Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Little Child ❯ Chapter 5

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Author notes: I was just gonna do a Yamato-angst-ficcie, but it grew
on me... X_x Wee... @.@

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I wouldn't be struggling with my
collage-bills. I would be in Japan, buying LOADS of anime and manga.
So there! ^_^ I'm just borrowing the characters so that I can torture
Yamato. I love that guy! ^^v

Sweet Little Child...

Chapter 5

There was something about hospitals, Taichi thought, something about
them that made your stomach churn and your heart beat all too fast.
The red sign that screamed 'Surgery' to anyone who bothered reading
it, stuck him like a sore thumb in the eye. He paced back and forth
over the floor, hands behind his back, fingers braided together in a
hard knot.

Doki... Doki... Doki... The sound of his heart. He felt anxious like
never before. Doki... Doki... Doki...

He had thought it very strange that Koushiro hadn't shown at their
appointed time, so he put on a jacket and went outside. It didn't take
him too long before he found the younger boy. Abused, raped... but
alive. The following hours were a blur for Taichi, but he did remember
that he somehow managed to get enough hold of himself so that he could
call for an ambulance. He remembered vaugely that he had been bawling
his eyes out as he talked to the woman at the other end of the line,
she had to ask him repeatedly before he could deliver the information
she needed.

And now they were here. And one single word echoed in his mind, giving
him no rest. Who? Who? Who? Who? Who could have done this? To
Koushiro... Who could have raped him? Only a young boy... Who?

Taichi wanted to scream, wanted to hit something, someone, everything.
He did nothing, merely sighed, walked over to a chair, and flopped
down, burying his face in his hands.

****

Days like these, you just wanted to stay in bed and never get up, Jyou
figured, staring with red eyes at the clock on the wall. The teacher's
monotone preaching for once blew completely past him, his mind was
occupied with more important things.

Like Koushiro. Like Yamato's dad. Like Yamato.

It felt like he was sinking through the floor, knowing so, but unable
to keep himself from sinking further down. Why was all this happening?
Why had his feelings for the blonde rebel grown so much these past
weeks? Why had that rash, but friendly, Ishida-san turned out to be a
monster who did unspeakable things to his son? And why... Why had
someone, some unknown creep, destroyed a boy so kind, shy and
ambitious as Koushiro? What if he never recovered? What if he... What
if he died? Taichi said he had gotten pnemonia due to the time he had
to spend, weakened, outside in the cold.

The bell finally rang, and Jyou got to his feet, his legs shaking. He
spotted from the corner of his eye that the teacher looked worried,
that he wanted to talk to him. He was in no mood for some chit-chat,
and he pretended not to notice.

I need to get out... I need to talk to Yamato... This has to stop,
somehow...

****

The message in front of her cut her straight in the heart, in her
soul. Koushiro had been... And now he was in surgery?

Her hands shaking, Mimi swallowed hard, writing back to Sora. She was
kidding, right? She had to be kidding. A really bad joke at that. But
no... It didn't look like it. It was true, it was all true. No...
No... No! I have to get to Japan... Can't stay here, it's impossible!
The gang needs me... "DAD!!"

****

Sora sighed, rubbing her weary eyes with her hands. She pushed her
chair back from the desk as soon as she shut down her connection to
Mimi and America. Her mother was in the kitchen, making dinner for the
two of them. Her father was coming home for a quick visit over the
weekend, but she couldn't feel completely happy about it. Too much was
happening, to many bad things were happening. "What is happening to us
all", she whispered to no-one in particular.

****

There were some really bad things with being small, Iori pondered as
he tried his best to look over the counter, and at the same time,
trying not to look rediculous. Picking up his plate with food - he
hated fastfood, but he was hungry, and it was never good to ignore the
important things in life, as a sharp mind for example, and with an
empty stomach, your mind couldn't work the way it should - he slowly
walked over to the table where Miyako sat, stirring violently in her
coke.

"This is just horrible", she whimpered as he sat down. "Koushiro-san!
I mean, come on... What can we do? Do you know what we can do? I'm at
a total loss here, Iori-kun, help me out! It's so frustrating..."

Iori sighed, waiting for the older girl to slow down so that he could
make his voice heard.

"Right now, I don't think there's much we can do. We just have to wait
and see how things turn out. What Koushiro-san will say when he wake
up... The police will ask him who did it, of course. It's up to them,
not to us. We shouldn't get involved in this, this is a very serious
matter..."

"Oh..."

****

The two boys sat on Daisuke's bed, Ken had Daisuke's head in his lap.
They had spent a few hours talking about this and that and nothing at
all, both of them pretty dazed and confused.

"I wish..." Daisuke mumbled.

"What?"

"I wish we all could get together... All our friends, and the Digimon,
and then we'd take a long vacation somewhere, away from here. Away
from all the troubles..."

"That", Ken whispered, "doesn't quite sound like you, Daisuke...
Running from your problems... Isn't that what you've always told me
not to do?"

"I know... It's just... A lot of things are going on right now,
everywhere. Everyone seems to be having problems. We could need a
break, don't you think?"

