Dance Steps

by Chiharu Tanaka

A/n: It's me again… feh. I just realized that I made a plothole in the second chapter. Dark isn't a jerk to Risa, AND, she 'loves' him a lot. And, Risa's eyes are amber-golden, not red. XP sorry, everyone…

Disclaimer: I don't own nobody bla bla bla…
Chapter 3: Issues at The Café

"Ahh…I didn't know dancing was so hard! Mom just HAD to force us through this whole ordeal, huh?" mumbled Riku in annoyance while tying her shoelaces in the locker room. She had a tired and disappointed look on her face.

"Aw, c'mon Riku-chan, it wasn't THAT bad…" said Daisuke, standing against the shoe cupboard. "Right, Risa?" he asked, turning to Risa who had just finished tying her shoelaces. "Yeah…it's not that bad…" she replied with a miniscule smile on her pretty face.

"Aww-that's because you got to dance with Hiwatari-kun. You're like, the luckiest girl in school!" said Riku, winking slyly at her little sister. Daisuke just shrugged, giving a small cough out of jealousy. "Heehee, of course, not as lucky as I am to have you, Daisuke-chan!" said Riku out loud, hugging him. "Okay, okay…Riku-chan, I'm not jealous anymore…" said Daisuke as he dragged Riku, who was still clinging onto him, outside.

Risa just smiled a little, feeling somewhat jealous of her sister. She remembered telling Riku that she was going to get herself a boyfriend before her sister did. 'I guess I didn't succeed,' she thought silently.

As the trio exited the building, Risa just stood there a while when the other two had already started walking off towards the café downtown. At the corner of her vision, she spotted Satoshi just standing there, looking across the street. The wind blew, making his blue hair flow together with it. Risa kept standing there, looking at him indirectly. She blushed slightly, feeling the warm wind hit her face. She turned her head left when Riku yelled her name. "Err…coming, Riku!" she yelled back. She turned her heel the other way and started walking off, leaving Satoshi.

Riku gave a cute pout to her little sister. "Hey, why were you just standing there? I told you that we're going to that café today, right?" Risa just shrugged, as she lied, "Umm…I guess I kind of zoned out back there...sorry, Riku."

Her elder sister gave a small "Hmph" while Daisuke just grinned, realizing that she was standing there because Satoshi was there too. "Let's just go, okay?" he said, preventing any arguments from the siblings.
The trio entered the café that was located near the cable-car station (I dunno what you call that train thing they use) after riding one down. The atmosphere in the café was very homey and comfortable. Slow jazz tunes could be heard surrounding the area. With it came the smell of fresh coffee beans, giving a bit of aromatic pleasure to the customers.

"Wow, cool place!" said Daisuke. The trio grabbed a table by the window, so that they could just watch the calm streets of their town while enjoying some drinks. A young waitress came to take their order, and left to get a glass of strawberry milkshake, a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of jasmine tea for Riku, Daisuke and Risa respectively.

While waiting for the waitress to return with their drinks, Risa sat by the window and solemnly gazed outside. She noticed the the clouds have darkened and now a dull grey.

"It's going to rain," Risa muttered under her breath. Ignoring her sister and Daisuke who were chatting away, she looked at the people walking outside. As it started to pour with rain, people started taking out their umbrellas and raincoats, while some others covered their head with bags or folders in their hands. She watched a hooded guy in a navy blue jacket running towards the café through her peripheral vision. He walked into the café and lifted up his hood. Risa gasped, watching the man she just saw earlier walk over to the counter.

"Hiwatari…"

Satoshi walked in and took off the hood, ignoring the stares he got from the ladies in the café. "A cup of latte, please," he said to the girl at the counter. She blushed, and immediately got to work. He placed some money on the counter while waiting.

"Hey, Hiwatari-kun!"

Satoshi turned his head towards where the sound was coming from. He spotted a couple of redheads sitting by the window. "Niwa…what a pleasant surprise," said Satoshi with his trademark smirk on his face, walking over to their table.

"Come, sit with us, Hiwatari-kun," said Riku with a sweet smile on her face, though her eyes had this mischievous glint to it. "Why, thank you, Harada-san," said Satoshi, before pulling out a chair beside Daisuke and sitting by the window, across Risa.

'Speak of the devil…why is HE here?' Risa mentally screeched to herself. She kept her gaze outside, away from Satoshi's stimulating blue eyes. She could feel the colour in her cheeks rise up as she saw him looking at her at the corner of her vision. Satoshi then turned to Daisuke and Riku.

"So, how was Ms. Maria's lesson today?" he asked casually. Risa rolled her eyes sarcastically. Riku pouted and said, "Well, it was kinda hard…I don't really favor dancing." Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her. "Really, now? I thought it was kind of easy, since I have such a graceful partner…" he said, eyeing Risa. Risa just blushed more, watching his eyes fall on her. She turned her head slowly to him, and looked down on the table, her red, fiery bangs covering her amber eyes.

The waitress who took their order arrived, placing their drinks on the table. "Thank you," they all said when they each received their drinks. Risa blew on the surface of the cup before sipping it slowly. 'Ahh, that feels nice. Better, perhaps. If you could calm me down in this situation, I'd have to drink a gallon!' she thought, as if talking to the cup of tea.

Satoshi's gaze was still on her, watching her as she drank her tea. She noticed this, turned red and said, "What?" He sneered at her, before mouthing, "Cute," and took a sip of his latte. Risa just glared at him, though she did feel her heart beating faster as he told her that.

