Well you have Good Charlotte to thank for this monstrosity of a story. :D The song Bloody Valentine just makes me shiver…so I just had to use it. xD If you know the song…then you pretty much know the gist of the ending. /giggle/ About time I get to write some /cough/ non-graphic /cough/ horror…
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Oh, my love
Please don't cry
I'll wash my bloody hands and
We'll start a new life
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b.l.o.o.d.y.VALENTINE
"Niwa-kun, be my Valentine?" Riku asked confidently. Of course Daisuke would accept; they were practically boyfriend and girlfriend – practically being the key word. However, seeing that this was Valentine's Day, there was no doubt that this 'practically' would soon be turning into a 'definitely.'
Riku nearly giggled at the idea. Finally, she would have a boyfriend, someone to love and to hold and to share her secrets with – someone who would buy her things and do everything she asked of him. The brunette knew this was a selfish, Risa-ish thought…but she was a girl, and even though no one would ever believe this, she acted like one from time to time.
Daisuke stared up at Riku over a foot-tall pile of cards and chocolates. "Well…ano…"
Truth be told, Daisuke had also been thinking about making plans for Valentine's day – but not with Riku…
"I kind of…wanted to be –"
"Great!" Riku squealed. She surged forward, causing the mountain of valentines to topple over, and violently hugged Daisuke around the neck. "We can go somewhere after school." She gave the strangled redhead a bit of room, staring at him hopefully with large brown eyes. "Okay, Valentine?"
Daisuke ducked his head sulkily, something Riku's over-large, over-glistening eyes seemed to miss. "…Okay."
"Niwa-kun."
Daisuke's head snapped up at the sound of his name. It was a familiar voice that had called out to him: a voice that made his face flush and his chest tingle, a voice that made his head spin and his heart hammer.
"Hiwatari," Riku greeted coolly, sending a slight grin in the blunette's direction. She had reverted back to her tomboyish ways, with her jaw set in her mandatory simper and her brown eyes calm and dull. The way she looked and acted for him –and only him – made Daisuke feel guilty. Perhaps she loved him, and all he could do was lie and pretend to like her back. It made him feel ashamed.
But…there was someone else who changed completely for him – and he loved that someone else.
Satoshi inclined his head in return. "Harada-san."
Riku's eyes flitted past Satoshi for a second, and her lips cracked into a wide smile. "Look who's mister popular now," she observed slyly, her gaze set solely on the threshold of the classroom, which was packed with a crowd of giggling girls sporting flowers, cards, and candy. None of them seemed all too eager to actually approach Satoshi; they were quite content with not-to-subtly staring at him from afar and giggling.
"Riku, look!" Risa called loudly, waving a red and pink card at her sister. "Y'know who this is from? Oooh, you'll never guess!"
Riku wandered off, grumbling lowly to herself. "…stupid…don't care…Niwa-kun…"
Once the two boys were alone, Daisuke lowered his gaze. "So… What's up, Hiwatari-kun?"
Satoshi shrugged. "You ought to clean up this mess." He motioned toward the scattered valentines on the floor that Riku had knocked over in her attempt to strangle – ahem…hug – Daisuke.
"Oh." Daisuke glanced at the array of strewn treats. "Yeah…" He sighed in resignation, dropping out of his seat and to his knees. Slowly, he collected each pink and red and white card into his arms with his head down. Just when he was about to pick up a rather prettily tied box of chocolates, Satoshi kneeled down and his slim, pallid fingers grasped it.
"What's wrong?" Satoshi asked softly. His free hand rested over Daisuke's, and his alice blue eyes bore straight into deep scarlet. "You're not this usually…closed around me. Not since…" He trailed off.
Daisuke blushed, a thin smile finally curling onto his lips. "I'm sorry, Sato-kun," he sighed. "I… It's just that it's Valentine's Day and we…"
"I know, Dai-kun, I know." Satoshi mirrored Daisuke's sigh. "You know no one's ready for…us…just yet." He looked truly sad for a brief moment before his usual stoic air returned. "I would ask you out to a nice dinner at home or something…but your parents don't know about us yet, and I sure as hell can't even toast bread.
