Hi! Yutaka doesn't get enough love, so here's a little fic about him and Tommy :). This is also for the Digimon Bingo Challenge, using the "hide and seek" prompt, and Challenge 7 on the Monthly Restrict, both on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges forum. Most importantly, this is a (very) late b-day present for my good friend reminiscent afterthought! :D I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon...well, there'd be more Yutaka in Frontier :P. Oh, and girls too. I love you Zoe, but there's way too much testosterone here XD

Time Missing

"Cheer up! Remember today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday." - Anonymous

Yutaka knew something was up. He knew that his little brother Tommy did not go from spoiled brat to mature, angelic child in one day. Maybe he was trying to be extra good to get some special toy he wanted. Maybe he wanted even more attention from his parents than usual. Maybe he was doing it just to prove he could, and to annoy the crap out of Yutaka. The last was quite likely: their parents only saw Tommy's cute side, after all.

Only…Tommy stayed that way. For three days. Three weeks. Three months. And still Tommy was so much different than before. He did things for himself. He was willing to try new things. He knew which people to trust, and which ones not to. He even enjoyed being around Yutaka now, saying what a great big brother he was.

Yutaka wanted to know where his real little brother was, because this clearly wasn't him. He wondered if he hit his head, or got brainwashed. He even wondered if it was alien abduction at one point. Yet, day after day, the new Tommy stayed, while the old one remained in hiding.

…Did Yutaka miss something?

Tommy had lots of friends now, all older than him. After a nitpicking investigation of each one (part of which involved stalking Tommy, though Tommy always seemed to spot him quickly), Takuya and his gang passed. They even became Yutaka's friends too, but they never got as close to him as they did to Tommy. He wondered why those kids were willing to be friends with someone so much younger than them. He wondered how the group stuck together, period, being kids of many different personalities and desires. Yet somehow it worked, and worked incredibly well. They must have something in common.

Yutaka supposed it was for the best. All kids start growing up at some point. Yet, it felt so strange. One brother gone, another comes, both playing hide and seek with the world. He had trouble seeing them as the same person. Even those twins he always hung out with weren't as different as the before-Tommy and now-Tommy. He should be grateful, especially since they got along now, but…

He guessed that he regrets missing that moment, when his little brother became strong. As a bigger brother, he was the one who protected him and told him about the truth in life. He was supposed to be a guide on how to be a man. Yet somehow, in seemingly a day, with no explanation or interference of his own, Tommy grew up. And he missed it. Somehow that made him feel guilty.

Yutaka watched Tommy fling snowballs at his friends at the park, the six of them stomping in the snow. The way they played was almost like war, but they were all laughing. Yutaka had played some snowball wars with them earlier, but found he was no match or any of them, least of all Tommy. Well, Yutaka always hated winter anyway.

But that was okay. He enjoyed watching Tommy dominate the match. Was Tommy always so good with snowball fights? He certainly didn't learn those skills from Yutaka. The kid was getting stronger and faster all the time. He was almost as strong and fast as Yutaka now, and Tommy was several years younger.

Yutaka smiled. He was proud of his little brother. But he also felt very cold.

IIIIII

So, I felt like Yutaka would be glad Tommy's matured all of a sudden, but he'd also feel confused and maybe a little sad too. What do you think? Feel free to let me know!