Hey there, everyone! Thank you so much to all those who reviewed. Replies are at the bottom.
NOTE TO ALL:
Because a lot of people inquired about the pairings, here are the ones that you'll find within the proverbial walls of this fanfiction:
Main
Pairs: Taichi/Yamato-Takeru/Hikari-Sora/Mimi-Daisuke/Ken
One-Sided:
Taichi/Sora-Ken/Miyako-Daisuke/OC-Hikari/OC-Wallace/Pretty
Much Everyone (Haha.)
--
In the Rough
Chapter Two: Algebra Homework in a Broom Closet
--
The next day on the way to school, Ken and I still hadn't come up with a name for our kid. We were trying to hurry, as our little son had a playdate that afternoon with Takeru and Akemi's daughter, Kumiko, and Daisuke and Sayae's son, Gravy. As you can probably guess, little Gravy was christened by his doting father.
"How about Ryuu?" I asked, then paused, flipping ahead in The Big Book of Baby Names. "He could be our little dragon, and maybe we could get Koushiro to rewire him to breathe fire."
"I'd like a name starting with a vowel," Ken said thoughtfully as he pushed the baby carriage down the sidewalk next to me. He seemed immune to my strange ramblings.
"Arata? Akio? Um… Orino? Oh, wait, that's a girl's name… they really ought to separate those…"
"What about Ichiro? Just, 'first son'?" Ken asked.
I thought about it. "I like it. Is that what you want?"
"Yeah… Ichijouji-Yagami Ichiro… sounds good."
"Same here," I smiled over at the baby. "I think we'll both make good parents someday, Ken."
Ken's eyes were soft and forlorn as he murmured, "I've always wanted a son. I used to write poems about a baby boy more beautiful than all the others, with eyes like a song and a smile like sunshine…"
I grinned at him, gesturing to the newly-named Ichiro. "Well, I think we're out of luck at the moment, but I'm sure your son will look just like that someday."
"Shh!" He hissed, sounding almost serious. "You're hurting Ichiro-kun's feelings!"
I blinked. "…Sorry, Ichiro… -kun…"
The mechanical baby started up with the horrible grinding noise again, and Ken sighed, pulling a bottle with a syrupy form of the "food" from the diaper bag and holding it to Ichiro's mouth until it was empty and the noise stopped.
"He'll need a change before second period," Ken told me once we had reached the school and secured the carriage on the bike rack (it looked rather stupid next to all the bicycles), "and then he gets cranky around lunchtime if you don't read him a story. Ichiro likes "The Little Engine Who Could" and "Clifford's First Halloween," Don't read too fast, though, or he won't get the whole plot. Will you, my little angel?"
Ken tickled Ichiro's plastic nose, and I just stared, deciding not to bust Ken's maternal bubble.
"I'll try to remember that." I took the diaper bag and the blankets from Ken, swinging Ichiro over my shoulder carefully in his ducky-print carrier.
"See you at lunch," Ken said, kissing the baby on its artificial forehead and then walking off to his first period, Calculus.
I watched him for a moment, sincerely hoping it was normal for all the boys to act like this at some point, and then felt Takeru tap my shoulder.
"Hi, 'Keru," I greeted him as always. "The kids are still on for this afternoon at your house, right?"
"Yeah, if I can find Akemi," he said through clenched teeth. "Have you seen her lately?"
"No, I--"
Takeru cut me off, barking over my head to someone behind me (Takeru's a good few inches taller than me), "AKEMI! GET OVER HERE!"
The dark-haired girl looked startled, clutching a pink bundle to her chest.
"Y-yes, Takaishi-kun?"
"Don't you "Takaishi-kun" me!" He snarled, approaching her. "I called you three times last night, Akemi! I know for a fact that you weren't doing homework, because there was a bug in the schools' printers, so we didn't have homework. What were you doing with our daughter?!"
"T-Takeru, wait!"
But he snatched the blanket away, gaping at the "child."
Little Kumiko had apparently gotten a makeover, as she now had pierced ears and full makeup. (Any drag queen would have been jealous.) Akemi sniffled pitifully.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Takeru bawled, grabbing the toy child away from his partner and sputtering indignantly.
"My cousin's in beauty school!" Akemi protested, cowering away from the angry boy. "She wanted a chance to show off her skills!"
(Now I was beginning to understand why Taichi always said the most terrifying thing God could send down to earth was an enraged blonde.)
