TK and Iori sat in the little pizza parlor for the better part of an hour,
slowly eating and letting TK get his hurt and frustration out over the
earlier incident. The sun, which had been heavily shrouded most of the
day, suddenly burst forth in glory. The light made its way through the
wooden blinds on the windows of the pizza parlor, a few of the beams
falling across TK's face, making his hair seem to glow.
"The sun, TK! Look!" Iori was pointing the obvious of course, and TK smiled at him and nodded.
"Finally. It's been cloudy forever it seems, Iori."
"I know. Let's go outside and enjoy it while it's here," Iori said and the two of them got up. They waved goodbye to the kindly old lady at the counter and made their way to the street. She waved back and told them to come back soon.
Once outside they felt the pale warmth of the sun that they'd not seen in about a month. By no means was it short sleeve weather, but it was maybe in the fifties.
"Where do you want to go, TK?" Iori asked as they stood by a street sign as they waited for the light to change.
"I don't really know, Iori," TK said after a moment of consideration. "Why don't we just see where we end up?" Iori nodded to that and they crossed the street once they had the green light on their side. While they were walking TK kept Iori close at his side, usually with an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders.
Eventually they found themselves in the park, not too far from the pond. A few ducks were swimming around noisily but aside from them, the park was rather quiet. There were a few people dotted here and there, but nowhere near what one might assume from a day like this. The boys sat on a bench and watched the ducks frolic.
"I wish we'd have brought some of the pizza crust or something for them, TK," Iori said as he laid into TK's side a little more.
"Aflac!!" the ducks called. [[[I love those commercials!!]]]
"That would be nice, but we didn't exactly know that we'd wind up here so we didn't plan ahead." TK put an arm around Iori and pulled him closer yet. "You know what I want to do?" TK asked a few minutes of quiet later.
"What's that?"
"Aflac!!"
"I want to play on the swings. Are you interested?"
"I can handle a little swinging," Iori told his boyfriend as they stood up. TK grinned at the unintentional, slight double entendre that Iori had made. (double entendre=words that have a second, usually hidden or unintentional meaning) He grinned at Iori but refused to tell him why, which of course frustrated Iori to a degree.
"What?? What is it, TK?"
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it," TK said as he finally fought off the rest of the giggles. They made their way over to the swings slowly, surely not in a hurry and enjoying each other's company immensely.
"Hey Iori," TK said softly, "you want to give that one a try?" TK was pointing to a row of the little kiddie swings, complete with the sliding bar and snapping hook.
"TK," Iori said and elbowed him lightly in the ribs, "you know I graduated from those last week. I can tie my own shoes now as well." They laughed and walked to the bigger swings.
They grabbed two swings and began reaching skyward. Iori had the biggest smile on his face as the wind swept his hair back. TK watched him as they swung and couldn't help but grin himself. They continued getting higher and higher and soon Iori broke out in fits of laughter. "What's so funny, Iori?" TK called out.
"Nothing, really. I have always loved to swing like this. I feel like a bird. It feels like I'm flying."
"Like a bird, huh? Have you ever played 'Superman', Iori?" Iori looked at him and shook his head 'no'. "Well watch this then." TK threw all his weight backwards and went even higher. He did the same one last time and then when he was at the highest point of his arc, he let go and sailed off the swing. Iori watched at TK seemed to hang in the air, his arms and legs spread out like an 'x'. Finally he started falling earthward and landed almost perfectly, taking but a single step forward.
Iori was squealing with laughter at the show. "That was awesome, TK. I thought you'd never come down."
That's the way I feel around you, Iori TK said to himself and smiled back.
"I'm going to try now," Iori said and before TK could so much as draw a breath to use to say 'no', little Iori had reached zenith and launched himself from the swing as well.
TK watched in slow motion as Iori hung in the sky, bicycling his legs and waving his arms. He looked nowhere near as graceful as TK did and as the ground rushed to meet him, TK decided that he had better attempt to catch Iori so he wouldn't break all 206 of his bones when he slammed down.
TK tracked Iori like a center fielder and had his arms out, waiting to catch him. TK caught him under the arms and took a few steps back trying to keep from falling. It worked for a few steps and then they collapsed in a pile. Iori was silent for a second or three and TK was afraid he'd hurt himself after all. He was just about to freak when Iori let out a horrendous laugh.
"That was *great*!!!" he said between brays of laughter. TK relaxed and sighed.
"You little turd," TK said as he started tickling Iori mercilessly. "I was worried that you broke something!" Iori was squirming every which way but free so he had no choice but to tickle TK back. Soon both boys were nearly in tears they were laughing so hard. Their escapade caused them to roll across the playground, each trying to stay on top and gain extra leverage.
They wound up a good twenty feet from the landing zone, away from the swings and over by one of the crawling tubes. A truce was called and they laid there, picking little pieces of tree bark from each other. "You know, Iori, even after the mess this morning, this day has still been one of the best ever."
"I think so too, TK. I do wish that the incident earlier didn't have to cast a shadow over it, though."
"I've put it behind me, Iori. I can't control what people think, so I guess I'll have to get used to it."
"You're right, but it's still not fair." They got quiet and enjoyed the company. "Hey, what was that?" Iori asked when a small sound reached their ears, seeming to come from in the tube.
"What was what?" TK asked. He wasn't really paying attention as he had sort of tuned everything out except Iori's breathing.
"It sounded like an animal or something. Maybe a cat. I think it might have come from the tube."
"I still don't hear anything," TK said while Iori got to his feet and hopped over to the mouth of the tube. The animal made noise again and this time TK did hear it.
