Warnings: Spoilers, mentions of vomiting
One - The Plea
For the second night in a row, Hikari barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.
Her body ached with agony as dinner, good as it had been, continued to force its way out. Her brain felt like it was rattling about inside her head despite the sheer impossibility of it.
Whispers, cajoling and overlapping, rolled over the sound of the pouring sink.
There was no room in her crowded head for any thoughts but these whispers that she couldn't translate. Once she finished, Hikari curled up on the floor to simply wait it out, wait and wait for the whispers to give up as they always did.
This did not happen. It felt like hours trickled by, Hikari was vaguely afraid someone would open the door and think she was dead, but the idea also didn't bother her that much. Maybe doctors would know what was wrong with her.
Then the noise suddenly ceased. The pain did not but the silence alone was a blessed relief. Hikari laid there and waited. Cautiously, Hikari forced herself to her feet, body wobbling with pain. She flushed the toilet and stumbled out of the bathroom.
She welcomed the darkness in that moment, flopping face first into the couch and staying there. The pain lowered to a dull throb that slowly became a soft vibration. Her whole body felt like the place in the middle of a tuning fork. Hikari took this as a sign to remain lying down.
Like the water from a melting glacier, a sound, a voice, existed. She is so stubborn.
Hikari's head snapped up and she regretted it instantly. The pain shot through and the whispers that had been silent began to crowd in once more like an entire class of Daisuke-kuns on that one soda from the vending machine.
Careful. The whispers quieted. She's really desperate to move things her way. She's changed.
"Who are you," Hikari croaked out, throat dry.
Am I that unfamiliar, Hikari-san? Perhaps that is for the best. However, I need to ask if you will hear my words. The status quo is about to change. I believe you are in very grave danger.
Me? The thought only vaguely concerned her. It wouldn't be the first time after all. Or everyone?
Everyone. The voice sounded as if it was biting a lip that didn't exist. From you.
…
Taichi was a well-bred sleep like the dead kind of guy. It was almost customary for either Hikari or his alarm to drag him out of bed at this point. The only other way to do it was to make him hungry.
So when Hikari did not arrive to do so, Taichi did not stay half asleep for very long. She got him up early even on Sundays so he could go to practice. That did not change. If she was sick, that would be fine. It gave him an excuse to stay home and make her his patented Yagami miso soup, the only thing that he had for certain surpassed his mother in cooking. After years.
But, finding her not in bed, he found his sister plopped without grace face first into the couch. She was snoring a little even, which would have been funny if she had been in her own bed rather than on the couch. Mom set down some porridge next to her and smiled at Taichi like nothing was too wrong. He relaxed a little.
"Threw up again?" He smiled a bit teasingly. I told you that tuna smelled funny."
"That's true." Their mother brought a sheet out. "I can't trust you as a resource with your iron stomach."
Taichi let his eyebrow twitch and glanced at Hikari. She had turned on her side and remained, surprisingly, peacefully asleep. "I'll tell the school she's not coming in today."
"Oh, I already did." His mother laughed. "But you have practice this morning. You should get going anyway."
Taichi looked at the clock on the wall. "... Crap!"
As he rushed around, stuffing toast into his mouth, he felt HIkari's eyes on him. "Go back to sleep," he ordered, hopping up and down with his shoes.
"... There's an elephant in the house," he heard her say, muffled by the sheet. "And soon there will be another one."
...He had wondered where their dad's shoes were. "Excuse you, I step like a ballerina." He crammed another buttered piece of toast into his mouth.
"A ballerina with cleats." He scoffed at her. She just didn't see it. He was the most delicate person on that field. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. She let out a tiny exhale and swallowed a gulp of water. "Onii-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you heard from Daisuke-kun?"
Taichi stiffened. Why would she ask that now? "Of course not. He's still off with Ken and the others visiting that Wallace guy, right?"
"Mm." She paused. "I don't think they are."
"I threatened if he messaged me at three AM again, I was going to turn his soccer ball into his next ramen bowl," Taichi offered. "Probably why I haven't heard anything." His palms felt sweaty.
"Mm." She didn't believe him. She was always good at telling when he was lying. "Have fun at practice, NIi-chan."
"Yeah, I'll take your picture with me to knock them into shape."
She laughed and the swelling, cramped feeling in his heart eased back down to its normal size. "You do that."
He was still more than happy to leave her questions behind. After all, as far as Taichi knew, what he had said was the truth. They still weren't the type to be this quiet. But, the last time he had called, the parents had insisted that things were fine, that everything was okay.
How was he supposed to argue against that? Well… he'd have to think of something.
When Taichi was gone, Hikari made herself sit up. "He was telling the truth," she mused. "SOme of it, anyway."
But there were things he wasn't telling her. That was fiar. THat was life. And she knew he was trying not to worry. WIth the Digimon gone, he didn't have much choice.
Hikari waited for the bubbling in her stomach to ease and her mother's eyes to glance over her as she bustled about. After her mother had disappeared to the store and she could keep down her food, Hikari spoke in a whisper. "You… you're still here, right?"
I am.
"Can you explain what you meant last night?"
I can try, if you will act in return.
Hikari swallowed one more gulp of food, before nodding to the air. "I will."
Then I have a long tale to tell. It all begins with my mother.
A/N: Did someone call for some tri AU? No? Here's one anyway, with more 02 kids! And meiko! There's like, three more Adventureverse fics coming from me this year watch out. One everyone probably knows about but ehhh. we'll get there. For now, please drop a review!
Challenges: digiotp week (day 12), Novella Masterclass 01-tri list 3, easter egg day 6, valentine's advent 25, mega prompts quote prompts 250, season rewrite boot camp prompt - disillusioned.