Standard Disclaimer:It has been disclaimed
Notes: Sorry for the long wait, all, and sorry that nothing much actually happens in this chapter. There's a lot of talking and freaking out and basically…this is just one big transition thing. I'm going to try to give this fic a bit more attention as I seem to have neglected it lately. I'm really hoping to get this puppy done soonish…probably another…four to five chapters after this one.
As always, I worship the ground upon which The Glass Slipper treads. Thanks for the beta.
-:-finem-:-
Warnings: Shounen-ai/yaoi, non-con encounters, and well…any other warning that would be associated with those first two.
Unseen Eyes
-:vii:-
"So...let me get this straight, ma'am," the officer clarified from the other end of the line. "You want us to send a unit over because someone came into your apartment and cleaned your son's room?"
Yuko Yagami considered herself a patient woman. Generally, she was mild mannered in nature, cool, collected, cheerful even. At the moment however, she wanted nothing more than to strangle the man on the phone.
"Someone has been harassing my son," she said, straining to keep her voice steady, "went so far as to break into our home just to get to him."
"Is your son missing?" the man asked flatly.
"No," Yuko ground out through clinched teeth.
"Was anything taken?"
She took a deep, calming breath. "No."
"Property damage?"
"No."
"Then, ma'am, I don't know how we can help you. I suggest you change your locks and tell lover-boy not to let his girlfriend take his keys next time."
"But--" she tried to interject, but the officer ignored her, continuing in the same bored tone.
"Good night, ma'am. Call back when there's something tangible we can work with."
The line went dead and Yuko was left staring at the numbers indicating the duration of the call on her cell phone. Swallowing back her fury, she snapped it closed and dropped it on the counter in disgust.
"Well, the police suggest you not let your girlfriend take your keys next time," she intoned, the irony of the situation not lost on her as she looked over to where Matt was gently rubbing Tai's back in an attempt to offer comfort.
"Yamato, will you please remove your hands from my son?" she snapped, patience frayed.
The blond paused, looking up at her. His eyes darkened with irritation, but he did as asked.
Yuko sighed, some of her stress easing as at least that request was honored. Looking again at the small group gathered in her living room, she tried to pull her thoughts together enough to start dealing with the situation as best she could.
"Hikari, please go get the phone book and see if you can find any locksmiths still open."
Her youngest child nodded and exited the room, sending a worried look back at her brother before closing the door of their father's office behind her. It was clear to Yuko that Hikari, as well as Tai and Matt's other friends, was well aware of their 'relationship,' and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"Sora, Koushiro," she began, massaging her temples, "thank you both for coming over, but I think Taichi, Yamato, and I need to discuss this in private, so if you would--"
"Mrs. Yagami." Yuko was shocked when it was polite, sweet little Koushiro who spoke up. "I say this with the utmost respect, but Taichi and Yamato are our friends. We made a promise a long time ago to stand by each other no matter what, so in that light, this situation concerns us just as much as it does them."
Yuko felt her frustration rising, tears threatening to spill over as she opened her mouth to reply, but Taichi beat her to it.
"It's alright guys," he said, and the sad smile of his face was something heartbreaking for a mother to have to see. "We'll see you at school tomorrow; fill you in then."
"But, Tai--" Sora began to protest, and Tai sighed, smile falling from his face.
"Guys, please," he said. "You'll just make this even more complicated than it already is."
Sora looked like she wanted to protest more, but Koushiro put a hand on her shoulder, halting her.
"If you need anything," he said solemnly, "you know how to reach us. We'll be doing what we can from our end." With that, he guided a frustrated looking Sora to the door, and the two exited without another word.
Once alone with Matt and Tai, Yuko allowed herself to collapse into one of the chairs at the table next to the kitchen and drop her head into her hands.
"When were you planning on telling me about this, Tai?" she asked, glaring sharply when he responded with a light laugh and a "which part?"
"Someone is stalking you, Taichi," she clarified, trying to keep her emotions under control, "yet you didn't think this was something your father and I needed to know?"
"He didn't think it would get this serious," Matt offered, coming to Tai's defense, but that only served to draw her attention to her son's apparent boyfriend, which brought up the other matter.
She had known that the two had become close after all of the madness that happened years back, and she had been proud to learn that her son and daughter and all of their friends had been so strong. They had saved the city, probably even the world back then, but this was entirely different. She loved her son unconditionally, even if she didn't agree with his relationship choices, but if this fling he was having with Yamato was what had attracted a stalker's attention in the first place...
"I think," she began after a length of thoughtful silence, "that until this is sorted, it would be best for the two of you to stop seeing each other."
"What!?" Matt exploded jumping to his feet. "Tai needs as much support as he can get right now! You can't just take that away from him!"
"Yamato," she said, standing to her feet as well, "I think I know what's best for my son!" The rage that flared to life behind the blond boy's eyes was a thing to be feared, but she stood her ground, confident in her ability to care for Taichi better than some child playing at being an adult. "For all we know, you're the reason this pervert is after Tai! I cannot allow him to continue putting himself at risk if--"
"BULL SHIT!" Matt snarled, and Yuko felt herself take an involuntary step back as he pointed angrily at her. "Do not try to use this stalker as an excuse. You just can't handle that your precious son is gay!"
"Mom?" Hikari's voice broke into the argument, snuffing it out as surely as a bucket of water would a trashcan fire. Yuko looked over to see her daughter standing in the doorway of the office, a closed phonebook and cell phone in hand. "The locksmith'll be here in about half an hour."
"Thank you, honey" Yuko said, smiling despite her now tearing eyes. "Could you call the phone company next and see if you can figure out what happened to the hard line?"
