Konpeitou : My, those came in fast…
Kuja : *cough*blackmail*cough*
Konpeitou : Urusai T.T Well, here's the next chapter up already. Enjoy! ^__^
"We should be getting up soon," Ken said suddenly into the silence, some time after we had woken up for the second time in the day. He was laying flat on his back and I was on my side next to him, my cheek resting a little on his shoulder. I made a face at the suggestion.
"Nnng, why bother?" I muttered. My headache had faded but I was still tired and sleepy and just didn't feel like doing anything. Ken's ribs expanded as he breathed a sigh; one I recognized as the 'I'm going to have to explain something again' sigh, but it wasn't annoyed like when he has to deal with most other people.
"Don't we have to meet up with everyone later today?" he asked, and you know it's one of those questions that he already knows the answer to and asks simply as a pointless reminder. I scowled in annoyance. Not at Ken, of course, it doesn't really bother me when he talks and behaves like that towards me. Somehow I know that with me, he's more teasing than frustrated at my forgetfulness. From most people it feels condescending, but not from Ken. Instead, I was scowling at the truth of the reminder that we were supposed to go out with the group today. I really didn't want to go out – for multiple reasons.
"I'm not going," I declared stubbornly. "I do not want to see Miyako."
"Oh c'mon Daisuke, are you still mad at her about last night? We already got revenge on her for it."
"Not enough," I grumbled back, my lip curling slightly, "That short little call wasn't enough for all this trouble. Jun's going to be blackmailing me for weeks! So yeah, I'm still mad at her and I don't want to see her." Ken pulled back a bit to look at me and I lifted my head to stare right back at him defiantly. His expression was shifting between surprised and amused.
"It's not my fault the call was short," he pointed out gently, damn him.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" I protested with a growl, glaring at him even as I felt my face heating. He only looked more amused by my response so I stuck my tongue out at him and laid my head back down, away from him. "I still don't wanna go…"
Ken sighed and reclined back again. "So you're just going to avoid her? For how long, Daisuke? Until you get bored with being angry or you find some other way of getting retribution? What else could you do, anyway, if you avoid her?"
"So you're not mad at her?" I retaliated, ignoring his questions, "She probably got us drunk so that she's have better chances of ambushing you, you know."
"I didn't say that," he protested, somewhat darkly, "Of course I'm still mad at her. But there isn't much I can do about it now, and I don't really want to make the others mad by throwing a fit. Plus, I'm hoping that her hangover was as bad as or worse than ours." I almost laughed to hear the smirk in his voice at the end. Then, all of a sudden, I had a truly wonderful idea to get my vengeance.
"I've got an idea!" I declared, propping myself up a little to look into the surprised blue eyes with a broad grin.
"Oh?" Ken asked, quirking an eyebrow, but his expression was still amused and curious.
I grinned more and plopped myself back down to whisper my plan excitedly in his ear like a conspirator, despite the fact that we were alone in my room with no one to hear us. And as I explained, Ken's smirk grew also and there was a strange glint in his eyes. He laughed, deep and wicked and I grinned all the more to see a little of the old twisted Kaizer again. Miyako was in for a big surprise, and I had the feeling the revenge to come would be very sweet, indeed.
@~}~~~
When everything was said and done, it had still taken considerable effort on Ken's part to get me up and out of the house. Really, it was more from the fact that I wanted away from my family then because I actually wanted to go see everyone. I knew we were going to be kinda late, but I was still rather ticked off enough that I didn't care if they had to wait. As we walked through the streets towards my school, I began to have second thoughts about my little plan. After all, everyone was going to be there – Ken had emailed everyone before we left to make sure – and it might be a bit odd in front of Hikari and the others. Unfortunately, when we had tried to explain what we were planning to our dejimon, Chibimon couldn't really seem to grasp it and we ended up bribing them both with chocolate and video games to stay home rather than coming with us. I frowned and kept my hands stuffed in my pockets as we continued to walk in silence.
It wasn't very long before we had reached the campus and had managed to sneak in with only a minimum of actual breaking in as we entered. The door to the computer lab was already open and the gentle glow of one monitor shone in the room. Steeling myself, I followed Ken through the port.
And, of course, landed flat on my face. Ow, dammit, need to get better at those landings.
I grumbled incoherently at Ken who, naturally, had perfected landing, before dusting myself off and starting towards the clearing not too far away that we always met at. Damn clearing. Damn meeting. Damn Miyako. Ugh! Damn everything!
