Chapter 2 :

The Last Day Daisuke Remembers

Two Years Earlier...

There was always something about parties that Daisuke loved. Maybe it was everyone gathering together to celebrate a special event, or a special person. Perhaps it was the cake and the soda. It could even have been the dancing, but of course Daisuke never did much of that (though he used to dream he did).

The year was 2005, and the school year had ended. Takenouchi Sora had only just finished the eleventh grade, but as luck would have it, a once-in-a-lifetime chance arose; a chance to leave Japan at the ripe age of seventeen and take her chances in the fashion world. She wasn't going alone.

"...and the music scene in England is right where my band wants it," added Ishida Yamato, holding the hand of his girlfriend as they stood behind a podium, revealing the news to those who did not hear of it yet. It was graduation night for the seniors, but against all rules that could be enforced the student body had selected juniors to be the Prom Couple; it was never argued that Matt and Sora were the fittest for the role, as they were the most envied twosome of all the females, and even some of the male students, in Tokyo.

"Most people would think it crazy of us to go off chasing some kid's dream of fame and glory," Matt continued, as the growing crowd of two-hundred students (ranging from grades nine to twelve) looked on, "But I always did say my mom dropped me on the head as a baby."

Daisuke stopped teasing Iori about his funny looking suit long enough to notice the crowd laughing for seemingly no reason. Even V-Mon was giggling, though it was probably forced so he would fit in with everyone else. Not one to look out of place if he could help it, Daisuke decided to clap and cheer. "Woot!" he called repeatedly. This caught Matt's eye.

"Hey, it looks like Dorksuke's got something to say, guys," joked the blonde-haired heartthrob as he pointed at the (very loud) source of the cheering. Daisuke turned a deep scarlet as the music died down and the entire hall had its eyes on him. V-Mon tugged on his Tamer's sleeve.

"Do you have to pee again, Daisuke? I told you to lay off of the lemon seltzer shots, " he near-shouted, causing Daisuke to get even more embarrassed. The crowd roared in laughter. Daisuke tried to play it off as being part of his plan, and stood up. He bowed to the crowd quickly and waved, like some sort of comedian.

"I'm...going...to...kill you, V-Mon," he uttered so only he and his Digimon could hear. V-Mon gulped.

Like an ethereal being Tailmon suddenly arose between the two and grabbed the now even more surprised and abused V-Mon, dragging him towards another table. "Ahhh, help me!" cried the kidnap victim. Daisuke chuckled at his Digimon's expense and turned around again.

"...and nobody can forget my best friend, and longtime rival, Tai—who I'm surprised hasn't pulled a 'Daisuke' yet and ruined my speech with some stupid shouting."

The students looked around, expecting to see the mentioned person come out and reveal himself. Matt was straining his neck to find Yagami Taichi among the many students at their tables. He wasn't at the long row of buffet tables. He wasn't in the back with the older crowd, and he wasn't near the doors. Tai was usually the first to embarrass you at any special event, so it was more than a little surprising when he didn't chime up. When it was clear that he wasn't going to come forth, Sora took the mic.

"Tai? Are you here?" she asked, warranting another quick glance from the crowd. Still nothing. Unbeknownst to everyone except Ichijouji Ken (who had, only by luck, witnessed it), Tai had already left. It was right after the dance started, and more accurately right after he saw Yamato and Sora embrace. But even Ken wasn't aware that Tai had left to catch a late train to Hiroshima. He was joining the army.

The pseudo-search only lasted another two minutes before Matt let it go and changed the subject. Sora said something to him but he just smiled and turned back to the crowd. Yagami Hikari, or more personally known now-a-days as simply 'Kari', pulled out her D -Terminal. She quickly sent a message to her missing brother, a stern look condemning her normally sweet and beautiful face.

"I'm sure he has an important reason for leaving, Kari," Takaishi Takeru said, placing a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder. "You shouldn't worry about Tai. He'd never abandon Matt or Sora on any day, let alone at their going-away party (a more formal name for the event, as it was the reason why most of the non-graduating students attended)."

Hikari returned the words of sentiment with the hint of a smile, and nodded. Another, more sincere girl, however, put it as it truly was.

"Oh please, we all know why Tai left. He couldn't stand to see Matt and Sora together like this. Talking about leaving together, and dreams...it's exactly the kind of thing he wanted with Sora!" gossiped Inoue Miyako. Nobody replied at first, but soon after Hida Iori put in his own thoughts.

"I really think it's none of our business to begin with, Miyako. Leave the conspiracy theories to people who don't know Taichi as well as we do."

Ken noticed Daisuke sitting silently in his chair, and nudged him on the shoulder. Daisuke looked up.

