Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ About Nothing ❯ chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Translation note: In this chapter, I have Daisuke refer to Jun simply as 'that girl'.

In the show we never actually hear him refer to her except in third person. When he refers to her he calls her 'aniki' and 'kono onna'. I chose to translate this just as 'that girl'. It's a distanced typically Daisuke-rudeness type of thing to say. However, Daisuke's speech is MUCH more polite to Taichi and probably most adults than he is to everyone else his age. Therefore, he would probably call Jun "Jun-neesan" or something similar to that when talking directly to Taichi.

***

Chapter 7

Panting, Taichi reached the top step of Daisuke's floor. He cursed under his breath and leaned against the wall. The elevator might have been a good idea after all, but Taichi was so used to taking the stairs that he hadn't even thought of it. By the time he was halfway there and noticed how exhausted he was, it didn't seem worth stopping. But now his vision was going in and out of focus and he couldn't quite catch his breath.

'The hell's wrong with me? It wasn't that far,' he thought, staggering down the hall towards the door with the Motomiya nameplate. 'Whatever, I'm here now. Maybe it woulda helped if I'd eaten... did I have breakfast?' Taichi frowned and leaned against the door. 'No... no, I don't think I've ate since yesterday. Huh...' He wiped a hand across his forehead. 'Man, it's hot out here.' He dropped his bag, wondering what he'd packed that was so heavy.

Knocking on the door, Taichi tried to stand up straight. It wasn't until he heard footsteps coming towards the door that he froze up and thought, 'Wait... what the hell am I doing here?! What am I going to say?! Shit! What the hell was I thinking?!' The door opened and Taichi smiled quickly, half-frozen and wondering if he could run away in time to not be noticed.

The boy that answered the door was about Taichi's height, somewhat pale, and had dark black hair that went down to his shoulders even in the ponytail he had it up in. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair, and flickered over Taichi as if unsure of what to make of him. Finally, he spoke, smiling politely. "Can I help you?"

Taichi's jaw dropped. "Who're you?!" 'Who the hell's this pretty boy?! Is he wearing silk?! That's silk! Sure as hell doesn't look like a relative of Daisuke's, and Jun could never get a boyfriend like this.'

Seeming amused, the strange boy grinned and cocked his head. "I'm sorry, you must be Jun's boyfriend. She said he might come by. Come in, come in."

"Jun's-?!" Taichi exclaimed, horrified. "The hell- who ARE you?!"

"I'm Daisuke's boyfriend. And you are...?" the dark haired boy asked slowly, as if he thought Taichi had a mental disability.

"Daisuke's..." Taichi put a hand on the doorframe, leaning against it. He blinked hard at the strange boy in front of him, wondering why he couldn't keep him in focus. Everything was blurry and he suddenly felt lightheaded. "But..." Taichi wrinkled his nose, finding it difficult to form coherent thoughts. 'I shoulda eaten something...'

***

"- get some liquids in him or something. Are you supposed to call the hospital?! Soup! I could make soup!"

'Why the noise? Trying to sleep... head hurts.'

"Daisuke, he's fine. He just fainted. He'll probably wake up any minute now. Just make sure he gets some liquids and lays still. And... you might want to give him some painkillers, he's got a fever."

'Fainted? Who fainted? Fever? Hikari... Hikari used to get fevers. Hikari must be sick!' Taichi sat up abruptly, eyes wide. "Is she okay?!"

"Agh!" Daisuke jumped back from the bed, eyes wide. "T-Taichi."

"See? He's awake already." The strange dark haired boy kissed Daisuke on the cheek and stood. "I'll get some medicine."

Already getting out of bed, Taichi glanced around madly. 'Where the hell am I? Where's Hikari?!' "Is she okay or not?!"

Daisuke gulped and sat back up, peering at Taichi nervously. "Is who okay?"

"Hikari! Is she okay?!" Taichi sat back down abruptly and shut his eyes, panting heavily. "It's hot."

"Hikari-chan is fine. You fainted... and you're sick. Yuki's going to get you some medicine..." Daisuke moved back next to the bed and watched Taichi closely.

"Oh..." Taichi lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. "Right. I came here." He turned his head to look at Daisuke and frowned. "Who's Yuki?"

Daisuke was silent for a long moment. "My boyfriend."

