A private detective was placed at the high school, on grounds of protection GOCC GOCC 4 4 2001-10-16T15:56:00Z 2001-10-16T16:10:00Z 4 1849 10541 GOCC 87 21 12945 9.4402

Legalities and formulations

A private detective was placed at the high school, on grounds of protection. He was actually there to keep a close eye on Davis and Tai, and make sure that they couldn't be alone at any point in time. Each of the digidestined glared at him, and they would often block his way in the halls.

Part of the soccer team caught on, and took to harassing him one day at lunch, claiming that he was a talent scout. They refused to leave him a moment's peace, and that allowed the goggle-boys to meet for quick periods of time. They would exchange a quick kiss, and hold hands until the detective found them again.

By Friday of the second week, the entire group was tired of the effort. Tai and Davis would settle for sitting side-by-side at lunch, and exchanging small talk. They would talk about school and soccer, like old times, as well as the things they'd like to do.

By the following Monday, Matt was eyeing the detective in a way that made the old man, in his fifties, nervous. Blue eyes would turn to him with a knowing and cold regard. TK and Davis snickered about the old man's apprehension during their morning block. By Wednesday, they had struck on an idea that might work.

Davis wrote a letter to Tai, and gave it to TK in the morning. He would pass it onto Kari, who would give it to Tai. He would give her his note, and she'd pass it to Matt, who gave it to Mimi, who would hand it off to Tai, who she shared a class with the next hour. By that afternoon, they had exchanged six letters, and the group was again fatigued.

Davis went home, passed his mother without a word, and slammed the door to his room shut, clicking the bolt behind him. The detective followed more slowly, told her that nothing had happened, and left with is fee.

She waited for Jun to come home, then left, not bothering to tell her where she was going. Jun made a phone call, then knocked on Davis' door.

It opened without an exchange of words, and he threw himself into her arms. She held him, tears in her eyes. "It's not fair, Jun. It's just not fair."

He sobbed into the shoulder of her shirt as she rubbed his back. "I know, Davis. Just hold on for a while longer, okay?"

"I don't know if I can. This is killing me. At least when they sent me away, I could do something, instead of sitting around and waiting. We're both miserable. Today, I snapped at him in the halls, and he looked so hurt."

She led him into his room, and sat down with him on the bed. "It will work out, Davis. I promise you. We'll find a way." She rocked him gently, rubbing his arm, and then his back, and then his arm again. "I tell you what. It's only a month until your birthday. Then you're seventeen. You can file for custody of yourself. Or you can ask the Kamiya's to stand up for you."

He leaned up, wiping his nose on his sleeve, his eyes hopeful. Then he shook his head. "Then we'd be almost related, and people would think worse of us than they do."

She smiled, wiping his eyes gently with her thumbs. "Then ask Ken's parents. You've been saying how you'd like to adopt him. Well, that works both ways. His family can adopt you, and you guys can be brothers. They'll let you see Tai, since they let him see Joe."

"That might actually work, Jun." He smiled, biting his bottom lip. "But what if they don't want me?" His eyes were worried. "Our parents didn't want me."

"That's because our parents our both stupid retards. They don't deserve two wonderful children like us. We're special, you and I, Davis. We don't live by normal societal rules, and we don't follow their norms."

"You've been reading my sociology book again, haven't you?" She squeezed his shoulder, and then let him go. "You're a great sister, Jun."

"I know." She gave him a jaunty wave, and left, shutting the door quietly behind her.

____________

"What's next?" Tai looked at Matt and Ken sitting across from him. His eyes were dim, faded and tired.  "He yelled at me today, and I know he feels guilty. I tried to tell him at practice that it was okay, but he walked off before I could say anything."

Ken nodded. "He's been under a lot of strain. His mother started sending him to a shrink. He's gone twice, and he says that the guy's an idiot. He wanted to refuse, but his mother never gives him a chance. Unless she has to drive him someplace, she leaves as soon as he's home and she's spoken with the detective. He keeps surveillance outside their apartment."

"It's a shame, really. He worked so hard to come home." Matt pushed the soda in front of him at Tai. The brunette took a drink without comment, staring off into space. "Of course, there has to be something that we can do."

"Yes, there is." Tai blinked up at Cody, who was holding hands with TK smugly. "I went through my mother's books from law school, and came across something. We'll have to talk to the detective, but it should actually be really easy."

"What?" Tai and Ken looked at him eagerly while Matt struck a casual pose. His eyes gave him away, as they were dilated in excitement.

Cody smiled, and slipped into the both. TK pulled up a chair. "Since Jun's over eighteen, she can file for custody against neglectful parents. She'll assume custody over her brother as long as they can find somewhere to live. And that doesn't mean your house, Tai. Because the two of you are dating, it would be viewed as a possible conflict."

"We'll work something out. Nothing else has held out." Tai looked at his friends, and then grinned. "Let's get started. What do we do first?"

Suicide and guilt

On Thursday, Davis had found something new to occupy his mind. He had decided, in the spirit of how their relationship began, to create a new project, which he proudly wore down the halls of school. When he reached his locker, he had the pleasure of seeing Tai's jaw drop.

"Like it?" The brunette stared at his shirt, mesmerized by the picture of himself ironed onto the white fabric, and the words 'This boy belongs to me', emblazoned in flames underneath. Davis turned around so he could read the back.

"'Got a problem with that?' Oh, Davis." He sighed, wanting nothing more than to drag the redhead into his arms. For his part, Davis was pleased, both with himself, and Tai's response. "I love it. Where's mine?"

