This is for a one-shot trade with cuore ridente and I hope that she isn't on the verge of killing me yet for as long as I've taken to finish this. XD Go read 'The Kiss' and 'Of Ferris Wheels and Soccer Games!'

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Paper Crane

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It was a crisp autumn morning when an almost hysterical seventeen-year-old ran out of his apartment building in a frenzied huff, cursing himself loudly at how late he was for the 'anniversary.' The sun was at one of its low points in the sky, hardly warming up the chilled trees with reds and yellows freckling their branches and if he had the time (and the company), he would take the time to admire the colors.

However… Yagami Taichi would probably not live much longer any way, his mind chimed matter-of-factly. Grimacing at the thought of the annoying ringing that would be present in his ears by the end of the morning, he picked up his pace, feeling the frost-bitten breeze play about with the tresses of his wild brown hair that was held back with a blue headband. The prickling sense of the air through his hair usually calmed him, but today, his heart pumped frantically as he attempted to reach his destination at a half-decent time.

Off-handedly, Taichi caught sight of his beige gloves moving back and forth almost mechanically as he reach the corner of an intersection, where he stopped to wait for the 'don't walk' light to change to 'walk.' Leaning back against the light pole, he stuffed his gloved hands into the pockets of his long blue coat before tapping his foot. If there was a faster way to get to the park, he would have already bypassed this intersection (the red light had a habit of staying red for a long time) and made his way to the bench right smack in the center of the park where the fountain was. It had become a bit of a tradition after five years of meeting up there with his friends and idly, he checked to see if the 'present of the century' was still tucked in the inner pocket of his coat. 'Oh, thank you, God!' his mind verbally praised for a moment but then his attention immediately swerved over to the 'don't walk' light.

'Go, you idiot!' his brain screamed at him, jabbing his muscles roughly, hoping that they would begin to move on their own. Blinking abruptly after being jarred out of his reverie, the boy watched several pedestrians cross the street, some laughing with others while the rest went on about their own business. The brunet gasped, becoming very much aware of the 'go' signal turning to the 'caution' signal… 'Will you just run already?!'

Pushing off of the light post with his hands, the soccer star started off in a run, willing his long legs to stretch out as far as they could so that he could reach the other side of the street. Hopefully, he wouldn't be squished by the impatient drivers wielding evil cars of doom and maybe, just maybe, he would make it.

After what seemed to be a suspended eternity of him basically running for his life, the seventeen-year-old finally felt his right foot connect with the sidewalk, which created an ecstatic feeling of triumph to flow through his veins. Grinning lop-sided, he went to throw up a fist into the air when a car zipped behind him the driver blaring his horn at the teenager. The sound the horn caused dread to overtake the victory blood and a shriek of horror emanated from his larynx and lungs. After he made sure both feet were implanted on the sidewalk, he hung his head, a blush forming on his cheeks after hearing a couple spectators giggle at his 'demonstration.'

'I shouldn't have woken up this morning… I should have smothered myself with the pillow… at least I wouldn't have had that brisk touch with Death…' he chided to himself as he picked up his run again, bashing himself for being so 'entertaining' to the people of his town.

But then… he wouldn't have seen the 'birthday boy' in all his quiet cuteness and this grand thought brought a wonderful ruby streak and a joyous smile to the soccer captain's face.

By the time he reached the black iron gate to the park, Taichi was out of breath and out of hope that he would be looked at upon happily by his friends. However, knowing his companions, they had already assumed that he was still asleep or 'stupid' him forgot about the whole thing. How typical of him… but he had tried so hard to make it to the expansive park on time and he figured that he had the best gift out of everyone. It was worth it, no matter how many jokes or 'talking-tos' he received. Just that little smile on that tired, yet content face was all he needed and he would know then that he accomplished everything that he had set out to do that day.

Of course, he had been proven wrong in the past… for all he knew, his blond friend, Ishida Yamato, had outdone them all with some creative array of… weird things and… oh, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had one more right turn on the pathway until he was in the center of the park and his seven closest friends stood there around the bench while one, a short but lithe redhead, sat on the wooden seat. 'Man…' he griped thoughtfully as he stepped closer to one of the younger forms, 'even my sister beat me… and why didn't she wait for me? Little brat…'

"Hey, he actually showed up! Looks like today won't be a drag after all! We've got our show!" his blond friend Yamato blatantly yelled out as the brunet approached with a snide chuckle. It was at this time that Taichi was thankful that the younger generation of Chosen Children was off on there own all except for his sister and Takeru because of some out-of-school trip. However, they had not left without saying their happy birthday wishes and giving their presents, so their absence was just slightly noted.

