Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers - Inner Demons ❯ Realization 002 - "Matsuda Takato" ( Chapter 2 )
Matsuda Takato.
An average boy leading an average life...
With the last average day he'll ever have.
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.10.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 492 | Status: Completed
Warning: Inner Demons can, and will, contain varying levels of violence, foul language, suggestive dialogue, and sexual situations, any of which having the potential of being graphic. This story is intended for mature audiences. Discretion is advised.
Author's Note: You'll probably notice that one of the original characters in this story, Yosuke, had his last name changed in this iteration. The reasoning is simple - Katoki felt too close to Katou.
Realization 002 - "Matsuda Takato"
By Mugen no Ken
All Matsuda Takato wanted to do was make it from the front gate of his high school, across its front yard, and into the building. It wasn't that he looked forward to sitting in class. The seventeen year old didn't enjoy feeling bored and restless throughout the whole day, nor did he want to be faced with all the schoolwork he would have to do. However, these were necessities, and he at LEAST wanted to be able to go about them in peace.
Just go in, do what he needed to do, and go home. He had work to do there, too. He had things he was responsible for. He had too much to worry about without-
"OI!"
Takato missed a step on his way towards the door, feeling himself nearly tripping over himself. He cringed inwardly, and righted his balance enough to keep walking without too much delay. That was NOT a voice he wanted to hear... Still, he kept walking.
"Oiii, MATSUDA!" snapped the voice again, sounding not the least bit pleased. "I'm talkin' to you!"
Takato moved to make another step, but found the ground not beneath him anymore. Takato was not the TALLEST young man, but not short, either. He was decently in shape, but largely what people would consider "scrawny" if they were to give an honest opinion. So he wasn't very physically strong. Thus, someone much bigger and much stronger than him would have little problem in stopping him cold.
That, in fact, was something Takato found someone doing just at that very moment. A much larger boy had grabbed him by the back of his school uniform's jacket and shirt, lifting him straight up for a matter of a few seconds. He was then released, but that was quite enough.
Takato hit the ground feet first, but his balance was now shot. He stumbled and fell, landing flat on the ground. The wind knocked out of him, and feeling a sharp pain jump up through his back, he cringed and looked up with slitted eyes.
What he saw first was the larger young man who had lifted him up. Kobayashi Norio, an imposing teenager who looked like he could snap someone like Takato in half, loomed before him. He cocked a grin, cracking his knuckles.
"Should'a listened to 'im, puss."
Takato groaned and began to pick himself up.
"The man just wants to talk, y'know," said another voice, as a lanky, thin young man with long brown hair stepped out around Norio. Yasuo, Takato knew, was Norio's older brother. Which just left...
On one knee now, Takato turned his head to see a teenager his age with short black hair. The young man held a cocky expression that very rarely left his face, something Takato had been forced to put up with for some time of late.
Okawara Yosuke.
"Get off your ass, Matsuda," Yosuke said with a sneer. "People're startin' to stare, and the last thing I'd want is them gettin' any bright ideas about you kneeling down in front of me."
Takato grit his teeth as he stood up. He'd have given anything to just punch that grin off Yosuke's face. He knew, though, where that would lead, and how well he could back it up. The last time he'd attempted to go to school faculty about this guy had resulted in retaliation to the tune of a few bruised ribs.
People WERE starting to stare, though, that much was true. It didn't amount to anything, however. Despite several students standing in a circle around the scene, not a single one did anything to STOP it, either. Such was the way of things, and something Takato was becoming all too familiar with.
"What do you want, Okawara?" Takato asked, unenthusiastically. "I'm just trying to get to class-"
Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Plenty of time before class starts. You 'n' me, we got something to discuss..."
Takato resisted an exasperated sigh. He knew doing that would only encourage them. Yosuke and his friends had only started harassing Takato a few months back. Before then, Takato did well to make himself scarce on everyone in the school's social radars. Now, he was certainly getting attention... but it was more towards being the laughing stock of the school.
"Hey, Okawara, seriously!" another voice said, and a hand reached out to grab Yosuke's shoulder. Its owner was a teen with spiky brown hair. His presence made Takato instantly feel even more crestfallen. The spiky haired boy, Shiota Hirokazu, laughed nervously. "Dude, don't we have better things to be doing than--"
Yosuke shot him a glare, and the boy removed his hand. However, Norio ALSO was shooting Hirokazu a glare, which Takato figured was more the reason for that removal than anything else.
"Stop actin' stupid, Shiota," Yosuke snorted, and took a step towards Takato. "I ain't gonna hurt him!"
