Taishiro Week Day 7 – Outside the Lines [Outside Canon, Filling Gaps, AUs, Drama CDs, etc]

Chapter 7 was inspired by "Whistle" from the drama CD Digimon Adventure: Original Story, 2-and-a-half-year break. You don't need to be familiar with it to appreciate my story, but it's worth your while to check it out on your own time.

Will I Ever See Him Again?

It was a rainy day when Taichi visited the Izumi's apartment for the first time. Koushirou wasn't expecting his friend; he hadn't called. And Taichi had never come to his home before. They were friends, but not that close.

Of course, that was before the Digital World.

Koushirou was sitting at his desk, his tiny feet dangling above the floor, and reading a large tome titled The Field Guide to Ladybugs. His fourth grade text books were left untouched on the floor. The rain gently pattered on the window. A soothing sound, if not quite the same perfect soothing frequency of Tentomon's buzz. Koushirou wondered if it was possible to recreate that sound.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Koushirou? Your friend is here to see you."

"My friend?"

His mother opened his bedroom door. A very wet boy stood next to her. He smiled nervously. It took Koushirou a minute to realize who it was.

"Taichi?"

"Hey Koushirou!"

"You cut your hair," Koushirou stated the obvious.

Taichi ran his hand over the top of his head. He could easily feel his scalp now. His hair was a little messy on the sides of his ears, as if he had cut it himself. "Yeah," he said.

"Is this a good time for a play date?" Mrs. Izumi asked her studious son. "He just showed up without any warning!" She laughed.

"Yes." Koushirou nodded and pushed away his field guide. "I already finished my math worksheets."

Mrs. Izumi smiled at him proudly. "That's very good! I'll leave you two alone then. How about I make you both some hot chocolate?"

"That would be lovely," Koushirou said formally.

"Yeah, thanks," Taichi agreed. He stared at the floor.

Mrs. Izumi squeezed Taichi's shoulder before leaving. She shut the door behind her. Taichi sighed. He looked smaller with his haircut. More vulnerable.

Koushirou realized that he didn't have a second chair for his friend, so he hopped off and sat on his bed instead. He patted the spot next to him. Taichi sat beside him but didn't meet his eyes.

It was unnerving to see Taichi act like this. Although, by now, Koushirou had seen that forlorn look in Taichi's eyes many times. It was still difficult to know the right words to say.

"How are you?" Taichi asked.

"I'm well," Koushirou answered the pointless conversation starter. "You quit the soccer club," he stated the obvious again.

"Yeah," Taichi agreed. "Um, I wasn't playing that well."

"You can't possibly be worse than me."

Taichi laughed.

"Because you're not in the soccer club anymore, I haven't been able to see you every day like I used to," Koushirou continued.

Taichi finally met Koushirou's eyes. "I'm here now," he said.

"Yes. I see you," Koushirou stated.

Taichi paused. "Koushirou…"

"Yes Taichi?"

"Will I ever see him again?"

Koushirou bit his lip. He didn't need to ask who 'he' was. "I don't know."

Taichi sighed. "It's scary hearing you say those words. Whenever you didn't know something, I knew we were lost."

Koushirou blanched. "You're not being logical. We were never truly lost. We made it home, largely thanks to your leadership."

"But I felt lost in here all the time," Taichi pointed at his heart. "Or, er, here." Taichi corrected himself and pointed to his brain. "Does that make sense?"

"I suppose so," Koushirou answered, not sure if it did. "Taichi, if you want to talk about your emotions, then I think you'd be better off talking to Sora. Or Yamato. They're both better at that sort of thing."

Taichi scowled. "Has Yamato talked to you about our digimon partners yet?"

Koushirou blinked. "No?"

"He says we'll never see them again."

"Oh…" Koushirou tapped his chin, pondering this idea. "Yamato doesn't actually know that to be a fact. Unless he has information that I don't?"

"He doesn't," Taichi said bitterly.

"Then you don't need to take his argument seriously," Koushirou responded.

"He's already convinced Sora."

"Oh…" Koushirou faltered.

"I mean—Sora is nicer about it, of course," Taichi continued, defending her. "She just says that we have to be prepared for the possibility that we won't see them again. But with Yamato—it's almost like he doesn't want to see them again! He's so stubborn! And he said that I was being like Takeru, who still thinks their parents will get back together."

"That's really not my business—"

"I'm not like Takeru! I'm way older than him."

"I know."

"I'm more mature than that!"

"I know."

Taichi hiccupped. He buried his face in his hands. "Sora always takes Yamato's side now. They're both more mature than me. I keep—I keep worrying that they'll both grow up without me. And I won't have Agumon anymore."

"Taichi…" Koushirou said softly.

There was a quick knock on the door and it opened. Both boys sat up straight. Mrs. Izumi walked in with a tray of two hot chocolates. She smiled and carefully set it beside them. They both thanked her.

"How are you boys doing?" she asked, looking specifically at Taichi.

"Fine," Taichi muttered.

"We're fine…" Koushirou agreed tentatively.

Mrs. Izumi reached forward and stroked Taichi's messy short hair. "Good. I know you two have been through a lot, and you need some space…Let me know if there's anything else you need, okay?"

"Okay." Taichi blushed and sipped his hot chocolate.

"Thanks, Mom. I'll let you know if we want more." Koushirou smiled at her.

