Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ By My Decision ❯ Insomnia and Incomplete Sentences ( Chapter 1 )

[Notes:

Title: By My Decision

Parts: …It's multichaptered. That's all I know for now.

Genre: Romance, Suspense, Mystery, I suppose…some Humor and some Parody

Rating: PG-13. Romance and angst and all that stuff. And fun curse words, YAY!!

Warnings: Shounen-ai, Het, MAYBE shoujo-ai, AU (I'm sure it'll get like that sooner or later), cussing, angsty little love issues that the small children should not learn about until they're of age…and…yeah.

Archive: Aha..ha…hah…oh, that was a funny joke. Um, no, really. Just email me and ask. Thaaaat simple.

E-Mail: SariaSan@aol.com

Um…yeah. I've been itching to do a fanfic like this forever, so I finally got up off my ass and started one. I'm still working on GV too, it's just that school and everything got around to starting before I could finish Part 5 and now my Funny Fuse suddenly broketh. I'm sure it'll come back once I see enough Adult Swim…eheh, but I wanted to go ahead and start this. Because it was eating my soul.

Anyway, yes. This fic features two…love triangles. Yay! Two of my favorite ones at that (in Tamers, at least), which sadly, are not looked into enough by the fanbase. At least, not from what I've seen. So I decided to dedicate a whole freaking fic to said triangles. Which I'm sure you'll find out just by looking through this short little part, but I'll just keep quiet about it until later when it's like…deadly obvious and stuff. But ideas and thoughts are encouraged! Muchly! Um…yeah. Enjoy. Sorry the fic is formatted so oddly.]

[ POV - Takato ]

I couldn't believe I was doing this. After watching countless TV specials, their lessons taught me that it would just be stupid to lug around a diary- a journal in my case, of course. This is just one more thing to hide from my parents, friends and enemies. One more thing Guilmon might mistaken for food and choke on.

One more thing people can blackmail me for.

But when I looked at it from a perspective, I supposed it wouldn't be too bad to just try one out. Just to see if it would help me cope with certain things. After all, it was Juri who suggested I started to keep one…

Nonetheless, I was facing risks. That's why I got a lock for the stupid thing. Two keys for it that I'd have at all times with me...yeah, I decided to make a copy, just in case. No one except me would have a chance of getting into this thing. I wanted it that way, of course. I just can't help but wonder about all the possibilities of this going completely wrong, and I'd end up totally screwed. What if Hirokazu found out? He can't keep a secret if his life depended on it. Hell, knowing him, he'd probably stand on a soapbox in the middle of the hallway at school, holding my journal for all eyes to see, charging people money just to see the pages!

My lip's quivering at that thought. Of course, since that incident with the baking soda and the vinegar, I haven't let Hirokazu come within a yard of my room. Good riddance. Let him wreck someone else's house…

Maybe I shouldn't worry so much. Kenta never comes around here, neither does Ruki or Ryo… Jenrya and Juri are much more mature than to go around snooping in my room. As long as I make sure my journal never leaves my room, I'm safe, right?

Okay? Okay. I need to stop being so paranoid about this. All right, I'm opening the journal and writing in it… riiiiight…. now!

… God… how am I gonna make an opening sentence about this? Grah.

Hi. I know most kids who keep journals usually start when they're really little and stuff, so I'm kinda late in the game here. In fact, I didn't really even want this journal to begin with. I think they're just blackmail just waiting to be discovered by people who really hate you.

But lately, I've been having some problems concerning my friends… and I'm not sure who to ask about these problems, so until I figure that out, I've decided to basically spill my guts on this journal-thing, just so I won't end up doing the same thing in a situation when I'm under pressure, and end up blabbing about my secrets in front of someone.

Who knows? Maybe it'll be helpful for me in the future. Though I doubt it. Anyway… I've been thinking about Juri, and how much I-

Aww, why the hell did the phone have to ring?

"'Kaasan…!" I yelled out, without bothering to walk outside my room. "Telephone!!"

I wait… Seems like she got it…

"Takato, it's for you!"

What?! I turn to look at the clock. It's almost 8. The sun was down, and it was already getting dark. Usually I never even get calls after 5. Who could it be? I shut my journal, sat up, and reached over for my phone.

"I got it!!" I shouted back to my mother, just before picking my phone up. Getting into a comfortable position, I rested the receiver between my ear and my shoulder. I grabbed my journal and opened it up again. "Moshi-moshi…"

"Takato-kun?"

I blinked. "Jen-kun?"

"Hai," the voice said. He seemed a little uneasy… either that or he was out of breath. "I didn't get you at a bad time, did I…?"