Daisuke cracked a wry smile. "Yet you eat bread everyday for lunch."
"Hey." Satoshi feigned a defensive expression. "It's not toasted."
Daisuke tittered quietly and resumed his cleaning of valentines. It wasn't until he picked up the one from Riku that he remembered why he had been so glum. He froze, the pads of his fingers nervously running over the lace that lined Riku's card.
"Satoshi…"
"Hm?"
Daisuke gripped the card tightly. "Ri-Riku-san asked me out for Valentine's day," he blurted out, knowing that he couldn't hide it forever. "I was trying to tell her no, but she thought I was gonna say yes and so now she expects me to take her out later after school…" He trailed off, having said all this very fast.
"Oh." Satoshi said this calmly, but his brows were twitching slightly and his lips were drawn into a line. "I see."
"I-I'm sorry!" Daisuke tried to apologize further, but Satoshi cut in.
"I see," he repeated.
"…You…you aren't mad, are you?" Daisuke asked timidly, his eyes lowered to his trembling hands.
"Of course not," Satoshi retorted tersely. He stood abruptly and placed what valentines he had picked up back onto Daisuke's desk. "I'm simply –"
RIIINGSatoshi fell silent at the sound of the bell. "It's time for break." And without another word, he spun heel and walked out the door.
"No!" Daisuke stumbled to his feet, depositing the rest of his valentines on top of his desk. "Sato – I mean – Hiwatari-kun! Wait up!"
To the confusion of the rest of the class, Niwa-kun chased after Hiwatari-kun, crying out strings of apologies.
Daisuke bolted out of the building, the wind whipping through his hair. Fervently, he glanced around in search of his runaway friend. "Satoshi?" he called out. "Where are you?"
No one answered.
Daisuke sighed, drooping visibly. "I'm sorry…" he whispered into thin air, staring up at the sky.
…The sky…
Something in his head clicked. With a bright smile, Daisuke bounded up to a door and pulled it open. It was always open. It was always where he – where they – ended up.
"I knew you'd be up here…" The door to the stairwell swung shut on its own accord and Daisuke stepped foot onto the roof. "Listen, Satoshi, I'm really sorry about Riku-san. You know I can't say no to her, to anyone. But this doesn't mean anything! I would never pick her over you, you know! No one over you!" Daisuke leaned against the wall of the stairwell and sunk down to the floor beside Satoshi's motionless form. "Please, please don't be mad at me…"
There was a long pause between the two before Satoshi finally replied. "…I'm not mad at you, Daisuke."
Daisuke turned his head, gazing at Satoshi hopefully. "You're not?"
"No." Satoshi heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry I acted that way. It just…it just frustrates me that we can't be like a normal couple, you know? Because of that, you got roped into a date with Harada." He spat out the name distastefully.
"Yeah… I'm sorry too. I could've tried harder to say no…"
The two sat in silence.
"You know…" Daisuke announced, breaking the quiet, "It is Valentine's Day…" He shot Satoshi a meaningful glance, one that the blunette heartily returned.
With a bright smile, Daisuke climbed into his secret lover's lap, straddling his crossed legs with his knees. "A time of love, right?"
"Uhm-hm." Satoshi nodded dazedly. He reached forward and intertwined his fingers behind Daisuke's arched back.
"A time of romance, right?" Daisuke slipped his arms around Satoshi's neck and pressed feathery butterfly kisses up the other's jaw.
Satoshi swallowed and nodded again. "Uhm-hm…"
"Leave the grunting for later." Daisuke grinned fiendishly and placed a chaste kiss into the crook of Satoshi's neck.
Satoshi returned the smirk. "Yes. Let's." And without another word, he swooped forward and caught Daisuke's lips into a searing kiss.
