03 What Friends Are For


Blunt, brash, and with a hand-full of the worst pick-up lines ever, subtlety had never been Taichi's strong point. So it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise when he promptly fell out of his chair laughing upon hearing Yamato's sullenly delivered confession.

"Holy shit—!" Taichi groped for the edge of the table, trying to pull himself up but finding that cracking up that hard didn't do anything for your coordination.

Yamato waited impatiently for Taichi to calm down, careful to look anywhere except in his best friend's direction to establish to the gawking bystanders that he did not want to be there. Taichi finally made his way back onto his seat. Leaning against the table, the boy didn't even try to stop smirking as he remarked, "Look, you liking guys, I can understand, but Daisuke?"

Yamato sat back in his chair, glaring. "Taichi..."

Taichi kept going, "Didn't you guys totally hate each other when you first met? God, this is too priceless."

"Don't make me hit you, Taichi."

"Right, sorry." Making a big show of taking a deep breath, Taichi put on his most serious expression. "What were you saying?"

Yamato hesitated. "I really don't want to talk about it anymore."

Taichi just shrugged, chewing on his straw absently. "Fine, keep it to yourself."

The blonde shifted uncomfortably as they lapsed into an awkward, uncommon silence. Drumming his fingers, eyes moving across the café restlessly, he finally spoke up. "Do you think it's weird?"

"Nah."

"But he's..."

"Daisuke's a good kid," Taichi mumbled around his straw, finishing his drink loudly before continuing, "Besides, three years isn't too bad, when you compare it to those old assholes getting married to eighteen-year-olds. It's not like... child molestation or anything. Don't worry about it."

As Yamato strayed into thought, Taichi took the opportunity to snatch the other's soda, replacing the straws and pushing the empty glass towards his friend with an indolent smile. Yamato noticed a few seconds later and raised an eyebrow dryly. "Gee, Tai, thanks."

"No problem." Taichi flashed him a nonchalant grin. "What are friends for?"


"I really don't think this is a smart idea," Takeru objected immediately, holding his hands up in protest. "Miyako's already meddling, and I doubt Daisuke would appreciate it if we start too."

"But unlike Miyako-san, we'd actually be meddling in the lives of the right people. And we're preventing her meddling in the process."

"But..."

Iori raised an eyebrow. "But?"

"But Miyako would kill us!"

Undaunted, Iori replied, "But if we don't do anything, Yamato-san, Daisuke, and Ken are going to kill us when they find out we could have stopped this whole thing from happening."

"I'd rather deal with them than Miyako." The hereditary Ishida obstinacy coming into play, Takeru leaned back into his chair, arms folded across his chest as he added, forthright, "And I am not in the mood to get my arm stabbed again."

"The wound wasn't even that deep. Or that big. Or really even a proper wound at all."

"It still hurt! What, do you want to try it?"

Iori hesitated at the suggestion despite himself. "That's not the point. The point is we should do something about this. Not a lot, just make sure Miyako-san doesn't get a chance to mess things up."

"Not a lot?" Takeru repeated. "This is Miyako we're talking about."

"How hard can it be? We'll distract, maybe create a diversion or two to draw her away from them, and then while one of us fends her off, the other can close in on Daisuke and Yamato-san and make sure the rest of the operation goes smoothly."

"You sound like we're planning a war."

"This is war!"

Following was an awkward silence, in which Takeru buried his head in his hands and Iori watched, bemused. "What's wrong?"

The blonde shook his head. "We're all going to die."

"Takeru?"

Takeru groaned, his voice muffled.

"Will you help?"

More inaudible mumbling.

"You'll help, right?"

"Phfblmhfllph."

"Please?"

"... I can't believe you've managed to drag me into this."

The younger boy smiled. "Thank you. Don't worry, you won't regret this."

Takeru thought about how it was always the quiet ones who seemed to think up ploys like these. He ran his fingers through his hair, forehead hitting the table surface with a sigh. "I think I will."


It was one of those days where Hikari just had to wonder about Daisuke. "You're awfully cheerful today," she remarked, not sure whether to be amused or worried as her friend pretty much skipped along the sidewalk by her side, humming loudly and swinging his arms.

She didn't receive much of a response, merely Daisuke continuing his poor rendition of old love songs. "Baby's got blue eyes"

It didn't take long for Hikari to figure it out, smart girl that she was. "Progress with Yamato lately?" she guessed, though she wasn't sure if it was wise to ask. The last time she had mentioned Yamato, Daisuke had launched into a long discussion about what a talented guy he was, how nice his smile was, how soft his hair was... he had gone on for a good fifteen minutes before Hikari had felt compelled to cut him off. Sure, she thought it was sweet, just too much on the my-teeth-are-going-to-rot-if-you-continue side.

Daisuke immediately stopped singing. "I talked to him again yesterday," he announced.

"You talk to him all the time."

"Yeah, but this time it was special."

"You mean you told him?"

Daisuke's smile faded. "… No."

"Then why is this so special?"

"Why do you have to be so cynical, Hikari?"

Hikari looked a little put off, and said, "I'm not cynical. I'm one of the nicest, most understanding people you'll ever know."

"… Wow, I'm doomed."

Pouting in such a way that made Daisuke wonder if he should be running quickly to buy her an ice cream, Hikari folded her arms across her chest half-heartedly. "So tell me what's so special."

Daisuke paused for dramatic effect. "He said I was... something else."

Hikari blinked. "Something else."

"Yeah," Daisuke's head bobbed enthusiastically as he continued, "And he did that head-patting thing that I normally hate but this was Yamato..."

It wasn't as climatic as she had expected, but Hikari couldn't deny that it was still rather sweet, like most of the things that brought Daisuke well above cloud nine. "Daisuke? Daisuke." She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Back down to earth, okay?"

Daisuke swatted at her hand absently. "Yeah. Okay. Earth."

The girl shook her head, teasing. "You really are a lovesick schoolgirl, Daisuke."

"Schoolboy, thank you very much," Daisuke corrected. "Kindly do not doubt my masculinity."

Hikari giggled. "But you make it so hard not to."

"Hikari-chan..."

"And whining is hardly the way to prove me wrong."

"You're so mean, Hikari-chan."

"I'm one of the nicest people you'll ever know," she repeated. "Back to Yamato."

She was beginning to think that the name was something magical for Daisuke; he always looked like he couldn't help but smile. "What about Yamato?"

"When are you going to tell him?"

"Soon."

"Will this soon actually be soon or just whenever-I-get-the-guts-to soon?" Hikari pressed the subject further, unwilling to let it slide.

Daisuke looked uncomfortable. "Soon," he said again, the edge in his voice signaling that he did not want to continue it anymore.

The girl suddenly felt just as awkward. "Daisuke, you know it'd be best if you did it soon. Like, actually soon."

"Yeah, I know," Daisuke replied quickly as they continued down the sidewalk. "This weekend, maybe, after the gig when everyone's happy and there's a less chance of me getting the shit beat out of me. Of course I'll have to compete with all the other fans trying to profess their own undying love. But, you know. Might as well."

His response came in the form of an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine, Daisuke."

Pleased that this was over with, Daisuke gave her a mock glare. "Now, if you'll excuse me, you've just really killed my happy float-y feelings, and I should sort of catch up now."

Hikari made a wide, sweeping gesture. "Go ahead."

The boy matched her bright smile. "Baby's got blue eyes," he sang, "like a deep blue sea...!"