Well, this chapter is going to be much different than when I planned it. I
won't give anything away now, but just keep in mind, this wasn't going to
happen, but the story refused to be written any other way. Yoshiki also
had a hand in this, so if you don't like it, you can partially blame him.
The three boys made their way back to Koushirou's house, trading jokes and discussing a myriad of topics on the way. The snow had begun to fall heavier now, seemingly in a constant sheet. Daisuke's and Koushirou's black toboggans were quickly whitened and Tai appeared to have horrible dandruff.
"Do you have any idea of how large a snow man we can make with all this snow?" Daisuke asked the others out of the blue.
"I'd assume it to be a rather large one," Koushirou told him.
"Large? Hah. It will be huge." Daisuke held his arms out as far as he could and grinned at the others.
"Dai, were you dropped as a child?" Tai asked him. Daisuke only looked at him puzzled and Tai shook his head, laughing. They closed the remaining ground between the store and the apartment in about five minutes.
"We're still making snow men, right? You two aren't gonna back out, right?" Dai asked the two boys.
"No, I'm still on for it, what about you, Koushirou?" The redhead just grinned and nodded in the affirmative.
"Let's go in and get some gloves first. I don't have any with me and I bet that neither of you two do either." Tai and Daisuke agreed that would be a brilliant plan. The made their way into the lobby, stomping the snow off their shoes and dusting their coats off. There was already a thick covering on the floor, so they weren't the first to arrive home in what was looking to turn into a heavy storm. Koushirou turned the key and opened the door.
"No, he left about an hour ago. Oh, wait, he just stepped in the door. Hang on. Koushirou, telephone." Mara handed her son the phone while the others took their coats off.
"Hello? Yeah, we went to the store to get a few things for tomorrow. . Yes, actually he is right here. . Are you okay, Yamato? . You don't sound very good. . I'll put him on. Here he is. Tai, Yamato's on the phone." Tai and Daisuke had been listening while Koushirou talked and they were both interested. Tai took the phone.
Koushirou and Daisuke listened a bit to Tai talk to Yamato. Tai started to look visibly upset after about five minutes. "Why don't we go on out and start the snowmen, Daisuke? Tai will join us after while." Tai's eyes said 'thank you' to Koushirou and he nodded. Koushirou steered Daisuke to a hall closet to get a few extra gloves out.
"Is Yamato alright?" Daisuke asked while they walking downstairs.
"I don't know. He didn't sound very well," Koushirou told him while they were in the elevator.
"I hope he's okay," Daisuke said softly as the doors opened. Koushirou tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was transparent. Daisuke tried to fake a smile back but it was just as false.
The snowman was started but quickly their work degenerated into a snowball fight. Both boys were having a good time, Daisuke having temporarily forgotten his worries about Yamato. Koushirou grinned inwardly as he saw Daisuke laughing, figuring his plan worked.
Nearly an hour had passed and light was fading and still no sign of Tai. Koushirou was getting worried. The snowman was nearing completion when Tai finally stepped out of the building with three mugs of some steaming liquid.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, but Yama has had a really bad couple of weeks or so." Tai looked completely drained to Koushirou and even the usually dense Daisuke noticed it as well. "I really don't feel like making a snowman, I hope you're not upset." He handed two of the mugs to the boys and they took them. Daisuke spilled just a bit as his mittened hands almost lost control of the mug.
"It's okay, Tai. We're about done anyway. Plus, we're cold." Tai looked at Koushirou's and Daisuke's red noses and smiled slightly with his mouth but not his eyes.
"Is he okay, Tai?" Daisuke asked genuinely. His brown eyes were staring deep into Tai. Tai realized that he couldn't lie to Daisuke.
"Honestly, no. He's nowhere near okay right now. He's hurting in a bad way. Let's go in, huh?" Tai looked like he was about to cry to his boyfriend and Daisuke.
Tai didn't speak the entire way up. It seemed as if he had stepped into his own little world. Koushirou and Daisuke spent the elevator ride up studying the floor and giving each other worried looks. The doors opened and Koushirou and Daisuke moved to leave, Tai still looking off into nowhere. "Tai, we're here," Koushirou said softly. Tai snapped out of his trance and stepped out of the elevator.
