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Feels Like Home

Chapter Seven

She Goes To The (Pretty Confusing) Park

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After Thursday, Riku started practising karate in her spare time. She really wanted to grade, and encouraged Risa to join her. Depending on her mood, Risa sometimes practised and sometimes didn't, and in that half of the time she went off and sulked about the grading incident. She was still annoyed that the sensei hadn't told her she was grading.

Then, a week or so after the twins arrived in Azumano it began to get pretty cold. Girls switched to their winter uniforms and boys started wearing their jumpers, but Riku and Risa kept up cycling and running to school. The exercise actually helped them to warm up. Risa complained now and then, but Riku told her to put up with it.

It was a surprisingly sunny Monday morning when Daisuke asked Riku if she wanted to go to the park after school. She was surprised to say the least. "You want to go to the park, Niwa? Why's that?"

Daisuke smiled up at her from his chair. "Why not? It's pretty warm today; we shouldn't waste it."

Riku smiled back. He wants to go somewhere with me, she couldn't help thinking. Not Risa.

"You can ask your sister if you want," said Daisuke suddenly, shattering Riku's thoughts. She nodded, sighing, but Daisuke hardly noticed. "I'll have to bring my cousin, you see, so then it'll be four of us."

His cousin? Riku didn't realise he had a cousin. She stood up straighter, as she had been leaning on Daisuke's desk. "OK. Do you want to meet at the gate after school?"

"Yeah."

"So who's your cousin, Niwa?" Riku questioned him. "Is she nice?"

Daisuke looked troubled. "Well actually…"

"Daisuke, Riku..." said Dark as he drifted over to her and Daisuke from the door. He leaned an elbow on Riku's shoulder, watching her sideways on, and added, "What are you up to?"

"Nothing, Mousy, get lost." Riku folded her arms and didn't bother to correct him. It didn't look like he'd ever stop calling her by her first name.

"Aw Riku, that's so harsh."

Why didn't Dark ever get the message? Riku could feel her patience slip. "For heaven's sake—" But she didn't need to argue anymore because the teacher came in and ordered them to go to their desks. Riku had never been so happy to see a teacher in her life; it was just a shame her seat was in front of Dark's.

And yet throughout her lessons and the constant taunts, Riku couldn't wait for the end of the day. It was perhaps the only thing worth looking forward to, as well as peace and quiet.

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"Miss Harada."

Risa turned from the group of girls she was talking to. Today, her hair was in two bunches tied with satin ribbons. The group of girls sighed dreamily when they realised who it was. "Mr Hiwatari?" asked Risa in confusion. "What is it?"

"I have noticed that Hikari has constantly been saying snide remarks to you," Satoshi told her. "I think it would be best if you ignored him."

"You have, have you?" Risa frowned. "It's not that easy, Mr know-it-all."

"Risa!" her friends cried anxiously. "Don't be rude."

Risa pretended not to notice them. "If ignoring worked, it'd all be over," she said. "Don't you have anything else to say that'll help?"

In answer, Satoshi took out a note from his pocket and he fixed his glasses so that he could read the words on it. "As I said, you should ignore him. Or you could tell a teacher, or simply ask him to stop. Otherwise—"

"None of those will work at all!" Risa sobbed. She turned around like the drama queen she was, brown bunches whirling with her, and continued, "If only someone could protect me…"

Silence.

"Hmph." Risa strode to her seat. Satoshi wasn't at all the gentleman she thought he was. No way would his suggestions work; why would Krad give up so easily?

Back across the classroom, Satoshi sighed. "She won't listen. If she doesn't get her act together, she'll break." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "She can't just run away all the time."

Risa's friends looked at each other. "We'll listen to you, Mr Hiwatari!" they cried. "Your ideas are the best!" But Satoshi had retreated to his desk.

It was typical of Risa not to notice that Satoshi had never really helped anyone at all until that day.

