(a/n) Every chapter will be a one-shot dedicated to each digidestined.
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[TAXI DRIVER]
FINAL CHAPTER
takeru
one father to another
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The taxi driver knew there was something wrong with the man when he glided onto the front seat.
It wasn't often, or very rarely, that any of his passengers would sit shotgun. Most passengers opted to take the back seat, preferring their own privacy. However, it wasn't the case with this man. He didn't seem the least bit insecure. How could he when it was difficult to miss the bright lime necktie that he wore, contrasting with his grey suit. Not to mention, the fact, that he was deluged in strong, yet pleasant, scenting cologne.
He screamed confidence, but the passenger's fashion sense was questionable.
That taxi driver mused to himself what the man was trying to prove, dressing like a clown. Who was he trying to impress? It was enough that the passenger had blond hair, but to dress in rather a vibrant manner was quite not right.
Before the taxi driver could study his latest customer more intently, the man's lips curved upwards as he addressed him, "Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Takeru. Takaishi Takeru. How are you? Isn't the weather splendid today? Do you like this weather?"
Like how rare it was for somebody to sit shotgun, it was just as rare for somebody to formally introduce themselves as soon as they'd enter the vehicle and ask how his day had been. The taxi driver had grown accustomed to his passengers ordering him a location, and treating him like wallpaper. On rare occasions did the driver chauffeur around the conversational type.
"It's quite nice." The taxi driver agreed, gazing up at the cloudless sky.
Summer was trickling in and it was only last week that the taxi driver had begun to utilise the AC after it had been on hibernation mode since last September. If anything, the sunshine and quirkiness matched well with the driver's current passenger. He definitely was an oddball, doused in extreme positivity.
Just as the taxi driver was about to ask the passenger where he desired to go, the man wound down the window and called out – in broken English – to a couple standing on the corner of the road. "Come here!"
The couple were definitely of foreign origin. They clutched onto a map, and were stretching it out, battling the strong wind in the process. Upon hearing Takeru yell out at them, the foreigners made their way to the taxi, gazing at the taxi driver's passenger in a hopeful manner.
"S...Sky Tree?" The woman stuttered with a heavy accent. The taxi driver could sense they were European, possibly Italian?
"The Sky Tree Tower?" Takeru reaffirmed, giving a nod. His passenger gestured for the couple to bring the map closer. From the open window, Takeru slowly traced a line through the map. "Take..er, left. Then right? And left. And another left after. Ten minutes from here. Yes."
The older man couldn't believe how confident his passenger was speaking in his not-so-fluent English. It was plausible and definitely something the taxi driver could ever dream of doing. Takeru appeared to be the type that liked taking action, and disliked sitting around doing nothing. He was a busy-body. Takeru had seen a couple in need of a hand, and he did not turn his head away and pretend that they didn't exist; as many people often did. He had actually helped them and genuinely wanted to.
Despite being an oddball, the taxi driver's customer truly was good-natured. A lot could be observed of a person's nature in a few minutes. It was something, a habit, that the taxi driver had inherited after driving a multitude of passengers during his entire working career.
It took Takeru another few minutes, going over the directions once again, until it made sense to the couple. Once understanding Takeru's instructions, the couple bowed at the passenger, expressing their immense gratitude before leaving the vehicle's side.
"Sorry about that. Um...Odaiba High please?" Takeru scratched the back of his head, chuckling. "Sorry again. I always seem to get side-tracked and distracted easily, but it looked like they needed help and-"
"It was kind thing for you to do, young man," The taxi driver cut him off. There was no point in his passenger apologising when he had done nothing wrong.
However, the taxi driver felt like he regretted being cordial with the man because as soon as he had brushed off the apology, the passenger went into full force, talking away like his life depended on it.
As well as being an oddball, the man was a...chatterbox? Good grief.
"...you see, it's going to be really exciting!" Takeru beamed widely. "I haven't been to my high school since I graduated, and now it is our ten year reunion! I even met my wife there. It's a shame that she can't attend because she's pregnant with baby number three now. It looks like you have three kids too."
The taxi driver blinked, rather surprised how his passenger knew that he also had children. When he gave a sideway glance at the passenger, he noted that he had helped himself to taking the photograph that was hanging from the rearview mirror. It was an old photo, the colour was slowly starting to decay...but ever since the taxi driver and his family had taken the photo, he had hung it up and hadn't taken it off ever since. His family was a reminder of what he did, and why he worked. And he loved them dearly.
"What are their names?"
The taxi-driver gave a lopsided smile as he thought about his children. "Souta, Chiyako and Takumi."
"I love names and finding their origins. Isn't it interesting and fascinating how people interpret others based on what they're called. Sometimes the stories behind them are great to know too. Parents name their children after memories, stories, other family members, or simply by how warm and charming they sound. Names are very important, don't you think?"
"Very." The taxi driver frowned, thinking of his own name. He had coped many people, in his life, repeating his name as it was peculiar-sounding and not a common name. "My name was one that would always get teased."
"They were probably jealous." Takeru scoffed. "Because I think it's a unique name. People are sometimes scared of change, or getting out of the norm. But we can't have that all the time, right? It would be boring."
