A/N: I apologize for the extreme delay. RL got in the way.

Chapter 2

Unsurprisingly, Takeru doesn't say anything the next morning. Although Yamato does show up on their doorstep with a duffle bag presumably filled with Takeru's clothes (He's sure Jun's squeal could be heard all the way from Kyoto). Eyeing the bulky bag, Daisuke wonders exactly how long Takeru thinks he can stay at his house—not that his parents seem to mind. They'd adopt the blonde and kick him to the curb if given the opportunity.

Daisuke scowls at the thought, his ear pressed to his bedroom door.

He isn't spying. This is his bedroom they are using to talk in after all. So, anything that happens in his room is rightfully his to know.

Unfortunately, he can barely decipher a single word that's spoken. Unlike his conversations with Jun where raised voices are the norm, all he can pick out are low murmurs from the two brothers. In fact, if he hadn't seen the two walk into his bedroom, he'd never know anyone was in there in the first place.

The voices grow louder as a shadow falls across the gap between his door and the floor. "Come on. I want to speak to Daisuke's parents before I leave," he hears Yamato say.

The doorknob rattles and Daisuke springs to his feet, backing up rapidly into the kitchen where the rest of his family is waiting. He stands with his elbow braced casually on the back of a kitchen chair when Yamato walks into the room. He sees Jun roll her eyes at him, but she immediately straightens once Yamato comes into view. It causes Daisuke to roll his eyes in turn before he focuses his attention back to his friend, who is trailing behind Yamato with his forehead pinched and shoulders sloped forward. The sight leaves an unsettling feeling in his stomach.

Yamato doesn't waste much time, crossing the kitchen until he stands a short distance from his parents. He bows deeply. Takeru obediently follows suit. "I would like to thank you all for your hospitality for letting my younger brother stay here," he says. "It's most appreciated, and I apologize for the trouble."

His mom immediately rises from her seat, palms raised outward in a placating manner. "Please, Yamato; it is no trouble at all," she says, smiling at Takeru. "It's a pleasure to have Takeru over."

"That's right," his father chimes in though he remains seated. "It is no trouble."

Yamato lifts his head as his hand moves to pull something out of his blazer pocket. "Be that as it may," he says, as he presents a thick envelope with both hands. "Please accept this for your troubles. My mother insists."

Takeru becomes unnaturally still at the mention of his mom, his head still slightly bowed.

While his father looks approvingly at the gesture, his mom looks flustered and shakes her head slowly from side to side. "That will not be necessary, Yamato."

"Please, Yamato says, hands outstretched steadily before him. "I insist."

His mom wavers, clearly not wanting to offend Yamato. Daisuke sighs at having to sit through all these platitudes.

"Saya," his dad says, and it prompts his mom to finally accept the money.

Yamato smiles. "I have somewhere to be, but thank you again." He looks over his shoulder and says, "Takeru, walk me out?"

Takeru nods and turns toward the front of the house to do just that.

"Wait!"

All motion halts at the shout, and Jun blushes from where she has leapt out of her seat, palms flat on the table.

"Um. I," she stutters at length before blurting out, "Autograph!" She pulls an autograph board seemingly out of nowhere and holds it in front of her. "Please," she adds with wide eyes.

His dad pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Jun…"

"What?" Jun asks, color rising to her cheeks. "We are housing his brother—I mean, not that it's a bother," Jun is quick to add as she whips her head back to her idol. "He's great. Really."

Daisuke shoots an amused look at Takeru, knowing the other always enjoyed a good laugh at his brother's discomfort over enthusiastic fans. Unfortunately, Takeru isn't paying attention being too preoccupied with staring moodily at the floor. It dampens Daisuke's mood considerably.

"Sure," Yamato finally says, smile clearly forced and reaches out for the board and pen. He signs the board with a flourish and hands it back. Jun holds it as if it is her most precious possession in the world.

"Thank you so much!" she gushes and brazenly extends her hand out for a handshake. Daisuke sniggers. "You're really pushing it," he says, without lowering his voice at all.

"Shut it," Jun says through clenched teeth, her lips stretched into a smile.

