Alright, now that we've got Mom and Dad out of the way, lets see what the others think of all this.
The first time Hikari invited Miyako over to her apartment, Miyako had been thrilled. They had been friends for a few months now, having met at an after school activities social. The girls hit it off right away, even though Miyako was signing up for computer club, and Hikari was there for photography. Miyako was looking forward to meeting her new friend's parents, and seeing Taichi somewhere that wasn't the soccer field.
The two girls walked home together, talking about their ridiculous brothers, when Hikari's voice suddenly turned more serious.
"Hey, just so you know, one of Taichi's friends will probably be at the apartment too."
Miyako frowned.
"Is that a bad thing?"
Hikari started, blinking up at the purple haired girl.
"No! Yamato is really nice. He's over all the time. He's been Taichi's best friend for years," She was clearly flustered.
"Then why do you look upset about it?" Miyako had to press.
Hikari mulled it over as they walked, picking at her backpack strap.
"Yamato is… unpredictable. Not like Onii-chan, where he's impulsive, but like… He's moody. He doesn't talk much. Yamato is very kind and cares about people so much, but he isn't always great at showing it in a nice way."
Yamato was indeed there when they arrived. Miyako quickly learned a few things about visiting the Yagami household. Don't eat anything Hikari's mom offers if its homemade. Don't get Taichi started talking about soccer. Don't mind Yamato.
The blond boy sat on the couch the whole time, watching TV even when Taichi wasn't in the room. He made Hikari seem chatty. He was polite enough, sure, and answered any direct questions, but he never started a conversation himself.
Yamato was still there hours later when Miyako left.
The second time she visited, Yamato and Taichi were having a whispered fight in Taichi's bedroom. Miyako couldn't quite hear what they were arguing about, but when Hikari suggested that maybe they take a walk through the park, Yamato stormed out of the house.
The strange part was the sad look Mrs. Yagami shot the boy as he was shoving his feet in his shoes.
"Bye, Yamato honey, see you soon," She called kindly to his retreating back.
The blond boy paused, his hand on the doorknob.
"Bye, Mrs. Yagami…"
Then he was gone.
Miyako eventually got used to Yamato being a near constant presence at the Yagami house. Sometimes he was quiet, sometimes he argued with Taichi, sometimes he seemed almost happy. Miyako could not understand how Taichi was able to handle having such a volatile friend. It would drive her crazy. They had obviously been friends for a long time, but Miyako didn't see the appeal.
After the third time Yamato stormed out of the apartment, Miyako pulled Hikari aside. Finally, she had the courage to ask what that kid's deal was.
Hikari looked incredibly uncomfortable, chewing on her lip for quite some time.
"Don't let him know I told you, but his family is… separated. There's a lot of fighting and he… Yamato comes here when he can't stand being at home anymore," Hikari had eventually whispered.
Her tone suggested there was a lot more going on than just fighting parents
Things started to make more sense when they were pulled into the digital world. All these weird friends of Hikari and Taichi's suddenly had a connection. The stories poured from them, spinning impossible tales of talking animals and danger.
Miyako didn't think she had ever heard anything as ironic as Yamato having the crest of friendship.
And yet, the others were unendingly kind to him, from what the girl observed. Maybe there was something inside him that inspired the other chosen to be friends with him? Whatever the case, Miyako didn't feel it.
The day Hikari found her digi-egg was the last time she saw Yamato for two months. He was never at the Yagami house anymore. Oddly enough, neither was Taichi.
Hikari was tight-lipped about where they were going or what they were doing. When Miyako badgered her enough, Hikari simply said that they were looking for something, but she really didn't know exactly what was happening. Miyako believed Hikari… But if she didn't even know where her own brother was going, the chances of her actually knowing what was up with that extra digi-egg in the cave were slim.
She chose not to ask for the time being, and soon was too busy to be pondering Yamato's strange habits.
