Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Castaways ❯ Our Way Home ( Chapter 8 )

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

I do what I do when I can do it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Hopefully someone in Japan gives me a million bucks for this.






"Sir, we got something," one of the crew members said, coming up to Go at the Japanese Embassy. He went there to check on the progress of the search.

"Thank God," he said with a heavy sigh. "What is it?"

"It's a distress signal, written in old morse code. All it says is S.O.S repeatedly."

"Was the signal able to be pinpointed to its source?"

"Yes, it was traced back to a large seacraft," a female from the Costal S&R(Search and Rescue) Team said, turning from the monitor she was currently watching. "It seemed to come from somewhere near the eastern border of Japan, about 50 degrees Longitude, 38 degrees Latitude."

"Seiko, get me a map," Go said, turning to the crew member of the name.

"Aye, Cap'n!" Seiko rushed off to get a map. "Here, Cap'n," he said, returning with one. Go took it and spread it out onto a nearby table.

"50 degrees Longitude, 38 degrees Latitude, you say?" he asked, placing a compass on the pinpoints.

"Yes," said the rescue worker.

Go traced a line from Shanghai to the appointed source.

"It's close to where we were sailing, about a day's travel from here," one of the weather watchman said, looking on.

"Then that's where we search," said Go.

"I'm not trying to be a pessimist or anything," said Seiko. "But it could be a ship that just strayed off coast and tried to contact help."

"If it were, it would radio in help, not use morse code," Go said, looking back at him. He turned back to the map. "The only time any ship at all would use morse code is if it were stranded, or there were no radio signals in the area. Has anyone heard any reports about a ship or any other seacraft missing at any time?"

"There was one report on the news a few weeks ago about a cargo ship carrying a bunch of wild and exotic animals to a zoo in Beijing that turned up missing," said an officer. "Obviously, it was never found. There weren't even any crew members rescued."

"Weird, but it may be connected. I suggest we search the area by helicopter. At least from up there we can see what's going on."
*****************

"Have any of you seen Takeru?" Ken asked the gang. Everyone shook their heads no. It was about eight thirty in the morning, and they decided to eat breakfast at one of the local restaurants.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen that girl, Saki either," Rosa said.

"Nobody ever sees that girl, so that's nothing new," Miyako said. "And I bet you she's right behind me, too."

"You must have eyes in the back of your head," Saki said, grinning as Miyako turned around in her seat to look at the girl, who was turned in her seat as well.

"How do you appear out of nowhere like that?"

"Secret arts of the ninja. Though what the secret is, I don't know."

"What are you doing up so early in the morning anyway?"

"Same thing you guys are doing, eating breakfast. Though I never thought China would have an IHOP here."

"Well, pancakes are pretty international," Miyako said.

"That's true. Now if only my mom would make omelettes as good as this."

"What kind did you get?"

"Ham and cheese."

"Keeping it simple?"

"Yep."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but have you seen Takeru?" asked Iori. "We've been looking for him all morning."

"Not in the past few hours," Saki said, shrugging. "I'd suggest trying his room, but that'll seem quite pointless, seeing as you've already looked there."

"How'd you know we went there?" asked Rosa.

"I don't, but that would be the place to start for most people. Why are you looking for him anyway?"

"We just wanted to see how he was doing," said Ken.

"I'm sure he's doing fine, if anything. Maybe he just wanted to spend time by himself."

"Maybe. We'll continue to look for him." He and the rest of the gang got up to leave.

"Have a good time," Saki said as they passed her by. She went back to eating her omelette.

'I am curious as to where he is,' she thought. 'I went to his room before I came here to see if he wanted to come with me, but he was already gone. I hope he's doing okay.'
********************
Meanwhile, at the bank of a river, Takeru sat amongst a cluster of rocks with his knees drawn to his chest, watching a family of ducks swimming by. He was quite distraught about yesterday's events, wondering what he was going to do now.

'Why do people always feel bad after they do something they weren't supposed to?' he thought. 'I don't even know if I can justify this. What am I thinking? Hikari probably did the same thing with Daisuke.' He scoffed at that thought. 'Yeah, like that'll ever happen. There's no way she would want to do anything with him.' He looked behind him when he heard the rocks shift, and saw Ken walking towards him.