"It is a cat," Iori said with a hint of excitement in his voice. TK made it to the tube's mouth and peered in, seeing nothing but Iori's rear as he crouched in the tube. "Come here, little kitty," Iori said softly and reached to the cat. He picked it up by the stomach and it didn't make another sound. He pulled it close and turned to TK. The cat snuggled to his chest.
TK saw the grin on Iori's face but his first thought was that it might have rabies or another illness like that. "Iori, that cat might be sick or something. You should put it down."
"No TK, I can't. look at him shiver! He's cold, and he's so small. I can't leave him out here."
"What if it has rabies?" TK asked, voicing his earlier thought. "Do you know all that you have to go through to cure rabies in a person, Iori?"
"Yes, actually. A bunch of shots in the stomach. He doesn't have rabies though, I know he doesn't."
"How do you know that, Iori?"
"I don't know. I just do. It's sort of like when I knew that our Digimon would digivolve together. I can't explain it. It is like a sixth sense or something."
"Don't let Koushirou hear you say that. He'll spend all day explaining how it is impossible for there to be a sixth sense." TK said that and decided to let the subject of the cat having rabies drop. He somehow knew that Iori was right. Iori got those 'inklings' sometimes and they'd not proved themselves wrong yet.
Iori stepped out of the little tunnel and stood up full. TK really saw the cat for the first time. The cat looked maybe two or three months old to him, but in Iori's little arms it looked almost full grown. It was a tabby, orange stripes and spots covered almost the whole thing. It was curled up against Iori like there was no tomorrow.
"Isn't he cute, TK?" Iori asked, holding the cat out like a little kid, hands around the chest, letting the cat sort of dangle. TK looked at the cat and grinned at the younger boy again.
"Uh, Iori? I believe that 'he' is really a 'she'" TK pointed to the lack of a certain few things. Iori turned the cat around and looked for himself.
"Oh, you're right. He is a she after all." Iori blushed for no real reason, making him look all the cuter to TK.
"There's no collar is there?" TK asked, pretty sure there wasn't, but just wanting to be sure.
"Ah, nope." Iori hugged the cat tight once he had made sure. "I want to keep him."
"Will your mum go for a cat in the apartment?"
"I think so. She's been talking about getting one for a while now. So, I guess I have a cat now."
Iori was beaming so hard that his face might crack. TK couldn't help but smile as well. Iori's smiles were so very contagious. "Come here, you." TK pulled Iori into a hug and the cat purred contentedly between them.
"So, what are you going to name her then?"
"Um, I haven't really thought about a name yet. I'll think of one in a little while."
"Well, let's get the new kitten home and get a little food in her," TK said as he petted her and felt the ribs poking out. The two boys left the park, Iori holding the cat almost to the point of squashing her. She didn't make a sound other than a purr, however, as the two of them walked to Miyako's store before heading home.
TK had to duck and cover once Miyako saw the cat.
"OH!! Isn't he the cutest thing in the whole wide world?" Miyako was nearly hopping up and down hard enough to crack the cement floor, clapping her hands like one of those bizarre cymbal-toting wind-up monkeys.
"It's a 'she', Miyako," Iori said in complete seriousness while Miyako continued to bounce.
"Aaah, no matter what it is it is *sooo* cute!!! Let me hold him, Iori, please?" Iori thought about correcting her again but saw no real point. When she got like this Miyako was as dense as depleted uranium [[[and that is dense, by the way]]]. Against his better judgment he held the cat out and she grabbed her.
"Oh, you're just so sweet and cuddly and cute and everything like that."
"Oh brother," TK whispered to Iori, causing the younger boy to grin.
"Easy, Miyako. Be gentle with her," Iori warned her, but it was too late.
"Aaaaa! Dammit!" Miyako yelled and held the cat back out to Iori. She had been squeezing the kitten a bit too hard and also likely had made it sick by wildly swinging back and forth. Miyako's face was now decorated with three two inch red lines. Iori took the cat back and TK had to walk away before he laughed in Miyako's face.
Once Miyako had calmed down and TK had controlled himself enough to not laugh at her, they picked up a few cans of cat food as well as a bag of kitty litter. Once they had made it out of the store the two boys broke out into fits of laughter.
"So, have you thought of a name for the cat yet, Iori?" TK asked as they stepped into the elevator of their building, a final snicker escaping his lips.
"Actually I have. I'm going to call her 'Bast'."
"Who? Why Bast?"
"She is an ancient Egyptian deity. She had the head of a cat and the body of a human."
"Sounds like something you'd find in the digital world," TK said as the door shut in front of them.
"I really wouldn't be surprised, TK. Quite a few things in our world have analogues in the digital world. Who's to say that she doesn't exist somewhere out there?"
[[[Hey, if that isn't deep..and also the premise of a story in my mind using a few of the characters from my dead fic Digimon Reloaded and a few canon characters..keep an eye open for it - it's coming soon]]]
"I hope we never end up meeting her, though," TK told his boyfriend.
"She is supposedly friendly, but who could say?" Iori petted the cat gently and rubbed under her chin while TK adjusted the bag of kitty litter in his arms.
It's a good thing I love you, Iori, or else you'd be carrying your own kitty litter. *Ding* The elevator chimed and the doors opened to Iori's floor.
****switching to TK's team mates****
Alex, Wes, and Kevin were walking down the street, talking quietly between themselves about the situation they had unintentionally put themselves in.
"I still can't believe this happened," Alex said to no one in particular, he was just thinking aloud.
