Title: Correct Mistakes
Characters: Ken, Daisuke||Romance: Ken x Daisuke
Word Count: chapter: 4,022||story: 4,022||Chapters: 1/15
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Writing, K20, AU; Soulmate Challenge; One Ship Boot Camp, #12, technical; DaiKen Week 2017, day #2, soulmates; Easter Advent 2017: Explore Your World, #20, third person POV fic
Notes: This is a modified Digimon 02.
Summary: Since civilization began, people find their soulmates via a counter on their wrist. This can mean true love, true friendship, or anything in between and beyond. And yet when the Digimon Kaiser and the new leader of the Chosen Children cross paths for the first time, it somehow still manages to surprise both of them.
Daisuke's head spun and throbbed. His stomach churned as if he'd just had a batch of Jun's worst attempts at cooking ever, which was ridiculous, because he'd learned years ago never to try to eat anything that she made. She insisted that she was getting better, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Let whatever future boyfriends she had deal with that.
His stomach churned regardless and when he tried to pry his eyes open, nothing but deep darkness surrounded him. That didn't make any sense either. It was daylight, wasn't it? School hadn't ended that long ago. They'd come to the Digital World. They'd been looking for something.
Yeah, that was it. He remembered now. V-mon had been there, and Miyako and Iori, and then there'd been… an attack? Yeah, he remembered that! Daisuke would've patted himself on the back if he could. The Digimon Kaiser's slaves attacked and he'd been about to armor evolve V-mon and…
Right about there was where his memory failed. Daisuke frowned, trying to poke through the veil over his thoughts, and not having a whole lot of luck doing so. He thought he remembered a few vague images, but nothing he could really pin down. That just made him more annoyed with everything. Today was supposed to be a good day for him. Today was when he would meet his soulmate, whoever it was!
He tried to open his eyes again and still only darkness enfolded him. He tried moving his arm and nothing happened. That, he realized, was because something held it down. Something held down his arms and legs.
"Hey!" Daisuke yelled, or tried to. The sound didn't make it past his lips, thanks to the thick gag he found out had been tied around his mouth.
Today was just not turning into the kind of day that he'd hoped to have.
A nice happy meeting with the other half of his soul, something that most people looked forward to, that was all he'd asked out of today, once he'd realized that the counter had spiraled down to just a few hours. He'd looked at every person he passed by in the hopes that somehow they would be the one. So far, nothing.
And now he was here. Wherever here was. Where he couldn't see anything and there wasn't anything to hear, and he didn't know where his Digimon partner was, and this was clearly all the Kaiser's fault.
I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. Maybe even several pieces. As many pieces as it took for the Kaiser to realize that Motomiya Daisuke wasn't at all happy about this and would not rest until he was out of here.
He struggled against whatever it was that was holding him down until he didn't have the strength to do so anymore. "V-mon!" He tried to yell again, not caring about the gag. "Where are you?"
At least he wanted to say all of that. The gag made it difficult for him to be certain of what was actually coming out. He decided it was the thought that counted.
How much time is left? Daisuke strained even more, and still nothing happened. Hey, am I going to meet my soulmate because they rescue me from here? That would be kind of interesting. He'd always imagined himself being more the 'rescuer' than the 'rescuee' but maybe he could return the favor at some point.
Without warning, light exploded all around him. Daisuke yelped, the sound muffled like all the ones before that he'd tried to make, and slammed his eyes closed.
"I see you're awake." He'd never heard that voice in his life. It didn't sound like what he'd sort of imagined his soulmate would be like. He'd always vaguely imagined a female voice, for one thing, though he'd never given it that much thought.
Wait, if this is a guy, then... Daisuke yanked harder at the bonds that held him, cracking his eyes open once more. It hurt to do so, but at least this time he could see where he was. He mostly wished he hadn't.
Less than a handful of steps away stood someone who looked a little taller than he was, dressed in some kind of weird blue and white outfit, and was that a whip hanging on his belt? Most of his face remained concealed by a large pair of glasses that Daisuke would've placed a bet weren't prescription at all. He had a wild shock of dark blue hair, and while Daisuke couldn't see his eyes, he had a feeling they were cruel. The mocking tilt of the stranger's lips made up for the lack of eyes, though.
"Who the heck are you?" Still gagged, the words weren't as clear as Daisuke would've liked. Even though he asked, he knew the answer. There was no one else this person could be except the mysterious Digimon Kaiser.
Daisuke wasn't impressed.
The Kaiser stepped forward, each movement calm and unhurried. "The Digimon Kaiser." Clearly he'd understood Daisuke even with the gag in his mouth. "But to you, I'm something else altogether."
Yeah, a pain. Daisuke rolled his eyes, even as the Kaiser came closer and reached out for him. Daisuke tried to pull away, though he had no idea of where he could go, since he appeared to be chained down to something that felt a lot like a table.
