Writer's Block
Hi everybody. This idea came to me during a creative run some time ago now. I didn't have writer's block at that time yet it has still somehow taken me ages to edit and finish this. Anyway, the idea developed into this one-shot that I present to you today.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any other copyrighted things, such as Fuji TV, that I happen to mention in this fic. I would be able to commission more series of Digimon if I owned Fuji TV.
Summary: TK is becoming frustrated with his inability to get his latest story to flow and he is frightened about letting down his readers. Kari senses this and gives him a few suggestions that rekindle his creative spark, spawning the idea for his most popular series of books. Takari one-shot
Frustration. There was no other way to describe it. All Takeru Takaishi felt was frustration. The words were just not flowing out how he had wanted them to and it made his writing feel disjointed and wordy. He never had this problem when he was writing his first book or the scripts for his hit TV series. The words were so easy to form unlike this. This was writer's block and he was certain of it.
Takeru, or TK to his friends and family, felt angry with himself for not being able to overcome this block that was stopping him from joining up this part of the story. His creative juices just weren't flowing today. In fact, he had been struggling all month and that was what had allowed his frustrations to build up to such an extent.
The twenty five year old man leaned back in his black chair and sighed. He ran his hand through his golden blonde hair and gazed up at the cabinet that hung on the wall above his computer monitors. Inside the glass doors of the pine case were all of the awards he had won over the past three years. There were eight in total, some for his first book and other's for his now three-season-long television series that ran on Fuji TV. They all counted for nothing because they provided little help with the issues that he was currently having with his second book.
After graduating from Tokyo University with a degree in literature and film, TK's father had managed to get him a job at Fuji TV. He had worked on his script for his now very successful action adventure series during his first year at the TV station before submitting it to them. They commissioned a pilot episode, which turned out to be a success, before giving him the opportunity to write a further twelve episodes. From there it led to another two seasons and work on a fourth one was due to start in a few months time.
Takeru had used the time between working on his show to follow his true passion of writing books. It had taken him two years to complete his first novel, which was a spy thriller. Copies of it had flown off the shelves and he had doubled the size of his already hefty bank account within a month. He now felt an obligation to give more to all of those people who bought his first book and helped him to his writing awards. His way of doing this was writing the second book that he was stuck on at that moment.
The blonde man's gaze left the cabinet and focused on the view of the Odaiba area of Tokyo. The views from study of his penthouse that he and his wife lived in were amazing and they could see huge amounts of the city. They were even better on evenings like this when the skies began turning orange as the sun slowly made its way down to the horizon. These views had helped to inspire and spark Takeru's creativity numerous times but they weren't helping today. He just wanted to sit in his chair and wonder why nothing was clicking.
A niggling voice in the back of his mind kept asking if he was only as successful as he was because he was a Digidestined or whether it was because of other people. Things had slowly begun to change over the last five to ten years when more and more people had started getting Digimon partners. Tales of the Digidestineds' adventures had spread around the world and made them into celebrities and heroes. Takeru couldn't help but wonder if that had a serious impact on how successful he was. He wondered if people only paid attention to his work because he was one of the original Digidestined.
Then there was his father. TK didn't know if anyone would have paid attention to the script for his TV series if his father wasn't one of the bosses at Fuji TV. His father had definitely set him up with the right people to turn his dreams into a reality. However, it was at times like this when he had to question if he was as good as they thought he was.
Then there was his brother, Yamato. He had become a famous rock star before he had even turned fifteen and was known all over Japan. Matt, as he preferred to be called, had made so much money from his music that it allowed him to take a break during which he had trained to become an astronaut. Right now the rock star was travelling to Mars with Gabumon and was to be the first man to ever set foot on the red planet. TK had become used to being asked questions about his brother on a daily basis now.