"Me neither. We were a happy team just a few minutes ago. Why did we say those things?" Kevin was looking incredibly sad over the turn of events. "I don't really believe any of that stuff, I think."
"Well, believe it or not, we still all said it. I really don't care either, but my parents sure do. Maybe my parents' influence unfortunately kicked in." Alex stuck his hand deep in his pockets and looked at the street.
"It really doesn't make a difference," Wes said. "We caused this and we have to fix it. Where do you figure we should start looking?"
"I would guess at his place. It's not that far away coincidentally." Alex pointed for them to take a left at the next corner.
"Too bad it's not further," Kevin said, "it would give us more time to try to figure out what to say."
The three boys trudged on, walking slower than they ever had in their lives, each wishing that something would happen, a natural disaster or something, to keep them from reaching their destination. It was the Long Walk to the neighbor's front door after you hit a baseball through the window. Finally they got to TK's street, the journey taking nearly an hour, well, it actually shouldn't have taken that long but Alex took them down a wrong street by accident.
"Maybe no one will be home," Kevin piped up and the others solemnly nodded. They had no such luck though. A car sat in the driveway, dashing any hopes they had of that happening. If it were possible, they walked even slower than before. A lazy three-toed sloth would have likely beat them to the door. They stood at the door a moment before Kevin finally got the courage to ring the bell.
"It looks like no one's home after all," Wes said after they'd waited about ten seconds. They each let the breath they'd been holding out and were just starting to turn to step off the porch when they heard the locks turning. They all turned back around and felt all their bravery melt into the concrete as the door was pulled open.
"Hello boys," Ms. Takaishi said to them. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I was in the back room cleaning." Alex opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. "Are you boys alright?"
"Oh! Yeah. We're fine." Kevin finally got the courage to speak up. "We were wondering if TK was here. We kinda need to talk to him."
"I'm sorry, but he's not come home yet." Ms. Takaishi checked her watch. "Hmmm. He's usually home by now. I hope nothing happened to him." If Ms. Takaishi hadn't been trying to remember if TK had mentioned anything to her about going to Iori's or anything else that morning, she would have noticed all the color drain out of the three boys' faces. They exchanged glances and they read a bit of fear in each other's eyes. "Boys, I'm going to go make a phone call. Would you please do me a favor and tell him to come home if you do run across him?"
"Sure, sure we will Ms. Takaishi." The boys waited until she had closed the door and then flew off the porch and into the street before saying anything else.
"You don't think that--"
"We've got to find him--"
"Oh god. Please don't do--"
All three boys spoke at once, all expressing about the same sentiment. They had caused TK to get massively upset and they were worried that he might have done something drastic. Again sharing a brain they all took off back the way they'd come.
"Okay, he likes to hang out in the park, maybe he's there," Alex said as they hurried down the street.
"Do you think that he would--"
"I don't know, Kevin. I sure hope not." The boys raced to the park.
****At the Hida's****
"Mum!!! Look what I found!!" Iori ran into the apartment at light speed with TK following behind and shutting the door, grinning all the while. Iori raced by his grandfather and into the kitchen. His grandfather watched the little blur streak by and looked back to TK.
"He sure gets excited, doesn't he?"
"He does." TK almost said that he was really cute when he did so, but he refrained, still not entirely comfortable around Iori's grandfather after the revelation.
"Can I keep her? Please? We've been talking about getting one now for while, and here she is!" TK's attention was shifted to the kitchen as the young boy and his mum walked out.
"I don't know, Iori. She's a stray. She might be sick."
"She's fine, I know she is." Iori's mum also knew of how her son sometimes had 'feelings' so she actually believed he was right.
"Alright. I'll tell you what. We'll take her to the vet tomorrow and if everything comes back good, you can keep her." Iori was bouncing like a spring now, however the cat was still happy, not like when Miyako was holding her. All three people watched Iori celebrate and couldn't help but grin.
The phone rang and Iori's grandfather tore himself away from the sight to answer it. "TK, your mum is on the phone." He held the phone out and TK took it. Iori looked on while TK talked.
"Yeah, I'm fine..Iori and I went to lunch and the park..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I forgot to call..You have to work tonight? Again?...Yeah, I know you can't help it.. I know...What's Matt doing?..Oh. I see..Alright. I'll be home soon..Goodbye." TK hung the phone up.
"What is wrong TK?" Iori asked, his glee falling away when he saw the look on TK's face.
"This was supposed to be our night to do something, my mum and I, but she has to go and report on some thing or another. I guess I better go. I'll see you all later." He waved at Iori and then his mum and grandfather.
Iori quickly looked to his mum while TK was heading to the door. She nodded at him, reading his mind like only a mum can. "TK, wait. I'll go with you." TK spun around when he heard that, any thought of opening the door forgotten.
"You don't have to do that, Iori," TK said, not really meaning it.
"I know I don't, TK, but I want to. Let me pack a bag real quick." Iori left before the issue could be brought up for debate, not that it would be debated in the first place. He returned a few seconds later with a duffel bag that had an odd little wiggle in one part of it. TK smiled once he realized what the lump must be. Upamon! He said to himself and grinned again.
"Can I bring Bast?" Iori asked with hope in his voice.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Let's just not bring the entire bag of litter with us. She's not that big, so I would guess that only a little would do." Iori's grandfather took the bag and went to measure out a reasonable amount which he then tied off in a plastic bag. He brought it back and handed it to Iori who stuck it in the duffel bag along with a bit of food, causing a small cry of protest from Upamon.
