The Maple Tree Watches

Ayane Selznick

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Stage 5 – Ode to Empathy

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Risa immediately pushed herself away from Satoshi’s doorway. Brushing away the dust from her skirt, she blushingly bowed at him.

“I’m so sorry if I… uhm, came without informing you.”

Satoshi instantly noticed that she wasn’t in her uniform. Shouldn’t she be attending school? It wasn’t time for dismissal yet.

“Does your sister know you’re here?” Straightforward as always, but he felt awkward around her.

Risa shook her head. “No. I told her to go to school without me.”

She could feel that she’s being stared by those calculating blue eyes. It feels like she was being studied again, just like the time he asked her after class. Risa didn’t know what’s going on inside Satoshi’s head. Yet even then she thought that he was probably resting inside his apartment.

“Anou…” She urged her head to look up so as not to feel so embarrassed around him. “Can I talk to you for a while?”

“I’m sorry Harada-san but I’m—” He wasn’t given the chance to decline her offer because Risa immediately interjected.

“Please, Hiwatari-kun.” Then she suddenly went silent. “I really needed someone to talk to…”

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They walked a mile away from Satoshi’s apartment.

Satoshi didn’t want her to come inside in which Risa found so irritating. At the back of her mind however she thought that maybe his apartment wasn’t cleaned so he suggested for a walk. But whatever he had in mind, she’ll never know. Hiwatari Satoshi had always been a mystery to everyone… to her.

They were walking side by side now, passing every stores and buildings as they stride. But when they reached a coffee shop, Satoshi told her to wait. When he came back, he had brought them two cups of hot drinks: coffee for himself, chocolate for her.

Soon after they had started to walk again until Satoshi stopped at the vacant area where a lot of maple trees stood together. Azumano School had a lot of maple trees within the grounds, too. Risa looked around the area, and found a number of benches scattered around the perimeter.

“Let’s sit over there.” Satoshi said and led her to the bench that overview a beautiful panorama of melting snow.

Risa followed suit and sat at the bench where Satoshi pointed for her. Satoshi only sat after she did so. She watched him silently opening the cup of his coffee. The faint steam coming from his coffee escaped through the cup. She did the same, only this time, she also smelled the content. Smiling as it satisfied her.

“You said you wanted to talk.” Satoshi started, earning Risa’s full attention as she looked back to him.

There was a moment of silence where Risa was still contemplating about everything. Mending pieces by pieces. She didn’t want him to be confused when she started explaining. Unbeknownst to her Satoshi began to get annoyed.

“Harada-san, I don’t have all the time in the world.”

It was as if Risa Harada didn’t hear what he just said. But she noticed how he easily got impatient. Why all boys like him are moody? Satoshi could be anti-social… and extremely impatient.

“I never imagined…” She suddenly spoke that almost startled Satoshi. “That you had that entire load with you.” She looked at the cup that being held by her hands. “You seem to be the type of person that has everything under control.”

Satoshi pulled the cup from his lips. He didn’t speak nor give any signal that he’s about to speak. He let Risa do the talking. But behold the truth. He never actually thought that she thinks of him as the type of person she just described. He never thought of her as a descriptive observant girl, for all he knew, she was just a love struck broken hearted girl.

“Same goes with Daisuke.”

I think I know where this is going. Satoshi thought, continuously sipping his coffee.

“But he’s a lot different from you. He’s such a klutz but everybody liked him the way he is…”

“You don’t like him?” He pointed.

“No!” She acted defensively. “I like him. But not the ‘like’ you see in Riku. I like him as a friend.”

“So you do like him, what’s your point?”

Hiwatari-kun can be so insensitive.

Risa sighed before she continued. “I’m just confused. Why didn’t I feel that Daisuke and Dark are one…?”

That’s because they are different and they didn’t want to be recognized.

“If I love Dark, does that mean I love Daisuke, too?”

Hiwatari Satoshi wasn’t the right kind of person to be called when talking about love. However seeing as all she needed was a comprehensible explanation, then that’s all he could give to her.

“Like we said, Dark and Daisuke as well as myself and Krad, were entirely different. If Daisuke turned into Dark then he’s no longer Daisuke. However Daisuke can be still conscious inside Dark’s mind.”

“So you mean to say, when Dark kissed me, Daisuke saw it?”

Satoshi almost choked from drinking. Almost.

