Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ I JUST WANNA LIVE ❯ Onslaught ( Chapter 3 )

I JUST WANNA LIVE

 

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Digimon.

 

Warnings: First of all it yaoi, meaning guy/guy, there's some OOCness going on, and some younger digidestined bashing, this story is mostly Taksuke/Daikeru, with other featured couples being Taishiro, YamaJyou, Iori/OC, and Sora/long distance Mimi.

 

Title: Good Charlotte's The Chronicles of Life and Death; I Just Wanna Live.

 

LIME WARNING: for those of you who are squeamish about that sort of thing this is to let you know that this chapter contains a kawaii little shower scene. If that bothers you, you can easily skip over it and pick up the rest of the fic on the other side, no problems whatsoever. But seriously if that kind of thing bothers you what are you doing reading my fics; haven't you read the others; don't you understand that this is what I write about? Anyway I hope that all of you who do happen to read this enjoy it!

 

CHAPTER 3

 

~Monday morning, one week later~

 

Daisuke wondered where Take-kun was as he walked to his locker. They usually meet up before school started and walked to class together, but he was a little late today, maybe Takeru had gone on to his locker and would find him soon. As he was opening his locker he noticed a note lying atop his books; it said Meet me in the upstairs bathroom before class, Takeru. Daisuke was a little skeptical, but even though the handwriting was messy, and looked hastily scrawled it did resemble Take-kuns so he decided to hurry and check it out before the bell rang.

 

Pausing at the bathroom door he could just barely hear voices coming from inside. “…yeah you little pansy assed queer that's what you get, and as soon as your little red-headed girlfriend shows up he'll get the same.”

 

Hearing this Daisuke saw red, he figured that something like this would happen. Slamming open the door he charged the first upright target he saw catching him in the back and driving the thug into the wall headfirst. The asshole crumpled to the floor and didn't move again. Daisuke immediately spun around with his fist outstretched and connected with another assailant's jaw, hard. He felt something give way in the idiot's mouth but paid it no attention as the older boy also dropped to the floor unconscious. Instead he moved again bringing his foot up and planted it in the gut of the third attacker, causing him to double over. Daisuke brought his hands up above his head in a double fist; he then slammed them down onto the third motherfucker's back dropping him to the ground along with his two buddies. Daisuke moved to stand upright, “Iori may be the Judo champion but I know how to kick butt too.” Coming back to his senses Daisuke realized that not only had he dropped three huge football players, but he had been cursing a blue streak the entire time he was doing it. Blushing slightly he commented to himself “well at least no ones awake who heard me.” Suddenly he remembered Takeru whom he had forgotten in his battle lust. Dropping to his friend's side he noticed that he was unconscious and badly bruised and bloodied. “Don't worry Take-kun I'll go find the nurse and then we can get you fixed up.” Noticing a presence behind him, Daisuke wasn't able to move fast enough to dodge the foot coming towards his head. He felt himself begin to fly through the air as the blow landed near his temple. His last thoughts as he struck the wall with his back and then the back of his head was, oh shit this is gonna hurt! Everything went black as he felt himself drop to the floor.

 

~Odaiba Regional Hospital~

 

The first thing that Daisuke registered as he came awake was the way his whole body ached. Groaning he tried to raise his arms and panicked when them would not move. He calmed down slightly when he realized that he could feel someone holding his left hand. Concentrating on his right arm he noticed that he could feel it and could wiggle it somewhat but it was weighed down by something.

 

“Dai-chan are you really awake this time, please open your eyes. Come on Dai-koi I need you to look at me.”

 

Take-kun? Daisuke cracked open his eyes as much as he could and saw a familiar head of blond hair atop a very battered, but equally familiar face. Daisuke closed his eyes again before opening them wider. He tried to speak but nothing came out.

 

Takeru noticed what he was trying to do and said “don't try to talk, not that you can anyway. One of your lungs collapsed and the doctors had to re-inflate it. There is a tube in your throat to help you breath, but you can't talk while it's in.”

 

Daisuke could feel himself growing sleepy again but fought to stay awake a little while longer. He turned his head slightly to take in more of his best friends features. He realized for the first time that Takeru was in a wheelchair and had a cast around is lower right foot and his left arm. He had on one of those paper hospital gowns that Daisuke realized he himself was wearing too. For the sake of modesty while he was up and about Takeru was being permitted to wear a pair of scrub pants like what nurses wear.

