Yes, I got the next chapter up. ^_^ Yes, people are shocked to find that Taichi's been hurting himself, but things are starting to unfold. Enjoy! Don't forget to R&R!
~Alone in the Dark of Night~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*
It was dark in the room when a digital object back to play the tune "Ashita Wa Motto". Yamato kissed her, moving down towards her neck and her shoulder, ignoring the cell phone. Sora, on the other hand, couldn't ignore it. "Uh, Yamato?" Sora said as Yamato kissed her neck.
"Mm-hmm?"
"My cell's ringing," she told him as he looked up and kissed her on the lips.
"Screw the cell, this is more important," he rasped.
Sora ignored the last comment as she pushed Yamato over the couch for her to reach out to the table and grab her red-plated cell phone. Unlike Yamato, she only used a cell phone for emergancy calls. Her first thought was, Oh my God, Mother! as she opened her cell phone.
"It couldn't wait, huh?" Yamato asked, brushing back his hair.
She motioned silence as she said, "Sora Takenouchi."
"Lemme guess, your Dad burnt the stew," he commented as Sora listened.
"Koushirou?" she cried incredulously. "Why are you calling me by---what? You're...waitaminute, are you at the hospital?...What's going...Koushirou, calm down!...Takeru...what?!"
"Takeru?!" Yamato croaked in surprise. "Is he alright?"
Sora listened. "Slow down...so you're with Takeru, Hikari and Daisuke...Jou's doing...waitaminute, if you guys are there...who's 'he'? Who's in the hospital?..." Her eyes widened in horror, tears beginning to form as she breathed, "Oh God, no..."
Yamato gripped her hand. "Who is it, Sora?"
She wasn't listening. "Yeah...I'm on my way there...see you." She ended the phone call and got up, buttoning up her blouse and brushing her hair back. She then pulled on her jacket and pocketted her cell phone in a whir that Yamato was still sitting down, dumbstruck.
"Sora-kun," he called, "who's in the hospital."
She turned back, fighting tears. "Taichi."
"Oh, shit!" He struggled to his feet and buttoned his shirt and wore his jacket. Grabbing the keys and his blue-plated cell and pocketting them clumsily, he walked quickly to the door, dragging the sullen Sora. "C'mon, I'll drive you. Let's hurry."
"Hikari!"
She turned to see her parents run up to her, who had just entered the ward. Her mother ran up to her and embraced her youngest child to her breast, sobbing. "Oh, Hikari, Hikari, are you all right?" she asked her, fighting the tears in her eyes.
Hikari was fighting that terrible pain herself as she replied, "Yes, yes, I'm all right...but Oniisan..." She struggled and staggered back, breathing heavily, straight into Takeru's open arms. She was still breathing hard and Takeru looked frantically up at Mrs. Yagami.
"Mrs. Yagami," he said, supressing the panic, "what's wrong with...her?"
Mrs. Yagami took Hikari from his arms and placed her on the couch. "It's nothing, Takeru," she replied, "when she's extremely stressed, she tends to get sick much quicker. It's just her natural metabolism doing it...she should be fine in a while."
Mr. Yagami walked up to the gang. "Koushirou, Takeru," he greeted. "I'm sorry we all meet at this sad sense of circumstance. Tell me, Takeru," he said, directing the attention to him, "did you have a great time out with my daughter?"
"Yes, Mr. Yagami," he replied, darting a glance at Daisuke, who was pacing unstoppably, "Until Daisuke arrived."
"Daisuke?" he repeated. "Never met him before."
"Well," Koushirou said, "now you have."
Daisuke greeted "Konnichiwa" to him before kneeling beside Hikari's fraile figure. In all his time of knowing her, he never knew that she was sick a long time ago. He took her limp hand into his strong ones and watched her. She was mumbling something, but he was able to determine the words;
"Aishiteru, Takeru..."
He jolted back, a chill running down his spine. She loved Takeru. Of course, she could be experiencing some kind of hallucinations and was talking crap or whatever, but somehow, it seemed to have nailed the final nail to the coffin filled with his emotions to Hikari.
"You're a lucky guy, Takaishi," he whispered beneath his breath, "for a girl like Hikari to be in love with."
