Dark Kiss
Chapter 8: Rule Of Invitation
"So if Vamdemon is still infatuated with Taichi, then he could still help us" Koushiro explained "But just like Sora and Yamato said earlier... Taichi seems reluctant to be with Vamdemon"
The chosens were all gathered in the park, dressed warmly and conversing about their next plan of action, Taichi was the only one missing.
Hikari shook her head "I'm not sure it's reluctance, he told me he's confused, conflicted, fighting himself between his heart and mind, I'm not even sure if he hates Vamdemon anymore"
Sora turned towards Hikari, her expression with curiousity "Taichi always thought with his mind first, recently though he's learned to think with his heart, I think that confliction started ever since the infected Digimon showed up"
Jo nodded to this "I wasn't there much but I was told this by Yamato"
Yamato adjusted his stance "Yeah, his heart was aching because he didn't want to hurt the people around us, but his mind told him to fight and worry about it later, I think that's what he meant when he said 'it's not the same like when we were kids'... As kids we couldn't understand the damage we did, but as adults... It's a whole different story"
"Guys!" Taichi shouted as he ran towards everyone "What took you so long?" Yamato grumbled at Taichi being late, Taichi rubbing the back of his head "Sorry... I had some issues back home..."
Hikari tilted her head "Did mom ask you a favour before you left?"
Taichi shook his head "No nothing like that, it doesn't matter anyway, so... What were you talking about up until now?"
Koushiro blinked, staring at Taichi for a bit "Well for now we were talking about you and your conflicted emotions towards Vamdemon"
Taichi gloomed to this information "Are you guys that obsessed about me and Vamdemon?"
Yamato's eyes narrowed in slight irritation "It's not that, we're just worried about you especially since he's here, he says he is in love with you and we're just trying to figure out how to appraoch it"
Taichi huffed a long sigh "I don't know... This is all so complicated even for me"
Mimi couldn't help but stare at Taichi's scarf, she was a genius at fashion and could even sense the slightest difference in it, she noticed Taichi's scarf was a bit more tightly wrapped around his neck than usual, however she didn't say anything about it, yet.
Koushiro then took out his laptop as he sat on the ground, leaves surrounding him as they crunched beneath him "Well I was looking into something recently, about Vamdemon"
Everyone else sat down with him as they watched him type away on his computer "What is it?" Takeru asked, leaning slightly towards Koushiro, curious to see what is on screen.
"Well" Koushiro continued "Vamdemon is not just a vampire, but a vampire Digimon, he has abilities like vampires do but they also have limitations, for example..."
Koushiro brought up a screen about how Digimon fantasy creatures work, showing it to everyone "If he is in love with a human he cannot make them undead like him, because he's not really undead he's just digital processing data labelling him as undead"
Taichi frowned looking at this information "I could have told you that..."
Koushiro continued "Now here's the thing about Vamdemon I just discovered that is fascinating"
Koushiro then brought up a pure white digital butterfly on screen "A butterfly?" Mimi questioned "Not just any butterfly" Koushiro replied "This is a special butterfly in the Digimon world that aids those who are in the deepest of despair and depression, it only appears and flutters around Digimon who are so uncomfortable and deep within misery so it can help increase their happiness and restore them to a better mindset again"
Taichi then leaned in "That's great but what does this have to do with Vamdemon?"
Koushiro then changed the screen to Vamdemon and the butterfly "How many of us have noticed a butterfly hovering around Vamdemon? To help ease his dark personality?"
The team all stared at each other, exchanging pondering expressions, Sora speaking up first "I don't think we ever saw one around him"
Koushiro nodded "Exactly, Vamdemon has done evil things but he never had a butterfly around him to ease him, which means, he's not in despair or misery after all, he's actually a good Digimon deep down, that's why we've never seen this butterfly around him"
Everyone's expressions turned into complete surprise "Huh!?" they all shouted at once "Wait!" Sora exclaimed "So if he's not actually evil then why did he do all of that damage to us and others back then!?"
