State of Mind
"You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go... Don't ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body."
-Abdul-jabbar, Kareem
Part 10: To Forgive is Divine
So warm... so comfortable... Still mostly asleep, Yamato sighed lightly and hugged the source of that delicious warmth closer to himself. He did not want to open his eyes just yet, reluctant to face the new day and the problems that were sure to come with it. Instead his mind remained peacefully in a state of blissful half unconsciousness, where it wouldn't have to think about anything important at all. Steady, hot breaths of air caressed his neck gently and he couldn't help but smile slightly with dreamy pleasure. He had missed this so much, waking up with someone in his arms, knowing that he was not alone for now. Of course there was still the question of who it was with him this time. Not that his mind or body really cared at the moment, but Ken wasn't going to like this one bit. His protective friend had never cared for the way Yamato occasionally slept around so he hadn't actually done so very much lately. But how could he give this comfort up? So nice...
"Yamato? Are you awake? You're smiling..."
Yamato's eyes flew open as he mentally matched the sudden voice with a name. Ken?! What was he doing here? Unable to comprehend anything over the shock, he only stared dazedly at the familiar grinning face above him. And then it all came back to him in a rush. The memories of Taichi coming to him last night, of comforting the frightened brunette, promising him that no one was going to take him away... and most of all, agreeing to share the couch with him.
"Ah, so you are up." Ken's violet-blue eyes were bright with some unknown glee as he took a step back to give Yamato some space. He gave the couple on the couch a contemplative look before raising an eyebrow at the blonde, "So... just how cute is he again, Yama?"
The glaring blue eyes hardly blinked as Ken suddenly clapped a hand to his mouth in order to suppress his laughter, not wanting to wake Taichi up. Yamato had been expecting this from the moment he had let it slip last night. There was no way the nosey boy would have gone back to sleep without listening in on their conversation first and gathering up every little detail for use later on. And then, of course, it wouldn't be long until Ken got in touch with Miyako and shared the fun with her. He was going to be endlessly teased about this, he just knew it. "Ken, you're not funny. Especially not this early in the morning. So fuck off and let me go back to sleep."
This only made Ken's face turn so purple with contained mirth that Yamato was afraid he was going to explode. It took a few minutes for the bluenette to gather himself again, but the grin never faded, "Right... sorry. I almost forgot what an absolutely cheerful person you are in the mornings!"
Yamato groaned slightly, knowing there was no way he was going to be left alone now. But he was distracted from this thought when he felt movement within his arms. Looking down, his gaze was met by a sleepy pair of chocolate brown eyes, blinking up at him in innocent confusion. "'Keru-chan?" Taichi mumbled with a frown.
"No... Yamato. Remember?" The blonde informed him, finding himself unable to look away from the adorable puppy dog eyes. Maybe he really did feel something for this boy, at least some kind of strange attraction. It didn't make much sense, not even to himself, but Taichi seemed so different from anyone he had ever known.
The mesmerizing eyes closed again as Taichi snuggled back up to him, drowsily mumbling, "Right... Y'mato... 'member."
"Aw, that's so sweet." Ken laughed, pretending to wipe away tears.
Rolling his eyes, Yamato was about to reply when, without warning, Taichi bolted upright, staring at the blonde with terrified awareness on his face. Trying to gain his breath back from the surprise of the sudden movement, Yamato shook his head to clear it, "Taichi? What's the matter?" The brunette said nothing, but appeared to be in shock. Yamato frowned, then carefully reached out a hand to touch the other's shoulder.
The moment he made contact, Taichi uttered a short screech and promptly fell off the couch, quickly scrambling backwards until he hit the wall. From there he only stared back at Yamato, his eyes wide and his breaths coming out short and fast.
Yamato didn't know what to do, he had no idea what he could possibly have done wrong. Frantically he looked to Ken, but his friend was staring in just as much astonishment at the shaking teenager in the corner. "What happened, Taichi? You're not afraid of me, are you?" How could the brunette be scared of him now? Especially after all that had happened that night.
There was only silence as Taichi dropped his gaze to the floor. Trying to keep control of his temper, Yamato gritted his teeth and slowly slid off the couch, inching his way toward Taichi. He tried to appear as unthreatening as possible, but it really was hard under the circumstances. "I'm not going to hurt you... I just want to know what I did to frighten you like that. Tell me?" He stopped about a foot away from the other boy who had started pushing backwards against the wall again as if he was trying to melt right into it.