After the defeat of Blackwargreymon, Miyako spent days rethinking the last two years of her life.
The girl was surprised when Hikari invited her over after school on Friday. There had been near absolute silence from the older chosen for days, and that had included Hikari, up till now. Miyako supposed they were just adjusting to the idea that Takeru was alive, and perhaps visiting the boy. She hated to admit it, but she felt a little left out. She was pretty sure she wasn't the only one, either.
"So… Is Yamato like, never going to be over anymore? Now that Takeru is home?" She broke the silence as they walked home.
Hikari made an uncertain sound.
"Honestly? I'm not sure. I mean, I can understand him wanting to stay home and reconnect… I can't imagine losing Onii-chan for years… I know Yamato didn't go to school the rest of the week. Takeru won't be going back to school until spring," She giggled, lightening the mood a bit. "But I heard Onii-chan on the phone with Yamato yesterday, and it sounds like they're planning on having Ken tutor Takeru and get him up to speed."
Miyako had to laugh at that.
"They do know that Daisuke is probably going to tag along, right? Him and Ken are like, inseparable. How the heck are they going to get any make-up work done with him around?"
"I have absolutely no idea. Onii-chan seemed so happy, I didn't want to burst his bubble."
The purple haired girl smiled. It was nice to not have to tiptoe around the subject of Takeru. The younger chosen had been nervous to discuss the recent events. With as many tears as had been shed Tuesday, it seemed a rather delicate subject.
"So what's Takeru like? You must have heard tons of stories!" She was so curious about this boy who lived in the digital world and could get his partner all the way to mega. From what she'd been told, the only others to achieve that had been the Yagami siblings.
The chosen of light chewed the inside of her cheek.
"I didn't meet Takeru during our first adventure. He… disappeared before we found out I was a chosen child. When I did hear about him, all knew was that his crest was hope. When we were fighting Venommyotismon, there was a prophesy that mentioned him. No one told me anything, but Yamato got really upset. Once we got to the digital world, he and Sora took off. I didn't understand for a while why they left, but Onii-chan eventually said they were looking for Yamato's little brother. No one ever seemed to want to talk about him, and we were so busy fighting the Dark Masters. I was sick for a little while so it all got pretty blurry for some time. It didn't sink in until we went home that Yamato never found him. Looking back, it makes a lot of sense why everyone was so overprotective of me at the time.
"Now that he's back, Onii-chan has been talking about him non-stop. You'd think Takeru was his little brother, not Yamato's."
Miyako balked at the thought.
"I didn't think it was possible for Taichi to be obsessed with anyone other than you," She shook her head slowly.
Hikari paused as they reached her apartment door.
"Hmm, maybe now that Takeru is back, Onii-chan will let me grow up a little bit?" She raised her eyebrows at her friend.
They stared into each other's eyes and burst into laughter together.
"Yeah, right," Miyako chuckled. "He's going to hover over you until you're a hundred years old."
Hikari rolled her eyes.
"I wish that were an exaggeration."
She pushed the door in and their ears were instantly assaulted by raised voices. That answered Miyako's question.
It took them a moment to realize the yelling they were hearing wasn't the usual spat. In fact, it wasn't a real fight at all. The two girls walked into the living room, a little taken aback at what they were looking at.
Taichi and Yamato sat on the couch, completely engrossed in the videogame they were playing. The trash talk was swift and ruthless.
In the middle was Takeru, bouncing on his knees and waving his controller around as if it would help his character on the screen.
"Get out of my face, Taichi! I swear, you're doing this on purpose! Stop being a shit!" Yamato growled, mashing the buttons on the controller.
Taichi cackled.
"Of course its on purpose! You think I want to move away from you when you have range attacks? I'm not giving you a single chance to use one of those missiles on me!"
Takeru gasped, smacking himself in the forehead.
"I fell off the platform again!"
"Sucks to suck, Teeks!" Taichi elbowed the smaller boy.
