Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ About Nothing ❯ chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

"Red apartments," Taichi mumbled to himself, stopping to stare at a red brick building. "I guess he meant these." He walked through the front doors purposefully and began walking up the stairs before he paused. "...Wait a minute. Where the hell does he live?!" He sighed heavily and folded his arms. "I guess I could just knock on random doors..."

Reaching the second floor, Taichi stopped and stared down the hallway. There were 10 doors on this floor, and at least 20 floors in the building. He frowned. "This might take a while. Well... hope I have some luck." Turning to his left, he knocked on the door in front of him.

"Yes?" the young lady who answered the door asked. She had long dark hair and thick gaudy makeup.

"Do you know where Yuki lives?" Taichi backed up slightly, unsure Yuki would know this kind of person.

"Yuki?" The girl cocked her head and opened the door the rest of the way. She was wearing a see through robe.

Taichi did his best not to stare and backed away a bit more. "Aha... I guess you don't. Thanks!"

"You mean that cutie?"

"...I guess." Taichi frowned.

"Ah, yeah! Yuki lives on floor eight. And so cute, too!"

"...Thanks..."

"You don't wanna come in for some tea?" The girl batted her eyes at Taichi and opened the door wider.

Not sure how to take this obvious invitation, Taichi just smiled uncomfortably and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm really busy!" Then he turned and ran up the stairs. 'Man, I'm glad I was never a delivery boy, don't think I could put up with that kind of thing all the time.'

At the eighth floor Taichi paused and caught his breath. Ten doors were before him. Ten doors to pick from. Taking a deep breath, he shut his eyes and walked forward, spun in a circle, and stopped only when he began to feel dizzy. Opening his eyes, he was facing a door. "Good enough for me," he mumbled and knocked on it.

An attractive young man with dark green eyes and fair skin answered the door. "Hello..." the man said, leaning against the doorframe. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, do you know Yuki?"

"Ah, yes. Yuki lives across the hall." The boy pointed and grinned. "Are you a suitor, or are you free?"

Taichi paused. The man was cute. "...Sorry, I'm in a hurry." 'Got more important things to do right now...' Taichi turned and sweatdropped, waiting until he heard the door behind him close to step forward and knock on Yuki's door. No one answered. Knocking again, Taichi began to wonder if he hadn't gone straight home after all. Finally, the door opened.

"Who're you?" A little girl stood in the doorway and looked up at Taichi with large eyes.

"Uh... I'm looking for Yuki..."

"That's not who you are." The girl pouted and stomped her foot.

"I'm Taichi." 'She must be about four... I remember when Hikari was this age...'

"My name's Sachiko. I'm this old." She held up three fingers and smiled.

"Hey, you are a big girl." Taichi ruffled her hair and patted her on the head. 'Does Yuki have a kid, or what?'

"Excuse me, but who are you?" A female voice asked.

Taichi looked up to see a young woman yank the little girl back.

"He's Taichi-niichan!" Sachiko said happily, sitting on the floor beside her mother's feet.

"I'm just looking for Yuki." Taichi shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped back slightly. The woman looked irritated with him.

"So?"

"So... I need to talk to Yuki."

"You're talkin' to her. What do you want?"

"You're Yuki?!"

"Excuse me?"

"...Never mind." Taichi turned and started back down the stairs. 'Serves him right for having such a girly name... but now how'm I gonna find him?!' Sitting at the bottom of the stairs, Taichi frowned. He had to find Yuki somehow... why hadn't he asked for an apartment number?! '...Because I didn't want to think Daisuke knew his apartment number. That would mean they'd...' He groaned unhappily and buried his face in his hands. 'But I have to deal with that if I'm gonna get them back together, anyway... And I've gotta find him! That stupid asshole, hurting Daisuke like that... when I find him I'm gonna-'

"Taichi?"

Looking up quickly at the sound of his name, he saw Yuki peering down at him. "Yuki!"

"What are you doing here?"

"This." Taichi stood, brushed himself off, fisted his right hand, and punched Yuki square in the jaw. A satisfying noise of pain came from the pretty boy as he stumbled back and reached to his face, staring at Taichi in surprise.

"What was that for?!"

"For Daisuke."

"But..."

"You made him cry you bastard!"

Yuki frowned. "Yes, that often happens when you get rejected."

"You'd better give me a damn good reason for why you dumped him before I really hurt you," Taichi practically growled, rolling up his sleeves.

"That's easy. Self preservation."

"....Excuse me?" Taichi relaxed slightly, not sure at all what the other boy meant by that.

"I know better than to get in between a lion and its prey," Yuki said, grinning.

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"That you like Daisuke, and Daisuke likes you, and I'm smart enough to stay out of the way." Pushing past Taichi, Yuki began walking up the stairs.

