"And then he kept telling me how he couldn't wait to meet her!"
Yamato finished telling the story of his weekend to one of his best friends, Kyo, before collapsing dramatically onto the coffee table at a cozy café downtown. Kyo had long, dark green hair, sharp black eyes, and very pretty features for a male. Yamato had met him at Cloud 9 his freshman year and the two had hit it off after realizing they were both majoring in performance arts.
"Real smooth! Telling the love of your life that you have a girlfriend has got to have been one of the worst things you could do." Kyo said dryly.
"Like I don't already know that! So come on, can't you dress up as a girl for me? As a favor for the wonderful company I keep you?" Yamato tried to convince Kyo. He knew that Kyo normally detested being compared to a girl, and would have thrown a fit if anyone else had suggested it. But Yamato had received his own fair share of comments on his "girly" attributes, so Kyo didn't seem to care when he said it.
"Psh, no way!" Kyo exclaimed, "Not even a dozen of your infamous blow jobs" -Yamato rolled his eyes at that- "could make me want to get involved with this messed up situation! You know I've always told you that you should just tell the damn kid that you're practically obsessed with him."
"You know I can't tell him that!" Yamato said exasperatedly, holding up the straw from the frappucino he was having. "He's straighter than this straw! AND he has a girlfriend now! That's the whole reason this mess started." He groaned and put his head in his hands. "I shouldn't have skipped out on Fortune Friday."
"Oh yeah, so what happened after you lied to him about having a girlfriend? Which, by the way, I can't believe he bought." Kyo still seemed amused at the thought of someone as gay as Yamato having a girlfriend.
"Well, you know Taichi, he likes to do everything in a very, uh, grand style. So he planned a party at one of the biggest bars on campus, and he invited all of our old gang. Don't get me wrong, it was super awesome to see them all. I just wish it were under different circumstances… AKA not the celebration of my crush dating someone else and me supposedly finding a girlfriend."
"Didn't they wonder where she was?"
"I told them she was a pre-med student from another uni, and that she really needed to study that night."
"And they believed you? That's textbook 'I have a fake girlfriend' line."
"Yes, they believed me! Well… mostly." Now that he thought about it, actually, Sora hadn't seemed entirely convinced, and Mimi had burst out laughing without saying anything else. Girls really were a mystery to him.
"Well anyway, so Saturday night went fairly well." Yamato continued, "The bigger issue was trying to keep up the façade the next morning when Taichi came over for breakfast-"
"Wait, as in, he came over and you made him breakfast?" Kyo interrupted.
"Yeah, that's pretty normal for us. Because…" Yamato thought back to how he'd been making food for Taichi since they were kids. He didn't really know how it had even started. He shrugged. "Well, I don't think Taichi's bad at cooking… but says he always prefers it when I make food for him."
Kyo rolled his eyes. "Geez, did you also dress up in a pink apron and make heart-shaped toast for him? How does he not realize he practically already has a wife?"
Yamato flushed pink. "I already told you it's not like that! We were just hanging out!"
"I bet there's more than a handful of guys that would give a pinky to date you." Kyo said in a teasing voice. "I wonder what it would do to your aloof, mysterious reputation if they knew you were head over heels for your straight, childhood best friend. So cliché."
"Kyo, please, I don't need anyone else finding out about my secrets." Yamato said exasperatedly. "Especially since Taichi will probably find out that I don't have a girlfriend since you refuse to pretend to be mine." He shot a dirty look at Kyo.
"Hey, man, it's your own pretty mouth that got you in this situation." Kyo took a long sip of his coffee and sighed sympathetically. "But, it must get tiring living a double life like some secret agent. Wouldn't it be easier to just tell him, and the rest of your friends, the truth? You don't know that they'll hate you because of it. They might not even care."
"I know, I know. I'm just waiting for... the right moment." Yamato assured the other boy, as well as himself. "Sooner or later, I will."
Yamato did not know at that time that things were going to change, and sooner rather than later.
