I have to wonder how much caffine Takuya had before reviewing...-smile-

Chapter 11 - Warmth

"Speech"

'Thoughts' 'Memories'

"Ah!" he was tackled to the ground after his short yell of surprise.

Kouji landed on his back on the sidewalk, eyes closed at the slight pain running through his body.

"Oh...ow..." he muttered under his breath.

Kouji suddenly became aware of the strange weight on top of him, and that he was being held around the waist. His eyes opened, to see strangely dimmed fiery hair, just below his own head. His brain took a second to catch up.

'Takuya?' he thought.

"If he'll come back for anything...it's you..."

He remembered Shinya saying that back at the hospital.

Takuya was currently clutching him around the waist for dear life. He blinked one more time before speaking.

"Takuya?" Kouji whisper asked.

Takuya's grasp on him tightened as he found out he'd tackled the right guy. Thank...The...Lord...Two tears leaked out of his eyes.

Kouji felt the warm tears hit his shirt and felt waves of sympathy washing over him. His mind...was elsewhere...

Light Inner Kouji - "He's hugging you! So sweet! Go on, comfort him!"

Dark Inner Kouji - -holding L.I.K. by the collar- "Yea, comfort him! Take him to your room and-"

-L.I.K. hits D.I.K. over the head with a frying pan-

Light Inner Kouji - "You Sick Bastard! This is a precious moment!"

Dark Inner Kouji - "Yea, and it'd be better if he got some while he was at it!"

-Fighting again-

Kouji ignored them. He found himself lightly hugging Takuya back.

'I've wanted to hug him, as I told him how I feel...Not like this...Takuya...' he thought sadly.

Takuya, on the other hand, felt Kouji hug him back and burst into tears! He felt Kouji's hold tighten in a protective and comforting way, and felt a little bit better, but still cried.

"Takuya I-"

"Say it again..."

"Huh?"

"Say my...my name again...My real name..." he mumbled.

"Takuya?"

Takuya nodded into Kouji's yellow shirt.

"Takuya." Kouji repeated, feeling kinda silly.

But Takuya snuggled closer and he gladly repeated his name again. He felt the other boy becoming more content and smiled. At some point, he had managed to sit up against the wall near his house...

Takuya shivered.

"Are you cold Takuya?" Kouji asked when he noticed this.

Takuya nodded. Kouji suddenly noticed how dark his hair color was, and his tail. He noticed that Takuya's body heat temperature was low too.

"Come on. We'll go inside and...you can warm up." Kouji helped him stand and entered his yard, darted around to the side, and looked at his second floor window. "Can you climb up there?"

"Yea." Takuya grabbed onto the wall for a second for support after Kouji went back around front. He glanced up in the darkness.

Then he bent his legs and jumped to the window and it's tiny ledge. He hopped in the already open window and landed on slightly-darker-than-medium-blue carpet. Moments later, Kouji entered the room.

"Ok. To warm you up...How about this...We'll go in the bathroom-"

D.I.K. -cheers-

"You can sit, wrapped in a towel, until I get done taking a shower. Then I'll sit there while you take a hot shower...really hot."

L.I.K. -cheers-

"Alright..." Takuya shivered again in the air conditioned room.

"Ok. Let me get some clothes for afterwards, and we'll head on in." Kouji went over to the dresser and picked out some clothes made for bed and some made for winter. He then went to his closet and pulled out a dark blue jacket with a hood. "Now, quietly."

They made it to the bathroom easy enough. He knocked lightly, no answer. Kouji opened the door and ushered Takuya in. As he closed the door behind himself he yelled out.

"I'm taking a shower!"

Two confirmations, one from his dad, the other from his step-mom. He turned around and saw Takuya already sitting against the wall in the largest towel they owned...which was pretty big. Kouji grabbed a towel from the closet in there and then proceeded over Takuya's legs to the shower.

-

5 minutes later...

