BIG, OMINOUS WARNING THINGIE: This is yaoi, Taito,
Daiken, and a whole lot of other good stuff (regretfully no lemon!). Don't
like, don't read. Simple, ne?
Author's Note: Cody is evil. Why can't anyone else see this?
I apologize in advance for the shortness and general crappiness of this chapter, but it had to be done for later events to make sense. I'll revise it. Maybe. :P
BIG, OBVIOUS DISCLAIMER THINGIE: Not mine.
"Even with this new configuration, the reflex angle still isn't tangential to the pi radius..."
"E sharp... No, F and then... What do you think?"
"I think geometry is against me!"
Ishida Yamato glanced up, perplexed at the answer that he received. It took only a moment for him to realize that he had been in his own world. As his mind left the haze of concentration, he felt the dewy grass beneath him and the bumpy, scratchy bark of a tree irritating his back. Nearby, on a makeshift court, Takeru was nailing Daisuke and Taichi in an uneven game of basketball. They were being watched by Kari and Miyako, both of whom were luxuriously reclining on a blanket as they chatted about this and that.
Matt shifted his guitar and twisted to locate the source of whoever had addressed him earlier to find himself staring into two slightly irate indigo eyes. Ken was frowning. "I must be missing something. Geometry isnt supposed to be confusing!" he muttered, tossing his notebook to the blonde.
To his credit, Matt had never been bad in mathematics, having passed his exams with more than respectable scores. But when he glanced at the hurried, and occasionally scratched out, calculations, his eyes swam. It looked like something only a NASA scientist would be able to interpret. On a good day.
"Um, Ken? Are you doing extra credit or something?" he asked, stalling as he tried to pick out something, anything, that looked even vaguely familiar.
"No," was all the answer that he got from the quiet boy. Yamato shrugged, but was saved from any further response by the shadow that loomed suddenly over them. A shadow with distinctly massive hair...
"He's killing us!" Taichi complained between the huge breaths that he took. TK was, very literally, running circles around his opposition, which was now reduced to a bedraggled Daisuke. He laughed as he basketed another shot. In mock anger, the cinnamon-haired boy stomped away to where the other boys were gathered. Matt, who now was aware of the relationship between the crazy Motomiya (Or one of them, at least!) and the black-haired prodigy, watched with candid interest the nuances in their behaviour that he would have otherwise dismissed; Ken's eyes had visibly cleared and the notebook in Yamato's hand was forgotten.
Taichi patted Daisuke's back consolingly. "Hey, we tried!" His gaze shifted to the two seated boys. "No thanks to them."
Matt flicked his fingers over the taut strings of his guitar with nonchalance. "We were working," he rebutted.
Tai flopped down between them, ignoring their protests, and lifted the discarded notebook with distaste. "Don't you ever have fun, Ichijoji?" he commented. The glance that Ken shot at Daisuke was not lost on any of the assembled.
"Sometimes." His cheeks flushed, and Dai looked suddenly smug.
Tai turned to Matt. "And you?" he added with a peculiar note of bitterness in his voice that was so unexpected that Yamato could make neither head nor tail of it, "Don't you spend enough time with your band under normal circumstances?"
Matt narrowed his blue eyes suspiciously. Does Tai sound... jealous? Sure, I spend a lot of my time at home writing lyrics and sorting out mundane things like schedules, but he's never said anything about that before. He knows that I love doing it. And besides, Tai doesn't get jealous. Does he?
His long silence had made the others uncomfortable. Daisuke, unusually perceptive of the sudden rise of tension, grabbed Ken's hand and hauled him to his feet. "Come on, let's go teach that Takaishi a lesson!" The black-haired boy didn't get a chance to protest as he was forcibly dragged away.
Silently thanking them, Yamato turned a serious glance Taichi's way. "What's all this about, Kamiya?"
Taichi, obliquely avoiding Matt's gaze, muttered, "What's what about?"
"Don't give me that," the blonde retaliated swiftly. "I'm not going to spell it out for you. Why shouldn't I spend time with the Wolves?"
For the most fleeting of seconds, the other boy considered spilling his guts, telling Yama the truth about how, according to his notions, the blonde should spend his time. With him.
But that allusion passed with a resignation that Taichi had become accustomed to. He wouldn't tell Yama, not now nor in the near future. Not ever, the way this is going... "It's just... You've been working hard lately and I'm worried about you getting stressed and stuff."
