D. N. Angel Fan Fiction ❯ Snippets ❯ Musical Interpretations ( Chapter 17 )

Musical Interpretations:

 

Disclaimer: How to explain…let me count the ways. DN Angel is not mine, I do not own DN Angel, DN Angel does not belong to me, DN Angel is not owned by me, DN Angel by me is not owned…do you get the point?'

 

Warnings: Nothing that hasn't already been mentioned.

 

A/N: Thanks for supporting the previous fic, and thank you for pointing out that crucial error (cringes). Guess I should just stick to little random plots, huh? Well, anyways, here's the next one-shot!

 

The soft notes of the flute floated through the room, carried out into the city by the wind. The bare tree branches swayed gently along in time with the music, soft `whooshing' noises accompanying their movements. The tune lilted gracefully, whirling through the room and bringing with it visions of a gentle winter, one that consisted of snow gently covering houses and trees and painted the entire city white.

 

“Hey Dark.” The tune continued, the merry notes responding to the greeting. “How are you?” His music continued, running in scales, fingers moving rapidly up and down the instrument to press the keys. His visitor sat down next to him, opening his schoolbag and pulling out a thick stack of paper. “Here's your homework.”

 

The notes fell into a diminuendo, still merry but now more subdued. The other laughed. “You wish.” Then the player's eyes lit up, and the tune grew slightly louder, quicker, rather like an expression of a number of ideas. His classmate's eyes narrowed slightly and he shook a playful finger at Dark in warning. “No, you can't say you have a concert.” The tune fell again, now in a minor key as the player glanced at him balefully, fingers moving over the notes with the ease of long practice.

 

Crimson locks waved in the breeze, some streaked by the rays of late-afternoon sunlight that fell through the large windows. Smirking, the player began to mimic the strands of red that blew around the redhead's face. Up and down the music went, playful and in a major key. As the breeze left, the tune slowly softened, finally ending on an E-flat. Then the other chose to break the pause. “You played really well at the concert, Dark.” The flute trilled a long, elaborate tune as though showing off, then fell into a minor key and stopped for a beat's rest on an awkward sounding C, waiting for the other's response. “No, you didn't,” Daisuke defended quickly. A quick trill came in response. “No, you didn't.” The redhead insisted. Another quick trill; this one lasting longer than the previous one had.

 

“Hmph.” Daisuke crossed his arms, eyes determined. “No, you didn't. Sensei was so proud of you at the end.” The notes faltered, then came out a little more hesitantly as though questioning the other's statement, wanting to believe but not daring to. Sensing victory, Daisuke pressed on. “Her face was glowing!”

 

A soft E whistled from the flute, like a sigh of defeat. Then the flautist looked up at his companion and the music became lively and playful once more. Daisuke listened for a moment before blushing. “I am not! I'm just telling you the truth!” A playful arpeggio was his reply. “I am not proud about it!” A series of intricate notes followed, playful and lilting. “Don't laugh!” Dark's shoulders shook in silent laughter as the music continued, becoming faster and faster until all the notes had merged together, distinct yet indistinct. The redhead blushed and looked away.

 

“But Kowada-sensei gave you extra Maths homework to make up for your missing class,” Daisuke quickly said, trying to divert the other's attention from his victory. “And we learned a lot today.” Another diminuendo, this one contained within a series of long, mournful notes played in a minor key. “And Jameson-sensei wants us to write an essay on `Frankenstein', which we discussed today. In class,” he added smugly. The notes dragged on, each one lasting longer than a semibreve. The mournful tune continued. Then it suddenly rose again as Dark thought of a new idea, somehow conveyed through his music to Daisuke.

 

The younger boy glared fiercely at his classmate. “No, you most certainly can not!” The notes rose in a major key once more, Dark now playing a quick Irish tune, the music sounding somewhat like laughter. Daisuke smiled and laughed along with his friend's flute. As the music rose to a sharp crescendo, the flautist's fingers fairly flew over the keys, ending on a high B. He held the note for eight beats and then slowly lowered the instrument from his lips for the first time since Daisuke had entered the room.

 

“Any requests?” He even managed an awkward bow from his sitting position on the bed. Daisuke shook his head laughingly.

 

“How about the one you made up for Music?” He asked teasingly. Dark groaned, looking up at his friend.

 

“You're never going to let me go, are you?” He asked. Daisuke shook his head cheerily in response.

 

“Nope!”

