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 Eight; Empty Promises
"Hey, Ken? About last night…" Davis' voice trailed away at the hard glare Ken was shooting at him.
"What about last night? I don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Except your exceedingly loud snoring."
Davis opened his mouth to make a comeback, already preparing a speech about not treating your friends like you don't care, when he stopped, remembering something Ken had said last night.
"Don't try and shatter the mask, Davis; I'll need it again soon."
Davis bit his lip. Ken was right – he would need that mask of indifference when he returned to Tamachi. If Davis broke it down completely, Ken would have a hard time making it strong enough to hide him away again.
"I don't snore." Was what he said instead. Ken smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"Really? Then I guess there was an elephant in your room last night."
"You…!" Davis exclaimed, launching himself at Ken.
Unfortunately for him, Ken wasn't called 'The Rocket' for nothing.
"Owww!" Davis rubbed his head, glaring at the wardrobe he'd crashed into. Ken was at his side in an instant.
"Are you okay? Let me see…" Davis relaxed, letting Ken's knowledgeable hands inspect the damage.
"You're going to have a nasty bump there." Ken murmured, brushing his fingers against the lump that was already forming.
"Ow! Watch it, will you?" Davis yelped. Ken shrugged.
"Well, if you will go flying into wardrobes…" He sniggered. Davis' eyes narrowed.
"Ha ha. Very funny. Maybe I can get a bruise and match your face." He growled sarcastically. For a moment, Ken tensed up, and Davis began cursing himself for his lack of sensitivity. To his relief, Ken relaxed, shooting Davis an evil stare.
"I'll be happy to give you one, Davis." He said sweetly. Davis laughed, grabbing a Playstation controller and chucking it at his friend.
"Try giving my fighter one instead."
"What on earth happened to you two!" TK exclaimed as the two zombies – namely Ken and Davis – trudged into the classroom and collapsed into their seats.
"Ken. Sleepover. Weekend. Last night played Playstation. Until three in morning." Davis managed to grunt out. Kari let out a giggle, and hid a smile behind her hand. Davis and Ken were cute when they were sleep deprived.
"Even though you're exhausted, you still look good to me, Ken." Yolei laughed, wrapping her hands around the boy genius' neck. In response, Ken simply crashed forward onto his desk. He'd gone to sleep.
Glancing at Davis, Yolei saw that he'd succumbed as well. Shrugging, she waved to TK and Kari and left to go to her own classroom, leaving the other two to face their biggest challenge yet.
Waking up Ken and Davis before Mr. Yakamushi came in.
The remaining two months soon passed by, until it was the day that Ken and the Digidestined had been dreading.
Ken's last day at Tamachi.
As the clock showed five minutes until the end of the day, Mr. Yakamushi told the class to pack up early. When they were silent once more, he went to stand behind Ken, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"As most of you are aware, this is Ken's last day with us – his term here is over. So give a farewell applause to your classmate, Ken!" A storm of clapping broke out, accompanied by several wolf whistles. Despite his cold start, Ken had been liked by nearly everyone, barring the ones who were jealous of him.
"We'll miss you, Ken, and we hope that you'll take away fond memories of us." Mr. Yakamushi smiled. Ken bowed his head, hoping that his hair would hide how close he was to tears.
"I will, Mr. Yakamushi. I will."
"So I guess this is it."
"Yeah." Silence fell over the small group as they stood alone in the playground. The rest of the school had already left, but there were a few goodbyes left unsaid.
"We'll miss you, Ken." Kari murmured, offering a small smile.
"Yeah, you were part of the gang." TK agreed. Ken looked down at the floor.
"Even if you were a brat at the beginning, you turned out alright." Cody said solemnly, offering his hand for Ken to shake.
Smiling softly at the younger boy's grave expression, Ken took the hand and shook. Almost as soon as he'd let go, Yolei pounced on him.
"Waaaa! Don't go, Ken! We were just getting to know each other!" She wailed. Ken gently removed her from around his shoulders. Then, noticing her crestfallen expression, he turned and pulled her into a brief embrace.
When he pulled away, Yolei had stars in her eyes, and had nearly fainted. Swallowing hard, Ken twisted to face the person he was dreading saying goodbye to the most.
Davis.
"Don't forget us, will you Ken." Davis whispered, tears flowing down his cheeks. Ken shook his head hard, tears beginning to stream down his own face.
"I won't. Especially you." Davis sniffed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What's so special about me?" He asked miserably.
"You were my first real friend, and the one that I felt closest to. To me, Davis, you were my best friend." That did it for Davis. Bawling like a baby, he leapt at Ken, grabbing the other boy in a tight hug.
"And you were mine. Let's stay in touch, Ken. We can still see each other over the weekends, and we can phone each other every night…"
"Stop it, Davis." Pulling away from Davis' arms, Ken picked up his schoolbag for the last time.
"Don't go making empty promises. You know as well as I do that we'll drift apart – it's hard to stay close to someone who not only lives on the other side of the city, but goes to school there too."
Davis didn't want to believe that what Ken said was true, but he knew that it probably would end up that way. The distance would simply be too much – not to mention the fact that as soon as Ken went back to Tamachi, he'd be stuck with loads of extracurricular activities.
"Just promise me this – you won't let your schoolwork slide just because I'm not tutoring you anymore." Ken joked, his amethyst eyes still bright with tears.
"I promise. And I promise to watch you whenever you play football, or do interviews." Davis vowed.
Smiling sadly, Ken turned and began to walk away. Halfway across the playground, he stopped suddenly, and craned his head round to take one last look at his friends…his enemies…
"Trust me, Davis. The next time we meet, you won't even recognise me." And with those words he was gone, leaving five very confused and miserable Digidestined behind him.
"Hi, honey! Good day at school?" Mrs. Ichijoji asked chirpily, smiling at her son. In reply, Ken gave her the coldest, darkest glare he could muster.
"I have just said goodbye to the only real friends I've ever had. How do you think my day went?"
"Oh, Ken…"
"Don't even try to say it'll all be better in the morning!" Ken snapped. Not waiting for his mother to answer, he stomped into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.
His mother winced at the loud bang, bowing her head in a fashion similar to her son's. She knew Ken was hurting right now, and it was killing her. >But we're doing the right thing for him…aren't we?>
Ken threw his schoolbag to the floor, watching as its contents spilled everywhere over the normally neat bedroom. Slamming his fist down onto his computer desk in rage, Ken yanked open the drawer, before grabbing his black D-3.
""Digiport open!" He snarled, welcoming the blast of white light that appeared to sweep him away.
He was in the mood for destruction.
Davis became aware of his D-Terminal beeping at him, and flipped it open to see who had mailed him.
Davis,
The Emperor has gone into overdrive – he's just conquered seven areas in the last two hours. Meet us at the school.
Yolei
Davis gaped at the tiny screen. >Seven areas in two hours! What the hell's gone wrong with his day?> Grabbing a coat, he swung the front door open, only pausing to retrieve his blue digimon from the fridge.
"Come on, Demiveemon! It's show time!"
Ha ha! Read and review for the last chapter and epilogue!