His father stepped back from the vehicle, and Takeru got out, looking at him in fear. His brother and Tai followed. Daisuke stayed for a moment, his head in his hands, trying to remember how to breath.
"Dad." He swallowed hard, barely able to meet the blue eyes so like his own. He felt Matt put his hand on his shoulder in support, but didn't turn to look at him. He could feel Tai on his other side, offering his support.
"Takeru. Maybe you could explain to me why your mother called here, wondering if I've seen you? And then you could tell me what you boys are still doing out and about at ten o'clock on a school night."
"Um..."
"We were dropping off a friend of our's, Dad." Matt answered. "What are you doing here?" He gestured to the apartment building that housed the Takaishi side of the family. The Ishida's lived across town.
"I came here to check-up on your brother. Your mother said she called five times, and never got an answer, so she called me. When I told her that you weren't home, she freaked out, and started lecturing me over the phone. I finally told her I'd come over here, and see what's going on." He paused for a moment, and then looked slyly at his younger son. "And now that I've seen, I think I'll go home, and try to forget."
"Um..." Takeru was still at a loss for words. Matt gave him an annoyed glance as Daisuke finally joined them, his face rather pale. He was obviously expecting another confrontation, and wasn't feeling up for it.
"Daisuke's going to be staying over here for a while, Dad. His parents have kind of...disowned him, and we all thought that it would be easier for him to stay with Takeru, since they both go to the same school, and all."
"Ishida-san." Daisuke bowed low, his voice quiet.
"Your the Motomiya boy, aren't you? Your sister is the one that was stalking Matt?" The red-hair bobbed in affirmation. "I hope that you aren't that persistent when your feelings are unwanted." He spoke in a friendly, joking fashion, and his sons and Tai knew that he meant no offense, or underlying meaning, but the words dug into Daisuke, and he just nodded again. "Good, then. I'll leave you boys alone. Yamato, you can stay here tonight, and I'll cover it with Tai's parents, if you like?"
"Not really, Dad." Tai elbowed him in the ribs, and gave him a look. Matt gritted his teeth, but it was already too late.
"Okay, then. I'll see you at home in a little while. Bye, son." He awkwardly patted Takeru's shoulder, then held out his hand to Daisuke. "Please to meet you, Daisuke. Take good care of my boy while his mother's away, 'kay?"
"See ya, Dad." Takeru waved his father away, then turned to send his brother and Tai on their way.
"Don't even try it." Matt gave him a knowing leer, and then went to apologize to Tai, who was sulking at the missed opportunity to be together. Takeru shrugged, and then turned to Daisuke, who had wandered closer to the sidewalk, his body embraced by shadows.
"Hey." He spoke uncertainly, not quite sure what had almost happened, or why the redhead seemed to have withdrawn into himself. "Why don't we go up, and leave the love-birds to make up, and go home? We can set up a place for you to sleep, and settle down for the night. Tomorrow, you can borrow some of my clothes, and we can go to your place after school for your things."
"Sounds like you have it all planned." Brown eyes looked up scornfully. "Since you seem to have it all figured out, why don't you tell me how long I'll be staying here."
"Davis, I hate to tell you this, but your starting to have more mood swings than a pregnant woman during Menopause." Blue eyes looked at him hard. His attention was momentarily diverted by a car horn. It was Matt and Tai, pulling away. Then he flicked his gaze back to the boy in front of him. "What's up now?"
"You do realize that Menopause is normally the phase in a woman's life where she loses the ability to bare children, right?"
"You are aware that it's rude to answer a question with another question, right?" Takeru was getting sick of the games, not to mention a major headache from the constant loop-de-loop he seemed to ride whenever with Daisuke.
"Sorry." He cringed at the meekness of the other boy's tone.
"Don't be." He paused, and then took a step closer. "What's the matter, Dai? Why do you constantly push me away? Why do you keep changing the subject when I try to talk to you. I'm not Ken, I don't have this magical gift of making you talk. I can't be Miyako, and almost able to read your mind. I'm not smart enough to read between the lines. I know that something's wrong, and you said that you would talk to me, but you don't. And I'm not smart enough to figure out why."
"I'm getting tired of running away, TL." He ran a hand through his dark hair, the movements of his body barely visual in the deep shadows he was standing in.
"Then stop." Takeru wanted to reach out, and hug him, to comfort him and assure him that the world was okay. Except, they both knew that that was a lie. The world was screwed up, and everyone in it.
"I ran from Ken because I used to have a crush on him." It broke the stillness of the night with it's abrubtness, and Takeru felt the bottom drop out of his world. Daisuke went on before he could say anything. "Because, even though I didn't care deeply for him, there was still the hope that he felt -that- way toward me, and he'd make everything better. I didn't want to have to do this on my own."