As they entered the Izumi residence their noses detected the smell of a wonderful meal. Mara had obviously been cooking while Tai was on the phone and the others outside. Coats were hung up and gloves tossed on the floor by shoes. Mara came from the kitchen and yawned deeply. "Dinner is ready boys. It's sitting on the counter whenever you're ready. I've had a long day and I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm going to head off to bed."
"Okay Mum, we'll see you in the morning," Koushirou said as she walked back toward her room. As he thought about it, she hadn't seemed that tired a little while ago. Maybe it's Mum-tuition or something. Maybe she knows something is wrong and wants to let us talk about it.
"If you boys need anything, let me know," Mara called as she stepped into the bedroom. The door shut and Tai sat down slowly on the couch, seeming to fall into it rather than sit on it. Koushirou and Daisuke stood watching him, neither sure exactly what was bothering him so bad after his talk with Yamato.
"Tai, what is wrong?" Koushirou asked quietly.
"It's Yamato."
"Yeah, I figured that much out already. What is so bad?"
"Please Tai, tell us," Daisuke pleaded.
"I'm not sure that he'd want me to tell anyone else. I'm really surprised he even called me about it."
"Tai, whatever it is is obviously hurting you a lot. I can help you with whatever it is," Koushirou said as he sat down beside him.
"Me too, Tai. I want to help as well," Daisuke said and sat on the other side of Tai. This was a side of Daisuke that neither boy had really seen before; a caring side. Gone was all his usual swagger and bravado, in were a pair of caring eyes.
"I don't know if this is a good time to talk about it," he said to no one in particular. He glanced at Koushirou after he said it. Koushirou's eyes widened and he jumped to a conclusion.
"Is it about tomorrow, Tai?"
"Yes and no." Koushirou looked at Tai, as did Daisuke. Daisuke's reaction was one of utter confusion while Koushirou's was one of assumed understanding.
"Should we talk about it later, then?" Koushirou asked while Daisuke tried to put together what was going on.
"Will one of you please tell me what this is about? Why can't we talk about it now? Is it because I'm here?" Daisuke blurted out. He looked half hurt and half angry. "I'd surely like to know what's wrong with Yamato, but if I can't know now, I'll leave so you can tell Koushirou." Daisuke stood up and was just beginning to start toward his shoes when Tai spoke again.
"No, Dai, sit down. You have a right to know this as much as anyone else. You're as good a friend to Yamato as I am, maybe better. That's half of it. The other half is something you'll find out tomorrow anyway." Daisuke turned and slowly sat back on the couch.
"Thanks Tai," he said and crossed his legs Indian-style and turned to face the others.
"Can I tell him the second part, Koushirou? Is that okay with you?" Tai asked his boyfriend quietly.
"Well, I guess so. Like you said, he'll find out tomorrow anyway." Koushirou's face flushed just a little bit. He was ready for this, he just wasn't really ready for it tonight.
"Alright. I guess I'll start with the second part first." Daisuke was looking like he didn't care what Tai started with as long as he would just stop procrastinating and get on with it. Thermodynamic physics would have been fine.
"Here we go. Dai, have you ever thought of myself or Koushirou as different?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You're not any different than the rest of us."
"Well, you're right and you're wrong, Daisuke."
"Don't start the double talk again, just tell me what you're talking about."
"Okay. I'll just say it then. It might be easier that way." Tai looked at Koushirou and then back at Daisuke. Daisuke looked like he might throw a gear soon. "I'm gay, Dai." Silence filled the room for a good ten seconds.
"You're gay?" Dai asked, more than a bit surprised. "Well, I honestly don't know what to say. Do you, uh, have a boyfriend?" Stupid, stupid, stupid Daisuke. Of all the things I could have possibly asked him, I asked him that. Now he's likely mad or offended or something. Way to go.
"Actually, yes. I do have a boyfriend," Tai said after Dai had finished his mental harangue.
