Risa waited for her sister after school. She had gotten in trouble for the fight. Risa had been only a victim whereas Riku had issued an attack.
One that had left a nasty shiner on Black Pigtails.
She waited near the front doors, watching it snow outside. It was snowing an awful lot this year. Thankfully she was out of her freezing gym uniform and back into her winter uniform, her scarf wrapped protectively around her neck and her fingers kept warm in her gloves. She dropped her bag on the ground, too tired to hold it any longer. She checked the clock on the wall.
Four o'clock.
Daisuke had said he would wait for Riku outside of the office, so Risa was by herself at the front of the school.
She hadn't seen Satoshi yet.
And she didn't want to. She didn't want him to know about what had happened. It was embarrassing, and she didn't want him to know that there had been another fight on his behalf. Knowing his personality he would bring the weight of the situation off of her shoulders and onto his, and she didn't want him to do that. He was already busy as it was.
Someone was walking down the hall towards the front door.
Risa looked up and saw Black Pigtails round the corner, the collar of her coat drawn up around her chin and her bangs strategically hanging over her black eye. She saw Risa and Risa saw her.
They stared at each other for a long time.
Then she dropped her eyes and left through the front doors.
Risa let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It was a relief to see her turn her back for once, but Risa very much doubted that that would be the last of it.
More footsteps were coming down the hall. Risa hoped it was Riku and Daisuke.
It wasn't.
It was Satoshi.
He was shrugging on his coat, his bag dangling from his elbow as he adjusted his collar. He looked up as he came into the entryway and saw Risa standing there. He stopped walking.
Risa waited, her chest tightening.
He grinned sweetly at her, walking over and hoisting his bag onto his shoulder.
Risa's chest released.
He didn't know.
"I thought you weren't going to wait for me today," he said. Some days Satoshi stayed behind to linger in the art room. Some days Risa waited for him. Some days Risa didn't wait for him. Today was not a day for waiting.
"Riku was—I'm just waiting for her." She let out a quick breath and smiled up at him, pretending to forget about what had happened. It was easier then she thought.
Everything seemed easier when he was around.
Risa reached up and moved the hair out of his eyes. She didn't like it when she couldn't see his eyes. "Where are you headed to now?"
Satoshi stared down at her. He placed his hand on the wall next to her head and leaned against his arm, almost looming right over her. But Satoshi didn't loom. He wasn't arrogant.
"Are you okay?" he asked, not answering her question.
She nodded. "Yeah. Fine."
His face darkened. "Are you sure?' She nodded and quickly bent down to retrieve her bag.
"Yes, but I have to go. Sorry." She took his face in her hands and rose upward to kiss him fleetingly. But when she pulled way she paused and stared at him, suddenly surprised. She hadn't realized she hadn't kissed him all week, and the sudden feel of him was pleasantly potent, emboldened by days of absence. He looked to be just as pleasantly surprised as he.
Which led her to lean in for a much longer, more satisfying farewell before she finally forced herself to break away and find Riku.
"Come by the house later," she called over her shoulder, running down the hall. When she glanced back she was able to just barely catch him waving at her.
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Riku had gone to Daisuke's at Risa's suggestion. She just wanted to be alone with Satoshi. She had the sudden urge to just be alone with him.
Such was her urge that when he knocked on her door thirty minutes after Riku left, Risa yanked forcibly on the handle, grabbed Satoshi by his collar and pulled him through the doorway, his face crashing down to hers.
She missed him more than she thought.
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When she finally released him Satoshi was flustered and dazed, somewhat disoriented from her unorthodox greeting. He only stared down at her for a long time before she finally suggested that he take off his coat and have tea.
He did so as she sauntered into the kitchen, her long hair swishing along her back. He thought deeply as he hung his coat and scarf near the door.
He wasn't sure if he was favorable to it.
Not because it was horribly unpleasant, but because it was usually a harbinger of something none too favorable.
He followed her into the kitchen and was, again, amazed by how large her home was and how empty it continually remained. His was a similar situation, of course, but he'd never thought it could apply to someone like Risa.
He leaned his back against the low counter as she made them green tea, a sweet relief from the bitter cold outside the windows. When she went to the cupboard to get them mugs they were too high out of her reach.
"Do you want me to help you?"
She strained on the tips of her toes, unfazed by the effort. "No, I'm fine."
Sure enough, she was.
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They ended up laughing about something.
They had been sitting in the living room, a movie playing on the television that neither of them were paying attention to, and somehow they had been talking about something and the something became someone and the someone had done something very hilarious and it was only moments before Risa was laughing so hard that her stomach hurt and Satoshi was smiling, actually smiling, as he tried to hide his mirth behind him mug.
The laughing died away to giggles and the giggles to smirks, and soon they trying very hard to compose themselves because it had been quite some time now and they couldn't remember what it was that was so funny.
The movie ended, and then there wasn't even any noise to underscore their conversation.
Risa put her mug down on the table and walked over the stereo system, searching for music that would fill the huge house.
"What do you want to listen to?" Risa asked, her back to where Satoshi was sitting. He didn't answer. "Come on. You have to listen to some kind of music--." When she turned around her wasn't there.
Piano chords began to drift to Risa from the parlor room across the hall, and she left the stereo behind to follow their music.
Precise and practiced.
Someone who had obviously played the piano before.
When she walked into the parlor he was sitting at the beautiful, black Grand Piano that her mother had insisted on having. Riku didn't have the time to learn to play the instrument and Risa didn't exactly have the patience. Neither of their parents were ever home, so the great thing was usually left untouched.
Now it came alive in beautiful, simply harmony, Satoshi sitting, straight back, at the bench as his deft fingers passed over the ebony and ivory keys, playing a simple ballad.
Risa, delightfully intrigued, stood behind him and listened. When he finished he looked up at her over his shoulder, blank face and humble.
"Did it meet your approval?" he asked politely. She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
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It seemed that Satoshi also knew how to dance.
Long into the afternoon they danced in the parlor to an old record of Risa's mother's. He taught her all the old European dances that one saw in movies in ballrooms. He taught her the Venetian Waltz and the Smooth Waltz and the Minuet. He was patient with her and was a strong frame, supporting her back where he was supposed to and holding her hand delicately in his own. Soon they were gliding along the carpet in smooth turns and sways. It became natural to respond to the gentle push of his hand or the subtle twist of his wrist.
She was so excited. She could actually dance.
"Where did you learn to be so cultural?" she half joked as he gently dipped her. He raised an eyebrow at her inquiring eye and she remembered that she had to look over her right shoulder. She corrected it.
"This was my life," he replied, pulling back and guiding her under his arm in a triplet. "This was what I was taught to do."
She laughed. "You're amazing."
He tugged on her arm, whirled her back into his arms and kissed her sweetly. When he pulled away nothing had changed in his face. To an outsider he would have looked detached. To those who mattered they'd know that he saw nothing but Risa. "I know," was his serious reply. He kissed her again, longer this time, cradling her head, arching backward as he loomed over her with his height.
But he never really loomed.
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That night, as Satoshi slept, he dreamed of all the horrible things he had done when Krad had taken over.
When day broke he didn't wake up.