Take me Away
Author: Sixth Child
Back from the dead, alright!!! I know it's been a long cold lonely winter, but I'm back in business! I decided to write a little Christmas present for all y'all. I know you're prolly wondering about Gently and/or Going Under, but I've taken a little break from those two, sorry!
I hope everyone likes the new addition to my small collection. It started out as a whacked-up Yuri fic, but after a few pages I figured it could be better as a good ol' fashioned Taito! Well, enough talking!
*throws Roy front and center*
Roy: What the hell am I supposed ta do? Oh, yeah. Sixth-san does not own Digimon or any other licensed products in this story blah blah blah, where's my twenty bucks, onna?!
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Ichi
Cold. So cold. Cold like the depths of the ocean. Why am I so cold? A roof over my head, blankets, pillows. These are supposed to protect me from it. But I am basking in it, this inevitable cold. Wake me up. Please wake me up. Save me.
Blinking. I open my eyes. My eyelashes are frosted with crust from the sleep. I wipe it away and blink a few more times. I sigh; throw my legs over the side of my bed. Nearly tripping over my blankets, dozens of blankets, on my way to the door. It's the same every morning. I've lived this routine for years; you think I would get sick of it? I walked down the stairs and into the basement, shivering. I hate the winter; Mother turns the heat off at night to save money. I get into the basement bathroom and click on the radio, onto the morning show. I pulled off my t-shirt and my boxers. I stepped into the tub/shower and instantly turned the water onto the hottest, moaning with the pleasure when the water sprayed onto my goose bumped body. I grabbed shampoo and squeezed a handful. It's too much, but I don't care. I finished my shower in minutes. I'm on a time limit; it's already 6:45. I grabbed a towel and stepped out of the tub. I get dressed. I go to school.
Did you notice I started nearly every sentence with "I"? That's because this story is in first person, which is very difficult to write. For me, at least. So bear with me.
I have this dream. Not really a dream, actually. More like… it's not a fantasy either. I don't know. But in it I meet this guy at the mall and we fall in love, and I'm happy. Because he loves me. Maybe that will happen.
Ha.
I felt this calling. No, I created this calling, telling me to go to the mall, so I could meet this guy. Because I wanted that to happen. I think I created this calling because many of months ago, a guy asked me "So, you like Anne Rice?" when I was at the bookstore in the mall. Well, to that I just said "Yeah." And proceeded to buy my book and leave the store. I look on that now and realize that she was probably trying to get a conversation out of me.
So that's how I ended up here now. It is the same day of the freezing cold morning and the overly shampooed hair. It's just like any other day, right? You think I would get sick of it. But not today.
So that's how I ended up at this very same bookstore, 4+ months after the Anne Rice incident. This day I am wearing a thick sweater. It's multicolored; purple and blue and forest green, all fading into each other, all the colors darker shades of their original hues. Blue corduroy pants, two sizes too big to insure the appropriate bagginess that I like. I'm standing in the fiction section, in front of the P's and the R's and the S's, hoping for a miracle. Queen of the Damned is next on my list, so I pick it up and open to a random page, pretending to read.
I do this for at least ten minutes. God, please, save me from this world, take me from here, send a miracle.
If I stand here long enough, someone's ought to notice, right? After an hour, two, someone's gonna notice that he isn't moving….
And he did.
He did notice.
He was wearing a light blue sweater with a zipper down to his breast, a blue and gray horizontal stripe across the chest. Khaki jeans. I remember it perfectly. He was wearing a blue pin with the name of the bookstore and "Hi, I'm Taichi, how can I help you?" written on it bold white letters.
How can you help me? Is it possible? "Do you need anything?" He asked. It took me awhile to notice that he was talking to me. Is this my calling?
"Oh um…" Wow, I'm quite the… the… I can't think of a word!
"Oohh, is that Anne Rice?" He asked. Duh. No, it's Mr. Ed the talking horse.
"Yeah." I responded.
"She is so good, I've read all of them."
Blink. Deja vu.
At the time I thought what I did next was stupid, but I realize now it's why I'm writing this.
"Yamato Ishida." I stretched out my hand.
"Oh!" He exclaimed. He had one of those voices that you would think would belong to a soft-spoken person that's quiet and sky. But he was quite the opposite. "I'm Taichi Kamiya." He shook my hand.
Well duh again. Do you think I can't see your nametag? "Nice to meet you." Is this the part where I see singing angels? A savior? It's not that easy, I've decided. Not that easy.