"I... I shouldn't have..." Taichi stuttered, looking hopelessly at the floor.
"Shouldn't have what?" Yamato tried again, speaking quietly while trying to keep himself from reaching out to touch the shaken teen again. Kami... he hated seeing Taichi looking like this, it wasn't right.
The bright, brown eyes slowly peeked up, shimmering as though they were about to shed tears. He whispered, sounding ashamed of himself, "'Shouldn't have s-slept with y-you... Bad... 'Told Daisuke not to... th-then I just..."
Yamato frowned, unable to make much sense from the half formed sentences. But he did understand, and knew from past experience, that Taichi probably felt he had gotten too close to him. "Hey... Taichi, calm down. It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise. Did you mind sharing the couch with me?"
"Well... well n-no..." Taichi shook his head, warily peering out from under his long bangs. "But the... the M-masters said..."
"Fuck the Masters!" The brunette's eyes widened as he gaped in open mouthed surprise at what Yamato had just said. "I told you, they're never coming back. You don't need to follow their fucked up rules any more! Just forget about them and live your own life!"
Taichi blinked, opened his mouth, blinked again, then shut it. He stared at Yamato, looking shocked, scared and mostly confused. Yamato sighed, knowing that maybe he had gone a little too far, but Taichi had to get it through his stubborn mind that he wasn't going to ever see those 'Masters' again. "Oh," Taichi finally managed to squeak, his eyes still wider than should have been possible.
With small groan, Yamato crawled the rest of the way over to Taichi and hesitantly laid a hand on his shoulder. This time the brunette did not freak out. "See, it's fine. Understand?"
Taichi stared a bit longer before his mouth curled into a barely detectable smile. He shook his head and shrugged, "Not really, but... but I... I'll try."
"Good enough." Yamato smiled back, then stood up to find Ken again. He turned and found Hikari standing next to his best friend, a knowing smile on her face. "Uh... hey, 'Kari. I didn't know you were up."
"Oh, I was up for a while now." She grinned, obviously hinting that she had seen almost everything that had happened. Yamato almost groaned out loud, they were never going to stop teasing him now, just for the fun of it. "I came looking for Taichi actually. Takeru and Daisuke are wondering where he went..." Her smile turned into a worried look, "Takeru's almost demanding to see him, but Daisuke wouldn't say a word to me. I don't think he's feeling much better about yesterday."
"What?" Ken frowned, staring guiltily in the direction of the bedrooms, "Are you sure he's not speaking?"
Hikari nodded while Yamato turned back to Taichi, noting the very concerned look on the tanned face. Chocolate eyes stared pleadingly back at him as if asking for permission to go to his friends. "Taichi... you should probably go see them. I bet they're worried about you."
With a nod, Taichi took a step towards the hallway, but then seemed to change his mind. Instead he turned and threw his arms around Yamato in a tight hug. "Thank you..." He whispered, holding onto a dumbfounded Yamato a moment longer before breaking away and hurrying out of the room to find Takeru and Daisuke.
Yamato was so startled that he could only stand there and stare after the brunette. Slowly he raised a hand to his cheek, still feeling the soft breath that had hit his skin and the warm glow spreading through his chest.
"Hello? Yama, you with us buddy?" Fingers snapped in front of his face, jolting him back to reality. Ken grinned, shaking his head, "You are so falling for him."
Yamato blinked, "What?" Then his mind finally processed the words and he glared back at Ken, "I am not! What makes you say that?"
The bluenette rolled his eyes, "Never mind. I'm sure Hikari understands, though."
Said girl was currently doubled over with suppressed laughter, her hands to her mouth with the occasional giggle escaping through her fingers. Yamato felt his face heat up and knew that he was blushing, something that he really hated. "Whatever. Can we just change the subject now?"
"S-sure, Ya-Yamato-o" Hikari managed to get out before she promptly collapsed on the armchair in a heap of giggles. The blonde just glared before moving his gaze over to Ken, silently conveying through his expression just what would happen to the boy if he so much as said one more word about the matter.
Ken got the message and quickly decided it would be best to do as Yamato wanted, having had a little too much experience with the unpredictable teenager's wrath. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I've got a soccer game this afternoon. It's here in Odaiba, actually, so I don't even need to go home first." Ken had always kept an extra uniform at Yamato's home for just such times as these. Of course, it was Yamato who had forced him to do so after he had gotten sick of having to drive Ken all the way back to Tamachi just for the uniform when the game was being played in Odaiba anyway.
