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.
Fandoms: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Lying Hearts
Romance: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken
Word Count: chapter 1: 1,026||story: 1,026
Genre: Romance, Angst||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section I12, a multichap with exactly 10 chapters; Written for the Halloween Trick of Treat (Advent), Day #17, reveal a hidden identity; Written for the What-If Challenge: What if the Kaiser's personality was Ken's real personality?; One Ship Boot Camp, #50, embrace
Notes: For the purposes of this story, please note the following: Ken's true personality is that of the Digimon Kaiser. No Dark Spore involved at all. The Chosen have fought the Kaiser (and are not aware that he's Ichijouji Ken, who never ran away from home) since they were eleven years old, with matters grinding down to a quasi-stalemate for a multitude of reasons over the last couple of years. It's been six years since this began. Therefore, Miyako is eighteen, Ken, Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari are seventeen, and Iori is fifteen. There are other points that are different, but those will be addressed in the story itself.
Summary: After long days of fighting the Digimon Kaiser, Daisuke just wants to relax in his boyfriend's arms. That's not so much to ask, is it?

Daisuke heaved a great sigh of contentment at the feeling of Ken's hands going through his hair over and over. There were few things that could really relax him like being this close to his boyfriend after a long day of classes and the harassment of fighting the Digimon Kaiser to a stalemate. Again. He'd lost track of how many times they did this.

Not now, he told himself, trying his best to ignore the thought.

One of Ken's hands trailed down the side of Daisuke's neck to brush against his shoulder. Daisuke winced at that, hissing softly between his teeth.

"Daisuke?" Ken peered down at him, worry in his eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just got a bruise there, that's all." Daisuke reached up to rub the spot, making a face. One of the Kaiser's Digimon had gotten through their guard and sent him slamming against a tree earlier. But he had his excuse already for this. It was one that he'd used before, but it didn't get old. "Soccer practice."

Ken made a small noise that wasn't entirely disbelief as his fingers pushed Daisuke's to the side and he prodded at the small injury. "Have you put anything on it?"

"It's just a bruise!" Daisuke did his best to laugh it off. Takeru had checked as soon as he'd gotten up to make certain that he hadn't broken anything. Over the years, they'd all gained at least a little experience in most basic first aid and how to tell a bruise in the making from something sprained, strained, or broken.

In truth, he wasn't that upset when Ken began to carefully rub the bruise, easing a little of the ache that came with it. "You need to take better care of yourself," Ken chided ever so gently.

Daisuke let out another sigh at that, leaning closer. The longer Ken touched him, the more relaxed he became, and he found it harder to keep his eyes open. Not that he needed to; he'd already told his parents that he would be spending the night at Ken's place.

Not that they knew exactly what the two of them would be doing for at least part of the night. His parents still held the fond idea that he and Ken were 'just friends'.

The benefits of being Ken's friend were amazing and not ones that Daisuke really wanted to share with anyone else. Ken seemed to feel much the same way, since he'd never given any indication he wanted to share them with anyone who wasn't Daisuke.

"You can take a nap if you want," Ken murmured into Daisuke's ear. "I'll wake you up for dinner later."

Daisuke didn't bother stifling his yawn, but curled up a little more in Ken's arms and closed his eyes altogether, letting himself drift away. He knew that he couldn't stay here the whole weekend, no matter how much he really wanted to, but a little downtime would get him feeling much better.

If only it weren't for the Digimon Kaiser. Then he could spend so much more time with Ken. Maybe even figure out if he could tell Ken about the Digital World…

He'd love it there. I bet he could even find a friend...

And he slept.

Ken kept on rubbing Daisuke's shoulder until long after his boyfriend fell asleep on his lap. Once he was certain that Daisuke was asleep, he relaxed the kind smile on his features, a sort of cold distance taking its place.

I thought he'd never go to sleep. He wasn't going to move Daisuke, but he also wanted to relax and when Daisuke was awake, he just couldn't. He had years of practice at this facade and he wouldn't let it slip, but he needed his down time as well.

He glanced at Daisuke's shoulder, a sense of satisfaction filling him at the sight of the ugly bruise. He hadn't known his slave had hit Daisuke quite that hard. He couldn't decide off the top of his head if he wanted to reward the Monochromon for that or punish him for bruising his master's plaything.

No one knew that Daisuke was his, of course. Not even Daisuke. Daisuke still thought he was just dating Ichijouji Ken. He would think that until Ken wanted him to know differently.

He leaned back, resting his head on the back of his chair, and kept one careful eye on Daisuke. They were going to have such fun this weekend. Even the Digimon Kaiser needed a rest from conquering and ruling a world.

Soon. Everything's almost ready. He did want Daisuke to know who he was. Every relationship needed honesty, after all, and he'd kept this secret from Daisuke for years. He wanted Daisuke to know, but only under the circumstances that he'd chosen.

All of this would be so worth it when he was done. He'd put every little detail into place and held it all in hand until now. Just another few days. It almost didn't seem real, after the last handful of years.

Daisuke moved his head, the tips of his hair brushing against Ken's hands, and Ken caressed absently, knowing the feeling would send Daisuke right back to sleep. He'd spent almost as much time learning how to manipulate Daisuke as he'd spent conquering the Digital World.

Of course, conquering that world also meant manipulating Daisuke in some ways as well, since Daisuke spent at least part of his time trying to stop the Kaiser. All this time and he'd never even had a glimmer of realization that his boyfriend and his nemesis were one and the same.

What a glorious day is coming. Ken glanced at the clock. He didn't want Daisuke to sleep too long. They only had tonight together, then Daisuke had to return to the Motomiya apartment.

Ken would not refer to that place as Daisuke's 'home'. Not when he had put so much time and effort into creating a home for Daisuke in his fortress. And before one more week passed, he would take Daisuke there, and the two of them would be together forever.

To Be Continued

Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.