A/n: Edit: 03rd Apri'21 - This is just the combination of chapters 5 and 6. Again, not much changes to the contents, just fixed some grammatical mistakes. Edit: 03rd April'21
-x-
"Nii-san, it feels like you're on a different plane altogether." Takeru pouted, a slightly tired look on his face. He had just finished eating the dinner cooked specially by his brother and had been talking about a nation-wide creative writing contest that he wanted to participate in. After a few minutes into explaining his idea, the younger blond realized that his brother wasn't really paying attention and was staring into the distance with a half-formed scowl on his face. Takeru waved his hands in front of his brother's face, a little annoyed by the his spaced out behaviour.
"Hello? Earth to Nii-san?"
Yamato blinked rapidly a few times and then focused his attention towards his younger brother, "I'm so sorry, Takeru. I just had this really stupid conversation with Taichi in the morning and it's just refusing to leave my mind." He ran a hand through his hair, an apologetic smile on his face.
"From that look on your face, I bet it was one of Taichi-nii's crazy theories that defy all logic and irk you to no extent." Takeru laughed. He was so used to seeing the two older boys bicker about the silliest things that he had stopped bothering himself with trying to understand them.
"No, actually it was more like an argument I suppose." Yamato replied, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he closed his eyes in defeat and massaged his forehead.
"You got into a fight with Taichi-nii? Over what?" Takeru was a little alarmed. Bickering was something that the duo did on a daily basis, but actual arguments were rare and always pretty serious. "Geez, Nii-san that's what you should've started with today and not 'Hey Takeru, how was your day'!" He muttered, the pout returning on his face.
Yamato rested his head on the table, covering it with his arms, not wanting his younger brother to see the red colour that was creeping over his cheeks, "About girls." He murmured quietly, hoping that Takeru wouldn't hear it but he heard it loud and clear.
Takeru burst out laughing, this was the first time ever that he had heard his brother bring up this topic. He always used to go to Yamato whenever he wanted to talk about his crush (which wasn't even a secret since everyone except that said crush knew how he felt) or whenever he fought with Daisuke. Somehow his brother always knew the right thing to say and whenever Takeru was feeling down, nothing other than Yamato's gentle smile and calm voice which could cheer him up. So this was the first time their roles had been reversed and the younger blond was more than eager to return the favour.
But before that he decided to take a little advantage of the situation. Yamato and Taichi constantly teased him in his crush's presence and this was probably the only time he'd get a chance to embarrass his usually well conducted brother. Even though Yamato had buried his face under his arms, Takeru could tell that he was blushing furiously and Takeru couldn't help but grin slyly. Despite his kind face, the younger brother had a slightly vicious side to his personality.
"So you guys like the same girl or what?" He taunted his brother. The reaction was immediate and priceless, Takeru vowed to himself that he was going to etch this moment permanently in his brain because he was sure he'd never get to see his brother looked so flustered again.
"No! No, no absolutely not! Far from it." Yamato cried out, his cheeks were tinged with red and he refused to look his younger brother in the eye.
"Okay. So you both like different girls." Takeru stated, grinning widely.
"That's not- I don't like anybody okay?" Yamato replied, clearly in denial of whatever was bothering him.
"Well then you're going to have to be more specific if you don't want me jumping to conclusions." Takeru said matter-of-factly, the grin now reduced to a small smirk.
Yamato scowled at his younger brother's look of amusement, it was frustrating to him that Takeru was enjoying himself so much. He made a mental note to tone down with the teasing because now Takeru could totally reverse it on him if given the chance. Needless to say, he didn't like this new side of his younger brother's usually happy-go-lucky personality at all.
He sighed heavily, and looked Takeru directly in the eye.
"Taichi thinks he knows someone who might be in love with me."
-x-
To say that he was feeling awkward was an understatement, Koushiro was downright fidgety. He was sitting between Yamato and Mimi on the train to school and while Yamato, as usual, had his earphones plugged in and was pretty much aloof to everything around him, the computer genius could feel the anxiety radiating from Mimi and that was adding to his own uneasiness. It seemed like he was the king of coincidences, right after Mimi had admitted her feelings for the blond to him, the two of them ended up running into him on the train. Koushiro could tell Mimi was regretting confiding in him and he didn't really blame her for not trusting him completely. Taichi had this radar that always made him alert about secrets he wasn't in on. The genius thanked his stars, even though he didn't really believe in such things, that their big headed leader had club activities early in the morning. One look at Koushiro's face and Taichi would have been able to tell that the genius was hiding something. Even though technically, he wasn't hiding anything. He was just holding a piece of information which could possibly change two of his closest friend's lives and he didn't know what to do with it.
