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Part 3 Pairings: Daisuke/Takeru, Koushiro/Hikari (one-sided), Taichi/Yamato (one-sided), Yamato/Jun (one-sided).
"So…have you thought about…you know…kissing a guy?" Ken questioned with a sort of morbid curiosity. He sat in one corner of the Motomiya's couch, legs curled up under him and a soda can held carefully in one hand. Daisuke was sprawled out across the middle of the couch; Chibimon and Minomon bundled together on his stomach, and the slightly dazed expression of someone thinking hard spread across his features. "Yeah, some," he picked a soda can up off the floor and shook it slightly to check for liquid content, "I mean, not really, I was still kinda tied up with the whole not wanting girls bit." He paused, a strange look crossing his face, "I'm thinking about it now, though." "Eh," Ken started and then seemed to change his mind. He sipped at his soda can and, finding it empty, exchanged it for the TV remote. Rapid clicking followed as Ken engaged in some channel surfing. "Um, so…who?" "What?" Daisuke wrinkled his brow, placing one leg on the back of the couch. "The guy you are thinking about kissing," Ken elaborated carefully. [Takeru.] "No one you know," Daisuke assured him with a blush. The darker haired boy gave a look of amused disbelief. "Seriously!" He insisted, knowing he wasn't the best liar in the world, but also knowing that Ken would let him get away with it for now. He'd be in trouble later; Ken was very good about getting information, whether you wanted to give it or not. "Of course," Ken replied smoothly, "You'll have to point him out to me later, you realize, so that he can become someone I *do* know." Daisuke pouted slightly and played with Chibimon's ear; flicking it until the little dragon batted at him weakly. They settled down into comfortable silence for a while. Ken continued to flip channels and Daisuke continued to tease the sleepy Digimon. It was getting late, nearly midnight, so most of the good movies were over. Since Daisuke parents were at a friend's house for the night and Jun was out doing something with someone (Daisuke hadn't really been listening) they could go to bed whenever they wanted. After a while, Daisuke sighed and pushed himself up slightly, bracing his shoulders against the armrest. "Can I ask you something? Why are you so, I don't know, okay with this?" Ken set down the remote and favored Daisuke with a baffled expression. "Daisuke-san, we associate with creatures made out of digital data everyday, I don't see how you being gay would be any more outlandish." "That's not what I meant!" The redhead protested, sitting up all the way, causing said digital partners to tumble down into his lap. "I mean..it's not exactly socially acceptable." "Honestly, when was the last time you knew me to conform to society?" Ken demanded rhetorically. "But your parents…" "I didn't really listen to them until I was well over eleven, Daisuke," Ken said with obvious regret and Daisuke felt bad for bringing it up. "And even now our conversations are fairly limited. Do you realize that papa and I have never had 'The Talk'?" That was a surprise. "But wait, you know about sex, where did you…" he trailed off, confused. "Learn about it? Most of the books I read are college level or better, so they don't mince words about sex. And some of the biology books were very explicit about it," Ken shrugged thoughtfully, "At least in covering the mechanics of the deal. My teachers are fairly careful about what I get into, but my parents…its not that they don't care, they just don't know what's in the books they buy me." Daisuke leaned his shoulder against the back of the couch and thought about his own parents, who pre-read every book he brought into the house and pre-watched every movie he wanted to see. He couldn't decide which was better or worse; he's own parents' obsessive censorship or Ken's parents' trusting disinterest. "And I also listen to locker room talk. As inaccurate as that can be," Ken finished with some amusment, bending over at the waist to grab another soda from the six-pack on the floor. Daisuke made a face at him. He'd always found locker room talk to be really dirty, if not outright disgusting, and had made a point of ignoring it. "Dude, whatever works for you." "So have I seen him at school?" Ken asked casually, taking a tiny sip from his drink. In the middle shifting the Digimon off his lap, Daisuke looked up at his friend in bafflement. "What?" Ken smiled smoothly, with a hint of smugness; "The guy you like." "I don't like him!" Daisuke protested automatically, "I was just thinking about kissing him!" He stopped. [Err…Wait…] Ken