Chapter Eleven
Love Equals Change
Yuuta sat on the floor, her head resting on Koushirou's knee. His fingers flew over the keyboard, the clicking soothing to her jumble of thoughts. Her eyes drifted shut. She was so relaxed, she didn't even jump when Tsumi bounced in.
"What's up with you guys?" Tsumi demanded. About a dozen hollow eyes flicked towards her.
"Nothing is up." Taichi whispered. His arms tightened around Daisuke's shoulders. Daisuke was sitting between Taichi's legs, his head resting against his collarbone, his hands holding Taichi's wrists.
"Something is so up! Mimi-sama hasn't worn a spaghetti strap shirt in weeks, no, months. Takenouchi-sama's been seen around town with that new guy, Kinabara. Motomiya-sama and Yagami-sama haven't spoken to anybody for a month, but themselves or a Chosen Child. Yagami-chan has been found puking her guts out all morning more than once. Ishiida-sama was seen by himself on a bullet train to Tokyo...almost every day for a while. Yuuta-"
"We get it, Tsumi-chan, there's something wrong with everybody." Chidori sat down next to Takeru with a bowl of popcorn.
"What makes it your business, anyway?" Sora snapped, settling on her stomach.
"People are totally freaking! You're their freaking gods!"
"And it SUCKS! YOU TRY BEING A GOD!" Taichi screamed. He leapt to his feet, towering over her. "Back. Off."
"Try being followed. People asking for miracles you can't grant. They give you things you don't want, they... worship you, even your fucking sweat!" Yamato snapped.
"It's scary." Daisuke whispered, his black-brown eyes dull, staring at the t.v.
"What the hell are you doing? YOU'RE WATCHING A SHUT OFF TV!" Tsumi shrieked.
"Much more entertaining then one that's on." Miyako explained. "All the black."
"It's hypnotizing." Eri agreed.
"Not you, too! Yuuta?" She turned to Yuuta and blinked. Yuuta blinked back.
"Gomen nasai, what?" Yuuta asked.
"URRGHACKGGLL!" she cried insensibly.
"I'm sorry, what?" Koushirou looked up with confused black eyes. "Why's the t.v. off?"
"When it's on, it's annoying. Watching an 'off' t.v. is much better." Ken told him.
"I agree." Koushirou nodded. He looked back at his laptop. "Damn. It's always same." he muttered.
"What is?" Yuuta asked.
"THE TV!" Tsumi screeched.
"Tsumi-chan, calm down. That's all we're doing. Calming down." Chidori finally really explained.
"Oh. Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"
"It's funny getting people pissed off." Takeru answered.
Tsumi choked and fell over foaming at the mouth.
"I wonder why Mimi wears only long sleeves? That is weird." Sora pondered.
"She's been taking a baths a lot, too." Miyako added.
"With the door locked." Sora continued.
"And by herself."
"Is she not there now?" Yuuta asked drowsily.
Suddenly all five girls straightened. Koushirou sat up.
"MIMI!" They shouted. They jumped up and thundered down the hallway.
Eri managed to get there first.
"Mimi! Are you in there-" they looked down and saw the water coming from under the door. Water was running on the other side.
"How can water get from showers to here?" Miyako asked confused.
"She must be aiming the showers at the pool."
"But it would take a long time to...overflow...MIMI! MIMI!" Sora screamed pounding the door. "OPEN UP! OPEN DAMN YOU!"
"Get out of the way." Eri ordered. "Boy-go away." Koushirou turned.
"I'll get towels and blankets."
"I think we'll need bandages." Eri rolled up her sleeves. Koushirou nodded and ran. Eri leaned back and her leg curled up and out. The door jumped inward. Mimi sat at the side of pool, chestnut hair floating over the flooded tiles. The showers were on and facing the pool.
"Mimi!" Miyako choked. The water around her was red with blood.
They splashed through the large puddle and knelt by her side. Her eyes cracked open.
"I'm sorry I wasted your water. I wanted to make it quick." Mimi whispered.
Her body was so pale it was translucent. The long slits on her wrists were still bleeding, but just slightly. Yuuta and Eri tore of their shirts and pressed them against her cuts.
"KOUSHIROU! GET IN HERE NOW!" Miyako bellowed. Koushirou skidded in.
"Give me those. Call Jyou! We can't get her to the hospital, it'll make everything worse." Sora directed. Koushirou nodded and left. "Here. Pick her up."
