Warnings: Blood, mention of nakedness, minor violence, pillow violence, and a surprise.
REVIEW PLEASE! I love hereing opinions and such!
This last month, Takato was pretty damn glad school had let out for summer break. Because if he hadn't, he may have had to skip school way to many times to count.
The former destined couldn't really help other than damage control and helping families cover when the teens were gone for long periods of time- like just two days. So really it was just himself, Henry, Daisuke, Rika, Willis, TK, Hikari, Miyako, Iori and Ken that could do anything. As it was, he couldn't get a hold of Ryo up until two weeks ago, but they found him fighting a few NMB's(Negative Matter Beings). He was staying in the Motomiya compound with the other three Tamers to save money and time. He'd been brought up to speed and was aiding as well.
Fact was, he would have missed way too much school and would have failed his exams because most days they ended up in the Digital World getting rid of those NMB's because they'd started terrorizing villages. The only good thing out of that, was that they hadn't yet attacked Primary Village, where DigiEggs were sent to hatch unless they were partnered. On top of that, they had to watch what was going on because the NMB's constantly tried to nab Daisuke. Luckily, with him around he was able to draw forth Hazard to amp up Guilmon and Veemon both so it was much more difficult for them to get her.
He sighed, running a hand through his brown hair and shaking his head in exasperation as Guilmon rolled over and mumbled something about bread in his sleep. His partner was such a goof.
He glanced up and was met with Renamon leaning against his open doorway. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" She asked smoothly, fox tail swaying a bit.
He nodded, "Probably." He said back quietly. "Mind keeps running in circles though."
"I understand that, mine is as well. Rika only just managed to get to sleep herself."
"Sou ka. What about everyone else?"
"Sleepy peacefully, for the most part. Both Ryo and Daisuke are tossing and turning, but sleeping all the same."
He and Renamon both froze as they heard a muffled yelp from the next room as well as the swift movement of feet followed by a loud crash. That was Daisuke's room. Both shot off and slammed the door open as others came out of their own rooms swiftly, all of them making a beeline for Daisuke's room.
Daisuke stood with her grandfather's old kodaichi in one hand staring at the body of a human formed NMB as it slowly started to disintegrate and vanish. Her hands shook and she was wide eyed as one hand raised to press against her face then draw back. Blood. Black blood. She stared.
Takato hurried forward and removed the blade from her hands before someone startled her and looked her over. She wasn't hurt, which meant the blood…
He heard Ryo take a shaky breathe. "They're getting more and more real."
"I'll call one of the others in the morning…" Jun said quietly, thankful her parents were out for the night. The two adults were frightened enough for their youngest child, they didn't need to see this. "For now, why don't you get her cleaned up, Takato, take her futon into your room. I don't think she needs to be alone right now."
He nodded silently, ushering her into her bathroom, grabbing another sleeping kimono while he was at it. With deft fingers, he quickly used a wet clothe to wipe the blood off her skin, ignoring her shaking for the moment before speaking. "Dai-chan?"
She looked up at him, meeting crimson eyes with wide, terrified cinnamon. "He…it…it looked like Takeru…it's making them look like us now…" She shuddered.
He sighed in his head. It looked like she was too shaken to change her own clothes. He stepped forward and start to slowly untie the plain black obi that kept her kimono shut, giving her plenty of time to stop him. She didn't, mind too out of it to care.
If this was any other time, he'd probably be eager to get her undressed. What guy wouldn't be eager to undress a beautiful girl? But now wasn't the time, so kept himself in his own ironclad control and didn't spare a glance anywhere he didn't need to. As soon as she was redressed, he led her too his room and sat her on her futon. Henry stood back from laying it on the floor and glanced at her before nodding to Takato and heading back towards bed.
"Henry."
The bluenette stopped, turning his head to look at his friend, "Nanni?"
"Tell Jun to go ahead and call one of the others- Izzy so he can get the word out. That one…they're starting to look like us now. She said it looked like TK."
Henry's eyes hardened. He, along with the rest of the Tamers, had taken a liking to the girl, easily calling her a close friend with her usually cheerful demeanor- one that had recently began to fade with the events that'd been happening. It was hard enough taking down NMB's without them beginning to have blood and her friends faces, just the form of a human had all of them unhappy using the weapons from HQ.
"I will." Henry threw Daisuke another worried glance before closing the door softly and leaving to tell the others.
Veemon and Guilmon had both curled up in between the two futon and realized there was nothing they could do so went back to sleep. Takato sat down next to the Hazard Holder and stayed quiet for a bit before speaking up again. "Dai-chan? You know that wasn't Takeru, right?"
She nodded slowly, eyes downcast. "I know…it was just…it was sudden. One moment I'm dreaming about my first time ever seeing a Digimon, and the next thing I know, someone's standing over me. It was a reaction when they reached for me- shit what if that had been you, or Jun or Rika-"
"But it wasn't, and all of us are smart enough not to do that to anyone in this house save your parents and Jun. And we know you enough we could stop you." He told her, "You have to relax, Dai-chan. Your taking on all this stress, and I know your not sleeping well. This is just the top of the ice burg."
"But what if I screw up? The others, I've always been the one to take the lead, always been so calm under pressure and logical that everyone turned to me. What if I order someone to do something and it gets them killed?"
He smiled a bit, "But you won't. Your smart, you listen to your instincts, and the others aren't weak, Daisuke. They can handle themselves. You can't bear all the stress alone, you shouldn't. Hikari's almost as stressed as you, but she knows the whole team- everyone is there for her. You should know that by now, too."
Her lips quirked, "Yea…I should shouldn't I?" She shook her head and kissed him on the cheek, "Arigato, Takato-kun. Go on, get some sleep." She said, slipping under her covers and wondering briefly why she had two pillows.
He grinned as he got in his own futon. "Hai, Taicho."
A pillow hit him in the head.
Daisuke smirked as she closed her eyes. So that was why she had that pillow, she'd have to thank Henry in the morning. Her mind wasn't totally clear, and she knew she was still incredibly stressed, but at least for now, she'd sleep soundly.
One moment. One moment was all it took. One phone call for his blood to drain from his face and him to drop the bowl he'd been carrying to his mother, the ceramic dish shattering on impact. The one day he goes to see his parents for a few hours…
Willis' voice was just as riddled with panic as his thoughts were once the blonde's words registered. "They took Daisuke."
