Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Strange ❯ Part 6 ( Chapter 6 )

 

Title: Strange

Rating: R (for language)

Warnings: OOC, angst

Pairings: Kensuke and Kenyako on the side.

Summery: When nature is overruled by nurture the sins of the family can be devastating. Maybe the wrongs can be righted. Maybe Ken and Daisuke can help each other, if they get over their own problems first.

Disclaimer: Digimon and the characters within belong to their respective owners. No profit is being made.

Authors notes: Here's a bit more into how this works. Comments and criticisms are more than welcome. If anyone has further questions about what's going on here, feel free to ask in a review or comment and I'll try to answer it in the next chapter posting or in the story itself.

 

Additionally: As if this story isn't hard enough to follow already ^_^;; I'm going to explain this now so I don't lose anybody during the chapter. Most, if not all, of this story is told in 3rd Person Limited Point of View and it's mostly Daisuke's point of view that it's limited to. Daisuke refers to the meaner personality as Ken and the nicer one as Ichijouji however Ichijouji does not know he has another personality so at all times he refers to himself as Ken and Daisuke as Davis. There is a point in this part when then 3rd person limited switched from Daisuke to Ichijouji, I am not marking when the switch is, it is very abrupt but it should be easy follow. Any questions, please ask ^_^ Now on with the show.

 

 

 

Part 6

 

Daisuke was zoning out in the cafeteria. There was a hum of activity going on, not around him, but close enough. He was still perplexed by how his life had changed so completely in three weeks. Three weeks ago he had been a nonentity; the shadow of a guy who was, well, Wallace hadn't exactly been a social gem. If he was being honest with himself, Wallace had been a real jerk, but Daisuke had followed him everywhere and done what he had done which had made Daisuke a jerk as well. But no one had really known Daisuke; they only knew Davis.

 

Davis Motomiya hadn't really existed as a person, he had been a shell filled with nothing. That's how people had seen him and that's how people had treated him, like nothing. But now Davis Motomiya was emerging as the life of the party. Though, at that particular moment, he was trying get away from the crowd for personal reflection, under the guise of needing to finish his math homework, which he had actually completed the previous night.

 

The transformation had started the day he had noticed Ken Ichijouji staring at him, or more specifically, the day Ichijouji Ken had noticed him. Daisuke was starting to suspect that once the other boy's sights had been set, there was really no way he could have escaped. Even so, the thought he had been trapped and tricked into the arrangement didn't upset him; it was just another factor that figured into his situation. Although, if he wanted to get technical, his real transformation hadn't began until Monday; on that day Davis Motomiya had been called into the guidance office and given his new class schedule. He didn't know how Ken had done it, but he knew the other boy was responsible. His first clue being that they now shared every class.

 

That was the first thing that had been completely turned around. Wallace, whom he had previously shared all his classes with, had been no slouch in academics, but he didn't hold a flame to Ken. Obviously some of Osamu's genius had rubbed off on his younger brother because Ken and Daisuke now had a full schedule of advanced honors courses. However, surprisingly, he wasn't failing any of them. The classes were challenging, but he found if he paid attention, he could get by just fine. Of course, if he ever did have a problem he could easily get help, as Daisuke now spent almost every waking minute with Ichijouji.

 

“It's all an act, Daisuke, that's all.” That had been the last thing Ken had said to him when Daisuke had last seen him, almost a week ago. Since then, it had been Ichijouji. And, Daisuke supposed, Ken's parting words were true enough; his life was just an act. To everyone else, including Ichijouji, he was still Davis, whoever Davis was. It was only with Ken that he was Daisuke, that he could try to be himself, though he wasn't quite sure who Daisuke was either. He realized it was entirely possible that he had exchanged one master for another, so to speak. It was possible he was just following Ken around like he had followed Wallace, but he didn't think it was that simple. Ken, unlike Wallace, was actually his friend. It hadn't been about friendship with Wallace in so long, maybe not ever. It was more about pity and tolerance. In any case, Wallace had never really treated him like a person, more like a faithful pet. He hadn't even said goodbye when he'd left. Ken, on the other hand, didn't feel sorry for Daisuke and he wouldn't let Daisuke feel sorry for himself either. He was always pushing Daisuke, trying to get him to rise to his level, and though Daisuke found Ken insufferable at time, he did appreciate it.

