I don't own Digimon, or Yamato, or his pert butt. I do however, own Gabumon! ::hit by various objects:: O-o;;
Broken Angels
Part 6
"TAKERU!!" Hikari screamed, running towards the front door just as Taichi came walking back in. Reaching for the handle of the door, Hikari felt the tears stream down her face. She then felt Taichi's arms wrap around her waist and tighten. "Taichi! Let me go! Takeru...he needs help!"
He picked her up over his shoulder and carried her to their room. Closing the door with his foot, he threw her on her bed and stepped back, wiping his brow. "He doesn't need any help. He can take care of himself."
She rolled over in anger, burying her face in her pillow and sobbed loudly. Taichi watched helplessly as her body became racked with loud sobs. Now his feelings were churning inside his stomach. Now I'm feeling like a jerk...but I can't stand the thought of looking at him! When I do, I see Yamato in his eyes...those same cerulean eyes and the hair, and the smile that could make any girl melt along with the voice.
Taichi took his socks off and slid out of his shirt. "I'm taking a shower...," he muttered. He slowly made his way to the bathroom, looking back into his room at the still continuing crying Hikari. Sighing, he closed the bathroom door and turned the water on, then slipping out of his pants and underwear, and got in. The hot water felt good. It soothed him. Still, it led to no satisfaction deep inside his heart.
He stood there under the hot water pouring from the shower head, unsure of what he should do. "But...Yamato is a jerk! Why should I forgive him?! Hmph! Sorry Hikari, it has to stay this way!"
While showering, Hikari quickly got out of bed, still crying, and quietly made her way out the front door. Takeru wasn't there. Her heart skipped a beat. "No..."
Flying down the stairs of the apartment in her bare feet, she felt the warm tears run down again. "Please be ok...please be ok...," she continued to repeat outloud. Suddenly, she saw him, curled up in a tight ball, his body shaking as he cried quietly.
"Oh, Takeru!" she cried, running down the flight of stairs towards him. It seemed like an eternity when she finally reached him, kneeling down beside him and reached out to him. Her hands shook as she took his head in her hands and looked at him. A bruise was appearing near his left eye now, a bright blue and purple. She cried even more, looking at his pained face and the tears that rolled down it.
"H-Hikari...," he gasped as he sobbed. "S-S-So..."
"Don't talk!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his head and buried her face in his moist hair. Sobbing into it, she felt Takeru reach up and wrap his arms around her. His body trembled, and so did hers. They stayed that way for a while, and then she finally had no more tears to cry. Wiping her eyes, she caught her breath, breathing in the sweet smell from Takeru's hair.
Takeru had also calmed down. Thinking he was asleep again, she lifted her head and looked at him. He was wide awake, but had stopped crying. His eyes met hers, and they both turned slightly red. They grinned at each other, and he quickly kissed her on the cheek. "Your face tastes salty," he joked.
Surprised by the sudden action, she grinned even wider, and giggled about his comment. "I bet yours does, too."
"Let's go somewhere else," Takeru said.
"I would...but we have no where else to go...and Taichi is mad enough already."
"I know..."
"We'll meet tomorrow, ok? At the park, around lunch. Get some rest. I'll call someone to come take care of you so get well. I'll be expecting you."
He nodded, and she brushed her lips against his cheek. "I'll help you home."
"No need to, I'll do it," a voice replied.
They both looked over to see Jou standing at the steps. He grinned. "I'm psychic."
"I'm sure you are," Hikari said in a relieved tone.
Jou picked Takeru up in his arms with ease. "Oooh...you're so strong!" Takeru joked in a girly tone.
"Oooh...what would you do if I dropped you here and now?" Jou replied, using a girly tone as well.
Hikari couldn't help but giggle. "I better get back inside before Taichi thinks I've ran away with Takeru."
"See you tomorrow," Takeru whispered near her ear.
She nodded, kissing him on the cheek and ran back up the stairs to her apartment.
***
Jou fixed Takeru a hot bowl of rice and poured cold water into it, then handed it to him with a pair of chopsticks. "Eat up!"
Takeru ate greedily. His hunger was back, and his stomach was doing flips, begging for food. Jou watched, pleased. "Well, I guess my cooking must be good!"
