A/N: This fic wrote itself out of the blue. Read & Review!
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Bandai & Toei Animation.
The message had been simple, "Izakaya 9 p.m".
So, all in all, typical Yamato, Takeru surmised.
It had been close to three weeks since they had last seen and had a chance to spend time together. And even if many things in Takeru's life had changed, wanting to spend time with his only brother was not one of them.
They had grown accustomed to the work needed to be able to take time off to meet, and the habit had clearly paid off over the years.
Takeru knew that Yamato had been busy with his work plans and running the family-life.
Usually, though, Yamato asked him to come over, so that he had a chance to see his niece and nephew. More family at the same time.
To meet in the local small pub wasn't unheard either, but Takeru knew it was more a thing with his brother and Taichi, not so much with himself and Yamato.
Yamato's favorite local bar wasn't the easiest to find, and Takeru had to navigate more than few alleys in the crisp evening weather of late January. It was uncharacteristically damp, and even if it didn't rain enough to carry an umbrella Takeru could feel the moistness of the air to gather on his hair.
The place itself was small, like the dozen other izakayas in the same area. At the far end, Takeru could spot that Yamato had managed to reserve two bar stools. The spot was next to the counter to get drinks, but a little bit further back from the owner's spot at the counter for more privacy.
Takeru squeezed his way to the back, while at the same time signaling the owner that he would get a beer. The owner nodded at him, seemingly recognizing him as Yamato's brother.
"Hi." Takeru managed to comment first.
Yamato opted to move past pleasantries as fast as humanly possible, and instead, made sure that Takeru had made it to the bar in one piece.
Takeru, on the other hand, noticed the empty sake cup in front of his brother, being slightly surprised that Yamato had started to drink before his arrival. Yamato was still very clearheaded, and as the owner brought Takeru his beer, Yamato signaled to the owner that he would take a new round of sake and pay for Takeru's drinks as well. A habit Takeru had learned not to object at with Yamato's persistence.
Neither one of the brothers drank that much these days. Takeru was far too self-aware and unable to lose his focus around people. His past medication had also taught him a habit of preserving from drinking. Yamato, on the other hand, was much more accustomed to alcohol, the band business having turned numerous evenings into long nights.
"How's it going?" Yamato inquired, not out of necessity for small talk, but of genuine interest.
"Ok. I like it for a change." Takeru commented placing his beer back on the mahogany countertop. "You?"
Yamato simply grunted for an answer, which made Takeru give a huff of laugh. His older brother's face, however, made Takeru take a more serious stance. He knew Yamato didn't think badly of his response, but in moments like this, he could read very easily what kind of attitude was needed to get something more out of his older brother.
"What is it?"
"I'm hiding." Yamato answered, with a sigh that would have belonged to a man twenty years older.
"Hiding?" Takeru asked, his voice carrying quite easily amidst the random cacophony of noises and the small flat lined TV from the other end of the bar.
Yamato, however, seemed unwilling to open the question further, taking a mouthful of sake. He had always been little hesitant on drinking with Takeru not to give "bad" example, but even if the alcohol warmed his insides; he was far from being drunk.
Yamato had to give credit to his younger brother, who was very adept on maintaining silences to get the other party to open up. Eventually, he gave up, "We fought with Sora." The dry sentence was accompanied with an even deeper sigh of self-disappointment.
Takeru was slightly surprised at the news. Yamato was rarely the type of person to open up on his personal problems — a trait Takeru couldn't himself say anything about. Not to mention, that family-related topics were difficult for both of them in general. "What did you fight about?" Takeru couldn't help the edge of surprise his voice held in addition to the obvious tone of concern.
"The job at the new unit. Moving. Kids…" Yamato confessed, not raising his gaze from his now empty sake cup.
Takeru knew that Yamato's old contract with the research unit was coming to an end, and that a tech firm in the US had been interested to take Yamato as a visiting specialist, as well as, that the existing team would be starting a new project at Hokkaido 1000 kilometers away. In either case, both options would wither require moving or for Yamato spend long times away from his family— something Takeru knew both Yamato and Sora as parents hated as an idea. The anti-Digimon sentiment that was once again rising created its own weight in the discussion but there were few traditional jobs Yamato had expressed interest in.
It took a moment for Takeru to find words on how to reply. To tell the truth, he wasn't even sure what Yamato wanted him to reply, or if there was a reply at all — they had so little practice on talks like this.
"So, you are hiding from Sora and her frying pans?"
"No." Yamato rebutted, but the tiny smile on his face eased the situation a notch.
There was once again a long silence. Yamato had considered on asking Taichi or any of his old bandmates to go for a drink and forget the whole question. He knew that Takeru was only one who would have the wit and the will to make him ponder it through. But it was different for the two of them. Takeru didn't remember the fights their parent's had had when they were small. He, on the other hand, could. The outlook they had was different. It was even more difficult that neither one of them wanted to address the issue at all. They had done that very well for close to 30 years.
"I don't like to fight with her." Yamato eventually said, twirling the cup in his hand.
"I don't think neither one of you likes to argue with each other." Takeru supported.
"Probably not."
Takeru looked at his brother's closed off face, thinking of his brother and Sora's relationship. It was a relationship which he couldn't say he never truly understood. He knew them both, was close to them both. It had been even nicer with Sora after the two had gotten engaged, and they often had good-natured fun at Yamato's expense. But the quality of the attraction between them was something he was an outsider to. In some sense, he always thought back to the question of family. Both Sora and Yamato had had troubles with family when growing up and both were dedicated on making their own family-life work. Yamato had once said that Sora would be a really good mother. An appreciation Takeru could now, years later verify single-handedly.
"Are you striving to evade an apology?" Takeru questioned casually, being quite sure that that was not like his brother.
"No." Yamato denied easily. "I just… I could see. — For a split second I could see myself as mom and dad." Yamato confessed with great difficulty, surprising Takeru even more.
They never talked about these things.
Takeru had no idea on what to response.
Yamato gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I could see myself as… For that second I could understand the…"
Point.
"It's not a nice thought." Yamato surmised bitterly.
Takeru sensed the same unwanted feelings of rising anxiety he could guess Yamato was harboring. However, it didn't make him any more willing to accept the situation. "Just because mom and dad broke up, it doesn't automatically mean you will." Takeru inferred, not even wanting to explore how they both would feel if Yamato was to broke up things with Sora.
"I know. I know. It was just one fight. I just thought we would have been above that." Yamato surmised quietly.
"Yeah."
"I don't want to be like that."
Takeru took a sip of his almost full glass of beer in the absence of response.
Yamato gave an undistinctive grunt and leaned back on his stool as if to turn to heavens for answers over his cursed life.
"You'll be able to sort it out."
"I know. And it's not that. I just… we see it differently. She doesn't back down from her stance."
Takeru knew what his brother meant, that because Sora's own childhood was shadowed by the absence of his father, but not the fighting between parents, Sora was less afraid to argue than Yamato. Sora was ready to argue when things needed that, but for his brother, it was an instant warning light that things were horribly wrong.
"She needs to be to keep you in control. She managed to keep both you and Taichi in control." Takeru joked, before turning back to serious. "Have you thought of talking about that to her?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't change anything. We are still going to be on two sides on these questions."
"Probably, but it could prevent the argument from escalating." Takeru surmised, falling back to his old cheeky 'let's know it all and tease Yamato' – mood, earning a grimace and a deep sip of sake from his brother.