The Kaiser's hand closed around Daisuke's left wrist, pulling it upward. Whatever it was that bound Daisuke to the table melted away. Daisuke tried to take a swing, but the Kaiser's grip remained far too strong. He pulled Daisuke's arm around, turning it to the side so the numbers could be seen clearly.
Daisuke, at the moment, couldn't find himself that interested in his countdown. Not when he wanted to punch the Kaiser in the face. But try as he might, he just couldn't get his arm to move the way he wanted to. The Kaiser's fingers pressed in just the right area to keep him from doing anything besides flop around uselessly, if it weren't for the Kaiser holding him firm.
"Look." The Kaiser moved Daisuke's arm closer to him. "Do you see it?"
Daisuke frowned, looking at the counter, then blinked, shook his head quickly, and looked again. He couldn't have seen what he thought he did. It had to be wrong, somehow.
And yet the numbers had stopped at zero. They weren't red anymore either. A soft, almost luminescent green marked his skin instead: the color of when one had met one's soulmate and yet the all-important first touch hadn't happened yet. Only when skin touched skin would the numbers themselves fade away, replaced by their mutual marks.
"I'm certain you know what this means," the Kaiser said, staring down at Daisuke. "Or do I need to explain it to you? Using small words, no doubt."
Daisuke shook his head, glaring at his captor. He wasn't an idiot. His soulmate was around here somewhere and if the Kaiser had done something, locked the other up somewhere, then Daisuke was going to let him have it!
Once he got off this table. However he had to do it.
The Kaiser set Daisuke's wrist back down and the moment he did, the manacle that had held it before slipped right back over it. Daisuke jerked at it almost out of habit by now, then glared some more. There wasn't much else that he could do, aside from mumbling words that couldn't even be heard properly behind this gag.
Which was why Daisuke found himself very confused when the Kaiser held up his own left arm and began to pull down his sleeve. Gleaming there, in that same green that marked Daisuke now, was a finished countdown.
Wait, this guy has a soulmate? He has a soul at all? From what Daisuke had heard about him the day before, he wouldn't have guessed it. Or if he had, it probably wouldn't finish counting for years. What were the odds that it would end the same day that his did?
Then the rest of what that meant slammed into his head. The Kaiser also had met his soulmate, but hadn't touched them either. Okay, so it was a little unusual for people to meet their soulmate before they'd even hit their teens, but it had been known to happen. And for two people to do it…
Two people in the same world at the same time, a world that not everyone could get to...
Daisuke knew he was missing something. He also knew that he wanted to miss it. The Kaiser hadn't missed it and kept on staring at him with those unseen cold eyes.
"Are you so dense that I need to spell it out for you? Or perhaps I should prove it?" The Kaiser's left hand hovered over Daisuke's own hand and Daisuke shook his head even more violently than before, pulling in an attempt to get out of the restraints that held no more success than the last ones had.
Now the Kaiser smiled like a cat, sly and smug. "So you do understand." He leaned forward a little. "I must say I never expected that my soulmate would be someone like you. Someone who thinks he can fight against me. I expected someone a little more intelligent." He gave Daisuke a considering kind of look. "I suppose I should at least give you the chance to join me willingly."
Daisuke wasn't very good at body language, but he managed a look that he thought conveyed his utter disgust at the very thought pretty well. The Digimon Kaiser was not his soulmate. Whoever picked out these things had to have more sense than that! This was just some kind of trick and it was probably all the Kaiser's evil plan and Daisuke wasn't going to fall for it, not one little bit!
"If that's the way that you feel about it, then I have no other choice but to go to my second plan," the Kaiser said. If Daisuke hadn't known better – and he did, really, he did – then he would've thought the other looked a little saddened by whatever this was. As if he'd really thought Daisuke would join him and the thought that he wouldn't upset him.
Yeah, well, he'd just have to get over it.
"We are soulmates, Motomiya Daisuke. That means you belong to me. I just might have to be a little more persuasive about it than I thought I would be."
Daisuke's mind filled with sudden images of Evil Rings and himself standing next to the Kaiser with the same kind of red-eyed blankness that he'd seen on those Digimon who wore Rings and his stomach churned even more, doing its best imitation of a blender.
What the Kaiser held in his hands wasn't a Ring, though. It was V-mon, wriggling as hard as Daisuke had, and no more able to talk because of a gag around his mouth.
Clearly the Kaiser didn't want to hear anything that either of them had to say. Daisuke wanted to talk for that reason alone.
"You have another choice to make now. Either you do as I tell you to do, or I kill your Digimon." The Kaiser's grip around V-mon's neck tightened to the point V-mon couldn't even struggle. "I suggest that you choose quickly. I'm not very patient."