"Daisuke...???"
He stood up and faced Takeru. "It's nothing, really. I'll be okay."
"You sure, guy?" Takeru asked, concerned by the sudden words.
"I'll live," he replied mildly, letting go of Hikari's hand. "I just hope Taichi will as well."
Mrs. Yagami brushed back some strands of Hikari's hair. "Takeru, what happened?" she asked. "I mean, it's extremely strange that Taichi would just collapse like that. He's a healthy and strong child, much stronger than my Hikari here...how could this be?"
Before Takeru could respond, the door swung open and saw Yamato and Sora enter the room. Sora looked worried and tear-stained and Yamato's supporting hand never left her shoulder as she asked almost immediately, "Koushirou! How is he?"
"We haven't gotten the results yet from Jou," Koushirou replied.
"How you holding up, bro?" Yamato asked.
Takeru shrugged, walking over to Mrs. Yagami. "Hikari was so worried," he said. "She saw his shoes there but when she couldn't find him, she began to get worried. She was the first to find Taichi on the floor of the washroom. She freaked out. Daisuke called Jou...he's a doctor...and he drove us to the hospital."
Mrs. Yagami sighed. "I don't know what's posessed him," she murmured. "I knew something was wrong...the way he smiled, the way he acted...I should've done something but I was busy with all those deadlines to meet...what could possibly sway him off so much to wind him up in such a condition."
Koushirou and Takeru glanced at Sora, who stood, wide-eyed.
Yamato glared back at them, but they didn't sway their attentio from Sora, thinking, No offense, Sora, but you're part of the problem. Koushirou then went to talk to the pacing Daisuke while Takeru turned back to Mrs. Yagami and Hikari.
"It's not your fault, Mrs. Yagami," he offered, "he fooled us all."
"That's really nice of you to say, Takeru," she replied, smiling sadly.
Just like Taichi...panged guilt.
At the same moment, Jou entered the room, in his white doctor coat and equipped with a pen and some other things. He looked positively harassed, more than ever as he pushed up his glasses from his nose and brushed his navy blue hair back.
"Is he okay?" Sora demanded, sobbing. "Is Taichi going to be okay?"
Jou tried to remain professional and had a certain detachment in his voice. "Yagami Taichi is resting now from one of the wards," he replied coolly.
"What happened to him?" Mr. Yagami asked stolidly.
Jou swallowed dryly. "Dizziness, nausea, some missing links here and there," he replied, pushing up his glasses away. "I'll be frank with all of you, he's lost a lot of blood. I think when you go see him, you may be startled at the condition he's in, but he'll be okay. A day or two in here and he'll return to kicking soccer balls soon enough."
"Actually," Yamato said irritantly, "Mr. Yagami means what happened to him. How the hell did he wind up collapsing in their washroom? Drugs? Screwing up a play bad enough? What?!" The last few words came out harshly.
Jou remained cool towards Yamato's outward hostility. After all, everyone's done it to him before. He had gotten used to it over the years. "Taichi's been undergoing a lot of stress in his life right now," he stated simply.
Yamato grabbed a fistful of Jou's shirt. "That ain't an answer, Kido!"
Koushirou and Takeru ran to seperate a pissed Yamato from a startled Jou, who tumbled to the floor from the sheer energy. Mr. Yagami and Daisuke watched as Takeru held back his brother as Koushirou lifted Jou from the floor.
"You were there, you son of a bitch, and you don't know?!" Yamato cried.
"Yamato-kun!" Sora cried at him, still tear-stained.
"Yamato!" Takeru scolded, holding back his fumed brother.
Jou straightened his shirt and glared icily at Yamato's stormy blue eyes. Despite Koushirou's warnings, he said, "You wanna know? You honest-to-Kami want to know?!" His voice raised hysterically. "Part of the problem is you and Sora, Ishida! You're part of the problem!"
Silence enveloped as the Takeru and Koushirou looked down on the floor.
Sora began to cry again as Yamato staggered back, as if he was shot.
Daisuke decided to go home and strolled out of the death zone.
Mr. Yagami went to talk to Mrs. Yagami, who was nursing Hikari.