You don't fool me, Kamiya! You're the worst liar that I know. Yamato considered momentarily pushing Tai to reveal the true reason for his abnormal behaviour, but decided that if Taichi had forced himself to lie to his best friend, he must have had a good reason to. Instead, he said, "I haven't been doing that much more than usual, but thanks for the concern." Why must there be all these secrets between us?
Taichi felt torn up inside for his dishonesty. Yamato clearly believed him, and why shouldn't he? Friends didn't keep secrets. "That's good," Taichi responded, more to fill the silence than anything else. "Let's go see what the others are doing!" He pasted a smile on his face, one that he hoped would be a token of reassurance for the blonde.
Yamato sighed as he followed his rapidly departing roommate. What's wrong, Taichi? Why can't you tell me?
~*~
Early evening had cast its cool darkness on the park when the combined Digidestined thought to return home. Packing was done in amicable silence, left mostly to Kari and Matt as the others stood to stretch their stiffened muscles.
"We should get together more often," Ken commented in his quiet, unobtrusive way, shooting a glance at Daisuke.
He's been doing that a lot lately, Kari mused as she nodded in agreement. "Today was perfect."
Yamato though how unfitting the comment was in comparison to his personal turmoil. He recalled, for what seemed the hundredth time, the hesitant conversation he had had with Taichi earlier. It was as though something within him wouldn't allow him to forget, putting a damper on what would otherwise have been, as Kari had so eloquently stated, a perfect day among friends. And I've hardly had any time with Teeks. When he arrived yesterday he was dead on his feet, and today he spent all his time with the others. Gone are the days when he was so dependant on me, I guess. The last though came with some hesitant difficulty, but Matt had resigned himself to the fact that his little brother was growing up, doing his own things. What I wouldn't give to be back in the Digiworld all those years ago, when the whole gang was still around, and TK still looked up to me, and Taichi wasn't such a confusing friend... Yamato sighed. Why do my thoughts always come back to this?
The problem was that Matt didn't know exactly what he was mulling over. Even though Tai had ungracefully stumbled through the conversation, he was with certainty untroubled by whatever had made him uncomfortable earlier. Yamato couldn't help doubting that Taichi would be able to pull a facade complicated enough to appear how he was now, teasing and joking with the others.
From somewhere in the back of his mind, and inkling of a thought arose. Maybe it's something to do with that cryptic chat he had with Dais the other day. Almost immediately, all optimism ebbed out of the blonde. No matter who he's in love with, Tai should know that I'll understand. Hell, even if it's Takeru! Not that I'd approve, but I would understand...
~*~
Across the grassy expanse, Taichi sighed almost mournfully. Watching Daisuke, his counterpart in both Digi-Destiny and personality, frolicking with the quiet, insecure Ken, who was not unlike a certain blonde rock star, was not helping soothe his churning emotions. Neither was the sight of a young blue-eyed, blonde boy that had grown into his skin over six months and now resembled his older brother acutely. Stop drawing parallels, Kamiya!
He had been so close to finally breaking his cautious silence! But, as he had been doing for the past seven years, he'd made some private justification not to blurt out the words that stuck in his throat like uncomfortable lumps. Yamato clearly wasn't ready today. Silence seemed like the lesser of two evils. It always had. Deep inside, the boy knew he would one day regret not informing his best friend of his feelings, but as long as it wasn't 'today', he didn't care. Adding to that the fact that Taichi didn't know what he would do when faced with, to him, an almost certain rejection, and one had the motive for withholding the secret. With a finalizing shake of his head, he shifted from this dismal track of thought to one barely more cheerful.
To Tai's chagrin, Yamato's good mood had drained from him almost wholly after 'that' conversation. For what reason, he didn't know. The way he's sulking, it's almost as though he knows I'm keeping a secret. But how would he? Daisuke wouldn't tell, and the others don't know Besides, if he knew, he'd make sure I spilled my guts to him, right?. A pause, then, Stop confusing yourself, Taichi!
~*~
A few minutes later the packing was finished and the youths, slinging their respective bags over their shoulders, headed for Odaiba bridge, which they would have to cross to return home. The weather had shifted from crisply sunny to freezing as dusk descended. Matt, shrugging on his jacket, couldn't help but shiver as the icy wind bit into his skin. The others seemed unfazed as they heatedly discussed what they should do for the evening.
"But renting a film is cheaper!" Takeru was protesting loudly as he stepped out onto the cobbled bridge
Kari frowned gently at him. "You've been away for half a year! The least we could do is spend some money on a decent cinema!"
"Or supper! I'm getting hungry..." That was Daisuke.