Kouji didn't turn the water off, but stepped out of the water and reached for his towel. He wrapped it around his waist, like he normally did, and stepped out of the shower.

"Takuya, your..." he paused, seeing Takuya laying on the floor, wrapped in a large towel, asleep.

He smiled slightly, then decided to let him sleep for a bit. He dried himself off and put his night clothes on, then turned back to Takuya. He bent down and shook him slightly by the shoulder.

"Takuya...Takuya wake up..." he called softly. "Takuya...come on..." he shook him a little harder and Takuya opened his black eyes slowly. "Finally. It's your turn." he motioned towards the shower.

Takuya nodded, yawned softly, and stood up. Kouji stood, facing the door, as Takuya stripped and got in the shower. He then sat down and waited. He noticed how the temperature rose several degrees a moment after Takuya entered the shower and noted to never take a shower that hot in his life.

6 minutes later, Kouji turned away as Takuya stepped out of the shower wearing a towel.

"Dry yourself off and get dressed" he tossed him the clothes and jacket.

"Kouji?" Kouji looked over. Takuya held up the pants. "I have a tail..." said tail flicked out from behind Takuya and then disappeared behind him again.

"Oh...um..." he went to get up but Takuya just pushed him back down and shook his head.

"I got it..." he took his claws and cut a hole about where he tail would come out "Too bad about the pants though." He smirked a slightly evil smirk and Kouji inwardly sighed.

'Guess he'll always have a tinge of evil to him as Telamon...' he leaned against the wall and waited until Takuya gave him the heads up to stand up and face him. He laughed.

"You're laughing." His voice became dangerously low. "You never laugh..." then he seemed sad. "Not that I can remember anyway..."

"Oh, sorry. Don't worry about it. It's just, your hair and tail are still soaked." he smirked. "You look like a drowned dog in clothes."

"Shut up!" Takuya scowled. Kouji suddenly jumped up, circled around behind him, and covered his mouth with his right hand and had him by the waist with his left.

"Kouji? Is someone in there with you?" a female asked.

"No. Just me." He said, slightly loud.

"Oh, ok. I just thought I heard...never mind." they heard her walking away and Kouji let go.

Takuya frowned for a moment at this, then shook himself mentally and let it go. What the hell was wrong with it anyway? If Kouji didn't want to hug him, that was his own business. And why did he care? Ah! He needed to blow something up!

"Come on, we'll go to my room. It doesn't echo in there." he opened the door, checked that no one was there, then took Takuya's hand and ran down the hall and into his room.

-

10 minutes later, with the help of a blow drier, Takuya was now dry and warm.

"There ya go, now you're dry." Kouji announced, turning off the blow drier and going to unplug it from the wall.

He heard rustling behind him and turned back around.

"Wha?"

Takuya was now snuggling comfortably under Kouji's thick covers.

"That's my bed!" Kouji dropped the blow drier next to the plug and ran over to his bed.

'This is why I don't let the dog in here!' he thought bitterly. He paused. 'Did I just refer to Takuya as a dog?'

"Mine. And it's warm." Takuya said from under the covers and a sigh of contentment was heard moments later as Takuya got comfy.

"Fine! Stay there! But I'm going to sleep there too, so you can either stay there or get out." Kouji then lifted some of the covers up to get in.

There was a hiss and Takuya rolled away from the light and cold air that penetrated his dark, warm knoll in the covers. Kouji nearly laughed again. But he restrained himself and after turning the lights off, slipped into the unused half of his bed, getting comfy and ready to sleep.

He soon heard the sounds of Takuya sleeping and smiled softly. Just as he himself was about to fall asleep, he felt arms make their way around his waist and gasped. He froze when he felt Takuya's soft hair as said boy nuzzled his head into Kouji's upper-back. Once he was sure Takuya was still asleep, he let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and calmed down. Soon, he too was asleep.

-

Knock Knock Knock!