He gave a fake laugh, throwing an arm around Takato's shoulder. Takato tensed, his hands tightening into fists. He bit his tongue, resisting the urge to tell Yosuke to back off. Takato just wasn't the confrontational type... yet sadly, these confrontations kept coming to him.
"I think we just got off on the wrong foot, buddy," Yosuke said, his voice patronizing. He started to lead Takato away from Norio, Yasuo, Hirokazu, and all the spectators.
"You're not my 'buddy,'" Takato muttered in a low voice, eyes shifting briefly back at Hirokazu. His gaze then narrowed, and he found himself staring at his feet.
"Okay, is 'easy target' a better phrase?" Yosuke asked, wagging a finger in front of Takato's face as they walked. "Look, it ain't MY fault you're a pussy."
Takato found himself unable to resist the urge to glare right at him now. Yosuke just took it with a laugh, releasing Takato and shrugging.
"The real world is gonna eat you ALIVE, Matsuda. If you can't handle ME, how're you gonna handle folks out there?" Yosuke asked, motioning out towards beyond the school yard walls. He then added, quite smugly, "It's my CIVIC DUTY to whip losers like you into shape. Look at Shiota!"
Takato felt his eye twitching. To say he felt that Yosuke was full of it was putting it really mildly.
He WAS an easy target. He enjoyed childish games, and didn't defend himself as he should. The very LAST thing Okawara Yosuke was trying to do was HELP him, though.
Yosuke had, for weeks, been getting under Takato's skin at every opportunity he could find. Indeed, once he realized just how "easy" a target Takato was, he had been making his life a living hell. Either by just sheer annoyance, or... Well, there was still that matter of the bruised ribs.
"Look," Yosuke said, leaning in and grinning. "You want me to lay off you? Fine. Teachers are starting to climb my case, anyway. And I'll tell you what... you help me out on ONE thing, and I'll just forget you exist. Y'know. Like everyone else here! Everyone'll be happy."
Takato opened his mouth, and then paused, his brain shuffling through the insults leveled against him in that 'offer.' "...one thing?"
"Sure!" Yosuke said, and grinned from ear to ear as he patted Takato on the shoulder. "See, there's the matter of that hot piece of ass that's been stickin' up for you here and there..."
Takato's eyes widened. "Wh- what do you-?"
"Katou? C'mon, you can't tell me you've never thought about that cute little babe like that..."
Takato's wide eyes went narrow. "What about Juri?"
Yosuke chuckled. "What about her? Well, YOU ain't tapping that, right? Nah. 'Course you're not."
Takato felt his stomach twist in a knot, and his face was quickly becoming red with anger.
"Sure, I bet you wish you WERE, but with a girl like that... They've always gotta have their hard luck cases, y'know? And since we both know you're not gonna get any closer than your own wet dreams..."
"Shut up..." Takato muttered, his frustration barely restrained in his tone.
"Aw, c'mon!" Yosuke laughed, patting him on the shoulder again. "Be a pal! Just help put in a good word for me, and I-"
"OKAWARA!"
That cry came across the school yard, prompting both Yosuke and Takato to look, finding a girl with shoulder length brown hair marching across the yard.
"Ah, speak of the devil!" Yosuke said, and grinned at Takato. "So, hey, might as well-"
Takato wasn't sure what came over him. That surge of anger finally hit its limit, and... something inside him snapped. In the following instant, he found one of his balled up fists having struck Yosuke square in stomach.
Yosuke gave a shocked gasp, doubling over and stumbling backwards. He clutched his gut, and looked up at Takato, glaring. "You little... FUCK...!"
Juri had stopped cold in her march, covering her mouth as a gasp escaped it. Hirokazu, Norio, and Yasuo merely looked on with dumbstruck surprise. While the remaining crowd of students surrounding them... burst out into laughter.
Takato just... stared dumbly down at his fist. Yosuke, meanwhile, went from looking about ready to lunge at Takato to looking wildly around at the laughing students.
"Shut up," he growled, still wincing and holding his stomach. This only prompted MORE laughter. "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Juri, having gotten over her initial surprise, had jogged up next to Takato. The young man still was looking at his fist, and was only broken out of his stupor as she laid a hand on it.
He blinked rapidly. "J- Juri..."
Yosuke looked at them both, his own anger palpable as the mocking around him continued. As he began to step forward, Yasuo caught his arm and shook his head. "Don't even think about it, dumbass," said the older teen. "Else you WILL end up getting your butt grounded."
Yosuke gave a long snort and just shrugged Yasuo off. Waving a rude hand gesture in the way of several students, he then made his way towards the school building, glaring daggers at Takato as he passed. Yasuo and Norio followed him, but Hirokazu briefly lingered. Takato just... avoided eye contact with him. When he looked again, he was gone.
