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Feels Like Home

Chapter Six

She Fails To Avoid Him (Of Course)

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"Oh where am I? Where could I be?" Risa's clear voice could be heard from behind the curtain. "Why did I stray from the path? Oh, it's not fair…"

Riku rolled her eyes; her twin sure was laying it on thick. She couldn't see what Risa was doing, but Risa was meant to be walking carefully across the room looking about in terror.

Standing right next to the opening in the curtains was Ritsuko. "She's looking to see if Dark is watching Risa," Menou explained to Riku's puzzled expression. Riku sighed; Risa really was trying her hardest for Dark to see her.

"These trees all look the same…" said Risa – that was their cue to enter. As if she was paying attention the whole time, Ritsuko tiptoed onto the stage with Menou and Riku behind her. Risa turned to look at them. "What… what's that, over there?" She began to walk over.

"That's right, follow us," Ritsuko said in her best witchy voice. As she stepped backwards she made movements in her hands that seemed to say "come to me".

"Yes, come," Menou added, but her flat voice and half-hearted gestures made Ritsuko's eyebrow twitch. Menou was in for it later.

"A little further…" said Riku, but she was so nervous that it came out as a squeak. She bit her lip stubbornly. "Just a little further."

"No!" Risa cried, and she turned and fled off the stage. The others blinked, stopping. Risa was meant to give in for a while, not realise straight away that it was dangerous.

But the audience clapped anyway, and Risa came out to bow. Ritsuko didn't look happy; in fact, she forgot about Menou's flat witch-voice. When they sat down in their chairs, Riku heard her hiss, "Way to go, Risa. Steal the show why don't you," and saw Risa's sheepish expression. Ritsuko didn't believe her lame excuses, either.

The next play was similar to their own, and so were the next few. It got so boring that in the end Riku stopped watching, and didn't realise when it was the end and she was meant to clap.

The only one that didn't have witches in it was Dark's, and that was because the boys were the evil ones. The two girls were alone at the beginning, walking through an imaginary forest. Then one girl seemed to see something and walked off, while the other girl tried to follow but was left behind. She walked across the stage muttering to herself, "It's OK, nothing is going to happen," over and over until Dark stepped from behind the curtain and said,

"Hey, beautiful."

And Riku wondered if the girls had fought over who was who.

Stepping across the stage, Dark continued by saying more things like "By yourself, at this time of night?" and "It isn't safe for a cute girl like you," and getting the girl to follow him.

As he went back behind the curtain the girl said, "Wait, don't go, don't leave me!" whilst Dark's friend came up behind her and pulled her offstage, where she screamed.

"The end!" Dark said cheerfully, and walked out to bow, trademark grin in place.

Risa and Ritsuko were crying. "That was so sad," Risa sobbed. Ritsuko mumbled an agreement.

"Oh, please," snapped Riku. "It was a stupid play. The girl died, and the other girl just disappeared! Stupid."

"Riku, it's just a play," Menou told her. "Don't overreact."

Riku turned away. The only thing she could think about was that she never, ever wanted to go drama again, especially with Dark there. But she knew Risa wouldn't be OK with that, even with Ritsuko and Menou with her.

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Another day of school passed, and Riku kept away from Dark as much as she could, but that wasn't very easy when you not only was in his class but your sister wanted to do the opposite as well.

The best she could do was to ignore him, and that was easier said than done.

"Riku…"

It was in the middle of Japanese, and Dark was at it. Again. In frustration, Riku flashed around. "Dark, not today, OK?" She got more confident when she saw his surprise. "I have to do my work. Please?"

But Dark just grinned. "Wow, Riku," he said. "You called me 'Dark'."

The blush that appeared on Riku's face was definitely redder than Daisuke's hair. She… she had called him 'Dark'? She turned back round and stared at her hands. No way, she couldn't have! This was… she squeezed her eyes shut. How could she have let herself slip? This was terrible.

No wait, it was worse than that.

It was a disaster.

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Risa was in Japanese as well, and she was having just as bad as time as her twin.

