Breaking out-finding freedom


Davis glared at the door to the Izumi apartment. He didn't want to ring the doorbell, dang it! It wasn't fair. One broken window, and he had to give up four weeks of his life to study. Parole was another two weeks away, but he didn't know if he could last that long. Two weeks had already made him ready to run screaming through the streets naked.

Not that it took much for him to be an exhibitionist. That didn't mean that he was a masochist, though. He liked to show off, not be tortured for petty things like glass, and playing soccer inside.

It was beautiful weather to be outside, and his fingers itched painfully at the thought of having to push that button. Was it truly worth it? An afternoon of playing, and having fun? Of course, that would probably mean added time.

He pushed the button. For two weeks, he'd sat in the kitchen, and listened as Koushiro tried to talk him through math problem after math problem. Lately, he'd started to understand enough to finish homework assignments, but he still had problems with in-class work, and he knew that the teacher was starting to get suspicious that he was cheating.

Ironic. He was actually learning, and he'd probably fail anyway, because the teacher hated him, and was going to revoke the grade he doubly earned, half by studying, half by putting up with two weeks of the stuff.

The door opened and Koushiro answered, for once. He looked rather tired, and weary, and frustrated. Daisuke stepped over the threshold, and saw Mrs. Izumi duck into the laundry room. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and he grabbed the redhead's hand, pulled him out the door, and slammed it shut.

"Let's go." He started pulling the surprised genius behind him. "Prison break. We have to run before the Warden comes out, and sends the guards after us." They had to find someplace their 'friends' wouldn't find them. Someplace safe.

"Where are we going?" Koushiro asked rather calmly, considering Daisuke was feigning a prison break, and they were probably going to be stuck together longer than the next two weeks.

"I don't know. Where won't the others look for us? We need a place that they wouldn't expect to find us in."

They stopped and waited for the elevator. "Well, I'm sure that they'll naturally assume that this was your idea, which means they'll look for a place where you would go." Brown eyes looked at him, surprised at his willingness to play along. Koushiro grinned back. "I'm tired of being stuck in there, day after day. You have the weekend. I get a lift to school, and back home each day."

"Ouch. Sorry." They stepped into the elevator; Koushiro following behind willingly, though the younger boy hadn't released his hand yet. He didn't say anything, and Daisuke didn't seem to notice. "We'll go to the library."

He nodded decisively, and the genius couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Why the library?"

"Because I wouldn't be caught dead in a library?" Daisuke rolled his eyes as if this explained everything. Then he smiled recklessly, and pushed the button for the first floor. "It's one place they won't look. And unfortunately, it's a good place to study. The evil person down at Rec thinks I'm getting somebody else to do my work."

"Ouch." He used Daisuke's word from before, mirroring the look of sympathy on his face. "Rec?"

The elevator stopped. "Yeah. You know, recreation? The time that prisoners spend in 'The Yard'." Catching the look of confusion on Koushiro's face, Daisuke shook his head in feigned sadness. "You need to watch more TV."

"Television is damaging to the emotional and psychological growth of children." The auburn-haired boy stopped in his tracks and looked hurt.

"How can you say that? Television has all those shows, like...the Discovery Channel, and the History Channel! I watched television, and look at me."

"Two points for my side. The Discovery and History Channels, respectively, are not 'shows'. And..." He stopped, not really wanting to insult his friend, despite the perfect setup he had allowed.

"And?" Daisuke was waiting, his expression guarded. For two weeks, he had waited, and so far, Koushiro hadn't insulted him like he knew any of the others would have. Except Ken, but Ken was...he was different. He had always thought of Koushiro like the rest of them, had put him in the same category. Now, though, he could put him with Ken.

A genius friend who didn't take all of the shots offered to him because of said friendship. People like that were hard to find. Most people didn't think of the pain that a single innocent comment could generate. Daisuke was guilty of that, himself, and had let slip a couple of barbs at Koushiro during the times that they were together.

