Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Mistakes We Make ❯ Epilogue VI - Wasted Efforts ( Chapter 14 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

EPILOGUE - PART VI

When Takeru came home from the hospital, he found Yamato, Taichi, and Miyako all ensconced in his living room, which he wasn't expecting.

"Hello," he said, after letting himself in and kicking off his shoes. "Was a meeting called and nobody bothered to tell me?"

"No," said Yamato. "I would have told you."

"How's Daisuke?" asked Miyako.

"Well, he's okay I suppose. He doesn't seem to be in any pain anymore." Takeru stepped into his house slippers and threw himself down on the couch. "I left Chibimon with him, his mom said it was okay. He's supposed to get out of ICU tomorrow morning."

"You don't sound too excited about that," said Yamato. He'd been working on something, probably writing a new song, and he dropped a small stack of papers onto a corner table. Takeru frowned at them, wondering why his brother always felt a need to scatter things around the apartment whenever he visited.

"Daisuke's ... um ... really changed," said Takeru, wondering how to put this into words and forgetting about the papers for a moment. "He wouldn't talk to me. He barely even looked at me. The whole time I was there, it was like I wasn't. I kept thinking, 'What, are you mad at me? What the hell did I do?'"

"Don't swear, Takeru," said his brother.

"Why not? Your boyfriend there swears worse than I do."

"I am not his fucking boyfriend," said Taichi. He was making a show of watching television and flipping the remote control in his hand, not looking at any of the others.

"Uh huh, you're straighter than I am," said Takeru. "We all believe you, Tai." He ducked the remote as it was lobbed at him.

"I don't have any control over him, and he's not my boyfriend, when are you going to let that alone?" Yamato sounded annoyed, which pleased Takeru. He liked nothing better at times than to tease them.

"Never," he said. "Not until you admit that you're gay anyway."

"Okay, fine, I'm gay, are you happy?"

Taichi turned to stare at Yamato. "Are you really?"

"No!" Now it was Taichi's turn to dodge an object, this time a throw pillow.

"What is that I smell?" asked Miyako. "Testosterone? Come on, this isn't about any of you selfish jerks, it's about Daisuke. Why did I even bother coming over here when I knew it was going to be you three?"

"Because Hikari is a wreck and nobody is answering the phone at Iori's place," said Yamato.

"She's not a wreck," said Taichi. "She's just sensitive."

"She didn't take anything this hard back when we were fighting the Dark Masters."

"Well, she's more sensitive now," said Taichi through gritted teeth. "Just leave her the fuck alone, okay? She'll be all right, she just needs some time."

"More sensitive, or more emotional?"

"Cut it out," said Takeru, fed up. "I've had a bad enough day without having to listen to you two bicker."

"Bickering is the best part of friendship," said Yamato loftily. "If you can't bicker with your friends, who can you bicker with?"

"Well, do it somewhere else, okay?"

Drawing one leg up under himself, Yamato turned serious. This pose was one of the things that made Takeru think that his brother was a closet homosexual; the teasing along those lines wasn't entirely a joke. He never saw anyone but girls sit on one leg like that. "Is he really that different?" said Yamato.

Takeru nodded. "You know, I figured that once we got Daisuke back, everything would be okay. Then I figured that once whatever the Kaizer had done to him had been undone, everything would be okay. Now I'm starting to wonder if things will ever be okay. I mean, you know Daisuke. He's Daisuke. You can't keep Daisuke down. No matter what, he's always right there ready to fight back at whatever. I swear, though, it's like he's a totally different person now."

"I bet he's just tired," said Miyako cheerfully. "I bet he perks right back up again when he gets out of the hospital."

Takeru gave her a doubtful look, but said, "I hope so."

"I'm going to murder Ken, you know," said Taichi, sounding totally serious.

"You are not, don't talk like that."

"No, really I am. I swear, as soon as I find him, I'm going to rip his fucking head off. He doesn't deserve to live."

Takeru kicked him ungently in the back. "Look, don't even talk like that. That isn't you talking."

"I'm not going to be a party to taking you into the digital world if you're planning on killing someone," said Miyako. "Not even if it's Ken. So yeah, what he said."

"Fine, I won't say it then."

"So when are we leaving?" asked Yamato.

"I didn't know we were," said Takeru. "Where are we going?"

"We figured on heading in to the digital world to get Ken's attention and maybe have a friendly chat with him," said Yamato. "That's why we need you and Miyako."

"I'm disappointed, and here I thought you came to visit me for me. Where's Patamon and Poromon anyway?"