"Have you read that one yet?" He asked. He was obviously referring to the book in my hands.
"Oh, no, I'm still on the second one."
"I finished all of them in nearly a month." He laughed, short, soft.
Pause.
Awkward silence.
"Well I better be going…" Why do I have to be going? I guess I do.
"See you around." He said as I walked out of the store, empty-handed, empty hearted.
I went home and cried.
The next day, I managed to convince my mother to drop me off at the mall. I had to see him again. I went to the same bookstore.
I was suddenly glad I was inside. The day was dark, even though it was nearly five o'clock. I pretended to walk over to the manga section, but really I was checking who was at the register. It wasn't him. Great. I have all day, and only ten dollars. I would've called Mother to pick me up, but she was at work, and I told her I had a ride home. But of course I didn't. I don't know why I said that.
I didn't eat lunch at school, naturally, so I went to the food court.
This day I was dressed a little more casually. A blue sweatshirt and jeans. I didn't buy any food, just sat down. I sat there for nearly an hour, watching people walk by. I was thinking that I could take the bus home, which sounded probable.
I finally got up from my seat, people were staring now. I walked to the main entrance of the mall to look at the bus schedules. I found my time, and walked outside. Fifteen minutes. That's when I saw it. Saw him.
He was right in front of me, in a compact car. I'm not good with cars so I didn't know the name. It was purple, though.
"Need a ride?" He winked.
God, why are you doing this to me?
My continuous shivering was making my decision for me. I looked around, as if someone else was going to tell me what to do.
But I did the impossible. I walked to the unknown purple car and got in the passenger side.
I bet about now your thinking "This story is so rushed!" But that's what happened, and I don't want to bore you with when I went to school and whatnot. Anyways, I'm not the patient type. But anyway.
I slammed the door shut and buckled in. Some pop singer I didn't know was singing on the radio. "Where to?" He asked. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt with a blue over shirt and blue jeans.
"Uhh, I don't have to be anywhere-" Why do I always start with "Oh…" "Uhh." or "Um…" around him? But he cut me off. Not by talking, but he smiled.
When he turned onto the highway, I didn't ask questions. This is what I wanted, wasn't it? To get away from everything? I think that's why I didn't say anything when he drove.
The unknown pop song ended, and a song I know came on. Apparently he knew it too, because he started singing. This guy that barely knew me at all, just casually singing in front of me. I smiled, and laughed a bit.
"I looove this song." He said to me.
"Me too." I said through my smile. After a slight pause I said, "You're not much of an enigma."
"What do you mean?" He blinked.
"You just met me and you're already treating me like a friend you've known all your life."
He laughed. God, that laugh. "That's just the way I am I guess."
I frowned. "I wish I could be like that."
He stopped smiling. "No, I like you the way you are. Anyway, I wouldn't like it if you were just like me, then I couldn't be talking to you like this." I smiled to myself, not really knowing what he meant. He turned back to the road and smiled. I almost laughed out loud, I don't know why!
We didn't talk at all until he pulled into the driveway of a small yellow house "We're home." He said to me. He opened his door and stepped out, so I figured I should do the same. He walked fast to the door, so I had to jog a little to catch up. He pulled a key ring out of his pocket, and I saw some of the keychains he had; "I love cheese", "Nobody knows I'm gay", and "Sorry, I stopped listening days ago." He opened the door.
As I stepped into hid house, a question, so obvious of a question popped into my mind. But I kept it off until later. I looked around the small house, and it was even smaller inside then it first appeared to be. A white couch with a love seat on its left side. In front of the couch was a coffee table. There was nothing on it except a doily and a set of purple candles. Pictures were scattered on the white walls, some I recognized, like Van Gogh and Monet, and some pictures were obviously of his family, all tan and brunette. The thing I notices most was the there was no television set.
Another thing you might have noticed in my writing is that I haven't said "Taichi" at all. I only say "he", "his", "him". This is because in my mind I don't think "Taichi did that", I think "he did that". But I would say his name aloud if we were with other people as well; you wouldn't know whom I was talking about if I just said "he". But so far all of our encounters have been one-on-one. So anyways, back to the story.
He disappeared into the kitchen. "Do you want a Coke?" he asked, half shouting since I was still lingering in the living room. I walked to the small kitchen. He was opening the fridge.
"No, just water's fine." I said and sat down at a black leather stool. I looked around. "Where's you parents?" It seemed no one else was home.
He set a glass of water in front of me. "Oh…" He looked hesitant. He wasn't looking me in the eye. "I live alone."
