Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Tight Squeeze
Characters: Ken, Yamato
Word Count: 3,496||Status: One-shot
Genre: Friendship, Drama||Rated: PG
Challenge: Written for the 2014 Advent Calendar Challenge, day #24; Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section F, #2, oneshot with no dividers; Headcanons Challenge: Yamato is claustrophobic.
Summary: [one-shot, Ken & Yamato, Advent Challenge Day #24, Diversity Writing Challenge, & Headcanons Challenge] An accident traps Yamato in a small space. He's not certain if it's better or worse that he's also trapped with the Digimon Kaiser.

Yamato wanted to keep his eyes closed and pretend that this wasn't happening. His arm wasn't hurt. There wasn't a stinging cut on one side of his face. There wasn't cave dust in his hair. He wasn't trying hard to breathe. There weren't rips in his clothes and bruises in more places than he cared to count.

But telling himself all of those things didn't change any of it. He could still feel the blood trickling down where he'd slammed into the rocks. Or the rocks slammed into him, he wasn't certain of which it was and he didn't want to think about it enough to figure out the details.

What was more, telling himself all of that didn't change the worst fact of them all: that Ichijouji Ken, the Digimon Kaiser, was right across the small enclosure, just as trapped in here as he was.

Yamato tried not to look at him. That wasn't so hard; there wasn't a lot of light here anyway. One single thin beam that came from a small opening in the cave above, and that was it. It was just enough so that Yamato could tell how little space they had, and that was it.

He wanted out of here. There were not enough words in any language that he knew, and he suspected not in the ones he didn't know, to express how much he wanted out of there. He breathed shallowly, barely taking in enough to fill his lungs. This was half out of a desire to avoid running out of air any time soon and half in a way to keep himself from launching toward the rubble covered former exit and clawing until his fingers were useless in an attempt to get out of there.

An attempt that would fail. It would take someone of Garurumon's strength to get through that landslide of rock, and without him, Gabumon couldn't become Garurumon. His partner was somewhere on the other side, probably trying to find him. He wanted to tell himself that he could hear claws as Gabumon worked at it.

He'd never been good at lying to himself. All he could hear was the Kaiser's low voiced mutterings, throwing a dozen insults toward everyone and anyone.

"What is it with you?" Yamato finally brought himself to ask. "Do you just never like to take responsibility for yourself?"

The Kaiser's glare wasn't visible in the dusty gloom, but Yamato knew the other threw one his way anyway. That was what the Kaiser did when he couldn't use his whip, apparently. And that was on the other side of the rock-filled opening. Just like Yamato's own Digivice was.

The blond sighed and leaned back, trying to get comfortable despite knowing that he couldn't do it. This wasn't a place for him to be comfortable. He didn't think he could've found a more uncomfortable place for himself if he'd sat down and worked it out on purpose.

"You shouldn't talk to me like that. You're trapped in here with me and I'm the only hope that you have of getting out of here alive," the Kaiser spat the words out, though he didn't make a move to get any closer to Yamato. That was fine with Yamato. There was enough of an air shortage without them being that close to one another.

"Really? You think my friends aren't going to be trying to get us out of here?" It wouldn't take all that long for them to do it once they realized what had happened. What would take a while would be them being able to do so.

He hadn't told any of them that he was coming here. He hadn't really meant to stay all that long; he'd just wanted to spend a little time with Gabumon. He'd talked Takeru into opening a gate up for him, and that was it. Even Takeru didn't know exactly where he was and he would expect Yamato to simply find the nearest television and let him know when he wanted to come back.

This seemed a lot less like a good idea now that rubble and rock blocked off his access to his way home. He could almost hear Taichi's laughter in the back of his head. It wasn't a pleasant sound and if he'd actually heard the brunet doing that, he would've punched him.

The Kaiser snorted, shifting a little. Yamato wondered if he was hurt; the slight hitch to his breath made it sound as if he might be.

"As if your 'friends' could do anything. My slaves are guarding this area, remember?"