"You boys take care tonight," Mrs. Hida told them as they prepared to walk out the door. "The weatherman said that it might storm bad tonight, so you two be sure to stay inside."
"We will, Mum. Don't worry." TK took the bag from Iori and allowed the other boy to pick up his new kitten. "I'll be back early enough for us to take Bast to the vet tomorrow."
"Okay, hurry home boys." Her eyes met with TK's for a second and a quick message was passed and TK nodded. Take care of my son, TK the message read and it was clearly received.
They hurried home when they saw that the golden sun of earlier was gone. The wind had picked up a lot and it now carried the scent of snow. Iori stuck Bast inside his jacket and she curled up and went to sleep, completely content. Upamon on the other hand was far from content and kept yapping the entire way home.
By the time they'd reached TK's house they had explained what a cat was and everything about it, including the fact that they weren't edible. Upamon was finally happy with all his new-found feline info and promised to be a little quieter once he was fed massive amounts of food.
Iori helped TK cook a relatively decent meal, not an easy feat when you think that neither of them was anything more than a kitchen novice. It wasn't too complicated, only spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread, but it turned out good.
Sure enough, just like Iori's mum had said, at about six o'clock, it began to storm. Snow fell by the shovel load. Roads were quickly covered in a half inch of the heavy, wet snow. Try as they might, the plows couldn't keep up. TK and Iori sat close together on the couch while Patamon and Upamon caught up on everything they'd missed out on in the last week or so. The weather channel was on and nearly half of the radar image showed up as the bright purple color, indicating heavy snowfall.
"I hope you're not wanting to leave too early, Iori," TK said and pulled Iori a bit closer. "I don't think you'd be able to."
"I know. Look outside, TK," Iori was pointing to the street, or to where the street should be.
"Holy cow!" TK looked at Iori and had a great idea. "Have you ever made a snow angel, Iori?"
"Not in a long time," Iori said after he thought about it for a moment.
"Me neither. You want to?" Iori's smile told him all he needed to know. Within minutes the boys and their Digimon were laying in the snow, waving their arms and legs back and forth. Okay, so Upamon was waving his wings back and forth and making what might be considered a 'snow blob'. the snow angel project turned into a snowball fight quickly, not surprising really.
****Sheesh, that was a lot of Fluffiness, wasn't it?****
The three boys' trek had led them around a good part of the neighborhood and surrounding areas in the past few hours. It was finally decided that they would swing by TK's house one final time before heading home for the evening.
"I'm sure he just went home," Wes said, trying to convince himself and the others. They'd spent the time worrying about all the things that TK might have done and they had made themselves nervous wrecks. By the time they'd rounded the corner on to TK's street, the snow was almost blinding in its thickness. As the hill to TK's house was crested the boys saw no car in the driveway. They almost turned around when they heard a distinctive laughter reach their ears.
"TK?" alex said to no one. The laughter came again and he was sure. He picked up his pace and the others followed suit. They stopped about twenty feet away and watched as TK, Iori, Patamon, and Upamon frolicked in the snow. There they stood while the others played. A good three minutes passed before Upamon noticed them and passed the word along to Patamon, who in turn passed it to Iori, and finally to TK.
TK stood tall and took a step forward, shielding Iori with his body. Patamon sort of figured that something was up, so he flanked TK. Upamon hopped into Iori's arms to wait and see what would happen.
"What do you guys want?" TK said, his hands involuntarily clenching into fists.
"We want to talk to you, TK," Wes said as they stepped forward slowly.
"Oh, really? Did you forget to say something earlier today? Didn't say enough horrible things?"
"No, TK, you don't understand--"
"I don't? I think I heard you quite well as a matter of fact. What was it you said again? Oh wait, I remember. Something about how people like ME make you sick." TK was seething with anger. Patamon looked at him and had a chill run down his back. Iori put two and two together and figured that these were the kids who'd set TK off earlier today.
Oh boy, this isn't going good Alex thought as they continued approaching. "TK, listen to us--"
"I already did, remember?" Iori looked at his boyfriend's face and saw a few tears escape. These weren't the happy tears of earlier, nor were they sad tears. They were tears of absolute, unmitigated rage.
"If you want to hurt TK, you have to get through me first," Iori said as he stepped in front of him.
"No way, Iori, if they want me, they can have me." Iori ignored him and tossed his mittens aside and assumed the ass-kicking position.
"TK, that's not why we're here. We don't want to fight you." Alex looked quite upset himself now, he was shaking and it wasn't from cold.
"Then what the hell do you want?!" TK yelled at the three of them, causing them all to take a step or two backwards.
"We, we came to apologize, TK."
"What?" TK looked as if he'd been slapped. His hands unclenched.
Wow. This is freakin' long. I guess it makes up for the last few short chapters. Anyway, just so you all know, I am aware that TK and Iori live in the same building, but I had to change it once became aware of my "blonde moment" (I sort of wrote by accident that he lived somewhere else). Anyway, just pretend that TK's mum got a promotion to 'head news chick' or something like that. More money=house. There. Simple, huh?
Well, now that I've cranked this thing out I can go and read some more stories!!! Yeah!! I hope you all enjoyed the total Takori fluff of this chapter. It was fun to write. I was going to write the boys all talking, but I honestly don't feel like it now, plus I have to go to class. I'll have it by Saturday, likely Friday (once I'm done cleaning my dirty dirty apartment [ignores desk lined with mountain dew cans])
One note--Yoshiki wrote a Leeta, not a Leekato. My bad. It was like 4a.m. or something.
