Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ About Nothing ❯ chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

About Nothing

Chapter 2

It had been only a day since the faux date with Taichi, and Daisuke had been doing a lot of thinking. So much thinking in fact, that his head was beginning to hurt. While normally he would have spent his afternoons playing soccer with friends or at Ken's house, he'd chosen to stay home today to think. Ken was trying to hide his astonishment.

"You don't want to come over because you have to think?" Ken asked, trying not to sound insulting.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not something I do often. But this is important!" Daisuke answered into the phone, holding it to his ear with his shoulder.

"If it's that important, why can I hear explosions going on over there?" Ken mumbled questioningly.

Daisuke pouted for a moment before realizing Ken couldn't *see* him, and set his controller down, turning off his game before replying. "It helps me think!"

"It sounds to me like it helps you stall," Ken answered.

"...Yeah, maybe that's a better word for it." Daisuke flopped backwards onto his bed and sighed, examining a crack on the wall. "But this is hard. I don't know what to DO!"

"Maybe it would help if you told me what was going on."

"Taichi-senpai," Daisuke stated simply.

Ken sighed and switched the receiver to his other ear. This was going to take some time. "Didn't we have this same conversation... oh, fifty or sixty times a few years ago?" Ken asked, feeling his nerves already going raw at the thought of yet another pep talk that Daisuke wouldn't listen to.

"Yeah, I know, and I shoulda listened to you then. But... he's back in town. Didja know that?" Daisuke scratched at the crack in the wall idly until a chunk of paint came off, then stopped and sighed. "For spring break."

"Mmm... I heard. Have you spoken to him?"

"Yeah. He came to Friday to say hi." Daisuke paused and grinned. "And we hung out yesterday."

Ken nodded. "How is he?"

"He said it was a date," Daisuke muttered, ignoring Ken's question. "I know he was just teasing me..."

"He does like to tease people. Especially you."

"But... don't you think that means something?" Daisuke asked hopefully.

"I think it means he likes watching you squirm." Ken smirked.

"Ken," Daisuke whined. "Gimmie some support here!"

"I'm sorry. ...I suppose he might be teasing you because he has some interest in you." Ken didn't really think so, but Daisuke was so pitiful. Besides, he had gotten tired of these conversations ages ago.

"Y'think?" Daisuke sounded hopeful. "Maybe... I should do something then. Like... like buy him flowers! Sweep him off his feet!"

"Daisuke, I recommend you simply tell him how you feel. Be yourself. Taichi-san knows you, you don't have to impress him." Ken sighed and thought, 'Because if you try to impress him you'll just end up embarrassing yourself.'

"Oh... but just... TELL him? Just like THAT?" Daisuke chewed on his lower lip nervously. "No flashy stuff?"

"Yes. Just let him know how you feel. Be straightforward - he probably needs you to be blunt."

"But Ken... what if he just laughs at me or something?! Or... or-"

"Daisuke," Ken said firmly. "Tell him. Go to his house and tell him. He's your friend; he's not going to laugh. If you want help on what to say... I don't know Taichi-san that well. Why don't you call Yamato or Sora-san?"

"Yeah... I guess I should," Daisuke sat up and peered into one of his desk drawers, wondering if he still had his old address book. "Yamato-san isn't really the kinda guy to ask for *dating* advice, is he?"

Ken paused before answering, his voice slightly off. "I'm sure he'd try to help. Maybe you should ask Sora-san. She and Taichi-san used to be close, and she does have the Crest of Love."

Daisuke grinned. "Hey, I hadn't even thought of that! Gotta be a reason she got that thing, huh? Cool! Thanks, Ken! I'll call you later." Daisuke hung the phone up and hopped up from his bed, looking through the mess in his desk before giving up. "Damn... I hope I still know where she lives." Slipping on his shoes, Daisuke ran out of the house, hoping Sora would be home.

***

Getting to Sora's apartment from his own only took about fifteen minutes if you were walking and actually used the crosswalks. Daisuke made it in eight. Panting heavily, he banged on her door, then leaned against it, trying to catch his breath. The door opened and Daisuke barely caught himself before he fell on his face. "Sora-san! Hi!" he said cheerfully.

Obviously not sure how to react, Sora stood in her doorway staring for a long moment, still wearing rubber gloves and holding a soapy pot in one hand. "...Daisuke-kun? Can I... help you?"

"Yeah, actually! You can!" Daisuke straightened up and stepped into Sora's apartment, kicking his shoes off lazily and glancing around. "I kinda need some advice."

Sora closed the door after Daisuke and went back to the kitchen, returning a moment later free of soap suds and dishes. "You need advice from me?" She smiled and gave him an odd look. "Is Taichi busy?"