 

“Man your mom is going to be real upset that she wasn't here when you woke up. After the first day your parents have been taking turns sitting with you. While one was here the other would go home and get something to eat and sleep, then they would swap out. Your mom left to go grab a bite at the cafeteria just a few minutes before you began to wake up. Did you know you were in a coma for forty hours and then `merely unconscious' for another forty. It's now Thursday afternoon. I only woke up myself Tuesday night. Oh here comes the nurse now, I called them when you began to wake up.”

 

Daisuke was able to stay awake through most of the older nurse's examination but felt his eyes drifting closed towards the end. As he drifted asleep Daisuke realized that he felt good despite all of his aches and the despite the fact that he did not know how he had come to be in the hospital. The feeling of Takeru's warm hand clasped in his left him feeling warm and peaceful as he finally gave in to sleep.

 

The nurse gave a sympathetic look to the now sleeping Daisuke before turning to speak to Takeru. “You poor dears; why anyone would want to do this to people like you is just beyond me. Love is precious and should be treasured in all its forms. So what if the two of you happen to be males; whom you love is your business and nobody else's. There are enough problems in the world without people going and making up new ones.”

 

Takeru was in a slight state of shock. He had stopped listening about halfway through the nurse's speech. “Lo…love each other?” he asked her while looking at Daisuke's resting form.

 

“Yes dear, love, I have been in this business long enough to have seen many people in similar situations as yours and trust me the signals that the two of you give off together are definitely ones of two people who love each other. Just look at how you're caressing the back of his hand and notice how content he is as he lies there asleep. His whole body posture is gravitated towards you. If it was allowed and if you were able to climb up into bed with him I'd bet money that he would be snuggled up to you in a heartbeat.” The nurse raised her eyebrows at the blush that comment produced.

 

Takeru noticed her look and quickly gave her an explanation “no we haven't done anything like that yet, but we have shared a bed together…, and yes we do wake up tangled up together. And that's all the information you're getting out of me about that!” Takeru said with a now embarrassed blush.

 

“Oh, that is so adorable!” the nurse said sweetly. “It reminds me of how my husband and I used to act when we were first dating. Well, sweetie I need to be finishing my rounds, when Daisuke-san's mother comes back will you let her know that he has woken up and is doing really good considering his condition. If she has any questions she can come find me at the nurses' station in about half an hour. Someone will be around to return you to your room in about another hour or so. Don't give me that look you need your rest too young man.” After getting the final word in Carol, which was the name given on the nurse's tag, walked out the door. Takeru sat there holding his Daisuke's hand and thought about what the nurse had said. About ten minutes after the nurse had left, Daisuke's mom returned and Takeru filled her in on most of what had taken place.

 

~Saturday morning~

 

It wasn't until the tube in his throat was removed that it became known that Daisuke had no real memories of the past month. He vaguely remembered that Hikari, Miyako, and Iori were mad at him so it was a surprise when Iori came in with the older digidestined to see him. Daisuke was skittish around Iori and had everyone confused and worried until Daisuke admitted that he had lost some of his memories. The doctor was called in and confirmed that temporary amnesia was common in cases of head trauma. After assuring everyone that most of Daisuke's memories would likely return in time the doctor left to play a couple of rounds of golf. After this reassurance everybody relaxed and Daisuke was told more about his and Takeru's conditions. Takeru had broken his right Tibia (shin bone), his left Ulna (palm face down, the outer forearm bone), and he had two cracked ribs. He had suffered a mild concussion and numerous hematomas (bruises) though surprisingly few lacerations (cuts). Daisuke on the other hand had suffered major head trauma which resulted in his eighty hours of unconsciousness and his bout of amnesia. He had a collapsed lung, two cracked ribs and three broken ones. His right radius and ulna were broken (both forearm bones) and like Takeru he had numerous hematomas but few lacerations.

 

After having informed Takeru and Daisuke of each others medical conditions the group began to tell the two about all the chaos their attack had caused at school. The four boys who attacked them were identified and expelled for the rest of the school year, the athletic scholarships they had been up for were revoked, and since Daisuke's parents and TK's mom had decided to press assault charges against the four boys they were facing possible jail time. Several parents were in an uproar because the administration had basically sat on its laurels for a week and let the tension build without doing anything about it. One person on the other hand had written the editor of the local news paper and openly wondered why such perverts and `the two boys who got what they deserved' in particular were even allowed to attend school with `normal' kids. The local churches were gearing up to declare open warfare on the school district if it `caved to the radical homosexual agenda'. On the other hand several state and national gay groups had run with the story as another example of why there needed to be more and tougher laws to protect endangered minorities, and more stories were coming out daily.