"Wha... oh no, you don't!" Taichi grabbed Yuki's arm hard and dug his fingers in. "Daisuke does not like me. He might've used to... but he doesn't any more. He DOES like you, so go back to him!"

Yuki winced and tried to pull his arm away. "I'm sorry, Taichi, I don't want to hurt him. But it's not worth-"

"It's Daisuke, damnit! HE'S worth it!" Taichi released Yuki's arm and gave him an angry glare.

"Maybe to you. But I don't have the time to invest in someone who doesn't care about me first and foremost. I knew the minute he dropped me to take care of you that I was in second place." Yuki grinned. "He cares about you. You should be happy since you're in love with him."

Taichi felt himself flush, but he didn't deny it. "...You won't go back to him."

"No." Yuki walked quickly up the stairs, opened one of the doors and paused before entering. "Goodbye."

Taichi watched as Yuki closed the door behind him, and he stood there for a long moment, feeling baffled. 'He... he can't do that... he just can't!' "Yuki, you bastard! Get back out here!" Taichi ran up the stairs to Yuki's door and banged on it hard. "Open the door so I can kick your ass!"

"Is there a problem, sir?"

Turning, Taichi found himself face to face with a policeman. "Er... eheh... no! 'Course not!"

"I live down the hall... so if there's a problem I can come over and help you... right down to the police station. Understand?"

"...Yeah." Taichi sulked and made his way down the stairs again, through the lobby, to the outside of the building. He sighed and leaned against the brick wall, his arms folded. "Damnit."

"Having problems, Taichi?" Yamato asked as he walked towards his friend.

"Yamato... what're you doing here?"

"Daisuke called to tell me you might be about to do something illegal. He thought I could stop you." The blonde found a spot to lean against next to Taichi and grinned. "So what happened?"

"Yuki's an ass."

"So I heard."

"He won't listen to me. I fucking told him to go back to Daisuke, but he slammed the door in my face. And then that policeman-"

"A policeman? Wow, you really were about to get arrested!" Yamato laughed and patted Taichi's shoulder. "So, you wanna go get something to eat before you head back home?"

"...I'm not going home yet." Taichi straightened up and grinned slightly. "I've got something I have to do first."

"Taichi," Yamato began warningly. "You aren't going to-"

"No! I'm not going to do... whatever it is you think I'm going to do." He stuck his tongue out at his friend and began down the walk. "I'll call you later."

The walk to Daisuke's place took longer than it should have, and Taichi wondered if he was walking slow on purpose. He wasn't sure he wanted to get there, or what he'd say when he did. He'd have to do a number of things he didn't like doing. Pausing at the park near Daisuke's apartment building, Taichi remembered the soccer practices they'd had when they were both still kids.

One fall they'd made piles of leaves for makeshift goals. When Daisuke scored against Taichi for the first time in months, Taichi had tossed him into the leaves, and Daisuke yanked him down with him. They'd wrestled in the pile long enough to get filthy, and Taichi remembered the way his mother lectured him when he came home with mud on his clothes and leaves in his hair. He also remembered the way Daisuke had stared at him when they'd finally lost all their energy, and watched the sun set, laying on the pile and staring up at the sky, catching their breath.

Taichi's eyes had been fixed on the sky, but he knew now that Daisuke hadn't been watching the sun go down at all. He'd been watching him. 'Geez, I was oblivious,' he thought. 'Shoulda known something was up when I caught him staring at me...'

Suddenly breaking into a run, Taichi turned and made his way to Daisuke's apartment building as fast as he could. Panting, he made his way down the street, up the stairs, and down the hall, until he found himself at Daisuke's front door. He collapsed against it and panted, raising his fist to knock.

The door opened before he had a chance. "Taichi-senpai?" Daisuke blinked at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah... just... gimmie a second..." Taichi stumbled into the apartment and collapsed onto the couch. "Out... of breath..."

Shutting the door and pushing Taichi's shoes to the side, Daisuke followed him over and sat on the other end of the couch. "...You ran from Yuki?" He grinned mischievously.

"Hey!" Taichi sat up and glared at him. "For your information, I kicked his ass good!"

"...Really?" Daisuke paused, not sure he believed his senpai.

"Well... I did punch him... and yell at him. I yelled at him real good!" Taichi folded his arms and sighed heavily. "Woulda done more if he hadn't locked himself in his apartment. Coward."

Silence fell over the pair as Taichi finished catching his breath, and Daisuke watched him with a blank expression. Taichi scratched the back of his neck awkwardly when he began to sense the tension in the room.

"Hey, um... Daisuke? I don't think Yuki's gonna..."

"I know."

"I mean, he's not gonna come back."

