Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Harsh Memories ❯ Takeru's break down ( Chapter 12 )

A/N well another feelings chapter. Hope you guys like it. From now on the chapters will be twice as long as usual. This is because the story is getting easier to write as the characters have finally been maneuvered into place.

Takeru sat quietly by the bedside as he looked down at Iori's small form. Ever since the dream he had been trying to find an opportunity to be with Iori again. Finally the doctors relented and returned Iori to their joint room and Takeru had vigilantly watched over Iori's side ever since. He seemed to be riveted to Iori's bedside as he continued to pamper the small boy. Iori still could not move due to the pain that raced throughout his chest. Even the slightest movement could force the small boy to shudder in pain. Takeru watched helplessly as his friend continued to struggle with attempting to appear brave for his O-Kaa-san.

Iori shifted quietly in his bed to stare up at Takeru's outlined form. < Takeru-chan sure has been acting strange lately. It's probably just because of my bout with pneumonia. I still can't help but wonder if there isn't something else wrong with him though. > Iori reached out slowly till his hand came into contact with Takeru's upper arm. Instantly T.K. snapped to attention and looked worriedly down at his smaller friend "Is there anything wrong, Iori-chan?" He asked with hesitation. "Iie Takeru-chan but I was wondering if you were all right? I was worried that you were troubled over something." As Iori spoke his last sentence he watched as Takeru stiffened and began to look away quickly.

Iori moved quickly so that he left Takeru no time to react. Before Takeru knew what had happened he suddenly found himself wrapped in a small embrace. For some reason this seemed to be too much for Takeru as he began to break down and sob. Iori only tightened his hold on his older friend. "You held me when I cried before, ne? Well, don't worry. I don't mind returning the favor." As Iori spoke softly, Takeru buried his head into the joint in between Iori's neck and shoulder blade.

Once ensconced there he began to shiver gently. "Gomen Iori-kun. I just couldn't stand seeing you in pain. Ever since you collapsed I've been so worried that you wouldn't be able to make it through the series of operations. And then when you caught pneumonia and collapsed the second time I was even more afraid that your body wouldn't be able to withstand the treatment. I just didn't want to lose you and now that you're back here it's just been weighing more and more on my mind. I hated the thought that I hadn't been able to notice your pain until it was too late and you had already started to become injured by your illness. I feel like I failed you somehow." Takeru finally broke down and wrapped himself around his friend. He couldn't seem to manage telling Iori about the other reasons he had been so worried, or about the dream/realization he had the night Iori went in for his first treatments.

Iori was shocked to say the least. This was the first time he had ever seen his friend break down like this. < Even when BlackWarGreymon died... Takeru wasn't this bad. Sure he had tears in his eyes but he wasn't shaking like this... and he didn't need anyone to hold him like I am now. > Iori simply held on tighter to the now quivering Takeru. "Its okay, Takeru-kun. I don't think any less of you because of this. To tell you the truth I felt the same way when I saw you get hit by that car. I suddenly felt like something I cared a lot about had been taken away from me." Takeru's head rose slightly during the last few words and managed to meet Iori's eye-level. "You really felt that way?" Takeru's voice wavered when he asked this. "Hai... why do you ask?"

Takeru's mind whirled when he heard Iori talking about how much he had worried. < This can't mean that he loves me but it does mean that he at least cares for me... right? I mean he wouldn't be that worried about me if he didn't have some feelings for me? > Takeru still couldn't decide how Iori thought of him though. No matter how much he cared for Iori, he was still too scared to tell him just how much he cared. Takeru simply returned his head to Iori's shoulder and sighed softly. "Gomen Iori, I know I haven't been acting like my normal self lately. I'm just going through some odd changes and I can't seem to get a few things worked through. Eventually I'll be back to normal. Can you forgive me for troubling you so, Iori-kun?" "I don't mind at all Takeru-kun, I was just worried about you is all. It seems like all I've been able to do lately is worry the people I care about."

---------(Twenty four hours later)---------

For the first time in almost a week Takeru was smiling. His O-Nii-san was going to stop by today with Patamon. He couldn't wait to see his partner again as they had been unable to sneak him in while Iori had been in critical care. He had also managed to convince Miyako to both bring Upamon in for Iori and to take Iori on a tour of the hospital so that he could talk to Yamato alone. Today was the day that Takeru had both been looking forward to... and dreading. He was going to tell his O-Nii-chan about his newly developed feelings towards Iori.

Yamato found himself worried as he walked towards his O-touto-Chan's room. It was unusual for Takeru to ask him to come down here like this, but what he found even more unusual was the fact that he had also asked Miyako to come by and distract Iori for the afternoon. He had been wondering what had been happening since his brother had come to the hospital. It was true that sometimes injuries forced people to look at their lives differently but Takeru had seemed to be changing far too rapidly these days. As he walked down the hallway he passed both Miyako and the now wheelchair riding Iori. They both smiled at Yamato as he walked past, giving them nods in return.