"TK, dinner is ready," his wife called out from the kitchen of the apartment. It pulled him out of his depressing thoughts and was a welcome relief. He needed to get away from his computer to refresh his mind. The blonde man hoped that he might even have some sudden burst of inspiration over dinner, although he knew the chances of it were actually rather low.
Takeru sighed and pushed his chair back away from his desk. He stood up and took one last glance out of the window at the beautiful sunset. His cobalt blue eyes then glanced down as he shook his head. He turned his back to the window and headed for the door.
The blonde man strolled down the hallway and into the huge open plan living area. It was a living room, dining room and kitchen all rolled into one and furnished with expensive stuff. Two of the walls consisted of windows that over looked Tokyo bay and provided another stunning view from the penthouse. However, TK wasn't interested in the view because his eyes had fixed onto something more beautiful. He watched as his wife placed their dinner onto the table before making his way over to her.
Hikari, or Kari for short, was wearing a soft pink sleeveless shirt that hugged her flat stomach and the curves of her large perky breasts. Her stone-washed denim shorts hugged her slender yet curvy hips in the same manner and showed off her long smooth legs. She had let her chocolate-brown hair grow to various lengths over the years but she had always kept the style so that it framed her face perfectly. Right now her silky brown shoulder length hair framed her auburn eyes in a way that enchanted Takeru.
The twenty five year old woman was the love of his life. He had loved her for as long as he could remember and she was the only girl he had really been interested in. They had met a few times before their adventure in the Digital World, but it was then when they were fighting monsters for the first time that they truly bonded. They became the best of friends and they became even closer when Takeru moved back to Odaiba when he was eleven. Their second adventure in the Digital World cemented their bond and began sowing the seeds for something deeper than friendship.
It took another three years for TK and Kari to realise that they had feelings for each other that went beyond friendship. They officially became a couple halfway through their second year of junior high school but they had been holding hands and hugging months before their first kiss. It was that first kiss that made them admit their love for one another and they had been together since. Neither of them could truly explain how that first kiss happened though and all the couple could say was that they found themselves staring into their love's eyes while rather desperately wanting to show their affection to the other. It was a moment that allowed them to take their relationship to new levels and allowed them to truly bond in the way that they both craved.
They had moved in together at eighteen after they finished senior high school and before they started their classes at university. The couple had rented a small one bedroom apartment that was nothing like the penthouse that they now lived in. It was just after they had both graduated that Takeru proposed to Kari. They had several serious conversations about eloping and marrying on the spur of the moment, but every time the couple had realised that their family and friends would have been rather upset if they did that. Instead they married two years ago in a low key ceremony where only close friends and family were invited.
Hikari's auburn eyes made contact with TK's sapphire pair and she smiled that stunning soft smile that he loved so much. It instantly alleviated some of the frustration and made him feel better. TK knew that nothing else mattered to him as much as his wife did. He watched her sit down at the table, noting that she had brought her work with her before he joined her.
"Still marking those stories from your class?" Takeru's comment was more of a statement than a question. However, he knew Kari wouldn't be so stressed about her work if she talked to him about it. He picked up his chopsticks and started on the ramen that she had cooked.
"Yeah," Kari sighed putting down one of her student's work before picking up her chopsticks and placing some of the noodles into her mouth. She continued after she swallowed the food. "I want all of these marked and back to the kids on Friday otherwise I'll have double the stuff to mark over the weekend. Besides, some of these stories are rather interesting."
TK chuckled to himself, finding it amusing that elementary school kids were finding it easier to write than he, an award winning writer, was at that moment. He found an even more amusing twist in the fact that he had visited these kids and inspired them to write their stories when Kari had invited him to read to her class a few weeks ago. She had landed a job after finishing university teaching ten to eleven year olds at an elementary school in Shinjuku. That visit was something Takeru had enjoyed and he felt that the kids smiling faces would have helped him out of his recent slump, but he hadn't had any such luck.
"What?" Kari asked as her concentration left her work. Her right eyebrow rose and she gazed at her husband, wondering what he found so amusing.
