Author's note: As you may or may not have noticed, there's a good deal of Ken in this fic. Why, you ask, would there be a good deal of Ken in a Yamasuke? It's simple, I reply. I love Ken-kun. He's my baby, first and forever, and no voyage into any other fandom, no matter how great it is or was, has ever been able to change that. So here's to Ken, the first man to hold my attention for more than 2 months. May he be the last! :p
Absolutions 06: Lair of the Dragon
"When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite." ~Sir Winston Churchill
"I am not a psychopath, I am a sociopath. I know that what I am doing is wrong, I just don't care." ~Pretender, 2001
+++++++++++
"Takeru?" Yamato asked as the front bell buzzed. Daisuke shook his head, taking a frightened step backwards.
"No," he swallowed, "I left the door unlocked. Besides, Takeru knocks."
"Daisuke! I'm home!" Takeru's voice rang down the hall.
"Oh thank you god," Daisuke whispered, slumping back against the kitchen counter.
"Wha—" Yamato paused, "Daisuke? What's going on?"
"Nothing. Nothing," he was assured, Daisuke doing his best to take deep, calming breaths between each word, "For a minute there I thought he'd hired a taxi."
"Taxi?" Takeru asked, finding them still in the kitchen.
"Taxi." Daisuke answered.
Yamato did his best not to let out a frustrated growl, looking first to Takeru, who only shrugged, then to Daisuke, "Do you want to tell me what's go on here, Daisuke?"
"Don't worry." Daisuke smiled, shaking the cramp out of the hand he had had clinched over his chest, "It's nothing to be scared of," he promised.
"All evidence to the contrary."
Daisuke flinched, "Ken's just a little," he stopped to think of the best way to explain the situation, "upset with me at the moment."
This time it was Takeru's turn to be surprised, "Upset!? How did you manage to upset him when he hasn't even been here all week?" he asked.
Daisuke let out a gusty sigh before grinding out, "Not helping Takeru."
"Taxi?" Yamato spoke the question for the second time, not willing to let Daisuke off the hook quite that easily.
"I'm supposed to pick Ken and Miyako up at the airport tonight," Daisuke hastened to explain, "I think I may move to Madagascar first though." He turned to the shorter blonde with his best pout, "Are you doing anything later tonight?" he begged.
"Oh no you don't," Takeru was already trying to back his way out of the kitchen, "You're not going to pawn Vindictive!Ken off on me!"
"Takeru, please," Daisuke begged, never letting Takeru get more than two steps away from him, "You know how he gets! And it's not like I've never done anything for you before," Daisuke looked about frantically as Takeru continued to pace backwards, trying his best to think of some past good deed he could hold over Takeru's head when finally it dawned upon him, "I took YOUR brother in when he had no where else to go!"
"Well! Good to know I'm as terrible as Bitter!Ken." Yamato groused. Daisuke balked, trying to divide his attention between both the escaping Takeru and the now decidedly put out Yamato. Giving up on the possibility of actually accomplishing such brilliant multi-tasking, and he grabbed Takeru's flannel shirt to keep him from using this chance to slip away, and focused his attention on the elder brother.
"It's Vindictive!Ken, and besides—" Daisuke faltered, unable to think of a way of reassuring Yamato with out giving Takeru an all too easy out, "Just work with me here!" he begged.
"You want me to work with you?" Yamato asked, both eyebrows shooting nearly sky high as if the request were unimaginable.
"Yes."
"Fine." Yamato conceded. He turned to Takeru with a face of grim resolve. "Go. Get. Ken."
"Yaaaamaaaa," Takeru pleaded, "That's not fair! I'm family!"
Yamato gripped his younger brother by the shoulders, giving them both a firm squeeze before meeting Takeru's imploring eyes dead on, "And I love you," he smiled before dropping either arm to his sides and walking away.
Takeru and Daisuke were left to stare at each other in the middle of the living room. After what seemed like an eternity of endless moments, Daisuke reached into his right hand pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.
"The flight info," he offered, trying his best not to smile and not succeeding in the least, "The plane arrives at 7:38."
Takeru snatched the paper away with a grunt, "This isn't over," he promised, "You just wait."
Sure, Daisuke wanted to respond, but all he could get out was a choked sort of, "Ja—" before he burst into laughter.
+++++++++++
Takeru frowned at his watch. How dare it tell him that it was 9:30! Of all the stupid, idiotic, retarded things for a plane to be, late had to be the worst. He kicked at a crumpled piece of newspaper, earning himself a dirty look from the nearby janitor.
"Stupid plane," Takeru muttered, "stupid airport, stupid, stupid Yamat—"
"Where's Daisuke?" Takeru nearly jumped out of his skin at Ken's all too calm question.
"Gyah!" Takeru squealed, "Don't do that, Ken!" When Ken didn't seem particularly inclined to apologize, he continued, "Daisuke is playing chicken with my brother," he groused.
"So that's what they're calling it now," Miyako popped up over Ken's shoulder to insert her own two bits. Ken just growled, his lips pursed in annoyance.
"Well, whatever they're calling it," Takeru complained, "I hope they're done." At Ken's second growl, Takeru decided it was time to change the topic of conversation, "Bags?" he asked, "Have you picked up your bags?" Miyako stepped back, revealing a luggage cart on which were arranged suitcases of varying sizes, each neatly placed so that they formed the most stable and all but perfect geometric design of which even a mineral would have been proud.
"Ken got them."
"I see," Takeru answered slowly, doing his best to ignore the multitude of now ringing warning bells put in place by his one semester of Intro to Psychology, "I guess we'd better head on home."