Now he wished that he hadn't. They walked on in silence, both boys lost in their thoughts. The library was several blocks over, and the streets were relatively clear. Koushiro stopped suddenly, and pulled Daisuke into the nearest shop, covering his mouth to stop his imminent questions.

They waited inside the darkened doorway as Yamato and Takeru walked by, muttering their names, and looking rather angry. After they had passed, Koushiro ducked his head out, and then pulled Daisuke with him. "We had better hurry. It looks like mom has already called out the troops."

"They're guards, Koushiro. Don't be so over-dramatic." They started off again, keeping alert for any more of their friends. They ran up the steps to the library quickly, and shoved through the doors. Once inside the air-conditioning, they stopped, looked at each other, and broke out laughing. Several people nearby looked at them oddly, or glared at them for the disturbance. A young woman at the desk looked up in irritation, before she recognized the older boy.

She came around the desk, greeted them, and then hugged the redhead. "Izzy." Daisuke, who had stiffened up at her approach, seemed to relax again, and he flashed her his usual grin. "Who's your little friend?"

The grin died, and he walked away from them. Not quickly, not without nodding, and mumbling under his breath, but he walked away before they could be introduced. Koushiro stared after him in shock, never knowing him to be so rude. He apologized to his friend, who was just a girl in one of his classes that he'd helped with something or other. "Excuse me. Sorry."

She shrugged, and went back to her desk. He went in the direction that Daisuke had gone, and then realized that he could have gone through a number of doors, and could be anywhere. If he were Daisuke, where would he go? What had he learned about Daisuke in the last two weeks? He liked anything edible, working as little as possible, and talking until his mother, 'the Warden', came back and caught them not working.

He stopped in the middle of the children's section, his back ramrod straight, his breath catching in his throat. A smile stretched across his face, and he laughed slightly, ignoring the looks of confused children and angry parents. Under his breath, he told himself the truth, wanting to hear the words.

"I'm in love." And it was a beautiful thing. Now he just needed to find his...what would Daisuke call him? Fellow prisoner? Cellmate? Partner in crime?

Recapture: a new type

Davis sat in a corner of the non-fiction section, his back to a wall, and his arms loosely wrapped around his legs, a book in his hands. Koushiro saw him, and started toward him, when a person stepped between them, and beat him to it. He hung back and watched as Ken greeted his friend, then sat down beside him.

Koushiro ducked behind a shelf, then laughed at his own silliness. Hiding was pointless, since it was only logical that he would be with Daisuke. With a shake of his head, he turned down the next aisle and approached their corner from an angle.

Ken smiled at his friend as he sat beside him. He had laughed at the punishment two weeks ago, but had sorely missed his best friend. "Hey. I heard that you guys ran off."

Brown eyes twinkling, Daisuke looked up. "Yeah. It was getting stuffy, being stuck in the kitchen, day after day. We're going to study, anyways, and hopefully that will make his mother more lenient." He put the book down, not bothering to mark his page. With a conspiritual whisper, he asked, "So? How did it go?"

The genius blushed, and, in the aisle still, Koushiro paused, uncertain if he should backtrack, or make his presence known. "He's been coming over daily." Daisuke's holler could be heard throughout the building, and people left the section angrily. Koushiro peeked out to see Daisuke hugging his friend. "I'm glad that you approve."

"Actually, I'm jealous." They pulled back from each other, and watched the empty room, oblivious to their audience. "Did I ever tell you that I lusted after you when we were eleven?" Koushiro felt his eyes widen, and his heart break.

"Yeah. About the same time that you told me, and I quote, 'you're my bitch'." They shared the laughter of the memory. "Man, I'm really glad that you never pushed that."

"Of course not. Miya would have had my head, as well as other parts of my anatomy." The laughter again. "Of course, then I realized that you weren't my type."

"Oh, really. When did you decide that?" Ken's gaze was challenging.

"When I got another type." Oh, yeah, that explained a lot. Koushiro waited, half-dreading, and half-impatient for the answer.

