Recognizing a terrible oversight I made, I was forced to go back and rewrite the end of chapter 6 ("Tea"). If you have read that chapter prior to June 3, 2001, you'll have to go back and read it again. Otherwise much of this chapter will make little sense. To the peeps who have just started reading this series, don't worry about that. It's all cleared up now.
Chapter 9 Takeru was shaken from his nap, one of the most pleasant he had ever
taken in a car before; Daisuke's thigh made such a nice pillow. Are
we here already?
"Wake up Takeru, we're here," Daisuke announced.
"Wha…where?"
"At your building, now get up before you drool all over me!" He
picked Takeru's head off his lap and opened the backseat door. The
dome light flickered on, illuminating them as well as Taichi and Yamato
in the front seat.
"Say hi to mom for me." Yamato said.
"Sure." Takeru didn't even have to tell his brother to give the
same message to their father. Their system had become automatic and
probably would continue even if they stopped relating greetings to each
other. Dad's probably sleeping now anyway, Takeru thought.
Fat chance Yamato will remember to tell him. It didn't really
matter though. Takeru knew that he would see his father later in
the week regardless. He said goodbye to his brother and shut the
door.
It had been a great day. Everyone just seemed so…happy.
After leaving the airport they drove around Tokyo, not having any destination
in mind but just enjoying the ride. Eventually they stopped at a
sushi bar, not one of Tokyo's finest but the only one within their budget.
They convinced Wallace that it was the finest establishment in the city,
where in reality it was really a dive that bought its fish from the leftover
catch at the market. They also told him that eating sushi, and liking
it, was necessary if he was going to be accepted into their culture.
Obviously there was no such rite of passage, but nevertheless, he dug in
and found that it wasn't too bad. At least that's what he said,
Takeru thought, remembering the look on his face when he swallowed his
first bite. Talking to Wallace, Takeru pondered the possibility of
becoming good friends with him. They got along great, and he didn't
see any reason why they wouldn't. Well, first he'd have to pull
himself away from Hikari for a second. They sure seemed happy to
see each other.
After that, they drove him to his new apartment, which Wallace only
knew by the address. They all knew exactly where it was, right in
the middle of the island and close to all of their buildings. They
met his father and stayed until Wallace could barely keep his eyes open.
Takeru didn't remember much after that, as he himself had fallen asleep
in the car. Daisuke told him that they dropped off Hikari, and that
Yamato and Taichi were going out.
"Going out where?" he asked.
"How should I know? Let's go, it's chilly out here," Daisuke replied.
As they ascended the stairs to the entrance of his building, Takeru
imagined how good it would feel to fall asleep in Daisuke's arms again.
It started almost a month ago, almost by accident when while watching a
movie on Daisuke's bed. Thank God Jun didn't catch us!
It wouldn't have meant anything, not if Takeru wasn't in love with his
best friend. He felt bad enough that morning, guilty and ashamed
of what Daisuke would have thought if he knew how Takeru felt about him.
It was Daisuke, however, that came out and confessed his feelings to Takeru,
and since then they had shared everything with each other and done everything
except…well, that can wait.
Except for Yamato, no one in either of their families suspected a thing.
Daisuke had already called his mother from the restaurant, making sure
he had permission to stay out again. Takeru could tell what her answer
was from the expression on his friend's face as he walked back to their
table. It wasn't unusual for Takeru's mother to come home for part
of the day and return to the office later. Tonight she had to help
put the Sunday paper to bed, and wouldn't be home until the early hours
of the morning.
Takeru opened the front door of the building and they walked into the
dimly lit silent lobby. The echo of their footsteps on the marble
floor reverberated throughout the room, the only sound until Takeru pressed
the button to call the elevator down. A slow groan of winding cable
and humming hydraulics could be heard as the lift descended to their level,
finally signaled by the comforting "ping" tone as it reached the bottom
floor. As the door closed behind them, Daisuke slipped his arm around
Takeru's waist.
"Daisuke!" Takeru giggled. "What're you doing?"
"What do you mean?" Daisuke replied, backing Takeru into the corner
of the elevator as the doors closed behind them. "You don't want
to?"
"Not here!" Takeru insisted, trying to keep his voice down. He
didn't want to anyone to hear them, although that was not very likely.
He pushed the button for his floor, and the elevator began ascending.
