This is chapter 30 now. I can't really believe that. This story was
originally going to be a three or four chapter short about how Koushirou
was mad at the way he had been mistreated and used in the past years. From
that, it digivolved into this Mega level behemoth. Originally it was a
song fic to Adema's 'The Way You Like It' but it became a love story type
thing. Go figure. Well, here we go with the Christmas party. Good times.
"You love Yamato?" Koushirou asked, a bit dumbstruck.
"Yes. I've fallen for him hard, Koushirou. I don't really know when it happened, but it did. I fell like I never thought I would." Daisuke looked Koushirou in the eyes and blushed deeply. "He's been in my head for what seems like forever now."
"You know, tomorrow might be a good time to tell him, Dai," Koushirou said and mussed his hair up as well as he could.
"I.I don't know if I can."
"Come on, Daisuke, you just told us, so why not Yamato?" Tai asked, still grinning a little.
"Well, it's a bit different, you know? You two aren't the ones I have the huge crush on. Yamato is. See the problem?"
"I do. Maybe we could be of assistance?" Koushirou asked.
"How exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"I'm sure we can think of something, right Tai?" Koushirou asked his koi, who nodded in reply.
"I don't know." Dai stammered.
"We'll make it work, the three of us." The three of them talked quietly for another hour or so before retiring for bed. Three sleeping bags were unrolled on the floor and they went to sleep, Koushirou already having a plan in mind.
Dai awoke to the sound of Tai's snoring. He sat up and saw Koushirou squinting his eyes and attempting to drown out the chainsaw-like sound. I wonder how many times he's woken up to that? Dai blushed just a little at the thought and got up to use the bathroom. On his way back, he had another thought that made him blush even more. I wonder if Yama-chan snores that way as well? He made his way back to his sleeping bag, determined to try to get a little more sleep since the sun hadn't yet peaked in the window. Koushirou looked over at him as he was crawling back in.
"I hope Tai didn't wake you, Dai-chan."
"Oh no, I always get up this early when I'm not in school," Dai told him a bit sarcastically. Koushirou grinned at him.
"I don't think I'll need an alarm clock ever again," Koushirou told him, grinning.
"I can't ever see why.." Dai told him as he pulled the covers back over his face and turned away. Soon, Dai's snores were giving Tai's competition. Koushirou saw his chances of sleeping any longer as slim as the Chicago Bears winning a football game [[A/N: ^_^ I hate the Bears.]] He rose and rolled his bag up and took it into his room and tossed it in the closet. He made himself a bit of breakfast, deciding against making any for the other boys since who knew when they'd get up. He at his Cocoa Crispies at the table and was almost finished when his mum came in, popping two pieces of bread in the toaster.
"You boys get everything worked out last night, Kou-chan?" Mara asked while she waited.
"I think so. Now we just have to wait and see what happens tonight."
"Good. I won't pry into it, but good luck with whatever is going to happen tonight."
"I think everything will work out fine," Koushirou told her. I hope
"Alright, I've got to finish getting ready now," Mara told him as she swiped the toast from the machine the second it popped out.
Koushirou finished his cereal and washed the dish. A few minutes later, he grabbed a quick shower and was in his room. Now, where is that CD at? Koushirou started going through his stacks of discs. Finally he found what he was looking for and pulled it from the stacks. Perfect. Song one. He put that CD to the side and began searching for two others that would be played at the party tonight. He put the three discs in the carousel and programmed the songs to play. He had listened through most of the first song when Daisuke came into the room, almost immediately followed by him mum. Koushirou paused the CD player while his mum was in the room.
"Good morning again, Daisuke, Mum." he said and sat on his bed and was joined by Daisuke.
"I'm leaving for a few hours, Koushirou. If I don't see you before you head out, have fun tonight and don't do anything too silly."
"We won't, Mum. Honest." Mara smiled at the two boys and left in a whirl of red hair.
"What were you listening to, Koushirou?"
"A few songs that we'll play tonight. This one," Koushirou said as he flipped the CD player back on, "is what Tai and I will dance to tonight." a minute passed and the next song popped on. "This is the song that TK and Iori want to dance to." They listened and Daisuke agreed that it was a perfect song. "And this song," Koushirou said as it started, "is what I think you and Yamato should dance to."
