A/N= Long…
A/N 2= *blinks* Re-read fics for editing? What's that? *blinks* Seriously, I didn't re-read this properly because I wanted to share! Beware of grammatical mistakes popping up here and there! =D
Disclaimer = Digimon and Hono Tripper, their characters and concepts are not mine, but belong to the right owners. The title of this chapter was inspired by one of Enigma's songs: "Gravity of Love"
Couples = *dances* Daiken/Kensuke! And some blink-and-you'll-miss-them kind of hints of Taito and Takori romance/friendship.
Warning = R, maybe bordering to NC-17, and NOT for death and blood. *winkswinks* limey scented scene ahead, minna-san! Enjoy!!
Enjoy, minna! And pu-lease, review!!! You'll make a fanfic author happy!!! -^^-
Hono Tripper
Chapter 02 – Gravity of Love
Usually, when the male members of the clan reunited in the square around which the village expanded, it was to celebrate a glad event, like welcoming a newborn in their village, but tonight things were highly different. It was easy to tell how tonight the men were discussing something highly unpleasant, if you were to look at the tired expression the elders wore; and listening to the insistent buzz hovering above the audience sitting as if to draw an imprecise circle around the plaza, you would often caught the words "death", "killed" and "doomed" resound with a tone of impending terror.
Clearing his throat, the chief of the village limped on tired legs to the middle of the plaza, managing to hush all whispers at once without even speaking. In the flickering light of the immense fire, the man spoke. As slow as any other time; meditating on each word and surveying his people's reaction with keen eyes as he did.
"And those were the motivations that lead us to the decision to build a fence around the village. Any objection?" whispers and mutters rose from his audience, like the sound of billionths bees gathered.
Finally, Taichi pulled his bowl of rice away from his mouth long enough to ask, "Are you sure Oikawa's gonna attack our village, chief?"
"Sure thing." The man replied, turning icy blue eyes to Daisuke. "And it's all your fault, Daisuke, I hope you realize that." The boy arched an eyebrow, and paused sipping his sakè for a moment. "Taking those bandits' spoil wasn't clever, you know?" Immediately after it escaped the chief's lips, the statement was followed by low mutters of agreement.
"Nee, Daisuke." One of the elders spat, swallowing when a pair of ginger-brown eyes aligned on him over the rim of a bowl of liquor. "You acted exactly like on of *them* would have."
"Yeah," the man next to him agreed. "You're supposed to be the *protector* of this village."
"No one-" another man piped up. "-asked you to become a thief."
Slowly, Daisuke took another sip of his sake, very well aware of the dozens of eyes placed nervously on him. Finally, he roughly lowered his hand, drops of liquor raining the heap of wood he was crouched upon.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He spat, annoyed, before pausing to taste again the clear liquid in his bowl. "You all live a good life thanks to the things *we*-" Daisuke glanced over the Elders in front of him, a smirk curving his lips, a glint in his eyes; and then turned to his comrades, his eyes softening briefly as they met theirs. "-are able to bring back from the battlefields. You're nothing better than those crooks." Low murmurs answered him, and Daisuke was pleased to see how no one could deny he was right.
At last, he returned to his sake, and cracked one eye open to look at his father when the man cleared his throat quite loudly.
"Anyway—we have no way to change what you did today. And we'll have to bear with the consequences. " Daisuke shrugged.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna take good care of Ken. You won't ever have to worry about him and his health, since I'm gonna give him anything he might need." And with that he threw his empty bowl to Takeru, before leaping down his arranged seat with all the feline agility of a cat; then, yawning, Daisuke stomped toward his private hut stretching theatrically.
Behind him, his father blinked.
"Daisuke! Hell--- that's not what I was talking about! Daisuke! Daisuke! Answer me when I talk to you! Daisuke!!!" But – like any other time he'd had a discussion with his oldest son- only silence answered him, making barely subdued chuckles raise from his surroundings. The man sighed, rubbing actively at his forehead. "Couldn't I have only one son…?"
* * * * *
As always, while the men reunited in the court to discuss the village's future, to weight the warfare, and just to drink themselves to sleep, the women had gathered in a single hut, the biggest of the whole town, gossiping about the little that had happened during the day in such a small village. Forgotten in a corner, Ken tried to block their voices out, hoping beyond reason that if he did, then they would disappear and he would be back home.
Shifting a bit, the purple-haired boy dared opening his eyes and looked at the women warily, gripping his arms tighter around his legs. Sighing, he turned around to lay his head against the wooden wall, and the noise his action produced made a young lavender-haired girl look up at him with curious eyes.
Somehow, the utterly mundane quality an act like that – reuniting to chat while the men got drunk – held, hadn't provided the women with enough spirit to spot and recognize what was about the become the source of the best gossips of their lives. But, as the girl's orangey eyes feel on Ken, she was able too see past his ripped clothes and muddy face to the almost endless number of nights of good gossiping he could provide them.
"Who's that boy?" The girl pointed a slender finger in Ken's direction, a grin on her face, and the boy did his best not to squirm when all conversation stopped abruptly and all the women turned to look into the dark corner of the hut. From their post all that was visible were shiny purple eyes set in a face that was easy to define as 'snowy' even though traces of dried mud, blood and tears were marring the otherwise pristine visage.
"I've never seen him before." One said carefully. The brown woman next to her shrugged, not stopping to comb her daughter's hair.
"Daisuke--" she said with an excitation that didn't go unnoticed by the other women. "-brought him here today!" In front of her, a younger woman shrugged, not seeing why most of the others had started giggling and whispering conspiratorially.
"He wears such strange clothes…" she murmured somewhat pensively, weighting Ken's aspect from her spot near the fireplace.
"Such bad taste!" Another, even younger, woman wiggled her nose, absentmindedly repairing a tear in the fabric of a old kimono. As the two continued talking--one was arguing about how terrible it was to pair grey clothes with purple hair--Ken had crawled a few inches away.
Ever since Daisuke had lead him to his village, Ken had been sitting in that same spot as if in a daze, unsure of what to do next. The possibility of being somehow in the 16th century was not appealing at all, nevertheless, Ken had to admit nothing akin to this village could exist in his era. Not to mention how – if a place remained untouched by the flowing of time existed- he had managed to reach it by only losing consciousness. So, the more logical and yet illogical explanation Ken could find was that the explosion had somehow pulled the trigger of a mechanism that had sent him voyaging back wards through time.
"I'm TELLING you, Kyoko!" One of the two women squeaked. "Purple looks better if paired with white!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Keiko…" the other answered, "What's the difference between white and grey? Why can't he wear grey?" Ken shook his head slowly, sighing inwardly; he wasn't used to uncertainty. He was used to analyse things with as much coldness as he could muster, to find as quick as possible the best solution to whatever problem presented itself to him. Now... now he just felt lost.
