AN/ Agh! I'm trying, People! I've told you before. I can only post once every 2 weeks because those are the only times that I'm allowed on the PC! Forgive Me! (bows down to readers) Anywho, this has a nice little cliffhanger too. So for the first time, I'm going to beg you to R&R. I'm trying to reach 300 reviews by chapter 17. Why? I don't know…. Just a dream goal, I suppose. And because I know you guys might possibly love me enough to do so.
So enjoy this chapter… I'm going to bed now… Oh! And Happy Fourth of July!
Chapter 14/ Oh my…
"Dance?" Satoshi asked.
Daisuke had a nervous look of anticipation on his face. The commander blinked at the other with a tinge of surprise in his eyes. 'Why is he looking at me like that?' the redhead thought to himself. Then an idea dawned on him. 'Does Satoshi even know how to dance?' It seemed like he was always either doing something for school or working on a new technique for catching Dark. He may not have had time for things like dancing. And his father… did he ever make an effort to do the little things like that with him?
"We don't have to, I mean, if you don't want to…" Daisuke struggled, trying to solve a nonexistent mistake.
Satoshi strode over to a park bench and placed his plate of Apple Cranberry Pie on the uneven, wooden surface. "No," he said, his back still turned to the other. "It's nothing like that. I was just kind of surprised because I had never been asked that before." The elder teen peered over his shoulder at the thief. "Yes, I'd love to dance with you." Daisuke's poor expression lit up like the lights from the Christmas tree that shone down on them.
Leaving his pie plate with Satoshi's, they walked to the center of the dance floor as the words began to sing.
XXXX
Riku and Risa stared strangely at the two boys as they walked into the center of the park. Riku looked to her longhaired sister. "I still think that they're just friends," she said bluntly. She was very against this whole idea of watching her best friend from the bushes.
Although, Risa was quite passionate about her little stalking game. She had stuck twigs and leaves up her sleeves and in the fold of her hat, despite her worry of getting dirty. She had a hunch about something and she was determined to find out if she was right; it was the only quality that the twins shared.
"Trust me!" Risa said, her determination shown clearly in her voice. "No offense, Riku, but just because you still love him doesn't mean that he hasn't found some one new."
The memory of the day that Daisuke dumped her struck Riku's heart sharply. She had never really known why their relationship was cut. It seemed like, one day, he just decided that it was over. She still cared for him deeply, and Risa knew that every night her sister cried about it. There was nothing that either of them could do except stay close and maybe win back his heart.
"That hurt, Risa…" the younger twin whispered.
But what the heartbroken girl didn't know was that Risa still had feelings for the boy, as well. After dark had told her that he only liked her because she reminded him of her grandmother, she had done everything in her power to get over him… which soon led to a rekindled love of the clumsy redhead.
The chance that he may have found another person to love hurt her just as much as it hurt her sister.
"Sorry," she whispered back, trying to hide her own sorrow… but failing.
Riku looked at her with slight confusion. She was about to ask her why it bothered her so much when she saw Risa jerk the binoculars that hung on their neck to eye level. "Riku, look…"
Taking the eye-wear from her, the younger watched as Daisuke and Satoshi walked to the center of the dance floor.
"They wouldn't…" whispered Risa.
"Would they?" asked Riku. The twins exchanged confused and worried looks.
XXXX
Daisuke was nervous, to say the least. What if he messed up and made a complete fool of himself? Then again, he did trip over string that morning…
They stood there awkwardly at first, not quite sure what to do. Daisuke gulped as Satoshi's hand slipped onto his waist. His mind raced as he tried to remember where his own hand went, and it was a few moments before he placed it on Satoshi's shoulder. They interlocked the fingers of their free hands and Satoshi began to lead the dance.
'Tis the season for generosity. A time to give and to receive. My Christmas wish consists, Of just one sweet dream.The beat picked up slightly and Daisuke's butterflies began to melt away.
I know, what I want,For Christmas, this year.
I hope, my note,
Got to Santa on time.
I'm a little bit nervous,It's kind of a big thing,
I'm asking for.
I don't if I deserve it,
But boy if it,
I'll never ask for anything more.
They had already began attracting weird stares from the people around them. It wasn't everyday that you saw two boys dancing so close.
It shines, It's new,
And it's the one wish,
That I wish would come true.
This year for Christmas I,
I just want to be with you.