 

In more personal news Taichi had decided to take Izzy's parents up on their offer to take him into their home. For the past several days he and the others had been quietly moving several of his more personal and irreplaceable possessions out of his apartment. On Thursday afternoon Ken, Yama, and Jyou had come over for a quick visit and after leaving waited by the door to give Tai some help if he needed it. It was a good thing they stay close by because they could hear the cursing and breaking furniture from outside in the hallway. By the time they had made it inside and pulled Tai's mom and dad off of him he had suffered several blows to the face and chest and had actually cracked two ribs. The ribs were discovered after Tai complained of having a hard time breathing. He had been rushed to the emergency room of the very same hospital that they were in now. The next day Izzy, his parent's and Tai had returned to Tai's parent's apartment where they were not even allowed inside the door. The group was informed that they could find Tai's stuff in the dumpster behind the apartment building. The only thing Tai's dad said to him was “never come here again” Tai had answered back “I still love all three of you and I hope that someday you can learn to accept who I am” to which he received a door slammed in his face. After salvaging what little Tai's dad had not completely broken or torn up they returned to Izzy's house. That night after he thought everyone had gone to sleep Tai finally broke down and cried his heart out. Izzy who was still awake and expecting something like this simply pulled his boyfriend tighter against his chest and held him until his tears stopped flowing. Tai soon fell into a troubled sleep and Izzy dozed lightly the entire night; awakening each time a nightmare threatened his love's sleep to gentle calm the emotionally drained teen.

 

Come Monday morning the number of out students would increase by five more and that would give them enough people to start a gay/straight alliance club at their school to promote understanding, acceptance, and hopefully get rid of some of the homosexual stereotyping that was currently going around. After all four of them were athletes, one was an on again off again musician/songwriter/poet, one was a computer geek, and one was already taking pre-med classes. None of them fit into the stereotypical gay mold and that was something they hoped to capitalize on once Daisuke and Takeru were able to return to school.

 

The two invalids both gave into their exhaustion and fell asleep sometime during the conversation. The group decided to leave Dai a note saying that they would see him soon. Yamato was looking after his brother today because their mom had to go in and take care of some things at work. She had to sacrifice time now to have more time to spend with her boys later, after she received her promotion. Yama handed the crutches his little brother had to use to Jyou while Tai and Izzy hunted up a wheelchair that they could borrow so as not to awaken Takeru on the trip out to the car. After borrowing one from a nurse and reassuring her they would not be joyriding in it the couple returned to Daisuke's room and helped Yamato ease the still sleeping Takeru into the chair. Once the group reached the front lobby Jyou and Iori went to retrieve the nice used car Jyou's parents had recently bought him, while Sora, Ken, Izzy, and Tai waited with Yama and the still sleeping TK.

 

“The poor kid he's really out of it” Sora commented while they waited.

 

“Yeah, the doctor has the both of them on some pretty powerful pain killers” Yamato answered her.

 

“They won't be on those for long since the doctors don't like giving them to kids. After about a week at home they will probably be placed on a much milder painkillers, or even just plain acetaminophen or aspirin” Ken told the others sagely. Before any of them could comment further Jyou pulled up to the front door and it was quickly decided that he would take Iori, Yamato, and Takeru home while Sora in her own vehicle would drive Ken to the train station and then take Tai and Izzy home. The group split up and soon all of them were on the road. Iori was riding shotgun while Yamato was in the back seat with TK's head resting in his lap.

 

Jyou was the first to speak up on the ride to Takeru's apartment. “As callous as this may sound and as much as I hate that it was Take-kun and Dai-kun who were hurt, this hopefully will help the entire school in the long run.”

 

“Don't worry koi I know what you mean, and yes while I wish that they didn't have to go through what they did at least they have friends and supporters to help them through it. A lot of gay kids aren't that lucky and have to go through school feeling isolated and constantly scared of the next attack they may have to face.”