"How in the world did you find me?" he asked.

"I go to solitary places when I have a lot on my mind too," Ken said, sitting on a nearby rock. "Wanna talk?"

"Not really. I don't have much of anything to talk about."

"Either that, or you just don't want to tell me what's on your mind."

Takeru grunted in frustration. "I'm worried about Hikari. There, I said it. Happy now?"

Ken sighed. "You've got to be the biggest liar I've ever met," he said.

"Huh?" Takeru snapped his head towards Ken.

"You heard me. There's no way that you would be worried about Hikari this long."

"And why not?"

"Because for one, the nature of a human doesn't allow itself to worry for two days straight. I'm sure you had a good time somewhere between them."

"So?"

"So, I'm saying that this tells me that something else is troubling you."

"And I'm saying that you should stay out of my personal business." He turned back to the water.

"Look, I'm just trying to help. There's no need for you to get anal at me."

"I don't recall asking for your help. As a matter of fact, I don't recall asking for anyone's help. I just wanted to be left alone, minding my own business. But nooo, you guys had to come meddling-" he stopped mid sentence when he looked up at Ken, who had that hard gleam in his eyes from when he was the Digimon Kaiser.

"Takeru," he said slowly. "I'm going to tell you straight. Right now, it's taking every bit of my mental strength to keep from hitting you in the mouth. I'm already ticked nine ways to Sunday by your attitude, and now you're getting quite ridiculous." His face went cool again. "Now, please tell me what's bothering you."

Takeru looked as if he wanted to cry. His hands clutched his jeans so hard that his knuckles turned white. He turned back to the water.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Suit yourself," said Ken, getting up. "Though I should tell you that it isn't a good idea to hold stuff like that inside you the whole time. It'll start to hurt after a while." He turned to leave.

"I did something bad," Takeru blurted out. Ken turned back to him. "Something that I extremely regret doing, and I know that I'm going to pay for it later."

"And that would be?" Ken asked, sitting back down.

"I..." Takeru took a deep breath. "I slept with another woman," he mumbled, dropping his head.

"Uh huh," Ken said, not the least bit shocked by this revelation. "And I venture to guess that I know this girl?"

"You all do," Takeru said with a huff.

"Enough said. And now, you're trying to find out how to break this to Hikari when you see her again?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, this is something that could ruin us forever."

"And who's fault is that?"

"You don't have to rub it in," Takeru said, looking at Ken.

"How do you know that she didn't do anything with Daisuke?"

"Why would she? She doesn't even like him like that. Of course, knowing him he would probably try something perverted with her, like watching her from behind a bush while she's naked."

"Think for a second, Takeru. Would he actually do that, or is that from your imagination?"

Takeru shifted a little. "I-I don't know. I guess it's from my frustration."

"Or, you're just trying to find an excuse to justify yourself. See, Daisuke may be many things, but he's no perve. I've known him long enough to figure that out. And in case you haven't noticed, he has grown up, while you're still stuck in the prehistoric age of pre-teens."

"Huh?"

"Dude, you're twenty-one years old, and you still act as if Hikari's the only girl on the face of the earth worth being with."

"Are you saying I should leave her?" Takeru asked, getting slightly terse.

"I didn't say anything. But what I am saying is that you should ask yourself if you really love this girl or not, or is it just for show."

"I confessed my love for her back in fifth grade. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Aren't you about dense. That was fifth grade, this is now. You guys didn't get together until senior graduation, and even then I couldn't tell if you two were serious about each other. Besides, things change over a period of time."

"But you and Miyako have been together since Junior High."

"We didn't officially get together until our senior year. We just picked around until then. But we're not talking about my relationship, we're talking about you. What are you going to do about this?"

"I'm not sure what to do."

"Do what every man should do when they do something stupid: Tell her."

Takeru was shocked. "Are you crazy?! She'll kill me!"

"Hey, you did it, so you need to own up to it. If you don't tell her, she'll find out by some other means. Either way, you're screwed."