"Oh no, the game! I'd promised Miya that we'd go over some of our new cheerleading moves before it!" Exclaimed Hikari who had apparently gotten over her little fit, much to Yamato's relief. "I've got to go get ready, I had told her I'd be at her place by eleven to practice." She jumped up and rushed out of the room, leaving Ken and Yamato to themselves.
Not knowing what else to do now, Yamato raised an eyebrow at Ken, noting the thoughtful expression of the other. "What's on your mind?"
Ken blinked as though disturbed from some deep thought and shrugged, "Nothing. Well, nothing important really," He amended when Yamato only gave him a skeptical look, "Are you coming to the game?"
"Sure, I guess so. It's not like I have anything else to do today," He replied with a nod. "Besides, I'm trying to see how long I can put off my math homework and still get it done in time for class tomorrow."
Ken laughed at that, "I did my homework on friday, but you can phone me tonight if you need help." Yamato grinned back, having already planned on doing just that. "Hey, Yama? Do you think they would want to come watch the game?"
"What?" The blonde frowned, "I don't know about that Ken. I mean, look what happened yesterday. It might be a little too much excitement for them if they had to go out again after that."
"Yeah but... wouldn't it be better than keeping them here by themselves? At least this way they'd know we're not upset with them, right? Not if we were taking them with us. And maybe Daisuke would..." Ken trailed off, looking down to the floor.
With a sigh, Yamato reluctantly nodded. He hated seeing Ken look so guilty, it really didn't suit him. Besides, wasn't he supposed to be the depressed one here? "Fine, maybe it will help. I'll keep an eye on them and you can go impress your little Daisuke-chan with your super cool soccer skills."
The other teen's pale cheeks bloomed red as his bright eyes looked hopefully up at Yamato, "Thanks, Yama."
Yamato just lay back on the couch, covering his eyes with one hand while wondering why everyone felt the need to thank him this morning. It just gave him a headache and filled him with more confused feelings than he felt was possible. Especially when it came to Taichi. Taichi... A smile unconsciously grew as he sat up again and prepared to go and explain to the three boys what the plans were for the day.
=-=-=-=
Daisuke stared blankly out of the van's window, quietly watching the drops of water slowly slide down the glass. It had started drizzling a little while ago, completely saturating the world in a light, misty rain, and yet they were being driven to some strange 'field' to sit out in it and get soaked. At least that was what he had understood from the quick explanation right before they were all dressed up in rain gear and ushered out of the apartment. If he had been speaking at the moment, Daisuke would have made it clear that he really wasn't looking forward to this stupid outing. But he wasn't speaking and he was never going to again if he could help it. Every time he opened his big mouth he ended up making some mistake that hurt either himself or his friends. Both Taichi and Takeru understood this, though they did not approve one bit, and had tried to explain it to the others without much success. As it was, Yamato and Ken had tried to persuade him talk to them for an entire hour before realizing how hopeless it was.
Ken... Just the thought of that dark haired teenager made Daisuke shiver and try to curl up further into his seat. The way Ken had yelled at him the other day had been one of the worst things to happen to Daisuke in a long time. It scared him to know that he had crossed a line that he hadn't even known was there, hurting Ken, Taichi and Takeru all in one blow. If he just had not spoken, hadn't opened his fucking mouth! But that wasn't going to happen again, never again. Ken hadn't yelled at him since, even while trying to get him to talk, so that proved that it was working, right? It hadn't made the other teen mad or caused him to scream or anything. It wasn't hard not to talk, not anymore. He'd had practice with this sort of thing quite a few times before under the command of their Masters.
They had to make a quick stop at Yamato's apartment to grab something before they headed for where ever it was they were going. Daisuke sighed, leaning his head back against Taichi's shoulder and wished that the day was over already. All he wanted to do was crawl back into bed and stay there for the rest of his miserable life. Hide under the covers from all that he wanted so badly but couldn't have. 'Ken... oh Ken... don't be mad... it hurts...'
He could feel Taichi and Takeru giving him worried looks, but they knew there was nothing they could do to help. When Taichi had first come back to them that morning he had tried to tell them what Yamato had said, but Daisuke really didn't give a damn what that blonde said. What someone said and thought were two completely different things. Besides, he was still a bit angry at his brother for abandoning them in the night just to go cuddle with Yamato.