 

Iori broke into their conversation with a hesitant question. “Yama-kun, Jyou-kun I need your help. I didn't want to say anything in front of the others…well actually I wanted to wait until Dai-chan and Take-kun were a bit better but I need your advice right now. I, um, I asked Scott Rickter if he wanted to go out tonight, as in a date” Iori announced while blushing bright red. “He agreed and my parents are supposed to drop me off at the mall around six. I was wondering if either of you had any advice about what to do, what to wear, those sorts of things since you have experience with this.”

 

Yamato gave a loud cry of excitement before he remembered his sleeping brother. Toning down his exclamations of joy he answered the now thoroughly embarrassed Iori “oh Iori-chan I'm so excited for you, your first boyfriend. Ok date ideas, lets see, shopping is good it allows you to get an idea about each others tastes. Avoid the arcade since couples usually wind up splitting up and doing separate things and the whole point of a date is to do stuff together. Movies are always a good choice, if it's a good movie you can cuddle up close and whisper commentaries to each other or just enjoy being close to each other. If the movie is bad you can put the dark to good use and make-out together in relative anonymity. (Yamato hentai-sama) As for clothes you should wear a good pair of jeans or maybe some cargo khakis, avoid polo's; instead wear a tight t-shirt. Wait this is no good, I need visual aids. Jyou can take us all straight to Iori's house” Yamato asked while pulling out his cell phone and calling both his parents to let them know where the two of them would be for the rest of the afternoon. After finishing those two calls he dialed another number and talking quietly. “Hey are you done dropping off everyone yet. Good come over to Iori-chan's. No, I'll tell you when you get over there. Trust me it'll be worth your while. On second thought stop by your house first and pick up some good t-shirts and the like. Yeah; no; they're for Iori-chan. I said I would explain when you get there. Trust me. Alright see you then. Bye.” With that taken care of Yamato chose to ignore Iori's questions and instead began planning out how to make sure Iori's first date with a guy goes smoothly.

 

~Iori's house One o'clock~

 

“Okay, Iori go take a shower, and be sure to clean up real good, scrub and condition your hair, and try to relax. When you're done come back in here with just a towel on; we'll have you some outfits laid out to try on. Don't give me that look; this is going to be fun. Now hurry up and get in there, we have a lot to do and not much time to do it in” Yamato announced to an intimidated Iori. Iori did not feel like arguing with this strange new Yama-san who was sizing him up like a piece of meat that he was trying to decide how to properly cook. Hurrying to the bathroom Iori let out a relieved sigh now that he was finally out from under the watchful eyes of his three friends. After stripping Iori stood before the sink for a few minutes and took several deep breaths to help him calm down. Besides these were his friends, they were merely doing what he had asked them to do, which was help him get ready for a date. It wasn't like they would knowingly hurt or embarrass him. Having decided to go along with the flow Iori stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. Flinching from the initial rush of cold water he relaxed as the water warmed up. He adjusted the cold water knob until the water was the perfect temperature and then dunked his head under the stream of water to wet his hair. Grabbing the shampoo bottle he poured some into his palm and began massaging it through his hair and onto his scalp. After rinsing the shampoo out of his hair Iori looked up to see his mother's bottle of conditioner. He had never used the stuff, but remembering Yamato's words he grabbed that bottle too and applied some of it to his hair. Allowing it to set in his hair as per the instructions for several minutes he used the time to scrub his face and neck. Rinsing again he grabbed a washcloth and a bar of soap and after working up a good lather he ran the cloth along his arms and back up across his muscular chest before doing the same on the other side. Bringing the soapy cloth back across is chest to wash his abdomen and sides he unintentionally trailed it across his pert and sensitive nipples which shot a jolt of pleasure straight to his groin. God I can't believe I'm turning myself on; again, Iori thought to himself. Ignoring his growing erection for the moment he finished washing his upper front before reaching around and doing his shoulders, upper and lower back, and his firm buttocks. This latter action caused the pressure in his cock to increase and finally prompted the aroused teenager to take matters into his own hands, literally. He wrapped the washcloth in his hand around his stiff cock allowing the soap to function as a form of lubrication and the roughness of the cloth to provide additional friction. Using a vaguely remembered wet dream from a few nights before to help him get off Iori began stroking himself quickly. Panting slightly he reached up with his other hand to massage his stiff nipples. Moaning softly at the tiny jolts of pleasure this produced he then trailed his free hand down his chest and around to his backside. Using his fingertips he caressed his opening. He continued doing this for several seconds before slipping his soapy middle finger inside. This simple action produced the loudest moan yet and caused him instantly achieve climax. Giving himself one final hard stroke he fought to remain upright as his cock spurted several thick ropes of semen onto the tile floor even as the muscles of his opening spasmodically clenched and released around his still lodged finger. He had only recently begun performing that last action, after succumbing to some inner compulsion to discover what it felt like to have something inside him. Leaning against the side of the shower stall to steady himself Iori spent a few minutes regaining his composure. He then finished the job of washing his lower extremities and after a final rinse turned the rapidly cooling water off. Stepping out of the shower he quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around his naked body. Slightly embarrassed to be wearing nothing but a towel he made his way back to his room. Surely they would close their eyes or turn their back while he slipped into some underwear, and if worse came to worse he could always flee the room!