"In your bedroom," said Miyako. "Patamon said something about week-old chips and they were off like a shot."

"Aww! Those chips were still good!"

"So when are we leaving?" said Yamato again.

Takeru leaned back and put an arm over his eyes. "I just got back, can't I rest a little?"

"No rest for the wicked, little bro."

There was a knock at the door, then, and Takeru groaned. "Can't somebody else get that?"

So Yamato got up and opened it, and Takeru's stomach sank at the sound of an adult male voice saying, "Hi. Are you Takaishi Takeru?"

"Um, no, but he's my brother. Why?"

"Could I come in?"

"Nnnnnot until you say what for."

"I'm Detective Tatsuya, and I'm investigating your friend Motomiya Daisuke's kidnapping."

"Lemme guess," said Taichi. "You finally fucking believe us."

"Could I see some ID?" asked Yamato. The detective must have produced some that passed his brother's scrutiny, because Takeru next heard Yamato say, "Okay, come on in. But I warn you, we've got a really dangerous guard dog in the back if you try anything."

"A guard dog, or a guard Digimon?" asked Tatsuya. Takeru sat up then to get a look at him, and saw a surprisingly young fellow with shiny black hair and a very official blue suit.

"You really do believe us, don't you?" said Takeru.

"Shouldn't I?" Tatsuya came a little way into the apartment so that Yamato could shut the door, removed his shoes, and slipped into a pair of guest slippers. He did not, however, ask to sit down, an indication that he expected his stay to be relatively brief.

"Well, nobody believed us before," said Taichi. "You'd think that after the digital world hung upside-down in the sky for the whole universe to see, that people would fucking remember it."

"I do remember it, actually," said Tatsuya, taking no visible notice of either Taichi's sour mood or his choice of vocabulary. "I also saw what they pulled out of your friend, before it dissolved. Let's just say that I have a completely open mind about this, and I'm ready to hear whatever you have to say, okay?" He smiled and pulled out a small notebook and a pen from inside his suit coat.

Takeru sighed and fell back onto the couch. Raising his voice, he yelled, "Patamon! Come tell this cop about the digital world, would you?"

Daisuke remained silent most of the day, while a parade of visitors came into and went out of his room. The room was damned big, which was fortunate he supposed, because it seemed like everyone with even a claim at being related to him wanted to come see him, all at the same time. Aunts, cousins, great-uncles, his grandparents on his father's side, people related to him only because they had married someone whose sibling married a blood relation, they all wanted to come offer good wishes and occasionally flowers. His mother frequently inquired whether or not he was too tired for more visitors, and Daisuke always shook his head, too much in shock to complain. He wondered where all of these people had been last year on his birthday, and had his first normal thought in months when he considered that he could have made out like a bandit if they'd all sent gifts then. By the end of visiting hours, it seemed like half the population of Tokyo had come through his room.

Chibimon slept through most of it, and was not usually commented upon by his relations. Takeru had been one of the first people to be okayed by his parents to come see him, and while Daisuke almost felt like smiling while his ecstatic partner Digimon attempted to burrow into his chest, he didn't much feel like dealing with Takeru. Takeru and blinding, unbearable pain were inextricably linked in his mind. After a short while, Takeru went away, presumably driven out by the first wave of distant relatives.

After the last second-cousin had been shooed out by the nurses at the end of visitation, Daisuke found himself ready for a good, solid nap, but he didn't get a chance for one. A few minutes after the end of the people parade, the young gentleman who had arrived with Dr. Watanuki that morning turned up in his room and introduced himself as Dr. Oniyuu. Accustomed to having naps interrupted by the Kaizer wanting to entertain himself, Daisuke put his tiredness aside for the time being, and kept a wary eye on this new doctor.

Oniyuu had short, pale hair, not blond exactly, but definitely a lighter hue than Daisuke was accustomed to seeing on anyone other than Yamato and Takeru. His eyes were also somewhat rounded, hinting at gaijin blood in his ancestry, and were two shades away from hazel. Daisuke instantly disliked him, and hugged the dozing Chibimon closer. His father had stepped out for a little while to get dinner, but his mother was still present, sitting in a corner next to the big picture windows that covered one wall.

At first, this doctor visit seemed rather bizarre and confusing. Daisuke expected more stethoscope-and-clipboard action, but instead Oniyuu simply pulled up a chair next to Daisuke's bed and began to chatter about himself, his family, his kids, and his brother, with whom he had apparently fought extensively when younger. Daisuke, suspicious at first, found himself relaxing almost involuntarily as the one-sided conversation continued for over ten minutes. When Dr. Oniyuu inquired about Chibimon, Daisuke found himself answering before thinking of whether or not this was a good idea.