Knowing that he was letting his thoughts go a little to far, Daisuke blocked his emotions from his mind once again and went back to staring at the gray world outside. Bad thoughts led to bad actions and discipline, the Masters had told him, so he would have to keep that in mind.
Suddenly he realized that the van had come to a stop and doors were being opened. Automatically he followed Taichi's back out of the vehicle and into the rain, wincing a bit when he felt the cold drops hit his face. Right then and there he decided that he hated rain. It was too wet and cold and he would never have had to put up with it back home.
They started walking across the gravel parking lot towards a large open space already filled with people. Daisuke nervously latched onto Takeru's side when he heard the noise coming from the crowd. The blonde held just as tightly onto his arm as they both stuck close to Taichi.
Once they reached the edge of the field Ken separated from them, "I'll see you guys later. After I've won the game, I'll treat us to some hot chocolate!" Then he ran off to another building. Daisuke tried not to stare after him, but couldn't help it as he felt his chest tighten slightly. Why was Ken leaving them? He must still be mad at Daisuke for disobeying and so didn't want to sit near him...
With a sniff, Daisuke bit his lip and turned away, forcing himself not to cry. He deserved this anyway. As they walked over to the huge stacked benches, bleachers Yamato had called them, he kept his head down, ignoring the way water was dripping from his bangs onto his nose. Yamato kept muttering darkly about forgetting the umbrellas until his name was called from the side. Everybody stopped as a tall, black haired teenager jogged up to them.
Daisuke heard Yamato groan slightly before greeting the stranger, "Konnichi wa, Roka-kun. Daijoubu ka?" His voice was was filled with a sweet innocence that really did not match his guilty expression.
The boy came to a stop in front to the blonde, glaring daringly back into those icy blue eyes, "Cut the crap, Yamato. Where were you saturday?"
"Saturday? You mean yesterday? Uh... on a picnic, if I remember correctly." Yamato replied with a quick grin, his eyes widened slightly as he tried to keep up his innocent façade.
"A picnic?!" The stranger, Roka, spluttered. "Wait... I don't want to know. Not if it involves you. But you knew we had a practice! And then you just call and cancel last minute? Sachi's already planning your very painful death. What the fuck were you thinking? We have a concert in a week!"
"Roka, shut up, really. You wouldn't understand." Yamato said, rubbing his forehead painfully.
"Try me," The other spat back, looking ready to hit someone. Daisuke huddled a little further into Takeru, just in case. He didn't like this tension one bit, it gave him the feeling that something very bad was about to happen. And then suddenly the feeling vanished as the strange teenager's face unexpectantly lit up with a sheepish grin, "Ah, nevermind right now. I'm sure we'll hear all about it Tuesday night, right? If the others have let you live that long, that is."
Yamato's own glare faded away to a relieved smile, "Tuesday? I'll make sure I'm there, promise. And don't worry, Sachi's all talk, I can handle him. He's really just a kitten at heart."
"Kitten... right. I'll be sure to tell him that!" Roka laughed, casually running a hand through his spiked, raven black hair, completely ignoring Daisuke and his friends. "Just make sure you make it. Anyway, I've got to run. My brother just finished a game before this, so I'm supposed to meet him outside the changing rooms."
"Yeah, I'll see you later then." They clapped hands before the other teenager went running off down the field towards the building that Ken had disappeared into only a few minutes ago. Daisuke blinked some water out of his eyes, still not sure what that was all about, but figured it really had nothing to do with him and so he should just forget about it.
Yamato led them up the bleachers to an empty spot near the top. Amazingly enough, they could see the entire field, which Daisuke assumed must be the purpose of having them raised like this. Once they were sitting, the red head huddled into Taichi's side, finding himself in between his brother and Takeru. At least he was a little warmer this way.
Daisuke remained silent, blocking out the noise of the small crowd around them, and shut his eyes. His plan was just to sleep until Yamato said they could stop this pointless misery and go back to the warm apartment. Sleep... yeah, that sounded good.
Of course, just like most of his plans, this one fell apart as Takeru suddenly spoke up, "Hey, is that Miyako-san down there? And Hikari-san?"
"Yup, they're cheerleaders for our team." Agreed Yamato, "You remember Miyako, Daisuke?" Daisuke didn't even bother to look at him, not nearly stupid enough to fall for that. "Uh... right then. Anyway, Ken and his team should be coming out soon. He's the captain, by the way."