"Well, I should probably get to class." Kyo said ruefully as he packed up his stuff. "The teacher was going to give us the day off today, but some brat in class recommended that we use the day for project time. Guess what? The teacher actually heard him and ended up making it a mandatory project class. I hate people sometimes. Anyway, good luck with your boy issues!" He said with a wave.
Yamato looked around and hoped no one had heard that last line. Fortunately, everyone was buried in their own work.
He packed up his own bags and headed to his own psychology class, happy to be arriving a few minutes early. He disliked the feeling of going to class late and having the entire class stare at you as you painstakingly made your way to the seat. Taichi, it seemed, never had that worry because he usually walked in nonchalantly just as class was beginning. Sure enough, his seat was still empty when Yamato arrived.
He sighed as he leaned back in his seat and let his thoughts wander. The weekend had definitely been a shitshow, no doubt about it, but he felt slightly better after talking it out with Kyo. Maybe Taichi now having a girlfriend meant things could go back to being normal for Yamato. Or as normal as they could be when you had a massive crush on your male best friend and hated yourself for it, and also frequently caught yourself daydreaming about him in very inappropriate positions.
"Alright class, today we will be discussing developmental behaviors in animals…"
A few minutes passed and Yamato shot another sideways glance at the empty seat next to him. It was starting to get late, even for Taichi. He wondered if the boy had decided to skip class today.
He was starting to feel slightly miffed that Taichi hadn't bothered to let him know (even though that was completely unfair), when he heard the class door open suddenly.
"Ah Yagami, thank you for joining us today." The teacher drawled sarcastically, before continuing his lecture.
"You're welcome, sir!" Tai cheerily responded as usual as he made his way to his seat.
What wasn't usual, however, was the white bandage on his nose and the early markings of a black eye on his face that Yamato could spot even across the room.
"What the heck happened to you?" Yamato whispered urgently as the other boy took his seat. Anger was seeping into his voice, as the blond was already preparing a revenge plan against the perpetrator. He could also hear other whispers throughout the classroom. They were probably equally bewildered, because Taichi was one of the most liked guys on campus and it wasn't typical of him to pick a fight either.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Taichi whispered back to Yamato while taking out his own notebook. Yamato didn't know why he made such a show of it, since Taichi never actually took notes.
"Taichi!"
"I'll tell you after class, okay?" Taichi turned his eyes back to the teacher, apparently not wanting to attract attention from the others.
Yamato accepted the answer for now, but couldn't pay attention for the rest of class. By the time the teacher was wrapping up, he had only written about two lines down in his notebook.
He followed Taichi out of the classroom and towards another building.
Yamato wasted no time in getting to the point once they were outside and looked over at Taichi. "So, what happened? Who the hell hit you?"
"It wasn't like what you're thinking, no one hit me."
"Then what?"
"Actually, I... got into a bit of an argument with a couple of guys after soccer practice because I heard them say something and got a little mad and couldn't control myself. So that's how I got this." Taichi pointed to his right eye and gave a half-hearted grin, but the lingering rage in his eyes told Yamato there was more to the story. He was very used to reading Taichi's body language and everything about the brunet was still tense despite his attempts to appear calm.
Yamato cocked an eyebrow and pressed on. "So, what got you so mad? That's not like you to get involved in other people's business."
Taichi shifted his eyes to the grass and shoved his hands in his pockets. "They're the ones who weren't minding their own business…" But he didn't say anything else.
Unlike Yamato, Taichi was awful at hiding things. He was just too honest of a person to usually filter anything coming out of his mouth. The fact that he was even trying piqued Yamato's interest immediately.
Yamato was about to inquire further when they were interrupted by a high-pitched voice.
"Taiiii~!" They both turned to see a curvy blonde running towards them. I'm definitely going to continue this conversation later.
She rushed towards Taichi and turned his face towards her. "I heard that you were in a fight. Are you okay, sweetie?"
"Don't worry, Carla, it's fine! Doesn't hurt at all." But Yamato could see him wince slightly as Carla brushed her fingers over the bruises.
