Stigma, Chapter 2
[rewrite] [WIP] Yamato stumbles across something he was never meant to see... and now it seems someone may be determined to end his life, at any cost.
Digimon - PG-13 - English - Angst/Suspense - Words: 4968 - Updated: 12-03-05 - Published: 05-07-04
chapter one
Disclaimer: Toei's.
Stigma
by: butterflie
chapter two
[Saturday]
It was there. Front page. According to the article, the killings had been going on for a few months now. The one from Thursday night made the sixth so far; there was a serial killer running around Odaiba.
There was a picture of the girl. Ogawa Yuniko, just fourteen years old when her life had ended. Yamato felt sick. Then he saw where the article asked anyone with information to please come forward, her parents were offering a reward, and he felt even sicker.
He should have said something. He should have said something, dammit! Instead, he'd chosen to play the coward and run away, pretending he'd never seen a thing. His dad had been up when he'd gotten home the other night, he could have easily told what he'd seen and rushed to get help. No, he had to be an idiot and just tell his father that he was tired and going to bed. No mention of seeing a girl get raped, probably killed.
He swallowed. He was afraid to go forward now. How would it look? What would others think? It wouldn't help the poor girl anyways. She was already dead. He knew nothing of her killer. Pointless.
"Are you going to stare at the paper blankly all day or would you care to share?" his dad asked, mildly amused.
"Sorry," he muttered, dropping the paper to the table. "You can have it. I'm done." He stalked back to his room, ignoring the confused look his father was giving him.
He lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ogawa Yuniko. Fourteen years old. A whole life still ahead of her. She'd been cute in the picture, still just a child, really. Two years younger than him. A year older than Takeru. It hurt. He wished he'd been brave enough to try and help her.
He hadn't though, so he should try to forget about it. It was done and over with, and he needed to move on.
There was a knock on his door. "Yamato?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to work now. I just wanted to let you know I'd be working late again."
"Okay."
"Do you have band practice tonight?"
"No," he answered. "I'll be home all day. I have schoolwork."
"Alright then. I'll be home about midnight." There was silence then, but Yamato didn't hear his father's footsteps walking away. "How did you do on your math test?" the question finally came. "You said you would get the grade back yesterday."
"Mmm. I passed," Yamato said, thinking of that failing grade with an anxious sense of shame. His father would kill him if he knew the real grade, and Yamato didn't want to deal with that right now.
"I'd like to look at the test later."
Yamato winced. Told another lie. "We weren't given the tests back, only told the grade."
"I see." A barely noticeable pause. "I'll be off, then."
He didn't bother to reply, only listened to the footsteps heading away from his door until they were beyond his range of hearing. He lay there on his bed, wondering what to do. He wasn't going to leave the apartment, no matter what. The whole day stretched ahead of him, long and boring.
What to do, what to do...
He wondered if Taichi would be interested in coming over and wasting the day playing video games.
"Ha! My turn!" Taichi crowed triumphantly, already eagerly reaching for the controller.
Yamato scowled. "That wasn't fair, they practically ran me into the water!"
"You were the one that decided to max your felonies out," Taichi pointed out, grinning as he pried the controller out of Yamato's hands. "Stop complaining, you know I'll die soon and then it will be your turn again."
"Hmph." Yamato sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, pretending to pout for a bit. "You're so unfair."
Taichi merely stuck out his tongue before turning his attention back to the game.
Yamato watched him play for a bit, but now that he wasn't playing himself, he found it harder to pay attention. And as usual, when there wasn't anything to distract him, his mind strayed back to that alleyway, and that damned picture in the morning's newspaper.
He wanted to tell. Badly. Someone, whoever, it didn't matter. Taichi was right there, he could tell Taichi. Then Taichi could tell him what to do and he wouldn't have to feel so lost and helpless about the situation. But he couldn't seem to force the words out of his mouth. No matter what, they just wouldn't come. The secret was determined to stay locked up inside him, it seemed.
It wasn't right. He should tell someone, he really should. He knew something about that girl's death. Admittedly, it wasn't really much to go on, but it was something. He tried to think of the girl's parents and put his father in their place. His dad would want to know anything he could if he was murdered. It just wasn't right of him to hold information back.
