Author's note: Love me, I'm writing these all while I can remember them, so that all I have to do is upload them for you in a semi-timely manner. Sound good? I hope so, it's the best I got, lol. I'm kind of going back to my five reviews for an update thing, so if it seems to be taking a while... poke someone to review, or review yourself if you're a "silent watcher". Seriously, what good does that do anyone?
I wonder if anyone is interested in a Digimon Adventure 02 role play? I'm working on setting up a forum. If anyone wants to help or wants the URL, PM me or ask in a review, please.
A few of the plot devices throughout this fic are actually based off a few brushes with death my friends and I have had, so no, I'm not just blundering my way through this. Someone PMed me, suggesting that there wouldn't be much laughter or side topics, but that's hardly the case. No one wants to think about the death all the time, sure you feel a bit guilty for laughing but it's that or cry in that kind of situation. And some Chosen were closer to the Yagamis than others, particularly the parents, so reactions will be different. Don't think of -you-, think of the character. That's as important in reading as it is in writing.
Miyako's such a tricky muse. She didn't want to tell me any secrets before Iori-chii can show up. And she's just as boy-crazy as ever, I see. -sigh-.
No time was wasted the second that Miyako hung up the phone. Well. She hit 'end'. Then she dialed Iori's home number, because like her, Iori didn't have a cell phone yet. She couldn't afford one; Iori simply didn't want one. Weirdo. He did realize what century they lived in, right? She wasted no time in complaining about this, the moment she confirmed that it was Iori who answered on the other line.
"Miyako-san," he sighed, sounding impatient, "I'm not backwards just because I don't own a cell phone. I don't need one." Before she could open her mouth to argue -- because undoubtedly, he knew that was exactly what the older girl was planning to do, he said, "Did you want something, Miyako-san? You know better than to call during dinner. If it wasn't your name that had shown up--"
"Something bad's happened, Iori-kun," Miyako said quietly; her siblings were sitting in the living room watching the TV, and she didn't want them to overhear. I mean, she knew she had to tell her parents, and she supposed her siblings too, eventually. But she didn't want the hugging and the 'how horrible's. She wanted to do something useful. Ken had told her, how restless Daisuke was, and how totally out of it he had looked while talking on the phone with Takeru. She could empathize completely. The entire time Ken had been talking, she had been working her brain as hard as she could to think of something meaningful and useful. And Ken had pointed out that it should be a quieter gesture, nothing like a party in hopes of bringing Taichi's mood up. That was just inappropriate. And she supposed she had to agree. The idea she had come up with eventually was much better than that, but it would need everyone, because she certainly couldn't cook that much.
"What?" His voice was sharp, surprised. It was then that she noticed... he sounded different. Older. It made her feel even older, and kind of lonely. They were really growing up. And now they had a real grown-up thing to deal with, one that felt so much more complicated than saving the digital world, because how could you fight death and win? They just had to cope... and that seemed harder. Accepting, dealing, moving on. Miyako had a feeling that like her, Taichi would rather fight Black Wargreymon again than deal with this. But they had to. They had to deal.
"You know how Hikari-chan had that competition today," she asked, and she could imagine Iori nodding before realizing that she couldn't see. And as she imagined him doing that, he answered right on time. He was one of her oldest friends, and was charmingly predictable. It was part of what made him so reliable; it was a comfort to know how he would react, what he would say, even if she couldn't talk to him.
"Is she okay? Tell me what happened, Miyako-san." He sounded impatient, but that didn't make him impolite. He was a well-groomed gentleman, Iori was. He made Miyako smile, even as she felt tears threaten to overwhelm her for the first time, as if it hadn't felt real when Ken had been the one to say it. But to say the words herself, to say them out loud.... That felt scary. She didn't want to do it. It wasn't even like she knew the Yagamis well, the parents anyway. She didn't go to Hikari's very often alone, just the two of them, but she did know them. It was hard to imagine that the next time she stepped foot in that apartment, Miyako wouldn't smell their mother's cooking (which granted, wasn't usually very good). If she stayed for dinner, she wouldn't see their dad come in from work, tired, but not too tired to kiss Hikari on the top of her head and ask Taichi about soccer practice. And they'd never experience that either. Never again.
"There was an accident. On the way home. Ken said that Daisuke didn't tell him the details. Takeru might not have said more. But... Hikari and Taichi's parents, they..." Miyako swallowed, but Iori was quiet. He wouldn't push. Maybe he sensed that it was bad. Maybe he didn't want to know. But he had to; they all had to. And she had promised Ken that she'd tell Iori. "They didn't make it."
