"Taiki! Hey Taiki! Wake up, it's morning!" Shoutmon woke early and was at Taiki's side shaking his shoulder eagerly.
Taiki was out like a log and didn't even so much as twitch. Frustrated for not receiving a response, Shoutmon pulled Taiki up into a sitting position only for his head to flop backwards. "Taiki!" Shoutmon wailed, "We have to go get our friends back!" At the reminder of his trapped friends, Taiki's head snapped up and he look around the clearing, half hoping to see them lying around him. He was disappointed to find the two of them alone, but that disappointment was short lived. He already knew that they weren't coming back unless he followed through with Kiriha's demands.
"Alright... alright, I'm up." Taiki stood up and stretched out his aching limbs. He was still worn out from the previous night, but he could feel his mind sharpening and his weariness was starting to wear off. 'I wonder what Kiriha's doing.' Was Kiriha waiting for him? 'Wait, why should I care what he's doing?' Shaking his head to clear the thought, Taiki pushed himself off the ground.
"I found some apples in the forest. You hungry?" Taiki turned to regard his friend who was holding up a bright red apple.
"Thanks." Accepting the apple, Taiki walked over to a small stream a few feet away and scooping up some water into his cupped hands to take a drink. The cold water rushed down his throat, easing the soreness away. Washing the apple off, Taiki flopped down onto the ground before taking a large bite out of the side. Shoutmon shuffled the other apples over to Taiki and sat down beside him. Selecting the biggest apple, Shoutmon ate the apple in three bites, before moving onto the second, and then third. By the time Shoutmon had finished eating four apples, Taiki had finished his first. Grabbing one more apple, he stood and walked over to where his backpack lay, swunging in onto his shoulder.
"Are we heading out?" Shoutmon asked.
"Yep. We need to get back the others as soon as possible so we might as well get this ordeal over with."
"Alright, I'm coming." Shoutmon scooped up the remaining apples and jumped onto Taiki's back.
"What are you doing?" Taiki teetered backwards from the unstable weight but quickly found his footing.
"Just storing these apples in your backpack for later." Unzipping the top zipper, Shoutmon slipped the apples inside except for one, before zipping it back up. Dropping back down onto the ground, Shoutmon stuffed the apple into his mouth.
"Alright!" Shifting the extra added wait to the small of his back, Taiki picked up the pace. He knew his digimon were fine but being out in the woods where other dangerous Digimon lived without his crew to back him up, he felt weak and exposed.
"Do you think the others are alright?" Shoutmon asked, echoing Taiki's own worried thoughts.
"Yea, they're fine Shoutmon, no need to worry. I know Kiriha wouldn't hurt them on purpose." 'I hope.' Taiki thought silently to himself.
"Oh okay." Shoutmon looked down at the ground in silence but his anxious trudge didn't go unnoticed.
They walked in silence for a good duration of the trip before a thought occurred to Taiki that worried him. He felt it best to leave the thought well enough alone but the further they walked, the more he fidgeted nervously. He didn't want to know but at the same time, he had to know for peace of mind. "Hey Shoutmon..."
"Yes Taiki?" His Digimon partner looked up at him and he about clammed up suddenly feeling very uncomfortable but he shoved that feeling aside.
"When you were in the X-loader... did... did you see everything that had transpired?"
"Yea. We might not be materialized but we are still able to see everything that happens outside. Why do you ask?" Taiki's faced burned bright red at the thought of his friends watching Kiriha touch his body. Images of the previous day played back through his mind and he touched his lips. He could almost feel Kiriha's lips still pressed firmly against his own. Thinking about it made his face burn even brighter.
"Whoa, Taiki...you're almost as red as I am! Are you feeling alright?" Shoutmon asked worriedly.
"Yea I'm fine. Now let's hurry." Taiki forced his mind to clear of all the images that keep filling his head. He needed to focus more on the task at hand, but he was finding that to be somewhat difficult… While they trudged through the dense forest, Taiki wasn't sure of where they were going, or how they'd get there. He just kept walking forward into the unknown regions of the area and was roaming blindly. Honestly what had he been thinking? He didn't even have any means of contacting Kiriha. He just sort of assumed they'd run back into Kiriha relatively easily.
