Homecoming

The lights, the music, the mass crowd of people. Satoshi Hiwatari did not like it at all. Perhaps the only reason why he was standing in the gymnasium was because Daisuke Niwa had begged him to come. Why? He did not know, but he couldn't stand one more minute of his "friend's" annoying voice. As he watched the red-haired male dance with his date, Riku Harada, he sighed.

What else was he to do? He did not like to dance, and he had already downed five glasses of punch, as well as have a nice visit to the bathroom. He must have cleaned his glasses about three times, and sat down, only to get back up due to fan-girls, more than a dozen times. This was his first homecoming (he chose not to attend last year's as a freshman, and the year before that as a sophomore in High School). Wasn't he supposed to be having a good time?

Suddenly, a bright light caused him to blink and look over as what had shinned on him. The younger twin of Daisuke's date, Risa Harada, sat in a chair, twiddling her thumbs. She had just sat down by herself, causing one of the lights from above to reflect off of her dress. It was a pretty dress, Satoshi had to admit, and she looked pretty in it. As time went on, he found himself watching her. Her friends would come, laugh with her, then dance. Satoshi counted five males who had asked her to dance, but she had rejected all of them. Why she chose to sit instead of dance bewildered him. From what he knew of her, Risa Harada seemed like the girl who would love to dance.

"Daisuke," Satoshi said once his friend had come over to the food table. He motioned to the girl he had been looking at. "Why doesn't Risa get up and dance?"

"Maybe because no one had asked her?" Daisuke offered with a shrug. Satoshi shook his head.

"Five males have asked her already," he told the red-head. As he finished his sentance, another handsome, brown-haired fellow walked up to Risa and asked her to dance. She smiled sweetly, but blushed and declined, waving a hand. "Make that six."

Daisuke scowled. "Hm. That's odd."

"She's waiting for someone," Riku Harada said, popping into the conversation. Both males looked at her. "She told me so. She said that she'd know him when she saw him."

Satoshi blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dunno," Riku said, winking at him. "Maybe you should ask her yourself!" With that, she took Daisuke's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. Satoshi lost sight of them within five seconds.

After having a rather long debate in his head, Satoshi was walking towards the brunette. Time had flown by, and eleven men had asked her to dance. She declined them all. Why he was so intrigued by this girl, Satoshi wasn't sure. But, for some odd reason, he did not want to see her accept a man's offer. The thought made him scowl unhappily. He loosened his tie as he stepped up to her.

"Hey, Hiwatari-kun," she said, smiling at him. He noticed that the smile was a sad one.

"What are you doing?" Both of the students knew what Satoshi was really asking about.

Risa sighed, leaning back in her chair. "An experiment." When he raised an eyebrow, Risa giggled. "I wanted to see if I could identify that one special person by when they asked me to dance. I read an article about a girl who tried the same thing, and found her Prince Charming."

"That's..." Satoshi was at a loss for words. "Interesting..."

This time, she let out a laugh. "No, it's pathetic. So far, I've failed miserably." Her voice drifted off, and they were left in complete silence. Well... the music played and people talked around them, but the fact that neither Risa nor Satoshi was saying anything made the situation awkward.

Finally, a slow song played over the stereos. The DJ, in his deep voice, told all the men to grab their one and only, and have a nice little dance with them. He announced that it would be the last song of the night. Satoshi looked at the dance floor and frowned, his nose wrinkling. From the corner of his eye, he could see Risa frown as well.

"Have you eaten?" He blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Risa looked up at him, caught off guard.

"Huh?"

Clearing his throat, he adjusted his glasses and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"No... not unless a piece of toast just before I came here counts..." Risa replied sheepishly.

Satoshi checked his watch. 10:12. "I know a place... a small dinner across town with a great cook." He shrugged, trying to ignore the heat that was rising to his cheeks. "Would you like to go?"

"With you?" she asked, shocked. Satoshi nodded, and Risa smiled. A true, happy smile. From the corner of her eyes, a teardrop fell, but she brushed them away, as if they were nothing. She nodded too, and stood. "I'd really like that. I'd have to call Riku, and my mom in your car-" She paused. "You drove here, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'd have to call and tell everyone where I am while we're out," Risa explained. "But, yeah... That sounds like just the thing I need to cheer me up."

Satoshi gave her a small smile. "I had hoped so." He took her hand in his, and the two walked through the crowd of couples and out the gymnasium door.

"I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for, Harada-san."

"Meh... I'll live."