The song played and when it was over, Daisuke had a bit of wetness in his eyes.
"That's perfect, Kou-chan, perfect. Now, the only question is will he go for it?"
"Like we said last night, I think there's a good chance that he has some sort of feelings for you."
"Yeah, but do---"
"Hang on, let me finish. I know you're not sure about all this, but who was the one person that he has talked to aside from Tai after the breakup?"
"Me," Daisuke said, looking at his feet.
"Right. You."
"That might not mean anything, you know," Dai told him.
"No, I don't know for certain, but I just *know*, if you can believe me."
"I hope you're right.."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Over at TK's, the Previous Night~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TK and Iori settled on the couch and snuggled up against each other. TK pushed the play button on the remote and the Pulp Fiction DVD started. Iori was busy trying to make sense of the early part of the movie, still laughing at the crazy conversation between Vincent and Jules as the pair of gangster hitmen made their way up to the scheduled hit.[[A/N: if you've never seen Pulp Fiction, you must must must go rent it now. It is so worth seeing. A bit bloody, but overall funny as hell]]
"I just shot Marvin in the face!" John Travolta exclaimed, causing Iori and TK to erupt in laughter as red engulfed the car the gangsters were driving in.
"You did what?" Jules replied, completely serious and seemingly oblivious to the red mess now covering the inside of the car.
"It was an accident. You must have hit a bump or something. The gun just went off!" At this point, both boys were in stitches, barely able to catch their breath due to laughing. After TK skipped ahead through several boring scenes, most involving Bruce Willis, they finished the movie.
"TK? Why was that movie produced out of order?" Iori asked his koi after the DVD was replaced in its box.
"I wish I had an answer for that, Iori. I honestly don't know. I guess to add to the flavor."
The two boys spent the rest of the evening watching horrible black and white movies on television, cuddling closer than should be allowed by law. They finally turned off the idiot box and set music on softly, falling asleep in each other's arms to Shania Twain's soft voice while she sang 'It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Party Time ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dai is sitting nervously on the couch across from TK and Iori. He's been fidgeting almost since they'd arrived an hour ago and didn't show any signs of stopping soon. Oh man, I don't know if I can do this. I know that Koushirou and Tai think I can, but I don't know. It's not like this is easy for me or anything. I almost hope that for whatever reason Yamato doesn't come. I really want him to, but I don't know if I can go through with it. Daisuke glanced over at Koushirou and Tai and they gave him looks of reassurance.
The doorbell rang almost immediately after and it looked like all the color had simultaneously left Dai's face. His eyes were as big as pie plates as he looked back at them.
"Go on, get the door, Daisuke," Koushirou mouthed to him and motioned to the door.
"Right. I'll get the door," he said a bit louder than he meant to, causing the other destined children to look over at him. Sora and Mimi were over chatting at the drink counter with Ken and Kari and all four of them gave him looks that read "if it were anyone else aside from Daisuke who just said that, something might be wrong." They turned back to their little conversation and Dai continued to the door. He paused to collect himself before he opened it. Oh please, be the pizza guy, be the pizza guy..
Once Dai remembered he had to pull instead of push, the door swung open, revealing Yamato standing there with a bag of goodies for the party. Dai looked at Yamato for a good ten seconds, unmoving and not speaking, simply staring.
"Hello, Daisuke, may I come in?" Yamato asked finally, grinning just a bit.
"Oh..Uh, yeah, sure. Why don't you come on in," Daisuke finally sputtered out. "May I take you coat?" he asked Yamato after he got a quick glimpse of support from Tai.
"I guess so." Yamato let Dai help him take it off and set it on the hook not two feet from the doorway.
Koushirou and Tai are sitting on a couch, not more than ten feet from where Yamato and Daisuke sit down. "Tai, why do you keep grinning like that?" Koushirou asked quietly.
"What? Am I that obvious?"
"Yes. Every time one of them moves a muscle, you grin. You look like someone who knows a secret."
"Well, Kou-chan, let's just say that this might be a very spectacular night for the both of them."
"Huh? Spectacular how? You haven't told me everything have you, Tai- kun?"
"Not really. All I will say right now is that my whole conversation with Yamato last night wasn't sad. Just a good part of it."
"So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Daisuke's name popped up in the conversation somewhere, didn't it?"