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I don't know much at all
I don't know wrong from right
All I know is that I love you tonight
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The night had drawn to a close without a single hitch. Daisuke had managed to evade each move Riku had made on him, and she seemed to tone it down a little once this fact became apparent. They had gone out for dinner and a movie – the old classic that couldn't go wrong – and were now on their way back home.
"Riku-san, are you sure you want to go to my house first? It would be much safer for you if I brought you home and dropped you off first…" Daisuke shuffled his feet anxiously as they both strolled through the streets toward his house.
"No, Niwa-kun, it's fine." Riku smiled blithely, eyeing her surroundings in interest. "I'd much rather see you off first."
Daisuke blushed. "Oh…well… Okay then. Here's my stop." They stopped in front of the gates of his house. "…Um…Bye?"
Riku's grin only grew wider. "That's all you have to say to your Valentine?" She chuckled good-naturedly, nudging Daisuke with her elbow. "No hug? No kiss?" Her manner was joking, but her tone was demanding.
"Uh… Thank you for a great time, Riku-san." Reluctantly, Daisuke leaned forward and pecked his lips against Riku's. "Happy Valentine's Day."
Riku looked a bit irked. "Niwa-kun, I know this is just the start of us, and you're a shy guy…but this is our first date! Our first Valentine's Day!"
To Daisuke's stunned horror, Riku pushed herself closer to him and pressed their lips together. The kiss was forced and sloppy, and Daisuke immediately began to miss the skilled, pleasant way Satoshi kissed him.
Suddenly, Riku's mouth opened and a moistness touched Daisuke's closed lips, drawing him from his Satoshi-induced haze. He gasped and pushed her away.
"Riku-san, stop. I had a nice night, but please stop."
The bespectacled blunette just around the corner tuned out the rest of their conversation. How could he continue to listen when the love of his life had just been taken advantaged of by the girl he saw as only a friend?
How could he not just blow up at her? How could he not just ignore the urge to rip her to pieces and set her bloody remains on fire?
How could he not just kill her?
Could he?
Satoshi watched as the forlorn Riku walked away from the Niwa gates.
Could he?
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He dropped you off, I followed him home
Then I stood outside his bedroom window
Standing over him, he begged me not to do
What I knew I had to do 'cause I'm so in love with you
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Ring. Riiiiiiiiing.
"Moshi moshi, Niwa residence," Daisuke stated automatically into the phone. "This is Daisuke."
There was silence on the other end before labored breathing resounded within Daisuke's right ear, followed by Satoshi's frantic voice.
"D-Daisuke. I- I don't know what happened. The Harada house… Please come, come quick. I-I'm sorry…"
The line went dead and Daisuke dropped the phone onto the couch in anxiety. He didn't quite like the hysterical tone lacing Satoshi's voice – it wasn't like him to show this much emotion, it wasn't like him at all.
Something must be wrong.
With his eyes clouded and his mind hazed, Daisuke didn't know what happened next. All he could remember were gathering storm clouds, and the even, frenzied slapping of the soles of his shoes against the pavement. One minute he was running through the streets of Azumano, his destination being the hill on which the Harada house resided; the next, he was at the front door, which had been unceremoniously blown open.
Thunder boomed and out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke spied a streak of lightning plummet from the heavens. He ignored all this, his mind set on one thing: the safety of his lover and his friends.
Daisuke stormed in through the blown apart doorway and into the darkness of the Harada estate, ready to face whatever evil Satoshi had gone up against to make him so frenetic.
Immediately, Daisuke wanted to puke. Drying blood painted the walls with beautifully grotesque images and collected in shining crimson pools that seeped into the carpet. Furniture was overturned and windows were shattered, expelling their broken glass panes onto the floor. The ceiling and walls were singed and scorched with some black heat, and the shag carpeting sported evidence of having been burnt.