"Really?" Daisuke sounded as if he'd just heard the most amazing thing ever told to mortals. "Do I know him? Well, if you want to tell me that is. If you don't, I perfectly understand, because, well, some people-- -"
"Hush, Dai," Tai said, cutting off the torrent of words falling from Daisuke's mouth. "Actually, you do know him. Rather well, I would say." Daisuke didn't have a clue as what to say. (A/N: for once ^_^)
"Who?" he said in a small voice, eyes wide.
Koushirou slid in closer to Tai and slipped an arm around his shoulder. "Me!" He chirped, smiling broadly.
"No Way!!" Daisuke said, grinning even wider than Koushirou was.
"Yep. It's true," Koushirou told him, wrapping Tai up like a present in his arms.
"I still don't believe it," Dai said, grinning.
"Well, it's no lie," Tai said.
"How long?"
"What Kou-chan? Two months? Three?"
"I honestly don't know," Koushirou told them both.
"What? You don't even know when your anniversary is? Oh man."
"We'll figure it out later," Tai said. "Now, I guess it's time for the other half of the story tonight." Koushirou slid yet closer, glad to be able to do so in the open. Even around his parents it still seemed a bit odd.
"What I'm about to tell you is a condensed version of what Yamato told me during our nearly hour-long phone conversation. If it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you, sorry," Tai told them, looking saddened again.
"Go on, Tai," Koushirou said, squeezing him a bit tighter.
"Yeah, go on." Daisuke told him.
"Well, he called tonight, as you know. He was quite upset." Tai stopped for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts for the bomb he was about to drop. "It seems," he finally continued, "that his boyfriend dumped him a few weeks ago." The two faces to Tai's side both were lost in incomprehension.
"Wait a minute, you mean that Yamato, Mr. Teen Girl pin-up himself, is gay?" Koushirou said after a minute or two.
"What?" was all Daisuke could get out, his face a bit flushed. "He can't be gay."
"He is," was all Tai said.
"How long has this been going on? I'd never had thought that," Koushirou asked, still trying to digest the information.
"He was dating him for almost three years, since shortly after we got back from the digital world the first time."
"That blows my mind," Koushirou exclaimed. "He kept it a secret for that long?"
"He never felt comfortable bringing it to anyone else's attention. I didn't know for almost a year. He finally told me about it when the two of them were having a few problems. I wanted to tell him that I had similar feelings but I couldn't do it."
"That must have been hard," Daisuke said in a solemn voice.
"It was. I listened to him for hours, trying to help him through it while all the while I wanted to scream out that I knew exactly what he was going through. I felt like I was lying to him in every word I said."
"Did you tell him the truth on the phone, Tai?" Koushirou said as he hugged him again, feeling the anguish Tai must have been going through.
"I did. It felt like a wave of release for me. I should have asked you first, Koushirou, but I figured that you'd be okay with it."
"I am."
"Good. Aside from you, he's my closest friend, so I figured that it would be fine." Koushirou smiled when Tai said that, happy that he was ahead of Yamato in line. Daisuke looked like he was deep in thought, staring off into the dark screen of the television.
"That must have been hard for him, Tai; having a boyfriend and still pretending to be interested in girls. All the fan girls must have made it difficult for him."
"It did, Kou-chan, it did. I asked him about all of that a while back and he told me he did it because it was easier to keep up appearances that way. He said that it did hurt him quite a bit but the hurt was easier than dealing with what everyone might say." Tai took a while to say all that, trying to find the right words to articulate the feelings. The whole while, Daisuke was looking into the television. This wasn't lost on the other two for long.
"Are you okay, Dai?" Koushirou asked, reaching a hand around Tai and tapping the younger boy on the shoulder.
"Huh?" was all he replied, turning back to them.
"I asked if you are alright. You've been studying the television for a while now."
"Oh, yeah. I was just thinking for a minute." He seemed sad when he said that, Koushirou noticed quickly.
"About what, Dai?"
"Ah, well." he stammered.
"What is it?" Koushirou asked again. Dai was about to shut the door on the conversation, but when he saw the look of concern on Koushirou's face, he couldn't. he felt compelled to speak.