 

“Didn't think so.” Then he brightened up and grinned at Daisuke, causing the younger boy's breath to catch in his chest. “Hey, how about this tune I composed a week ago? I actually spent time improving this one.” The redhead nodded slowly.

 

The melody was jagged and surprisingly hard for something that came from a classical instrument. Although Daisuke knew that Dark liked rock, he'd never thought that the other would try composing something like that on an instrument so obviously meant for a completely different purpose. The notes hurtled downwards speedily like a roller coaster before suddenly shooting straight up to a high G without any warning. He felt as though he was in an elevator whose wires were broken, being jerked up and down by people who had no concept of smoothness. In fact, it was just like his mother's driving some days. Just as abruptly as it had begun, the tune suddenly fell into the minor key. Daisuke immediately thought of a story his mother had once told him; a soul, desperately searching for the way home. If he remembered correctly, the ghost had been doomed to wander forever, lost in a haze that showed him the same places over and over again no matter which path he took. The haunting melody slowed came to an end and Dark looked at the redhead expectantly.

 

“…It's interesting.” Daisuke didn't know what else to say; he felt that there was something strange about the eerie atmosphere that the flute had created in the latter part of the music. Dark seemed somewhat miffed that he hadn't given a more coherent answer, but of course it did not show on his face. Instead, he began to disassemble the flute, his motions snappier than usual.

 

“You're always saying that.” Dark didn't respond, continuing to take his flute apart and put the pieces in the correct parts of the case. Daisuke sighed and slowly reached out to run a hand over the flute.

 

Dark smiled and pulled the stack of paper closer, sorting out the English sheets and carelessly tossing the rest onto the desk. “Hey, concert's over,” he shortly said, probably irritated that he didn't get to show off as much for once. He turned to the worksheets, whistling between his teeth. Daisuke recognised the tune as being from Smetana's piece `Vltava', named after the river that ran through Eastern Europe.

 

The redhead didn't move from his seat, choosing to sit and watch the other tackle his homework. “Stop staring.”

 

Daisuke shrugged and leaned back. The older boy sighed and then leaned over to grab the flute case by its handle, opening the box and quickly snapping all the parts together. Running a quick hand up the instrument to ensure that nothing was loose, he placed the silver object to his lips and played a few notes. Daisuke sighed at the reproachful tone that the music seemed to take and closed his eyes. “Do your homework,” he told the other wryly.

 

A questioning set of quavers prodded at his ears, demanding to know why he wasn't starting on his own work. Daisuke smiled sweetly and replied that he had no homework, owing to the fact that most of it had taken the form of finishing class work. A furious chord, held for four beats, greeted this announcement, purple eyes glaring balefully at him. “See, that's why you shouldn't miss school,” Daisuke teasingly pointed out before clapping his hands over his ears as yet another, higher-pitched chord slammed into his auditory senses.

 

Next day:

 

Daisuke swallowed hard as he walked towards the instrument. Around him, students chatted happily, discussing teachers, homework and classes during the fifteen-minute break. He sat down on the worn stool and stared at the dusty keys of the piano. Pressing down on one of the keys carefully, he sighed as he noted that it was slightly out of tune. However, he was determined to try at least for the sake of becoming accustomed to having people around him once he played. After all, he didn't want to suffer stage fright on the night of the concert.

 

The first few notes sounded through the canteen (1). From the back of the hall, where most of the Year 11s were gathered, a murmur rose and added to the swell of voices in the room. Satoshi raised an eyebrow, recognizing the style immediately, and casually walked over to the piano. Leaning on the top of the instrument as though he were a singer, he looked down at the player and raised one fine eyebrow in a silent question.

 

“So Risa was telling the truth,” he remarked casually. Daisuke's shoulders hunched further, but his fingers continued to glide over the keys without faltering. Satoshi didn't wait for an answer and continued. “Is that the piece you're going to play at the concert?” Daisuke quickly ended the piece and looked up at Satoshi, smiling.

 

“Yeah,” he admitted with a light blush.

 

“For Dark?” Daisuke squirmed uncomfortably as the tips of his ears too began to turn red, and the blue-haired boy had to suppress a sigh of amused exasperation.

 

“Satoshi!” The redhead stammered out. The other rolled his eyes and tapped his long fingers on the piano. After all, he had never been one to beat around the bush, and his bluntness had become infamous amongst the juniors.