"Then again, I think you're pretty much BORN to dance, since you come from such a sophisticated family," said Daisuke, sipping his hot chocolate. "Hmm, you have a point. But Risa had always danced better than I do, even though I surpass her in cooking. Speaking of which, she's been getting better at cooking, haven't you Risa?" asked Riku, turning to her sister, smiling proudly.

Risa didn't notice that she had been staring at Satoshi drinking his latte until Riku screeched in her ear, "RISA!" but just loud enough not to cause attention. Risa snapped out of her trance immediately and turned to her sister. "Urm, yeah?" asked Risa, feeling embarrassed that she was caught staring at Satoshi by the three of them.

"Feh, I was saying you are getting better at cooking, aren't you?" said Riku, smirking herself- she just caught her little sister 'drooling' red-handed. "Umm…I guess so…" Risa said shyly, feeling Satoshi watching her again.

Riku observed her sister, the sly sneer still on her face. Risa was sitting down with her hands clenched on her lap, her knuckles white. Her head was down, her bangs hiding her eyes and face. Riku knew that position-Risa does it whenever she's nervous. Grinning evilly, she watched as her sister drank her tea, and said, "Hey, Hiwatari-kun, why don't you come over to my house and try Risa's cooking at dinnertime tomorrow?"

Risa gulped her tea quickly before she could spit it across the table on Satoshi's face, regaining all the sanity she had in her, though felt shocked and appalled at what her sister had just said. "WHAT?!" she screeched out loud, turned right so fast her hair flew with her head, and turned all eyes in the café towards her.

"Aw, c'mon Risa! Live a little! Besides, the waffles you made this morning was pretty good! I should get your food tasted and examined by someone else," Riku explained, while biting her lower lip, trying not to laugh at the shocked look Risa had on her face. "B…but…" Risa started to protest, when she got cut off by Satoshi.

"I'd love to come to dinner. Thank you for the invitation, Harada Riku-san," he said, turning to Riku. He turned to Risa who was still glaring at her older sister. "And thank you for the trouble, Harada Risa-san."

Risa turned her attention to him. When he realized that she had her attention on him, he winked slyly at her. Unable to stand sitting there blushing more and more by the minute, she grabbed her backpack and stormed out of the café, as the rain had already lifted. Riku just giggled before saying, "Just come anyway. Risa's just a bit…surprised. And shy, from the looks of it." Satoshi just smirked slightly, nodding in agreement. "I think I'd better go after her…she's probably heading towards the supermarket," said Riku before standing up, bowing to both Satoshi and Daisuke and then left the café.

"Looks like it's just us guys again, huh, Hiwatari-kun…" muttered Daisuke, sipping his hot chocolate, with an 'I-knew-this-would-happen' look on his face.

"Yeah, I guess so," replied Satoshi, drinking his own latte.

The customers as well as the staff of the supermarket gaped in awe as they saw the amount of food placed on the counter. "Risa…" said Riku, as she finally arrivied at the supermarket, panting heavily. "What the…" she began.

Risa had just placed enough food to feed an entire third-world country on the counter.

"Umm...sorry…" muttered Risa in embarrassment, as placed the items back on the trolley and rolled away with Riku tagging along beside her. "Hey, it's just dinner, relax. You gotta know what you want to cook first, dear sister…" said Riku, helping Risa place the frozen nuggets back in the fridge. "Yeah, but what exactly do I want to cook, I don't know, Riku-chan," replied Risa, putting back a couple of cold tomatoes.

The girls then put back the unnecessary items before stopping at the frozen meat section. Risa picked up a piece of lamb meat wrapped in a polystyrene platter and cling foil. 'I wonder if Hiwatari-kun likes lamb meat…what am I thinking? This is only Hiwatari-kun…I'm acting like as if I'm cooking for Takuya Kimura or something…' thought Risa, frowning slightly.

"Hmm, maybe we should do fish fingers for appetizers…" said Riku, picking a packet of frozen fish fingers. 'Feh, for all you know, Hiwatari-kun might just surpass Takuya Kimura in your case, Risa,' she heard her conscience say to her. She pouted and blushed, while staring at the piece of meat in her hands. "Umm, Risa, are you listening?" asked Riku, poking her sister's head with her finger. "What…? I wasn't listening…sorry, must've zoned out again…" muttered Risa, blushing slightly.

Riku eyed her little sister, thinking, 'What has gotten into her? Don't tell me she's thinking about Dark again? I sure hope not…that guy has bothered her just enough! Maybe she's nervous about the dinner tomorrow…she's been blushing a lot in the café. Hmm, she must've sparked up an interest in Hiwatari.'

Riku cleared her throat before saying with an annoyed tone, "Well, about the fish fingers…"

To be continued…

A/n: Muahahahahaha! Another cliffie. Though it's not so steep, heh. Looks like Risa has feelings for Satoshi! Keh keh keh…just wait for the next chapter: Dinner, Anyone? Takuya Kimura is a FAMOUS J-pop star, FYI. (oh, by the way, sorry for the OOC-ness, I'm no pro at writing! I suck, don't I?)

Please Read & Review! Many thanks to you all! (keep up the love of Satoshi/Risa!) NO FLAMING, coz it's rude, and also wasting your precious time (which you could do by reading a fic better than mine), energy (from typing), money (from electricity and internet connection waste), and electricity (which people in your community are using). XP

And if anyone has or is planning to make a Sato/Risa fansite, plz tell me!