Daisuke longed to have his hands around the Kaiser's own neck. He'd barely known V-mon a full day and yet there was no way that he could let the Digimon die because of him. He didn't doubt at all that the Kaiser would do it, too. He was just that cruel. Just that evil.
He dropped his head back against the table. He didn't want to do this. He could tell V-mon didn't want him to do it either.
Can't let him kill you. What would Taichi-san say? He didn't know and he didn't want to find out.
Daisuke started to move his head up. The Kaiser's lips thinned in satisfaction.
"Excuse me," a new voice spoke up. Daisuke squirmed around trying to get a look at who it was, but the voice came from too low to the ground and he wasn't in position to really see that far down. "But you wanted to know if any of the others got close and they are. They're almost here."
The words that came out of the Kaiser's mouth were something that Daisuke's mother would've grounded him for life for using. Daisuke thought at least some of them were from some other language.
The Kaiser broke off his tirade after a few seconds, then tossed V-mon to the ground. "Tie him up and bring him along, Wormmon. I have a few things to say to them."
Daisuke really, really wanted to ask what was going on, but he'd had enough of trying to talk and none of it being properly said because of the gag. He settled for being glad that V-mon wasn't being choked anymore. He still couldn't see who this 'Wormmon' was, and missed his chance as the table he remained chained to rolled on after the Kaiser. Wonder who he's talking about. Is it the others? I bet it is. He really wanted it to be them. Without the threat of V-mon's life being held over him, he didn't have to do anything the Kaiser wanted him to do.
And best of all, he didn't have to believe that the Digimon Kaiser was his soulmate.
For all of his life, Ichijouji Ken watched the counter on his wrist wind down, so much sooner than almost everyone that he knew. Their counters led up to meetings in high school or college or beyond. One or two didn't have counters at all.
But the scarlet numbers counted down relentlessly on his arm and he had worked out the date when he and his soulmate would finally cross paths and it was today.
And ever since the day before, a low-grade rage burned through him as he realized who fate must've chosen for him and how could this not be some kind of a grand joke?
Ever since he'd learned of the Digital World and made up his mind that he would become its unquestioned ruler and master, he'd looked forward to meeting his soulmate even more. How could whoever he was bound to not agree with him? How could he not have a strong ally waiting for him, someone who would look forward to subjugating this world as much as he did?
And then the day before happened. The day when he'd first seen those he knew would become his enemies.
He'd done his research. He knew there were those who'd come to the Digital World before him. Common sense dictated that he search out those who would resist him and work to eliminate them before they could cause him any trouble.
Part of that elimination included locating their timers and finding out if that information could be of use to him.
For the most part, it wasn't. Some of them had only months to go, two of them – the brunet and blond – already knew their soulmates were one another. He did take note of that, not ruling out that it might be useful at some point.
Then new Chosen appeared, and one of them could evolve.
He'd gone to a great deal of trouble to halt evolution except on his terms. And now this idiot had the almighty gall to get around his work?
Armor Evolution. He would have to find a way to stop it.
That held his attention for most of the night, until a quiet beeping managed to catch his attention. He'd set the computers at the base to scan for the countdown and to alert him if it fell within certain parameters.
Not that he'd expected that it would, but he wanted to make certain. Just to mark something off of his mental list.
Only now the message came in loud and clear: this boy, this idiot, this fool, this enemy who dared to Armor Evolve and stand against him.
His counter matched the Kaiser's down to the second.
This wasn't a completely impossible situation. Given the way people met one another at different times and places in the world, there were several counters that ran out at the same time and yet the people marked by them weren't always soulmates. It wasn't just the timer. It was the encounter itself, and the results of touching one another afterward, that marked true soulmates.
But other factors brought themselves into play here as well: there wasn't any way that Ken would be anywhere but in the Digital World when his counter ran to zero. This pest would likely also be in the Digital World. The timing of it would be after classes let out for the day, which was also when they'd arrived there the day before.
None of the other Chosen had counters that ran out that day, which limited the amount of people that they could be matched to. It would have to be someone who would be or could be in the Digital World at that point in time.
There was a slim chance that it could be a Digimon. A few of them had counters. Though none that he'd seen matched to any that he knew of, including his own.
All in all, every sign that he could uncover pointed toward this Motomiya Daisuke, carrier of the Digimental of Courage, to being his soulmate.
This was ridiculous beyond any previous definition of the word. He was the Digimon Kaiser! His purpose, role, and meaning in all of this was to crush any resistance underneath his feet and rule as the unquestioned and feared monarch of the world. Motomiya's purpose was to be his enemy, to give him something and someone to fight against. What kind of a conquest would it be if he didn't have anyone that he could fight?
