, "Corny, you say? You can come up with a better observation, then?"
Staring at the child…Daiichi…whom he'd only just realized existed, he slowly nodded. "Niwa…in him…I can see Dark…That child's mannerisms, his expressions, his attitude…you haven't lost him by far."
Unable to mask his surprise, Daisuke's mouth opened slightly, resembling a gaping fish from the shock of having his alter ego mentioned after nearly five years apart, and after nearly twelve without said alter ego. He quickly recovered, though, and turned his own eyes to Kara, smiling fondly as if remembering some long-forgotten memory.
"And in her, Hiwatari-kun…in her, I see…Risa-san…and you haven't lost her either."
Satoshi did not reply.
Present Day
"And that's…about all…since then, Daiichi and Kara-chan have been in the same schools, grade school, and now middle school…Hiwatari-kun is still very distant, but he at least doesn't avoid us as much anymore. Now it's…I guess it's just like it was before—I mean, before we became friends really. He'll nod to us in passing, still showcases a few of my works down at the museum, though I have my own agent now, but we never see Kara outside of her school or anything like that…I doubt she even knows she has an aunt and uncle."
Daisuke heaved a great sigh as he finished the long recounting of the past twenty years, casting a tired eye up to the grandfather clock beside the fireplace: nearly 11:30. "Dark?" he pressed, unsure if the phantom thief inside his son's body had heard him.
"He says…thank you," was the hesitant reply from Daiichi's mouth. "Thank you for telling him what he missed, but…he doesn't want to talk about it anymore."
"I see…" Daisuke nodded, "Then, why don't you two go ahead and go on to bed for the night—I know it's been tough, but Dark understands this. School tomorrow."
"Wha—school?!" Daiichi practically screeched, pushing himself up off the couch in protest at the unthinkable suggestion. "You think I can go back after what happened yesterday?! I mean—what about Hiwatari-san? She'll see me and remember what happened, when I—when I—did that thing and changed into Darth!"
"It's 'Dark'," his father corrected. "And I wouldn't worry too much about that—Hiwatari-kun will have his own way of dealing with that, I trust. You're going to school tomorrow, ruined reputation or not. So I would suggest going to bed now so that you can rest as much as possible. It's not going to be easy sorting all this out."
Daiichi had to hang his head in defeat in the end, and wound up climbing the stairs, sulking the whole way.
'Why'd you have to come to me anyway? I thought Dad said something about you being sealed or some crap like that.'
'You and me both kid…I'm as clueless as you are as to why I'm here with you. Thought I'd bit the dust a long time ago after Daisuke.' The voice in his head came across with a tone of forced cheer, as if he were trying to shield Daiichi from any painful emotions Dark was experiencing at the moment, and somewhere inside he actually felt bad for being so harsh up until now with the new presence in his mind.
'Look…I…I'm sorry that… you had to find out all this stuff, about what'd happened while you were gone.' The voice was silent for a moment, though if it was from shock or from sulking, Daiichi didn't know. 'I mean, well, don't take it any special way or anything, alright? Just…if Dad missed you that much, you can't have been that bad a guy, could you?'
There was a further moment of silence before a soft tenor resonated deep inside the mind of the newest Niwa, '…Thanks kid…you don't really seem like a half bad winghost now,' and his mind was flooded with a rainbow prism of gratitude. Suddenly he seemed a bit happier, like some weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Then he realized something that sent that weight crashing back down: "Wait a minute…Hiwatari-san's my cousin?!"
Post Chapter Notes: FINALLY! It ENDS! Hah! I told you, see? Now, for tidbits: I took the titles of Menou and Eliot from the characters themselves—I can just picture Daisuke painting scenes from his escapades with Dark that had significant impact on him, can't you? The "St. White's Day" thing actually plays a big role in the manga, very cool. Oh, and the scene with Daiichi and Kara in kindergarten: there's actually a scene in the manga where Daisuke is picturing Dark in his mind, and what he sees is this maniacal womanizing freak who's proclaiming, "All women belong to ME!", and it was just too cute not to include. Ready for the real plot to begin? Then strap in! Next time: Daiichi goes back to school—with Dark tagging along of course, and enter Krad! As always, let me know your thoughts, in review form of course!—sage