"SKILLS! WHAT SKILLS?" By now, the three of us had gathered a crowd. I could see Daisuke pushing to the front, shorter than the majority of the other sophomores, and eating a candy bar I was certain he had stolen.
"OH, LIKE YOU COULD TAKE CARE OF OUR DAUGHTER ON YOUR OWN!"
"I COULD, AND I WILL!" cried Takeru. This occurred after several minutes of arguing, and after this loud declaration, Takeru grabbed my arm and lead me away angrily, with Daisuke immediately throwing his wrapper away and scrambling after us.
"What was that all about?" I hissed in astonishment. (And I had always assumed Takeru was the mellow one in the group…)
"She is so annoying," he growled, stopping at a water fountain and attempting to wash some of the cosmetics off of Kumiko. "I hate people with controlling personalities… with their big mouths, and their attitudes…"
"HI, EVERYONE!"
The three of us looked over as Miyako sauntered up, the book bag at her waist swinging back and forth.
"I see you've started the parenting unit in Health," she noted.
"How the hell did you manage?" Takeru cried in desperation.
Miyako sighed. "My partner was willing to change diapers for dates, so we made a deal."
"That was a lot of 'd's in one sentence," chuckled Daisuke.
"And where's your kid?" Miyako asked suspiciously.
"Ha, Sayae's got him this whole week." Daisuke looked immensely pleased with himself. He took another chewy bite of his candy bar.
"So you're taking him next week?" I asked.
"Nope. I only get him for two days."
"How so?" Now it was Takeru asking.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just used the ol' Motomiya Charm…"
"In other words, you paid her in cash," Miyako said dully.
"Hey, at least I don't whore myself!"
"OH!" exclaimed Miyako. "This coming from Motomiya Daisuke, the boy who can't keep a stable relationship for longer than twelve minutes due to his having the attention span of a goldfish?"
"Yeah, well at least I have real relationships, not just phony ones for a Health project!" Daisuke snapped.
"You couldn't keep a steady significant other for more than a week, at most."
"Could too!"
"Wanna bet?"
"You're on! If I can keep a girlfriend… or boyfriend for over a week, you have to admit your undying love to Fujiyama-sensei in front of the whole school!"
Takeru and I gasped, as Daisuke was referring to the fat, greasy Home Economics teacher known for talking to his microwaves. Miyako only faltered for a moment, then came back strong.
"Fine! But if I win, meaning he or she breaks up with you by choice, you're wearing a g-string to school, then dropping your pants on the morning announcements!"
Daisuke shook her hand fiercely, gritting his teeth.
"Prepare to kiss up to Fujiyama, cuz you're goin' down!"
"They're having a sale at Victoria's Secret this weekend, Daisuke. You might want to consider shopping for thongs in advance!" Miyako retorted coolly.
I could see the electricity as their eyes met furiously, then Miyako cheerily waved goodbye to Takeru and I, and walked off, still swinging her hips back and forth.
"Daisuke!" Takeru cried in shock. "Do you have any idea what you just did?!"
"Yes," he replied smugly. "I just won a bet."
"But who the heck would want to go out with you for longer than absolutely necessary?"
Daisuke glared wryly at the blonde, then spoke. "For your information, TP, I have a plan. Hikari!" I looked at him curiously as he said my name. "You can pretend to date me for a week, so I'll win for sure!"
I stared evenly at him, shaking my head. "No, no, no, Dai. I am having no part of this."
"But, Kareeeee!" He whined, flashing me enormous, brown puppy-eyes. "You're my best fwieeennd!"
"Actually, I think that would be Ken…" I broke off, freezing, as did Daisuke.
"Ken! Great idea, Kari-chan! My buddy Ken'll do it for sure, cuz he's cool, unlike some people I could mention whose last name spells 'Imagay' backwards…"
"D-Dai, wait!" I cried out as he dashed off. "No, you don't understand! Ken, he…" But the little redheaded idiot was already out of earshot. "Takeru! We can't let him do that to poor Ken!"
"Huh?" Takeru looked over at me, pausing in his task of rinsing off his plastic daughter's electric blue mascara. "Sorry. Did you say something?"
I felt like ripping my hair out.
--
Lunch started out as a calm affair. The five of us (Miyako was in the library) sat quietly eating our macaroni and cheese, until Daisuke had to be all Daisuke-like.