"His name's Chibimon," he said quietly.

"He's cute," said the doctor, and patted Daisuke's partner on the head. "What did you call him again?"

"A Digimon."

"Is he a pet?"

Daisuke shook his head. "My partner." No, I'm the pet.

Chibimon chose that moment to wake up and scowl up at Oniyuu. "What'd you wake me for? Is it time to eat? Are we going home? Who are you anyway?" Daisuke nudged him a little, and he went silent, but continued to glare at Oniyuu with his front paws crossed threateningly.

"I'm sorry, Chibimon," said the doctor. "I didn't mean to wake you up." Without waiting for any sort of reply from the Digimon, Oniyuu looked back at Daisuke and said, "Why did you try to leave last night? You just came out of surgery, surely you knew that you should stay here until you get better."

"Because I can't stay." Daisuke looked away then. It wasn't okay to talk about the Kaizer to his mother; it somehow was okay with Dr. Watanuki. It wasn't okay with Oniyuu, especially with his mother listening, so he decided he wouldn't say any more. No matter how disarming this doctor attempted to be.

"Where were you trying to go?" When Daisuke remained silent, Dr. Oniyuu tried again, saying softly, "What does 'dejimon kaizaa' mean?" He pronounced this very carefully, sounding out every syllable.

"The Digimon Kaizer!" squealed Chibimon. "He put a spiral on me and made me fight and he was hurting Daisuke and mmm-mmmph!"

With a hand clapped firmly over the Digimon's mouth, Daisuke said softly, "He doesn't want to hear about that, Chibi."

"What makes you think that?" When Daisuke remained silent, and his hand stayed over Chibimon's mouth so the Digimon couldn't talk for him, Dr. Oniyuu said, "I really want to help you, Daisuke, but I can't if you don't let me."

"I don't need help," said Daisuke. "I just want to go home."

"Your parents will be taking you home as soon as you're well enough. You just have to be patient."

"I don't want to go with them," said Daisuke in an even softer tone. His mother must have heard anyway, because she gasped. "I want to go home."

"Where is home, Daisuke?"

Daisuke said nothing. He'd said too much already. This doctor was just like the rest of the people out here in the real world : a slave to the norms of society. It was all exactly as the Kaizer had said it would be; they didn't approve, and because they didn't approve, they would feel that they had a right to put a stop to it. When, really, they had no right to do anything of the sort.

Anyone who doesn't fit into their idea of normal, their little dance, the Kaizer had said once, will not be tolerated. Humans in groups always try to bend others to conform with their expectations, their rules. But we're not subject to their rules, Daisuke. We are the free ones, you and I.

But I'm your slave, Daisuke had replied, confused.

That's why you're more free than they are. You might be a slave, Daisuke, but they are enslaved with more unbreakable chains than I could ever put on you. You should consider yourself lucky.

After a few minutes of this nothing, Oniyuu stood up. "Well, if you decide that you want to talk to me, let one of the nurses know, okay? It doesn't matter what time it is when you do." He walked out. Daisuke stared at the wall, but after a moment he let Chibimon go.

Chibimon immediately bounced up onto Daisuke's chest. "Why'd you do that for?" Daisuke didn't reply, and Chibimon said, "Why don't you wanna tell 'em about the Kaizer?" Still, Daisuke said nothing. Chibimon crept further up his chest until he could feel the Digimon under his chin. "Don't you want 'em to find Ken and whack 'im good for hurting you?"

When Daisuke still said nothing, Chibimon said, "What's the matter with you? Don't you like me anymore?"

"Sure I do, Chibi," Daisuke murmured, and laid a hand on the Digimon's back, still without looking at him. Chibimon, immediately comforted, settled down to nap in the pit of Daisuke's throat with his head resting against the bandages there.

Daisuke didn't know what to think anymore. So he just stopped thinking.

Detective Tatsuya stayed a lot later than anybody expected, and so Yamato got permission to stay over with Takeru and their mom. They all didn't get a chance to go to the digital world again until the next day.

