Alrighty---here we go-chaaaaapter 2!!!!!! Step right up!
My heartfelt advice to all? [Not that you asked...] Do yourselves all a favour and steal, beg, borrow, or even ::gasp!:: buy the song Touched by Vast. OR BETTER YET!!!! Get to OtakuVengeance.com and dowload the Ruruoni Kenshin OVA music vid by Lord Rae made from it. Go do it now. Die from beauty.
Disclaimer: I've actually been poked and prodded [despite my vehement whining] into writing one of these. ::sigh:: I own nothing but a couple anime posters, manga, anime tapes, and this lovely computer which I sacrifice to nightly. Oh yes! And this plotline! And Mikael the Super-Bishie!!! [no I don't] Shut up you! Yes I do!
The song -in case you...I dunno...skip over some lines when reading- is Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison. If you didn't recognize it get out from under your rock and watch some '80's classics!
Two........
Jun yawned awake. Golden sunlight filtered down onto her from the two windows set in the wall at the head of the bed. She blinked, her eyes and mind still crowded with dreams of Matt, confused. Where in the world was she? The bed underneath her was hard instead of cushiony and the bed sheets were blue. On the right wall there was a door and on the left was a desk and a small cabinet. On the wall across from her there was another door and a shelf set into the wall.
Everything was different. The room was all wrong, her dreams of Matt had been especially vivid, and she was sleeping in a green t-shirt that was way too big and that........had ridden up to her armpits!!
She yanked it down as fast as was humanly possible and looked around in horror to see if Keniko was anywhere near.
Keniko.
Keniko?
She bit her lip to keep it from trembling as it all came flooding back. She'd come in late from work that day. She had stepped into the bedroom and seen something moving under the sheets. She stood frozen in the doorway until the sheets were thrown back and saw two figures cavorting naked on the bed. One was Keniko, the other was some black-haired tramp. Then, she remembered running through the streets and right into Matt. After all this time she had seen him. And he had been so kind to her, so very sweet.
"Don't cry, sweet."
She sighed. He'd called her sweet before he even knew who she was. She got up now, wondering where he'd slept since he'd obviously given her his bed. Probably on that couch. She sighed again. He'd held her on that couch until all her grief was gone and she'd fallen asleep to dream of him.
She opened the door to see Matt sitting on the couch in the exact same clothes as yesterday, at least she knew that he hadn't snuck into her room in the middle of the night to grab some clothing (for some strange reason that disappointed her). He was drinking coffee and she could see some still on the stove. He looked up at her and she noticed the stubble was gone this morning. The steam coming off the coffee seemed to be swirling in his eyes.
"I made coffee." He said, nodding towards the stove. "I don't have any milk or sugar, though, because I always have it black."
Jun made a face of disgust and gave a decisive no. She plopped down on the couch beside him and turned on the TV. On the screen she saw the morning news broadcast. Mimi Kido, the morning and evening anchorwoman was talking about a plane crash. Her pink hair was brought up in a twist to her crown and she wore a white blouse and deep purple blazer over her very large abdomen-
"'...everyone was fortunately rescued. The only casualties were some of the dry goods being transported on the plane. Back to you Hiroki.'
'And now our top story of the day, today is the third wedding anniversary of our top anchorwoman, Mimi Kido. [the camera shows a shot of the surprised Mrs. Kido, and then back to the proudly boasting Hiroki] As special consent to Mimi's great importance to us all and all her husband's insistent pleas she's getting the rest of the day off and is privileged to view this special production, which I, a-hem a-hem, helped to choreograph.'
[the camera now zooms backward to show a million balloons saying "happy anniversary" on them and rose petals dropping all over the main stage. Then it goes to the opposite stage where a floor is moving outwards as Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" starts playing and Jyou Kido is standing in a powder blue tux and a ruffled shirt in front of an orchestra. His arms and legs are spread wide and his head is thrown back as he starts singing]
'Oooooooooohhhhh!!!!