Takeru lowered his head. Ken patted him on his back sympathetically.

"Look, I won't tell anyone else. It'll be just between you and me." He paused. "And Saki as well." Takeru looked at him.

"Sorry," Ken said. "Just make sure you get this straightened out. If you don't you'll make things worse than it already is." He got up to leave, carefully moving over the rocks back onto the street. Takeru sat there for a bit longer, then got up with a frustrated grunt and made his way back to the street.
********************

Daisuke woke up with a start, the morning sun shining on his back. He looked around, taking stock of the situation. Somehow, he was sleeping outside on a blanket in only his boxers. He felt a light pressure on his chest and looked down. There, cuddled against him with her arms wrapped around him and sleeping soundly was Hikari in just her panties.

'What the...!' he thought, his eyes widening. 'What did we do last night?' He searched his mind for the answer. Yesterday's events came back to him, from the fight with the bear to the promises they made to each other. He smiled down at her, then began contemplating whether he should move or not.

'If I move, then she'll definitey wake up and wonder what's going on,' he thought. 'And if I stay, I'll have a better chance on explaining what went down, in case she doesn't remember anything. I'd better stay then.' A few moments later, Hikari woke up to te site of a muscular chest and soft, strong arms wrapped around her.

'Who...?' she thought. She looked up to see Daisuke looking down at her with a pleased, but forlorn expression on his face.

"Uh, hey," he said sheepishly. 'This should be the part where she screams.' To his astonishment, she didn't do it. She just looked up at him slightly puzzled.

"What are you so nervous about?" she asked. Daisuke's face went slack.

"You...remember what happened last night?" he asked.

"Of course, silly!" she said, snuggling up against him. "We made a promise to each other."

"Wow. I thought you were about to go all guru-guru on me."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Well, uh...I'm just saying, you know...I thought you were going to-"

"What, forget? I'm not going to forget something like that." She tightened her arms around him, and he did the same.

'Nevermind then,' he thought.

Later on that day, after they had taken their baths and Daisuke found his goggles (which were cracked in the lenses), they treked back to the ship. Since they had nothing better to do, they milled about the deck. At Hikari's insistence, Daisuke proceeded to show her a few defensive moves in case she ever got into any kind of trouble. He even showed her a one-two-knee combination from Kickboxing, then gave her a small demo of Wushu. The day was nearly spent when they decided to head back to the cave. They made their way off the ship and walked across the beach, hand in hand.

"Just where did you learn all of this stuff anyway?" Hikari asked.

"Trade secret," he said with a grin. "Actually, I taught myself some things for a while, then I started signing up for a lot of martial art programs as I got older. Through it all, I was taught a lot of things like self-control, discipline, honor, among other things. I even gained confidence about myself as well."

"Daisuke, you've always had confidence."

"It probably seemed like that to everyone, but deep down inside, I doubted my abilities in some situations, despite the courage I showed."

"Oh. What about this survival class you took?"

"I took that for a just cause, in case we had to go back to he Digital World at some point of time, and we got stuck somwhere that required a means of survival in a dire situation."

"What did they teach you?"

"How to read maps, land navigation, night navigation, how to use a compass, how to read the subtle changes in the wind, map out the stars, pretty much a whole slew of things."

"Changes in the wind?"

"Yeah. By listening to the wind, you can tell what's close to you, or how far you have to go to get somewhere. Depending on how strong or weak the wind is, you're close to a place that has lots of water, like the ocean for instance. Since it constantly blows strong, you can tell just how far you are from the water. Deserts tend to have weak wind patterns."

"They can also blow strong winds as well."

"True, but that's only because desert winds circulate constantly, getting stronger with each passing. That's how some dust devils are formed."

"Wow. That reminds me of a school baseball game I went to with my family a long time ago. The field looked more like a sand lot than a baseball field. The game was going pretty good, but all of a sudden, the wind started picking up, and a tall dust devil showed up out of nowhere. It got so strong that it actually grew in size until it looked like a tornado. Everyone had to duck down so no sand would get in their eyes. No one was hurt, but a few things did get tossed around."

"I wish I could have seen that."

