Unequivocal, Chapter 07
Who knew a single drunken mistake could lead to a lifetime of consequences? Yamato sure didn't think so, but now he's got less than a year to figure out how to be a dad and he's not sure he can. Taito. AU for Tri.
[Digimon] M+, family/drama, 4119 (22831) words, published 10-01-16
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Unequivocal
by: butterflie Chapter Seven
Honey
He wakes the next morning with a pounding headache and nauseous stomach so familiar, he has to turn his head and make sure it's not Megumi in the bed next to him.
Taichi meets his bleary gaze with a groan. "I'm never getting drunk again," he mumbles.
Yamato covers his eyes with a hand, finding the morning sunlight shining in through his window too bright to deal with just now. "Yeah, that's what I said the first time. And yet here I am."
Taichi sighs. "My mom told me to come home almost as soon as I woke up... Got any painkillers?"
"Yeah... in the bathroom. The medicine cabinet."
He feels the motion from Taichi's nod, and then groans at the stab of pain in his head that accompanies the shifting from Taichi throwing back the sheets and getting out of bed. He hears Taichi pad to the door and go around the corner into the bathroom, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet until he finds the paracetamol. He takes away his hand and stumbles out of bed himself, heading down the hall to get them both some water, and hoping he doesn't get sick before he can get the painkillers down.
Forty-five minutes later, he's feeling a little better as he waves goodbye to Taichi and shuts the door behind him. However, he can hear the noises of his dad making his usual Saturday morning pot of coffee, and knows he's going to be in for a lecture in a bit.
He's right. No sooner than he walks into the kitchen to swipe a cup of the coffee than his dad starts in on him. "I'm very disappointed in you, Yamato," his dad says, and he winces. Once again his dad's got that quiet angry voice going on.
"I'm sorry," he apologises softly as he slides into one of the chairs at the table, keeping his head down. His dad's disappointment feels worse than the lingering hangover.
"It's not even the alcohol itself that upsets me so much," his dad continues on sternly, pouring himself a second cup before grabbing a mug down from the cabinet and pouring Yamato one as well. His dad fixes it the way he likes it, just a bit of milk and no sugar, before sliding it across the table to him. "It's that you stole my alcohol, and then got irresponsibly drunk on a good bit of it, involving your best friend and making a mess in the meantime I might add. Just that would have been bad enough, but you then proceeded to... fool around, out in the living room where I could walk in and discover you."
He swirls his coffee around gently as he listens guiltily, knowing his dad is right. He and Taichi had been pretty dumb last night. His face flames when he recalls his dad walking in on Taichi blowing him. Some of the night is a little fuzzy, but he definitely remembers that part. Still... "So you would have preferred me and Taichi to just hide things?"
His dad sighs as Yamato looks up at him, meeting his eyes. "The alcohol, not so much. I told you before, I get that you're young, alcohol seems exciting and fun and it's easy to drink more than you mean and wind up pissed. I would have preferred you not drink all of mine, or make a mess of the living room, or involve Taichi when it's my apartment. The sexual acts, however, definitely should have been done in your bedroom behind a locked door so I didn't have to see!"
His dad's face is a bit red, and it suddenly occurs to him that his dad isn't nearly as mad so much as he's embarrassed. Well, Yamato can get that. He rather feels the same way.
"So you don't care that Taichi and I were..." he trails off, not about to say the words "blowing each other" to his dad. He takes a sip of his coffee instead.
"No," his dad says, shaking his head. "You're seventeen now, you're plenty old enough, even if you weren't about to have a child of your own. Your sex life is none of my business. Just please keep me out of it in the future."
"Sorry..." he says, reddening again.
"Also," his dad adds, "you'll be going over to Natsuko's tomorrow, doing whatever chores she needs you to do for the whole day." He looks at Yamato. His face is somewhat solemn, but Yamato can see a bit of amusement dancing in his dark eyes. "This is for stealing my alcohol, getting drunk in the living room, and making a mess of it. Not for anything else."
Yamato groans, but doesn't bother to protest. All things told, he figures he's getting off lightly.