"Um...Taiki." Shoutmon called out behind him. When he didn't receive an answer, Shoutmon snatched his hand and pulled him to a stop. The contact pulled Taiki out of his thoughts and he looked down at Shoutmon's worried face. "Do you even know where we're going? If you ask me, I'd say we're running around blindly. Should I call out other Digimon to help, or maybe ask for directions?"
"Sure, why not." Nodding in acknowledgement, Shoutmon disappeared into some bushes, leaving Taiki all alone to stare off into space. After quite some time had passed, Taiki sat down on the ground to rest his sore feet and looked up to watch the clouds drift by in the sky. One cloud in particular reminded him a lot of Dorululu and his heart ached. I'm sorry for letting you down, guys.
"TAIKI!" Taiki's head snapped up in surprise to hear a desperate, scared voice calling him, "RUN!"
Without needing to be told twice, Taiki took off at a fast sprint through the trees. A couple of branches that protruded out in his path slit his skin as he fled past, but he couldn't stop to check to make sure none where serious. He wasn't sure what it was they were running from but by the sound of Shoutmon's voice, it must have been bad.
"Taiki, wait up!" Shoutmon yelled loudly after him. "I think it's gone! You can slow down now!" As he slowed to a stop, his chest heaved from the sudden over exertion. He hadn't realized how fast he'd been running or how much distance he'd covered.
"Dang...I never knew you could run so fast! I was having a tough time keeping up! You must be really stressed out to have that kind of reaction! Oh... and I uh... I was only kidding about the running part by the way..." Taiki lifted his head up in surprise before glaring down at his partner. "Hey... I was only joking around! I didn't expect you to react the way you did!" Shoutmon held his hands up defensively, afraid Taiki might try to smack him upside the head, but Taiki only shrugged his shoulders and turned away.
"Thanks." He whispered quietly.
"For what?" His partner looked up at him in a mix of surprise and confusion.
"For the exercise. I needed a distraction and that worked perfectly." He answered joking. They both exchanged a quick look, before they gave in to laughter.
"Any time." Shoutmon smiled brightly, glad that Taiki had forgiven him.
"Just don't do it again, alright?" Shoutmon nodded his head briskly. "Good... now where are we exactly?" They were still surrounded by trees, but they were more spaced out and they weren't quite as big.
"This is the Sapling Pine Forest; the smaller, or weaker Digimon live here. This is there safe haven. None of the meaner, tougher Digimon bother this region since most of the Digimon here aren't worth challenging."
"Great! Then we should be safe for a while."
"Not necessarily."
"What do you mean?" There was always a but…
"While the Digimon here aren't a threat, Kiriha's still out there and there's no way for us to rid of him until we get the others back." And that was exactly what he didn't want to think about.
"…Right." Taiki wasn't sure whether it was bad luck or just a jinx but as soon as Kiriha's name was mention, a loud shriek echoed over the tree tops and Taiki jumped startled. Looking up towards the sky, he caught sight of Mailbirdramon circling overhead.
"Curses." Well he'd agreed to this so… leaning back against one of the trees, he waited for Kiriha's dissent, but instead of landing, Mailbirdramon kept to the skies and continued his never-ending spirals.
"Um... is it just me, or has Kiriha not noticed me yet and is still keeping a look out?" Taiki watched the mechanical bird curiously, waiting to see what it would do or if it would notice him.
"No, you're right! Mailbirdramon seems to be scanning the area for you and doesn't realize we're directly under him." Maybe the universe doesn't hare me after all! Almost as if reading his thoughts, Mailbirdramon caught sight of him and let out another shrill cry before tucking in his wings and dropping like a torpedo towards the ground. Dang, spoke to soon. Just before he plummeted into the forest floor, Mailbirdramon arched his head back and reopened his wings to slow his descent and landed heavily with a loud thud onto the ground. The quake caused Taiki to lose his balance and fall onto his tailbone. I take it all back, the universe really does hate me. Pushing himself back onto his feet, he dusted off his pants before looking up to find Kiriha practically in his face.
"Ahh!" Startled, Taiki back peddled into a tree.
"Not trying to hide, were we?" Kiriha asked flatly.
"How could I be hiding in plain sight?" Taiki shot back crossly.
