Title: Under The Gloves
Ship: Taichi x Yamato
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 1,419
Genre: Romance||Rated: G
Prompts: Taichi x Yamato Week 2022, day #2, soulmates
Notes: In season one, vaguely between Devimon and Etemon
Summary: A single touch can make soulmates aware of one another. So skin to skin touch isn't a thing done often. But when you have Yagami Taichi prodding you, things can just push you a bit far.
Gloves weren't just a fashion statement. Not only could they keep one's hands warm and dry in bad weather, but they prevented unwanted skin contact - and in a world where touching someone could reveal if said person was or wasn't one's soulmate, not everyone wanted skin contact with just anyone. With family members it was fine - with extremely rare exceptions that very few spoke about - but when it came to other people, well, Yamato found himself very glad of his gloves on a regular basis.
Not that he was one to touch people very much even if that hadn't been an issue. He avoided people whenever he could; he usually had too much to do to worry about people anyway.
I don't want a soulmate anyway, he told himself on a regular basis. What would he even do with one? It was all he could do to keep himself and his dad taken care of. Plus, his parents hadn't been soulmates and they'd - managed, for a while, at least. Neither of them seemed interested in finding anyone else, so if they even had soulmates, they didn't know about it.
So he decided as young as possible that he didn't want to bother with a soulmate. He hadn't even decided if he wanted to date at all. What would it do for him? There wasn't anyone who even interested him. Most people had a tendency to annoy him more than they didn't.
Which was one reason when he found himself in an entirely different world with a strange creature all but attached to him and a bunch of other kids, including his brother, Yamato wanted to facepalm until he broke something. Exactly what, he wasn't sure. Just something.
At least no one seemed eager to grab onto anyone else where skin could touch. Not that touch didn't happen - especially when it came to Taichi. The two of them ended up exchanging blows as much as they did words and sharing bits of dinner - Taichi would and did eat pretty much everything, and Yamato wondered about his taste buds and what he'd done to them.
But at least Taichi listened when Yamato did his best to teach him the basics of cooking. Sometimes. Mostly. When he wasn't getting distracted by something else and running off to deal with that. Which happened quite a bit more than Yamato would have wanted it to.
"Stir it like this," he instructed one evening. They'd happened upon an unexpected bounty of ingredients and Yamato wanted to make one of his favorite dishes. There was enough there for all of them once put together, Digimon included, and as much as Yamato hadn't wanted to actually like people, he found himself doing so regardless. That meant they got food.
He didn't want to hear hungry stomachs rumbling, he told himself, watching as Taichi stirred the pot. He wasn't sure if they should trust everything around here, but all the Digimon assured their partners that there wasn't anyone else around. Not a hint of other Digimon or humans. Yamato wasn't going to turn down the chance to have a decent meal.
Taichi stirred, staring down at the pot, but Yamato could already see his attention starting to flick to the sides. Jou was meant to have first turn on guard duty while Taichi and Yamato dealt with dinner, Koushiro got caught up on getting information sorted, and Mimi and Sora gathered more firewood and any other fruit they might find in the trees. Takeru was already half-asleep underneath a tree, Gabumon and Patamon snuggled up close to him.
So for right now, it was just the two of them here, and Taichi's attention kept wandering off. Yamato growled lightly and shook his head.
"Watch what you're doing. You don't want to burn your gloves." Or any other part of him, but Yamato refused to think about that. Injuries didn't seem as bad in this weird world as they were back home, but better safe than sorry. They certainly got as hungry as they did back home, if not more so.
Taichi scrunched his nose. "I've got more gloves. Mom always made sure we had plenty."
Yamato crossed his arms and stared down at the brunet. "You have more gloves at home. We're not at home. You don't have more here. No burning."
"What, are you afraid I might find a soulmate?" Taichi grinned up at him, eyes glittering in the starlight and firelight. "Would it be that scary?"
Yamato pressed his lips together and looked away. "That's not the point." He really didn't want to get into this, especially not with Taichi.
"Oh, come on. Don't you think that's more of an old story than anything else? We've got real weird things going on and you want to be afraid of touching someone else just because you and they might be soulmates?" Taichi scoffed at the whole idea. "I've touched people before and nothing happened!"
Yamato heaved a sigh. "Because they weren't your soulmate. It only happens when the people are right." His dad had explained this to him many times, and advised that it was a good idea not to rush into any sort of relationships. So far Yamato agreed with him.
Taichi kept on stirring. Yamato could tell that by the sound. He wasn't ready to look at him right now. He'd never met someone who considered the possibility of a soulmate - someone you'd be bound to in some fashion for a whole lifetime - so trivial. Who treated it like a joke.
"What if it were you?" Taichi laughed again and Yamato's shoulders tensed. "Oh, come on. I dare you. What's it going to hurt if we hold hands and nothing happens?"
What if we do and it does? Yamato wanted to snap and held the words back by sheer force of will only. Taichi stopped stirring - which wasn't so bad, the food was almost done - and moved closer.
"Are you afraid?" Taichi teased in just that way that got right up Yamato's back. He whirled around, eyes flashing.
"I'm not afraid of touching you - I just think I'm going to need to scrub up afterwards and I don't know if we're going to have enough hot water," Yamato snapped. "But if it's going to shut you up, then here!"
He stripped his glove off in a second and slammed his palm onto Taichi's as soon as the brunet had his own off. For a few seconds nothing happened, and he could see Taichi about to say something else, probably something involving how it had been just like he'd said, nothing at all.
But then - everything was different. A rush of energy swept through the two of them. Yamato could see Taichi's eyes widen and his own did as well. It was harder to breathe and he shuddered, fingers tightening around Taichi's. He didn't want to let go. Letting go meant he wouldn't be touching Taichi anymore. He couldn't let go. He couldn't let that happen.
Taichi felt the same way. Yamato knew it. He wasn't sure of everything Taichi felt right now, but he knew that as much as he knew what he himself felt.
"Big brother?" It was Takeru. He stood there staring at them, drawn in by the scent of food and the fact the two of them were just staring at each other while hand in hand. "Is everything all right?"
Yamato forced himself to pull his hand away from Taichi's and yanked his glove back on. "Yeah. Fine. Everything's fine."
Takeru stared harder at the two of them, then broke out into a wide smile. "You two are soulmates!"
"Is that so?" Mimi piped up as she and Sora entered the clearing they'd set up camp in. "That's adorable!"
Yamato pressed his lips together and took a few steps back to the fire to check on dinner. Once the first rush had passed, he could think better about all of this. He wasn't even sure what to think about it. He'd never wanted a soulmate. He certainly hadn't ever wanted Taichi as one.
But that was what he had to deal with. Someone out there would have to answer to this. And even worse, he'd have to put up with Taichi.
He smiled a little, though, as he looked back at Taichi. Now that he thought about it, there was only one thing to say.
"I told you so."
The End
Notes: Now imagine what could happen when Ken and Daisuke first touch…
