Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ About Nothing ❯ chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

About Nothing

Chapter 4

"Daisuke?!"

Daisuke's eyes fluttered open. "Mmmm?" he asked unintelligibly.

Taichi felt his heart beat faster and glanced around the room for a quick escape route. For a moment, he considered jumping out the window, but they were at least a few floors up. Or were they? He'd never been over before and he didn't remember how he got here in the first place. Still, it wouldn't be nice to jump and *then* realize he was twenty floors up. The door looked like the only option. But he was trapped between the wall and Daisuke, and there was no graceful way to escape. Damn.

Daisuke rolled over and blinked at Taichi in a sleepy sort of way. "Taichi-senpai?" he asked, sounding dazed and tired. "Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke sat up so quickly that Taichi jumped back in surprise, his eyes wide. "You're awake! Are you okay? Are you gonna puke again? Do you have a headache? A hangover? You shouldn't have one 'cause you had that asprin but maybe I should have given you something else, but that's all we had, so if you have a hangover I'm sorry!"

Taichi stared at him, much too tired for Daisuke's nervous jabber. "...What?"

Daisuke smiled and scooted closer to Taichi. "Are you okay?"

Nodding slowly, Taichi eyed the door again. 'Crap... crap, crap, crap! What did I DO?! Maybe if I leave now, he'll... just... forget!'

"Good! I'm glad you're not still sick!" With that, Daisuke glomped onto Taichi firmly and clung to him, showing no sign of letting go any time soon.

As Taichi had been about to jump up and make a break for it, he had no idea how to react to the hug. 'Oh gods, I *did* do something stupid!' He put his hands on Daisuke's shoulders to try to push him off, but Daisuke took this as a return hug, and sighed happily.

"Um...err...well..." Taichi said eloquently, flailing a bit. "Daisuke?"

"Yes, Taichi-senpai?" Daisuke looked up at him and beamed.

"I-" Taichi stopped. "What did we..." The words were stuck in his throat. "Last night..." He sighed. "Never mind." 'I can't ask him what happened when he's looking at me like THAT! What if I DID something?!' Taichi thought.

"What was that about last night?" a dry-sounding voice asked, coming from the doorway.

Taichi looked up quickly, wishing Daisuke would stop hugging him already. This looked bad enough as it was.

"Er, huh?" Jun frowned at him. "Daisuke, I thought you went to meet *him*, not bring him *home*."

Daisuke let go and grinned at his sister. "Oh, it's no big deal. He was just so drunk!"

Jun's frown deepened. "Drunk?"

Taichi winced and hoped that was the end of the story.

No such luck."Yeah, drunk," Daisuke repeated cheerfully. "And all his friends tried to get me to drink, but it's a good thing I didn't 'cause then no one would have kept him from passing out in the bathroom!"

Taichi felt himself shrink down a bit, and wished he had somewhere to hide.

Jun just glared at him. "S'that so? And then what happened?"

"Well, he puked. That's pretty normal when you're drunk, though, right?"

Jun nodded and Taichi shrunk further.

"But Yamato-san would have been mad at him if he went home drunk so I brought him here and took care of him!" Daisuke turned back to Taichi and smiled. "And you're not still sick, so I did pretty good, huh?"

Taichi gave him a weak smile. Jun was all but glaring at him now. "Er... yeah," he said nervously.

"And what's he doing in your bed?" Jun asked, obviously talking to Daisuke but still looking at him.

Was that a blush on Daisuke's face? 'Oh, gods... I can't take this...' Taichi jumped up. "Bathroom," he mumbled, and ran from the room, shoving past Jun.

Daisuke stared after him. "Maybe he is still kinda sick. I'd better check on him."

"No, don't worry about it." Jun walked over and sat next to Daisuke, looking at him closely. "Did he *do* anything to you?"

Daisuke gave her a pointed look. "He was drunk. The only thing he did was try to kiss me. But I didn't let him." He folded his arms and scowled. "Give me more credit than that. I'm not *desperate*."