 

Entering his room the second option became immediately blocked to him. The door closed itself behind him causing Iori to whip around and after barely managing to catch the falling towel he saw a grinning Jyou seated with his back against the door. “What's going on…?” Iori started to say before a distinctly female yet familiar voice answered his unspoken question.

 

“Don't worry so much Iori, we just don't need you freaking out and leaving the room before you're ready for your public appearance” an ecstatic Sora exclaimed before wrapping a now speechless Iori in a tight hug. “Our little Iori is going on his first date and I've been given the honor of helping to make it a memorable one. Oh I can't wait to tell Mimi all about this.” Noticing that Iori, in his state of shock, had loosened his hold on the towel; she grabbed part of it and snatched it away from his waist.

 

“SORA…what are…you can't… I'M A GUY, you can't be seeing me like this” an embarrassed but rapidly angering Iori nearly shouted while trying to cover his privates with his hands.

 

Takeru who was resting against the headboard of Iori's bed noticed his friend's agitation and tried to reassure him. “Iori, buddy, we're all your friends and nothing bad is going to happen to you here.”

 

Jyou, who was still pressed up against the door, threw his two cents worth in “calm down Iori we're just here to help you.”

 

It was Yamato who had walked forward and placed his body in front of Iori's as a kind of shield that did the most to calm the distressed teen. “Iori-chan you asked us to help you get ready for your date and that's what we're going to do, but you need to be flexible for us as well. I asked Sora-chan to come help us because she knows a lot about fashion despite being a bit of a tomboy still” Yamato jabbed verbally at his female friend with a cheeky grin. “Besides it's not like she's interested in what you've got to begin with.”

 

“Can I at least put some underwear on?” Iori asked in a quiet voice.

 

“Sorry little buddy, no more underwear for you period. In fact we have confiscated all of yours and if we catch you wearing any there will be consequences. And we will be checking up on you periodically to make sure you're following our rules too” Yamato told the younger teen while gently caressing his thumb across the shivering teen's exposed hip.

 

“But, but…” a flustered Iori stuttered.

 

Yamato didn't say a word; instead he grabbed Iori's hand and forced him to run his fingers under the waist band of his pants. Yama whispered “I haven't worn the stupid things in years; they get in the way when Jyou and I decide to play” he told him with a wink before backing away.

 

Iori, who had used up his quota of blushes for the next six months didn't even blink at Yamato's whispered confession. Instead he lowered his arms to his sides and tried not to be self-conscious about the four sets of eyes sizing his nude form up. Yamato broke into his thoughts again with another revealing statement. “Something else for your overworked brain to consider Iori, none of the males in this room are wearing underwear right now either!” At Iori's questioning look Jyou and Takeru clarified “Yamato convinced me to stop wearing it soon after we started dating” Jyou explained.

 

“And my little brother gave it up way before I even thought about doing it. Some time shortly after the end of our first adventure in the digital world, wasn't it Takeru?” Yamato asked.

 

“Yeah I, um, ran out one week a few days before wash day. I grew to enjoy it so much that I decide to quit wearing underwear altogether. It took mom about two weeks of washing none of my underwear to realize what was going on. She didn't like it at first but as usual let me do my own thing” Takeru admitted.

 

Sora looked at Takeru with a sly smile “so what do you wear to bed Take-chan?”

 

“Normally just a pair of pajama pants” Takeru answered before smirking in Iori's direction “but if you really want to know ask Iori-chan, after all he's gone to bed with me.”