"Oh, Harada. What shall I say to spite you today?" Krad looked across the aisle at her slyly.

Risa didn't think she'd ever feel like this, but if there was anyone she hated more in the world than Krad she would be very shocked. Krad's purpose of existing in her life seemed to be to make her miserable. And he didn't even call her Miss Harada; it was just Harada, Harada, Harada. "Nothing," she said, knowing that he wouldn't listen.

And of course, Krad ignored her. "I know: do you know how stupid that hairstyle is, Harada? And what a tacky bow. You always wear it; what a loser."

Risa fingered the pink ribbon that tied her hair into a half ponytail. It was true she always wore her hair that way, but that was because everyone in Tokyo had said it was pretty. She was quite hurt, but she made her face expressionless. She wished Satoshi was there to divert Krad's attention, but quickly changed her mind.

Dark, remember, she thought. You want Dark to save you.

And yet she couldn't help wondering why it was Satoshi who always came to mind.

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Riku entered karate a little reluctantly. She had completely blanked Dark for the rest of the day, but she couldn't keep it up forever. And worse still, Dark knew that too. She was positive that as soon as she stepped through the door he would attack her, but…

Nothing happened. It was when she had handed over the money for herself and Risa, and had put her things to one side of the room when she found out the obvious reason why.

"Dark's not here yet," said Daisuke, wondering over.

"Oh, I wasn't looking for him," Riku replied quickly, tightening the knot of her belt to give her hands something to do. She was aware that it was something liars did when they felt nervous, but she couldn't stop herself doing it.

To Riku's disappointment, Dark did show up, again with Krad behind him. It seemed they waited for each other just so that they could race.

And just like last time, they had erupted into an argument over Dark winning. This time, however, Krad had noticed something. "That girl stepped right in my way," he snapped. "She did it last time, as well. You've talked her into it, haven't you?"

Dark feigned surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" Krad had already lost his temper. "Stop buying for time, you coward!"

"Krad, you make this too easy." Dark carried on smiling. "It's no fun when you snap so quickly."

At this point Krad had attacked him, causing Satoshi and the sensei to pull him away and calm him down. That wasn't an easy task, and the session was forced to start a little later than usual.

Riku watched Krad muttering to himself and snarling at Satoshi. "I don't understand," she told Daisuke. "Why didn't he just answer back with something even cleverer than Dark's comment?"

"I don't think Krad would have the wit to think of that," replied Daisuke. "What did you have in mind?"

Proudly, Riku smiled. "That Dark has to cheat in order to win."

They went through the bowing at the start and the usual warm up and basics. Satoshi showed her what to do just like before, and like before he ignored the fangirls. He had had just about enough of them and their pathetic attempts at karate.

This time, the sensei split the class up to do kata before a small session of padwork. The white belts, which included the no-belts, went with a female black belt to learn Taikyoku. Because it was the first kata it only had two different moves – the downward block Gedan Berai and a punch with the same hands and feet. The stance was the same the whole way through: a front stance, and the moves were performed in a sort of 'I' formation.

At any rate, Riku and Risa could barely get their heads around it, and certainly couldn't remember it.

The padwork was the same as last week. But before Krad had a chance to try, Dark stepped on up to Risa and asked, "Would you like to be my partner?"

Risa almost fainted, but managed to whisper an "OK." Beside her, Riku's expression turned into one of complete, utter disgust that screamed "I want to punch your face". Instead of arguing with her infatuated sister and a guy who was way too full of himself, she walked over to Daisuke and asked him if he wanted to pair up with her. Daisuke was more than happy to say yes.

"Dark, you can't do this!" Krad shouted. In reply, Dark put an arm around Risa and stuck his tongue out. That just made Krad even worse. He walked over to the sensei and said, "Sensei, Dark's paired up with Risa. He won't get any work done."

So the sensei wearily told Dark to find someone else. Dark, smiling evilly, picked Krad who was overjoyed, but the sensei sent him to Satoshi. Understandably, Satoshi wasn't exactly pleased.

That left Risa without a partner, and Krad. So sensei paired them up.

