---
Riku spent the next hour or so wandering around the house, avoiding her sister. Although Risa wasn't the more observant of the two, Riku knew that she'd be able to tell there was something wrong. At dinner, Riku had her first meal of the day, surrounded by the house workers. Risa had gone out with her friends and their parents were never around to begin with.
By the time Daisuke arrived, Riku had just finished eating dinner and was sitting at the table alone. One of the butlers must have let him in. "Hello Riku-san."
"Hey, Niwa-kun." She motioned for him to follow her upstairs and began walking. If there was one thing that made her angry, it was nosy house workers. If they had stayed downstairs, their full conversation would have been memorized and relayed to Risa and to every other person in the house. They walked up the stairs without conversation, Daisuke's eyes wandering around the hallway. He hadn't been invited to the Harada's very many times, so he stole all the glances he could during his short visits. They both entered her room, and Riku closed the door behind him. Daisuke was a polite boy and instead of sitting on Riku's bed as she had done, he pulled up a chair from the desk. "What did you want to talk about?"
The question caught him off guard, but he managed an answer. "Dark." He paused. Dark wasn't exactly Riku's favorite topic, but after seeing no annoyance on her face, he continued. "It's just… I'm having trouble getting used to him not being around anymore. It just feels like it shouldn't have ended so fast, like there should have been something else." He looked to Riku for a comment, but she had none. "I've been having these crazy dreams where Dark is out there…" His voice trailed off and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.
After collecting her thoughts, Riku spoke. "Gomen, Niwa-kun. I don't know what you want me to say… What else is happening in these dreams?"
"I can just see Dark out there in this abyss. Every time, he yells to me." He looked Riku in the eyes. "He told me to watch out for you and every time I'd ask him if there was a reason why, he would disappear. It doesn't feel like a dream; it feels like it's real life. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen." Already did, Niwa-kun. You're a little too late.
"Maybe." She replied. "Listen Niwa-kun, I really have to be getting ready for bed soon. Maybe you should go." It was obvious she hit a nerve with that suggestion; it wasn't even night yet. When Riku reached her right hand out to open the door, she must have forgotten that she had been trying to conceal her injury. By the time she saw and remembered, it was too late. His vision was focused on her deformity.
"Riku-san! What happened to your hand?" He asked, concerned, eyes fixated on her dried bloody mess.
"Nothing." She snapped, "The mirror broke on me this morning."
"Come here. Let me see." With that, he gently grabbed her arm, intending to get a closer look and help if he could.
"Don't touch me!" She half-yelled, ripping her arm away from his reach. "Just leave. I'm going to bed." His expression showed that he was clearly hurt, but Riku didn't notice. She rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door, leaving Daisuke alone to walk himself out.
After he left, she sank down against the bathroom door, crying. She didn't mean to take it out on Daisuke. He hadn't done anything wrong, unless caring too much counted. Riku thought about what he had said, about Dark; there wasn't one part she could make sense out of. She stood up, walked over to the sink, and splashed water on her tear-stricken face. Next, she opened the bathroom door and walked back into her room to climb under the covers.
She sat awake in bed for a long time after that, listening to the house workers make busy, listening for the familiar sound of Risa's door opening and closing. She had gotten home while Daisuke was still there, but was probably told to leave Riku and Daisuke alone. She was probably around to see him leave, asked a hundred questions about their fight, and probably asked if Daisuke noticed a change in Riku as well.
Or not.
She didn't feel very tired at first. She actually felt wide-awake, but the fearful type of awake. She was alert. Riku didn't know if she was so awake because she was overtired or because she wasn't tired at all. As she lay awake, her eyes darted to every corner, to every shadow that seemed to be alive only when her eyes were somewhere else.
---
The walk home was grim; snow from the flurries a few nights ago was still around but had already turned black with pollution, thus forming sludge. She kicked at the sludge while she walked along. She wasn't at all scared to walk home at night. While other kids were scared of shadows, ghosts, and secrets lurking around the corners, she had never been. She was actually just the opposite—the darkness intrigued her. She walked along, humming a song to herself when she saw him. He called to her, told her he wanted to show her something, and of course she went. They were friends after all.
They finally reached the back of a long forgotten building. She doubted ever seeing it in her life before realizing the dark had a way of distorting her eyesight. The boy then pulled out a sharpened knife, and putting it close to her face he whispered, "Don't make a sound or I'll cut you." She sort of whimpered at his order, or maybe just took a gasped breath. With malice in his eyes, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground. The ice beneath her shattered, forming jagged blades, which proceeded to make minuscule wounds across the back of her body.
He cast away her jacket and ripped her shirt straight down the middle. His blade felt cold on her skin, and he let it rest above her right breast before slowly pushing it in deeper and deeper into her flesh. He let the agony last, dragging the blade across her chest slowly as possible, all while pushing it further and further in. The pain gripped her body and she tried to scream, but his other hand covered her mouth.
The boy placed his lips to her wound as if drinking the blood. It was smeared around his mouth, which he, almost instantly, pressed against hers. The taste of blood stained her tongue. He removed his face from hers, and began reaching his right hand to her leg. Her teeth managed to find their way into the flesh of his right hand, still grasping the blade. She bit hard—seeking blood, but finding none. It was as if all the blood in the world was flowing from her body. His left hand wandered around beside her, and eventually grabbed a piece of ice. She closed her eyes and felt the ice come down violently against her chest. The blade found its way to her arms—the arms that were dangling hopelessly beside her as if they belonged to a rag doll. She felt no pain as he cut her arms repeatedly; they were numb from lying against the ice.
The hand with the blade moved its way to her pants, and ripped its way through the flap next to her zipper. The blade was passed to the left hand and held tightly, hovering above her stomach. She didn't dare take a breath. His right hand went in between her legs, and her heart skipped a beat. "If you scream, I'll kill you." She knew he wasn't lying. "I swear I'll slit your throat before you take a breath." While he touched her, she bit down hard on her upper lip until she tasted the saltiness of blood on her tongue. His hands went then to his own pants, which he unfastened with ease. Her eyes closed tightly as she tried her hardest not to make a sound. She felt him inside of her, she felt his body slam violently into hers then jerk backward and forward again. Each time, the knife in his left hand created a new wound on her stomach. Her body felt as if it was on fire before she realized what was happening. She held her breath; she decided that suffocation would be a better fate.
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