Ariana: Woo hoo! Chapter 8! I was planning to get this out earlier, but couldn't figure out a way to end it. Then I realized I had ended it.
Ti: Go figure.
Ariana: I thought I shipped you home!
Ti: You wish you could get rid of me.
Ariana: I'm not even sure how to respond to that…
Disclaimer: Still don't own Digimon. Coming to the realization that I will never own Digimon. Thank you so much for bringing up that painful reminder!
Welcome to My Life Chapter 8
Daisuke bid his supervisor a good night before he rushed out the door. He had exactly one hour to get home and clean up before Yamato came. He pulled out his cell as he ran down the side walk.
"Come on Jun, pick up."
Hi you've reached Jun Motomiya. I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message after the tone, and maybe I'll call you back.
Daisuke rolled his eyes at his sister's voicemail. "Hi Jun, it's me. I think it might be a good idea if you try to find something to do tonight, out of the house. I meant to tell you last night, but you got in too late. Thanks." He hung up, hoping she'd get his message before she got home. It was easy to keep her out. It was much harder to push her out once she was there, especially with Yamato coming. Daisuke wasn't sure how his sister felt about him now, but she could still be a little boy crazy at times.
Daisuke continued rushing down the sidewalk, glad he only lived fifteen minutes away; he had stopped taking the bus to save money. He now berated himself for going to Yamato for help. That's what he got for acting before thinking. Yeah, sure, he and Jun needed to learn how to take care of themselves since no one was going to show them. But Yamato? Of all the crazy ideas he'd ever had, this had to be among the craziest. And how the blonde had convinced him to have it at his house, he still didn't know. This reminded Daisuke of Yamato's punctuality. He rarely ever showed up someplace on time, it was always early. He swore, earning a sharp glance from an older woman walking her dog.
Daisuke almost cried out loud with joy as he reached his apartment. His lungs were burning and his legs felt as if they would fall off. He ran to his door and practically fell through, panting loudly. After catching his breath he straightened and groaned at the sight in front of him. It seemed that not only had his father had a rough night, but he had made a bigger mess as he stumbled to work with a hangover.
He sighed and walked around the half-empty bottles of beer and went to wash up and change. Not surprisingly, the bathroom was a mess as well. His father had left crumbled clothes on the floor, and there was spilled shampoo on the side of the bathtub. Daisuke growled as he realized it was his shampoo. He was going to have to start keeping even his bathroom supplies in his room from now on. Daisuke quickly washed his face and cleaned up the mess his father had left. He threw the old clothes into his father's room and walked into the kitchen. It was then that Daisuke realized the place reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke. He had gotten used to the smell, so he barely noticed it anymore. He glanced at the clock: 5:40. He didn't have time to clean up and get some air freshener. He pushed a hand through his hair as he thought of what he could do. He crossed the room and opened all the windows, hoping it would be enough to air out the room. He then grabbed a trash can and threw all the bottles in it after he had rinsed them out. He tied the bag and began wiping down the counters and floor. It was about 5:50 when Jun walked in.
"What are you doing here?" asked Daisuke in surprise.
Jun looked at him in confusion. "Coming home from work," she answered tentatively.
"Didn't you get my message?"
She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I forgot to turn my phone back on after work." She noticed the cleaning that Daisuke had just finished. "Who's coming over?" she asked in surprise.
"Yamato." She stared at him. "He's going to show me how to cook a casserole."
Jun walked over and slapped her brother in the back of the head. "Ow! What the heck was that for?"
"Are you an idiot? Yamato can't come and see the place like this!"
"That's why I cleaned."
"What the heck were you thinking?"
Daisuke looked away. "We can't keep eating the way we have been. Especially you." He turned back to his sister. "Look at you Jun! It's summer and you look like you've never seen the sun. We're not eating right and soon our health's going to suffer and right now we don't have the money to pay for treatment." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "I thought Yamato could show me how to make better food. I wasn't planning on him coming over, but somehow he convinced me that was the better idea."
Jun sighed. "Is there anything I can do?"
Daisuke looked around. They only had a few more minutes before Yamato came. "Can you take the trash down? I'm going to see if I can't get that stain out of the carpet." Jun nodded and hurried down with the bag of bottles. Daisuke got on his knees in the dining room and began scrubbing with a sponge. By the time Jun came back up there was no sign of the stain cleaning up. Daisuke growled in disgust. He threw the sponge down.
