Karma Hotel

By Rainy



Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the song used in this.

A/N - Hey hey! I actually managed to write a fic! This is very loosely based on the title song. The rating is there for a reason, this contains death and yaoi. The couples in this are Daiken, one sided Takedai and hints at one sided Takari. So now you've been warned, DO NOT flame me. Oh, and when you're read this, I don't hate Ken. He's actually my third fave character. Please review when you've finished reading, it makes me happy. Enjoy :)



Welcome to the Karma Hotel,

Looks like Heaven but could be Hell,

Where pleasant screams transform to yells,

And every suite casts its own spell.

- Karma Hotel, Spooks



Takeru's POV

So it seemed alright when we got there. We stumbled into the lobby, dropping our bags all over the floor. Ken got the key from the reception desk, and limped back over to us.

"Thirteenth floor." he said, almost painfully. "And the lift's broken."

We all groaned rather loudly attracting a few odd looks, then started to drag our heavy bags up thirteen flights of stairs.

After about eight, Hika stopped and started to cry. "I can't go any further!" she wailed. "My legs are killing me, and my arms are just about ready to fall off!" I went over to her and wrenched her sticky hand off the handle of her bag. I took the long strap and heaved it over my shoulder.

"Hey, we're all tired, but there's not long to go." I put on a fake smile, and took her hand, pulling her up the next few flights 'till we reached our floor and room.

"Oh, thank god!" Daisuke moaned, and flopped down on the bed as soon as we got in. The rest of us collapsed on the floor. "I am *not* doing that again." He said. I nodded to myself.

* * * * *

I think we all fell asleep where we were laying, because I woke up next to the bed with Hikari in my arms. I gently moved her off me, as she was still asleep, and leaned over to look at the clock. Six o'clock. I groaned, but still got up. I can never get back to sleep. I stretched and over to my bag to grab some fresh clothes. My top stank of sweat from our 'trek' last night. I took it off and chucked it on the floor.

"Oh. Uh...sorry." I shot round. Daisuke was awake and watching me. "Maybe you should..."

"Yeah. Ok." I found myself blushing. I grabbed my shirt and took it into the bathroom, paused, then put it on. Why the hell was my face so red?

"Takeru?" Daisuke knocked on the door. I practically jumped a mile.

"Huh?! Sorry, Dai, you scared me." I opened the door and came back into the main room. I still felt my cheeks burning.

"You alright?" He smiled at me. I nodded, staring at the floor. "You're up early."

"You too."

"I'm going for a morning swim. Wanna come?"

I nodded again. I felt so stupid standing there, stuttering to the find words I wanted. I searched in my bag for my swimming stuff, then we went down to the outdoor pool.

"I'll be in the pool, alright?" Daisuke was changed way before me. I guess I was being slow on purpose, but I don't know why. Eventually, I went outside.

The pool was empty.

"Dai? Hey, Daisuke, where are you?" There was nobody there at all. The water was untouched. I climbed in and swam around for a bit. When he didn't show after five minutes, I started to get worried. Where the hell is he? I thought. I shut my eyes, hoping he would appear. God, I'm so stupid. Why did I want him to come so much, anyway? Why? Why am I asking all these questions? I forced my eyes open. What the...

Light. That's all there was as first. Then images started flashing past me. Horrible images. Twisted faces in agony, an old man having a heart attack, a woman crying over her love's dead body, a grave with a rotting body in it. I put my hands over my face to stop it, but they attacked my other senses instead. I could hear all the screams, the cries, the weeping, the moans, the mourns. I started to cry and scream myself. Calling out for help. Asking the eternity to save me from the voices. But they only added to them. Whispers in my head, telling me to give up, telling me to get it over with. Telling me to go to hell.

I screamed.

...

"Takeru?! Wake up!"

I was on the floor in our room. Daisuke was shaking my shoulders gently. I suddenly pulled him towards me in a tight hug. "Don't leave me again, Dai, don't let them get me..." I felt him stroke my hair, and I cried again.



Daisuke's POV

"I'm really worried about him, Ken, he did seem really frightened of something." Ken and I were walking down the corridor on the bottom floor, towards the mini Casino. Takeru had had a fit a few hours ago, and Hika was upstairs calming him down. We thought that was best, although he said he didn't want me to go. I felt really bad about going.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Ken replied, staring at the ceiling as we walked.

I frowned. "Do you even care?"