"Hey, Ken, will you go out with me?"
Ken choked on a bite of food, dropping his spork and coughing violently. Iori reached over and pounded him on the back until he spat the macaroni out, recovering slowly. His face, however, was still beet-red, making him oddly resemble an American flag.
"W-what did you just ask me?" He whispered.
Daisuke, no, no, please don't do this to Ken… if you only knew… But none of my silent pleading reached the ears that were clogged with stupidity and dryer lint.
"I asked if you would date me for a week. It's not serious, or anything, it's just to win a bet with Miyako. If I can keep a boyfriend for a week, she'll ask out Fujiyama-sensei in front of everyone!"
I watched Ken as he gulped, his hands shaking, which he carefully concealed in his lap. His face was devoid of any emotion as he said in a frighteningly level voice, "That… would be hilarious, Davis."
"You bet your ass it would be! So, will you do it?"
I felt like crying, as I was sure Ken was about to do.
"… Sure." Ken muttered.
"Oh, awesome! You rock, dude! Seriously, you're, like, the best friend a guy could ever get!"
"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Ken said after nodding to each of us. He stood up and walked off too quickly to be natural… in the exact opposite direction of the nearest restroom.
--
"Ken?" I called out quietly, in a near-empty hallway. Then I saw his thin form huddled next to a water fountain, shivering. I immediately went to him, crouching down.
"Ken, Daisuke's being a moron again. He'll come around…"
"'It's not serious, or anything'," Ken quoted the other boy softly, eyes tearing up. "Kari, don't you get it? He doesn't like me as anything more than a friend…"
"Ken, don't say that," I insisted. "Maybe, if you just told him how you really felt…"
"NO!" He practically wailed, and I sincerely hoped no classes were disturbed. "Kari, if I freak him out too badly, he might not want to be my friend anymore. I can't risk that!"
I frowned, reaching out and petting Ken's long hair, something my mother would always do to me when I was sad. (She probably would've petted Tai's hair, too, if it weren't for the risk of her hand getting sucked into a black hole.)
"Maybe this'll all work out in the end," I said hopefully, putting on an encouraging grin. "Who knows? This might be just what was needed in taking that next step forward."
He looked up at me with big, indigo eyes. "You think?" I nodded, and he sighed. "Thank you, Hikari."
After we finished lunch, and after the semi-eventful playdate at Takeru's after school (Gravy threw up his food all over Sayae's new top… if you could call it a top. It looked more like tissue paper sewn together.), I decided that I needed to get some advice for Ken… advice from someone with experience in relationships. Someone wise, and knowledgeable… and within reasonable bus fare distance...
--
"YAMATO! YOU THERE?"
I stood, once again, on the playing-card welcome mat, pounding my fist on the huge, oak door.
"YAMATO, I NEED SOME HELP!"
I stepped back as the doorknob turned to the right, and it opened. I felt like breathing out a sigh of relief, as Ishida Yamato was back to normal. Of course, normal for him meant that he was using the proper amount of hair care products, and was back in his designer jeans again.
"Hey, Hikari, what's up?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe.
I slipped my shoes off and left them inside the door, walking inside and seeing Yamato hurriedly turn off the TV from the imported pay-per-view movie that had previously been playing.
"Were you just watching Miss Congeniality?" I asked curiously.
"Um, no," Yamato blurted. "It was… a nature documentary."
"With Sandra Bullock?"
He was silent. "Would you like some tea, Kari? I just made some."
I laughed as he went into the kitchen. "Yamato, it's okay, I know all about your affection for American romantic-comedies."
"Would you like honey in your tea?" He asked loudly.
"Sounds good," I called to him, rolling my eyes. I sat down on the cushy leather sofa, then stretched and snuggled one of the throw pillows.
I looked up as Matt handed me my tea and sat down in the armchair next to mine, taking a sip of his own drink.
"So, what seems to be the problem?"
"Well," I said slowly, suddenly unsure of how to approach the topic, "I have this friend, see, and--"
"Hikari, are you pregnant?" Yamato blurted out.
"What? NO!" I shrieked.
Yamato leaned back, breathing heavily. "Oh, that's a relief. God, Tai would've committed suicide… ahem. So, sorry, what's going on now?"
"I have a friend, and no, Matt, this isn't one of those "hypothetical" love problems where it's actually me. I do have a close friend with troubles. Yamato, you've been in love with an idiot since you were, like, six, so how exactly did you cope when you thought that Tai didn't like you?"