Miyako insisted that they get an early start, because she was obligated to be at school later that afternoon to help with the final preparations for the Christmas dance. Takeru personally wondered why she even bothered; Hikari, he could understand, as Hikari was a relatively popular girl, not exactly in the "in" crowd, but on the fringes of it. Miyako, on the other hand, tried too hard, and he knew that the truly popular girls laughed at her behind her back. It was sad, in a way, and he'd tried to convince her once to give it up. Unfortunately, she had somehow gotten the idea that she was on the verge of being accepted by the "in" crowd, although in reality nothing could be farther from the truth, and she was just used for entertainment by the cruel girls.

As a result, Takeru was personally in no hurry to get her back in time for what would undoubtedly be just another evening of being set up for situations that would highlight her social inadequacies. However, he also wanted this confrontation with Ken over and done with, as he was not convinced of the wisdom of it. So it was with something like indecision that he had Pegasusmon target the first dark tower while Miyako and Halsemon distracted the Digimon guarding it.

Since they wanted Ken to personally come out to nail their hides to the wall for breaking his spires, rather than send a pack of deadly Digimon to do it for him, Taichi had hit upon the idea of rapid, guerrilla-style strikes to take down several spires deep within the Kaizer's territory. Emerging from a gate point, Taichi and Yamato remained behind with their Digimon to cover the escape route, while Takeru and Miyako and their Digimon lashed out at the nearest dark tower. When it went down, they all retreated back through the monitor, dashing into the real world before slave Digimon could catch them. They weren't really doing anything particularly constructive this way, as each sector they hit contained multiple towers, and weren't being freed from the Kaizer's control. However, they had succeeded in taking down three spires so far, and Taichi felt that they surely had Ken's attention by now.

They stopped for a break after the third, resting on unclaimed ground and feeding the two Armor Digimon from Miyako's knapsack. Agumon griped a little about how useless he felt, and how he would be kicking so much ass if he could just Digivolve, even if just to Greymon and no further. Exercising a great deal of restraint, Takeru refrained from pointing out that he could Digivolve now if he so chose, since they were in tower-less territory at the moment.

Taichi had just started a little speech that surely would have been inspiring if Takeru had been listening to it, when Miyako suddenly shouted, "Look out!" and they all instinctively dove for cover. It was a good thing, too, because a moment later, an Airdramon's tail slammed into the spot where they had all been resting.

"There he is!" said Taichi, from where he and Agumon had rolled to a stop. "Agumon, can you Digivolve?"

Agumon tried, and admitted defeat; even though there were no towers in the vicinity, Ken's Digivice was. Gabumon, in spite of Agumon's failure, tried as well, with similar results.

Meanwhile, Takeru yelled, "Come on!" to no-one in particular and leaped onto Pegasusmon's back. Miyako was already on Halsemon and airborne; Pegasusmon, who had been rolled sideways by his attempt to get Takeru out of the way, had to spend a moment getting back on his hooves. Another Airdramon came out of nowhere and cut Halsemon off, though, momentarily stealing the wind from beneath the griffin Digimon's wings and allowing Pegasusmon to catch up.

Takeru could hear Taichi shouting imprecations at the Kaizer, who could now be seen perched on the head of a third Airdramon, high in the sky. A large pack of Flymon hung nearby, and each of them and each Airdramon wore a dark spiral, keeping them all under Ken's command despite how far away they all were from the nearest control spire. Now that Takeru had spotted the Flymon, he could hear the low drone of their distant buzzing, a sound that was all but guaranteed to get on his nerves in short order.

Pegasusmon dodged a few lobbed stingers, although not all of the Flymon were attacking, and the Airdramon dueling with Halsemon seemed almost to be playing, or sparring, rather than really fighting. Ken kept a hand resting on one of his air taxi's horns, while the other looked somewhat strange, as if, for whatever reason, his glove had changed color. Takeru couldn't get close enough to get a good look at it, because the few Flymon who were attacking seemed to be very intent on it. He waited for the Kaizer to laugh, to taunt them, to order all of the slave Digimon to attack, to demand to know what they were doing in his world, or, in fact, anything at all. But Ken didn't seem quite all there, and presently Takeru saw him kick the top of the Airdramon's head with his heel, which caused the Digimon to cease hovering and turn to leave.

"Hey!" shouted up Taichi from the ground. "You can't leave yet! I haven't kicked your fucking ass! Get the fuck back here!"

The Airdramon that were keeping Miyako and Halsemon busy broke off and winged after their master. Miyako yelled something, but Takeru couldn't quite hear it.

"Let's follow them," he told Pegasusmon.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It could be a trap."

"It could be, but I'm sure you can handle it."