 

He missed Ken. Though the more time he spent around Ichijouji the more he realized they were the same person, even if their attitudes and mannerisms were so completely different. And, it was when he spent time with Ichijouji that he felt both of their dualities so sharply. Ken was all prickly attitudes, cold looks and machinations, while Ichijouji was just… none of that. He was fun to be around and happy and kind. He was almost too good to be true. They were friends, closer even than he and Ken because Ichijouji would let him in. Ichijouji was never cold and would never push him away. On the contrary, he was always close. They were always brushing up against each other or Ichijouji would find some random reason to touch… and he still didn't know Daisuke's real name. That bothered Daisuke sometimes when he looked in Ichijouji's eyes and saw… that look. It could mean anything, it meant everything, and it made Daisuke want to stop looking because he couldn't do that, not with Ichijouji, not while he played his double roll.

 

It was almost the end of lunch and he would be back on the clock, back to Davis, back to the act. As he started to pack up his things he glanced down to the other end of the table where Ichijouji was sitting with his beautiful girlfriend, Miyako Inoue, on his lap while she charmed the audience in front of them. Ichijouji Ken was mysterious and apparently hansom but ultimately friendly, as he smiled all the girls fell to pieces while Miyako commanded attention, envy and respect; she played the social politics game like and old pro. They were perfect together, an instant hit, only together officially for five days and already a power couple. As sophomores they were already the second most popular couple in the school, behind junior Mimi Tachikawa and senior Joe Kiddo who had been building their social reputations for three years.

 

And Daisuke? Riding the coattails of Ken and Miyako's success, as Ken's best friend Davis Motomiya, he was now the hottest new commodity on the market. He was mysterious, smart and, in his own opinion, the best looking guy in the school. He had already been propositioned seven times this week by some of the more brash social vultures that made up the female population of the school. It was ridiculous, girls he had known since 7th grade and ones he had shared classes with as recently as six days ago were coming up to him and introducing themselves as if they had never seen him before. There was one girl, Minori, who he and Wallace had done a three week joint project with at the end of last year for their history class. He'd spent every day after school with her and even went to her house several times for hours on end and she didn't remember him. Yesterday she had the nerve to ask him where he'd moved from and if he would like to go out for coffee! He had taken her up on offer just to get away from Ichijouji who, at the time, had been kissing Miyako deeply. In fact, he had been flirting outrageously with all the girls, a behavior that Ken encouraged. It was a nice change of pace but he ultimately avoided getting too involved with any one girl, any girls at all in fact. Of course that only increased his allure, so it worked out for almost everyone.

 

But it felt like there was something else going on. Daisuke was waiting for the other shoe to drop and he had a feeling it was going to happen soon. Ken may have wanted him to date every girl at once but, even though he never said anything, Daisuke could tell that Ichijouji felt differently.

 

The bell rang and kids scattered like roaches. Ichijouji gave Miyako one last sickeningly sweet kiss goodbye and she ran off with some girls. Ichijouji walked over and put a friendly arm around his shoulder, Daisuke forced his smile to settle between brittle and overexcited, he was still trying to get used to the casual touches and smiles Ichijouji bestowed verses the manhandling and cold looks he got from Ken.

 

“So, finished all of your math homework?”

 

They laughed; they both knew Daisuke had already done it

 

Daisuke said, “It was either that or let Miku finish me.”

 

It could have been his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw Ichijouji flinch, “Oh? You know I didn't think you'd be interested in… I mean it seems like Bernadette—”

 

Daisuke nearly choked laughing, “Bernadette? Are you crazy! She's too purely innocent for me. She hasn't even talked to me.”

 

“Well, she's one of those girls who thinks it's proper for guy's to ask her out. I'm sure she'd—”

 

“To get into anything with her would be strictly handholding. Ya just know she's one of those ankle length skirts wearing, cheek kissing, Daddy says `home by dark' sort of chicks. I refuse to be stuck in the 40's.”

 

“Well, maybe that's what you need. To take things slow, I mean. You could umm…”

 

“Get to second base on my first wedding anniversary? No thank you. Although, maybe it's time for her to get down and dirty. I could—”

 

“No!” He pulled away like he had been burned, Ichijouji actually looked aghast. “I mean, uh, you don't wanna do that to her. Her brothers would kill you,” he finished with a weak laugh.