x
Mimi couldn't help but get mad at Koushiro. She didn't want to glare at him so furiously but she really couldn't help herself. Of all the seats he could've taken, he went ahead and sat right in between her and Yamato-kun. After so long, she finally had a chance to interact with the blond without Taichi being in the vicinity and her best friend just went ahead and snatched it right out of her hands. And on top of that he was acting like a total dork by glancing nervously at Yamato-kun every few minutes. If that wouldn't give away the fact that he was hiding something, Mimi didn't know what else could. Luckily, for her and her smarty-pants best friend, the blond was sitting with his eyes closed and his earphones plugged in and probably hadn't noticed the nervous wreck sitting next to him yet. She really liked that part about him, how he could stay un-affected by the world around him. But she also knew that the blonde was always strangely aware of everything happening around him, even when it looked like he wasn't paying attention, he always knew when to step in and when to leave the matter alone, unlike his goofy best friend who did not understand the concept of personal space.
So either Yamato-kun was fully aware of Koushiro's weird behaviour and could at any moment unplug his earphones and voice out his concern or he was being considerate and giving Koushiro the time to explain himself. She dreaded that it was the former and she knew that her dear Kou-chan would most probably sprout out some incoherent nonsense eventually giving her away. One of the main reasons that she had decided to not tell any of the Digidestined about her feelings was because all eight of them were so close that it seemed wrong to keep secretes within their group. She thought that she would put Sora-chan or Kou-chan under distress by making them keep her secret from the others and hence the safest option had been to not tell anyone at all.
Thinking about all of this at once made her head hurt, she wanted to cry out in frustration but of course, the situation called for other desperate measures. She fixed her eyes on the doors of the train and readied herself to grab the idiot sitting next to her. The minute the 'ding' rang around the compartment and the doors started opening at the new station, she got up and dragged Kou-chan with her. She turned around once to quickly address the confused Yamato before getting off.
"You know, I just remembered that I had to buy cake for Saori-chan but I wouldn't want you getting late for school Yamato-kun, so go on ahead. We'll see you at school!"
-x-
Yamato was a little taken aback by Mimi and Koushiro suddenly jumping off the train, quite literally. Though Koushiro looked totally unwilling and Mimi had pretty much dragged him away singlehandedly, he made a note to not underestimate her strength, the blond had been in some way or the other, expecting this to happen maybe in a slightly less dramatic manner. Nevertheless, he was a little relieved since he didn't need to ignore Koushiro's nervous glances any longer. Taichi had told him countless times that people think he's lost in his own world when he's listening to music but Yamato felt quite the opposite of it. Yes, music did sometimes prove to be a sort of escape for him but mostly it helped him to see things better. Cancelling out the noise of the world and filling it with a tune that he enjoyed and then just looking, helped him notice those things that others normally couldn't.
Ever since he bumped into the other two on the train till the moment they got off, Koushiro had been trying to act normal and had failed miserably at it. Mimi, on the other hand, had been miffed with Koushiro for acting so obvious that she decided to take things into her own hand which led to them getting off earlier and leaving him behind. Which could only mean that they didn't want him to know whatever it was that Koushiro was trying so hard not to spill. Or rather, Mimi didn't want him to know. He frowned at the last part, Taichi's words resonated in his ears yet again and he let out a small groan, he had been looking forward to prove his best friend wrong but now he would have to admit Taichi was right. Their argument from yesterday kept replaying his head and he decided to think over what Taichi had said once again.
x
It was a normal Sunday morning for Yamato and he was expecting it to be a slow day. Taichi had stayed over for the night and now the blond was cooking breakfast for the two of them while the guest took his 'post-freshening up /pre-breakfast nap' on the dining table.
"Tai, wake up." Yamato called out as he set the freshly made pancakes on the table next to his best friend's big head.
It wasn't the blond's loud voice that woke up their self-proclaimed leader but rather the smell of the pancakes. Taichi's head shot up and without uttering a word, he started shoving the food in his mouth as fast as he could.
Yamato watched him with a slightly disgusted look on his face and then continued with his own breakfast, despite all the time the two spent together he never could get used to Taichi's disturbing eating habits.
"This is really good, Yama. You should try out for Masterchef!" Taichi said in between mouthfuls.
"I can't go to Masterchef on pancakes, Tai." The blonde deadpanned. He turned his attention towards the newspaper lying open on the table since he already knew how this conversation would end.
"But you also make really good ramen, and curry and oh that one time when you made Sukiyaki for New Year's! Man that was really yummy." Taichi pointed out, almost done with his breakfast.