Pretty woman
[he looks over at the stunned Mimi]
Walking down the street
[his head whips around to look at a blow-up woman with a picture of Mimi's face glued to the head and a pink wig, bouncing along the stage by a string]
Pretty woman
I'd kinda like to meet
[he leaps off the stage and goes to the dummy in great jumping strides]
Pretty woman
I don't believe you
[his hand goes to his heart]
You're not the truth
[his head whips back and forth]
No one can look as good as yoooo-ooou
Merc-ay
[ he rips the top buttons in his shirt off as he grabs his collar and yanks it away from his throat as if he can't breath]
Pretty woman
[his hand goes back on his heart followed by an extremely exaggerated look of concern upon his face]
Won't you pardon me?
Pretty woman
I couldn't help but see
[he leers at the dummy, looking it up and down]
Pretty woman
Oh, you look lovely
As can be
Are you lone-lay [his brows raise up and down suggestively] just like me?
[he raises his teeth at one in an extremely wicked and slightly evil grin]
Rrrrrrrrrraarrrrrrrrrr
Pretty woman
Stop a-while
[the dummy stops bouncing]
Pretty woman
Talk a-while
[he squeezes the dummy's head so it looks like it's talking]
Pretty woman
Give your smile to me
[he rips off the lips of the picture on the dummy's head and stuffs it in his coat pocket after rubbing it on his heart]
Pretty woman
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Pretty woman
Look my way
[Jyou spreads his arms and legs wide and presses a button on his coat making millions of little flashing neon arrows on his tux pointing to his heart go on]
Pretty woman
Say you'll stay with meeeee
[he goes down on his knees in front of the dummy and holds one arm out to it in entreaty]
'Cause I need youuuuu
[he grabs the dummy and starts dancing with it, grinding their hips together]
Come with me bay-by
Be mine toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii[he whips the dummy away from him as he spread-eagles again and his mouth goes wide shouting towards the ceiling] IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty woman
[he goes chasing after the dummy that's floating away]
Don't walk away
Pretty woman
Don't make me cry
[he hold a huge fake blue tear on a wire up to his face then a bucket of water drops on his head]
Pretty woman
Don't walk away, hey
Okay
If that's the way it must be, okay
[he looks extremely dejected]
I guess I'll go home, it's late
[he starts walking away]
They'll be tomorrow night, but wait!
[he looks up, looking excessively surprised]
What do I see?
[he starts walking towards Mimi with an extremely menacing and determined look on his face]
Is she walking back to me?
[Mimi, seeing this, gives a little yelp between her laughing spasms and attempts to run in the opposite direction]
Yeah, she's walking back to meeeee
[Jyou runs after her and easily catches up to her, picking her up in his arms despite her extremely large belly]
OOOooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Pretty woman!'
[he lowers his head and starts kissing his wife. The music stops. The camera shows the gleefully grinning Hiroki once more]
'In other news, it seems Izumi Electronics has just launched a five billion dollar deal with NASA. The young president is just out of university and has already made his first billion. Ha ha, I've heard he taught his teachers a few things. Ashitaka Muisato will be filling in for Mimi this evening-'"
Matt turned off the TV and stared at it for a few minutes.
"Wow. Jyou sure has changed, and Mimi looked so professional. I thought she was a model."
"From what I picked up from Daisuke she decided to give up modeling and acting when she got married so she wouldn't have to travel out of the city and could stay here to raise a family. That's their first kid she's going to have."
"What about Izzy? Since when does he own a software company?"
"Well, Izumi Electronics started up three years ago so I guess he started it when he was still in university. I'm pretty sure Jyou's some kind of doctor because Daisuke was making fun of him with Ken about wearing scrubs a while back."
"Ken? What happened to him? And TK and Tai and Daisuke and Hikari and Miyako and Iori and.....Sora?"
"Well, Daisuke's in the J-League and the rest of this is all just information I picked up off of him. Ken and Taichi are in the J-League with him. Takeru and Miyako go to college. Iori goes to high school and I think he teaches kendo classes on weekends because Daisuke is constantly whining about Iori not letting him join again after he broke the door eight times. Hikari's a photographer for National Geographic and Sora's a teacher in the local elementary school. I haven't seen Daisuke in a while though so things might have changed. We don't talk much now that we've both moved out."
