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.
Takeru sighed and leaned back in the chair, staring at the slender girl who was sitting opposite him, her dark red eyes watching him with a light in them that wasn't normal. But then, nothing about Hikari Kamiya had ever been normal. He swallowed and said, "When are you going to stop looking at me like that?"
She smiled then, a sweet, innocent smile that was the direct opposite to what she was. Kari had grown from her sweet little angel phase. Mimi had made sure of that. "When you tell me what's wrong. You're not yourself Takeru." She only called him by her full name when she was determined to get what she wanted. What she wanted to hear, he didn't want to tell her.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied quietly, looking away from her. He knew well she wouldn't fall for that. Hikari wasn't stupid.
He was right. She burst out laughing, the sound running over him like water. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"
His answer was flat. "No."
The laughter died abruptly. "Tell me what's wrong Takeru." He shook his head. "Then maybe I'll go to Daisuke and ask him does he know you've fallen for him." His head snapped up, his shocked blue eyes meeting hers.
"You knew." It was a statement, not a question.
She nodded. "You weren't exactly subtle when you were around him. It's a crime the way Daisuke is so oblivious."
Takeru dragged his hands across his face. "I can't tell him."
"Why?" Her voice was gentle.
"He doesn't like me that way."
"Are you so sure?"
"Yes!"
"You're not." Her voice was just as flat as his had been a moment ago. He looked straight at her and her eyes had gone hard. "You're not sure at all are you?"
He couldn't lie to her. "No, I'm not," he admitted.
"Tell him." There was an edge to her voice that hadn't been there before. He looked down at the table before him and wondered why he had let her in when she came over. Part of him had known that she had known, he just hadn't wanted to admit that either.
"What if he freaks?"
"You'll still have tried."
"I value his friendship."
"You'll value his love even more."
"What if he refuses?"
"Why would he refuse?"
He couldn't say anymore, not without blurting out Daisuke's secret. But he knew if Hikari caught on, she'd wring it out of him even if she caused bruises to form. But he still owed them the truth... but he owed Daisuke everything that made him his friend. His heart thumping, he looked up at Hikari. There was no suspicion in her eyes at all.
"I just... I'm freaking I guess." He looked down at the table again.
"I'll say." He tensed at the amusment in her voice and sighed.
"So I should tell him?"
"Yep."
"Are you sure?"
"I told Mimi."
"You knew Mimi had fallen for you."
"Trust me: it'll eat you up if you don't."
He didn't reply, instead sighing deeply again. When he replied eventually, there was slight fear in his voice.
"Well when you put it like that I guess I don't have a choice do I?"
Her smile was approving.
Daisuke was sprawled across his bed, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing it. His eyes were half-closed and held a look in them that was somewhere between dazed and dreamy. He sighed once, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a pair of large red eyes were staring at him. For a moment he nearly flung the little ball of blue fur away from him, before he remembered it was Chibimon. His digimon. Something not to be flung into the air.
Chibimon watched him curiously. "Are you okay Daisuke?" the blue digimon enquired. "You seem... not yourself."
Daisuke grinned slightly. "Yeah, I'm okay Chibi. Just thinking that's all."
Chibimon gave him a quizzical look, and then decided it was much better to nuzzle Daisuke's chin and make him laugh. The redhead grinned and held his digimon, scratching him afectionately on the head and under the chin. Chibimon squealed happily.
They remained like that for the next few minutes, both content. Then Chibimon broke the silence by asking Daisuke slowly, "Do you like Ken, Daisuke?"
It was not a question Daisuke had been expecting. For a few moments he didn't know what to say, finally replying, "I'm not sure Chibimon. I think I do. Why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to know. I know Ken teaches you things. Does that mean you like him because of that? Do you like all your teachers?"
Daisuke blanched. "No!" he yelped. "No Chibimon... Ken is different. You don't like someone just because they teach you."
"Oh. Okay." Plainly, Chibimon didn't understand what he was on about at all. But he knew better than to ask why that was so. Human stuff was just confusing. "You seem to like Ken a lot."
"Yeah." Daisuke smiled dreamily. "Yeah, I guess I do." That was an understatement.
"I thought guys kissed girls," Chibimon commented. "But Ken's a boy. Do boys kiss other boys?"
Daisuke blushed. It had been hard enough explaining girlfriends and kisses to the little digimon. He knew this was going to be hard. "Well, people say boys aren't supposed to kiss other boys," he said carefully. "But some boys just prefer other boys to girls."
"Like you and Ken?"
"I guess so." To be truthful, Daisuke wasn't sure.
"I get it!" Daisuke would have bet his entire manga collection that he didn't.
Daisuke was just about to ask Chibimon exactly what he understood, when someone banged on his door. He looked up, annoyed. "What?!" he yelled, expecting it to be Jun. His parents never banged on the door.
He was right. "Takeru's here to see you!" Jun yelled back.
"Send him in then!" was Daisuke's indignant answer. He heard Jun sigh heavily and walk away. Moments later a new set of footsteps approached. Chibimon prepared to freeze into his blue-fluffy-and-knowing-it stuffed toy act, but Daisuke shook his head. "It's Takeru," he told him. "You don't have to do it." He got up to open his door.
Sure enough the blonde was standing outside in the hall. "Hey Takeru," Daisuke greeted him, noting silently that there was something up. The blonde's expression was set, something that only happened when he had something on his mind. "Patamon at home?" The blonde had nothing with him, so Daisuke assumed he hadn't brought the flying digimon.
"Hey Daisuke," he replied absently. "Yeah, Patamon's at home." As Daisuke settled down on his bed, watching him, the blonde began to pace, looking annoyed with both himself and with something else.
Chibimon crawled onto Daisuke's lap, giving Takeru a concerned look. "Is he okay?"
Daisuke shrugged, eyes never leaving Takeru's pacing form. "I'm not sure."
Takeru was muttering to himself. "...they told me to tell you...it's not my fault then...what have I to lose? Daisuke?" he asked, turning around to face him. The redhead jerked at suddenly being addressed. "Can I tell you something important?"
Daisuke blinked. "Of course you can Takeru! We're best friends after all!" He noticed this only seemed to make Takeru feel worse. What's wrong with him?
"Okay." Takeru racked a hand through his hair, coming to a stop before him. To Daisuke's amazement and alarm, he began to blush, as if what he was about to say was very embarrassing. It wasn't just his cheeks, it was his entire face. In Daisuke's mind, he vaguely resembled a strawberry. "Okay..." Chibimon and Daisuke looked at each other.
"The thing is... we've been friends for a while, haven't we Daisuke?" Takeru asked. Daisuke did not think that this was what he'd been thinking about.
Daisuke nodded slowly. "Yeah we have... why?"
"Well... I have something very important to tell you. It's... I think I've been feeling this way for a long time, and it's only been recently I've finally admitted it," Takeru said quickly, making absolutely no sense. He glanced quickly at Daisuke, and fought not to groan at the blank look on his face.
"Takeru, what's going on?" Daisuke asked. "Just say it already!"
"Fine," Takeru whispered, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. He looked at Daisuke again, meeting his brown eyes firmly. "The thing is Daisuke," he said softly, hoping he wasn't just about to make the biggest mistake of his life, "that I like you. A lot."
And before Daisuke could say anything or react in any way, he leaned in and kissed him.