"How touching, Dais," TK muttered to his friend, only to earn himself the sight of Daisuke's tongue. "That's a nice idea and all, Kari," he continued, "But I'm tired and I'd really just like to go home and watch some videos. We can make popcorn and..."
"Popcorn?" the leader of the younger Digidestined interjected sceptically. "If I don't have some proper food just now I'll waste away to nothing!" He pointed to the right. "We can get some take-out."
Takeru halted on the left half of the bridge and crossed his arms. "I say we go home." Then, with a glimmer in his eyes, added, "We can persuade Matt to whip something up."
The older boy looked down on his brother with a laugh. "No can do. Taichi," and here Matt pointedly poked Tai's upper arm, "Officially ate anything that was even passingly edible yesterday."
"You see?" Daisuke grabbed one of Takeru's arms and began playfully nudging him to the right. The nudge became a firm pull, however, when the blonde boy stood his ground.
"Come on, TS!" he grunted. "We're going... this way!" His final words were punctuated by a sharp tug, but the grip he had held on the slender arm failed as fabric ripped. Takeru, losing the force that had balanced him, stumbled backwards against the low cement wall that formed a barrier between the surface of the bridge and the drop to the frigid waters below. By some cruel twist of fate, the slippery ground offered no purchase for his stumbling feet, the hand that he extended to steady his backward motion misjudged its target and hit nothing more than thin air. Already unbalanced and having trusted his weight to the errant hand, Takeru Takaishi teetered for an uncertain moment on the brink before slowly, painfully losing his attachment to dry land. With a terrified shriek, he plunged head-first into the rapidly swirling icy waters below.
"TK!" Kari screamed in horror, racing to where he had fallen, followed closely by Ken and Miyako. Daisuke looked ashen as the torn material fell from his stunned hand.
Tai's horrified glance settled for a mere moment of Yamato. The blonde's cool blue eyes were the picture of composure, something that Taichi had despised ever since the first time that he had seen them in that state. How can he be so damned calm? Stop it, Yama! Don't scare me! Don't... before he could even finish the thought, he watched in paralysed horror as Ishida Yamato, after doing what seemed like precisely two seconds of accurate mental calculation, sprang over the inadequate barrier and executed a neat jump into the frigid river.
Oh god! Yama... oh dear god! Tai gaped, unable to gasp out the cry of disbelief that ricocheted around in his skull. Throwing himself at the barrier, his initial terror turned to horrified nausea as the water below him became tainted with diluted crimson.
Author's Note: Cody is evil. Why can't anyone else see this?
I apologize in advance for the shortness and general crappiness of this chapter, but it had to be done for later events to make sense. I'll revise it. Maybe. :P
BIG, OBVIOUS DISCLAIMER THINGIE: Not mine.
"Even with this new configuration, the reflex angle still isn't tangential to the pi radius..."
"E sharp... No, F and then... What do you think?"
"I think geometry is against me!"
Ishida Yamato glanced up, perplexed at the answer that he received. It took only a moment for him to realize that he had been in his own world. As his mind left the haze of concentration, he felt the dewy grass beneath him and the bumpy, scratchy bark of a tree irritating his back. Nearby, on a makeshift court, Takeru was nailing Daisuke and Taichi in an uneven game of basketball. They were being watched by Kari and Miyako, both of whom were luxuriously reclining on a blanket as they chatted about this and that.
Matt shifted his guitar and twisted to locate the source of whoever had addressed him earlier to find himself staring into two slightly irate indigo eyes. Ken was frowning. "I must be missing something. Geometry isnt supposed to be confusing!" he muttered, tossing his notebook to the blonde.
To his credit, Matt had never been bad in mathematics, having passed his exams with more than respectable scores. But when he glanced at the hurried, and occasionally scratched out, calculations, his eyes swam. It looked like something only a NASA scientist would be able to interpret. On a good day.
"Um, Ken? Are you doing extra credit or something?" he asked, stalling as he tried to pick out something, anything, that looked even vaguely familiar.
"No," was all the answer that he got from the quiet boy. Yamato shrugged, but was saved from any further response by the shadow that loomed suddenly over them. A shadow with distinctly massive hair...
"He's killing us!" Taichi complained between the huge breaths that he took. TK was, very literally, running circles around his opposition, which was now reduced to a bedraggled Daisuke. He laughed as he basketed another shot. In mock anger, the cinnamon-haired boy stomped away to where the other boys were gathered. Matt, who now was aware of the relationship between the crazy Motomiya (Or one of them, at least!) and the black-haired prodigy, watched with candid interest the nuances in their behaviour that he would have otherwise dismissed; Ken's eyes had visibly cleared and the notebook in Yamato's hand was forgotten.