One handshake and photograph later, Yamato is finally allowed to leave their house. Daisuke is willing to put money down on the fact that this will likely be the last time he ever comes over here.

"My sister is a nutca..." Daisuke trails off as Takeru storms past him. A few seconds later he returns with his basketball and Daisuke's jacket in hand. He tosses the jacket in his direction before putting on his sneakers. He then shoots him an impatient look while waiting for him to do the same.

Daisuke grumbles, shoving his arms into the sleeves of his windbreaker and his feet into his sneakers. He only just gets his other foot into his shoe before Takeru is pulling open their door and heading out.

"We'll be back before dinner," he hollers as he hurries after the other. He doesn't wait for a reply; just closes the door and jogs after Takeru who is already quite a distance away. When he does catch up, he doesn't say anything, but does shoot a few annoyed glances at the other along the way.

The silence stretches up until they get to the public park. There are two basketball courts, one of which is already occupied by what looks like a bunch of guys his age. Takeru steers them to the empty one. He dribbles the ball to the center of the court. Daisuke trails reluctantly after him until he's standing opposite the other.

"Twenty points," Takeru says, bouncing the ball to him. Daisuke catches it between his two hands and sighs.

"Are we going to talk about this?" he asks plaintively. Takeru's only response is to bend his knees into a crouch, arms held up on either side of his body.

"Argh—fine!" he says, shrugging off his jacket, balling it up and tossing it to the side. It doesn't go very far, but it's a least out of the way. He bounces the ball awkwardly a few times, grimacing all the while.

Daisuke is incredibly athletic if he does say so himself. Give him a football and he can run circles around just about anyone. Well, excluding Ken of course. Oh, and Taichi. Anyway, barring those two, he's pretty good, and he's a decent runner, too, which is pretty necessary in any sport. Basketball, however…He has never been adept at the game. He isn't sure if his hand-eye coordination just sucks, or if it's the constant dribbling that throws him off. In any case, basketball is not his game. It will never be his game. Him chasing Takeru around the court for the next fifteen minutes reaffirms this fact.

Daisuke collapses onto the grass just outside the asphalt, staring up at the darkening sky. "Tomorrow…" he says in between breaths, "we're playing…football…" He lies there, arms and legs splayed out like a starfish and waits for his heart rate to settle. He then lets his eyes drift from the sky to the side where Takeru is still practicing some free throws. The other's body appears less tense now as he's handling the ball, which is something to say the least.

They stay like this for a while: Takeru taking shot after shot and Daisuke simply watching him. As dusk begins to fall, the sounds from the other basketball game fade, and the happy chatter from the few kids playing on a jungle gym also dissipates. Eventually, all that remains is the staccato thwup-ping, thwup-ping and chains rattling that signals Takeru has made another successful shot. The sounds become rhythmic after a while, and Daisuke lets his eyes fall shut.

He really hopes whatever funk Takeru is in resolves itself soon. He isn't sure how much more of this he can take. If the other would just tell him what was bothering him, maybe he could do something about it. Frankly, he has English sentences with more context clues than he does with figuring Takeru out right now.

Daisuke opens his eyes again when a strong breeze blows through and underneath the collar of his shirt. He shivers and pushes himself upright from the ground. Takeru is still at it, but enough is enough.

"Hey," he calls out. Takeru freezes from taking another shot and turns his head his way. "It's getting late," he says, climbing to his feet. "Let's head home.

Takeru does a quick scan of his surroundings and appears to finally take notice of how they're one of the few people left in the park. He inclines his head in agreement before walking off the court.

After gathering their things, they make their way back to his house in a companionable silence. Takeru is tossing his ball from one hand to the other, while Daisuke is trying to recall what homework he has to finish tonight and whether he has a quiz in algebra tomorrow. He wonders absently if Takeru will be willing to help him study for that test if it turns out he does have one. In spite of his complaints, he has to admit if there's one positive take away from this entire situation, it's that his English grades have improved significantly since Takeru's been around. His teacher hasn't been able to give him in the stink eye in a while and that's always a plus.

