Fandom: Digimon Adventure
Title: Outside
Author: SweetFirefly
Rating: K/G
Genre: Angst
Pairing: Hints of Daisuke Motomiya X Ken Ichijouji.
Spoilers: Up to the end of the first arc.
Summary: Daisuke thinks about the masks of the Digimon Kaiser.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Adventure. Darn.
A/N: So I was browsing through some old notebooks and I found some three or four fanfics I wrote when I was in high school still. Most were completely ridiculous, but this one and its companion were actually kind of good... just needed reviewing and Digimon Adventure rewatching. Daiken has been one of my favorite yaoi couples for a long while and the Digimon fandom has a special place inside my heart, so I'm glad to finally be publishing something about Daisuke and Ken.
It is a companion to Inside, which you'll find here, on the same profile, on your favorite publishing system. If you like this one, please check its companion!
This takes place after episode eight, "The Loneliness of the Digimon Kaiser". Please warn me if there are any mistakes!
Outside
Jun had thought he would be happy.
"I know you're a fan of his, so I brought this for you! Mayoi-chan got it from her brother, and she gave it to me… what's wrong, Daisuke?"
This was a photograph, one that had been on the local newspaper the week before; in black pen, there were some kanji scribbled quickly over that cool smile.
Thanks for the support, it said. Ken Ichijouji.
"…Nothing, no."
He managed to thank Jun and even smile a little, before storming to his room, photo clutched in his hands. When he got there, he all but threw himself to the bed, looking at the boy in the photograph, feeling like there was some kind of monster clawing inside his chest.
To the outside world, the boy in the photograph was a nice, smart, amazing person. A charming genius teenager who was also humble and polite and kicked ass at soccer. It was a face with nothing on it but intelligence and hard work.
But, as Daisuke knew now, that face was only a mask.
"Daisuke, are you all right?"
Behind the smile, behind the niceness and the coolness, there was nothing but a sadistic kid. Hidden under the mask of an eleven-years-old, there was a tyrant, a—a dictator, a nutcase who was hellbent on bringing destruction and chaos to a world he had nothing to do with…
And to think Ken Ichijouji had been a hero to him.
"Daisuke?"
Angrily, he crushed the photo into a paper ball and threw it on the floor with trembling hands. To think he'd thought that empty kid was a hero, to think he'd wanted to play soccer like him! To think he had known the Digimon Kaiser but still, still, the boy had shaken his hand and he'd felt so good inside…
He felt the first sting of tears burning his eyes. He had honestly liked Ken Ichijouji.
A paw touched his hand, and he jumped, startled; Chibimon was looking at him like he was a really difficult math test. "Daisuke…"
He knew he was scaring Chibimon, but right then he couldn't find it in himself to calm down. "I'm an idiot, Chibimon. An idiot."
The tears started running down his cheeks, and Chibimon widened his eyes – a crying Daisuke wasn't something he was used to dealing with. The boy watched as his partner climbed onto the bed and patted him on the leg, like he didn't really know how that was supposed to work.
"You're not an idiot," he said slowly. "It's just – it's just—"
"It's just that I'm dumb."
"No!" Chibimon protested. "No, it's not that! It's just that – you're a good person! You trust everyone! That's – that's a good thing, Daisuke."
"Of course," Daisuke muttered, and he knew he shouldn't sound that irritated when Chibimon was just trying to cheer him up. "Of course, comes the Kaiser wearing a mask, saying some nice things, and I'm on my knees licking his boots. And that's good."
"Mask? Like – like his glasses?"
"No, like – like Ken Ichijouji is only a disguise. To hide the Kaiser. He's like – some clothes the Kaiser wears to look nice. And that's what I've been liking all along."
Defeated, the boy let himself fall face down on the bed, burying his face on the pillow.
He felt the mattress Chibimon jumped, his little claws scratching the wooden floor. From behind his arms, Daisuke heard the computer chair moving, and the noise of crumpling paper; he felt the mattress bounce soon after, and paws tapping his head insistently. "Daisuke. Daisuke!"
He wanted to ignore it, but his partner took the opportunity to climb up his head and jump on it like a rabbit… and that actually hurt.
"Daisuke! Daisuke!"
"What?!" He raised his head, and felt Chibimon jump to the side.
The photo – straightened out again – was all but shoved in his face, and his partner's eyes were eager. "Maybe you're not wrong!"
"What?" He looked at the photo, trying to find anything on it that could mean Chibimon was right.
He found nothing, but the Digimon didn't look less than encouraging. "Maybe the Kaiser is a disguise too."
"…A disguise for what?"
"I don't know", Chibimon shrugged. "But some things – some things aren't what they look like. You just said that. Maybe there's a good person behind the Kaiser?"
"…But – but how would we know?"
"I think we're only gonna know for sure when we defeat the Kaiser… But I think maybe you already know, Daisuke."
And Chibimon shoved the photo onto Daisuke's hand.
Entranced, Daisuke looked again at Ichijouji's picture – the cool smile, the serious gray-blue eyes, the kanji on top of it that made his name. He remembered the feeling inside his heart when he met Ken; it had felt like happiness, and like respect… and also like something he didn't know the name, something right.
Maybe that was his heart telling him the Digimon Kaiser wasn't really the only thing behind the disguise of Ken Ichijouji?
"Are you all right already, Daisuke?" Chibimon asked bouncily.
Daisuke felt like he had never loved the little guy more. "Yeah – yeah. I think so. Thank you."
And when his partner started to celebrate, saying "Yaaay!", and laughing, and jumping up and down on the bed, Daisuke caught and hugged him tightly; and, laughing himself – Digimon laughter was contagious – he decided he wouldn't let that mistake hold him back.
He had won the battle – not completely, but he had – and he would not lose anymore. He'd defeat the Kaiser and bring his empire down, like Taichi-san would.
And then he would look the Kaiser in the eye and try to see behind any masks he might have. That, he decided, was the mission he'd bring close to his chest, the mission that was his and his alone.
If only because of that feeling that had been born when touched Ken's hand… that feeling that he'd found something.
Thanks to: Positron Cannon and everyone who worked together with him on the herculean task of subbing Adventure 02, Tamers and Frontier. I can't thank you guys enough for that!
So, what do you think? Let me know!