Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Argument ❯ Argument ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

It was probably the nicest day in a long time there in Odaiba. The gang had planned on getting together for a little summer barbeque, but all of their previous set dates had been rained out, or far too hot to even consider going outside. Finally, the forecast called for clear skies and reasonable temperatures, so they all headed to the park that weekend for the outing. Taichi and Sora arrived first, having been the brains behind the whole operation.

"Did you remember the burgers?" Sora asked her boyfriend with a smirk as she set out the large picnic blanket she'd been saving just for today.

"Yes, I remembered the burgers! Isn't that something you should have asked me before we left, anyway?" Taichi grumbled, setting out the food they brought. Sora just laughed in response. It wasn't long before others started showing up: Miyako and Takeru being next. They brought a few dessert dishes Miyako had made. She mentioned to Sora that there was another dessert that Takeru made, but it didn't even look edible.

"I tried, ok!" Takeru said indignantly. Miyako laughed and patted his back.

"Yeah yeah, but jelly beans don't go with everything you know! Don't worry, I'll teach you how to make something next time."

Takeru blushed in embarrassment before declaring he was going to go help Taichi light the grill. He was a little embarrassed that his dish had failed the way it did, and he was even a little bit upset that Miyako hadn't even tried to ease the blow of his failure. Takeru would get over it quickly, though. He was still going to tell Miyako about how she'd briefly bruised his ego later, but it wasn't big enough of a deal to mention then. It could wait. Next to arrive were Ken and Daisuke. Ken had somehow convinced Daisuke to not bring every cup of ramen he owned, and instead they brought ice and beverages. Koushiro and Hikari arrived shortly after with all the plates and utensils. Koushiro quickly ran off to help Taichi and Takeru with the grill when everyone saw the very tall fire that had erupted. It was then that Iori arrived with a frisbee, a ball, and a few other things for the group to entertain themselves with.

"Mimi's not coming after all?" Hikari asked Sora as she set up the plates and utensils in neat piles.

"No, she couldn't leave after all. Something about a fashion crisis. You know her. She swore she'd make it the next time, though!" Sora answered with a smile.

"That's good, I miss her."

"What?! No Mimi! Uggggg, I wanted to show her this awesome magazine I picked up yesterday," Miyako whined. Sora and Hikari giggled as they watched Miyako pout.

"So that leaves Yamato and Jyou, then," Hikari mused.

"Yep. Bringing the salad."

"Well, that suits Jyou just fine."

"It's a barbeque! Who brings salad to a barbeque?" Miyako questioned. "Maybe a vegetable tray, y'know! Finger food! But a salad?"

Sora shrugged. "That's just what Jyou said on the phone when I asked him."

"We have utensils anyway," Hikari said. "A salad's fine."

"If you say so," Miyako said as she stood up to go help Iori set up the net he'd brought for badmitten.

Everyone was busying themselves with something: Hikari and Sora were working to set up the picnic area. Taichi, Koushiro, and Takeru were attempting to work the grill and get the burgers cooking. Miyako and Iori were setting up the activities while Daisuke teased them and Ken lightly scolded Daisuke for doing so. Everything was peaceful for the most part, just like the good old days when they were all kids. They were enjoying everyone's company, the weather, and the aroma of food once the burgers finally made it to the grill. It was pleasant.

Until the storm that was Yamato Ishida arrived, with Jyou following right on his tail.

"Well maybe I didn't want to!" Yamato yelled as he walked up to the picnic area. Sora and Hikari froze where they were, stopping their actions midway.

"How was I suppose to know that?! I can't read your mind!" Jyou yelled back, tearing his eyes away from Yamato to set the bowl he was carrying down. He calmly removed the lid, revealing quite a lot of salad.

"Clearly!" Yamato snapped. He was glaring daggers at Jyou, his blue eyes bright with rage. Sora and Hikari got smart and backed away from the area. Yamato was known for his explosive anger, and while they didn't think he'd do anything to them physically, it wouldn't be outrageous to think food might start flying. Miyako ran up to Hikari and placed a hand on the Digidestined of Light's shoulder.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"No clue," Hikari answered.

Soon, a group of Digidestined stood in a semi-circle around the picnic area a safe distance away. They all watched in confusion as Jyou and Yamato bickered back and forth. There was some light chatter amongst them, everyone trying to figure out what had started the yelling. It seemed no one knew. And using context clues from the fight weren't helping.