laughed. "Bit of a contradiction there, I do believe. Rather pointless to kiss someone you don't like. Are you sure I don't know this person?" Ken braced his elbow on the armrest and curled his fingers into his sleek hair, eyebrows raised in the perfect image of inquisitiveness. Though his friend was being charming, Daisuke was still irked at this attempt to gather information. "What makes you think I would tell you even if you did know him?" Daisuke evaded, rather cleverly he thought. Ken pulled back and pouted. "Daisuke-san!" He slanted a hurt look at Daisuke, before bowing his head forward so that his black hair slid down over his face. "I'm your best friend and you don't trust me enough to tell me who you like..." "No! Ken...its not…I didn't mean…" Daisuke reached out to his friend. Ken hunched in on himself even further. Way to go, bonehead, you've just hurt his feelings. "Come on Ken, its not a big deal! Really! I mean, its just Takeru..." "Takeru?" Ken cried, straightened up so suddenly that Daisuke fell back in surprise, "You like Takeru? Why?! I thought Taichi would have been more to your taste..." Ken put his hand to his chin and contemplated this. "You!" Daisuke sputtered furiously, pointing a finger at his unrepentant friend. "That's cheating!" The two digimon glanced at each other and, relying on their battle honed instincts, jumped onto the coffee table to avoid an impending fight. "Daisuke-san, I have no idea what you are talking about," Ken said levelly with a bland expression. It was almost convincing, except for the fact that his eyes were twinkling. "Yeah right!" Daisuke scowled, shifting himself into a good attacking position. "And what would you have done if it was *you* I wanted to kiss?" "Hmm," Ken folded his arms together and looked serious, "I would have been very flattered." "Would you have kissed me?" Daisuke asked on impulse, widening his eyes hopefully. Ken started and gave Daisuke an uneasy, half-fearful look. "Ah, well..." He hesitated, trying to find a delicate way to put it. That was his downfall. "So that means you would! Oh KEN!" Grinning like one gone swan diving off the deep end, Daisuke pounced on his protesting friend. "No! I wouldn't! I wouldn't!" Ken franticly tried to fend off his hyper companion. "Kissy kissy, Ken!" "Daaaisuke!" Minomon and Chibimon titled their heads first one way and then the other, watching the two boys wrestling together on the couch. "Ya know, Daisuke's okaasan and otousan were doing that yesterday," Chibimon said. "Playing on the couch?" asked Minomon, a little disbelieving. Ken's parents were very proper, reserved people, and never did anything remotely play-like. "Yep! Except they were naked!" They froze; Daisuke with his lips puckered and his face locked rather uncomfortably between Ken's forearms; Ken half-buried in the cushions. "Your digimon is a voyeur," Ken said, somewhere between amused and exasperated. Daisuke, on the other hand, was out right disgusted. "Dude, forget that! My parent's had sex on this couch!" The pair yelled in horror and desperately scrambled free of the 'tainted' piece of furniture.
"I really can't believe I'm going to do this," Hikari said as she stood in front of the door to the Motomiya residence. Her timing had to be exact; it wouldn't do to show up when Daisuke or his parents were around. Luckily, the parental units were away at work and Daisuke was over at Koushiro's place with Taichi, trying out the genius's newest computer game. Actually, that's where Hikari would like to be too, though it wasn't the game she would be checking out. The things she did for her friends. "Okay, lets do this." Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and pressed the buzzer. A muffled voice called for her to wait a minute. Hikari tucked both hands behind her back, stood at polite attention, and went over the speech she had planned out in her head. This was the tricky part, selling her plan. After a few breathless moments, the door opened. "Oh, hi Hikari-chan!" Motomiya Jun greeted her brother's friend cheerfully. She was wearing baggy shorts and a bra. No shirt, just a bra. Hikari's mouth dropped open in surprise and she jerked her eyes back up to Jun's face. All right, so it was a sports bra; that's still not something you expect someone to be wearing when they answer the door. Jun, completely oblivious to Hikari's embarrassment, continued to chatter on loudly. "Um, Daisu isn't home right now, but hey, you should know that already! I mean, all you 'Chosen' are pretty much aware of each other whereabouts, which is kind of freaky by the way, did you know that? I tried to bug ototo into telling me how you do it, but