AN: I have no clue how the Japanese school system work, so everything here is based on my school, which is American. Daisuke and his friends are freshman in college.
First semester had not been the greatest. It could have been worse, but it could have been better. It wasn't that Daisuke hadn't been able to make friends; quite the opposite. He and four others had quickly become very good friends. Living in the same dorms meant that they formed a strong friendship and in a matter of weeks it was as if they had known each other forever. No, Daisuke hadn't been lacking in friends. He had been lacking clarity.
After graduation, Daisuke had decided to erase his past. He wanted nothing to do with any of the people he knew or any memories of the events that occurred in high school. He had gotten a full-time job for the summer at a store he knew none of his friends would ever visit, including the digidestined. While they had predictably wandered off into different groups as they entered high school, the group had still always tried to get together and do things. The summer after graduation had been no different. The older digidestined were back from wherever they had wandered after graduation and the summer was to be filled with reunions. Daisuke had used work as his excuse to avoid the reunions. It was the one reason he was glad for the odd hours his job required.
Even Taichi had been pushed away. Daisuke had grown out of his idol worshipping phase, but he had still looked up to the older boy. Even when Taichi had gone to school, they would still communicate through occasional emails. But Taichi was the leader, the one everyone talked to. To hang out with him meant he would have to hang out with everyone. Besides, Hikari was Taichi's sister, which meant he would see her often and Takeru almost as much. The only one from that group he had stayed in touch with was Ken.
It wasn't as if on graduation day he suddenly decided to turn his back on everyone. It was a decision long in coming, beginning when he first started applying to colleges. He had been admitted into almost all of them, and had finally decided on one taking him far from his hometown. It was so far he could only go home for long holidays. But let it never be said that distance makes your problems go away. He had never been clinically tested, but he was now pretty sure he had depression. He figured that one out when he had cut everything old out of his life, and still the depression came back. It always came in the first semester; he had just been hoping it would go away with a change in scenery.
He hadn't told anyone about his little revelation. He never told anyone when he was feeling down, why start now. That had been his plan until one night toward the end of the semester. It had been a particularly bad night when his roommate had walked in to find Daisuke in tears. After getting him to calm down, and to overcome the embarrassment of being caught crying, Daisuke had spilled his guts. He had told him how he had cut everyone from his life and tried to erase high school. He had also told him how he got really depressed during the first semester of every school year. He had basically told him his life story, and Dan had sat through all of it, offering comfort when needed. It had been a long night.
That night had been the end of his old life. That winter he hadn't gotten in touch with anyone from high school and had instead worked part time and tried to catch up on his sleep. He had been determined to have a better second semester. And he had. Now finals were nearing and he actually felt pretty good about most of his classes. He just wished the classes wouldn't end. He was nervous about the summer. He was afraid someone would see him and ask questions he didn't want to answer. He had changed his email and phone number, giving both to no one but Ken. How do you explain to old friends why you decided to drop off the face of the earth?
Daisuke's roommate walked in to find him staring blankly at the text book in his lap. "Hey Daisuke."
Daisuke looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey Dan! When'd you get back?"
"Just right now. Me and Sachi were gonna go play some soccer. Wanna come?"
"Nah. Thanks, but I gotta study."
Dan walked over and looked at Daisuke's blank notebook. "I can see you're getting a lot done," he teased.
"I've been…distracted."
"A difficult feat for you I'm sure." Daisuke glared at him. "Come on. Just for a little bit. You can't spend all your time staring at a book and a blank piece of paper. Your brain needs some air." Dan smirked. "Or at least some fresh air."
Daisuke threw a pillow at him and Dan laughed. "Fine, if it'll get you to shut up."
Daisuke sprawled out on the grass and felt two weights drop beside him. He had forgotten how much fun playing soccer was. He closed his eyes and let a small smile grace his face.
"Hey Daisuke?" He opened his eyes to look at Sachi. "You're really good you know. I bet you could make the soccer team here."
Daisuke's smile disappeared. He shook his head sadly. "I don't play anymore."
"Anymore?"
"He played soccer in high school," explained Dan. Daisuke glared at him.
Sachi looked at him curiously. "Why don't you play anymore?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh, come on!"
Daisuke sighed. "It's just...I don't feel like playing anymore, all right. It's not like I'm going to be a pro soccer player, so there's no point in playing in college. I have enough to do already without adding in an athlete's schedule."
"Fine, fine," said Sachi. "I guess that's a good enough reason."
"You take your studies way too seriously," said Dan.
"Like you don't?" teased Sachi.
"How does one study too seriously?" asked Daisuke, pretending to be deep in speculation.