"You're very perceptive, Kou-chan."
"So, I'm betting that you mentioned the crush, huh?"
"Yep."
"Wait a second," Koushirou said after a few seconds silence, "how could you have mentioned that to him already if you didn't know it until after the phone conversation?"
"Who says I didn't know already?" Tai said, not quite showing his cards yet.
"He only told us late last night, this morning almost."
"You're not the only perceptive one sitting on this couch, Kou-chan." Tai grinned goofily at his koi.
"So you knew already? How?"
"Think about it. He's spent more time around Yamato than anyone else, even Yamato's own brother. Whenever he's around Yama-chan, Dai's eyes get all big like I feel mine do when I'm with you. He all but has a brightly shining neon sign that says 'I love Yamato Ishida' hanging just above his goggles."
"So how long have you known?"
"I've only known 'officially' for less than a day, but I've had a really strong hunch for about two years now. Just look at the two of them, sitting over there side by side. See how Daisuke is seeming to almost glow? And Yamato is smiling, albeit a small smile, he's smiling."
"He does seem to be glowing, doesn't he?"
"Like neon." They settled in to watch the two.
"So, Yamato, what's been going on?" Oh, nice way to start things off, Dai. Make him think about 'him'. Great job.
"Well, not great recently, Daisuke. I've hit a rough patch in life."
"That's too bad, Yamato. Anyway I can help?"
"Not unless, well, never mind. No, not really."
"Please, Yama, let me know. I'll do whatever I can. Tell me his name and I'll break all 206 bones in his body, Yamato. Just give the word.
"You really want to hear this? You're sure?"
"Yes, I really do. I don't like seeing you hurt this way."
"Alright, let's get a beverage and go outside."
Dai's heart leapt into his throat. "Okay, what do you want? I'll get it."
"A coke is fine." Daisuke jumped off the couch and quickly returned with two cups, one of which he handed to Yamato. Yamato stood and they gathered their coats, crossing the living room and stepping outside onto the patio.
"Last chance, Dai. This is going to be kind of odd," Yamato said as he leaned up against the railing. In answer, all Dai did was lean up beside him on the railing.
"All right, here we go then. I was dating someone for quite a long time and we recently broke up. It was incredibly hard for me. I never thought it would happen, I thought we'd be together forever. Well, it seems I was dead wrong. Like I said, we broke up. I then spent most of the month either in my room or at school. Once school let out I never left my room. I almost didn't even come tonight, but Tai convinced me that it might be good for me." Dai watched as Yamato looked out off the patio at the snow covered trees five stories below. Yamato's eyes slowly filled with water and he brushed back a tear, obviously reliving the not too distant past.
"What was his name, Yamato?" Daisuke asked, his speech slow and obviously anger-inflected. His own eyes widened when he realized what he had said. Oh Shit!!! I didn't mean to say that!
Yamato turned to him and looked at him closely. It seemed that someone had left the faucets on somewhere behind Yamato's eyes because they were now overflowing. "How? How do you know?"
Daisuke was mortified. "Um, I, uh..well I badgered Tai last night until he told me what your problem was. I wouldn't take no for an answer, I guess. I'm sorry if I know something that you didn't want me to know, Yama-kun. If you told me to forget it and I could, I would do it for you in a second." That's not all I'd do for you, Yama-kun.
"I'm not really mad at you at all, Daisuke, just a bit surprised. I didn't think that Tai would tell you that."
"You're not mad at him now, are you? I don't think you should be because like I said, it's my fault. I really wanted to know." He looked at Yamato for a few seconds as silence took over. "What if I told you a secret of my own? That way we could be even, in a way?" That's pretty sneaky, Dai, good job.
"That's really not necessary, Dai-chan, really."
"No, it is. It's not fair I know something about you and you don't know something about me."
"Sure I do, I know lots about you, Dai," Yamato told him, thinking back over all the times they'd spent together. "Your favorite pizza is a stuffed crust sausage with pineapple. [[A/N: YUUMMMYY!]] You wear a size eight shoe. You love watching old episodes of MASH. Your favorite music group is Pearl Jam. See, I do think I know a bit about you."
"You know a few superficial things, Yama-chan. I'll tell you something deeper. Ready?"
"Daisuke, you don't have to do this, honestly."