"Besides, you should have seen the other guy, he's way worse off." He added with a flex of his arms.
Yamato just shook his head. Oh, that typical false bravado…
Taichi must have suddenly remembered his presence. "Oh Carla, you've met Yamato, right? He's in our literature class."
Carla turned to Yamato, and he got a better view of her big blue eyes and the splattering of freckles across her face.
"I don't think we've formally met, but I almost feel like I know you since I've heard tons about you from Taichi. Looking forward to being friends!" She gave a slight bow.
She was pretty cute. She also seemed like a genuinely nice person. Also, Yamato hated her.
Regardless, he put on his best charming smile. After all, this was someone Taichi clearly cared about and he didn't want to come off like an idiot. He was, at the very least, flattered to hear that Taichi talked about him when he wasn't even around.
"Nice to meet you too! I can only hope that Tai was telling you how talented and fun to be around I am." He shot a teasing look at Taichi.
Before Carla could say anything, Taichi interjected playfully, "Actually, I was telling her how surprised I was that you're still able to walk around so gracefully with such a large ego weighing your head down. Any day now you might just fall over while you're on stage performing."
"Thanks for your concern, Taichi." Yamato shot back. "But I'm more worried about that hair of yours. How much does it weigh now, like 5 pounds? If you try to hit the soccer ball with your head, it might just get stuck in there."
"Hey, I like my hair! It has character! Plus," Tai said proudly, "I've been told it's surprisingly nice to run one's fingers through." He smiled at Carla who was looking back at him with sappy eyes. Yup, Yamato hated her. He was also sure that he didn't need that added detail making its way into his stupid fantasies. Not that he hadn't already imagined grabbing onto that hair, in many other- intense- situations…
Carla's voice shook him out of his thoughts before they progressed, thankfully. "Neh, weren't we going to get food now, Taichi? We should get going. Would you like to join us Yamato?" She was polite as before, but Yamato got the faint sense that she was hoping he'd say no.
It's okay, I think I'd much rather pour sand into my eyes anyway. "That's okay, I just got food earlier. Have fun though!"
Taichi nodded and waved goodbye. "Okay, see you! Oh yeah, do you want to come work out with me tomorrow? I'm heading to the east gym around 7pm. You probably haven't worked out in forever!"
Yamato's face blanched for a second before he covered it up. Yamato had given up working out with Taichi a long time ago. Sweaty Taichi, locker rooms with Taichi, showers with Taichi, no, no, a gigantic nope. He did not need any part of that in his life. So he'd always told Taichi he was too busy to work out.
But today, he felt an irrational inclination to let Carla to know that he was going to be spending time with Taichi without her. Yes, it was incredibly petty. No, he had never claimed he was above being petty. Plus, he could ask him about what happened earlier today.
"Sure, my class lets out right before then so I can meet you there by the pull-up bars?"
"Okay, hope you're prepared to be sore!" Taichi said before walking away, completely oblivious to both the double entendre and Yamato's inner turmoil.
XxxXxxXxxXx
It was a few minutes past 7 on Wednesday and Yamato met Taichi at the gym, as promised. Of course, he first spent a few minutes when he was sure no one else was watching admiring Taichi and the way those tan muscles rippled under the pressure of weights. How was it that Taichi could make a simple white tank top and red shorts so appealing even with a black eye?
Unfortunately, Taichi must have somehow sensed his presence because he turned around right in the direction of where Yamato was standing and ogling away.
Yamato panicked internally. Shit, please don't look like you were just picturing giving him a massage, unclothed. Think of something unsexy. Think of Takeru and Hikari kissing. Oh… ew.
"Are you okay Yamato?" Taichi had walked up to him and was giving him a curious look.
Shit, my imagination overdid it. Yamato waved it off. "Yeah I'm fine, I had just forgotten how many "bros" there are around the gym. And chicks that look like they're here just to find a date instead of actually work out. What's the point of all that make up if it's just going to sweat off?"