"Shut up you guys, you know what I meant!" They all laughed.
Daisuke looked at his watch. "Well, if I want to pass my econ final I better get back to studying."
Sachi made a face. "Me too. I just know stats is gonna kill me."
They collected Sachi's ball and started heading back to the dorms. Dan smiled. "Just think guys, only one more day of finals and we're free!"
Sachi grinned. "I cannot wait!"
Daisuke kicked a rock on the ground. "Yeah, it'll be nice to be out of classes."
"But I'm gonna miss you guys!" Sachi swung her arms around the two boys.
"Hey!" protested Dan. "I thought we weren't talking about this until after finals are over!"
Sachi sniffed. "I know, but it's so sad! We should all do something before everyone leaves."
"We're all going to dinner that night," Daisuke pointed out.
Sachi smiled with embarrassment. "Oh yeah, I forgot." Daisuke rolled his eyes. They walked Sachi to her room, and then Dan and Daisuke left for their own.
"You don't seem very excited about going home," Dan quietly inquired.
Daisuke shrugged. "That's because I'm not."
"Don't you at least miss your family?"
Daisuke opened their door. "What's there to miss? My dad never comes home except to sleep and Jun tries to stay away from the house as much as possible. And I really don't feel like indulging my mother's make-believe world."
Dan smiled in sympathy. "Okay, bad subject. Don't you still talk to that one friend...what's his face? Ken?"
Daisuke laughed. "Yeah, it'll be nice to see him again. We didn't get to really do anything over winter break because of differences in our schedule."
Dan nodded. "See?" Daisuke shook his head. "Well, anyway, are you working this summer?"
Daisuke frowned. "I have to. Probably gonna work full time again too."
"I thought you liked to work?"
Daisuke glared at him and Dan ducked a pillow. "The only thing work is good for is to keep me from getting too bored over the summer." He threw himself on his bed. "I really don't want to work full time again though. I would like to be able to watch TV, and I don't know...sleep."
Dan laughed. "Sleep? What is this thing you speak of?" He waved around his biology book as if to prove his point.
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "You're right. Sleep is over-rated."
"Exactly, my friend. And during finals, it is non existent."
"For you maybe. I would actually like to get some sleep, so why don't we get studying?"
"Party pooper."
Daisuke stuck his tongue out.
"Oh that's real mature."
Daisuke threw his pencil at him, and they laughed before getting back to work.
"I just know I failed that stats test!" complained Michiko.
"I know how you feel," agreed Sachi.
Dan rolled his eyes. "Please, you guys were up all night studying. I'm sure you did fine."
They were all sitting at restaurant near the school, celebrating the end of school. The group consisted of Daisuke, Sachi, Dan, Dan's girlfriend Michiko, and Sachi's roommate Tama. The next day they would all be leaving to go to their respective homes. Daisuke was reluctant to go. This group had become the friends he never expected to find. And to leave that, even for a short time, was painful. Unlike the others, he didn't have a comparable group back at home.
"Have you ever noticed," asked Tama in response to Dan's comment, "that everyone says 'you did fine' if you pulled an all-nighter studying? You're never reassured like that if you'd been studying weeks in advance."
"Well," replied Dan, "I would assume that if you'd been studying for weeks you wouldn't be so worried about passing."
"Besides," added Sachi, "why study weeks in advance when procrastinating until you have to pull an all-nighter works?"
Daisuke shook his head. "You guys amaze me."
"Don't act so innocent Daisuke," chided Michiko. "You act like a good little student. But I know the truth. You procrastinate just as much as we do."
"Only when you distract me."
"Oh, Daisuke! I never knew you felt that way!" joked Michiko.
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am madly in love with you and images of you crowd my mind on a daily basis."
"Hey!" exclaimed Dan. They all laughed.
Tama suddenly started sniffling. "What's wrong?" asked Sachi.
"I'm going to miss you guys so much," she said quietly.
"No," said Dan firmly. "No tears. It's only three months. And there's always the phone and email."
"And train!" helped Michiko.
"Besides," said Daisuke, trying to hide how emotional he had suddenly gotten, "we still have a whole night. And I'm hungry. Where's our waitress?"
This made the others laugh, and Tama quickly dried her tears. The rest of the night carried on with much joking and laughter. Daisuke did his best to push all thoughts of leaving them away, until they said good bye tomorrow. But for some reason, he couldn't push away the sense of loss that was creeping over him.AN: This chapter wasn't quite as angsty as the first, but don't worry, I'm not done with Daisuke yet! Okay so, the next big question is: what pairing should this be? I could either make it a Daiken, Dakari, or Daikeru. So leave a review and let me know!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