"Maybe... But still... Daisuke..."

"Yeah, I know, I know..." He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Forget it. I was just rambling anyway."

Ken looked at him, his eyes concerned. Something was up with Daisuke,
something other than the recent events, but he couldn't figure out
what. It bothered him. No, it made him worry, and he didn't know how
to approach Daisuke, what to say to make him open up. And that, almost
drove him off the wall.

"I won't forget it", he snapped, making Daisuke jump and blink in
confusion.

"What?"

"Something's bothering you. And you won't tell me what it is. Of
course I won't forget it!"

"Well, of course something's bothering me", Daisuke snapped back.
"Koushiro-san has just been raped if you haven't noticed. You don't
think that would make me just a tad weird or something?"

Why are we getting into a fight, Ken thought, unhappy. There's no
need... But still, he grabbed his sweater and headed towards the door.

"Whatever... Listen, Daisuke... I have to go. See you later...?"

Taken aback, Daisuke slumped down on his bed, nodding.

"Sure. You just go. I'll see you later, yeah... Bye..."

As Ken left the appartment, he couldn't help but shiver from the
strange look Yun gave him before he closed the front door.

****

"Was it from the hospital?" Takeru put away the final plate, done with
the dishes. Hikari shook her head, leaning against the doorframe,
sighing.

"No. Wrong number." She frowned. "If only Niichan would call... Not
knowing what's happening is driving me insane..."

Takeru nodded, drying his hands off on a towel. He wiped a few beads
of sweat from his brow, looking around in the Yagami appartment. It
was all clean now, he and Hikari had been working the entire evening,
tidying the place up. Taichi's and Hikari's parents were over at the
hospital, trying to provide some comfort to Koushiro's parents.

Takeru flopped down on the sofa, streaching out his long legs before
him. Hikari followed suit, sitting down next to him. She pulled her
legs close to her, so that her chin rested on her knees, arms wrapped
around the legs. He put his hand around her, gently rubbing her back.

"They'll find the one responsible, I'm sure they will", he whispered,
hoping he sounded reassuring enough. He didn't feel as certain,
though, but he wanted to avoid worrying her more than nescessary, at
all cause. What if she strained herself? It was his great horror, he
didn't want her to suffer.

"Are you really", she mumbled. "I don't think they will... Do you know
how many rapists who never get convicted? I looked it up on the Net,
it's pretty scary. And even if they do catch him... Will that help
Koushiro-san?"

"Of course!"

"How?"

"Well..." Takeru shifted uncomfortably. "Well, he'll know he's safe
when he goes outside. That bastard will be put behind bars. He'll know
it won't happen again."

"Really? And what makes you so sure?" Her voice was flat, she stared
into nothing. "Darkness exists within all men, Takeru... What makes
you so sure someone else won't try something like that again? Rape
him... Or beat him up... Kill him... You're never safe. And I think
Koushiro-san will become very aware of that after this. If he makes
it."

Finding no words of comfort, Takeru leaned back in the sofa, sighing,
closing his eyes.

"Yeah. If."

****

"Yamato, get in here!" His father's voice was bright, he was in a good
mood. Yamato shrugged to himself, putting down his aucustic guitar,
and walked out to the living room. Masaharu sat on the floor, working
on something that looked a lot like a miniature railroad.

"Dad..." Yamato stopped dead in his tracks, bewildered. "What the hell
are you doing?"

"I really wish you wouldn't use that language at home", his father
muttered, then smiled at him. "I found this in one of the boxes I
haven't looked inside for ages. I bought it to you when you were
really tiny, you were so jealous at baby Takeru, so I thought I had to
make you happy somehow."

"Cool, dad... A real nostalgic flashback..." Yamato sighed, but did
kneel next to his father and picked up a part of the train. It was
heavy, felt cold in his hand, and smelled of dust and iron. Hazy
memories from his childhood stirred inside him, and he managed a
smile.

"It's cute, dad. Any reason you picked it up now? I mean... It's
pretty weird."

"No reason." Masaharu smiled. "I just needed to relax. It's been
pretty wild down at the station recently."

"I bet. A lot of news to cover, right?"

"Right."

They sat quietly over an hour, playing with the railroad, each in his
own thoughts. From time to time they spoke, friendly, neutral comments
about nothing in particular. A part of Yamato really enjoyed these
moments together with Masaharu. He almost felt close to the man,
almost felt... normal. The other part hated this, it left him confused
and angry. Why couldn't his father act like a jerk all the time, why
did he have to have this side to him as well? It made it all the more
difficult for Yamato to hate him. His hands began to shake in
frustration, and he almost threw a piece of the railroad in the wall,
when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it", he said, and Masaharu nodded.

Yamato brushed dust and dirt from his pants, walking over to the front
door. Opening it slightly, he said:

"Yes?"

"Yamato-kun? Can I come inside?"

"Jyou-san? I... I'll ask dad. You wait here, okay?"

What was Jyou doing here? Was he angry because of the punsch? Sad?
Eyebrows pulled together in a frown, Yamato walked back to the
livingroom.