There was a sharp intake of breath over the line. "And Hikari-san? Is she okay?" His voice was urgent, and Miyako nodded, just as she had imagined Iori doing mere moments before. She felt silly when she realized she had done it, but it was merely a reflex. "She's at the hospital. Ken said she's not awake. Takeru told them not to go out there."
"Why?"
"No point in all of us going when there's nothing we can do there, I guess," Miyako said with another unseen gesture: a shrug this time.
"Makes sense." His voice was quiet, thoughtful. Confused. They were all a little confused, under the surface. Miyako didn't think there'd be much sleep for anybody tonight. They'd be too busy trying to understand why the universe would take someone's parents from them before they were even graduated from Uni. They'd be too busy trying to understand why their fearless leader and sweet, quiet Hikari deserved that sort of hardship after all the good they had done for the world. Miyako wanted to scream at the injustice of it all, but that would have to wait until that sleepless night.
"I have an idea though," she said brightly. "Something we can do to help Taichi get his feet."
"Like what?" Iori sounded skeptical, like he didn't think there was anything they could do. And maybe, Miyako thought, maybe he was right. But they had to try. She couldn't stand not trying, not doing something.
"We're going to cook!" She knew he was raising his eyebrows at her. And sure enough, the mere tone of his voice told her that was his exact expression. She knew him way too well.
"We are?"
"Yes," Miyako replied stubbornly. Iori sighed, but otherwise didn't say anything. "Can you come over tonight, do you think?"
"I think so. I'll just tell Gramps, and Kaa-san." He was quiet. It would be a while, she thought, till he got away. But maybe not too long.
"They can come, if they want to help." And stay close, because she imagined that maybe some parents would, knowing that somewhere, parents would no longer have the luxury of making that decision. "Your mom makes really good ohagi."
"She does," Iori agreed. His voice was pensive. "Alright. I'll try be there within the hour. Are Daisuke-san and Ken-san coming too?"
"Mhm. I'd ask Sora, but she's at the hospital, from what Ken said. So are Yamato, and Takeru." There was no surprise there. She would have been shocked if Takeru wasn't there. She imagined he must be miserable. He was always so protective of Hikari. But then, they all were, a little. She seemed to have that effect on people.
"I think we can manage. If Daisuke doesn't eat it all," Iori added. It was quite obvious from his dubious tone that he wasn't entirely kidding about that happening. Miyako smiled a little. She had to admit, she was sort of thinking the same thing. It would be fun, but she wasn't even sure Daisuke knew how to cook.
"Or burns it," Miyako added, and Iori's grunt of agreement made her giggle. "Go finish dinner with your family. We'll see you later."
"Right. See you later, Miyako-san."
"Ja ne."
She waited for Iori to hang up before placing the wireless on the base. Now for, you know, getting permission to have friends over and take the kitchen hostage. She probably should have thought of that first... but Mantarou was downstairs, watching the shop. Her father was out running errands. Her mother was taking a nap. And maybe her sisters would want to help! They could cook, better than Miyako anyways.
"Chizuru! Momoe! I need your help," Miyako called out, jogging over to the couch and hanging over the back. Her older sisters tilted their heads back to look at Miyako, though neither looked particularly entertained by her interruption.
"Miyako, we're watching a program," Chizuru said with a frown. Momoe sighed and returned her eyes to the television screen. She was, after all, friends with Daisuke's older sister, Jun. Momoe was too used to eccentricity to be much bothered by Miyako. Chizuru, however, wasn't.
"I know, but--"
"Then go do some math homework or something," Chizuru cut in before Miyako could finish her sentence. Miyako puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"I need your help," Miyako repeated stubbornly, ignoring Chizuru's narrowed eyes. She was pleading instead to Momoe, who she could see watching the conversation through the corner of her eye. "Some friends are coming over." Chizuru sighed, but Miyako pretended that she didn't hear her. "We're gonna be cooking in the kitchen."
"Just don't make a mess, Chizuru said, turning up the volume by a full letter. Miyako winced. That was a little bit much; she wasn't being that loud, she thought with a defiant frown. But she was not to be deterred by her sister's blatant attempts to shut her up.
"Well, we're trying to make some food for our friends." She went back to speaking to Momoe, though she was obnoxious enough to raise her voice just a little, in retaliation for the volume being tampered with on the TV. Chizuru rolled her eyes, but otherwise pretended not to notice. This was a very old game, one that had gotten boring a long time ago but hadn't quite managed to slip out of their daily habits. It was like, Daisuke harassing Takeru. It was ritualistic.