"It sucks, but I'm so hungry, it takes like a million dollars!"
Jou frowned. "Was that a joke...?"
"Tee hee!" Takeru giggled.
"I take that as a yes." Jou grinned. He began to eat as well, but not like a vacuum sucking dirt out of a carpet. "I don't think it's that bad."
"Cook for yourself, you wouldn't know the difference. Hey! Have I ever told you the time Yamato burnt dinner once when I was visiting him and dad? It was hilarious!"
"I have to know! I must hear this big story on our master chef!" Jou cried eagerly.
Takeru grinned. "Well, he was cooking, and I was sitting at the table, watching TV when dad, when the phone rang. I didn't answer, and neither did dad, and Yamato decided to get it. Guess who it was?"
"Devil Woman Jun," Jou guessed accurately.
He nodded, putting more rice into his mouth. "Trying to get her off and tell her to go date a post, when the food starting catching on fire. He started screaming about the food, and what he told me was that she had asked him on a date, and she thought he said yes. Well, he hung up on her and a few minutes later, the doorbell rang."
"And there she was...standing there waiting to go out on a date," Jou stated.
"Yup. Angry, he told her to buzz off, and then the food caught on fire once more, and he slammed the door on her. It was pretty awsome, though, and he took the burnt food to the door and handed it to her on a dull plate. She nearly freaked and she had the most spazzmatic look on her face when he slammed the door on her again."
"Kodak moments...just when you wish you had a camera!" Jou shouted. "Those moments can never be forgotten! Priceless!"
"Just like those MasterCard commercials!" Takeru laughed.
They laughed a good while, and the Jou piped up. "Hey, what about you and Yamato? Are you going to settle things with him tomorrow?"
Takeru fell silent. "Maybe...maybe not. Maybe I will eventually...and maybe I won't."
"You can't hold a grudge against your own brother. You two are blood-related. You can't hold an unhealthy relationship. It's not good, you hear?"
He nodded in reply. "I just feel...helpless. I can't help him or Taichi, and I can't help Hikari either."
"I understand completely. Look, we're all trying to help you out, and it won't work unless you help us too."
"I know..."
"Just get some rest and meet Hikari tomorrow, ok?"
Again, Takeru nodded and then looked at Jou. Jou completely understood the meaning in his face and what he was asking. "Yes, I'm staying here the night to watch you. Your mom called earlier saying she wouldn't be back till sometime late tomorrow afternoon."
A smile cracked on Takeru's face, and he fell back on his pillow loudly, then quickly drifted off into dreamland. Jou watched him for a while, then felt weary himself. Yawning loudly, he got up from his chair, grabbed a blanket and pillow in the closet Ms. Takaishi had told him over the phone. Looking at Takeru again once more, he drifted out into the living room and plopped onto the couch and bundled up. Setting his glasses to the side on the little table beside him, he settled down under the blanket and fell into a deep slumber.
***
"Rise and shine, sweety!"
Jou's eyes opened slowly, and he muttered something inaudible. He caught the blurry vision of a beautiful girl in front of him, staring at him with those hazel eyes and her dyed pink hair tied into a loose ponytail. "Mimi..."
"Yes, I came to see how you were doing babysitting!" She smiled and sat down on the couch as he continued to lay there. He let her play with his hair and he yawned.
"Is it morning so soon?"
"Of course, silly! I wouldn't come here in the middle of the night, not that I don't love you or anything...it's just not like me to wander around at 3 in the morning at someone's house uninvited."
"Is Takeru still here?"
"He's still sleeping last time I checked."
"When was that?"
"About half an hour ago," she concluded, and stood up, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. "Now, time for you to get up!"
He did so reluctantly, and slipped his glasses on. As he stretched, Takeru wandered out of the bedroom and to the bathroom. Mimi looked at Takeru. "Oh, pee break?"
"MIMI! That was rude!" Jou cried in embarrassment.
Mimi blushed and Takeru stared with wide eyes. "How long have you been here, Mimi?"
"About two hours. I've been taking care of you guys!"
"You came here at 6 in the morning?" Takeru looked at her oddly.
