I really meant to get this up sooner (my usual excuse, sorry), but I was kind of... distracted. First of all, I have over 38k words on the book I'm writing (which is close to 3/4th the length of this story) and then Christmas came up and I got quite a few games, so I haven't been writing much...
This is the last chapter (except the Epilogue, which I will try to get up tonight or tomorrow because I am anticipating it being between 1000 and 2000 words) for this fanfiction. I am happy that I am finally finishing this (for the sake of finishing them, not because I don't like this one because I really do like it). Because this is the (second to) last chapter the action is really starting to go down now. Hope everyone enjoys the happy ending! Enjoy!
I do not own Digimon :'(
Chapter 13: The Ocean
"Are you planning on wearing a trail in the tile?" a voice asked, slightly hollow and shaky and sick-sounding. A cascade of unspoken emotions flooded from those few words, completely portraying the disheveled thoughts jumbled in the officer's head. He was hurting, relieved, physically ill, dead, alive, exhausted, buzzed with adrenaline, ragged, and distressed, yet calm. Part of him just wanted to lie down and not wake up while the other wanted to work long enough that he would fall asleep too tired to dream. His fatherly emotions wanted to help the troubled teenager, but his selfish side wanted to snap and yell at Ken for putting him through that, to scream that the "pain" the teenager was going through was nothing compared to his "pain."
"Mayhap," the bluenette replied, continuing his pacing without removing his eyes from the closed door. The shades were drawn, but turned so that the events inside could be seen. Two forms sat in chairs next to the bed, chatting with each other and routinely sending glances to the sleeping brunette in the bed. Luck had been on his side, the bullet missing any major blood vessels, though it did break part of his shoulder blade; the arm would take a while to recover, and the bullet had to be removed.
"You're not going to go in and see how he's doing?" Takashi asked, sounding a lot older than he actually was. The rush, despite the whole event having taken place a couple hours before, was just starting to seep from his body, the true extend of his exhaustion becoming evident. The chief was already talking about him a week off from work, at the least; paid.
Coming to a stop, he finally tore his gaze from the door, those violet pools turning to drown the officer in their depths. "How? How am I supposed to set foot in that room?" the teenager asked, a consuming sorrow in the calm waters. "I… caused this. It's my fault he was shot. Besides, I already asked a nurse about his condition. He's stable."
Resting a now-frail-looking hand on Ken's shoulder, Takashi gently shoved the fifteen-year-old towards the door. "Just go in and see him," he commanded weakly. "If for no other reason, because it's your duty as a friend."
Chuckling without humor, the bluenette slowly obeyed, taking dragging steps towards the door. His hand rested on the doorknob for a moment, dreading the moment he would open it and have to face the scorn of his companions. The thought of Daisuke's rejection was particularly painful, tearing at his heart and threatening to drag it back into the dark depth he just climbed out of. After all, just hours before the teen had looked at him with disgust.
Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and pushed, flinching as the door gave a cliché creak as it opened, drawing attention to the entering teenager. Closing the door behind himself, Ken silently glided forward, stopping a foot from the foot of the bed and staring down at Daisuke's serene face.
"They said he will wake up any time," Hikari stated, casually standing up. "Just have to wait for the anesthesia to wear off." The boy's only acknowledgement was the slight nodding of his head. Walking almost as quietly as Ken had, the girl stopped once she was next to the obviously troubled teen. Reaching out and touching his arm, she jerked back when he flinched, startled by the unexpected movement. "I saw you pacing outside the door. Why's it take so long for you to come in?" she asked.
"I did not know if I should have of not," he replied, releasing a sigh. "I could not act as if I had no part in it because it was your association with me that led to your kidnapping." Looking from the girl to his best friend still lying in the hospital bed, he added, "I think I should be going now."
A tanned hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him mid-turn. "I think you should be here when he wakes," Taichi corrected, half-steering, half-dragging the younger boy backwards and plopping him in the third chair set up between him and his sister. "Let Daisuke dismiss you if he wants you to go," the older soccer player said, grinning like the idiot he was.