"Since we're on the subject of Taichi, however... are you two dating?"
A faint blush creeps across his face. "I don't really know..." he admits, biting down on his lip. "Last night just sort of happened..."
His dad laughs a bit, shaking his head. "Oh kiddo, I think you need to stay away from alcohol for awhile," he says, mirth clearly visible in his face.
"This is different!" he protests feebly. "I mean... sort of. I like Taichi, at least!" He frowns, having a faint recall of Taichi running fingers through his hair. Had Taichi called him pretty? He doesn't know if he wants to be thought of as pretty, exactly, but... "I think he likes me too?" he says uncertainly.
"So talk to him," his dad says simply. "This afternoon, perhaps."
"That soon?" he squeaks, eyes large.
His dad shrugs at him, getting up for a final cup of coffee. It reminds him of his own cooling cup of coffee, and he drains most of it down, because it's easier than thinking about talking to Taichi. "It's better to do it now," his dad says, "than to let it sit between you for days or weeks, possibly festering as you each try to figure each other out, and potentially ruining the friendship."
"But what if he says no?"
"He might," his dad agrees. "And in that case, you'll have to learn to be satisfied with just having his friendship, and things might be tense for a little while. But I don't think he will."
His dad rinses out the now empty pot of coffee, and picks up his mug, carrying it with him to the living room, where he's likely settling into his recliner. Yamato watches him go, falling silent as he thinks about his dad's words.
* * *
"I'm going out," Yamato announces later that afternoon, slipping on his shoes. "I won't be too long."
"Be careful," his dad tells him, looking up from the television.
He just nods, grabbing his keys off the hook and opening the door. When he reaches the park, Taichi is already there, waiting for him underneath a tree, scooping up handfuls of bare earth and letting it fall back to the ground through his fingers. "Hey," he greets, approaching his best friend.
Taichi looks up, a cautious smile on his face. "Hey."
"Feeling any better?" he asks, settling down on the ground across from him.
Taichi nods, abandoning the dirt to look at him instead. "Yeah, mostly. You?"
"Yeah. Though dad lectured me a bit about stealing his alcohol and getting 'irresponsibly drunk' by involving you. But I got away with only having to go do chores for my mom all day tomorrow."
Taichi lets off a groan. "Lucky! My mom took away my game system for a week, and said I'll have more chores than usual. Including running whatever errands she needs the whole week."
He makes a face, glad his dad hadn't been that harsh. Really, his dad had actually been amazingly understanding about most of it. "That sucks," he says, sympathy in his voice.
They fall quiet for a bit, and Yamato looks away, studying the clear sky instead. There's a few large fluffy clouds floating in it. If he squints, one of them sort of looks like a rabbit. He thinks about pointing it out, but doesn't. He's worried. What if Taichi says no? What if it was just the alcohol? Taichi means so much to him, but he doesn't know if he can handle a rejection. But he doesn't want their friendship destroyed either.
He looks back at Taichi, who's simply watching him. It's clear Taichi's waiting for him to speak first. Inwardly he sighs. He hopes he doesn't lose his best friend over this. "Taichi, about last night-" He pauses, wondering how to phrase it. There's really no easy way.
"Yeah?"
"Was that just because we were drunk?"
"Do you want it to be?" Taichi asks him quietly. He can't tell what Taichi's thinking. It's a bit frustrating. He doesn't want to lie to Taichi, but he doesn't want an honest answer to ruin everything either. He figures he owes Taichi an honest answer though. They've been friends for six years, Taichi deserves at least that much.
"...No," he finally admits, looking away again.
"Then no, it wasn't because we were drunk. I like you, Yamato," Taichi says seriously, and Yamato feels his breath catch in his throat at the admission. As much as he'd hoped, he'd been too afraid to let himself truly believe Taichi liked him back, but now here he is confessing it. "I know you're going to have a kid soon and that changes things a bit," Taichi continues, "and you might be busy a lot, but... I like you. I like you a lot. I wouldn't mind, you know, trying this dating thing and seeing where it goes." His voice is earnest, and hopeful, and just a touch anxious.