"Uh...well...," Mimi stuttered, and looked at Jou, who stared at her.
"It's not like you to wander into someone's house uninvited?" Jou raised an eye brow.
"At least it wasn't three in the morning when I did!"
Takeru just shrugged and went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Mimi's eyes widened. "He must've had to pee really badly!"
"MIMI!!!!!" Jou screeched at her comment.
***
"I feel so much better," Takeru said as he walked with Jou and Mimi to the park to meet Hikari.
"You look better too, except your bruise," Jou commented.
Mimi looked over at Takeru from Jou's side. "Taichi really did that, huh?"
Takeru nodded. "I can't blame him...Yamato would've done the same if Hikari wasn't a girl..."
"This is getting ridiculous. I think it's best if you and Hikari come up with some strategy of settling this big break between Yamato and Taichi. If not, we'll all get dragged into it eventually...it's already starting."
He had to agree with Jou. It was true, like yesterday in his room. Everyone was falling apart because no one was sure of what to do or even how to handle this kind of situation. The only ones who could really tie the undone knot of friendship again were Takeru and Hikari.
"Hey, Hikari's waiting over there," Mimi said gently, pointing to the lake.
He saw her now, her power pink dress blowing in the wind, and her hair again undone by the hairclip she used. Takeru waved to Jou and Mimi, and headed down the hill over to her. "Hikari!"
She turned around at the sweet sound of his voice and smiled. "You made it!"
"Of course! I feel a lot better. Thanks for the advice."
She nodded and stared at the pond again. "See it?"
"See...what?" he asked, confused and lost.
Picking up a rock, she tossed it and they watched it hit the water, then sink, and the ripples start. "Now do you see it? The rock symbolizes the differences that Taichi and Yamato couldn't understand, and when it hit the water, it cause the ripples. There, their differences started to spread and show...and as the ripples get wider and larger, so do their problems, and so do they..."
"I see it now. If we don't do anything...they'll never be one again, and we'll all be gradually brought in the same way."
She nodded. "Just like the rock...it sank into the water, and we're going down as well. If we don't do anything, we'll be the rock hitting the floor of the pond. Takeru, we have to stop those two before that really happens."
"You're right, but how are we going to do it? They hate each other, not to mention the other's siblings."
"Supervision...or in our case, spying," Hikari told him seriously. "I hate to, but we have to. Yamato has a rehearsal tonight, the same time as Taichi's date with Sora. So, I think we should go follow them. They're bound to run into each other...they have some bond that allows them to do that."
"Good idea. I'll see you tonight then at..."
"NO!" she cried, grabbing his hands. "I want you to stay with me until then...please!"
"Uh..." That was all he could mutter as he looked at her with flushing cheeks and the down at their hands. "If you say so."
"Thank you! I knew you would! I just have to spend time with you to make up for the way I treated you."
"You don't have to...it wasn't your fault."
"It was, because I betrayed you! Now I have time to spend with you that I kept away because I was a lousy friend."
"So was I. If I...," he began, until she lifted a finger and placed it on his lips and shook her head.
"Let's just enjoy the day until tonight."
He nodded, and together they headed to catch lunch. On their way, they ran into Miyako and Iori, who were heading for lunch as well. Miyako waved madly to get their attention up ahead. Iori looked at her oddly and then waved at Takeru and Hikari.
"You've patched things up, how great!" Miyako shouted, throwing her arms around Hikari and hugging her. Then she moved to Takeru, grabbing in a tight embrace and stared into his eyes. "You look so much better. I was so worried Jou would have to drag you to the hospital!"
"For depression? I would've been embarrassed. Where are you headed, anyway?"
"Daisuke and Ken are wanting to meet us at the usual for lunch. Another get together. Anyway, would you care to join us?"
"Of course!" Hikari smiled. "We were headed to lunch as well!"
Iori tugged at Miyako's skirt. "Um...will you let Takeru go so that we can all head off to lunch?"
"Oh! Sorry!" Miyako let Takeru out of her grip, and they all headed to meet Ken and Daisuke. While walking, Takeru felt Hikari's slender hand fit into his and then squeeze. He looked at her face, and she looked at him from the corner of her eyes and smiled lightly.