"Are you alright, Takato-kun?" Juri asked, her concern more evident than anything else.
Takato's cheeks flushed as he realized Juri's hand was on his, and he jerked it away, rubbing it. He couldn't believe he had DONE that, and hadn't even thought about it until after the fact. It felt as if he hadn't even been able to control himself, although it was just a brief moment...
"I... I'm fine," he lied, turning away and trying to head towards the school again.
Juri was a kind person. She had known Takato since they were both young, having always come to his family's bakery to buy things for her own family, even when she was just a child. Takato supposed she was his friend, but what Yosuke said, about him being a "hard luck case..."
It wouldn't have sunk in and bothered him if it hadn't been something he had already worried about.
Juri followed after him, and spoke again once she was keeping pace alongside. "Okawara's just a jerk," she said, matter-of-factly. "And Hirokazu's an idiot for falling in with them."
Takato sighed, pushing the school's door open and walking in. Thankfully, a quick look told him that neither Yosuke, nor his friends, were still around the front area. He released another long breath, this one relieved.
"I don't... want to think about that," he said, trying to do whatever he could to avoid the topic of Hirokazu.
Takato stopped, and looked at Juri. The girl held her hands clasped together behind her back, and frowned.
"You shouldn't be like that, Takato-kun. You should try to talk to him, or-"
He turned away, and she gave an exasperated sigh, stamping her foot. "Takato-kun!"
Takato found himself jumping, and he spun back around to face her. Giving a forced, nervous smile, he held up his hands. "J- Juri, I-"
If there was one thing that Takato had not yet been able to shrug off, it was Katou Juri's odd and sudden swings in mood. She leaned towards him - a bit too uncomfortably close - and grabbed one of his hands. "He's your FRIEND! You and him and Kenta used to always be together!"
Takato felt his cheeks flushing again, and he tried to not look her in the eye. Thus, the ceiling became suddenly very interesting to him. "When we were TEN."
"But...!" she began, and he looked back down at her. He instantly regretted this. She was pouting. "It's sad..."
Takato pulled his hand away from hers - again - and shook his head. "Kenta's not even at this SCHOOL."
Juri made a disgruntled sound, and crossed her arms, looking down as she kicked the air in a show of frustration. "BOYS! You're all so STUBBORN!"
Takato just rubbed the back of his head, turning and beginning to walk again. "Come on, Juri. Asanuma-sensei's gonna start looking for our heads if we're not on time."
Juri followed for a brief moment, saying nothing else, before Takato sensed that he no longer WAS being followed. He blinked, and looked behind him to find Juri standing a ways back. "Um... Juri?"
"Takato-kun, ah, I ... was wondering," she murmured, now averting HER eye contact. "It's... that anniversary this weekend, isn't it?"
Takato's expression became immediately downcast again. "I was... trying not to think about that," he muttered.
Juri closed her eyes, shaking her head. "You shouldn't be like that about it... it... You know, my Mom..."
Takato just turned away and began walking.
"I know what it's like, Takato-kun..."
He didn't respond all the way to class.
As he slumped down behind his desk, waiting for class to start, Kobayashi Yasuo found himself staring aimlessly out the window at the school courtyard. All in all, he was beginning to wonder why the hell he put up with Okawara Yosuke.
He didn't get it, really. He didn't understand why Yosuke felt the need to constantly be needling that Matsuda kid. Their mindset, as friends, had always been to work by their own devices. To not be held back by authority figures, and just do as they wanted to.
So, they were punks. Kids that no one thought would be good for anything, even if they made it through school. THAT, however, wasn't a problem. They were smart enough, they had always promised themselves they wouldn't be losers.
Just harassing someone like Yosuke did Matsuda, without any PARTICULAR aim, no goal...
...well, that wasn't entirely true. Yasuo could see ONE of Yosuke's aims, and he didn't like it.
Norio, though, seemed happy enough to just go along with it. That also bothered Yasuo, but he hadn't yet said anything to his younger brother.
He just figured maybe Yosuke would get it out of his system. Surely, after pushing Matsuda to the point where YOSUKE was the one getting humiliated...
Then again, he knew that Yosuke was a guy who held a grudge.
Yasuo sighed, leaning forward and placing his chin on an upturned palm, pointing his vision towards the front of the classroom.
In all his thinking, Yasuo hadn't even noticed the teacher had started class. He gave a series of blinks as his brain tried to reassert itself in the context of what was presently going on.
“...our new student comes from Kyushu,” the teacher was saying. “Her family has only been in Shinjuku for a couple of days, so please do what you can to help her adjust to the transition.”