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Riku waved to her sister as she headed to the gate, calling her name. As the bell rang it was now officially after school and Riku had rushed out to find Risa, even though Daisuke had called after her. Luckliy she had spotted her twin in the yard. Risa heard the call straightaway, and gave her a questioning look.

"Risa," Riku began before she stopped to catch her breath. "Today after school, Niwa asked if we wanted to go to the park."

"Really? Alright then. I'll call Granddad on my mobile." Risa opened her bag up and looked for her phone.

Riku was shocked. "You brought your mobile to school?" she said sceptically. Having a phone during school was against the rules.

"Sure I did! Wait and I'll show you." As Risa rummaged some more, Riku started to imagine who Daisuke's cousin could be. She hoped she was a girl, about her age, so that they wouldn't need to babysit. From Daisuke's tone it sounded as if they would need to. "Here it is." Risa pulled out a flowery pink flip phone with a Gucci design on it and grinned triumphantly. "I'll be a second."

"Miss Harada!" Riku looked up at Daisuke's voice to see him run over to her. He was easy to spot because of his red hair. But what really caught her eye was the person behind him.

"Riku, Risa!" The guy smirked.

Riku pointed a startled finger at him. "D-Dark Mousy! What are you doing here?"

"'What am I doing here'? Charming. I'm coming with you." Dark looked from her to Daisuke and smiled in realisation, whilst Riku just looked even more confused. Dark couldn't be coming with them! "Oh, I see. Miss Riku, let me introduce you to Daisuke, otherwise known as…" he paused for effect. "…My cousin!"

Riku stared. "W-what? Mousy is Niwa's cousin?" That explained the babysitting vibe. She turned to Daisuke. "Is this true? Is he your cousin?"

Daisuke nodded sadly.

"No way! Seriously?" Risa had suddenly yelped from her conversation on the phone, and was now smiling. It figured Risa would be happy to hear that Dark was related to a friend of Riku's. Riku glared at her, which Risa returned with a questioning glance.

"Risa, what did Granddad say?" Riku asked her impatiently.

"He said that we might stay long enough to go to the Spring Dance!" Risa squealed in excitement. "Isn't it wonderful? I'm so happy!"

The other three blinked. Suddenly, Riku knew what had happened. "Risa, you plum! Didn't you hear a word we said?"

As if to prove Riku's point, Risa looked as confused as ever. "No?"

Riku sighed. "Mousy is Niwa's cousin!"

Risa's eyes widened. "No way. Seriously?"

"That doesn't matter now." Dark snuck in between the twins and continued to Risa, "Did you get your grandfather's permission?"

"Yes. Rin said we can call him back when we want to be picked up."

"Rin?" said Dark, now steering Risa towards the gate with his hand on her back. Riku and Daisuke were on either side, trying to catch Risa's words.

"Oh, the butler."

The group turned to the left at the gate and made their way to Azumano's park. Riku wasn't sure what to say so she walked silently beside Daisuke, but Risa and Dark chatted all the way. Well, Risa chatted and Dark was forced to listen.

The park was a small area at the south of town. The road just opened up to the grassy area, and there were trees dotted about and bushes acting like fences. Throughout the park, benches were put on the path that wound past the plants, and somewhere there was a small play area for toddlers.

No-one had brought a ball or Frisbee or anything similar, so the four just walked and talked. Risa never ran out of things to say and although he didn't show it Dark wished she would. He constantly tried to influence the other two into taking his place; Riku just scoffed and crossed her arms, whilst Daisuke smiled kindly – he wasn't stupid. In secret, they both rather enjoyed seeing him suffer for once.

Down the path they travelled. Side-by-side were huge trees that towered over their heads, their leaves like hands blocking out the dim sunlight. Risa collapsed on a bench nearby and closed her eyes. "It's so lovely here."

Riku had to agree. It was calm and peaceful, the beeps and motors of cars a lifetime away letting the birds sing in their ears. For a while no-one said anything.

"Well, Miss Harada," said Daisuke awkwardly. "What do you think of Azumano so far?"