"Who do I like, Yama?"
"Um, Kari, right?" Yamato said after a second's hesitation.
"No!" Daisuke almost yelled. He looked at Yama's surprise and smiled a bit. "See, you don't know everything, do you?"
"Obviously not it seems. Who is it then? Miyako? Sora?"
"No, not even close."
"Who then?" Dai's previously mirthful face fell.
"You," he said as softly as a mouse and looked up at Yamato to judge his reaction.
Back inside, the four boys were sitting on the couch. TK and Iori had sat down almost as soon as the other two boys went outside.
"What are you two watching?" Iori asked, following their gaze to the patio. "Why are you two staring at Dai-kun and Yama-kun?"
"Waiting for lightning to strike," Tai said and was quiet again. TK and Iori exchanged looks of confusion.
"What are you talking about?" TK asked and was answered by a waving hand, telling him to shut up and pay attention. TK was about to protest when he gave up and looked out at the two boys instead. What he saw gave him a warm fuzzy feeling usually only given by Iori's snuggling.
Back on the patio, Daisuke was looking intently into Yamato's face, almost expecting the axe to fall.
"You like me?" Was all Yamato could say.
"Yes, but that really isn't 100% true."
"Explain, please?" Yama asked him, his face roiling with many emotions.
"I really love you, not like you, Yama-kun," Daisuke told him, looking as if he was ready to cry for a change. He leaned his head on his hands on the railing and looked down instead of into Yama's face, trying to avoid the seemingly obvious fate.
Instead of speaking, which he found impossible to do anyway, Yamato leaned over and wrapped his arms around Daisuke and hugged him, much to the joy of both Daisuke and the crowd inside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inside ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, should I read into this and decide that those two are together now as well?" TK said to the other boys.
"I think so," Tai said, putting a hand on Koushirou's knee.
"Is this an out-of-the-blue thing or is there more story that I don't know?" Iori asked.
"There's more to it that we'll fill you in on later," Koushirou said, looking at Tai, "and that you'll tell me as well." Tai grinned.
"Why do you think that all six of us have turned out this way?" Iori asked after a minute, breaking the silence.
"I don't know, Iori. Maybe the digital world has had some odd effect on us."
"Well, then what do you think about Ken and Jyou?" Iori asked Koushirou.
"I don't know. Or, this just occurred to me..What if we were chosen to become DigiDestined because we were already predisposed to be gay?"
"Well, again, that leads to the question of Ken, Jyou, and the girls for that matter."
"How about we leave all that to the side for right now you guys, and enjoy today, and the show outside?" TK said.
"I think that is a prodigious idea," Tai said, stealing his boyfriend's word and drawing a grin and a tickling hand from the redhead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back Outside ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, I take it you aren't upset with me after all, huh, Yama-kun?"
"Not in the least, Daisuke. Not in the least."
"Good. I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way about me. I was sort of hoping that you almost wouldn't show up because I didn't know if I could go through with this or not.." Daisuke continued to rattle on for a full minute about his feelings of fear before Yamato put a hand to Dai's lips to quiet him.
"I'm glad I came and I'm glad you told me." Dai was about to speak but was pre-empted by a knocking on the glass door. The two of them turned in a hurry and saw Taichi holding a stack of pizza boxes and doing some sort of odd little dance with Koushirou laughing behind him. They left their moment behind and walked inside, grinning, partially at Tai's dance and partially in happiness.
"Food's here boys. We get to pick first so we are guaranteed at least one piece," Sora said in reference to the boys' gluttonous ways. Mimi, Kari, and Miyako nodded in agreement.
"Fine. Just don't take all day looking for the perfect piece or anything," TK told them as they got out the plates. Tai wasn't in the mood to wait so he opened a box up early and promptly got his hand swatted by Sora.
"Ladies first, Taichi," she said, grinning, and took the largest piece. Tai grimaced at her and crossed his arms.
Okay, so I lied. There will be one more part to the Christmas party. I've waited too long to get this part of it up. I've been extremely busy with finals upcoming and working all the damn time. After I write it, I'm going to shelf ARW for a little while so I can get all the other ideas out of my head (also because I need to think of how to continue this beast. If you have any ideas, drop me an email or a review, either one works fine. I'm considering having Daisuke find out who Yama's ex-boyfriend is, but I'm not sure about that yet.) In chapter 31, stand by for the big moment, a lot of mushy stuff, accompanied by major fluff.
