Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Chapter 1: Tears, Rain, and Blood
The overcastted sun dipped into the horizon; and the first star crept towards the soon to be sleeping world as a cherry haired female disrobed to reveal pearly white skin. With every ounce of grace that she could muster this dove fluttered into the western style bathroom. She made her way through the threshold and shivered a little as the temperature change gave her goose bumps. Making her way towards the shower she counted each of her small steps as her feet connected with the cold granite colored tile. She faintly parted the shower door, creating just enough space to slide her fragile arm inside and turn the faucet on. As the water came shooting out she withdrew her arm before icy orbs could crystallize on it. She solemnly floated to her pearl sink which had a mirror that loomed over it. She forced her eyes to avert towards her hair and away from the dark black ring the faintly shadowed her left eye. She raised her arms to allow her hands admission to her hair; meanwhile her eyes had slyly sneaked their way towards her neck; where the light red impression of fingers lingered. After she succeeded in tying her hair into a bun she once again made her way to the shower, this time sliding into the steam warmed area. The small shower became her secret hide away from reality.
The cherry haired girl let out a soft relaxing sigh as she allowed tranquil beads of warm water massage her back. Silently with closed eyes she reached for her wash cloth and body wash. Her serene state did not change as she lathered up her green rag. As her cloth's weight shifted, she could smell the sweet scent of the strawberry body wash as it wafted towards her small nostrils. She began to bathe her soft skin in the foamy substance; but not before she made a mental note to take severe care around her more curvy parts. Starting from her feet she gingerly lathered up each leg, frowning as she reached her inner thighs and buttocks. Her thoughts began to descend into the fortnight, but before her mental condition could worsen she violently shook her head to ward of the evil thoughts. The white foam now covered her chest stopping right below her neck, as her hands subconsciously moved her sweet smelling cloth over her left shoulder blade she felt a sharp stinging sensation, that came with such a brilliant pain that she reflexively dropped her cloth. As she bent over to retrieve it she could barely make out the feint sound of the door being slammed shut.
A few hours prior to the awakening stars, dark grey clouds blocked out the setting sun. As the sky ripped open a dejected brunette couldn't help but feel melancholy as the rain waltzed from the sky. Taichi Kamiya. The Amazing Tai, The Awesomely Hilarious Taister, The Numero Uno Prankster. Taichi scoffed as he ran the rest of his nicknames through his head. He found it comical that none of them included idiot, naive, or fool. As he sat in his tiny fortress of solitude, he neglected turning on the windshield wipers. As the rain collected on his window pane forming layers upon layers of irritable sorrow; he began to think of his minute social circle. The more he thought about everyone's success in both life and love, the more he felt like a fool that deserved to be treated like garbage. For the most part everyone else had their own breed of happiness. Koushiro had his sports bar, Joe had his practice, even Sora was doing something extravagant, seeing as how she now played for the Tokyo Black Knights in Japans professional female basketball league. As these tepid thoughts slowly gnawed away at his frame of mind, his eyes began to water.
His heart sank a little as he thought of his past relationships. All of which ended badly except for Sora. Sora had been the only one who had been able to fill the hole in his heart, the only one that helped Taichi feel some small form of direction. The cold emptiness never threatened Taichi when Sora was lying in his arms. Taichi regretted the fact that he could never return her feelings. Although she showed him the love he yearned for, the affection he silently craved; he couldn't return it. If the timing had been different, had she been the one in the bookstore that day, perhaps they could have been married by now. But as fate would have it she wasn't, and another had stolen his heart. He could never find the words to tell Sora or the thief just how sorry he was. His heart whelped as the first tears fell, giving way to a fresh downpour of sadness. Amidst all of his misery a small smile formed on his lips as he thought of the thief, the one he loved. Oh and how he loved her indeed, he couldn't begin to count the ways. He loved everything from the way she styled her hair to the way she would flirtatiously roll her tongue when speaking in her soft sexy voice. Her seductively beautiful body radiated with such an alluring aura that even Aphrodite would become enchanted under her spell. He loved her smiles, all of them, from her short chaste smiles, to her frustrated smile in which bared her pointed canine teeth, which would manage to bite into her lip without drawing any red fluid, he even loved her brilliant, "You can do it" smile; which would encourage you to have a lovely day even if the storm clouds loomed.
As thoughts of the pink haired beauty swam in his mind, thoughts of his blonde haired companion began to rip apart his feelings, setting his mind ablaze. He slowly drifted back to earlier that day when the warm sun hung high in the blue noon sky.