You should be reading:
Perfect Hazzard by Black
When I Balance Again by Nine
Well, if I'm to be quick about this, anything on my favorite stories list is good. Give it a look.
energy
"The sun, TK! Look!" Iori was pointing the obvious of course, and TK smiled at him and nodded.
"Finally. It's been cloudy forever it seems, Iori."
"I know. Let's go outside and enjoy it while it's here," Iori said and the two of them got up. They waved goodbye to the kindly old lady at the counter and made their way to the street. She waved back and told them to come back soon.
Once outside they felt the pale warmth of the sun that they'd not seen in about a month. By no means was it short sleeve weather, but it was maybe in the fifties.
"Where do you want to go, TK?" Iori asked as they stood by a street sign as they waited for the light to change.
"I don't really know, Iori," TK said after a moment of consideration. "Why don't we just see where we end up?" Iori nodded to that and they crossed the street once they had the green light on their side. While they were walking TK kept Iori close at his side, usually with an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders.
Eventually they found themselves in the park, not too far from the pond. A few ducks were swimming around noisily but aside from them, the park was rather quiet. There were a few people dotted here and there, but nowhere near what one might assume from a day like this. The boys sat on a bench and watched the ducks frolic.
"I wish we'd have brought some of the pizza crust or something for them, TK," Iori said as he laid into TK's side a little more.
"Aflac!!" the ducks called. [[[I love those commercials!!]]]
"That would be nice, but we didn't exactly know that we'd wind up here so we didn't plan ahead." TK put an arm around Iori and pulled him closer yet. "You know what I want to do?" TK asked a few minutes of quiet later.
"What's that?"
"Aflac!!"
"I want to play on the swings. Are you interested?"
"I can handle a little swinging," Iori told his boyfriend as they stood up. TK grinned at the unintentional, slight double entendre that Iori had made. (double entendre=words that have a second, usually hidden or unintentional meaning) He grinned at Iori but refused to tell him why, which of course frustrated Iori to a degree.
"What?? What is it, TK?"
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it," TK said as he finally fought off the rest of the giggles. They made their way over to the swings slowly, surely not in a hurry and enjoying each other's company immensely.
"Hey Iori," TK said softly, "you want to give that one a try?" TK was pointing to a row of the little kiddie swings, complete with the sliding bar and snapping hook.
"TK," Iori said and elbowed him lightly in the ribs, "you know I graduated from those last week. I can tie my own shoes now as well." They laughed and walked to the bigger swings.
They grabbed two swings and began reaching skyward. Iori had the biggest smile on his face as the wind swept his hair back. TK watched him as they swung and couldn't help but grin himself. They continued getting higher and higher and soon Iori broke out in fits of laughter. "What's so funny, Iori?" TK called out.
"Nothing, really. I have always loved to swing like this. I feel like a bird. It feels like I'm flying."
"Like a bird, huh? Have you ever played 'Superman', Iori?" Iori looked at him and shook his head 'no'. "Well watch this then." TK threw all his weight backwards and went even higher. He did the same one last time and then when he was at the highest point of his arc, he let go and sailed off the swing. Iori watched at TK seemed to hang in the air, his arms and legs spread out like an 'x'. Finally he started falling earthward and landed almost perfectly, taking but a single step forward.
Iori was squealing with laughter at the show. "That was awesome, TK. I thought you'd never come down."
That's the way I feel around you, Iori TK said to himself and smiled back.
"I'm going to try now," Iori said and before TK could so much as draw a breath to use to say 'no', little Iori had reached zenith and launched himself from the swing as well.
TK watched in slow motion as Iori hung in the sky, bicycling his legs and waving his arms. He looked nowhere near as graceful as TK did and as the ground rushed to meet him, TK decided that he had better attempt to catch Iori so he wouldn't break all 206 of his bones when he slammed down.
TK tracked Iori like a center fielder and had his arms out, waiting to catch him. TK caught him under the arms and took a few steps back trying to keep from falling. It worked for a few steps and then they collapsed in a pile. Iori was silent for a second or three and TK was afraid he'd hurt himself after all. He was just about to freak when Iori let out a horrendous laugh.
"That was *great*!!!" he said between brays of laughter. TK relaxed and sighed.
"You little turd," TK said as he started tickling Iori mercilessly. "I was worried that you broke something!" Iori was squirming every which way but free so he had no choice but to tickle TK back. Soon both boys were nearly in tears they were laughing so hard. Their escapade caused them to roll across the playground, each trying to stay on top and gain extra leverage.
They wound up a good twenty feet from the landing zone, away from the swings and over by one of the crawling tubes. A truce was called and they laid there, picking little pieces of tree bark from each other. "You know, Iori, even after the mess this morning, this day has still been one of the best ever."
"I think so too, TK. I do wish that the incident earlier didn't have to cast a shadow over it, though."
"I've put it behind me, Iori. I can't control what people think, so I guess I'll have to get used to it."
"You're right, but it's still not fair." They got quiet and enjoyed the company. "Hey, what was that?" Iori asked when a small sound reached their ears, seeming to come from in the tube.
"What was what?" TK asked. He wasn't really paying attention as he had sort of tuned everything out except Iori's breathing.
"It sounded like an animal or something. Maybe a cat. I think it might have come from the tube."
"I still don't hear anything," TK said while Iori got to his feet and hopped over to the mouth of the tube. The animal made noise again and this time TK did hear it.