I was surprised. "How old are you then?"
"Eighteen."
This made me feel really awkward, considering the fact that I was just turning seventeen in four months.
There was another awkward silence. Two in two days, must be bad karma. I was silent a moment and decided I couldn't wait any longer. "Taichi, why'd you bring me here?"
He shrugged. "Because you said that you didn't have to be anywhere."
I considered this a fairly smart answer. I smiled, almost laughed again. He does that a lot, makes me smile or laugh. I have a few friends, more like acquaintances, actually. They're funny sometimes, but usually the get on my nerves or annoy me. For that the find me snobbish and bratty. I try to be honest, and that involves speaking your mind. If someone is annoying me, I tell him or her so or say that I'd like to be alone now. Most people, if someone is annoying them, they don't say anything to be polite. I'm not like that.
Taichi makes me feel different, the exact opposite in fact. Instead of wanting him to leave me alone, he is pleasant to talk to, and I want him to stay. I peered over to look at him, only to find that he was already staring at me.
He didn't look away.
Neither did I.
Okay, stop, pause. I know what everyone is thinking. Well it's not going to happen! It's only the first chapter people! I know before I said I wasn't very patient, and neither are most of you I presume, but live with it. You can wait a chapter or two.
He started laughing. "I can't take it!" He smiled.
I cocked my head to the side. "What?" I asked innocently.
"All these funny moments." He said in a softer tone in usual, I noted.
I could feel my cheeks heat up. I think it was the tone of his voice, I don't know. I shifted my gaze back to my untouched glass of water.
He stopped smiling. "I don't understand you, Yamato Ishida."
"That's my fault." I said. He blinked. "I mean, I want it that way, I do it on purpose. I don't want people to understand me."
"Well I think it's working." He looked down. "But why do you do that? I wish you wouldn't."
I looked back to my water, which quivered slightly when I rested my arm on the yellow counter. "Because I don't like to make friends, it's easier when I'm alone."
"Are you upset that I brought you here? Would you rather I left you standing there, shivering in the snow? It was awfully intrepid of me to ask you into my car. For all you know I could be a psychotic murderer who brought you here to kill you."
"Ahh, but you're not, and it was awfully intrepid of you. But nonetheless I don't regret the decision I made."
I looked at him with the strongest look I could manage.
The, of course, my cell phone went off. I dug in my pocket of my jeans and pulled it out. It's quite heavy, actually. The phone itself is light, one of the flip-open ones. But I have four keychains on it. Hello Kitty (long story), a green die, "I love New York", and Vash from Trigun. I flipped it open and it said "Vash-oniichan." By the way, another long story. It was Natsumi. I pressed the blue phone button. "Whaaaat?" I groaned.
"That's not a very nice why to speak to your little brother!" She said, in a fake hurt voice. "What's up?"
"Your ego." I replied.
"True, true. Do you wanna go to the library? You could get that book you want."
"No, not today." Taichi looked like he wanted to say something.
"Aww, why nooooottt?" She whined. "How about dinner then?"
I thought for a moment. It can't be passed six. "Sure, pick me up around seven."
"Alrighty!!!" She sounded excited, but it was just because she wanted to see me. We were best friends for eight years, but she moved last August and had to transfer to a different school, but we stay in touch. I flipped my phone and closed it.
"Who was that?" Taichi asked immodestly.
"Just one of my friends, she was begging me to go with her someplace."
He raised an eyebrow. "Girlfriend?"
I practically laughed out load. "Hardly." I said through an amused smile. "But I need to go home now, sorry."
He smiled a fake, polite smile. "That's fine." He got up at once. I followed him to the door, looking back at the room that I was sure I was never going to see again.
There was no talk on the ride home. It seemed the opposite from the first time. No talking, no smiling, no singing. Just staring out windows. He turned to me when we came to Century Ave. "Where to?" He asked in a dull voice.
"First Ave."
He drove to Margaret and turned onto my street. I told home to go all the way to the stop sign, in the same voice he used earlier. He stopped in front of my house. I unbuckled my seatbelt and was opening the door when he handed me a plastic bag. It must've been in the back seat.
"Don't open it until your inside, you'll understand." He smiled at me, and I felt strangely relieved.
I thanked him for the ride and practically ran to the house. The door was, as usual, unlocked, so I pushed it open. I flicked on the living room lights. I was for some reason so excited to see what he left me. I set down the bag on the table and picked out its contents. Inside was a new copy of The Queen of the Damned and a small purple candle.
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