Yamato hesitated. "Err… well, if you must know… Actually, Kari, I don't really feel comfortable talking about this with you…"
"Please? He really needs help, and I don't know who else to turn to."
"Well… sometimes I wrote songs when I was younger, on my harmonica," he told me, drinking more tea, a faraway look in his turquoise eyes, "but when Sora asked Taichi out, and he said yes, when we were eleven… it sounds stupid, but I didn't think I could live like that. I was eleven, Kari… eleven. Geez, we hadn't even hit puberty yet!" He paused, sighing. "I think you remember that period, right? When I was sick all the time? You know, before I got anorexia?"
I nodded slowly, remembering that horrible period when Yamato was white as a sheet and even scrawnier than he was now. "Yes… I remember."
"I… I used to… I used to cut myself, Hikari."
My eyes widened. "You what?"
"I still have a few scars…" He rolled back the sleeve of his shirt, and I could see very faint, white lines on the creamy skin of his forearm. "But, Kari, trust me, I realize now how stupid that was. You know what Tai did when he found out? He smacked me upside the head."
I stared.
"Yup," he chuckled. "He kept screaming at me, "Yama, you idiot! What if you had died, or something? Who the hell's gonna finish my sentences and make fun of my hair and punch me when I'm being unreasonably stupid?" Hah… that certainly snapped me out of my angst."
"Yamato!" I exclaimed, horrified and unable to take my eyes off of the scars as he pulled his sleeve back down. "Why would you start cutting in the first place?!"
He glanced down at the vacuum-marks on the floor for a moment, before looking me straight in the eye. "This isn't a very good example… but, Kari, imagine walking by your mother, who is hugging another girl and calling her "daughter," something you want to be. Imagine that there's nothing you can do about it, because your mom doesn't want you to be her daughter."
My throat tightened, and I fidgeted uncomfortably.
"That's something like I felt whenever I had to watch Sora hug Taichi, or tell him that she… loved him," he continued slowly, "and it drove me over the deep end."
"I'm sorry," I said quietly. What else was I supposed to say? Yamato was eleven when all of that happened. It just didn't seem possible, but I had been there, so I knew it was true. I just never could have imagined he went through so much more pain than he let on.
"For what? That I was an overdramatic preteen wreck? Hey, I still am. Except for the preteen part, naturally. But, all it took was for me to grab Tai's shoulder and shout, "I love you, you crazy bastard!"
"And what did he do?" I asked, draining the last of my tea.
"First he spazzed, then he stood silently for a minute or so, then we ended up in a broom closet."
"Doing algebra homework, I suppose?" I questioned dryly.
"Haha, good one, Hikari. I'm guessing that's what you and Takeru do on weekends? Algebra homework?"
My face heated up. "As a matter of fact, we do, because a.), we're not going out in the first place, and b.), even if we were, which we're not, we're not hormonally-driven freaks like you and my brother, if you'll pardon my brashness."
"… Brashness pardoned," he chuckled, standing to take our teacups and saucers away (they had rosebuds hand-painted on them, and I could've sworn I had seen them before, on the Home Shopping Network).
All I could think about was how Yamato, one of the more level-headed people I knew, had nearly committed suicide because my brother is a dimwit.
--
The next day was Saturday. Saturday is "Hikari and Miyako Go Shopping and Talk About Boys and Music and How Daisuke is an Idiot, then Perhaps Grab Some Food or Something" Day.
Well, actually, on this particular Saturday, we just went to the park… so the title doesn't apply. Go figure.
"I was talking to Wallace the other day on IM…" she told me, holding her arms out for balance as she walked across the narrow top of the Pointless Brick Wall. "His girlfriend, Hailey, just dumped him."
(Now, you see, there is a bit of a history to the Pointless Brick Wall. It's about a fifty-foot-long, four-foot-high stretch of bricks along the sidewalk. It doesn't divide something from something else, it isn't particularly eye-catching, and it holds no particular historical significance to our fine city. However, it was the place where Tai and Matt had their first kiss. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside just walking next to it.)
"She did?" I asked blankly, my hands in the pockets of my gray hoodie. I think it might've been Daisuke's at one point. He gives me all his old clothes when he's done with them. He's so considerate.
"Yeah, for some football-player named Dennis."