"What can I do, now?", the murmured words slid past Ken's lips, startling himself out of his own thoughts. He came back to terra firma just in time to heard the women conclude that yes, maybe grey and purple weren't the best colours to pair off, but the combination didn't look back on *him*. Humourlessly, Ken snarled, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.
//I want to go home…// He sighed, sounding childish even to himself.
The brown haired woman from before shrugged when her two friends ended their argument, her lips turning up in a malicious smile.
"I agree. And surely, Daisuke does too. It's obvious he does. A lot, I'd say." Revealed the woman, her eyes closed and lips curved up into a wide smirk, the dark wooden brush in her hand shifting upwards to scratch directly behind her daughter's left ear.
"Ouch!"
A lot of "oooh"s and "aaaah"s followed the statement, and the woman positively basked in all the attention she was receiving.
"Why, what did he say?"
"What happened?"
"Did he say something?"
"Something we should know?" Then, slowly, as Daisuke's name was mentioned another couple of times, the focus of the gossipers was all but diverged to the young man, the brown-haired woman and her fresh rumour all but forgotten in order to list their protector's qualities. Again Ken grumbled with annoyance, but it felt wrong to do that with his cheeks tinged with red.
"Such a courageous man, he is." One brown-haired, golden-eyed young girl sighed, echoed immediately by what even an untrained eye could tell to be her best friend, if nothing more.
"So loyal." The lavender haired girl whispered back, letting loose another dreamy sigh.
"So strong." Another one said, blushing as she hid her face behind her bowl of rice.
"So handsome." An older woman chuckled. "I'd marry him immediately, if he asked me."
"Hisago." The brown-haired gossiper said, pulling at her daughter's hair a little too strongly and earning a low cry. "You're twenty years older than him-" all the women intoned a giggle. "-and you're already married. And then again--" the woman paused for a dramatic effect that gained her once again all the attention. "I know something he said…"
All the women hurried to crawl closer, eyes wide and lips uttering endless questions. Questions the woman was glad to answer if they meant some minutes of glory for her.
"Well, you see…"
Snarling under is breath, Ken turned around, closing his eyes and hoping for sleep to come and *free* him soon.
//I wonder… how could I voyage through time? Maybe an 'hole' opened… due to the explosion… maybe…// something about his surroundings made Ken shiver, and the boy could swore he'd heard a bell tinkling. //…it has been… the bell? But…//
Shaking his head, Ken concluded he had heard no bell tinkling, and that no bell could have brought him there. Sighing, the distraught boy lowered his head to place his chin on his knees.
//I want to go home.// the thought came, unbidden, and Ken had to fight the urge to let tears stream down his cheeks freely. //I want to have a bath… I want to lay back on my bed… // shaking his head yet again, Ken sniffled, and closed his eyes, previously left -half-lidded and unseeing- aligned on a dark spot on the floor. //When I wake up…// He thought hopefully when sleep forced his eyes to close, his brain to stop rummaging in search of a solution, and his breath to slow down. //I'll be back in my own time…//
//…or so I hope…//
* * * * *
When Ken woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of men working mixed with the flirtatious laughter of young women – which was very difficult to hear on the 20th floor of a building in the middle of Tamachi. Sunlight was burning his eyelids – which felt even stranger – and when Ken finally forced himself to his knees, it was to crawl on all fours to what seemed a wooden, sliding door and open it carefully to reveal…
…dozens of men working to build up what seemed a fence around the perimeter of a 16th century-looking village. Biting his bottom lip in despair, Ken let his head drop, too worn out to even cry. Then, the cheery voice came, and Ken's head snapped up in shock and confusion.
"Hi!" The boy squealed happily as he tiptoed closer, his every move punctuated by a giggle from the silvery bell hanging at his waist.
Ken watched the kid with haunted eyes for a few moments, and the nodded, greeting him with a weak, "Hello…"
Unaffected by Ken's obvious depression, the child skipped closer, his movements strangely fluid for a kid his age, and gave his head a slight toss, moving a lock of dark hair from across his forehead.
"You're the one that will become my brother's consort, aren't you?"
Mastering just enough force to blink, Ken did exactly so, twice, and then ventured to ask timidly, "What?" Giggling, the dark-haired child moved closer and smiled brightly to Ken.
"My brother says he wants to marry you. Dad's not that happy about it, but he won't stop him either."
"Are you…" Ken licked his lips, shifting to move his legs from behind him and sit back on his heels. "…Daisuke's brother?" At this the kid let out a small giggle, and posed for Ken, showing him his lilac kimono as he swayed left and right.
"Yes. My name's Kenichitaro! And I want to marry Daisuke too once I grow up!" He squealed happily.
Ken was on the verge of replying something, when the person he least wanted to see and yet made his heart do something indescribable inside his chest when their eyes met, came strolling towards them, a scowl on his bronzed face.
"Oh, you're already up. I was wondering if you were still asleep."
"Oh! Daisuke…" Kenichitaro chirped, but ignoring his brother Daisuke marched right over to Ken, and clipping the purple haired boy's chin in two fingers, held his head up, making their eyes meet.
Ken frowned, and even though it took him every ounce of his willpower, he managed not to blush, and to hold up the staring contest. Soon enough, Daisuke's face broke into a grin, and Ken found himself being dragged forward by his wrist.
"Perfect. Come with me."
"Wait…" Ken protested dimly. "What are you…" Then, suddenly, he was forced to stop, and his face was pulled in a pool of the iciest water he'd ever felt.
Between mouthfuls of water, Ken managed a protest, but Daisuke ignored him, rubbing Ken's face harshly with a piece of cloth. Realizing he'd better close his mouth if he didn't want to drown in few inches of water, Ken was soon spared the embarrassing torture, and hauled backward to seat on the ground. A dry clothe was then wiping gently at his face, and when Ken cracked his eyes open, Daisuke was there, face inches from his own, and pinning him there by cupping his chin in a far more gentle fashion than before.
The two just started at each other, mutely, and then Daisuke grinned again, making the hair on the back of Ken's neck rise to attention.
"Just as I thought." A satisfied sound scarped out his throat. "You look a whole deal cuter with your face clean." Then, without a word, Daisuke stood up, pulling Ken with him, and dragged the slightly shaken boy toward what seemed like a huge magazine.
"Now, let's find something more appropriate you could wear." His heart skipping a beat, Ken let Daisuke drag him forward, incapable to summon the force to stop the other boy.