 

The other rolled his eyes, then let out a small gasp as a shadow loomed over them both and a pair of arms encircled Satoshi's shoulders from behind. “Ah, so you're the musician stealing my beloved's attention,” Krad drawled. He looked at Daisuke for a moment before nodding in stately approval. Satoshi, meanwhile, blushed at the attention he and the other were getting from the people around them. “My compliments to your playing,” Krad continued. “Good luck.” With those words, he swept off, leaving Daisuke sitting at the piano.

 

Chemistry:

 

“Hey.” Dark threw his bag carelessly onto the floor and flopped into the chair next to his lab partner. Leaning over, he draped a casual arm over Daisuke's shoulders and leaned in closer to the redhead. “'Sup?”

 

“Mm.” Daisuke gave a little noncommittal shrug. “Just thinking.”

 

Dark grinned. “Careful; you might spontaneously combust.” The other took a half-hearted swipe at him, which he easily avoided. Seeing that his friend was not going to leave him alone, Daisuke sighed and finally deigned to look at the other.

 

“How'd your prac (2) write-up go?” He asked. Although going to Dark's house with the intention of staying past dinner thanks to the other's mother extending a warm dinner invitation, he'd left the house immediately as soon as the other tried to kiss him instead of finishing off his homework. The other obviously remembered this incident; in reply he scowled and rifled through his bag furiously, finally pulling out his battered Chemistry binder. He flipped through the numerous sheets of paper, finally selecting what was obviously a report and shoving the entire thing into Daisuke's face. He triumphantly held up his finished homework, whistling a few bars of `Too Bad' for added emphasis. Daisuke sighed and rolled his eyes, not daring to hum the tune of the song that came to mind in response. Dark grinned roguishly and leaned in even closer.

 

“You know you want to,” he murmured softly. “Dare you to move.”

 

To the other's dismay, Daisuke did move; to the empty seat in the bench with Krad and Satoshi. “Hey!” Dark protested. The other merely shot him a look and busied himself with his papers. The purple-haired teen sighed, not noticing that he was heating the alcohol instead of the acid.

 

BANG.

 

“F---!”

 

“Holy crap, what was that?!”

 

Heads whipped around to find the source of the explosion, eyes resting almost immediately upon the sheepish-looking flautist. He was currently examining a shattered, smoking test tube. A stopper lay on the table too, rolling around aimlessly inches away from the rest of the equipment. Daisuke stared in shock, then hurried over as the teacher reached the workbench. “Oh yes,” the teacher called cheerfully over the babble of voices as students commented on Dark's experiment, “Don't stopper your test tubes.” He looked down at the experiment, an amused smile playing about his lips and then sighed. “Clean it up,” he mildly said before continuing to patrol the room in order to ensure that no one was doing anything wrong.

 

By the end of the day, Dark was indeed more than ready to return home. Looking around, he spotted Daisuke and Takeshi talking together near the lockers. He approached them quickly. “Hey, you guys want to take a taxi home together?” The pair looked at him for a moment before Takeshi shook his head.

 

“Nah, I have to pick my sister up. See you!” He walked off, leaving Daisuke and Dark together.

 

The older teen looked at the redhead, eyebrow raised. “Want to come over?” He asked. “I need some help with English anyway.” Daisuke paused, looking sorely tempted, but shook his head once more.

 

“Sorry Dark,” he explained. “I have to go home to work too.”

 

“You can work at my place,” the other offered. Truth be told, he just wanted an excuse to be around Daisuke, and the fact that he did, for once, need help with his homework was just an auxiliary factor. The redhead teasingly whistled a few bars, finally leaning in to peck at the corner of the taller boy's mouth. He turned away, blushing at his sudden actions, and then walked…back home. Dark sighed. Dang. I knew I couldn't win.

 

“Dai, you've been practicing for over an hour now. Are you sure you don't want something to drink?” Emiko called. The music paused as Daisuke shouted down the same reply he had been using since forty-five minutes ago. The woman sighed, but her face brightened up as the tune began once more.

 

The doorbell rang. As usual, Emiko ran to answer it, praying that it wasn't yet another door-to-door salesman. To her delight, it was Kosuke, still dressed for the chilly San Francisco weather. “I'm home.”

 

Emiko hastily grabbed one large suitcase and began heaving it towards the living room, turning around every so often to gaze delightedly at her husband. “Daisuke!” She called upstairs. “Your father's home!” The music abruptly ended in a jangle of chords and the redhead walked downstairs.

