Title: Lemonade Kisses
Romance: Taichi/Yamato
Rated: PG-13
Season/Timeline: Digimon Adventure 02, about eight years or so since the defeat of BelialVamdemon.
Yet another flake of snow swirled its way down from the midnight black sky overhead, landing on the balcony of the apartment. It was joined moments later by several nearly identical twins, and in the space of only a few heartbeats, everything in sight seemed to covered by the glistening frosty blanket. On and on through the night it went, slowly piling up and turning the city into an exquisite winter wonderland.
As light began to peek through the slate-gray clouds some hours later, in a pretence at dawn that didn't really work, a busy haired twenty-two year old peeked out of his blankets and blinked several times. Morning. He stared at the alarm clock beside the bed, then slowly grinned. It was his day off. That was why it hadn't wakened him.
Yagami Taichi threw himself out of the warm cocoon of covers and leaped to his feet, eager to meet the day. It had been unusually warm the last few days, and he was looking forward to today. Picnic day! Despite being January, Sora and the other Chosen girls had decided they wanted a picnic. And as anyone with sense knew, you didn't get in their way when that was what they wanted.
Not that he'd cared about getting in their way. He wanted it just as much as they did. The chance to run around in the warm sun and kick a soccer ball with his closest friends didn't come half as often these days. It would be a good chance to get outside and clear his head from days and days spent in a stuffy classroom packing all manner of information about politics, history, and everything else into his brain. He hurried over to the window, throwing it open to suck in the deliciously warm air.
Then he slammed it hard, pulling the curtains closed just as quickly. "Who ordered snow? I know I didn't!" How dare this happen on today of all days? Couldn't it have waited until some unimportant day, like his birthday or something?
"Taichi?" A door scraped open and he saw his roommate and best friend standing there, wearing his customary pale blue boxers and a confused expression, and nothing more. "What's all the noise about? We don't have to get ready to go this soon, you know. The picnic's not for another couple of hours."
The bushy-haired Chosen almost pouted. "I think the picnic's going to be cancelled."
"cancelled?" Yamato blinked, trying to get his brain working. That was always an amusing sight, since it wouldn't ever happen without that first all-important cup of coffee. "Why would it be cancelled?"
Taichi yanked the curtains open again and pointed outside to the offending weather. "That's why!"
Yamato padded over gracefully, and Taichi found himself distracted momentarily from what was going on outside. He'd always known Yamato was gorgeous, if a little on the slender side, but for some reason he had yet to figure out, he had recently begun to appreciate those good looks on an entirely different level. Cool your heels, Yagami. You know what he likes. Yamato's bisexuality was nothing new to any of them. He'd been dating guys and girls since he was fourteen. Most of them had been quiet, unassuming types who bore absolutely no relation to anything that was vaguely like Taichi.
"I don't think the girls are going to let this stand in their way." Yamato said, his voice pulling Taichi out of his thoughts. "We'll probably just move the whole thing to the Digital World."
Now why hadn't he thought of that? First, because you were too busy pouting because of the snow. He told himself sharply. Then you were too busy ogling your best friend who is not interested in you or your personality type. Next question?
He rolled his mental eyes at himself. Oh, shut up. "I suppose I'd better call them and see if that's what they want to do. If Miyako's in one of her moods because of this, who knows what might happen."
Both of them visibly winced at the mere thought. Miyako was as changeable as the weather herself, though she'd been doing her best not to let those shifts bother her friends. As Yamato headed down the hall and into the kitchen, Taichi grabbed for the phone and hit Sora's number, staring out once more at the hideous piles of white stuff.
Couldn't this have waited just a little while longer? He supposed it was probably nice to some people. In fact, he could see a little kid zooming around on the snow out there already, probably ecstatic that school was cancelled because of this. Taichi watched for a few moments as the phone rang, and grinned. This kid looked as natural on snow as he felt with a soccer ball at his feet. Maybe he'll be a professional skier or something.
Once again, the voice of a friend distracted him from those thoughts. "Hello, Takenouchi Sora residence."