Taichi shrugged and grinned. "Beats me. But I've met a few cute girls here so I can't really complain."
Yamato rolled his eyes and ignored the familiar pang of being reminded of Taichi's heterosexuality. "Well, I am pretty out of shape so I'll probably just hit the treadmills."
"Okay, I'll join you too! I already did my set of weights." So they both headed towards the treadmills.
Yamato picked the treadmill farthest to the left out and was about to start up the machine when he noticed a large blue wad of chewing gum stuck under one of the handles.
"Ugh…" He muttered and moved towards another machine.
Taichi caught the disgusted look on his face and stared at him and the treadmill for a few seconds before breaking out laughing.
Yamato looked at him. "Hey, did I miss something extremely funny? Do I look that awkward in workout clothes?"
Taichi struggled to stop laughing and put on a straight face. "No, I was just remembering the time in high school when you were sleeping on your desk and somehow got the chewing gum that someone had stuck on there into your hair. Your perfect hair." He started chuckling again. "And we all tried to help you get it out, but eventually Mimi had to cut it and you had this bald spot on your head. You were so sad about it you were almost crying."
Yamato glowered in mock anger. Yes, he remembered that day very well. He'd never quite forgiven chewing gum, especially if it was of the pink variety. "Well, I'm glad my extremely traumatic experience brings you such humor."
Taichi continued completely unfazed by Yamato's comment. "And then Sora gave you that purple hat to try and cover it up, but the hat was even worse than the bald spot."
Yamato couldn't help but crack a smile at the memory of the stupid hat and suddenly both him and Taichi burst into a fit of laughter, earning a few weird looks from the other gym-goers. It was probably against gym bro law to laugh while using the treadmills.
The two of them finished their workouts in the next hour and headed to the locker rooms to change, Yamato a lot redder and sweatier than Taichi. Yamato was facing the reality that having regular weekend sex had unfortunately not done anything for improving his cardio.
"Well, it'll get a lot easier if you start working out like two to three times a week. You can come with me!" Taichi suddenly stopped talking and walking as two bulkier guys walked by in front of them that Yamato recognized from Taichi's soccer games.
The guys gave the two of them an unfriendly sneer before walking into the locker room and Yamato also noticed that they both had bruises on their face.
Yamato turned to Taichi knowingly. "Were those the guys you got into a fight with yesterday?" Taichi just nodded, still staring at the locker room doors. "Those bastards. You know, the two of us could go in there and probably take them pretty easily. They've never even saved the world from a bunch of evil monsters." Yamato didn't know exactly what the two had done, but it was enough that they made Taichi upset.
Instead, Taichi dragged Yamato over to a secluded area with a bunch of cool-down mats. "Let's –uh- let's wait to go in the locker room. I think we should stretch on the mats for a little while since we missed that part." Yamato noticed that Taichi looked distinctly uncomfortable compared to how he was while they were working out.
It wasn't like Taichi to be so non-confrontational. Yamato put his hands on his hips and pressed the topic again. "Ok, why does it seem like you don't want to tell me what those guys said earlier?" Taichi looked up at him, startled. Okay, I guess I hit the nail on that. "If you don't tell me, then I'm just going to go back in there anyway."
"No! Don't do that." Taichi looked him in the eyes finally and started talking all in one breath, "Those guys were being dumb, they were talking about you, and I didn't like it so I punched them."
Yamato was caught off guard and wasn't sure he heard correctly with how fast Taichi had mumbled it out. "Talking about me?"
Taichi seemed to have given up on trying to keep it a secret. He sounded somewhat embarrassed when he finally continued in a low voice, "Yeah, they were saying some, uh, sexual stuff about you and then I heard them call you a… fag and I just snapped." Taichi's eyes flashed dangerously. "I could never let those assholes get away with saying that shit about you when they don't even know anything about you."