 

“Hey dad.” Daisuke and his father's relationship was based more on silence, in direct contrast to the redhead's relationships with his mother and friends. Strangely enough, though, neither seemed to dislike this arrangement, and it was not uncommon for the two of them to sit in amiable silence together. In some aspects, they were actually more like friends than father and son.

 

“Nervous about the concert?” Daisuke nodded, staring down at his thumbs. Kosuke shrugged. “You know,” he casually said, “it's only hard until you get up there. But I suppose it's all right, you not having performed for…seven years?” The redhead nodded. “Mm. Just relax.” With those words, he stood up and walked back to his own room. Daisuke sat on the couch for a while longer, oddly comforted by the words even though many had repeated them to him over and over again.

 

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mousy,

 

It is with great delight that White Crane International School invites you to this year's Christmas Performance, prepared by the school's very own choir and orchestra. Added to this, there will also be solo performances by individual students.

Date: 14th December, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Venue: Chapel Hall

We hope to see you at the concert for an enjoyable evening.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Matthias Blaine (Headmaster)

 

Dark carelessly jammed the invitation into his schoolbag, not bothering to even try and keep it smooth. After all, it wasn't as though his parents were even going to try showing up at the concert, and he didn't think that Daisuke would be likely to need yet another invitation. He sneaked a look at the redhead, wondering where he would be sitting this year. He hadn't gotten so much as a kiss from the other since he'd skipped school, on account of his `needing to catch up with schoolwork'. And after I went through all that trouble to compose a piece for him too, the flautist thought. Well, no matter; he'll soon be back in my arms as soon as I hand in that French essay…Then he remembered. The aforementioned piece had been due in three days ago, and Madame Lambert's wrath would surely descend upon his head if he failed to hand it in within a week.

 

He sat in his room, fingers itching to pick his flute up and play something. The numbers and letters swirled in front of his eyes, forming an illegible code. Dark sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily. Once more his eyes strayed to the sleek black case resting on the bed, its surface glinting in the light, calling to him. Dark couldn't help but liken the call of his flute to that of a siren's.

 

He ended up playing well into the night, algebra homework long forgotten. He seemed to feel unusually musical tonight, he noted as his fingers danced along the length of the silver instrument, the pattern familiar to them from months of long practice. It was one of his and Daisuke's favourite songs, after all. Grinning, the purple-haired teen carefully replaced the flute into its case before walking outside, uncaring of the darkness of the streets or the fact that it was 11:00pm. Humming a tune under his breath, he resisted the urge to walk over to Daisuke's house and bawl `Lady Jane', a tune he knew that the redhead rather disliked in spite of his love for the Rolling Stones. Of course, he would change the words accordingly and pledge himself to `Daisuke-kun', should the occasion for him to sing to the other ever arise. He shuddered at the mere thought of anything that resembled `High School Musical' so closely.

 

The day of the concert drew closer and closer, tension rising as orchestra and choir practices became more and more frequent. In fact, just a week before the concert, almost all the classes were severely depleted due to the number of students needed for extra rehearsals. Even Dark was gone, Daisuke noticed, looking at the empty seat behind him. Krad, too, had gone; surprisingly enough (or not so surprisingly, considering that his father was a famous opera singer), he was in the choir. He absent-mindedly tapped the tune he'd memorized especially for the concert on the table, the notes ringing clearly in his mind. I wish I got extra time to practice too, he thought. I want this to be good for Dark, too. He didn't see the look of amusement on Satoshi's face as the blue-haired teen eyed his fingers.

 

Dark:

 

“Again, from C.” The conductor tapped his baton against the podium for silence before raising it once more. He looked at the violinists, noting that all of them seemed ready. Once more, the orchestra launched into a rendition of Vivaldi's `Spring'. Dark kept his eyes fixed on the music, fingers moving automatically to touch the keys as he lost himself in the music. At the end, the conductor himself nodded and smiled; something that many of the younger musicians swore happened only when Hell froze over. Well, Dark thought wryly, Hell must freeze over every year at this time.

 

Practice continued for another hour before Fukamachi-sensei finally let them go, his eyebrows bristling as he reminded everyone to practice hard, as the concert was only six days away. Everyone filed out of the auditorium, some chattering happily, others moaning at the amount of homework they had to contend with as well as with extra practice. Dark fervently hoped that he had not missed anything of great importance in English.