"Iie, iie," I lied, glancing back down to my journal. "I've just been sitting here, suffering some, um… artist's block."

"Sorry to hear that," Jenrya said, with a light chuckle.

I paused for a bit, for lack of a proper response. "… Did you need me for something…?"

Now it was Jenrya's turn to make some awkward silence on the phone. I waited, listening to his breathing, which still seemed uneven, or unstable…

I looked sharply at the receiver; like that's the closest I could do to look at Jenrya himself. "Jen, is something wrong?"

"Oh, of course not!" was Jen's immediate response. "I'm just trying to find the right words…"

O… kaaaay… "Is it something serious?"

"No, not really!" Jenrya's voice was beginning to waver a bit, pitch-wise. "I was just… wondering…"

God, it seemed like Jen was about to have a nervous breakdown. I was getting concerned… "Jen, do you need me to come over? I'm not busy, really."

"I-I… I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me to the festival this weekend!"

I blinked. Jenrya said that REALLY fast. "…E-excuse me?"

I heard Jenrya take a deep breath before responding. "Sorry…you're going with someone already, ne?"

Ohh, he meant the festival…

"W-well, if you are going with someone else, can I come with you? Unless it's, like, Juri or someone, and you wanted to be alone with her. Because I can understand that! It's just that my family is finally letting me go to the festival this year without parental supervision, so that means Shuichon won't be tagging along and annoying everybody like she was last year, so, you know, I was just wondering-"

"Okay, I understand!" I interrupted. I didn't understand one thing, though… why Jen was being so damn nervous about asking me this. "But as far as I know, I haven't been invited yet, so sure, I'd like to come with you."

This was another lie, though. I was planning on asking Juri out to the festival…

"Really?" Jen seemed delighted. "Great. I've been looking forward to this a lot…arigatou, Takato-kun."

I smiled. "It's no problem. Besides, my family's decided to let me go on my own this year, too. It'll be just us doing whatever we want! And maybe Juri, too…if that's okay with you."

"Sure!" Jenrya replied enthusiastically. "The more, the merrier!"

"Are you sure that's all what's bothering you?" I asked with a more serious tone. "You seem a little shaken up."

"No, it's nothing," Jen said. "I just got back from martial arts class. Haven't had dinner yet, either…" Suddenly he paused. "Ah, but Okaasan just called me down for it."

"Yeah, go eat." I said with a smirk. "See you tomorrow, Jen-kun."

"Ja!"

I hung up the phone and looked back to my journal. Then I looked the other way to where my desk was, to see my D-arc sitting there. My thoughts drifted into the possibilities of things during the festival this weekend… okay, sure, my little plot to be on a 'date' with Juri without ever telling her that to her face would be a little… somewhat 'ruined' by Jenrya's presence, but it's no big deal.

I smiled as my gaze returned to my journal. I gently picked it up, flipped the cover over, and began to write in it again. When I thought about it, I can't bring myself to say Jenrya's presence is really ruining anything… he IS my best friend, after all. And as far as I knew, Jenrya doesn't have many other friends aside from me and my friends, and to my knowledge he doesn't have a 'special someone' who he can enjoy.

… I can't just ditch him like that, you know?

Besides… I know how aggravating his sister can get. Especially if she's your only company…

Okay, so I decided this isn't gonna be a date. Just a little outing with my friends. No big deal. Other times will come when I can ask Juri out, surely… so I won't whine about this in my journal. Now, where was I? Oh, I've been thinking about Juri, and how much I

Catch myself thinking about her when I don't really need to, which is weird. I think it's obvious I've had this horrid crush on her for a long time… I say that because my friends usually tease me about it. With the exception of Jenrya, my best friend. He knows it as well as anybody… but he's been the nicest about it, at least. It's just really crazy, though, because as much as I'm aware that I like Juri in that way, and as aware as all my friends are, Juri just… acts so clueless.

I can't tell if she returns the feelings or not, to be honest. All I know is, after all we've been through, the D-Reaper and such, if she doesn't suspect after all THAT, that I might have something of a crush on her… she probably doesn't like me that way in return. It worries me… I'm scared of her knowing that I like her in that way. It might hurt her or something… she might be scared to talk to me for a while… but, I know someday I'll have to face my fears and tell her. I just don't know how. And what if she likes someone else? Though I can't imagine who else she could possibly like…

I keep wondering if I should ask Jen about it. Except I'm not sure how helpful he could be in something he probably has no experience with. Jenrya seems to be having problems of his own, though… he's been acting a little strange lately… I really need to stop worrying so much.

