Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Ethereal ❯ Acquaintances ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter III

"What is wrong with you, Yamato??"

The blond snapped his head up and saw an angry band mate glaring at him. He shook his head and tried his best to smile. "Oh, nothing. Just…thinking," he replied quietly, placing his guitar over him in a daze. Akira raised an eyebrow wearily at him before waving his drumsticks in the air, signaling the others to begin.

Yamato played the melodic tunes out of memory, however, and his heart was not into the singing at all. He had a distinct feeling that something was wrong with Takeru. It struck him hard while he was tuning the guitar. He had managed to snap one of his strings, something he rarely did. Luckily he had a spare, but it was enough to make him shudder all over. Akira and the others asked if he was all right, but he shook it off. They wouldn't understand even if he explained it to them. As he continued singing the sad and depressing words, he wondered whether Takeru was all right. Now he felt fine, but what was that strange feeling he experience before about?? It couldn't have just come out of nowhere.

The song lurched to a stop and Yamato looked at his band mates in surprise. Suddenly Eitoku, the bassist, walked over to him with a look of concern on his face. He placed a hand on Yamato's shoulder and watched him worriedly.

"Yamato…are you sure you're all right?? You could go home you know. We can practice another time," he remarked soothingly. The blond smiled gratefully at him and the others. They were really too good to him. He nodded and set his guitar into his case.

"I'm sorry…there's just a lot on my mind right now," he explained apologetically before Akira stopped him.

"Hey, no biggie! Your brother just came home a few days ago. Hell, I'd be in a state of shock and confusion too if my sister came back after four years of being in a mental ward!" he exclaimed, grinning.

The blond smiled at him amusedly and gathered his things before heading out the door.

"Thanks you guys. Call me when you come up with another time to practice," he called out as he left the room.

He heard a faint reply from Akira that sounded an awful lot like, "Well, we don't really need practice. We are the best band this town's had in years…"

He grinned as he crossed the street. Maybe he was taking everything a little too hard. He was sure Takeru was all right, yet he still felt like going home for some comfort. He wouldn't be completely satisfied until he saw his little brother in person. As he turned the corner, he snickered. He was beginning to treat Takeru like a little boy again.

But that thought was cut off as he crashed into a rushing passerby. The blond's guitar and schoolbag were sprawled out on the ground, as was a numerous amount of books and papers. Rubbing his head, Yamato sat up in a slight daze. Who had he crashed into?? He eyed his surroundings and found a boy with dark blue hair groaning as he sat up before him. Yamato blinked as he looked at the stranger's face. Blue hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses. They seemed very familiar to him somehow. Suddenly remembering his manners, he stood up and offered a hand to the stranger, who took it almost immediately.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-"

"God! Look at my stuff!! I'll never be there in time now! I'm always late!!" interrupted the blue-haired man as he bent down, quickly gathering belongings like a squirrel gathering nuts. Yamato stared at him a bit offended. The boy didn't even care about the collision. And it was his fault for running and not looking before he turned the corner. Yamato frowned. He hated corners. The blond bent down and picked up his bag and guitar easily, quickly checking to see his guitar wasn't damaged after the whole chaotic scene.

"Excuse you!"

The stranger briefly pushed Yamato to the side once again as he walked away swiftly with his books in hand. The blond stared in shock at the stranger.

"Why that fucking little bastard. He doesn't even thank me for helping him and he pushes me again?? Fuck him," Yamato muttered under his breath angrily. People like that stranger angered him. The blond quickly memorized the face of the boy just in case he saw him again. Then he could be the rude and obnoxious one if they ever crossed paths again.

With a grunt, he turned around and started walking again, all thoughts of familiarity of the boy's face leaving his mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ken was still dubious about Takeru's intentions. True, the boy's tone of voice seemed genuine, but the thought of another parallel world like theirs was laughable. It was an obtrusive idea that he still didn't know why he was going along with. The first hour they were looking up a numerable amount of people that gave Ken a headache, but Takeru pushed him on. Eventually they located a boy by the name of Yagami Taichi. At the first sight of that name on the computer screen, the blond literally jumped for joy, a smile lighting up his face. It was quite a shock to see Takeru so happy. The boy had been nothing but grim and serious from the moment Ken met him.

And then they headed out to search out Taichi.

Of course Ken had many doubts. There must have been other people in Japan by the name of Yagami Taichi. But Takeru had given him the explanation of, "he had a feeling." It was not enough to reassure him, though. And they continued walking down the streets of Nagasaki. Ken looked around the place in awe. He had never been anywhere else other than his own neighborhood in Kumamoto. Takeru himself had come all the way down from Tokyo. How Takeru even got all the way down there was something Ken never asked. It was most definitely a long ride, however, whichever way of transport he used.