And damn my temper. Must calm down before we get to the clearing or I'd ruin the plan. Damn plan. Damn digital ports. Damn gravity. Damn stupid waste of time. Damn –
– Kuso. Must stop doing that! Think happy thoughts, like the expression on Miyako's face as we get our perfect revenge for that damn hangover. Damn Miyako for spiking the punch anyway. I didn't want to have to deal with all this! I have better things to do that run around with a queasy stomach and get blackmailed by my sister! Why couldn't she just mind her own damn business, anyway? Damn fangirl and her damn plots to get her damn bishounen and… Oh damn me, I'm going to screw this all up.
It's a good thing I have so much practice in putting up false cheerfulness or I really would be screwed as we walked past the last stand of trees surrounding the clearing. Ken, I noticed, had also pasted a slightly dreamy smile on his lips and fixed his expression carefully. Yeah, I'm not the only one with a lot of practice at faking my expression. I turned my attention back to the clearing as we entered, doing a quick headcount before taking everything in on our way to the middle.
Iori was sitting on the heels on the grass, one arm and a large portion of his upper body draped over the armored hide of his dejimon, who looked back frequently with visible concern. The intelligent green eyes were only half open and there was a slight grimace to his otherwise blank expression. Poor kid looked about ready to fall asleep where he sat. A little to the right of the circle Hikari sat on a large grey boulder, leaning against Takeru's side with her eyes closed. I felt a sudden surge of jealousy to see his arm wrapped around her so intimately, and I had to forcefully remind myself of the plan to keep my expression from changing too drastically. As I pushed my jealousy down, I was able to take a closer look and see that the embrace wasn't so much intimate as required. Hikari's light skin was pale and ashen, her eyes closed and petit mouth open slightly while she breathed and her hair was hanging limply over her cheek. She looked frail and liable to collapse if not for the support of the blonde. When Takeru looked up at our entrance, expression neutral if slightly challenging, I realized he wasn't much better off, though definitely better than the other two.
My determination wavered at the sight. We weren't the only ones that suffered because of Miyako's stupid prank, and we were obviously the only ones that had someone to help out in the aftermath. Was it really fair to do this when everyone looked like they had just crawled out of a grave? I faltered, not sure what to do anymore.
I finally saw Miyako sitting to the left of the clearing. She had taken off her aviator's cap but she didn't look too bad, overall. Nothing like the other three of our group. Miyako actually looked close to normal! Dammit, she must've known about the punch or she would have been as screwed up as everyone else! My anger flared and I momentarily forgot my hesitation; Ken looked askance at me, slightly questioning, and I had the sudden realization that he had known this would happen. He had known that I might get second thoughts, and that's why he had insisted I make the first move. Damn damn damn. I won't let you be right this time, Ken. Miyako deserves this.
Said target of the day finally raised her head at our approach and got to her feet. She looked almost as annoyed and angry as I felt and didn't waste time before opening her mouth to rail against us – or rather, against me.
"Yeesh Daisuke! Take you guys long enough to get here, we've been here waiting for almost an hour." Miyako snapped, glaring at me. Funny how it's all my fault even though Ken and I both arrived at the same time, having stayed the night together and all. That was the last straw that decided me and I shoved my anger aside violently. Yeah, it really sucks that she blames everything on me, but it was more the fact that she still hadn't given up! She was still worshipping Ken, redirecting her anger from him and hoping that maybe he'll notice her someday. Gawd, couldn't she see how he shifted uncomfortably next to me as he no doubt made the same assessment as me?
With a carelessness I in no way felt, I shrugged and put my arm behind my head, "Sorry, didn't really want to get out of bed this morning, y'know?" I grinned sheepishly at her. There were several ways that statement could be taken, and I watched carefully to see which way she would go. Her eyes narrowed in a glare and she crossed her arms over her chest; evidently, she didn't take it the way I had hoped.
"You're so lazy Daisuke. None of us wanted to get out bed this morning, but at least the rest of us managed to get her at a decent time." Nope, definitely chose to ignore the nuance; not exactly what I had hoped, but she'd just make things worse for herself in the long run. At her statement, Ken coughed politely, reminding her of the fact that he had arrived with me at such an 'indecent' time. Her eyes flicked to him, briefly, but she chose to ignore this as well. So I did the one thing that would annoy her most: I shrugged.
"Well, we're here now," I replied, using the plural so keep drilling into her head that I'm not alone, "Why're you whining so much anyway, Miyako? It's not like this is some big important meeting or anything. It's just supposed to be a friendly get-together. Though," I continued, taking an obvious look at the rest of the group, "It doesn't look like anyone is up to much of anything today, after last night."