"You're not on your own, Dai. I'm here, and so are the others." He was getting really tired of having to remind him of that.
"You don't understand."
"Then tell me. Stop running."
"I needed somebody to love me." A shaky breath. "I needed something to fill the void that should have been filled by my family, but wasn't. Jun finally gave me that. Then, I wanted real friends, because I could feel the gap between myself, and the rest of you. You guys gave me that back. And then, I needed someone to love me, for me. Not because I was there friend, and not as a friend. Not family, beyond that."
Not knowing what to say, Takeru remained silent, simply waiting for him to continue.
"I thought that, maybe if Ken loved me, I could try to love him back. I tried, but I couldn't. Then, to find out that he didn't feel that way toward me...I don't know. It felt like I failed. Like I couldn't really be loved that way. Like, maybe I wasn't good enough."
He knew that Daisuke was definitely crying by that time. He could hear the ragged breathing, and see the shaking in his shoulders. "Then why did you run from me?"
"BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO LOVE ME! You were, and are, and always have been, an angel. You and Kari both. You're on a pedestal, 'Keru. Ken...Ken was fallen. He climbed down from his pedestal, and became human, and I could feel his heartbeat. It was supposed to be Ken."
Takeru felt like crying himself. "And where does that leave me?" He hated the traitorous sound of his own voice, its weak quality.
"That depends. Where do you want to be?" He stepped out of the shadows, his face streaked by tears, his eyes rimmed red. He pointed up at the building. "There?" He swept his arm out, encompassing all of Odaiba. "Here?"
Brown eyes met blue, and Takeru shrugged helplessly, his own tears slipping free. "What if I said here?" He placed a hand on Daisuke's chest, over his pounding heart. They stood, staring at each other with the moon overhead half full, and the stars winking at them from the heavens. And Miyako in the shadows by the door, waiting for the answer that she already knew.
_____________________
End note: Well, I think I'll do my last 'clean it up, and make it happy' chapter, and call it quits. Just because I know you all care, I would like you all to know, that when filing this onto my floppy disks, I started numbering it, a.k.a. 'undecided1' and 'undecided2'. After 9, I started using alphabets. Since the last chapter is 'undecidedk' (that's the next one) I thought that it would be fitting, since Ken lost, that it should be his first initial that ends 'The Fic That Took Too Long'.
Beware, there will probaly be anst galore, since I write it so well *smirks*
Also, I would like to apologize to anyone that was offended by the pregnancy/menopause crack. I'm sorry.
"Dad." He swallowed hard, barely able to meet the blue eyes so like his own. He felt Matt put his hand on his shoulder in support, but didn't turn to look at him. He could feel Tai on his other side, offering his support.
"Takeru. Maybe you could explain to me why your mother called here, wondering if I've seen you? And then you could tell me what you boys are still doing out and about at ten o'clock on a school night."
"Um..."
"We were dropping off a friend of our's, Dad." Matt answered. "What are you doing here?" He gestured to the apartment building that housed the Takaishi side of the family. The Ishida's lived across town.
"I came here to check-up on your brother. Your mother said she called five times, and never got an answer, so she called me. When I told her that you weren't home, she freaked out, and started lecturing me over the phone. I finally told her I'd come over here, and see what's going on." He paused for a moment, and then looked slyly at his younger son. "And now that I've seen, I think I'll go home, and try to forget."
"Um..." Takeru was still at a loss for words. Matt gave him an annoyed glance as Daisuke finally joined them, his face rather pale. He was obviously expecting another confrontation, and wasn't feeling up for it.
"Daisuke's going to be staying over here for a while, Dad. His parents have kind of...disowned him, and we all thought that it would be easier for him to stay with Takeru, since they both go to the same school, and all."
"Ishida-san." Daisuke bowed low, his voice quiet.
"Your the Motomiya boy, aren't you? Your sister is the one that was stalking Matt?" The red-hair bobbed in affirmation. "I hope that you aren't that persistent when your feelings are unwanted." He spoke in a friendly, joking fashion, and his sons and Tai knew that he meant no offense, or underlying meaning, but the words dug into Daisuke, and he just nodded again. "Good, then. I'll leave you boys alone. Yamato, you can stay here tonight, and I'll cover it with Tai's parents, if you like?"
"Not really, Dad." Tai elbowed him in the ribs, and gave him a look. Matt gritted his teeth, but it was already too late.
"Okay, then. I'll see you at home in a little while. Bye, son." He awkwardly patted Takeru's shoulder, then held out his hand to Daisuke. "Please to meet you, Daisuke. Take good care of my boy while his mother's away, 'kay?"
"See ya, Dad." Takeru waved his father away, then turned to send his brother and Tai on their way.
