Risa's Presents
By Chiharu Tanaka
A/n: I'm SOOOO sorry that I didn't update for a really really long time! I hope this satisfies you…which…I think it won't…
Disclaimer: insert claim of what I do not own here
Chapter 3: In The Arms of An Angel
The tapping sound of a mechanical pencil hitting against a piece of paper was disturbing Rina's nap. It gently purred and laid on its back, looking at Risa. She just giggled and tickled the kitten's tummy. "Stop being so playful, I've got homework. You're lucky, cats don't get homework. Neither do they get a feeling of affection for handsome boys with glasses," she whispered.
What she said was what she felt; affection. She smiled as she lay on her soft bed, thinking of the lingering fragrance that always hung around Satoshi. He seems to always smell of rich sandalwood…
She closed her eyes to ease her headache. Math had just gotten harder for her. How did Hiwatari-kun learn and master all this when he entered college at the age of 8! she thought in disbelief. Frustrated, she set the paper and pencil on her side table. Looking up at the ceiling, she could feel a grin on her lips, a tinge of pink on her cheeks.
She had to admit, he was an amazing guy. She fiddled around with the chain of the silver necklace. God must be testing me, she thought.
"Risa! Get your butt down here – it's Math time!" yelled Riku through the intercom. Risa's lips formed a thin line. "I'm coming!" she yelled back. She picked up her pencil case, assignment and exam pad and headed downstairs for the living room.
As the door stood slightly ajar, Rina, being the naughty kitten she was, tagged along behind Risa like a baby chick. Risa hurriedly ran down the marble steps and almost slipped and fell if someone hadn't pulled her backwards.
"Oh, thanks Riku, I…" she stopped in mid-sentence as she turned around and saw that it wasn't Riku.
"You're really agitated today, aren't you?" he asked. Risa grinned sheepishly, shaking her hand off his.
"Umm…ah…I guess I am."
Risa looked into Satoshi's eyes, and apparently, she made a mistake doing so. She found herself locked into a tunnel of light, where at the end she could see emotions swirling around in pools of stagnant cobalt. She blinked once when she saw a sudden change in Satoshi's expression. He had one of his eyes twitched, as his nose began to sniff in strangely. What a strange sight for Harada Risa.
"Achoo!" he sneezed out at last. Risa tried to stifle her laughter – his face was hilarious. Who knew the Hiwatari Satoshi could sneeze like that. She bit her lower lip and picked Rina up from the floor. "I thought I told you to stay inside the room?" she scolded the kitten. It purred, and if it could speak, it said, "Yeah, sure, then you can go hog Satoshi for yourself."
She ran back upstairs and let the kitten inside her room and closed the door. She then went back downstairs to the living room, where Satoshi was already seated on a sofa, drinking a mug of warm coffee that Riku just made.
"Great, you're finally here. Can we start the lesson now?" she asked, sounding rather impatient. Must be the seniors scolding her again… thought Risa as she took a seat beside Riku.
Rina gently licked its fur as it strutted around Risa's room. The cold breeze blew the curtains gently. Looking ahead to the open French windows leading to the balcony, Rina walked ahead. As it was looking around with those large blue eyes it has, it walked on over to Riku's room. Resting its paws on the soft carpet, it noticed a light. The light coming from Riku's open bedroom door. A very good light indeed.
"Do you like the necklace?"
The sudden question caught Risa by surprise, she was hunching over more indexes. "Yeah…it's beautiful," she said, turning to him. "It must be expensive…" she said again, fiddling with the cold silver chain.
He sat there cross-legged (think businessman, not bisexual) and gazed at her intently. "Actually, it wasn't too expensive. Just affordable, you can say." She found herself smiling from her heart, and quickly turned back to her math problem, embarrassed.
Risa stuffed the question sheet at Satoshi's face once again as she looked at him, begging for an explanation. "I know you finished high school at eight, but being a freshman doesn't make me happy."