Takeru had another mouthful of his ramen before answering her. "It's nothing really."
He knew straightaway that Hikari wouldn't accept that for his answer. She always knew what he was thinking and feeling. TK could always tell what was going through her mind too. Sometimes, like now, he didn't even need to look at her face, eyes or body language to work out what she was thinking. It was something that came with intimately knowing each other for as long as they had. They both could read one another like books and right now Takeru knew that his wife could see straight through his attempts to hide his frustrations.
Kari chewed on her dinner as her caring auburn eyes watched her husband. They carefully studied him as she debated whether to ask him what was wrong or continue to wait for him to tell her. She decided that the former was the better idea and swallowed her food. "What's the matter? Are you having problems with your book?"
TK sighed and decided that trying to pretend that nothing was wrong was a bad idea. How did she always guess right first time? He guessed that she must have noticed that he was becoming more and more bothered by his inability to overcome this bout of writer's block. She had probably known for weeks that something wasn't going well.
"Yeah," Takeru sighed again before placing some more of his food in his mouth. He chewed on it as he thought over how to word his reply. The blonde man swallowed his food and decided that talking about it might help him. "I just can't get my story to flow how I want. It's becoming disjointed and wordy. I'm also struggling for ideas on how to get to the next important part of it."
"Writer's block," Kari confirmed what Takeru was thinking all along. Her glistening mahogany eyes made contact with his cobalt pair once again. A soft and gentle smile spread across her lips. "You'll be fine, TK. You're a great writer and you'll overcome it soon. I'm sure of it. You don't become an award winning author without being a great writer."
TK swallowed another mouthful of his dinner before replying. "I don't know. I can't get this story to flow like the first one did. It doesn't feel as good as my first story either and I don't want to let down those who are waiting to read this book. I'm worried that I might end up doing that if I can't improve the sequel from what it is now."
Hikari's placed her chopsticks down and reached across the wooden table to her husband. She took his left hand in her soft right hand and entwined her fingers with his. The caring expression remained on her face and Takeru could tell from her eyes that she was being honest with her words. "You will get over it and you won't let anyone down. From what I've read so far, your second book is great and I'm sure it will be as popular as your first one. Just remember that everyone is their own toughest critic."
TK's gazed remained fixed on his wife's eyes. He could see that she was studying him, wondering whether she should add more to encourage him. She always did have a way of inspiring him and building his confidence. He hoped that Kari would do the same this time. His hopes rose further when he saw her eyes light up.
"Besides, your next book will still be popular even if it takes a few extra months to write," Kari added as her smile grew. "You never told anyone that it was going to be finished by a certain date so you can take all of the time that you need. In fact, I'm the only person who knows that you're working on a sequel. All you have told the media and everyone else is that you are working on a second book. Who said that this second book has to be a sequel to the first. You could write about something else until you're able to come up with a way to finish what you're currently working on."
"I don't know," TK sighed before Kari squeezed his hand. "I think everyone is expecting me to write a sequel to my first book. I can now see what Matt meant when he was talking about his band's second album being the toughest."
"And you're writing one, but that doesn't mean that it has to be the next thing that you publish," Hikari spoke softly as she continued. "There are plenty of other ideas that you have penned down or floating around inside your head. A lot of them are great ideas too. Write one of them until you get that spark of inspiration for the book you're currently writing."
A smile tugged at the corner of TK's lips as he thought about his wife's words. She was right, like normal. He could work on another idea while he was suffering from writer's block on his current story. A book about something different was still a book and he had plenty of other stories in his head that he could work on.
"Thanks," Takeru replied as his smile grew. "I'll do that. That way I can still have something published that will keep my fans happy. There are a few ideas that I've wanted to write so I'll do one of those. I just need to decide which one."
"It will be a great story whichever one of those ideas you pick," Kari said with certainty as she beamed her bright wonderful smile at him. He nodded back and they squeezed one another's hand before letting go and returning their attention back to their food.