"I can't even gather what it is they're fighting about," Koushiro observed.

"Yeah, Yamato tends to change the subject when he's mad," Taichi said off-handedly as he watched his two friends yell back and forth. Koushiro nodded in agreement.

"Someone should stop them," Iori noted idly. They weren't alone in the park, afterall. And already people in other groups were stopping what they were doing to watch the bickering couple. He looked over to Takeru, who in turn looked to Taichi.

"Yeah..." Taichi said softly as he slowly walked towards Yamato and Jyou.

"Maybe if you'd just tell me when you're upset we could avoid all of this! Why do you have to be so difficult?!" Jyou sounded off.

"Difficult! Pot calling the kettle black, much?! Don't even get me started on difficult! I'll be anyway I damn well want! It's my choice!" Yamato almost screamed.

"What?" Jyou's tone instantly quieted. Something Yamato said had struck a chord with him, and he was suddenly thinking this fight didn't have anything to do with Jyou not mentioning to Yamato that they were bringing salad. Well, he figured that out earlier - after all who cared if they brought salad? But a picture was forming before his eyes; it just wasn't entirely clear yet.

"I said, 'It's my choice'," Yamato answered, his voice much quieter than before. It was still very deliberate though, and it held a weight Jyou didn't miss. His words were pointed, and his gaze was unwavering. Yamato could tell Jyou was figuring it out.

"Uh, guys?" Taichi spoke up, finally reaching them. "We're sort of drawing a crowd..." He gestured to the people surrounding the group, all staring in their direction. For the first time since they arrived, Yamato and Jyou looked around and noticed the other people there. Hell, they hadn't even noticed their own friends around them. Jyou flushed instantly in embarrassment.

"Ah, s-sorry!" he exclaimed, then proceeded to bow and apologize in several different directions. Yamato on the other hand just turned on his heel and started walking away.

"Wait, Yamato!" Taichi called after him. Jyou hadn't seen his boyfriend leaving, but he certainly heard Taichi. He looked over at Yamato then and watched the back of the other man as he left. Jyou made no move to stop him. "Uh, Jyou? Is... this ok? Shouldn't you go after him or something?"

"He needs time to cool his head," Jyou replied with a somber ring in his voice.

"I guess... What were you guys fighting about anyway?"

"I have no idea."

Koushiro decided to go back to the burgers, glad to find that they hadn't burned while his attention was directed elsewhere. Takeru ran over to the picnic area to get plates for the meat. Sora and Hikari returned to the picnic blanket, sitting down and chatting. Miyako joined them, obviously trying not to look up at Jyou with a concerned expression. Daisuke demanded Ken and Iori tell him what it was Yamato and Jyou had been fighting about since he couldn't figure out, and he whined when they told him they didn't know either. They were two of the smartest guys he knew! If they couldn't figure out what it was about, then who could?

It seemed everyone was going back to what they were doing, more or less. The cheery atmosphere returned, but it wasn't as pleasant and relaxed as before. Everyone was trying to figure out what had happened in the back of their minds, but none of them said anything. They sat around and ate, talked about various unimportant things, and after a while a good number of them broke up into teams for a good game of badmitten. Miyako, Daisuke, Takeru, and Koushiro were on one team while Sora, Hikari, Ken, and Iori were on the other. There was some good natured jeering between the two teams as they battled.

That left Jyou and Taichi sitting on the picnic blanket.

"I thought you'd be over there with them," Jyou said after a while. "Wouldn't that be more fun than sitting here?"

"The teams would have been uneven," Taichi responded. "And besides... I wanted to talk to you."

"About earlier."

"Yeah."

Both of them were silence for a while after that. They watched their friends laughing as they played their game. Sora jumped up and spiked the birdie right at Koushiro's feet and high-fived Hikari in victory. It sure looked like a lot of fun. Jyou knew that if he had been the one over there playing, though, he would have fallen flat on his face by now. He was perfectly happy sitting and watching from afar.