Matt stared down at his coffee, a distant look on his face, and his voice sounded so quiet and sad once he finally spoke she could feel her soul trying to reach out and give comfort. "Everyone's changed. They've all gone on with their lives. I didn't expect everything to be the same when I got back, but I just feel sort of left behind in the dust." He let out a soft sigh. "I guess I should let them all know I'm not dead. Won't they be surprised to see me."
His voice was filled with something close to pain and she reached out a hand to try and comfort him, then sense got the better of her. He wouldn't accept comfort from her. She bit her lip but drew back the hand despite the squeezing of her heart.
"I...um...I should go call my friends and see if any of them have any room for me. I can probably get my old apartment back, I doubt Minako and Yutaka already found another roommate."
He looked up at her, staring into her eyes for a second, then he looked back into his coffee. His hair fell into his eyes, leaving them in shadow.
"Sure thing. I'll call some place for take-out." Jun watched him walk over to his coat and take out a cell phone, her eyes full of all her long-suppressed emotions for a moment, then she stood and went over to the phone resting on the low fridge in the kitchen.
A half hour and many pleas later she came back to sit on the couch with Matt.
"Bad news. Everyone I know has already got roommates filled to the brim." She let out a gusty sigh. "You'd think in a city this big there would be a room somewhere for me." She groaned. "This means I'm going to have to beg Daisuke to let me crash with him until I can find an apartment. This is just great! The last time he did a favour for me was when he stopped decapitating my dolls in grade two."
Matt looked at her out of the corner of his eye from beneath his lowered head. "You could stay here for a while if you wanted to."
Jun jumped onto her knees on the couch, facing Matt with eyes sparkling with excitement. "Really? You'd let me stay with you? I'll sleep on the couch and keep real quiet, so don't worry, I won't be any bother. I'll cook you some decent food, too."
That's all right, you don't have to cook for me, and I'll be sleeping on the couch."
"What? No way! It's your apartment so you should get to sleep in your bed."
"Nope. You stay here, you sleep on the bed. Besides, you'll need more room to put all your stuff than I will, even when it all gets here."
Jun frowned at him then smiled widely. "Okay! But this the first time somebody's forcing me to take the bed while they sleep on the couch. And I am going to cook. I need food too, and it's easier to cook for two than for one. Besides, I want to cook for you." She gave him a little smile, then jumped off the couch, heading for the phone. "I'll call Yutaka and tell her to get her big brute of a boyfriend to bring all my stuff here. You've got to understand that I don't want to be within a five-mile radius of that jerk I actually lived with right now."
A minute later she ran back looking like the end of the world was near.
"Omigod, Matt, you have to help me! Oooooh, what in shit am I going to do? Akihito's going to kill me!"
Matt stood up in alarm and grabbed her wildly flailing arms, holding them to her sides, as he leaned over to look directly into her face. "What is it Jun? It can't be that bad." At this she started to look rebellious. "And whatever it is I'm sure we can get through it." He paused a moment, hesistating, "Together."
She went still and smiled at him. "Thanks Matt." Jun looked into his deep blue eyes. "The problem is that I have to be at work in half an hour, Yutaka reminded me, and that wouldn't be all bad if I had no idea how to get there because I have no clue to where exactly we are, and, even though I have spare work clothes there, I still have to get there and my clothes are wet and I can't walk down the street in your t-shirt." She looked up at him expectantly.
"Okay, first, just tell me where it is and I can get you there, I still remember Odaiba, even after all this time. Second," he blushed, "you can wear one of my trunks as shorts." She gave a little smile. "Third, I have my car, so no one will see you, okay?" He gave her a winning smile as he turned and went into the bedroom. She bit her lip as a strange rush of feelings came over her. He was so very sweet to her, as if he cared for her, as if he wanted to be with her. What's wrong with you? Knock some sense into yourself, you annoy him, remember?? She sighed. Still.
