AN/ okay people! Here it is! I'll post ch. 9 within the next 2 days. I've had this ready for you all for quite some time, but this is the first real chance I've had to sit at the computer and type. Please understand that I can only type at my Dad's house and I only see him once every 2 weeks. So sorry for not posting sooner, but I just got over here for the first time in 3 weeks and am now posting. So, please be happy and not slaughter me! Thanks!
Now enjoy chapter 8 as I finish typing up chapter 9!
8/Independent Christmas Eve
(Daisuke's PoV)
"Wha- what?" I whispered.
I couldn't believe it! Risa? But-
My eyes brimmed with tears. 'Satoshi and Risa?' It didn't make sense! Just the night before, Satoshi had said he loved and needed me. What happened? What's going on?
I covered my mouth and dropped the box since I was shaking so much. I didn't understand. I heard Wiz 'kyu' as I retreated back up the stairs.
XXXXXXXXXX
When the next morning came, I went downstairs just long enough to grab a bottle of water. Yet I still happened to run into Satoshi on my way back out of the kitchen. I brushed past him with the slightest mumble of 'morning,' and I could feel his eyes on the back of my head on my way to my room.
… It was going to be a dim Christmas Eve.
I just wanted to be alone. My parents hadn't called since the previous morning, Dark hasn't talked for the past two days, and Satoshi left me for Risa…
Left me? We were never even together! But I thought that if he confessed his love for me, that he wouldn't just drop me so easily either. Could he really have given up on me in 24 hours time?
Then something hit me… like the light bulb went on in my head…'Did I make it up? Did I just imagine it?' That had to be it! 'Yes… Perhaps it was just a dream because of how much I liked Satoshi! A- And I sleep walked here… and Satoshi followed me… and that's how we're here today!' I tried to convince myself that it wasn't real; it was just a mistake. It was just one of my imaginations! . . . . . . Talk about being optimistic! (sweat drops). Dark could help me remember… if he would talk to me. It was one depression after another.
I took two pieces of paper out of my desk drawer. I titled one 'Dear Dark,' and the other 'Dear Satoshi.'
XXXXXXXXXX
I had written, read, rewrote, and reread both letter what seemed like a million times each. I heard my stomach grumble once again, but I ignored it. After all, I hadn't eaten all day. I was exhausted, but I pushed myself. My emotions were flying the whole time. The light coming in from my window had dimmed, and grayed, and darkened to a deep violet (that painfully reminded me of Dark) quite some time ago.
I was licking the second envelope when there was a knock on my door. Satoshi. What had he done today? I sat in my desk chair… and didn't move. He knocked again. With each hard sound, it was if he hammered my heart.
"Daisuke?" He jiggled the knob of the locked door. "Are you alright?"
I didn't say anything back and there was a long silence. I had nothing to say to him. Or was it that I had so much to say that I couldn't pull one out? My heart broke with each passing second of not having him there, but I sat still. I longed to see his flawless face, the eyes that hypnotized me, and what emotion flooded them at this moment.
"Daisuke?" he asked again. This time I couldn't resist him. I jumped up off of my chair and ran to the door. I opened the door just enough to pop my head through.
There were a million things that I wanted to say to him. And tears threatened to start rolling at the memory of everything. I mustered up the best 'stubborn' face I could. "What is it?"
"I brought you shoku (1)." he said. I looked down at the tray he was holding and couldn't help but smile lightly at it. It was his attempt at a bento (2). I opened the door wider to welcome him inside before sitting on my bed. Satoshi set the tray on my desk then looked at me with unsure eyes and joined me on my bed.
(Satoshi's PoV)
I knew I had hurt him, but I was hoping it would all be made up on Christmas Day. I had a surprise or two already waiting for him downstairs. I just needed to keep him up in his room for the rest of the night… and get him to stop hating me for whatever reason. Though, I hadn't expected for him to lash out at me as he did.
"Where were you?"
"Nani?"
"Last night? You said that you weren't going to leave me! But you left and never came home!" Home? "I woke up really early this morning, and you had just gotten home, and… and you were…" he paused, drawing deep, shaky breaths, as if to calm himself. "Where did you go?" he asked in a high-pitched voice that proved that tears were well on their way. I searched his sparkling, crimson eyes for the reason he was acting this way. I could only find one emotion… worry. I looked down at Daisuke's hand that supported him. I slid my hand onto his, and at my contact, his first tear rolled down his flushed cheeks.