"I met a captain once..." Takeru said absently, still squinting at the field through the rain. "'Said he was the captain of an air... an air-o-plane, I think he said."
There was silence for a while before Yamato finally mumbled in an oddly choked tone, "Different type of captain," then didn't say anything more.
A few minutes later, the crowd unexpectantly started cheering, startling Daisuke right out of any thoughts of sleeping. He looked frantically around, trying to figure out what was going on, wondering if something had happened. Yamato had joined the cheers, clapping and whistling at the field which Daisuke suddenly realized was now filled with teenagers all wearing some sort of uniforms. Beside him, Taichi whispered, "What's happening?"
Yamato grinned at them, sitting back down and said, "The game's going to start, warm up time's over. See, there's Ken down there near the center. All the kids wearing the same uniform as him are on his team, the others are on the opposite side. The object of the game is to kick around that ball and try to get it into the other team's net." The hasty explanation didn't do much to help Daisuke understand, but at least he knew now that it was some sort of game.
Despite Daisuke's earlier plan of sleeping through the entire thing, he couldn't keep himself from watching the game, completely fascinated by the movements going on below him. He watched as the small black and white ball was passed from person to person and started anticipating it's moves. The game soon had him so completely involved that he noticed nothing else and found himself almost cheering with the rest of the crowd when Ken and his team scored goal after goal.
Look at Ken go! Down the field, dodging the opposing team, keeping the ball in tight control. It was like nothing Daisuke had ever seen before. He started picking up on some of the rules as the game progressed, watching closely for similar occurrences. Like how the team members always went for the opposite net, and how the game would come to a short halt whenever the ball crossed the outer line and then someone would have to throw it in again. It was amazing, truly amazing to see something like this.
It was disappointing to see it finally end, but Daisuke found himself clapping along with Taichi, Yamato and Takeru, although he still didn't make any other sound. His earlier depression seemed to have vanished for the moment as all he could think about was the game. Wouldn't it be great to be able to run around like that? To chase after that sneaky ball and beat the other team? To be so free...
"Let's go find Ken and congratulate him!" Yamato hopped off of the bench, pulling Taichi after him, who in turn hung onto Daisuke and Takeru so that they all remained together. The tall blonde led them through the excited crowd and down onto the field where he finally let go of Taichi and ran over to his friend. "Ken! You were great, as usual."
Ken laughed, hugging him back, "I know! Did you see the way I got that last goal? They didn't know what hit them!"
"Ah, the ever modest Ken," Yamato grinned, ruffling the other's hair. Then they started going on again about the game.
Daisuke listened for a while, but quickly lost track of what was being said, not able to understand most of the terms used. Besides, he was worried that he might give into his urges to ask about some of the soccer rules that he wanted to know about. Instead, he turned away and looked over the field. Then he noticed something that completely stole his attention away from anyone else. Sitting on the grass, only a few feet away, was one of those perfectly round, black and white soccer balls. The one they had been kicking around in the game. Just there, all by itself.
Unable to help himself, Daisuke stepped towards it, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Everyone was busy with Ken for the moment, so he took another step towards the alluring item. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they led him right up to the soccer ball. For a moment he just stood there, staring at it as though it might suddenly come to life and run away. But as it didn't move, he cautiously raised a leg and touched the top of the rain slicked surface with his toe. Still it did nothing, except roll slightly from the pressure.
Without meaning to, a smile lit Daisuke's face. This was it then, his chance to do what he saw the others had done. The closest net wasn't far away and was at the perfect angle for a direct kick into it. Perfect. He forgot all about the others, focussing instead on remembering what he had seen Ken do before kicking the ball. Carefully he looked at the net, then raised his right foot behind him. And then... he let it fly. His foot hit with a satisfying thud against the ball, sending the thing flying in a perfect arc through the air. Daisuke watched it, feeling pride and happiness well up inside of him. It just looked so free flying through the air like that.
Only a moment passed, though it seemed an eternity to the mesmerized teenager, before the soccer ball landed again, rolling effortlessly into the goal. Just like Ken, he had scored a goal just like him. He had won.
Without warning the silence was filled with the sound of clapping and whistling, forcing Daisuke back to reality. He spun around, only to slip in the mud and fall to the wet ground. Terrified, he stared at the group near by and could only think about how he had touched that soccer ball without permission. Oh Kami, why couldn't he ever learn! Even without speaking, he still screwed up! Ken was going to be so mad, he was going to scream at him again. Scream and maybe hurt him this time and hate him forever.