Jun smiled and patted him on the back. "So he *is* the one you like."

Daisuke's face went red and he scowled at her. "One word and you're dead."

She laughed and shook her head. "Would I do that to my one and only little brother?"

"Yes. You would." Daisuke continued scowling at her. "Do it and I'll hate you *forever*."

"What does it matter anyway? You gave him the cookies, he spent the night. It's not like he could *still* not know." Jun smiled at him. "But I promise I won't say anything. It's cute this way." She fluffed Daisuke's hair and hopped up, leaving the room.

Daisuke sighed and straightened his hair out. "Cute," he grumbled to himself. "Stupid Jun."

"What's cute?" Taichi's voice came from the doorway. He was standing there looking nervous, awkward, and a bit pale.

"Nothing!" Daisuke said, jumping up. "Are you okay? Were you sick?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Taichi scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Er... look, I'm sorry about last night. I don't drink often, so I'm kinda...dumb when I do."

Daisuke shook his head violently. "No! It's okay! I didn't mind!" He grinned proudly at Taichi. "I liked helping you out."

Taichi gave him a weak smile. "Sure. Um... I have to go. Yamato'll worry if I don't show up. So... I'll just go." He began backing out of the room, hoping he could get away without any further weirdness. He was sure he was imagining most of it, but things seemed kind of odd.

"But you shouldn't go by yourself! You were sick and stuff!" Suddenly Daisuke was at Taichi's side, already donning his jacket. "I'll go with you!"

"No!" Taichi nearly shouted, putting more distance between them. "I mean... no, I'm fine. You should, uh... study or something!"

Daisuke blinked at him, then smiled. "Nah, I should walk you home. In case you suddenly feel sick again."

Taichi considered explaining to Daisuke that you don't *get* relapses of drunkenness, but he was so enthusiastic and Taichi was so confused. He decided not to bother. "Yeah, okay."

Leading them down the hall to the front door, Daisuke slipped his shoes on and waited for Taichi to do the same, then turned to yell back into the apartment. "Going out! Be back later!" He grabbed Taichi's arm and dragged him out the front door, slamming it shut before anyone could reply.

"What was that all about?" Taichi asked, tugging his arm out of Daisuke's grip.

Shrugging, Daisuke led them down the stairs. "If I let my parents answer, they'll bug me. So I just leave."

Taichi smirked. "Yeah, that's how I always handled that stuff, too." He grinned to himself, walking alongside Daisuke and taking the stairs two at a time. Things weren't going so badly. Daisuke wasn't acting weird at all! He must have some sort of weird paranoia from being drunk, that's all! No problems. No problems at all. Everything was fine!

Or so he thought, until Daisuke took his hand.

"Do you wanna walk or take the bus?" Daisuke asked, smiling at him and tightening his grip on Taichi's hand as if he was scared Taichi would pull away.

"Er... walking's fine," Taichi mumbled, remembering that he had no bus fare left. He pulled on the hand slightly, testing Daisuke's reaction, and felt the way Daisuke tensed up when he did it. 'Shit... I guess... I shouldn't pull away. He did watch my back last night and all. Plus, he and Ken are kinda touchy-feely for guys. He probably just does this with all his friends.' So they walked, and he let the shorter boy keep a hold on his hand.

***

'Never thought I'd smile so much my face would hurt,' Daisuke thought to himself as he and Taichi approached Yamato's apartment. He reached up with his free hand and rubbed his cheeks a bit, but the smile wouldn't go away. Daisuke wondered if his face would get stuck this way. Or if it was already! It ached enough that his eyes were slightly watery, but that was partially just from excitement. Taichi hadn't really spoken the whole way over, but he hadn't pulled away yet, either! Things were looking up.