"You love Yamato?" Koushirou asked, a bit dumbstruck.
"Yes. I've fallen for him hard, Koushirou. I don't really know when it happened, but it did. I fell like I never thought I would." Daisuke looked Koushirou in the eyes and blushed deeply. "He's been in my head for what seems like forever now."
"You know, tomorrow might be a good time to tell him, Dai," Koushirou said and mussed his hair up as well as he could.
"I.I don't know if I can."
"Come on, Daisuke, you just told us, so why not Yamato?" Tai asked, still grinning a little.
"Well, it's a bit different, you know? You two aren't the ones I have the huge crush on. Yamato is. See the problem?"
"I do. Maybe we could be of assistance?" Koushirou asked.
"How exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"I'm sure we can think of something, right Tai?" Koushirou asked his koi, who nodded in reply.
"I don't know." Dai stammered.
"We'll make it work, the three of us." The three of them talked quietly for another hour or so before retiring for bed. Three sleeping bags were unrolled on the floor and they went to sleep, Koushirou already having a plan in mind.
Dai awoke to the sound of Tai's snoring. He sat up and saw Koushirou squinting his eyes and attempting to drown out the chainsaw-like sound. I wonder how many times he's woken up to that? Dai blushed just a little at the thought and got up to use the bathroom. On his way back, he had another thought that made him blush even more. I wonder if Yama-chan snores that way as well? He made his way back to his sleeping bag, determined to try to get a little more sleep since the sun hadn't yet peaked in the window. Koushirou looked over at him as he was crawling back in.
"I hope Tai didn't wake you, Dai-chan."
"Oh no, I always get up this early when I'm not in school," Dai told him a bit sarcastically. Koushirou grinned at him.
"I don't think I'll need an alarm clock ever again," Koushirou told him, grinning.
"I can't ever see why.." Dai told him as he pulled the covers back over his face and turned away. Soon, Dai's snores were giving Tai's competition. Koushirou saw his chances of sleeping any longer as slim as the Chicago Bears winning a football game [[A/N: ^_^ I hate the Bears.]] He rose and rolled his bag up and took it into his room and tossed it in the closet. He made himself a bit of breakfast, deciding against making any for the other boys since who knew when they'd get up. He at his Cocoa Crispies at the table and was almost finished when his mum came in, popping two pieces of bread in the toaster.
"You boys get everything worked out last night, Kou-chan?" Mara asked while she waited.
"I think so. Now we just have to wait and see what happens tonight."
"Good. I won't pry into it, but good luck with whatever is going to happen tonight."
"I think everything will work out fine," Koushirou told her. I hope
"Alright, I've got to finish getting ready now," Mara told him as she swiped the toast from the machine the second it popped out.
Koushirou finished his cereal and washed the dish. A few minutes later, he grabbed a quick shower and was in his room. Now, where is that CD at? Koushirou started going through his stacks of discs. Finally he found what he was looking for and pulled it from the stacks. Perfect. Song one. He put that CD to the side and began searching for two others that would be played at the party tonight. He put the three discs in the carousel and programmed the songs to play. He had listened through most of the first song when Daisuke came into the room, almost immediately followed by him mum. Koushirou paused the CD player while his mum was in the room.
"Good morning again, Daisuke, Mum." he said and sat on his bed and was joined by Daisuke.
"I'm leaving for a few hours, Koushirou. If I don't see you before you head out, have fun tonight and don't do anything too silly."
"We won't, Mum. Honest." Mara smiled at the two boys and left in a whirl of red hair.
"What were you listening to, Koushirou?"
"A few songs that we'll play tonight. This one," Koushirou said as he flipped the CD player back on, "is what Tai and I will dance to tonight." a minute passed and the next song popped on. "This is the song that TK and Iori want to dance to." They listened and Daisuke agreed that it was a perfect song. "And this song," Koushirou said as it started, "is what I think you and Yamato should dance to."
The song played and when it was over, Daisuke had a bit of wetness in his eyes.
"That's perfect, Kou-chan, perfect. Now, the only question is will he go for it?"