"Of course!" Ken looked a bit offended and I felt bad again. "I'm worried about him like you are, it's just..."

"Huh? What is it?"

Ken sighed and took my hand. "He's been getting a bit too close to you for my liking. He knows about us and everything, so I don't know whether he's doing out of spite towards me, or if he does...if he feels for you."

This was news to me. "Close to me? I hadn't noticed."

He looked at the ceiling again. "You wouldn't. You're always paying so much attention to me," He smiled at this, "That you don't seem to notice much about everyone else."

"Does Hikari know?" I knew Hika had a crush on him, and it might break her heart if she found out.

But Ken nodded. "She pointed it out to me, in fact. She was a bit upset, but I think she's getting over it. Even though she still loves him."

All this had shocked me, and we walked to the end of the hall in silence. "I-I don't feel so good." I lied through my teeth. "I'm gonna go back up to the room, 'kay? I'll come and see how you're doing in a while."

"Okay. I'll be in the Casino." We parted ways, holding hands 'till the last like we always do. I walked slowly back up the stairs. I think I bumped into a few people on the way, but wasn't really looking. I had reached the top floor sooner than I realised. Took the key out of my pocket. Opened the door. Hika and Takeru were talking on the bed. He was smiling, but still looked pale and fragile. I went and sat down next to them.

"Oh, hi Daisuke, we didn't hear you come in." Hika practically beamed at me.

"Could I speak to Takeru alone for a while please?" I asked quietly.

"Sure. Is everything OK, Dai? You're not normally this subdued." I made no reply. Hika looked at me hard, then left without a word. Takeru looked at me. I met his gaze, but his eyes seemed different, not bright like usual. Cloudy, perhaps, would be a good way to describe it. Maybe he had really seen something. I cleared my throat to say something. "I was talking to Ken. About you."

"Oh yeah?"

Better do it now, or I'll never be able to say it. "He says that you have feelings for me." Silence. He wrung his thin hands together.

"I-I don't know what to say."

"Then it's not true?"

He didn't say anything, and my heart fell. That meant he did. "I guess that Ken was right. But I've only just realised myself." He leant forward and put his hand over mine. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I didn't think to slip my hand away.

"For loving you." He leant closer.

"Then I'm sorry too." I swallowed hard. I didn't want to say this. But I had to. "For not." I could see the tears welling in his eyes, he was that near.

"Ken is a very lucky guy." He reached out and gently touched my face. Then he kissed me. It was ever so gentle, like a feather brushing against my lips. But even so, I pushed him away.

"I-I have to go." I stuttered, almost falling off the bed. He tried to stop me, grabbed my hand, but I pulled away. "This isn't right, and you know it." My voice was louder. "Don't ever do that again!" I was shouting now. I wasn't angry, but I felt I needed to get it right into his head. I ran out the door, and slammed it hard behind me, but didn't go straight away. I listened through the door. He was crying. I felt so guilty, like it was all my fault. I ran again, down the stairs, through the corridor and into the Casino. I looked around frantically for Ken and saw him at one of the roulette tables. He looked so happy and carefree. I wish I could be like that.



Ken's POV

"Three hundred on red!" I cried above the bustle, putting the chips down on the table. I watched the rest of the players impatiently, willing them to get on with it so I could win. They placed their chips on with clumsy hands, no skill in where they chose, just a random number. All attention turned to the wheel. Silence fell around the small table, even though noise carried on throughout the rest of the hall. I blocked out all sounds, concentrating hard on the wheel. At first, it spun like a blur, but soon began to slow, the tiny silver ball jumping in and out of the squares. It was entrancing, like watching a flickering flame. Me, like a moth drawn towards its beauty.

"Red, 16." The dealer shouted, breaking me out of my trance. I heard cheers and groans from the other players, and found my pile of plastic chips grow ever larger. I had much more than anyone else. I'd been winning all night. I felt tired, but couldn't leave. I was already addicted. I threw a few more chips on. It didn't matter if I won or lost now. I watched the magic ball spin again, but this time something distracted me. A hand on my shoulder, and a whisper in my ear.

"Ken, I need to talk to you."

I spun around. " Can't you see I'm busy?!" I shouted. Daisuke looked shocked and took his hand back to his side. I looked back at the wheel, to see I had won again. Daisuke must have got the message, because he disappeared.

"You're doing pretty well." Someone was talking to me. Not Dai, too deep a voice for him. I looked and saw a gang of men, all dressed the same, like a mob or something. "You seem a lucky kind of guy." The leader spoke again. "How would you like to play something a little more...Exciting?"