"Well, I was thinking about how much what Yama did sounded like. me." Tai and Koushirou looked at him quizzically. "I'm gay too. I've been chasing after Kari for all this time so it would look like I was interested in girls. I was afraid to be labeled a 'fag' or something." Daisuke looked like he was about to cry, so hard was that to say. Soon enough, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Koushirou extricated himself from Tai's arms and slid across his lap, falling in the crevasse between the goggleheads. He wrapped an arm around Dai and held him while he let loose years of anguish. Tai ran his hand behind Koushirou and put it on Daisuke's shoulder, reinforcing the support. Finally he cried himself out. He looked up, smiling at the two of them.
"Thanks, you guys, I needed that. Go on and finish the story, Tai. I'd like to hear the end of it."
"Okay. He told me that his boyfriend had started being terrible to him recently, telling him he was worthless and things like that. He ended up dumping Yamato on their anniversary. Yamato said that after that he just fell apart. He went to school and practice, but aside from those two times, the rest was spent in his room. Once school let out last week, he'd only left the house once."
"How terrible," Koushirou said with concern.
"No kidding. What's his name, Tai, so I can go beat him?" Daisuke was nearly boiling now, something that caught the others off guard.
"Honestly I don't know, Daisuke. He never once told me."
"Easy, Daisuke, there's no need to go and beat the boy."
"Oh yes, yes there is." Dai's fists were balled and a vein on his forehead was pulsing.
"Why Daisuke? What's got you so pissed?" Koushirou asked. Tai had a thought and held it a moment.
"Because, because I love him." Tai smiled to himself.
Well, this is finally done. When I set out to write this, it was going to be a Daikari. Then it morphed to a Daiken. Back to Daikari. Then Yamasuke. It finally settled that way, with a little help from Yoshiki. I also had to add a bit of emotional abuse to get their relationship fit the song I have chosen for them. I'm usually not big on emo-angst, but Yamachan lends himself to mental anguish almost as well as TK.
In the next chapter you finally get the xmas party I've been promising for almost a month. Let's see, what goes on at the party??? All I'll say is that Iori gives Tai and Kouchan a special gift. And no, it's not anything like that, you perverts, though that would be interesting, wouldn't it??? ^_^
Oh, and of course the obligatory list of what you should be reading:
How to Pill a Daisuke, by Joey Rose
Anything by Black. He does need to write more of Perfect Hazzard, though.
Anything by YaegashiYoshiki, my partner in crime.
The three boys made their way back to Koushirou's house, trading jokes and discussing a myriad of topics on the way. The snow had begun to fall heavier now, seemingly in a constant sheet. Daisuke's and Koushirou's black toboggans were quickly whitened and Tai appeared to have horrible dandruff.
"Do you have any idea of how large a snow man we can make with all this snow?" Daisuke asked the others out of the blue.
"I'd assume it to be a rather large one," Koushirou told him.
"Large? Hah. It will be huge." Daisuke held his arms out as far as he could and grinned at the others.
"Dai, were you dropped as a child?" Tai asked him. Daisuke only looked at him puzzled and Tai shook his head, laughing. They closed the remaining ground between the store and the apartment in about five minutes.
"We're still making snow men, right? You two aren't gonna back out, right?" Dai asked the two boys.
"No, I'm still on for it, what about you, Koushirou?" The redhead just grinned and nodded in the affirmative.
"Let's go in and get some gloves first. I don't have any with me and I bet that neither of you two do either." Tai and Daisuke agreed that would be a brilliant plan. The made their way into the lobby, stomping the snow off their shoes and dusting their coats off. There was already a thick covering on the floor, so they weren't the first to arrive home in what was looking to turn into a heavy storm. Koushirou turned the key and opened the door.
"No, he left about an hour ago. Oh, wait, he just stepped in the door. Hang on. Koushirou, telephone." Mara handed her son the phone while the others took their coats off.
"Hello? Yeah, we went to the store to get a few things for tomorrow. . Yes, actually he is right here. . Are you okay, Yamato? . You don't sound very good. . I'll put him on. Here he is. Tai, Yamato's on the phone." Tai and Daisuke had been listening while Koushirou talked and they were both interested. Tai took the phone.
Koushirou and Daisuke listened a bit to Tai talk to Yamato. Tai started to look visibly upset after about five minutes. "Why don't we go on out and start the snowmen, Daisuke? Tai will join us after while." Tai's eyes said 'thank you' to Koushirou and he nodded. Koushirou steered Daisuke to a hall closet to get a few extra gloves out.