"Like we said last night, I think there's a good chance that he has some sort of feelings for you."
"Yeah, but do---"
"Hang on, let me finish. I know you're not sure about all this, but who was the one person that he has talked to aside from Tai after the breakup?"
"Me," Daisuke said, looking at his feet.
"Right. You."
"That might not mean anything, you know," Dai told him.
"No, I don't know for certain, but I just *know*, if you can believe me."
"I hope you're right.."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Over at TK's, the Previous Night~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TK and Iori settled on the couch and snuggled up against each other. TK pushed the play button on the remote and the Pulp Fiction DVD started. Iori was busy trying to make sense of the early part of the movie, still laughing at the crazy conversation between Vincent and Jules as the pair of gangster hitmen made their way up to the scheduled hit.[[A/N: if you've never seen Pulp Fiction, you must must must go rent it now. It is so worth seeing. A bit bloody, but overall funny as hell]]
"I just shot Marvin in the face!" John Travolta exclaimed, causing Iori and TK to erupt in laughter as red engulfed the car the gangsters were driving in.
"You did what?" Jules replied, completely serious and seemingly oblivious to the red mess now covering the inside of the car.
"It was an accident. You must have hit a bump or something. The gun just went off!" At this point, both boys were in stitches, barely able to catch their breath due to laughing. After TK skipped ahead through several boring scenes, most involving Bruce Willis, they finished the movie.
"TK? Why was that movie produced out of order?" Iori asked his koi after the DVD was replaced in its box.
"I wish I had an answer for that, Iori. I honestly don't know. I guess to add to the flavor."
The two boys spent the rest of the evening watching horrible black and white movies on television, cuddling closer than should be allowed by law. They finally turned off the idiot box and set music on softly, falling asleep in each other's arms to Shania Twain's soft voice while she sang 'It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Party Time ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dai is sitting nervously on the couch across from TK and Iori. He's been fidgeting almost since they'd arrived an hour ago and didn't show any signs of stopping soon. Oh man, I don't know if I can do this. I know that Koushirou and Tai think I can, but I don't know. It's not like this is easy for me or anything. I almost hope that for whatever reason Yamato doesn't come. I really want him to, but I don't know if I can go through with it. Daisuke glanced over at Koushirou and Tai and they gave him looks of reassurance.
The doorbell rang almost immediately after and it looked like all the color had simultaneously left Dai's face. His eyes were as big as pie plates as he looked back at them.
"Go on, get the door, Daisuke," Koushirou mouthed to him and motioned to the door.
"Right. I'll get the door," he said a bit louder than he meant to, causing the other destined children to look over at him. Sora and Mimi were over chatting at the drink counter with Ken and Kari and all four of them gave him looks that read "if it were anyone else aside from Daisuke who just said that, something might be wrong." They turned back to their little conversation and Dai continued to the door. He paused to collect himself before he opened it. Oh please, be the pizza guy, be the pizza guy..
Once Dai remembered he had to pull instead of push, the door swung open, revealing Yamato standing there with a bag of goodies for the party. Dai looked at Yamato for a good ten seconds, unmoving and not speaking, simply staring.
"Hello, Daisuke, may I come in?" Yamato asked finally, grinning just a bit.
"Oh..Uh, yeah, sure. Why don't you come on in," Daisuke finally sputtered out. "May I take you coat?" he asked Yamato after he got a quick glimpse of support from Tai.
"I guess so." Yamato let Dai help him take it off and set it on the hook not two feet from the doorway.
Koushirou and Tai are sitting on a couch, not more than ten feet from where Yamato and Daisuke sit down. "Tai, why do you keep grinning like that?" Koushirou asked quietly.
"What? Am I that obvious?"
"Yes. Every time one of them moves a muscle, you grin. You look like someone who knows a secret."
"Well, Kou-chan, let's just say that this might be a very spectacular night for the both of them."
"Huh? Spectacular how? You haven't told me everything have you, Tai- kun?"
"Not really. All I will say right now is that my whole conversation with Yamato last night wasn't sad. Just a good part of it."
"So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Daisuke's name popped up in the conversation somewhere, didn't it?"
"You're very perceptive, Kou-chan."
"So, I'm betting that you mentioned the crush, huh?"
"Yep."