Koushiro then turned his laptop towards him, staring at everyone else as it lay in his lap "Because he's probably fighting a battle within himself, maybe this whole time he was a good Digimon but swayed into being evil, I don't know by what but all I know is that because of Taichi, his true self is beginning to show"
Taichi stared at Koushiro, quite surprised by his theory, he remembered how recently Vamdemon has been more gentle with him, albeit sometimes he's forceful like when he bit him yesterday but in general he's slowly becoming a better Digimon, because of Taichi? Was he that much in love with Taichi that he is willing to throw away his villainhood?
"Taichi" Mimi suddenly spoke up "Huh? What is it Mimi?" Taichi came back to reality as he looked over at his friend, noticing her expression had suspicion on it, making him worry a little bit "Uhh... what's wrong?"
Mimi scooted closer towards Taichi as he inched a little bit away from her "Are you able to breathe just fine?"
"Huh?" Taichi was confused by Mimi's question "What do you mean?"
Mimi then tugged at Taichi's scarf a bit "Your scarf is really wrapped super tight around you"
Taichi immediately swatted Mimi's hand away by defensive reflex "I was just in a hurry, I didn't think about how I was wrapping it around me"
Mimi stared at Taichi, surprise in her eyes, Taichi wondering why she was so surprised until he realized that he instinctively swatted her hand away, usually he wouldn't do that if he wasn't hiding something under his scarf, now he was starting to look even more suspicious "Uhh... Sorry Mimi, I didn't mean to-"
"Are you hiding something from us!?" Mimi interrupted as she leaned towards Taichi again, making him inch away slightly again, oh shit this wasn't good, why did Mimi have to be so fashion observant!?
"It's nothing! Like I said I was just in a hurry!"
MImi then leaned towards Taichi again, making him inch away again however only this time to bump into Yamato, leaning against him, even Yamato was getting suspicious by Taichi's behaviour "If you were in a hurry you would have just tossed it on! Not hug it tightly around you!"
Taichi began to panic, he knew if he stayed they'd start ripping it off of him, so before Mimi got any closer Taichi attempted to stand up and run for it, however Yamato noticed this was his plan, his suspicions only being confirmed by this desperate attempt to get away.
As Taichi began standing Yamato was quick to grab onto Taichi and pull him back down "Yamato!"
Taichi protested to his friend's actions, struggling to get free "You really are hiding something under there!" Mimi began accusing Taichi now, making Taichi panic even more "W-Would you guys knock it off! Leave me alone!"
Taichi continued to struggle harshly, making it hard for Yamato to hold onto him properly, however it wasn't long for Yamato to quickly take action and grab Taichi by his wrists and pin him on the ground "Yamato! let go of me!"
"Taichi!" Yamato yelled at him in frustration "You don't normally act this way... Why are you so troubled by this right now!?"
Taichi continued to struggle, though he couldn't get himself back up with Yamato pinning him down like this "Get off of me! It's nothing! I'm not hiding anything! and even if I was it's none of your damn business!"
Yamato's eyes narrowed as he got even more irritated, looking at Mimi as she looked back at Yamato "Mimi, take his scarf off"
Taichi's eyes widened, now panicking even more, struggling even more "Leave it alone!"
Sora was starting to become concerned, should they really be doing this to Taichi? Everyone is concerned about him and his relationship with Vamdemon but was this going too far?
Mimi took hold of Taichi's scarf, about to rip it off of him as Taichi remembered that the bite was on the other side of his neck, so if he turned his neck over facing away from Mimi they wouldn't be able to see it.
As Mimi ripped Taichi's scarf off Taichi immediately turned his head the other way, the part of his neck with the bite on it facing at the ground beneath him "...Happy now?"