"You happy, Ishida?" Jou asked coldly, folding his arms. "You pushed me too far, Ishida, damn too far. And now I have to mend the consequences, as always." He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Yagami. "You can go see your son now, Mr. and Mrs. Yagami while I see to some medicine for your daughter. Gomen for my manners." Bowing neatly to them, he left the room and outside.
"Jou..." Hikari slurred.
Takeru ran to Hikari's side. "Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Yagami," he assured them. "I'll take care of Hikari. Go and check up on Taichi...it's alright, really..."
"I wanna go too," she moaned, struggling to wake up.
Takeru brushed her hair back. "Not in the condition you're in," he told her gently. "Don't worry. Jou said that Taichi's gonna be alright..."
"Jou...is...hurt..."
"Don't worry," he replied. "Jou didn't give in without a blow. Although Yamato seemed to have brought out a side of Jou that I don't think doesn't fit him well." He shrugged, as if it were his own fault. "My brother has a way of doing that when he's angry at the world. Or fustrated."
Yamato felt cold as ice. "Why...why didn't you tell me, Koushirou?"
Koushirou shrugged. "He didn't want you to know," he said softly. "He didn't want both of you to know. As much as he is a hopeless romantic, he didn't want to disrupt your happiness nor your friendship with him. But lately...you have to understand, Jou and I have been trying to help him. He hasn't vented those emotions to anyone, and that's why it ate him as much as it has." He shook his head. "By avoiding you two, he thought it would make the pain go away, but it hasn't. Seeing Hikari and Takeru so happy made him feel
so...cold inside."
Sora sniffled. "I...How could I..."
"Sora, don't start second-guessing yourself," Koushirou said firmly, "that's the last thing Taichi would want you to do. Follow your instincts." He turned to the silent Yamato. "I think you have to calm down, Yamato. It's nobody's fault here...but he can't control every measly feeling he has. He broke down because of his burdens...let him fight it over in his heart..."
"I wish I could do something," Yamato said stiffly.
"You can," Takeru said, "by apoligizing to Jou. He was only doing his job."
Yamato glanced at his brother, then at Sora, who nodded in support.
Hikari winced. "Oniisan..."
~End of Chapter~
~Alone in the Dark of Night~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*
It was dark in the room when a digital object back to play the tune "Ashita Wa Motto". Yamato kissed her, moving down towards her neck and her shoulder, ignoring the cell phone. Sora, on the other hand, couldn't ignore it. "Uh, Yamato?" Sora said as Yamato kissed her neck.
"Mm-hmm?"
"My cell's ringing," she told him as he looked up and kissed her on the lips.
"Screw the cell, this is more important," he rasped.
Sora ignored the last comment as she pushed Yamato over the couch for her to reach out to the table and grab her red-plated cell phone. Unlike Yamato, she only used a cell phone for emergancy calls. Her first thought was, Oh my God, Mother! as she opened her cell phone.
"It couldn't wait, huh?" Yamato asked, brushing back his hair.
She motioned silence as she said, "Sora Takenouchi."
"Lemme guess, your Dad burnt the stew," he commented as Sora listened.
"Koushirou?" she cried incredulously. "Why are you calling me by---what? You're...waitaminute, are you at the hospital?...What's going...Koushirou, calm down!...Takeru...what?!"
"Takeru?!" Yamato croaked in surprise. "Is he alright?"
Sora listened. "Slow down...so you're with Takeru, Hikari and Daisuke...Jou's doing...waitaminute, if you guys are there...who's 'he'? Who's in the hospital?..." Her eyes widened in horror, tears beginning to form as she breathed, "Oh God, no..."
Yamato gripped her hand. "Who is it, Sora?"
She wasn't listening. "Yeah...I'm on my way there...see you." She ended the phone call and got up, buttoning up her blouse and brushing her hair back. She then pulled on her jacket and pocketted her cell phone in a whir that Yamato was still sitting down, dumbstruck.
"Sora-kun," he called, "who's in the hospital."
She turned back, fighting tears. "Taichi."
"Oh, shit!" He struggled to his feet and buttoned his shirt and wore his jacket. Grabbing the keys and his blue-plated cell and pocketting them clumsily, he walked quickly to the door, dragging the sullen Sora. "C'mon, I'll drive you. Let's hurry."
