Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Price of a Cure: Chapter 3: Plans
Pair: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken
Word Count: chapter: 1,928||story: 5,565
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for Diversity Writing, section H, #22, fic that is T rated; Written for the One Pairing Boot Camp, prompt #30, rose
Notes: This takes place sometime after they have all their Digimentals.
Summary: When the only way to save Daisuke's life is to give him to the Kaiser, the Chosen have no choice. He'll keep him until he gets bored with him, so the Kaiser says. But how long will that be, and what will happen before then?


Daisuke's legs trembled. His head spun. Everything around him, from the steel-gray floor to the equally steel-gray ceiling, as well as V-mon and the Digimon Kaiser. The Kaiser himself looked far more annoyed than he had any right to, given that he wasn't pitching face-first onto the floor.

"I told you that you're not well yet," the other boy snapped, striding over. Daisuke wondered if he'd be able to get away before he got there, and got his answer far sooner than he would've liked, since the Kaiser grabbed him more or less by the scruff of his neck – or jacket, to be absolutely accurate – and pulled him toward the bedroom door, dismissing the Tyrannomon with a flick of one hand.

Daisuke really wanted to do something that wasn't get dragged along by his unwelcome host. His feet scrabbled at the floor but he couldn't seem to get them to work under him correctly, and certainly not in time to stop himself from getting thrown on the bed.

The Kaiser stood by the foot of the bed, arms crossed over his chest, and glared down. "Do you think you can stay here and rest without trying to kill yourself or do I need to lock you in?"

Daisuke thought he sounded as if he wouldn't like to do that. That was ridiculous, of course, because this was the Kaiser and he locked up anyone that he could. He leaned back on the pillows, realizing now just how soft and comfortable they were.

"Rather have a nap than look at you anyway," he muttered. He didn't like the idea of staying here, but it had just been proven rather strongly to him that he currently had no choice in the matter, whether he wanted one or not.

He didn't hear any reply the Kaiser gave, if he gave one at all, and only the sound of clicking boots told him that the other left. He sighed, pulling a pillow over his head.

"What am I going to do?" He had to get Ken to not want to have him around. That would work out so much better if he had some kind of idea on what would do that in the first place. Nothing he could think of sounded like it would work.

"Well, you could take that nap?" V-mon suggested, scrambling up on the bed and coming up next to him. "You don't look all that good. Not like you did before, but not… you."

Daisuke sighed again. It sounded a lot better coming from V-mon than it did from the Kaiser, he knew that. "Might as well." He closed his eyes and stared at the back of his eyelids. So many questions spun around in his head as he tried to sleep and he wasn't entirely certain of just when he did slip away.


The Kaiser tried to put the thought of his guest out of his mind. It wasn't easy to do, not when he tingled with the thoughts of everything that he could do to get all the amusement possible out of Motomiya Daisuke.

I don't want to put a Spiral on him. He had his suspicions that such wouldn't work anyway, and to have a completely submissive and obedient Daisuke really wouldn't be any fun. Part of what made the other something worth striking his wits against was how untameable Motomiya really was. Changing that, forcing it on him, wouldn't be any fun at all, and the Kaiser wanted this to be fun.

So, something else. Something thoroughly enjoyable that Motomiya couldn't turn to his advantage, at least not easily. If he ever did, that would be the moment the terms would be fulfilled and the Kaiser would return him.

Or maybe he wouldn't. He wasn't under any obligations other than his own desire to keep the word he'd given to the Chosen Children.

Regardless, he would have to do something with Motomiya while he was there. Something that wouldn't permit him to interfere in the Kaiser's conquest, since that would go on no matter what.

I think I would like him to see why I am the one who will win this amusing little war as well.

And just like that, he knew. The Kaiser smiled. This would work out completely to his advantage. Now he just needed the foolish boy to finish getting well so he could put it into motion.


Daisuke had no idea of how long he'd slept, but when he woke up, the first thought going through his mind was just how hungry he was. His stomach agreed, growling in sharp demand, and he pulled himself to his feet, noticing as he did that he was a lot steadier than he'd been before.

He made his way over to the door, trying not to disturb V-mon, who still lay next to where he'd been, curled around a pillow and totally out of it. He hadn't stepped beyond the doorway when he saw two Digimon on the other side, both of them Gazimon. They turned the moment his shadow fell there, red eyes focusing on him. He didn't even have to say a word before one of them hurried off. The other didn't move at all, but just kept staring at him.

"So, am I supposed to stay in here or something?" Daisuke asked, keeping an eye on that one. There wasn't an answer, not that he could say he'd completely expected one. He fidgeted; every instinct he had told him to find his D-Terminal, go get V-mon, and break every Ring and Spiral that he could find in this place. Not being able to do that made him hurt even more for these Digimon.