Yamato leaned up a little. Bantering with the Kaiser helped him to keep his mind off the real problem that lurked twitching and swelling in the back of his thoughts. Not to mention it was almost entertaining.

"So why don't you tell them to stop guarding and start working to get us out of here?"

"Because I'm not out there to tell them to do it!" The Kaiser snapped, bringing one fist down on a pile of rocks near him. They slipped and cascaded all over his feet and he kicked them petulantly. "They can't do anything without my orders and they won't listen to anyone else."

Yamato sighed. "What kind of a world conqueror are you?"

"The kind who can keep you from going back to those friends of yours if you annoy me too much," Ken spat back. "You're in my territory, Ishida, if you've forgotten. What happens to you right now is up to me."

That coaxed an unwilling laugh out of Yamato. "I don't know if you realized this or not, but no matter what's going on out there, in here? No one is in charge." No one except the dark and the silence and the air, and Yamato could only hope that there would be enough of that last. The crack that let in the light could also let in air, but would it be enough? Would anything happen to seal it up?

His heart pounded harder in his chest at that thought. Could there be something out there that would do it? Some random Digimon? A fall of rock like the one that trapped them in here in the first place? He closed his eyes and bit back a shudder. This was not the time or the place to think thoughts like that.

A spill of rocks sounded and he stifled the startled noise that wanted to make its way out of his throat. It wasn't easy and he thought a small squeak sounded anyway. He hoped the Kaiser hadn't heard it. He didn't want Ken, of all people, knowing about his little … problem at the moment. Or ever, really, but right now, he really didn't want him to know about it.

"What are you doing over there?" Now he could hear a little movement and he opened his eyes to see the Kaiser having moved closer to him. Not at all what he needed or wanted.

"I'm sitting here. What did you think I was going to do, start singing opera?" Yamato bit the words off perhaps a bit more harshly than he'd intended. The Kaiser didn't so much as blink, so far as he could see.

"I wouldn't put it past you. You're the musical one, aren't you?"

That sent a faint chill all through Yamato. The thought that the Kaiser was watching him, watching any of them...no, he did not want to think that thought at all. He'd much rather think about getting out of here. Surely Takeru would guess sooner or later that something was wrong?

Even if he did – when he did – it would take some time and effort to find just where he was, and gather enough people to do something about it. And to make matters worse, Ken's armies were in the area. They would have to deal with them before being able to dig around the cave opening.

"So what if I am?" He threw a casual look at the other, fighting to hold back every other emotion aside from distaste at the presence of his enemy. "Did you want a free show?"

"Not at all. I'm not much into your type of noise." There was just enough light for Yamato to catch a glimpse of a slash of teeth that he supposed was meant to be pass as a smile. "Now, if you could provide a few screams for me?"

Yamato rolled his eyes and shifted back as if he weren't absolutely terrified of the entire rocky mess they were trapped in falling on top of him. "Sorry. I haven't run into anything I really wanted to scream about."

"I could change that."

A low sigh huffed out of the blond. "Ken. This is not the time to be playing petty dictator. We're both trapped in here and the only way we're going to get out is if my friends turn up, get rid of your slaves, and dig us out, and somehow manage to do it without bringing all of this down on our heads. And I have no idea of how long that's going to take. So the best thing for both of us to do is to sit quietly and try not to drive each other out of our minds, if that's quite all right with you, Ichijouji Ken."

He followed that up with a cool sapphire stare to Ken, who stared back at him. It was hard enough to see his features with the huge masking glasses in the way, and the dim light here made it even worse, unless he were dong something extremely obvious. Which now he wasn't. Now he simply stared back at Yamato.

"You're afraid," Ken said after a moment or two, a kind of strange wonder in his voice. "You're afraid of something."

Yamato dared not look away. That would have only confirmed it, and his desire not to let the Kaiser know hadn't changed. "What makes you say that?" In all truth, he couldn't think of any answer that would've not given Ken at least a hint of how right he was. He might not guess what Yamato feared, but he would know it was something.

