Video Boy Dai
By Enjeru
Disclaimer: The characters used are not the property of the author. She is just borrowing them for a while to have some good natured fun. The actual story, however, is the author's and no one elses.
Warnings: PG-13; This is a Kensuke fic, with mentionings of Taito and Takari. It's not exactly a fusion with Video Girl Ai, but there are certain parts that will probably end up being similar to the original series.
Archive: Only at my own site: http://enjeru.sphosting.com
Notes: Sorry for taking so long and only sending out such a short chapter. A combination of writer's block and midterms didn't help much. The next part shouldn't take almost 2 months. Once again, thank you very much for beta-ing Kit! You're the best!
Chapter 2
Ken looked down at the card and then back up to the large sign proclaiming the store as Gokuraku. He saw the ice cream shop he frequented during the warmer months right next door and found it peculiar that he never noticed it until now. He walked by it every single day while walking to and from school. Shrugging off the strange feeling he got thinking about the impossibility of the video rental place, he crossed the street. Pushing the glass door open, he walked in, the bell tinkling merrily. He glared at the source of the irritating sound and wished he had some C-4 to blow it up.
Peering cautiously inside, he was slightly surprised there were absolutely no customers besides him. Then again, it was rather late and it *was* Christmas eve. Most people would be at home eating dinner with family or at a party. Well, he wasn't most people. Scanning the aisles, he walked straight to the Video Boy section like Yamato had instructed him to.
Amethyst eyes blinked in astonishment when he saw how small and secluded the section was. It was in the farthest corner of the store and also rather dimly lit. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the layer of dust on most of the videos. Only one of the tapes were clean. Taking it off the shelf, he scanned the front cover of the box.
A red-headed boy smirked up at him from the video, his chin propped up by a slender fingered hand. Lively chocolate brown eyes sparkled up at him in mischief. A pair of goggles were perched proudly atop spiky hair. He wore a jacket with a flame-like design in red, yellow and blue with a white fur-lined collar. The boy wore a pair of yellow gloves, a pair of khaki shorts and a white shirt. All in all, a rather colorful outfit compared to the shades of grey he usually wore, be it a festival of some sort or a solemn funeral.
A voice from the counter startled him. "Are you going to stare at that all day, young man?" the man at the register said in amusement.
"Um, no," Ken uncharacteristically stuttered, a bit peeved to be caught examining as mundane an item as a video. He reached for his wallet and carefully pulled out the membership card as he walked to the front of the store. Handing the tape and card over to the grey-haired balding man, he patiently waited for the man to run the card through the computer.
"Good choice, good choice. You're having social problems, I'm supposing. This just came in a little over a month ago," the man absently said as he scanned the card.
"I beg your pardon?" the teenager blinked. Where did the man get such a notion? Oh, it was true, but he had never beein inside this store nor had he ever seen the guy before. How did he know?
"Here you go," the man smiled conspiratorily as he handed him the video in a bag with the store's logo on it.
He gave him a half-hearted thanks and bid the owner of the store a quick goodbye before hightailing it out of the rental place. That was *really* creepy.
---
On the way home, he bumped into a classmate. Inoue Miyako. A computer nerd and a rather intelligent girl who had one vice: she fell in love with every cute guy she saw. Currently, she was after him.
"Ken-kun! What a coincidence! I thought you were still at that party with Ishida-san and Yagami-san," she said amiably.
"I was, but I left early because of a headache," he said. A headache that started to form when I bumped into you, he silently thought. Miyako wasn't a bad girl by any name, but the way she came onto him just rubbed his nerves raw.
"My house is a only a block away. I can give you some medicine for it. My parents had me run out for some drinks. You're welcome to come and eat at our table. They would love to meet you!" she beamed.
"Another time perhaps. I'm not that far from the station. Besides, I wouldn't like to impose," he said.
"You really wouldn't! It's Christmas! A time to celebrate. My father can drive you home if it gets too late," she chirped.
"I really should be going home. I have a project I really have to start on--wouldn't want to get a low grade on it. See you in school after vacation," he said as he started to run towards the station.
"But--."
"Bye!" he shouted over his shoulder. He heard her say, "Drat, he got away again," just as he turned the corner. He sighed in relief and slowed down once he reached the train station. "That was a close one," he mumbled to himself as he was buying a ticket.
He slipped through the doors just as they were closing and collapsed gratefully onto a seat. There were few people in the car which suited him just fine. Ken drifted off lazily to the slight rocking motion of the train, tired due to the emotional wounds he received from bringing up his brother's death.
When the stop for Tamachi finally came, he slowly stood up, feeling about fifty years older and started for home.