//He wants to marry me! He really wants to marry *me*! Oh, God…//
Oblivious, Daisuke slid the storehouse's door open, and impatiently led a shocked Ken inside. Looking around at the heaps of clothes filling the fair huge magazine, Ken became immediately aware of the poor state his uniform jacket – tore and spotted – was, and proceeded on getting rid of it with a small grimace, taking care to straighten his shirt once he'd let the ripped garment pool at his feet.
Shooting Ken an appreciative glance, Daisuke began rummaging through the incredible amount of clothing gathered there, showering Ken – who was still looking around with shock – with a rain of the most disparate pieces of clothes you could imagine.
"We've *tons* of clothes, here. Take what you like the most." He explained without even turning around.
"How come you have such an high number of pieces of clothes, here?" Ken asked while picking up a purple kimono.
"We didn't steal them!" Daisuke frowned, and immediately turned around, ready to defend his honour. Then, noticing how Ken kept moving from a kimono to another, he dropped silent.
Focusing first on a purple kimono (like his eyes) and then to a dull grey one (like his lost uniform) Ken finally decided to check how a snowy white one (Hadn't those women said white and purple is the perfect combination, after all?) looked on him by placing it on his chest and looking down at himself.
//White kimono… like the ones the tradition says to use when wedding…//
Flushing, Ken let the kimono drop, and sank his hands once again in the heap of clothes, hoping his blush wasn't as obvious as it felt like. Blinking, Daisuke turned around, shrugging almost unnoticeably.
"We just slid them off some corpses on the battlefield." Abruptly, Ken whipped around, staring at Daisuke with wide eyes.
"Corpses…?" He muttered. Then, at the top of his lungs he yelled, "NO!" and dropped whatever clothe he was holding, all the while retreating backward as if victim of a fit of convulsions. Daisuke blinked at him, wondering once again what was wrong with this odd boy. He was appealing yes, but *odd*.
Noticing Daisuke's insistent eyes on him, Ken wrapped his arms around his torso and turned away, peering at the other boy from above his shoulders.
"I'm *not* wearing something you slid off a *cadaver*!"
"What?"
"Well, you might have no problems with it, but I…"
Ken's speech screeched to an abrupt halt when his eyes fell on something pooled just next to Daisuke's feet, and for a moment the sun-kissed boy panicked, noticing Ken's pale features fading to a worrying, deathlike pallor. Daisuke raised a hand toward Ken, and was about to ask him what was wrong, his bronzed face too gaining a pallid quality due to his worry. But he had no time to do so though, since Ken leapt forward, grabbing with shaking fingers the object of his nervousness.
"This shirt!" He all but yelled, clutching a minute purple shirt with a white-yellow band in the middle to his chest. There was no way he could mistake *that* shirt. It was his favourite, Ken himself had brought him to him for his birthday. "This shirt… this shirt is Daiku's!" He cried, feeling tears of dread gathering in his eyes. For a moment, Ken did nothing but tremble, then, as the strength of worry sank upon in, he whipped around, eyes blazing. "How can *you* have it? Where did you take it? Where is *him*?"
Blinking, and with his faint pallor all but gone, Daisuke took a step closer, actually wondering if Ken was about to leap at him and *hurt* him, with eyes like *that*. In truth, anyone else in his position would have retreated, for Ken all but looked like a lion – or better yet a lion whose cub was in danger. Eyes blazing, teeth bared in a grimace of anger, the usually fair-looking boy was now very, *very* intimidating.
"Uh?" the bronze-skinned boy muttered incoherently, and that just brought Ken's distress to upper levels. But, strangely enough, that made him cool down, and quivering anxiety took place of his previous, amiss anger. In fact, it was on trembling legs that he scuttled closer to Daisuke, holding the shirt for the other boy to take a look at it.
"This shirt… a little boy wore it…" he pleaded gently, leaning into Daisuke as the boy grasped the border of the purplish shirt and rubbed it pensively with one hand, the other immediately going around Ken for support. A wave of security washed over Ken as he nuzzled his face in the hollow of Daisuke's neck, sighing brokenly. He flinched slightly when he felt Daisuke's arm move from around him, but he soon was sighing gently, for Daisuke's arm had merely moved to let him sink closer before sneaking around his waist.
"I don't know… I never saw it before." Daisuke said at last. "I'm not the one that took it, and that's strange. I mean--" abruptly Ken stood, and Daisuke blinked up at him, marvelling why he had retreated from the warmth they had created.
"Ken?"
"Daiku… Daiku must have made it through the hole with me! I've to find him!" He hollered, and then, giving Daisuke no time to wonder about his words, whipped around and began to run. It was impossible, though, to overpower Daisuke when it came down to agility. His well-trained muscles were far too agile for Ken to escape him, and far too strong for the struggling boy to free himself once he found himself pinned against Daisuke's chest. Ken tried to free him from Daisuke's grasp, but he didn't let go.
"Ken! Ken—dammit! What's wrong?!" Ken struggled madly, pummelling Daisuke's shoulders with all the force he could muster – and it shouldn't have been much since Daisuke didn't even flinch, but just tightened his hold and yanked Ken closer.
"Daiku!" the purple haired boy shirked incoherently. "You don't know! I was supposed to protect him! He must be searching for me, he must be so scared! And I should have protected him, but I lost him!" Ken felt tears coming to his eyes, but he concentrated on trying to struggle free.
Frowning, Daisuke squeezed Ken's waist a little harder, pinning their bodies one against the other; and when the other boy gasped, arching against him and stopping suddenly every kind of struggle, Daisuke seized the moment to ask further.
"Ken, who's this Daiku? What happened?"
"Daisuke…" Ken sobbed quietly, refusing to surrender to tears and yet feeling burning moisture gathering at the corner of his eyes. "He's my friend… he's nothing but a little child, and he must be somewhere around here, alone… scared… searching for me… I'm the only one he has, Daisuke… please…" Ken paused to sniffle a bit, and Daisuke loosened his hold, reaching up to pat Ken's hair, still wet and messy after their fight.
"Ken, I…" Sniffling yet again, Ken looked up, and a shiver ran down Daisuke's spine as glassy purple met concerned russet brown.
"Ken, I…" Licking his lips, Daisuke tested his voice, only it discover it had gotten lost somewhere inside his chest and wasn't willing to find its way up anytime soon. He couldn't. He couldn't possibly say 'no' to those unbelievable purple eyes of his. It *pained* him to see them so hurting. It *pained* him to have the possibility to clear those eyes of any trace of pain and yet to be unable to take it. Ashamed, Daisuke looked away, leaving his words hanging.
He couldn't even find an excuse. He couldn't *even* face Ken. The great warrior, the protector of his village was loosing all his strength in front of the threat of seeing tears in Ken's eyes. And he felt ashamed for that; Terribly foolish; unbelievably so. He was tempted to put Ken's happiness above his own life and his village's welfare.