"True. Well whatever. Which Digimon do you want back this time?"
"Uh... Ballistamon..." Taiki finally said after a great deal of consideration. Dorulumon would have been a great option but the digicross between Shoutmon and Dorulumon was a stand still evolution and wouldn't be much help in a pinch. But with Ballistamon, not only were Shoutmon and Ballistamon his first Digimon, but they were also his strongest digicrossing partners.
While Taiki had been lost in thought, Kiriha had advanced towards him and caught him off guard as he pressed his body back against the tree he was leaning on. Taking hold of Taiki's jaw, Kiriha slipped two fore-fingers from his free hand into Taiki's mouth and pulled down his bottom lip to pry his mouth open. Using that opportunity, he pressed his lips against the brunettes' and slipped his tongue inside. Taiki moaned at the dominate display but Kiriha felt off…. He was much more excited and lustful. It was a side to the blonde that he'd never seen before and it unnerved him… Kiriha almost seemed possessive. Taiki gulped nervously and closed his eyes. He wished he hadn't gotten lost the other day. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be in this predicament. Pulling out of the kiss, Kiriha cursed under his breathe to see the rejection. 'After this is over, I don't think I'll be able to show my face again. So let's just enjoy this while it lasts.'
Snaking his hand under Taiki's shirt, he ran his fingers over the brunette's smooth chest. Taiki cringed but remained quiet. He was at odds on what to do. Fight and risk the safety of his Digimon, or play along and only stop it if it went too far?
Kiriha watched Taiki's face closely as he fondled the smaller male's chest. 'Not the reaction I was hoping for...' Slidding his hand upwards, he gently stroked Taiki's right nipple and gave it a gentle squeeze. Taiki twinged and let out a small gasp. The blonde's lip quirked upward in success. 'I wonder what other adorable reactions I can get out of him.' When Kiriha slipped his hands out from under his shirt, Taiki sighed in relief. That relief was short lived as his shirt was suddenly being lifted up and over his head and cast aside. He was so lost with trying to come to grips with everything that was happening so quickly he forgot about Shoutmon. 'Crap!' Taiki glanced off to the side to find Shoutmon lying up against a tree, with his hands tucked behind his head and watching them curiously. 'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.'
"Um, Kiriha..." Taiki whispered quietly so Shoutmon wouldn't hear.
"Hm...?" Was all Kiriha managed to reply. He was too preoccupied with staring. Taiki flushed in embarrassment at the intent gaze and shifted uncomfortably.
"Well..."
Kiriha hummed to himself as he brought a hand up to thumb over Taiki's bare nipple and the brunette inhaled sharply from the tingling sensation. His body was starting to get sensitive. Pleased by the response, Kiriha bent down and flicked out his tongue to tease the nub. Taiki cried out in surprise and brought his hands up to grip Kiriha's shoulders. He wanted to push the other away but instead he only squeezed down. 'Crap, I lost my train of thought.' He scanned the area for a memory recap until he spotted Shoutmon and his face burned even brighter. 'Duh... how could I forget?' "We're being watched by our Digimon, can we… before you continue," He was feeling panicked by the situation but oddly excited… nope. Not going there. "please have the Digimon return to the x-loaders?"
"Do whatever, but I'm busy." Kiriha barely even stopped to reply. He was busy sucking Taiki's left nipple vigorously, while his left hand massaged the other. 'I wonder what Shoutmon's thinking.' He couldn't bring himself to imagine what was going through the small red dinosaur's head. This whole situation was rapidly spiraling down out of control.
"Hey, uh Shoutmon...?"
"Yes Taiki?" Shoutmon jumped to his feet eagerly.
"Can you go into the x-loader? I'm feeling really awkward right now with you watching..." Shoutmon's expression drooped into a pout.
"I don't want to go into the x-loader... Can I go for a walk instead?" Shoutmon asked hopefully.
"Uh...sure, why don't you go see if you can find food?" Taiki was getting desperate to get rid of all the on-lookers. "And Kiriha, can you please get Mailbirdramon to look away or something. He just keeps staring blankly at us." Kiriha looked up at his Digimon, and Mailbirdramon looked back at him, awaiting orders.
