Disclaimer: Digimon, its plots, characters and concepts are not mine. They're belonged to such people as Toei Animation, Bandai and Saban. All are being borrowed and will hopefully be brought back as they were. No profit is being made, so please don't sue. Any quotes from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux aren't mine either. The Ghost Roads idea was borrowed from the Buffy Trilogy, The Gatekeeper I think. It's not mine either. Any original characters and this fic are mine.
It was the next day, and school had just been let out. Daisuke stepped out of the building that held himself and so many others like him captive for a rather large amount of time each week, when they could be doing far more useful things, like sleeping, soccer and saving two worlds. Just the average things other kids did. Yep. The moment he stepped outside, he found himself nabbed by some friends he knew from soccer and was roped into a game.
As the minutes passed, Daisuke found himself forgetting rather quickly about his lessons with Ken. In fact, he forgot about everything except the black and white ball he was running after. As he watched, a member of his team kicked it wildly and he raced after it, intending to catch it before it went out onto the road.
But he didn't catch it.
Someone else did.
"Hey thanks!" he called, racing up to the boy who held the soccer ball in his hands. As he neared him however, he realised it was Takeru, and he was looking at him rather strangely. Instantly Daisuke found himself hurtled back into memories:
It was the first day of school, and Daisuke and the others, desperate to put off that moment where they had to go inside to face those dreaded people called teachers for as long as possible, were playing a game of soccer. Without realising it, Daisuke found he had kicked the ball too hard and it went skidding away. Trying to ignore the jeers and taunts from the other guys, he went after it.
He discovered a blonde guy with a white hat had caught it, and as he neared him, he found the blonde was looking at him rather strangely. As he stopped and waited for the guy to give him the ball, the blonde frowned and said uncertainly, "Tai?"
"Huh?" Daisuke stared back at him, wondering if he'd lost his marbles. Then the moment ended, as the blonde laughed and tossed the ball back at him.
"Sorry," he said. "Must be the goggles." Then, suddenly aware that the other players were getting rather impatient and were rather vocal about it, Daisuke gave him one last curious glance, before turning and kicking the ball towards the others, before racing back into the game.
He'd found himself thinking about the blonde for a while afterwards. He'd found out later that his name was Takeru, and that he knew Hikari. He'd been insanely jealous about it for a while, but had eventually got over it. He'd become closer to him than he'd ever thought he would (saving two worlds did that to you) and they'd become friends...
"Hey Takeru," he said, slowly to a walk. He held out his hands for the ball, but Takeru didn't give him the ball, instead continuing to stare at him. Was it his imagination, or was Takeru's look becoming a glare? "What's up?" he asked uncertainly, fully aware that the other guys were yelling at him to hurry up.
Takeru's stare lasted for another moment, before he did something Daisuke wasn't prepared for at all: he laughed. Only it was a normal laugh that was purely Takeru's, but it was a false laugh. A bitter laugh. A sarcastic laugh. Daisuke felt his confusion grow by the minute.
"What's up?" the Keeper of Hope echoed. "Nothing much." He glared at Daisuke. "I didn't expect you to be here. Shouldn't you be at your lesson with him?!" If it was possible, more anger flooded his face.
For a second all Daisuke could do was stare blankly at his best friend, before the full impact and meaning sank in and he gasped, his cheeks colouring. His first thought was: Oh no! Ken's going to kill me! Then he realised what part Takeru had played in this, and his eyes widened. "You - you know?" he whispered, horrified.
Takeru nodded grimly, his face pale with anger and his lips drawn in a tight smile. "You bet I know!" he hissed, feeling more angry than he had been in a long time. "Daisuke, how could you?"
"Takeru you can't tell anyone!" Daisuke whimpered in a panicked voice. "If Ken finds out you know..." He couldn't bear to finish his sentence, his face twisted in anguish.
Takeru laughed, the sound more like a cackle. "Why shouldn't I tell anyone?" he demanded. "They have the right to know that you're with the enemy!"
"Takeru listen to me!" Daisuke begged frantically. "You can't tell anyone! Please, in the name of our friendship, don't say anything! You don't know what Ken can do..." With a shudder he remembered the 'punishment' Ken had given him only a few days before.
"Then why are you with him?!" Takeru cried, then hurriedly lowered his voice. He quickly tossed the ball at the other players and the game resumed without Daisuke. "Are you helping him?!" He couldn't keep the hurt and betrayal out of his eyes and voice as he watched Daisuke carefully, looking and praying for a sign that his guess was wrong.
Daisuke uttered a strangled cry, grabbing onto Takeru. "No! No, no, no! Not like that! I wouldn't help him with that! I'm still a Digidestined!" The redhead looked appalled that Takeru would even suggest such a thing.
"Then what are you doing with him?" his friend asked, looking confused.
