Flutter Part 2: Sigh

by loveasthouwilt

I skipped soccer practice and ran home early. My mother wasn't home, so I didn't have to answer any of her questions yet.

I went straight to the phone and dialed the number I had already memorized.

At the first ring, I slammed the phone back on the receiver.

What was I thinking!?

About him, of course. So much for the focus my schoolwork needed. I couldn't think about anything, or anyone, else.

Only Ishida Yamato.

I needed a plan. What was I going to say?

What...hmm...?

I'm so damn anxious...

OK, ok.

I picked up the phone and dialed again, this time letting it ring.

And ring....

And ring...

Just before I hung up someone yanked up the phone on the other end and shouted gruffly "Hello!"

"Uh..." I stuttered, surprised that anyone had answered and thrown off guard. "Is...Yamato-san there?"

"No, he's with his band.... Who is this?"

I panicked. "No-Nobody. I'll call back!" Then hung up.

I sighed deeply. I guess I might as well have gone to soccer practice.

I went to my room and leaned against a wall, hugging myself and looking out the window thoughtfully.

Ishida Yamato.

"What'cha doin' Ken?" Minomon squeaked from his usual place on my pillow.

I climbed up the ladder to my bed and sat next to him. "Thinking about someone." I said with a smile.

He tilted his head sideways curiously. "Who?"

I put my hands behind my head and laid back. "Yamato..." I said dreamily.

"Yamato?" my digimon said, crawling onto my chest and facing me. "Who's that?"

"A beautiful blonde I met last night at the party."

"A girl?" he giggled. He'd been listening to Daisuke too much.

I grinned. "Not exactly."

Sigh. Ishida Yamato.

I sat up abruptly, sending Minomon scuttling. Come on, Ken, get your head out of the clouds.

I jumped down from the bed and went to my desk, opening a drawer and finding the textbook I had neglected the night before. It had been quite an embarrassment to be without it at school that day...

I opened up to the middle of the book and started flipping towards the chapter we were studying. I flipped past it once and had to go back.

Dammit, Ken, pay attention.

When I got to the right page, I started reading, but was soon distracted my the folded piece of paper I had retrieved from my pocket.

He wrote it. He gave it to me. He likes me!

What are the odds!

Minomon hopped into my lap, bringing me back into the real world where homework needed to be done.

I groaned, my head thumping into the pages of the book.

Did I used to like doing homework? I don't even remember. What's so different now? I still have the same brain, why can't I use it?

I snickered to myself. I'm becoming Daisuke.

Finally, I made myself do the work. It wasn't really hard, though I gave some answers I knew very well were wrong, but I couldn't find the correct answer so I made something up.

Right or wrong, the work was done and I was satisfied.

Yes, I'm becoming Daisuke, no wonder my grades are falling.

When I heard my mother coming in the apartment, I bolted for the phone. Maybe Yamato was home by now!

My mother gave me a questioning look when she spotted me, but didn't disturb me as I made the call again.

No one answered this time.

Sigh. Yamato.

I met my mother in the kitchen where she was unloading groceries. "Hello, Mama. Need some help?"

"Yes, Ken. Thank you." She stepped back and let me do all the work. I was happy to help her. "Why are you home so early?" she asked.

I bit my lip. I couldn't lie to her.

"I... wanted to... talk to someone I met last night at the party. But... he isn't home."

She knows already.... she just doesn't like it...

She shook her head sadly. "Ken..." then she paused to pick out her words. "...you know I don't approve."

I turned away from her, putting cans into the cabinet. "Yes, Mama, I know."

"Then why--"

I slammed the cabinet door. "I just am!" I couldn't look at her when we had this conversation, but I didn't mean to raise my voice. "I'm sorry...I just am."

Though still not convinced, she tried to be civil, though the bitterness still edged her voice. "Well, who is he?"

I stopped what I was doing and smiled at her excitedly. "Oh, he's wonderful! Blonde hair. Blue eyes. He has his own band. He's older than me, and he's really nice." I blushed and looked away. I hadn't meant to go on like that.

She cleared her throat and began to walk away. "Just don't let...him...interfere with your school work."

I felt a little guilty. Too late for that...

When I was finished putting away the groceries, I went back to the phone. It rang just as my hand touched it, startling me.

I picked it up and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, baby!"

I was taken aback and my face went totally red. "Y-Yamato? How'd you get this number?"

"Daisuke gave it to me." he answered cheerfully.

I couldn't breathe. "What? Daisuke! Why did you have to ask him!? What's he going to think!?"

I could hear him giggling. "Calm down, Ken. He's not going to assume anything right. Daisuke isn't clever enough to put two and two together."

Mama was watching me, listening to me, so I turned my back on her. "It's just... a sensitive subject." I tried to explain to Yamato.

"You want me to cancel the car then?" he teased.

"What?"

"Mom is bringing Takeru over and I asked her to drop by your place to pick you up!"

"Yamato...!" I stuttered. "I can't go with Takeru ... He's going to want to know why you're interested in me all of a sudden... Does he know about you?"

"Nuh uh. No one else but Taichi knows." He snickered, "That's what I get for trying to hit on him! How about you?"

I shrugged, though he couldn't see it. "My mother knows. I don't know if my father knows or not. We've never talked about it."

"What does she think?"

I thought that was kind of personal to be talking about over the phone, but I answered anyway, though sarcastically. "Oh, she's thrilled."

"Mn. Too bad..."

"Yeah..."

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Yamato spoke up again. He talked about band rehearsal mostly, and I listened intently, even though I had never been interested in anything like that before.