"It's on Youtube. Someone recorded it."

"I'll have to look it up when-" He stopped in mid sentence.

"What?"

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like...rotors."

Hikari strained her ears. "I don't hear anything."

"Come on," he said, and they began walking again. As they got closer to the small hill leading up to the cave, Hikari stopped.

"Daisuke, I hear something!" she exclaimed. "It sounds like a helicopter."

"My thoughts exactly," he said, breaking off into a run up the hill, Hikari following close behind. At the top of the hill Hikari ran into the cave and searched the bag for the orange flare gun, while Daisuke waited. As soon as she came back out of the cave, they ran through the woods, up the hill, to the cliff where they first arrived. There, afar off on the horizon was a small dot flying through the air towards them that constantly let out two streams of brown smoke from the back, and it was heading their way.

"It is a helicopter!" Hikari exclaimed. "Why can we hear it so clearly from way back here?"

"Wind carries sound, like water. And since the wind is blowing this way, we can hear the chopper."

"Cool," she said, handing him the flare gun. "I'd rather you do it. I wouldn't want something to go wrong."

"Okay," Daisuke said, taking the gun.
****************

"We are about fifteen miles from the contact point," said Go, looking down at the map in the back of the helicopter. "This is were the message originated from."

"There's a lot of water down here," said Mrs. Hibiki, looking out of the window. "Not much to see when you're on the boat."

"That's because there's not much to see on a boat," said Go, grinning at his wife. She wanted to come with him to give female console to Hikari when the two were found.

"Uh, Mr. Hibiki," said one of the pilots. Go looked around his seat out of the windshield. A large bright flash followed by a trail of smoke erupted from a distant island not far from them.

"A flare!" Go exclaimed. "That must be them! Pilot, head to that island!" The pilot opened the throttle to nine knots, and the helicopter shot off towards the island.

"I'm sure that's the search party looking for us," said Hikari.

"Yeah," Daisuke said, his voice dropping a little. Hikari looked at him a little concerned. Without warning, she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. Daisuke was startled at first, then put his arms around her. They stayed like that for a few minutes as the sound of the helicopter got closer. They parted and stood at length, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.

"I'm going to miss you," Hikari said. Daisuke lifted her chin with a finger and smiled.

"You go and be a married woman," he said. "Live a happy life." They came together again in a kiss. They parted as the helicopter swooped towards them, then overhead and slowly came down a few yards away from them. The hatch opened, and Go and his wife stepped out, a blanket in Go's hand for Daisuke since he was mysteriously missing a shirt. They ran over to the two, Go heading to Daisuke with the blanket, and Mrs. Hibiki went to Hikari.

"Thank goodness you two are alright!" Mrs. Hibiki cried, hugging Hikari.

"What happened to your shirt?" Go asked Daisuke, handing him the blanket. Daisuke looked over at Hikari, and she winked at him.

"I was attacked by a bear," Daisuke said simply, looking at Go again. Go looked at him puzzled.

"Long story," Daisuke added.

"Well, in any case, it's good to see you're alright. Let's get you guys back, shall we?"

It wasn't long before they were in the air, and heading back to the Japanese Embassy in Shanghai. Daisuke and Hikari fell asleep on the way, Hikari stretched out on the bench and her head resting on Daisuke's lap, and Daisuke's arm was draped over her shoulder. Go looked at them in awe, marvelling how closely attatched they seemed to be. There was something else about them that Go couldn't quite put into perspective.

"They look cute together, don't they hon?" Mrs. Hibiki asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, they do," Go said in kind. "But there's something else about them as well. There seems to be a type of uh..."

"Glow?"

"That's it. What do you think it signifies?"

"My guess is that they found out that they need each other more than anything, and haven't realized yet just how much they do."