"Why's that? Is it their birthday or something," Momoe asked. She was humoring her, Miyako knew. Play along, and the game ended faster. She played the game with Mantarou all the time, when he decided she needed to play audience to one of his melodramatic rants. But the point was, if she could get the whole thing out, maybe they would actually decide to help. Or at least one of them might. Maybe? Well, it didn't hurt to try, unless Chizuru lost her patience and beat her into the ground with the remote. But Chizuru resembled the sensible one of the family. The worst she would do was tell Miyako to buzz off... or atleast, she hoped that was the worst her big sister would do. But she might have a Mantarou-channeling moment and pick Miyako up and carry her into her room. He'd done it before, true story. The jerk.
"No." Miyako swallowed. You know, with most things, once you say it once, it isn't so hard to say it again. But that didn't seem to be the case this time, and that was insanely problematic. She didn't want to cry, but that was the feeling that came up when she choked on the sentence. But she ignored it; tears were something that should be seen by dark lightbulbs and pillows only. Not by siblings when you wanted to get something done sometime before next summer. "Do you remember Hikari-chan? And Taichi-san?"
"A little. Hikari is the girl Jun's little brother likes, right," Momoe asked.
"Yeah. Ano, Hikari-chan and her parents were.... they were in an accident, and..." It was hard just to say that, like something was trying to stop her. She still felt like it wasn't real, like it was some horrible joke that wasn't funny to say it. But her sisters sort of spared her the effort of choking out the second half of the sentence, for the moment anyway. Chizuru looked worried, and Momoe's hands were clenched into anxious fists.
"Are they alright? When did that happen," Momoe asked. Even Chizuru stopped telling hissing for them to shut it so that she could hear the television.
"The news earlier said there was a bad accident on the speedway," Chizuru said. She was frowning thoughtfully. "Was that them? They didn't release anything else. The rain has been awful all evening..."
"They died," Miyako said quietly. "The parents. Hikari's in the hospital." There was a collective gasp from the sisters, but neither could think of anything else to say. They all three, though, jumped when Momoe's phone rang out. She dug through the pocket of her denim skirt to check, while Miyako and Chizuru got their breath back. Both felt silly now, that they had been scared by the phone. You would've thought they were watching some stupid scary movie or something, the way they were behaving!
"Jun asked me to come over," Momoe said, holding up the screen to show them the message (perhaps suspecting that Miyako might think she was lying to get out of cooking with her, which she wasn't entirely wrong to suspect). "She said Daisuke went out... I'm guessing because he's coming here." It was a statement, or at least Miyako thought it was. Her voice went up as though she were asking a question, or at least confirming the belief. So Miyako nodded.
"Have fun Momoe," Chizuru said, returning her attention to the television. She changed the station from her beloved program though, and turned on the news. Miyako wondered if she was hoping to hear something more of the accident that claimed Hikari and Taichi's parents' lives. She didn't know what she hoped to learn; what more was there to know? She supposed what had happened... But Miyako wasn't sure she wanted to know. She didn't want the visual. She didn't want the nightmare.
"Call me if you guys are really stuck cooking. And try not to wake up mom from her nap," Momoe added, tucking her phone back into her pocket and standing up to stretch. "Mantarou's working the store, too. Should be up in a while, when dad gets home." Miyako had a feeling that this was supposed to be good news, because it meant another potential helping hand. But all it did is make her scowl. Mantarou, oh dear big brother of hers, seemed to enjoy making her life obnoxiously difficult, even if she knew that deep down he actually did love her. Takeru told her that was how older brothers were. Hikari, however, had never been able to sympathize completely. Taichi might annoy her sometimes, but they were also very tight, as far as siblings went. She'd never once heard Hikari express so much as a fleeting dislike for Taichi in a moment of anger. Spoke volumes for the guy, Miyako thought.
"I'll be out here if you actually need the help." Chizuru wasn't quite as comfortable around her younger siblings' friends, that much seemed to be obvious every time someone came over. She either tuned in to the television, retreated to her room, or went out or downstairs. She was friendly enough, but she seemed to harbor the belief that their friends weren't her friends, and Chizuru's friends likewise rarely engaged with her younger siblings. Usually Miyako thought nothing of it, but it annoyed her when she actually wanted something to happen.