"Kouji! Get up! Your brother's here to see you!" Mrs. Minamoto called from the other side of the door.

Kouji groaned slightly and snuggled closer into his pillow.

He heard the door creak open just slightly, then close. No doubt Kouichi had walked in without knocking, like usual. He heard a gasp and opened his eyes. He barely held in his own surprise.

Then his brain caught up and he wasn't surprised anymore.

He was sleeping in the same bed as Takuya the digimon! His arms were around Takuya's waist, like Takuya's were around his. Their foreheads were barely touching and Takuya's tail was slowly moving back and forth across the bed in his sleep. Kouji moved ever so slightly to look over at his brother, who looked like he was fighting between smirking and looking horrified.

"What?" Kouji asked sleepily.

"What's he doing here? In your room? In your bed?" Kouichi asked, deciding on smirking.

"We ran into each other yesterday, literally. He was cold, so I let him come home with me. Amazing, he doesn't even act blind." He managed to get out of Takuya's hold without waking him up and then sat up to face his brother fully.

"Looks like he likes you too, doesn't it?" Kouichi asked while smiling. Kouji resisted throwing a pillow at him. "In any case, I guess coming here to tell you no one found him is kinda pointless, huh?"

"Yea, I suppose so." Kouji watched as his brother sat in a chair next to the desk. He gasped slightly as two arms grabbed him and pulled him back down next to Takuya.

Kouichi barely managed to stifle a laugh. Kouji turned around while laying down and shook Takuya slightly.

"Takuya...Takuya..."

"Does he actually answer to that?" Kouichi asked. Kouji nodded.

"He likes hearing his real name..." he went back to the task at hand. "Takuya, wake up."

"Mm?"

"Kouichi's here." he muttered.

Takuya's blackened eyes shot open and he sat up and backed away. Incidently, hitting the wall.

"Ow..." he rubbed his head.

"He looks very...odd...in your clothes Kouji." Kouichi commented.

"Who?" Takuya's voice was Telamon's dark voice once again.

"Kouichi." Kouichi said, not really surprised that he wasn't remembered.

"Oh." his voice went back to Takuya and a darkness that had overcome the room lifted. "Hi."

"Yea. So, how're doing? You know...with being..." Kouichi stopped after a look from his brother.

"Fine." Takuya answered quickly, as if trying to clear the subject fast. "I mean, it's really dark but...If I know where something is..." Kouichi looked at Kouji when Takuya said that, smirking. "Then I'm...fine..."

"I see." Kouichi sat on the bed, opposite Kouji. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Huh?" Takuya and Kouji asked at the same time.

"Well, you can't hide him in your room forever. And you know those digimon are looking for him." Kouichi explained. "And what about the others?"

"Others?" Takuya asked, not sure whether to be alarmed or angry.

"Yea, J.P., Tommy, and Zoe. They were your friends before...this." Kouichi explained again.

"Uh, right..." he faintly remembered a little kid, a guy dressed in blue, and a girl who spoke Italian. So, if his guessing was right, this was the kid in his memories that looked like Kouji but was way wussier? "So...what about them?" he was kinda nervous. Kouji hadn't said anything and he couldn't see anything, he didn't know where Kouji was, and so...he was nervous.

Kouji noticed Takuya's hands clench ever so slightly on his bed covers and took it as his time to speak up. He'd been thinking.

"Well" at the sound of his voice, Takuya jumped ever so slightly, then calmed down and seemed to be better. "I think you, Kouichi, should go and call the others. You can decide where we meet. I'll stay here with Takuya."

Takuya listened to the sound of someone standing up, then a door opening and closing, then silence. Pause...

"Kouji?" Takuya whispered. From his right and in front of him came a-

"Yea?"

"Nothing. I just thought you might've left or something." he said in a somewhat nonchalant way. He felt weight leave the bed as Kouji stood up. He heard rustling and drawers opening as Kouji got some day clothes out and changed.

"I'd never leave you alone if I could help it Takuya. You should know that."

