Chapter 1

I would like to dedicate this story to my best friend and fellow Satoshi Hiwatari fan girl, Abby! Thanks for introducing me to DN Angel!

This story is loosely (very loosely) based off of a trip I took with our school band. (Flutes rule!!!) It was amazing, and what a place for Satoshi and Risa to work out their feelings! I hope you like it!

Also: Reviews are not only appreciated, but essential to my existence.

Disclaimer: I no own DN Angel. I also no own any books or soundtracks mentioned in this story. L

Satoshi Hiwatari was ignoring her again, and Risa didn't like it one bit. It was one thing to not like her, it was a completely different thing to treat her as if she didn't exist, especially since they had to sit next to each other through a four hour flight. The last time they had been seat partners, he had slept through the entire bus ride. Now he was fully awake, but so engrossed in his book that he might as well be unconscious for all the entertainment he was.

She stared in disinterest at the in-flight movie. Beside her, Hiwatari quietly turned a page. She glanced at him and sighed. Nothing. She sighed again, a little louder this time. Still nothing. Apparently it was up to her to strike up a conversation.

"So . . . .isn't it funny how this always seems to happen, Hiwatari-kun?"
"How what always seems to happen, Harada-san?" He didn't even look up from his book.

"How we always seem to end up sitting by each other? How does this keep happening?"
"We don't always end up sitting by each other. It's just that my usual seating partner and your usual seating partner wished to sit together."

" . . . Right." She glanced over at Diasuke and Riku, and a flash of envy surged through her as her sister laid her head on Diasuke's shoulder. Lucky Riku - she was going to a tropical paradise with her boyfriend, while Risa was stuck sitting next to creepy Satoshi Hiwatari. "What are you reading.?" Risa tried again.

"Socrates in Love." He muttered, turning a page. She gasped.

"Oh my goodness! I love that book!"

"You don't say."

"It's one of my favorites! It so sad! She dies!"

He finally looked up at her, and his expression told her he was not amused. "Thank you, Harada-san. I didn't want to figure that out for myself."

"Oh . . ." she said, catching the note of sarcasm in his voice. "Oh, I'm sorry Satoshi-kun . . . It's just so sad! She gets leukemia and-"

He snapped the book shut and gave her a death glare. "You know what? Why don't you just tell me everything about it, that way I won't even have to read it."

Obviously she didn't get the hint. "I didn't know you liked those types of books, Hiwatari-kun. Socrates in Love sounds a little sentimental for someone like you."

"It's for a school project." He muttered. "Niwa actually suggested that I read it."

"I bet Riku made him read it! Because I made her read it! So technically you're reading this book because I read it first!" She giggled at that thought. "Isn't that interesting?"

"Isn't . . . what . . . interesting?"

"The fact that something I did had an effect on you."

"Oh."

"So, do you like the book so far?"

He shrugged. "It's a very common theme in literature. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl comes down with terrible illness and dies. The end."

"But-but that's not all of it!" She cried, indignant.

"Really? What draws you to a story like this? Would you have enjoyed it so much if it had ended happily for every character?"

"Well . . ."

"Exactly. Writers like this strive to pull the heartstrings of their readers. It's really an overly used theme. There are dozens of versions of this book out there."

"Oh yeah? Name one!" She challenged. Socrates in Love was one of her favorite books - one of the few books she had actually enjoyed reading, and she would not have a stuck up snob in glasses berating it

"A Walk to Remember." He pushed his glasses up and reopened the book.

"Well . . . Name another one then!"
"I really don't feel like playing this game with you, Harada-san." And with that, he returned to his book - the book he didn't even like.

"Hmph! Fine then." She said and put her headphones on. Knowing Hiwatari thought she was shallow and uneducated, she picked the CD she thought would make her seem mature and turned the volume up as high as it would go.

After a few minutes she realized he was trying to talk to her. She paused the song and took her headphones off. "Yes, Hiwatari-kun? Did you want something?"

"You're going to hurt your ears if you listen to music at that volume."

"I'll listen to it at whatever volume I wish. But thank you anyway, Hiwatari-kun." She replied coolly.

"Well," He said just as she was about to return to her music. "That's fine for you, but not everyone on the plane enjoys The Phantom of the Opera as much as you do."

" . . . Oh." Was all she could come up with. The music was really that loud? How embarrassing. To cover up her discomfiture, she replaced the headphones over her reddening ears, turning the music down a considerable amount.

"And anyway." Hiwatari added, his voice reaching her over the music. She glared at him and paused the music again.

"Yes?"

" . . . That's not even the original cast. It's the cast from the movie - a cast who made it painfully obvious they weren't trained in opera."

"Nuh-uh!" She said, proud that she finally knew something that the great Satoshi Hiwatari didn't. "The girl that played Christine was trained in opera! In fact, every character sang -"

"Except Minnie Driver, who played La Carlotta." He finished for her. "And Christine, or Emmy Rossum, was trained in opera for the movie. That's very different than having an actual operatic voice."

"You are so irritating!" She said, much to his astonishment.

"I'm irritating?!"

"Yes! Everything I like you automatically degrade! It's as if you can't stand not to show of your superiority!" She was proud of herself for using such a big word against Hiwatari.

He was quiet for a moment. "I never meant to degrade the things you enjoy. I was just stating my opinion." He shrugged. "Of course, I might've been a little harsh. I was just comparing it to the actual stage version. They changed a lot from it."

"You've seen the stage version?!" She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. He nodded.

"Yes my father -" His voice caught on the word and he swallowed. Risa understood - Hiwatari's father had died the day Dark left. "He . . . He took me to see it once . . . .a long time ago."

"Oh . . ." She felt bad for making him think about his father. "Um . . .would you . . .would you like to listen to it? I know it's not up to your standards, but . . ."

"That's quite alright, Harada-san." He muttered. No. She was not going to let Satoshi Hiwatari go all angsty on her now.

"Come on, just one song!" She put it on shuffle, deciding that fate would find a song for him to listen to that wouldn't remind him of his troubled and sorrowful past. Of course, she wasn't thinking straight, if she had been, she would've realized that The Phantom of the Opera is nothing but a story wrought with trouble and sorrow.

Sighing in defeat and knowing it was the only way to shut her up, he took the headphones from her. "If I listen to it, will you leave me alone for the rest of the flight?"

"Of course, Hiwatari-kun." She smiled. He put the headphones on and waited.

She watched him eagerly, but his face was an emotionless mask. She paused it when he removed the headphones. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to listen?"

"It's over already." He handed her the headphones back, and she smiled.

"Well?"

"Well what?'

"What did you think?"

" . . . I didn't like it."

"What? Why?"

He just shrugged and opened his book again. It was amazing how quickly he could go from angsty to emotionless. She sighed and looked down at the player. It was on track 11: Learn To Be Lonely.

Oh . . . Damn . . .