"Is Yamato alright?" Daisuke asked while they walking downstairs.
"I don't know. He didn't sound very well," Koushirou told him while they were in the elevator.
"I hope he's okay," Daisuke said softly as the doors opened. Koushirou tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it was transparent. Daisuke tried to fake a smile back but it was just as false.
The snowman was started but quickly their work degenerated into a snowball fight. Both boys were having a good time, Daisuke having temporarily forgotten his worries about Yamato. Koushirou grinned inwardly as he saw Daisuke laughing, figuring his plan worked.
Nearly an hour had passed and light was fading and still no sign of Tai. Koushirou was getting worried. The snowman was nearing completion when Tai finally stepped out of the building with three mugs of some steaming liquid.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, but Yama has had a really bad couple of weeks or so." Tai looked completely drained to Koushirou and even the usually dense Daisuke noticed it as well. "I really don't feel like making a snowman, I hope you're not upset." He handed two of the mugs to the boys and they took them. Daisuke spilled just a bit as his mittened hands almost lost control of the mug.
"It's okay, Tai. We're about done anyway. Plus, we're cold." Tai looked at Koushirou's and Daisuke's red noses and smiled slightly with his mouth but not his eyes.
"Is he okay, Tai?" Daisuke asked genuinely. His brown eyes were staring deep into Tai. Tai realized that he couldn't lie to Daisuke.
"Honestly, no. He's nowhere near okay right now. He's hurting in a bad way. Let's go in, huh?" Tai looked like he was about to cry to his boyfriend and Daisuke.
Tai didn't speak the entire way up. It seemed as if he had stepped into his own little world. Koushirou and Daisuke spent the elevator ride up studying the floor and giving each other worried looks. The doors opened and Koushirou and Daisuke moved to leave, Tai still looking off into nowhere. "Tai, we're here," Koushirou said softly. Tai snapped out of his trance and stepped out of the elevator.
As they entered the Izumi residence their noses detected the smell of a wonderful meal. Mara had obviously been cooking while Tai was on the phone and the others outside. Coats were hung up and gloves tossed on the floor by shoes. Mara came from the kitchen and yawned deeply. "Dinner is ready boys. It's sitting on the counter whenever you're ready. I've had a long day and I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm going to head off to bed."
"Okay Mum, we'll see you in the morning," Koushirou said as she walked back toward her room. As he thought about it, she hadn't seemed that tired a little while ago. Maybe it's Mum-tuition or something. Maybe she knows something is wrong and wants to let us talk about it.
"If you boys need anything, let me know," Mara called as she stepped into the bedroom. The door shut and Tai sat down slowly on the couch, seeming to fall into it rather than sit on it. Koushirou and Daisuke stood watching him, neither sure exactly what was bothering him so bad after his talk with Yamato.
"Tai, what is wrong?" Koushirou asked quietly.
"It's Yamato."
"Yeah, I figured that much out already. What is so bad?"
"Please Tai, tell us," Daisuke pleaded.
"I'm not sure that he'd want me to tell anyone else. I'm really surprised he even called me about it."
"Tai, whatever it is is obviously hurting you a lot. I can help you with whatever it is," Koushirou said as he sat down beside him.
"Me too, Tai. I want to help as well," Daisuke said and sat on the other side of Tai. This was a side of Daisuke that neither boy had really seen before; a caring side. Gone was all his usual swagger and bravado, in were a pair of caring eyes.
"I don't know if this is a good time to talk about it," he said to no one in particular. He glanced at Koushirou after he said it. Koushirou's eyes widened and he jumped to a conclusion.
"Is it about tomorrow, Tai?"
"Yes and no." Koushirou looked at Tai, as did Daisuke. Daisuke's reaction was one of utter confusion while Koushirou's was one of assumed understanding.
"Should we talk about it later, then?" Koushirou asked while Daisuke tried to put together what was going on.
"Will one of you please tell me what this is about? Why can't we talk about it now? Is it because I'm here?" Daisuke blurted out. He looked half hurt and half angry. "I'd surely like to know what's wrong with Yamato, but if I can't know now, I'll leave so you can tell Koushirou." Daisuke stood up and was just beginning to start toward his shoes when Tai spoke again.