"Yeah?" he casually said. Ken smiled. "You look like you've just had your heart broken, Davis."

Davis. A rather peculiar nickname given to the soccer enthusiast. Let's just summarize the tale of its giving and say it involved a joke about Daisuke and his non-existent resemblance to a famous dog actor in America.

"Well..." began Daisuke rather cautiously, "I was just thinking... about, y'know, how all the older kids were leaving and stuff, and I was wondering if that's, well, what we're all gonna do when we're their ages-like, break all our ties with each-other and...go."

Ken was silent as he thought about his friend's comment. He glanced over to where all the Digimon were seated. They were as playful and rowdy as always. And looking at Ken's own table, everyone and everything was as normal as always.

"There's no way that would ever happen, Daisuke. Look at everyone—I'd say we're even closer friends than Tai and his gang," Ken said, cracking open a fortune cookie that came with all their celebratory meals. He read it aloud, changing the subject in the process.

" 'Your future will always be visible, so don't close your eyes', that's what my paper says. What about yours?"

Daisuke's eye twitched, "P-paper? There was paper in that cookie? I just ate the thing whole!" The rest of the kids heard that last part, and laughed. Daisuke scratched his head and laughed along.

"I guess we should all read our fortunes together," suggested Hikari, opening her's and pulling out the slip. The other three did the same.

" 'Sometimes the worst times allow you to remember the best times, which you had forgotten', " read Kari.

" 'Honour your parents always, for without them, there is no you', " said Miyako, "Well duh!"

" 'Excitement and intrigue follow you closely wherever you go', " read Iori, himself not sounding very intrigued.

When Takeru pulled his out and looked at it, he grinned. " 'He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at'," he said, "I guess I can relate to that." This, of course, made everyone else snicker and giggle.

"Jeez, now I kinda want my own fortune to read," Daisuke said, hardly trying to hide his disappointment, "They should label those things so unsuspecting people like myself don't eat their one and only fortune!"

"It's common sense that fortune cookies have fortunes inside them—is this like your first time eating them or something?" asked Miyako, which piqued the interest of the rest of the group. Daisuke nodded, and silently hummed, "Mhm."

"Wow, so you've never eaten Chinese food before?" a surprised Takeru said. Daisuke shook his head. Ken made a suggestion.

"That settles it then. We're going to have to take Daisuke out for some Chinese food. It's the only way past this."

Hikari chimed in, jokingly serious, "I agree, it's the only proper thing to do, really." Everyone else did the same, adding in their own serious response. A smile slowly emerged on Daisuke's face. His tiny bit of sadness fought the good fight, but it was defeated easily by his friends. They always knew how to brighten up his day.

"Thanks for the offer guys, but I think before we go to any restaurant we need to go to a tailor and get Iori a proper suit," the boy who still wore his old flame-pattern jacket joked. Everyone chuckled, except Iori, who was offended.

"I don't see what's so funny about it. It was my grandfather's, and he wore it to every special event after the day he got it," defended the shortest of the six, although this title was almost Hikari's, as the kendo fan had finally hit a much overdue growth spurt.

"You look like you just attended a funeral with the Addams family," said Takeru. Now even the bunt of the jokes was smiling a bit, although he was still adamant about his opinion.

"It's an older style of dress suit, and I'm very proud to represent my grandfather in wearing it." And then Daisuke took things too far. "Haha, now all you need... is a skeleton costume... to go underneath it, and you'll look just like him!" he said in between laughs. Everyone went silent, and the awkwardness set in, but before Daisuke could apologize, Ken interjected.

"Hikari went outside. She said she wasn't feeling well," he said, breaking the very thick ice. Iori stood up.

"I'll go check on her. Daisuke," said Iori, flatly, "I know that you've never experienced death in your family, so I forgive you for joking about the one in mine." Daisuke staggered out of his seat to follow as the other boy left, but Takeru grabbed him.

"Lemme go!" commanded Daisuke, trying fruitlessly to break free of Takeru's grip. The handsome boy ignored the order. "Iori, I can go see how she is. You don't need to use her as an excuse to get away."

Iori turned around, slightly ticked off. "Do you think you're the only one who is concerned about her? It seems like that's the case every time she's having problems. If you like her so much, then why don't you—"

Now it was Miyako's turn to stand up and confront the issue. "That's enough you guys! For one, if Hikari left, then she didn't want to be here around you idiots! Two, if you'd just look around, you'd notice we're now the centre of attention and ruining the ceremony!"

The truth hit them like a ton of bricks...or more realistically, like a few hundred open-mouthed faces staring at them. Takeru slowly released Daisuke, and the rowdy teenager brushed himself off. Miyako took a seat, and Iori began to walk away again, though not before Takeru let his emotions get the better of him.