"Football-player? Well, then I guess Dennis isn't all bad…"
"No, Kari, not like the good kind of football. I mean American football. Not soccer. The type of football with helmets and giant shoulder pads and Superbowls."
I shuddered. "Oh, that kind. Poor Wallace …"
"He's coming to the championship too, y'know."
I tilted my head to the side. "Why? He doesn't know Taichi personally."
Miyako giggled, hopping off the Pointless Brick Wall as it reached its pointless, brick end. "I know. I think he's just coming to see you."
"Yeah, well," I said, my cheeks turning pink. "He didn't just like me. He said you were cute, too, remember?"
"He said my name was cute, but he liked you better. I could tell. I know these things."
"Miya, Wallace crushed on anything with reproductive organs! He liked me, you, Daisuke… I think he might've liked Takeru, too!"
"He and Dai are kindred spirits," my violet-haired friend sighed, stretching her long arms above her head. "It's no wonder they IM each other, like, every day."
"Every day?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah, but it's all really dumb stuff… I actually read one of their chats once… it was, like," she adopted a perfect imitation of Daisuke's scratchy, self-assured tone, "'yo, dood. wazzup?' And then Wallace replied with," she dropped the scratchiness from her voice and came back with a more cocky impression, almost a drawl, "'nuthin. i saw this hott chick the other day. she had, leik, hott boobs.' And then Dai said, 'haha. 2 sweet.'"
I laughed, holding onto my stomach as she adopted sighed and continued.
"But, wait, Kari, there's more… Their main topic of debate was who liked cheese more, then who had slept with which guy's mom, and how many times."
I smirked, my laughter dying down. "At least you never had to share an account with Taichi. I would get messages from Matt all the time. Oh, goodness… I can't tell you how many times I had to reply with "This is Hikari, Yamato, and no, I'm not wearing your underwear, and I really would rather not in the future. I also am not very interested in what position you're in, or whether or not you can hold it for five minutes. Have a nice day, and please put some pants on."
(It's always fun talking to a best girl friend, no matter what the topic at hand it…)
--
After talking about IM for so long, I decided to sign on. I hadn't in a while, after all. (Thank you, Mom, for finally letting me get my own separate account…)
noodle-cart-pwnage: hi kari
Hikari-Tenshi12: Hey, Dai. :3
noodle-cart-pwnage: havent seen u here in a wile
noodle-cart-pwnage: while
Hikari-Tenshi12: Have I missed much?
noodle-cart-pwnage: what
Hikari-Tenshi12: Never mind… is anyone else online?
noodle-cart-pwnage: oh what am i not cool enough
Hikari-Tenshi12: Um.
Hikari-Tenshi12: How about a chatroom?
noodle-cart-pwnage: …ok
I followed him to one, to find that Iori and Koushiro were chatting.
PruneKingCody: Hello.
Hikari-Tenshi12: Hi, Iori.
010Prodigious010: Good evening, Hikari.
Hikari-Tenshi12: Good evening, Koushiro-san.
noodle-cart-pwnage: oh boy now all the losers are in one chatroom well bye now im gonna go talk to someone cool
//noodle-cart-pwnage has left the chatroom\\
I signed off shortly afterward, as talking to Iori and Koushiro wasn't much fun, after all.
I swiveled around in my chair, looking at my tidy room with a dull expression. I still had that old bunkbed… however, I sleep on the top bunk now, Taichi's old bed. You find some pretty interesting stuff up there, I'll tell ya.
Just the other day, during a thorough examination of the area between the mattress and the headboard, I unearthed a half of a bologna sandwich, Pokemon: Sapphire Version for the Gameboy Advance (I popped it into my Gameboy for a few minutes, to find all of Tai's Pokemon near death and all named things like "Iamstupid"), two tickets to some old musical, a pair of blunted scissors with something sticky keeping them from functioning properly, and a bag of Skittles.
I ate the Skittles. They were, surprisingly enough, still edible.
What also surprised me was the discovery of Tai's old journal (not diary- journal). I could tell it was so because the cover read THIS IS TAICHI'S JOURNAL, AND YOU SHOULDN'T READ IT, CUZ HE IS TAICHI AND HE WILL KILL YOU WITH HIS AWESOMENESS. FOR REALS.
I spent all night reading it, of course. I'm serious when I say my brother has very limited thought capacity. As Koushiro deducted once, the inner workings of Taichi's mind read "Food," "Soccer," "Video Games," and "Yamato".