"It is a cat," Iori said with a hint of excitement in his voice. TK made it to the tube's mouth and peered in, seeing nothing but Iori's rear as he crouched in the tube. "Come here, little kitty," Iori said softly and reached to the cat. He picked it up by the stomach and it didn't make another sound. He pulled it close and turned to TK. The cat snuggled to his chest.
TK saw the grin on Iori's face but his first thought was that it might have rabies or another illness like that. "Iori, that cat might be sick or something. You should put it down."
"No TK, I can't. look at him shiver! He's cold, and he's so small. I can't leave him out here."
"What if it has rabies?" TK asked, voicing his earlier thought. "Do you know all that you have to go through to cure rabies in a person, Iori?"
"Yes, actually. A bunch of shots in the stomach. He doesn't have rabies though, I know he doesn't."
"How do you know that, Iori?"
"I don't know. I just do. It's sort of like when I knew that our Digimon would digivolve together. I can't explain it. It is like a sixth sense or something."
"Don't let Koushirou hear you say that. He'll spend all day explaining how it is impossible for there to be a sixth sense." TK said that and decided to let the subject of the cat having rabies drop. He somehow knew that Iori was right. Iori got those 'inklings' sometimes and they'd not proved themselves wrong yet.
Iori stepped out of the little tunnel and stood up full. TK really saw the cat for the first time. The cat looked maybe two or three months old to him, but in Iori's little arms it looked almost full grown. It was a tabby, orange stripes and spots covered almost the whole thing. It was curled up against Iori like there was no tomorrow.
"Isn't he cute, TK?" Iori asked, holding the cat out like a little kid, hands around the chest, letting the cat sort of dangle. TK looked at the cat and grinned at the younger boy again.
"Uh, Iori? I believe that 'he' is really a 'she'" TK pointed to the lack of a certain few things. Iori turned the cat around and looked for himself.
"Oh, you're right. He is a she after all." Iori blushed for no real reason, making him look all the cuter to TK.
"There's no collar is there?" TK asked, pretty sure there wasn't, but just wanting to be sure.
"Ah, nope." Iori hugged the cat tight once he had made sure. "I want to keep him."
"Will your mum go for a cat in the apartment?"
"I think so. She's been talking about getting one for a while now. So, I guess I have a cat now."
Iori was beaming so hard that his face might crack. TK couldn't help but smile as well. Iori's smiles were so very contagious. "Come here, you." TK pulled Iori into a hug and the cat purred contentedly between them.
"So, what are you going to name her then?"
"Um, I haven't really thought about a name yet. I'll think of one in a little while."
"Well, let's get the new kitten home and get a little food in her," TK said as he petted her and felt the ribs poking out. The two boys left the park, Iori holding the cat almost to the point of squashing her. She didn't make a sound other than a purr, however, as the two of them walked to Miyako's store before heading home.
TK had to duck and cover once Miyako saw the cat.
"OH!! Isn't he the cutest thing in the whole wide world?" Miyako was nearly hopping up and down hard enough to crack the cement floor, clapping her hands like one of those bizarre cymbal-toting wind-up monkeys.
"It's a 'she', Miyako," Iori said in complete seriousness while Miyako continued to bounce.
"Aaah, no matter what it is it is *sooo* cute!!! Let me hold him, Iori, please?" Iori thought about correcting her again but saw no real point. When she got like this Miyako was as dense as depleted uranium [[[and that is dense, by the way]]]. Against his better judgment he held the cat out and she grabbed her.
"Oh, you're just so sweet and cuddly and cute and everything like that."
"Oh brother," TK whispered to Iori, causing the younger boy to grin.
"Easy, Miyako. Be gentle with her," Iori warned her, but it was too late.
"Aaaaa! Dammit!" Miyako yelled and held the cat back out to Iori. She had been squeezing the kitten a bit too hard and also likely had made it sick by wildly swinging back and forth. Miyako's face was now decorated with three two inch red lines. Iori took the cat back and TK had to walk away before he laughed in Miyako's face.
Once Miyako had calmed down and TK had controlled himself enough to not laugh at her, they picked up a few cans of cat food as well as a bag of kitty litter. Once they had made it out of the store the two boys broke out into fits of laughter.
"So, have you thought of a name for the cat yet, Iori?" TK asked as they stepped into the elevator of their building, a final snicker escaping his lips.
"Actually I have. I'm going to call her 'Bast'."
"Who? Why Bast?"
"She is an ancient Egyptian deity. She had the head of a cat and the body of a human."
"Sounds like something you'd find in the digital world," TK said as the door shut in front of them.
"I really wouldn't be surprised, TK. Quite a few things in our world have analogues in the digital world. Who's to say that she doesn't exist somewhere out there?"
[[[Hey, if that isn't deep..and also the premise of a story in my mind using a few of the characters from my dead fic Digimon Reloaded and a few canon characters..keep an eye open for it - it's coming soon]]]
"I hope we never end up meeting her, though," TK told his boyfriend.
"She is supposedly friendly, but who could say?" Iori petted the cat gently and rubbed under her chin while TK adjusted the bag of kitty litter in his arms.
It's a good thing I love you, Iori, or else you'd be carrying your own kitty litter. *Ding* The elevator chimed and the doors opened to Iori's floor.
****switching to TK's team mates****
Alex, Wes, and Kevin were walking down the street, talking quietly between themselves about the situation they had unintentionally put themselves in.
"I still can't believe this happened," Alex said to no one in particular, he was just thinking aloud.
"Me neither. We were a happy team just a few minutes ago. Why did we say those things?" Kevin was looking incredibly sad over the turn of events. "I don't really believe any of that stuff, I think."
