Note: I do not own Digimon and never would.

Warning: If you don't like same-sex relationships, or the thought of Jyou and Iori being a couple, please leave at once. You have been warned. Hope that those who don't mind would enjoy this. And remember that reviews and suggestions would always be supremely appreciated! Thanks! Bon reading!

The Yin-Yang Rings had gathered around them quite a number of myths, some of which were quite absurd, such as the one that they were worth a kingdom, but the reality was astonishing enough to arouse gasps of admiration and envy. The Yin-Ring consisted of a single, priceless black pearl, large in diameter but by no means ostentatious, surrounded by many glittering diamonds which, though considerably smaller in comparison to the pearl, were exquisite all the same, and stacked against a slim dazzling band of diamond-dusted silver. Its counterpart, the Yang-Ring, was no less breathtaking, and almost exactly identical to it, with the shade of its pearl a creamy white instead of a midnight-dark shade, and its diamond-dusted band a pure gold instead of pure silver.

An utterly understandable fear of theft, loss, or – Gods forbid – damage had caused it to be little disturbed in its place amongst the other heirlooms in the Kido family safe, whose location only Tetsuo Kido, the father (a.k.a the Patriarch) of the family knew, and of which he had the only key. Ever bearing in the mind the proverb: "Let not your wealth be exposed", he turned a deaf ear to all the nauseatingly familiar comments issued by family and friends alike, such as: "Oh, why are you and your wife not wearing the Yin-Yang Rings? So extremely disappointing! I had hoped so much to see them! I have heard so much about them." "By the Gods, man, I have never ever seen you or your wife wearing them. Do they really exist? Or are you just pulling my leg?" "Why are you so stingy with your family treasures? For goodness' sake, just let us have a look at them! You can trust us! We would not steal!"

While his reply was either ignoring them completely or giving a smile that never failed to irritate them further, his wife, Miyuki, would attempt to compensate the loss of pleasure that would have been afforded by the sight of the two precious rings by talking about their history – how it was said that they had been passed down from father to son for fourteen generations. What was, undoubtedly, a million times more interesting would be the most fantastical yet popular of the legends associated with it: their first possessor was a warrior physician who had saved, in the nick of time, the life of the Emperor he served on the battlefield, and later nursed him back to full health from an illness thought incurable. The Emperor, who was also an accomplished magician, was extremely grateful. On account that his benefactor was soon to be married to his sweetheart, he rewarded him with the gift of the Yin-Yang Rings, which he had personally crafted out of the purest gold and silver and the richest jewels of his treasury using his powers, and even vested within them a most wonderful blessing that romantics everywhere would die to have: the couple that wears them would stay together forever in everlasting joy and bliss.

Well, whether or not the legend is true, or that the rings had indeed been blessed by the magic of true love did not really matter. Not to some, that is. What definitely mattered was that there could be no doubt these pieces of jewellery, the like of which no one has ever seen, cost a considerable fortune (a Kido grand-uncle who specialised in jewels once commented in a whisper that, together, they had to be worth at least three million dollars). And though there were other fabulous jewels that were Kido family heirlooms (courtesies of grateful royal and noble patients whose lives generations of Kido physicians had saved from the brink of death), all of which also suffered little disturbance in the "prison" that was the safe, none were as celebrated and as prized as the magnificent Yin-Yang Rings.

Little wonder that Tetsuo Kido guarded these treasures so jealously.

The engrossing question had been: to whom would Tetsuo leave the rings when he died – Shin, his firstborn, or Shuu, his second, or Jyou, his third and youngest? Tetsuo had actually long settled the matter in favour of Jyou. Though it was unspoken and unseen, there was a very soft spot in his heart for Jyou, his favourite child. Moreover, he would not wait for his death to hand over the rings – none was more shocked than Jyou himself when, suddenly, one night, as the family sat over dessert, his father handed him their family's most famous heirloom in a box of black velvet, telling him that they belonged to him now and that he could do with them as he pleased.

"But…but…but…Father…me…why?"

Tetsuo raised a brow at his stammering son, eyeing him as if he were a fool trying to be funny by asking that question. "So that you could spare yourself the pain of having to save every penny of your pocket money for Gods-know-how-long to buy a ring worthy of your beloved. Seriously, why go through all the trouble to pick and buy wedding rings…when our family has already has a pair – a most exquisite one, if I do say so myself – to spare?"