"Hey, Sora! It's Taichi. Have you seen what it's like outside today?" It was a little weird even now talking to Sora sometimes. He had went through a brief period with a crush on her, after all. It hadn't been anything very spectacular, certainly not a 'first love' kind of thing. But he did look back on it with a certain fondness, given their long years of friendship. If he were going to be realistic about it, he valued that friendship more in the long run than any kind of dating they might've had.
"I've seen it." He knew that tone in her voice quite well, and shifted a touch nervously. Miyako was almost predictable in her unpredictableness, but Sora was usually so calm. If something had bothered her to this point, it was not good.
"So, Yamato suggested that we take the picnic to the Digital World. What do you think of that?"
She snorted, and he could visualize the expression in her eyes. "I already thought about that. Miyako tried to open a gate so we could locate another spot, but it didn't work. There's some kind of interference preventing us from getting there. Have you checked your e-mail today?"
"Sora, I just got up about five minutes ago. I haven't had time yet."
"Well, check it. Gennai sent something."
Taichi sighed a little and snatched up his D-Terminal. He noticed absently that the 'new mail' icon was flashing, and wondered for a moment why it hadn't beeped at him like it usually did. Then he remembered; there'd been a major e-mail exchange between two or three of the others the previous night. He'd turned the beep off so he could get some rest.
Chosen Children,
There's some kind of interference springing up between our two worlds. I'd go into all the details of what it is and what's causing it, but I don't think I understand it all myself. This kind of thing happens every few years or so, so don't worry about it. It should clear up in a couple of days. See you then!
Gennai
Taichi groaned as he shut the device and put it back down. "Great. So no picnic here or there."
"That's right." Sora grumbled a little. "I guess we'll have to reschedule, depending on which clears up the first, the weather or that interference. And I was really looking forward to that soccer game, too!"
"So was I. Well, call us whenever you know what's going on. We'll probably be ready to go." After a quick flurry of good-byes, he hung the phone up and turned around. He half-expected Yamato to still be there, but the faint sound of clattering things from the kitchen proved where he really was. Better not go in there. Disturbing Yamato when he was cooking was a very bad idea.
He stared out at the snow again, clenching his fists on the curtains. Why did this have to happen today? It had been so beautiful yesterday. He'd even caught a glimpse of Yamato wearing almost as little as he did to bed.
There it was again. He'd been ogling him. Why couldn't he stop that? Because you don't want to. That nagging internal voice told him. Taichi did his best to ignore it, since all it seemed to do was want to get him into trouble.
All right, that meant he was going to stay out of trouble. No matter how hard it was. He could almost hear Hikari's amused snort in his mind and shot a mental glare at her, despite the fact she was nowhere near to snort or to see his glare. He stared out firmly at the snow. That was the best way to stay out of trouble, to just gripe about that until Yamato hit him over the head to keep him quiet.
"I hate this snow." He grumbled out loud. "I hate it, hate it, hate it!"
"I get the picture." Yamato's voice came from the kitchen, rising over the sound of pots being banged against each other and the stove. "You're not very fond of snow, are you?"
"Funny, Yamato."
"I thought so."
Taichi eyed the snow again, wondering if he should yank the curtains closed. It didn't seem to be worth that much effort, really. The snow would still be out there, even if he couldn't see it. He wanted to keep an eye on the hideous stuff and know the second it melted.
And if any random tidal waves come by to sweep us off into the Digital World no matter what kind of interference there is, you want to be there to see that too. His inner voice reminded him a tad snarkily about that first amazing trip. He ignored the inner voice. That seemed to annoy it as much as it annoyed him. The unexpected snow was almost as surprising now as it had been that August all those years ago. At least snow in January was to be mostly expected.
"It's supposed to be warm!" He knew he was whining, and cared even less. Ruined plans and almost certain enforced isolation were not going to make him fun to be with. He almost felt sorry for Yamato, and a little for himself as well. Yamato was not exactly the easiest person to live with in this kind of situation as well. He'd found that out when they were both sixteen.
He closed his eyes for a few moments, thinking back to that very annoying weekend. It hadn't been very long since Yamato and Sora had broken up, and he'd taken his friend on a camping trip to the Digital World to try and take his mind off of things. It had worked, especially since when it came down to one's ex-girlfriend and a life and death situation, survival won out every time. At least in his experience. I don't know why we didn't kill each other back then. I'm just glad we didn't. In the long run, it had really been for the best. They'd been tighter than ever since that had happened.