"No, Dai, sit down. You have a right to know this as much as anyone else. You're as good a friend to Yamato as I am, maybe better. That's half of it. The other half is something you'll find out tomorrow anyway." Daisuke turned and slowly sat back on the couch.
"Thanks Tai," he said and crossed his legs Indian-style and turned to face the others.
"Can I tell him the second part, Koushirou? Is that okay with you?" Tai asked his boyfriend quietly.
"Well, I guess so. Like you said, he'll find out tomorrow anyway." Koushirou's face flushed just a little bit. He was ready for this, he just wasn't really ready for it tonight.
"Alright. I guess I'll start with the second part first." Daisuke was looking like he didn't care what Tai started with as long as he would just stop procrastinating and get on with it. Thermodynamic physics would have been fine.
"Here we go. Dai, have you ever thought of myself or Koushirou as different?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You're not any different than the rest of us."
"Well, you're right and you're wrong, Daisuke."
"Don't start the double talk again, just tell me what you're talking about."
"Okay. I'll just say it then. It might be easier that way." Tai looked at Koushirou and then back at Daisuke. Daisuke looked like he might throw a gear soon. "I'm gay, Dai." Silence filled the room for a good ten seconds.
"You're gay?" Dai asked, more than a bit surprised. "Well, I honestly don't know what to say. Do you, uh, have a boyfriend?" Stupid, stupid, stupid Daisuke. Of all the things I could have possibly asked him, I asked him that. Now he's likely mad or offended or something. Way to go.
"Actually, yes. I do have a boyfriend," Tai said after Dai had finished his mental harangue.
"Really?" Daisuke sounded as if he'd just heard the most amazing thing ever told to mortals. "Do I know him? Well, if you want to tell me that is. If you don't, I perfectly understand, because, well, some people-- -"
"Hush, Dai," Tai said, cutting off the torrent of words falling from Daisuke's mouth. "Actually, you do know him. Rather well, I would say." Daisuke didn't have a clue as what to say. (A/N: for once ^_^)
"Who?" he said in a small voice, eyes wide.
Koushirou slid in closer to Tai and slipped an arm around his shoulder. "Me!" He chirped, smiling broadly.
"No Way!!" Daisuke said, grinning even wider than Koushirou was.
"Yep. It's true," Koushirou told him, wrapping Tai up like a present in his arms.
"I still don't believe it," Dai said, grinning.
"Well, it's no lie," Tai said.
"How long?"
"What Kou-chan? Two months? Three?"
"I honestly don't know," Koushirou told them both.
"What? You don't even know when your anniversary is? Oh man."
"We'll figure it out later," Tai said. "Now, I guess it's time for the other half of the story tonight." Koushirou slid yet closer, glad to be able to do so in the open. Even around his parents it still seemed a bit odd.
"What I'm about to tell you is a condensed version of what Yamato told me during our nearly hour-long phone conversation. If it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you, sorry," Tai told them, looking saddened again.
"Go on, Tai," Koushirou said, squeezing him a bit tighter.
"Yeah, go on." Daisuke told him.
"Well, he called tonight, as you know. He was quite upset." Tai stopped for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts for the bomb he was about to drop. "It seems," he finally continued, "that his boyfriend dumped him a few weeks ago." The two faces to Tai's side both were lost in incomprehension.
"Wait a minute, you mean that Yamato, Mr. Teen Girl pin-up himself, is gay?" Koushirou said after a minute or two.
"What?" was all Daisuke could get out, his face a bit flushed. "He can't be gay."
"He is," was all Tai said.
"How long has this been going on? I'd never had thought that," Koushirou asked, still trying to digest the information.
"He was dating him for almost three years, since shortly after we got back from the digital world the first time."
"That blows my mind," Koushirou exclaimed. "He kept it a secret for that long?"
"He never felt comfortable bringing it to anyone else's attention. I didn't know for almost a year. He finally told me about it when the two of them were having a few problems. I wanted to tell him that I had similar feelings but I couldn't do it."
