7Author's Notes::
There is a translation guide post this message. The artwork in this story known as Insomnia is actually a work of art from the manga of DNAngel. Happy reading.
I do not own the song "Imaginary." Evanescence does.
~Sennen
Translation notes::
*in order of appearance
-kun=Japanese suffix used for a young boy or man or someone of lower status than the speaker.
-san=Japanese suffix used as an honorific; close to "Miss;" typically used as a polite reference to someone of higher status or to a peer.
aibou=Japanese endearment for "partner."
mou hitori no ore=Japanese term for "my other self" with a strong personal pronoun.
Imaginary
"Daisuke-kun! Your lunch!" The maid stopped by Daisuke's room.
"Oh." Daisuke looked at his feet. "I'm busy."
"Daisuke-kun, are you making paper flowers again?"
"No."
"Oh."
"I can't make any more paper flowers without paper."
"Well, I'll see if I can get you some more."
"'Kay."
The maid sighed and wheeled her trolley back to the elevator. When she arrived at the lobby, a frequenter was there. "Harada-san, how are you today?"
She sighed. "I'm all right. How is he?"
"He's sensible. Here, can you take this pack of paper to him?" The maid handed Riku a stack of lavender paper.
"Sure." Riku headed up the stairs to floor E. She walked slowly to his room. She remembered why Daisuke was in the psych ward anyway: Dark had left after being sealed in the Black Wings. A few days went by and Daisuke spent a lot of time with Riku—probably to busy himself. After that, he holed himself up in his room, coming out only to eat. Emiko had excused him from school and kept trying to talk to him. She had invited Riku over frequently to see if Daisuke would open up.
He hadn't. His condition became worse—he had to be moved to an asylum. His room, when he had been taken away, revealed the shocking truth: Daisuke loved Dark. It was possible that the boy hadn't even realized it himself, but the countless drawings and purple origami flowers scattered on the floor told the sad story.
Riku lingered in his doorway. "Niwa-kun," she called softly.
"Are you an alarm clock? Screaming to wake me up?" the flat voice asked.
"Riku sighed, understanding. Every person who he thought was trying to convince him that Dark was dead and not coming back was an "alarm clock," supposedly trying to wake him from his own little dreamworld.
"Yes, Niwa-kun. I'm an alarm clock."
"Why won't you let me stay?"
"Stay where?"
"Here, where the wind will whisper to me…" Riku now noticed that the window was open to the storm outside. "Where the raindrops, as they're falling, tell a story. In my field of paper flowers…and candy clouds of lullaby."
"But, Niwa-kun…why don't you ever come out? What do you do all day?"
He sighed. He shifted to lie on his flowers. "I lie inside myself for hours and watch my purple sky fly over me." He reached up toward his stained-glass window (his therapist's insistence).
"So out of touch with reality," Riku muttered.
"Don't say I'm out of touch!" Daisuke snapped. "Not with that rampant chaos your reality."
Riku flared up. "If you would wake up, then you would know fully well what's out h—"
"I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge!" He quieted. "It's the nightmare I built my own world to escape…"
Riku sighed and set the stack of paper on the table. "Here are more paper flowers. Have fun with your cotton candy lullabies…"
'Riku-san left. I'm back to lying inside myself in wait. May if I was here long enough, maybe he'll come back from the sky he made. I've made him so many presents…why doesn't he come?'
Daisuke put down his pencil and folded his paper into the flower. He crawled onto his field, and the dreams and visions and nightmares started again.
Swallowed up inside of my screaming…
Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights.
Miles away, a figure drenched in black, huddled on the floor, held a pink paper flower in his fingerless-gloved hand.
Oh, how I long for the days spent dreaming…
The goddess of imaginary light.
The dark-headed figure started to sing softly, "In my field of paper flowers, and candy clouds of lullaby, I lie inside myself for hours, and watch my ruby sky fly over me.
"Daisuke, aibou…will I find you inside my field of paper flowers…mou hitori no ore?"
The pink flowers were scattered on the museum floor as part of the Black Wings exhibit. Red curtains were draped over the dead angel's head.
Satoshi had insisted that the mirror art called Insomnia be placed opposite the statue after being restored. No one knew why except the statue itself.
Daisuke sang a soft lullaby to himself after waking up the next morning.
A soft voice joined him from the doorway. "Niwa…there's another set of candy clouds at the museum…I think someone else is inside themselves there, as well…"
Daisuke didn't move, but his eyes flashed slightly.
Satoshi came forward, sat on the floor, and looped a comforting arm around Daisuke's shoulders. He looked up at the purple window. "Well…I suppose for now, until you're ready…we can stay here and watch your purple sky fly over us."
"Oh, Dark…" Daisuke's fingers fiddled with the paper flowers at his feet.
"Oh, Daisuke…" A single tear fell to water the field at the Kaitou's feet.
Paper flowers.