Little did he know how relieved Taichi was to finally be on Yamato's floor. The knot in the older boy's stomach had begun to loosen as soon as they got up that last step. There was the door, and that's where he'd be able to escape! Escape and get away from this weird day. 'I should just go to bed. Go to bed and sleep all day... and then today won't have happened! Yeah! I can just forget it all...'

They paused outside the door and Taichi pulled on his hand, giving Daisuke a slightly nervous look. "Er... I gotta knock."

Daisuke blinked at him, then let go of his hand and laughed. "Oh, yeah! Sorry!" The smile was still there.

Knocking on the door, Taichi sighed with relief. Safety at last! Yamato may not have been the most logical person in the world, but Taichi understood his weirdness. The Jogress made sure that he was never this confused around his best friend. He was relieved to be back in a world that would make sense again.

But no one answered the door.

"Er... maybe he's out?" Daisuke suggested, peering through the peep-hole, as if that would help.

"Nah, he probably just didn't hear it." Taichi frowned, grabbing the doorknob and trying to turn it. 'This is stupid, Yamato never forgets to lock the door,' he thought, as the door swung open. "The hell...?" Taichi frowned and tensed slightly Something was wrong. He stepped into the entryway and kicked off his shoes, turning to Daisuke and putting a finger to his lips. This didn't feel right at all.

Following Taichi into the darkened foyer, Daisuke widened his eyes and let them adjust to the dark. It looked like Yamato wasn't home. There were mugs on the table, one of the couch pillows on the floor... Daisuke let his eyes scan over the room. He didn't think this mess was really like the older boy. "Augh!" Daisuke yiped, grabbing at Taichi's arm and pulling on his sleeve.

"Shhhh!" Taichi hissed at him. "What is it?"

"Th-that!" Daisuke pointed to the foot of the couch, upon which there was a discarded pair of pants.

Taichi stopped mid-step. Yamato would never leave his own clothing out here. Besides, he didn't own any pants like that. This wasn't right at all. "Stay here." Taichi shrugged his arm out of Daisuke's grip and walked quickly to Yamato's bedroom. There was a bit of light coming out from under the door, and he felt his back tense up.

Daisuke was hot on his heels, wondering to himself if a burglar had broken in, or worse. "Do... you think we should...?" Daisuke whispered, pointing to the door.

Taichi wasn't listening. He tried the doorknob, but this one was locked. That wasn't going to stop him, though. "Yamato?!" Taichi called through the door, and waited maybe two seconds before lifting his foot and kicking the door in with one strike, neatly breaking the lock. The wood splintered a bit and the door swung open.

"Taichi! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Yamato yelled, grabbing the comforter on his bed to cover himself. The blond was lying in bed, and had been facing the other way. His lips were swollen, and the room smelled funny to Daisuke. Almost musky.

Daisuke squinted his eyes and peered over Yamato's body to see who it was he'd been cuddling. "Ken?!" Daisuke felt his jaw drop. "What... why... when...?!"

Taichi let out a heavy sigh, giving the two boys in Yamato's bed an annoyed look. "Wasn't *I* using this bed?"

Ken wriggled further under the blanket, his face bright red. Avoiding Daisuke's gaze, he instead turned his head and stared at the wall closely.

Yamato scowled back at Taichi. "Yes, but you didn't come home. Go on, let us get dressed." He sighed and sat up, making sure the blanket stayed firmly up around his neck as he did so.

"You're naked?!" Daisuke blurted, still gaping at them.

Rolling his eyes, Taichi grabbed Daisuke's arm and dragged him away from the room. "Can't believe this... he's getting laid while I'm suffering..." Taichi grumbled to himself.

Luckily - or maybe unluckily - Daisuke didn't seem to hear him. "They... they were doing it!" Daisuke said, his eyes still huge. "Ken and Yamato-san!"

Taichi sat on the couch and yanked Daisuke down next to him. "Yeah, looks like it."

Daisuke's face went pink. "Do you think we... y'know... interrupted them?!"

Laughing, Taichi shook his head. "I wouldn't worry about that. Yamato would have been a lot angrier if they'd been in the middle of something."