Chidori held the shirt in place as Eri lifted her up. Sora managed to sufficiently cover Mimi and started wrapping on tight bandages. They carried her out to the living room, leaving puddles as footsteps.
"Mimi! What happened?" Taichi cleared off the coffee table with a quick sweep of his arm. Eri laid her gently.
"She tried to clean herself, nitwit. She slashed her wrists and kept them under water so they wouldn't heal." Chidori snapped.
"But why?" Daisuke whispered.
"Because she's alone." Miyako whispered. "She has all of us, but it's not the same. She loved Michael, remember him? From New York? She misses him so badly...she just wants to see him again."
"But she can." Yuuta said horrified.
"What?" Miyako turned.
"He did not die. He is eighty-eight. He lives in the nursing home that used to be Mimi's apartment complex seventy years ago."
They looked down hearing a weak choking noise.
"Mi...cha...el..." Her shoulders quivered as tears slipped over her pale, damp face and fell into her wet hair.
Everyone held back their own sobs rising to the surface.
"Mimi-sama..." Tsumi gulped, clutching Mimi's hand and resting her head on the table.
Jyou managed to get there within an hour.
"She's stable, but very weak. I can't believe you guys made me do a blood transfusion. That's not my major."
"But you had to know something about it to be a surgeon." Eri pointed out.
"But what if we didn't know her blood type? Or if none of you were her blood type? Matsuura-chan is currently unconscious because she gave too much! And Mimi still isn't out of red zone."
"Will she make it, doc?" Daisuke whispered. Jyou hung his head.
"The higher percentage says 'no'."
"She will make it. She is a Chosen Child." Yuuta said firmly. She walked past Jyou and dropped to her knees beside Mimi's bed. "Tachikawa-no, you are Mimi. You are my friend. If I could become the young woman I am right now, you can survive your own pain. You are one of my heroes. You gave me courage and gave me dreams. I could never repay any of you for the kindness...the life you have bestowed me with." Her crest flared a blinding white and flowed from Yuuta's body to Mimi's through their interlocked hands. "Live once more and be Mimi, escape from the darkness we are betrayed into." Her voice was strange and far away, not Yuuta's at all, and her eyes were solid lavendar.
Mimi's chest lifted with a deep breath. A flush crept over her pale skin, relieving her of her death-like pallor. Her eyes fluttered open, golden-brown eyes sightless for a few moments. Her pale lips trembled into a tiny smile. Her hand tightened around Yuuta's. Her eyes closed once again, falling into a deep slumber.
Yuuta sighed, the light flooded back into her crest. Her eyes rolled back and she swooned. Koushirou quickly caught her.
"She used her crest." Sora's voice cracked.
"Yeah?" Taichi prodded her.
"I was so scared...so scared our crests had left us just like our partners." Sora buried her face in her hands, shoulders shaking. Jyou started forward, but stayed put. Miyako stepped up in his place and wrapped arms around Sora's waist.
"Come on, Sora. It's been hard on all of us for so long. This is finally breaking down the walls we have put up." Miyako rubbed her back soothingly. Sora nodded and let Miyako lead her away.
"I believe it's time for a meeting...and ASAP." Koushirou said.
"Yeah." Taichi agreed.
& & &
"I can't believe we're doing this." Daisuke whispered.
"Neither can I. But you need it. There must be someone who can help you." Taichi squeezed Daisuke's hand comfortingly.
"It'll get out. Everyone will know." Daisuke pressed closer to Taichi's side.
"Not if they really care for their Deity." Taichi ran a hand through Daisuke's fuzzy hair and led him inside the building slowly. Daisuke dragged his feet, his face pale and fear-stricken.
"I c-can't, Tai. I'm sc-scared." Daisuke tried to pull away. Taichi pulled close.
"I don't want you to be scared anymore. I can't help you myself, Dai-chan, but I can do this." He leaned back and traced his younger lover's face. "For me, please. I can't stand to see you screaming in your sleep."
Daisuke softened. The scared look was still in his eyes, but his jaw tightened stubbornly.
"For you." Daisuke stated firmly. Taichi smiled softly, sadly.
They pushed through the door, both wearing hats and sunglasses.
"This is Daitan Shogun. He has an appointment with... Dr. Kido?" Taichi gawked behind his glasses.
"Yes, he gets that reaction a lot. He's Kido-Deity's nephew. He's actually quite a few years older than our Deity, so it's been fun teasing the old geezer." the receptionist giggled.
"Who are you calling an old geezer, you young harlot?" An old man about fifty years walked through the door separating the waiting room from the back.