"It'll be ok," she whispered.
Broken Angels
Part 6
"TAKERU!!" Hikari screamed, running towards the front door just as Taichi came walking back in. Reaching for the handle of the door, Hikari felt the tears stream down her face. She then felt Taichi's arms wrap around her waist and tighten. "Taichi! Let me go! Takeru...he needs help!"
He picked her up over his shoulder and carried her to their room. Closing the door with his foot, he threw her on her bed and stepped back, wiping his brow. "He doesn't need any help. He can take care of himself."
She rolled over in anger, burying her face in her pillow and sobbed loudly. Taichi watched helplessly as her body became racked with loud sobs. Now his feelings were churning inside his stomach. Now I'm feeling like a jerk...but I can't stand the thought of looking at him! When I do, I see Yamato in his eyes...those same cerulean eyes and the hair, and the smile that could make any girl melt along with the voice.
Taichi took his socks off and slid out of his shirt. "I'm taking a shower...," he muttered. He slowly made his way to the bathroom, looking back into his room at the still continuing crying Hikari. Sighing, he closed the bathroom door and turned the water on, then slipping out of his pants and underwear, and got in. The hot water felt good. It soothed him. Still, it led to no satisfaction deep inside his heart.
He stood there under the hot water pouring from the shower head, unsure of what he should do. "But...Yamato is a jerk! Why should I forgive him?! Hmph! Sorry Hikari, it has to stay this way!"
While showering, Hikari quickly got out of bed, still crying, and quietly made her way out the front door. Takeru wasn't there. Her heart skipped a beat. "No..."
Flying down the stairs of the apartment in her bare feet, she felt the warm tears run down again. "Please be ok...please be ok...," she continued to repeat outloud. Suddenly, she saw him, curled up in a tight ball, his body shaking as he cried quietly.
"Oh, Takeru!" she cried, running down the flight of stairs towards him. It seemed like an eternity when she finally reached him, kneeling down beside him and reached out to him. Her hands shook as she took his head in her hands and looked at him. A bruise was appearing near his left eye now, a bright blue and purple. She cried even more, looking at his pained face and the tears that rolled down it.
"H-Hikari...," he gasped as he sobbed. "S-S-So..."
"Don't talk!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his head and buried her face in his moist hair. Sobbing into it, she felt Takeru reach up and wrap his arms around her. His body trembled, and so did hers. They stayed that way for a while, and then she finally had no more tears to cry. Wiping her eyes, she caught her breath, breathing in the sweet smell from Takeru's hair.
Takeru had also calmed down. Thinking he was asleep again, she lifted her head and looked at him. He was wide awake, but had stopped crying. His eyes met hers, and they both turned slightly red. They grinned at each other, and he quickly kissed her on the cheek. "Your face tastes salty," he joked.
Surprised by the sudden action, she grinned even wider, and giggled about his comment. "I bet yours does, too."
"Let's go somewhere else," Takeru said.
"I would...but we have no where else to go...and Taichi is mad enough already."
"I know..."
"We'll meet tomorrow, ok? At the park, around lunch. Get some rest. I'll call someone to come take care of you so get well. I'll be expecting you."
He nodded, and she brushed her lips against his cheek. "I'll help you home."
"No need to, I'll do it," a voice replied.
They both looked over to see Jou standing at the steps. He grinned. "I'm psychic."
"I'm sure you are," Hikari said in a relieved tone.
Jou picked Takeru up in his arms with ease. "Oooh...you're so strong!" Takeru joked in a girly tone.
"Oooh...what would you do if I dropped you here and now?" Jou replied, using a girly tone as well.
Hikari couldn't help but giggle. "I better get back inside before Taichi thinks I've ran away with Takeru."
"See you tomorrow," Takeru whispered near her ear.
She nodded, kissing him on the cheek and ran back up the stairs to her apartment.
***
Jou fixed Takeru a hot bowl of rice and poured cold water into it, then handed it to him with a pair of chopsticks. "Eat up!"
Takeru ate greedily. His hunger was back, and his stomach was doing flips, begging for food. Jou watched, pleased. "Well, I guess my cooking must be good!"