"Actually," Ken did not sound as if he agreed with Takeru's plan, "We got Daisuke a souvenir. I was hoping that you wouldn't mind dropping by your place first."
Takeru paused. On one hand, this evening's events not considered, Daisuke really was one of his best friends. On the other—
"Sure!" Takeru smiled, "I think that'd be great."
+++++++++++
"Takeru?" Yamato asked at the knock on the front door. Daisuke shook his head, taking a frightened step backwards.
"Trap," he mouthed, holding a finger to his lips as he looked back and forth across the kitchen as if for some place to hide.
"Trap?" Yamato asked just as the kitchen door slid open and they were presented with smiling image of a perfect Ken.
"And to think I was worried you might not be in," Ken smiled.
"In?" Daisuke asked.
"Yes." There it was again, that all too pleasant smile. Daisuke fought back a shudder as Ken continued; "I had Takeru make a quick stop so I could talk to you."
"Ken?" Yamato interrupted carefully, not failing to notice the slight frown before it was all too quickly replaced with that frightening leer, "Where's Takeru?" Takeru was, after all, his little brother and he really would never be able to live with himself if he had sent him to his untimely death.
"He's waiting in the car. I'll only be a minute," Ken promised before turning his attention back to Daisuke and motioning out the kitchen door with his eyes and a small nod of his head, "Daisuke?"
Daisuke gave his own slight nod, moving to step out of the kitchen and towards the back of the apartment.
"Daisuke?" Yamato asked uncertainly, only to get no response from the person in question.
"You'll have him back in just a sec," Ken answered for him, "Promise." Yamato was so intent on watching Daisuke be all but marched back towards one of the bedrooms that he failed to notice that Miyako had joined him. Thus when she finally spoke up, he was nearly startled out of his wits.
"Poor, poor Daisuke," she tsked, shaking her head sadly.
"Miyako?" Yamato questioned once he had gotten his breath back, "Ken's not going to, you know, kill him or anything, is he?"
Miyako laughed, "Ken?" she asked incredulously, "No. Ken'd kill anyone who dared to touch even one hair on Daisuke's head in a way he didn't approve of, but Daisuke…" she laughed again at the very idea of Ken hurting Daisuke, "Daisuke gets away with murder."
Yamato relaxed when given her reassurances, "I guess he's always been really protective of Daisuke," he speculated.
"Woo-hoo…" she whistled, making a swirling motion at her temple to indicate just how deep Ken's psychosis went, "If I were you, it's something I'd keep in mind."
"And that doesn't bother you," Yamato asked, "I mean, that he's so protective of Daisuke?"
"Well," Miyako shrugged, pulling Daisuke's last breakfast bar out of the overhead cabinet with a happy mmmm, "It used to. But then I realized that Ken was making Daisuke's life a total hell, and so what did I have to complain about?" She flashed him a bright grin.
"That—that's a lovely sentiment, Miyako. Really."
"Un," she mumbled, obviously more intent on opening the cereal bar wrapper than in continuing any previous conversations. The line of communication was dead.
+++++++++++
"Listen Ken," Daisuke began carefully, "I'm really sorry about the ba—"
"That's not why I'm here," he was interrupted, "Although I do expect full reparations. Quickly."
"Quickly?"
"End of the week." Ken intoned.
"But tomorrow's Sunday!"
The arch of Ken's eyebrow seemed to suggest that he could in no way see any reason why Daisuke might be unable to meet his request in 26 hours or less. Daisuke, on the other hand, knew that he was dead meat and would spend his last few hours of freedom before returning to classes scouring the shops of Tokyo. Life was NOT fair.
"Ugh, fine." Daisuke finally conceded, "What else?"
"Yamato."
"No!" Daisuke stomped his foot for extra emphasis. Ken was not fazed.
"Yes."
"NO!" Daisuke insisted even more stringently, flinching when he heard his voice raise an octave.
"Keep it down," Ken complained, "I've not gotten nearly enough sleep this week and I have a pounding headache."
"Ugh," came the disgusted response. Ken let out an annoyed growl as if it were beyond ridiculous for Daisuke to be appalled by his implications.
"Grow up."
"Take a nap."
"Just tell me."
"I said NO."
"Fine." Ken sighed, seeming to give in, "But I want the goods at my apartment by tomorrow night," he reminded, "Oh, and Miyako got you a souvenir. I left it in the front hall."
"Fine." Daisuke responded, taking Ken's catch phrase for his own, as he reveled in his small victory, "Thanks."
It wasn't until he heard Ken saying his goodbyes to Yamato that Daisuke realized that he had just promised to walk, willingly nonetheless, into the demon's lair.
Victory, his ass, this war was just starting.
+++++++++++
"But they've only been married a week. How could he have forgotten her?" Daisuke looked up at what had to be the thousandth peppermint stripped sign with a prayer. This was not going good. Why the hell hadn't Ken just told him where he bought the damned candies?
"He said he thought she was in the car." Yamato was not helping, completely failing to see why Daisuke might be just a tad annoyed about having had to, as Daisuke insisted upon putting it, baby-sit Miyako until Ken remembered that he was supposed to have more than luggage in the car with he and Takeru. Come to think of it, Takeru had some explaining to do as well.
"Well she wasn't," Daisuke reminded him for the one hundredth time that morning, "She was in the kitchen."
Yamato sighed as he began scanning the various bin for the candy in question, "Yes. We all know that now."
"Why did she come into the apartment in the first place?" Daisuke demanded, looking about for a store employee to harass for answers.
"She was hungry."