Daisuke plopped down into another chair and grinned sheepishly. "Nah. It's kinda *about* him. So... I had to ask someone else!"

"About Taichi?" Sora was still confused. "Well... I'll do what I can..."

"Great! So, how do I tell him I like him?" Daisuke asked eagerly, leaning forward in his chair.

Sora blinked at him uncomprehendingly, and then laughed. "I see. Why are you asking me this? I'm sure Yamato knows him better than me by now."

"'Cause you got the Crest of Love, right? So you gotta know all this dating stuff!" Daisuke said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh. Yes, I did have it, but that doesn't mean I know more about relationships. If I did, I wouldn't still be living with my mother," she said, seeming amused. She never understood it when people assumed she was date-savvy.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's your strong point or somethin', otherwise you wouldn't have the crest! So c'mon! Gimmie tips! Ken says I gotta just tell him, but I don't know how to that. So, tell me!"

"I'm not sure it's my strong point. Our crests were more like what's important to us. Not our *talents*."

But Daisuke pouted and Sora frowned and tried to think of something. A moment later she suddenly smiled as if she had the answer. Daisuke leaned forward, almost falling out of the chair in anticipation.

"Cookies!"

"...Cookies," Daisuke said flatly, slumping. "COOKIES will tell him I like him?" he asked, imagining a giant talking heart shaped cookie. It was frightening at best.

"Bake him some homemade cookies! No one can resist fresh chocolate chip." She smiled proudly.

"Isn't that kinda *girly*?" Daisuke wrinkled his nose.

"Most of the best chefs in the world are men." Sora folded her arms. "It has nothing to do with gender. And besides, Taichi loves food."

Daisuke brightened, nodding. "Hey, you got that right. I'd love anybody that made ME cookies!" He jumped up, grinning madly. "Thanks, Sora-san!"

"Or maybe you could..." she trailed off and sighed. Daisuke was already gone.

***

Jun had been sitting in her room talking on the phone with a girlfriend, admiring her recently painted toenails when it happened. She wasn't sure what to think at first, so she just sat there, phone in hand, toes in the air, a potato chip in her mouth. The sight was too much to take in at once. She started with his feet.

He was wearing the blue fuzzy slippers she'd gotten him last Christmas, she noted, but they were a much lighter blue now that they were covered in flour. And the apron... she was thankful he'd chosen to wear her navy blue one. Sure, it had a faint flower print, but that had faded with time. She wasn't sure she could have taken it if he'd been wearing their mother's much more feminine daisy yellow one. And that led her to his head. There was a dollop of dough on his nose, flour on his shoulders and in his hair, and she was certain that a bit of his bangs had been singed off. Daisuke was trying to cook.

"Jun... er... Neechan?" Daisuke corrected himself, choosing the cutest version of 'big sister' he could force himself to say, hoping it would help her forget their constant squabbling for just a few hours. "I think I need some help."

She couldn't help it when she laughed. His tone of voice was so serious, as if someone had died. It took her a full five minutes to calm herself and end her phone call. When she hung up the receiver, he was still standing there. "My dear little brother... if you've destroyed the kitchen, I'm not helping you clean it up."

He did his best not to scowl. He needed her help badly and he was desperate enough to admit it. "I'll clean it all up before Mom and Dad get home. But could you help me make some cookies?"

She stared at him blankly. "Cookies?"

"Chocolate chip cookies." He nodded seriously.

"If you wanted cookies that bad, I could've made them. What happened, did the dough explode on you?" she asked, trying to hide her amusement.

"...Only a little!" he said, stomping his food indignantly. "You gonna help me or not?"

"Only if I get to eat half!" she answered cheerfully.

"You can't! These aren't for you!" Daisuke half-yelled, folding his arms defiantly.

"Who *are* they for, then? You aren't a big enough pig to eat them all yourself, are you?"

"...They're for someone else. C'mon, Jun! It's important!"

She peered at him closely. So, he had someone *important* to make cookies for. She was madly curious about who it was, but she knew asking him now wouldn't do her any good. She nodded. "Okay, sure. We'll make a double batch, though. I'm not baking if I don't get to have some."

Daisuke's gloomy expression faded into a happy smile. "Thanks, Jun! You're a lifesaver!"

She pinched his cheek. "Just remember how sweet your big sister is next time she asks you to do a favor for *her*."

"Yeah, sure!"

With that he dragged her to the kitchen, which at this moment strongly resembled a war zone. There was flour everywhere, more dirty bowls on the counters than Jun knew they owned, and a carton of spilled milk on one counter.

"I'm impressed. There's nothing on the ceiling. You must be getting better!" Jun said, patting Daisuke on the back.

"Hey! That time wasn't my fault!" Daisuke pouted.