"You're thinking about when we were trapped in that cave-in, aren't you?" He could hear Yamato's voice a little more clearly now, and figured his friend was probably now in the doorway. Coffee had more than likely been acquired, so the Ishida brains were in full gear. This could have multiple effects.
"Yeah. We're going to be trapped together here now. At least we don't have to worry about—" A warm hand was suddenly placed across his mouth and he shut up. Yamato was touching him. Yamato never touched him, or anyone else. Even the people he dated very seldom got more than an arm around their shoulder, if that. But feeling his breath reflecting off of Yamato's hand sent his hormones into happy celebration all of a sudden. Down, boys, down! That was the only halfway coherent thought he could muster at the moment, and his hormones weren't listening at all.
As the hand was pulled away, those hormones started to screech and picket in protest. Taichi fought them back as hard as he could, his eyes opening to see Yamato standing right in front of him. "What did you do that for?"
"So you'd be quiet." Yamato told him bluntly. "It was either that or...something else." Taichi wasn't quite certain of the kind of look that was being turned towards him in those suddenly smoldering blue eyes. It looked like the kind of look he'd seen on occasion when he'd caught Yamato kissing whoever it was he was dating at the time, but there was something more to it this time. Maybe because it was being turned on him?
"Oh." Yamato's other hand seemed to appear before him, and it took a moment for Taichi to realize what it was he was holding: a glass of frosty cold lemonade. He blinked several times; this day was just getting weirder by the moment. "Why are you holding lemonade?"
Yamato sipped at the cold drink briefly, then looked back at him, his lips glistening in the overhead light. "Maybe if you have a taste of something from summer, you'll shut up about the weather."
"Yeah..." Taichi gulped, unable to take his eyes off of Yamato's lips. "The weather..."
Something sparked in those eyes once again, and the next thing that Taichi was fully aware of, a pair of strange lips had landed on top of his. Coherent thought packed up and left, leaving a message to the effect that it would be back sometime later, maybe. The hormones broke out the sake and started celebrating. All higher brain functions that were left, which weren't many, just enjoyed the feeling. Everything else was wrapped up in to a single syllable rocketing around his brain.
Huh?
When the kiss finally ended, and Taichi had absolutely no idea of how long that took, and he cared not one bit at all, he refused to let Yamato step back any farther than he was. "What did you do that for?"
"You weren't really being that quiet. So I had to shut you up some other way." Taichi could tell he was being lied to. He hadn't said that much since Yamato had first put his hand over his mouth. His eyes narrowed, staring at those lemonade-tasting lips again.
"You want to try that again?" Coherent thought made a quick visit back in, bringing along logic and maybe even reason for a stay. Taichi welcomed them all. They were a change from the annoying voice.
"Kisses and lemonade go together like...soccer and grass." Yamato's excuses were getting worse and worse. He wasn't used to lying; Taichi knew that. It was almost fun doing this, too. Now, all he had to do was come up with a quick and witty answer to this.
"Or like us." That wasn't quite what he'd been thinking about. It was true, it was right, but it hadn't been what he'd wanted to say in the first place. Yamato's eyes never left his, and that smoldering look was back in them. Taichi could feel his own face turning a shade of mouldering red as well, but he wasn't going to back down now. Maybe now he'd find out why he kept on ogling Yamato. After all, he was already beginning to get an idea.
Yamato nodded slowly as this began to sink into his brain. He leaned over, lips brushing Taichi's once more before he moved back to murmur, "What do you know...I think you're right."
Taichi grinned to himself, the grin growing wider and wider with every beat of his heart. "So what took you so long?" How long had Yamato been wanting to do this? Not that it mattered. It had been done. That mattered. All the other answers to every other question he had could come some other day.
"What took you?" Yamato asked, one pale gold eyebrow rising. Taichi answered that the only way he possibly could, to cover up the fact he had just barely begun to admit to himself he wanted it in the first place.
He kissed Yamato again. After all, he was going to be doing it for a long time to come, so he figured he might as well get started on it.