Categories > Anime/Manga > D.N.Angel
Title: Fear
Author: White Aster
****
Once, when Hiwatari Satoshi was in fifth grade, there were several boys who decided that he was easy prey.
They were bullies, in the fifth grade also, and fond of intimidating the younger children. Many were the children who learned where they hung out and deliberately took a different way home from school. Many were the children who were hunted down anyway, chased after and laughed at and pushed around, their lunch money stolen to be squandered on pocky and cheap mecha manga.
Hiwatari was the smallest child in his class. He had skipped several grades and was set to skip another and wasn't the most robust of children in any case. This didn't escape the bullies' notice, nor did his glasses or his quiet or how he always knew the answer when the teacher called on him or the fact that he always carried around at least one thick book to read in spare moments. Signs of a brain, they agreed. Signs of a weakling. And wasn't he supposed to have a rich family or something? He probably had a good allowance on him, they decided. They'd definitely have to relieve him of it.
They surrounded him one day as he was walking home. Concentrating on his book, he didn't notice them until he bumped into the ringleader blocking his path, and even then he merely tried to walk around without looking up. The boy laughed and pushed him. Hiwatari nearly fell, but caught himself in time, finally looking up, surprised.
Hiwatari's classmates gathered across the street, whispering, watching the spectacle.
The boy laughed and pushed Hiwatari again. Hiwatari's feet shifted, but he still went down. His book fell out of his hands, but he left it there. He frowned, ignoring the boys' taunts and standing again without a word. The other boys looked at each other uncertainly. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. The shrimp was supposed to stay down, cringe, start crying, beg them to leave him alone. Not Get Back Up with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
The boy in front evidently thought the same thing. His voice got angrier, and he pushed Hiwatari again, harder. Hiwatari's feet shifted, and this time he got the angle and vector right, matching the force and using his lower center of gravity to stay on his feet. The boy got angrier still, drew back a fist to punch, and Hiwatari blinked at him, watching the obviously telegraphed blow. He stepped aside, catching the boy's wrist as it flew past, shifting his grip and bending back the boy's middle finger almost to his forearm. The boy's eyes bugged almost comically, and he screamed, falling to his knees.
The other bullies stared. The classmates across the street stared.
Hiwatari held the much larger boy there, at his feet, speaking to him calmly. The bully yelled. Hiwatari jerked back on his captive finger, repeating himself, and the boy nodded frantically, starting to cry. Hiwatari let him go, and the boy scrambled to his feet. There was a second, when the boy was surrounded by his friends again, when he might have thought of revenge, but Hiwatari just looked at him, and the boy and his gang slunk off like wounded cats.
Hiwatari picked up his book and turned to continue on home. He was stopped by a group of his classmates, excited and curious. Wow, they said, that was great, how did you do that, weren't you scared?
Hiwatari moved around them, saying that any of them could have done the same. A few tried to follow him, continue the conversation, but he ignored them, and eventually they fell back to babble amongst themselves.
Weren't you scared? Hiwatari snorted. When he went to sleep that night, he knew that he would dream of running, of being chased by a laughing creature with white wings and a terrible, edged smile. He would run, and he would not be able to get away, and the angel-demon would catch him, wrap him in cruelly strong arms, an unbreakable prison of bone and feather and pure malice, and Satoshi would drown in the icy sea of the demon's eyes.
Weren't you scared?
They, Hiwatari decided, didn't know what fear was.
Author: White Aster
****
Once, when Hiwatari Satoshi was in fifth grade, there were several boys who decided that he was easy prey.
They were bullies, in the fifth grade also, and fond of intimidating the younger children. Many were the children who learned where they hung out and deliberately took a different way home from school. Many were the children who were hunted down anyway, chased after and laughed at and pushed around, their lunch money stolen to be squandered on pocky and cheap mecha manga.
Hiwatari was the smallest child in his class. He had skipped several grades and was set to skip another and wasn't the most robust of children in any case. This didn't escape the bullies' notice, nor did his glasses or his quiet or how he always knew the answer when the teacher called on him or the fact that he always carried around at least one thick book to read in spare moments. Signs of a brain, they agreed. Signs of a weakling. And wasn't he supposed to have a rich family or something? He probably had a good allowance on him, they decided. They'd definitely have to relieve him of it.
They surrounded him one day as he was walking home. Concentrating on his book, he didn't notice them until he bumped into the ringleader blocking his path, and even then he merely tried to walk around without looking up. The boy laughed and pushed him. Hiwatari nearly fell, but caught himself in time, finally looking up, surprised.
Hiwatari's classmates gathered across the street, whispering, watching the spectacle.
The boy laughed and pushed Hiwatari again. Hiwatari's feet shifted, but he still went down. His book fell out of his hands, but he left it there. He frowned, ignoring the boys' taunts and standing again without a word. The other boys looked at each other uncertainly. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. The shrimp was supposed to stay down, cringe, start crying, beg them to leave him alone. Not Get Back Up with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
The boy in front evidently thought the same thing. His voice got angrier, and he pushed Hiwatari again, harder. Hiwatari's feet shifted, and this time he got the angle and vector right, matching the force and using his lower center of gravity to stay on his feet. The boy got angrier still, drew back a fist to punch, and Hiwatari blinked at him, watching the obviously telegraphed blow. He stepped aside, catching the boy's wrist as it flew past, shifting his grip and bending back the boy's middle finger almost to his forearm. The boy's eyes bugged almost comically, and he screamed, falling to his knees.
The other bullies stared. The classmates across the street stared.
Hiwatari held the much larger boy there, at his feet, speaking to him calmly. The bully yelled. Hiwatari jerked back on his captive finger, repeating himself, and the boy nodded frantically, starting to cry. Hiwatari let him go, and the boy scrambled to his feet. There was a second, when the boy was surrounded by his friends again, when he might have thought of revenge, but Hiwatari just looked at him, and the boy and his gang slunk off like wounded cats.
Hiwatari picked up his book and turned to continue on home. He was stopped by a group of his classmates, excited and curious. Wow, they said, that was great, how did you do that, weren't you scared?
Hiwatari moved around them, saying that any of them could have done the same. A few tried to follow him, continue the conversation, but he ignored them, and eventually they fell back to babble amongst themselves.
Weren't you scared? Hiwatari snorted. When he went to sleep that night, he knew that he would dream of running, of being chased by a laughing creature with white wings and a terrible, edged smile. He would run, and he would not be able to get away, and the angel-demon would catch him, wrap him in cruelly strong arms, an unbreakable prison of bone and feather and pure malice, and Satoshi would drown in the icy sea of the demon's eyes.
Weren't you scared?
They, Hiwatari decided, didn't know what fear was.
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