The married couple chatted about Kari's day at work as they finished their meal. TK also used the time to ponder over which of his other ideas he could write and began narrowing them down. It wasn't long before the sun had set and the blinds were closed. TK had the joys of cleaning the dishes, which wasn't that bad because all he needed to do was load the dishwasher. After doing that simple task, he returned to the table and sat with Kari as she continued to mark her students' work. The blonde man didn't feel like returning to the frustrations of his book if he was trying to come up with another story to write.
Takeru watched as his wife continued to read and mark her students' stories. He sighed as he reached out and took the top paper from the pile of work. Kari glanced up at him as he scanned the story. He guessed there was no harm in trying to get some inspiration by reading the work of someone else even if it was written by a ten year old boy.
"Me and my Digimon partner, Guilmon. By Takato Matsuki," TK read the title and author aloud before glancing further down. It was a simple story about how this kid and his Digimon partner ended up in some trouble in the Digital World and Guilmon digivolved for the first time. "Is this the kid who idolises Tai and Davis? The one who always wears those yellow goggles?"
"Yeah," Hikari chuckled as she removed her attention from the work she was marking once more. She smiled fondly, remembering her pupils' admiration of all of the Digidestined. "Takato always enjoys writing stories about his Digimon partner. He's always asking questions about our adventures too."
"I remember how excited he was when I visited," TK smiled as he recalled the look on the students' faces when he told a story about their first adventure to Kari's class. "They all seemed to enjoy hearing the story about our battles in the Digital World."
Kari pursed her lips and thought for a moment. She placed her index finger against her mouth and her thumb under her chin as she gazed at the paper in front of her. Takeru noticed that his wife was thinking over something and allowed her to focus on the thought without interruption. Her eyes suddenly lit up and her smile grew into one that showed her excitement for whatever was in her mind.
"I've just had a brilliant idea," Hikari stated with enthusiasm, confirming her husband's interpretation of her body language. The blonde man listened intently as she continued. "Why don't you write a book about a couple who met at a young age, fought side by side and grew up together? They and their friends saved the world from evil twice without anyone really knowing anything about it for years. This couple formed an unbreakable bond during those battles that led to them eventually marrying."
TK thought over his wife's words, knowing exactly what she was suggesting that he should write. He didn't share the same enthusiasm that Hikari had for the idea because it would essentially be like writing an autobiography. He was going to need some convincing to go ahead with this. "You mean write our story?"
"Yeah," Kari nodded as her bright smile remained on her lips. "Well, I mean it doesn't have to be just about us. I was thinking that you could write a book about all of our adventures, starting with a certain seven young kids who went to camp for the summer and ended up living in a digital land. It doesn't have to be from your point of view. You could write it from varying viewpoints so you tell the whole story. I mean there were things that you missed when the group split up and some of the others missed things that you were there for so you would have to change prospective."
A smile began tugging at the corners of Takeru's lips as he slowly began to like the suggestion. He started weighing up the idea in his mind to decide if it really was a good thing to write. There were many good reasons why he should write about their time in the Digital World but there were also several reasons why he shouldn't. One of those reasons why he was uncertain was that he wasn't sure if he wanted everyone to know about some very personal moments during those adventures. He was sure that some of the other Digidestined would feel the same way.
Sensing that her husband was still unsure about the idea, Kari continued on with all of the reasons why TK should write about their digital adventures. "You'll never be stuck with writer's block for very long if you do write our story. After all, it's our past and all you would need to do is ask me or one of the others if you do get stuck. I'm sure they would be glad to help you out. In fact, I bet they're going to be happy that someone is actually going to do a detailed version of our journeys because nobody has ever done it. Sure there are those documentaries on us but they miss things out and focus too much on the facts. It doesn't take into account some of the heartbreak, despair or elation we felt. You know those feelings and you were there for all of the first and second adventures. That means no one has the ability to tell our stories as well as you can."