"I like you too," he says in return as he faces his friend again, a light blush staining his cheeks, even as his heart flutters happily in his chest. Taichi likes him! He does! He didn't ruin things! "I'd-I'd kind of like to see too."
Taichi smiles warmly at him. "Would you like to go to Palette Town with me next Saturday? Around noon?"
"Yeah, I'd like that," he says, the blush still there. Taichi's actually asking him out. On a date!
"Great! It's a date then!" Taichi says, grinning broadly now, relief in his eyes, and it occurs to him that Taichi had probably been as nervous as he had. "I'll pick you up at noon from your apartment."
"Okay," he agrees, unable to fight off the silly grin spreading across his own face. "Next Saturday at noon."
* * *
Sunday morning finds Yamato standing in front of the door to Natsuko's apartment, fidgeting anxiously as he puts off knocking. He doesn't want to think about what kind of chores his mom might dream up for him. He knows prolonging it won't really help though, and will just make the day even longer, so eventually he raises a fist and bangs on the door.
Several moments later his mom is pulling the door open, looking surprised to see him. "You're not going to tell me you got a second girl pregnant, are you?" she opens with in lieu of a greeting.
He sighs. "Dad says I have to do your chores for the day."
His mom raises an eyebrow in amusement, catching on right away. "What's the crime?"
He turns bright red, still embarrassed over the whole thing. "Taichi and I drank a bunch of his alcohol and got drunk in the living room..." There's no way he's telling his mom what else he and Taichi got up to. And what he's said is true, since his dad did say that was the only part he was going to be punished for.
"Why do I feel there's more to that story?" she asks, but she opens the door wider and steps aside, letting him come in. He steps through reluctantly.
He stands in the middle of her living room, listening in despair as she starts listing off chores for him to do. She stops after five, but he knows it's only the beginning. And sure enough, she says, "When you're done with those, come find me and I'll have more for you to do."
"I will," he mumbles, and pulls the vacuum out of the hall closet to get started on the first chore.
Some time later, Takeru wanders in, still in his pyjamas, his hair still mussed from sleep. He blinks and looks at his older brother in surprise, then covers his mouth as he yawns. "Morning," he greets.
"Good morning," Yamato says in return, as he continues to dust the multitude of knick-knacks scattered around the room. He raises his eyes in surprise as he looks up and catches sight of the design in the center of his brother's pyjama top. It's a cutesy mini-version of Patamon.
Takeru notices him staring, and shrugs. "Mom sowed it on for me," he says, and Yamato's surprised to feel a slight stab of old resentment at that. He's mostly moved away from those feelings and forgiven his mother, but every now and then they creep back up on him.
Takeru wanders off again, presumably to get dressed and have breakfast. Yamato just continues to do the chores he's been assigned, bored out of his mind. He hopes Takeru will stick around for awhile and keep him company, instead of going out to hang with his friends. However, he does have to admit his dad's punishment is pretty effective. The next time he thinks about getting drunk, he certainly won't be taking his dad's alcohol and doing it in the living room.
Half an hour later, a more awake and dressed Takeru wanders back into the living room, plopping down on the couch. He watches Yamato clean for a bit, amusement clear in his expression. "What'd you do?" he eventually asks, after Yamato has gotten the second list of chores from their mother and once again been told to come find her for more when he's finished.
"Stole Dad's alcohol and got drunk with Taichi in the living room," he answers promptly.
Takeru grins. "Didn't you learn your lesson from last time?"
He sighs. "Apparently not..." He's smiling as he says it, though. He definitely likes this outcome a lot more than the last one.
Takeru watches him a bit longer, following him when he moves to the kitchen to start in on the chores there. He grabs a bag of wasabi peas off the counter before taking a seat at the table. "Have you decided on a name yet?" he asks, shoving a handful of peas in his mouth.
Yamato pauses in his cleaning and stares at him a moment. "Didn't you just eat breakfast?"
Takeru hastily swallows his mouthful before he speaks. "That was almost an hour ago. Besides, I'm a growing boy!" He grins, pulling out a second handful.