"Fine. Mailbirdramon, you're dismissed." Unhooking his x-loader, Kiriha held it up to the mechanical bird and in a flash of bright light, the Digimon was gone. Taiki let out a breath of relief that he wasn't aware he had been holding in.
"Now where were we?" Kiriha asked more to himself.
"I was wondering Kiriha, why are you doing this? What's your reason?" Kiriha's body froze and he looked up at Taiki in an expression that said: Duh, why do you think? Taiki wanted to blurt out, 'I wouldn't ask if I knew the answer,' but he kept that thought to himself.
"Isn't it obvious. Do you really think I would just #!*% any guy I come across?" Kiriha demanded.
"Well then...why me?" Taiki's voice was beginning to rise in frustration.
"Why you what?" Kiriha matched his tone to Taiki's.
"Why do you like me specifically? Isn't there some other guy who you like besides me that might actually like you back... or some girl even?" Kiriha obviously didn't like his question because the next thing Taiki knew, he was laying on the ground with Kiriha straddling his waist and holding him down by the shoulders.
"Some other guy? I couldn't and wouldn't like some other guy. Actually, to put it plainly, you aren't just some guy. You're... tch." Kiriha never got around to finishing his sentence, instead he roughly overtook Taiki's mouth in his own, sliding their lips together in earnest. Pulling away to inhale a deep breath of air, he pressed back down and aggressively nipped Taiki's bottom lip to gain entry for his tongue to press inside. Taiki parted his teeth shakily as Kiriha hastily filled up his mouth. He strained to keep his tongue as far away from Kiriha's but Kiriha wasn't having it. He pressed closer and slid his tongue to the far reaches of Taiki's throat, causing him to choke. Taiki's eyes watered as his body naturally tried to heave out the intruder. Satisfied with his win, Kiriha pulled away and allowed Taiki a few moments to a breath. His body heaved for air and he shook all over.
"Go #!*% yourself." Taiki muttered with venom in his now sour throat. Kiriha snickered at the remark.
"Who knew you could be so rude?" Kiriha stroked the bottom of Taiki's chin, but he jerked his head away. At this gesture, Kiriha's smile vanished. Grabbing the back of Taiki's hair, Kiriha pulled his head back and looked him in the eye.
"You're forgetting who's in charge, or have you forgotten what's at stake here?" Kiriha asked devilishly. "I could always kill your friends... one by one." Taiki looked up at him in shock.
"You wouldn't!" Taiki's voice shook in fear. 'Shit, I was so caught up in my anger, I forgot the others are still in danger.'
"Of course I would. Your friends mean nothing to me. You're the only one that matters. Everything else is just trash meant to be thrown away." Taiki's anger boiled over at his words and he shoved the taller male off. Getting to his feet, he glared down at Kiriha and balled up his fists. They shook in anger and he just wanted to punch the blonde square in the face but he was afraid of what might happen to his friends, so he withheld the temptation.
"Trash? You think everyone's just trash?!" He shoved aside his fear in favor of talking some sense into Kiriha. "You nor I are any better than anyone else."
"But that's where you're wrong, you call these Digimon your friends but all I see is a bunch of data forming a picture that's meant to serve you and follow your every command; and when it is no longer of any use, it gets thrown away." 'Thrown away!?' Taiki clenched up his teeth and closed his eyes. It was taking all his willpower to hold himself back. 'Slug him, slug him...' His mind kept chanting these words on repeat, but he reminded himself as to why he was even putting up with this guy.
"I guess this is it for the day." Kiriha finally muttered with annoyance. He could tell this was getting them nowhere. "I guess you can have your stupid Digimon. Meet me back here tomorrow. I'll be waiting." Kiriha snatched up his x-loader that had fallen onto the ground during their scuffle and called out Ballistamon.
Ballistamon appeared and was instantly in-between Taiki and Kiriha, trying to protect him.
"Cute. You're weak little Digimon thinks he can shield you from me." Summoning Mailbirdramon, Kiriha jumped onto his backs and disappeared into the sky.
"Taiki, are you okay?" Ballistamon looked him over worriedly.
"I'm fine." Walking over to the tree where he left his stuff, Taiki slipped back on his shirt and reattached his x-loader to his belt. "Let's go find Shoutmon."