"Father…I…"

"Oh, son, there is no need for you to deny it. It does not become of the Child of Reliability to be in denial now, does it? And besides, anyone who is not blind can see how besotted you and your charming little successor are with each other."

Before the blushing Jyou could respond further, his heart suffered another devastating attack of shock that made it almost stop beating: his father, his ever-serene, ever-elegant, ever-dignified-as-a-King father, actually gave him a wink, and a mischievous little smile, and said: "Good luck, son!"

As understanding slowly dawned in the atmosphere, Miyuki giggled, while Shin and Shuu gave strained wide smiles that clearly showed that they were biting the inside of their mouths to contain their laughter.

Jyou knew that he must have looked like the stupidest person on the planet, just standing there, his eyes wide, his mouth open, his cheeks red with embarrassment as he stared blankly at the opened box of black velvet in his hand, at the magnificently beautiful rings that sparkled and glittered like the most glorious stars in the midnight sky. With a rare, heartfelt chuckle, Tetsuo shook his head and added, "Don't worry; I am sure that Iori would love anyone of them. They are, after all, the most beautiful rings ever fashioned. And don't forget that, if the legends are true, they would grant both of you a long and happy life together, free from want or care."

For a moment, for a moment only, Jyou wanted to seize his father by the collar and scream at that wise, old yet dignified face: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, FATHER? YOU HAVE ACTUALLY GIVEN ME THE KEYS TO MAKING MY FORBIDDEN, IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS COME TRUE! YOU ARE ACTUALLY ENCOURAGING ME TO GIVE A RING TO A CHILD, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!

Tetsuo raised a brow, having read his favourite child's thoughts. The smile was still on his lips, his bespectacled eyes sparkling with amusement and affection. "In years, perhaps. But in thoughts and in experience, I'll say…no. If anything, he is one of the wisest and most mature individuals I have ever been privileged to meet. Respectable, sensible, and from what I have seen, incomparably attentive and tender towards you, my boy. I honestly do not think that I would be exaggerating if I say that you have him enslaved with every look you give and every word you speak, just as much as you are enslaved with every glance he darts, every sound of his voice, and every movement he makes. As romantics all love to say, there is no age barrier in true love."

It was too much for Jyou's mother and brothers: they burst into peals of laughter. Jyou flushed three shades of red. Yes, what his father was pretty true. His Iori might be a child, but he always acted and spoke like a respectable and sensible adult, and took every situation with a mature perspective. In fact, he seriously doubted if anyone could match his Iori for precocity and worldly-wisdom.

With a smile of pure embarrassment, Jyou muttered his thanks to his father and managed to turn around and walk into his bedroom, where he shut the door and locked it to prevent his brothers from barging in and teasing him more.

Falling on his bed, he fished the box from his pocket, opened it, and stared at the rings as they glittered and twinkled in the light. His head was positively reeling. How did his father know that he had been saving up to buy the most wonderful ring imaginable for his beloved? And more importantly…to give or not to give?

He had thought that he was set on this decision, and that there was nothing, nothing that could make him change his mind. But now that – as his father put it – the world's most beautiful rings were in his possession, second thoughts could not help but rear their ugly, monstrous heads.

He, a sixteen-year-old youth, proposing to a ten-year-old child?

It was madness.

Pure, sheer, undiluted madness, no doubt of it.

But then again, this life had been nothing short of mad ever since the Digital World opened its gates to him and his friends, taking them on unbelievable adventures. His life was already such that anything normal would be crazy to him, and that anything crazy would be normal to him, just like how Alice theorised the mystical, enchanted realm of Wonderland to be. So…what was so mad about him proposing to someone whom he had fallen head over heels for and dreamt about almost every night, even if said someone was only a ten-year-old boy?

With a sigh, he shook his head, gently shut the box and put it in a drawer. Then he picked up one of his school books, hoping that it would help take his mind off things.

But it did not.