"I can see it in your eyes." Ken almost sounded fascinated by the prospect. "You're not afraid of me, though." Was that a hint of a pout? Yamato would've facepalmed under almost any other circumstances. Ken being jealous that he wasn't the scariest thing around? Daisuke would've ruptured something laughing.

"You tell me what's around here to be afraid of. And you're right, I don't count you in that."

Ken swirled his cape out of the way -really, did he practice how to do that with just the right dramatic swish? - and settled himself down on the nearest solid outcropping of rock next to Yamato. "Quite a bit from a logical standpoint."

"If I wanted logic, I'd be trapped in here with Koushirou," Yamato muttered. It wasn't entirely the truth; he'd rather not be trapped in here at all. But if he had his choice of companions and the criteria was logic, then Koushirou or Jou would make a much better option than Ken.

He couldn't see what reaction the other had, if any. Instead, Ken made himself quite at home and stared back at Yamato as if the blond were a fascinating species of insect. "But you're trapped in here with me, and there's not much else for me to do aside from talk to you."

"I thought that doing that would be beneath your dignity?" Yamato taunted, hoping that he could annoy the other enough to leave him be. That would be so much more pleasant than almost anything else he could think of.

On the other hand, one thing hadn't changed: this was a lot more palatable than sitting here in the dark trying to listen for the sound of rocks falling in and thinking of how tight everything was around him. He really did not want to think about that. It made his throat close up and his vision blur even to consider, and that just made everything even worse.

He ran his fingers over some of the loose rocks near him, more for something to do with his hands than anything else. He realized that Ken hadn't answered him, and decided he wasn't going to, when the other did.

"Normally it would be. But these are special circumstances." Again a slice of a smile, just barely visible in the gloom. "If you were Motomiya, I would have other ways of passing the time."

Yeah, Yamato found himself composing a mental list of topics he didn't even want to think about, much less talk about, and that particular one shot to the top of the list in mere seconds.

"I'm pretty certain there's not enough room in here for Daisuke to punch you around," he said instead, refusing to take any hints that the Kaiser might want to throw out toward anything.

"That wasn't what I had in mind at all." Ken shrugged, and Yamato could feel his eyes on him still.

He directed his own gaze elsewhere. There wasn't much else to look at, but he tried anyway. He focused on the slender shaft of light coming down, and wished it were close enough for him to sit under it. It would be so much better if he could. It would bring better air and he wouldn't keep thinking about what the odds were of being crushed to death under here.

What happened to humans who died in the Digital World? It hadn't ever happened to his knowledge, and he didn't really want to be the one who'd find out.

"But I think we were talking about something else. What you're afraid of." The Kaiser leaned forward and Yamato didn't have to see it to know the hunger in his eyes, the desire to find a weak spot in his prey and use it to his advantage. "Don't try to tell me that you're not afraid of anything. Everyone fears something."

"So what about you?" Yamato snapped back. "If everyone is afraid of something, then what are you afraid of? What sends you to your bed at night trembling?"

"Nothing that you could ever make happen, so why bother thinking about it?" The Kaiser retorted without even a pause. "But whatever you're afraid of, it's something here and now. The dark?" He glanced around, then back to Yamato. "No, that's not it. Good."

"Good?" Yamato shifted about enough to look at him incredously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you think I want my enemies being defeated by something as simple as the fear of the dark?" The Kaiser sneered at him. "I'm the Digimon Kaiser. My enemies should at least be worth defeating. Not that most of you are, but I expect better out of you."

Yamato rubbed his forehead, suspecting he left a streak of rock grime as he did. He was going to need a good hot shower after this. Maybe two of them. And his clothes were an absolute loss.

"Do I want to try to make sense out of that or should I just write it off to you being an insane megalomaniac?"

"Whichever makes you happy," Ken said. He continued to stare, and he was close enough now for Yamato to all but see the thoughts tumbling around in his mind. "What else is there to fear here..." He didn't sound as if he were asking Yamato, but more as if he mused the question over to himself.