Frowning, Taichi shook his head. "I should sleep more. I don't like this fever. I don't..." He sighed, reaching for a blanket. "I'm tired."

"Take these first," Yuki's voice said softly. "They'll help."

Taichi opened his eyes just enough to take the glass of water and pills, swallow them, and lay back down. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

***

"Owwww," Taichi moaned, rolling over and clutching his stomach. He blinked hard, his eyes adjusting slowly to the afternoon light coming in the window. "Ugh, sick. Sick... sick..."

Daisuke looked up from his desk where he was bent over a book, pencil in hand. "Taichi?"

"Is he up?" Yuki's voice called from the hallway. He came into the room, carrying a bowl of soup. "Here, Daisuke's mom wanted me to give this to you," he said, holding the tray in front of Taichi. "You should eat."

Looking blearily up at Yuki, Taichi scowled. "You're Daisuke's boyfriend?" he asked in a weak voice.

"Yes, of course." Yuki smiled and sat the soup aside.

His smile faded quickly when Taichi lurched forward and threw up all over Yuki's legs and feet. The room was silent for a long moment as Taichi leaned there, catching his breath. Then he sat back up and took the glass of water sitting next to the bed to rinse his mouth.

Yuki stood frozen in place, arms stiff at his sides, staring down at the mess.

Daisuke's eyes were huge and he looked from the mess back up at Taichi. "Are you going to do that again?"

Taichi grinned slightly. "It's good now." He rolled over, tucked himself back in, and fell back asleep, feeling much better than he had all day.

***

When Taichi woke again, it was dark. He sat up gingerly and peered around the room. Daisuke's things were everywhere, but he couldn't find a clock. What time was it? There was someone on the floor under a blanket. Taichi moved closer to the edge of the bed and squinted. "Daisuke?" he guessed aloud, not entirely sure he wanted it to be. From this angle, he couldn't tell whether the someone under the blanket was alone.

Mumbling, Daisuke lifted his head from under his blanket and yawned. "Yeah?"

No, there was no one else on the floor with him. Satisfied, Taichi shrugged. "Nothing" The sick feeling had faded, but he still felt pitifully weak. He hated feeling weak. Looking back down, he found the bowl of soup still waiting for him. He picked it up and sipped it slowly. "Mmmm..."

Daisuke sat up and watched Taichi with a blank expression. "I can warm that up if you want."

"Nah. This's good." Taichi gulped down the rest of the bowl before setting it down and sitting back and finally taking a good look at Daisuke. He was wearing a dark gray t-shirt and matching sweatpants. 'No socks,' Taichi noted. 'Wonder if that means he doesn't wear underwear to bed, either.' He smirked. 'Must be getting better if I can think stuff like that.'

"Taichi?" Daisuke spoke in a whisper. There were bags under his eyes and he looked like he was still half-asleep.

For the first time, Taichi noticed the lack of suffix on his name. He tried not to wince. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm... not exactly sure," Taichi said, his voice dropping to a whisper to match Daisuke's.

"Why'd you come back?" Daisuke grinned slightly. "Don't you know I hate your guts now?"

Taichi chuckled and tossed a pillow at Daisuke's head. "You know you missed me."

"You were only gone a day!" Daisuke's grin widened, his voice no longer so soft.

"One long day!"

"It wasn't that long," Daisuke said, leaning on the bed and grinning up at Taichi.

"Long enough for you to get a boyfriend," Taichi said, his voice suddenly quiet again.

Daisuke stiffened, but didn't drop his gaze. "Yuki really likes me."

"Don't think he likes me much." Taichi smirked.

"People don't usually like when they get barfed on," Daisuke said, feeling guilty when he wanted to laugh at the memory.

"You didn't care when I was drunk and barfed," Taichi said smugly.

"You didn't barf on me. Doesn't count," Daisuke said, thinking that he still wouldn't have minded much. "Anyway, it's just puke. Mom helped me clean it up."

"Is he gone?" Taichi asked, looking to the sleeping bag set up on the floor.

"Yuki? Yeah. He had to go home," Daisuke said, sitting back. "Your showing up really messed up our date, y'know. Ended up taking care of you all day instead of going to the movies."

"Oh," Taichi said, trying to hide his grin. "Sorry," he said, clearly not meaning it.

