Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ BodyHeat ❯ Fate and Circumstance ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Digimon characters are sadly not mine to lock away… I wish. You wish. We all wish that Ken would just take Dai and-well, *wink* we know… So, flamers and fans alike, I present the fifth chapter of my lemony fic… I have no expectations on the chapters, so it could get pretty high, the numbers…

So, without further rambling…

You're still here? Gah, scroll down, scroll down!! It's the fifth chapter!!!

~Bodyheat~

The phone rang at nine, an annoying sound in the unbroken silence of the room, shrilling at the bed's occupant. Shades covered the windows, keeping the room bathed in darkness, while the boy slept sprawled out in his bed. Three rings sounded out before Daisuke stirred.

After a moment, with a dull sleepy curse, Daisuke groped out with an arm and yanked the phone from its cradle and slammed it down again.

"…damn solicitors…"

A minute later, just as he was sinking back into the formless dream involving him, a shower, and the Kaizer up against the wall-

-The phone rang again.

Daisuke growled into his pillow, blindly reaching for the offending machine. "Life or death, or get off!" he muttered.

"Hey squirt!" a cheery familiar voice rang in his ear. "You better get ready-we're about an two hours away yet. And it will be life or death, if you're not!"

The sleepy deadweight feeling left quickly, and Daisuke propped himself up on an elbow. "Aw, Jun! Can't I sleep? I got back late…"

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," she laughed. "So tell whoever's in the bed with you to get his ass in gear and go!"

"Erg…not funny…" Daisuke yawned and mumbled back, "Don't got anyone here, anyway…he had other things to do…"

"Daisuke!"

He grinned then, and asked with a glance at the green readout of his clock, "When you going to get here, around 11?"

"Yeah, about that. We stopped for gas, and I told them I had to go the bathroom. Otherwise-"

~Otherwise I wouldn't have warning,~ Daisuke thought darkly. "Thanks, I owe you…"

"You are behaving today, right? No pranks or tricks to piss them off?" The older child of the Motomiya family held a tinge of worry in her voice. "It's gotten a bit better, you know…"

It was her warning to keep it as normal as possible-Daisuke knew all to well that he had no choice. Jun didn't need the stress.

"I'll be good," he promised, and rolled over to his back. "I'm always good."

"Yeah," she scoffed. "Whatever."

There came a muffled shout in the background, a familiar voice he recognized when it was so loud, and he heard a strange scratchy sound over the receiver. She must have covered it up, he noted.

"Be right there!" Jun said, and turned back to the phone. "Okay, Momei, I'll tell you all about it later, okay?"

Daisuke smiled, and said in a breathless voice, "Uh huh, you go girl!"."

She giggled. "Yeah, ja ne!"

The phone clicked twice in his hand before the dial tone buzzed solemnly in his ear. Daisuke sighed softly and pushed the phone off the bed.

~Damn, he thought. ~I hoped they wouldn't come…~ His mind floated into the realm between sleep and awareness until the next thought sent his stomach gurgling.

~I smell breakfast…~

~

It was about an hour later that the phone rang again, the shrill call-to-arms muffled under a relentless pile of clothing. Daisuke's whirlwind attempt at cleaning had him shoving clothes and various items into boxes and stacking them into his closet when he heard the phone. He whipped around at the sound, muttering, and dropped the armload of shoes. "Oh, bugger off," he growled, and dug through the dirty towel section of his laundry.

"Hello?" he snapped a second later, elbow deep in the stiff-dried towels, trying to keep his balance.

"Uhmm…Dai?"

"Oh, hey, TB."

"Problems?" Takeru sniffed. "You sound stressed."

"Cleaning," the redhead growled. "Parents are visiting today."

"Oh, you're kidding…"

"I wish." Daisuke freed his arm from the clutching fabric and sat down on the bed. "They'll be here in an hour or so…"

Takeru winced audibly over the phone. "Ah, Dai, I'm sorry…I know how they are…"

"Not as sorry as me. You don't have sit through the five lectures I'm bound to get for just brushing my teeth wrong."

"Hey, I would if you'd let me…"

"Aw, can it, blondie. What did you want anyway?" Daisuke smirked.

"Was gonna ask you about last night-"

Daisuke stuck his tongue out at the phone, and bounced up from the bed. "If it concerns the Kaizer, my official words are 'Fuck off and die.'"