"Wait a second," Koushirou said after a few seconds silence, "how could you have mentioned that to him already if you didn't know it until after the phone conversation?"
"Who says I didn't know already?" Tai said, not quite showing his cards yet.
"He only told us late last night, this morning almost."
"You're not the only perceptive one sitting on this couch, Kou-chan." Tai grinned goofily at his koi.
"So you knew already? How?"
"Think about it. He's spent more time around Yamato than anyone else, even Yamato's own brother. Whenever he's around Yama-chan, Dai's eyes get all big like I feel mine do when I'm with you. He all but has a brightly shining neon sign that says 'I love Yamato Ishida' hanging just above his goggles."
"So how long have you known?"
"I've only known 'officially' for less than a day, but I've had a really strong hunch for about two years now. Just look at the two of them, sitting over there side by side. See how Daisuke is seeming to almost glow? And Yamato is smiling, albeit a small smile, he's smiling."
"He does seem to be glowing, doesn't he?"
"Like neon." They settled in to watch the two.
"So, Yamato, what's been going on?" Oh, nice way to start things off, Dai. Make him think about 'him'. Great job.
"Well, not great recently, Daisuke. I've hit a rough patch in life."
"That's too bad, Yamato. Anyway I can help?"
"Not unless, well, never mind. No, not really."
"Please, Yama, let me know. I'll do whatever I can. Tell me his name and I'll break all 206 bones in his body, Yamato. Just give the word.
"You really want to hear this? You're sure?"
"Yes, I really do. I don't like seeing you hurt this way."
"Alright, let's get a beverage and go outside."
Dai's heart leapt into his throat. "Okay, what do you want? I'll get it."
"A coke is fine." Daisuke jumped off the couch and quickly returned with two cups, one of which he handed to Yamato. Yamato stood and they gathered their coats, crossing the living room and stepping outside onto the patio.
"Last chance, Dai. This is going to be kind of odd," Yamato said as he leaned up against the railing. In answer, all Dai did was lean up beside him on the railing.
"All right, here we go then. I was dating someone for quite a long time and we recently broke up. It was incredibly hard for me. I never thought it would happen, I thought we'd be together forever. Well, it seems I was dead wrong. Like I said, we broke up. I then spent most of the month either in my room or at school. Once school let out I never left my room. I almost didn't even come tonight, but Tai convinced me that it might be good for me." Dai watched as Yamato looked out off the patio at the snow covered trees five stories below. Yamato's eyes slowly filled with water and he brushed back a tear, obviously reliving the not too distant past.
"What was his name, Yamato?" Daisuke asked, his speech slow and obviously anger-inflected. His own eyes widened when he realized what he had said. Oh Shit!!! I didn't mean to say that!
Yamato turned to him and looked at him closely. It seemed that someone had left the faucets on somewhere behind Yamato's eyes because they were now overflowing. "How? How do you know?"
Daisuke was mortified. "Um, I, uh..well I badgered Tai last night until he told me what your problem was. I wouldn't take no for an answer, I guess. I'm sorry if I know something that you didn't want me to know, Yama-kun. If you told me to forget it and I could, I would do it for you in a second." That's not all I'd do for you, Yama-kun.
"I'm not really mad at you at all, Daisuke, just a bit surprised. I didn't think that Tai would tell you that."
"You're not mad at him now, are you? I don't think you should be because like I said, it's my fault. I really wanted to know." He looked at Yamato for a few seconds as silence took over. "What if I told you a secret of my own? That way we could be even, in a way?" That's pretty sneaky, Dai, good job.
"That's really not necessary, Dai-chan, really."
"No, it is. It's not fair I know something about you and you don't know something about me."
"Sure I do, I know lots about you, Dai," Yamato told him, thinking back over all the times they'd spent together. "Your favorite pizza is a stuffed crust sausage with pineapple. [[A/N: YUUMMMYY!]] You wear a size eight shoe. You love watching old episodes of MASH. Your favorite music group is Pearl Jam. See, I do think I know a bit about you."
"You know a few superficial things, Yama-chan. I'll tell you something deeper. Ready?"
"Daisuke, you don't have to do this, honestly."
"Who do I like, Yama?"
"Um, Kari, right?" Yamato said after a second's hesitation.
"No!" Daisuke almost yelled. He looked at Yama's surprise and smiled a bit. "See, you don't know everything, do you?"
