Disclaimer – I don't own Digimon; they Digimon and everything related belong to Toei Animation, Saban, and FOX Kids, among others. I am writing this fic for mine and others' entertainment, and no profit is being made off of it. Please don't sue.

Summary: An intermingled Takari/Yakari about which bond is stronger - blood or water. Rated for language, (upcoming) adult situations, and harsh topics- mature audiences only.

A/N – The requested Yakari for Lala, although I must admit I threw in a lot of Takari, one-sided Daikari, Kenyako, Sorato, Taiora (of course), some Daisuke/Takeru friendly bonding (no romance there), and a teeny, tiny bit of Koumi.

Dedicated to Lala and my wonderful beta, the DragonMistress. Enjoy!

Started: 8.56P; 02.06.01

Finished: 9.19P; 02.07.01

Blood's Tears

"And It Started With a Premonition…"

Laden down with books, his own and his best friend's, Takeru Takaishi crossed the busy street to the apartment on the other side. There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach; he wasn't supposed to be the one who had the premonitions, but somehow he knew something horrible was going to happen soon. Putting all perturbed feelings aside, he opened the glass doors to the small foyer, pressed the buttons for her floor, and waited for the elevator.

As he was waiting he shifted the thick textbooks from the crook of his right arm to the crook of his left, and adjusted the shoulder strap of his backpack. Usually he didn't have these many books; but this week was different, for he was not carrying only his own, but also Hikari Yagami's. She had been absent from school for the last few days, and he couldn't say he didn't miss her cheerfulness on the long lonely walks home from school at night. Being best friends and all, Takeru had naturally offered to bring her books for homework, and she agreed, not wanting to miss any schoolwork if she could avoid doing so.

Despite her missing from class, Takeru had been having a good week in school. But the minute he stepped into her apartment every day the unsettling feeling would hit him full blast. He wasn't sure why, but today it was stronger than ever, and he wasn't even in her doorway yet.

He plastered a fake smile on his face, and raised a closed fist to knock on the door; to do this he had to put down the pile of books he was carrying. But before he had gotten a chance to so much as tap the door, it opened, revealing Taichi, Hikari's older brother. Takeru couldn't help but notice Taichi's frown on his normally smiling face, and the dull brown coloring to his usually lighted, deep chocolate eyes.

"Takeru," he said in a monotone, almost as if he expected to find the sixteen-year-old boy getting ready to knock on the front door. "Ossu. Please come in." Though this was meant as a greeting, Takeru couldn't help but think that Taichi would have rather set greetings aside and dealt with them later because of the way he pulled him into the apartment and shut the door behind him, making sure it was closed firmly. Takeru and Hikari's books were still outside the door, but Takeru sensed that Taichi was going to tell him something of great importance, and didn't go back for the books. Instead he followed him wordlessly to the closed door of Hikari's bedroom.

"She's been waiting all day to see you, Takeru," Taichi told him. "She has something very important to tell you… Not necessarily a good thing, but she has to tell you."

Takeru replied shortly, "Aa, shall I go in now?" Taichi nodded his head, and turned to leave. Takeru however knocked on the wood door, and waited for an answer. When a weak, 'come in' was heard he twisted the knob and peeked in the door.

"Ohayoo, 'Kari-chan," Takeru greeted, stepping fully into Hikari's dimly lit bedroom and closing the door behind him. Looking around it seemed as if this wasn't her room at all; all the shades were drawn – only a faint lamplight in the corner left the room dark, and piles of papers were laying, untouched, on her desk, when they were always usually so neat; Takeru had taught her to be tidy, much like himself. Had he not known better, he would have thought there was no one in the room; but, straining his eyes, he saw a small figure lying in the bed, covers pulled up to her chin.

"Konnichi wa, T'keru-chan," Hikari replied, mumbling more to her bed sheets than to him, keeping her eyes covered so he couldn't see them. He just screwed his face into a puzzled look and took a seat by her bedside.

"I brought you your homework… There's not a lot, but I figured you'd need the books for other assignments… They're outside the apartment door; I would have brought them in but Taichi pulled me into the apartment so quickly – He said you had something important to tell me?"

Hikari dodged his question with a small, "Doomo… Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu." This time she wasn't trying to hide her face in her blankets, but was busying herself with the lace on her comforter.

Takeru closed his hand over hers. "Doo Itashimashite… No problem." He noticed her quiver at his touch, despite how slight it was. Looking at her face he realized silent tears were spilling over, for no reason at all. "'Kari? What's wrong?"

She hastily brushed the tears away with her free hand, trying to crack a smile. "Nothing, nothing at all. Gomen. It's just you're so nice… So kind and caring. And look at me…" The tears started to spill again, this time much more freely.

Shocked was he, to say the least. He hadn't expected this at all… What was wrong with her? "Hikari, please tell me. I can't help you if you don't tell me the problem…" He took her close in a hug, as she was still shaking, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shirt.

After a few minutes of this she pulled away. "Takeru, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." He smiled and wiped her tears off, still clutching one of her hands in his. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'd really like to know what's wrong… I want to help you Hikari-chan."

"No, you have a right to know…" For a minute the two pairs of eyes connected… Hikari's dark russet, mysterious despite the simplicity, and usually sparkling and happy, though today filled with sadness and rue; Takeru's cavernous blue, deeper than the deepest ocean, and filled with compassion and concern, always steady and unwavering, even in the toughest of times.

"Takeru, it's between Yamato and I-" for some unknown reason his stomach took a plunge "-but you should really know too. You are my best friend, after all, and his brother at that. Technically, you'll be related to my baby…"

This time Takeru's eyes weren't steady at all, and for the perhaps the first time in his life he felt confused and helpless at the same time, as if he were drowning. "I don't- I don't understand what you're saying…"

He felt like this only one other time in his life, when he was oh-so-little and his parents said they were getting their divorce. Only once before in his life had he felt this lost… He felt the same stab of pain; he felt the same hot tears springing to his eyes. "I didn't think you would, but it's really simple…" Her eyes, filled with sympathy for what she was about to say, bore holes into his skull… He loosened his grip on her hands. "Takeru- God, is this hard to say… Takeru, I'm…" He wanted to throw his hands over his ears like he did when he was little and didn't want to hear what his parents had to say. But he wasn't little anymore, and he had to listen to this, no matter how much hurt it caused him.

"I'm pregnant."

And those two measly, insignificant words froze time for him.