"No…" Takeru paused and considered the best way to put this. "About the girl. I was thinking…"

"Didja blow a fuse?"

Takeru growled, and mashed several buttons at once until he could hear Daisuke yelping "Alright!" over the noise. "I'm serious," he informed him as he put the phone to his ear. "I mean…you saw how Akira just pushed us away, and told us to leave…He didn't seem to surprised."

"Yeah, that kid didn't either. He said it 'happened before' or something, right?" He took a few seconds to kick some old books under his bed, humming under his breath and slammed his closet door shut. "What do you think she was jacked up on?"

"You mean drugs?" Takeru inhaled slowly. "I heard there had been some problems with dealers…but…seriously? Drugs?"

"She had some overdose symptoms, Takeru. Ihappen to know those. Had a few friends that got in a bad way a year back or so…"

"Dai…?"

"Anyway," Daisuke switched topics, and muttered a curse when the covers refused to straighten. "I thought the Kaizer was real strict about all that. So what's he doing, letting these guys dope everyone up?"

"I don't think he can catch them…Like I said, you'd know if he did. He's got a real thick mean streak when you break his rules."

"Mmm…he's really hot…"

"I'm serious, Daisuke! He can be a lot of trouble!"

Daisuke made another face to the phone. "You're always serious. Loosen up."

"You're an idiot, you know," Takeru replied, and smiled faintly in defeat.

"So who is he, anyway?"

"No one really knows…He's like this mystery guy, strong and godlike and…no one knows." Takeru grinned faintly at Daisuke's disgruntled noise.

"Uhn…weird…" A snicker sounded. "But he's still hot."

Daisuke straightened at the sound of Takeru muttered curse, his mind half in the conversation and half in the process of cleaning, looking around.

"I mean," Takeru continued. "When the place first opened there were the usual bodyguards, doormen, bartenders. The Kaizer was just a name." A pause. "But a bad one. A lot of underage drinking started, and this one group of guys started harassing the usuals. They started making kids do their shit…and it got worse."

"Seriously…Kids?"

"Yeah…I heard someone had died around that time. The place almost got shut down, but someone in the background pulled some strings and it was reopened about four months later."

"But this time with the Kaizer," Daisuke guessed. ~Odd…~

"You got it," Takeru was saying. "The place opens again, and the same guys who were dealing to the kids showed up. They thought it'd be easy money."

A long pause.

"The Kaizer had them all on a list. He knew who they were, and he took them down. A lot of them got arrested on charges of child molestation, abuse, and dealing...The ones that didn't…he hunted down, or took them down when they came after him."

"Dude…" Daisuke frowned at the sudden emotionless tone.

"I was there."

Letting out his breath in a sudden whoosh, Daisuke frowned and said a soft tone. "Takeru…did something…" He paused, hearing the dead silence on the other end, and bit his lip. "You weren't one of the kids, were you?"

~Not like…like…~

"No," Takeru shook his head. He took a deep breath. "Yamato was…"

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"He was playing a gig that night; Tai wasn't there for once. He had practice, or something." He trailed off for a moment. "Daisuke…they were waiting for something like this…and…they took advantage."

"And you?"

"I was there because Yama invited me to watch. This was after the it reopened, by the way, so there was a lot of new faces." Takeru laughed. "Some of them barely knew how to dance…"

"And the dealers?"

"There were two of them that night, and one of them brought Yama a drink as congrats for such a "stunning performance," as he termed it. God…We found out later that there had been some mild meth sub-mix in the drink…"

Daisuke wisely kept his silence.

"The next thing I knew, after the gig was over and the techno music was on-everyone was dancing-they pulled him away from the crowd and into a back room. I don't know what happened, Yama didn't tell me, but in about five minutes, he was back out in the crowd, running…god, he looked scared."

"Did they…"

"As far as I know, they didn't get that far. The Kaizer interrupted them, thank god. I don't know how Yama would have withstood it…if he hadn't…"

Daisuke closed his eyes, painfully aware of the thickness in his throat, and swallowed silently. "What then?"

Takeru's voice took a tinge of awe, then. "Yama went sprawling in the center of the dance floor-I remember running towards him-and the two bastards where walking up to him, and then the Kaizer spoke…"

"'You made a big mistake,' he said, and stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing black, like he was in mourning. He uncoiled the whip, and with one stroke knocked one off his feet."