It had been a pretty productive morning at the office, well if you call closing a 200 million dollar contracting deal within you first five minutes through the door being productive. After finishing the paper work the brunette decided to take his lunch brake a little early, and extend it for the rest of the day. After announcing his departure to the rest of his coworkers he gathered his belongings and left. Hey! He figured that since the boss liked him, and was practically in love with him for closing the deal in such a timely fashion that he might as well take the rest of day off. As Taichi made his way towards lobby entrance on the ground floor he whistled an upbeat tune to himself. Full of energy and charisma he hugged every female he passed, this left them flustered and giddy. There were no doubts in his or anyone else's mind, The Amazing Tai had struck again; there would be many casualties on his decent to his red Ferrari. About twenty hugs and five minutes later he had finally reached the valet waiting zone. After awarding the young man with a hearty tip he climbed in his baby and sped off towards his favorite haunt.
The Déjà Vu Sports Bar, owned by the Izzy Company. As he stepped into the building he took a quick glance around, he smiled as he noted that some things never change. At the front was the host stand, which was currently being manned by two stunningly attractive girls, whom were probably in their second year of college. One of the hostesses was quite busty and raven haired, while the other was abnormally tall with orangey blond hair. His eyes swooped to the stylish metal stairs which led to the "underground", which was a sports themed arcade. Above this on the ground floor lay the bar and, higher up on the top floor sat a semi classy restaurant. If you combined his chain of lounges, classy restaurants, hotel industry, and booming computer hardware company it should come as no surprise that Koushiro was one of the world's richest men.
After being led to his usual spot at the bar he sat and waited to be served. The waitress that was assisting the bartender turned a deep shade of crimson red when her eyes fell on Taichi. Taichi flashed a smile that was flirtatiously attached to a charismatic "Yo!" Which resulted in the waitress becoming quite flustered, Taichi winked at her. The waitress's face glistened as sweat formed on its now plum colored surface.
"Bartender, your help is falling for our little playboy here, I think that maybe you should take her in back, or and, give her some clear stuff, something soft, like vodka, you know, to loosen her up a bit, and uh… bring me another drink, something harder that this crap you've been phisxing me", stammered a drunk blond whom sat on brunette's right.
"Matt, how many drinks have you had", Taichi asked while eyeing his friends posture. His blonde head rested on the bar while his long slinky right arm draped over the counter top, his powerful fingers encased a small glass rock. (The big version of a shot glass, it's sort of stylish I guess) Yamato hadn't bothered dressing up as usual, he had on blue denim jeans, a white t-shirt which hung loosely off his slender form, and black and white one stars. His hair was a flat messy tuft; its length had grown over the last few months. It now fell to shoulder length with bangs which covered his eyes, his appearance reminded Taichi of an unkempt sheepdog.
"Only four in the last ten minutes, thinks I", Taichi knew well enough that Yamato could hold more alcohol than your average man, but he also knew that no one could consume a entire bottle of jack and vodka without feeling more than a little buzzed.
"Bartender bring my friend a tall glass of cranberry juice, I'll take a glass of Mikes Hard Lemonade please, oh and a Jackson burger while your at it thanks", after Taichi placed their order he looked up towards the television.
"I don't need you to take care of me; I can do that all by myself." Yamato said as he shifted his body into a more comfortable position, which meant that he had briefly sat up to consume the remnants of his glass. "Anyways why are you having a vagina juice drink like that, don't make me force a zombie down your throat, again"
Taichi didn't brake his gaze as he answered his friend, "It's mid day Yamato, and I still have some driving to do". A few moments of silence passed before Taichi turned his attention back to his friend. It was then that the bartender brought them both a glass of water. After thanking the bartender he shifted his gaze back towards ESPN J.
"Tch. Whatever, you,…you….. ah screw it, why are you here anyways? Shouldn't you be at the office?", inquired the sheepdog. Taichi offered a small smile and took a sip of his water before answering.
" Yeah, but I'm celebrating another successful deal, this time 200 mil, so I decided to take the rest of day off, I don't think the boss will mind to much." Taichi said while flashing his trademark grin.