The newspaper had made an appeal for information. He imagined the girl's parents receiving the news. First shock, then perhaps confusion followed by disbelief. Disbelief turning into anger and at last fading into grief, all in the span of a few minutes. The father would be demanding to know how such a thing could happen, the mother wanting to know who would do it, both of them crying. The picture was very real in his mind. Yes, they would want to know any little thing they could.
"Uh, Yamato?"
"Ah!" Yamato jumped a bit, startled back into reality. He'd forgotten himself, where he was and what he was doing. He looked at Taichi, who was calmly looking back at him, eyebrow slightly raised.
Yamato collected himself, returning Taichi's look with a cool one of his own. A look that said Is there a problem here?
"...Are you sure you're okay? You were miles away again, like yesterday."
"I'm fine." He noticed the controller Taichi was holding out in his general direction. "My turn?"
Taichi shrugged, setting the controller down and standing to stretch. "If you want. I'm getting kind of tired of playing."
"Ah," Yamato said, reaching over to turn the PS2 off. "Well, what else do you want to do? I've got some movies, or we could see what's on tv... I suppose I could feed you, if you're hungry."
Taichi smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I need to be going. I promised Koushiro I'd meet him for lunch in awhile."
"Oh," Yamato said knowingly. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that changed relationship. It had been a bit of a sore subject between the three of them while Yamato had slowly adjusted to the fact that his two best friends were now dating. "Well, you guys have fun." He offered a small smile.
Taichi grinned. "Right!" He reached down and grabbed the extra game controller he'd brought 'just in case,' then waved and left for home, presumably to get ready for his lunch date.
He sighed when Taichi was gone, and looked at the game console on the floor. It had been nice for a few hours of distraction, but he still had the entire afternoon and evening to get through, and his plan for that had just walked out the front door.
He went to unplug the playstation, and had just finished putting it away when the phone ring. He hurried to answer it, grateful to have a brief respite from his thoughts. "Hello?"
"Yamato!" Takeru said gleefully. "You're in! I was afraid you'd be busy! Are you busy?"
Yamato automatically shook his head before remembering that Takeru couldn't see that. "No, Taichi just left and I now find myself with nothing to do. What's up? It's been awhile since you called." He leaned against the wall, curling one finger in the phone cord as he listened to his brother ramble on about the latest happenings in his life.
"So you're not busy now, are you going to be busy later this afternoon?" Takeru finally asked, after they'd caught up on each other's lives.
"Not really," Yamato answered, figuring his brother wanted to come over for supper, as he was wont to do on a lot of weekends.
"Great!" Yamato could practically hear the bright smile in Takeru's voice. "So you're free to come to a movie with me then? There's this new one just out..."
He winced, now wishing he hadn't been so quick to admit to his free time. Briefly, he thought about telling Takeru he'd just seen that movie with Taichi and Koushiro yesterday, but knew it wouldn't put his brother off in the slightest. Takeru would just name another movie. And he didn't have any other reason to say no, unless he wanted to explain why he was suddenly afraid to go out.
And besides, he couldn't disappoint his little brother. "Sure, Takeru," he said, cutting in over his brother's chatter about the movie. "It sounds great." It came out strained and forced. He tried to make his next words sound lighter. "What time?"
"Well, there's a showing at three that would be good..."
Takeru had already looked up the times before calling. With a pang of guilt, he realized just how long it had been since the two of them had spent time together outside of one apartment or another.
"Three's fine," he said. "I'll meet you at the theater, then?"
"Alright, thanks Yamato!" Takeru hung up, leaving Yamato to stare at the phone in his hand and curse the lunch date that made Taichi leave early.
The time until he was to meet Takeru seemed to pass by agonizingly slow, but at last he was locking up the apartment and proceeding warily down the streets to the movie theater. His eyes nervously darted around, looking for a man he wasn't even sure he'd recognize if he came across him again. The walk itself also seemed to take forever, each man a potential threat until otherwise identified.
It was ridiculous. He couldn't start living his life in fear this way. If he did it long enough, it would become habit... he didn't want to be paranoid for the rest of his life. Paranoia could get worse over time, and he was damned if he was going to end up confined to an apartment for the rest of his life.
Unconsciously, he resolutely straightened his shoulders a bit, and quit looking around at every man like he expected to be killed. He walked with firm strides down the sidewalk, determined not to let his fear get to him.