"C'mon! We're almost there!" exclaimed the blond as he hurried down the block. Ken forced himself to walk faster, panting slightly. Takeru was without a doubt a lot faster than he was and he wasn't used to this much physical exertion in the first place. Computers and figuring things out was his specialty. He glanced at the blond again and noticed the look of seriousness in it. He didn't know what it was, but there was something different about the blond. It wasn't the fact that he was quiet and enigmatic, but he held a certain quality in his eyes that made him different. He seemed to have gone through much, concluded Ken. Shaking his head furiously at the ridiculous thought, he snickered bitterly. He was never good at reading people either.

Suddenly the blond lurched to a stop, Ken bumping into him in surprise. As he looked up to apologize, he realized that Takeru didn't even notice the little mishap. In fact the blond was staring straight ahead as if in a trance. Ken followed his gaze and his eyes fell upon a girl with short brown hair and dark amber eyes. He froze also as if something cold gripped onto his heart. There was something almost too familiar about that girl. He looked at Takeru for answers and found that he had recovered already. He stared straight at the girl as she did the same to him.

"Hikari."

Ken glanced at the girl. Her eyes widened considerably as she dropped the books she was holding in her arms. Raising one hand to her lips, she stared at Takeru in horrified shock.

"Y-You… I've seen you in my dreams," she barely whispered. Takeru bounded forward, Ken following quickly behind. If Takeru wasn't telling the truth, why did he sense familiarity with this girl?? He never met her in his entire life…unless Takeru was correct about the whole theory of the Digital World. Pursing his lips, he stayed quiet until the blond spoke.

"Hikari. So you know who I am?" he asked, staring at her darkly. The blond towered over her seeing as how her height reached a little under his shoulder. Ken stared at Takeru in surprise. At that moment, the blond looked almost menacing. He was surprised the girl was still standing.

But the girl's lips quivered as she raised an unsteady hand at the blond. "I've been having dreams lately… I couldn't get any sleep and you were in them!! But…but," she explained, blanching quite suddenly. She looked almost as if she was about to faint until Takeru grabbed her shoulders tightly, but in a gentle manner. Ken watched in surprise as the blond looked into the girl's eyes with unspoken words. The girl seemed to stop quivering then.

She suddenly looked down at the ground as Takeru let her go.

"Takeru…I've missed you."

And Ken just stared at the two in mystification.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Of all the rotten luck…"

Yamato glanced at his watch in worry. It was nearly seven thirty and there wasn't any sign of Takeru. The only thing that the boy had left was a note saying he was heading off to Kumamoto and would call. The blond frowned and tapped the table impatiently. The note was dated at eight in the morning. Why would Takeru go all the way down to Kumamoto?? They didn't have any friends or relatives living down there. Yamato groaned and collapsed against the couch. His parents were due to be home late also. And amazingly enough, they were the ones to tell him to calm down about the whole situation.

Finally, he stood up and grabbed his jacket while walking out of the apartment. He couldn't stay inside anymore. Perhaps a walk would calm down his nerves. Inside he was fuming. Takeru was home for less than two weeks, and already he was missing. Why did Takeru do this to him?

"Agh!"

Déjà vu leapt at Yamato's eyes as he found himself sitting on the pavement with a stranger in front of him. The blond shook his head to clear his thoughts. Instantly he was reminded of his earlier incident. As he raised his head to look at the stranger, he froze. Familiarity struck him once again and he narrowed his eyes dangerously. It was the same person from before, he knew it. That shade of blue was unnatural even in their neighborhood.

"Fate has a way with twisting a person doesn't it?" he remarked, glaring darkly at the blue-haired figure. The boy, whom this time was not in a hurry, stood up and looked at Yamato in puzzlement.

"Excuse me??" he replied dumbly. The blond looked vaguely familiar to him. But what made him utter such a comment?

Yamato rolled his eyes. "You. Earlier. Crash. Books," he explained between clenched teeth. Normally the blond wouldn't overreact the way he was, but he was venting his anger on the stranger. He knew it wrong inside, but he didn't care at the moment.

Jyou blinked in surprise. There was something almost familiar about that glare on him, but he ignored it. "Oh! God, I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry. Seriously, I did not mean to be so rude," he quickly apologized. He hated it when people were mad at him. But the blond had caught him at the wrong time in the day where as he was late for class and worse was that the train had been malfunctioning, forcing him to walk a long ten blocks. Of course the blond probably didn't want to hear that long excuse.

"Haha, yeah, whatever."

Yamato rolled his eyes and began walking again. He felt a good bit calmer now that at least that part of his anger was diminished. Forcing his hands down into his pockets, he sighed and tried to calm down his rage. His father always reprimanded him on having a bad temper.

Jyou stared at the retreating figure in silence. His head was cocked to the side slightly, a look of wonder sprawled on his face. A name kept popping into his head as he stared at the mesh of blond hair. He frowned deeply. But he never met this boy before until today. How could he just assume a name??

"Yamato," he murmured quietly, blinking at the name. It sounded more real now that he said it in the open. What had caused that name to surface? He didn't know any Yamato. Frowning even more, he shook his head and began walking the other way. Shin would kill him for being home so late.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TBC