Daisuke's eyes narrowed for a moment before he attempted to brush away his suspicion with a shake of the head, "You'd have said something if you knew she was in the apartment, right?" he questioned carefully.
"Of course I would have!" Yamato answered instantly, "What are we looking for again?"
"Smmarr-teess," Daisuke sounded out the foreign word carefully before catching the eye of a perky woman dressed as a cupcake and waving her over. When she had bounded over Daisuke began to question her as to the candies in question.
At first it seemed like another no-go, with Ms. Cupcake showing Daisuke everything from licorice buttons to kissed mints, and Daisuke was beginning to become just a smidgen frustrated.
It was Yamato who saved him though, insisting that Daisuke wait as he paid for what had to be the fiftieth pound of candy that he just had to try. "Have you ever seen these?" he asked, holding up a handful of rolls of colorful candies.
"Yamato!" Daisuke demanded, causing both Yamato and the store clerk to jump to attention, "Where did you get those?" he asked as slowly and carefully as possible.
"In a bin in the back," Yamato shrugged, "I saw them a few stores ago, but I wanted to get the chocolate sprinkle kisses more and when I asked you said I should only get one." Daisuke tried to think back to when Yamato had bought the chocolate kisses. That had to be at least three hours ago!
"Why didn't you tell me you had seen them then?" Daisuke ground out.
"Wha—" Yamato questioned, "These? Are these the, ah—" he tried to think of the word that Daisuke had been repeating for him all morning.
"Smarties," Daisuke furnished. Yamato gave an apologetic sort of smile.
"English isn't really my best language. To be honest, that's the course I usually skipped out of to go practice with the band." Yamato gave his best smile. Daisuke was not buying it.
"Then why did you keep asking me what they were called?"
Yamato just shrugged. There was no nice way to say that you were only pretending to be interested in something just for the chance to ride around with someone all day.
"Argh," Daisuke growled, gripping Yamato's arm with a sigh, "Just show me where you got them." Yamato led him back to the bin, smiling at Daisuke's heave of relief at finding all the Smarties he needed and more. For once, Daisuke was glad the people with candy fetishes seemed to be drawn to him. He quickly scooped up a large baggie for Ken, and after a second's pause, another for himself. Then he paid and made his way out of the bright store as quickly as humanly possible.
"Do you need to go anywhere else? Grocery store?" Yamato offered, hoping to smooth over his little faux pas as much as possible as they walked out of the shop.
"No. I've got to head over to Ken's. I prefer to go on Mondays, anyway. It's less crowded," Daisuke explained, "Besides, the only thing I couldn't live with out is my breakfast bar and I made sure I saved one."
Yamato flinched, but remained absolutely one-hundred percent silent.
+++++++++++
"Daisuke!" Ken smiled, opening the door wide, "You came!" Daisuke's eyes narrowed at the uncharacteristically exuberant welcome.
"You made me promise," came the cautious reply.
"Still, I'm glad," Ken motioned for Daisuke to enter, "Come on, Miyako's almost got dinner ready."
So that was going to be Ken's weapon of choice, poisoning.
"She's making your favorite," Ken continued as he led Daisuke down the hall towards the computer room, "Natto."
"I hate natto," Daisuke frowned, beginning to get a firmer and firmer grip on the situation.
"Oops," Ken smirked, "My mistake. Well you know how Miyako hates it when you skip out without eating."
"Lay it on the table Ken," Daisuke intoned, tired of waiting for Ken to get to his punch line.
"Well the way I look at it, you have got a little less than thirty minutes before she's finished and you cannot escape without eating. So you had better cooperate."
"Or," Daisuke had his own idea, "I could just drop these here," he held the baggie of Smarties above Ken's desk, "And leave right now."
That was all it took to crack Ken up, pushing him so far over the edge as to require his leaning on Daisuke's shoulder to keep from falling down. Daisuke was not nearly so amused, waiting for Ken to regain his sense of equilibrium with an almost seething air.
Speed and subtlety had always been Ken's specialties, and to be honest, Daisuke was already in the well-padded computer chair with the handcuffs firmly locked around his left wrist before he even realized what was happening.
"You've always been entirely too easy," Ken said with a smirk, leaning back so that he could sit against the desk. Daisuke pulled at the cuffs, but to no avail.
"Ken!" Daisuke complained, "You promised you'd never do this again."
"I lied."
"KEN!"
"You know," Ken shook his head, "I have never liked the way you've said my name when you were angry."
"Okay," Daisuke took a deep breath, "I won't do it again. Just undo me and we'll talk about this like normal people."
"Nope. Don't think so." Ken blew off his request with little more than a flick of the wrist. "Yamato."
"There is nothing going on between us!" Daisuke gave a few desperate jerks against the cuffs.
"Stop that!" Ken commanded, "You will scratch the chair arm." When Daisuke quit attempting to disjoint his thumb, Ken continued, "Just tell me the truth and I'll let you free."
"What? No! Look Ken, we haven't even kissed!!" Daisuke insisted. Ken was not buying it. "Okay, so he kissed me, but we haven't! Not for real, anyway."
"Sure," nope, Ken definitely was not convinced, "I think we need a working definition of the word 'real,'" he intoned.
"I'm not saying that the thought hasn't crossed my mind," Daisuke reasoned, "It has. But you have to believe me Ken. Yamato and I are not doing anything!"
Ken frowned at Daisuke's insistence, "Do you know what denial is Daisuke?" he asked softly.
"Ken..."
"Well?"
Daisuke sighed, "Of course I do. Denial is refusing to admit when something is true."