"Fine, fine," Miyako mumbled. Momoe patted her on the shoulder on the way towards grabbing her coat from the closet, and although it was meant to be a friendly gesture, Miyako still felt the urge to bark sarcastically. She didn't though. The door slammed open. Daisuke was ranting from the hall, and Miyako knew without turning around that Ken had, yet again, won the race from Daisuke's apartment to hers. What boys. Seriously, she was about to consider begging on hands and knees for Chizuru to join them in the kitchen, just so that there was another girl with her. But she didn't. She still had her pride, you know.
"Miyako-san," Ken greeted her with a smile, shaking water-drenched hair from his eyes. She noticed he was neither acknowledging Daisuke nor ignoring him; Ken was a lot more patience with their self-proclaimed leader than most of the group did. Certainly more than Miyako. Sometimes he was almost sweet, and then the next second he made her want to chuck a skateboard at him. I mean, she didn't own a skateboard (she really wasn't all that coordinated, to be honest), but she sure as hell could find one if she wanted to hit him with it badly enough. And some days? Oh, how she wanted to hit him. Maybe, if one of them could hit him in the head hard enough, it would knock some sense back into him. But if all those blows to the head fighting evil Digimon didn't do the trick, Miyako doubted anything would. The only thing that ever seemed to do the trick was Hikari's gentle chiding, and all that really succeeded at was making him mope like an insolent child.
"You made it!" She left Chizuru to the television. It wasn't like her sister was making an effort to be a part of the conversation anyways; she only raised a hand in response to Ken saying hello to her as well. Well fine then, let her be that way! "I'll um... I'll get you a towel," she said with a small smile. She couldn't hear the rain very well; they had an interior apartment, and a middle level one to boot. The only reason she even knew about the rain was because it had been on the weather report, besides the fact that Chizuru had mentioned it mere minutes ago.
"I'm sorry we didn't think to stop at the store, Miyako-san," Ken apologized, catching the towel she threw in his direction.
"Don't worry about it. I've got enough money saved up to buy some stuff downstairs if we don't have enough in the cupboard." Miyako shrugged. Sure, she had been hoping to buy a new mp3 player, because Chizuru's old one had kind of sort of somehow managed to obtain an ugly scratch across the screen that made it kind of difficult to read anything around it, but this was way more important. She could just cross her fingers and hope she got more money for her birthday. Her luck, though, her parents would just tell her that her treat was not having to work that day. She threw another towel at Daisuke, but he didn't realize until it hit him smack in the face. Miyako couldn't help but giggle, and even Ken cracked a small smile. Daisuke, however, was not amused.
"What are you laughing at," he demanded. Ken and Miyako tried to keep a straight face, but all it did was make her laugh harder. "I'm soaking wet, and Taichi isn't answering my texts." That, wasn't so funny. They exchanged worried glances. Maybe Hikari needed surgery. Maybe something went wrong. Maybe--
"I'm sure he's just not in the mood to talk. He's in mourning. Give him his space," Ken said quietly. Miyako always envied that. Like Hikari, he had this way of saying the thing that kind of made everyone mellow. He had caused such a stir after he dropped the name of Kaiser, but he was really a gentle guy. And smart, and quiet, and really talented. And cute. Come on, even when he was evil, he was really cute. And she was totally staring. Oh god.
"Iori should be here in a while," Miyako added; the silence that had settled over them after Ken spoke was ominous and depressing, and depression made Miyako tired. It was just so heavy, you know? 'Sides, at least Hikari was okay. So it could have been worse: Taichi could have lost his whole family, you know? But she didn't say that outloud. She liked to think that she had learned a tiny bit of tact in the past couple years. I mean, it might not be true at all, but a girl can hope, right?
"A while? Be a little more vague," Daisuke said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Miyako scowled at him; shame she had already given him the towel. She'd love to chuck it at him again, and actually mean to hit him hard this time around. She settled for kicking him in the shin as she walked past him to lead the way into the kitchen. He swore loudly, and she smirked to herself. Well, she actually smirked, but neither of the boys could see it. Behind her, she could hear Ken whisper "You deserved it. Don't be so rude." That was an oddly feel-good moment. Ken-kun was sticking up for her!
"Well boys, let's get ready to cook," Miyako said enthusiastically, and she began digging through the cabinet for cook books containing recipes they had a chance of replicating while Ken and Daisuke exchanged looks. This would prove to be... interesting, at any rate. But Miyako was determined to make sure it was also a success, even if they had to stick to making ohagi and rice balls until their hands fell off.