Smiling despite the situation, Ken hung his head defeatedly and waited patiently, hands folded in his lap and peeking out from under his bangs when the door opened. Yamato and Takeru were the next to arrive, the two rushing to their respective partners. The two brunettes quickly summarized what had happened, the younger blonde momentarily glaring daggers at the bluenette. His anger was short-lived, though, the boy calming down once he took a few deep breaths. Most of it went unnoticed to Ken, whose main focus was the injured teenager. The other members of their group showed up within the next half-hour, the short version of what happened being retold over and over again to inform the new arrivals. It hurt his ears more and more each time, a continual reminder of the difference between the worlds they were raised in. Iori was the only one who seemed to hold him in any contempt for what had happened. Though the quiet boy didn't voice his objections Ken could feel them assaulting him.
A low moaning drew eleven pairs of eyes towards the bed, Ken inwardly chuckling at the analogy his mind made to a pack of hyenas looking on at their injured prey. Now if only their eyes could glow…
"Ken?" was the first thing out of the brunette's mouth, mahogany orbs focusing on the unassuming boy. The dim light casted enough shadows to hide the bluenette's blush at Daisuke's delighted smile. "Ken, I was afraid you wouldn't be here. I figured you'd have slinked off somewhere before I woke."
"He tried to," Hikari replied, giggling slightly at the annoyed look that passed over the other brunette's face.
"I do not belong here," Ken started, trying to find a way to get his point across. "Or have you all forgotten in the last few minutes that I was raised an assassin? I am the Kaizer, the prodigy meant to take over as the next Ace."
"But you said so yourself, didn't you?" Daisuke asked, hissing in pain as he tried to sit up straighter. "You don't want to be."
"At one point I did," he truthfully replied. "Then I learned what it meant to be human, but I will always have that killer inside me. The things I was taught as a child will never go away. I will always know how to shoot a gun, I will always have that cold, calculating side, and I will always be indifferent to death."
"You cared about us, though," the girl said. "You feared for Daisuke's life."
"Don't worry about it," the idiotic teenager said before Ken could come up with a reply. "You got rid of them, right? So it doesn't matter." Daisuke gently took on of Ken's hands in his, stretching as far as he possibly could to obtain his prize and not letting go. To prevent the blockhead from injuring himself farther, Ken scooted to the edge of his seat, closer to the bed. "Right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ken agreed, his tone indicating he would be carrying this around for a while to come.
Clearing her throat, Hikari stood and mischievously bounced over to the bed, whispering something into the hospitalized boy's ear. He seemed to perk up at whatever it was, and for a moment Ken feared what it might be. "Hikari said they all usually go to her grandparents' beach house for a month in the summer," Daisuke said. "Since this is the first year we've actually been friends with them we didn't really know. She wanted me to ask you to come too, since you normally decline when someone else asks."
Chewing on his lip for a moment, the bluenette looked down, trying to decide his answer.
"You sure you have everything packed?" An overly worried Takashi asked, scouring the barren room for whatever might have been missed.
"Yes, I have everything," Ken grumbled for the seventh time. This had to be worse than when he moved out of his cell and into an apartment with the police officer.
"You have a weeks worth of clothing?" he asked.
"Yes," the teenager replied, heaving a bag over his shoulder.
"Don't forget to wash them," Takashi reminded, lifting another from the floor.
"I know," Ken mechanically replied. They had, after all, done this at least twice the night before, and four times that morning.
"Swim trunks? Sunscreen? Clean underwear?" the adult inquired, leading the way down the stairs.
"Yes, yes, and no; I plan to go commando," Ken answered, shaking his head at the shocked look the uniform sent him. "I was being sarcastic. Yes, I have fresh underwear."
"Good," Takashi said dominantly, continuing to the caravan of vehicles that would bring the twelve children for the next twenty-four days. "And stay out of the girls' rooms!"