 

“Can we please stop talking about underwear or what people wear when they're asleep and get me some clothes on!” Iori exclaim. He could feel himself growing half hard from the mental images his mind had conjured up; mostly focusing on Yamato, Takeru, and Jyou dancing around naked. Miss Grandersnitch in a tutu, doing the Macarena. Miss Grandersnitch in a tutu, doing the Macarena. Iori kept trying to picture in his mind. Though potentially mentally scarring, it was doing its job of keeping him from popping a full fledged boner in front of everyone.

 

Sora, being the only other one in the room besides Iori who did not want to see him in all his glory, quickly grabbed a pair of black, white, and gray camo pants. After he had pulled them on she pulled the tabs on the sides tight to help accentuate his narrow waist and hips. Yamato meanwhile sprang into action and grabbed a black shirt with the words `Boy's suck' on the front. He handed it to Iori and had him pull it on. It came down to right above his navel, and the self-conscious Iori tried to pull it down before having his hands slapped away.

 

“Don't do that” Sora scolded Iori “you'll stretch my shirt more than you already are. Besides it's supposed to look like that. To bad you don't have your navel pierced yet. It would make that shirt look even cuter on you.”

 

“What do you mean, yet, I don't want to have any metal fastenings on me period! And what do you mean by your shirt, you're telling me that this is a girl's shirt!” Iori demanded emphatically.

 

“Iori-chan you're to precious. There's nothing wrong with wearing a girl's shirt besides it fits you perfectly” Yamato said happily. He then waved his hand around his head pointing out his multi-pierced ears. He also raised his own shirt up to reveal a ring attached to the upper part of his navel and the rainbow colored bar running through his left nipple. “I personally recommend getting your nipple pierced first that way if you do decide you don't like it you can remove it later and no one will be the wiser.”

 

Iori reached his hand forward hesitantly and tweaked the bar running through the older blonde's nipple lightly. Yamato immediately gave a sensuous moan and his knee's almost buckled. Noticing this Iori glance down and noted that Yama's pants had also become tighter in the front. “Whoa” the youngest digidestined said softly before removing his hand and backing up a little.

 

After Yamato had regained his composure they set about seriously getting Iori ready for his date. He received four no votes for what he was currently wearing. “It makes you look like a Gothic soldier getting ready to go off for war” was the main sentiment.

 

“Pants off and try on these” Sora said handing him a pair of khaki colored cargo's.

 

It went on like this for two more hours with him taking off and trying on different combinations of pants, shirts, and even shoes before they finally found an outfit that everyone liked. Sora and Yamato had been the two main designers while Jyou and Takeru gave out comments and criticisms freely and often. A short while ago Jyou had become involved with some thing he was assembling on the floor; he settled for glancing up and voting a simple yes or no to each combination. Takeru on the other hand got as involved as his current limitations allowed him, often commenting on which colors complimented the youth and which ones to avoid.

 

Iori wound up back in the pair of khaki colored cargo's he tried on at the beginning; they were cinched up tight once again to show off his trim build. On his feet he wore a pair of extremely low cut socks, above that he wore a pair of neon orange Chuck Taylor high-tops with neon green fat laces, laced loose and secured near the top to keep them loose fitting but unable to come undone. (Trust me, that's how I wear my pair, and they slip right on and off with no fuss.) On his upper body Iori wore a skin tight shirt again donated by Sora. It stopped just at the top of his pants and lifted up every time he shifted to reveal tantalizing glimpses of his muscular stomach. Across the front of the t-shirt was written the words `Prom Queen' in bright yellow letters outlined with a dark blue border to give the letter a raised appearance. On top of that he would wear a bright solid yellow shirt unbuttoned and worn loose.

 

It was now three thirty; Iori had to leave around five thirty to be at the mall on time. Noting the time Sora commented “that leaves us just enough time to work on your hair and find some accessories.”

 

“What's wrong with the way I wear my hair… and what do you mean by accessories” Iori again demanded to know.

 

“Nothings wrong with it,” Yamato said holding back snickers at the bowl cut Iori still wore. “But we think that if you just trust us we can find you a new style that'll be easy to manage and one that you can fix quickly every morning.”

 

“Alright, I have trusted you this far and I'm not dead yet, do your worse” Iori said with a defeated sigh at the twin gleams in Sora's and Yamato's eyes.