Takeru stiffened involuntarily as his O-Nii-chan entered his room. He smiled softly however at both Yamato and Patamon as his initial reaction wore off. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Yama-kun."

"Ohayou O-touto-chan. What's up that requires both my presence and the absence of Iori?"

Takeru stiffened as Yamato said Iori's name and cursed himself for being so blatant in his

planning. "So you figured it out, huh? Well, since what I had to talk to you about included Iori, I didn't really think it would be a good idea for him to be here. Please sit down."

Yamato sat down on the bed next to his brother and shot him a questioning glance before placing Patamon down on the pillow. Patamon looked at both humans curiously before deciding that whatever Takeru had to tell his O-Nii-chan was his own business. He flew off to find wherever Miyako and Iori had gone.

Takeru shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed Patamon's departure. He looked over at his brother only to see both curiosity and apprehension. Takeru shivered slowly at the thought of how his O-Nii-chan would react to his news. "Yamato-chan... I need to tell you something that's really hard for me to admit. Are you okay with hearing something like this?"

"I told you when you were younger, Takeru-kun, that you could tell me anything. That still holds true today," Yamato said while steeling himself for the news.

Takeru shivered softly as Yamato slid a protective arm around his shoulders. He drew Takeru into an embrace while waiting for his O-Touto-chan to begin. "Yamato-chan... I know you might be disappointed by what I am about to tell you... and I would appreciate it if you could keep this a secret for me. I don't think it would be good if O-Kaa-san found out about this. It also wouldn't be too good if Iori-kun found out either, " As Takeru spoke he sunk his body deeper into Yamato's embrace. "I don't know how your going to react to what I have to say so I should probably tell you about how it happened. You see, about a week ago, on the day that Iori started... 'coughing' I had an extremely realistic dream... about him." Takeru shook softly as he spoke, worrying Yamato even further. Yamato just squeezed his shoulder gently, trying to ensure his brother's comfort. Takeru's voice only grew softer as a result. "In the dream... I'm alone... and kind of scared too. You know how I get sometimes, O-Nii-chan. Anyways... I am standing in a field somewhere. Maybe it's the digital world, I don't really know and it doesn't really matter that much. I look around the whole area but I can't really find anyone.

"That's when it happens. I decide to go back to the tree where I had woken up. I lean back against the tree when I suddenly notice something weird. The tree feels far too warm to be a regular tree. That's when two arms wrap around me from behind and begin hugging me. I try to turn around slowly, but the arms turn me faster and I am suddenly forced into a deep kiss," Takeru began talking in a whispered rush as the dream began to replay in his mind. "I don't try to pull away... Instead I start feeling really good, ne? Suddenly the person breaks the kiss and that's when I see who it was."

Takeru stopped at this point and began staring at his feet. Yamato however had finally pieced the puzzle together and had realized why Takeru had asked Miyako to occupy Iori. He suddenly turned his O-Touto-Chan's face upwards till Takeru was looking into his blue eyes. "Takeru-kun, why would you ever think that your loving Iori would change my attitude towards you? I have never ever made any pretense of being afraid of something like that. I wouldn't stop loving you over something stupid like this. I still love you even if you are in love with another boy," Yamato hugged Takeru softly as he spoke the last few words while gently stroking the younger blondes' back. "However Keru-chan, I do think your right in assuming we shouldn't tell O-Kaa-san about this. I know from a really good source that she's kind of a homophobe and she would probably flip out over the whole thing. "

"That's kind of what I figured. I remember she kind of flipped out when she found out that our neighbor was that way. I was kind of scared that you'd flip out too. That's why this was so hard for me to confess to you, O-Nii-chan." As Takeru finished, Yamato noticed for the first time that Takeru had been crying while he told Yamato about his dream. Yamato reached out slowly and wiped the tears away. "Gomen O-Touto-chan. I can't believe I didn't see how much you'd been brooding over Iori's condition. It's kind of funny now that I look back at it but you two always seemed to look good together. That may just be my biased opinion, though." He rubbed Takeru's hair gently, "A Nii-san has to look after his brother, ne? I will always be here if you want to talk about your feelings... or if you want to tell me how you and Iori are 'progressing'."

Takeru lashed out at his brother playfully before smiling up at him.

For the first time Takeru realized he could always rely on his O-Nii-chan for help when he really needed it.

A/N: Well here's another chapter done. Their are about another 2-3 chapters left in this part. After this is posted... Look forward to the Iori chapters ^_^. We will have to leave poor Takeru's muddled thoughts alone for a while till we can get Iori into the same predicament. Anyway as always check my site, read something from energy, and keep looking forward to this!

Second A/N: This update is officially dedicated to Rosanna Eleonora Nemes who urged me to update more frequently. Thus you have this Thursday edition of Harsh memories.

Yoshiki.

Third A/N added 9/27/2002

Blargggggggggg! I cant believe I made a mistake like imposing Nee-chan for Nii-chan! Well I guess I can blame it on the fact that I was half-fired today (More next time). I was not feeling up to looking very carefully today. T_T Soooooo depressed right now.