Summary: Taichi—every time he "uses" magic, his body grows weaker. Can Yamato save him before it's too late? Yamachi/Taito

Disclaimer: Owns neither Digimon nor any of its characters.

Cursed

By: splintered

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Later, Yamato learned that Taichi tended to exaggerate a little. Taichi didn't literally kill Hikari, his sister, although the there was no doubt that the brunette still blamed himself for it. Hikari had gotten killed in an accident. It was much like that scene in the park, where those two bullies were after him, but only this time, the bullies were two times older and much stronger. It didn't help that those "bullies" were drunk and that they thought Hikari was pretty. They tried to "deflower" her (they had vulgarly used dirtier words) and "pluck her blossom."

Taichi, even with his "magic" as he called it, was beaten to a pulp trying to defend her. Hikari, who had seen the whole thing was screaming as loud as she could. These bullies had a knife. They held it a little too close. She wouldn't shut up. A culmination of things may have resulted in her death and none of them were necessarily Taichi's fault. The fact of the matter was, by the time Taichi woke up in the deserted alleyway, those bullies were nowhere to be seen. They had more than "deflowered" her, and his sister's dead, mutilated body lay twenty feet in front of him in the dumpster.

That night, Taichi couldn't sleep without seeing his sister's pale white face and unseeing eyes surrounded by flies and maggots sitting in a dumpster. Those images resurfaced every time he closed his eyes. He kept seeing those bold brass men, pounding their knuckles into her side, guffawing as they did so. He saw himself rendered immobilize. He couldn't stop them from hurting her and that made it all his fault. He couldn't stop her from being killed, so he might as well killed her.

More than anything, Taichi wanted to stop seeing those horrific images.

Within the next week, Taichi had robotically walked up four flights of stairs to top of one of the buildings overlooking the one of the busiest intersections in Odaiba and jumped without thinking.

Less than a week later, he was lying comatose in a hospital bed, his face broadcasted over local television.

--

It took Yamato more than a couple hours to discover the complete timeline from his sister's death to Taichi's attempted suicide. His dad had long returned from work to find the small brunette deeply buried in Yamato's arms (much like how Yamato still held Taichi years later when he was distressed).

"Is he okay?" Hiroaki had asked his son.

"He will be," Yamato had replied, emotionally drained from the whole ordeal. Hiroaki had nodded, quietly leaving the room and leaving the two boys in private.

Dealing with Taichi was like riding a rollercoaster, Yamato had learned. Sure, it was fun and scary, but Yamato had to learn how to deal with the highs and the lows. And years later, discovering Taichi sprawled under the trees in the Odaiba park, was much higher than when he first got to know Taichi.

Taichi was anything but fine and it certainly wasn't easy when he woke up, finding himself strapped to the IVs, still suicidal over his sister's death. Taichi had come a long way since then. While Yamato still worried and fretted over the dear boy who held his heart with those gorgeous honey-brown eyes, Yamato wasn't worried about Taichi killing himself at a drop of a hat…although at times like this, Yamato did wonder.

How many nights had the blond found his friend passed out in a random park or alleyway or club? How many more times would it happen? Sure, Taichi was okay now, or so the brunette claimed, as they made their way back to Yamato's apartment. (The two boys, well into their early twenties, had long since moved out of Hiroaki's humble abode, while renting an apartment of their own).

But every now and then, Taichi had his relapses. Yamato remembered another time years later when Yamato woke up in the middle of the night only to find the spot next to him on their queen sized bed cold and empty. Meanwhile, lightning flashed and thunder roared over the night sky. Yamato, panicking that the brunette wasn't resting peacefully beside him in their dry apartment, had grabbed his coat and keys before running out into the rain.

It turned out that Taichi had woken up earlier to a nightmare. For a moment, it was like Hikari died all over again and Taichi had run out into the storm. When Yamato had finally found Taichi, the brunette was wading chest deep in water, walking out into the ocean, as if he was trying to drown himself.

Yamato had got there just in time to watch the brunette get pulled in by the waves and the current. He dove in after Taichi as he watched Taichi head bob underwater. The blond pushed against the wind and current to propel his body faster, his lifeguard training paying off. Please be okay, Yamato silently pleaded as he dragged his boyfriend's limp body to shore.

"You can't do this to me," Yamato said desperately, skillfully feeling for a pulse and performing CPR. One. Two. Three. Breathe. One. Two. Three. "C'mon, Tai-chan, you can't die!"

Taichi had coughed in response, choking on seawater. "Yama?" he croaked, hacking several more times. When he finally caught his breath, he asked, "Where am I?"

Yamato had smiled, more relieved than anything. "You're safe," the blond had said, wrapping around the other's smaller shivering frame. "Now let's get you home."

Taichi had nodded and complied, much like he was doing now, letting Yama lead him up the stairs and into their apartment.

"You know I love you, right?" Yamato asked as he firmly gripped the brunette's hand.

"So you tell me everyday," the brunette smiled. "I love you too, Yama."

TBC?

Author's Note: Yay, I updated again! I'm so glad to finally get out of that long extended flashback and moved back into a continuation of the opening scene, but with Yama and Tai going into their apartment. Hopefully you all didn't find it too confusing to follow and hopefully you guys understand things a lot better too! Anyways, I considered ending the story here, but I have one more chapter planned for you guys. :) As always, thank you for reading, favoriting, reviewing and whatnot. And thank yous to krad and Celdria for reviewing the last chapter. I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter and are still interested in my story! As always, reviews always inspire me to continue what I'm working on. I'd love to hear from you. ;)

-splintered

EDITED 01/17/09: When you're writing with multiple flashbacks going on, sometimes the details get mixed up at times. I guess that's what happens when you don't re-read your own fic after a while. Anyways, if you find yourself re-reading this fic, you might notice minor edits with some of the previous chapters in order to smooth out the discrepancies. Besides editing some of my horrible old writing, I've been working on the final chapter of this fic, and I promise you (Don't worry, it will be out soon!), it's a lot longer than the rest of them.