"No, you're not," Daisuke mumbled, laying back down.

Taichi scooted over in the bed. "You can sleep up here, y'know. Your bed."

"No, you're sick. You need to rest or you'll end up fainting again."

Taichi frowned. "I didn't faint. Fainting's girly. I passed out. And I meant that we could both sleep up here. Your bed's big."

Daisuke sighed and rolled over in the sleeping bag, his voice dropping back to the emotionless whisper from before. "I'm fine. Goodnight."

Taichi lay back down and stared at Daisuke's back, wondering what he could say that would fix things. 'Could tell him I want him to sleep up here. That I want him to dump that stupid Yuki guy... could tell him I'm sorry.'

"Daisuke?" he asked, almost inaudibly.

"Mmm?" Daisuke mumbled, barely awake anymore.

When he opened his mouth to respond, Taichi meant to say something useful. He meant to say something daring, something that would get Daisuke to smile again. He liked when Daisuke smiled. It was a lot better than seeing him all curled up in the sleeping bag like that... that was too pitiful. When he opened his mouth, he meant to say something that would make everything okay again.

"Goodnight, Daisuke," was what came out.

"Night."

***

Something was on his forehead. Taichi frowned and swatted at it, wishing whatever it was would go away and let him sleep.

Daisuke laughed and put his hand back on Taichi's forehead. "I'm checking for fever, relax."

Taichi opened his eyes to see Daisuke's face inches from his own. The younger boy's gaze averted quickly and Taichi frowned, remembering.

"Your fever is gone," Daisuke said, pulling his hand away.

Taichi reached up quickly and caught Daisuke's wrist. The way the younger boy flinched made Taichi feel guilty, but he didn't let go.

"Taichi… let me go," Daisuke mumbled, blushing slightly.

"Why are you dating Yuki?" Taichi frowned, tightening his hold on Daisuke's wrist. The question had been on his mind since Yamato had called him. Why would Daisuke move on so quickly? Was he so easy to forget?

"Wha- Taichi, let go!" Daisuke tugged on his arm.

Taichi just held on tighter, determined to find out. "Tell me why you're dating him!"

"Because he likes me! He's nice to me, okay?! Let go!" Daisuke yanked harder, beginning to look panicked.

'Is that all he wants?' Taichi thought, suddenly feeling heavy with guilt. He relaxed his grip and let his voice soften. "I'm sorry I wasn't."

Daisuke froze. He felt the blush on his face darken and cursed himself silently for it. "You're sorry you weren't what?"

"Nice to you." Taichi let go of Daisuke's wrist, watching him closely.

"Oh," Daisuke said, not moving. "I guess… it's okay. I mean," he said, laughing slightly, "it doesn't matter. I have Yuki now…"

Taichi scowled. "Yeah, about that-"

"About me, you mean?" Yuki asked, standing in the doorway.

Daisuke jerked back quickly, turning to smile at Yuki. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Taichi smirked and cocked his head at Yuki innocently. "Why would we be talking about you?"

There was a long silence as the two older boys sized each other up. Daisuke clenched his hands into fists. His fingernails were digging into his palms painfully, but he barely noticed. The tension in the room was high.

Yuki finally looked away from Taichi. "Daisuke, can we talk alone for a moment?"

"Sure!" Daisuke hopped up, glancing at Taichi one last time before following Yuki out of the room. He shut the door behind them.

Taichi was across the room instantly, pressing his ear to the door. 'Damn that girly-boy, what does he think he's doing now?!' He could just barely hear them through the door. 'What are they, whispering? Do they think I'd try to listen in on them?! Jeez, nobody gives me any credit!'

After only a moment, the door opened, hitting Taichi in the head. He fell back onto the floor and moaned unhappily, rubbing the sore spot.

Pausing to peer at Taichi in concern, Daisuke asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Taichi mumbled, standing up.

Daisuke ducked his head. "Are you gonna be okay if I go out for a while?"

"Why? Where are you going?" Taichi sat on the edge of the bed and frowned. 'The hell is that Yuki bastard up to?!'

"Just… out." Daisuke turned and began pulling clothes out of the closet.

Taichi scowled. "You're going on a date, aren't you?"