He reached the theater, immediately spotting Takeru waiting for him with two tickets in hand. They went inside, handing over their tickets to the usher, both absently pocketing the stubs as they made a beeline for the snack counter.
"Popcorn, with extra heavy butter this time," Takeru told him, grinning.
Yamato groaned. "That's nasty. You drown it in butter and can't taste anything else," he complained. "I think we should make it light."
"But that's way too plain!" Takeru whined. "Besides, Ken and I always... get..." he trailed off.
Yamato blinked. Then he stared. And stared some more. Waited for his brother to explain himself. "You... and... Ken?"
Takeru just managed to not blush as he looked Yamato in the eye. "That's right. Ken and I come here on dates sometimes."
"Ichijouji, that Ken?"
"Yes." A pause. "Something wrong with it?"
"Not at all," he protested feebly. "It just took me by surprise..."
Takeru smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I meant to tell you a little bit differently than that."
"Right. So... how about medium on the butter?" Yamato said faintly. First Taichi and Koushiro, and now his brother with former Kaiser and boy genius Ken. It was really all too much.
The boy is here again. And there's someone different with him from yesterday. It's a blond kid, looks a lot like the boy, only younger. He's sure the younger one is Takaishi Takeru, the boy's brother. He's done his homework. It isn't hard to dig up information on Ishida Yamato when said boy is a rock star in a popular local boy band.
He thinks that perhaps he won't kill the boy after all. He'd planned on it, just on the off chance that the boy had seen enough to identify him, but the boy is glancing at him now as they pass, and there is no recognition in his eyes. The boy does not know him.
No, he will toy with him first. Have a little fun. Perhaps he can even scare the boy into keeping quiet, and there will be no need to kill him. Killing someone even remotely famous always has consequences, and it's not a mess he's up to dealing with.
"I guess I always thought you and Hikari would end up dating," Yamato said later. They were walking home from the theater, and he couldn't resist the chance to bring up the strange relationship again.
Takeru frowned. "No. Hikari has always been just a friend to me. And she's with Daisuke anyways, don't you know that? I'm surprised Taichi hasn't complained to you about it a million times by now."
Yamato shrugged; Taichi had never said a thing about it to him. Probably still too happy over his new relationship with Koushiro to really notice. God, that was such a strange relationship, it really was. He wondered what they saw in each other. Sometimes he really couldn't fathom it. And now he had to try and understand another strange relationship, one that didn't really make any more sense. "So, why do you like Ken?"
"Ah..." Takeru gave a helpless half-shrug. "I'm not sure, really. It takes me by surprise sometimes, that I like him. When he was the Kaiser, he always used to make me so mad. And even when he quit that, I still didn't trust him... I don't really know how it happened or just why I like him." Takeru laughed a little. "He turned out to be a good kisser though, once he got past the shyness."
"Mmm," he murmured, feeling slightly ill at that. Given time, he could get used to the idea that some of his male friends liked his other male friends. And he wasn't stupid enough to try and tell any of them who they should or shouldn't like, because it wasn't his life or his business. But the thought of those male friends kissing those other males friends, and maybe doing other things... he'd really rather not think about that sort of thing. "So, have you liked girls too, or is it just guys?"
"Oh, I like girls well enough," Takeru said, before grinning. "I just like guys better."
Taichi had said something along the same lines. Koushiro hadn't though; he'd merely stated that he was Taichi-sexual and thought about no one else. That had led to some embarrassing happenings, and Yamato had unfortunately discovered he could not become one with the couch no matter how hard he tried.
"Well," he said, trying desperately to think of something nice to say, "that's okay then." It was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it immediately.
Takeru looked annoyed, and opened his mouth to say something, but Yamato cut him off before he could.
"A-ah! Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..."
"How did you mean it then?" Takeru asked, a scowl on his face.
"It's just that it's a bit strange... I need some time to get used to it. Please don't be mad," Yamato pleaded.
Takeru sighed. "I guess I can understand that."
[Sunday]
The first thing Yamato noticed when he walked into the kitchen that morning was that his father was not happy. He was sitting at the table in stony silence, an untouched cup of coffee cooling in front of him and a single piece of paper face down in front of him.
Yamato debated whether or not to say anything to him, and then decided to chance it. It'd be better to get this done and over with. Whatever his father was mad about, it definitely involved him.