"My mom had some guy spend the night on Sunday. I didn't know until I walked into the kitchen the next morning to see him making breakfast for her."

The statements are made without any prelude, and Daisuke's pace slows to an abrupt halt. He stares at the back of Takeru's head, unsure for a moment if he imagined the whole thing, but when Takeru stops a few steps ahead of him, he knows he hasn't.

"It's," Takeru pauses, then starts up again. "It's not that I never thought this was a possibility. That I have a problem with her finding happiness if that meant it was with someone other than my dad. I just." He inhales a shaky breath, his back still turned away. "It was a shock, you know. I didn't expect it. And. I know—I know it's stupid for me to think they would ever get back together again. The fighting was bad enough when they were together, but. Still. Even still, I hoped and." Takeru raises a hand to brush haphazardly at his eyes, the other still holding on tightly to his basketball. "I didn't want to face it—to even think about it. I couldn't stay."

Daisuke doesn't know what to say into the silence that settles following the overdue explanation. Of all the things, he did not imagine this. An argument about how being on the basketball team is interfering with his studies, sure. A disagreement concerning what career he should major in college, maybe. A fight about breaking his curfew…okay, probably not, but there are very few scenarios Daisuke can think up considering how straight-laced Takeru actually is.

It leaves him floundering, and isn't it fitting how only a short while ago he thought he could help if only he knew what was wrong? But this? Family is a big fucking deal to Takeru. Having caught the tail end of the illusion Belial Vamdemon subjected the blonde to, Daisuke knows all too well. And because it's so important, he doesn't want to screw it up by saying anything insensitive, or, worse yet, cliché and ultimately useless. Daisuke has absolutely no idea what to do.

"I can't hide forever though," Takeru continues on with a humorless laugh. "I have to grow up sometime."

"Fuck that," Daisuke speaks on instinct at the apparent, parroted words. Takeru turns around at this, eyes red and uncertain. "This has nothing to do with growing up," he continues on, fumbling for words. "This is. This is about your mom and how you feel. You can't just—you shouldn't ignore that."

Takeru bites his lip, eyes lowering to the sidewalk. "But Yamato…"

"I don't care what he said," Daisuke cuts him off, closing the distance between them until they are less than a foot apart. "This isn't about him," he insists, knowing that at least for this, he's right. "Right now, this is about you and how you feel."

"I hated it!" Takeru blurts out at once, and it's as if a dam has been breached and words begin spilling rapidly from his mouth. "I didn't want him there! Why was he there? Why didn't she say anything? Before. Before I..." His voice cracks as tears start trailing in rivulets down his cheeks. He scrubs at them viciously with the edge of his palm and ends up just fisting the hair above his right temple when the motion does no good to stop them. "Everything is going to change, and I don't want them to just yet. I. I don't care if it makes me sound like a kid, but I just wanted to pretend—even if it was just for a little while—that things were the same. I…" His face crumples as his entire body begins to fold into himself. "I. I'm s-sorry," he chokes out, seemingly dismayed that he's crying at all. "I don't know why I'm even…" He starts to wipe his face again, and Daisuke can't take it anymore. He moves.

He knocks the basketball out of the other's hand, drawing a startled sound out of Takeru, and pulls him into a hug. Takeru freezes momentarily before he relaxes into the embrace, hiding his face in his shoulder.

"You're picking that up later," Takeru says, sniffling, and Daisuke huffs.

"Make me."

Takeru expels a watery laugh and finally lifts his arms to hug Daisuke back. When his shoulders start to shake, Daisuke rubs his back like he did the previous night until they subside.

When Takeru speaks next, his voice is hesitant and low despite how close he is to Daisuke's ear. "Can I stay over for a few more days?" he asks, and Daisuke thinks fleetingly to respond with an 'I have a say in this now?', but ultimately decides against it.

"Yeah," he says instead. "Whatever you need."

Takeru nods gratefully, his grip tightening a fraction, and murmurs, "Thanks."

There's not much left for Daisuke to say after that. So, he just stays there, long past when the sun sets and until Takeru is ready to let go and go home.