 

A shrill sound escaped the flute as Dark surveyed his enemy; History homework. The teacher had once more given them a project; to research one aspect of life in Nazi Germany and make a presentation to show the class. Too bad it's not a group project, the purple-haired teen thought miserably. Sighing, he pushed the books to one side and grinned; he had always been strong at Maths. He gently placed the flute to one side and worked through the problems steadily, wondering what Daisuke was doing at the moment.

 

Daisuke:

 

“Dai-chan!” Emiko called up the stairs. “You'd better go to sleep now! It's getting late and you don't want to oversleep, do you?” The redhead in question sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing slowly at his eyes. Sighing, he decided to call it quits for the nigh, as it was clear from the tone of his mother's voice that she would not leave him alone until it was clear that he was in bed and fast asleep.

 

The next morning, Daisuke awoke to find himself shivering slightly, as he was only clad in a pair of thin pyjamas. Surprisingly enough, the weather had indeed changed overnight; where it had been sunny just the day before, it was now grey. It seemed as though Winter had abruptly decided to push Fall away from the world instead of slowly taking over, as it normally did. Luckily, Emiko was well-prepared for this shift in the weather and happily pointed to the large pile of winter clothing in another section of the wardrobe. “It's just a cold front, but it's always coldest when you're not accustomed to it yet!” she chirped happily as Daisuke shivered and ate his toast.

 

At school, no one wanted to sit in the courtyard for fear of freezing. A chilly wind was blowing in from the mountains, carrying with it all the iciness of the mountain-tops that made up the Hida Mountains. Dark looked good in this kind of weather, Daisuke reflected absently as he watched the purple-haired man dash through the doors wearing what had jokingly been dubbed `Dark's Standard Winter Gear' by the class a few years before. In his left hand, he clutched his flute case as usual.

 

“Dai-chan!” The other shouted exuberantly, pushing stray wisps of hair out of his face with his free hand. He reached the redhead in a matter of seconds and before he could move, Daisuke was enveloped in a bear hug. “You're warm,” the other moaned happily and buried his face in the thick spikes of the other boy's hair. “So warm…”

 

Someone coughed, and the pair looked up to find Sawaguchi-sensei looking at them with a bemused expression on his face. “I know you wish to show the extent of your feelings towards Niwa as much as possible, Mousy-kun,” he mildly said, “but perhaps you could wait for just one and a half hours?” The class burst into laughter and for a moment, Daisuke remembered the way Dark's flute sounded as it mimicked the merry laughter of the class. He was sure that the piece had not been written for this occasion.

 

Blushing furiously (well, Daisuke was; Dark was merely irked), both boys settled back down into their seats as the teacher began to explain the concept of `First Principles' (3). Krad snickered all the way through class as he jabbed Dark in the back with a pencil repeatedly.

 

Daisuke dropped his bag onto the floor and approached the piano quickly, lifting up the lid and whipping the cloth off. He sat down on the leather stool and began to play, not even thinking about which notes came next. The music flowed through him and he imagined the look on Dark's face when he realized just how much this song meant to him.

 

14th December, 6:00pm:

 

“I'm so nervous!” Risa wailed backstage. “What if I lose my place in the music? What if I trip over and fall flat on my face? What if I…”

 

“Hush, Risa,” her twin scolded. “You'll be fine.” However, nothing she could do would reassure her distraught twin. Daisuke stared at the sheets of music in his hands, fingers tracing over the staves and notes. Although he had the entire piece down by heart, he'd still chosen to bring the music along. Just in case. He closed his eyes and thought of Dark, sitting down there in the pit (4) along with the rest of the orchestra. He smiled, remembering what had happened during the run-through of the performance.

 

-Flashback-

 

“Dai-chan!” Daisuke turned around to see Dark barreling towards him once more. However, this time he was quicker and side-stepped the other's outstretched arms, causing the purple-haired teen to crash into Krad instead. Without missing a beat, the flautist wrapped his arms around the blond and proceeded to cuddle him. The other let out an undignified shriek of shock and hastily tried to peel the other off, snarling threats until Satoshi entered the room.