Okay, I might not be able to do it now, but I'll get you all out of here one of these days, he promised. He didn't know if he was promising himself or the Digimon, actually. Probably both. Daisuke liked to aim to overachieve.

"So you're awake." And there was the Kaiser, the second Gazimon scampering humbling in his wake. "Do I dare to ask if you've come up with something to tell your dear parents or did it cross your mind at all?"

Daisuke hated him. He really, truly hated him. He tilted his head up and gave the Kaiser his best annoyed look. "Of course I thought of something." He hadn't. Not a single thing.

"Do tell."

Uh-oh.

Daisuke's thoughts dodged and fluttered about, trying for anything that would make a bit of sense. Finally he grasped onto something, just when it looked like the Kaiser's patience, small stock of it that he had, would be exhausted. "I'm going to tell them the truth!"

"What?" Never had he imagined someone sounding so shocked.

"Well, kind of." Daisuke rubbed the back of his head and grinned. This would never work, but he would have to try something. "See, let me go back home for about an hour or so. I'll tell them that I got into a little trouble and the guy who helped me out wants me to pay it back, but to do that, I have to stay with him for a while."

It was ridiculous. It would never, ever work. Jun would figure out something was wrong before he finished getting halfway through it. He grasped at one final bit, meant more to convince the Kaiser than anything else.

"If you let me e-mail them at least once a day, then they won't worry about me."

The Kaiser considered the proposal. At least Daisuke hoped that was what he was doing. He couldn't really tell behind that visor. Finally the other jerked his head, turned, and walked down the hall. Daisuke hesitated for a few seconds before it dawned on him that the Kaiser meant for him to follow and he hurried after.

Soon enough they stood in front of a large screen with various keyboards set in front of it. The Kaiser tapped on one keyboard and a familiar gate appeared there. Daisuke could just barely see where it opened up before it blurred, twisted, and now he could see his own room there.

"How'd you do that?" Daisuke blurted out. He'd had no idea that Digital Gates could be opened up just like that.

The Kaiser smirked. "That's one of the many differences between you and I. Now, are you going to go or do I need to throw you through it?" He flipped his hand over and Daisuke's D-3 now appeared on his palm. "You have one hour to inform them. I will be watching you. Don't try any stupid tricks. Or ones that you think are smart."

Daisuke snatched up his D-3 at once. "What are you going to do if I do?" he challenged, so very relieved to have it back in his possession, no matter how short the time was.

Again the Kaiser's lips curved. "You are on a temporary trip to avoid inconvenience to me. Your partner isn't."

Oh. Well. That made a difference. Daisuke tried not to look nervous. He didn't think he was doing a very good job of it. "Well, I'll be back soon." It wasn't the most elegant good-bye but he whipped around to the gate and let himself get sucked through in a heartbeat.

He flopped right onto his own bed, almost tripping over a pile of clothes. He blinked for a few moments, turning around to see the gate still open on his home laptop, and the Kaiser staring at him coldly through it.

"One hour."

That was all that he said. That was all that was necessary. Daisuke nodded, scrambled to his feet, and hurried out the door, hoping that no one else was home. He also wondered just what time it was and if he should even be here or be at school.

He pitched to a halt right at the end of the hallway, where he saw his parents and Jun sitting around the kitchen table, dinner spread out there. His stomach roared again and he wondered if he'd have time to clear the whole thing off in an hour.

"Have you been in your room all this time?" Jun asked, staring up at him. "I was wondering if I should get worried about you."

"Sit down, have something to eat," his mom said, waving him to his chair. Daisuke moved along without a thought, grabbing food as quickly as he could. He knew he was forgetting his manners, but there were other things to worry about now. Like if his parents would actually believe what he was going to tell them.

"I can't stay all that long," he said after shoving the first bites down his mouth. "I've got something really important to do."

His dad raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He launched into his explanation, keeping it vague exactly on who he would be doing this unspecified payback for, and assuring them that he would be fine, not doing anything illegal – he hoped he wouldn't be anyway – and he'd be back as soon as he could be, and would keep up with all of his homework too.

He wasn't so sure about that, but he'd never done as much of that as he should have anyway, so it probably wouldn't change too much. Once he was done, he flashed them his brightest smile.

"And I'll e-mail you guys every day so you know I'm okay!" This absolutely had to work. If it didn't, he had no idea of what he was going to do.

To Be Continued

Note: And again it appears I have more story than my chosen word limit. Believe me, there's no way Ken would get tired of Daisuke in two more chapters. Therefore, I question: would you like to see the full length of Daisuke's experiences with Ken in another tale and have this simply be the setup to it? Because I can do that very easily.