The mall hadn't been the only place I had been the previous night. But I hadn't meant to stay out as late as I did. When I had returned, he was asleep on the couch. As I had carried him to his bed, I had noticed his tear-stained face. His eyes and cheeks were red and his features were exhausted. He had cried himself to sleep, hadn't he? Was it because he was worried? Worried about me?
"Satoshi?" Daisuke shook his head at me, and then swiped his hand away from mine. He sat on the edge of the bed, starring at his feet. But I knew his vision was too blurry by tears to really have seen anything. "Were you really somewhere bad enough to not want to tell me?"
Oh no, that's not what I wanted to enter his head!
"No, Daisuke! It's nothing like that?"
"Then what is it?" he asked, sending an angry look my way. After my silence, he wiped his face roughly and jumped off the bed. I was ready to rush to the door to block him from leaving. But all he did was go to the desk. He grabbed an envelope that lay on the oak surface and the tray of food. I saw another envelope beneath the first one before he came back to the bed.
He handed me what I supposed was a letter, and then started taking sips of the tea that I had, amazingly, not messed up in anyway. I looked curiously at the slip of paper and sent the younger a second glance. He simply sat there, waiting for me to open it. On the outside was scrawled…
Satoshi
I tore the top off and pulled out a sheet of paper. I read…
Dear Satoshi,
I have so many questions for you. But first, let me tell you a few things. One is that I hadn't meant to run away Saturday night. I was scared. And not of you! It was just that I was still uncertain of a few things at the time. Which brings me to number two… during the time I was with you I realized something. I don't like either of the Haradas. But if I don't like either of the Haradas and they don't like me, then why did Dark disappear?
I stopped reading to look at the small redhead in front of me. He was starring at nothing, just doing all he could to avoid looking at me.
Dark hasn't talked since the night I ran away. I had thought he was just mad at me for doing something so stupid and was just ignoring me. I know you probably felt the same. I don't blame you. And I understand that you wanted to give up on me because of how I reacted. But I wanted you to know that if nothing else, you were my best friend and I hope we can still stay that way. I wish you and Risa the best of luck.
Signed/ Daisuke
I looked up in time to catch Daisuke wiping away a stray tear hastily.
"Teme baka-san!(3)" I said rudely at him.
"Nani?" I don't think he was expecting me to insult him after that.
"Firstly, how can you not tell me about Dark? Secondly, I would never like Risa… ever! Thirdly-"
"But… I-I saw the gift that you were wrapping for her last night…"
I couldn't help but smile at the naïve boy that unknowingly held my heart. 'Heh, it doesn't surprise me that he fell it.'
"Daisuke... that gift's for you."
"Huh?"
I smiled fondly at the 'thief.' "I put Risa's name on it so that you wouldn't find it before Christmas and try to open it. I was going to change it before giving it to you." The confusion in his eyes was just too adorable. "I wouldn't even like either of the Haradas enough to even be their friends, let alone buy them a gift. You're the only one a care for enough to give my best gift to."
"Your best gift?" he asked, quirking his head at me, his eyes still full of confusion.
"My heart, Daisuke. I love you, sometimes more then I can stand. Ashiteru, forever!"
What came next confused me. At first he looked at me with something that felt like a love returned, but then it shattered and his face flashed differently. His eyes were full of fear. 'No. Not again! You won't flee this time.'
"You-… it was you!" he said, scooting a little bit farther from me. "You made Dark leave!"
"What? Daisuke, that's absurd! Only the Sacred Maiden can do that!" he was talking absolute nonsense.
"No! I thought it was one of the Haradas too, but it wasn't. It's you! You're my Sacred Maiden. He only disappeared after you told me your feelings Saturday-!"
"Daisuke, stop. Calm down. Do you hear yourself? You're being foolish. You had wanted to know where I was? One of the places was the library." I said, trying to calm him down and veer the conversation away from his strange ideas. "Krad was trying to help me understand why you were acting so weird when it came to Dark. I was searching for things on legends and I found a column on the Sacred Maiden."
Daisuke had stopped his ranting and sat there looking rather flustered. So I continued in a calm, monotonous voice. "It described a family line and it said it had to be your first love."