“You ask him.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I…” She hesitated a little. “I can’t bring up my face to ask him about it. I… I don’t know. I felt uneasy when I think of asking him about Dark. Honestly, I still feel guilty. Daisuke had taken all the hardships just for me to know that he liked me… more than a friend, that is. But all I ever did was… talk about Dark. How much I liked Dark. How I’ve wanted to see Dark… I never know. I know I hurt him.”

They let themselves succumb in silence.

Risa was actually trying to let go of the notion about Dark and Daisuke but she wanted to be convinced. She was having a hard time convincing herself that they were one. She just couldn’t take Daisuke from Riku, they loved each other so much, and if that happens it only proved how low she gets in attempt to feel Dark’s presence again.

Satoshi on the other hand felt that he must say something. For once, he was actually trying to get everything in proper before saying it openly. Why must he be careful around her? Oh right, he felt obligated to help her. Why he felt compelled to help her? He didn’t know.

“Harada-san,” he suddenly felt her eyes on him, “it all happened in the past. Dark and Krad are gone. You cannot get him back.” Now it was his turn to look back to her, “Just think of it this way. Dark gave you the opportunity to experience what love is. It gave you a fleeting happiness and a scar of a broken heart. There is nothing called eternity, everything has its way to end.”

He noticed how she bit her lower lip and tried so hard not to cry in front of him. But no matter how hard she tried, her tears kept coming anyways. She had put the empty cup to the other side of the bench. Now her closed hands rested on top of her covered thighs.

“I found a love letter in our property when Dark was still around.” She looked at the field, eyes sore with salty tears. “It was my grandmother’s love letter for Dark. After reading through it, I also found out that Dark only saw my grandmother through me. It was that moment that I realized how much Dark loved my grandmother.”

A cold wind whizzed through them, momentarily making shudders down their body.

“I thought I would be able to let him go. I did, but I felt pain. Then the issue about Dark and Daisuke…” Sighing, she finally decided to wipe away her tears. “Oh… I’m so sorry. I get so emotional when it comes to the matters of the heart.”

“At first I don’t understand why Dark was flirting with girls. He’s over three hundred years old if you didn’t know yet. Now I think I know why.” Satoshi had placed the empty cup to the other side of the bench. He wasn’t sure about what he just discovered but it might help Risa to understand.

“What is it?”

His blue eyes suddenly locked to her brown ones. Maybe through this connection, he would be able to make her understand the irony of it all.

“He wanted to move on from his broken heart. Forcing his heart to feel something for someone he barely knows attacks both himself and the person involved. Unfortunately it was his mistake. In the end both of them will be hurt. He must have noticed it because he broke up with you.”

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It was already nightfall and Satoshi thought that he’ll just pack all his books before dinner.

He walked Risa to the Harada Mansion but she barely talked throughout the journey. At least he understood why. He recalled what he told her earlier. For the first time, he re-analyzed if his statements were enough to make her understand and move on freely from the despair she had chained herself in to.

Surely, he wanted to help. Not because Risa helped him before, but because… he just felt like helping.

Risa and Satoshi stopped in front of the tall gates of the mansion. Satoshi had never been in to his classmate’s house, besides Niwa’s of course. But he always liked to look at the architecture of houses.

“Anou…”

Satoshi pulled his eyes away from the mansion to look at the girl beside him.

“Thank you so much, Hiwatari-kun…” She smiled at him. “I feel so much lighter now.”

Satoshi bring himself to say something but failed nonetheless. So he simply nodded at her.

While Risa was opening the gate, she thought of something - a compensation for Satoshi’s patience and a little kindness.

“Anou, Hiwatari-kun…”

He didn’t say anything.

“Do you mind if I do something quick?”

He noticed that she was trying to evade his scrutinizing gaze. Clueless as to what would happen next, he simply shook his head, letting her do what she had in mind.

Unexpectedly, he felt being encased with two small arms which encircled around his lower torso. Her petite form drew to his. The once cold feeling was effectively warmed up by her simple display of gratitude.

“Thank you so, so much.”

Hiwatari Satoshi wasn’t thanked this much but he never mind. It felt good at that.

To be continued…

Author’s Notes: I’m sorry if this took a while. Oh and since this is DNAngel category, I would like to tell you guys that my friends and I cosplayed DNAngel characters. I cosplayed Niwa Daisuke. The photos are available at my DeviantArt page (url available at my author’s profile) and .

For the next chapter, what kind of connection can Risa use to communicate with Satoshi?

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