 

“Yeah, maybe…” He was supposed to be slowly corrupting Ichijouji, getting him to do stuff like skipping class and lying and introducing him to naughty ideas, like corrupting innocent girls like Bernadette. But Daisuke really didn't have the heart for it, especially when Ichijouji had reactions to it like that. Besides, Daisuke didn't really like to do those things either. He still had to do it though, but it was times like this he wondered if his efforts were paying off. Was Ichijouji upset on Bernadette's behalf, or did he just not want Daisuke messing around with any girls.

 

Daisuke suspected that they were experiencing what could be called an awkward silence; luckily, it didn't last long.

 

“So… you like soccer right?”

 

He looked over at Ichijouji who was staring off to the side with a little smile; Daisuke had come to know that as his mischievous look. Of course mischievous to Ichijouji was sneaking two cookies out of the jar instead of one. “It's okay, I guess…. What do you have in mind?”

 

“Well, I brought a ball so, maybe, after school we could go down to the park.”

 

He took the time to look like he was considering. Inwardly, he had to love the way Ichijouji was asking like he was unsure, as if they didn't spend almost everyday in the park. Daisuke reached the classroom first, but instead of opening the door he leaned back against it and faced off.

 

An impatience huff came from somewhere behind Ichijouji, Daisuke gave their classmate a `get lost' gesture before turning back to his friend. “Why wait? Let's go now.”

 

“Davis,” He turned his head as if looking for a teacher, “We still have three classes left.” He grabbed Daisuke's arm and pulled him off of the door so the students, there were three of them now and they were all nearly pacing, could get into the classroom.

 

“So you'll miss a few lessons, stuff you already know, anyway.”

 

He stared at him for a moment, then started to chuckle, “If your only concern is trying to get out of lessons, I wouldn't bother. Either you go to school now, or I take you to school on the field.”

 

Daisuke actually blinked, dumbfounded. “Wow! Was that a challenge, Ichijouji?” The second he said it, the look on Ichijouji's face faltered and Daisuke wished he hadn't said it at all. Ichijouji didn't understand why his best friend wouldn't call him by his name, and truthfully, Daisuke wasn't sure he understood it either. It was the principle of the matter, but it was a stupid principle. There was no reason for Davis not to call him Ken. But he wasn't Davis and there was no way for Daisuke to explain it, because “I'm trying to distinguish between you and your bastard of a second personality. Ya know, the one you don't know about that controls you and manipulates everyone around you” REALLY would not go over well. So, even though he knew it hurt Ichijouji's feelings, he continued to call him by that name. He had tried to compromise by not saying it in his face, but it seemed like he always forgot at the most inopportune times.

 

Daisuke was ready to apologize and promise never to do it again, but luckily Ichijouji chose to shrug it off and recover. He smiled again, “If you think you're up to it.”

 

“If I think I'm up to it? Pff. More like, if you think you can.”

 

“Great,” he said, grabbing Daisuke's arm again and pulling him back to classroom. “I'm gonna make you eat those words, AFTER school.”

 

Daisuke let himself be pulled away and they laughed as they headed into the room, ignoring the group of giggling girls and completely missing the cool observation of the compact figure that had been watching them from several feet away.

 

__________

 

 

“God it's good to finally be out of there!” Daisuke nearly crowed as he bounced away from the school.

 

Ichijouji followed at a sedated pace, he was tossing the soccer ball between his hands as watched Daisuke with a slight smile, “Surely, it couldn't have been that bad.”

 

“Are you kidding? A beautiful day like today, stuck inside doing boring lessons! Of course it was horrible, especially since I had my own lessons I could be teaching out here.”

 

Ichijouji snorted, “You wish.”

 

“Well if you don't believe me, come one then, Slowpoke. Show me whatcha got.”

 

That started a heated race in which there was a lot of shoving and attempted tripping. Daisuke and Ichijouji barely avoided running over a little old lady carrying two grocery bags. They stopped and turned back to apologize and make sure she was okay before racing off in the same manner, nearly missing another woman out walking her dog.

 

Daisuke just managed to pull out the victory. Though he had a sneaking suspicion, which he would not give the time of day to think about, that Ichijouji had let him win; but he gloated good-naturedly anyway, for several minutes.

 

“Alright, enough of that, Davis. You and I have a score to settle.”