"It sucks, but I'm so hungry, it takes like a million dollars!"
Jou frowned. "Was that a joke...?"
"Tee hee!" Takeru giggled.
"I take that as a yes." Jou grinned. He began to eat as well, but not like a vacuum sucking dirt out of a carpet. "I don't think it's that bad."
"Cook for yourself, you wouldn't know the difference. Hey! Have I ever told you the time Yamato burnt dinner once when I was visiting him and dad? It was hilarious!"
"I have to know! I must hear this big story on our master chef!" Jou cried eagerly.
Takeru grinned. "Well, he was cooking, and I was sitting at the table, watching TV when dad, when the phone rang. I didn't answer, and neither did dad, and Yamato decided to get it. Guess who it was?"
"Devil Woman Jun," Jou guessed accurately.
He nodded, putting more rice into his mouth. "Trying to get her off and tell her to go date a post, when the food starting catching on fire. He started screaming about the food, and what he told me was that she had asked him on a date, and she thought he said yes. Well, he hung up on her and a few minutes later, the doorbell rang."
"And there she was...standing there waiting to go out on a date," Jou stated.
"Yup. Angry, he told her to buzz off, and then the food caught on fire once more, and he slammed the door on her. It was pretty awsome, though, and he took the burnt food to the door and handed it to her on a dull plate. She nearly freaked and she had the most spazzmatic look on her face when he slammed the door on her again."
"Kodak moments...just when you wish you had a camera!" Jou shouted. "Those moments can never be forgotten! Priceless!"
"Just like those MasterCard commercials!" Takeru laughed.
They laughed a good while, and the Jou piped up. "Hey, what about you and Yamato? Are you going to settle things with him tomorrow?"
Takeru fell silent. "Maybe...maybe not. Maybe I will eventually...and maybe I won't."
"You can't hold a grudge against your own brother. You two are blood-related. You can't hold an unhealthy relationship. It's not good, you hear?"
He nodded in reply. "I just feel...helpless. I can't help him or Taichi, and I can't help Hikari either."
"I understand completely. Look, we're all trying to help you out, and it won't work unless you help us too."
"I know..."
"Just get some rest and meet Hikari tomorrow, ok?"
Again, Takeru nodded and then looked at Jou. Jou completely understood the meaning in his face and what he was asking. "Yes, I'm staying here the night to watch you. Your mom called earlier saying she wouldn't be back till sometime late tomorrow afternoon."
A smile cracked on Takeru's face, and he fell back on his pillow loudly, then quickly drifted off into dreamland. Jou watched him for a while, then felt weary himself. Yawning loudly, he got up from his chair, grabbed a blanket and pillow in the closet Ms. Takaishi had told him over the phone. Looking at Takeru again once more, he drifted out into the living room and plopped onto the couch and bundled up. Setting his glasses to the side on the little table beside him, he settled down under the blanket and fell into a deep slumber.
***
"Rise and shine, sweety!"
Jou's eyes opened slowly, and he muttered something inaudible. He caught the blurry vision of a beautiful girl in front of him, staring at him with those hazel eyes and her dyed pink hair tied into a loose ponytail. "Mimi..."
"Yes, I came to see how you were doing babysitting!" She smiled and sat down on the couch as he continued to lay there. He let her play with his hair and he yawned.
"Is it morning so soon?"
"Of course, silly! I wouldn't come here in the middle of the night, not that I don't love you or anything...it's just not like me to wander around at 3 in the morning at someone's house uninvited."
"Is Takeru still here?"
"He's still sleeping last time I checked."
"When was that?"
"About half an hour ago," she concluded, and stood up, grabbing his hands and pulling him up. "Now, time for you to get up!"
He did so reluctantly, and slipped his glasses on. As he stretched, Takeru wandered out of the bedroom and to the bathroom. Mimi looked at Takeru. "Oh, pee break?"
"MIMI! That was rude!" Jou cried in embarrassment.
Mimi blushed and Takeru stared with wide eyes. "How long have you been here, Mimi?"
"About two hours. I've been taking care of you guys!"
"You came here at 6 in the morning?" Takeru looked at her oddly.
"Uh...well...," Mimi stuttered, and looked at Jou, who stared at her.