I stopped writing and frowned. "God," I said out loud, to no one in particular. "How do people stand to WRITE like this every day? I feel like I'm mentally handicapped, doing something like this!"

With that, I slammed my journal shut, latched on the lock, and threw it on the floor. I was suddenly feeling exhausted, so I laid down on my bed.

"Takato? What's wrong?"

I looked to my closet. "Nothing, Guilmon."

A pair of golden eyes blinked from the darkness of my closet and gestured to the journal on my floor. "What's that, then?"

"Nothing edible, boy." I replied. "Just don't worry about it."

"Okay." There was a short pause. "What's for dinner?"

"You just ate…"

"Yeah," Guilmon began to poke his head out from my closet. It was hard convincing my parents to let him stay indoors all the time… I told Guilmon to be really careful when my parents granted me permission to keep him in the house. Thankfully he's gotten more obedient over time… except he's practically claimed my closet now.

"I'll get some day-old bread out when 'kaasan's not looking, okay?" I promised. "Just remind me before I go to bed."

"Okee-doke," my partner agreed. He went out of the closet and headed for the door. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, where are you running off to?" I've made it a habit to make sure he's not doing anything stupid…

"Nature called," Guilmon answered, looking at me awkwardly. "Is that how it goes?"

"Close enough," I muttered. "Go on ahead."

My gaze focused on the ceiling as Guilmon left. And without even looking, I grabbed my journal off from the floor and flung it under my bed. Good riddance.

I know my parents always told me I was a creative person, but geez, writing is not my illustrative forte.

"Maybe I'll just stick with doodling Juri obsessively until I get the courage to tell her," I mumbled enthusiastically to myself.

[ POV - Nobody ]

"I'm home!"

Makino Ruki slipped out of her steel-toed shoes and shut the door behind her. She looked around the living room to find her family quite relaxed, as usual. Rumiko, her mother, watching the TV, whilst her grandmother, Seiko was busy on the computer.

"Good to see you home," Rumiko said. "I ordered some takeout for you, since you said you'd be late."

"Thanks," Ruki said, seemingly in a hurry as she scooted to the kitchen and grabbed a box of rice. "How've you two been?"

"Just the usual," Seiko called out, looking to her granddaughter. "Your mother got paid today, so she's planning to take us all on a shopping spree this weekend."

Ruki smirked as she headed for her room. "Who's 'us all'? Did you invite more scary old people into the house, Obaasan?"

"Why, Ruki," Rumiko was surprised. "You don't want to go?"

"Can't," Ruki shook her head. "Festival's this weekend. I'm not planning to go or anything, but you know, I'm sure my friends will call me anytime soon, just BEGGING me to tag along to play their silly little reindeer games."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," Seiko looked up thoughtfully. "Actually, Ruki, you have a couple of calls waiting for you."

Ruki blinked. "Already?"

"Renamon can tell you all the details," Rumiko said with a smile. "Go on ahead and have fun this weekend, dear. I'll make sure to get you something nice at the mall."

Ruki put on a fake smile for her mother. "I can't wait. I'm gonna go check on my calls now."

"Call us if you need anything!" Rumiko shouted out as Ruki went into her room.

Ruki shut the door, leaving herself in complete darkness, save for a wide beam of faint moonlight emerging from her windows. She glanced to it, a serious expression now spread across her face.

"Hey, Renamon."

The humanoid fox Digimon appeared promptly on command. "Good evening."

"I heard I received some calls while I was out."

Renamon looked to her Tamer. "Indeed, you did."

Ruki, finished with the spooky mood to her room, walked over to a nearby lamp and turned it on. "More than one?"

"Three," Renamon reported.

"They must really want me to come along," Ruki muttered as she approached her phone. "They left messages, right?"

"Hai," Renamon walked over to Ruki and folded her arms. "Though you may not be pleased with the messages…"

Ruki pressed a few buttons on her answering machine and sighed. "Well, don't spoil me just yet."

Renamon shrugged as Ruki listened closely to what her callers had to say.

"Ruki-chan! This is Juri! I know you told me last night you'd be late coming home today, but it just occurred to me that I never invited you to the festival this weekend! So before I forget again, I wanted to ask you now! It'd be really nice if you came with me, and I'm sure Takato-chan and the others are coming, so why not come along? Call me back when you've decided! We'll arrange times for us to meet!" Suddenly, the tone in Juri's voice drastically rose, to her familiar tone through which she speaks through The Puppet. "Tell Renamon she's welcome to join us, too! Ruff Ruff~!"