Jun knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Plenty of people have stains in their carpet. It's not a big deal."
Daisuke took a deep breath and picked up the sponge. "I know. I'm just...worried I guess. Yamato's too damn perceptive for his own good."
"For his or for ours?" asked Jun bitterly. The doorbell rang and they both glanced at the door, then back to each other. She took the sponge from his hand. "Did you take care of the fridge?"
Daisuke's eyes widened. He'd forgotten about "The Stash", as he and Jun had started calling it. Jun sighed. "Keep him at the door for a couple of minutes and I'll move them." Daisuke nodded and scrambled to the door as the bell rang again. "Hi Yamato!" he said breathlessly as he opened the door. "Sorry about that, we had a bit of a...crisis."
Yamato looked at him strangely. "That's okay. Sorry I'm late; I had to pick up some last minute ingredients."
Daisuke glanced at his watch. 6:02. He smiled and shook his head. They stared at each other a little bit.
"Can I come in?" asked Yamato, with a raised eyebrow.
Daisuke glanced behind him and saw Jun flash a thumbs-up. "Yeah, sorry, come on in. Crisis over." Yamato gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't going to ask and walked in. Daisuke closed the door behind him and sent a silent prayer that the evening would go smoothly.
Yamato finished showing Daisuke what to do and took a pause in his instruction. Jun was browning the meat and Daisuke was chopping up vegetables. He walked over to where the noodles were bowling and stirred the spoon. He glanced around the apartment, slightly puzzled. When he had walked in he could smell alcohol and cigarettes, but hadn't said anything. He had noticed the open windows and wondered if that was for air or for airing out. He had done similar things when people came over. However, there hadn't been any alcohol in the fridge, or anywhere in the kitchen for that matter. He glanced out the window. Either these two were good, or he was jumping to conclusions.
Daisuke must have noticed the blonde's silence because he suddenly looked up and followed Yamato's gaze out the window. He cleared his throat. "I guess it is getting kind of dark. I'm going to get some candles." Daisuke disappeared to the back room.
"Sorry about this." Yamato turned to Jun. She was stirring the meat, refusing to meet Yamato's eyes with a slight blush. "I told Daisuke this was going to be horrible with no lights."
He could tell she was trying to brush it off lightly. He felt a pang of sympathy. "Don't worry about it. I've cooked in the dark before. Besides, if you guys can pull this off without light, think how much better it'll be with light."
She smiled softly. "I think it would only be testimony to your skills, not ours."
Yamato shook his head. "I'm just telling you guys what to do, you're doing all the work."
Daisuke snorted as he walked in, catching that last comment. "You give others way too much credit," he said playfully. He set the candles on the counter, around their cooking area.
"Have enough candles there," asked Yamato in amusement.
Daisuke grinned. "You can never have too many candles."
Jun shook her head. "Ladies and gentleman, my brother the pyro."
Yamato chuckled as Daisuke stuck his tongue at her. He never thought he'd see the day when the two siblings would be so comfortable around each other. In the past whenever they were together, you could swear a nuclear war was going to break out. Daisuke never had a good thing to say about his sister. Surely he hadn't been mistaken about that. Now these two seemed to get along fine.
He glanced at Daisuke as he went to pull a lighter from one of the drawers. He spotted a couple packs of cigarettes. There's Mystery #1 he thought. He watched as Daisuke moved to light the candles. Yamato instructed Jun to finish cutting up the vegetables while he lowered the flame under the meat. By the time Daisuke had all the candles lit, the food was ready to put together. He showed Daisuke how to drain the noodles (without burning himself) and add them to the meat. He then showed them what type of seasoning he usually used and had them season it to taste. They then dumped the vegetables into the meat and noodles, and continued to watch it until the vegetables were cooked.
They had just turned off the flame when the front door opened. Jun and Daisuke looked at each other with what Yamato could only define as fear. He looked toward the dining room as footsteps approached the kitchen. He took a deep breath as he realized it was their father, their father who was obviously drunk. He felt Daisuke and Jun glance at him and back to their father.
"Who are you?" he slurred.
Daisuke stepped forward, in front of Yamato and Jun. "This is a friend of ours. We invited him over."
The man stared at his son as if he wanted the boy to burst into flames. "Why?" he demanded.