He came back out of the bedroom holding a pair of black boxers. He was explaining something to her, looking adorably sheepish, but she couldn't hear him, too swept up in the feelings flooding through her. She nodded her head when his look turned questioning.
He came over to her and handed her his underwear then turned his back as she put them on.
~~~*~~~
"Thanks for bringing me here, Matt. Thanks for everything."
"So what time should I pick you up at?"
"You don't have to do that. You've done enough already and I promised I wouldn't be a bother."
"I don't have anything else to do and I really don't mind."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
She gave him bright smile. "All right then! Pick me up at six. See you, Matt."
She jumped out of the car and headed into the old building. She stopped when she heard a soft "Bye." carried to her on the wind. A slow smile crept onto her face and she turned and waved to him as he started the car and drove off.
"So, who's the hottie?"
"Bwa!" Jun jumped and whipped around to face Yutaka. "Don't scare me like that!"
"So who is he? Huh huh? C'mon, tell me!"
"He's Matt."
"Matt? Matt who?"
"Matt Ishida."
"Matt Ishida...Wait! Matt Ishida! As in Yamato Ishida! The rock legend that disappeared seven years ago and everybody presumed dead and who you've been in love with since...what...like twelve?"
"I have not!"
"Do not even try to lie to me. I've known you way too long."
"At least I didn't kiss my posters of him every ten minutes."
"Suuure you didn't. Love the outfit, by the way. It just screams of 'the morning after the big night'" Jun's mouth dropped open and her head went up in flames. "And aren't you just a bit perky for a girl who just found out her boyfriend was a lying, cheating snake instead of the human you originally assumed him to be?"
"Well, maybe I took stock of my life and realized it's better this way." She looked in the direction Matt had driven off while her best friend rolled her eyes behind her.
~~~*~~~
Matt pulled up to a stop in front of the building precisely at six and waited there for fifteen minutes before finally deciding to go in there and look for Jun. He wandered around the huge building for a while until he got directed to a door.
He opened it to reveal a glory of light. The ceiling of the huge room was made up entirely of windows. The soft light glittering through the glass fell upon Jun. She danced in the middle of the room, her shining visage reflected in the mirrored walls. She danced within the rays of light, and they enveloped her in shimmering gold as she glided like a swan to the music flowing in her mind.
"Nice dancing, don't you think?"
He didn't turn to the voice speaking behind him as his eyes were caught by the girl before him. "She looks like an angel."
He was entranced by the slow, sinuous movements of pure grace made by her body.
Peace.
Yes, the same peace was coming over him that had last night when he'd looked upon her face in serene sleep. She brought him serenity, she brought him peace, she gave him the one thing he craved. She was his peace.
When she stopped she was arched backward, the tips of her fingers trailing on the ground and one leg straight up in the air. Then she flowed to an upright position, facing him, and opened her eyes.
They looked dream hazed and soft and she didn't seem to realize he was there. The look upon her face was one of rapture. It looked as if she was in a world of her own and the sharpness of the pang of desire Matt felt to be in that world with her surprised him.
Finally, the mist faded from her eyes and she looked at him with surprise. "Matt! How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long. Your dancing...it was...beautiful."
She flushed with pleasure. "Thanks. I'm practicing for the ballet we're going to be putting on in a while. Sorry I kept you waiting."
"That's all right. I enjoyed it."
She smiled at him as she headed for a door hidden within the mirrored paneling. "I'll be out in a minute. I just need to get your clothes."
~~~*~~~
"Yutaka will be here soon with my stuff." Jun said as they walked through the door of Matt's apartment. "Meanwhile, I'm going to make us something to eat." She headed for the kitchen with the bags of food they had picked up on the way. "When was the last time you had a decent meal?"
"Depends on what you mean by decent."
"A nice square meal eaten among friends."
He looked over at her. "About seven years ago."
She blinked. "Wow. Then this will be a treat. Oh, there's the door. It's probably Yutaka and Mieru."
She went over and opened the door that was being loudly pounded on. The second she had it unlocked Daisuke came crashing through it, grabbed her by the shoulders, and started shaking her.