"First love doesn't mean first crush, Satoshi!" Daisuke's face gave off a hurt expression of determination.
"Daisuke…" I said. He looked down at his lap and away from me, a soft blush of his previous aggravation was held in his cheeks. "… It could not have been me, no matter how much I wish it could."
;; Actually, he's making sense for once. ;;
; Krad? You find the worst times to be awake! I have enough to deal with, without you being in the picture. ;
;; I can't believe he's actually making more sense then you! ;;
And Krad was ignoring me. Just what I needed!
"What does Krad think?"
I looked up at the redheaded host as he slid off the bed to the window. He pushed up the pane of glass and sat on the windowsill. "He says he thinks you're right."
;; HEY! I never said that! ;;
(Daisuke's PoV)
Then hat was it. Dark wasn't ignoring me… he was gone. And he would never come back… Could that really have been the end? Could it really be over?
I watched the snow fall through the night's sky, each flake reflecting the moon's gentle beams. It made them seem like crystallized orbs that glowed with all their might, trying to rid the world of the darkness that consumed us. As if the raid of tiny angels would wash away the night as gracefully as they fell.
I grabbed the letter that I had written for Dark, and tore the envelope open to take away its contents. With the sheets of paper in hand, I glanced at the open window. I closed my eyes tightly, trying my hardest to convince myself I could do it. If Dark really was gone, then I couldn't dwell. The quicker I got over it, the better. He had only been missing for 2 days and I was already deep in depression. My grip on the paper got stronger as I fought through the pain, crumpling the letter. I slowly tore it in half, tearing a part of my heart along with it. And it really did feel like I just tore up Dark himself. I ran to the window and tossed the shreds of white to mingle with the white of the snow. The slips caught in the winter breeze and were drifted away. I watched it until, soon, it was out of sight in the darkness.
My knees began to buckle, so I had to kneel at the window. My shoulders were shaking and my breath hitched. I choked on dry tears that never were able to flow down my cheeks.
But my agony was eased somewhat when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand atop Satoshi's to seek the comfort that he was trying to give.
"You don't have to give up on him Daisuke." Satoshi really was trying to help… but if he only understood. I would never be able to get over Dark, but if I stay in denial or oblivion, then how would my relationship with Satoshi ever work out? I knew he didn't believe Dark was really gone, but I did. I knew. There was no other way or reason.
I looked over my shoulder at the ice prince. He had that same concern swirling around in his azure eyes. I slowly turn to him and grabbed the front of his button-up shirt gently. I buried my face in his chest as I gave in to my tears. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and softly ran a hand up and down my back in a soothing way.
Thank you, Dark. This is the gift that you gave me; some one who truly cares for me. Thank you so much. Perhaps one day I can pay you back.
"I love you, too, Satoshi."
(Satoshi's PoV)
Those words had been music to my ears. And I held him until his rough breathing became normal once more. I looked at the clock from our spot beneath the window. 12:54. I gazed down at the boy in my lap. His grip on my shirt no longer existed as his hand rested on my chest. His head lay, pressing his ear to me, like he was listening to my heartbeat race when I had heard him say the long awaited phrase. His eyes were closed in sweet slumber, and his red hair tickling the bare skin of my neck that the V-collar of my shirt left open.
I leaned down to him and whispered in his ear, "Merry Christmas, Daisuke." He smiled and cuddled closer to me. I tighten my hold around his slim shoulders to embrace him.
Then we heard a noise.
Downstairs. It sounded like whispers. And the voices were familiar to us both. If it was what I thought it to be… then my Christmas was ruined.
TBC…
(1) – Dinner
(2) - A cold lunch served in a special Japanese lunchbox that has separate compartments
(3) – You fool! (Rude form, please don't really say that to anyone… please. I don't want to be blamed for you offending a person… thanks)
AN/ Like I said, I'm typing chapter 9 right now and I'll get it out to you as soon as possible. But for now, how did you like this chapter? So, let's see… Daisuke confessed, the present isn't really for Risa (thank Goodness!), we hear voices downstairs of whoever-they-may-be, but somewhat more importantly, Dark is gone. So, is Daisuke really going to give up on him? What exactly happened to him? Who knows? (Other then me. Lol) What will Christmas be like now that they know they love each other? Who's in the house? Will the Haradas affect their Christmas 'plans?'
Please review! Love yas!