This interested me. "Like what?"

He smiled. A rather sly smile. "Come with us, and you'll see." I got up out of my chair and let them take me to a room I hadn't noticed before. I looked different to the rest, like something out of the Twilight Zone. The gang's leader sat down in a large red armchair and looked at me. "The game," He said, "Is Russian roulette. Choose your gun." He held up two guns, one gleaming silver, and one deathly black. I took the silver. It looked luckier.



Daisuke's POV

My eyes widened when I saw him actually take one of them. I tried to open the door wider to get a better look, but didn't want it to creak and give me away. He spun the cylinder fast, then brought the gun up level with his head. I grabbed the door handle tighter. 'Get out of there!' I thought, biting my lip. His finger closed around the trigger, and I shut my eyes tight and waited. Nothing. I heard a quiet click, and opened them again. He'd been lucky. I sighed in relief. 'Come on now, Ken, leave.' But to my utter horror, he stayed put and pulled the trigger again, and another time. I put my hands over my face, hoping he would appear at my side and ask me why was I standing there and that we should hurry and get back to the room. But he didn't. He still stood there. And pulled the trigger again.

I didn't hear anything at first. But then it came. A loud bang rang through my head like a tiny explosion. I saw Ken fall to the floor and in crumpled heap. It was like it was happening in slow motion. The people that had brought him there, simply laughed then melted away into the room. I flung the door open and skidded over to where he lay. "Ken!" I cried, grabbing him round the waist and pulling him up onto my lap. "Ken, don't die, don't die on me!" He didn't answer, and I stood up, cradling him in my arms. I ran (well, as fast as I could with a dying boy in my arms) back up to the room. No one even glanced at me as I passed. I looked back to see how far I'd gone, and noticed a trail of blood up the side of the stairs. When I got to the room, I banged on it as hard as I could.

"Alright, I'm coming." I heard Takeru say.

"Hurry up!" I shouted through the wood. As soon as he opened it I shoved him out of the way and lay Ken on the bed.

"Dai...What happened?" Takeru stood gaping. I don't blame him, he was probably too shocked to move.

I propped Ken's head up on a pillow, made sure nothing was covering his chest or face, all the time muttering "Don't die, don't die, please don't die." I told Takeru to get something to cover the wound with, and he gave me a shirt from one of the drawers. I shoved it to the side of Ken's head. I touched his pale face, ad felt him quiver slightly. That was a good sign. It meant he wasn't dead. "Call an ambulance!" I said to Takeru. I turned my full attention back to Ken. "If you can hear me, Ken," I whispered in his ear. "I want you to know that I won't leave you, even if you die, I'll come with you."

"...Yeah...right..."

I laughed quietly. "Oh, be quiet. The ambulance will come soon. You're going to be alright, you'll see. We'll get through this together." I sat next to him on the bed, one hand holding his, one keeping the cloth on his head. Every so often, an expression of pain would come over his face. I knew he was hurting, but I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do. Hikari came at about half seven. She started crying when we told her what had happened. We all tried to comfort Ken. At one time, he said he couldn't see anything, and I almost went hysterical with worry. But it was alright.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance came, and took him to the van. I sat in with Ken, and Takeru and Hikari sat at the back. They were talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I could see the hotel as we drove away. It looked like a huge face in the distance. Laughing.



Hikari's POV

"Takeru," I said quietly, "Do you think Ken will pull through?"

He put his arms round my shoulders in an attempt to make me feel better. "I hope so." That wasn't a very reassuring answer, but that was all we could do at the time. Hope. I glanced to the front where he lay. He looked so pale. So did Daisuke. They cared so much about each other, and both Takeru and I knew if Ken did...die, that Daisuke would most likely kill himself. I shuddered at the thought.

When we got to the hospital, they took Ken away. Daisuke wasn't allowed to go in and see him, so we sat in the waiting hall. We both tried to talk to him, but he kept ignoring us, and staring at the white walls. Hell, I don't think he would have noticed if the room fell apart. He jumped every time one of the doctors came through, but none of them stopped to talk to us. When finally, a nurse asked for Daisuke, he was too scared to go, and told Takeru to go talk to her instead. We held each others hands, praying for good news.

It took Takeru a long time to come back.

His eyes were red.

"Ken is...he..he didn't make it..."

We lost Daisuke that day, too.

Owari