"You don't think. Hm. Well Taichi,.." Yamato said with fresh sarcasm before pausing to take gulp of water. "I think your right, seeing as you're the boss, the founder, owner, and major shareholder, sheesh I mean seriously you don't even have to step foot in that place, all the major gear heads from over seas, and the top notch lawyers from Tokyo U work for you. Damn it why don't you just get a girlfriend, settle down and have some kids while taking daily swims in your pool of cash?" Taichi's grin widened and he let out a rich laugh; it was then that the bartender brought his food and drink. As he was about to answer the screen caught his attention.
"Hey Yamato look up, they should be showing the segment now" As Yamato moved into position that would allow his eyes access to the screen, Taichi took a bite of his burger. (mmm Jackson burger) The segment was on the Black Knights, after running through their preseason status the announcer started the piece that everyone in the entire lounge was waiting for.
"And now" started the black eyed announcer, "The moment you've all been waiting for, after the retirement of last years team captain, all of the loyal fans must have been left on their toes wondering who the new cap is going to be."
"Not really" interrupted the orange haired co host, "Any true fan would have known that the Knights could only be led by the half blood princess Takenouchi, there's no competiton."
"I think you're wrong", retorted the third anchor whose face they didn't show. A few minutes of idle argument passed, which allowed Tai to finish his burger. Yamato whom had subconsciously sipped away at his juice during the banter had been shocked to find his glass empty. Noticing this Taichi signaled for the bar keep to replace their drinks. As time pressed on the anchors banter seemed to draw on and on, until the orange haired co host addressed the viewers.
"Now your all probably wondering who got the position of captain, I'm pleased to inform you that the title is being entrusted to, the talented and beautiful, heavily capable, super enthusiastic, Takenouchi Sora.", at this everyone in the bar went wild. Taichi jumped out of his seat and excitedly pumped his fist into the air. As roars of approval shook the earth itself, Yamato had managed to light a cigarette.
"Oi, Matty, its illegal to smoke in here, anyways I thought you quit." Scolded the stern brunette as he continued celebrating with the rest of the bars occupants, Yamato took a long drag on his death stick before answering.
"I did and now I'm relapsing, so about my question", as Yamato spoke the smell of smoke filled the air. Taichi eyes began to water, his throat tightened a little. Taichi drank some water before offering his friend a bemused look. Yamato locked eyes with Taichi and began to clarify, "Why don't you have a girlfriend, you know someone who could fall in love with and all that" As Yamato finished he ordered another drink, one with a foreign name that sounded deadly.
"You know why, ya know…." Tai's voice wavered a little bit. "Yamato you know how I feel about Mimi, she's,.. you know that I've never known how to approach her.." minutes passed as Yamato sat listening to Taichi run through the same old love struck rant about Mimi. Normally the blonde would tolerate as much of his friends chatter about the beauty, but there was something about today that seemed to shorten his fuse. However, he tried his best to endure it, by washing away the fuse light with more drinks. An hour had came and passed while Matt repeatedly doused his fuse. Eyes red and judgment impaired he ordered yet another drink. To him the brunette was ranting on about useless things, because Matt knew what the outcome would be if his friend were act on his feelings.
"Hey did you hear me?" inquired the brown haired man. Taichi examined the blondes face, noticing that it was a little flushed. "Hey man you ok?" Taichi asked in a caring voice.
"Did you ….say somethhhing" stammered Yamato.
"I wanted you to offer me some advice on wooing Mimi", as Taichi finished he handed his card to the bar keep to pay for their bill. Yamato on the other hand wasn't feeling quite as generous. As he slowly climbed to his feet and gained his bearings he mumbled something underhand. Taichi however wasn't able to make out what it was his friend had said so he asked him to repeat it. He was rewarded with the blondes to serious eyes, and a menacing tone.
"The only advice I can offer you is to stay away from girls who have boyfriends, you know, like the kind they've been dating for years. You should probably also try to stay away from trying to convince their boyfriends to help you hook up with their women. Hm." Yamato paused and brought his fist to his mouth so he could hic cup into it. After which he continued, "You should also try to not be so pathetic and…" Yamato paused once more to hic up however this it seemed as if he had stopped caring about his politeness and allowed each beer flavored hic up to swim through the air. Once again he continued pausing each time he hic upped, "…love struck …and brown haired … and…and." The blondes face had lost all of its seriousness, and instead shifted to misplacement. The brunette on the other hand was caught between confusion, and anger.
"Yamato, that's not a funny joke….no not a funny…joke. Your joking right, I…I don't understand what you mean" Taichi's voiced gave way a little as he tried to make sense of it all. Yamato looked at his friend as he leaned in towards his ear, in a low whisper, that tickled the brunette's ears drum he cooed, "As a matter of fact, just stay away from my Mimi." And with that Yamato left.