The taxi driver chuckled. By now, he wasn't even the slightest bit peeved when he saw his passenger was now looking at his ID card that was positioned right under the photograph of his family.
"I'm in the process of finding a name for my latest kid," Takeru sighed. "It's difficult when you're really choosey like me. But having the job of picking a name for your child is really hard. My wife named Karina, so it's my turn to find a name for our next child. What are your children like?"
The taxi driver smiled broadly.
He always enjoyed taking the opportunity to brag about his children. What parent didn't?
The taxi driver started to ramble, "Souta is, like me, obsessed with baseball. I think if he keeps practicing, he could even make it a career. Or perhaps track? He's a fast runner. When he was a toddler, he'd run circles around me so many times that I'd get dizzy. He's quite the athlete."
While talking, the taxi drove the car onto the highway, heading towards Odaiba.
"Chiyako is the loudest, and the only girl. She's always listening to bands and her main focus is to be a musician. She sings very well and plays three instruments. And Takumi? He's the youngest, but he draws really well. I wouldn't be all that shocked if he becomes an architect. He's always liked staring at buildings and asking me how they are made, and what they are made of. Sometimes, he makes me drive him around so that he can stare at all the buildings we drive past…"
"So, basically, you're a very family orientated man. Love baseball...probably the Hanshin Tigers, right? I'm taking a stab on that team because you have a Kansai dialect, which also means you love your takoyaki, and you probably have a takoyaki maker at home-"
The taxi driver gaped. "What are you? Psychic?"
Takeru chuckled. "No. But, I've been told, that I'm good at reading people."
"Then you are a psychic," the taxi driver concluded.
His passenger chuckled harder.
The taxi driver added, "And your English is good too, seeing how well you spoke to the foreigners back there."
"It's not the best," Takeru said, humbly. "Though, I did study English a lot when I was in college. It's not as good as it used to be. I found that the best texts and literature are in English. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from Japanese literature and read something different-"
"I thought speaking English was hard, but you read novels in English too?" The taxi driver questioned, which his passenger replied with a nod. "You truly are a capable, young man."
His passenger smiled. "Thank you. We should continue this exchange of words. You compliment me about something; and I'll compliment you. It'll be a fun game."
The taxi driver guffawed. It had been a while since he had laughed this hard. And oddball, psychic and a chatterbox. This passenger was one of the most amusing customers he had driven for months.
"I'm guessing you like reading then?"
"Yes." Takeru explained, "I majored in literature. After I graduated university, I worked at a local newspaper and eventually made a name for myself. Currently, I'm writing a series of mystery novels...it's funny because I always saw myself as a screenwriter or a journalist. I actually hated reading mystery novels, but I found myself here. And, you know what? I'm enjoying it."
"You've accomplished a lot. Good for you," The taxi driver sincerely replied.
It was no joke. Takeru really liked to talk a lot.
"Over here," Takeru directed when they were close to the school.
The taxi driver raised an eyebrow. "But there are still many metres to go..."
"We're actually having a picnic across from the school at the park," Takeru told him. "It's a ten year reunion, but it's only between my close friends and I. My brother's even going to been there, despite being years older than me...and I'm excited to taste Mimi's pastries, and Daisuke's ramen. Oh, and I hear Taichi's brought enough kegs of beer, heavy enough to make a tsunami on Tokyo Bay-"
Although the taxi driver no longer knew what the younger man was talking about, he found himself nodding along. He parked the vehicle where his passenger specified. Takeru extended his arm and touched his credit card against the EFTPOS machine, immediately paying the fair.
To his surprise, though the taxi driver shouldn't be surprised anymore by his customer, the man clapped a hand on his shoulder. It was another uncommon thing that none of his customers never dared to do.
"Thank you," Takeru said, tone appreciative.
"You're welcome."
"Speaking from one father to another, keep doing a great job. Your children are lucky to have somebody like you."
"And you too," The taxi driver responded.
Takeru grinned. "I hope we meet again, Gennai-san. Thanks for the talk."
His passenger didn't address him as 'taxi driver', or old man, or sir...just 'Gennai'.
It was the taxi driver's actual name.
Takeru had gone out of the way to read the older man's identification badge without his permission, having sought his name and making an effort to distinguish him out of the large amount of other taxi drivers that roamed Tokyo City. In a way, the taxi driver was rather touched by his passenger.
Gennai returned, with an equally large grin, "You're welcome, Takeru-kun."
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(a/n) It's done! Thanks for reading this fanfic, guys :) It was a whole lot of fun to write & was different to what I usually write. I was enjoyable writing and studying each DigiDestined character in the process. I hope you enjoyed reading Taxi Driver too! :)
As all the one-shots are not set in a chronological order, I decided against linking all the stories together. I just don't think it would have worked out smoothly. However, it was a nice musing/suggestion Staria's Light & j8919 ;)
I started this fanfic before Gennai turned all creepy in Digimon Tri. Haha. I tried my best to stop myself from writing Gennai's name in the previous chapters. This is the big reveal that I've been disguising from the beginning of the story xD
Again, THANK YOU FOR READING. xoxo
P.S. I'll reply to reviews tomorrow...or later today. It's already past 2am and I need to start work in 5 hours xD