"What's wrong, are you afraid that we'll get caught?" Daisuke asked
Takeru in his 'what are you, scared?' voice. Before he could answer
Daisuke slipped his hands under Takeru's shirt and wrapped his arms around
him, pulling him close. Before he could do anything Daisuke pulled
him into a kiss, their tongues intertwining and spiraling as Daisuke caressed
Takeru's chest. Takeru would have given in to his friend's spontaneous
advances but knew that it couldn't last much longer. In a few seconds
the doors would open.
"Mmmmpf! Dai…Daisuke!"
He relaxed his grip on Takeru. "Huh?"
"The elevator?"
"Oh, right." He gave him another kiss and pulled his arms out
of Takeru's shirt. He quickly untucked his shirt, allowing it to
hang loosely past his waist as the doors opened. The hallway was
dark, quiet and empty.
"Wait until we get inside, okay Daisuke? Can you last that long?"
Takeru said, keeping his voice down so as not to arouse the suspicions
of any light-sleeping neighbors. He trusted his friend to hold to
their promise and respect the rules they had agreed on. It was too
early to go any farther than they already had, not when their families
still didn't know. He took his key from his pocket and inserted it
in the lock.
"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked.
"The door's already unlocked."
"Did you remember to lock it this morning?"
"Yeah, I know I did."
"Is your mom home?"
"She's supposed to be at work. There's no way she'd be back this
early." That was wishful thinking though, and it looked like they
would have to keep it down if Daisuke was going to sleep over. Maybe
this is a bad idea, he thought. His mom didn't care if he had
guests sleep over, but he didn't want his mom catching on, not yet.
He quietly opened the door and saw that the kitchen light was on.
Looks like our plans are off.
"Hey Takeru, check this out." Daisuke said, picking a note off the counter.
Takeru read it. If she's home, then why did she leave this
note? "I guess she's not here."
"See, there's nothing to worry about," Daisuke said, taking the note
from Takeru and caressing his cheek.
"But why did she leave the lights on?" Something's not right.
"So we wouldn't have to make out in the dark," Daisuke said, wrapping
his arms around Takeru from behind.
"Daisuke, I'm serious!"
"Don't worry, everything's fine," he said. "You need to relax.
Go lie on the couch, I'm going to get something to eat."
Sure Daisuke, help yourself, he thought as he walked into the
living room. "Alright, just stay out of the tuna." Takeru's
mom never approved of his habit of leaping over the back of the couch in
high jump fashion whenever he would lay down, but he relished the chance
to do so without reprimand. He found no more satisfying way to crash
after a long day. The light from the kitchen dimly illuminated the
living room, but he could still see where everything was. He hopped
over the back of the sofa and let himself fall onto the soft cushions.
At first he thought he had landed on his mom, but was actually relieved
when he saw Koushiro on the floor, doubled over and clutching his chest.
"Koushiro? What are you doing here?"
He choked out an answer. "I was visiting Miyako and thought I'd
stop by. I found this in the door and thought I'd wait up for you,"
he said, pulling a familiar looking key out of his pocket.
"Oh, that's my mom for you. She forgets it all the time," Takeru
said.
Daisuke came out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was all about.
"Hey, who's…oh, hi Koushiro." He was eating a banana.
"Are you alright?" Takeru asked.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine, just a few cracked ribs," he joked.
"I knew you'd be returning soon, I hope you don't mind my unannounced intrusion."
"No prob Koushiro," Takeru assured him. "Mi casa, su casa."
"What?" Daisuke asked.
"Listen, I need to talk to both of you. It's very serious."
"What is it?" Takeru asked, picking himself off the floor and sitting
down on the couch.
"Yeah, what's the big news? Did you just upgrade your laptop or
something?" Daisuke joked as he sat down next to Takeru.
"I'm not kidding Daisuke, this is serious. Before I say anything
you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone about
this. Do you understand?"
"Of course Koushiro. We won't tell anyone." Takeru replied.
What's going on? Why is Koushiro acting like this?
"Mmm…" Daisuke swallowed a bite of his banana. "Don't worry, my
lips are sealed."
"It's about one of our friends."
Takeru shuddered at those words. What happened? Hikari?
Ken? Miyako? He tried to compose himself, bracing for the
worst. He looked over at Daisuke, who was struggling to swallow the
last bite of his snack.