Taichi patted Daisuke's back consolingly. "Hey, we tried!" His gaze shifted to the two seated boys. "No thanks to them."
Matt flicked his fingers over the taut strings of his guitar with nonchalance. "We were working," he rebutted.
Tai flopped down between them, ignoring their protests, and lifted the discarded notebook with distaste. "Don't you ever have fun, Ichijoji?" he commented. The glance that Ken shot at Daisuke was not lost on any of the assembled.
"Sometimes." His cheeks flushed, and Dai looked suddenly smug.
Tai turned to Matt. "And you?" he added with a peculiar note of bitterness in his voice that was so unexpected that Yamato could make neither head nor tail of it, "Don't you spend enough time with your band under normal circumstances?"
Matt narrowed his blue eyes suspiciously. Does Tai sound... jealous? Sure, I spend a lot of my time at home writing lyrics and sorting out mundane things like schedules, but he's never said anything about that before. He knows that I love doing it. And besides, Tai doesn't get jealous. Does he?
His long silence had made the others uncomfortable. Daisuke, unusually perceptive of the sudden rise of tension, grabbed Ken's hand and hauled him to his feet. "Come on, let's go teach that Takaishi a lesson!" The black-haired boy didn't get a chance to protest as he was forcibly dragged away.
Silently thanking them, Yamato turned a serious glance Taichi's way. "What's all this about, Kamiya?"
Taichi, obliquely avoiding Matt's gaze, muttered, "What's what about?"
"Don't give me that," the blonde retaliated swiftly. "I'm not going to spell it out for you. Why shouldn't I spend time with the Wolves?"
For the most fleeting of seconds, the other boy considered spilling his guts, telling Yama the truth about how, according to his notions, the blonde should spend his time. With him.
But that allusion passed with a resignation that Taichi had become accustomed to. He wouldn't tell Yama, not now nor in the near future. Not ever, the way this is going... "It's just... You've been working hard lately and I'm worried about you getting stressed and stuff."
You don't fool me, Kamiya! You're the worst liar that I know. Yamato considered momentarily pushing Tai to reveal the true reason for his abnormal behaviour, but decided that if Taichi had forced himself to lie to his best friend, he must have had a good reason to. Instead, he said, "I haven't been doing that much more than usual, but thanks for the concern." Why must there be all these secrets between us?
Taichi felt torn up inside for his dishonesty. Yamato clearly believed him, and why shouldn't he? Friends didn't keep secrets. "That's good," Taichi responded, more to fill the silence than anything else. "Let's go see what the others are doing!" He pasted a smile on his face, one that he hoped would be a token of reassurance for the blonde.
Yamato sighed as he followed his rapidly departing roommate. What's wrong, Taichi? Why can't you tell me?
~*~
Early evening had cast its cool darkness on the park when the combined Digidestined thought to return home. Packing was done in amicable silence, left mostly to Kari and Matt as the others stood to stretch their stiffened muscles.
"We should get together more often," Ken commented in his quiet, unobtrusive way, shooting a glance at Daisuke.
He's been doing that a lot lately, Kari mused as she nodded in agreement. "Today was perfect."
Yamato though how unfitting the comment was in comparison to his personal turmoil. He recalled, for what seemed the hundredth time, the hesitant conversation he had had with Taichi earlier. It was as though something within him wouldn't allow him to forget, putting a damper on what would otherwise have been, as Kari had so eloquently stated, a perfect day among friends. And I've hardly had any time with Teeks. When he arrived yesterday he was dead on his feet, and today he spent all his time with the others. Gone are the days when he was so dependant on me, I guess. The last though came with some hesitant difficulty, but Matt had resigned himself to the fact that his little brother was growing up, doing his own things. What I wouldn't give to be back in the Digiworld all those years ago, when the whole gang was still around, and TK still looked up to me, and Taichi wasn't such a confusing friend... Yamato sighed. Why do my thoughts always come back to this?
The problem was that Matt didn't know exactly what he was mulling over. Even though Tai had ungracefully stumbled through the conversation, he was with certainty untroubled by whatever had made him uncomfortable earlier. Yamato couldn't help doubting that Taichi would be able to pull a facade complicated enough to appear how he was now, teasing and joking with the others.
From somewhere in the back of his mind, and inkling of a thought arose. Maybe it's something to do with that cryptic chat he had with Dais the other day. Almost immediately, all optimism ebbed out of the blonde. No matter who he's in love with, Tai should know that I'll understand. Hell, even if it's Takeru! Not that I'd approve, but I would understand...