The door to the classroom slid opened, and in walked a girl. She had black hair, and deep, dark eyes.
For a moment, Yasuo felt...
Instantly sick. Disturbed. He literally felt the overwhelming urge to throw up all over the floor, or maybe just the student in front of him if he couldn't move his head in time.
At a glance, someone might think that this was just an attractive, unassuming girl.
Yasuo, for the split second their eyes met, felt more repulsed by anything than he had in as long as he could remember.
As soon as the feeling came, it vanished. He sank back in his seat, color drained from his face and watching this girl, but trying not to make eye contact. He couldn't explain it, and he almost didn't WANT to explain it.
“Hello, all,” said the girl, her voice smooth and perfectly cheerful. Yet, it still had something in it to send a disturbed chill up Yasuo's spine. “My name is Hoshi Yumi.”
Yasuo, meanwhile, leaned forward on his desk again, covering his face. What the fuck is wrong with me? Dammit, man, you've GOTTA be thinking too hard...
He peeked out to find her smiling and looking in his general direction. He felt himself tensing for reasons he couldn't even perceive as she continued.
“I've only been here for a short time, but the faculty here has been very welcoming. I'm certain it will be quite a pleasant experience to get to know the rest of you!”
Yasuo gulped.
He didn't know WHY he had this horrible sensation. It was like there was something clawing at his very brain that he couldn't comprehend.
Still, he also knew he was stuck here...
Maybe throwing up would be in his best interest, after all...
School, for the most part, passed without much more incident. Besides, that is, whisperings of Kobayashi Yasuo having been admitted to the nurse's office for most of that day after throwing up on some poor student in front of him. Takato figured it strange, but he hadn't considered it much.
As Takato packed up his school bag, all he wanted to do was leave the school without incident. Of course, this was how he wanted to start the day, and he had saw how THAT turned out.
Juri hadn't spoken to him since that morning. Mind, he hadn't tried to broach conversation much, either. He had avoided most people's curious gazes on him, a product of his altercation with Okawara... but he couldn't avoid their hushed whispers, nor that distinct feeling that people were watching him.
He made an effort to be the last one out of the classroom, if only so that he would be by himself when he did so. As he made his attempt at leaving, however, he was stopped suddenly when a ruler fell in front of his face.
Standing just outside the door was his teacher, Asanuma Nami. Takato estimated the woman was likely in her early thirties. She had long brown hair, and most of the time held an expression which seemed rather bored. He was almost certain at times that she didn't want to be there.
He could relate.
"Takato-kun," she said, her tone doing nothing to disprove Takato's thoughts of her attitude towards this job. "We have to talk."
She turned the ruler around and poked it against his chest, indicating for him to go back into the room. While thinking that wasn't exactly an appropriate method for a teacher to get their point across, Takato just sighed and took a couple steps back. Nami followed him, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it, arms crossed.
Another exasperated breath, and Takato leaned up against the edge of her desk. "Asanuma-sensei, if this is about..."
"Okawara?"
Takato frowned. He scratched the back of his head and looked off to the side. "Yeah."
"You already know, so it's not like I have to really explain it, Takato-kun," she said, and sighed.
He opened his mouth, but quickly shut it as she thrust the ruler out towards him.
"I don't want to hear about how he started it. Just save your breath," she said, and reached up with her other hand, tapping her forehead as she closed her eyes. She was obviously having to think about what she was trying to say.
Finally, she opened one eye, covering the other half of her face with her hand. "...I'm really not good at this disciplinary thing. That was about as far as I got with all this in my head since I learned about it."
Takato... blinked.
Nami gave a long breath, almost slumping, but quickly squaring her shoulders with a look that said she was hoping Takato didn't notice.
He did.
"Look," she said, crossing her arms back. "I'm not going to come down on you about it. I know it's Okawara, but sadly, he's not in my class, and he's not my responsibility. YOU, however, ARE."
Much to her chagrin, Takato was certain.
"You CAN come to us if he's acting out of line again."
Takato gave her a LOOK.
Nami frowned. "...yeah, okay. One of those. I get it, just..."
She gave a long pause, pushing off the door and walking towards him. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Try to be more careful? Or else everyone's going to have problems."
Takato shifted a bit uncomfortably, glancing down. "That doesn't really help anything."
She pulled back and shook her head. "There's a time and a place to do something, Takato-kun. Someone like that, you ... have to give them enough rope to hang themselves, basically."
Takato looked up, cocking his head to one side with a wide eyed look. Somehow, he found this advice about as appropriate for teacher conduct as the ruler poking. Maybe less so. "C- come again?"