And thus, Krad's plan of chaos was turned into one of misery for everyone but Daisuke and Riku.

Riku worked a lot better with Daisuke. He was patient and worked hard, and guided Riku when she wasn't sure. He wasn't as nervous as he normally was, she noticed, or maybe that was just around Risa. Whatever it was, it made Riku enjoy every moment.

Daisuke was having a pretty good time, too. Dark was a pain to work with because he always wanted to rush ahead, but with Riku, Daisuke was the one ahead. It was nice to help someone instead of constantly being helped.

The combinations the sensei gave them were simple ones, two moves long, but Riku was still having trouble. When Daisuke punched towards her, Riku was meant to block and punch, but her arms were always at the wrong angle.

"Riku, wait, it's like this."

"You punch me now, Riku."

"Ah, not so hard!"

Riku reacted to each comment the same. "Well, sorry," she would say, and would immediately correct herself. She was annoyed to get everything so wrong, but if she didn't correct mistakes early she would get used to them; it was harder to unlearn something than to learn it. Overall, she did much better than last week, and the sensei didn't need to come over – but that didn't mean he didn't notice them.

Across the hall, Dark and Satoshi weren't having such a good time. Their moves seemed to be directed straight at each other, as if they didn't care whether they hit or missed. They probably didn't.

For starters, Satoshi kept using sweeps. A sweep was when you knocked an opponent off their feet with your foot and took them to the ground. Dark could do a few sweeps himself, but Satoshi wouldn't let him. "You don't do sweeps at purple belt," he told him, which wasn't necessarily true. Dark knew this, but he couldn't order a black belt about. It was disrespectful.

Satoshi also used moves you only learnt at high levels so that Dark wouldn't be able to use them against him. Consequently, Dark was restricted to more basic moves than his opponent, so he was even more at a disadvantage.

It was cruel of Satoshi. It was only padwork, and the combinations were simple, but he twisted them into complicated and unpredictable ones. Dark found himself regretting asking Risa in the first place, and it was very rare for Dark to regret talking to a girl.

At one point Dark didn't block Satoshi kick in time, and found he was staggering backwards. "Hey, what's the big idea!" he shouted, rubbing his stomach in pain.

"Someone your level should have been able to block that," Satoshi replied flatly. "It's not my fault."

Dark muttered curses at him under his breath; Satoshi ignored it and carried on hammering him. You couldn't tell from his face, but Satoshi was enjoying himself.

In the far corner of the dojo, Risa was facing Krad. She was close to tears in the first few minutes, but Krad didn't seem to notice. He was a lot like Satoshi when he fought – merciless and a bit careless – but instead of being silent, he snapped at her.

"You should have punched me."

"What are you doing?"

"You're even worse than at school!"

"Can't you block a punch as simple as that?"

"Pathetic."

At one point, Krad did a kick so fast that the cross at the end of his ponytail whipped round and hit the back of Risa's head. "Ow!" she yelped, clutched her head and kneeling in pain. "That really hurt!"

Krad shrugged. "You should have ducked."

Risa pouted, trying to get him to feel sorry for her. "You're being so mean," she complained. "I'm just a little girl who started karate for the sake of her sister and hasn't even earned the next belt yet, and now my head hurts."

Krad just snorted. "Quit whining, Harada, I don't really care about your problems. If you can't face me, then go play with your dolls or whatever."

As much as she hated to admit to Krad, Risa really did want to quit. But, she knew Riku would never forgive her if she did. Facing Krad was so painful that she expected him at any second to pull her off her feet by her ponytail and slam her onto the floor. She was positive that if she survived this she could survive anything.

When the class moved on to kata, Riku and Risa were asked to join in Taikyoku. After the first few moves, however, they got so lost that they tried to copy the other white and red belts. And that didn't work either.

Riku watched as a young white belt boy shouted his Kiai and threw out his last punch. Sighing, she realised that since she was facing the other way she must have gone wrong; and she was so close to the end, too! She stood up properly and turned to the sensei for help. When he gestured to bow and move to the side, she did so as well.