"'Who the fuck are you?!'" they bellowed, and the Kaizer grinned…that grin gave me the shivers. He looked really freaky, but he said 'I am the Kaizer,' in this odd mocking sort of voice, angry or something, and snaps the whip."

Daisuke let out a soft whisper of a sigh.

"Man…everything got real quiet, and the two dealers look at him like he's nuts. One of them laughs, then and says 'You ain't the Kaizer…You're just a little boy toy!' and looks at his friend. 'What do you say we play with him for a while?'"

Takeru snickered. "You should have seen their faces when he used that whip on them again. He had them screaming on the floor, and he was watching with this eerie dead look, like he didn't care if it was someone's mother on the floor, and carefully coils the whip and hangs it on his belt. 'From now on,' he states, 'There will be no drugs. No alcohol! And anyone breaking this rule will deal with me!"

There was a pause, and then Daisuke replied, "Damn. Wish I could've seen that."

"Yeah…well, anyways, after that, he's done the off and on appearance, occasionally showing up to remove more dealers. He eventually had the rules posted near every door, and the waiver thing started. I tell you, he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah," Daisuke let out a small laugh. "He's still hot, Takeru. Hot and dangerous, and sexy…oh man…"

He heard a sigh from the blond on the other line. "Daisuke, I want you to be careful around him…okay?"

"You know I will, man. I just…" Daisuke smiled again. "I dunno…he's…different. I feel like I've known him somewhere…"

"Yeah, whatever. You're so weird sometimes, Dai, it's frightening. But I better let you go, alright?"

"Yeah…and hey, if you see the Kaizer anywhere, send him over…I'm sure my 'tousan would love to meet him."

Takeru snickered. "I'll see what I can do. Later, man."

"Yeah, I'll call you later," Daisuke inhaled and stretched. He clicked the phone off, and tossed to where his pillows where hidden underneath the t-shirts, and wondered if he even bothered. They would find faults with something, no matter what he did. Why even bother for an approval that had no chance at life?

"I hate you!" he hissed out suddenly, and kicked at the nearest thing-which happened to be a pillow, thankfully-and sent it flying into the closet. He sank down onto the bed with a groan, and covered his head.

Might as well wish for a miracle, at this point.

~

Ken was already awake and just out of the shower when his mother poked her head into his room to inform him of a phone call. ~Odd,~ he said, and slid his hand through his damp hair. Not many people had their private number. He walked to the single phone, raising it and saying a polite "Hello?"

"Hey, Ken! It's Takeru…"

Surprised, Ken straightened. "Takeru? Did something happen?"

"Um, not really. I need a favor, though."

Ken toyed with the coiled cord absently, and wondered what was so important that Takeru needed his help. "Yes?"

"I need you to go over to Daisuke's and get him out of there."

Ken felt his stomach heave. "What?" he whispered. "Takeru, I don't-"

"Look…His parents are dicks, and by the end of the day his dad will smack him around for being a smartass. I don't want that happening okay? I need you to help me."

"Me? Why me?" Ken didn't care that his voice was beginning to sound panicked. "I can't-" ~Can't see him…I don't dare…~

"Ken, shut up and listen, okay?" Takeru snapped. "His dad doesn't like me, and since you guys were supposed to study Sunday, I thought you could give them the excuse it was today, and make him look better…"

Ken inhaled shakily. ~I can't believe this,~ he thought, nearly pushed to the hysterical point. "You want me to go over, and-and make a good impression on his parents?!"

"Please, Ken, I'm begging you." Takeru paused. "Please…I'll do anything if you'll do this…"

"God, Takeru...give me a moment…" Ken pinched the bridge of his nose. ~I can't believe this…~ he repeated mentally ~After last night…I don't know if I can handle this…~ "Are you sure you want me to do this?"

A part of him grinned at the thought. ~Mm…we'll get to see him again, you know. You sure you want to pass that up?~

Ken shoved the voice away, and heard himself dimly reply "Alright…I'll do it."

The relief was almost tangible when Takeru sighed out a long-held breath and grinned over the phone. "Thank you so much, Ken. Here…got a pen? I'm gonna give you the address."

"You owe me," Ken muttered, as he scribbled down the directions. "You so owe me."

"Yeah yeah, genius. Trust me. It'll be worth it."

~

It was about an hour later that he arrived near the downtown area of the apartments, glancing at the slip of paper to orient himself, and scowling at the world in general.