"Well… kinda. Yuki said you should be okay if you rest, and that girl said she'd be here if you needed anything, so…"

It had always weirded Taichi out to hear Daisuke refer to Jun like that. His relationship with Hikari was so good, he couldn't imagine hating his sister to the point of refusing to use her name. Still, Daisuke wasn't usually that rude to Taichi directly. Daisuke's respect for him was fading, and fast.

"You're leaving me in Jun's clutches?!" Taichi put on his best pitiful expression and coughed weakly.

"She's taken care of me what I was sick," Daisuke mumbled, giving Taichi a slightly guilty look. "And I'll be back soon."

"Well… you can't go!" Taichi folded his arms, nodding. "You just can't."

Frowning, Daisuke gathered his clothes and shook his head. "I'm going, Taichi. You'll be fine. I can't ignore my boyfriend for you."

"Then dump him!" Taichi said, his voice coming off much more angry than he meant it to.

Daisuke's jaw dropped and he stared at Taichi incredulously. "What do you mean, dump him?! He's the only guy who's ever shown any interest in me! On top of that, he's really nice! He likes me, he wants to take me on a date, and I'm not going to screw this up just because you're jealous!"

"Jealous?!" Taichi felt his face go red. "I am NOT jealous! I just thought I was more important to you than some random guy you barely know! Anyways, I showed interest in you, didn't I?! You're the one that ran off and got some dumb ass boyfriend the minute I was out of sight!"

Daisuke's expression went cold. "You showed interest in my ass, and only when you thought I was an easy lay. And YOU are the one that ran off. So excuse me, but I'm going to go on a date with my boyfriend and I'm going to have a good time without you. If you think I'm going to stay here and take care of you when you don't even realize what an asshole you've been, you're dead wrong."

Taichi stared after Daisuke as he stormed out of the room, at a total loss for words. He didn't move until he heard the front door close.

"The hell was THAT about?! That stupid… AGH!" Taichi grabbed a pillow and threw it at the wall as hard as he could.

"Do you mind keeping it down in here?" Jun asked, poking her head in the doorway.

"YES! I do mind! Go away!" Taichi threw the other pillow at her.

Jun caught the pillow and grinned. "Someone's jealous!"

"I am NOT jealous! I'm just… just… pissed off!"

"Because you're jealous!" Jun tossed the pillow back onto the bed. "You deserve it, y'know."

"Deserve what?!" Taichi folded his arms and scowled at her. "What do you know, anyway?!"

"I know that you broke my little brother's heart. I know that you're being a stubborn jerk. I know that Daisuke's dating that incredibly pretty guy because you're too stupid to apologize to him. I also know," Jun said, entering the room and leaning against the wall. "that if you don't have a good explanation for everything, I'm going to kill you."

Taichi gaped at her. "What-"

"And don't even try to deny any of it, Daisuke told me everything after you ran away."

"I didn't run away! I just-"

"You ran off and left him! You led him on, molested him, and then broke his heart into a million pieces! And I know it was that bad, because if it wasn't he wouldn't have been desperate enough to talk to me about it! I helped him make those cookies, y'know. He was really excited about finally telling you how he felt, and you screwed it up!"

With every word, Taichi felt himself shrink further. "But..."

"But nothing. Now you have two choices, Yagami. You either prove to me that you like my brother and that you didn't do any of that on purpose, and I'll tell you where they went... Or you can say you don't like him and leave right now, and let him move on."

Silence settled over the room. Taichi felt the anger and frustration that he'd built up fade away, leaving only an unsettling feeling of guilt. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I have been a jerk, haven't I?"

"He's liked you since he was a little kid. He idolized everything about you, and even now that he knows what a jerk you really are, he still likes you. You really don't deserve him." Jun grinned smugly.

"This is why I hate girls," Taichi said, sighing. "So what do I have to do now?"

"Admit you like him," Jun said, smirking.

"But I-"

"If you don't like him, then leave and never come back. And I'm not afraid to use the blackmail I have on you, y'know. All that time spent liking Yamato-kun and following him around... I got some very interesting pictures of you at certain parties. I thought they might come in handy eventually."

Taichi paled, not quite certain what Jun was referring to. "So... so you want me to..."

"To make up your mind already! Jeez, are you that much of a wimp?"