Ruki smiled. "I dunno, Renamon. Are festivals really your style?"

"They are if they're your style, Ruki." Renamon replied. "It does sound enjoyable, though."

"It's really too late to call Juri tonight," Ruki said with a sigh as she pressed another button, awaiting her next message.

"Hey, Ruki. What's up?"

Ruki frowned. "I should've known that rat Akiyama would coerce me into this…"

"Heh… I heard there was a festival coming up this weekend. Everyone at my school's going wild about it, so I knew I'd have a fun time if I asked the worldly-famous Digimon Queen to go on an outing on a perfectly fine festival. Heheh, don't worry, we don't need to call it a date if you don't want to. But hey, if you want to, and all…call me!"

Ruki was about to make a sarcastic remark, but was cut off by an unfamiliar male voice, this one sounding rather automated.

"From Akiyama Ryo, with love!"

Renamon looked at her seething partner. "I'm afraid the final call won't make you any happier."

"NOTHING can piss me off more than Ryo," Ruki muttered through her teeth. "Not Goggle-Head… not ANYBODY."

"We'll see," Renamon said coolly as she pressed the button, allowing the final message to play. "This one came in just two minutes after Ryo's."

"Hey, Ruki! You know, I was thinking about how awesome it'd be if you came to the festival with me, since I know you like maintaining your good image and all, who better to make you look more pristine and popular at the festival than your one and only Hirokazu-sama? Just admit it, you can't resist going out with me! Hey, but before you get any ideas, it's NOT a date, okay? Just a little outing, giving the people a message, you know? And you need to have FUN once in a while, girl. Anyway, my line's always open, and I always stay up late every night, so gimme a call when you get back? 'Kay? I really mean it! Call me back!"

Ruki scoffed and walked over to her bed. "Call him back? Only in his wet dreams."

Renamon chuckled briefly. "You're so harsh on the boy, Ruki. You never give him a chance."

"He doesn't deserve a chance," Ruki insisted as she sat down. "I already know he's a disaster waiting to happen. Think about how many chances I gave Ryo, how many times he messes up, and compare him to Hirokazu. Ryo's MUCH more sophisticated than him. And if Ryo's screwing up anyway, just imagine what I could be getting myself into with that stupid Ryo-Wannabe."

"You have a good point," Renamon said with another chuckle. "Still, it would be good for you to spend the festival with your friends. No matter how much they irritate you."

Ruki narrowed her eyes. "I only have so much tolerance for irritation, Renamon. And once it's gone, who knows what I'll do to those Rooster Heads."

"Well, perhaps you should concentrate less on that and more on enjoying yourself," Renamon suggested. "I understand Ryo and Hirokazu can be a pain more than once in a while, but they still care about you. They just want you to have a good time."

"I guess," Ruki said uneasily. "Maybe I'll just call Juri tomorrow…"

Renamon sat down politely against a wall, looking out the window. "You're still so used to being a loner, Ruki. No one has to live that way."

"Yeah, I know," Ruki smiled. "I guess one little chance at the festival can't hurt. I'm sure Hirokazu and Ryo won't mind coming with me together, with Juri."

"As the boys said, it's not a date," Renamon reminded.

Ruki rolled over on one side of her bed and let out a frustrated sigh. "Lesson One, Renamon. Boys always lie."

[ POV - Takato ]

Whether or not it was that extra cupcake I had for dessert, something was not letting me sleep tonight.

I sat up in my bed and pulled the covers off me. It was getting hot under there, anyway. I somehow dreaded having to look at my clock… 3 AM? Ugh.

I can hear Guilmon snoring in the closet. No problem blaming him for my insomnia…

… no. It's not Guilmon. I really can't sleep.

I looked down at the floor next to my bed. Is that blasted journal making me paranoid already? When I've barely written anything blackmail-worthy in it? … It can't be.

I just need to go back to bed and dream or something. Yeah. Dreaming… that always gets me to sleep.

…

No. I can't go to sleep now. But my parents won't help me. They'll just tell me to count sheep or something. No one's really sane this late at night, anyway.

Wait…

Wait just a second…

… why am I heading towards the phone?! Am I going insane too?

… oh, why the hell not? I'm sure we'll both forget this moment by tomorrow anyway. And it's not like I'm going to sleep anytime soon. So here I am, doing this. Doing… this.

Dialing… the numbers… to Jenrya's house.

[ POV - Nobody ]

Whatever peaceful dream Janyuu was imagining was going to have to wait; someone was crazy enough to call his household in the middle of the night.