Taichi grumbled in irritation, Mimi blinked as she stared at Taichi where the scarf was, taking the scarf in her hands looking at it all over to see if she missed anything "Hmm... I don't see anything" she muttered
Taichi sighing with disappointment "I told you there's nothing... what are you looking for anyway?" Taichi had to keep the act up pretending there really was nothing going on, however Yamato wasn't buying it, he noticed his head was remaining away from Mimi this whole time, he knew Taichi better than that, he would have looked at her by now.
Yamato then grabbed Taichi's jaw, and before Taichi could think of backing him off, he turned his head the other way,Taichi releasing a loud gasp "Wait!"
Everyone then saw it as they all gasped in shock, he had been bitten by Vamdemon!
Taichi wasn't happy about this, his expression now angered "..." he remained silent, slowly getting pissed off by his friends putting their noses into his business.
Yamato however wasn't surprised, he figured Taichi was hiding this very thing from them "When did this happen?"
Taichi growled "What does it matter!? Just let me go! Why are you guys butting into my private life anyway!?"
Yamatos' eyes widened slightly "Private life? with Vamdemon?"
Taichi's expression then became that of worry, he just admitted him and Vamdemon had moments where they would be together privately...
"Uhh... Wait... That's not what I meant..."
Mimi dropped the scarf, her ears not believing what they were hearing "So then... You've been allowing Vamdemon to..."
Taichi's eyebrow twitched in irritation "Well... I wouldn't say 'allowing' him..."
Sora began to worry about Taichi's safety now "So then he's... forcing himself on you?"
Taichi remained quiet, not sure how to answer that, it wasn't that Vamdemon was forcing himself on him, most of it was just taking Taichi by surprise, but Taichi didn't run away, or try to fight him off, if he really was forcing himself on him he would have tried to struggle every time but... he didn't.
Taichi huffed a sigh, exhausted about having to do this game of hot potato every time, Vamdemon would do something to him, he'd act weird about it, his friends would notice and try to get the answer out of him, rinse and repeat.
"Can you let go of me now?" Taichi grumbled, a little pissed off by all of this.
Yamato did as requested this time and got off of Taichi, as Taichi sat himself back up, snatching the scarf out of Mimi's hands, not happy about his current situation.
Koushiro however was very curious about this "So why did he bite you?"
Taichi wrapped his scarf around him again, not so tight this time "Hmm..."
He tried to remember "He said he wanted to help me ease my confusion, since I've been so conflicted about how I feel about him"
Yamato's eyebrows lifted "Then he bit you in order to tell if you've accepted him or not?"
Taichi turned towards Yamato, giving him an awkward expression "I'm still surprised by your vampire knowledge but... yeah, that's what it was"
Yamato's expression softened again, more so curious as he leaned towards Taichi "So then how did it feel?"
Taichi felt a little uncomfortable talking about this but, he didn't want to be pressed into admitting anything again "It... didn't hurt..."
Yamato then gave Taichi a look of complete surprise "It didn't hurt? Then that means... You've already fallen for him as well?"
"WHAAAAT!?" Everyone else shouted in disbelief, Taichi's expression becoming even more irritated "Shut up! I never asked for this!"
Koushiro stared at Taichi, placing his laptop aside before speaking to him "Technically speaking, if he bit you and you felt no pain then I think it's safe to say you did ask for this"
"Huh!?" Taichi exclaimed, shocked by Koushiro's statement "What do you mean!?"
Koushiro lifted his finger "Well vampire bites only hurt if you reject them, if you don't want to be bitten or don't want to love them"
Sora turned towards Koushiro "But what if Taichi couldn't feel the pain? What if it was just a little sting? He is tough y'know"
Koushiro shook his head "Doesn't matter how tough you are, if you reject a vampire their bites will hurt like hell"
Jo, trying to figure this out but couldn't was only gaining confusion "So how come the bite is so different based on if he accepts him or not?"
Koushiro looked at Jo, his expression remaining casual "It's painful if rejected because vampires work in a specific way to, let's say, 'being given permission to enter' as the stories go"
Koushiro then turned to Taichi "Vampires have an unwritten rule of sorts that states they can only 'enter' if the other let's them enter, it doesn't just work for entering someone's home"
Taichi's head then perked up "Huh? But he was able to enter my home through the window without my permission"
"Perhaps deep down you wanted him to find you, were you feeling any emotions of revenge? Even your hate towards him and wanting him to find you so you could fight him is still an invitation" Koushiro explained.