"Hikari!"
She turned to see her parents run up to her, who had just entered the ward. Her mother ran up to her and embraced her youngest child to her breast, sobbing. "Oh, Hikari, Hikari, are you all right?" she asked her, fighting the tears in her eyes.
Hikari was fighting that terrible pain herself as she replied, "Yes, yes, I'm all right...but Oniisan..." She struggled and staggered back, breathing heavily, straight into Takeru's open arms. She was still breathing hard and Takeru looked frantically up at Mrs. Yagami.
"Mrs. Yagami," he said, supressing the panic, "what's wrong with...her?"
Mrs. Yagami took Hikari from his arms and placed her on the couch. "It's nothing, Takeru," she replied, "when she's extremely stressed, she tends to get sick much quicker. It's just her natural metabolism doing it...she should be fine in a while."
Mr. Yagami walked up to the gang. "Koushirou, Takeru," he greeted. "I'm sorry we all meet at this sad sense of circumstance. Tell me, Takeru," he said, directing the attention to him, "did you have a great time out with my daughter?"
"Yes, Mr. Yagami," he replied, darting a glance at Daisuke, who was pacing unstoppably, "Until Daisuke arrived."
"Daisuke?" he repeated. "Never met him before."
"Well," Koushirou said, "now you have."
Daisuke greeted "Konnichiwa" to him before kneeling beside Hikari's fraile figure. In all his time of knowing her, he never knew that she was sick a long time ago. He took her limp hand into his strong ones and watched her. She was mumbling something, but he was able to determine the words;
"Aishiteru, Takeru..."
He jolted back, a chill running down his spine. She loved Takeru. Of course, she could be experiencing some kind of hallucinations and was talking crap or whatever, but somehow, it seemed to have nailed the final nail to the coffin filled with his emotions to Hikari.
"You're a lucky guy, Takaishi," he whispered beneath his breath, "for a girl like Hikari to be in love with."
"Daisuke...???"
He stood up and faced Takeru. "It's nothing, really. I'll be okay."
"You sure, guy?" Takeru asked, concerned by the sudden words.
"I'll live," he replied mildly, letting go of Hikari's hand. "I just hope Taichi will as well."
Mrs. Yagami brushed back some strands of Hikari's hair. "Takeru, what happened?" she asked. "I mean, it's extremely strange that Taichi would just collapse like that. He's a healthy and strong child, much stronger than my Hikari here...how could this be?"
Before Takeru could respond, the door swung open and saw Yamato and Sora enter the room. Sora looked worried and tear-stained and Yamato's supporting hand never left her shoulder as she asked almost immediately, "Koushirou! How is he?"
"We haven't gotten the results yet from Jou," Koushirou replied.
"How you holding up, bro?" Yamato asked.
Takeru shrugged, walking over to Mrs. Yagami. "Hikari was so worried," he said. "She saw his shoes there but when she couldn't find him, she began to get worried. She was the first to find Taichi on the floor of the washroom. She freaked out. Daisuke called Jou...he's a doctor...and he drove us to the hospital."
Mrs. Yagami sighed. "I don't know what's posessed him," she murmured. "I knew something was wrong...the way he smiled, the way he acted...I should've done something but I was busy with all those deadlines to meet...what could possibly sway him off so much to wind him up in such a condition."
Koushirou and Takeru glanced at Sora, who stood, wide-eyed.
Yamato glared back at them, but they didn't sway their attentio from Sora, thinking, No offense, Sora, but you're part of the problem. Koushirou then went to talk to the pacing Daisuke while Takeru turned back to Mrs. Yagami and Hikari.
"It's not your fault, Mrs. Yagami," he offered, "he fooled us all."
"That's really nice of you to say, Takeru," she replied, smiling sadly.
Just like Taichi...panged guilt.
At the same moment, Jou entered the room, in his white doctor coat and equipped with a pen and some other things. He looked positively harassed, more than ever as he pushed up his glasses from his nose and brushed his navy blue hair back.
"Is he okay?" Sora demanded, sobbing. "Is Taichi going to be okay?"