"Dai, that's such a cheap filler question." Suddenly, Dark tackled him and noogied his head. "Congrats, you're a real gentleman!"

Riku watched Daisuke cry out for Dark to stop. "Well at least he did say something," she said crossly. "Don't make fun of him." Risa joined in, telling the cousins to stop fighting.

Reluctantly, Dark followed orders. Now released from the headlock, Daisuke rubbed his sore head and sat on the bench next to Risa. "That's OK, Miss Harada," he replied quickly. "I'm fine."

"See? He said he's alright." Dark waved a finger in Riku's face. "You don't need to defend him, Riku."

Riku blushed. "I—I wasn't defending anyone!" she snapped, pushing Dark away. She glared at her sister who sat giggling on the bench. "Just be quiet, both of you."

Risa stretched her arms and legs, drawing all attention to her. "I'm hungry," she announced.

"Hey, me too," agreed Dark. "Daisuke, get us something to eat."

"There's an ice cream stall not far from here," Daisuke replied at the same time as Riku muttered, "Get something yourself."

Unfortunately, Dark heard both. "Oh, Riku. Did you want me to go too? Of course I'll go with you." He started to push Daisuke and Riku, who protested all the way, whilst adding to Risa, "I'll be back real soon, Risa."

Risa shook her head. "No! I'm coming too." She jumped up and ran after them, but Dark stopped her.

"I'll get you a lollipop if you wait," was what he said. Riku started to protest again, so Dark wrapped it up. "And you can share my ice cream."

Rooted to the spot, it was Risa's turn to blush. "W-What? Mr Dark, that's… that's…"

But the other three had already gone.

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"Mousy, how could you?" cried Riku. They had arrived at the stall. It was a vehicle kind of thing with an open window to order from, and Daisuke was currently ordering four (not three) ice cream cones. "I mean, sharing an ice cream?" She shuddered. "It's disgusting."

"No need to thank me, Riku," replied Dark airily.

Riku ignored him, and smiled at Daisuke. "Thanks, Niwa, for buying the ice creams. It was silly of me not to bring any money today…" Risa, she thought angrily, didn't bring any either.

"That's alright, Miss Harada," Daisuke answered. When the man selling the ice cream handed over the first cone, a toffee, Daisuke too it and added, "I wasn't sure which ice cream your sister would like, so I bought her a toffee."

"Wonderful. Risa says she's picky, but really she'll eat anything," Riku grinned. "Toffee's fine. Although, is ice cream such a good idea in the autumn?" Daisuke shrugged.

"I'll take Risa's," said Dark, not wanting to be ignored any longer. He scooped the ice cream from Daisuke's hands. "Did you get me a chocolate?"

Daisuke nodded as he reached up for the second ice cream, a vanilla, and gave it to Riku. "Yes. Of course I did."

The next cone was the chocolate followed by a strawberry, which was Daisuke's. He paid for it and was about to leave when Dark stepped up to the counter. Daisuke and Riku exchanged looks. "Mousy, what are you doing?" demanded Riku.

"Why so suspicious? I'm buying sweets." He gave Riku his chocolate ice cream and said to Daisuke, "I'll be a second, but you go on ahead. We'll see you at the bench, OK?"

"What?" cried Riku. "Mousy, seriously, what are you doing?"

"Ignore her," Dark added quickly.

"Oh… OK." Daisuke walked warily away in the direction they came in, Riku looking after him. If she hadn't had Dark's ice cream she would've gone after him… oh, what did that matter? She should have gone anyway, taking the cone with her.

Then Dark ordered something, so she turned back around. "I'd like a couple of whips of strawberry lace and a packet of marshmallows, please."

Riku watched as the vendor gave Dark said items and his change. "What are you up to?" she asked sceptically.

In answer, Dark put a finger to his lips. "You'll see later, Riku. Wait and see."

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Back at the bench, Risa swung her legs under the bench and waited. After only a minute she became restless. "What's taking them so long?" she whined.