It wasn't too long after that that the blue sky had turned grey and Taichi found him self in his current state. Confused and depressed, he sighed as he listened to the rain. He laughed a little to himself; it wasn't like him to be so down. If it were any ordinary girl he would have shrugged it off and gone home. But the thing is that it wasn't just some ordinary girl, it was Mimi the most extraordinary person he'd ever met. To add insult to injury it was his best friend that had been dating, or at least sleeping with the women he'd been in love with since the first year of high school. As he ran the bar scene through his head a final time he cursed himself. He should have predicted that something like this would happen; there were so many signs, too many signs. Taichi's ,mind tried to rationalize everything yet again, struggling to find some error, some small factor that would prove this to be false. But the only thing he came up with was the fact that Yamato was buzzed when he warned him. Taichi didn't feel as if that was concrete enough to disillusion his depression.
As the moon solidified its presence in the night sky, and the stars dotted the cloudless sea; Taichi had finally built his resolve. He decided to go straight to the source for answers to his soul draining questions. Taking out his phone he voice dialed the pink haired beauty. His heart beat sped as he waited every agonizing second for her to answer. BZZZZT! Taichi blinked and took a deep breath; he felt a little disappointed as the dial tone buzzed in his ear. As he hung up the phone he found that his resolve hadn't wavered. He decided to ride his impetuous resolution all the way through; he would get his answers tonight. As he started his car he took a deep breath and decided that win or lose tonight he would end it, if she in fact had been dating Yamato then he would, no matter how painfully, find a way to forget about the both of them. Anything was better than the cold grasp of betrayal that was creeping through his system like slow acting venom. As he flicked on the windshield wipers and turned up the radio he cocked a small grin as he heard the song that was starting. "Hm. Mizerable by Gackt huh? How melancholy", the brunette said in a sarcastic tone as he sped off towards the Gardens apartment complex.
It didn't take him long to reach the Gardens, the ritzy western style complex. For as long as Taichi could remember Mimi always loved foreign elements. Foreign decoration, foreign clothing, foreign cooking, it may have had something to do with the fact that her mother was somewhat of foreign royalty. Her father being a powerful and influential businessman was able to afford for her to study over seas, but when her parents divorced she decided to live in Japan with her dad. Although one might think that living in Japan would slowly choke away her western infatuation, it did just the opposite. It seemed to increase her desire to own the finer western things; and the Gardens were no exception.
After parking his car in the back parking lot he began to walk towards the back door, but stopped as he passed a silver Toyota. His eyes knew this vehicle, its busted back seat window, its many scratches and dents on the body kit; it even knew the black and blue tassel that was hanging on the rear view mirror. Yes, he knew this car, and he knew it well; for it belonged to Yamato. And all too suddenly Taichi became over whelmed with a feeling of dread. Something felt off to him, the air suddenly tasted different. As the feeling began to overflow inside of him he quickened his pace towards the back entrance.
After a few minutes of light jogging up a few (ten) flights of stairs he finally reached Mimi's apartment door. Without second thoughts he desperately rang the doorbell without offering the occupants a chance to verbally respond. He rung and rung, waiting frantically for Mimi to answer, as he continued he thought he heard the feint shrill of a female's voice. This caused a slight recess in the onslaught of rings. Taichi took a step back and waited a few seconds, as he moved forward to ring the bell yet again, he heard the locks being undone from the other side, "finally", he thought. However when the door opened the person whom he met wasn't who he wanted to see.
Yamato slowly swung the door open and stepped outside. Taichi took his friends attire into careful review. The blonde had the same outfit on that he wore to the bar, only it had some slight altercations. The first of which being the missing t-shirt, a little further down, his belt was undone along with his jeans, he did however still have on his one stars'. He took a step towards the brunette. The sheepdog's eyes were half opened and glossy; his aura reeked of alcohol. A smug grin inched cross his feminine face as he quickly ran his hand through his hair to sweep back his locks that had previously adorned his face.
Taichi's eyes narrowed, "Matt how… WHAT THE HELL YAMATO, what the hell is this, I, can't believe, you were the only one I trusted enough to tell.." Taichi was silenced as Matt held up a hand finger to silence him; using his free hand he swept his locks again.