"Sure, sure. Then who's fault WAS it that we were scraping cake batter off the ceiling for weeks?" Jun grinned and began mopping up the spilt milk with a sponge. She wasn't quite cruel enough to leave all this for Daisuke... and anyway, if she didn't help, he'd never tell her who the cookies were *for*.

"Yeah, okay. So that didn't work so well. But I've learned how to cook since then! I don't get it... cookies shouldn't be this hard!" Daisuke sighed and stared at the cookbook again, popping a chocolate chip into his mouth.

Jun snatched the bag of chips away. "Ramen and cookies are two very different things. Just because you make good noodles doesn't mean you're ready for desserts." She glanced at the cookbook and nodded. "This shouldn't be too hard. You start cleaning up. I'll start baking."

"But... but *I* have to make them!" Daisuke said, worried. "It's not the same otherwise!"

"Daisuke, I'm sure whatever girl you give these to won't mind that your sister helped a little. Anyway, I'll let you stir the batter, and that's the most important part." She grinned and glanced at the electronic beater that was sitting to her side. "But only if you use a spoon and not this." She held it up and gave him a look.

"Well, that's fine with me! That thing's broken! It makes batter go everywhere!" Daisuke began gathering the dirty dishes and washing them by hand. If his mother found a load of all their bowls and cooking stuff in the dishwasher he'd have to explain why.

Jun laughed and put the beater away, tossing the whisks into the sink. They worked in silence for ten minutes until Jun couldn't handle it anymore. "So, who is she?"

Daisuke was elbow-deep in soapy water when she asked. He froze there for a moment, and then went back to scrubbing the dishes. "She? She who?"

"The girl you're going to all this trouble for, dummy. She must really be something if you're *baking* for her." Jun grinned, thinking that usually it was the girl that baked for the *guy*, but Daisuke had never seemed to grasp subtleties like that.

He frowned at the spoon he was drying instead of looking at her. "There is no girl."

Jun thought about that for a moment. "Is this some kind of bribe for a teacher, or did you do something stupid like promise to make them for your friends?" She was just familiar enough with Daisuke's friends and their frequent large get-togethers to know Daisuke usually escaped cooking duty.

"No," Daisuke said hesitantly. "They're for someone else." He looked over and wrinkled his nose. "Does it really matter?"

"'Course it matters! If you think about the person you're cooking for, all your feelings and love will go into the food and they'll have to like you back!" Jun said seriously. "That's how I got my last three boyfriends."

Daisuke shook his head. "Must wear off after a while, then."

"For your information, I dumped them." She handed him the bowl and a spoon. "Stir." After he'd begun, she asked, "So, who is he?"

Daisuke froze, the dough only half-mixed. "H-he?! Who he?"

"If you're not making them for your friends, a teacher, or a *girl*, they must be for a boy. Should we use the normal circle shape or the heart one?" Jun asked, holding up two cookie cutters.

"Er..." Daisuke blinked at them, stunned.

"Let's go for a mix, then. It'll look less like, 'Take me, I'm yours!' but still not just like, 'I'm cold and unfeeling.' Okay?"

"Yeah... you're the boss," Daisuke mumbled, going back to stirring.

Jun watched him mix the batter until it began looking right, then snatched the bowl away again. "That's perfect."

Daisuke licked a bit of the dough off the spoon and shook his head slowly. "Didn't expect you to... y'know."

"Not freak out?" Jun smirked, rolling out the dough. "If I was going to freak out, I would have years ago."

"Years ago?!" Daisuke's eyes widened. "I didn't know years ago!"

"Why do you think I didn't say anything? Don't worry, Daisuke. It's my job to know things before you."

"That's not fair," Daisuke mumbled.

"It's not supposed to be fair. I'm your big sister. We're just like that." Jun grinned and pulled him over to the counter, handing him the heart-shaped cookie cutter. "Here, help me cut these out."

"Fine, then. You're so smart, you can figure out who he is all by yourself." Daisuke stuck his tongue out at her and began to carefully place the shaped dough onto the cookie pan at his side.

"At least tell me if he's cute or not! Or is he more the brooding, handsome type?" Jun sighed happily. "This is so adorable! ...As long as you don't get cuter boys than me."

Daisuke felt himself blush slightly and shook his head. "He's just... him."

"Oh, you're no fun. Well, if he decides to go out with you, you've got to introduce us!"

"Yeah, okay." Daisuke said, grinning and cutting out the last cookie, imagining what the look on Jun's face would be if that happened.