April 3rd-
We lost the game to the Nagasaki Prowlers last night. What a stupid name for a team. Prowlers…
(Taichi's high school soccer team was the Hotshots… so I don't know what he's talking about there.)
The only reason we lost is because stupid Haruo can't kick a ball for shit. I swear, he almost hit a member of the crowd.
After the game I went home and made some instant ramen. Only then, I figured out that it wasn't really ramen, but a carton of ice cream. Of course, I was half asleep anyway, so I just drank the melted ice cream, then went to sleep. Had a really nice dream… Yama-chan and melted ice cream… mmmm.
(Didn't I tell you? Now all we need is video games.)
Then I went to Kou's to play Halo this morning. Kou may be a genius, but he sucks at gaming.
(Well, there you go.)
April 9th-
I talked to Sora on the phone today. That girl is getting a bit scary lately; she said that she thinks her new boyfriend, Shinichi, was secretly dating Jun, too. Then again, what straight guy hasn't dated Motomiya Jun at some point? Anyway, now Sora says she has to go and kill Jun. Straight people worry me sometimes, always fighting over who likes who… Personally, I think that I'm much more stable than that. Like, yesterday for instance, Yama-chan and I were at a club, and when some jackass started hitting on my babycakes, I only threw one brick at him.
(…)
April 15th-
Sora invited me to go to the mall with her, and then we ended up inviting Mimi and Yama-chan too. Yama-chan was upset because he hadn't done laundry in a week, so the jeans he was wearing were, like, two sizes too small. Geez, it wasn't like I was complaining! I don't even think I concentrated too hard on what all I bought, cuz I was too busy thinking about how I wanted to-
And I'll skip the next… seven paragraphs or so, to protect virgin eyes… um, okay, here's a good entry…
April 30th-
Hika-pika-pie (that would be yours truly) covered for me again today. Mom apparently called home while I was out egging Old Man Sato's house with Sora, since he rear-ended her car last week and the note he left was on rainforest paper. Hika-pika answered the phone, and told her I was in the shower and I would call her back later.
I have such an awesome little sister.
Now, that made me feel happy. I'll make a mental note to hug Taichi extra-hard when I get to America in a few weeks.
After I decided that maybe, just maybe Tai didn't want me reading his innermost thoughts (like they're any different from his outermost thoughts), I made myself a bowl of cereal and turned on the television.
It was MTV, and I definitely paused when I saw what they were reporting on:
In other news, the highly popular rock group "Teenage Wolves" cancelled their last concert in the country-wide tour, which was to take place in Tokyo.
In an exclusive interview with the band's keyboardist, Miyagi Joumei-san, it was revealed that the concert was cancelled by the request of lead singer and bassist, Ishida Yamato-san.
"Some drunk dude cornered Yamato after the show, and started talking trash about our music. 'Mato handled that well enough, and he was really calm the whole time, until the guy gave him crap about his relationship with Tai."
Of course, the man had been referring to Ishida-san's long-term boyfriend, Yagami Taichi-san, a professional player on the NYC Whitehawks soccer team.
"'Mato went ballistic," Miyagi-san continued. "He just went flying at the guy, and then all hell broke lose. We managed to pull 'Mato off of the dude, who started screaming about filing for lawsuit… yeah, well, 'Mato just kicked him again. Right in the--"
The incident was caught on film, but all footage of the actual fight has been confiscated. Rumor has it that Ishida-san not only gained a bloody face, but also lost something incredibly valuable to him in the fistfight, and is now too distraught to go onstage anytime soon.
The Teenage wolves are made up of Ishida Yamato-san, vocals and bass, Tottori Akira-san, percussion, Hashigawa Kiyoshi-san, lead guitar, and Miyagi Joumei-san, keyboards.
And now for their new chart-topping single, "Fast!"
As the image on screen switched to a blurry, seizure-inducing racetrack, and Yamato's familiarly silky voice began to belt out masterful lyrics about how a relationship was like one big race, I sat, munching the bite of cereal thoughtfully.
I wish I could be on TV someday. Yamato's on there practically every day, with some new interview or "scandal". Gasp, a raunchy sex tape featuring Ishida and his boyfriend?! Oh, please. We've got billions of those around Odaiba. I hear Motomiya Jun can sell you one for like five hundred yen. Or, God forbid, a photograph of Ishida eating carbs! Perish the thought of the world's prettiest singer becoming wider than a toothpick!