"Morning," he ventured tentatively, careful to leave off the 'good' in front of that.
His father did not even bother with pleasantries. "Come here," he said, and Yamato did so. "Turn over this piece of paper."
Yamato did so with dread, stomach dropping out when he found a copy of the math test he'd received Friday. Being a copy, the low marking wasn't in red, but it still glared up at him, reminding him of his failure. "Um..."
"You said you passed," his father said calmly, but there was clearly a hint of anger in his tone.
"I-I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to worry about it-"
"Worry? Why should I worry? It's your future you're fucking up, not mine. You can live with the shame, I won't acknowledge it. I'm just disappointed that you lied to me. I thought I taught you better than that."
"I'm sorry," Yamato tried again. "I guess- I guess I was hoping you wouldn't find out," he admitted.
Mr. Ishida's face softened slightly at this apparent honesty. "I thought you said were doing better in this class. What happened?"
"I was doing better!" Yamato cried. "I was doing okay until that test."
"So then why did you fail it?"
Yamato mumbled something, hating to admit he'd been too busy with the band to seriously study for it. His father would never accept that; schoolwork always came before the band. He refused to accept that Yamato's future was the band, that it was all he wanted.
His father apparently decided to let it go, because he didn't ask him again. He merely sighed and said, "After this, I don't think I'll be able to trust you again so easily, Yamato. I do not appreciate being lied to."
Yamato nodded mutely, and went to fix himself breakfast. The rest of the day passed in silence. Yamato holed up in his room, partly to avoid his father but also so he could sit and contemplate his brother's new relationship and try to not think about what had been on his mind since Thursday.
He discovered that he was more likely to think about something when he was desperately trying not to. After awhile he gave up and let his mind wander in whatever direction it pleased.
[Monday]
Yamato always found Mondays to be remarkably dull days. And this Monday proved to be no different. At least, not until he got home that evening and took in the mail. He rifled through it; most of it was just junk, and some bills that needed to paid. There was one plain envelope with his name on it and no return address. He stared at it curiously before opening it and pulling out the paper inside. He shouldn't have been, but somehow he was entirely unprepared for the message written for him.
"Now it's my turn to watch you."
Chapter 2 fin
chapter three
Digimon - PG-13 - English - Angst/Suspense - Words: 4968 - Updated: 12-03-05 - Published: 05-07-04
chapter one
Disclaimer: Toei's.
Stigma
by: butterflie
chapter two
[Saturday]
It was there. Front page. According to the article, the killings had been going on for a few months now. The one from Thursday night made the sixth so far; there was a serial killer running around Odaiba.
There was a picture of the girl. Ogawa Yuniko, just fourteen years old when her life had ended. Yamato felt sick. Then he saw where the article asked anyone with information to please come forward, her parents were offering a reward, and he felt even sicker.
He should have said something. He should have said something, dammit! Instead, he'd chosen to play the coward and run away, pretending he'd never seen a thing. His dad had been up when he'd gotten home the other night, he could have easily told what he'd seen and rushed to get help. No, he had to be an idiot and just tell his father that he was tired and going to bed. No mention of seeing a girl get raped, probably killed.
He swallowed. He was afraid to go forward now. How would it look? What would others think? It wouldn't help the poor girl anyways. She was already dead. He knew nothing of her killer. Pointless.
"Are you going to stare at the paper blankly all day or would you care to share?" his dad asked, mildly amused.
"Sorry," he muttered, dropping the paper to the table. "You can have it. I'm done." He stalked back to his room, ignoring the confused look his father was giving him.
He lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ogawa Yuniko. Fourteen years old. A whole life still ahead of her. She'd been cute in the picture, still just a child, really. Two years younger than him. A year older than Takeru. It hurt. He wished he'd been brave enough to try and help her.
He hadn't though, so he should try to forget about it. It was done and over with, and he needed to move on.
There was a knock on his door. "Yamato?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to work now. I just wanted to let you know I'd be working late again."
"Okay."
"Do you have band practice tonight?"
"No," he answered. "I'll be home all day. I have schoolwork."
"Alright then. I'll be home about midnight." There was silence then, but Yamato didn't hear his father's footsteps walking away. "How did you do on your math test?" the question finally came. "You said you would get the grade back yesterday."