Gasping, Daisuke felt the tears pouring down his cheeks. He hadn't meant to be so stupid! An arm wrapped around his shoulders and he turned his head to find Ken's face only inches away. Oh no, he was right, Ken was here to deal out the punishment now. What if this was so bad that he had to leave Taichi and Takeru? To be alone and in the dark... oh no, oh no...
"Daisuke, hey, it's okay," Ken's soft voice broke through his panicking, hysterical thoughts, "that was really cool, what you just did. That was a great shot, are you sure you've never played soccer before?"
Daisuke stared in shock at the smiling face in front of him, unable to move or answer for the moment. Why was Ken smiling? Why wasn't he yelling like before? It didn't make sense. Ken hated him breaking the rules! Finally he noticed that Ken was just kneeling there in the mud waiting for an answer so he hesitantly shook his head slightly.
"Really? Never? Well you're a natural then." The wonderfully clear violet-blue eyes winked at him, causing his cheeks to redden slightly from the praise. But still... this wasn't right... Maybe Ken was... was waiting for him to make another mistake before freaking out again. "Daisuke, what's the matter? It looked like you enjoyed kicking that ball, am I right?"
And there it was. Ken was going to find out that he did like that game, that he wanted to kick the ball again. Then he'd be in trouble. Daisuke shook his head frantically as he jumped up out of Ken's reach. "No!" He cried out, then realized it and clapped his hands over his mouth in horrified surprise. He'd said something! He had made the final mistake, couldn't he do anything right?!
With a sob, he tried to turn around only to end up back on the gound as he lost his grip in all of the mud. Scared out of his mind, Daisuke hid his face in his knees, wildly muttering, "no... oh no... no..." over and over. This was it... he was in so much trouble. Nobody would save him this time.
"Daisuke! Daisuke, please!" Once again it was Ken who interrupted his panicked mind. "Tell me what's wrong, why won't you say anything? Please, tell me?"
He couldn't... he couldn't talk again, not again! Faintly he felt the warm body beside his again and the arm wrap persistently around him. "Please, Daisuke," Ken whispered, hugging him carefully, "I won't hurt you. Just talk to me. You're scaring all of us. Look at me, I'm not lying to you. I'd never lie or intentionally hurt you."
Shocked at this strange behavior, Daisuke peeked up at Ken's face and saw the anxious sincerity in his eyes. For a moment he considered the possibility that maybe Ken wasn't upset with him. "Y-you... you h-hate m... me?" So much for the vow of silence.
Ken's eyes widened, "Hate you? No! I've never hated you and I never will! What made you think such a thing?"
"You... y-yesterday..." Daisuke couldn't finish the sentence. Ken had yelled, had screamed because he hadn't obeyed. He had been bad and deserved what Ken did to him. The Masters had never allowed anything but complete obedience and Daisuke still didn't understand how things could have changed so quickly.
"Oh." Ken sounded guilty, pulling away a bit to look Daisuke in the eyes. "That was different Daisuke. I... what you were saying just wasn't... wasn't appropriate, I guess. It upset me to hear that you thought I'd use you like that. I just panicked, I didn't mean to yell but I couldn't stand it any more." The eyes dropped, darkening with a sad look, "I can understand why you'd think I hate you now, but I don't. Honest. I'm not a terrible guy or anything. I only... I only want to help you."
Daisuke didn't know how to respond to that, he'd never heard anything like it before. It didn't make much sense to him, but then again... He sighed, confused beyond belief, and slightly uncurled to look back at Ken. The bluenette was still watching him, eyes narrowed against the spray of rain but full of honesty and hope. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to trust him again... maybe Ken really meant what he had said. Hesitantly he let himself relax and held up a very dirty hand, "I... I'm all muddy."
"Huh?" Ken blinked, looking surprised, then slowly smiled, "Me too. Want to kick the ball around with me? It's not like we can get any more filthy than we already are."
Kick the ball around? With Ken? Daisuke nodded, daring to let the hope grow inside of him, and allowed Ken help him stand up. It didn't seem so bad letting himself relax a bit around Ken. It felt so good running around, in fact, that most thoughts of the Masters were sent to the back of his mind for the time being. Besides, it wasn't like they were here right now to tell him whether having this much fun was wrong or not, so they couldn't do anything about it. Not that he would ever really follow deeper into that line of thought or say it out loud.