All he could see was a brown-haired, green-eyed boy with a sturdy yet lithe figure that spoke of an extensive training at kendo, an easy gait that made him seem as if he was gliding instead of walking, and an aura of serenity that made him seem far older than his ten years. All he could read was the devastating, sensual invitation that the boy's beautiful bow-shaped mouth always issued to him whenever it smiled at him or spoke to him, the arousing offer that his fragrant, flawless peaches-and-cream skin always stirred whenever the light danced with it, the sparkle of joy and love in those lush-lashed emerald eyes whenever they caught sight of him.

Feeling his pants tighten, Jyou growled, flung the book aside, and fell on the bed again. Everything was strange. So strange. Him, Jyou Kido, hopelessly in love with the fifth-grade Iori Hida. He had told himself that he would wait. Wait till Iori was old enough to tell him how he really felt about him. He had told himself that the confession would wrap his Iori's childhood, and might even put their friendship in jeopardy. But…passions ran deep, and demanded otherwise. He had not and would never forget how his heart had sang in joy when Iori told him that his love was requited, and how he had even went on to kiss him with a passion that no one could have ever expected from the boy who was usually so disciplined and so serious. It had been a kiss that still made Jyou sigh in dreamy pleasure whenever he thought about it.

However, much to his dismay, it still did not stop himself from harbouring doubts, doubts which had been plaguing him ever since he realised that Iori was his one and only. Why did it have to be you? He would sometimes wonder when he was alone. Why did it have to be you? Oh, why did it have to be you? Why do you have to be ten-years-old? And…why do I have to be so…so…so…plain? So common? So passive? I am not handsome, I am not glamorous, I am not intriguing. Hell, I am not even experienced! I would rather read than go to parties, I still dislike the thrill of adventures even after having been through so much in the Digital World, and I am utterly lacking in experience that I have to have you initiate our first kiss! And I am six years your senior! For shame! Everyone would laugh themselves to death if they knew about it!

…

And that was just only the beginning.

Yes, you could say that Jyou Kido seems to be unconsciously fond of torturing himself.

He asked himself: why would he want to wear that ring in the first place, or even keep it safely away? Would he really wear it even after finding out what it stood for, the wholesome gravity of it? Either one of the rings, Yin or Yang (though he was inclined on giving him the Yang), would bind him to him.

Forever.

And Iori…his Iori…his beloved Iori was only a child.

Yes, he might be the most serious of all the Chosen Children, might always conduct himself with a maturity far beyond his years, might always be full of philosophies and morals, but he was still a child, still having a considerable deal to grow and a great deal to learn. Who knew where he might be in years to come? Or what would happen to him? What would become of him? Maybe he would be in love with someone better than he was. Maybe he would be married and have children with that better person, regardless of whether that person was a man or a woman, and could live a life happier than he would lead if he stayed with him. Giving him a ring, a promise, at ten would keep his precious beloved Iori from being free to find things out for himself. He would be holding him back from all the people he might still meet, the loves he might come to cherish…

Perhaps I should lock the rings away forever. And tell Iori that we had been a mistake; it cannot work out between us, it would be for the best if we go our separate ways and stay as friends…

Suddenly, a small Gomamon-Angel – silver-white robes, golden halo and all – appeared with a pop, and whacked him hard on the head with a golden mallet that it had pulled out of nowhere. As Jyou nursed the sore egg-sized lump on his head, the Angel started to berate him ferociously for slipping into his old bad habit of always thinking pessimistically, and even planning to do things that would genuinely hurt and be truly harmful to the boy he loved. Jyou gave the apparition a level stare, as if to point out that he was being scolded by a hallucination of his mischievous yet well-meaning digimon partner in a white dress and a gold halo. Obviously either he was going mad, or the fates had decided that he had done something very, very naughty and needed to be given a stern warning as to his error. And since he was already mad, the second theory was the only reasonable and logical explanation. The heavenly Gomamon nodded in relief, as if to concede Jyou's deduction, and after warning him that it would bring down the wrath of the Heavens upon him should he ever let his mind wander off again to that dark, gloomy realm known as pessimism, or do anything to damage his Providence-blessed relationship with Iori, it wished him the best of luck and disappeared.

Jyou sighed. So much for locking the rings away forever. With a jolt, he recalled that he and Iori were going on a date tomorrow, and that he had impulsively promised to give him a surprise, one that he had been increasingly growing to regret due to his inability to find a suitable gift…until now.

He took out the box again and studied the rings in silence. Surprise, indeed!