"Oh. Well... I guess that's good." Daisuke frowned and sighed. "I didn't know they were dating. Did you?"

"Nope. Guess we know who he's been making all that fancy food for now, though." Taichi leaned back and propped his feet up on the coffee table, sighing. 'And I thought things would be less confusing here.'

"Daisuke?" Ken walked into the living room with his hair a bit tussled, wearing pants that Daisuke recognized from Yamato's wardrobe.

"Hey, missing these?" Daisuke held up the pants that were draped over the couch and laughed. "Why didn't you tell me?!" He tossed Ken the pants and grinned at him.

Ken caught the pants and smiled, seeming to relax. "I was going to." He walked over and sat across from them in a large armchair. "Sorry."

Daisuke shrugged. "It's okay. Sorry for walking in on you. We thought Yamato was dead!"

"Aw, you were worried about me, Taichi? How sweet." Yamato came in and squeezed into the armchair with Ken, grinning.

"Oh, shut up." Taichi stuck his tongue out. "Thought you were getting raped or something. I don't usually find weird pants lying around over here, y'know." Taichi waggled his eyebrows and smirked. "'Course, I wasn't that far off, was I?"

Ken turned a bright shade of red and looked down into his lap awkwardly.

"Very funny, Taichi. You're just jealous." Yamato kissed Ken's cheek and smiled at him before looking back at Taichi angrily. "Where were you, anyway? Don't tell me you partied all night."

Taichi tensed up again. "Er... y'know, I can tell you about that later!"

Ken stood and sighed. "I should go." he turned to Yamato and grinned sweetly. "I'll call you later tonight."

Yamato nodded and smiled back, pulling him into a quick kiss. "Don't forget."

"Awwww, how cute!" Taichi said in a sugary tone of voice. "You're both blushing!"

"And you sound like Mimi," Yamato spat, giving Taichi an embarrassed glare.

Daisuke jumped up, the smile back in place. "Hey, Ken! I'll walk partway with you, okay?"

Ken nodded and headed towards the door, giving Yamato one last glance before leaving. Daisuke followed him, giving Taichi a similar look as he closed the door behind them.

The air outside was cooler than it had been earlier, and Daisuke looked up at the sky, pointing to the dark gray clouds that were moving in. "It's gonna rain."

Ken nodded and walked along beside Daisuke, saying nothing.

"So, how was it?" Daisuke asked, bouncing a bit as he walked.

"How was what?" Ken asked, his ears turning red with an oncoming blush.

"Ohhhhh that good, huh?" Daisuke laughed. "You shoulda told me sooner. But that's okay... he's treating you good, right?"

Ken smiled at Daisuke and nodded. "We're both happy."

"When did this happen, anyway?" Daisuke asked, kicking a pebble along the sidewalk. He kicked it along every few steps until it skipped off into the road, and he sighed. "Darn."

"If you mean when we started dating, just two days ago," Ken told him, sounding wistful. "But we talked about it before, in letters. He's just been gone so long," he said, pausing for a long moment before continuing. "Yamato isn't going away again for a while, and he's not going to go on anymore tours that last more than a month again."

"So you two are it, huh? Wedding bells ringing yet? What'll you name the kids?" Daisuke poked Ken in the ribs, grinning widely.

Ken rolled his eyes and poked Daisuke back, right in a pressure point. "Very funny."

Daisuke yelped and stumbled a bit at the poke, barely managing to catch himself before he fell. "You're too rough."

"I tried to call you last night, but your sister said you were out with Taichi-san." Ken peered at Daisuke suspiciously. "Did you tell him, then?"

Daisuke felt the smile return in full force, and shook his head. "Kinda. Not really. I guess." He took a deep breath and looked up as he felt a raindrop fall on his nose. "I made him cookies! And then he went out to party, and he invited me to go with him! And... I guess he got pretty drunk, so I took him home. I don't think I'll be able to sleep alone again... it felt pretty good to have someone else there."