 

After Sora and Yamato had dragged Iori out of the room with a bag of hair supplies Takeru shifted to grab his crutches and stand up. Jyou moved a little closer but made no other move to help the recovering boy. He knew that TK wanted to learn to do this on his own so as not to be a burden on everyone around him. It was a part of basic patient psychology to try and be independent. Takeru managed to gain his footing by himself and was soon limping around Iori's room looking for anything they could use as necklaces, bracelets, or other necessary accessories. Halting after a few minutes of fruitless searching Takeru and Jyou found what they expected, a whole lot of nothing.

 

“Jyou-kun we have got to start teaching Iori-chan more about style and help him pick out a look that's right for him” Takeru complained indicating Iori's boring wardrobe and the utter plainness of his room.

 

“I know; tell you what we'll hold off until you and Dai-kun are mobile enough to join us and then we'll all take Iori-chan out shopping one Saturday. How does that sound?”

 

“An all day outing? Hopefully with our parent's credit cards? That sounds like fun.”

 

Jyou walked back over to the mess he had left by the door and picked up a couple of things from the pile. Turning back to Takeru he held up a yellow and baby blue paperclip chain that matched the colors Takeru was currently wearing. Coming up behind Takeru he pulled it around his neck and connected the two ends together to form a necklace. “To cool” Takeru exclaimed after going over to the full length mirror Iori miraculously happened to have. “Too bad you couldn't make one of these to match the colors Iori's wearing Jyou-kun” Takeru said dejectedly.

 

“Who said anything about not having one for Iori too?” Jyou announced coming up beside Takeru and displaying an orange and green chain similar to the one Takeru was currently wearing. Takeru grinned broadly while examining Jyou's contribution to the Iori date project.

 

“What do you say we head into the living room to await the rest of our reinforcements?” Jyou inquired of his koi's little brother.

 

“Lead the way good sir, lead the way” Takeru said with a sweep of his incased arm while leaning on his crutches. Jyou opened the door and allowed Takeru to hobble out of the room ahead of him before he closed the door behind them.

 

~Four Forty Five P.M. ~

 

Yamato and Sora lead a nervous Iori into the living room where an anxious group of digidestined waited with Iori's parents who were curious to see what the group of enthusiastic teens had been doing with their son. The first thing Iori noticed was that the group had grown to include a smirking Taichi and an excited Izzy both of whom had shopping bags near their feet. Iori hesitated at the doorway before stepping fully into the room. Yamato and Sora separated and moved to stand on the sides of the room giving the spotlight over fully to the new and much improved Iori. He kept his head ducked low until he heard the catcalls and whistles of approval to which he raised his head and grinned.

 

Now instead of the old bowl cut that had adorned the top of his head his hair was cut short on the sides and spiked up haphazardly on top. It was all held together with a strong gel and the tips of the spikes were currently dyed a bright orange to match his shoes.

 

Iori's mother came forward and ran a hand cautiously across the top of her son's head which did not budge at all under the gentle pressure. “Well it's certainly different” she said eyeing the new color that decorated Iori's hair.

 

“Oh, you should have heard the fuss he put up. He was fine with the hair cut and the spikes, but when we pulled out the color he almost freaked until we told him it would go away with one washing. After that he settled down and allowed us to finish” Sora told the group. Both parents relaxed after they heard that the new color was not permanent.

 

“Well I don't care for it,” Iori's dad said before his facial expression softened “but if it makes you happy son then I guess I can learn to live with it.”

 

“I… like it” Iori told the group at large with a happy smile.

 

“Alright,” Tai suddenly exclaimed while standing up slowly to protect his sore ribs before pulling Izzy up along with him. “Now that Yama-kun and Sora-chan have had their fun its time for me and my koi to do some damage.” Tai paused while Izzy grabbed both bag; they then both made their way over to the once again nervous Iori.

 

Jyou called out to Tai “catch” before tossing him the paperclip chain he had put together.

 

Holding it up Tai grinned “I'll have to remember this the next time I'm looking for specific color patterns.” Walking behind Iori he placed the paperclips around his neck, placing it high up like a choker. Standing back he looked to the group for their reactions. He received several nods and grins from his friends, and two no comments from Iori's parents who had decide to stay and witness the further transformation of their normally reserved son into this suddenly flamboyantly dressed person. Tai reached back into his bag and came out with a long leather cord holding six colored rings, one for each color of the rainbow. Tai pulled the necklace over Iori's head and looked up to see his friends' reactions. He was confused by the frowns until he looked down at Iori and noticed that while the necklace would fit a taller person well, it hung down too long on Iori's smaller frame. Tai continued to pull out necklaces of varying styles and colors to which the group of onlooker would vote to keep it or lose it. After a number of different necklaces had been chosen, Tai began to place each one around Iori's neck and again the spectators voted. This process went on for another half hour and included the less difficult task of choosing bracelets that complimented Iori's wardrobe.