The Digimon snorted deeply, and took off after the retreating Kaizer. After a few minutes, Takeru realized that Halsemon wasn't following, and of course Agumon and Gabumon couldn't get anywhere near Ken in a form that could fly. He was alone in the skies with the Kaizer and a double-handful of potentially dangerous Digimon, and he could see the tip of a dark tower rising over the horizon. Suddenly thinking better of this idea, Takeru signaled with his knees for Pegasusmon to halt.

"This is not at all like Ken," he said.

"Ken is insane, though," said Pegasusmon. "How do you know what he's really like?"

"I guess I don't, and I really don't want to either." Takeru leaned forward with his forearms resting on Pegasusmon's withers. "If it weren't for this thing with Daisuke, I'd have a lot easier time dealing with Ken."

Pegasusmon was silent for a long time, and Takeru watched the Kaizer's flying entourage dwindle to black specks. He wondered just what was going through Ken's mind when he'd kidnapped Daisuke in the first place, and why he was acting so strangely now. Always before, Ken had been nothing but contemptuous toward Takeru and the other Digidestined, and he had made it his business to make sure they knew of his opinion of them. He'd admitted freely to holding Daisuke captive, and had dared them to come rescue their comrade. Now that they had, Takeru would have expected Ken to curse them, threaten to take Daisuke again or perhaps a different child this time, or at least attack them viciously to punish them for taking his plaything away from him.

This encounter had passed without the Kaizer uttering a single word, and without really even ordering the Digimon to attack. Takeru wondered what it meant.

"I think this is just hitting you too close to home now," said Pegasusmon after awhile. "You know, the Kaizer's been torturing Digimon for almost a year now, but now that he's tortured a human, suddenly you care more than you did before."

"I cared before!" Takeru protested.

"I know, but not like you do now. Taichi wasn't nearly this angry before, not even when the Kaizer spiraled Agumon. I'm not saying that he thought it was okay when that happened, but he recovered from the MetalGreymon thing pretty quickly, and he's not recovering from this Daisuke thing quickly at all."

Leaning down, Takeru wrapped his arms around his Digimon's neck. "I'd die if anything happened to you. You know that."

"No, you wouldn't, Takeru. And I wouldn't want you to. But that's not what I'm saying."

"I know what you're saying. You're saying that I have a double standard, and that I was just angry at Ken in a general way before he did this to Daisuke. You're right, but not for the reason you're trying to imply." He pressed his cheek to the flat side of Pegasusmon's neck, feeling the short orange fur against his skin, damp with the effort of remaining airborne.

"I'm not trying to imply anything. I'm just making an observation. I'm not angry at you, I can see why you might feel that way, because I really don't care as much about what the Kaizer did to Daisuke as I do about what he's done to those Digimon who are protecting him."

Takeru didn't reply, and Pegasusmon said no more, so they remained in silence for a little while. When Pegasusmon dipped a wing and turned back toward the others, Takeru remained silent.

While Takeru and the others were demolishing spires in an attempt to draw out Ken, Daisuke was being moved from ICU to the pediatric neurosurgery floor. His doctors insisted that he be given a private room, and no objections were raised because of the social problems surrounding him, his kidnapping, and the small blue Digimon that attempted to look dangerous whenever anyone new approached.

So, when Daisuke's father excused himself to use the toilet while his mother was out obtaining dinner, Daisuke found himself momentarily alone and hooked up to a lot fewer machines than he had been in ICU. He decided that this was his best opportunity, shushed Chibimon, and attempted to depart again.

He hadn't counted on the nurse on duty noticing it this time, but she did. After this second attempt to leave, and because Dr. Oniyuu said so, he was ruled a danger to himself and put in restraints. This had the unexpected, and to his parents highly unsettling, effect of making him more relaxed and comfortable. He also acquired a tendency to develop an erection at any human contact, which, being a patient in a hospital who had to be given medication and examined from time to time, happened quite frequently. Nobody commented on any of this to his face.

However, about a week after his surgery, when Daisuke was feeling much better and being allowed up out of bed to walk around a little a few times a day, he wasn't released home to his parents the way any normal child in his situation would be. Instead, he was moved again, to the pediatric psyche ward, for continued observation. Dr. Oniyuu attempted to speak to him a few more times, and Daisuke refused to even acknowledge the man's presence. Whatever it was that Oniyuu saw, however, prompted the doctor to recommend that Daisuke be checked into an inpatient mental health facility, rather than returned home. The reasons for this weren't given to Daisuke, nor did he care. At this point, all Daisuke really wanted, and he wanted this very, very desperately, was sex.