 

After being subjected to one of the famous Hikari speeches on morality and not stealing other people's partners, Dark slunk into a corner of the room and casually threw an arm over Daisuke's shoulders. “So darling, darling stand…by me!” He crooned softly, nuzzling the other's neck. The crimson-eyed teen sighed amusedly and leaned back, laughing softly as strands of purple hair tickled his neck. He missed having Dark around, even though he knew that if either of them were to meet the other, neither would be able to get anything done on account of the other. It felt good to laugh with Dark again after talking to him only during classes before the teacher entered and during break times.

 

-End Flashback-

 

He sighed and rested both hands lightly on the table, fingers moving over invisible keys. He hoped that tonight, he would be able to perform his very best. Not just for his family and himself, but also for Dark. It had been a long time since he'd performed anything on the piano for someone other than a family member.

 

Dark:

 

People trickled into the hall from all the entrances. Dark winced at seeing one woman enter with a baby; if the child started squalling in the middle of the performance, it would certainly detract from the music. He didn't normally have anything against young children, but he did believe that going to a concert with one could be unpleasant, both for the audience and the musicians. After all, children's cries were not meant to be used for music.

 

The emcees walked on stage, both dressed in smart-casual wear. Satoshi politely welcomed the audience in Japanese, whilst Apollo translated the words into English for the non-Japanese speaking members of the audience. After all, foreign students made up a substantial number of White Crane's student body. “And now,” Satoshi concluded, “We will begin with Vivaldi's `Winter'. Enjoy.” Amidst polite applause, the pair walked into the wings. Fukamachi-sensei raised his baton and Dark slowly raised the flute to his lips.

 

Daisuke took another gulp of water to quell his nerves, hands trembling slightly. He could not practice here to reassure himself; the noise from the piano would interfere with the music in the auditorium. He looked at the empty seats all around him; most of the people here tonight were in the school choir, and had thus all already gone onstage to perform. He could hear faint strains of music if he tried; apparently they were now going through `Ring Christmas Bells'. It didn't sound half bad, he dazedly thought. Another glance at the programme only told him that his act was next. He still couldn't believe that he was about to perform a piano piece in front of an audience which was not related to him in some way for the first time in seven years. About to declare his love for his boyfriend in music, no less. Suddenly Ben walked past him, dark eyes filled with sympathy and the redhead realized that he was up. Standing up, he joined the other two and walked towards the piano, whilst they introduced the audience to the next act.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a hand to the White Crane Choir for their excellent rendition of `Ring Christmas Bells'!” Ben announced cheerfully. Satoshi shot him a look, but then sighed. He caught sight of Daisuke sitting at the piano, and blinked. Is Daisuke in another part of the concert that I didn't know about? He thought bemusedly. If he remembered correctly, the orchestra was to play another piece to which the audience could sing along, and then the recorder group was to play a few pieces. Daisuke wasn't due to come on until the second act, after the intermission. He shot a look at the other emcee, silently looking towards Daisuke. Unfortunately, the other turned around with no subtlety whatsoever and the blue-haired teen resisted the urge to sigh. “For our next act,” the American announced, “Let's give a hand to Daisuke Niwa!” The audience burst into applause after a momentary pause in which the rustling of many programmes could be heard. The dark boy turned to him and shrugged lightly before mouthing, `Translate'. Satoshi hastily repeated the name of the act in Japanese and there was applause once more before the lights dimmed and Daisuke was in the spotlight.

 

“Um…” Daisuke carefully adjusted the microphone perched near his mouth on the piano. “I'd just like to say that this piece is dedicated to my family, and one very special person.” He spared a glance at the pit, but found that Dark, being on the far side of the stage, was hidden by all the other musicians. “You know who you are,” he added into the mike before slowly beginning the introduction. He hoped that the piece would be suitable for the audience; after all, classical infused with pop on a piano could easily go very, very wrong.

 

“If I could take this moment forever
Turn the pages of my mind
To another place and time
We would never say goodbye.”

 

Daisuke knew that Dark would probably tease him for being so maudlin, but deep inside he knew that they would both have to leave for university, and with his dream of going to Rome to study art, it was unlikely that he would see Dark again for a very long time. After all, neither of them had money to spend on pleasure jaunts in far-off countries. He knew that the song was probably more for Dark than anyone else, but also knew that his family understood what part they played in his choice of music. The piano slowly died out and Daisuke closed his eyes, pushing everything he had into the melody.

 

He stood up and bowed in a daze, uncaring of the applause that seemed to be muffled by a thick veil, stunned by the fact that his performance was now over. He was dimly surprised that nothing had seemed to go wrong, that his fingers did not falter despite his not having played the piano in front of an audience for so long. Amidst applause, he hastily retreated into the dark safety of the wings, where he laughed breathlessly at himself when he realized that he'd gone onstage far too early.