The Haradas continued to watch slack-jawed. "They would.." answered Risa, heartache building higher and higher as her suspicions prove true.
We can build a little fire.
We can sit and talk for hours.
We'll just have fun.
You can tell me what you did,
Christmas morning as a kid.
And we'll talk about all our
Christmases to come.
"Riku! Wait!" Risa called to her sister as Riku ran away with tears in her eyes.
If I hang a little mistletoe,
In every single doorway,
I'm sure to get a kiss.
Satoshi kissed Daisuke's hair as they both smiled at the memory of that morning's Christmas present.
And is it too much to ask,
For a snowman kind of snow,
To complete this singular wish?
As Satoshi dipped his partner, Risa's eyes filled with tears, as well. How could this happen? To her or her sister? It wasn't fair! Wiping away her tears, she ran after her sister to see if she could help comfort the younger girl. If only she could stop crying herself…
It shines, It's new,
I know what I want,
And nothing else will do.
This year for Christmas I,
I just want to be with you.
This year for Christmas I,
I just want to be with you.
XXXXXXXXXX
(Daisuke's PoV)
Wow! I never would have guessed that Satoshi was such a great dancer. I here I was, worried that he may not even know how. Mom always practiced dancing with me, whether I liked it or not, I had been pretty confident in that area. But I don't think that I could ever match Satoshi's intensity. I wonder why he never told me that he loved dancing.
It was well past eleven o'clock when we came up the sidewalk to my house. I was slightly regretting going home for two reasons. One was that I was having a good time and I didn't want it to end. And two was To-to. I had promised that I'd tell her what I thought of her pie once we arrived home. But, unfortunately, when we went back to the park bench for our dessert, it was fairly cold and soggy from the fresh snow that had begun to fall.
We got there only to see no lights in the windows. I opened the door silently and tiptoed inside. It was completely dark and not a single person was in sight. Where was everyone? Could they really all have been asleep?
Satoshi grabbed his night clothes from his bag before following me up to my room. As I turned on the bedroom light, he entered the connecting bathroom and closed the door behind him. We both dressed as quickly as we could. I was just crawling into bed when he came out with his bundle of dirty clothes in hand.
"Will you sleep in here with me again?" I asked in a hopeful whisper, still being wary of the other sleeping occupants.
"Do I actually have a choice?"
I thought for a moment. It sounded bad, but I knew that if he said no, I would beg. And if he didn't comply, I wouldn't be able to sleep and I'd join him downstairs anyway. "No…" I answered. "Not really…"
Satoshi nodded and crawled in next to me, dropping his clothes in a heap on the floor. "Good…" With my back against his chest, he wrapped an arm around my waist. I bit my lip in an attempt to hide the smile of pleasure that his possessive touches caused.
"Merry Christmas, Satoshi."
"Merry Christmas."
"Satoshi?"
"Hn?"
"Can we do this again next year?" I asked him. There was a moment of silence. When he didn't answer, I moved around a little so that I could see his face. Once again, he had that look in his eyes. The one that suggests that he knew much more then me; a secret untold that he won't reveal. But what he doesn't know was the one thing that told was the look in his eyes. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Just go to sleep," he answered. My mind began buzzing with new questions and curiosity. But I obeyed, and soon fell asleep in Satoshi's warm embrace.
XXXXXXXXXX
(Morning, Satoshi's PoV)
"OH NO!"
I sat on Daisuke's bed, blinking slowly and staring at nothing. Because of my low blood pressure, I had been sitting in such a manner for the past 20 minutes. I could faintly remember Daisuke running around the room, getting dressed and brushing his hair frantically.
"Come on, Satoshi! I know you're not a morning person, but you have to start waking up!"
"What?" I asked, not completely hearing him due to my still weak senses.
"We forgot about the Haradas!"
"What?" I repeated, this time not comprehending.
"We were supposed to go over to their house to exchange gifts, remember?"
"We?"
Daisuke paused for a minute while looking at me. "You will come with me, right? It's just that, it's awkward to be around them now…"
After a failed relationship with both of the twins, I would expect so… "I understand, but I don't think that they will be wanting to see me after yesterday."
The redhead chuckled at me. "You know what?" he asked. "That was only the second time that I have ever seen Harada-san not get what she wanted."
"What was the first?"
"Marrying Dark!" he said through a laugh.
"Failed in getting both you and Dark, huh? I wonder who she will try to date next?"