Unacceptable.
Daisuke *knew* it was perilous to venture in the ruined battlefield alone, just as much as he *knew* he couldn't risk taking anyone else with them. For once, it wasn't safe to wander in large groups in a zone that offered pretty much no shelter at all; secondly, he couldn't leave the village unprotected. But Ken… Daisuke *knew* he couldn't possibly let Ken down either.
It was strange the bond that he felt existed between them, but not in an unpleasant way. It was incredibly thrilling to be able to hold Ken and caress him, combing his silky purple hair with caring fingers. And it excited Daisuke to no end the simple *prospective* of making him smile. But somehow it worried Daisuke that he longed *so much* someone's happiness.
Sighing, Daisuke risked a look at Ken. The boy with the amethyst eyes sniffled, and then caught Daisuke's eyes with pleading force. The amethyst orbs were darker than ever, so deep and shiny Daisuke had to swallow several times not to lose control. Daisuke looked at him as if in trance for a moment and then dropped his eyes to the point where their chests touched. He felt *helpless* and it was more than mildly frustrating to feel that way.
When he felt a gentle grip take his hand, Daisuke found himself meeting Ken's eyes again. Daisuke stared down at the swaying lakes of indigo for a long moment, neither of them moving from the spot in the street.
"Daisuke please… take me where you found me yesterday… *please*…" Ken whispered, and his grip tightened on Daisuke's hand.
The note of desperation trembling in Ken's voice didn't go unnoticed by Daisuke, but no matter how he wanted to help Ken, not matter how he wanted to tame this distraught angel's pain, he couldn't possibly forget his duty as a protector of the village to guide him in that eerie place. So, still combing Ken's hair with gentle fingers, he just sighed.
"Ken… I can't. There's nothing in that place that would justify it if I went there. It's dangerous and I…"
"I'll go there alone, if you don't want to help me!" Again, Daisuke sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"Ken, if you go there alone, Oikawa's men will surely kill you."
"I don't care! Daiku's going to die if I don't find him *now*!" Suddenly, Ken struggled free from Daisuke's arms. His eyes met Daisuke's briefly before he turned away and ran out of the village and finally out of sight, but that split second was enough for Daisuke to see the unbidden pain reflected in those wounded purple eyes. The warrior watched Ken run away in total immobility for a minute or so before he a low "Damn…" escaped him.
* * * * *
Ken found himself wandering. That was nothing new, considering how he had taken the habitude, when the weather permitted it, to walk with no destination across Tamachi in search of nothing but quietude. That evening it was different though, because there was something else Ken was searching; something utterly and completely different from still quietude was what he hoped to find.
His aim was to ear the giggle of a child.
But the only sounds in the quickly darkening air were the soft swishing of his hair flicking against his cheeks, the rustle of his uniform as he scuffed his feet along the ground, and the bristly noise of the rocks and leaves cracking under his weight.
"Daiku!" He called for the umpteenth time that day, and only the wind answered him. Discouraged, Ken let his hands drop at his sides, doing his best to banish his fear from his heart.
"I don't understand." Daisuke muttered at his side, raising one hand to stop the hair danced across his forehead by the wind. "There isn't any kid, here."
"He must be here…" Ken muttered, his voice reduced to a whisper Ken himself could barely recognize as his. "He *must*…" Squinting at the bodies laying scattered around them, Daisuke shook his head, slowly.
"Look around, Ken. These are all adults. There are not dead children--"
"Daiku's alive!" Ken shrieked.
Even if Daisuke was hurt and surprised that the purple haired boy was yelling at him with so much rage, he was actually *glad* Ken had talked. Other than to scream Daiku's name pleadingly, he had said almost nothing, and that had brought another wave of concern inside Daisuke heart.
And if there was something Daisuke just couldn't stand, was too see someone he cared for in distress. So, rubbing his forehead harshly, Daisuke strolled after Ken, following the strangled calls the other boy let out from time to time.
"Daiku! Daiku!"
* * * * *
The noon sun was at full height when Ken stopped moving, dropping his gaze to the ground with a resigned sigh. Jogging up at his side, Daisuke grinned, rubbing Ken's shoulder gently.
"Are we stopping to eat something Ken? I don't know you, but I'm starv--" Roughly, Ken freed himself from Daisuke's touch, whipping around to glare at the other boy from over his shoulders.
"No! We're *not* stopping! I'm not hungry at all! If you want you can go---" But now it was Ken's time to be interrupted loudly, only, it was the embarrassing noise of his stomach protesting that stopped him. Placing both hands over his belly with an embarrassed blush, Ken looked up at Daisuke through his eyelashes, and found the warrior with the russet hair grinning at him.
"Are we going?"
The chosen place to take a rest was small clearing they boys had stumbled upon few minutes before. Daisuke lost no time in settling in the pale umbra of a burned tree, while Ken settled down as slowly as he could, feeling drained, and settled for looking around instead that at the still grinning boy next to him.
The place was not beautiful in a canonical way, nevertheless Ken found himself wondering why he hadn't noticed it when they first walked by. The field around them was –virtually- endless. Despite being a bed of burned grass, it was tinged of sweet pastel green that hinted hopefully at the emerald canvas it would turn to with the upcoming spring; and the gentle gurgling of the small river they were facing gave the place a romantic feeling that made Ken's cheeks tinge momentarily, before his distress overcame his embarrassment.
It was *highly* upsetting to have your stomach ignoring your fears and make its protests known *so* loud, and Ken just couldn't forgive himself for acting like an idiot in front of Daisuke. It wasn't his fault that he was hungry and couldn't conceal it despite all the distress he was under, but still… he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Daisuke. Having his… respect, having Daisuke liking him was strangely important to Ken.
Oblivious, Daisuke took a long draught of clear sake from a bamboo little flask, and then tossed it to Ken, effectively distracting him from his train of thoughts, and wiped his mouth with the back of one hand.
"Thirsty?" Ken looked at him strangely, clutching the little flask in a muddy hand. Daisuke looked back at the now blushing boy with an arched eyebrow, wondering for the umpteenth time how could a so appealing guy be so weird at times.
The reason for Ken's hesitance could be found in his current train of thoughts, and if Daisuke were to hear it, it would just cement his conviction that Ken was indeed *odd*. The cause of Ken's flaming blush was the prospective to place his lips where *Daisuke's* =DAISUKE'S!!= had been few moments before. Lowering eyes rendered glassy by the blush to the little flask in his hand, Ken felt his blush renew, and regarded the little item with odd pensiveness. His natural shyness combined with whatever feelings made him that uneasy near Daisuke, was now battling with his undeniable need for water.