 

Fukamachi-sensei watched amusedly as the pianist rushed offstage, rising smoothly from his chair and walking over to the podium. He raised his baton and cleared his throat, waiting for the orchestra to ready themselves. They quickly launched into their traditional Christmas medley, moving easily through `Jingle Bells', `O Holy Night' and `God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen'. Next came the solo pieces, the section in which Daisuke was supposed to have performed. The conductor raised an eyebrow at the sight of the twins performing together. An interesting evening, indeed, he decided. Everyone knew that Risa never wanted to perform with Riku for fear of becoming nothing more than `Harada-san's little sister'. Tonight, though, there was no such problem. Perhaps the younger twin had matured over the years, then.

 

Dark watched everyone perform silently, his hands loosely curled around the flute on his lap. His mind whirled as he realized that Daisuke was, in a way, trying to find some way to avoid the most likely post-high school outcome. The redhead had been trying to ask him not to leave, and what to do at the same time. It was a frightening thought. Shaking his head to clear it of such unpleasant thoughts-it was Christmas, for crying out loud!-Dark settled down to wait for his turn to play.

 

“I can't sing,” he told the audience nonchalantly, “But I've been told that I play a mean flute.” Lifting the instrument to his lips, he began to play the piece he'd composed a mere week and a half ago It wasn't the one he'd shown Daisuke; it was another one, a piece that he'd thrown together late one night. He still wasn't sure just what had triggered the desire to write, but he had a feeling that his not talking to the other boy had something to do with it. His fingers flew over the keys deftly, pressing down at all the right places. He was starting to slip into the flow of the music when suddenly he realized that he would not have enough breath to make it up to the top of the chromatic scale. He couldn't take a breath; at this stage, anything other than an uninterrupted flow would sound awkward. His lungs were constricting, his chest narrowing as he continued to play the flute. He was about to reach the top and the flute gave out a squeak, lacking the air to sustain the silvery sound. Dark refused to cringe or blush, taking a quick breath before continuing to play. He came to the end of the piece without any further problems, bowing to the audience before returning to his seat within the orchestra.

 

8:00pm:

 

They filed out, chattering noisily about the concert. Dark made sure to give Madame Lambert a wide berth, remembering his long-overdue French homework. He headed towards one of the tables, seeing Krad and Satoshi standing near one of them. The blond was looking quite uncomfortable with Risa's hands wrapped around one of his arms as she praised his violin concerto. Satoshi was as collected as ever, although the purple-haired teen noticed that his friend's blue eyes were unnervingly sharp. Riku saw him first and nodded, smiling a little at him. “Hey,” he said casually, jabbing Krad in the ribs and causing the other to growl. “Where's Daisuke?”

 

“Takeshi caught him,” Satoshi bluntly replied, causing everyone to groan. They knew that once Takeshi caught someone who had been an actual `eye witness' to the event, nothing short of a nuclear explosion would be able to get him to let go. After all, the other was the Chief Editor of the school magazine, which meant that he often had to run around looking for good stories. He often took this task a little too much to heart, meaning that anyone answering his questions could very well be stuck there for the next hour or so.

 

Dark sighed dramatically. “I guess I'll go rescue him, then,” he laughed, turning in the direction indicated by Satoshi. “See you!” The others answered in kind, the girls adding compliments on his performance.

 

Daisuke sighed for the fifth time, wondering just why he had to run into Takeshi, of all people. Placing a hand on his phone, he feigned surprise and hastily told the other, “Sorry, my parents are calling me.” Ignoring the other's shouts for him to come back, the redhead took off, pretending to talk frantically on his phone. As he rounded the corner, he crashed into someone and both of them went flying.

 

After a minute of confused blinking and hasty apologies, both Dark and Daisuke burst out into laughter again. Standing up, Daisuke offered his hand to the amethyst-eyed teen, who took it. Their laughter slowly died away as they looked at each other and without another word, they left the noisy corridor for the quiet streets.

 

“Hey,” Daisuke asked, huddled against Dark on one of the park benches. “Was I okay?”

 

The other paused for a moment before looking down at him with amusement dancing in his eyes. Lips curved upwards in a small smile before he replied, “You came out too early.” Daisuke giggled as he remembered the feeling of horror when he'd returned to one of the reserved classrooms and Ben had asked him whether there had been a last minute programme change. “But,” Dark continued, “why that song?”