He rolled around the bed and faced the blaring telephone with a look of utter disgust. He was about to reach for his glasses, but his arm fell short of the dresser drawer just at the last second.

Janyuu murmured some unintelligible curse as he turned away from the phone and wrapped his blankets tightly around him. He wasn't going to give away his precious sleep that easily. So he did the next best thing.

"Mayumi… get the phone…"

His wife was more submissive, he knew. She'd give in and get the phone… hopefully… before that incessant ringing drove them both nuts…

"Janyuu," Mayumi muttered as she sat up. "Can't we leave it alone…?"

"The ringing will end quicker if you get the phone right now, dear," Janyuu answered impatiently.

Janyuu could hear his wife growling quietly as she got the phone.

"Who is this?" Mayumi mumbled in her most unenthusiastic voice possible. "If it's some foreign prank caller, I swear to God I'll-"

"Mrs. Lee-san?"

Janyuu's eyes widened as he thought he had recognized the voice. "Honey… please don't tell me that's…"

"Takato…?" Mayumi wondered aloud as she rubbed her eyes. "Is that you…?"

"Hai," the voice at the end replied. "Sorry to call you so late, but…"

"Takato," Mayumi interrupted. "It's… 3:00 in the morning…"

"Gomen nasai," Takato apologized. He didn't sound anywhere NEAR sleepy…

"Go to sleep, Takato," Mayumi slurred, already falling back to sleep herself. "It's… 3:00 in the morning…"

"I can't, ma'am," Takato admitted.

"Have you tried counting your toes…?" Mayumi randomly suggested.

"Uh… yeah."

"Did you try counting backwards from 400?"

A short pause from Takato's side. "… Yeah."

"Right," Mayumi said with a sigh, laying back down into bed. She shut her eyes and proceeded to call across the apartment. "JENRYA!!"

And thus Jenrya, who was sleeping very peacefully, was rudely awakened by that shout, and fell off his bed.

Disgruntled and disoriented, Jenrya sat up to the best of his abilities, still being trapped in a mass of blankets from his waist down.

"JENRYA!!"

"What is it…?!" Jenrya weakly called back.

"JENRYA!!" Apparently his mother didn't hear him. "TELEPHONE!"

Jenrya looked to his nearby phone, looking confused. Slowly, he reached over for it and picked up the receiver.

"Okaasan?" He spoke into it, with an immediate yawn afterwards.

Jenrya heard a click from the other side. Mayumi had shut off her phone and passed out already.

"Jen-kun?"

Jenrya's half-closed eyes were suddenly fully open. "Takato?!"

"Hi, Jen…"

"Takato…?" Jenrya's sleepiness was taking over again. He looked over to his clock. "Takato, it's 3:00 in the morning…"

"Yeah, I can't sleep."

Jenrya climbed back into his bed. "Why not?"

"I dunno, I just can't seem to. And I'm afraid to dream about anything for some reason. I didn't know what to do… so I thought maybe I should, like… call you or something."

Terriermon was beginning to stir, Jenrya noticed. He frowned, getting more impatient by the second. "Takato-kun, what did you think I'd be doing at this time at night?"

"… Sleeping?"

"Right," Jenrya narrowed his eyes. "And guess what I was doing before you called?"

"… Sleeping?"

"That's right. And do you know what I'm going to do right here in a few seconds?"

"… Sleep?"

"Goodnight, Takato-kun," Jenrya was prepared to hang up the phone now.

"… gomen."

Jenrya blinked and brought the receiver back to him. "Takato-kun, daijoubu?"

"Sorry for calling you so late at night, Jen-kun… I'll see you tomorrow."

"Takato, what's wrong?" Jenrya asked, deciding to soften up. "You can tell me."

"I don't wanna keep you up, Jen," Takato said quickly. "Bye."

And like that, Takato had hung up.

Jenrya stared at the phone for a moment before hanging up. He looked out the window to see the moon shining down on him.

"Jen?"

Jenrya looked down to his little plush-like companion and smiled. "Go back to sleep, Terriermon."

Terriermon lazily opened an eye. "What're you doing up?"

Jenrya shook his head as he pulled the covers over him and laid back down, closing his eyes. "I don't know. Goodnight, Terriermon."

Terriermon, far too sleepy to be inquisitive, just closed his eye. "'Night, Jen."

Little did Jenrya know that he'd be spending the rest of his hours musing Takato's reasoning with that phonecall instead of actually dreaming. Always a habit of Jenrya's, it was. To dissect and analyze Takato and his actions and thoughts before anything else.

One thing was for sure, though.

Takato was so going to hear it later that morning.

[ TBC ]