"Nobody, sir, of course." she dimpled.
"Impertinent little wench. Can't quite believe she's my daughter. Where're my grandsons?"
"Humph. Who wants sons? They might end up like you and my older brothers, perverts, the lot." She sniffed and began typing away on the computer.
"Come along, you are Shogun-san, ne?"
"Hai."
"May I come along? I'm the only family he has." Taichi inquired imploringly.
"Fine, fine. Come, come." He ushered them through the door and down the hallway behind it. He opened a door near the back and they walked into a typical psychiatrist office, from the filled bookshelves to the long, low couch. "Take a seat, quickly now. I don't bite. Sorry if the conversation with my daughter was too provocative for you. We do talk rather bluntly in a Molestation Center. You may remove your coverings, or keep them if you like."
"We'll-"
"We'll keep them on." Daisuke interrupted quickly. Taichi's eyebrow rose over his sunglasses.
"Okay. Would you like to talk?" Dr. Kido picked up a small silver ball and dropped it. It hit the ball and the ball at the other end of the line swung outward. Daisuke watched the strange row of silver spheres, as if fascinated.
"I...I don't want to." Daisuke replied honestly. "But I'm so scared, not only of telling, but of everything. I can't even sleep. I feel like trash." Daisuke pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
All three watched the swinging orbs silently. Dr. Kido raised his eyes. Dark grey eyes, a lot like Jyou's, met Daisuke's.
"You have twenty minutes, Mr. Shogun. Would you like some coffee? Tea?"
Daisuke shook his head.
"If I drink or eat, I'll probably throw up." Daisuke mumbled. His hand searched blindly and grasped Taichi's hand in a vise-like grip.
"You may, of course, watch my strange little toy for the time being. You do not need to tell me now. I will be here for quite some time. Do you want me to set up another meeting?"
Taichi nodded his head with a no-questions-asked look in his eyes.
"Gomen nasai." He said, a little more towards Taichi than Dr. Kido.
"It's okay. Just come again. Promise? You need this as much as you need me." Taichi whispered, quickly hugging him close.
"Promise."
"Please, have some tea, at the least."
"That would be great, Dr. Kido." Taichi nodded.
"None for me, please." Daisuke muttered.
& & &
"Here we all are...besides our goggles-headed leaders." Sora sighed. "Neither is Hikari."
"Yagami-sama and Motomiya-san have been disappearing all week. They are always gone for just about an hour, too." Yuuta chewed her lip. "Hikari is just...gone." The front door opened and closed.
"Sorry we're late. The train was delayed." Taichi explained quickly.
"No problem. Take a load off." Eri moved to the side.
"How are you two feeling?" Jyou asked, checking up on Mimi and Tsumi.
"Much better. Soon, I'll be ready to go home." Mimi smiled. "I signed up for an online class for nursing. I hope I can spend just a few years with him. Just a few." Her smile was soft and sad.
"I hope somebody gets a happy ending...besides the nerds anyway." Miyako jerked her head at Eri, Ken, Koushirou, and Yuuta.
"Are you calling me a nerd? You vile human!" Eri gasped, affronted.
"You say it like it's a bad thing." Ken mumbled.
"Down to business, you guys. Something is wrong. We're keeping secrets; we're dying inside, all of us. That's why our Digimon are never with us. They can't believe in us if we don't." Taichi said suddenly serious.
"Why don't you go first, perky?" Miyako snapped.
"My problem isn't mine to discuss." Taichi gripped Daisuke's hand.
"Did you get Dai-kun knocked up?" Mimi asked, eyes wide, a hand over her mouth. Mouths twitched.
"No. We haven't had sex yet, thank you very much." Daisuke said haughtily. His eyes became sad and broken. "But I did lose my virginity."
Everyone looked at him sharply. Taichi glanced down at him, surprised. He smiled up at Taichi.
"Someone has to start this…thing. I will. Give me courage, Courage."
"Duh."
"I got in with a bad crowd at school. They took me into their circle and it seemed like they were sincere, not half-crazed fans. They were worse. They got me to buy some upped-marijuana, it's like given steroids or something. I could get away with anything. I was a god. I was filled with this sense of rebellion. I wanted to keep breaking the rules, over and over until someone finally stopped me, but nobody ever did.