Yamato turned away as best that he could, refocusing his attention on that light. It was the only thing in here worth looking at, in his opinion. The Kaiser was little more than a distraction, he told himself, someone he could banter with if necessary, when the thoughts of the dark and how the rock pressed in around him became too much for him to bear.

Not that it was too much now. Or ever. He could do this. He would make it out. If he strained his ears, couldn't he hear someone out there? Wasn't someone trying to get to them? This wouldn't last forever.

He wasn't certain if it was his imagination or not, but he thought he did hear something moving outside. The question remained on if it were his friends or stray Digimon. He wrote off at once the possibility that it was the Kaiser's slaves. As he'd said, they needed his direction to do anything at all, and they likely weren't going to get that with their master in here.

But... "Could Wormmon give them orders? The Digimon you've enslaved, I mean." A question he wanted to know the answer to, and something that might well distract the Kaiser from whatever he was thinking about Yamato's own fears.

"He could form the words, yes," Ken replied with a slightly mocking nod. "But they only obey me, unless I've told them otherwise."

"Such as?"

"Preparing my steed when I wish to leave my base," Ken said. "Or cooking my meals and bringing them to me. That's the sort of thing Wormmon can handle. Not rescue missions."

Yamato had his own opinions on that. Digimon were much more resourceful than Ken wanted to think. But better not to let him in on that. Denying intelligence to the enemy was a basic strategy.

"It's how enclosed we are, isn't it?" Ken's voice slipped into his ear, far too close, and Yamato didn't have time to stop himself from jumping. "You're claustrophobic!"

Yamato hated the triumph in the Kaiser's voice. His shoulders tense, his voice tight, he growled, "What makes you think that?" He wouldn't admit this. Not to the Kaiser. Not even if the Kaiser produced a written and signed statement from Gabumon, the only being aside from himself who knew, attesting to it.

"It's the only point that makes sense. It's clearly not the dark. And it's not me. You're sweating, and it's not because of the air, or lack thereof," Ken said, laying out each of his points with clinical thoroughness. Yamato rubbed his arms involuntarily; he hadn't noticed the sweating. "You keep staring at that tiny little hole. Admittedly, there are a few other viable options, but given the way you're reacting to me pointing this out, this is the one." There was a very definite tone of satisfaction there.

Yamato kept his eyes on the hole. Out there lay freedom and air and space and he could think and breathe and not have to be tucked in so close to someone who could read him like a book even in this darkness. Who did the Kaiser think he was, even? How dare he?

"You're hardly the only person in the world who is afraid of small spaces, Ishida," Ken continued to point out.

Yamato interrupted before he could get any farther. "You think I don't know that?" How could Ken talk to him like this? As if it were nothing? As if he shouldn't be afraid at all? As if a few words could …

He blinked a few times and stared over at the Kaiser. "Are you trying to make me feel better about this? Because I can tell you right now that you absolutely suck at it."

Any answer Ken might've given fell into an unexpected noise: Daisuke's voice, calling from above. "Hey! Yamato-san! Are you down there? Are you all right? What about the Kaiser? Is he there too?"

The Kaiser answered before Yamato could. "Of course we're in here, you idiot! Are you going to do anything about that or are you just up there to be decorative?"

"Hi, Ken," Daisuke replied, deadpan. "The word you're looking for is 'thanks', by the way. Hold on, we're going to get Digmon on this."

Yamato shifted back as far as he could. Without Ken's chatter to distract him, he could now hear the sounds of movement up above, and thinly caught familiar voices.

A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up to the Kaiser's eyes. At first he thought the other had something else in mind, perhaps to use him as a hostage to ensure his own safe escape. But then he could see a little clearer as the light began to grow. For a single moment, Ken shook his head and mouthed something in silence. Then he stepped away, folded his arms over his chest, and watched as Digmon worked.

Yamato processed what happened slowly but surely. Safe with me, he'd said. That could mean only one thing. Ken had no intentions of telling anyone else what had transpired here.

He found a tiny smile on his lips. There were still other people he would have rather been trapped with. But at least Ken knew what a secret was, and how to keep one.

The End