"Do you think the others will actually like me writing about them?" Takeru raised an eyebrow. He liked the idea more and more, assuming that the other Digidestined and Digimon didn't have a problem with him writing it. "There are quite a few personal things that I'd have to write about them. They might not like it."
"I'm sure that they'll be fine with it," Hikari replied in a reassuring voice. "If you're unsure then just ask them before you start. I'll bet that they will say yes. You already have my permission. You can write it in the third person to avoid putting certain things in if they are too personal for someone."
"Ok, I'll get their permissions because I think I can do this," TK replied as Hikari's excitement became infectious. The first line of his story began taking shape in his mind. His smile grew as his eyes remained fixed on hers. "But I don't think I can do just one book about it."
The brunette woman's eyebrows rose at his reply. "You're thinking of doing a television series about us?"
"Nope," Takeru chuckled and shook his head. "There's just too much that happened to us for me to be able to get it all into one book. I'm going to have to write a whole series with a book for each opponent that we faced. That way I can get as much detail as I need into the books without them becoming too long."
"Good idea," Kari nodded as she watched her husband stand up. "That way you will have plenty to keep you going over the next few years."
The couple's eyes remained fixed on each other's as TK made his way around the table to his wife. That questioning expression returned to her face as he stood in front of her and bent down. It instantly disappeared as he gently caressed her cheek with his right hand, using it to tilt her head into a position so that he could kiss her. Takeru moved so that his lips were millimetres away from Kari's and he could feel her breath flowing over his skin.
"Thanks for helping me, Kari," the blonde man smiled before he took his show of appreciation further. He closed his sapphire eyes and placed his lips up against his wife's.
Hikari's mouth was waiting and ready to capture his lips as they passionately pressed into hers. The couple's soft lips locked, staying there for a moment before slowly sliding back. TK opened his mouth wider and pushed forwards for more, deepening the kiss as he wanted to continue showing his thanks to the woman he loved. Kari mimicked his actions, adding more passion as her arms slid around her husband's neck to pull him closer. The lovers instantly became perfectly synchronised as their lips glided back and forth over one another's. They deepened the kiss even further with every movement of their mouths, adding more zeal and desire to their display of affection.
Takeru's heart pounded away in his chest, sending adrenaline and hormones flooding around his body. His and Kari's breathing deepened as they continued their passionate kiss, letting their feelings take over. TK loved the way his kisses with his wife still made him excited and continued to give that warm feeling of being loved deep down inside. He knew that Hikari also continued to feel the same spark every time their lips met. He could tell from how zealous her kisses were and from the desire he always saw in her eyes before any intimate contact between them. Her heart always raced just like his and both of them were always left breathless when they became carried away.
"No problem," Hikari panted as she broke the kiss. The couple breathed heavily, getting some air into their bodies as Kari stood up. They both knew where this was going and they liked it. "I'm always here to help you because I love you."
"I love you too," TK replied as he placed his left arm around the base of his wife's back and pulled her so her body was flush against his. His used his right hand to position her lips so he could capture them in his once more. The lovers closed their eyes again and let their desire take full control, meaning that Takeru's book wouldn't be started until the next morning.
This one-shot has served as a test for my regular use of both the Japanese and English names for the characters. I've always seen the Digidestineds' first names in the dub as nicknames and that their Japanese names are their full names because, at least in the case of the first season Digidestined, that is what they are. So I decided to use a combination of both their full names and nicknames in this fic. If you don't like it then please let me know in a review and if the general consensus is that I should stick to just one or the other then that is what I'll do.
I'm also so glad that I have finally got this published. It's taken me ages to get this out for you to read for a lot of reasons. I know that the end was rather clichéd, but I thought that I'd end it in that way because it is a Takari fic after all. I'd be grateful if you could please let me know your thoughts about this one-shot by leaving a review. Thanks for reading =D