Alright, you know the name already and here I am with the latest chapter of this story. One reviewer said that I didn't have enough Takeru/Ayano "happy scenes", so I figured why not make this chapter one of those (mostly anyways) scenes? It is my goal to put that relationship in a good light so that when the eventuality comes, that it makes it all the more difficult to what you readers want to final relationship to be. Concerning the next chapter though, it will be a nice Takari one that is less depressing than the others. Also, one thing that you guys might really like, I assume that you will is the chapter after the next one is one that I am to be a lighthearted Takari one. Also I want to incorporate some of the older Chosen pretty soon.
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. If I did I'd be working on Xros or whatever season digimon is currently on. I kind of stopped paying attention after the first two digimon adventures.
P.S. I lagged on the update of this chapter because of the release of Skyrim. It's taken pretty much almost all of my free time. It's just so fun assassinating everyone!
P.P.S Also look up Ouroboros if you haven't already.
Takeru didn't know how much longer he had to wait before he met Ayano's parents, never having actually been told at what time they were going to eat dinner, and with her leaning on him he was starting to get a little antsy. Her body felt warm against his, warm almost always being a very nice thing, but her body was precisely the reason why he was feeling restless. She was undeniably pretty, a fact that he knew many people agreed with him on, and Takeru had more than once gotten frisky with her. It never escalated into anything sexual, at least not yet, but Takeru felt that a little making out wouldn't do them any harm. Well, at least if they went somewhere where they wouldn't be caught that is.
"Hey, how many rooms does this place have?"
After a few moments he heard her make a noise that was the combination of a yawn and a comfortable sigh, and he surprisingly found himself annoyed at how she repositioned herself on him. Though, the only reason that he didn't like it was because they were too much in the open for the two of them to do anything that even hinted at intimacy. Takeru even personally thought that lying on a couch together almost dozing off was much too familiar a position to be seen in if anyone caught them, but he kept that to himself assuming that Ayano would move somewhere else if he brought it up.
"I don't know I've never counted," Ayano paused and began fidgeting with one of her braids not really knowing where Takeru was going with his question. Sure, it could have been just idle small talk, but she had a tiny suspicion that this wasn't really the case. Takeru was up to something that he was trying to be sneaky with, and now she was curious to what it was, "Why?"
Twirling his finger around one of Ayano's braids, the one that she herself wasn't fiddling with of course, Takeru debated whether or not to just tell her what he had been thinking about. If he was lucky she would be keen on the idea and try it out with him, but Takeru assumed that she would just laugh it off and say that now wasn't the best time for it. If there was one thing he hated about her was that she was a stickler for doing things in a certain time and place according to a certain schedule or plan. If something was, as she would say anyways, inappropriate concerning the time of day and location, Ayano would refuse to do it.
"Can we go somewhere more private?"
She smiled since she now clearly knew what Takeru wanted, and she pondered on whether or not it would be wise to give in. True, it would be fun if the two of them snuck off and messed around before dinner, but on the other hand it would be much smarter and safer to just not do anything until they were somewhere else where they wouldn't have any chance of being caught. She didn't like saying no to Takeru, but Ayano figured that it would be for the best if they just ignored their hormones for now. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't tease him of course.
"And why do you want to be somewhere private Takaishi-san?"
Takeru held back a smile after hearing the tone of Ayano's voice, and he felt as if he had an actual shot of getting to mess around with her for at least a little bit. And with this hope in his mind, Takeru decided that it was in his best interest to play along with Ayano; it wasn't often that his almost girlfriend was in the mood to sneak around.
"You'll find out when we get there Oshiro-san. It's a surprise."
He heard her laugh, all the while Takeru now knowing that he and Ayano weren't going to go sneak off anytime soon, but honestly he suddenly felt okay with this. Just being with her made up for it; just getting to spend time with her made up for pretty much everything. It was an effect that Hikari used to have on him before things had gotten painful, and now that someone else was able to cause that same feeling in him, to cause that same calmness, he didn't know what to think of it. He felt as if he had lost an integral part of himself that made his relationship with Hikari as special as it was, but Takeru thought that maybe this was for the best. Maybe it was time to grow up; maybe it was time to completely move on.
"We don't have time Takeru."
What followed Ayano's comment was that same comfortable sigh that was actually starting to grow on Takeru, and thinking about it he actually silently agreed with her. They would be called to dinner soon and then he would have to prove that he was dating material to her parents. It was something that made him nervous, and Takeru didn't want to leave a bad impression. If he did then this thing that he had with Ayano, this thing that he didn't actually know the proper word for, would be gone.