The best thing of all, though, was that Ken was laughing right along side of him. There didn't seem to be any more hard feelings over what had happened the other day so Daisuke assumed that he'd somehow been forgiven. Ken liked him again, maybe even enough to be his friend, and that was all that really mattered right now.
=-=-=-=
"I'm soaked!"
"No fuck, Miya."
"Watch your language around the children, Yamato."
"Hate to point this out to you, but you're just as much as a kid as they are. I'm the only mature one here, it seems."
"Mature... you... I'm sorry, but my mind is not comprehending this pairing of words. Sounds like an oxymoron to me."
Takeru sighed as he listened to his brother and Miyako bicker, wishing that the older boy would just hurry up and unlock the door to the apartment. He was soaked to the bone, not to mention freezing from having to stand out in the rain for over half an hour watching Daisuke learn how to pass a soccer ball, and just plain tired. Pressed tightly against Taichi's side to try to gain at least a little body heat, he tried not to glare at the arguing pair, knowing that that might get him in more than a little bit of trouble. It wasn't until Ken finally yelled at them from the back of the large group that Yamato managed to ignore the purple haired girl long enough to slide the key into the lock and let them all squeeze through the doorway into the apartment.
Quickly Takeru slid off his muddy shoes and was about to get out of the way when he realized just how wet he really was. His clothes and hair were dripping, making a small puddle form around his feet, so he remained on the mat, scared to get the floors wet.
Both Taichi and Daisuke seemed to realize the same problem at the same time as he had, moving to stand with him and look questioningly at the others. Hikari and Miyako had already ran to claim the bathroom before any of the boys could, while Yamato had wandered off to the kitchen. Ken was about to follow his best friend until he noticed the unmoving trio still at the front door.
He raised an eyebrow at them, "Are you three coming in or not?"
"But... we're wet." Taichi explained for them, laying a light hand on both of their shoulders comfortingly.
"So?" The bluenette shrugged, but seemed to realize that this wasn't a good enough answer, "We're all wet. Don't worry about getting a bit of water on the floor, it's not like this place isn't usually a mess anyway. I'm just going to go get some towels and blankets from the hall closet, why don't you go wait in the living room?"
"I... I guess so." The oldest replied doubtfully before slowly leading the other two towards the room. Takeru's feelings mirrored the tone of the other's voice, still finding it hard to understand how the Ishida's did not care if the apartment became a bit of a mess. Back home... the Master's home, that is... they had always been very adamant about keeping the rooms clean. Not so much their own rooms, as there wasn't much in those anyway, but the ones that they did their business in everyday.
The three of them sat down on the couch together, remaining stiff and uncomfortable in their wet clothes. Ken came back a few moments later carrying a huge pile of blankets along with a few towels. He threw them each a towel, telling them to rub their hair dry and to take off their wet shirts. They did so without hesitation, trying to dry off as quickly as possible. Of course the wet pants that they still had on did not do much to help the situation.
Yamato entered the living room while they were in the middle of toweling their hair, their shirts having already been discarded. Surprisingly, he already looked completely dry, obviously having gone to his room and changed. He smiled at Takeru who couldn't help smiling back a little, pleased that his brother had noticed him. Then Yamato turned to Taichi and Daisuke with a small frown, "Looks like you two are going to need some dry clothes. You can probably borrow some of Takeru's stuff, Daisuke. And I'll lend you some of mine, Taichi. It should fit you, I think you're a bit smaller than me anyway." Taichi barely nodded, still furiously rubbing his hair with the towel. The great, brown bush still appeared as wet as ever, no matter how hard he rubbed. Yamato noticed this with a laugh, "It'll never dry that way, Taichi. You've just got too much hair. I'll grab you a hair dryer once the girls get out of the bathroom, okay?"
"What's Ken gonna wear? He's wet too." Daisuke suddenly spoke up, his short spikes already mostly dry. He was actually staring with a concerned look at the mentioned boy's still dripping shirt.
Ken grinned, "Don't worry about me, Daisuke. I always steal Yama's clothes when I need to. They're a little big, but they work well enough." Takeru noticed that the blue haired boy appeared a lot happier than he had since this morning, his violet eyes shining brightly and the smile almost never leaving his face now. He had a feeling that this happiness had something to do with Daisuke speaking to Ken again. Somehow those two had become a lot closer in the few hours since the red head had forgiven the other.
Satisfied with this answer, Daisuke reached over and took Takeru's hand, "Let's go get your clothes, I'm cold."