All night he contemplated that, and into the next day as he went through the boring motions of school. He very seldom was grateful to his school uniform for anything at all, but since it covered his arm and thus kept anyone else from being aware that his encounter with his soulmate would be that afternoon, this once he was grateful for it.
And as the time ticked down he considered his options. He could go on as if the counters meant nothing. Motomiya would be his sooner or later. It was inevitable. The counters weren't wrong. The interpretation of them could be, but not the counters themselves.
Or he could make a move that his opponents wouldn't expect.
Motomiya Daisuke already belonged to him. What he needed to do was convince Motomiya himself of that, and then he would have the ally that he'd wanted all along. The other Chosen – such as they were – would likely fight against him anyway, convinced that he'd brainwashed their precious new Chosen.
Or that he'd been meant to be the Kaiser's from the start – which was indeed true – and they'd been foolish to ever call him an ally in the first place.
It took him only a short time to make the proper arrangements once he got to the Digital World. He set up an alert to know when the others arrived. He chose the Digimon who would carry out the abduction for him.
Doing it himself had a certain appeal to it, but he had other tasks to deal with and the sooner he had Motomiya tied up, the better.
He also chose a small army of Digimon who would keep the Chosen at bay until they either gave up and left or were wiped out altogether. Either outcome was acceptable to him.
Now, he's going to be difficult. Ken wasn't foolish enough to expect that the sight of their matching counters would at once convince Motomiya to join with him. He would hope; perhaps Motomiya was one of those romantic types who would be convinced that his soulmate must be right simply because they were soulmates.
But he didn't want to count on that. He would need very compelling arguments to make this stick.
His partner. Kaiser smiled to himself at that. He would find out just how strong the bond between them was and use it to his advantage. So the Digimon would have to be taken as well.
That wasn't such a bad idea in and of itself. He would have to find out how to stop this Armor Evolution regardless of what the counters said. His goal came above all else.
Once he had everything sorted out and the Chosen moved through the Digital World, he got himself into position. He would have Motomiya brought directly to the fortress.
If I put him somewhere else, they're going to try to rescue him, and I have no intentions of letting them take him back.
Regardless of what Motomiya Daisuke chose to believe or do, they were soulmates. So he would be staying there for the time being.
The abduction came off without a single hitch. Snimon distracted the Chosen and Drimogemon dug up underneath them, opening a hole right beneath Motomiya and catching him and V-mon as they fell into it.
Kaiser awaited them at the bottom of the hole, a tunnel already in place that would take him to where his AirDramon waited.
Motomiya groaned, battered enough from the fall and Drimogimon's claws not to move a great deal. Kaiser kicked him over, making certain not to make skin to skin contact. The counter was down to nothing more than seconds.
Motomiya's arm fell toward him and Kaiser grabbed onto it, pulling the sleeve up.
Yes. Exactly to the moment.
Another groan and Motomiya's eyes fluttered for a few moments, opening just enough so he could look out, and presumably saw the Kaiser.
Five.
His eyes cleared a little, some sense flowing into them.
Four.
Kaiser smiled down at him, so very pleased that this moment had come at last.
Three.
Motomiya blinked again, not a hint of recognition in his eyes. As it should be.
Two.
Kaiser dropped Motomiya's arm and pulled out a handkerchief he'd soaked in a very special drug before his slaves brought his soulmate to him.
One.
"Good night, Motomiya. We'll talk soon."
Zero.
He pressed the cloth over Motomiya's mouth and nose. There wasn't any struggling at all. Just a few deep breaths and Motomiya's – very pretty – brown eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.
Taking care all the while not to touch skin to skin, Kaiser scooped Motomiya into his arms and carried him down the tunnel to the waiting AirDramon. The drug would keep his soulmate out for at least an hour, giving Kaiser plenty of time to get him to the fortress and the other preparations made.
He could still hear V-mon wriggling and struggling in Mojyamon's grip, insisting that the two of them be let go, how dare Kaiser do any of this, and more such. Perhaps he'd have the Digimon knocked out as well. Or get a gag. He didn't want any noise at all to interrupt this all important first meeting.
Not even from Motomiya Daisuke himself.
Perhaps especially not from him.
Once AirDramon arrived at the fortress, Kaiser carried Daisuke bridal-style to the room he'd chosen for their first proper encounter. He made sure that V-mon was tied up and gagged before he settled Daisuke onto the table and began to bind him there. He kept the drugged cloth nearby, applying it in small doses whenever Daisuke started to stir.
Daisuke probably wouldn't realize it but now that he was Kaiser's soulmate, he didn't have to make any more decisions for himself. He'd probably enjoy the rest, once he finally accepted it.
Once Kaiser found his preparations complete, he stepped into the shadows and waited. His soulmate would wake soon enough, and then the fun could begin.
To Be Continued
Note: I've had this in the works for ages. And having it be a prompt for DaiKen week just made me move ahead on it.