"No." Ken interjected with a wink, "It's a river in Africa, but I digress."
"Ken!" That was going too far, "Let. Me. UP." Ken, however, disagreed.
"No." There was a momentary pause as both men stared; each hoping the other would break. Finally Ken pushed himself away from the desk, reaching behind to retrieve the bag of Smarties. He opened it, and with a smile, pulled two rolls out, offering one to Daisuke.
Daisuke shook his head at the obvious bribe. Ken shrugged and dropped the candy back into the bag with a sigh. "Daisuke?" Ken asked carefully. Daisuke was not yet sure that he wanted to buy the injured act.
"What is it?"
"Please just tell me one thing, okay?" Ken paused with a soft smile, "Answer me one question and I'll undo the cuffs and let you go home."
Daisuke had heard that one before, "Undo the cuffs and I'll promise to answer one question."
"You know I can't do that Daisuke," Ken frowned. Yes, Daisuke knew.
"Fine," he conceded, "What's your questions?" at the way Ken's eyes lit up, Daisuke knew he needed to clarify, "I might answer."
Ken did not seem concerned by Daisuke's warning, "Why Yamato?"
"Why not?" It was the first thing that had come to Daisuke's mind and he knew that saying it was a bad idea before the short phrase was even completely out of his mouth. It was not enough that he all but admitted that there was something going on between he and Yamato, but he had to go and annoy Ken in the process. Somehow, Daisuke knew this had to be all Ken's fault.
"Why the Kaiser, then?"
That was not the response that Daisuke had been expecting. "Ken…" Daisuke called softly, but Ken was no longer there, he had been completely lost to thought. Daisuke waited patiently for his friend to return.
"I can't remember."
The simple phrase caught Daisuke completely by surprise.
"Did I ever tell you?" Ken asked when Daisuke failed to respond. "I can't remember anything," Ken had pulled his foot up to the desk's edge so that he could rest his chin on the bent knee, "Except you," he told the bookshelf on Daisuke's left, "You were the first thing I managed to do right," Ken turned to Daisuke with a self-depreciating smile, "And even that just about drove me over the edge."
"That's not true," Daisuke interjected, trying his best to get away from the damned chair. Ken just shook his head at Daisuke's futile attempts.
"I just want you to be happy," Ken assured him, "I want this to be perfect. No mistakes."
Daisuke knew the concern was genuine, if misplaced. He tried to get Ken to actually look at him but failed. "No offence Ken," Daisuke began, hoping Ken would glance up long enough for Daisuke to catch his eyes, "but all you're doing is dooming me to a life alone. No relationship is ever going to be perfect enough."
It seemed as if Ken were staring directly through Daisuke, so far gone was he in his own thoughts. Daisuke was sure that a full minute had passed before Ken's attention finally snapped back to reality.
Not that that was a good thing.
Ken pinned Daisuke with his best look of resolve. "Fine," Ken decided, "I'll just call Jun. I'm sure she'd love to hear the news."
Damn. "You. Wouldn't. Dare."
"Try me."
"KEN!!"
+++++++++++
"Takeru!" Yamato shook his brother by the shoulders, trying his best to get the younger blond to actually look at him, "I know you're not talking to me but this is really important. Please!"
Finally a bit of the ice in Takeru's eyes began to crack, "What?" he asked begrudgingly.
"I need to know what type of breakfast bar Daisuke eats. It's really important," he insisted for the second time.
"Breakfast bar?" Takeru's curiosity was peaked, "Why do you need to know about that?" Yamato was torn. On the one hand, it was easy to see that Takeru was still mad at him and could very well mislead him in the hopes of getting revenge. On the other, Takeru was his only little brother who cared for him more than anyone else in the world and who would no doubt understand and want to help his older brother out. Yamato was going to vote on love.
"Well, actually, I knew Miyako was in the apartment last night," Yamato explained, "But I told Daisuke that she wasn't."
"Yes. That's a good relationship. The lies are already starting." Takeru rolled over so that all Yamato was presented with was his back.
"Takeru, you have to help me!" Yamato begged.
"I still don't see what any of that has to do with breakfast bars," Takeru told the wall.
"I saw her eat his last bar," Yamato admitted softly, "And when he said everything was okay as long as he had that bar, I didn't say anything," Yamato flinched, "So tomorrow he's going to get up and not find that bar and he's going to hit the roof."
"Lies and intrigue," Takeru complimented sarcastically, "This is a new high."
"Taker—" Yamato began, halting as Takeru rolled back over and sat up to face him.
"No, no, let me guess," it was Takeru's turn to ask, "Now you want to replace the missing bar before Daisuke gets back so he'll never be able to figure out that you ever knew Miyako was over last night. Is that it?"
"Yes," Yamato offered his best smile.
"I should just let you reap what you've sewed," Takeru began, but then the hard resolve on his face softened, "But I guess I can understand where you are coming from." Takeru stood up and walked across the small room to where his computer printer sat, removing a clean sheet of paper to draw a map. "The store where Daisuke buys them is right down the street about three blocks." Takeru handed the completed map to his eagerly waiting brother, "Just get anything blueberry. That's his favorite and the only one he ever buys."
"Thank you!" Yamato breathed a sigh of relief before rushing out of the room and then the apartment with more than just the devil on his heels. Takeru smiled to himself as he watched the mad dash down the hall. It was nice to know that Yamato was so concerned about Daisuke's happiness.
Never mind Daisuke was allergic to blueberries.
Blood may have been thicker than water, but revenge outweighed them both.