"Mmm. I passed," Yamato said, thinking of that failing grade with an anxious sense of shame. His father would kill him if he knew the real grade, and Yamato didn't want to deal with that right now.
"I'd like to look at the test later."
Yamato winced. Told another lie. "We weren't given the tests back, only told the grade."
"I see." A barely noticeable pause. "I'll be off, then."
He didn't bother to reply, only listened to the footsteps heading away from his door until they were beyond his range of hearing. He lay there on his bed, wondering what to do. He wasn't going to leave the apartment, no matter what. The whole day stretched ahead of him, long and boring.
What to do, what to do...
He wondered if Taichi would be interested in coming over and wasting the day playing video games.
"Ha! My turn!" Taichi crowed triumphantly, already eagerly reaching for the controller.
Yamato scowled. "That wasn't fair, they practically ran me into the water!"
"You were the one that decided to max your felonies out," Taichi pointed out, grinning as he pried the controller out of Yamato's hands. "Stop complaining, you know I'll die soon and then it will be your turn again."
"Hmph." Yamato sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, pretending to pout for a bit. "You're so unfair."
Taichi merely stuck out his tongue before turning his attention back to the game.
Yamato watched him play for a bit, but now that he wasn't playing himself, he found it harder to pay attention. And as usual, when there wasn't anything to distract him, his mind strayed back to that alleyway, and that damned picture in the morning's newspaper.
He wanted to tell. Badly. Someone, whoever, it didn't matter. Taichi was right there, he could tell Taichi. Then Taichi could tell him what to do and he wouldn't have to feel so lost and helpless about the situation. But he couldn't seem to force the words out of his mouth. No matter what, they just wouldn't come. The secret was determined to stay locked up inside him, it seemed.
It wasn't right. He should tell someone, he really should. He knew something about that girl's death. Admittedly, it wasn't really much to go on, but it was something. He tried to think of the girl's parents and put his father in their place. His dad would want to know anything he could if he was murdered. It just wasn't right of him to hold information back.
The newspaper had made an appeal for information. He imagined the girl's parents receiving the news. First shock, then perhaps confusion followed by disbelief. Disbelief turning into anger and at last fading into grief, all in the span of a few minutes. The father would be demanding to know how such a thing could happen, the mother wanting to know who would do it, both of them crying. The picture was very real in his mind. Yes, they would want to know any little thing they could.
"Uh, Yamato?"
"Ah!" Yamato jumped a bit, startled back into reality. He'd forgotten himself, where he was and what he was doing. He looked at Taichi, who was calmly looking back at him, eyebrow slightly raised.
Yamato collected himself, returning Taichi's look with a cool one of his own. A look that said Is there a problem here?
"...Are you sure you're okay? You were miles away again, like yesterday."
"I'm fine." He noticed the controller Taichi was holding out in his general direction. "My turn?"
Taichi shrugged, setting the controller down and standing to stretch. "If you want. I'm getting kind of tired of playing."
"Ah," Yamato said, reaching over to turn the PS2 off. "Well, what else do you want to do? I've got some movies, or we could see what's on tv... I suppose I could feed you, if you're hungry."
Taichi smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I need to be going. I promised Koushiro I'd meet him for lunch in awhile."
"Oh," Yamato said knowingly. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that changed relationship. It had been a bit of a sore subject between the three of them while Yamato had slowly adjusted to the fact that his two best friends were now dating. "Well, you guys have fun." He offered a small smile.
Taichi grinned. "Right!" He reached down and grabbed the extra game controller he'd brought 'just in case,' then waved and left for home, presumably to get ready for his lunch date.
He sighed when Taichi was gone, and looked at the game console on the floor. It had been nice for a few hours of distraction, but he still had the entire afternoon and evening to get through, and his plan for that had just walked out the front door.
He went to unplug the playstation, and had just finished putting it away when the phone ring. He hurried to answer it, grateful to have a brief respite from his thoughts. "Hello?"
"Yamato!" Takeru said gleefully. "You're in! I was afraid you'd be busy! Are you busy?"
Yamato automatically shook his head before remembering that Takeru couldn't see that. "No, Taichi just left and I now find myself with nothing to do. What's up? It's been awhile since you called." He leaned against the wall, curling one finger in the phone cord as he listened to his brother ramble on about the latest happenings in his life.