//But-but-but… it would be like… kiss him indirectly… I mean…//
As two parts of himself battle, Ken would let loose soft groans and moans; lick his lips; shake his head and blush intermittently, all the while looking pleadingly down at the flask. Say that Daisuke found it amusing doesn't even start to describe how the warrior felt. It was… *terribly entertaining*. He had to stop that, thought. He doubted acting like that was healthy, if not sane.
"Are you going to drink anytime soon?" At Daisuke's muttered urging Ken shook his head and brought the flask to his lips.
"I don't care!" he declared to his reflection in the water. "I'm thirsty!" But, before he could touch the little flask to his lips, he found his face pressed in the ground, Daisuke's body warm and heavy on his back.
"What the hell?!" Ken shrieked with burning outrage, whipping around to glare at the brown eyes few inches from his face.
"Shhh!" Daisuke urged him, slipping his arm around Ken waist to pin him more securely the purple haired boy against his own body. Then, Daisuke said something that didn't really register in Ken's mind, for the boy was too enchanted by Daisuke's eyes to care for his words.
Ken caught his breath, his heart racing, and figured there was more to that than the compromising position he and Daisuke were in, even if Ken couldn't help but notice it as he stared at Daisuke, taking him in with his eyes. Basking in the handsomeness of his countenance. He. Was. Basking. And soon found himself overcome by such proximity with the other boy, and thus sought a method through which to clear his clouded brain.
Looking at Daisuke's eyes had proved to be not the right answer to his dilemma.
Bottomless ginger brown eyes were staring intently in his own, and as Daisuke spoke countless flickers of gold rippled the otherwise smooth and glass surface of those pools of molten brown. Streaks of orange glittered along with the golden flickers to make the eyes all the more appealing, and Ken found himself breathless.
Ken knew those eyes.
Ken admired them.
Ken *loved* them.
Deeply.
Ken inhaled a deep, quivering breath, blinking at himself as he arched against Daisuke, instructing his hands to go and lay on Daisuke's shoulders. A satisfied nod moved Daisuke's head up and down as he took in Ken's change of position. Quickly, he reached down and touched his finger to Ken lips, trailing it down the purple-haired boy's cheek before pointing something ahead of them.
Foggily, Ken turned to stare at whatever Daisuke was asking him to see, and shivered, unconsciously moving closer to Daisuke in his fright.
A horseman was beating his steed to make it run across the valley as fast as it could, all the while scanning his surroundings with keen eyes. But was really caught Ken's eyes were the symbols embed in the man's clothes and amour, too similar to the one Ken's attacker had worn to stop him from shivering.
"He's a companion of those that attacked you yesterday. One of Oikawa's crew." Daisuke murmured huskily as Ken wrapped his arms around him, seeking shelter in the other boy's warmth.
"Is… is he… searching for them? The… ones you killed?" Ken asked, licking his lips.
"Probably." Daisuke muttered back, pressing both of them down harder on the wet ground in hope to remain unnoticed.
The innuendo laying in Daisuke's voice didn't go unnoticed by Ken: who that man was searching, could not be found anymore, for they had been killed.
To protect Ken.
It needn't a genius to figure who could have attacked and slew them. Therefore, Daisuke's village was in danger. And, Ken was horrified to admit, it was because of him.
* * * * *
As crazily as it may sound, the life in the village went on without other surprises for Ken. And the boy, despite his distress, fear and anxiety, began enjoying this new life he had been forced to have. Each morning he would wake up and go exploring ruined battlefields in search of Daiku, while Daisuke examined the corpses of his enemies for good weapons to bring back to the village.
Each noon the two of them would reach the river and stop to have a quick and modest lunch, during which Daisuke would do his best to cheer Ken up, and Ken would do his best to tame the blush caused by said efforts. Then, when nightfall approached, they would return to the village, Daisuke's hands filled with cleaned spears and Ken's eyes filled with frustrated tears.
Once there, they'd retreat into Ken's assigned small hut to have a quick dinner, and then they would part ways, sometimes after Daisuke had delivered Ken a small, chaste kiss of friendship on the forehead, only to meet the morning after for a rite that required no words anymore.
Rumours didn't waste time in being born though, and soon the women had their long-awaited, precious, new topic for their daily gossiping-time. But even if women had made gossiping about Ken and Daisuke their reason to live, there was hardly nobody in the village that wasn't commenting on the strangest courtship ever.
No one thought Daisuke was trying to help Ken out of kindness, and –no matter how much Daisuke denied- they thought the vibrant warrior was just trying to win the heart of an odd stranger with an equally odd tactic. Ken always refused to answer when asked about this unlikely courtship, and his silent behaviour, mixed with Daisuke's enraged denial, only served to fan the rumours, so that soon people started biding on the date of the couple's wedding.
The ones that –surprisingly- had more fun spreading and fuelling the rumours where the highest members of Daisuke's small band of soldiers. And that night –the fifth after Ken's arrival- Taichi, Yamato, Iori and Takeru were having more fun than they could explain mocking an easily enraging Daisuke.
The sound of laughter coming from the hut they where in resounded clear and high in the starry sky, texturing an amazing contrast with the sinister quietude that usually floated in the once prosperous town during the night. The dormant village wasn't disturbed by the suffused noise, though. In truth it was enjoying it, unlike Daisuke.
At the moment, the mahogany haired boy was sitting cross-legged on the smooth floorboards of the above-mentioned hut, frowning to the world like a little child.
"Shut up." He grumbled, his voice slightly muffled by the sake. He narrowed his eyes, gulping loudly the clear liquid. It burned as it flowed down his throat, but he stubbornly kept swallowing it, focusing on how the liquor seemed to draw his attention away from the teasing he was subject to. At his side, Takeru chuckled, prior to throwing his head backward in a full laugh.
"Seriously Dai…" He said slowly, leaning forward to steal the bottle of sake from Daisuke's darker hand. "Are you a chicken or what?" He chewed out as he lifted the bottle to his lips, pausing his speech to take a long draught. "You like him? Then, hell, *fuck* him."
"Shut. Up." Daisuke hissed through gritted teeth, playing thoughtlessly with his empty rice bowl. "It's just… I don't think it's the right time… Ken's going mad looking for that kid and…"
"That's shit, Dai." Taichi interrupted, a broad grin flashing in the ginger light of the fire.
The cinnamon haired boy looked up from the floor with wary eyes, features settled in a frown as he readied himself to listen *calmly* to whatever Taichi had to say.
"You're scared you won't be good enough at it, aren't you?" All the boys immediately started cackling and Daisuke clenched his fists hard enough to feel his nails break his skin.