"You know what we do have time for though right?"
Hearing another question from Takeru that she didn't really know the reason behind him asking it perked Ayano's interest yet again, so she responded him with an inquisitive "hmmm". However, after a moment she felt his hand drop away from twirling her braid, and she was slightly disappointed until she noticed how Takeru was repositioning himself. She couldn't help but once again laugh as he rolled her under him, and as much as she tried she couldn't stop herself from smiling as Takeru's face was now barely an inch away from hers.
"Alright Keru, what do we have time for?"
Instead of answering her, he kissed her neck and felt a surge of happiness at hearing her laughter at the contact. There was something about it that made everything feel all the less heavy in his life, and Takeru decided that he would do anything he could just to hear that sound again. It reminded him of how Yamato used to closely hold him when they were younger listening to their parent's fighting, and that laughter, like Yamato, eased something inside him. It made the feelings he had for Ayano, the feelings he was still afraid would never reach the heights of the ones he felt for Hikari, seem all the more real. It took his mind off of things that hurt just too much to think about.
"Nono!"
Takeru looked up in the direction of a voice that had just shouted curious to who it was, but then his mind went completely to Ayano when she pushed him off of her. He watched as she stood up from the couch to straighten out her hair and kimono, and Takeru decided to just get up and follow her lead. Ayano seemed annoyed at whoever it was, and after she looked at Takeru and rolled her eyes, the both of them were glad that they had never actually snuck off to mess around.
He didn't take his eyes off of her, personally thinking that nothing was better to look at in the room than she was, but this changed when he noticed her eyes had drifted elsewhere in the room; when he noticed that someone was in there with them.
"Hey, food's ready."
Takeru looked at the teenager that had addressed Ayano, and he started to take in all the details that he could about him. There was something in the way that this guy carried himself, something that Takeru could see in this guy's stance and gait, and it was as if he held himself as being important. Takeru felt like giving a tired sigh at being confronted with the possibility of being part of the old cliché of being looked down upon by some rich kid, but he kept it inside feeling the need that he had to impress what he figured was Ayano's still living brother.
"Hello, my name is Takaishi Takeru, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
Takeru gave a slight bow as he was the one who introduced himself first seeing as Ayano's brother made no effort to get things rolling, and he actually felt very insulted at the way that this guy, a stranger to him, ignored him and spoke to Ayano instead.
"This guy? Really Nono?"
In any other situation Takeru would have probably made a joke about Ayano's apparent nickname that her brother had for her, but his mind was still trying to digest the rudeness that was dished out to him. He thought himself a pretty nice guy and made sure to go out of his way to treat people with kindness, and Takeru was greatly bothered at how someone could show him such disrespect. He was hoping that Ayano's family would be more like she was, being modest despite all the wealth, but he was disappointed with what he had seen of her brother.
"His name is Takeru."
He was at least glad that Ayano had corrected her brother, but the look that said brother gave on hearing how familiar she was with his name was not lost on Takeru. He didn't know what to think of the look of disgust that was given, or was it one of protectiveness? But Takeru found that there was something that was oddly rewarding about the reaction of his fellow teenager.
It was then that the stranger in question, at least to Takeru anyways, studied the blonde for a moment, judged him for more than that, and finally seemed as if he was ready to speak to him. He was glad that Goro had given him a heads up to watch out for Takeru, and he wasn't sure why his sister would go for the kind of guy that he was described as. If Goro was to be trusted then Takeru was still hung up on an ex-girlfriend or something like that, and he knew that his sister deserved better than to be reduced to being some guy's second choice.
"You can call me Masato-san."
Okay, so now Takeru was confused. The honorific of –san was in most circumstances reserved for a person to refer to someone who was their elder, but he was pretty sure that Masato wasn't any older than he was. From the look of Masato's face he seemed to be around the same age as him, and Takeru just let out the sigh that he had forced away earlier since he didn't want to deal with this guy's crap right now. He was having a nice time with a girl who he had a not so official relationship with, and now this over privileged douche had to go and kill the mood.
"Don't be an ass."