Across the grass, Risa spotted a familiar face. Her face brightened and she waved, calling out this person's name. "Mr Hiwatari! Over here!"

Satoshi definitely saw her. He walked on.

"Hey!" Risa stood up and ran after him, knowing full well she'd confuse the others when they saw she wasn't on the bench (but had perhaps forgotten). "Mr Hiwatari, wait up!"

Risa had to run to catch up with him, and even then he didn't look at her. But he said, almost sighing, "Yes, Miss Harada?"

"What are you doing here? You don't seem the type to have walks in the park." Risa smiled innocently.

"I'm finding Hikari," said Satoshi.

"Uh… oh…" Risa hadn't been expecting that. "Why's that?"

"It's nothing." Satoshi's tone told her not to go any further with that conversation.

Risa was walking fast to keep up with Satoshi's strides. She pulled his arm and said quickly, "Hikari can wait! Come and sit with me, Mr Hiwatari."

"I can't let him go," Satoshi told her and shrugged off her hands. "Leave me alone."

"But I'm all by myself," Risa whimpered. "The others have left me. Please come with me, Mr Hiwatari, please!"

Satoshi didn't flinch. "I'm sorry, Miss Harada. No." He walked on slightly faster.

Stubbornly, Risa followed him. "But Mr Hiwatari—"

By now Satoshi had tuned out her voice. It was as if she wasn't there. Risa could follow him all over the park, but to him she might as well have been the wind.

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The sky was blue. The trees and grass were green. Birds were singing. Everything was perfect.

But Risa was not on the bench.

"Argh!" Daisuke rubbed his head with the hand without his ice cream, messing up his already scruffy hair. He was shouting into the sky: "Where could she have gone off to?"

The park was pretty much empty with a far off woman the only other person around, not counting the baby in the pram she was pushing. Sighing, Daisuke started to walk towards her. Perhaps she had seen where Risa had gone.

The woman was quite young, her hair tied back loosely, and she wore casual clothes. She seemed quite friendly, so Daisuke didn't hesitate. "Ma'am, have you seen a girl with long brown hair with ribbons in her hair? She's, um, about my size, with the Azumano middle School uniform on."

The woman shook her head, so Daisuke walked on. Risa couldn't have gone that far, right?

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Dark put his sweets into his trouser pocket. "OK, done. Let's go, Riku."

"Ahem. Mousy." As they started walking, Riku held out his chocolate cone, eyebrows high. "Your ice cream?"

Dark looked from his ice cream to Risa's, which he was still holding. "Oh cheers, Riku. You spared me from really sharing an ice cream with Risa." A thought struck him when he took his cone back. "You didn't eat any of mine, did you?"

"What? I wouldn't—I'd never do that! It's disgusting. How could you say that?" But Riku was blushing, making her even angrier. She said the next part to herself more than Dark. "I'd never do it, never, ever, ever!"

"Chill, Riku. I was joking." Dark was looking around and before Riku could snap back a comeback he added, "Whoa, Daisuke sure walks fast."

Riku looked around too, but couldn't see the redhead either. "Then let's just go straight to the bench. We'll at least find Risa that way."

"Yeah OK," Dark agreed. He turned and walked straight over the grass to a bunch of trees.

Riku went after him in confusion. "Mousy, what are you—?"

"Short cut," replied Dark. He motioned to an invisible path through the trees. "Come on."

Riku absolutely did not want to go in the strange, dark copse before her. Not for a second did she believe that it led to the bench and Daisuke and her sister. But Dark was already strolling in, and since she couldn't remember the way that they had come from, she bit her lip and went after him. "I don't think this is such a good idea," she said stubbornly, barely licking her ice cream.

"Don't be such a worrywart," said Dark. The way he walked, the trees might as well not have been there.

It took no time at all to walk through the copse, but they took too many turns for Riku's liking. When they emerged at the other side, it wasn't where they'd thought they'd be. There was grass and trees and benches, but…

Right in front of them was the toddler's play area.