Jou tried to remain professional and had a certain detachment in his voice. "Yagami Taichi is resting now from one of the wards," he replied coolly.
"What happened to him?" Mr. Yagami asked stolidly.
Jou swallowed dryly. "Dizziness, nausea, some missing links here and there," he replied, pushing up his glasses away. "I'll be frank with all of you, he's lost a lot of blood. I think when you go see him, you may be startled at the condition he's in, but he'll be okay. A day or two in here and he'll return to kicking soccer balls soon enough."
"Actually," Yamato said irritantly, "Mr. Yagami means what happened to him. How the hell did he wind up collapsing in their washroom? Drugs? Screwing up a play bad enough? What?!" The last few words came out harshly.
Jou remained cool towards Yamato's outward hostility. After all, everyone's done it to him before. He had gotten used to it over the years. "Taichi's been undergoing a lot of stress in his life right now," he stated simply.
Yamato grabbed a fistful of Jou's shirt. "That ain't an answer, Kido!"
Koushirou and Takeru ran to seperate a pissed Yamato from a startled Jou, who tumbled to the floor from the sheer energy. Mr. Yagami and Daisuke watched as Takeru held back his brother as Koushirou lifted Jou from the floor.
"You were there, you son of a bitch, and you don't know?!" Yamato cried.
"Yamato-kun!" Sora cried at him, still tear-stained.
"Yamato!" Takeru scolded, holding back his fumed brother.
Jou straightened his shirt and glared icily at Yamato's stormy blue eyes. Despite Koushirou's warnings, he said, "You wanna know? You honest-to-Kami want to know?!" His voice raised hysterically. "Part of the problem is you and Sora, Ishida! You're part of the problem!"
Silence enveloped as the Takeru and Koushirou looked down on the floor.
Sora began to cry again as Yamato staggered back, as if he was shot.
Daisuke decided to go home and strolled out of the death zone.
Mr. Yagami went to talk to Mrs. Yagami, who was nursing Hikari.
"You happy, Ishida?" Jou asked coldly, folding his arms. "You pushed me too far, Ishida, damn too far. And now I have to mend the consequences, as always." He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Yagami. "You can go see your son now, Mr. and Mrs. Yagami while I see to some medicine for your daughter. Gomen for my manners." Bowing neatly to them, he left the room and outside.
"Jou..." Hikari slurred.
Takeru ran to Hikari's side. "Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Yagami," he assured them. "I'll take care of Hikari. Go and check up on Taichi...it's alright, really..."
"I wanna go too," she moaned, struggling to wake up.
Takeru brushed her hair back. "Not in the condition you're in," he told her gently. "Don't worry. Jou said that Taichi's gonna be alright..."
"Jou...is...hurt..."
"Don't worry," he replied. "Jou didn't give in without a blow. Although Yamato seemed to have brought out a side of Jou that I don't think doesn't fit him well." He shrugged, as if it were his own fault. "My brother has a way of doing that when he's angry at the world. Or fustrated."
Yamato felt cold as ice. "Why...why didn't you tell me, Koushirou?"
Koushirou shrugged. "He didn't want you to know," he said softly. "He didn't want both of you to know. As much as he is a hopeless romantic, he didn't want to disrupt your happiness nor your friendship with him. But lately...you have to understand, Jou and I have been trying to help him. He hasn't vented those emotions to anyone, and that's why it ate him as much as it has." He shook his head. "By avoiding you two, he thought it would make the pain go away, but it hasn't. Seeing Hikari and Takeru so happy made him feel
so...cold inside."
Sora sniffled. "I...How could I..."
"Sora, don't start second-guessing yourself," Koushirou said firmly, "that's the last thing Taichi would want you to do. Follow your instincts." He turned to the silent Yamato. "I think you have to calm down, Yamato. It's nobody's fault here...but he can't control every measly feeling he has. He broke down because of his burdens...let him fight it over in his heart..."
"I wish I could do something," Yamato said stiffly.
"You can," Takeru said, "by apoligizing to Jou. He was only doing his job."
Yamato glanced at his brother, then at Sora, who nodded in support.
Hikari winced. "Oniisan..."
~End of Chapter~