"Well, believe it or not, we still all said it. I really don't care either, but my parents sure do. Maybe my parents' influence unfortunately kicked in." Alex stuck his hand deep in his pockets and looked at the street.
"It really doesn't make a difference," Wes said. "We caused this and we have to fix it. Where do you figure we should start looking?"
"I would guess at his place. It's not that far away coincidentally." Alex pointed for them to take a left at the next corner.
"Too bad it's not further," Kevin said, "it would give us more time to try to figure out what to say."
The three boys trudged on, walking slower than they ever had in their lives, each wishing that something would happen, a natural disaster or something, to keep them from reaching their destination. It was the Long Walk to the neighbor's front door after you hit a baseball through the window. Finally they got to TK's street, the journey taking nearly an hour, well, it actually shouldn't have taken that long but Alex took them down a wrong street by accident.
"Maybe no one will be home," Kevin piped up and the others solemnly nodded. They had no such luck though. A car sat in the driveway, dashing any hopes they had of that happening. If it were possible, they walked even slower than before. A lazy three-toed sloth would have likely beat them to the door. They stood at the door a moment before Kevin finally got the courage to ring the bell.
"It looks like no one's home after all," Wes said after they'd waited about ten seconds. They each let the breath they'd been holding out and were just starting to turn to step off the porch when they heard the locks turning. They all turned back around and felt all their bravery melt into the concrete as the door was pulled open.
"Hello boys," Ms. Takaishi said to them. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I was in the back room cleaning." Alex opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. "Are you boys alright?"
"Oh! Yeah. We're fine." Kevin finally got the courage to speak up. "We were wondering if TK was here. We kinda need to talk to him."
"I'm sorry, but he's not come home yet." Ms. Takaishi checked her watch. "Hmmm. He's usually home by now. I hope nothing happened to him." If Ms. Takaishi hadn't been trying to remember if TK had mentioned anything to her about going to Iori's or anything else that morning, she would have noticed all the color drain out of the three boys' faces. They exchanged glances and they read a bit of fear in each other's eyes. "Boys, I'm going to go make a phone call. Would you please do me a favor and tell him to come home if you do run across him?"
"Sure, sure we will Ms. Takaishi." The boys waited until she had closed the door and then flew off the porch and into the street before saying anything else.
"You don't think that--"
"We've got to find him--"
"Oh god. Please don't do--"
All three boys spoke at once, all expressing about the same sentiment. They had caused TK to get massively upset and they were worried that he might have done something drastic. Again sharing a brain they all took off back the way they'd come.
"Okay, he likes to hang out in the park, maybe he's there," Alex said as they hurried down the street.
"Do you think that he would--"
"I don't know, Kevin. I sure hope not." The boys raced to the park.
****At the Hida's****
"Mum!!! Look what I found!!" Iori ran into the apartment at light speed with TK following behind and shutting the door, grinning all the while. Iori raced by his grandfather and into the kitchen. His grandfather watched the little blur streak by and looked back to TK.
"He sure gets excited, doesn't he?"
"He does." TK almost said that he was really cute when he did so, but he refrained, still not entirely comfortable around Iori's grandfather after the revelation.
"Can I keep her? Please? We've been talking about getting one now for while, and here she is!" TK's attention was shifted to the kitchen as the young boy and his mum walked out.
"I don't know, Iori. She's a stray. She might be sick."
"She's fine, I know she is." Iori's mum also knew of how her son sometimes had 'feelings' so she actually believed he was right.
"Alright. I'll tell you what. We'll take her to the vet tomorrow and if everything comes back good, you can keep her." Iori was bouncing like a spring now, however the cat was still happy, not like when Miyako was holding her. All three people watched Iori celebrate and couldn't help but grin.
The phone rang and Iori's grandfather tore himself away from the sight to answer it. "TK, your mum is on the phone." He held the phone out and TK took it. Iori looked on while TK talked.
"Yeah, I'm fine..Iori and I went to lunch and the park..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I forgot to call..You have to work tonight? Again?...Yeah, I know you can't help it.. I know...What's Matt doing?..Oh. I see..Alright. I'll be home soon..Goodbye." TK hung the phone up.
"What is wrong TK?" Iori asked, his glee falling away when he saw the look on TK's face.
"This was supposed to be our night to do something, my mum and I, but she has to go and report on some thing or another. I guess I better go. I'll see you all later." He waved at Iori and then his mum and grandfather.
Iori quickly looked to his mum while TK was heading to the door. She nodded at him, reading his mind like only a mum can. "TK, wait. I'll go with you." TK spun around when he heard that, any thought of opening the door forgotten.
"You don't have to do that, Iori," TK said, not really meaning it.
"I know I don't, TK, but I want to. Let me pack a bag real quick." Iori left before the issue could be brought up for debate, not that it would be debated in the first place. He returned a few seconds later with a duffel bag that had an odd little wiggle in one part of it. TK smiled once he realized what the lump must be. Upamon! He said to himself and grinned again.
"Can I bring Bast?" Iori asked with hope in his voice.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Let's just not bring the entire bag of litter with us. She's not that big, so I would guess that only a little would do." Iori's grandfather took the bag and went to measure out a reasonable amount which he then tied off in a plastic bag. He brought it back and handed it to Iori who stuck it in the duffel bag along with a bit of food, causing a small cry of protest from Upamon.
"You boys take care tonight," Mrs. Hida told them as they prepared to walk out the door. "The weatherman said that it might storm bad tonight, so you two be sure to stay inside."