~Almost there,~ his heart thumped, and almost against his will the image of Daisuke still pressed up against that pole flashed through his head.

Shrugging the image away, and the resulting turmoil that bled through his nerves, he entered the building Takeru had indicated. After a short ride on the elevator, he clutched the bookbag close and stepped out into the hall.

Almost right away, he heard the shouting.

~What the hell? What kind of place is this?~

Uneasy, he marched up to the door and knocked.

~It's coming from this apartment,~ he thought, and felt his unease triple. ~Daisuke's in there…~ and the echoes of Takeru's words hit him.

"His dad will smack him around…"

Eyes narrowed suddenly, and Ken gritted his teeth. For a long second he fought down the inexplicable urge to find the loud-mouthed bastard and throw him over the nearest balcony, pushed back the almost primitive rage, fought against that darker stronger side of him with a ferocity that surprised even himself.

By the time the door opened, a surprised looking woman with short brown hair peering out at him, Ken had smoothed his face into an icy mask. He gave the woman, Daisuke's aunt, he assumed, a small smile. "Ano…is Daisuke in? We were supposed to study today…"

"Daisuke?" she said, blinking. "Of course…you must be a schoolmate, then," she remarked and widened the door. "Here, come on in. I'm sorry about the mess, however…"

"It's quite alright," Ken said smoothly, and flashed her a reassuring grin.

He paused to slip off his shoes while the woman, Miaki or something, wandered off to locate Daisuke.

"-I thought I raised you better than this, boy!" came the sudden blare of noise. "Don't you know how to do anything right? "
"Look, I was busy, okay?" Daisuke, snapping from somewhere beyond his sight. He sounded angry, Ken noted, and felt a small thrill at the voice, all the same.

"Look, you little punk, you should be happy- " Something large rustled suddenly, and a scuffling sound reached his ears.

The rage flared, and it was all Ken could do from running to the redhead.

"Dammit, will you two stop already? There's someone here for Daisuke!" the woman snapped over her shoulder as she reappeared. She motioned him over, and gave him a worn smile. "Sorry about that. My brother is a little hard, sometimes," she whispered as he drew close.

Ken merely gave her a small nod, before he rounded the corner.

Without a thought, his eyes narrowed, taking in the rough-looking skinny man standing near the center of the room, his fist wrapped in the fabric of Daisuke's shirt. Daisuke was straightening slowly, a flushed expression on his face and his clothing ruffled as he yanked himself away. The two females seated on the couch were looking uncomfortable, but Ken merely glanced over them as he focused on a single person.

And tried hard not to look at Daisuke right off the bat. The man, who Ken assumed to be the father of the happy bunch, turned to peer at him suspiciously.

Ken disliked him immediately. He gave the man a narrow look, tilting his head slightly, and didn't speak.

And then Daisuke sputtered out, "Ken?! What the hell are you doing here?"

Ken gave him a level look. "Tomorrow will be difficult to get together-" He paused as the man straightened and glanced at Ken, then Daisuke with an ominous look. "Forgive me…I would have called, but-"

"I thought," the man began, in a curiously level voice. "that I fixed you of this problem."

Ken glanced at him in confusion, immediately on his guard.

Daisuke opened his mouth to speak, his eyes leaving Ken for a split second. "What? I haven't done anything! That's-"

"Dad-" the younger girl whispered.

The man rounded on Ken, and sneered at him. "Has he fucked you yet?"

Ken blinked, once, not sure he had heard correctly, and felt his face pale. The Kaizer within him hissed, suddenly, and Ken forced himself to breathe.

"Dad!!" Daisuke hissed in horrible shock, and made the mistake of grabbing the man's arm. Hectic spots of color flared in his cheeks.

The man twitched his arm scornfully, and pushed the boy away. "Answer me," he said to Ken, as Daisuke stumbled back, appalled. "My son has a bad habit of shacking up with the first available boy he can find…"

Ken inhaled softly, slowly, and felt the first beginnings of a grin stretch his face. ~This is bad,~ he heard himself whisper. ~No insane grins! No!~ "My name," he said stiffly, with that eerie smile on his face, "is Ichijouji Ken. And no, I have not 'fucked' your son." ~I'd like to, though,~ he whispered inside. ~I'd love to…~

Daisuke clenched his fists in helpless anger. "We're study-partners, dammit! How can you do this? God!" He slid past the man and took Ken by the elbow. "Ken-"

"Dad," the younger girl repeated and the man turned to look at her in annoyance. "That's Ichijouji Ken! He's…he's famous!"