"Dad, it's one of my friends. Kido Jyou, you know him... I didn't know
he was coming over, but... Uhm... Can he come inside?"

A frown flashed in Masaharu's face as well, but then he smiled.

"Sure. You can ask him if he wants to help us build this baby if you
want to."

"Dad. No. No way!" Yamato blushed and stormed over to Jyou, cursing
his dad up and down. He would not humiliate himself like that in front
of a friend. He would not.

****

"He wants to see you", Koushiro's mom said quietly, tears flowing down
her cheeks. She looked at Taichi, then hid her face in her hands,
shoulders shaking hopelessly. Koushiro's dad looked grim, his arm
around his wife's shoulders as the pair walked over to the policemen
standing a few yards away.

Taichi's parents smiled at him, giving him enough courage to go into
the room where Koushiro laid. The boy with the biggest hair in all of
Japan - or so he liked to think - nodded back, forcing a smile to his
face. He swallowed hard... and opened the door.

He wanted to cry.

Koushiro lay with bandaids all around him, his face was swollen and
ugly, he had something up his nose - Taichi couldn't remember what it
was called, it gave you oxygen, didn't it? Helped you breathe... - and
he looked so very miserable it almost broke Taichi's heart.

"Yo", he greeted the younger boy, his voice barely recognisable to
himself.

"Taichi-san...I'm sorry I couldn't make it on time..."

"Don't!" Taichi surprised himself when he heard how sharp - or
hysterical - his voice sounded. "Don't say that! Don't apologize!
Hikari did that too, remeber? I told you. And it wasn't her fault. And
this wasn't your fault, okay? Don't blame yourself!"

He sat down on the chair next to Koushiro's bed, a hand hesitantly
reaching out and patting the redhead's hair.

"I'm just glad you're awake, Koushiro... The doctors says you're gonna
be fine, if you just take it easy. Okay? You hear that? You have to
take it easy. And I'll stay here and make sure you do that."

"Taichi-san..."

"No buts. You're my friend. I'll be damned if I don't stick up for my
friends when they need me. You're important to me, Koushiro... I want
you to get well."

"I... Thank you..."

Taichi swallowed, thinking his words over. The way he had put them.
Yes, Koushiro was important to him. Very, very important. Taichi knew
he liked both boys and girls. Did he like Koushiro that way? Maybe he
did. Well, not wasn't the best time to tell Koushiro that, was it? If
there would be a 'later', Taichi made a vow he'd tell Koushiro then.
When things had calmed down. But now...

"Koushiro... Do you... I mean... what did you tell the cops? Do you
know who... who..."

"Who raped me?" Koushiro swallowed, looked away. "You can say it,
Taichi-san. Why deny it? I was raped... I..."

Silence. Taichi waited with a patiens he didn't know he had. Then:

"I know who did it. I told the police... I didn't really want too,
Taichi, but I don't want him to do it again... So I told them... What
if Yamato never forgives me?"

Tears - Koushiro was crying! Taichi blinked in shock - streamed down
the redhead's cheeks, and Taichi frowned.

"There now... And... Why do you think Yamato will take offense...?"

Taichi shut his mouth. Took a deep breath. Exhaled.

"Dear Gods..."

****

"Wanna listen?" Yamato waved a CD with Glay in his face, and Jyou
nodded, looking over Yamato's next to empty bookshelf. Too bad Yamato
didn't have any flowers in his room, it could really need a little
touch of color, it looked pretty plain.

"Yamato-kun... You have heard what happened to Koushiro, I
persume...?"

"I have. How could I not? It's all over the news... Horrible,
though... Have you heard anything?"

"Not much. Taichi-kun is down at the hospital, I think. I might call
him later."

"Yeah, me too..."

They sat down on Yamato's bed, only inches apart. Jyou felt his blood
rise to a dangerously high level, and he could feel his face growing
warm. He scolded himself, told himself to calm down, that this wasn't
the time to act like some flirtatious schoolgirl, but his hormones
wouldn't listen.

"Jyou-san", Yamato said suddenly, his tone short. "You've been
checking me out, haven't you? I can tell those things, you know..."

Now he definately blushed. Just typical. Why couldn't he ever act like
an adult when it came to emotions?

"I... No!"

"Really? So... If I like kissed you know, you wouldn't like it?"
Yamato smirked, leaning close, a hand seductivly on Jyou's leg.

"Yamato... no! I... Why do you say that? Why are you...?"

"Jyou-san..." A low chuckle, almost friendly. At least Jyou hoped it
was friendly. "You've been so obvious it isn't even funny. It's
flattering, though. Besides... You're nice. You have the biggest
fucking mouth in the world, but you're still kind of nice."

At this, Jyou had no answer. And even if he wanted to, he couldn't...

****

The second time the doorbell rang, Masaharu sighed, frustrated. What
was it now? He had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he
still walked over to the door and opened it. Four policemen stormed
in, grabbing his arms and bending them up behind his back.

"Ishida Masaharu, you are under arrest for sexually abuse of a minor."

****

... because Yamato pulled him close, and placed his lips over Jyou's,
not letting the blue-haired boy go.

To Be Continued...