Go looked at them once again. "I hope things work together for them in the end," he said.
***********

It was nearing dawn by the time they reached the embassy. Daisuke kept the blanket wrapped around his body to avoid anyone looking at him. He didn't like showing his body much, and for some reason, young women were in abundance at the embassy manning the computers there and many of them set their eyes on him as he passed by. Despite the blanket he had wrapped around him, he felt as if their eyes burned through and were staring at his body. Daisuke felt unsettled under their gaze, and Hikari sent them menacing looks which told them to divert their eyes. He was glad to get out of there and into the limo that was waiting for them. On the way to the ship, Go and Mrs. Hibiki told them of the events that transpired, and how their friends were worried sick about them. Daisuke and Hikari couldn't wait to see them.

"That guy, Takeru, kept beating himself up over you," Go told Hikari. Hikari grimaced a little and squeezed Daisuke's hand under the blanket. She started wishing they were back on the island. Daisuke returned the squeeze gently and rubbed her hand with his thumb.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to see her," he said, keeping his voice leveled. Go saw that Daisuke didn't really want to let Hikari go, but he knew that he had to do it. Hikari didn't say anything. She scooted closer to Daisuke and rested her head on his shoulder. She wanted to cry. Daisuke kept his eyes forward, not wanting to look at her, but Mrs. Hibiki knew he was trying not to cry as well. She looked at her husband with pleading eyes. Go knew what she was getting at, and ordered the driver to stop the car.

"Go ahead and let it out," he said, getting a box of tissue from a side cabinet. Daisuke opened the blanket and embraced Hikari in a hug as she buried her face in his chest and started crying her eyes out. Daisuke didn't care that his chest got wet from her tears. He held her and cried silently with her. Mrs. Hibiki felt tears welling up in her eyes just from watching. She wished there was more that she could do for them, but knew that it would be futile. Go watched them with a sad expression on his face.

'This is very hard for them,' he thought. As Daisuke and Hikari finished crying and dried their eyes with the tissue provided, they were on their way to the ship again. Go had called one of his officers and told him to wake everyone up. By the time they reached the ship, almost everyone was out of their rooms and standing near the ramp. Takeru headed towards the crowd wondering what was going on. He came up to the back of the crowd, standing a few feet away from Saki. They looked at each other for a second, trying to find words to say to each other. Neither one of them smiled at each other, nor kept the gaze for long as they turned back to the front of the ship.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE," Go said in the megaphone that was given to him. "AS YOU ALL KNOW, TWO OF THE PASSENGERS ABOARD MY YACHT TURNED UP MISSING AFTER A TERRIBLE STORM A FEW DAYS AGO. THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND, AND ARE NOW BACK HERE WITH US. PLEASE WELCOME BACK DAISUKE MOTOMIYA, AND HIKARI YAGAMI."

The crowd cheered as Daisuke and Hikari made their way up the ramp to greet everyone, but no one couldn't have been happier than Takeru, who pushed through the crowd to get to Hikari, and promptly scooped her up in a big hug. The crowd cheered even more as they watched. Daisuke put on a bleak smile and clapped along with them, but his face dropped when Takeru looked at him sourly. Daisuke returned the gaze without a word, but then turned towards the sound of his name being called.

"Daisuke!" Saki cried, running up to him with her arms stretched out. Daisuke braced himself as she plowed into him, sending them both onto the ground. The rest of the gang came up behind her. Ken sent Takeru a stern look; he diverted his eyes and focused on the little display that Saki and Daisuke showed.

"I'm glad to see you too, Saki," Daisuke said, patting her on her back. "Now get off me so I can breathe!" Saki grinned as she got up.

"Are you alright?" Miyako asked Daisuke.

"Does it look like I'm alright?" he retorted, as Ken and Iori helped him up. As they did, the blanket fell from him, exposing his ripped jeans and shirtless body. Cat calls and whistles were sounded from many of the women in the crowd, followed by an "OW!" from a guy. This sent many people into fits of laughter, and Daisuke, who was turning red fom blushing and embarassement, quickly grabbed up the blanket and wrapped it around his body again.