Though Yamato's presence was as clear and as annoying as daylight to Taichi.

"Ha, ha, very funny… Jerk," the teen under-fire blurted out in retort before stepping around the bench so that he could smile warmly at the pale redhead sitting on the bench. He felt the sun beat down a slight heat onto his covered back, and, coolly, he slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Happy Birthday, Koushi'." A small blush painted itself across the shy redhead's cheeks and after the smaller form dropped his head slightly he heard a small 'thank you, Taichi-san' in reply.

Izumi Koushirou had always been adorable.

Chuckling at the response, the older male amiably reached out a hand to ruffle the short red locks (Taichi was still amazed at how fast it had grown back…) of his younger friend. "I didn't think that your mom would let you out… after all… you've been cooped up in that apartment of yours for months."

"Okassan said that…" mutely began Koushirou as he lightly wrung the thick, plaid blanket spread out over his legs with his small hands absent-mindedly, "since this was such a special occasion that it was all right… As long as I'm not out for very long then it was okay with her."

"It seems like forever since we've seen you," muttered Mimi, fully clad in a pink winter attire as she held her own present that was wrapped in pink wrapping paper. Taichi eyed it warily, wondering why she had to make them all suffer her love of the color pink. 'It's the thought that counts, it's the thought that counts…' hissed his mind repeatedly before he threw a wide smile on his handsome, tanned face. "Miss Princess… we went to see him yesterday, remember?" he joked about lightly.

"I know that!" the blonde girl shrilly answered back as she took a hand away from her present to slap the back on the taller brunet's head. "I meant that he hadn't been out in so long… You know that it's… been so long since…"

"I know…" Taichi whispered softly, his voice hinting his sadness and sympathy. Mimi watched him empathetically before she dropped her eyes a bit to stare at the concrete pathway, tears forming at the corners of her own brown orbs.

Tensely, he shoved his hands back into his pockets before his sharp eyes fell on his younger friend, who was giggling mutely at one of Yamato and Sora's squabbles. This one seemed to be based on the color of the icing on the cake for Koushirou and the latter must have found it pretty funny.

It seemed almost impossible to believe that a few weeks ago that tiredly-smiling teenager was bed-ridden and hairless.

It had been on of the few times that Taichi openly cried in front of anyone.

It had been several months since the genius of their group had been diagnosed with cancer and treatment had hit the already fragile boy hard. Unfortunately, it had impacted their group harder than any of them had expected. Thankfully, he was able to go off the radiation for these past few weeks and his hair had grown back. However, the doctors had stressed that because his immune system was extremely weak and he would tire out without much effort. This meant that Koushirou had to refrain from wandering outside during the cold months.

He had been so tired during those weeks of treatment…

Taichi had gravely hissed to Yamato and Sora a few times after they left from their usual visits that if the cancer didn't kill Koushirou, chemo would. As 'punishment,' of course, he received a hearty fussing out from Sora and a painful punch in the arm from the blond wannabe-rock star, but there was once where they had kept quiet and had nodded numbly, almost as if they figured that if they pretended to half-hear, then it would all go away.

At that time, he bitterly remembered, he noticed that their hands were joined, with fingers intertwining and palms pressed against each other. Against his 'wishes,' Taichi would feel a miff of jealousy seep into his worry, but then his conscience would smack him hard, reminding him that they found comfort in each other and he should be happy.

Where was his comfort, then? In the form of a redhead who could barely raise his head enough to see the faces of his friends as they walked in with tense gaits and forced smiles? Hardly, though it was a start.

Taichi gradually closed his eyes against the autumn air and the scene of semi-happiness displayed before him, begging his resolve not to wither away because of the images of fading, sad smiles and bony hands touching his consolingly. Whispers of 'it'll be okay' and 'he might not make it' poured into his ears and for once, biting his lip almost didn't help him keep his strength. Blocking out the joviality and causing silence to creep into his mind, the teenager pondered how Koushirou took feeling so weak, or, rather, how he took wanting to venture out into the chilly city and explore and laugh with his friends when his body could hardly move a couple of inches.

'And if he got cold… I would be there to hold him… and warm him up… Better than that blanket can…' the soccer captain thought bittersweetly as he saw the pale lines along Koushirou porcelain countenance strain as another soft smile lifted his pink lips. The blanket in question was twisted again in Koushirou's mitten-hands, the plaid fabric and the dark-green seams proving durable to the careful onslaught of exhausted fingers.