"Where the hell have you been? Mom called your apartment yesterday and you weren't there, then she called your old apartment and they said they hadn't seen you since yesterday, and Mom got worried and she's been bugging me all day long! Where's Jun? Go find Jun. Why haven't you found Jun yet? What am I anyway? Your keeper? Tell me where you've been so I can call Mom and get her off my case."
"How'd you find me anyway, Daisuke?"
"How do you think? I went to your new apartment and I found that friend of yours and her huge boyfriend packing up your stuff and I pried the information out of them. So what happened?"
Matt stood up straight at the sound of the familiar voice. He moved to the doorway of the bedroom where he'd gone at the sound of the door to make more room for Jun's things. He stood in the doorway and stared at the young man shaking Jun and shouting in her face. He was taller, the afro was smaller, and he had a little moustache, but it was definitely Daisuke. He hadn't counted on seeing another of the digi-destined so soon and a strange mix of emotions roiled within him.
He wondered then if Daisuke would recognize him. His hair was shorter, more like it had been when he was much younger, before Daisuke had met him, and when they had first traveled to the Digital World. He should recognize him, even if he'd exchanged his silver clamp earring for dog tags, he hadn't changed all that much.
"Daisuke?"
Daisuke turned his head and looked at him. At first a look of complete blankness crossed his face, then he screamed, completely terrified and blue in the face as he clawed at the door.
"A ghoooooooost!!!! J-Jun there's a ghost behind you!! It's Matt. He's come back from the grave to haunt us!!!! Run! Run for your life! Run-"
"Daisuke."
"Run! Run!"
"Daisuke-"
"Ruuuun!!!"
"Daisuke!! I'm not dead!"
Davis stopped clawing at the door and turned to look at Matt suspiciously.
"You're not, huh? Well, then! Where have you been all this time?"
"Around."
"Yeah! Around the valley of the dead! You're a ghost! Admit it and go cast your fiendish schemes somewhere else."
Jun sighed behind him. "Only you would try to convince someone that they're a ghost. Look at his clothes. He's been in the army. Besides, can't you go through a ghost?" She walked over to Matt and put her hand on his shoulder. "See. My hand doesn't go through."
Daisuke looked at her suspiciously then walked over to Matt, looking him up and down with his arms crossed, tapping one finger on his lip, an eyebrow arched.
"Hmmmmm....."
Matt sighed, his expression purely bland as Daisuke slowly, slowly brought his finger towards Matt's chest, and slowly extended his finger to poke him.
"You are alive."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes I am. But could you not tell the others? I'm not ready to see them yet. Do you understand?"
"No, but I won't tell them you're here. I think it's wrong that you're not telling them, though. Everyone was real upset when you left. And when we got that letter a while later, Sora was so upset that Tai wanted to kill you."
A look of pain crossed Matt's face. "Still, this is the right way of things and everybody knows it."
"Well, it's all too confusing for me, but what's Jun doing here?"
"Oh, Matt's letting me stay here until I can find an apartment of my own."
"Oh, okay. Call Mom and tell her that I found you. I am not incompetent. Well, see ya."
"Bye." They watched him walk out the door. "Well, let's eat."
~~~*~~~
"Bye, Yutaka! Thanks for bringing over my stuff."
"No prob. See ya!"
Jun looked around the mess of boxes completely blanketing the living room.
"I never knew I had so much....stuff."
Matt looked at the pile and scratched the back of his head. "Uh.....you want to go for a walk."
"Sure!"
Matt grabbed his coat and they headed out the door.
"Don't you want to put on a coat?" He looked over at her red short shorts and white tank top with a heart right over where his cheeks heated to be caught looking. "You might get kind of...cold."
"Oh, Matt, you sound like my grandma. Come on!"
"But, it's just...it might rain." He called after her fast retreating form.
"I like rain!" She called over her shoulder as she started skipping down the steps.
Matt smacked his forehead and groaned as he locked the door. "Just great." He started down the stairs with visions of a rain-drenched Jun in a tank top and short shorts.
"Just great."