Davis sighed. "Jun thought that that would be pushing it. We're working on a 'safe' version of it." He rolled his eyes, and then stuck his tongue out at the detective. The old man simply looked away, hiding his grin. "I have a plan."

"What?" Tai shut his locker, and leaned against it.

"I'm going to skip out of practice. Matt said that he'll drive me to the park, and then he'll come back. He'll distract the shadow, while you come meet me."

"Sounds perfect." They looked at each other, dark brown meeting brown in understanding. "I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since we've been alone. I still don't understand why your mother won't give up."

"Because she's a tenacious bitch. It's the Motomiya downfall, you know. We can't admit when we're wrong." He looked apologetically. "On that note, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that you didn't care yesterday."

"I know. It's in the past. We'll worry about our future, okay?" He reached a hand partway out, acknowledgement that he'd rather be touching him that keeping his distance.

Davis leaned against the locker, reaching his hand out to touch Tai's in a quick squeeze. "If it ever gets started."

____________

"Davis!" He looked up from the door, where he was taking his key out. Jun looked frantic, the phone in her hand. "Mom's overdosed. I'm calling the ambulance. Will you please try to get her to throw up?" He dropped his bags on the threshold, and ran to the bathroom where Jun pointed.

He stuck his finger in his mother's mouth, making her cough. She was barely breathing, and her eyes were glazed over. Jun rambled off instructions as she talked to the operator. It was a long fifteen minutes before the paramedics rushed through the door. They followed in Jun's car, and waited in the hospital for four hours before they said she'd live.

Jun left Davis crying in a stiff chair, his knees curled against his chest, his whole body racking with sobs. "Tai?" She waited for affirmation on the other end of the line. "Come to the hospital. It's our mom. Davis is okay, but he needs you. Hurry, please."

The phone went dead, and she sank down beside it, letting her own grief out as nurses and doctors walked by without stopping.

________

Tai showed up in less than twenty minutes, despite the fact that the drive should have taken thirty. He sent Kari to find Jun, and then searched waiting rooms until he found his boyfriend. Ignoring the older woman waiting across the room, he pulled him up and into his arms, sitting back down in the chair with the redhead in his lap.

He rocked him in silence, holding him tight and letting the tears pour out. Ken showed up an hour later, called by Kari. She ended up escorting Jun to the nurse's station, where one of the orderlies took her to lie down.

"How is he?" Ken sat down next to the couple, rubbing his friend's back slowly.

"Asleep, finally. He was even crying in his sleep, at first." He was still rocking his body, his eyes closed as he rested his head against Davis' shoulder. "He took it badly. She'll be okay, but they want to keep her here for counseling."

"You do know what that means, don't you?" Ken looked at him sadly.

"Yeah, I do. She's still his mother, and he loves her. If the choice comes to waiting a year for her safety, he'll do it. He'll choose her over me, because he will always be loyal. It's part of who he is. I accept that. I don't' have a choice. It's part of who he is."

Ken nodded, sinking back against the chair. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket, and held it up. "I stopped by the apartment to see if I should bring anything. I found this on the kitchen table."

It had Tai's name in capital letters on the front. "Open it, please." He kept his arms around Davis.

"'Dear Mr. Kamiya. I regret to inform you of my demise. At this point in time, my son will probably be either devastated, or deliriously happy. Take good care of my son, and his sister if you would. They deserve the best, though it has taken me for too long to see that. I still don't like you, and I blame this whole ordeal with my son on you. However, I do realize that you can offer him a comfort that no one else can. M. Motomiya.'"

Tai closed his eyes, holding his boyfriend a little closer. "Her last ditch effort to make sure that her son knows it's our fault. She's a selfish bitch, and she always will be. I'm glad that she didn't die. Now I can show that to Davis, and she can suffer as we parade our relationship in front of her."

"You know Davis won't do it that way." Ken eyed him, worried by the stony look in his eyes.

"I know. He'll be very polite about it, and introduce me politely, and we may even hold hands in front of her, or we may not.  The first time I say the wrong thing, he'll side with her, and she'll start worming us apart again."

"Yep. She'll get to him the only way that hasn't worked so far."

"Guilt?" They looked in surprise as Davis sat up, pushing against Tai's chest gently. He looked at Ken, and nodded in greeting, then turned to Tai. The brunette opened his mouth to apologize, but Davis cut him off. "You're right, of course. But it won't work. I've been waiting for her to do this for a while. Jun can file for custody of me without contestation."

Tai shook his head. "Don't. Your mother is going to need you right now, whether I want to share you or not. I won't give you up, but I understand that you need to be with her, too." Davis smiled and kissed him, his eyes puffy and blurred. "At least we don't have to worry about that damn detective."

Davis sank back into his arms, letting his arm slip around his neck. Ken looked at them, waved goodbye, and left to find Joe. His own boyfriend was somewhere, working an internship for one of the doctors. It should be about his break time. He passed the room that Jun was sleeping in, and spoke with Kari.

"He's doing okay. He and Tai are going to face his mother together as soon as the doctor approves visitors."

"That's good." She covered the sleeping redhead up, making sure the blankets were pulled up to her shoulders. "She'll be okay, too. I think that it was luck that Davis arrived home when he did. He and Tai found a spot to be alone, but Davis was worried, and asked him to drive him home."

"She'll pull through. Maybe now everything can be worked out. Davis is determined not to let this change things with Tai, but I think your brother is starting to feel guilty, himself."

"It wouldn't surprise me. If Tai acts like Tai, he'll be the one to withdraw."