Yamato just rolls his eyes and goes back to his sweeping. After a moment, he says, "I was thinking about Naoki..."
Takeru's face lights up. "I love it!" he exclaims. "It's perfect!"
He smiles slightly. He'd spent quite a while going through the baby book his dad had bought, looking for a name he liked. When he'd seen the name "Naoki" it had immediately felt right, even if it was a somewhat traditional name like the ones he'd poked fun at his brother for. "Really?"
"Yeah, it's great," Takeru told him sincerely. "I really like it. Mom, Yamato's gonna name his kid Naoki!" his brother raises his voice as he calls down the hall. "Isn't a good name?" he asks her as she pops out of her office and into the kitchen.
She smiles at him. "I think it's a lovely name," she says.
He blushes. "Thanks."
* * *
When he lets himself into the apartment that evening, exhausted from all the cleaning he's been doing all day, his dad's in the kitchen, opening up various take-out boxes. He sighs at the delicious smell wafting around the room. "I hope some of that's for me," he remarks with a grin.
His dad smiles as he grabs some plates out of the cabinet. "I picked it up when you texted that you'd be home soon," his dad says, handing one of the plates to him. "I figured you'd be too tired to cook anything."
He takes a seat at the table with a groan, pulling one of the boxes a bit closer to him as he starts unloading some rice onto his plate. "I didn't know that many chores could be done in one day."
"A very effective lesson, I'm sure," his dad says, voice a touch smug as he sets down some drinks in front of them.
He rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll buy my own alcohol from now on and keep it out of sight."
"I'm not sure that was exactly what I had intended..."
Yamato grins at him.
They eat in silence for a bit, comfortable enough with it and each other to not need to fill the room with small talk. Not to mention he's starving. He had lunch with his mom and brother, but that's been quite a few hours ago now, and he's worked up an appetite with all the cleaning he's done. He's halfway through his meal before he speaks up. "I've picked out a name."
"Oh?" his dad asks curiously, looking up from his food. "What have you decided on?"
"Naoki."
"Naoki..." his dad muses, trying it out. "Ishida Naoki. It's a nice name." He smiles at Yamato, his eyes warm, a hint of affection breaking through his normally reserved demeanor. "I like it."
He smiles back, feeling slightly embarrassed at how much his parents' approval of his name choice means to him. "Thanks. Mom and Takeru did too. I saw it in the name book and it just seemed right."
"It's good," his dad says. "I'm sure Naoki will appreciate it when he's older."
He just blushes, ducking his head as he focuses on his food again.
* * *
Saturday, the day of his and Taichi's date, eventually rolls around. He's up early, showering and spending time fixing up his hair until he's satisfied it looks good. He then spends the next half hour staring into his closet, cursing every piece of clothing he owns and wishing he'd taken the time to buy something new. He tries on several different outfits, scowling at himself in the mirror with each one before he finally settles on a pair of tight dark jeans and a short-sleeved forest green button down he's only worn a few times, along with a simple black chain around his neck.
Once he's ready he looks at the clock by his bed and realises he's still got an hour and half before it's noon. He sighs and wonders what to do. He's too nervous to eat breakfast, so that's out. He looks around his room, resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair, not wanting to mess it up already. Finally his eyes settle on the song journal Taichi bought him for his birthday. He plucks it up from his desk and throws himself down onto his bed, rummaging through the nightstand for a pen. He uncaps it, absently sticking the cap in his mouth to chew on as he opens the journal and stares down at a clean page.
Fifteen minutes later Yamato groans in frustration and closes the still empty journal, giving it up as a bad job. He can't focus. He wants it to be noon. He gets up and goes over to the full-length mirror again, making sure he still looks okay. Then he goes over to his desk and pulls out both ultrasound pictures, taking them out of the envelope to look at again. If this works out between him and Taichi, and they stay together, that would make Taichi a sort of second dad to Naoki. He wonders if Taichi's thought about it, and how he might feel about it.