I could almost imagine hackles rising as she leveled a glare at me, though there was a slight blush staining her cheeks. "Will you lay off it, Daisuke?!" she snapped, "I told you I didn't do anything!"
"Yakamashii~!" Hikari moaned from the boulder, and I saw her curling her arms around her head as she pressed herself closer into Takeru's ribcage, as though trying to escape our noise.
"Tell that to the girl with the hangover." Ken remarked dryly, speaking for the first time. Miyako jerked back, eyes wide and visibly affronted. Yes, Miyako, Ken did just speak against poor little you. I grinned at that and leaned to nudge Ken with my shoulder gently. He smiled back and caught my hand in his own. Perfect. Stage on!
Miyako's expression was priceless. Her face paled noticeably, leaving her darkening blush standing out in stark contrast. Wide eyes focused on our joined hands, then flicked back and forth between the two of us before settling on our hands once more. "Wh-what?" she croaked after a long moment.
"The hangover," I repeated, deliberately choosing to misinterpret her question, "You know, from all the alcohol you spiked us with last night?" Miyako looked ready to protest and there was a squeak from the other side of the clearing, but I continued on without giving a chance for interruption. "Not that it didn't have some very nice consequences, as far as I'm concerned, mind you. But you did get us all drunk, which wasn't fun. Especially not waking up with a splitting headache and the wavering urge to throw up. That really wasn't great."
"Yeah, that hadn't been particularly fun." Ken murmured airily.
"I don't know what you're talking about, dammit." Miyako claimed weakly, slowly regaining some of her control. "And what do you mean, 'consequences'?" Ken and I both smiled; she couldn't have given us a better opening if we had asked for it.
"I told you before," Ken told her softly, sugar-coated words flowing easily past his gently smiling lips.
"We finally came to terms." I finished for him, doubling the impact of the statement. I softened my own smile to something more mild and sweetly 'happy', or so I hoped. It was getting kind of hard to keep from grinning outright. "And so for that, I want to thank you, too. Arigatou, Miyako." Ken chose that moment to lean in and plant a light, lingering kiss on my temple. That, more than anything, finally got through the thick strands of lavender hair and she shook her head dumbly from side to side, eyes growing impossibly wide at the proof of what she refused to believe.
"No. No, you guys must be joking. It's not possible, there's no way, it's not…" She tried to take a step back, but her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed unceremoniously on her rump on the cool grass, tossing her head and muttering denials. "It's not true!!" Miyako screamed, anger burning brightly in her eyes as she aimed another dagger-laced glare at me. Whoa, if looks could kill! I suddenly had to fight the betrayal of my lips as they struggled to curl into an all-out grin.
"It's true." Ken affirmed with cool, calm finality. He just watched her as she continued to spout denials and curses, even the occasional plead for him stop joking and admit that he wasn't that way, like it was some sort of affliction or something. I know I should've probably stopped, and it very sadistic of me to keep up the ruse, but I was getting a perverse kind of pleasure from seeing her finally suffer not being in control and getting her way.
My amusement was too much and I was fighting a losing battle against my own expression. Out of desperation, I stepped closer to Ken and pressed my face against his shoulder, trying to buy time to control myself again. Gotta get control, gotta get control, gotta get… oh damn, I'm going to ruin everything. Kuso! Straight face, straight face… stop grinning, baka Motomiya! Ah hell, I'm doomed.
Unexpectedly, Ken turned and wrapped his free arm around my waist, pulling me against his chest in a rather provocative manner. I laid my own arm over his and clutched his shoulder, hiding my face in his neck gratefully. Damn damn damn. I'm screwing up my own damn plan. Daisuke no baka. Baka~! Mustnotgrinmustnotgrinmustnotgrin. Damn lips, do what I say!
"What are you doing?" Ken hissed suddenly in my ear, his breath warm against my skin as he made the appearance of nuzzling my cheek. He didn't exactly sound mad, but he was definitely curious, at the very least. Well yeah, I didn't plan on this happening, okei? Dammit.
"I dunno!" I growled back in a harsh whisper, annoyed at myself and my lack of control, "I can't help it, do something before I start laughing and ruin everything!" As it was my body was shaking with the effort to suppress my humor. The fact that he was still acting – swaying our bodies slightly, drawing his hand across my back and hips, his warm breath and silky hair tickling my face – only made it so much harder to concentrate. Vaguely, I could still hear Miyako screaming and whimpering protests.