Yamato completely missed that last part because his brain had completely stopped functioning as soon as he heard the word fag come out of Taichi's mouth. Even if Taichi was just quoting what the other guys said, something about hearing that word in Taichi's smooth voice felt like a giant ax had been thrown into Yamato's heart. Yamato almost felt like he couldn't breathe. He knows, he knows, he knows and he hates me for it.
"Yama?"
Say something, you idiot. Say you're thankful. Say that it's not a big deal what they said. Say anything! Yamato's mouth was being extremely uncooperative, though, and he just stared at Taichi with wide eyes. How did those soccer guys find out, were they just guessing or did they know for real? Does Taichi think the same way?
Taichi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Yama, I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to be upset by it. I know I would be. But I also didn't want you to let you go talk to those guys and then have them pull something creepy. I already told them you don't swing like that but who knows what they'll do."
Yamato felt a slight sense of relief flow back into him when he heard his last words. Okay, he still doesn't know. He didn't believe what they said. He could easily handle two lusty jocks (he was used to that), but he definitely couldn't handle Taichi calling him a fag.
"But yeah, you should be careful around those guys." Taichi added in a concerned tone.
Yamato's heart fluttered happily, despite still being panicked by the situation. Taichi was… being protective of him? Well, he was always protective of all the Chosen children, but that didn't stop Yamato from feeling special.
"I, uh, yeah, I will." Yamato finally managed to choke out. "And thanks. Thanks for punching them for me."
"Yeah, those guys are seriously ungrateful assholes. There are always some people that I don't think I would have minded as much if Myotismon had put into eternal deep sleep."
Yamato knew Taichi was joking to cheer him up, but could only manage a weak laugh.
"You sure you're okay? Want me to walk back with you?"
He had way too many jumbled emotions in his head to be able to keep up a conversation with Taichi at the moment. "No, I'm okay. Thanks though, really, for everything." Yamato gave him a warm smile.
Taichi just beamed his characteristic smile at him. "Of course, what are best friends for?"
He looked so earnest in that moment that Yamato almost broke. He wanted to tell him right there and then everything from why he never even really liked Sora to the truth about his fake girlfriend. Even if he wouldn't return his feelings in a million years, he just wanted Taichi to know how loved he was.
But then, wouldn't that just be transferring his burden onto Taichi? He didn't want Taichi who was so happy and had such a perfect life to suffer because of Yamato's own issues. So instead he just mirrored his best friend's expression and waved goodbye before walking his own way.
XxXxXxX
It was Saturday night and Yamato was stressed and sexually frustrated. And when Yamato got stressed and sexually frustrated, he usually found himself alone by the bar at Cloud 9. His week had been filled with too many questions about his "girlfriend", too many panic attacks, and too much exposure to a certain brown-haired Digidestined.
He happily embraced the warm feeling taking over the depths of his brain. Yes, he deserved this. After all, he hadn't even bashed anyone's head in all week. Not even Carla's.
Stop thinking about him! He raised the rim of the cold glass to his mouth and downed a quarter of his drink.
A few seconds passed. It was impossible not to think about it.
"Am I an idiot?" He hiccupped. "What sane p-person would fall in love?" His not-so-poetic words were starting to slur.
"Listen, Nick," Yamato pointed to the closest person around, who just happened to be the bartender. "You better do yourself a favor and never f-fall for anyone. Love iss for idiots."
The bartender must've been feeling kind, because he indulged Yamato. "You're not an idiot, you're just a kid in college. But you are a nice kid… why don't you just tell this guy how you feel?"
"No no, you don't underssstand. No one understands." He suddenly took the straw out of his drink and started waving it around, splashing bits of rum and coke on the bar. Why were there never any other straight objects around? "He's straighter than this straw! I'm probably as fuckable as a door from his point of view."
The bartender gave him a sympathetic look. "That's rough, kid. I probably can't do anything to help that… but here, next round is on me. It'll cheer you up, I promise." He turned around and started fixing a drink with some top-shelf alcohol.
"Thanks, Nick. You're the only one I can trust." Yamato lamented as he laid his head on the bar, his blond hair fanning into his eyes. For a moment, he almost felt at peace with the slight buzzing in his head. But it was quickly interrupted by a baritone voice.