"I don't even really know how it happened," Jyou said after a while. He surprised himself when he'd spoken. Honestly, he had just been thinking the words and hadn't meant at all to actually say them. But Taichi was looking at him expectantly then, so Jyou felt obligated to continue. It might even help a little bit anyway. "Sora asked what I wanted to bring for today, and I said salad. I hadn't told Yamato about it because I figured it didn't matter. Then yesterday, when I was preparing it he asked what I was making so much for, and I told him... Then on the way over, I don't know... we were just talking."

Taichi didn't say anything as Jyou spoke. He just sat and listened to him. When he was younger, he might have interrupted Jyou to give his two cents before his friend was even done speaking. He'd since learned that he needed to wait and get the entire story before giving his thoughts. So, that's what he did. He waited.

"Then I decided to check the time on my phone. I was worried we were running late. I asked Yamato to hold the bowl for a second, and he said it wasn't even his idea to bring it. And well, that just started everything. It sounds really dumb now that I say it outloud," Jyou mentioned, laughing a little out of embarrassment. "What a stupid thing to fight about, am I right?"

"Not if there's more to it," Taichi told him. From the sounds of it, there most certainly was more to it. If not, well then yeah it was an incredibly dumb thing to argue about.

"Yeah... there probably is."

"What do you think it is?"

Jyou had an idea. It was something that he'd spoken to Yamato about a week before then. He just wasn't sure he really wanted to talk to Taichi about it. Yamato had these habits that were hardly good for his health, like staying up too late and not getting enough sleep if he was working on a new song. Some nights, the blonde never even came to bed. He'd stay up several nights in a row, and then pass out at his desk. Jyou kept finding him bent over music scores, sleeping - which was terrible for his back - or out cold on the floor having fallen out of his chair in the middle of the night. Yamato also went through coffee and energy drinks like they were air, sometimes would only eat maybe a donut if anything... It was all absolutely horrible for his health, and Jyou had started to get worried. Once in a while wasn't that bad he guessed. But when Yamato started writing music full time, these strings of days when he took poor care of himself became more frequent.

Finally, Jyou had sat Yamato down and told him that he was a grown man. Yamato needed to take better care of himself, starting right then. He had been more than a little surprised when Yamato said ok. Now, his tone wasn't really all that convincing when he'd said it. It wasn't the ok one would hear if they asked someone to hit the lights, or take out the garbage. His ok was a little more confused and questioning. But subtly so. Only a little bit. Jyou only really noticed the tone after he had recovered from the shock of that being the end of it. He had been expecting some sort of a fight from his lover. All Yamato said, though, was 'ok.'

When Yamato said he would be anyway he wanted and that it was his choice, Jyou got the feeling that was what he was really upset about. After all, Jyou had been very blunt when he'd told Yamato that he needed to take better care of himself. Looking back, he could see how Yamato would assume Jyou was telling him how to live. That wasn't the case at all, but he could see Yamato coming to that conclusion after he thought about it on his own for a week.

"Jyou?" Taichi asked. Jyou had gone quiet, and Taichi was curious what it was he was thinking. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"Yeah," Jyou answered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah... but not with you," he replied.

"Oh." Taichi couldn't help but feel a little offended by that. Not a lot, just a little. Was he not good enough to talk about it with? Did Jyou not think he could help or understand?

"I want to talk to Yamato about it."

"Oh. Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," Taichi said with a chuckle. The momentary offense he'd felt was gone then. It made sense that Jyou would want to talk to Yamato - and he should! Talking to Yamato about it was completely fine.

Jyou stood up then, a determined expression set on his face.

"Wa-wait, you meant now? Like right now?" Taichi asked, scrambling to his feet.

"Yeah. Sorry to head out earlier, but I really need to talk to him."

"Alright man... I understand."

"Thanks Taichi." Jyou smiled at Taichi, who returned it. Taichi clapped him on the shoulder.

"Go get him."

Yamato was playing his guitar a little more violently than he should have. He was mad, though, and desperately needed to vent. Sometimes playing his guitar, or his harmonica, helped. But not today. No matter how much he played, he was still angry. So, so angry. He wanted to hit something, smash something, scream and yell and just be mad. Yamato couldn't really do that, though. The last time he'd done something like that, he had destroyed a good bit of the living room, and his neighbors called the cops.