"What was it that you were going to suggest, Iori? What is it you think I should do?"

Then something happened that Takeru, nay everyone, wasn't expecting, at least from that once short and quiet child. Iori placed his hands in his pockets, and looked over his shoulders. He wore a satisfied grin on his face.

"You don't know? Well, maybe I'll just ask her then..."

Takeru's brow furrowed. The young boy looked ready to kill, but Ken sprang up and held him back, just in case. "Let it go. He's just taking his anguish out on someone else," Ken said, just loud enough for Iori to hear. The boy whose hair was done up into a ponytail continued to walk out the doors.

Matt appeared beside Takeru, none too much happier-looking than Takeru himself. The younger sibling finally realized what he was doing, and where, and hung his head.

"Guys, knock it off. I could care less about the interruption, but not everyone here is your friend, or mine. If you can't help but act like ninth graders, do it outside," lorded Matt.

Daisuke couldn't remember much about the rest of the night. He was already drowsy when the ceremony began, but then, after he stood up to talk to Iori, it got even worse...and everything around him got so blurry... and cute, fluffy sheep started to jump over fences in his dreams...

*A Long Time Later...*

Daisuke was quite startled when he woke up, sometime in the morning, to see his room all around him. It was a lot different than he remembered. There were no posters or action figures, and his old colourful alarm clock was now just a standard grey one. V-Mon was to his right, hogging most of the pillow, and drooling a river.

"V-Mon?" enquired the groggy youngster. He shook his companion, and the blue Digimon snapped awake. But, unlike what he would normally do, V-Mon just sat up and stared at his partner, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Daisuke scratched his sweaty chest.

"What happened last night? I totally blacked out after the whole Iori and Takeru thing."

His Digimon friend's mouth opened and he began to ask one question, but settled on another. V-Mon managed a smile. "Daisuke, have you been staying up late, reading comics and eating those taco-flavoured jelly beans again?" The boy shook his head, rather confused.

"I'm pretty sure you're just yankin' my chain, but I'll play along," said V-Mon. "None of that stuff happened last night, Daisuke. You just came home from soccer practice, took a shower, and hit the sack, remember?"

Daisuke, who was previously looking down at his feet, wrapped around the bed covers, slowly met eyes with his Digimon. "W-what? I don't remember any of that!" shouted the boy. V-Mon stood up now.

"Oh great. Did you develop amnesia overnight or something? Guess it could have been from when Shibayama kicked the soccer ball and it hit you in the head—then again, he does that nearly every day, so that prob—". Daisuke grabbed hold of V-Mon's tiny shoulders, and peered into his scarlet eyes.

"I'm not pulling your leg, V-Mon! The last day I remember is March 17th!" rose the voice of the sixteen year old, who just now noticed how long his arms had grown. Daisuke never acted this way, so V-Mon got the idea quickly.

"When we got really sick from eating all those marshmallow swans?"

"No, the March before that, I guess!"

"Um...was it when you asked that tall, really hot girl out on a date and she almost said yes but you accidentally tripped on your shoelaces and made a complete fool of yourself?"

"No, it was-wait, you mean Kaibara Aimi? I asked HER out? And I messed it up? How could you-nevermind! It must be the March 17th before that-how long have I forgotten?"

"Wait...you must mean...the day of Y-Yamato and Sora's graduation party?" The dragon Digimon was shaking. Daisuke nodded. V-Mon stumbled to speak, "L-Let's see...that was, um, a month and, err, two years ago. I don't even know where to—I mean so much happened—an-an-and then—".

"Tell me everything. Please, I want to hear everything!" pleaded Daisuke, nearly about to cry. V-Mon looked at the pillow, then at Daisuke. The teenager's D-Terminal vibrated, the usual action that occurred when a scheduled event is due to take place soon.

"Daisuke, d-don't look at that message! Please, you're not gonna like it if it's what I think it is!"

The far too inquisitive boy ignored his partner's words and flipped open the device. He read what was displayed, word by heavy word, and as he did, his mouth opened considerably wider and his pupils grew almost incomprehensibly small. This is what was flashing on the D-Terminal's screen:

Tuesday, April 17th , 2007

11:09:52

Today :

Two Year Anniversary of Takeru's Death

Drop Off Flowers (A Set To Hikari, A Set To The Memorial)

Preview – Chapter 3 : Daisuke is forced back unto the surface by a creature in the sewers, and it's a classic case of "out of the frying pan, into the oven" as he meets Ichijouji Ken for the first time in two years. Before 'pleasantries' can be exchanged, however, the two are accosted by the monstrous Digimon from before.