Maybe I'll be interviewed at the championship. Matt already warned me to bring a scarf or some sunglasses, to cover my face. He even offered to let me borrow his really nice ones, with the custom lacquer.
He says that the paparazzi may seem cool at first, but it gets to the point of pulling out a rifle and going berserk when every second of every day, it's "OH, MY GOD, ISHIDA-SAMA! IS THAT COFFEE YOU'RE DRINKING?! WHICH BRAND IS IT?! ARE YOU HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH YOUR KEYBOARDIST?!" (And, yes, he has gotten such abrupt changes of topic as that before, if not more random.)
I think I might just go against his wishes, though, and shout at the cameramen, "Hey, lookit me! My name is Yagami Hikari, and I know lots of deep, dark secrets about my brother's boyfriend! For instance, did you know that Yamato owns a pair of yoga pants with "JUICY" printed on the back?!? It's true!"
Okay, maybe not that far. Because I really don't want Matt pissed at me. When he gets upset, he won't let me use the super-cool massage chair Mimi got him last Christmas.
It has heat and optional "serene ambiance" background noise!
--
Ken told me that while Miyako and I were at the park, Daisuke took him out to ice cream. He actually paid for Ken's! I had no idea that Daisuke even knew what money was!
Apparently, Daisuke flourished the bill around and screamed at the top of his lungs, "HEY, I'M BUYING THIS ICE CREAM FOR MY BOYFRIEND, WHOM I LOVE VERY MUCH!"
Ken said it felt great, but at the same time he was sad and humiliated, because, of course, it wasn't real. Daisuke is such an idiot! (And I doubt he used the word "whom" correctly there. It was probably just Ken auto-correcting it.)
I have a feeling that by the end of this week, things are going to change between them.
And this time, I think I might not hate being right.
--
Haha, another chapter done! I am a veritable chapter machine!
Replies to Reviewers:
They-Call-Me-Orange: Yeah, I completely agree with you. A lot of fiction makes everyone gay, and that is indeed unrealistic. I'm trying just to keep it Tai/Yama and Ken/Dai, but I still have no idea how this is going to turn out. I probably am going to make it a Takari in the end, though. Thank you for the compliments; it's been a while since I've heard from you. :-D
I LoVe ShInY ThInGz: Heehee, thank you so much! I love your name, btw.
ccc: That really means a lot to me. :-) I'm a huge Yagami-lover, so both Hikari and Taichi are awesome in my opinion… not many people like Kari as much as Tai, though. She seriously needs more publicity.
anon: Thank you! ;-) Takari sounds like a good idea… but what about a LOVE PENTAGON! MUAHAHAHA! (ahem)
Sutzina Zion: I know, I love long chapters too… it was originally going to be two, shorter chapters, but I couldn't find a good place to cut it off. Thank you for reviewing!
Angel of the Night 213: Ooh, I do like Mimi/Sora… actually, now that you mention it, that might be a good plan, even though I originally was going to pair Mimi with Michael… drama, drama, drama! Sora could so kick Michael's butt… Thank you for the review and the idea! I will definitely put some Sormi in there.
And now, a reply to a very special person…
JyouraKoumi: …… Are you certifiably insane? No, I'm serious. Because I'm getting that vibe from you.
If you are actually sane/sober while reading this:
-I said, quite clearly, in chapter one, that I had changed the ages. I know very well that Miyako and Koushiro are not the same age, and that Mimi and Koushiro are. I've, as you put so eloquently, "done my research".
-And about your last comment… "Lol do ur research and find out yoursleves cuz jyoumi is gay in Japan.." Well, first of all, I never mentioned any Jyou/Mimi in this story, and even if there is in the future, I don't believe it's a slash pairing. Last time I checked, Jyou was a boy and Mimi was a girl, but I dunno, that might've changed by now. This world is a crazy place. (Also, btw, there is only one of me. You know, as you addressed me as "yourselves". I do not suffer from MPD, but that's an easy mistake to make.)
And, I read your bio page… if you're trying to gain some… I don't know, "street cred" by talking (or rather, writing) like that, I'd advise you to choose another topic besides your favorite Digimon pairings. Just some friendly advice.
Happy holidays, JyouraKoumi, and kindly lay off the eggnog a little!
R/R! You've already read it, so now review it!
-Beezlee-