he's soooo sensitive sometimes! But anyway, he's not home. So…" "I need your help getting Takeru and Daisuke-kun together," Hikari blurted out before Jun had the chance to continue rambling. She flinched; there went weeks of planning right out the window. Hikari forced a 'no, I'm not insane, really!' smile and waited for Jun's response, keeping her eyes firmly above the chest level. Jun clung to half-open door, staring at the younger girl with wide eyes. It seemed to take a little while for the statement to work through her brain. Finally she whispered, relevantly, "Did Kami-sama send you?" Hikari laughed uncomfortably, scratching the back of her head. "Not this time." "You have no idea how desperate I've been!" Jun insisted, then shot a wary glance up and down the hall. "Come inside, less chance of being overheard." She caught the now moderately frightened Hikari by the arm and hauled her into the apartment, shutting the door firmly behind them. Tailmon snarled loudly in protest of that particular course of action and Jun quickly let the cat-digimon inside before she clawed through the door to get to her partner. "So, I guess you, um, know…" Hikari stared uneasily, not sure how to proceed from here. Asking Jun for help had been a wild gambit in the first place. Even though she had known the older girl for over three years, they'd never really talked or anything. Still, Jun was her best bet. The only other option was Miyako and she just didn't have enough 'control' over Daisuke. Besides, Hikari did know that Jun had a thing for playing matchmaker; she had been the one to set up Miyako's oldest sister with her boyfriend-turned-fiancée. There are worse track records. Okay, there was that whole 'pursuing Yamato to the point of legal intervention' thing, but one can't be counted on to be reasonable in regard to their *own* attractions. "That my little Dai-chan is bagging on chibi-Yamato? Totally!" Jun gave her a borderline maniac grin, leading her further into the apartment. Hikari's hope that she would grab something to cover herself remained unfulfilled as Jun turned into the kitchen. "You want something to drink? We got tea, water, and milk. Ken-kun spent the night last week and he and Daisu drained all the sodas." She opened the refrigerator and bent over in front of it. "Oh, so yeah! It took me forever, but I eventually realized that all that silly 'rivalry' business was just Dai not knowing how to deal with his feelings. I think there's some green-tea in here..." She pulled a plastic jug out and started to pry open the top. What the heck have I gotten myself into? "That's okay, Jun-san, I don't want anything to drink." "Good thing, because this stuff is starting to grow," Jun said, peering into the opened jug and making a face. She closed the container and shoved it back in. Hikari winced in sympathy for the next person who found it. "Why don't you take a seat and we can began planning. I've been racking my brain, you see, trying to figure out what do next. Originally I was just going to leave it alone and let Dai figure stuff out for himself, but after that whole Hana thing, I decided 'naw' and gave him an express ticket on the clue bus." Hikari obediently sat in one of the plastic coated chairs and tried to think of a polite way to comment to Jun about her current state of undress. Jun meanwhile filled herself a glass of ice water and pulled out a chair in preparation to sit down. "Whoops! I forgot! Tailmon-chan, did you want anything?" She looked around for the digimon. "Hey, where'd she go?" "To Daisuke-kun's room," Hikari said, folding her hands together on the tabletop and studiously staring at a spot over Jun's right shoulder. She would not stare at her near-naked host, it just wasn't polite. "Chibimon has a 'hidden' stash in there that the others like to raid when he isn't around. Jun-san, are you sure Daisuke-kun has feelings for Takeru?" Hikari realized that she would have to move fast to keep up with Jun. Once the red head got going, she was like Mimi on crack. The older teen dropped gracelessly into a chair and braced one arm on the table. "I'm dead certain," she said, with something approaching seriousness this time. " I already knew he was gay, heck, women's intuition has to be good for some things. But I only started to notice that look he gets in his eyes when he talks about Takeru a few months ago. Honest truth?" She leaned closer to Hikari across the table. "Two years ago, I would have staked my life that Daisuke and Ken-kun were going to end up knocking boots. If things don't pan out with Takeru, they still might!." "No, it wouldn't work," Hikari said meaningfully. The vibe between Ken and