"What type is it, then?"

"A type other than you. No Ken's; no mouthy, violet-haired ex-evil geniuses, and, certainly, nobody who's better at soccer than I am. Which you aren't, but I just wanted it covered."

"Right." Ken's reply was mocking, but he didn't follow up on it. "So, who is it? Anybody I know? Another digidestined?" Each question was answered with a nod. "Who?"

Daisuke just grinned, his look smug. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Ken growled, and Koushiro sighed. He stepped out from the aisle. "Hi, Ken. Hey, Dai. Ready?" He pointed to the bag lying forgotten between the two boys. The auburn-haired one nodded, and stood up.

"I'll see you later, Ken. We have to study. Can you believe that the evil witch imitating my math teacher thinks that I cheated?" He waved his hands in an aggravated manner. "She thinks that I've got someone else to do my homework!" He put his hands on his hip, and got a determined look. "But I'll show her. We have a quiz tomorrow, and I'm going to pass it, and she can eat jellied flies in monkey brains."

He walked away, hoisting his bag to his shoulder, anticipating that his tutor would follow. The geniuses looked at each other with identical faces of confused amusement. Ken laughed gently, shaking his head. "He's a handful."

The redhead nodded, and helped him to his feet. "He is, at that." Something in his voice must have sounded odd, because Ken gave him a funny look. Koushiro looked away, fighting his blush. "I'll see you later."

"Of course. Have fun, and good luck. Both with Daisuke, and your mother when you get home."

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need all the luck I can get." He walked away, leaving violet eyes to follow his departure. Ken suddenly felt a certainty that he was going to be seeing little of his friend in the future, but for different reasons.

He walked to a payphone, and dialed the Izumi's number. "Hello?" He could tell that Mrs. Izumi wasn't very panicked about the disappearance of her son.

"Hello, Mrs. Izumi. This is Ken Ichijouji." He spoke formally, watching as Koushiro and Daisuke settled into a nearby table, chairs side-by-side, and took out a textbook. They didn't know he was watching, and he knew that their study session wasn't just an excuse to do something else.

However, he'd also seen the attraction they kept hidden for each other in their eyes, and the look of gentle affection that Koushiro had directed his friend's way. "Hello, Ken. How can I help you?"

"I found the runaways. They went to the library, and are studying. Davis just got rather...frustrated with being in the same room everyday. He's hyperactive, and still hasn't learned that it's possible to sit in the same spot for more than five minutes."

"I understand. Thank you, Ken. Good bye." He heard the smile in her voice, and wondered briefly if she would chase them down, or let them have their freedom. Looking back at them, he realized that they probably wouldn't mind too much, if she let them stay together.

~~~~~~^^~~~~~~

"I'm really ashamed of you two. I can't even trust my own son to answer the door, with out him running away like an escaped convict." Koushiro's mother was pacing in front of them, her agitation less profound than they had expected, but her words would almost belie the gentle anger that prompted them. She wasn't mad, just doing a good impression of it.

"Sorry, Mrs. Izumi." Daisuke tried, his eyes wide and innocent. The redhead snickered, ruining any chance of the look actually working.

She glared at them both, fighting the urge to grin at the guilty, but smug looks on their faces. She could understand their desire to get out. They were young, yet, and such a thing was definitely forgivable. They just didn't have to know that. "Sorry isn't good enough. For your punishment, Daisuke is going to have to start staying here on the weekends, too. I've already spoken with his parents. However, as I can't very well punish your friends as well, they'll be allowed over for two hours on Saturday, and Sunday each."

They glared at her, any happiness they'd managed to capture in the late afternoon destroyed with their newest punishment. She left them alone; two disgruntled boys on the couch in a shadowed living room, their heads lowered, shoulders slumped.

Suddenly, Daisuke sat up straight, and nudged Koushiro in the side. When black eyes met brown, he grinned. "Next Wednesday, the ice cream parlor." The redhead groaned.