"Yeah, I know." Daisuke shrugged. "It's okay."

"But it's not okay! He's a jerk. Shoulda punched him harder."

"It doesn't matter. We had nothing in common anyway. And he's not my type." Daisuke grinned slightly and sat back, trying to relax.

"Who is?" Waiting just long enough for that to sink in, Taichi slapped himself on the forehead. "I shouldn't ask. I'm not thinking..."

"...I'm not sure anymore." The smile on Daisuke's face faded slightly and he stared down at the carpet seriously.

Determined not to fail, Taichi blurted it out before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry!"

"For asking who my type is?" Daisuke gave him an odd look.

"No, for..." Taichi shook his head and took a deep breath. "I was an asshole. I... wasn't thinking about you at all... and I hurt you. And... I'm sorry." He gritted his teeth and forced a nervous smile.

The red head stared at him for a long moment before bursting into laughter.

"Hey... hey, what kinda reaction is that?!"

"You... you just look so funny!" Daisuke continued laughing. "Not too good at saying 'sorry', are you?"

"Well, damnit, I mean it, so gimmie a break! At least I said it..." Taichi looked away and glared at the other side of the room in irritation.

"...You mean it?" Daisuke moved closer to Taichi, sitting next to him now, and rested a hand on his knee. "Then... thanks."

Taichi looked back and grinned at him. "What, aren't you going to say sorry, too?"

"I didn't do anything to apologize for!" Daisuke stuck out his tongue and pulled his hand away.

"Yeah, I guess you didn't."

"Taichi-senpai, I-"

"You'd better shut up now before I lose my nerve, okay? I have stuff I gotta say."

Daisuke nodded slightly, nervous about what Taichi was about to say.

"I'm sorry," he said more firmly this time. "I'm sorry for being an ass. And... I'm sorry for running off... and for screwing things up with Yuki, and-"

"But you didn't-"

"Lemme finish!" Taichi snapped, then took Daisuke's hand and placed it back on his knee. "And I'm sorry I couldn't get Yuki back... and... I know I really have no right to say this, but..." He grinned a crooked grin and squeezed Daisuke's hand. "I really do care about you."

Daisuke stared at him, unsure what to say. "Oh... I uh..."

"And I kinda..." he felt himself blush faintly and frowned, trying to will it away. "I'd like... to do the... the... y'know... couple........... thing," he finished, mumbling.

"The... couple... thing..." Daisuke's eyes widened.

"Y'know, the couple thing! Where you go to fancy restaurants... and see movies together and... y'know... make out in front of people to bother them!"

"...Oh, right... the couple thing..." Daisuke said softly.

"But."

"But?"

"But..." Taichi squeezed Daisuke's hand gently before letting go of it. "I really... wasn't thinking of you before. I was treating you like a kid... and... I think..." He glanced away, mumbling. "I hate doing shit like this... I think it'd be better for you if... I left."

"What'd you mean, if you left?"

"I missed a lot of class. I gotta go back for finals or I'm gonna have to take the whole term over..."

"Oh... then I guess you should go..."

"But Daisuke..." Taichi's voice softened and he reached over, brushing a strand of hair past Daisuke's ear. "If you need me... y'know. I'll be here. So... if any other jerks break you heart..."

Daisuke smiled and leaned into Taichi's touch. "I'll know who to call."

"Yeah." Taichi dropped his hand and the boys sat in silence for a moment, their eyes locked. "I... should go." Taichi began to stand, but he didn't get far before he was shoved back by the force of Daisuke's sudden hug.

"Thanks, Taichi-senpai," the younger boy whispered, his face inches from Taichi's ear.

Taichi wrapped his arms around him and hugged back, taking a deep breath and inhaling Daisuke's scent. He pressed his face into the reddish hair, wanting to remember how soft it was, and resisted the urge to slide a hand under Daisuke's shirt to feel his bare skin.

After a full minute, but what felt like only seconds to Taichi, Daisuke loosened his hold and sat back. He was smiling for real this time. "Good luck with your exams."

"Yeah, I'll need it." Standing for real this time, Taichi grinned. He turned and walked to the entrance and slipped on his shoes.

"You'll call and let me know how they go, right?" Daisuke asked softly.

Taichi paused with his hand on the doorknob. He didn't turn. "I'll call before then." His voice was rough.

He left before he heard Daisuke's reply, and he walked quickly to the train station. Only after arriving did he realize he'd left his bag with his clothes behind, probably at Daisuke's house, he thought. But he couldn't go back now. Instead, Taichi boarded the train that would take him back to college, and got all the way home before he realized that his fever had returned. Taking some medicine and tucking himself in, Taichi drifted to sleep and dreamt of a red headed boy and playing in the leaves.

End

Epilogue