Introduction
When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.
Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.
Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…
Chapter Three; Ties Of Loyalty
"So…how many did you manage to read?" Ken asked, sitting down opposite Davis. Monday had rolled around again quickly…and now he was waiting for the pathetic excuses Motomiya would come up with to explain why he didn't do the reading.
"All of them."
"All of them!" Ken gasped. Davis nodded, blushing a bit.
"I didn't really understand the last one though – the one about the inner workings of the eye." He confessed. Ken stared at him, before allowing a tiny bit of admiration to filter through into his mind.
>I have to say, I'm impressed. Perhaps these sessions won't be as painful as I thought they would be.> Ken thought.
"That's a good start, Motomiya. Tell me which bits you didn't understand, and I'll talk you through them. Then, I'll test you on the information." He said out loud.
Davis blinked, before smiling in relief. >All right! He didn't say anything mean!> He cheered mentally.
"Well, Motomiya? Are you going to just sit there!" Ken's voice harshly cut into his thoughts, and Davis chuckled to himself. >Well, at least not at first.>
"Hey! Ken!" Turning at the angry voice behind him, Ken glared at the Digidestined of…Hope, was it? No, that was the annoying blonde haired boy. She was the Digidestined of Light, that was it. Ken couldn't stop a smirk spreading across his face. What a weak crest.
"What is it, Kamiya?" He snarled. In the background, he could see Davis and the others running after the girl, clearly trying to stop her before she did something rash. >Too late…she crossed that line by stopping me.>
"Just what gives you the right to make Davis read all those hard books! He's a human being, Ken! You can't just play with him!" Kari snapped. Ken sighed in exasperation.
"I'm his tutor. I'm meant to set him reading." Ken snorted, rolling his eyes. Kari scowled.
"Ones that he can understand!" She barked. Getting annoyed now, Ken grabbed her hand and removed it from where it was clutching his collar.
"He can understand them, Kamiya. Or didn't you let him explain that before you came storming over here?" Caught off guard by the genius' words, Kari hesitated, before turning to Davis for confirmation. The cinnamon haired boy nodded.
"He's right, Kari. I never got a chance to tell you that I understood all of them except one – and he explained that one to me." Davis agreed. A little bit embarrassed now, Kari turned back to Ken, an apologetic look on her face.
"Not only can he understand them, he also went up two grades in the last science test. Two grades, Kamiya. Do you know how good that is after only two sessions of studying? He could probably read even harder books – he just has to learn how to focus his mind correctly."
Eyes widening as he realised that he'd just revealed how much faith he had in the other boy, Ken stepped back and left quickly, almost running round the corner.
The moment he was gone, Davis scowled at Kari.
"I know you're part of the school's anti-bully squad, but that doesn't mean you have to fight my battles for me, Kari! I didn't even need to fight! And now he'll be in a foul mood with me next session!"
Flushing, Kari moved into the protective shelter of TK's arms, feeling ashamed and dirty – she'd just jumped to conclusions, and had made things worse because of it.
Swearing under his breath, Ken kicked a pebble off the roof, cursing that irritating girl. He wasn't sure why, but she'd actually managed to wind him up enough to admit why he'd set Davis such hard reading – because he believed the other boy was capable of understanding them.
Wait…kicked a pebble off the roof? Feeling slightly nervous, Ken looked over the edge of the roof, wondering if the small stone had hit anyone. Luckily, he could see that it had just landed harmlessly on the ground below. Not that he'd been worried, or anything. He just didn't want anyone to realise that someone came up to the roof every break – he didn't want his peaceful sanctuary disturbed.
Starting to get angry again, Ken had to stop himself from kicking another stone. >Those damn brats…I can't get away from them! And now that Kamiya girl thinks that I actually respect Motomiya! Ugh!>
Snarling under his breath, Ken checked his watch. Getting himself under control, he began to walk down the stairs, heading back to the lesson. >After all, it wouldn't do to be late.>
"Motomiya, explain. Right now." Davis flushed as he stared up into the furious face of Ken Ichijoji, preparing himself to be ranted at. After Kari's little verbal attack on the genius, he was surprised that Ken had waited a whole two lessons to get back at him – but it looked like the wait was over.
"Look, Ken, I'm sorry about what Kari said before, I…" Davis began.
"I don't care about that! This isn't about your little friend's lack of discretion!" Ken snapped. Davis gaped at him. >It's not?>
"I just got your results in today's test from Mr. Yakamushi! You failed!" Ken barked, slamming his hands down on the desk. Davis wilted.
"I failed? Guess I wasn't as good at biology as I thought I was." He sighed. Ken's eye began visibly twitching, and he growled in the back of his throat.
"Is that all you've got to say for yourself!" He demanded fiercely. Davis swallowed hard, and looked the fuming boy in the eye.
"What do you want me to say? That I didn't revise? I did. That I didn't try? I did. I worked my butt off, and it just didn't happen for me!" He replied sharply.
Ken blinked at him, then shook his head slowly, seeming to calm down.
"I don't get you, Davis. You went up two grades on the paper before this – what happened?" Davis shrugged in reply.