Takuya smiled slightly. Kouji held out a hand to him for about 5 seconds before smacking himself in the head. Takuya was blind. He took Takuya's hand in his and pulled him up. Moments later, Kouichi walked back in.

"They'll be at the park about noon. Shall we go then?" he asked, choosing to ignore the fact that Kouji and Takuya, who had been holding hands, were now back to back and blushing.

"Now?" Kouji asked, somewhat getting over his blush.

"Uh, yea. You slept in real late. It's after 10. And I thought that Takuya might like the sun." he shrugged. "You know, the sun. Hot." he explained after a look from Kouji.

"Right. Let's get going already." There was a slight ordering tone to his voice, but they decided to ignore it.

-

Kouji wasn't one to believe in luck, but somehow they had managed to sneak the blind Takuya out of his house and to the park. He took the hooded jacket off Takuya's head. His hair seemed to come aflame again.

The atmosphere around them suddenly became a lot calmer. Takuya, newly flaming, pressed a hand against the tree they were next to, and then climbed up into it's highest branches like lightning.

He relaxed against a branch and sighed in content. He then sighed in sadness mere moments later. Sure, the sun's heat was great and he felt regenerated. He was with Kouji and Kouji's brother, Kouichi, waiting for their friends. But he was still blind and couldn't enjoy the sun's light.

He couldn't see the flowers, cherry blossoms, trees, or other nature that his few memories showed him. He could only hear and smell the people, feel the textures...he couldn't see them...

"Hey guys! Over here!" He suddenly heard Kouichi calling lightly. His head snapped downward as he was prepared to meet the sight of some kids he'd used to know. But all he saw was darkness and he cursed.

"Hey Kouichi!" a girl's voice called.

'Zoe...'

The face of a scowling blonde girl entered his mind momentarily and an angry yell of 'Takuya!' flashed through him subconsciously.

"Hi guys." J.P. greeted. "So, what'd you call us here for?" he asked.

'J.P...' Takuya guessed.

He saw a flash of a stupidly smiling boy who was slightly fat and blushing. He heard his laugh and wished he had his sight back.

His ears picked up the soft crunch on grass under feet just below the tree and a slight gasp. Wait...he knew that gasp...

'Tommy!' his eyes widened slightly as he saw the boy's frightened expression play through his mind, a yell of terror from his memory.

"Tommy? What's wrong?" he heard Zoe ask after the gasp. She looked up and gasped too, then backed away.

J.P. had seen him by now too. Kouji and Kouichi were hoping for a good outcome, but then again, they could only hope.

"Tommy!" J.P. whisper yelled, catching the twins' attentions. "What are you doing?" Takuya was looking around frantically, not knowing what the smallest of them was actually doing at all.

He heard a soft grunt next to him before he was suddenly hugged fiercely. The fire digi-child gasped softly, as did two of the teens on the ground. Takuya slowly calmed down, and the 4 on the ground calmed when he hugged Tommy back.

"Takuya..." the crying 13 year old managed. "You're really here..."

Takuya fought back the tears he had when he found that no memories...no recollections...were coming to him...Even with the small one clinging to his chest. He held him tighter.

Kouji saw Takuya's reaction and Kouichi spoke.

"Takuya..." he called softly, catching everyone's attention. "Do you...do you know who your hugging? Who's hugging you?"

Everyone looked to Takuya now. He closed his black eyes and looked away. Tommy somehow managed to stop his tears and backed away slightly as he wiped his eyes, then gasped.

"Tommy!" Takuya yelled, reaching out where he hoped Tommy was as the light-brunette fell from the tree. The others gasped.

Cliffy...lots of those in this story, I've found...Oh! As for how far I've written the story...-starts bouncing- I only have ONE more chapter to write! So, if my online service cooperates...This should be finished in a few days! Yay! Unless I somehow manage to make this last one into 2...There should be 16 chapters. -is happy-