"I'm not a wimp! I just..." Taichi paused and frowned, thinking about the past few days. Coming back to Odaiba and seeing Daisuke for the first time, spending the afternoon with him, how much fun they'd had... how cute he was when he blushed. Taichi grinned slightly at the memory. 'Then we went on that date, and...' the grin faded quickly. "I was a jerk." He sighed heavily. "The only time I haven't had those stupid dreams was when we slept together..."

Jun's eyebrows arched. "Slept together?"

"Well, in the same bed! When I was drunk..." Taichi trailed off, remembering the party that had led up to all this. "He took care of me, didn't he?"

"Yeah. He brought you back here and stayed up half the night with you," Jun mumbled. "It was kinda cute."

"He is cute," Taichi said, grinning again. "He's cute, and he's sweet, and he likes me a lot more than I deserve." He looked up at Jun and his grin widened. "I don't want Yuki dating him. I don't want anyone dating him except me. If he doesn't hate me already..."

Jun shook her head. "He's angry, but he's not very good at holding grudges."

Taichi stood, ignoring the short moment of dizziness that passed over him. "Tell me where they went so I can get him back."

"Does that mean you're done being stubborn?" Jun asked, cocking her head at Taichi suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm done being a jerk, I'm even gonna try not to be stupid, now tell me where they went so I can apologize!"

Jun laughed. "I knew I liked you. He said they were going to get ramen. That's all I know."

"Ramen, huh? ...Yeah, okay, I think I know where to go." Taichi grinned at Jun. "Y'know, for a scary girl, you're not so bad."

Jun scowled and grumbled. "Get out of here before I change my mind and convince him to never speak to you again!"

Taichi smirked and ran out of the room, out of the apartment, down the stairs, and took off down the street as quickly as he could. 'He said that ramen place we went to was the best there was, and it was where they went on a date before… they've gotta be there.'

Ignoring the exhaustion in his legs, Taichi ran down the street, thankful that the restaurant was so close, and began preparing himself for a confrontation. 'Gotta be impressive! Gotta show him that I'm serious about him and… gotta apologize for being an ass.' Taichi winced, not liking that part at all. 'It's worth it. If I apologize and tell him that I like him… he's gotta come back to me.'

Approaching the corner before the restaurant, Taichi was prepared for many things. Knowing that his life was going exactly how he wanted it not to, he was ready to see Daisuke and Yuki together, making out, or even having sex right there in public. Fists clenched, Taichi turned the corner and stopped dead in his tracks.

He wasn't prepared for this. Daisuke was sitting against the side of the building, head in his hands. He was crying.

Never one to know how to handle such open displays of emotion, Taichi approached Daisuke carefully, like you would a rabid dog. "…Daisuke?" he asked softly, reaching out hesitantly to touch his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

The smaller boy looked up at Taichi with bleary eyes, his cheeks stained with tears. "Taichi? You should be resting." He wiped his face off on the back of his sleeve before standing. "I'm fine." He sniffled, trying to force a smile.

"No, you're not. Tell me what's wrong." Taichi said firmly, placing a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Something happened, right?"

"Yuki. He…" Daisuke took a deep breath and shrugged. "He said we aren't working out. He said I'm nice, but we can't date right now. Maybe another time…" Daisuke let out a shaky sigh. "Guess he didn't like me after all."

Taichi's resolve crumbled instantly. "But… you liked him."

"He was nice," Daisuke said softly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Too nice to like me."

Hands clenching into fists, Taichi asked firmly, "Where does he live? Around here?"

"Yeah… just down the street in those red apartments… why?" Daisuke grinned slightly.

"You go home. I'm going to have a talk with him." Taichi said, turning towards the direction Daisuke had pointed in.

"Don't! Just… don't. It's fine." Daisuke grabbed Taichi's arm and tried to hold him back.

"No, it's not fine. That asshole hurt you, and I'm gonna kick his ass for it." Taichi turned and smiled at Daisuke. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for being an asshole, too. And I'm sorry for running off… but I'm not gonna let this guy do the same thing. Don't worry, Daisuke, I'll talk some sense into him."

Before Daisuke could say anything else, Taichi was off and running. He stared after him, wondering what exactly Taichi planned on doing. 'He's crazy. He doesn't even know the apartment number, and…' Daisuke smiled gently, feeling slightly better. 'Thanks, Taichi-senpai.'

Chapter 8