 

“Yeah, ok. Throw your gauntlet.”

 

Ichijouji cocked his head to the side and tossed the soccer ball at Daisuke's feet.

 

He stopped it, “Alright, man, name your game.”

 

“Game?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah, well, soccer is usually played with fourteen or so people and since there's only the two of us, I figured you'd have some special rules in mind.”

 

Ichijouji shook his head slowly with that slight smile, never taking his eyes off of Daisuke.

 

He didn't know if his heart rate tripled or if time had actually slowed, but Daisuke felt it, like slipping into the surreal.

 

“No rules,” Ichijouji said. “I just thought we'd… kick the ball around.”

 

Daisuke had a solid moment, while his eyes widened and his breath hitched, to wonder how such an innocent looking kid could say such an innocent sounding sentence and make it sound so absolutely sinful.

 

Then Ichijouji grinned, and charged.

 

After the first volley, Ichijouji came away with the ball and a smug look, Daisuke called a pause.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, watching the ease with which Ichijouji controlled the ball as he kicked it around while never taking his eyes off of Daisuke. “I have the feeling I've been duped. You're good!”

 

“You're not too bad yourself. It almost took me a full minute to get the ball.”

 

The sad thing was Ichijouji wasn't trying to make fun of him. Daisuke grinned ruefully, “Where'd you learn to play like that?”

 

“I could ask you the same question.”

 

“I asked you first.”

 

“Yeah, but if you want the ball back you'd be better off answering mine first.”

 

Daisuke was actually delighted with the turn of events. This was a side of Ichijouji's personality that he'd only caught glimpses of when they played video games. This had to be a step in the right direction; Ken wanted Ichijouji to have a more forceful personality, and he certainly wasn't acting like a scared, meek little child now.

 

Still, Daisuke couldn't let him get away with saying that without a fight. “Or…” he crossed his arms and leaned back, “I could just take it!” He charged.

 

But Ichijouji's must have been expecting a move like that because it was ready for it. Thirty-one seconds later, after a skillful maneuver, in which Ichijouji had kicked the ball up between then and over his head so that, when he pushed Daisuke away and took a step back, he had four feet of space and the ball.

 

“Or…” he said, crossing his arms in mimic of Daisuke, “you could answer my question first.”

 

Daisuke shrugged, chagrined, “Wallace loved to watch Soccer on T.V. all the time, thought he was a real bad-ass on the field.”

 

Ichijouji passed the ball to him, “Wallace, that was your best friend, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Daisuke started doing footwork of his own, nothing as fancy as Ichijouji, but skilled nonetheless. “We joined the intramural soccer team in middle school, till his mom made him quit after one too many skinned knees. Now, what about you?”

 

“Oh, my brother taught me.”

 

Daisuke stopped and looked at Ichijouji, who shrugged as if it was nothing. “He must be an awesome teacher, that or you're a hidden prodigy.”

 

“Probably that first one. He was a great soccer star. He had all sorts of endorsements and everything. He even led his team to the countries championships. They lost by the narrowest of margins though. They were primed to head back again the next year… until—”

 

“Oh, yeah, I was the same way.” Daisuke cut in. He could see the troubled look on Ichijouji's face and he had a good idea where that story was heading. He wanted to stop it before Ichijouji withdrew again. “Well, until I had to stop. Wallace used to drag me to the field for one-on-one months after we had quit the team, `til I stopped letting him beat me. He didn't like soccer so much when he realized he wasn't so hot after all.”

 

Ichijouji grinned; it was sort of like the sun coming out from behind a threatening looking cloud. Daisuke had to pause and wonder exactly when he had become so goofy and poetic, he almost missed Ichijouji's next sentence.

 

“So is that the problem?”

 

“What?”

 

Ichijouji laughed, “Don't worry, Davis, you don't have to let me win. I promise I won't get upset.”

 

Daisuke passed him the ball with a smile, “Ok, Wise Guy, you're on.”

 

They started again but after five minutes they had resorted back to cheating and laughing the whole time. Neither really cared who was winning and who was cheating, it was more like an unspoken agreement just to have fun.

 

Still, after the third time Daisuke landed in the grass as a result of Ichijouji tripping him, he decided to change tactics. Instead of popping and making a charge, he folded his legs and sat.