"Taichi, your being to loud", he cooed in a seductive voice. "Come on, you didn't really think that our beautiful princess would ever end up in a fairy tale romance with you, did you?" The fair haired male slowly advanced towards the dark haired adult, as his long legs drew closer the brunette retreated. This waltz continued until the latter came to find his back against the wall. The smell of the alcohol made the brunette nauseous. The blonde seductively leaned in and caught the brunette's ear in a melody of whispers. "After all, why" he moaned, "would she want to live in a fairytale with you, when she has a god like me in her reality?" Tai was at a lost for words, but before he could reply he felt something wet grace his ear. It didn't take him long to realize that Yamato's tongue was slowly and pleasurably working its way over his ear. It was then that he realized that Matt was drunk. If that was the case then her knew that he had to be cautious, the last time he could recall Matt being drunk, the latter had almost killed the drummer of his band for talking about Sora, back when the blond was dating the tomboy. Taichi stood there, angry, confused and lost. He knew that he was in a situation that could become lethal if he didn't play his cards right. As he contemplated his method of escape from the wall, he shivered and fought a moan as Yamato blew inside his ear. And once again before Taichi had a moment to recoil, respond or react, Yamato had leaned in and pressed his body on top of Taichi's pinning him to the wall. Taichi could barely make out the cunning smile on his friends face as the blonde roughly kissed his neck, while running his fingers along his inner thigh and up his manhood. This was enough to shock Taichi back to the living world, with enough force to separate opposite poles, he pushed Yamato away from.
Tai glared at Yamato with a mixture of betrayal and disgust. Yamato on the other hand glared back in anger, before either could say a word Yamato pinned Taichi to the wall using excessive force,. Taichi's shoulders were in pain. He tried to move away from the wall but Yamato had him good. A cocky grin played on the blondes face as he whispered, "Maybe I should give you a surprise that you weren't expecting." As he said that he closed the distance between there lips stopping when they were just an inch apart, smiling he quickly moved his head towards the side of Taichi's neck as he kneed him in the stomach. Taichi recoiled from the pain by leaning in to Yamato. " Heh, I didn't know you wanted me that badly, but sorry, I'm straight", he laughed as he sent several quick knee strikes to the same area. On the final one he let go of his target and allowed him to hit the floor.
Taichi knew that at the rate that this was progressing he had about as much hope of fighting back as a child did against a grizzly bear. Yamato sent kick after kick to Taichi's chest, smiling as he did. Taichi whom had attempted to assume the fetal position tried to cushion each blow as best he could. "Come on mate, I don't want to spend all my time spooning you why don't you lay missionary style for me", spat the intoxicated youth. The one stars had managed to roll the brunette over and deliver a nice stomp to his rib cage. "How sweet of you to make it fun for me, how about I straddle you and show you a good time?" Yamato was already on his knees by the time he finished his question. Each knee was buried in one of Taichi's elbow sockets; Yamato began moving his lower body to imitate riding Taichi causing immense pain to shoot through Taichi's arm as it was forcefully grinded into the hallway floor. Without words the blonde began to send blow after bone shattering blow to Taichi's face. After five minutes of this had passed, Taichi slowly felt his consciousness begin to dwindle away. The pain was ripping him apart, unable to relive any of it; he slowly let the darkness claim him. Yamato smiled as he cocked back a fist. Taichi closed his eyes and waited for the impact that would send him to the next world. As he slipped further into the darkness he awaited the crunch of rough knuckles against his flesh but it never came.
Taichi's body was racked with pain, so much that he couldn't open his eyes. He found himself to be completely exhausted so he opted to take a little nap. As his mind numbed white he could barely make out the sounds of an argument that seemed so far away.
"Stop it", begged a shrill tear stained voice, "stop it please." Taichi thought to himself that he knew that voice, although he couldn't make it out exactly who it belonged to. Although he couldn't make it out, he silently prayed that she would stop crying. He had the feeling that this was someone whom he didn't want to see get hurt. Taichi wanted to say, "Don't worry everything will be better, so don't cry. Don't waste your tears", but he didn't have the energy so the words never formed. As the dawn approached Taichi wondered weather or not he'd ever see his heart again. He strained his ears to make out the conversation, but all he could hear was the shallow, "please", that was drowning away in tears. Not to long after that he heard a disgusting sound, that reminded him of flesh smashing into flesh. "p..pplease" was the last thing he heard before he slipped away from this world.
A/N: Please review. I welcome all suggestions, and criticisms. Thank you for reading.