 

The winners were, for the necklaces, Iori kept the paperclip choker and in addition he had on a necklace that resembled chain links but was made out of aluminum and was colored with the six colors of the rainbow. (Which the older kids conveniently forgot to tell Iori stood for gay pride.) On his right arm he wore a woven hemp bracelet bearing several large, unadorned wooden beads. On the same wrist he also had a long length of ball chain (similar to dog tag chains) wrapped numerous times loosely around his wrist, resting between the hemp bracelet and his hand. On his left arm was a Fossil watch borrowed from Takeru. It featured a constantly changing face and an oversized leather band. The younger group pronounced their work done and began pulling out cameras. Iori started to protest once again but as he had done many times before that day he gave into his friends wishes, especially when he was told that the pictures were for the convalescing Daisuke. Iori even managed to get into the spirit of things and struck several poses, some of which were funny while others were down right sexy. Finally Iori's parents announced that if he didn't want to be late they needed to leave right away. Once outside the older teens wished Iori good luck before piling into their cars and heading home.

 

After climbing into their own vehicle Iori's mom made the typical motherly statements about how her little boy was growing up and how happy she was that her son was going on a date. Iori's dad on the other hand was torn between pride that his son was going on his first date and disappointment that it was with another guy.

 

Iori picked up on his father's mood and decide that they needed to talk about this. “Dad tell me what you're thinking about, please. I know that you are probably unhappy that my first real date is with another guy, but you need to realize that this is something I have to do. I need to discover for myself if this is who I really am or not.”

 

Iori's mom didn't look happy with the direction that the conversation was taking but kept quit about it, for now.

 

Iori's father answered him. “You're right son, I am a bit… disappointed that you may not be attracted to girls, but you too need to realize something; you are growing up and your mother and I cannot continue to make all the decisions concerning your life for you. If this is who you choose to be then I want you to know I fully support you and will help you in anyway I can, got that. Just… be careful I don't want you getting hurt like your friends have been. I love you son and nothing you do can ever change that, I just want you to be safe and happy.”

 

Iori felt his eyes watering up at his father's confession but he did not allow the tears to fall. He wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeves before saying “I'm not entirely sure that I have a choice in this; whom I'm attracted to I mean.” Iori took a deep breath before once again changing the subject, “mom could you turn on some music. Something upbeat if you don't mind, after all I can't go in meeting my date feeling like this.”

 

His parents rolled their eyes at their son's choice of music but complied with small content smiles.

 

~ The Local Mall, Five Fifty Five P.M. ~

 

Iori's parents dropped him off at the entrance to the food court near the movie theater. Pausing to take a deep breath Iori felt some of his nervousness passing and his excitement increasing. My first date, and with a guy too, whoa, if someone had told me this would be happening a month ago I would've laughed in their face and then followed it up by a punch. Boy I can't believe how much I've changed. With those thoughts to lend him strength Iori pushed open the mall doors and walked inside.

 

TBC…

 

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. I hated the first draft of this chapter and deleted the whole thing. I am much happier with the way this version turned out. About halfway through I decided to move attention away from Dai-chan and Take-chan while they were recuperating from their injuries. I really like the part where Yama-chan, Jyou-chan, Tak-chan, and Sora-chan are playing dress up with Iori before his date. Its so kawaii, don't ya think? Sorry about the cliffhanger but it was a logical place to halt this chapter. So now you get to wait with baited breath for IORI'S FIRST DATE. Sounds ominous doesn't it; well don't worry I don't know what's going to happen either. As I said at the end of the last chapter this story is heading in directions I never dreamed of. So you see, you know as much about what's going to happen next as I do.

 

BTW: an extra note to all you artist out there. I can't draw people to save my life so if any of you feel inspired to draw anything based on any of my fics be my guest. All I ask is that you e-mail me a copy at cj5@tds.net so I can behold the greatness of other people's talents and maybe give you a plug.