***

Clean pants. Daisuke had worn totally clean pants. This was an occasion. Not that he ever wore dirty clothes on purpose! Just... pants took so much longer to LOOK dirty, so he usually wore them two or... five times before washing them. But today, he had made sure to pick out clean pants. Not to mention one of his shirts that wasn't faded, stained, OR torn. It had taken a while to find both items, and he'd almost begun to think he didn't *have* anything like that, but he'd found them. That combined with making sure his hair was still in top shape, he was sure he looked dashing.

He had finally convinced Jun that the lacy pink cloth bag she'd wanted him to use for the cookies was overdoing it, and had taken the thankfully-asexual lunch bag instead.The cookies were still slightly warm. This was important, Jun had informed him. Warm cookies were much more impressive than cold cookies. But now it was almost 11 o'clock at night, and he wondered if it was okay to come by Yamato's apartment so late. Warm cookies had better be worth it!

He lifted a fisted hand and knocked on the door, then stood there awaiting his fate and feeling very much like an inmate on death row. Any moment now, his life could end. Then the door swung open, and Yamato was standing there. The blond had on his pink apron, his house slippers, and his hair pulled back into a small ponytail with a few strands hanging out. On top of all of that, there was a smudge of dough on his nose. Daisuke smiled. It was hard to be nervous around someone who looked like that.

"You've got dough on your nose," Daisuke said helpfully.

Yamato arched an eyebrow at him. "So have you."

Daisuke's eyes widened. How could he have missed that?! He clapped a hand over his face, scrubbing at his nose, and then looked at Yamato hopefully. "That it?"

Yamato frowned and nodded. "Why are you here?"

"Gee, it's great to see you, too." Daisuke grinned again.

"I repeat. Why are you here?" Yamato shifted his weight to his other foot and looked none too amused.

"Ignore him, Daisuke. He's always like that when he's baking," Taichi's voice said from somewhere behind Yamato.

Daisuke felt himself go tense, but he stepped past Yamato and eyed them both a bit nervously, holding the bag behind his back. "You're baking? You aren't making cookies, are you?" The question came out sounding much more desperate than he'd meant, but he knew his cookies could never stand up to Yamato's.

Yamato shook his head. "I'm making tiramisu." So saying, he turned and went back to the kitchen.

Taichi was sitting on the arm of the couch and giving Daisuke a curious look. "What's up?"

"Isn't tiramisu *cold*?" Daisuke frowned, wondering why he could smell something baking in the kitchen.

"Yeah. He's making the ladyfingers from scratch," Taichi said, looking mildly frightened. "I'd ask why bother, but it's Yamato, y'know? And I'm not gonna get to eat 'em." He pouted, shrugging. "He's got someone to impress I guess."

Daisuke grinned. Yamato was a perfectionist to the point of hilarity. "Sounds kinda scary."

"Yeah. It is." Taichi cocked his head, trying to see what Daisuke was holding so carefully behind his back. "So, what's up?" he repeated himself.

"Uh... well... since you can't have his tiramisu... I have good timing!" Daisuke smiled and thrust the bag in front of him. "They're still warm."

Taichi eyed the bag blankly. "What are?"

"The cookies." Daisuke swallowed hard and took a few steps forward, still holding the bag at arm's reach.

"Cookies?" Taichi brightened. "Warm cookies?" He took the bag and glanced inside.

" I made them." Daisuke felt his face beginning to get hot and mentally cursed himself. Now was not a good time to blush. "...Jun helped a little, I guess." He grinned sheepishly.

"Oh. Had extra, huh?" Taichi took a heart shaped cookie out of the bag and bit into it. "Hey, these're pretty good!"

Daisuke relaxed, feeling relieved. "Good... I made them for you." He smiled and watched Taichi eat the cookie.

"For me?" Taichi chewed on it and seemed to think for a moment, processing that. "Hey, thanks!"

Daisuke bit his lip and nodded. "So, you like them?"

"Yeah, they're great." He held the bag out. "You should eat some, too. You made 'em."

Daisuke shook his head quickly. "Nah. I'm stuffed." He waited a long moment, wondering what he was supposed to do. Had Taichi understood?

Taichi ate another cookie, and then glanced at his watch. "Crap, I have to go. Promised some friends I'd go hang out tonight." He hopped up and grinned at Daisuke.

"Oh... okay. Uh..." Daisuke stood there, feeling confused. "Then... I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yeah, sure. If I'm not too hung over, we can hang out tomorrow. I'll give you a call or something," Taichi said, setting the bag of cookies on the table and grabbing his jacket from the hall closet.

Daisuke brightened and nodded. He wanted to hang out! He must have understood! He probably just didn't have time now. Maybe he didn't want to say anything where Yamato could hear it. Yeah, that must be it! "Okay! I can't wait!" With that, he gave Taichi a quick tight hug, then turned and left the apartment, absolutely glowing, and missing the completely confused expression on Taichi's face.