"We will, Mum. Don't worry." TK took the bag from Iori and allowed the other boy to pick up his new kitten. "I'll be back early enough for us to take Bast to the vet tomorrow."
"Okay, hurry home boys." Her eyes met with TK's for a second and a quick message was passed and TK nodded. Take care of my son, TK the message read and it was clearly received.
They hurried home when they saw that the golden sun of earlier was gone. The wind had picked up a lot and it now carried the scent of snow. Iori stuck Bast inside his jacket and she curled up and went to sleep, completely content. Upamon on the other hand was far from content and kept yapping the entire way home.
By the time they'd reached TK's house they had explained what a cat was and everything about it, including the fact that they weren't edible. Upamon was finally happy with all his new-found feline info and promised to be a little quieter once he was fed massive amounts of food.
Iori helped TK cook a relatively decent meal, not an easy feat when you think that neither of them was anything more than a kitchen novice. It wasn't too complicated, only spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread, but it turned out good.
Sure enough, just like Iori's mum had said, at about six o'clock, it began to storm. Snow fell by the shovel load. Roads were quickly covered in a half inch of the heavy, wet snow. Try as they might, the plows couldn't keep up. TK and Iori sat close together on the couch while Patamon and Upamon caught up on everything they'd missed out on in the last week or so. The weather channel was on and nearly half of the radar image showed up as the bright purple color, indicating heavy snowfall.
"I hope you're not wanting to leave too early, Iori," TK said and pulled Iori a bit closer. "I don't think you'd be able to."
"I know. Look outside, TK," Iori was pointing to the street, or to where the street should be.
"Holy cow!" TK looked at Iori and had a great idea. "Have you ever made a snow angel, Iori?"
"Not in a long time," Iori said after he thought about it for a moment.
"Me neither. You want to?" Iori's smile told him all he needed to know. Within minutes the boys and their Digimon were laying in the snow, waving their arms and legs back and forth. Okay, so Upamon was waving his wings back and forth and making what might be considered a 'snow blob'. the snow angel project turned into a snowball fight quickly, not surprising really.
****Sheesh, that was a lot of Fluffiness, wasn't it?****
The three boys' trek had led them around a good part of the neighborhood and surrounding areas in the past few hours. It was finally decided that they would swing by TK's house one final time before heading home for the evening.
"I'm sure he just went home," Wes said, trying to convince himself and the others. They'd spent the time worrying about all the things that TK might have done and they had made themselves nervous wrecks. By the time they'd rounded the corner on to TK's street, the snow was almost blinding in its thickness. As the hill to TK's house was crested the boys saw no car in the driveway. They almost turned around when they heard a distinctive laughter reach their ears.
"TK?" alex said to no one. The laughter came again and he was sure. He picked up his pace and the others followed suit. They stopped about twenty feet away and watched as TK, Iori, Patamon, and Upamon frolicked in the snow. There they stood while the others played. A good three minutes passed before Upamon noticed them and passed the word along to Patamon, who in turn passed it to Iori, and finally to TK.
TK stood tall and took a step forward, shielding Iori with his body. Patamon sort of figured that something was up, so he flanked TK. Upamon hopped into Iori's arms to wait and see what would happen.
"What do you guys want?" TK said, his hands involuntarily clenching into fists.
"We want to talk to you, TK," Wes said as they stepped forward slowly.
"Oh, really? Did you forget to say something earlier today? Didn't say enough horrible things?"
"No, TK, you don't understand--"
"I don't? I think I heard you quite well as a matter of fact. What was it you said again? Oh wait, I remember. Something about how people like ME make you sick." TK was seething with anger. Patamon looked at him and had a chill run down his back. Iori put two and two together and figured that these were the kids who'd set TK off earlier today.
Oh boy, this isn't going good Alex thought as they continued approaching. "TK, listen to us--"
"I already did, remember?" Iori looked at his boyfriend's face and saw a few tears escape. These weren't the happy tears of earlier, nor were they sad tears. They were tears of absolute, unmitigated rage.
"If you want to hurt TK, you have to get through me first," Iori said as he stepped in front of him.
"No way, Iori, if they want me, they can have me." Iori ignored him and tossed his mittens aside and assumed the ass-kicking position.
"TK, that's not why we're here. We don't want to fight you." Alex looked quite upset himself now, he was shaking and it wasn't from cold.
"Then what the hell do you want?!" TK yelled at the three of them, causing them all to take a step or two backwards.
"We, we came to apologize, TK."
"What?" TK looked as if he'd been slapped. His hands unclenched.
Wow. This is freakin' long. I guess it makes up for the last few short chapters. Anyway, just so you all know, I am aware that TK and Iori live in the same building, but I had to change it once became aware of my "blonde moment" (I sort of wrote by accident that he lived somewhere else). Anyway, just pretend that TK's mum got a promotion to 'head news chick' or something like that. More money=house. There. Simple, huh?
Well, now that I've cranked this thing out I can go and read some more stories!!! Yeah!! I hope you all enjoyed the total Takori fluff of this chapter. It was fun to write. I was going to write the boys all talking, but I honestly don't feel like it now, plus I have to go to class. I'll have it by Saturday, likely Friday (once I'm done cleaning my dirty dirty apartment [ignores desk lined with mountain dew cans])
One note--Yoshiki wrote a Leeta, not a Leekato. My bad. It was like 4a.m. or something.
You should be reading:
Perfect Hazzard by Black
When I Balance Again by Nine
Well, if I'm to be quick about this, anything on my favorite stories list is good. Give it a look.
energy