"Obviously not it seems. Who is it then? Miyako? Sora?"
"No, not even close."
"Who then?" Dai's previously mirthful face fell.
"You," he said as softly as a mouse and looked up at Yamato to judge his reaction.
Back inside, the four boys were sitting on the couch. TK and Iori had sat down almost as soon as the other two boys went outside.
"What are you two watching?" Iori asked, following their gaze to the patio. "Why are you two staring at Dai-kun and Yama-kun?"
"Waiting for lightning to strike," Tai said and was quiet again. TK and Iori exchanged looks of confusion.
"What are you talking about?" TK asked and was answered by a waving hand, telling him to shut up and pay attention. TK was about to protest when he gave up and looked out at the two boys instead. What he saw gave him a warm fuzzy feeling usually only given by Iori's snuggling.
Back on the patio, Daisuke was looking intently into Yamato's face, almost expecting the axe to fall.
"You like me?" Was all Yamato could say.
"Yes, but that really isn't 100% true."
"Explain, please?" Yama asked him, his face roiling with many emotions.
"I really love you, not like you, Yama-kun," Daisuke told him, looking as if he was ready to cry for a change. He leaned his head on his hands on the railing and looked down instead of into Yama's face, trying to avoid the seemingly obvious fate.
Instead of speaking, which he found impossible to do anyway, Yamato leaned over and wrapped his arms around Daisuke and hugged him, much to the joy of both Daisuke and the crowd inside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Inside ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, should I read into this and decide that those two are together now as well?" TK said to the other boys.
"I think so," Tai said, putting a hand on Koushirou's knee.
"Is this an out-of-the-blue thing or is there more story that I don't know?" Iori asked.
"There's more to it that we'll fill you in on later," Koushirou said, looking at Tai, "and that you'll tell me as well." Tai grinned.
"Why do you think that all six of us have turned out this way?" Iori asked after a minute, breaking the silence.
"I don't know, Iori. Maybe the digital world has had some odd effect on us."
"Well, then what do you think about Ken and Jyou?" Iori asked Koushirou.
"I don't know. Or, this just occurred to me..What if we were chosen to become DigiDestined because we were already predisposed to be gay?"
"Well, again, that leads to the question of Ken, Jyou, and the girls for that matter."
"How about we leave all that to the side for right now you guys, and enjoy today, and the show outside?" TK said.
"I think that is a prodigious idea," Tai said, stealing his boyfriend's word and drawing a grin and a tickling hand from the redhead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back Outside ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, I take it you aren't upset with me after all, huh, Yama-kun?"
"Not in the least, Daisuke. Not in the least."
"Good. I was afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way about me. I was sort of hoping that you almost wouldn't show up because I didn't know if I could go through with this or not.." Daisuke continued to rattle on for a full minute about his feelings of fear before Yamato put a hand to Dai's lips to quiet him.
"I'm glad I came and I'm glad you told me." Dai was about to speak but was pre-empted by a knocking on the glass door. The two of them turned in a hurry and saw Taichi holding a stack of pizza boxes and doing some sort of odd little dance with Koushirou laughing behind him. They left their moment behind and walked inside, grinning, partially at Tai's dance and partially in happiness.
"Food's here boys. We get to pick first so we are guaranteed at least one piece," Sora said in reference to the boys' gluttonous ways. Mimi, Kari, and Miyako nodded in agreement.
"Fine. Just don't take all day looking for the perfect piece or anything," TK told them as they got out the plates. Tai wasn't in the mood to wait so he opened a box up early and promptly got his hand swatted by Sora.
"Ladies first, Taichi," she said, grinning, and took the largest piece. Tai grimaced at her and crossed his arms.
Okay, so I lied. There will be one more part to the Christmas party. I've waited too long to get this part of it up. I've been extremely busy with finals upcoming and working all the damn time. After I write it, I'm going to shelf ARW for a little while so I can get all the other ideas out of my head (also because I need to think of how to continue this beast. If you have any ideas, drop me an email or a review, either one works fine. I'm considering having Daisuke find out who Yama's ex-boyfriend is, but I'm not sure about that yet.) In chapter 31, stand by for the big moment, a lot of mushy stuff, accompanied by major fluff.