 

Daisuke shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to know whether we'd stay like this or whether we'd split.”

 

“How unromantic,” the other teased gently. “And here I was, thinking that you'd stand by me.” Both of them laughed once more, but it was clear that the mood had changed and both were thinking along the same lines: What will happen when university comes around? Neither had really thought much about the matter until now, as the year drew to a close. After all, so much time had already passed without their realizing it, and they were already in their second year of senior high. “Hey, Daisuke,” Dark softly said.

 

“Mm?” The other looked up at him.

 

“It'd be nice to keep in touch,” he murmured. He felt the other shift against him before blinking at the sudden sensation of warm breath tickling his neck. Daisuke chuckled lowly.

 

“Yeah, it would,” he agreed.

 

Dark silently stood up, pushing Daisuke away lightly. “Let's go home,” he finally said. “I'm cold.” He held out a hand to the redhead, who immediately stood up.

 

Dark stood in the kitchen, watching the saucepan of milk as it bubbled. His eyes turned to the canister of chocolate powder on the kitchen countertop, then swung over once more to Daisuke, who was sitting on the table swinging his legs. Crimson met amethyst and the redhead blushed before looking away, causing the other to grin. Desperate to end the silence, Daisuke blurted out, “Where are your parents?”

 

Dark shrugged. “Not here. Dad's with his girlfriend again, even though he keeps saying it's just for business,” he snorted at this point and rolled his eyes, “and mom's out partying it up with her friends, probably.” Daisuke shrugged.

 

“Thanks for letting me come over,” he softly said.

 

“Anytime. You want to stay over tonight?”

 

Daisuke hesitated. He had stayed over at Dark's several times, mainly during the holidays, but this time he didn't know whether he'd be allowed to, seeing as his father was home for once and his mother certainly would not appreciate being given such short notice. “Come on,” the purple-haired teen coaxed gently. “I won't do anything, I promise.” Daisuke flushed crimson to the roots of his hair and glared.

 

“Ecchi!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

 

Daisuke ended up staying over at Dark's house that night, watching movies all night. They fell asleep on the couch for what must have been the fiftieth time, huddled up together underneath the large, soft quilt that Dark had dragged down from his bedroom. Just as he fell asleep, Daisuke dimly heard the man on the television go, “That's the spirit of Christmas.”

 

 

Seeing as you've all reached this point and that I've obviously taken so long to post this one-shot, I guess I'll give you a Christmas present; that is, a two in one bonus (aren't you guys happy?) It's a little drabble I came up with a while ago for a forum challenge, but then I realized I was reading the wrong requirements so I had to delete it. It's exactly 100 words.

 

Requirement: I'd watch where you're putting that if I were you.

 

`And now, I'm back-to let you know…I can really shake `em down.' Dark spun Daisuke across the dancefloor vigorously, so frequently that the other soon became dizzy.

 

Daisuke bit his lip desperately, trying to keep quiet. Soon, though, he could no longer hold it in and let out a squawk of pain. “OUCH!”

 

He looked down pointedly at Dark's foot, which was on top of his own and had been stomping there continuously for a few minutes now. “I'd watch where you're putting that if I were you.”

 

He felt something poking his stomach and glanced down quickly. “And that.”

 

1: Piano in the canteen: This is based on the `old' canteen in my school (we now have a new, spiffy one). There was a piano in there, which was up for anyone who wanted to play.

 

2: `Prac': Abbreviation for `practical report', where you have to perform an experiment and detail your hypothesis, method etc. Using the results, you then draw conclusions and present them in report form. This is found most frequently in science classes, usually Biology or Chemistry.

 

3: First Principles: The basic formula for Calculus that enables one to find the gradient of a curve at one particular point. However, it is quite tricky, as of course everyone who's done high school math knows that the gradient constantly changes.

 

4: Pit: Orchestral terminology, referring to the lowered area in front of the stage where the orchestra sits.

 

So how was that, people? Good, bad, frightfully long, frightfully pretentious, plain silly? I really appreciate it if you'd give me some reviews, as I'm starting to miss finding the things in my inbox every day (I know, I'm sad). Please review, and it'd be lovely if you talked a little about the drabble as well. Thank you for getting through this surprisingly long piece, and merry Christmas to you all!