"Don't even try it." Matt gave him a knowing leer, and then went to apologize to Tai, who was sulking at the missed opportunity to be together. Takeru shrugged, and then turned to Daisuke, who had wandered closer to the sidewalk, his body embraced by shadows.
"Hey." He spoke uncertainly, not quite sure what had almost happened, or why the redhead seemed to have withdrawn into himself. "Why don't we go up, and leave the love-birds to make up, and go home? We can set up a place for you to sleep, and settle down for the night. Tomorrow, you can borrow some of my clothes, and we can go to your place after school for your things."
"Sounds like you have it all planned." Brown eyes looked up scornfully. "Since you seem to have it all figured out, why don't you tell me how long I'll be staying here."
"Davis, I hate to tell you this, but your starting to have more mood swings than a pregnant woman during Menopause." Blue eyes looked at him hard. His attention was momentarily diverted by a car horn. It was Matt and Tai, pulling away. Then he flicked his gaze back to the boy in front of him. "What's up now?"
"You do realize that Menopause is normally the phase in a woman's life where she loses the ability to bare children, right?"
"You are aware that it's rude to answer a question with another question, right?" Takeru was getting sick of the games, not to mention a major headache from the constant loop-de-loop he seemed to ride whenever with Daisuke.
"Sorry." He cringed at the meekness of the other boy's tone.
"Don't be." He paused, and then took a step closer. "What's the matter, Dai? Why do you constantly push me away? Why do you keep changing the subject when I try to talk to you. I'm not Ken, I don't have this magical gift of making you talk. I can't be Miyako, and almost able to read your mind. I'm not smart enough to read between the lines. I know that something's wrong, and you said that you would talk to me, but you don't. And I'm not smart enough to figure out why."
"I'm getting tired of running away, TL." He ran a hand through his dark hair, the movements of his body barely visual in the deep shadows he was standing in.
"Then stop." Takeru wanted to reach out, and hug him, to comfort him and assure him that the world was okay. Except, they both knew that that was a lie. The world was screwed up, and everyone in it.
"I ran from Ken because I used to have a crush on him." It broke the stillness of the night with it's abrubtness, and Takeru felt the bottom drop out of his world. Daisuke went on before he could say anything. "Because, even though I didn't care deeply for him, there was still the hope that he felt -that- way toward me, and he'd make everything better. I didn't want to have to do this on my own."
"You're not on your own, Dai. I'm here, and so are the others." He was getting really tired of having to remind him of that.
"You don't understand."
"Then tell me. Stop running."
"I needed somebody to love me." A shaky breath. "I needed something to fill the void that should have been filled by my family, but wasn't. Jun finally gave me that. Then, I wanted real friends, because I could feel the gap between myself, and the rest of you. You guys gave me that back. And then, I needed someone to love me, for me. Not because I was there friend, and not as a friend. Not family, beyond that."
Not knowing what to say, Takeru remained silent, simply waiting for him to continue.
"I thought that, maybe if Ken loved me, I could try to love him back. I tried, but I couldn't. Then, to find out that he didn't feel that way toward me...I don't know. It felt like I failed. Like I couldn't really be loved that way. Like, maybe I wasn't good enough."
He knew that Daisuke was definitely crying by that time. He could hear the ragged breathing, and see the shaking in his shoulders. "Then why did you run from me?"
"BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO LOVE ME! You were, and are, and always have been, an angel. You and Kari both. You're on a pedestal, 'Keru. Ken...Ken was fallen. He climbed down from his pedestal, and became human, and I could feel his heartbeat. It was supposed to be Ken."
Takeru felt like crying himself. "And where does that leave me?" He hated the traitorous sound of his own voice, its weak quality.
"That depends. Where do you want to be?" He stepped out of the shadows, his face streaked by tears, his eyes rimmed red. He pointed up at the building. "There?" He swept his arm out, encompassing all of Odaiba. "Here?"
Brown eyes met blue, and Takeru shrugged helplessly, his own tears slipping free. "What if I said here?" He placed a hand on Daisuke's chest, over his pounding heart. They stood, staring at each other with the moon overhead half full, and the stars winking at them from the heavens. And Miyako in the shadows by the door, waiting for the answer that she already knew.
_____________________
End note: Well, I think I'll do my last 'clean it up, and make it happy' chapter, and call it quits. Just because I know you all care, I would like you all to know, that when filing this onto my floppy disks, I started numbering it, a.k.a. 'undecided1' and 'undecided2'. After 9, I started using alphabets. Since the last chapter is 'undecidedk' (that's the next one) I thought that it would be fitting, since Ken lost, that it should be his first initial that ends 'The Fic That Took Too Long'.
Beware, there will probaly be anst galore, since I write it so well *smirks*
Also, I would like to apologize to anyone that was offended by the pregnancy/menopause crack. I'm sorry.