"Dark!" Riku shouted crossly. "You've gotten us lost! What are we going to do?"

Dark walked over to the play area and opened up the gate. It was empty; no-one on the slide, the seesaw, the roundabout or the swings. The purple haired boy went in and sat on one of the swings.

Despairingly, Riku clutched the rails that surrounded the play area. "What are you doing?" she snapped. "We have to find the others!"

"We will, don't worry," said Dark. He started to swing back and forth.

"Grrr…" Just like Dark, Riku stepped through the gate and over to the swings, but instead of sitting on one she went over to Dark's. Then she jerked the seat away.

Dark hit the woodchips with a crash. "Riku, what the heck—?"

"Now let's go!" Riku folded her arms and looked down at him. Since she was constantly looking up, she felt a bit better to be taller than him.

Dark laughed softly. "You always get the best of me, eh?" He dusted himself off and took her wrist, leading her back to the gate. "Let's go find the others, then!"

It turned out that the play area wasn't that far away from the bench – in fact in the time it took to reach it the two of them had finished their ice creams, taking it in turns to carry Risa's melting one. They went around a hedge or two and there it was, under the huge hand-shaped-leaf tree. The sky was still blue, the grass still green, but Risa hadn't returned.

And neither had Daisuke.

"Argh!" Riku cried in exasperation. She turned on Dark. "Dark Mousy! What are we going to do now?"

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Daisuke had in fact found someone else, someone who wasn't Dark or Riku or Risa. Not even Satoshi, because across from him, against a tree (but glaring at him), was…

…Krad Hikari.

"Krad?" Daisuke uttered in confusion.

"Quiet, Niwa," snapped Krad. He looked cautiously around the trunk and, seeing no-one, sank to the ground. He looked up with his golden eyes. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen Miss Harada? The one with long hair," started Daisuke, but instantly wished he hadn't. Krad was scowling. "Oh, her? No, I haven't, Niwa. Get lost." He looked around the trunk again – and jerked back. "Hey, cover for me," he said quickly and ran off.

Daisuke watched him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" he asked before he looked to see why he'd sped off.

Running over, fast and serious, was Satoshi. And behind him, Daisuke was thankful to see, was Risa. "Krad Hikari!" he said icily. "Come back here right now!"

Krad looked over his shoulder and ran off faster than ever, but Satoshi caught up. He grabbed the back part of the collar of Krad's school shirt, stopping him in his tracks. Scared stiff, Krad looked over his shoulder.

Eyes of flame sparkled in the darkness of Satoshi's face. "Will you kindly give back the files you stole, Hikari?" Satoshi hissed.

Krad knocked Satoshi's hands away, and snapped back, "Jeez! Have your stupid papers, then! They were just homework notes, anyway." He reached a hand inside his pocket – and threw the papers into the breeze.

Satoshi's eyes flashed like fire again. "Hikari," he warned, hate in every letter. But he got no further. As the pieces of paper flew off into every direction, Risa reached up and caught one. Daisuke ran over and snatched a couple in one hand (his still unfinished cone in the other) before they flew any higher, and the others…

Well, they got blown into Dark's face.

Riku and Dark had only just arrived. Riku had really wanted to stay at the bench, but Dark argued that they should look for the others. Cunningly, Dark had walked off and continued walking and quarrelling when Riku caught up, and although they had ended up arguing the whole way they had, ultimately, gone with Dark's idea.

Of course Riku realised this and was about to give him a piece of her mind (which had something to do with the palm of her hand and Dark's head) when the papers collided with him.

Riku burst out laughing. "Ha! That's what you get, Dark Mousy, for tricking an innocent girl like me!" She picked the papers that had now fallen on the ground and added, "You got your just desserts!"

Dark grinned sportsmanlike and held out a hand, but Riku didn't even glance at it as she stood up. As if she needed help, she thought. Daisuke and Risa came over, which reminded Dark of something. "Risa, your ice cream," he said, holding it out to her.