Kari nodded but paused before leaving the room. "I think Matt's right," she said, keeping her eyes downcast. "Even if this creep is after Tai because they love each other, they shouldn't be punished for the actions of one psycho." She looked over at Tai who was staring down fixedly at the floor. After another moment, she returned to the office, closing the door quietly behind her.
Yuko was dumbfounded. She never would have expected Hikari, her baby, to contradict her wishes. This sent a fist clinching painfully around her heart, squeezing more tears from her eyes.
"Well," she sniffed, wiping at her eyes in as she tried to regain her composure, "Taichi, what do you have to say about this?"
The two other pairs of eyes in the room focused on the back of his mess of chestnut hair, and Tai sighed deeply, waiting a few long seconds before finally speaking.
"I agree with Mom," he said quietly, and the look of shock on Yamato's face matched the emotion that Yuko felt.
"Tai..." Matt began in worried tones, but Yuko spoke over him.
"I'm glad that one of you is willing to listen to reason at least," she said, sniffling loudly again. "We'll talk about this more once your father gets here, but for now, I want you home immediately after practice every day. Yamato, you've been a good friend, so if you would like, I'll allow you to walk with him, but only until he's safely in the apartment. I'll make sure to be home every day when he gets in from now on."
"Tai, are you even listening to this?!" Matt asked, kneeling in front of the other boy, grabbing his shoulders and shaking slightly. "Tai!"
Taichi finally looked up, and once again, shock rippled through the room. Tai's milk chocolate eyes were swimming with unshed tears.
"Matt," he began steadily, "I have never in my life been as scared as I was today when I thought this psycho had done something to my mom and Kari. Never." He emphasized the last word, and Yuko understood that in that, he was including all that they had been through when they were away in a land that they could never express fully to their parents. "This isn't like before, Matt. We're not facing off against some menace trying to take over the digital world. This monster isn't something we can call on our digimon to handle. This freak is faceless, and, even more terrifying, he's human. We've never had to deal with anything like this before, and the truth is, Matt, that none of us knows what to do."
He closed his eyes, turning away from the blond, a single tear falling as he did so.
"I don't know what I would do if you or one of the others were because this psycho is trying to get to me. I don't want any of you any more involved than you have to be."
A sharp smack sounded through the room, and Yuko gasped in outrage, very close to attacking the blond Tai, however, simply sat where he was, face turned to the side, cheek slowly going red from the force of the slap.
"Get your head out of your ass, Yagami," Matt hissed, furious. "You don't want us involved? Well too late! We already are, we always have been, and if you really think that any of us are going to just back off and leave you to deal with this shit alone, then you really are as stupid as other people think you are!"
With that, Matt stood from where he had been kneeling and exited the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Yuko didn't move, but stood in awe of the level of devotion she had just witnessed. She wondered if in the same situation, any of her friends would be willing to remain on the line of fire just to stand by her and support her. She looked at Tai, who still hadn't moved, and walked over to sit beside him, hoping to offer comfort as only a mother could, but he just tensed further at her touch.
It was in that instant that she had the realization that every mother dreads. For years and years, she had been the one to sooth his fears away, banish the monsters in the closet, make everything better. Somewhere along the way, Tai stopped needing her for those things. He had grown into a courageous, strong young man without her even realizing it. Now, there was finally, again, some terror that needed to be soothed, but it seemed that she was no longer the one who could make everything all right.
-:- -:- -:-
Tai ended up sleeping on the couch that night. As promised, the situation had been discussed further once his father had gotten home. Susumu Yagami had been furious when he heard how the police had completely ignored his wife when she called. Calls were made again and this time, they convinced the police to at least send over a team in the morning to do some finger-printing and see if that would provide any answers.
The locksmith had come and changed their locks, and Yuko would be making copies of the new keys for everyone the next day. The phone company had informed them that the line block was not on their end, and after a little bit of investigating, it was discovered that the box for the phone line to their apartment had been tampered with. The line had been cut. That too would have to wait until morning to be fixed.
To keep from destroying any possible evidence, Tai was forced to stay out of his room, not that he was complaining. He honestly had no desire to sleep there or go in alone. He was still way too freaked out by the idea of that psycho going through his things. There was no telling what kind of surprises had been left for him, and after all that had happened, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with it.
It was late now, everyone was sleeping, but Tai still lay awake, staring at the ceiling. His mind wouldn't quiet. There was too much for him to think about. His mother knew about him and Yamato now. She had been prudent enough to keep that part of the story quiet when she filled his father in on what was happening. For that he was grateful, but it still seemed clear to Tai that she was not pleased. She didn't want him seeing Matt anymore, but at least she had been somewhat reasonable. She hadn't kicked him out of the house or anything like that.
The question remained, how was he going to handle things now? In traditional fashion, Tai had jumped the gun in agreeing to breakup with Matt earlier in the evening. He'd been tired, he'd been stressed, and with everything that had happened, he'd just not been thinking very clearly. Of course, he was kicking himself for that now as he realized that his mother really did intend to spend every waking moment watching over him…just what every teenage boy dreamed of.
First thing in the morning he would have to have another conversation with his mother to straighten out that mess. Hopefully Matt wouldn't be too pissed at him, and he'd be able to smooth things over in their relationship. Then, if the others really were intending to help him figure out who was trying to make his life miserable, they would probably already have things to talk about the next day. Just knowing that he had the support of his friends made the situation that much more bearable. It would be like old times, all of them putting their heads together to bring down the bad guy.
Mind buzzing with more thoughts than he could keep straight, Tai lay awake for long hours that night. The sky was lightening outside his window when exhaustion finally dragged him into the darkness of a dreamless sleep.
-:- -:- -:-
A/N:
Tai's parent's names: True story. Didn't just make them up. Apparently in Japan a character's parents are named after their voice actors, so Yuko and Susumu Yagami are the official names of Tai's 'rents. The things you learn while trolling the net.