Nami held up a finger. "The faculty's already watching him. Given a couple more infractions, he COULD easily get suspended or expelled... but if you let him get to you, and give in to what your common sense is telling you to do, you'll probably be right there with him."
Takato mouthed something, but nothing came out. He understood what she was saying, and it even made some amount of sense, but she REALLY wasn't good at this sort of thing. "So... I just have to put up with it..."
She sort of waved a hand. "More or less. But if you keep letting things happen and DON'T come to us... there's not going to be much that we can do."
He opened his mouth again. He REALLY wanted to point out the whole 'bruised ribs' thing for the last time he went to the faculty about Okawara. He refrained, though he wasn't entirely sure as to why. It almost felt like there was no point there, as either way, he was STILL going to have to be putting up with Okawara's annoyances...
"Do you want to talk about WHY you punched him, just while we're on the subject?" she interjected, and raised an eyebrow as his eyes instinctively narrowed.
"Not ... particularly," he muttered. "Just him ... being him."
Nami closed her eyes and gave another breath, before nodding. "If you say so... just... TRY to keep these things in mind, Takato-kun."
"Yeah..."
An uneasy silence fell over the two of them for several moments, and Takato began shifting uncomfortably again.
"Can I go, now, Sensei?" She continued to frown a bit, but motioned for the door. "You're free. Just watch yourself, okay?"
He just gave a short nod, and left without saying anything else. He tried not to even catch her expression as he passed her, but did so anyway, and saw a look in her eyes that seemed almost... disappointed.
He was able to leave the school grounds without any further problems, but that talk was well enough to further sour his mood. As he walked home, a thought entered his mind that at least the day couldn't get any WORSE.
Almost instantly, he felt the overwhelming urge to just kick himself, knowing at once that he had most certainly jinxed himself.
Takato's home was small and fairly modest. Located in a tightly packed area full of both residences and small businesses, Takato lived some place that was both. Attached to his house on the side of it was a bakery. Being a baker was something that had been a dream of Takato's father long before Takato was born. It was where he met Takato's mother, and it was what he did every day of his life after they founded the Matsuda Bakery...
Takato gave a small shriek as he approached his home, interrupting his rather forlorn thoughts. (How did his mind always end up turning down that path nowadays?) Reason being, as he approached his home, he found a line straight out the front door of the bakery.
Rushing inside the house's door, he threw his backpack unceremoniously on the floor and ran from the opening hallway, through the kitchen, and ... well nearly ran straight into a woman carrying a tray of freshly baked loaves of bread.
Takato skid to a halt. "Mom! Are you here by yourself!?"
Matsuda Mie, obviously overworked and looking moderately overwhelmed, nonetheless smiled at the sight of her son. "Oh, good, you're home," she said, and gave a slight chuckle. She glanced to where the house spilled out into the bakery, and the storefront beyond that. "That girl I hired last week quit this morning, I'm afraid... so, basically yes."
Takato gulped, and looked around frantically. "Um, give me an apron, I'll-!"
"Oh, no, no," Mie said, shaking her head. She balanced the baking pan effortlessly on one hand, reaching out and grabbing Takato by the arm. "It's FINE. The customers are being very understanding today, I'll be fine here. What I DO need is some supplies, though. There's a list and the credit card on the counter. If you could...
" She didn't even have to finish. He nodded, all his other issues of the day flushing out of his mind for the time being. He ran back, snatching the card and list off the counter and stuffing them into his pocket. The back of his mind noted it was feeling particularly cold on his way home, so he made a quick detour to the coat rack to grab his jacket.
In doing so, he passed by a small table with an assortment of family photos on it. At the center of it was a photograph of his family - himself, Mie, and his father, Takahiro - when he was around ten years old. They all appeared cheerful, happy...
Takato always paused when he passed it, without fail. He quickly broke away however, grabbing his jacket before dashing out the door.
When it came to helping his mother, all other things that weighed him down seemed as if they just vanished. After all...
He was all she had anymore.
-TO BE CONTINUED
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It would seem this version of ID is getting off to a slower start, and that is basically correct. Despite that, I can assure that the overall story is much more streamlined than the previous version - there won't be a tremendous amount of action for a couple more chapters, but that is on account of laying a lot of character groundwork first. Several small things I've snuck into these first several chapters will make it so that later on, things are not flying in fifty directions at once as they were in the original.
I neglected to note before, but I'd like to give thanks to my friend, Razorsaw, for looking over these chapters as I prepare them. He's always a big help when it comes to my brainstorming and having someone to bounce things off of.
NEXT: Realization 003 - "Emergence"