"It's just me. I'm not cut out for success in school." He softly replied.
The next thing he knew, Ken had him trapped up against the desk, so that he had nowhere to escape to.
"Success doesn't come easily! It's not a thing that you're born with – you have to work every single step of the way, and not give up when you hit a problem! You have to make sacrifices, or you'll never be good enough!"
Getting a firm grasp on himself, Ken stepped back, allowing a slightly shaken Davis to move away from the desk.
"Like you, you mean." Davis murmured softly. Ken looked away, with the uncomfortable feeling of accidentally showing something that he'd meant to have kept hidden.
"Tonight. An extra study session to work out what went wrong."
"Huh?" Davis frowned, trying to remember something.
"What's the problem?" Ken sighed impatiently.
"Dude, you said that you had chess club on Tuesdays." Davis said. Ken stared at him blankly.
"Your point being?"
"You'll miss your club."
"Big deal. It's not like I don't win every game already. Besides, if you don't study more, how are you going to ace the makeup test I convinced Mr. Yakamushi to let you have?" Ken replied.
It took a moment for Ken's words to sink in.
"Huh? You got me another chance!" Davis exclaimed. Ken nodded, his eyes narrowing.
"Don't mess up this time. There is no way that I'm going to let the name 'Ken Ichijoji' become associated with anything to do with failure. Understand?"
At Davis' silent nod, Ken picked up his bag and turned to go.
"Good. Now come on – we're wasting time." Davis stared after him for a moment, before smiling widely. >Now why did I get the feeling that Ken threw those nasty comments in just to keep up his reputation as a sourpuss? >
Ken resisted the strong urge to bang his head against the nearest wall, and watched as Davis read the book he'd been given. The other boy was mumbling slightly as he concentrated – yet another thing that was making Ken want to really hurt him.
>Why on earth am I doing this, anyway? It's not like I don't have anything better to do than tutor that Digidestined brat. Like chess club. Or conquering Digiworld.> He thought in slight bewilderment.
"Hey Ken? What does this word mean?" Davis asked, looking up from the text. To his surprise, the genius was staring at him, but his eyes weren't quite focused, as though Ken wasn't really concentrating.
"Ken? You feeling ok? You don't have to help me, you know, if you don't want to."
Ken blinked, and refocused on Davis. >Motomiya would rather fail then make me unhappy? What a weird child…>
"I told you, I will not permit failure of any kind." He said out loud, trying hard to suppress the emotions that had suddenly begun to bubble up inside of him.
"Is that really it? You don't seem to mean the words when you say them. Come on, admit it. You like me." Davis grinned. Ken choked.
"No I don't!" Ken spat. Davis' grin grew wider.
"Just a little bit."
"No!"
"A tiny bit, then."
"For the last time, no! I don't know why I bothered – you're a hopeless cause. I could have gone to chess club after all!" Ken exploded, getting up. Gathering his books into his arms, he slung his bag onto his shoulder and left.
"Ken! Wait!" Davis called, scrambling to catch up. >Man, I have such a big mouth! And a pair of feet just right for sticking in it! > He groaned mentally.
Ken strode quickly through the streets, fuming silently. >Like him. Like him! What a stupid thing for him to think! > Hearing footsteps behind him, Ken realised that Davis must have followed him, so he sped up, trying to lose his persistent pupil.
When that didn't work, Ken darted down a small path, heading for the river. Hopefully, Davis wouldn't have seen, and would carry on along the main road. If not…Ken was running out of ideas.
Ken slowed down slightly, listening hard. When all he heard was silence, he breathed a small sigh of relief. >What am I doing? I've never needed to do this before – normally I just freeze them out until they give up!> But somehow, Ken knew that Davis would never give up on him. And that knowledge was tearing him apart.
>Why won't he just leave me be? It was all so much more simple before he came…I don't understand…why do I care what he thinks anyway?> Balling his fists in denial, Ken hurried up, suddenly desperate for the relative safety of his room at home.
"Get off the path! This is our racing turf, kid!" A loud voice suddenly called. Ken's head jerked up, just in time to see two boys on bikes shoot by, glaring angrily at him.
One stuck out a hand, knocking him off the bank. As Ken fell with a startled gasp, the other boys laughed and cycled on, not caring whether the younger boy was alright.
Ken hit the water with a huge splash, completely unprepared. Eyes wide in panic, he struggled to get to the surface, gasping for breath as his head finally emerged into open air. Unable to stay afloat, Ken could only give a fearful cry before sinking back under, knowing that there was no one to help him.
Davis skidded to a stop, realising that Ken had somehow given him the slip. >He wasn't that far ahead of me…> With a sudden flash of understanding, Davis wheeled round and began to run back the way he'd come, trying hard to make up for lost time.
>He must have cut down to the river bank…why didn't I think of it before?> Running almost flat out now, Davis swerved down the path, urgently trying to catch up with Ken. In the distance, he heard someone shouting, then a huge splash as something fell into the river.
Jumping out the way as two boys sped by on bikes, Davis froze as he heard what they were saying.