+++++++++++
Yamato placed the blueberry cereal bar in the cabinet he'd seen Miyako take Daisuke's from, listening the entire time for any sound, no matter how small, that might signal Daisuke's arrival home.
So far, so good. Yamato had been a little worried when he arrived at the 24-hour quick-mart and seen how many different boxes of cereal bars there were. However, the gods were smiling on him. There had only been one particular brand that carried a blueberry flavor. Yamato had bought the box and hurried back to his brother's apartment.
He shut the cabinet, looking about for a place to deposit the remaining five bars in the box, briefly considering the trash can before deciding in favor of under the sink. After all, it'd be such a waste to just throw them away. He'd figure out what he was actually going to do with them later.
Yamato had just hidden the superfluous bars when he heard the apartment door open and close. Sticking his head out the kitchen door, he saw a worn out looking Daisuke kicking off his shoes with a grunt.
"Daisuke?" Yamato asked carefully. The tired man smiled up at him.
"Hey Yamato." Daisuke stumbled down the hall to his room, collapsing on his bed in exhaustion. Yamato carefully padded his way down to Daisuke's doorway, sticking only his head inside.
"Is everything okay, Daisuke?" he asked carefully. He was surprised when Daisuke smiled.
"Yeah," Daisuke scooted further over on the bed, motioning for Yamato to enter and sit, "War is a terrible, terrible thing," he informed Yamato, "But it's nice to win."
"War?" Yamato questioned softly, wondering what in the world Daisuke could possibly be going on about, but no answer was forthcoming, as Daisuke was sound asleep.
Yamato smiled at the way the drool was already beginning to pool around the edge of Daisuke's mouth. Whatever explanations there were would have to wait until the next day. Yamato pulled off Daisuke's socks, dropping them on the floor beside the bed and pulled the covers up around the younger man. Then, picking up Daisuke's alarm clock, he went to find his brother.
+++++++++++
Daisuke jumped, as he was jolted out of a beautiful dream by his hateful alarm. Bringing the beastly mechanism closer to his bed, he was shocked to see that it was only 6:00 am. He never even knew his clock could be set to such an early wake-up call. What harbinger of unspeakable cruelty could possibly have done such an ungodly thing?
"Takeru!" It was the first name to pop into his head and Daisuke knew, as only one who had lived with the vengeful blond could, that it was the name of his punisher. Nor did Daisuke buy the confused look Takeru gave him when he popped his head into the room. After all, a truly worried Takeru never failed to all but run and jump into Daisuke's bed.
"Daisuke?" Takeru yawned, "What are you doing up?"
"I was just about to ask you that," Daisuke frowned.
Takeru hummed, "I always get up this early for class." Takeru's early morning reflexes were good. He was actually able to duck Daisuke's alarm clock when it was thrown at him.
"Why am I up?" Daisuke clarified.
"Daisuke!" Takeru complained, "That could have hit me!"
Daisuke did not answer, continuing to glare at Takeru with steely brown eyes. Or eyes as steely as brown could be, Takeru supposed. Finally Takeru shrugged his answer. Daisuke knew it was his fault and Takeru knew that Daisuke knew. There really was not much of a point in standing around staring at each other all morning.
"That's really mean," Daisuke complained.
"So is turning my own brother against me," it was still too early in the morning for Takeru to have much sympathy.
"Okay, fine," Daisuke finally conceded, "I'm sorry. Truce?" Daisuke gave a hopeful little smile, the one he knew worked better on Takeru than any of his others.
Takeru seemed to consider it for a moment before agreeing, "Truce." The old friends shared a relieved sigh. "What are you doing?" Takeru asked when, after a big yawn-stretch, Daisuke made to crawl out of bed.
"Getting up," Daisuke offered tentatively at Takeru's shocked tone. He gave the blond boy a strange look before standing up and stretching again to fully work the kinks out of his back.
"Why?"
Daisuke paused, as if trying to make since of the simple question before shaking it out of his head and walking past Takeru out of his room.
"Where are you going?" Takeru asked as he tracked Daisuke down the hall towards the kitchen.
"Takeru?" Now it was Daisuke's turn to question the other boy's strange behavior, "What's going on?"
There was a short pause before Takeru dropped his head and mumbled, "Nothing," to the floor.
"Gooooood," Daisuke answered somewhat unsurely, walking into the kitchen. He had reached into the overhead cabinet, fingers curling around his final breakfast bar when Takeru burst in on him for the second time that morning.
"Stop!"
Daisuke jumped, dropping the bar and banging his hip against the counter's edge. "What is IT?" he demanded. Takeru chewed his lower lip, as if considering just what it was that he was going to tell Daisuke. "Oh no you don't," Daisuke insisted, "Tell me the truth."
Takeru gave a hurt whimper, but agreed, "Fine." He picked the cereal bar up from where it had landed on the counter and turned it so that Daisuke could read the label.
"But…" Daisuke looked as if he might cry at not getting his breakfast as expected.
"It's all my fault," Takeru hastened to assure him, "I'm the one who told Yamato to get blueberry."
"Yamato?" Daisuke questioned. Takeru nodded, biting his tongue to keep from saying what his heart wanted him to say for his brother but that his brain most definitely did not. Confused, Daisuke frowned, "Wh—"
"I told him that Miyako had taken yours when she was over." Damn. Takeru would have to remember to get his tongue removed. It was for his own good. When Daisuke's confused look did not change, Takeru continued, "He wanted you to be happy so he got you some more." Realization seemed to be dawning on Daisuke, never mind it was actually all lies, "So I told him you liked blueberries."