He stays lost in thought, daydreaming about the future, until at last the doorbell's ringing. He starts, and looks back at his clock. It's noon. Finally. He grins, and carefully puts the pictures back up before racing to the living room and pulling the door open to greet his date.
"Hey," Taichi says easily, smiling at him. "You ready?" He's dressed up for their date a bit, wearing an obviously new pair of jeans and a short-sleeved light blue button down shirt, and he's attempted to tame his wild hair some, spiking it up neater than usual. He looks really good, and Yamato feels a spark of arousal go through him.
He swallows and nods, suddenly feeling a little too nervous to speak. He pulls the door shut behind him and follows Taichi to the elevator, still quiet.
They get in and push the button for the ground floor. Taichi smiles at him again. "Relax," he says. "It's still me."
"Sorry," Yamato says with a nervous little laugh. "I've just kind of wanted this for awhile... Now that it's here it feels a little like a dream." He blushes, not believing he's just admitted that.
But to his relief, Taichi blushes as well. "Me too," he says.
When they finally arrive at the promenade in Palette Town, Yamato summons up every bit of courage he has and slips his hand in Taichi's. "Where are we going first?" he asks, hoping Taichi won't pull his hand away.
He feels Taichi's fingers curl around his, tightening briefly, and his heart skips. "I was thinking we could have lunch first, unless you've eaten?" Taichi says hesitantly.
"Lunch is good," he says, smiling. Trust Taichi to think of food first, not that he minds. He wouldn't be Taichi otherwise. "Venus Fort?"
"Sure." They head over to the mall, still holding hands, and Yamato thinks he couldn't be any happier.
They eventually decide on a place called 'Tanto Tanto,' which he thinks is a somewhat strange name, but the food is really good. They split a pizza, and Yamato's able to relax more while they eat and chat. They keep it light and casual-no talk of the baby, or how their relationship might go. Afterwards they wander throughout the mall some, stopping to browse through any interesting looking shops every now and then, exclaiming over funny or weird items. He's having a really good time, and hopes Taichi is too.
After they tire of the mall, they decide to head over to Leisureland. Though it was built two years ago, it's his first time going there, and he stares at the inside of the building in awe, impressed by all the noises and lights and many attractions. They try their hand at some bowling first, both laughing when almost all of their balls wind up in the gutter. When Yamato at last hits three pins, Taichi cheers for him, making him blush. They're the only three pins either of them hits for the rest of the game, meaning Yamato wins.
"Beginner's luck," Taichi says, grinning, and Yamato doesn't disagree with him.
They try some table tennis next, and Taichi manages to score a few points against him, having learned a thing or two from watching several of Sora's tennis matches, or at least that's what Yamato tells himself to feel better. Once they're bored of tennis, they decide to just walk around, checking out the attractions but not playing any more. They wander up and down the floors and eventually find themselves back outside, staring up at the giant ferris wheel.
"Wanna ride?" Taichi asks him.
He's been on it plenty of times before in the years since it was built-but never on a date. "Sure," he says, blushing a bit.
Taichi smiles at him and grabs his hand again, and they make their way over to the ferris wheel, getting in line. The attendant tries to stick them on a green car, but Taichi shakes his head and makes them wait until a pink car comes along. The attendant raises an eyebrow as they climb on, but says nothing. Yamato flushes again.
They ride the first few minutes side-by-side in silence, watching the cityscape below them as they gradually climb higher.
"I had fun today," Yamato eventually says softly, still looking out the windows.
Taichi reaches for his hand, squeezing it. "Me too."
He looks over at Taichi then, smiling gently before leaning in. Taichi meets him, and then they're kissing, softly at first before deepening it, their tongues exploring each others' mouths, tasting and learning.
It feels right. Japanese attitudes about underage drinking are generally pretty relaxed, from what information I could find. So I decided to do sort of a blend of Japanese and (more liberal) American attitudes, which is why Yamato's punishment was pretty mild and focused more on the 'theft' of his dad's alcohol and his behaviour while drunk.
Also, all the places I mentioned Taichi and Yamatao going on their date are real, as usual! next chapter