"So will you come with me?"
"Yes, of course…"
XXXXXXXXXX
Daisuke barely allowed us time to eat the breakfast that To-to and Emiko ended up forcing down our throats. And he nearly left with the Haradas' gifts. He was practically running down the sidewalk.
"Daisuke. Calm and slow down. They may not even be awake at seven o'clock in the morning," I pointed out.
"They are going to be so mad at me!"
"It's not a big deal, Niwa-kun."
"They'll think…." He stopped walking and looked back at me. "Why did you call me that?"
"Because I knew you would stop walking so fast so that you could ask me why I did it."
The thief stared at me as I walked past him and on toward the Harada residence. He blinked, shook the ideas out of his head, and then ran to catch up with me. "That's not fair!"
I chuckled lightly. He so much reminded me of a small child at times.
We reached the front gate of the Haradas house shortly after. Daisuke examined it in a judgingly. "Should we get buzzed in, or just jump over it?" he asked. We exchanged a glance before he backed up a couple yards. He stood for a moment, determining just what height was necessarily needed to get over, and then ran toward the fence. Jumping, he flipped over and landed in a kneeling position with both hands on the ground.
"Impressive," I said, earning a smile from the other. Taking one last look at the wall, I too backed up a few paces. Running and jumping much in the same fashion as Daisuke, I flipped once and landed on one foot atop the stone pillar next to the gate.
"Very impressive," he said as I jumped down and once again landed on a single foot. "But you could have set off an alarm by touching the wall," he continued.
"I checked for an alarm system as soon as we arrived here. As so did you, I can assume."
His chuckle told me that I was right in my assumption. As we approached the building, Daisuke was becoming noticeably nervous and fidgety. I took it upon myself to ring the doorbell to save us the five minutes that it would have taken the redhead to do so. It was rather silent at first, but the door soon opened to reveal a somewhat elder man in a suit and a black toupee. "May I help you?" he asked.
"Harada-san invited us. Could we see them?" asked Daisuke.
"Please, do come in."
He led us to a room that was decorated in elegant floral patterns and asked us to wait there. I took a seat on a wooden chair that was in a corner and watched Daisuke gawk at the tall ceiling and expensive décor. We were waiting for no longer then a few minutes when an elderly woman walked in. "Oh my.." she said, seeing two boys in her parlor surprising her somewhat.
"Ah, sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt anything!" stumbled Daisuke.
"We are here to see Ms. Riku and Ms. Risa Harada. Pardon our intrusion," I added.
She sent us both a sweet smile and asked us to have a seat on the sofa. "You both look rather familiar. Hmm, now where have I seen you? Ah, yes. It was yesterday, at the restaurant."
Daisuke and I exchanged glances. "I don't understand," I told her.
She smiled once again. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. I was your waitress, Ayumi."
Daisuke's face became a brilliant red with surprise. "I didn't even recognize you with your hair up and without your apron!"
She giggled slightly, the way a grandparent chuckles at her cute toddler grandchild. "Do you live here, Ayumi?" I asked.
"She's our grandmother," came a voice from the entry way. We looked over to see both the Haradas standing there. Riku seemed gloomy and Risa appeared furious about something. "And don't call her Ayumi! It's not polite!" continued the longhaired sister.
"Risa, Riku, why don't you introduce me to your friends."
Risa stalked over to us and sat down on the floor next to her grandmothers feet. "The smaller is Niwa Daisuke. The other is Hiwatari Satoshi," she said.
The woman froze when she heard this and stared at her granddaughter. "Hiwatari?" she asked. Then she looked at me. "Commander Hiwatari?"
I was rather confused, but I nodded nonetheless. "Yes."
Riku sat next to Ayumi and patted her grandmother's hand that was clenching her dress in her lap. "What's wrong, Gemma?" she asked as tears formed in Ayumi's eyes.
"I'm your grandmother," she told me.
TBC…
AN/ Oh Yeah! How's that for a cliffhanger! Lol. Jeez, now that I stressed over getting this out to you, have fun! (keels over from being exhausted) I've had a rough weekend, so I'm just glad that I got this out to you. I'm going on a road trip, but I'll still be back in 2 weeks. And although I'll only be home for 3 days before the next time I'll have to post, I'm going bring my diary on my trip and write my story in it instead of actual entries. So be happy! And pleeeaaase R&R!
Until next time, I send you all the love and warmth in my heart!