"What?" Daisuke shouted. With a mouthful of banana, it was
hard to take him seriously.
"I'm going to tell you. Just calm down, okay?" Koushiro said.
"Yeah chill out," Takeru said, holding his hand.
"Miyako told me something today, and she made me promise that I would
keep it a secret. I feel awful about it, but I have to tell someone,
especially someone who cares about her like each of you."
"Well of course we do," Takeru said. Is she okay?
"We won't tell anyone, we promise. Right Daisuke?"
"Hey, scout's honor!" He said, holding up two fingers.
"They're not supposed to be crossed like that."
"Oh?" Daisuke blushed. "Sorry…I swear it. I won't tell a
soul."
Koushiro took a deep breath. "Miyako and I were walking down the
boardwalk today..."
"Did you kiss her?" Daisuke asked. "What was it like?"
Takeru pressed his thumb against Daisuke's forehead, pushing him back
against the couch. "I'm sorry Koushiro, you have our full attention
now," Takeru said. "Right?"
"Full…attention…" Daisuke moaned.
"Okay. This isn't easy for me to say, so I'm just going to tell
you in plain and simple terms. Miyako…" He paused, searching for
the right words.
Daisuke tried to coach him along. "Miyako…"
"Miyako was raped." It was just as he said, in plain and simple
terms.
Takeru sat shocked. What? How? He was hardly
prepared for anything like that.
Daisuke spoke up. "What? By who?"
"It's someone you know." Koushiro replied. "It's hard to believe…"
Daisuke glared at him. "Who?" He looked like he would jump
out of his seat and choke the answer out of Koushiro if he did not tell
him immediately.
"It was," Koushiro paused, still struggling to get the words out.
"It was Iori's grandfather..."
"Mr. Hida?" Takeru asked. I can't believe it! Daisuke
was at a loss for words as well, for once.
"…and Iori too."
"Iori?" Takeru gasped. "That's impossible!" For once he
wanted to stick up for him. It wasn't something he wanted to believe.
"It happened about three years ago." Koushiro recalled, blankly staring
at the floor. "At least that's what she told me. I don't really
know what brought it up today, but she's been repressing it for years.
It just…came out."
Takeru still couldn't believe it. Three years ago? Iori
was only…seven? Eight? How was it possible? "When?
How did he…"
"She told me that it was in the dojo," Koushiro said, closing his eyes
and hanging his head. "That's where…that's where he did it."
Takeru was confused. "Miyako never took any kendo lessons."
"She wasn't allowed to, she was doing it in secret," Koushiro replied.
He sat back in his chair. "That's partly why she never told her parents,
and why we never knew about it."
"But…Iori?" Daisuke stammered.
"I don't know how to explain it, but after Mr. Hida…" He broke off,
struggling to get the words out. He somehow found the strength and
eventually told them everything, trying to omit the horrible details but
telling them enough that Takeru felt his stomach turn.
"So that's it," Koushiro said. "I didn't know what to do, and
that's why I came to you. There's nowhere else I could turn."
"It's alright," Takeru said. "Obviously what we have to do now
is tell the police. They can handle it." There's no way
that bastard will live to see the end of his sentence. He'll never
touch her again.
"Yeah," Daisuke added. "Case closed, problem solved. What
are we waiting for?"
"It's not that simple. Mr. Hida is one of the most respected men
in Odabia, and going to the police without any evidence wouldn't get him
convicted," Koushiro said. "Besides, if we do that then Miyako will
know that I told you."
"Who cares what you promised?" Daisuke screamed. "We can't let
him get away with that!"
"You think that Miyako would want to take the stand against him?" Koushiro
asked. "There's no way that she'll hold up in court."
"Then we at least have to tell her parents!" Daisuke replied.
"She doesn't want them to know."
"Why not?"
"She just doesn't," Koushiro replied. "She doesn't think they
will believe her."
"So what are you saying?" asked Takeru. "Iori and Mr. Hida are
just going to get off free?" He was expecting Koushiro to have an
answer as he always did, but his friend was silent. Takeru could
tell that he was thinking, but he looked just as confused as either of
them. There has to be something we can do.
"That could have been any one of us." Daisuke said.
"What are you talking about?" Koushiro asked, looking very confused.