"One guy's parents were gone for a weekend and we went to his house. I got high again, only, not really. Something was wrong. I wasn't high. I was hallucinating and weak. I could barely make out shapes. People grabbed at me...I couldn't fight. I didn't really think to. Until...until they touched me." He stopped and looked away. "They raped me...all of them, one right after another. I remember voices, just a little. Their words, their hands, everything was dirty and I was crying. When I started regaining my senses...I saw candles and pictures of me everywhere.
"I was a part of my own cult and didn't even know it. Taichi had been suspecting something and followed me. He realized something was up when the lights were turned off...but it wasn't until afterward that he barged in. He must have heard me scream while they were raping me. But he wasn't fast enough... He put one of the guys in the hospital and the others got their asses kicked.
"Because we were gods, he didn't have to go 'downtown', but we didn't say what had happened. They were sent to juve anyway, for making Motomiya-Deity cry." Daisuke finished abruptly.
"Mo-Motomiya-san. I...I am so sorry. I have been so busy I did not even bother to pay attention to anything but schoolwork. I have been an awful friend." Yuuta shuffled over to him and tentatively raised her arms. Daisuke held up his own and the two collapsed into each other, clutching each other tightly.
"It's not your fault. I swear, Yuu-chan."
"I should have noticed. You have been so sad... You have not even tried to give me a nosebleed." Daisuke chucked weakly.
"Don't beat yourself up, honey." Daisuke said, mimicking a stereotypical gay voice. She giggled.
"I guess it's my turn." Miyako flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I'm gay, told the girl I loved, got turned down in a very painful way, and she's straight. Finito."
"Wha...wha?" Ken stuttered.
"Good thing you fell for Eri, because I did kind of lead you on. I did it as a cover up... and well, you're so pretty." She gushed. Ken gaped at her.
"Miyako..." Takeru whispered.
"Hai, tenshii?" She asked sweetly...too sweetly.
"You're wrong." Takeru stood. "I'll be right back."
He left and walked back in a while later bringing Hikari in, curled against his chest. Her eyes had dark rings around them and her face flushed from liquor. She moaned and tensed.
"This is what she's done to you. So she did it to herself." Takeru laid her down gently.
"Hikari." Taichi quickly rushed over. Miyako was already there, both hands cupping Hikari face.
"Iie, koishii. Doushite?" She choked.
"Because breaking you...broke her." Takeru picked up one hand. "Hikari...Hikari...wake up."
"I'm thorry." She slurred. "I'm tho thorry."
"Koishii, iie. Dame. Stop it. Stop killing yourself." Miyako broke down, her face pressed to Hikari's collarbone. "You can't do this to me." She sobbed.
"Miyako?" Mimi placed a hand on Miyako's back.
"I just said 'I love you'. Why did it have to break us both? Why did it hurt so much?"
"Come on." Taichi lifted Hikari and Miyako rose with them. "Let's put her in bed. Be there when she wakes up, okay?"
Miyako nodded wildly, like a bobby-head people put on their car dashboard.
"I guess you figured why I have been acting distant?" Takeru wryly smiled.
"Yeah. I think so." Daisuke nodded.
"Well, that's…five people out of twelve." Jyou said.
"Why don't you go?" Taichi asked, returning.
"There's nothing wrong with me! Daijoubou desu!" Jyou protested too quickly, and too much.
"Right. Suspicious." Eri crossed her arms.
"If you don't trust us, that's fine. Go off and choke on your stupid secret. I'm not hurt. I'm not." Daisuke pouted and scuffed the carpet like a little boy.
"It's not really my secret to tell, honto." Jyou blushed beet-red and examined the floor.
"What about you, onii-san?" Takeru rounded on Yamato.
"Eh? Nani? Nothing's wrong!"
"Something's definitely wrong. You and Sora are either fighting or not speaking. She's been seen with another man, well, boy…teenager…" Mimi trailed off puzzling over what word to use.
"We just needed some time off." Sora mumbled.
"But he was all over you when you guys first woke up." Daisuke blinked.
"Yes. Even I noticed it at first, and I didn't know you as long as the others." Chidori put in.
"We hadn't been with each other for seventy years. For us it was like we had just been in love yesterday. Then...it kind of faded away." Yamato studied his hands intently.
"Can we please stop talking about it?" Sora muttered, rubbing her arms.
"Sorry, honey." Mimi quickly bent over and wrapped thin arms around Sora's shoulders.
"I have to go." Sora shrugged her off and left, grabbing her jacket.
"So...where's Iori?" Daisuke asked turning around.
"With her again." Takeru growled. He and Iori had always been close since DNA evolving together, and had immediately taken an extreme disliking to Kira. Extreme disliking would be an understatement, however.