Mrs. Izumi smiled back at her son. She let go of Taichi and finally left the room. Taichi sighed again after she closed the door.

Koushirou sipped his warm drink. It cleared his mind. "Taichi, I don't think you should worry about Sora and Yamato leaving you alone. It's obvious to me that they both care about you a lot. I believe that they're merely worried about you. They must have also noticed that you quit the soccer club and cut your hair. Those are troubling signs."

"Why is it a troubling sign that I cut my hair?"

"Because you look terrible," Koushirou said flatly.

Taichi spat out his drink and burst into laughter. Koushirou grinned.

"Oof, sorry…" Taichi looked around for a towel. Koushirou picked up a napkin from the tray and knelt next to the small puddle on the floor to clean it up. Taichi immediately grabbed the other napkins and hopped down next to him. He scrubbed the mess and his hand bumped into Koushirou's hand. "Sorry!"

"It's okay." Koushirou smiled at him.

Taichi smiled back; then he looked away awkwardly. He stood up to fetch the tray of hot chocolate from the bed and he brought it down to the floor. "We shouldn't drink on your bed or we'll get it dirty. We should drink on the floor; it'll be like one of Hikari's tea parties with our stuffed animals."

"Okay," Koushirou agreed. It was good to hear Taichi using his authoritative voice again.

"Thanks, by the way. I know you're right. About Sora and Yamato," Taichi continued.

"You're welcome. I merely pointed out the obvious…I do that a lot." Koushirou felt emboldened. He looked at the door, where his mother had just left, and back to Taichi. "Have you considered talking to your parents about Agumon?"

"Uh…" Taichi blushed again.

"It's just a thought," Koushirou said rapidly. "They might be more competent than me at comforting you. I know you've had challenges with them. But I've observed that they seem to care a lot about you. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong. You're right. Like always." Taichi sipped his drink. "I guess I could be more open with them. It wouldn't hurt anything."

Koushirou nodded encouragingly.

"But you're not incompetent. You never were. It's very easy to talk to you."

"Oh!" Koushirou wasn't expecting that. He buried his face in his mug, flustered.

"Thanks for listening to me." Taichi gulped down the rest of his mug in one long drink. He set it down with an 'Aaah.'

"You're welcome." Koushirou set his mug down as well. "Actually, I have something else to say."

"What is it?" Taichi asked.

"I think that Yamato is incorrect to compare our digimon partners with his parents," Koushirou began. "The loss must feel similar to him emotionally, but he's missing the big picture. One significant difference is that Yamato doesn't have any control of the situation with his parents."

Taichi stared at Koushirou in amazement. "You're saying that we can control when we see our digimon?"

"No…" Koushirou twisted around and reached for his bag. He dug out his digivice and showed it to Taichi. "I'm saying that we could control when we see them, hypothetically."

"But you don't know," Taichi said. He smiled widely. "I understand now!"

"I've taken this thing apart and put it back together ten times by now."

"Wow! Really?"

"Yes. It's a magical device that doesn't work by the rules of our dimension, so it's challenging to understand. But I don't think it's impossible to figure it out." Koushirou frowned at it. "Somewhere in this thing is a key to opening the Digital Gate."

"Yeah!" Taichi sounded more hopeful. "Do you want to dissect mine too?"

"That would be most useful. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I don't mind! The digivices aren't nearly as important as the digimon!"

Koushirou smiled, relieved. He hadn't dared to ask anyone else to part with their most precious souvenir of the Digital World. "I feel the same way!"

"We should keep a close eye on computer screens too! In case the Gate ever spontaneously opens on one of them."

Koushirou nodded. "That's a good idea."

Taichi paused. "Are we being too hopeful…?"

Koushirou snorted. "I don't care. I've already decided that I'm going to dedicate my life to finding the Digital World again."

Taichi stared at him. He opened and closed his mouth. "Koushirou…You're incredible."

"Thank you, Taichi. That means a lot to me, coming from you."

Taichi laughed. A soothing sound. Koushirou smiled.

"I want to dedicate my life to the Digital World too," Taichi continued. "There's so much that we never even got to see!"

"Yes!" Koushirou agreed. "There must be some way to open and close the Gate on command. We only need to create the proper technology for it."

"Can I help? I don't know how I could help you…" Taichi faltered.

Koushirou considered. There were so many topics he wanted to discuss with Taichi. So many ideas he wanted to bounce off of his friend. About the Digital World. About their crests. About parallel universes. About—mundane things. Video games. Chess. Soccer. And about personal things too. Koushirou's eyes flickered to his closet, where there was a photo album and two wedding rings carefully hidden away. But—surely it was inappropriate to bring that up right now.

Taichi was his best friend, and he wanted to share everything with him. But it was difficult for Koushirou to tell if Taichi felt the same way about him. Taichi always seemed to be surrounded by much cooler friends. Koushirou didn't want to be selfish. Taichi's sunny smile was for everyone, not just him.

Taichi coughed and scratched his head. Koushirou finally saw that Taichi was just as nervous as he was. I really need to stop overthinking things. It's clear that Taichi enjoys spending time with me. I shouldn't forget that, he mentally reprimanded himself.

Koushirou leaned forward. "Can you keep me company while I work?"

His friend smiled disarmingly, and Koushirou's heart melted.

"I could get used to that," Taichi answered.