It must have been awful, the older male concluded, to feel as if you were strapped down to the bed with icy iron chains and no one around had the key to the lock. Taichi found that he could hardly sit still for zero-point-five-seconds… how could Koushirou take it for weeks?

It was a feat in itself, as uncalled for as it was to say…

It must have been so very tough… to lay propped up against those many pillows and still place a shaky, sickly pale hand on his tanned one, warmly telling him that things would work out…

But it had been tough on all of them… and they had made it through the worse, the teenager figured, since they would know if the leukemia was close to gone or in remission in another week. Hopefully, his friend's life wouldn't be completely distorted and forgotten.

Hopefully, his best friend wouldn't have to go through life with a label added to his name…

Izumi Koushirou… the smart boy with cancer… Remember him, Yagami-kun?

…

If the grimace wrinkling the brunet's face didn't tell enough about his response, then the words that would follow would complete the job with ease, the tanned soccer player decided.

But… that inquiry would never come up… Taichi would make sure of that…

He was going to make sure Koushirou was there for the rest of his life…

But today wasn't the day for doubt and self-pity. Today definitely wasn't the day to worry about the events of yesterday and of the uncertainty of tomorrow.

Today would not be made sour…

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When Taichi glanced up at the ornate park clock, it showed 13:27 (1:27 p.m.) and he wondered how long Izumi Yoshie meant for her beloved son to be out. Surely, he figured, she hadn't meant that he could stay out for over a few hours. But even as he wondered this, a strange look came across the faces of the others and as they glanced amongst themselves, the oldest, Kido Jou, was the first to speak. "Well, I need to get home and study for entrance exams… It was nice though, getting out for a break," he laughed somewhat solemnly before turning to Koushirou with (pitiful, Taichi saw) dark eyes and a slow-forming grin. "Happy Birthday, Koushirou."

"Thank you, Jou-san!" the small redhead replied, patting on the new laptop case that had been given to him by the aspiring doctor. "I enjoyed my gift!"

"I'm sure…" came the wistful sigh of the taller male as he spoke his good-byes and left the park.

Much to Taichi's surprise, they had left him alone with their genius…

'Why do I have the strangest feeling that this was planned?'

"Taichi-san?" spoke a voice so child-like, so brittle… that it made the brunet's heart jerk with negative emotion. Taichi's amber irises met his friend's obsidian ones and with a lurking feeling of sadness, the older teenager stepped forward to sit down beside the now shuddering boy. "K… Koushirou? Are you cold?" inquired the tanned male who became so full of concern that he laid his hands on quivering shoulders.

"I'm s… so sorry, I… I'm just… so cold…" rasped out the shivering fragile being under Taichi's strong hands. Revelation struck the older male and immediately he began his usual barrage of questions. "You've been cold this whole time, haven't you? Why didn't you say anything?!" Anger began to well against Taichi's will and though he felt at ease relying on it, Koushirou was not someone who needed rage at the moment.

"I didn't want anyone to worry! Besides… everyone tried so hard to… I'm sorry…" whispered Koushirou as he turned his head to give his best smile and yet he failed miserably. "Hey, don't worry about it!" laughed Taichi, trying with all his heart to give a credible form of happiness but eventually, anxiety won. "… It would have been okay… if you had said something…" Abruptly, Koushirou shook his head, resting his gaze on the sidewalk of the park so Taichi could not see his true expression. "But then… today would not have turned out as great as it had…"

Grinning brightly, the wild-haired brunet then moved closer to his friend so that he was lying lightly across the smaller form's back. "Yeah… Oh! I almost forgot! And you didn't have to remind me! Isn't that great?!" exclaimed Taichi as he moved back to grab Koushirou's present out of his azure coat. "I should get an award! 'The One Time Koushirou Did Not Have to Remind Me About Something' Award! Ha!" He then presented the confused (and slightly scared) boy and beamed harder. "Ta-da-da-da! I hope you like it!"

Black eyes stared at the suddenly ecstatic Chosen Child and he timidly took the gift which was covered in blue wrapping paper. "Thank you, Taichi-san…" said the still-cold figure as he red-mitten clad hands struggled slightly with the paper before ripping a tear in it and then proceeding in pulling the rest of the paper off. The anticipation in Koushirou's eyes brought Taichi's own feelings forth and he waited quietly until the box was opened and Koushirou stared at the lone golden paper crane that the brunet had laboriously folded together the night before. Koushirou's curious eyes glittered then smoothed, swirls of fathomless black dimly lit by the falling sun showing the appreciation for receiving one small, homemade gift.