"But I'm allergic to blueberries." Takeru had never seen Daisuke look more like a kicked puppy dog.
"I know," Takeru answered the disappointed boy, "I'm sorry." It was almost more than he could handle when Daisuke gave a depressed sniff, "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
Daisuke just nodded, silent in his apparent grief.
+++++++++++
Something about a whole week's holiday made coming back to classes seem that much worse. Never mind that Miyako had not even bothered to show; making Daisuke have to borrow a pen from some girl he had only ever smiled at twice and spoken to once. Those few encounters were hardly enough to put them on pen-borrowing terms.
Heretofore, Daisuke would have sworn that no single human being possessed the power to slow time. He would have been wrong. As it was, it was all Daisuke could do to keep from letting out an excited whoop when the professor finally announced the class's end. Returning the un-named girl's pen with his most flowery thank you and sauciest wink, Daisuke set off for home at the quickest pace his almost new dignity-born-of-age would allow.
At the bus stop he briefly considered heading home before foregoing the idea with a derisive shake of his head. After all, fair was fair and he was not about to let Miyako get away so easily.
It was a short bus ride, easily walkable if one did not feel like wasting the token necessary and before Daisuke was even fully settled, he was already at the stop just down the corner from Ken's apartment.
Wishing that he had remembered to grab a coat on his way out the door that morning, Daisuke hurried down the street and then up the three flights of stairs to Ken's apartment. He had just reached the landing on Ken's level when he heard the elevator chime and who should step out, but the prodigal daughter. They stared at each other, Daisuke still puffing from hauling it up the stairs and Miyako's face flushed from what Daisuke could only assume was the effect of the day's sharp wind. It was Miyako who broke off the impromptu staring contest first, making a beeline for her new apartment, unlocking the door and then slamming it shut in Daisuke's face.
Not deterred in the slightest, Daisuke opened the door and let himself in.
"Where were you?" Daisuke asked when he finally cornered Miyako in the kitchen.
"Go away Daisuke." He would have to be an idiot not to have figured out that something was bothering the dark haired girl.
"Where were you?" Daisuke asked again, a bit more softly, if more insistent.
Miyako finally turned towards him with a growl, "Not that it's any of your business, but I had a doctor's appointment."
"Miya!"
Miyako gave the panicking boy a thoroughly disgusted look, "I'm not dying you idiot. I'm pregnant." Daisuke let out a sigh of intense relief.
"Ohhhhhh. Is that all?"
"Is that ALL?" Judging by Miyako's tone she did not find the two alternatives so very different. "Do you have any idea how bad a time it is for this right now? Do you?" Miyako threw her hands up into the air, shaking her head at Daisuke's obvious ignorance.
"What do you mean?" Daisuke was through confused, if not a little disturbed by Miyako's reaction to what he would have thought would be good news.
Miyako chewed the corner of her lip, seeming to weigh her next statement carefully. "Ken quit his job."
"I know."
Flippancy was not high on Miyako's list of possible Daisuke-replies, "What do you mean, I know?" she eyed him narrowly.
Daisuke shrugged, "I know. He told me."
"When?"
Daisuke flinched at the sharp question. Somehow he knew this was going to end with him in trouble. "Just before the wedding…" he answered carefully.
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ME?" Apparently his careful answer had not been careful enough.
"He made me promise not to!" Daisuke insisted, hoping to ward off any physical attack. It seemed to work, with Miyako taking a deep breath and pulling out one of the table chairs so that she could sit down, though whether or not it was because of his quick answer or some other reason Daisuke could not be sure, but he never was one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"He wants to be a private detective," Miyako continued after a short rest, "Did he tell you that?"
Daisuke gave a noncommittal shrug. Miyako shook her head.
"I want him to have this, I do, but now just is not the time to be chasing after childhood dreams," Miyako paused, looking for an answer from Daisuke but he did not have one. Miyako sighed, "Unfortunately, Ken is the one person that I can't say that to, the one person that deserves this chance. I can't let this ruin that for him."
"Then don't," came Daisuke's all too naive reply, "Just
don't tell him."
"I can't not tell him," Miyako insisted, "Even as distracted as Ken gets when he's working on something new, he will eventually notice."
"Yeah," Daisuke whispered. He had wanted to sound sure, like he understood, but he only managed to sound worried. Miyako must have noticed because she gave him a small smile.
"I'm not stupid, you know," she assured him, "I will figure something out." Daisuke nodded, thankful that at least she was trying.
"Just do me a favor, Miya," Daisuke requested, "Next time I tell you I don't want you to have sex with someone, listen to me. Please?"
Miyako could not help herself; she laughed at Daisuke's pleading tone, "Idiot."
+++++++++++
Daisuke stood in the living room doorway; left hand in the crook of his right elbow while his right thumb and forefinger gripped his chin. He stepped into the room, measuring the distance across with his eyes then stepped out and across to his own room to do the same. After that it was back to the living room and then Takeru's room. On his way back, he stopped at the hall closet and sliding the door open, gave the small space a through going over before shutting it again with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Yamato glanced up from his stack of apartment brochures when Daisuke reentered the living room for what had to be the third or fourth time in the last 15 minutes. "What are you doing?" he demanded. Daisuke seemed shocked that anyone had even noticed his maneuvers. He walked over to the couch and collapsed next to the thoroughly confused Yamato.
"How hard, do you think, is it to hide a baby?" At Yamato's confused blink, Daisuke continued, "I mean, how noisy are they?"
"What are you talking about?"