"Why the hell would I want to go in one of those hell-holes?" the boy asked, seeming genuinely afraid of them for some reason. Chuckles could be heard from inside the van, so someone must have known what Ken was talking about. Takashi didn't, though, so he gave the boy another inquiring look. "Last time I was left alone with them, because Daisuke, Takeru, and Iori went to buy some more snacks, Jyou and Koushirou had too much homework to make it, and Taichi and Yamato were off, uh, somewhere (most likely having sex, he added to himself), I got stuck playing dress-up. I will not tell you what happened, but know I have no intention of repeating it."
"Alright, I won't ask," Takashi assured, closing the truck and clasping the teenager on the arm in acknowledgement before letting him run towards the car he would be travel in.
"See you in a month!" he yelled back, clamoring in next to his best friend.
"Have fun," the officer said back, more to himself than the teenager; it was too quiet for Ken to have heard him anyway. He was left standing there on the sidewalk as the cars drove off.
The drive, though it was eight hours long and required a pit stop or two, went by quickly for the friends. Most of them could barely contain their excitement, once they got there, long enough to toss their bags into the house. Taichi was already stripping into his swim trucks, which he conveniently had worn under his clothes, as it appeared Daisuke had, too. A slower moving Yamato walked over to Ken, splashing some cold gel onto the boy's back.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the teenager jumped, shocked by the sudden coolness.
"Putting sunscreen on you," the blonde replied showing him the bottle he'd taken from Ken's bag while the bluenette was slowly removing his shirt. "Your skin is so pale that you will do nothing but burn without it; trust me, I know."
"Thanks," Ken replied, rummaging through the contents of his bag until he spotted his own trunks. "I'll be right back." Changing in the bathroom, he came back out to finish putting on the protective liquid, helping Yamato with his back since it wasn't the easiest place to reach. The blonde was then quickly lured into a game of volleyball, Ken respectfully declining and standing off to the side.
Hikari hit the ball wrong on accident, sending it flying way too far and high, Daisuke calling that he would go get it as it rolled in the sand and rested at Ken's feet. Feeling unusually playful, he kicked the ball away right as the brunette reached down to pick it up, smiling down innocently. That made Daisuke retaliate by tackling him to the sand, the others (including other beachgoers that they didn't know) gathering around them, momentarily forgetting about the game. Tan hands ruthlessly tickled pale sides, the unfortunate bluenette desperately trying to wriggle free of his best friend's grasp. Cheers and hollers for both sides sounded for a few minutes, the commotion dying down once Daisuke realized Ken was having trouble breathing. "That's what you get for kicking the ball away," he said, acting all high-and-mighty.
"Okay, I'll remember that," Ken replied mockingly, humoring the playful teenager.
They laid there for another moment, continuing to catch their breaths. Most of the onlookers moved on, the entertainment from the situation gone. Grinning down at the violet-eyed teen, Daisuke was about to get up when he stopped. Ken was about to ask what was wrong when he realized the brunette's face was getting closer. Their lips touched gingerly at first, as if Daisuke was testing the waters. Heat rose to Ken's face, and when he didn't push the other boy away the soccer star put a bit more force behind the kiss. Acting on instinct, Ken responded, reaching up behind Daisuke's head and opening his mouth when the other teenager's tongue grazed his lower lip.
"Mommy, what are they doing?" a young voice asked.
"Just ignore them and keep walking," a woman, most likely the child's mother, replied. The noise startled them, breaking the kiss and the moment it had created.
"Come on, you two lovebirds!" Taichi yelled, deepening their embarrassment. "We need to finish this game then head back. We all have a good deal of unpacking to do!" He turned then, saying something to Hikari that Daisuke couldn't hear. Ken read their lips, though, and felt his face heat up a bit more.
I told you we'd only need one extra room.
As I said a the top, there will be an Epilogue for this. I will try to get it up in the next couple days (I meant to have this finished by Christmas as a present for you guys, but failed...). I hope you will enjoy the conclusion of this fanfiction!