 

“Giving up already?” Ichijouji asked ask he circled back around.

 

“Who? Me? Naw. Just enjoying the view from down here.”

 

“But you've already seen it so much today.”

 

Daisuke couldn't stop himself from laughing at that. “Shut up.”

 

“You know what I think? I think you're just tired.”

 

He scoffed, “I'll show you tired.” He put his hands down as if to push himself up, lifted a fraction of an inch, then sank back down in defeat.

 

Ichijouji raised and eyebrow and a smirk crossed his face, “You were saying?”

 

Daisuke managed a look halfway between embarrassed and sly. “Be a sport and give me a hand.”

 

He laughed, move closer and put out a hand.

 

Daisuke reached up, but at the same time, he stuck his foot out in front of Ichijouji's and when he caught the offered hand, he yanked.

 

Ichijouji tripped over his foot and fell just as Daisuke had planned. He landed, breathless, in a tangle of arms and legs on top of Daisuke who was laughing madly.

 

He tried to extract himself but he seemed a bit stuck (he was being held down) so he settled for saying, “You may be laughing, but I'm still on top.” He smirked, that shut Daisuke up.

 

But only for a second, Daisuke bucked and rolled and the next think Ichijouji knew, he was flat on his back with Daisuke crouched on top of him, pinning him to the ground. “You were saying?” he echoed.

 

This, of course, led to another struggle with a lot of bucking and grunting and rolling around on the grass. Any passerby might have thought… well, they would have certainly been scandalized. Luckily, however, they were alone.

 

Not that Daisuke cared, he was having too much fun, a little too much fun he realized suddenly and completely stopped struggling.

 

It allowed Ken to get the upper hand. He pinned Davis down nearly the entire length of their bodies pressing his heavier weight to his advantage. He looked down at Davis to really rub in yet another victory but Davis's sharp gasp of breath stopped him. In fact, everything about Davis stopped him, the wild look in his eyes, how his breath seemed caught in his chest, and how very close he was. He could feel each of Davis's shallow breaths on his own lips and the slight tremor that ran through his body. Ken was intrigued.

 

He let go of Davis's shoulder and moved his hand up slowly; he didn't want to startle him. When his fingers touched the other boy's cheek Davis jumped and inhaled sharply but made no move to stop him. Ken couldn't help the small smile that crossed his lips; he could hardly believe he had this opportunity. For as long as he could remember, ever since he'd laid eyes on Davis, he'd had an almost overwhelming urge to do this, to touch him, to be near him, just to be his friend. Ken couldn't explain it but he'd stopped fighting it ages ago. He contented himself with just being near Davis, his friendship, the small touches he could get here and there. But this, he'd never dreamed he'd be able to get this close. And now, with Davis beneath him like this, he was simply marveled by the feel of his skin.

 

He petted Davis's cheek for a moment trying to calm him. He seemed to be trembling slightly and Ken wondered if it was his fault. He was so close to Davis he could feel every movement he made, every time he took a breath and when his pulse changed. It was exhilarating but what Ken wanted was for Davis to calm down. He didn't want to scare him and he had no intention of ever hurting him, this was just something he needed to do. Ken looked at Davis and Davis looked back; he didn't look troubled at all, he was almost as if he was giving Ken encouragement.

 

Smiling he slid his fingers up the side of Davis's cheek and into his hair. He'd always wondered if Davis jelled his hair to get it to stand up like that, but it seemed to grow naturally spiky. Mystery solved, he continued to play around Davis's hairline, it was like he all day. Being so close he could see that Davis's was not one solid color but a mixture of several reds and browns of different shades so textured it almost looked alive.

 

Ken brought his fingers down the bridge of his nose and looked back into Davis's eyes, really looked this time. They were dark brown, different from his hair but they seemed to complement each other well. He paused at the tip of his nose asking with a smile if he could continue; Davis smiled back. Yes.

 

He drew his attention down to his own hand, which had started to trace Davis's mouth. It was slightly open and Davis was still breathing shallowly, but he didn't seem bothered. His lips were so soft. It made Ken wonder, he didn't think he'd get another opportunity; after all, they were so close he could feel the back of his hand on his own lips. If he just moved his fingers—

 

“AHEM.”

 

Ken rolled over in a smooth movement to get a better look behind them. The compact figure of Iori looked back at him.