Risa took it, smiling. It had melted a little, but it was, after all, still ice cream. Riku hugged her. "Risa, I thought we'd lost you! And you too, Niwa!" Then she added, for her sister, "Niwa paid for your ice cream, you know."

"Really, Niwa? Thank you so much!" said Risa.

"It was nothing," replied Daisuke (he having finished his cone). He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh, Miss Harada—"

"Yes?" Both Riku and Risa answered at the same time, completely in sync.

Dark laughed (mostly at Riku's disgusted face), whilst Daisuke tried to clear it up. "Oh… I, um, meant… R… R…"

"…Risa?" Riku asked. But when Daisuke nodded she got slightly cross. "Then stop shouting out 'Miss Harada' all the time! We can't tell who you mean."

"Oh, OK…" said Daisuke hesitantly. "Sorry…" Pause. "R… Riku…"

The words made Riku go hot. She turned away, Daisuke's voice echoing in her head.

"Riku… Riku…"

She put her head in her hands. What was wrong with her? He had just done what she had asked!

Dark put an arm around her shoulders and took the papers from her hands. "Riku," he said, hiding his amusement. "Didn't you want to see my 'plan'?"

Riku looked up from the ground. "Oh, yeah," she replied awkwardly, slipping away from him. "Yeah, I do."

"Good." Dark gave the papers to Risa, who had collected the other ones and was in turn handing them back to Satoshi. He was now calm, and had taken to completely ignoring Krad.

Now sitting on the floor, Dark took out the laces and the marshmallows. When the others had sat down as well (minus Krad and Satoshi) he threaded a piece of lace through the marshmallow and tied it at the other end. When he picked it up by the long end it swung like a pendulum. "This," he announced, "is my makeshift conker."

"Conker?" Risa questioned, finishing off her ice cream cone.

Daisuke snapped his fingers. "Oh, I know! Like they have in Europe and places like that. You tied conkers on string and swing them at each other, making the weaker conker break."

"Exactly. But mine's made of food, so the winner eats it. The loser, too." Dark looked very proud of his creation, especially as Risa told him how good it was every single second.

Gingerly, Riku picked up a piece of the lace and a marshmallow and tried to make a conker herself. Soon Risa and Daisuke were making one, and Krad and Satoshi watched. Krad looked almost jealous. "That's stupid," he said. "How's that going to hurt anyone?"

Dark spun the marshmallow conker around in a circle and whacked him on the end. "It's not, loser. But if you hit someone hard enough it will." He whacked him again.

"Stop, dammit!" snarled Krad. He picked up a marshmallow and threw it at Dark, who just caught it.

"Don't waste good food," he scolded, infuriating Krad even more.

"For heaven's sake, don't keep fighting!" Riku snapped. She was spinning her marshmallow in a circle herself. It was fun!

"Riku's right," agreed Risa. "It's tiring and getting old."

Krad stopped in his tracks and sat on the floor, the cross on his ponytail thumping the grass. "Fine, whatever," he grumbled, popping a marshmallow into his mouth. Dark followed suit.

Satoshi sighed, muttering something about 'pathetic children', and sat down beside Daisuke. The redhead was smiling, enjoying his friends' company.

And Riku could see why. Despite the fighting and getting lost it had been a wonderful afternoon, and she had enjoyed every bit of it.

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Finished! Yeah! 12 pages long, but well worth it! You guys have had to wait such a long time, too. I'm sorry; this chapter's been in progress for weeks.

You see, even though I'd planned what was to happen I didn't like it, so I made it up as I went along, changing it for the better. Not bad, eh? And one of the new things I added was that part where Daisuke calls Riku by her name, and I'm so glad I did it! It happens in the manga, don't cha know – in the Japanese one at least.

Back to the plan – originally the twins were going to argue at the end, but that seemed nasty. They've already fallen out, haven't they? So I made everyone all friendly (awww).

Until next time, friends! Adios!

--KK

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