Riku bit her lower lip to stop laughing as he sighed and took a seat beside her on the couch and explained the rules on logarithms… again. (I'm studying that subject at school right now, .)
If I am psychic, I could've sworn that she was flirting with him. The poor dear, thought Riku, grinning behind a math reference book.
"That's what you press on the calculator to get the answers."
Risa nodded. "Ah…that makes life SO much easier. Thank you, Hiwatari-kun!" she said, smiling gleefully.
As Satoshi was about to return to his seat, Riku set aside her assignment and walked over to the door. "Rina! What are you doing down here?" she asked, picking the kitten up. Risa looked at her sister, then at Satoshi.
"Umm…Riku, Hiwatari-kun is allergic to cats…" she mumbled.
Riku replied with an "Oh" and let the kitten outside and closed the door. She returned back to her seat and resumed doing her assignments.
Time flew by, and it was already ten. Risa yawned as she listened to Satoshi's explanation on another topic, quadratic functions.
Why does he sound so blurry? Maybe I'm just…tired… she thought. She leaned in closer towards him and slowly closed her eyes, breathing his intoxicating scent. He really does smell like…sandalwood…
A few minutes later, Satoshi asked, "Are you clear on that, Harada Risa-san?" Receiving no answer, he turned to Risa, who landed her cheek on his shoulder with a soft 'thud'. Riku felt like taking a camera and photograph the Kodak moment, but no, Satoshi wouldn't like that.
"She's…asleep…" he muttered. "I guess that's it for today." He gently played with the bangs of her hair. "Do you…uh…need help?" asked Riku. Satoshi turned to her and shook his head. "I'll carry her up. Just point me to her room, thanks."
Riku just stared at him, shocked and astonished. He gently picked her up and carried her while she slept peacefully. Riku led him upstairs to Risa's room, where he sneezed once because of Rina's fur. He laid Risa's sleeping self on her bed and tucked her in.
"I bid you good night, Harada Riku-san."
"Are you awake, Risa?"
Risa stirred slightly as the warm sunshine hit her face. "Yes…Riku-chan? What's wrong?" she asked, turning sideways to her sister. She backed away a few centimetres when she saw the bright, dreamy and pearly smile spread across her face.
"Wha…" she mumbled slowly, slightly freaked out. Riku closed her eyes and giggled hard.
"Risa…you…you shouldn't have slept like a log!" she screeched. She leaned forward and shook Risa's shoulders, making her long, silky brown hair move about.
"What do you mean?"
"Jeez, Risa! I know that when you sleep, you sleep like a log! Nothing can wake you up! You should have seen yourself!"
Risa looked at her sister in the eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she asked again. Riku giggled before spilling the beans. "Don't tell me you don't know that Hiwatari-kun carried you up here?"
Risa's eyes shot wide open like saucers before a loud "WHAT?" rang across the normally quiet Harada mansion. "He…he…carried me? How?" she screeched back at her sister, face flushed with embarrassment.
"He was like…an angel, really! He carried you up here…" Riku paused, searching the right word to place in her sentence. "Bridal style! Yeah, that's it. He carried you up like a bride. You fell asleep on his shoulder, for Pete's sake!"
Risa plopped back down on the bed, as she fainted from too much embarrassment. She woke up (again) half an hour later when she felt Rina tugging at her skirt. Oh damn! she cursed. How am I gonna face Hiwatari-kun? Oh my God – I can't believe I fell asleep on his shoulder! And I can't believe he carried me up here and I wasn't awake! her mind screamed.
She grabbed a nearby pillow, stuffed it in her face and screamed as hard as she could. She let go of the pillow and threw it aside. Picking Rina up, she stroked its fur gently as it began to purr.
"Rina…I don't think I can meet Hiwatari-kun face to face ever again after this incident…" she mumbled. "And I have school tomorrow…oh man!"
To be continued…
A/n: Wahhh, I am so lazy! I don't think this is satisfying enough. But I promise you, Dance Steps Chapters 8 and 9 will be a blast! (goes to sleep)