"That must have been hard," Daisuke said in a solemn voice.
"It was. I listened to him for hours, trying to help him through it while all the while I wanted to scream out that I knew exactly what he was going through. I felt like I was lying to him in every word I said."
"Did you tell him the truth on the phone, Tai?" Koushirou said as he hugged him again, feeling the anguish Tai must have been going through.
"I did. It felt like a wave of release for me. I should have asked you first, Koushirou, but I figured that you'd be okay with it."
"I am."
"Good. Aside from you, he's my closest friend, so I figured that it would be fine." Koushirou smiled when Tai said that, happy that he was ahead of Yamato in line. Daisuke looked like he was deep in thought, staring off into the dark screen of the television.
"That must have been hard for him, Tai; having a boyfriend and still pretending to be interested in girls. All the fan girls must have made it difficult for him."
"It did, Kou-chan, it did. I asked him about all of that a while back and he told me he did it because it was easier to keep up appearances that way. He said that it did hurt him quite a bit but the hurt was easier than dealing with what everyone might say." Tai took a while to say all that, trying to find the right words to articulate the feelings. The whole while, Daisuke was looking into the television. This wasn't lost on the other two for long.
"Are you okay, Dai?" Koushirou asked, reaching a hand around Tai and tapping the younger boy on the shoulder.
"Huh?" was all he replied, turning back to them.
"I asked if you are alright. You've been studying the television for a while now."
"Oh, yeah. I was just thinking for a minute." He seemed sad when he said that, Koushirou noticed quickly.
"About what, Dai?"
"Ah, well." he stammered.
"What is it?" Koushirou asked again. Dai was about to shut the door on the conversation, but when he saw the look of concern on Koushirou's face, he couldn't. he felt compelled to speak.
"Well, I was thinking about how much what Yama did sounded like. me." Tai and Koushirou looked at him quizzically. "I'm gay too. I've been chasing after Kari for all this time so it would look like I was interested in girls. I was afraid to be labeled a 'fag' or something." Daisuke looked like he was about to cry, so hard was that to say. Soon enough, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Koushirou extricated himself from Tai's arms and slid across his lap, falling in the crevasse between the goggleheads. He wrapped an arm around Dai and held him while he let loose years of anguish. Tai ran his hand behind Koushirou and put it on Daisuke's shoulder, reinforcing the support. Finally he cried himself out. He looked up, smiling at the two of them.
"Thanks, you guys, I needed that. Go on and finish the story, Tai. I'd like to hear the end of it."
"Okay. He told me that his boyfriend had started being terrible to him recently, telling him he was worthless and things like that. He ended up dumping Yamato on their anniversary. Yamato said that after that he just fell apart. He went to school and practice, but aside from those two times, the rest was spent in his room. Once school let out last week, he'd only left the house once."
"How terrible," Koushirou said with concern.
"No kidding. What's his name, Tai, so I can go beat him?" Daisuke was nearly boiling now, something that caught the others off guard.
"Honestly I don't know, Daisuke. He never once told me."
"Easy, Daisuke, there's no need to go and beat the boy."
"Oh yes, yes there is." Dai's fists were balled and a vein on his forehead was pulsing.
"Why Daisuke? What's got you so pissed?" Koushirou asked. Tai had a thought and held it a moment.
"Because, because I love him." Tai smiled to himself.
Well, this is finally done. When I set out to write this, it was going to be a Daikari. Then it morphed to a Daiken. Back to Daikari. Then Yamasuke. It finally settled that way, with a little help from Yoshiki. I also had to add a bit of emotional abuse to get their relationship fit the song I have chosen for them. I'm usually not big on emo-angst, but Yamachan lends himself to mental anguish almost as well as TK.
In the next chapter you finally get the xmas party I've been promising for almost a month. Let's see, what goes on at the party??? All I'll say is that Iori gives Tai and Kouchan a special gift. And no, it's not anything like that, you perverts, though that would be interesting, wouldn't it??? ^_^
Oh, and of course the obligatory list of what you should be reading:
How to Pill a Daisuke, by Joey Rose
Anything by Black. He does need to write more of Perfect Hazzard, though.
Anything by YaegashiYoshiki, my partner in crime.