"I'm - he's - well..." To Takeru's amazement, Daisuke blushed. "He's - he's - he's giving me magic lessons!" Daisuke was ashamed to feel his cheeks flood with colour. This was so embarrassing!
"He's what?!" Takeru openly stared at the Keeper of Courage in front of him, secretly wondering if Ken had warped Daisuke's mind. "Are you serious?!"
Daisuke sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Come on," he muttered, yanking Takeru away with him. Over his shoulder he called, "See you later guys!" He paused in his dragging away of Takeru only once, to pick up his backpack. "Chibimon's at home today," he informed Takeru. "He doesn't like going to Ken's much."
"I can only imagine why," he replied dryly, noting that Daisuke ignored that very well.
Daisuke only stopped when they were a safe distance away from any people. He stopped, placing his hands on his hips and looked thoughtful. Takeru waited a moment, and when Daisuke didn't say anything, spoke up. "So why are we here?"
"Shh!" Daisuke hissed, waving an irritated hand at him. He looked annoyed. "The library," he decided suddenly. "Yes, that's where I'll show you."
"Show me what" Takeru asked, but Daisuke was already walking away in the direction of the building. Sighing heavily, Takeru followed him. I'm beginning to see why curiosity killed the cat.
They were once more in the computer room as before, only this time they were together and there was no one spying on the other. The room was empty, and Daisuke made sure to shut the door and lock it. He only said briefly, upon seeing Takeru's startled look, "We don't want any interruptions."
Takeru was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this.
"What are you doing," he asked hesitantly, but Daisuke refused to answer. Instead he walked right up to Takeru, so close there noses were touching. For one wild moment Takeru thought Daisuke was going to kiss him.
What?! his mind shrieked at him. Where'd you get that from?!?! He did not think of Daisuke like that, he did not think of Daisuke like that, he did not -
He found that he did when Daisuke placed his hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes. He also found he could hardly breathe. "Daisuke," he whispered, his heart pounding and his blood rushing in his veins. He leaned in towards Daisuke -
- and nearly had a heart attack when Daisuke disappeared and he nearly fell forward!
The power!
It writhed in its grave of stone and magic, hardly able to believe so much power would soon be under its control! This young being wielded so much power. So much power! And, soon, it would be used for it, and only it. Not for that so-called dictator.
All for it.
All for it.
It licked its lips hungrily.
Yes....
Oh yes.
All for it.
Soon...
Very, very soon...
Takeru fought not to yelp as he felt himself pitch forward, as he searched frantically through empty air. But Daisuke was gone. But he couldn't be! That defied every law known to man. People just couldn't disappear like that! But if they couldn't... where was Daisuke?
The bad feeling was getting stronger.
Then he turned around for some unknown reason and nearly screamed as Daisuke appeared in front of him, looking flushed, breathless and very excited.
"Did you see that?!" he asked eagerly. "Oh, wow I did it!" He paused in his gleeful revelations when he saw the expression on Takeru's face. "What's wrong?"
For one very long moment, the Digidestined of Hope could only stare at the redhead in front of him. When he managed to speak, his tone was extremely angry. "What's wrong?!" he hissed. "Oh, not much, except that you nearly gave me a heart attack back then! Didn't you even wonder if I'd be alarmed that you suddenly disappeared?!"
Daisuke instantly looked ashamed. "I'm sorry," he replied miserably. "I didn't even think I'd be able to do it. Ken only mentioned it in passing once - I don't think he even knew I'd be able to do it!"
It was then that Takeru realised truly what Daisuke had done - and turned white. "You... you really disappeared," he whispered, his eyes widening. "God Daisuke - you were telling the truth." His swallowed hard, looking at Daisuke like he had two heads.
"What's wrong?" Daisuke repeated, shifting nervously from foot to foot and looking uneasy. He didn't like the way Takeru was looking at him...
"You disappeared..." Takeru whispered, beginning to shake. He didn't understand what was happening to him, everything was so confusing. He didn't really know why he was overreacting - he had seen far worse things in his time. But none of them were quite the same as this. None of them had involved his friend having unnatural powers. Still trembling, Takeru began to back away. This, mingled with his sudden new feelings towards Daisuke, weren't reacting well with each other. He literally, couldn't deal with it.
"Takeru," Daisuke said with a concerned look. He took a step forward, arm outstretched to touch him. Takeru snapped.
"No!" he yelped, panicking. "I'm sorry, it's just.... I'm so, so sorry!" And with that he whirled on his heel and bolted from the room and from the library.
"Takeru!" Daisuke yelled, but he was already gone. He slammed his fist against the wall, feeling bitter tears well up in his eyes. Everything had gone wrong, so terribly wrong! He deeply regretted saying or doing anything now, but with what Takeru now knew, he'd had no choice.
With that a dead weight sank in Daisuke's stomach and he stared blankly at the dark computer screen with worried eyes. A more pressing matter was now at hand: would Takeru tell the others what he was doing?