I don't know what I wanted him to do, exactly. Maybe make up a hasty excuse so we could get away, or something. Ken, apparently, had another idea. In a wholly unexpected move, he pulled back a small ways and before I could even think to ask what he was doing, he swooped forward again and kissed my twitching lips, effectively hiding my growing grin. I was a little too surprised to do anything, at first, but after a moment I tilted my head to the side and kissed back. What the hell, na? It'd probably work better than anything we could say to make Miyako finally accept what we've been telling her all morning. It was funny, in an odd sort of way, that we were probably putting on quite a convincing show just because of all our – ahem – practice while under the influence.
Another thing I noticed, as I slid my arm across his shoulder to bury my fingers on the silky strands brushing across his slender neck, was that, being sober, it was mildly disturbing to realize that I was still enjoying this. Cats were doing somersaults in my belly, I felt light-headed like my skull was being filled with helium, not-unpleasant shivers wracked my body in random waves, my heart was beating painfully hard against my ribcage – not really fast, just hard – and I could almost swear Ken's was beating in sync with mine. It was strange and almost-new, and I didn't know what to make of it. Last night could easily have been blamed on the alcohol, even this morning might have been passed off as the lingering effects, but now I was completely and utterly sober again. It was scary, in a way, and I decided I didn't really want to think of it anymore. I would be how I always am, impulsive and unthinking. Defiantly, I pulled myself even closer to Ken and increased the battle waging between our mouths.
I've always believed that if I went with my instincts and let myself just feel, then no matter that happened, it couldn't possibly be wrong. So I did just that, and left my mind blank and open to feeling the sensations of the moment. I became aware of the little things, like the arm wrapped tightly around my waist and the slim fingers clutching my hip, the sudden emptiness of in my palm as the hand disappeared and began sneaking its way up my arm to cup my cheek gently, soft pads moving in slow circles against my skin. The heat of Ken's body, felt through both our clothes, in the close proximity of our bodies, hips pressed flushed tightly together. The way we both swayed, ever so slightly, like we were dancing some incredibly slow song only we could hear, even the way we kissed. I noticed with detached amusement how we'd occasionally clash our teeth together as one of us would push too far or we'd miss-judge the movement and completely smother the other's lips for a moment, the strange feel of the ridges on the underside of Ken's mouth as I dragged my tongue across it and the way he stalled slightly when I did, fighting a little whimper that I could feel more than hear.
And strangely, noticing everything made me just enjoy it even more. I liked these feelings.
In no time at all, Ken slowed then ended the kiss, leaving me a touch breathless and foggy-eyed. He turned his head to the side to look back at Miyako, but didn't release me, or even loosen up. I turned my head also and leaned my cheek against his shoulder. I was smiling again, and I couldn't seem to stop myself, but it wasn't the all-out grin I had been fighting before so I gave up and just let my lips do what they wanted as I watched with my eyes still mildly hazy from the previous moment.
"Is that enough proof for you, Miyako-san?" Ken asked coolly, expression and posture carefully revealing nothing. Miyako said nothing, merely sat there staring wide-eyed with a hand clasped over her mouth, and after a long moment I realized she seemed to be fighting tears. I sudden wave of guilt hit me at the moment; maybe we had gone a little too far, we hadn't meant to make her cry, after all. By the sudden tensing of Ken's muscles beneath me, I knew he felt the same way. Actually, given that he has the crest of Kindness, he probably felt a great deal worse. I struggled, not knowing what to do. She might feel better if we told her it was all a joke to teach her a lesson, but she'd probably never forgive us for doing this to her for nothing more than a little revenge. Somehow, I knew Ken was debating what to do just as I was.
The problem was taken out of our hands, thankfully, as Iori groaned and struggled to stand with the help if his dejimon, wavering slightly as he tried to focus in our direction. "I don't want to see this," he muttered darkly, and slowly began to weave his way out of the clearing, "I'm going to go home and get away from all you fruits… and see if I can hit myself over the head with my bokken enough to forget the whole weekend even happened." The young boy continued to grumble as he passed the circle of trees and disappeared.
"I can't believe," Hikari murmured a moment later, straightening herself up a little with Takeru's support and staring blankly at the foliage above us, "That I got abandoned for another boy," she finished with wistful amusement. I blinked in surprise and Takeru turned a sharp glance at her, which she didn't even notice. She shook her head carefully, no doubt trying not to induce pain from sudden movements. "Drunk! She got us drunk! No wonder I feel like I've been run over by an army of Greymons."
"Yamato is gonna have a litter when he finds out," Takeru growled in palpable annoyance. The blonde glared at nothing in particular and gingerly climbed off the rock and helped Hikari to make her own way down.