All a quiver with laughter, Taichi threw an arm around Yamato's shoulders, the laughing blonde wrapping his won arms around Taichi in search of support. The two younger boys were leaning against each other, shoulders raising and falling quickly as they expressed their amusement with a low chuckling. But at least Iori had the decency to mask his laughter with a cough when a growl crawled its way out of Daisuke's throat.
The one around which all the laughter revolved around grunted quietly when no one else made any effort to stop cackling. So it was with flashing eyes that Daisuke grabbed the bottle of sake from Takeru's hands, using the other boy's moment of distraction to his favour.
"All ya do is thinking about *that*." Daisuke hollered hotly. "Whatcha think I'm?! An animal?! I'm different from ya all! I'm not a pervert *obsessed* with fucking, ya know?!" The caramel skinned boy angrily took a long swig of the delicious drink, swallowing and swallowing until he felt his insides burning, his lungs begging for air.
Satisfied, Daisuke roughly moved the bottle away from his mouth, swiped at his moist lip and dripping chin with the heel of his hand and surveyed them all, a rush of drunk warmth coursing through him.
"I'm not like ya." He said, glaring at his friends with burning indignation. He rose on shaky legs slowly, moving toward the front door as steady as his feet could carry him, vision blurred and mind fogged by the alcohol. He paused to throw the sake's bottle –now empty- to Taichi, who promptly caught it.
"Where are you going, Daisuke?" Yamato called behind him, his mocking voice sugar-coated by the sake.
"Shu'up." Was all Daisuke's replied sickly before walking out in the coldness.
* * * * *
Inside the little hut, Ken was looking through the bars of the window to the moon above, finally getting used to the straw mattress. He even began to find to his liking what he couldn't even considered a bed just few days before. The purple-haired boy sighed softly, the motion carrying few pieces of straw to float in the air. Mutely, he looked at them sway in the eldritch light of the full moon, silently praying to be home soon.
Another sigh was ready to trust past his lips, but it died in his throat as the noise of his hut's sliding door opening reached his ear. Startled, the boy looked up, unconsciously letting out a sight of relief as Daisuke's spiky haired shape appeared in front of his eyes.
He was in the door way, his back pressed against one side of the entrance and one of his legs outstretched to keep the sliding door open. He nearly glistened in the silvery light, as he stood still, his eyes raking leisurely over Ken's body.
It was when their eyes finally meet that Ken began to feel slightly worried. Daisuke's auburn orbs where so dark that the pupils were almost invisible, just a flicker of glassy black in an ocean of bottomless shadowed auburn.
"…Daisuke…?" the purple haired boy called softly, raising to a seated position and bringing his sheets up to cover his chest, one fist balling around the grey cloth of his shirt.
Daisuke's eyes gleamed at the sound of Ken's voice, but his only reply was to move inside the hut, sliding the door close behind him and pressing his lower back against it, his trunk bent forward to take a close look at Ken's moonlit face.
"What… are you doing here, Daisuke?" Ken said with a smile, tipping his head to a side. He looked calm, but his voice was quivering in worry. "It's quite late and…"
He didn't get the chance to end his thought, for Daisuke's hands were around his waist and he was being pinned down to the floor.
"Oh, Ken… … … … …" Daisuke breathed as he laid his head on Ken's chest, rubbing his forehead against Ken's ivory neck with a kitten moan. The dark haired boy shot up, supporting his weight on his elbows, and looked down at the mass of cinnamon spikes over his chest with wide eyes.
"Daisuke! Wait!" He shrieked, but when the other boy looked up, what Ken saw in his eyes hushed him. They were hungrier, darker and more intense than ever, as dark as twilight and as burning as billionths of suns. Simply wonderful. Breathtaking, even.
"A'm shleepin' here to'ight." Daisuke said, his voice sounding funnily sticky.
"What do you mean?!" Ken's eyes went even huger, cold sweat forming on his forehead. He couldn't say anything more, thought, because Daisuke had tightened his grip around him, lowering both of them on the straw and using his weight to keep Ken in place.
Ken's heart skipped a beat as moist breath brushed against his ear, and when Daisuke hid his head in the crock of Ken's neck, his hips lowered over the purple haired boy's. Helpless, Ken craned his neck, parting his lips in the process, and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. Both boys groaned at the contact, and Ken found himself shivering in both fear and anticipation.
//Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. OH, MY GOD!!!!//
His and Daisuke's chests bumped against one another as they heaved with jagged movements, and Ken's clouded mind barely managed to process the information that such brief contacts were very, *very* arousing.
Getting a bit of control over his body at last, Ken licked his lips, knowing he *had* to do, or at least say, something. And the chance to move was offered him when Daisuke repeated his intention to spend the night with him with a faltering voice, one muffled by the liquor.
"My God, Daisuke, you're =drunk=!" Ken shrieked as he tried to crawl away from Daisuke's delicious warmth, wincing at the stupidity of his statement, fighting to keep his hips anchored to the ground and not to respond to Daisuke's own hips' slow movements all at once.
"Am I? Yesh? An' with 'hat?"
"NO!" Ken cried, feeling his will to fight fade away as Daisuke's eyes imprisoned his once again. "Daisuke… Daisuke this isn't…"
"'hut up." Was all Daisuke replied, lowering his lips to Ken's neck to take a slow, long taste of the sugary skin. Once again, both boys moaned, and Ken arched his back unconsciously, gasping as his and Daisuke's hips came into contact again. Dimly, while pressing his clenched hands against Daisuke's chest to remove him from above his body, Ken realized he had tilted his head, offering the amber skinned boy more skin to torture to his pleasure.
Daisuke lowered himself on the writhing body underneath his, and his hips began to rock ever so slowly against Ken's growing erection. Daisuke's hands reached down behind Ken, kneading the curve of the writhing boy's hips to wedge them closer together.
Ken moaned; a soft, mewling sound scratched out his throat, and earned him a sharper thrust. Once again the contact brought him to the edge of madness, and Ken let loose a soft moan, the feeling of their erections rubbing together only making him ravenous for something that-until few seconds before- he had never even contemplated.
Daisuke's mouth kept wetting Ken's ivory skin with pulling kisses, and the boy could only moan, trying desperately to stop his body from reacting so strongly to Daisuke's touch.
A moan escaped Ken's gritted teeth as Daisuke lowered his onslaught to his breastbone, licking the exposed skin with worshipping slowness. His half-lidded purple eyes focused on an indefinite point on the ceiling, and he would have laughed at himself when he started to notice and count all the cracks and holes in the old wood, if his mind wasn't already busy processing and labelling all the sensations Daisuke's warm touch and breathtaking proximity were awakening in his body.