Daisuke had to turn his vision away from the mangled body in the middle of the room. She sat erect atop the coffee table, her doe-brown eyes wide and lifeless. Every inch of her once flawless skin had been disfigured and marred, each open wound seeping with fresh scarlet liquid that seemed to drip down in a steady patter. Drip, dribble, fall. Drip, dribble, fall.
Her arms were tied to her sides with a fine line of cable that cut into her bare flesh. The once stainless silver of the wire had been tarnished with a new gleaming color: the color of blood.
Daisuke sucked in his breath and looked away from the gory twin, his mind mumbling mantras of fear. Riku-san, Riku-san, no! No, no, no, no!
"NO!" he voiced out. His scream echoed throughout the empty room as he bolted from the scene.
Thunder clapped and lightning struck empty air. This was his only warning. Thereafter, the dark night poured out its soulful sorrows, disgorging furious columns of rain from its dark clouds and filling the air with its pelting sound.
"D-Dai?"
BOOM!A single bolt of lightning flashed down through the pitch-black sky. In that single second, Daisuke had turned toward the Harada house to locate the tired voice. He had stared in horror as the lightning illuminated the porch and threshold. He had gasped and fell onto the sodden pavement when he saw the slumped figure leaning on the doorway. He had opened his mouth to let out a blood-curdling scream; instead, he had shrieked:
"SATOSHI?"
The blunette stood flaccidly against the doorway, his glasses tossed clear off his face.
"Satoshi, what happened? Why are you here? Why is she dead?" Daisuke didn't even try to pull himself up off the flooded cement.
"Daisuke…" Satoshi pulled himself up and stepped off the porch toward his boyfriend. He walked calmly through the rain, not noticing the pellets of cold water bouncing off his form. "Daisuke, I'm sorry."
Daisuke crawled backward, trying to put as much space between himself and Satoshi as possible. "Sorry for what?" he screamed over the rain. "What did you do? You didn't do anything, did you?"
"Daisuke…I'm sorry," Satoshi repeated. He knelt down beside Daisuke, his face as normal as ever. His face…as bloody…as the walls of the Harada estate…
"There's blood on you!" Daisuke cried, pointed straight into Satoshi's face accusingly. "What did you do?"
Satosh remained silent.
Daisuke shook fearfully, glancing nervously at the hand Satoshi had placed on his shoulder. He knew what Satoshi did.
"How could you?" Daisuke felt the tears prickle at the corner of his eyes, and accompanied by the drops of falling rain, the tears rolled down his cheeks. "You killed her?"
"I couldn't let her have you… I'm sorry. I…I saw her kiss you and I knew she couldn't liver any longer. I…" Satoshi clutched Daisuke to his chest, a frosty expression on his face. "I turned into Krad."
"But he's gone –"
"I know that, but I turned into him. My body turned into his. His mind wasn't present – just his body. It was my mind, but his body: his strength, his powers. …His bloodlust."
"But you killed her."
"I told you I was sorry," Satoshi snapped back. The rainwater soon diluted the blood splattered all over his face, and the pinkish solution ran menacingly down his neck, staining his already scarlet-tainted shirt.
"Sorry won't suffice to repent for murder!" Daisuke roared. The tears fell freely and he clung to the murderer of his friend. "I hate you! I HATE YOU!" He pressed his face into the crook of Satoshi's neck.
"…I hate you." It became a whisper, but Satoshi heard him.
"I love you, Daisuke," Satoshi rejoined softly. "I love you."
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You mourn the death of your Bloody Valentine
One last time
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Killah: I wasn't trying to bash Riku or anything in the beginning, so don't think that. :D Yay for bloody romance, and Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you got your sweetheart, or your conversation heart, or whatever. …I got neither, 'cause I don't exactly want the former just yet, and conversation hearts taste like chalk (and I know chalk…). Instead, just give me a review. Thanks. n.n
2/15/06: Uh... The genre (formerly horror) has been changed to due to an insightful reviewer's opinion. I rather agree with him/her...so it's not horror anymore. It's now tragedy. Um... Yeah, thazzit. Don't forget to review! xD