"At least you don't live with him," Hikari groaned, frowning in concentration as she moved slowly down the side of the boulder, "Taichi's going to kill me when he figures this out. Twice! Ugh, I almost don't want to go home…"
"Well, I'm taking you home anyway." Takeru told her stubbornly, wrapping his arm back around her waist and pulling her arm up and around his shoulder. She raised her head and flashed him a tired smile, letting him lead her away.
"Hai hai."
At that moment, Miyako ran through the clearing between us and the other two, darting out of sight in the direction of the gate, leaving her dejimon squawking as he flapped hurriedly after her. Ken and I finally loosed our hold on each other and stood side-by-side again, though he left an arm draped over my shoulder and I left one loosely around his waist. Takeru and Hikari stopped in front of us for a moment, giving us measuring looks.
"That was pretty mean, you know," Hikari said softly, leaning heavily on Takeru's side. She still looked more than half-dead. "Her sister was probably the one who did it, not Miyako-chan." She didn't sound angry or disapproving, only like she was stating a fact.
I shrugged, not really sure how to respond to that. "It wasn't just about that." I said finally.
"Then why?" she asked curiously. I shifted, not really sure I had any right to answer that.
"She keeps chasing me like a trophy." Ken explained quietly, dropping his eyes a little as he spoke. But I could see the expression on both their faces of pity and understanding. It occurred to me, then, that maybe I had made Hikari feel that way a time or two. Another needle of guilt stuck into my chest. Damn, I was such a jerk.
"Na, Hikari-chan," I said hesitantly, shifting my weight nervously as she turned her attention back to me. "Sorry…" I trailed off; how do you apologize for being an annoying obsessive pest, anyway? Luckily, she seemed to understand what I meant 'cause her eyes widened and she smiled, one of those brilliant smiles that have a light of their own
"Thank you, Daisuke-kun," she replied after a moment, and I could tell she really did forgive me. I grinned back sheepishly, blushing somewhat in embarrassment. "Don't worry guys, Miyako-chan will get over it." Hikari assured us both, changing the subject again.
"Yeah. It may not have been very nice, but I can see why you did what you did." Takeru agreed with a small nod, "She can be worse at taking hints than even Daisuke!" he laughed, then grinned to show that he was only teasing me. I pouted and aimed a mock swat at him.
"Che', whatever blondie." I sniffed with over-exaggerated offense, which was thoroughly ruined when Ken pinched me without warning, making everyone laugh, including myself. I looked at Takeru and could tell he knew I was only teasing him, too. And also, there seemed to be a new understanding between us or something. I wasn't hunting Hikari anymore like a prize object, and I finally understood just how he had felt when I had. Well, maybe not exactly the same, Takeru had more of an interest in Hikari than Ken and I had, but I understood well enough. I grinned at him. "You should get going; Hikari-chan looks about ready to fall over." I suggested, and they both nodded and began to move off, too tired to bother with any more small talk. "And you'd better take care of her, Takaishi!"
Takeru just turned and grinned at me over his shoulder as he got just past us, flashing a quick victory sign. "Oi, Daisuke," he said, calmly, casually. I blinked a couple times. "That had looked like one hell of a kiss." Takeru's grin actually grew and he winked at us both as I felt the blood rush to my face. Hikari giggled softly and they stumbled out without another word.
"Well now," Ken murmured dryly a minute later, raking his hand through his hair, "That was certainly interesting."
"Fun and entertaining!" I chirped, dropping my arm and bouncing forward to face him fully. He chuckled as his arm dropped away from my shoulders and absently brushed a few strands of hair away from his cheek again. "Well…" I continued, kind of at a loss for what to say and just shrugged again, "That was my plan for the day. Now what do we do?" I watched and waited as Ken considered it for a moment.
"Three options," he told me finally, holding up his hand as he counted them off on his fingers, "One, we can go to that lake thing not far from here like we had originally planned. Two, we can go back and get some food – personally, I'd like to have something a little more substantial than toast. Or three, we can just go home like everyone else."
"FOOD!!" I cried immediately, not even needing to think. My stomach had made my decision as soon as the suggestion had been made. I grinned and grabbed Ken's arm and began racing back through the trees towards the direction of the portal – or what I hoped was the right direction. We reached it quickly, Ken laughing as I pulled him forcibly and only let go long enough to activate my dejivice. "Your treat!" I called as I leapt into the glowing screen, escaping the half-formed protests that came after me.
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Konpeitou : No, stil not finished. One possibly two more chapters to this, but after the next one I'll let you all decide if there should be another. ^_^