~~~*~~~
They were standing gazing out over the river when Matt put his hand on Jun's shoulder. Her thrill at this simple touch seemed uncanny to her and she leaned back to rest against him, her body relaxing at the contact with his even as little tingles ran down her spine.
Suddenly out of nowhere Matt bent and scooped her out from under her knees so that he held her in his arms.
"Oh, Matt. I didn't know you were so roman-Matt! Omigod, Matt, what do you think you're doing?!" She started screaming as he held her at arms length over the water. She looked up into his face, saw his wicked grin, and screamed even louder. "Maaaaatt! Don't drop me! Matt!!" She lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he chuckled into hers.
"You realize if you drop me then you'll go down too?"
He sighed, stirring the little hairs at the nape of her neck and making a shiver go down her spine. "I suppose so."
"So you won't drop me into the water?"
"I suppose so."
She frowned, that didn't exactly sound reassuring.
"Want to go for a run?"
"Uh-uh. My legs are still kinda shaky from being held ten metres above roiling water."
"Really?" She nodded against his chest. He took her arms off his neck and brought them forward so he could look down upon her face. He brought his face closer to her until he was all that filled her vision and his eyes turned soft. "Poor thing. How could I ever have done such a thing to you?" His voice was even lower and softer than usual and she could feel the sounds rumbling out from his chest against her side. Her eyes drifted shut and she brought her chin upward, not being able to do anything else with her mind completely scrambled from this assault on her senses.
He brought his face downward, towards her, until his lips just grazed her own. He said in a voice that sent a thrill through her. "That's too bad."
In the next second she felt her body swinging around onto his back and she held on for dear life as Matt raced off, his laughter floating on the air.
~~~*~~~
Jun looked up towards the leafy canopy above as they walked hand-in-hand in the silence of the still trees in the deserted park as dusk descended upon them.
Out of nowhere a droplet of wet landed on her nose. She blinked and this first drop was followed by a second and a third and they soon stood in the misty eye of a spring shower.
Jun looked up at the soft grey of the sky and saw no blue. There was probably going to be a storm. The rain gathered on her lashes and little drops of it pelted her skin until it suddenly ceased. She looked to the side and there was Matt's smiling face above her as he held the coat over the both of them.
"I told you there would be rain. Come on, isn't there a little gazebo somewhere around here that we can hide out in?"
"Yeah, it's really close by."
They raced among the dew-wet trees until they came upon the structure that looked as if it belonged in the realm of clouds. They stood under its white dome, looking out at the rain-hazy scenery of nature in spring glory.
She didn't know how long they stood there, just staring out at the trees. The silence between them seemed more comfortable and Jun was enjoying her herself way too much to do anything to break their stillness. A soft wind blew around them, turning her wet skin to a mass of goose bumps and making her shiver.
Matt came up behind Jun, she could feel the heat from his body as he came closer and it made her shiver all the more. He got closer and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and, after a minute, leaned his face forward to rest against her cheek. She let out a soft sigh and rested her hands against his as her form melded to his. They stood, for hours it seemed, each revelling in the embrace, until Matt pulled backward.
Jun bit her lip in disappointment but then was turned around until she faced Matt, his arms still about her waist. He looked down upon her, his eyes as hazy as the sky above. She stared into those eyes, caught in his gaze, as he lifted his hand. Down her temple and across her cheekbones trailed his soft touch, then he brought it down to twine their fingers together and bring their clasped hands upward to rest against his heart.
Jun's body swayed toward him and her fingers came up to graze his bottom lip, his hard chin, and then sweep into the softness of his hair. Matt tightened his arm around her until their two bodies were melded together under the shadow of his trench coat.
Matt lowered his head and Jun stood upon her toes until their mouths met in breathless accord to kiss in the soft twilight of the first stars.
Just before their lips came together she heard a little sigh come from Matt. A little sigh that sounded a lot like...."Peace."
Aren't they so sweet??? Before you gaggle at me - yes! there is a reason why things are suddenly moving so fast. How fast you ask? Read on! But perhaps you [smart-aleck] have already figured it out? Perhaps I have? Hmmmm......one does wonder.....