Ken choked on his own breath and stopped in the middle of a crosswalk, only just remembering how to walk in time to avoid a passing car. He grabbed Daisuke's arm and stopped him. "You slept together?!" Ken demanded, gaping.

"Well, yeah. I was gonna sleep on the couch, but he was really drunk and wouldn't let me go!"

"He... he made you sleep with him?!" Ken was horrified. He knew Taichi wasn't the most gentlemanly of their friends, but he hadn't thought he was capable of this!

"Yeah. But... it was nice, so I don't care." Daisuke said quietly, lost in his own thoughts.

"I... I have to go." Ken took a step back away from Daisuke. "I'm sorry, I forgot something at Yamato's place. I'll... I'll call you later!"

"Oh, okay. Seeya later, then!" Daisuke waved and ran off in the direction of his own apartment, wondering if he and Taichi would look as cute together as Ken and Yamato had.

***

Yamato sighed and put the last cup into the dishwasher. Taichi had gone straight to bed after Ken and Daisuke had left, mumbling something about needing to clear his head. Straight to bed after Ken and Daisuke had left, and after Yamato had changed the sheets, that is. "Still..." Yamato smiled and leaned against the counter, licking his lips slowly, tasting the leftover Ken flavor. "I hope he's still asleep when Ken calls." He shut the dishwasher and turned it on, grinning.

"Yamato!" Ken's voice came from the front door, followed by a panicked knock.

"Ken?" Yamato pulled off his old pink apron and tossed it over the back of a chair, going to open the door. "What's wrong?"

It took Ken a minute to catch his breath before he could reply. He'd run back as quickly as he could. "Is... Is Taichi-san still here?"

Yamato nodded and led Ken into the apartment. "What happened?"

Ken's eyes flashed angrily and he fisted his hands. "He... Daisuke told me they slept together."

Yamato's eyebrows raised. "Oh."

"He said Taichi-san made him sleep with him."

This time Yamato reacted, his eyes widening in concern. "Oh... oh! What... when? Last night?"

Ken nodded firmly. "He was drunk. Daisuke doesn't mind, but I think he thinks it meant something."

"Well, for Taichi's sake, let's hope he's right," Yamato said quietly, rolling his sleeves up and walking swiftly down the hall to his bedroom. "Yagami Taichi! Get up!" he yelled, yanking the sheet out from under Taichi so he fell off of the bed and onto the floor.

"Ow!" Taichi winced, sitting up and rubbing his butt. "That hurt! What'd I do?!" Standing behind Yamato, Ken gave Taichi a look Taichi hadn't seen since the Kaiser was still around. He shuddered and gave Yamato a nervous look. "What?!"

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Taichi. Daisuke says you *raped* him," Yamato said, his voice cold.

Taichi felt his mouth go dry, and his heart stuttered for a few beats. "He... he what?! But... no! No way! I did not!"

Ken picked up a large dictionary from Yamato's desk and threw it at Taichi's head. "Look it up, because you obviously don't know what that word means."

Taichi was too shocked to doge properly, and the heavy book hit him squarely in the face. "Ow!" He rubbed his nose and shoved the book off his lap. "I'm tellin' you, I didn't do anything!"

"Then I suggest you go talk to Daisuke about this, Taichi. Go talk to him or explain what happened to us." Yamato folded his arms and gave Taichi the same look he got from his mother when he failed a major exam. This was bad.

"Er... but..." he paused, biting his lip. Telling them he didn't actually *remember* the previous night didn't seem like a smart thing to do, so he stood quickly and gave them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, I'll just go to his house and see what's going on... it's gotta be a big misunderstanding!"

"I certainly hope so," Ken muttered, his voice low and hard.

Taichi didn't bother with a reply. Instead, he ran past them, down the hall, out the front door. He was halfway to Daisuke's apartment when his stomach lurched with a sudden, horrible thought. 'Oh god... what if I *did*?!'