Yamato could almost feel Daisuke's mind working to try to come up with something. Careful Daisuke, he pleaded silently. The man did not look like a friendly drunk. He felt Jun inch closer toward him. Though only seconds passed by, it felt like years.
"He has the same major as me, but he's ahead. He was just giving me some pointers on what classes I should take."
Their father glanced at Yamato, who nodded carefully. "Majors?" he asked, seemingly struggling with the information. He looked back to his son blankly.
Daisuke nodded. "Yeah, majors. School?"
Something seemed to click in the man's head. He glared at Daisuke again. "Why aren't you in school?"
"It's summer."
"What? You're too good to go to summer school?" His voice was rising.
"I'm working."
His father scowled. "Why do you need to work?"
"To pay for school."
Once again his father had lost track of the conversation. He searched for something, and then smiled. He patted Daisuke on the shoulder. "Such a good boy. Very responsible." He leaned closer to him. "You get that from me." He leaned back and laughed loudly. He turned to walk down the hall. "Don't mess up the kitchen again," he yelled back to them.
Yamato let out the breath he'd been holding and he heard Jun draw in a shaky breath. He watched Daisuke's shoulders drop in relief before the brunette turned back to them. The look on the younger man's face broke his heart. Anger was by far the most prominent, but there was also shame, fear, exhaustion, and a million other emotions that had no name. "I'm really sorry, Yamato," Daisuke whispered. Jun looked like she was going to cry.
Yamato took another deep breath to calm his nerves, as he tried to think how he could remedy the situation. He slowly walked over to the casserole and took a bite. He smiled softly and turned to the siblings. "I thought you said you couldn't cook?" he asked accusingly.
Jun's mouth fell open and Daisuke's face lit up in surprise. He then began to laugh. Jun stared at her brother in concern while Yamato just leaned against the counter. Laughing was good. It wasn't talking, but it was something. If Daisuke needed a few minutes of hysteria, Yamato could allow him that.
Daisuke stood up from where he had dropped against the fridge and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry," he gasped, trying to catch his breath. "That was just so...so...random!" He shook his head. "I guess we better eat then, huh?"
Jun shook her head at her brother, but got out the dishes and silverware. They all sat down at the table. Daisuke and Jun looked at each other. "You first," they said at the same time.
Yamato rolled his eyes. "I've already tasted it guys. It's fine."
Daisuke looked at him, a little distrustful. He cautiously brought his fork to his mouth and took a bite. His eyes widened in surprise. "It is good!"
"Of course it is," said Yamato offhandedly. Really, what was the big deal?
Jun turned to him. "Thank you so much, Yamato."
Yamato shook his head. "I didn't do anything."
Daisuke looked at him pointedly. "Yes, you did." His voice was sincere.
Yamato shook his head again and smiled softly into his plate. He had to admit, it felt good to be appreciated.
Ariana: …
Ti: So you decided to let Yamato find out, huh?
Ariana: I decided nothing! This story is sneaking away from me! I no longer control the plot!
Ti: Such a drama queen. Aren't you going to thank the reviewers?
Ariana: Of course!
Dark Qiviut: As always, thanks for the review. And I'd be more than happy to look at your stories…as soon as life decides to give me a moment to breathe. Hmm… Get ahead on homework, or read fanfiction…such a tough decision. Well, guess I know what I'm doing after this! And you didn't offend me by asking me to review your stories. Don't know where you got the idea. Just another reason to procrastinate!
Chibi-Kari: Hehehe. I just can't leave poor Daisuke alone. And unfortunately Jun is targeted by association. But as far as something waiting to ruin everything…whatever would make you think that!
KoumiLoccness: …I don't really get it, but thanks for the review.
LegendarySilverX: Yeah, I don't think many people would expect Daisuke to ask Yamato for help, of all people, especially for cooking. But I think Daisuke recognized how bad things were getting, but still doesn't want anyone to know. But Yamato's life has been hard as well. So they had something in common there. But I don't know if he'll turn into Yamato. That would be kind of weird. But at this point, anything could happen! You'll have to keep reading to find out…
Ficmaster: Thanks for the review. I'm glad that people seem to be enjoying this story. It makes me happy.
Ariana: Please review, cuz reviews make me happy.
Ti: And she's scary when she's not happy.
Ariana: I'm going for 50 by next chapter.
Ti: She's delusional.