---
"Computer indicates that the new video rental card given to Ichijouji Ken is in perfect working order. Download of stats on the Video Boy complete."
"Good, that's very good. If we succeed, what number would this one be?"
"I believe this Video Boy would be the 77th one."
"Lucky sevens. Bring up the data on the Video Boy."
"Video Boy Dai. Age 17. Real name is Motomiya Daisuke."
"Motomiya, Motomiya. Would that be the boy who was reported missing over 5 years ago?"
"Yes, that would be the one."
"Prized video boy as well, is he..."
"I'm afraid so. Success rate of retrieval does not look up."
"Aa, but I believe it to be the opposite. Ichijouji Ken is the youngest agent to date in digidestined history. It would make sense that this Motomiya character would require a special operative. I have a feeling that they just might be the pair to *really* cripple Yukia Owikawa."
"I hope you're right."
"These feelings are *never* wrong."
"Smug aren't you."
"Of course!"
---
"Home *sweet* home," he muttered sarcastically under his breath once he stepped through the door. The apartment was empty as usual. His parents were, more often than not, off on vacations using the money he gained during his 'child prodigy' days to finance their trips.
He absently threw the tape onto his bed in the bedroom and walked over to the refridgerator in the kitchen intent on making a sandwich. Ken did not eat much at the party. Finding some mochi as well, he brought both to the bed and flung himself onto the mattress. Crumbs on the bed be damned. He couldn't care less at the moment.
An object dug insistently into his side. He ignored it in deference to his food, but it eventually started to irritate him. Putting his sandwich down in disgust, he pulled out the thing he was practically lying on. It was the tape he rented from Gokuraku. The video had slipped his mind. He finished off his food before bringing the plates to the sink and washing them. After wiping his hands on the dish rag, Ken walked back into his room.
The tape looked innocently at him. Sure, Taichi had said it wasn't porn but he wasn't sure if he could trust the brunette any farther than he could throw the guy out the window. He looked down at the boy on the cover, staring into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that seemed to implore him to play the cassette. Sighing in surrender, he opened the case and put the tape into the VCR. No use in prolonging the inevitable.
Grabbing the remote, he turned the TV on and pressed play. The words Video Boy Dai flashed across the screen before the same reddish brown haired boy on the cover of the tape came on.
"Thank you. Thank you for choosing my video. My name is Daisuke by the way and what's yours?" the actor asked, smiling winsomely at him.
A concerned look suddenly appeared on the video boy's face. "Why do you look so sad?" Realization along with a mixture of surprise flashed through his eyes. "Oh I see...unresolved guilt, is it? Don't let it get you down though, okay? Going through life on a constant guilt trip isn't healthy. I doubt anyone would like to see you in such a state."
With downcast eyes, he asked, "I know I'm not much but how would you feel about letting me be the one to cheer you up?" Daisuke looked up hopefully at him.
A moment passed before sadness flitted along his features. "*I* see..it's that bad, huh," the red headed boy whispered almost to himself, letting his hair overshadow his eyes. "Poor guy. There's no way just a video is going to help you," he said softly, shaking his head ruefully. The video rolled on with no talk from the spikey haired boy, then abruptly, he exploded with a, "That's it! I'll stay stay with you for as long as it takes."
The screen of the television flared up in luminescent brilliance, lighting up the entire room.
Startled, Ken shouted, "What...*what the hell*?!"
---
Outside, a strange light filtered out from behind closed windows, brightening the dark night sky for a long moment. At such a late hour of the night, everyone was asleep, except for two people, curled up together on a couch coincidentally facing the same direction as Ken's house.
The blonde smiled, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. His companion muttered a grumpy, "If whatever you say resembles an 'I told you so', I'm going to hit you."
"Didn't I tell you he was going to do it?"
A plump feather pillow smacked him in the face. Feathers erupted from the split seam, flying everywhere. Laughter filled the air as the blonde tried to avenge his injured pride.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Ichijouji residence, Ken was staring fixedly on the brightly glowing television and crazy VCR. Vague shapes resembling the palm of a hand pressed against the glass of the TV as if trying to get out, but the violet haired student merely disregarded it to his imagination. Surely, that could not possibly happen!
To his immense surprise and a small mixture of horror, fingers materialized on his side of the screen, reaching outwards as if searching for something. 'Or someone,' he thought fearfully.
Slowly but surely, the top of a spikey head also came through and after it, the whole body which was flung across the room onto his bed. Ken stared at his TV with a pair of wide amethyst eyes and slowly turned to look at the mysterious and impossible figure.
"Some boy just came out of my screen!"
~tsuzuku
Feedback would be much appreciated. *g*
--enjeru
01.20.02