Daisuke was much like the one between her and Takeru. A sort of extreme friendship. "Have you confronted him about it?" "Oh yeah! I pointed out to him that he was hot for Takeru's bod and once he admitted it to himself, I'd be willing to help out." She took a deep swallow of her water and wiped off the drops of condensation that fell on her chest. "Yo, Hikari-chan, I'm up here." Jun snapped her fingers within Hikari's level of vision. Hikari snapped her eyes back up and blushed furiously. Luckily, Jun didn't make any comments beyond that. "Help out how?" "Honestly? I've hit a road block," Jun said brightly, drawing patterns on the table with the condensation. "That's why I'm so desperate! He's going to ask me soon, I just know it! He's already tried a couple times but keeps on losing his nerve." Jun suddenly lunged across the table and grabbed one of Hikari's hands, holding it tightly in her own. She hauled back, half-pulling Hikari onto the table. The brown-haired girl squealed in surprise and horror. "Hey, if you're here...and wanting to get them together," she held Hikari's hand up to her chin and her eyes became wide and sparkly with hope, "does that mean that Takeru-kun honestly, truly has feelings for Daisu?! Does it?" "Well, as a matter of fact..." Hikari began shakily, not sure if she wanted to admit to everything. And getting quite afraid of what this crazy woman was going to do next. Jun interrupted with a cheer and released her, jumping out her chair to do a strange victory dance around the kitchen. Hikari was left half-sprawled across the table, watching in amazement. If this was standard for the Motomiya family, than Daisuke was downright normal by comparison... "Yes! Score one for me!" Jun rounded up her dance by sock sliding along the linoleum and half-falling back into the chair. "So, what are we going to do?" Hikari sighed and pushed herself back into her own seat. Might as well go for the final plunge. "It goes like this; my brother is trying to set me up on a date with Takeru..."
Takeru gave Miyako an appalled look and dropped the water balloon he'd been holding out the window without bothering to aim it. "Are you out of your mind? How can you honestly suggest breaking up the holy couple?" "Oh please," Miyako snorted, tying a knot on another water balloon, "There is way more 3x1 suggestiveness than 1x2." "Yeah right, the couple episodes where they hung out together…" Takeru said, sliding off the windowsill and padding over to where Miyako stood by the sink. The lavender haired girl rolled her eyes at him. "Trowa saved his life and nursed him back to health! What the heck did Duo do for him? Help him jump off a cliff and break his leg? That's love for you. Want another pixie stick?" She held out a pink-banded stick in offering. Takeru took it and another water balloon. "Duo was helping him escape OZ soldiers. He wouldn't have broken his leg if he'd only used the parachute in time," said Takeru reasonably, tearing open the pixie stick with his teeth and downing the colored sugar in one swallow. He shuddered in response to the resulting sugar rush, his already incandescent eyes getting brighter. "It's not Duo's faults he's suicidal. 3x1 my ass, what about Quatre?" "He has a thing going on with Dorothy..." Miyako started loftily, flicking some water at him. He stared at her in pure horror. "Dorothy! That would be rape!" Takeru descended into giggles, the water balloon swaying precariously from his hand. "For Quatre!" Miyako laughed in agreement and bounced away from the sink, carrying her own balloon. "It's too bad we can't use whip cream, that would be so much more fun!" "I think we're pissing our neighbors off enough by doing it here anyways," Takeru pointed out as she pulled herself up onto the windowsill he'd abandoned. "Screw them," she giggled, leaning out the window to properly aim her weapon. Takeru peered over her shoulder eagerly, trying to guess which victim she'd chose. They were high enough up that it was hard to identify people, but hey, that was half the fun. "Guy in the red," she announced, before letting fly. The balloon flopped and distorted into strange shapes as it tumbled downward on the oblivious man. The pair watched breathlessly; if the guy moved, the balloon would miss its mark. He would still get splattered, but he wouldn't get soaked and that's what they wanted. "Come on, come on…yes! Direct hit!" Takeru cheered as the small figure of the man in red flinched violently in reaction to the strike. "Yeah! Who's the woman?!" Miyako yelled, raising her arm triumphantly. Takeru quickly pulled her back inside before their victim could look up and see his purple haired assailant. They