The old ratty blanket he'd been using had slid to the floor and that was the first barrier between them that had fallen. The second one, Ken's uniform shirt, was about to follow: Daisuke's fingers were already working slowly to open it, and each time he brushed Ken's skin, an electric tingle ran down the purple eyed boy's spine.
"Daisuke… No…" Ken protested half-heartedly, already feeling his fists unclenching, ready to fall on the floor… or embrace the boy with the amber skin back.
"Shhh…" Daisuke blew into his ear, licking and exciting every nerve along the way from Ken's chest up to his ear and back.
"Dai…" Ken tried again, loosening his fists to lay damp palms against Daisuke's heaving pectorals.
"Let me…" Daisuke's voice was rasp and low, excited and exciting even through the alcohol.
"Daisuke…" Ken was a bit breathless, sounding like the mere breathing was an effort too big for his fogged mind. Daisuke's sensual caresses extended to pay homage to his nipple, and Ken shuddered, his back arching taunt as if trying to gain more of that sweet warmth of Daisuke's. "Dai…" Daisuke's tongue licked the back of his ear tenderly, almost worshipping him and Ken's words muted into a small moan.
As he nibbled down Ken's neck, deliberately teasing each nerve despite being drunk, Daisuke's fingers began tracing meaningless patterns along Ken's exposed belly, eliciting in Ken's body feelings he had never experienced before. Overwhelmed, the purple haired boy arched is back with a stifled cry, drawing his nails down Daisuke's back, while biting his lips to keep himself from screaming.
"Daisuke…" Ken panted heavily as the dark skinned boy adjusted himself so that their erections were rubbing against one another, tonguing his way across Ken's face down to his neck and shoulders, tasting the sweet skin savagely.
"Dai…" Ken's tormentor's name was drowned in the darkness as his tanned fingers slid inside Ken's slacks and across his thigh in one fluid and yet teasing motion. Through the alcoholic fog blurring his mind, Ken's moans and cries were all Daisuke could heard. And he enjoyed them too much to stop.
In a moment of blinding lucidity, Ken understood that too. Daisuke wasn't going to stop. His body tensed momentarily, but Daisuke's low voice, seductive even through the lack of control, or maybe growing sexier because of it, made all his muscles sag. Surrendering at last, his liquid violet eyes meet Daisuke's auburn ones, and he could swear they were calling out to him, moving as the surface of a stormy ocean to enclose him in their hug, welcome him in their depths and close on around him, comfortingly, warmly.
"Ken…" Daisuke whispered, before allowing himself to give a long lick across Ken's belly, following a dangerous path toward his now loose pants.
Outside the door, four boys began to chuckle quietly. The older one gave a thumb up to his companions and each answered differently. The golden haired boy with the strange helmet winked back at him, thoughtlessly flinging an arm around the shorter brunette who was blushing profusely at his side. The last one, the slightly older other blonde, was grinning broadly, sharing a malicious look with the brunette pressed against the door.
When Ken's moans grew louder, the auburn haired boy wavered his hand to the others, gesturing them to keep quiet. Doing so, they all pressed their ears against the russet wood, already foretasting the sweet satisfaction of teasing their burgundy haired companion currently enjoying himself inside the little hut.
Still moments passed, moments in which the four boys' silly excitation decreased perceptibly, as trepidation and actual pride of their friend quickly took its place. In fact, it was exactly an excited pride what streamed through them all as Ken's screams intensified. Giggles and jokes forgotten, the four boys found themselves fighting one another to press their ears against the small surface of Ken's hut's door.
But, strangely enough, no matter how hard they tried, they heard nothing for several moments, and little murmurs and whimpers began escaping their lips. What…?
Then, Ken cried Daisuke's name. And again he did few moments after, his voice lowered to a simple murmur. And then he called him again, insistently, and the fours boy shared a quizzical look when Daisuke never replied. Driven mad by curiosity, the four spies stopped fighting, drowning each little sound they could emit in a breath-held silence, until Daisuke's voice was finally audible again.
"Zzzzzzzzzz………………"
* * * * *
"Kami-sama Ken, mate yoo…" Daisuke called his purple-haired friend, watching his back move as he stomped –deaf and blind to his environments- through the remains of the battlefield. Ken didn't get the time to utter a syllable –if he was about to- that Daisuke was groaning painfully, a hand laying over his sweating forehead. "Damn, my head hurts like crazy…" the boy paused, opening his squinted eyes just a crack, so he could watch Ken's reaction.
No *one* could resist a Daisuke in pain and keep ignoring him, right? Nope, wrong. Ken obviously wasn't subject to Daisuke's puppy eyes' charm. Blinking, Daisuke realized Ken wasn't meaning to wait for him. Evidently, his plan had a flaw. Maybe he'd better start practicing that look, if he wanted it to work on Ken.
Barely restraining a grumble, Daisuke shook his head clear –regretting it almost immediately afterwards- and jogged up to his friend.
"Dude, how did I end up in your hut yesterday night? I woke up there and…"
"Ask this to yourself." Define Ken's voice as icy didn't even start to describe it.
"I'm asking *you*!" Daisuke replied with a frown. "I've no idea how I ended up in there!"
Ken, who had been looking over his shoulders at Daisuke, turned away roughly, wriggling his nose in indignation.
"Baka." He muttered under his breath, facing forward with a pout that was in no way inferior to Daisuke's current childish look. Unimpressed by Ken's iciness, Daisuke did his best to keep up with his quick pace, growling from time to time due to his throbbing headache.
Ken was okay with that. As long as Daisuke didn't talk, didn't touch him, didn't do anything to reveal his presence and –more than all- didn't do any of those things Ken had now labelled as "Daisuke-ish", the warrior was free to follow him everywhere.
Wait.
Delete that.
He wasn't.
Still, Ken wasn't expecting Daisuke to talk to him, so he couldn't come out with a reply as cold as he'd liked when he did, and just mumbled an incoherent, "Uhn?"
"I said," Daisuke replied, his back to Ken. "Come this way."
"What? Where are we going?" Ken muttered, and yet he was already following the other boy toward their new destination, an azure, glittering lake.
Its azure surface rippled and danced at the point where the small waterfall bubbled into the limpid waters. The waves it produced were crushing the sun's reflection into billions of little lights, creating the most appealing golden refraction. As they neared the water edge Daisuke threw away the few spears he'd already collected that morning, and hurried to wash his face with abundant water, hoping it could help his headache.
Far more gracefully, Ken kneeled down at his side, letting his fingertips play thoughtlessly across his own reflection.
"I'd like to have a bath…" he admitted softly, and Daisuke looked up at him with water tracing glistening curves down his face.