"Yeah, me too." Takeru agree whole heartedly with this plan. He stood up, pulling Daisuke with him, and led the way to the bedroom that he shared with Yamato. His clothes were kept in the bottom drawers of the dresser as well as in the closet. Carefully he went through one of the drawers, searching for something suitable to wear. Daisuke knelt down beside him to help.
They went through the drawer silently for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company, before Daisuke quietly said, "I don't think Ken's mad at me anymore."
"No, he's not." Takeru agreed, pulling up a large t-shirt to look at. But it was soon tossed back in as he decided that long sleeves would probably keep them warmer.
"Maybe... maybe he even likes me again." Daisuke mumbled while studying the bright patterns of a tie dye shirt that Yamato had bought for his younger brother. Takeru nodded absently, not really sure where this was all going but knowing that he'd support his friend no matter what. "Are you still mad at 'Chi?"
Takeru looked over at the other boy's profile curiously, but without surprise. He had been upset with Taichi earlier for leaving them. Of course, he hadn't said anything about it, but the red head was just as sensitive about other's emotions as he was and so had known exactly what he was feeling. The problem was that he hadn't just been feeling hurt over Taichi's quick abandonment, but over Yamato's quick acceptance of Taichi as well. Wasn't Yamato supposed to be his brother? Not Taichi's. But lately the older blonde had seemed to be drawing closer to his friend than to himself. It wasn't fair... but then again, maybe he was just being selfish. "No... I don't think so. Are you?"
"Not if you aren't. I think he likes Yamato a lot, anyway." Daisuke snickered at this while standing up to pull off the rest of his wet clothes.
Takeru did likewise, having finally found a pair of pants for each of them. Regretfully, he agreed, "Yeah, he sure seems to." Silently they slipped on the dry pants before once again searching for some shirts. Takeru sighed, "'Suke?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you... do you think that Yamato... well, maybe he'd rather have Taichi than me around?" It hurt to think of it that way, but with everything that had happened lately it seemed more than likely that it was true. Maybe Yamato wouldn't even want him as a brother anymore.
Daisuke stopped digging through the clothes, turning to face him, "No, I... I don't think so. I mean, you're his brother and Taichi... well, I don't think Taichi'd want to be his brother. Yamato-san probably likes you both, just in different ways. Of course he still wants you around, 'Keru."
With a watery smile, Takeru leaned over to give his friend a tight hug. Already he felt a bit better. He had always trusted Daisuke with all his heart and the answer did make a lot of sense. "Thanks, 'Suke."
They smiled at each other as they pulled apart, glad that they still had each other to confide in. Taichi was good for that too, of course, but sometimes there were things that the older boy just wouldn't be able to fully understand.
After another couple of minutes, Takeru finally decided that they should wear the t-shirts with one of his favorite hoody sweatshirts over top. Daisuke was thrilled with the choice, having been reluctant to put down the pretty tie dye t-shirt. Plus the hoodies were big, comfortable and very warm. They quickly put these on and hurried out of the room, worried that someone might come looking for them soon. When they entered the living room once again, they found Miyako and Hikari there with Ken. Yamato had apparently dragged Taichi off to the bathroom to get his hair dried.
Three friendly smiles greeted them as they sat back down on the couch, sharing it now with Miyako and Hikari. The girls happily moved over, chatting continuously about the soccer game, cheerleading and, for some reason, shopping. Takeru just shook his head slightly, curling up against the arm of the couch. He was so tired, maybe he could fit in a quick nap while the others were preoccupied. His eyes slowly closed as he listened silently to the others talk. Soon he felt Daisuke's head on his shoulder, although the boy was still listening closely as Ken explained some more rules of soccer. His mind was lulled to unconsciousness by the comfortable warmth of the other's body and the quiet hum of the other conversations. Everything really was turning out pretty good, considering all of the difficulties they had been having since leaving their old home. Maybe it could all stay this way forever... maybe they would never have to go back to the old business. Even though he knew that it was blasphemes to even think that way, he couldn't help but smile at it anyway.
=-=-=-=
(A/N) To be continued, of course. Hopefully much sooner
than this one was! Yay, Daisuke and Ken are friends again, which is
a start ^_^ Well, I'm not sure how the entire fic turned out, I really
wanted to get this done once I got started, but hopefully it doesn't seem
too rushed or anything. And thanks again for all those reviews that
urged me to continue, they're exactly what I need.