"Kinabara-chan? What do you have against her?" Daisuke asked curiously.
"I...I don't know. But I get a bad feeling around. There's something wrong with her. She...she doesn't seem real." Takeru whispered. He felt something cold slither down his spine as he finally spoke his thoughts aloud.
"I feel it, too." Yuuta agreed.
"So do I." Taichi nodded.
"In actuality, the impression seems to be radiating from both of the siblings." Koushirou gnawed his bottom lip thinking. Love cannot...
"Izzy-sempai? Is something wrong? I noticed it before, but did not say anything..." Yuuta trailed off blushing.
Usually when he was around her, Koushirou wouldn't let her speak, and only held her or...well, made-out without stopping besides to breathe. Not like she could breathe anyway, he seemed to be able to absorb all the energy and oxygen out of her. She forgot how to breathe sometimes! She pushed her thoughts away and met his eyes squarely, still blushing.
"You have been acting so worried and different. You barely even speak...besides to ask about my Crest or how I am feeling." She touched his face gently. She definitely didn't realize his face was this haggard and tense.
"Koku...now isn't the time." Koushirou shook his head. Yuuta frowned.
"Everyone is putting our troubles in a circle. Right there." She pointed to the middle of the room. "That is all our negative energy, and we are not even done yet. Do you see how large it is?"
Koushirou looked more than slightly confused. At first, he saw nothing. But slowly it formed in his mind's eye; a pulsating black ball. His eyes grew older looking at it. Everything, everything I touch, everything I eat, everything I see, it comes back to it. It haunts me. Why won't it leave me?
"I see it, Koku." Koushirou mumbled.
"We have to release it, let it free from inside us. Put your worry with ours and let it go." Yuuta urged.
"I... can't Yuuta. I have to keep trying to find another way. Not yet, but soon, I promise." His black eyes met hers and she smiled softly, sadly.
"You always do keep your promises." She turned to the center and placed her hands in front of the 'ball'. "I have been overburdened with schoolwork. I have not spent enough time with my love. Yomoki-kun keeps creeping into my mind, as do Lowvell and Momiji. I don't have anyone to really speak with. All of us keep drifting away. My Crest...my soul...it is breaking, so slowly. I feel it crying." She touched her tag lightly. "We have to bring ourselves back together. And soon, the time of Armageddon is soon." Her brown eyes glowed green.
"Are...are you sure, Yuuta?" Mimi gasped.
"Very. My Crest has been reacting very strongly. We must become One once again." Yuuta gripped the tag until her knuckles turned white. A hand touched the small of her back and she looked up.
"How do we dispel the negative energy?" Koushirou asked.
"Together." She smiled once more. "Everyone do as I do." She put her hands in front of herself again and closed her eyes.
The remaining Chosen Children did so, and Chidori and Eri.
"Wash it all away. Think of the good that has come of the bad. Think only of the good. Watch it wash away the negativity like a tidal wave. Just watch the goodness...live. It beats within you and without. Beat the darkness away with your heart." Yuuta chanted.
They concentrated hard, some trying hard not to think 'this is stupid'.
& & &
"Konnichi wa, Hatsuharu." Sora grinned and slid into the booth.
"Konnichi wa, Sora-koishii." Hatsuharu smiled back, glasses sliding down his nose.
"It must be such a pain in the summer wearing those." Sora giggled. "All the sweat making your glasses fall down."
"Yes...it is burdensome. Did you want something to eat?"
"No. I'm not really hungry. You may go ahead and I'll snatch food off every once in a while." Sora suggested.
"But I was getting my favorite. Pasta, real Italian pasta." Hatsuharu pouted.
"Mmm, pasta." Sora shyly took his hand and bit back a sigh of relief when he squeezed hers gently.
"Is anything wrong? You seemed troubled when you walked in."
"We had a Chosen Children Meeting. We're falling apart. We used to be a big family, and we're all so depressed or scared or lonely. Where did it all go wrong?" She pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead. Hatsuharu pulled her hand away, making her bloodshot eyes meet his.
"Love, that's all it takes. Love equals change, koishii no Hatsuharu. All are tasting the bittersweet taste that is its nectar." His glasses slid down his nose.
"You talk so strange sometimes." She pulled the glasses off carefully. Red-brown eyes met his dark ones, finally with out the lenses dulling them.
Such a pretty purple...I want to melt away. She thought, pushing away the warning signal in the back of her head.