"So you're not busy now, are you going to be busy later this afternoon?" Takeru finally asked, after they'd caught up on each other's lives.
"Not really," Yamato answered, figuring his brother wanted to come over for supper, as he was wont to do on a lot of weekends.
"Great!" Yamato could practically hear the bright smile in Takeru's voice. "So you're free to come to a movie with me then? There's this new one just out..."
He winced, now wishing he hadn't been so quick to admit to his free time. Briefly, he thought about telling Takeru he'd just seen that movie with Taichi and Koushiro yesterday, but knew it wouldn't put his brother off in the slightest. Takeru would just name another movie. And he didn't have any other reason to say no, unless he wanted to explain why he was suddenly afraid to go out.
And besides, he couldn't disappoint his little brother. "Sure, Takeru," he said, cutting in over his brother's chatter about the movie. "It sounds great." It came out strained and forced. He tried to make his next words sound lighter. "What time?"
"Well, there's a showing at three that would be good..."
Takeru had already looked up the times before calling. With a pang of guilt, he realized just how long it had been since the two of them had spent time together outside of one apartment or another.
"Three's fine," he said. "I'll meet you at the theater, then?"
"Alright, thanks Yamato!" Takeru hung up, leaving Yamato to stare at the phone in his hand and curse the lunch date that made Taichi leave early.
The time until he was to meet Takeru seemed to pass by agonizingly slow, but at last he was locking up the apartment and proceeding warily down the streets to the movie theater. His eyes nervously darted around, looking for a man he wasn't even sure he'd recognize if he came across him again. The walk itself also seemed to take forever, each man a potential threat until otherwise identified.
It was ridiculous. He couldn't start living his life in fear this way. If he did it long enough, it would become habit... he didn't want to be paranoid for the rest of his life. Paranoia could get worse over time, and he was damned if he was going to end up confined to an apartment for the rest of his life.
Unconsciously, he resolutely straightened his shoulders a bit, and quit looking around at every man like he expected to be killed. He walked with firm strides down the sidewalk, determined not to let his fear get to him.
He reached the theater, immediately spotting Takeru waiting for him with two tickets in hand. They went inside, handing over their tickets to the usher, both absently pocketing the stubs as they made a beeline for the snack counter.
"Popcorn, with extra heavy butter this time," Takeru told him, grinning.
Yamato groaned. "That's nasty. You drown it in butter and can't taste anything else," he complained. "I think we should make it light."
"But that's way too plain!" Takeru whined. "Besides, Ken and I always... get..." he trailed off.
Yamato blinked. Then he stared. And stared some more. Waited for his brother to explain himself. "You... and... Ken?"
Takeru just managed to not blush as he looked Yamato in the eye. "That's right. Ken and I come here on dates sometimes."
"Ichijouji, that Ken?"
"Yes." A pause. "Something wrong with it?"
"Not at all," he protested feebly. "It just took me by surprise..."
Takeru smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I meant to tell you a little bit differently than that."
"Right. So... how about medium on the butter?" Yamato said faintly. First Taichi and Koushiro, and now his brother with former Kaiser and boy genius Ken. It was really all too much.
The boy is here again. And there's someone different with him from yesterday. It's a blond kid, looks a lot like the boy, only younger. He's sure the younger one is Takaishi Takeru, the boy's brother. He's done his homework. It isn't hard to dig up information on Ishida Yamato when said boy is a rock star in a popular local boy band.
He thinks that perhaps he won't kill the boy after all. He'd planned on it, just on the off chance that the boy had seen enough to identify him, but the boy is glancing at him now as they pass, and there is no recognition in his eyes. The boy does not know him.
No, he will toy with him first. Have a little fun. Perhaps he can even scare the boy into keeping quiet, and there will be no need to kill him. Killing someone even remotely famous always has consequences, and it's not a mess he's up to dealing with.
"I guess I always thought you and Hikari would end up dating," Yamato said later. They were walking home from the theater, and he couldn't resist the chance to bring up the strange relationship again.
Takeru frowned. "No. Hikari has always been just a friend to me. And she's with Daisuke anyways, don't you know that? I'm surprised Taichi hasn't complained to you about it a million times by now."