"Stupid kid…it was so funny when we pushed him in, right?"
"Yeah. Did you see the way those purple eyes widened? Classic!"
>They're talking about Ken! They pushed him in the river!> Davis found himself running even faster than he had been before, faster than he'd even thought he could run.
At the sound of a splash, he slowed down, just in time to see Ken's head break the surface. To his surprise, Ken seemed to be struggling slightly. >I'll just wait for him to calm down and swim out…> He thought. Then to his horror, Ken gave a small cry, sinking back under the surface.
He didn't come back up again.
"Ken!" Diving in, Davis swam deeper, eyes searching the murky depths for the boy genius. Spotting the sinking figure, he swam underneath and hooked his arms under Ken's, then began kicking for the surface.
With a huge gasp for air, he swam for the bank, pushing Ken onto it first before pulling himself up. Still panting for breath, he glanced at Ken, heart in mouth.
"Ken? Wake up, dude…" Davis reached over and gently shook Ken, praying that the other boy would wake up.
"Ken?" Dimly remembering something that he'd learnt in health class, Davis turned Ken onto his side so that he wouldn't choke if he threw up or something. Just then, Ken's eyes snapped open, and he began to cough hard, bringing up river water.
"Ken! You're ok!" Davis exclaimed happily. Vision still blurring slightly, Ken looked up at Davis, frowning as he tried to bring the face into focus.
"Davis…?" He murmured hoarsely. Smiling, Davis nodded.
"Yep. How are you feeling? I think you swallowed half the river!"
Ken slowly got up into a sitting position, still coughing.
"You...you saved me, didn't you?"
"Uh huh. Pretty mean of those guys to push you in, right?" Ken just stared at the brunette, unable to believe it.
"You saved me, after all the horrible things I've done and said to you?"
Davis blinked.
"Well, duh! Of course I saved you! And you haven't been that nasty to me!" Ken was lost for words at Davis' reply. Davis had just dived in after him, with no thought for his own safety…
"Anyway, what happened? Did your foot get caught in a weed or something?" Davis asked. Ken flushed, and looked away in embarrassment.
"I can't swim."
"What?" Davis asked, not sure whether he'd heard right.
"I can't swim." Ken muttered. Davis tried not to stare, but found he couldn't stop himself.
"But you're a genius!"
"Yeah, I'm 'The Rocket' on the football field, the champion chess player, and Tamachi's highest test scorer…and I can't even swim." Ken laughed bitterly.
Sensing that Ken wasn't exactly feeling on top of the world right now, Davis got up and held out his hand to the other boy. After a bit of hesitation, Ken took it, allowing Davis to pull him to his feet.
"Where do you live?"
"Huh?"
"Where do you live? I'll take you home." Davis offered.
"I'm fine." Ken snapped. Unfortunately, his body chose that moment to give out on him.
"Fine, huh? Somehow, I don't think so." Davis smirked, grabbing Ken as he collapsed.
"Ok then, if you must. Take me home." Ken sighed, giving up. Davis beamed.
"That's better! Now come on!"
Davis glanced at Ken as they walked, noticing how the other boy was shivering. He was willing to bet that Ken would have a nasty chill if he didn't get out of those wet clothes soon.
"So Ken…I think we got off to a bad foot. Do you wanna start again?"
"What?" Ken asked, blinking in slight confusion. He had no clue what Davis was on about.
"Do you want to be friends?" Davis smiled at the other boy, waiting for a reply. Ken stared at him, his mouth dropping open. >After all this trouble, he still wants to be friends? With me?>
"I have no time for friends – they don't fit in with my busy schedule." He replied finally, getting a grip on himself.
"I see. So they're one of those sacrifices that you were talking about earlier." Davis said wisely, feeling pleased with himself for having an insight into Ken's mind at last.
"If you want to put it that way…yes."
"But friends are what make everything worthwhile! Life's a battle, Ken…and you shouldn't have to do it alone." Ken gazed at him uncertainly, before looking away.
"I wouldn't know how to be a friend." He murmured. Davis just laughed.
"Just do what you did with your other friends, dude!" He giggled. Then, he noticed the look on Ken's face.
"Man…you haven't had any other friends, have you?" He realised. Ken shook his head.
"I don't have time for them now. And I never used to need any before, because Sam was always there…" Ken's voice trailed away, and Davis wondered what the matter was.
"Who's Sam?"
"My brother…he's dead now."
Ken's eyes widened at how much he'd let slip, and he sped up, beginning to leave Davis behind.
"Hey, wait up!" Davis called.
"That's my apartment block over there – I'll be fine, Davis, Thanks for walking me home and…saving me."
Davis shrugged.
"No big deal. But you haven't answered my question!" Ken would never know what it was, but something made him turn back around to face Davis, and give him a small smile.
"I'll think about it." And with that, he turned again and began walking towards his apartment, letting the darkness of the evening swallow him from sight.
Davis watched him go for a moment, silent. Then, with a loud whoop, he spun and began running for home.
"Alright! Progress! And all I had to do was save his life!"