Sigh... Yamato...

"Sorry. I'm talking your ear off."

I smiled. "I don't mind..."

"Well, I'm gonna go anyway. We can talk when you get over here, ne."

"Okay."

"Bye!"

"Bye..."

I hung up the phone, holding my hand over it for a moment. When I turned, Mama was standing there, and she didn't look happy.

And she struck me...!

My head whipped to the side and I was thrown totally off balance. I fell against a nearby decorative table, knocking down pictures and figurines, but I caught myself before hitting the floor.

I was absolutely shocked... and heartbroken. I gritted my teeth together, my eyes filling with tears.

I would change for her... if only I could....

But I can't. It just doesn't work that way.

I ran to my room and threw the door closed behind me. My bed is too high for me to just flop onto it, so instead I sank to the floor in the middle of the room.

"Ken!" Minomon hopped towards me. "What's wrong..."

I gathered him into my arms, despite how not-cuddly he actually is, and hugged him close, tears streaming silently.

I could still hear her in the other room. Apparently my father had come home while I was on the phone and I hadn't noticed.

"I can't support that" she was yelling. "I love him, but I will never support that!"

There was a sound of movement across the apartment and then I heard her voice again. "Yes, he's here, but he's not going anywhere."

My ride!

I stood up with Minomon and listened at the door. I heard Mama move away from the front door and across the apartment into the living room. Then I left my room and bolted for the front door.

"KEN!!!" my mother yelled furiously behind me.

As I approached the elevator, I spotted Takeru. "Run!" I insisted. We got to the elevator and I pressed the close-door button frantically.

I was going to be in so much trouble when I returned...!

"Hi, Minomon." Takeru said, rubbing the digimon's head as the elevator began to descend.

Then he noticed how red my eyes and face were. "What happened?"

I looked down. "An argument. I had to get out of there."

Takeru didn't press any further until we were in his mother's car. "So what's with you and Yamato." he asked. There was curiosity in his voice, but no suspicion whatsoever.

"Yamato!" Minomon piped up. "Isn't he--mmphh!"

I put my hand over the digimon's face so he couldn't speak. That was close...

Quickly coming up with a reason to have cut Minomon off, I scolded him quietly. "Quiet... Do you want Takeru's mother to find out?"

"It's okay. Mom knows already." Patamon said from the front seat. I hadn't known he was up there.

Takeru's mother smiled into the rear-view mirror at me.

I looked at Takeru questioningly. He just shook his head. "It's a long story... but you never answered my question."

I had hoped he would forget that.

I shrugged. "He's cool. I like him."

I smiled and stared out the window.

Sigh. Yamato.

Some time later, Takeru's mother let Takeru, me, and our digimon out of the car. "I'll be back for you in a few hours," she informed us before driving away.

Then we made our way up to the apartment Yamato and his father shared.

Yamato let us in cheerfully. He had obviously attempted to clean up the place before we got there, with the exception of vacuuming or actually wiping off some of the countertops with a clean rag.

"I ordered a pizza so none of you have to suffer my cooking," he said, gesturing to the single pizza box in the middle of a card table.

We let Minomon and Patamon run loose around the house while we settled at the table. Takeru and Yamato were talking easily, since they're close, but I was nervous and said very little.

Takeru was talking about a girl he had met at the party, and I realized Yamato was talking about the same thing!

"You probably know her, Takeru. She's got dark, straight hair. Kinda shy."

My mouth was dry. What was he doing?! Was he trying to get me caught?

While Takeru was thinking about that, Yamato flashed me a smile.

Yeah, he was just having some fun with his oblivious brother... but it was making me nervous as hell.

Later, Takeru was attempting to clean up in the kitchen as a favor to his brother and father. I was on the other side of the apartment, just looking around, trying to calm myself down a little.

Yamato approached me and I rubbed my arm timidly, looking down.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"No," I answered bluntly. "I'm nervous. You're just so... confident... and I'm not..."

He reached up to toy with my hair and smiled. "I really enjoy your company, Ken. I can't help myself."

His fingers went from my hair to trail my face, then under my chin, tilting my face up for him to kiss.

My heart raced... Takeru's going to find us like this... there'll be no more hiding.

But I wouldn't pull back. In fact, I actively kissed back, my tongue finding it's way past his lips and into his mouth.

Still kissing me, he took several steps forward, carefully leading me into one of the other rooms and shutting the door behind us. It was dark, except for the slowly setting sun shining its rays through the curtains.

Shit! Takeru is going to find us....!

A few steps later and I was being pressed into a bed covered with laundry, Yamato on top of me. It was all happening fast. Very fast.

And somehow, not fast enough.

The door opened... "Yamato, are you in he---Aa!"

I scrambled out from under Yamato, who hung his head defeatedly.

Takeru was speechless. He just stood there in the doorway, his eyes wide with shock.

We were caught....

I would have been so easy to blame Yamato, but I couldn't because I had wanted it as much as he had.

"Takeru, listen to me," Yamato said as he climbed off the bed. Takeru took a few steps back and then bolted into another room.

He was taking it badly.

Yamato looked at me worriedly. "Ken, I am so sorry... but I really should talk to Takeru..."

I said nothing. Just nodded.

He went to the other room and I sat down on the edge of the bed.

What were we thinking? How far did we think we could go with someone else in the apartment?

And I was going to have to ride home with Takeru after this....

...and I was going to have to face Mama after that...

And yet, I smiled, thinking of what might have happened... what still could happen...

Flutter.

Sigh.

Yamato...

-to be continued-