She had told him not to be rude when he met Takeru, and Ayano was annoyed with her brother since she hoped that at least this once Masato would listen to her. Whenever she was interested in someone, especially if she liked them enough to introduce to her family, Masato would always be less than accommodating to whoever it was. Ayano knew that her brother was not a fan of the idea of her being in a relationship with some boy, but she felt that he needed to lay off since it wasn't his decision whether or not she became involved with someone. Although, she did somewhat see where her brother was coming from. Siblings have to protect each other; whether it's: a big brother to a little sister, older sister to a baby brother, or even twins watching out for one another as was her situation with Masato. No matter what, siblings have to be there.
"I'm not. I'm just treating a member of the lower class the way he deserves to be treated."
Did this guy seriously believe the crap he was saying? Takeru shared a glance with Ayano, and the way that she rolled her eyes at what her brother said made him think that maybe Masato was just trying to push his buttons. What confused him though was the fact that Masato, a person that he had never even spoken to before, seemed to dislike him. In his experience most people were quite taken with him, and the people who weren't tended to come around after a while. The most notable example being Daisuke, who after initially showing little more than dislike for him, actually became a pal that he could trust and rely on. Would he have the same effect on Masato? For Ayano's sake, he hoped so.
From here there was an air of tension in the room seeing as Masato seemed as he had nothing else to say about Takeru, and seeing as Takeru didn't want to say anything rude in return. Being mean-spirited was something that Takeru just didn't have inside of him, and regardless of the treatment that he received from Masato there was no way that he could act the same way as him. It was only a coincidental bonus that Ayano would view him as the bigger person for 'keeping his cool' even though Takeru was honestly never close to losing it. Though, judging from her exasperated sigh, Ayano was a different story.
"Can you just tell everyone we'll be there soon?"
Masato looked like he was about to protest, but the glare that he received from his sister made him feel that maybe it was best to just leave. Ayano herself was glad when her brother just nodded and left, and she made a small wish inside her that Takeru wouldn't be offended enough to the point where he wanted nothing to do with her. It had happened in the past, Masato knowing very well how to play the douche if the occasion called for it, and she hoped that his plan didn't work as good on Takeru.
"Hey, are you alright Keru?"
Well Masato was gone, and Ayano was nervously biting her lip as she looked at him, and Takeru found himself not knowing what to say. Everything had happened so quickly, though at the same time felt quite tedious, and he decided it would be best if he just nervously laughed and gave a small smile to Ayano. In a way that sounds redundant, Takeru was relieved when his tiny action made Ayano look relieved. Life is a cycle repeating itself; one might be reminded of Ouroboros, the tail-eater.
"Was he serious?"
"Just ignore him, he does that with every boy I like."
Every boy she likes. He didn't really know what to make of it. Did he find it amusing? Quite so. Did he find himself slightly bothered at the idea of Ayano liking someone else other than him? Indeed.
It was something that he had never really thought about until now, and Takeru knew that it wouldn't be easy to get out of his mind. Just the thought of her kissing someone else in the way that she kissed him when they were alone, just thinking of her whispering someone's name that wasn't his, it just all felt ugly.
"Every boy huh?"
Ayano raised an eyebrow. Was this jealously she heard? Something like that easily summarized her own sentiments towards Hikari, who even after all this time still had a hold on Takeru, and Ayano would have been lying if she said that it didn't feel good. Takeru being envious proved that at least he cared; even just the tiniest bit.
"Don't worry Takeru, you're still my favorite."
Takeru eyed her for a moment feeling as if she was up to something. She had that playful tone in her voice that gave him just the smallest clue to what she wanted, and he decided, just as he had before, to play along with her.
"Oh yeah? And why is that?"
Ayano, in a way that was uncharacteristic of her, smirked. She had him where she wanted him.
"You're the prettiest one."
As soon as she said this she whipped around and began walking down the hallway in the direction that her brother had gone. It was not something that Takeru had expected her to say, but he found himself grinning at the way that she turned an almost ugly situation into a lighthearted one. He watched as Ayano looked over her shoulder to flash him a smile prompting Takeru to just follow right behind her, and he did the only thing that he could. He laughed.
So I debated whether or not to actually show Takeru meeting Ayano's parents, but I decided not to, and you'll see why I did that in the next chapter. Don't be fooled though the next chapter, as is the one right after it, is a Takari one. I think that all Takari fans, which should be pretty much everyone reading this story, are going to like them. Tell me how I did this round?
P.S. I watched that show Hey Arnold! today which was on TV earlier, and I felt a nice nostalgic sentiment inside of me since I haven't seen that show since I was a kid. 90's cartoons are the best. No question about it.