"I'm going to go change clothes," he said, quickly making his way to his room. Takeru and Hikari went away as well, as did everyone else now that the spectacle was over. Saki watched them go. She had him for a night, but now he was gone again. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jammies, and walked back to her room.
******************

It was decided that they should head back to Japan. Three days out of the trip were lost, thanks to the storm and the two missing passengers, but people had fun nonetheless. Daisuke and Hikari themselves were ready to get back home as well. They had enough sea-faring adventures, and were ready to put it behind them. After Go was reassured that everyone of his guests were present and accounted for, they were off. During dinner, in which Daisuke and Hikari ate until their hearts' content, they told their friends of the events that happened on the island, carefully leaving out the part where they were intimate. Hikari capitalized on how Daisuke was a big help to her, from how he helped her with a twisted ankle, and found food for them.

"How'd you lose your shirt?" Iori asked.

"We were attacked by a bear," Daisuke said.

"It didn't leave any marks on you?" Ken asked.

"Well..." Daisuke started off nervously.

"The bear was only able to get his shirt because we ran away," Hikari cut in. Daisuke grinned at her, thankful for the save. Hikari smiled back at him. Takeru saw this, and got a little flustered.

"So what else did you two do?" he said in a suspicious tone. Daisuke and Hikari sweatdropped.

"We just talked," Hikari said.

"About?" he pressed, leveling a glare at Daisuke

"Hey, leave them alone," Rosa said. "Your fiancee's back, right? Why are you grilling them with stupid questions? If that's all they did, then that's all they did. So let's drop the subject already." Daisuke looked at her and smiled. He was going to have to thank her later for that save.

After dinner, things went on as usual; people milled about the deck and below, finding things to do. Daisuke was at the back of the boat, watching as a pod of dolphins splashed about in the streamline that trailed behind. He always found them amazing, how they held little fear of humans. His thoughts turned to Hikari, and the promises they made towards each other. He so badly wanted to make love to her, but he knew he couldn't. She wasn't his, and he wasn't hers. But he was content. They were stranded for three days, but she was his for a night. That's more than enough.

'I'm not going to see her again,' he thought. 'But I'll always cherish that night.'

"And here we find the famous castaway, Daisuke Motomiya, lost in thought," said a playful voice behind him. "Who knows what's running through that thick cranium he calls a head!"

Daisuke didn't need to turn around to see who it was. "Hey, Saki," he said.

"Not much in the playing mood, huh?"

"No, I guess I'm not. I got a lot of things on my mind."

"Like dolphins?" she asked, referring to the pod that was still following the boat.

Daisuke smirked. "I wish I was one right now," he said. Saki turned and leaned her back against the rail. She regarded her friend with a mixture of awe and contempt.

"What did you two really do?" she suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask that?" he asked, slightly startled.

"Because you usually don't go along with my jokes, plus you have this radiant look about your face."

"Radiant look?"

"Yeah. You seem to have some type of glow to you. Something happened between you two, huh?"

"Nothing special that would refer me to Bruce Leroy. This ain't The Last Dragon." Saki looked at him and chuckled.

"Let's just say we came to a mutual understanding," he said. "We parted on friendly terms."

"So what will you do now?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I kind of entertained the thought of moving to another college to finish my studies. I have enough money saved up to do so."

"Where will you go if you decide?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe a college in the country, or somewhere in America."

"All the way there?"

Daisuke shrugged. "It's just a thought."

Saki looked at him. He was willing to go somewhere that would separate him from the girl he loves. Then again, she thought about leaving as well, just to get away from all the drama that's been going on lately. She turned towards the water.

"Whatever you decide, you'll always have my support," she said.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.
***********

The yacht made port a day later. Go once again apologized to everyone for the troubles they had, and hoped that they wouldn't hold it against him. He extended an extra apology to Daisuke and Hikari, and told them that he hopes everything works out in the end for them.

"Thank you for taking care of us," Hikari said with a bow. Everyone else did the same. Go looked at the sympathetically as he returned the bow.

"I wonder what will happen to them in the end," Go asked himself.

"Whatever it is, it'll be for the best," said his wife, coming up behind him. "We've done what we could."

"That's true, but I wish there was more that we could do."

"When it comes to the matter of the heart, there's not much you can do. We can just only hope for the best."

"Yeah. Let's get the yacht docked and go home."
************

Things have been wacky lately, that's why it took a while for me to update. This chapter got off to a slow start as well. Sorry.