"It's not like you to wander into someone's house uninvited?" Jou raised an eye brow.
"At least it wasn't three in the morning when I did!"
Takeru just shrugged and went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Mimi's eyes widened. "He must've had to pee really badly!"
"MIMI!!!!!" Jou screeched at her comment.
***
"I feel so much better," Takeru said as he walked with Jou and Mimi to the park to meet Hikari.
"You look better too, except your bruise," Jou commented.
Mimi looked over at Takeru from Jou's side. "Taichi really did that, huh?"
Takeru nodded. "I can't blame him...Yamato would've done the same if Hikari wasn't a girl..."
"This is getting ridiculous. I think it's best if you and Hikari come up with some strategy of settling this big break between Yamato and Taichi. If not, we'll all get dragged into it eventually...it's already starting."
He had to agree with Jou. It was true, like yesterday in his room. Everyone was falling apart because no one was sure of what to do or even how to handle this kind of situation. The only ones who could really tie the undone knot of friendship again were Takeru and Hikari.
"Hey, Hikari's waiting over there," Mimi said gently, pointing to the lake.
He saw her now, her power pink dress blowing in the wind, and her hair again undone by the hairclip she used. Takeru waved to Jou and Mimi, and headed down the hill over to her. "Hikari!"
She turned around at the sweet sound of his voice and smiled. "You made it!"
"Of course! I feel a lot better. Thanks for the advice."
She nodded and stared at the pond again. "See it?"
"See...what?" he asked, confused and lost.
Picking up a rock, she tossed it and they watched it hit the water, then sink, and the ripples start. "Now do you see it? The rock symbolizes the differences that Taichi and Yamato couldn't understand, and when it hit the water, it cause the ripples. There, their differences started to spread and show...and as the ripples get wider and larger, so do their problems, and so do they..."
"I see it now. If we don't do anything...they'll never be one again, and we'll all be gradually brought in the same way."
She nodded. "Just like the rock...it sank into the water, and we're going down as well. If we don't do anything, we'll be the rock hitting the floor of the pond. Takeru, we have to stop those two before that really happens."
"You're right, but how are we going to do it? They hate each other, not to mention the other's siblings."
"Supervision...or in our case, spying," Hikari told him seriously. "I hate to, but we have to. Yamato has a rehearsal tonight, the same time as Taichi's date with Sora. So, I think we should go follow them. They're bound to run into each other...they have some bond that allows them to do that."
"Good idea. I'll see you tonight then at..."
"NO!" she cried, grabbing his hands. "I want you to stay with me until then...please!"
"Uh..." That was all he could mutter as he looked at her with flushing cheeks and the down at their hands. "If you say so."
"Thank you! I knew you would! I just have to spend time with you to make up for the way I treated you."
"You don't have to...it wasn't your fault."
"It was, because I betrayed you! Now I have time to spend with you that I kept away because I was a lousy friend."
"So was I. If I...," he began, until she lifted a finger and placed it on his lips and shook her head.
"Let's just enjoy the day until tonight."
He nodded, and together they headed to catch lunch. On their way, they ran into Miyako and Iori, who were heading for lunch as well. Miyako waved madly to get their attention up ahead. Iori looked at her oddly and then waved at Takeru and Hikari.
"You've patched things up, how great!" Miyako shouted, throwing her arms around Hikari and hugging her. Then she moved to Takeru, grabbing in a tight embrace and stared into his eyes. "You look so much better. I was so worried Jou would have to drag you to the hospital!"
"For depression? I would've been embarrassed. Where are you headed, anyway?"
"Daisuke and Ken are wanting to meet us at the usual for lunch. Another get together. Anyway, would you care to join us?"
"Of course!" Hikari smiled. "We were headed to lunch as well!"
Iori tugged at Miyako's skirt. "Um...will you let Takeru go so that we can all head off to lunch?"
"Oh! Sorry!" Miyako let Takeru out of her grip, and they all headed to meet Ken and Daisuke. While walking, Takeru felt Hikari's slender hand fit into his and then squeeze. He looked at her face, and she looked at him from the corner of her eyes and smiled lightly.
"It'll be ok," she whispered.