"Every time I've seen Mr. Hida he practically begs me to join kendo.
He was all over me like Jun on your brother," Daisuke said to Takeru.
"Or at least like she dreams of. Just ask Takeru."
"He's come on to both of us before," Takeru told him. I don't
even want to know what he could have been thinking.
"Are you saying he's gay?" Koushiro exclaimed. "No offense."
"All we know is that he's sick…and that he's probably done this before
to who knows how many kids!" Takeru replied.
"If we can't tell anyone then we'll just have to take matters into our
own hands!" Daisuke declared.
"Calm down Daisuke. I'm just as upset about this as you are, but
we need to be rational. We can't just think about revenge," Koushiro
reminded them. "I'm sure there are perfectly logical ways of resolving
this."
"Yeah, like taking care of it ourselves!" Daisuke replied.
Takeru could tell that he wasn't kidding. "What?"
"Think about it Takeru! You know what he deserves for this.
What else could we possibly do?"
"You think about it! How do you know you won't get caught?" Takeru
pleaded. He knew that Daisuke was impossible to persuade, but he
tried nevertheless.
"I know when he's alone. He's in the dojo everyday, probably picking
out his next victim from the children's class!" Daisuke said. He
was hysterical now.
"What are you going to do? You want to take on a nanadan-ranked
kendo master? With what Daisuke? You wouldn't last a second!"
Takeru reasoned with him. "Not to mention what would happen if you
killed Iori. Our whole team would be thrown off balance. We're
still the guardians of the digital world and if anything happens who knows
if we'll be able to defend it?" He wasn't petitioning for Iori's
life, but trying to keep things in perspective.
"What are you talking about? We'll still have two ultimate-level
Digimon and a champion to fight with," Daisuke reminded him.
"But we're stronger now! There's nothing that the five of us can't
handle if we stick together!"
"Look, we can't just jump to conclusions and employ drastic measures
until we understand the ramifications of our actions," Koushiro replied.
"I want to kill the son of a bitch more than you do, but we need to think
rationally."
Taken aback by Koushiro's sudden outburst, Takeru was glad that he had
someone else to set Daisuke straight. He didn't want his boyfriend
ending up in prison the rest of his life, or worse. "Right…so what
do we do?"
"If we don't do anything else, we have to get that tape back," Koushiro
said. "I don't want it falling into the wrong hands, and if worse
comes to worse, we can show it to the police. That's all the evidence
they would need to see to arrest Mr. Hida."
"Great," Takeru replied. "So where are we going to find it, assuming
that it still exists?" He didn't want to burst their bubble, but
he thought the chances of them stumbling on to it were slim to none.
Neither Daisuke nor Koushiro seemed to have any ideas either. It
could be stashed away just about anywhere. If it's in Mr. Hida's
home, we'll never find it. Unless… "Wait, I think I know where
it could be."
"What? Where?" Koushiro asked.
"Daisuke, do you remember the shelves in the back of Mr. Hida's office?"
Takeru asked him.
"Yeah," Daisuke replied. "They had tons of tapes on them.
Videos of promotions, tournaments…"
"Do you really think that's all that's there?" Takeru asked.
"Well, yeah. Do you think that he would just leave it in his office?"
"Do you have any better ideas?" Takeru asked. "I know it sounds
far-fetched but we have to start somewhere."
"Okay, so we'll just walk in and ask to browse his collection?"
Daisuke sarcastically replied.
"I don't know how we would get to it," Takeru said. "I'm just
saying that I think that's where it is." Breaking in was out of the
question. It was in a very highly populated area, and even if they
weren't spotted, the alarm would certainly give away their presence.
"Daisuke, how many tapes are we talking about?" Koushiro asked.
"I don't know…like, a hundred maybe?"
"I have an idea, but it we'll need someone else," he said. "Is
there anyone else that we could trust?"
"Are you kidding?" Daisuke said. Without a moment's hesitation
he got up and went to the phone. It was only a few seconds after
he dialed a number that his call was answered..
"Hello?"
"Hey, this is Daisuke Motomiya. Is Ken home?"
...end of chapter 9
"So you think that the five of us can defend the digital world?
We barely escaped with our lives when we were fighting Malomyotismon!"
It took all of our Digimon times three to send him back to the digital
world, and even that wasn't enough to defeat him.