"Taichi-san…"

"You remember that whole myth about the one-thousand origami cranes… right? Where if you fold enough paper cranes, you can wish for anything and it will come true? Well… I just wanted to show…" Taichi glanced around at the shaded surroundings of the park frenziedly, feeling a stroke of heat brushing across his cheeks and nose. 'Am I blushing?!' he thought embarrassedly, moving his thumbs against the inside of his palms nervously. "I just wanted to show you that… Well… I started the first one…"

Minutes passed, bathed in silence, and Taichi looked up to find his cute redhead friend with the most wonderful, yet foreign expression on his finely-cut face. He could tell that the brain was working out all logical reactions to this gift settled neatly in the small box. Eventually, a spark glowed then dimmed in ebony eyes and then an all-knowing smile quirked the edges of those coral lips the brunet could not help but stare at.

"Taichi-san… You probably have not the slightest idea how much this gift means to me… Just the thought alone is infinitely astronomical-!"

"Koushirou, please don't use big words…" Taichi sighed out playfully before taking a daring scoot closer to the knowledgeable male beside him. Blinking once, the redhead then giggled at the request and nodded delightedly. "Of course… But then…" Stopping, Koushirou tilted his head towards the laid-back teenager with a face of amusement showing. "If you do not want me using 'big' words… then how do you wish for me express my appreciation?"

Scoffing humorously, the leader of the Chosen Children shifted his arms behind his head a leaned back against the bench, grinning in a feline-like fashion. "Geez, you weren't so talkative when the others were here…"

"Taichi-san…" Koushirou exasperatedly mocked.

"All right, all right! Just… say what you want to say then."

A muted tension then descended on the two, and the air seemed to have taken on more of a chill than before. It was a moment later that a shivering shift occurred beside the taller adolescent and carefully selected words filled the cracks of their once conversation. "But actions speak louder than words… Like how your gift said that… you would be willing to do anything for me without saying it, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess so... About the action part I mean… You know I would do anything for you, Koushirou."

Another giggle erupted from Koushirou's throat and the once tired, sad boy blossomed slowly into the warmly sunlit redhead whom Taichi had not seen in weeks. It was as if the setting sun and golden origami crane had melted away the cancerous cold inside of the younger male and had filled the holes left by the poison with heat and contentedness. It was amazing sight to the soccer ace and he felt honored beyond all capacity that he was the only one playing audience.

Then, almost as if a lightning had struck him, Taichi felt warm carnation lips slip across his thin ones and his eyes widened, disbelief rushing through his brain with none of the regular 'connectors' working to figure out why Koushirou's face was an inch away from his…

But then something snapped and pieced together a coherent idea throughout the confusion and beige-colored gloves slid against cheeks, palms cupping the sides of the shuddering boy's face lovingly. It saddened Taichi that Koushirou's lips were almost like a ghost-like caress, as if there and yet not, and to him, it was all the same.

"Taichi-san, I-."

"Don't say it," he whispered fervently against those tender rogue lips, "I know…"

And he knew that in time, with just that tiny kiss, that when they pulled back, nothing would have changed and yet everything would undergo metamorphosis. All where one paper crane began their track along a shadowy, unfamiliar path, many more paper cranes would be folded, one by one, and they would do so together. For today would be a 'sweet time,' as his mother called it. It was a time where they could all come and be together, despite the depression and tension that had been forced upon their shoulders in prior months. They could just be kids… well, teenagers, and now lovers, but still…

… No more worrying about each other and especially about the vulnerable redhead of the group he led, no more wondering about the road ahead, and definitely no more school for at least a couple more days. They could just sit there on that wooden in the park for a while and enjoy the autumnal weather as best as they could and embellish each other with a few more kisses and cuddles. And after the candles were blown out, presents were given, and everyone else had left, they could just laugh and joke with each other as if the old days had never left and had been there in front of them the whole time with the new prospect of something completely new waiting.

And one day, the thousand origami cranes would be folded and everything would be just fine.

-

End

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This began as an extra credit project… funny how my renewed love for something filters in, ne? This was once titled 'Sweet Time,' but I changed it for the premise of Koushi' having cancer. God, how original… :sigh:

I don't own any of the characters, and I'm sorry for the OOC-ness if there's any. I'm new to this category.