"You would know, since you ate most of it." Yamato replied disinterestedly as he looked over the news, "And for the last time, I'm not going to apply to Masterchef." He added, his voice tinged with annoyance.
"Fine, I won't suggest that ever again." Taichi scowled at him as he finished his breakfast with one last bite. Yamato and Taichi both knew that that was a lie and that the latter would definitely bring it up again while eating something cooked by the blond and this would keep happening until Yamato would lose his cool and agree in frustration to sending in an entry. It was more or less a battle of perseverance between the two and the blond had every intention of dragging it out as long as possible. Though sometimes when he used to think about all the silly things he and Taichi argued about and their little competitions, he couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of it all. He probably would've continued thinking about the Masterchef suggestion if his best friend wouldn't have suddenly interrupted his train of thought.
"Oh and by the way, Mimi-chan's in love with you."
Yamato almost chocked on his food and dropped his fork. There was a loud clang as it landed on the floor which was followed by a few moments of complete silence as he tried to swallow the food stuck in his throat and at the same time his brain tried to make sense of what his best friend had just said. He shot Taichi a bewildered look but it seemed as though the brunet was completely unaffected by it. He had announced the news with as much enthusiasm as someone announcing the weather. His laidback behaviour sparked an unruly emotion in Yamato. It had been quite a while since he had actually lost his temper at someone but the yawning idiot in front of him wasn't making it any easier for the blonde.
"What did you just say?" Yamato hissed dangerously, his teeth gritting as he managed to reign in his temper.
"Are you deaf as well as blind? I said she's in love with you." Taichi replied wearily.
Yamato had to muster up each and every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from lunging at his best friend across the table and beating the crap out of him.
"I swear to fuck, if you think this is funny-"
Yamato couldn't finish his sentence as Taichi let out another yawn, a louder one, interrupting the blonde midway.
"And here I thought you were more perceptive than anyone else." Taichi replied, his voice taunting.
"Are you fucking crazy?" Yamato asked, his voice eerily calm.
"No, I'm fucking right." The brunet asserted. Before Yamato could question him again, he quickly added, "Have you seen the way she looks at you? All heart eyes and shit."
"I barely ever talk to her!" Yamato stuttered out, his mind was in a haze and he couldn't quite register the meaning of what Taichi was trying to tell him.
"But when you do, she hangs on to your every word like you're Buddha or something." Taichi scoffed.
Yamato opened his mouth to retort but he couldn't come up with anything. His brain played out every single interaction he'd had with Mimi over the past few months, looking for hints that would tell him that Taichi was telling the truth. Every time he had smiled at her, she had looked away. Whenever he had asked her something, she'd stuttered back an answer hurriedly. At the end of every concert when the group would come back stage, she would stand back but he could tell that her cheeks were flushed as she studied the ground. During the concerts or small gigs at cafes, when she stood at the front of the crowd, her eyes shone brightly as she looked up at him. He had been looking at her all this time but never really noticing these small things. Maybe it was because he'd never imagined that someone as cheerful and spirited as Mimi would enjoy his company.
"Since you're at a loss for words, imagine that. Let me make a suggestion."
Taichi's cocky voice broke the blonde's train of thought and he focused his clear blue eyes at his best friend. The football fanatic had a sly smile on his face which made that unstable emotion bubble up inside the blond yet again. His best friend was treating this like a joke and Yamato couldn't stand it and yet he nodded at Taichi, signalling him to continue.
"You should ask her out."
"Are you out of your mind?" Yamato blurted out, his voice now louder than begfore and his hands had curled up into fists as he attempted to keep his anger in check.
"No, I'm being fucking reasonable." Taichi drawled out, "We're 17 Yama and we don't have girlfriends. Do you know how sad that is?"
"I don't care, I'm not going to ask Mimi out just for the sake of your entertainment."
"Then ask her out for your entertainment. I don't see the harm in this at all. Mimi is the prettiest girl in our school and she's head over heels for you, it's a win-win situation Yama!" Taichi insisted.
"Why are you treating this like it's the most casual thing on the planet?" Yamato retorted, "You're asking me to use her."
"I'm asking you to have fun."
"By playing with our close friend's feelings?"
"Dating her is not equal to playing with her feelings."
"It is when I don't feel the same way!"
The brunet let out a small laugh and shot a glare towards the Yamato. His voice lost all humour as he replied quietly, "You think I don't know how you feel? You think I don't see how lonely you are?"
"Get out of my house."
- x -
A/n: 2021 and I still love the whole concept of asshole Taichi so much, he needs to throw hands with everyone for my entertainment.