"You can, you know?" He said hopefully, already savouring a little rest. "I'll stay here and rest a bit."
Ken replied nothing, but the way he inquiringly arched a purple eyebrow made Daisuke shift uncomfortably.
"What?" again Ken didn't reply, and cocked his head to one side, studying the uneasiness springing over Daisuke's sun-kissed face in silence. "What are you looking at me like that for?" With a shrug Ken rose to his feet, leaning gingerly on a rock behind.
"I better not." He said slowly. "Especially if we consider what you tried to do last night." Brows furrowed, Daisuke puffed out his cheeks, hands on his hips.
"What are ya babbling about?! What did I do?!" Angered, the boy leaned forward slightly, watching Ken through narrowed eyes. "What are you accusing me to? To be a pervert?! ME?!"
Stifling a giggle, Ken cocked his head to the other side, moving a lock of purple from his face.
"Do you promise you won't look? Cross your heart?"
"Ken--" Daisuke said lowly. "We're both--"
"Promise?" Ken's voice was slightly less playful as he leaned forward, and in truth had gained a tone that didn't admitted an answer that wasn't affirmative, which was exactly what Ken go.
"Promise…"
* * * * *
Ken wasn't about to say the water washing away all the dirt and the stress of his search for his body was something he was thankful for, but that was close enough. In truth, clear water had never been a problem in Daisuke's village, but Ken just hadn't found time to focusing on anything that wasn't Daiku – and the last on his list of priorities had ended up to be Ken himself. More than once Daisuke had coerced the purple haired boy into eating, and Ken hadn't had a change of clothes in what felt an eternity.
Well, maybe that shower *was* something to be thankful for.
Ken sighed blissfully as he stepped under the small waterfall, surrounded by trees on one side and a high rock face on the other. A large, flat rock dominated the scenario and – currently invisible to Ken's eyes- Daisuke was there, chewing pensively on a piece of grass as he let his gaze wander across the skies.
Waist deep in the crystalline water, Ken was cleaning his hair carefully, with an attention you'd never expect from a boy. He had been unable to wash it properly in ages, and wasn't about to let the occasion slip. Moaning contently as the water drummed against his skin Ken let his hands leave his shining wet hair, trailing them down his body, his back to the rock where Daisuke was.
"Ehy, Ken!" Rising his hands once again to his hair, Ken shoot a dirty look over his shoulder in the general direction of the voice.
"Don't look." He warned lowly. A distressed sigh answered him, and then Daisuke turned to prop himself up on one elbow, his back to the lake. Hearing movements, Ken waited for them to stop, and then asked, "What do you want?" in a noticeably softer tone.
"Where do you come from?" Looking away, Ken focused on the bubbling water of the cascade, hands freezing in mid-air. It was after a small pause that they restarted streaming through wet purple air, and with the motion, came the voice.
"A place really, really far from here."
"And that Daiku-kid…" Daisuke paused and Ken hunched his shoulders instinctively, foreseeing questions he could have no answers for. "…is he your son?"
"What?!" Ken felt his face flush, even though, when his fists clenched, it wasn't exactly out of embarrassment. "Are you telling me I look old enough to be a *father* to you?!"
With a mix of relief, confusion, outrage and something else he couldn't really describe, Ken whirled around and glared hotly at the rock Daisuke was upon…
…only to find the boy lying on his front, chin rested on his palms a piece of grass wavering in his mouth with every breath he took. Ken blinked as Daisuke took his time to study him, and then the warrior shrugged, resting his head on one palm to let the other lay flat on the rock.
"A father? Hmmm… no, I don't think you look like one." Blinking yet again, Ken hurried to sink in the water, calling Daisuke a virtually countless number of names.
"You-you-you Baka!" He shrieked at last, reaching down to grab a relatively heavy rock from the floor of the lake and throw it to a still staring Daisuke. "You promised!!" Daisuke dodged the rock easily, but he took his time anyway to whine with Ken about how badly the rock could have hurt him if it had hit, and then – still not turning around- watched Ken as he swam toward the middle of the lake, and yelled at the purple haired boy some more things that were drowned by the noise of the waterfall.
It was a wonder though, that Daisuke missed the sweet smile Ken gave him over his shoulders as he swam away…
* * * * *
That evening, when Ken and Daisuke returned home –with, we may say, a very insignificant number of spears- Kenichitaro dashed to welcome them, and Daisuke forgot the weapons he was carrying to lift his brother and spin him around, making both the child and the bell at his side laugh merrily.
Leaning against one the now finished fence that surrounded the village, Ken smiled at the two brothers, and the sound of the bell –for once- added to his contentment, instead of killing it. He feared that sound, dreading it terribly once. Yet, he remembered clearly there was a time when he'd loved that silvery giggle indescribably. With the years, Ken had been able to *stand* the sound, but feeling again happy and flushed each time a bell giggled seemed a time impossible to retrieve.
And yet, as the bell tinkled, Ken felt happiness bloom inside him. Despite everything, his life was happy in that place. Once he'd found Daiku, his bliss would be complete. Stay with Daisuke… forever… was appealing to the purple haired boy. A mirage of everlasting happiness was looming at the horizon of Ken's life. A Daisuke-induced happiness.
And yet… something was troubling Ken deep down. Something was about to happen to shatter this glassy bliss; Ken was sure of it.
For the bell was tinkling.
------- End of chapter 02.
What did you think? Good? Bad? Crazy?! A marriage a child mentioned, but the soon-to-be couple never even discussed; Oikawa's men are on the move; Kenichitaro is Daisuke's brother… how do this all fit in the scheme of things?! Uhmmmm… you have theories?! Drop me and review and share!!! ^___^
Ken = *whacks Necchan behind her head* Cool down! The plot's not yours!
Necchan = ^^;; But I wanted reviews…
Ken = *clinically* Addicted to reviews… *rubs chin pensively*
Necchan = *promptly* and to you Ken-chan, to your Kaiser-persona, to Daisuke, to the Ken/Dai pairing in all its forms, to Xenodramon, to Angekeru, to Hikayo, to--
Ken = *looks around* Dai? It's *you* who usually is able to stop her from rambling! Where are you?!
Necchan = *pauses and points a trembling boy curled down in a dark corner*
Dai = *sobs* I can't have fallen asleep on a horny and half-naked Ken… nooooooooooo… *weeps* How could I?! *waterfall-like tears fall from his eyes*
Necchan = *open an umbrella* Ken-chan! The boat! Dai's about to flood this place. ^^;;
Dai = How could I?!?!?! *weeps & sobs & sniffles & cries*
Ken = All ready. *hops on boat*
Necchan = *hops on boat too* And--- review! X