"Ah, so that's the story of Yamato Ishida? It's more pathetic than I expected."
Yamato lifted his head and shot a glare at the owner of the intrusive words. The offending person looked to be a junior or a senior, and had silky black hair and olive skin. He was perched in the seat to the left of him (Yamato had thought that seat had been empty just a few minutes ago) and his words led Yamato to believe that he was probably a jerk. An incredibly good-looking jerk, though, his brain supplied. He probably checked him out for a second too long because the black-haired boy started smirking at him.
Yamato shook his head. "You know what? It'ss none of your bus-iness. Fuck off." It probably wasn't a great comeback, but it was the best Yamato's bleary thoughts could put together.
The other boy raised his hands defensively. "Aw come on, you don't mean that right?" He leaned in closer. "I'm just trying to help you out."
Yamato gave him a defeated look. "Unless you're a magical wizard with the power to change people's sexual orientations – or maybe even the power to give me amnesia – I think I'm beyond help."
The other boy looked amused and moved in towards the other with practiced finesse. "I'm afraid I left my magical potions at home. But I can promise a wonderful distraction from whatever's bothering you."
His face was closer than before and Yamato was drawn into the other's unwavering gaze. He was suddenly feeling warmer and it wasn't just the alcohol running through his veins.
Oh, fuck it. A distraction sounds pretty good right now. In fact, it might be the only good thing right now.
Not a stranger to flirting, Yamato turned his body so that his thighs brushed up against the others. He cocked his head to the side.
"Don't I at least get the name of my seducer?" Right, like I'm going to remember it anyway.
The black-haired male sensed the shift in Yamato's demeanor and said smugly, "It's Etzuo. You probably will want to remember it for later tonight."
"Et-ssuo?" Yamato tried out the foreign name but his buzz was preventing him from pronouncing it correctly.
Etzuo chuckled. "You really are too cute." And with that, he pulled Yamato's chin closer and captured his lips.
Public displays of affection were hardly rare at Cloud 9 and no one really had an issue with them, seeing that it was one of the only places on campus where people were allowed to openly be themselves.
Yamato generally preferred something more private, but at the moment he was far too engrossed in the feeling of tongue against tongue and the hands roaming up and down his body to care. This was a natural feeling to Yamato, and it felt so right. Sure, it wasn't as thrilling as falling a hundred feet into a river in the digital world, and it wasn't with the right person, but it still felt pretty damn good.
He tangled his hands deeper into black hair and pushed their bodies closer together.
Through all the happy endorphins being transmitted into his brain, though, there was the smallest tugging of something else. The faintest inkling that there was something wrong in the air. Air. Maybe he just needed more air. He opened his eyes and slowly broke contact for oxygen. As he was doing so, he caught the shape of a familiar silhouette in his periphery.
No, that can't be him. Not here.
Yamato suddenly jerked his head back and looked up at the doorway of the club to find none other than Taichi. His blue eyes locked onto Taichi's brown ones from all the way across the room.
Sobriety stuck Yamato like a bolt of lightning as he felt his blood turn as cold as ice. How long has he been standing there?
Taichi's face, on the other hand, was colored with shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth half-open. After a few long moments he appeared to collect himself. Yamato watched, frozen with dismay, as the brunet's features slowly shifted to disappointment and then to anger. Even though they'd gotten into many fights over the years, the blond could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Taichi this pissed.
Yamato pulled away as quickly as possible, not even caring when the other boy lost balance and stumbled off his chair.
He had to talk to him, fast. "Taichi!"
But before Yamato could set one foot down in the direction of the doorway, Taichi turned around and walked straight out of the bar.
I'm sorry this took so long (and for the cliffhanger)! I've been really busy with work and that coupled with the fact that everything I write feels super inadequate is making this difficult to finish. But every review is really great motivation and I really appreciate it!
I'm hoping to work in some Taichi POV in the next chapters J