"Don't you talk to him like that, I'm going to freaking nail you as soon as you get out of my face!"
"Hah! I'm back. I'm coming to help you, Onii-chan!"
Takeru's character on screen reached the two fighters, but a well placed hammer from Taichi sent him flying across the landscape.
"Hey! Come on, Taichi, haven't played in three and a half years!"
Yamato finally landed a hit and sent Taichi's player tumbling.
"Taichi, I swear to god, if you launch Takeru off screen again I'm going to punch you in real life!"
Takeru turned and stared at his brother for a moment, an impish grin stealing over his face.
"You get him here, and I'll get him there!" He pointed at the screen and jumped off the couch, continuing to play standing.
"Hey! NO! That's cheap!" Taichi squawked as Yamato threw himself sideways, landing half on top of him. The two wrestled while still attempting to play the videogame.
"This is revenge, Taichi!" Takeru called, thoroughly battering his friend's character.
Miyako could not stop staring. Besides their tearful reunion, Miyako had never seen Yamato so lively. It was as if he came back to life when Takeru did. She couldn't find any trace of the sulking boy in the rowdy young man in front of them. He looked so different. A happiness had settled over him that had entirely changed his demeanor. For the first time, she could see the bearer of friendship as he should be.
She found her eyes trailing to Takeru. She had asked Hikari what she knew of the boy because she thought there would be more adventure stories. Impressive feats that he had accomplished. A reason he was able to get to mega, to affect everyone the way he had.
But, as she watched him dance out of the way of Taichi's reaching arm, she came to a different conclusion.
It wasn't anything he'd done, that made him so beloved to the older group, it was just him.
As if he could hear her thinking about him, (which she was pretty gosh-darn sure he couldn't) Takeru half turned towards them.
"Hi, Hikari! Hi, Miyako!" He waved enthusiastically.
"Takeru, you're supposed to be killing Taichi!"
"Let me make friends, Onii-chan!"
There. Yamato and Takeru getting to relax and have fun bro time with best friend ever, Taichi. Where I live, the middle and high schools get out an hour earlier than the elementary school, so it made sense to me that the older kids would already be home when the little siblings get back.
And a little extra snippet because I can't get this picture out of my head.
Hikari knocked on her brother's doorframe before poking her head in to say goodnight. Taichi faced away from her, obliviously looking at something on his phone.
The chosen of light crossed the room and plopped herself on his bed. She couldn't get the blond boys out of her head. Hikari had no idea how Taichi was able to support Yamato all this time. She had not even known of everything that happened, and it still hurt her to see Taichi struggle to help Yamato. After years of seeing their friend in pain, it was a huge moment to see him laughing and playing again.
"It's nice to see Yamato and Takeru so happy together, isn't it, Onii-chan?"
She looked up at her brother when he did not answer. He was frozen, eyes locked on whatever was on the screen in his hands. Hikari was alarmed to see tears building in them.
"Onii-chan, what's wrong?" She said earnestly.
Taichi unfroze then, shaking his head and a hearty smile taking over his face.
"Look at what their dad just sent me," He handed the phone to his very confused sister.
She took the device and saw that Mr. Ishida had sent a small photo, entitled "Surprise".
In it, two elated boys were nothing short of freaking out at a new set of bunk beds.
Hikari's smile was a bit teary herself.
I headcanon that by the time Takeru should have graduated to a Big Boy Bed, Natsuko and Hiroaki were already embroiled in the divorce. So instead of getting bunk beds, like most families, Nat and Takeru moved out and he got a regular single bed at their new apartment. Not many kids would be upset about NOT having to share their space, but because of what it signified, bunk beds were just one more thing "normal" families had, and theirs did not.
Never Hopeless Hiroaki gets an award for Best Dad. He waited for the kids to get out of the house for a few hours and rushed to get the beds delivered and set up for when they got home.
Congratulations boys.