Daisuke seemed to consider Yamato's question as if it had actually been an answer to his questions, "No. You're right," he apparently agreed, "How terrible would it be to live with Miyako? I mean, is that actually humanly possible?"
Yamato thought for a moment, trying to force Daisuke's abstract thoughts into some semblance of meaning, "Miyako's having a baby," he finally concluded, only to have the idea quickly shot down by a humored Daisuke.
"No!" Daisuke laughed, "Can you imagine? Where'd you get that idea?" Yamato shrugged, confused more than normal. He wisely decided to keep his big mouth shut when Daisuke stood back up and resumed his pacing of what was proving to be a very small apartment.
By the time Takeru got home nearly 30 minutes later, Daisuke had resorted to removing all the coats from the front closet in the hopes that it was bigger than it had at first appeared. Takeru quickly skirted to distracted boy, opting instead to question his brother who now stood in the living room doorway watching Daisuke with ill-disguised worry.
"What is he doing?"
Yamato gave a small shrug, "Either looking for a baby or trying to hide one."
"What?" When his brother did not clarify, Takeru turned towards Daisuke, "Daisuke, what are you doing?"
Daisuke glanced up from his work, "Trying to see if I could fit a crib in here," he answered matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Okay," Takeru shrugged, making his way back to his bedroom to drop of his books, "I'll order out for dinner then," he offered over his shoulder to the two who still stood in the hall by the coat closet.
"M'kay," Daisuke answered without looking up. Yamato followed his brother into his bedroom.
"Is that all?" he questioned, waving his hands in the air, "Aren't you just a bit concerned?"
Takeru regarded the panicking blond calmly, "No. Its just Daisuke," he assured his brother, "He does this some times." At Yamato's shocked look, Takeru continued, "Don't worry. He'll eventually figure out that there's no way he can fit a crib in there and forget the whole thing." Yamato did not seem comforted.
"You are all crazy!" he declared, storming out of the room. Takeru shook his head.
Why did all the lunatics come to live with him?
+++++++++++
Pizza proved to be the perfect antidote from whatever form of acute psychosis Daisuke was suffering from. Barely a minute after the deliveryman had knocked on the door Daisuke had managed to replace each of the coats, if haphazardly, and had joined the two brothers at the table. Not that that meant that everything was back to normal. Takeru frowned at Yamato in the hopes that he would notice and stop frowning at Daisuke.
"Mmm, good," Daisuke complimented, completely oblivious to any concerns for his mental health.
"Yeah," Takeru agreed. Yamato continued to bite his tongue, opting instead to continue his surveillance of Daisuke and getting a sharp elbow in his side for his effort.
"Listen," Takeru began, hoping to break what was fast becoming an uncomfortable silence, for him anyway, only to be cut off by the shrill ring of the telephone.
He was standing up to answer when, mouth still full of pizza, Daisuke shouted, "Stop!" The room froze, Takeru with his hand out to grab the phone and Yamato with a slice of what was proving to be very hot pizza half way to his mouth. They both watched as Daisuke picked up the caller identification box and tilted it so that they could see the number.
"Jun?" Takeru questioned Daisuke's sudden fear of his sister as the telephone continued to ring annoyingly.
"Ken called her," Daisuke hastened to explain, "He said some things. Or rather she wasn't home so he left her a message."
"Like…" Takeru paused. The phone seemed to have finally stopped ringing, "what?"
Daisuke glanced to where Yamato sat, seemingly so engrossed in the conversation that he had yet to put down his slice of pizza even though the toppings had begun to drip off of the side. "Nothing," Daisuke mumbled to the tabletop.
All three boys jumped as the phone suddenly started to life again. "It couldn't have been nothing," Takeru insisted.
"What was it?" Yamato concurred, noticing that Daisuke seemed to have recently become flushed despite the temperature of the room not having changed.
"I don't remember the whole message," Daisuke hedged, hoping that they would be kind enough to let him off the hook.
"What do you remember?" Takeru asked. Apparently there wasn't a kind bone in that boy's body.
"Ahh," Daisuke's eyes darted to where Yamato sat, still calmly watching him before turning back to Takeru with a pleading look.
"If this involves my brother then I think he has the right to hear it," Takeru stated matter-of-factly, dashing all of Daisuke's hopes. Takeru reached out to where the phone was still ringing, and picking it up, immediately placed it back on the receiver. Daisuke flinched. Jun was not going to like that. For his part, Yamato just seemed all the more confused. "Well?" Takeru gave the table an inpatient slap.
"Ken told her that Yamato was," Daisuke sighed, doing his best to think of a nicer way to put Ken's original phone message, something that could be said at a dinner table, "unavailable due to certain...extenuating...circumstances."
"How extenuating?" Takeru asked.
Daisuke's lips twitched, "Very." He glanced over to where Yamato was still listening intently.
Takeru's eyes narrowed, pinning Daisuke with the overprotective-brother-of-doom look that heretofore had only been reserved for Taichi. Daisuke was suddenly overcome with waves of empathy for the long-suffering goggle head. "Explain," came the short command.
Daisuke chewed his lip, trying to gather all of his courage for one big run but having very little success. Eventually he just let his fingers do the talking, pointing first to Yamato, then to himself and then swirling his finger between the two of them in what Takeru could only guess meant together before dropping his hands into his lap and whispering, "Gay."
"That's what you're worried about?" Yamato interjected suddenly. Both Takeru and Daisuke seemed shocked by his sudden vocalization. "That wouldn't upset Jun."
"I don't think you know Jun very well," Daisuke intoned.
Yamato sighed, "No. Really. I don't think it'll be that big of a shock. I mean, unless you..." Yamato trailed off uncertainly.