Yamato shrugged; Taichi had never said a thing about it to him. Probably still too happy over his new relationship with Koushiro to really notice. God, that was such a strange relationship, it really was. He wondered what they saw in each other. Sometimes he really couldn't fathom it. And now he had to try and understand another strange relationship, one that didn't really make any more sense. "So, why do you like Ken?"
"Ah..." Takeru gave a helpless half-shrug. "I'm not sure, really. It takes me by surprise sometimes, that I like him. When he was the Kaiser, he always used to make me so mad. And even when he quit that, I still didn't trust him... I don't really know how it happened or just why I like him." Takeru laughed a little. "He turned out to be a good kisser though, once he got past the shyness."
"Mmm," he murmured, feeling slightly ill at that. Given time, he could get used to the idea that some of his male friends liked his other male friends. And he wasn't stupid enough to try and tell any of them who they should or shouldn't like, because it wasn't his life or his business. But the thought of those male friends kissing those other males friends, and maybe doing other things... he'd really rather not think about that sort of thing. "So, have you liked girls too, or is it just guys?"
"Oh, I like girls well enough," Takeru said, before grinning. "I just like guys better."
Taichi had said something along the same lines. Koushiro hadn't though; he'd merely stated that he was Taichi-sexual and thought about no one else. That had led to some embarrassing happenings, and Yamato had unfortunately discovered he could not become one with the couch no matter how hard he tried.
"Well," he said, trying desperately to think of something nice to say, "that's okay then." It was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it immediately.
Takeru looked annoyed, and opened his mouth to say something, but Yamato cut him off before he could.
"A-ah! Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..."
"How did you mean it then?" Takeru asked, a scowl on his face.
"It's just that it's a bit strange... I need some time to get used to it. Please don't be mad," Yamato pleaded.
Takeru sighed. "I guess I can understand that."
[Sunday]
The first thing Yamato noticed when he walked into the kitchen that morning was that his father was not happy. He was sitting at the table in stony silence, an untouched cup of coffee cooling in front of him and a single piece of paper face down in front of him.
Yamato debated whether or not to say anything to him, and then decided to chance it. It'd be better to get this done and over with. Whatever his father was mad about, it definitely involved him.
"Morning," he ventured tentatively, careful to leave off the 'good' in front of that.
His father did not even bother with pleasantries. "Come here," he said, and Yamato did so. "Turn over this piece of paper."
Yamato did so with dread, stomach dropping out when he found a copy of the math test he'd received Friday. Being a copy, the low marking wasn't in red, but it still glared up at him, reminding him of his failure. "Um..."
"You said you passed," his father said calmly, but there was clearly a hint of anger in his tone.
"I-I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to worry about it-"
"Worry? Why should I worry? It's your future you're fucking up, not mine. You can live with the shame, I won't acknowledge it. I'm just disappointed that you lied to me. I thought I taught you better than that."
"I'm sorry," Yamato tried again. "I guess- I guess I was hoping you wouldn't find out," he admitted.
Mr. Ishida's face softened slightly at this apparent honesty. "I thought you said were doing better in this class. What happened?"
"I was doing better!" Yamato cried. "I was doing okay until that test."
"So then why did you fail it?"
Yamato mumbled something, hating to admit he'd been too busy with the band to seriously study for it. His father would never accept that; schoolwork always came before the band. He refused to accept that Yamato's future was the band, that it was all he wanted.
His father apparently decided to let it go, because he didn't ask him again. He merely sighed and said, "After this, I don't think I'll be able to trust you again so easily, Yamato. I do not appreciate being lied to."
Yamato nodded mutely, and went to fix himself breakfast. The rest of the day passed in silence. Yamato holed up in his room, partly to avoid his father but also so he could sit and contemplate his brother's new relationship and try to not think about what had been on his mind since Thursday.
He discovered that he was more likely to think about something when he was desperately trying not to. After awhile he gave up and let his mind wander in whatever direction it pleased.
[Monday]
Yamato always found Mondays to be remarkably dull days. And this Monday proved to be no different. At least, not until he got home that evening and took in the mail. He rifled through it; most of it was just junk, and some bills that needed to paid. There was one plain envelope with his name on it and no return address. He stared at it curiously before opening it and pulling out the paper inside. He shouldn't have been, but somehow he was entirely unprepared for the message written for him.
"Now it's my turn to watch you."
Chapter 2 fin
chapter three