After a couple of seconds, Risa copied her. She had gotten lost a lot earlier than Riku had, and in desperation she had tried to follow Riku. She had to stop quite often, though, to flick hair out of her eyes. Why didn't Riku have that problem? Her hair wasn't even tied back.

From the other side of the room, Satoshi stared at one Harada and then the other. Riku didn't notice him but Risa did, and she shuffled beside her sister, uncomfortable under his gaze. She couldn't help feeling that she had somehow failed him. It was such a silly thought, but it was there for as long as he looked at her.

The higher belts then went through the katas they had been practising, which was Heian Sandan for the yellow and green belts and Bassai Dai for the purple and brown belts. Riku and Risa were just as impressed this week as last week.

Daisuke performed Heian Sandan incredibly well. At school he was always clumsy and forgetful, and certainly didn't seem like the sort of person who did martial arts, but if you thought that then you were wrong. The way he performed his kata was as if he was born to do it, as if it was a breeze. He gave it his all, but to be honest he didn't need to.

When he came to sit down afterwards, Riku told him how great he had looked. "Oh, not really," he replied shyly, casting glances at Risa (who was occupied with watching Dark). "I… I'm nothing special…"

"Yes you are," argued Riku. "Right, Risa?"

"Hmm…?" Risa didn't even turn her head.

Dark and Krad both did Bassai Dai afterwards. Krad watched the self-obsessed boy do his kata from the corner of his eye, scowling predictably. He really didn't seem to realise why Dark was drawing all the attention; Dark's love of centre stage was so obvious that people couldn't help but see him.

Now in an utterly foul mood, Krad went and talked to the sensei. The sensei raised an eyebrow, but declared that the much higher belts were to do Jin – an extremely high kata that you needed for a black belt (and that purple belts shouldn't even be trying). He stood proudly at the front before the sensei, ready to show the whole class what he was made of, when he noticed Dark standing beside him.

Needless to say, he was horrified. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Without flinching, Dark responded calmly, "Same reason as you."

Krad only had time to give him his angriest look he could manage before they started.

Of course, Dark stole the spotlight as usual. It was amazing that he had learnt such a high level kata, and everyone was in awe and leaving Krad, to his chagrin, in the dark. As a result, his punches and strikes were packed with the power that came when you imagined your arch nemesis in front of you.

Dark danced his way through Jin, making sure to do slow moves slow and complicated ones clear. He was kind of smiling, which contrasted with the seriousness of the kata. It was that goofy smile that made you feel inferior, an idiot compared to him.

And made Riku, sitting on a bench and ignoring her hypnotised sister, hate him all the more.

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"Wait, Harada."

Riku and Risa turned to look back, questioning looks on their faces. They and Daisuke were in the doorway on their way out. The sensei walked over, smiling. "Harada, I have wonderful news. Keep this up and I am positive you will be grading this term!"

Riku looked at her sister, who was watching her in shock. She pointed at herself and asked him, "You mean me?" In reply, the sensei nodded before he went to put away the rest of the pads from padwork.

"But… but…" The whimper that came from Risa's mouth made Riku turn to her. "But what about me? Aren't I grading?" No-one answered, which made Risa even worse. "But that's not fair!"

"It's OK Miss Harada, I'm sure you'll be grading too," Daisuke told her gently, trying to reassure her. "He won't grade one and not the other." Risa's answer to that was to start crying.

She sobbed so loudly that Riku snapped, "Risa don't be a baby," and caused Risa to run off with a cry. She cursed under her breath and began to follow, but Daisuke stopped her.

"Wait here, Miss Harada," he said, and Riku saw the concern in his eyes. The first thought to come in her head then was, has he ever looked at me that way?

Daisuke left, leaving Riku wondering why on earth she had thought that. And how she knew the answer.

Never.

Someone came up behind her. "Harada, did your sister just run off?"

It surprised Riku that the someone was Satoshi. "Yes, I guess so. It's stupid though; she should put more work into karate. She can't expect to jut sail through like she does on everything else!"