A disbelieving snort sounded. "If he's so famous, how'd he end up shackled to a low-life like Daisuke?"

"Blame the teacher," Daisuke snapped, and gave the man a dirty look. "Are you done ruining my life now?"

"Yes, we must be going," Ken replied, and took a step backwards. "There's a test on Monday, and I was hoping Daisuke could improve his marks. But I understand completely if you with to spend the day with your son-I had hoped to improve his grades before the term was out, though…"

Daisuke turned to look at him in astonishment. ~Oh he's good.~ he thought.

Mildly settled in the face of this surprising concern, the father turned to place his hands on his hips. "No, we're done with him. Go off and do whatever it is to get his grades up-god knows he needs all the help he can get."

"Great, thanks for stopping," Daisuke muttered, and dragged Ken back to a small hallway. "I can't believe he said that…" he shot Ken a fuming look as he slammed open the door. He waited until Ken was inside, then shut the door quietly. "Goddamn him…"

Then he turned to face Ken in all his fury. "Explain," the redhead snapped out.

Ken closed his eyes and drew in a long breath. "Explain what?" he muttered. He snapped open his eyes, still furious, and watched Daisuke scrub hands through his hair while his own hands, somehow, had fisted around his bag. "That I am upset at your father's behavior?" ~That I would kill him if I had the chance?~

"Believe me, I've wanted to do that for a long time. Man…" he paused to kick a large pile of clothing away from what appeared to be the bed, and fell back with a choked sound of anger. "I can't believe he said that to you!"

"Hn."

Daisuke sighed. "I'm really sorry…I-I hate him…I really do…"

Slowly, Ken unclenched his fingers from around the handle of the bag. "It's not your fault," he took a second, and smirked at Daisuke when he glanced up. "Blame Takeru. He called in a favor."

"God," Daisuke laughed briefly. "I should have known…Guess he couldn't find the Kaizer…"

"…the…Kaizer?" Ken whispered, eyes wide with surprise.

"Yeah, I was on the phone with TP this morning, and said to send him over if he saw him." Daisuke waved a hand. "Not that you weren't as good-you were great, you know."

Ken drew in a calming breath, feeling his heart settle slowly, and tried to swallow. ~If he knew how close he was…~ a giggle sounded inside him. ~What do you think he'd do?~

"So…um…"

Ken raised his head to peer at Daisuke, watched him sit up slowly and eye him with a speculative look. "Yes?"

"Wanna go to the park and study?" Daisuke looked around, then down at his hands. "I don't know if they'll stay here for a while, but I…I need to get outside."

"I don't think I could get away from your father fast enough," Ken muttered.

"Great! I'll even treat you to ice cream for showing up, too…I owe you big time."

~Oh, but there's better things you can do…~ he thought, and snapped the lid on the treacherous wisp of desire before it slipped from his head like the previous invective.

Ken rolled his shoulders, faintly, as Daisuke began the hunt for his book, and tried not to let his gaze move across the well-rounded bottom hung teasingly near. He closed his eyes briefly, pulling back his public mask as Daisuke scrambled to his feet.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind putting this in your bag, would you?"

Ken shook his head. "No…" ~Anything…anything at all to touch you….~

~God how I wish…~

~

Discreetly, Daisuke glanced up at the vision in his room and fought down a wave of clamoring hormones. Somehow, Ken had managed to save him with a few simple words.

He looked dangerously angry though.

~I've never seen him angry…man…he looks…~

He slid his book into the bag, noting the way Ken forced his fingers to unclench, and wondered just how strong his temper was. His face was flushed pink, his eyes sparked dangerously, and Daisuke thought he hadn't seen anyone as stunningly attractive as Ken at this moment. Like molten ore behind a cooling wall of steel.

Again, he glanced up at Ken, noting the way the other boy was watching him with a mix of hunger and sharpness. ~I wonder what he's thinking,~ Daisuke gave him a cheerful grin, and shrugged. "All set."

~Too bad he's not really the Kaizer…that'd make everything perfect…~

~Oh yeah…both of them…perfect…~ Daisuke smiled ruefully, glad Ken couldn't see his expression. ~Yeah right…so much for dreams…~