What Yamato really needed, though, was Jyou. He was furious with him of course, but he still needed to talk to Jyou. Of course he hadn't told his boyfriend what it was he was upset about. Talking about his feelings was never one of his strong points. And once he was mad, he just couldn't calm down until he was exhausted. Jyou wasn't like that. Jyou got uptight about things a lot, so that might have been why it was so much easier to calm him down. All Yamato had to do most of the time was touch him. Kiss him maybe. Sometimes he could calm Jyou down with just a look. Yamato didn't work that way. He didn't get upset about things until he was at his wits end, and at that point all he could do was explode.

That's what had happened this time. In truth, he was upset about what he and Jyou had talked about earlier that week. He felt like a child being scolded by his parent. So what, he had rules now? Like Jyou said, he was a grown man! He was allowed to choose how he lived his life himself. What was Jyou going to do if he didn't take care of himself anyway, punish him? Yeah right.

"Yamato."

Yamato jumped up from the couch where he'd been sitting. Jyou had startled him out of his thoughts. Yamato had been so lost in them that he hadn't even heard Jyou come home. He recovered from his shock quickly though and glared.

"What, not off having fun with everyone?"

"You know it's not the same without you."

"Whatever." Yamato turned to their room to put the guitar away, but Jyou stopped him by lightly grabbing his arm.

"Not whatever. C'mon. We need to talk."

"Maybe I don't want to talk!" Yamato snapped at him as he ripped his arm away.

"I want to talk."

Yamato debated just going into their bedroom and slamming the door shut. He almost did, but the look on Jyou's face stopped him. They needed to talk. They really did. Yamato was wearing himself out anyway, and soon he'd want to snuggle up to Jyou and sleep. He couldn't really do that if they were still fighting. He set his guitar down against the wall and plopped down on the couch.

"Fine. Talk." His posture screamed defiance with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his legs resting on the coffee table. Jyou sat down next to Yamato and rested his hand on Yamato's thigh.

"You're mad about last week," he stated.

"No shit."

"Care to tell me why?"

Yamato scoffed. "I have to tell you? You're only a year older than me! I don't need you to tell me what to do, you're not my parent!"

"I wasn't trying to tell you what to do."

"You told me I needed to take better care of myself!"

"You do."

"I'm fine! Completely fine, Jyou! I don't need you to tell me how to take care of myself!"

Jyou pinched the bridge of his nose. He almost said that he apparently did need to tell Yamato how to take care of himself if he thought he was doing a fine job of it. But he didn't say that. Instead, he just rubbed Yamato's thigh.

"Not sleeping, not eating... that didn't seem like you were taking care of yourself to me," he finally said.

"Well I was. I sleep when I'm tired, I eat when I'm hungry. Sorry if it's not on a schedule," Yamato told him pointedly, looking away. Jyou didn't like that, so he tucked a finger under Yamato's chin and turned his face back towards him.

"I was worried. I love you, you know that. I was just scared you were going to get sick," Jyou told him softly. Well, worded like that, Yamato could hardly hold his glare the way he had been.

"You don't need to worry," Yamato insisted.

"I always worry."

"Yeah, I know."

They both sat in silence for a while. Jyou was wondering what it was that was going through Yamato's mind then, and Yamato was wondering just how much of an ass he'd been. Of course that's why Jyou had told him to take better care of himself. He knew it wasn't a power thing, and yet he'd somehow convinced himself it was. He should apologize. Yamato knew he should, but he was never very good at apologizing. And it wasn't just Jyou who deserved one. All of his friends did too. After all, he had deliberately left the picnic they'd been planning for weeks. And made quite the scene before doing so.

"Yamato?"

Jyou's voice brought him out of his thoughts again. And then so did his lips. It was a small kiss, but it relaxed Yamato enough for him to rest his head against Jyou's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Jyou smiled, wrapping his arms around Yamato's shoulders.

"Me too. I should have known you were upset... and I really should have worded it better."

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the peace they had after all that yelling from earlier. It would hardly be their last fight, and Yamato would of course worry Jyou by letting his sleeping habits suffer again. But for the moment, things were ok.

"I need to apologize to everyone else, too," Yamato mumbled.

"They love you too. I doubt they care."

Yamato smiled. He would still apologize to everyone later, but he knew what Jyou said was true. Good friends know you, and they rarely hold grudges. He just might need to bring more than a salad to their next outing.