Satoshi's mouth twitched. "…I thought so."

Not quite understanding what Satoshi was talking about, Riku stepped towards the door. "I'm going to find my sister now," she told him, but didn't stick around to find out if he heard.

She ran down the corridor to the entrance, knowing that Risa wouldn't know the sport centre's layout. She'd go straight to the car park to wait for their grandfather's car, so Riku did that too. Her trainers pelted the floor as she ran with a tap and a squeak.

At the entrance door, Riku ventured out at a walk. She walked past a flower bed – one of those surrounded with a waist high brick wall and full of soil, bushes and flowers – then doubled back and ducked.

Around that corner was her sister. And Daisuke.

"Niwa, I'm sorry. I was just so sad…" Risa was still sobbing, it seemed.

"Ah, it's OK Miss Harada! Your sister didn't mean anything."

"Oh, Niwa…"

Riku sneaked a look around the corner. Daisuke had his back to her and was trying to calm down Risa, whose eyes were closed and full of tears. He couldn't seem to decide whether to hold her or not.

"Your sister…" Was that all Daisuke thought of her as; Risa's sister? She wanted to sigh, but the two would hear her, so she leant against the brick wall looking miserable.

As soon as she turned, she saw feet. And she heard the voice. "Good evening."

"Ah!" Dark's face was right in front of her own. She jumped back in shot and banged her head on brick. Clutching it, she snapped back, "Don't sneak up on people, Mousy!"

Dark smiled as he straightened again. "It's not my fault if you didn't notice me." He held out a hand to help her up as an apology, and Riku was a second away from accepting it. Her hand hovered over his.

But luckily for Riku, Krad burst through the double doors in a terrible rage. "Dark! Stop using that girl to stop me. It isn't fair!" Riku jerked her hand away from Dark, now curled into an anxious fist. Who knew what Dark would have done (or said) if he had managed to hold her hand?

Dark sighed. "For her or for yourself? Stop moaning and actually try and maybe you'll get faster." But to Riku, who was looking anxiously round the corner and where Daisuke was leaving Risa, he whispered, "As if he'd ever catch up."

But Riku didn't laugh.

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Risa climbed into the car before Riku did. When their grandfather asked how the evening had been this time, Risa responded with a silence whilst Riku told him it was better than Tuesday. The only things in her head were the words it's not fair.

"Risa…" She heard her twin talking but pretended not to notice. "I'm… I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean to qualify for a grading." Riku sighed. "I'll help you so that you can qualify too, alright? And the sensei probably meant us both anyway."

To be frank, Risa would have liked that. She needed help. But she just said, "Hmph."

It wasn't until they were home and in their bedrooms when Risa decided to speak to Riku again. It was childish to give the silent treatment; she knew that. But she couldn't bring herself to give in. She knocked and tried her sister's door handle, but it was locked. The urge to cry rose up her throat.

"I'm sorry, Riku!" she cried. "I was being such an idiot. Please forgive me!" How corny she sounded! It was like in a movie. She imagined Riku on the other side of the door and smiled slightly as she walked away.

In fact, Riku was on the other side. She gazed at the carpet as she sank down the door to the ground, and whispered, "It's OK, you doofus. Didn't I say I was sorry?"

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And so, it's the end of another chapter. Everyone's with me so far, right? It's a bit late, but well, I'm no good at keeping deadlines…

It was partly because I was revising (cough, cough) for my SATs exams! That's right, the School Assessment Tests that you do at the end of each Key Stage: in this case, Key Stage 3. I'm Year 9 at the moment, see. You Americans might know what I mean or not, but basically they're English, Maths and Science Tests.

Today I moved up to Upper School! It's exciting. In Year 10 you are officially Upper School (rather than Lower School in Years 7, 8 and 9), so we're meant to be getting used to it. Next year our forms change around as well, so I'm hoping to be with my friends.

The next update will come sooner… hopefully! You'll have to wait to see what comes next in this story, but it has something to do with a park… and why Dark and Daisuke know each other. It's a pretty boring reason, to be honest…

Buh bye

--KK

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