"No." Daisuke answered, "She knows."
"Well then! Everything's okay," Yamato stated, turning his attention back to his pizza.
"But..." Daisuke hedged.
"Look if you're worried about her finding out about me, don't be," Yamato explained, "She's known that for years."
"What?" Takeru gave Daisuke a dirty look for his accidental concurrence. Apparently he was not yet forgiven for Ken's indiscretions.
"What are you talking about?" Takeru revised, this time alone.
"It's old history, okay?" Yamato did not fail to notice the unfaltering curiosity on either boys face, "Lets just say that Jun was very good at being a rabid fan girl and in one of her more outlandish attempts to make it backstage she happened upon Taichi and I..." this time it was Yamato's turn to trail off delicately.
"She handled it remarkably well," Yamato continued a moment later, "Really. She's good at keeping that kind of stuff to herself." The kitchen descended into a silence deeper than any ever thought possible.
Daisuke was the first to break the heavy air.
"EWWWWWW!" Takeru jumped as Daisuke began to shake his hands like he had accidentally dipped them in spider slime. "My sister saw you," Daisuke pointed to Yamato, still shaking in horror, "and Taichi having...having...having..."
"A la flagrante delicto," Takeru was kind enough to provide for him.
"Thank you Takeru!" Daisuke complained very ungratefully before turning back to Yamato, "Ewwww!" He was almost obliged when the phone began to ring for the third time that night. Daisuke snatched the phone off of the hook, giving the room's two other occupants his best keep-quite look. "I will call you later," he promised shortly before hanging up the phone and crashing down into his seat. The three at the table just stared at each other, dinner forgotten.
+++++++++++
Daisuke lay on his bed, staring up at the knobby ceiling as he began listing the things he currently knew but wished that he did not. And try as he might, he just could not get his sister having seen Yamato naked years before the thought even occurred to him any lower than number three. Damn.
Eventually he gave up, and reaching for his phone card and phone and began dialing the long stream of numbers it took to get his preferred rate of three cents per minute.
It did not take long for Jun to answer the phone with a perky, "Hello!"
"It's me," Daisuke responded sourly.
"Daisuke," his sister began softly, "Is everything okay?"
"I don't know, you tell me." Daisuke had not quite gotten over his resentment of Ken so he might as well take it out on an unsuspecting sibling, "You're the one that wouldn't quit calling."
"Sorry," she apologized, "I got Ken's message."
"So I guessed," Daisuke flinched at his own response. He really did not mean to keep snapping at Jun, he was just a little confused.
"So is it true?" she asked, "I mean, are the two of you..."
"No."
"Oh." Daisuke swore that he could feel her itching to ruffle his hair even over the phone. "Then why would Ken say that?" she pushed.
"Because there is something fundamentally human missing from that man," Daisuke answered just a tad more spitefully than he had planned. Jun laughed.
"You know we only want what's best for you."
Daisuke wondered when Jun had started including herself in Ken's madness. "I'm a big boy," he reminded her.
"So is Yamato."
"JUN!!" Daisuke nearly threw the phone at the wall.
"What?" Jun sounded scared, "What is Daisuke? What happened?"
It took a moment for Daisuke to realize that he had made his little trip into the gutter had all by himself. He could still hear his sister calling to him; no doubt worried he'd been viciously attacked by some random villain.
"Daisuke! Answer me, Dais—"
"Sorry," Daisuke interrupted, "Everything's okay." At her short intake of breath, he hastened to reassure her, "Everything is fine," there was a pause as he tried to recollect his thoughts, "What were you saying?"
"Daisuke," June questioned softly, "You're acting really weird. Are you sure everything is okay?"
"Everything is fine," Daisuke reassured her for the third time, "Things have just been a little stressful around here lately."
"So something has been going on." Jun guessed.
Daisuke sighed, "Damned if I know."
+++++++++++
Yamato looked up as Takeru walked into the bathroom, frowning at his brother's indiscretion. "I'm bathing."
Takeru shrugged, "It's nothing I haven't seen before," he answered flippantly, "And apparently nothing Jun hasn't either."
"Would you drop that?" Yamato asked for what had to be the 10th time since dinner.
"Sorry. It just wasn't something I was expecting to find out over pizza," Takeru grinned. The way he saw it, this was premium blackmail information and one could never have enough of that.
"Whatever," Yamato answered perversely, sliding down so that only his head was sticking out of the steaming bath water. "Are you in here for a reason or not?"
"Actually," Takeru informed, "I'm in here for a very good reason. Namely, that Daisuke isn't and, in his current state, couldn't bring himself to be even if it was the only way to save you from a dire death."
"Nice."
"I'm just being honest," Takeru shrugged, "I have something I want to ask you." They both just stared at each other until Yamato finally sat up enough that he could actually speak without his chin splashing in the water. Takeru took that as a sign that his brother was willing to cooperate.
"What exactly is going on between you and Daisuke?" Takeru shot point blank.
Yamato frowned, first at Takeru and then at the sink just beyond him. The question wasn't a new one; he had actually asked himself the very same any number of times over the last week, but that did not change the fact that he had yet to come up with a reasonable answer. He finally turned his attention back to the patiently waiting Takeru with a sigh.
"Damned if I know."
~*~
TBC
Author's note: I really, really do not understand why I love to torture my boys so, but I do. There can be no forgiveness for the likes of me. :)
We are here at last folks, The LAST Chapter. Only one more left to go. This may actually have some small hope of being finished before the start of the next millennium. Small.
[jamalynrascher@yahoo.com]