Taichi sat up straight, a little surprised by this "So even if I hated him, if I had the feeling of inviting him near me, even if it's due to wanting to destroy him I'm still inviting him near me?"
Koushiro nodded "Exactly"
Taichi lowered his head slightly, completely bothered by this information, letting out a groan of disappointment.
"However" Koushiro spoke up again "When it comes to bites it's a bit different, the bite only won't hurt if you accept him into your heart, as love of sorts, you see vampire bites have 3 different feelings"
Mimi blinked at Koushiro "Eh? 3 feelings? Not just painful and painless?"
Koushiro nodded to Mimi "Yes, depending on the level of acceptance you have for him, Taichi, was it only painless? Nothing else?"
Taichi thought about it for awhile, he remembered it felt different than simply painless, he remembered gasping to the feeling, in fact how he reacted it felt like... Taichi's face began to form to blush on his face "Uhh... What stage is it if it's... not painful but actually felt... umm..."
"Pleasurable?" Koushiro added to Taichi, noticing him struggling to answer, however this only made Taichi's face burn up more, him slowly nodding, Koushiro was fascinated that Taichi was already at this stage "That would be the third feeling, pleasure, instead of simply not feeling it, you would feel the bite as something to desire"
Yamato was shocked by this, not only was it painless for Taichi, but it was pleasurable "So does that feeling have a different meaning than simply painless?"
"Uhh..." Koushiro hesitated a bit "It does, but that's kind of..."
Koushiro scooted closer next to Taichi, motioning him to come further, Taichi doing so as Koushiro whispered in his ear, asking him if he had slept with Vamdemon. Taichi's eyes widened as he leaned back in his typical sitting position, staring at the ground as his face formed an awkward expression, his blush coming back.
Taichi then looked at Koushiro and swayed his hand in a so-so kind of way "I see" Koushiro said "So it wasn't done fully, just slightly"
Mimi leaned "What wasn't done fully?" her curiousity getting the better of her again, however Koushiro wasn't about to say what to everyone else, this was a private matter for Taichi after all "For Taichi's sake I can't tell you this information, but I can tell you that Taichi seems to have already fallen for Vamdemon more than we originally thought"
Sora looked at Taichi "Taichi... Are you okay with this?"
Taichi stared at the ground fiddling with the leaves under his hands "I feel like I'm unsure... but I guess... my heart disagrees, maybe I am..."
Yamato sighed, he didn't like this idea of Taichi being with Vamdemon, but if he's already decided on this, he would support him no matter what "Well..." Yamato said, standing up "Let's not press Taichi any further, we should all head home"
With that Yamato turned and walked off "See you later guys"
As everyone else got up Koushiro pulled on Taichi's sleeve, before he could stand "Huh? What is it Koushiro?"
Taichi leaned towards Koushiro as Koushiro whispered to him again "In order to completely understand how you feel about him, you have to invite him completely, only then will your confusion disappear"
Taichi whispered back to Koushiro "How would I invite him completely?"
Koushiro gave Taichi a serious expression "Go the whole way with him"
Taichi jolted back away from Koushiro in shock as his face formed a bigger blush than last time "The whol-!" immediately Taichi covered his mouth, Koushiro nodded "You have to accept him and invite him completely, otherwise you'll remain confused"
Koushiro then stood up, taking his laptop in his hands as he walked off, Taichi sitting there as his hand was covering his mouth, his eyes wide and the biggest blush formed on his face "Wh...Wh..."
Taichi then fell over onto the ground, the leaves crunching under his weight as he groaned loud "Why are vampires so complicated...!?"
(Author's note: ooh! Does this mean next time there will be some oomf? We'll have to find out! 070/)