already had a restraining order from the manager of Koushiro's apartment complex for throwing water balloon around there; it would suck to get into similar trouble in their own building. "This is getting dull," Miyako proclaimed suddenly, slipping away from Takeru. "I need a place with people! Lots of people!" Takeru cocked his head to one side to consider this, tossing his surviving water balloon back and forth between his hands. "We could always go to the game center and cause chaos and mayhem." Miyako's eyes sparkled. "Can we annoy the players until they lose their games and then guilt trip little kids out of their pocket money?" "Yep!" Takeru said, his trademark cheerful grin looking downright devilish. "So, shall we do it?" Playing cards together in Miyako's room, Patamon and Poromon shuddered in response to her evil-villain giggle. "Then lets gather up the Digimon and..." Takeru was interrupted by the phone ringing. The two teens made a mad dash to pick it up. Takeru got to it first. She made rude gesture at him and stole his water balloon, taking it back to the window. "Inoue residence, Takeru speaking," Takeru said into the phone, sticking his tongue out at Miyako "Ah, Hikari-chan! How are you?" "Hikari!" Miyako randomly tossed the balloon out the window and went to stand next to Takeru. "Gimmie the phone, gimmie the phone!" He waved her off. "At my place, why? Well, obviously I'm at Miyako's. What are you so...oh, someone dropped a water balloon on you? Hikari-chan, that's horrible!" Takeru's mouth stretched into a half-proud, half-guilty grin while Miyako covered her mouth to stifle the laughter. They high-fived each other. Another victim of the Takaishi/Inoue Team! "Why did you come over?" Takeru asked and then froze, listening intently. "Jun?! Motomiya Jun is with you and you're going to *what*?" He demanded after a while, nearly yelling. Miyako's mouth dropped open. "I did not just hear that! Gimmie!" She lunged at him, managing to get a handhold on the receiver, and pulled at it insistently. "Hold on Kari-chan," he said, taking the phone away from his ear in order to pry Miyako's fingers off of it. "Stop it! I'm trying to have a conversation!" "She's my friend too, I want to know what's going on!" "Nothing that concerns you!" "*Everything* concerns me! I am the All Mighty Queen! I want it!" A fairly recent growth spurt had left Takeru noticeably taller than Miyako. Being a basketball player, and male, he did have greater upper body strength, which may be evened out by the fact that she out-massed him. Still, he was strong, determined, and a fighter by nature and training. He didn't stand a chance. "So Hikari-chan, what were you saying?" Miyako asked sweetly as she sat on the whimpering Takeru. "Miyako-chan..." Hikari sighed into the phone, sounded bemused, "It's really not my place to tell you. You need to ask Takeru." "But he's being a jerk!" Miyako whined, digging her heels into Takeru's calves for said behavior, making him yelp in pain. "Don't hurt him!" Hikari cried and Miyako winced at the tone of hurt and reproach in her jogress partner's voice. "Sorry," she muttered, then covered the mouthpiece, "Hey, Takeru-kun! Please tell me what it is you're planning! Please, please, please!" She punctuated each word with a hard bounce on the helpless boy. "Ack, ow, ow, ow! Okay! Just stop that!" Takeru breathed out in relief as she settled down. He steeled himself and said, carefully, "Well, you see, I'm bi---" "Yeah, me too, and?" She prompted when he hesitated. "And I have a crush on Daisuke-kun, so Hikari-chan is helping me get a date with him," Takeru concluded in a rush, then her statement registered. He turned an amazement stare on his captor. "You're bi?" "Duh! Oh, sorry Hikari-chan, Takeru-kun was just getting me up to speed! Do you want us to come over there, or do you want to come over here? Better come here, my parents are out!" There was a long silence, then, "Are you suggesting you want to help out?" "Of course, my friend! Hey, we may even get Iori in on this too! I'm sure he can help a lot!" "We'll talk about it," Hikari said firmly, adding to someone else in the room, "No thanks, we'll be leaving in a minute. See you in a few, Miyako-chan. And get off Takeru!" Click, dial tone. "Hmm," Miyako gazed thoughtfully at the phone, not bothering to move off of her prisoner. "Hikari and Jun working together…" Takeru nodded in agreement of weirdness of it, then pushed himself up, suddenly getting an idea. "Hey Miyako-chan, I bet one hundred yen that they start going together." "Takeru-kun! That's terrible! I'll get my book!" To be continued...
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