~*~
Across the grassy expanse, Taichi sighed almost mournfully. Watching Daisuke, his counterpart in both Digi-Destiny and personality, frolicking with the quiet, insecure Ken, who was not unlike a certain blonde rock star, was not helping soothe his churning emotions. Neither was the sight of a young blue-eyed, blonde boy that had grown into his skin over six months and now resembled his older brother acutely. Stop drawing parallels, Kamiya!
He had been so close to finally breaking his cautious silence! But, as he had been doing for the past seven years, he'd made some private justification not to blurt out the words that stuck in his throat like uncomfortable lumps. Yamato clearly wasn't ready today. Silence seemed like the lesser of two evils. It always had. Deep inside, the boy knew he would one day regret not informing his best friend of his feelings, but as long as it wasn't 'today', he didn't care. Adding to that the fact that Taichi didn't know what he would do when faced with, to him, an almost certain rejection, and one had the motive for withholding the secret. With a finalizing shake of his head, he shifted from this dismal track of thought to one barely more cheerful.
To Tai's chagrin, Yamato's good mood had drained from him almost wholly after 'that' conversation. For what reason, he didn't know. The way he's sulking, it's almost as though he knows I'm keeping a secret. But how would he? Daisuke wouldn't tell, and the others don't know Besides, if he knew, he'd make sure I spilled my guts to him, right?. A pause, then, Stop confusing yourself, Taichi!
~*~
A few minutes later the packing was finished and the youths, slinging their respective bags over their shoulders, headed for Odaiba bridge, which they would have to cross to return home. The weather had shifted from crisply sunny to freezing as dusk descended. Matt, shrugging on his jacket, couldn't help but shiver as the icy wind bit into his skin. The others seemed unfazed as they heatedly discussed what they should do for the evening.
"But renting a film is cheaper!" Takeru was protesting loudly as he stepped out onto the cobbled bridge
Kari frowned gently at him. "You've been away for half a year! The least we could do is spend some money on a decent cinema!"
"Or supper! I'm getting hungry..." That was Daisuke.
"How touching, Dais," TK muttered to his friend, only to earn himself the sight of Daisuke's tongue. "That's a nice idea and all, Kari," he continued, "But I'm tired and I'd really just like to go home and watch some videos. We can make popcorn and..."
"Popcorn?" the leader of the younger Digidestined interjected sceptically. "If I don't have some proper food just now I'll waste away to nothing!" He pointed to the right. "We can get some take-out."
Takeru halted on the left half of the bridge and crossed his arms. "I say we go home." Then, with a glimmer in his eyes, added, "We can persuade Matt to whip something up."
The older boy looked down on his brother with a laugh. "No can do. Taichi," and here Matt pointedly poked Tai's upper arm, "Officially ate anything that was even passingly edible yesterday."
"You see?" Daisuke grabbed one of Takeru's arms and began playfully nudging him to the right. The nudge became a firm pull, however, when the blonde boy stood his ground.
"Come on, TS!" he grunted. "We're going... this way!" His final words were punctuated by a sharp tug, but the grip he had held on the slender arm failed as fabric ripped. Takeru, losing the force that had balanced him, stumbled backwards against the low cement wall that formed a barrier between the surface of the bridge and the drop to the frigid waters below. By some cruel twist of fate, the slippery ground offered no purchase for his stumbling feet, the hand that he extended to steady his backward motion misjudged its target and hit nothing more than thin air. Already unbalanced and having trusted his weight to the errant hand, Takeru Takaishi teetered for an uncertain moment on the brink before slowly, painfully losing his attachment to dry land. With a terrified shriek, he plunged head-first into the rapidly swirling icy waters below.
"TK!" Kari screamed in horror, racing to where he had fallen, followed closely by Ken and Miyako. Daisuke looked ashen as the torn material fell from his stunned hand.
Tai's horrified glance settled for a mere moment of Yamato. The blonde's cool blue eyes were the picture of composure, something that Taichi had despised ever since the first time that he had seen them in that state. How can he be so damned calm? Stop it, Yama! Don't scare me! Don't... before he could even finish the thought, he watched in paralysed horror as Ishida Yamato, after doing what seemed like precisely two seconds of accurate mental calculation, sprang over the inadequate barrier and executed a neat jump into the frigid river.
Oh god! Yama... oh dear god! Tai gaped, unable to gasp out the cry of disbelief that ricocheted around in his skull. Throwing himself at the barrier, his initial terror turned to horrified nausea as the water below him became tainted with diluted crimson.
