Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Kaiser ❯ Branded ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: If you really want it, then feel free to pick any of the first nine chapters.

Raven: This is quite possibly the longest story Kagome has ever written. Nine chapters already, then tenth one is now.

Nathaniel: *sigh* And her bragging never ceases.

Raven: Hey! I heard that!

Kagome: *rolls eyes* Knock it off, you two!

Raven: Humph! I'll stop when he does!

Nathaniel: Okay. *sincere smile* I'm sorry, I really am.

Raven: *smirks* That's better. *turns to Kagome* Am I good or what?

Kagome: *glares* You didn't stop when he did. *throws muse off roof* There! Much better!

Nathaniel: ………………………

Kagome: *grinning* Good boy, Nathaniel.

Nathaniel: Let's get on with chapter ten.

Chapter Ten: Branded

Ken awoke slowly, feeling warm and comfortable. There was a warm pair of tanned arms wrapped around his waist, and a long line of heat was stretched down his body, created by the person snuggled up behind him. He felt safe.

Stirring, he slowly woke himself up and tried to figure out where he was. Raising his head, he glanced around the room, realizing that he was back in his base, in his bed. Taichi was the one cuddled up to him. Their digimon were curled up together on the end of the bed.

Smiling, the Kaiser gazed down at his koibito, watching the gentle rise and fall of his breaths. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and Ken could see the raised skin around the wounds on his chest. Eyes tearing up, he carefully brushed his fingers across the cuts, pulling back as Taichi moaned and stirred, beginning to wake up.

As he rose, the brunette's neck was exposed, and the small brand set into his skin shone, a pale scar against the darker skin of his throat. Ken sighed as his boyfriend opened his eyes and gazed at him, apparently feeling safe and comfortable.

"Mmm………how'd we get here?" he murmured, beginning to wake up. Ken just smiled and shook his head gently, wincing as his own brand shot a bolt of pain down his neck. "I suppose the others must've brought us here."

By this time, Wormmon and Agumon were stirring, and they confirmed the boys' suspicions, and told them that the others had gone out and liberated several digimon and areas controlled by Daisuke.

Then Wormmon asked the question that everyone wanted an answer to. "Why is it that you can defeat Daisuke, but only as the Kaiser?" he asked. "Does it give you some advantage that the others don't have?" Ken didn't know. He truly had no idea what advantage being the Kaiser gave him over Daisuke.

Thinking about his best friend, he wondered something else, and voiced his question aloud. "What else is going on with him?" When everyone else just looked at him blankly, he clarified. "Even with the dark spore grown inside him, he shouldn't be acting like this. The dark spore isn't that powerful, so either he was already like this inside, which I refuse to believe, or else something else is wrong with him, which I'm betting on."

Taichi nodded in understanding, trusting that the smaller boy would know more about the dark spore than he did. "Any ideas as to what else could be wrong?" he asked. Ken just shook his head, wincing as he moved his hand up to lightly finger the scar on his throat.

Tai's eyes were drawn to it and he frowned. "Why would he put both his crests on the two of us? If he hated us, he wouldn't mark us with courage and friendship, and if he just wanted to hurt us, why this way? Why not some other mark?"

Ken frowned, wondering the same thing now that it had been brought up. He decided to call a meeting with the others to discuss everything, and set about doing so immediately.

The others agreed to arrive at his base at noon the next day, since it was a Saturday anyhow. With that settled, Ken laid back down, pulling Taichi to him, and they went back to sleep, warm in each other's arms.

Kagome: All right, all right already. Next chapter, you find out what's wrong with him.

Raven: Ugh! Sap! *gagging* Makes me sick!

Kagome: *snarls* There wasn't that much sap. And how'd you get back here, anyway?

Raven: *smug* Nat let me in.

Kagome: *yells* Nathaniel!

Nathaniel: She made me do it! She told me that if I didn't let her in, she'd………she'd………she'd *hiccups* torture me when I tried to sleep tonight!

Kagome: *dangerous voice* Raaaaaveenn.

Raven: *gulp* Sorry. I didn't mean it, really! *bolts out door*

Nathaniel: Ummm………yeah, read and review please.