#I also apologize for my blog everything cuz i can't get the background to work properly ugh

[thisisthee-n-d]

Brave Shine Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Sooooo, @soofireanon and I have been talking lately, and she kinda inspired me to do a little angst writing for Daiken. Cuz we’re both awful people and love making our babies suffer. 

Summary: Perhaps he could have been a little less abrupt about the whole thing...but in his defense, he hadn’t really expected the whole thing to blow up in his face. Quite literally. 

Characters: Daisuke, Ken, Taichi, Yamato, Hikari, Jun

Pairing: Daiken

“I’m in love with you!”

The words, yelled over the dulled roar of the small crowd, were met with a sudden tense silence, conversations trailing off as wide eyes flicked over to the speaker in shock. Daisuke stood opposite Ken, his hands balled into fists at his sides, cheeks flushed a vivid red. But his eyes were shining, their bright gold practically glowing with anticipation. As the silence wore on, that hope began to dim, the embarrassed smile fading slowly from Daisuke’s face. Ken could only stare at Daisuke, his face blanched to a stark white. A wide flurry of emotions swept across his face before they all winked out entirely. His cheeks beginning to color, his eyes squeezed shut and he ducked his head down, his hair curtaining across his face.

They were at Taichi’s apartment for a small get together among the Japanese Chosen and Daisuke had decided that this would be the perfect moment to confess the feelings that had been brewing in him for months now. He hadn’t been able to shut up about Ken, hadn’t been able to keep his thoughts off of the perfection that was his best friend. So he’d decided to act. What could go wrong? Surely, Ken felt the same way. Miyako told him as much, and Miyako was never wrong about stuff like this.

“How could you say that, Daisuke?!” Ken snapped, his shoulders trembling. Daisuke was frozen at the outburst, the smile slipping from his face entirely. His eyes widened, their gold shadowed with disbelief and pain, and he flinched back as if struck. Ken’s head jerked up, his panicked eyes flicking around as if just realizing the crowd that had gathered around them, all watching, all waiting. Swallowing harshly, Ken ducked his head once more, this time in a polite bow. “I-I’m sorry, I have to go.” And without another word, Ken rushed out, leaving a stricken Daisuke behind.

At first there was only silence, the gathering of chosen children sharing awkward glances and gazing sympathetically at the boy that had been left behind. Then, someone cleared their throat loudly, pointedly turning away. Conversations resumed slowly and awkwardly at that point, the room filling with murmured words once more. Daisuke remained where he was, his shoulders bunching up as his eyes remained locked on the floor. His eyes burned with embarrassed tears, regret landing like a rock in his stomach. He didn’t react when an arm landed over his shoulders, someone falling into place at his side.

“I think you scared him, dude,” Taichi’s warm voice stated good-naturedly, his arm tightening a fraction around his despondent protégé. Daisuke sucked in a slow breath, tensing a little at the comment. Taichi nudged his head a little with his, smiling gently. “But don’t sweat it. I think he’ll come around. Ken’s…just a little shy is all. Give him some time to think about this, alright? Things will turn out alright.” Daisuke lifted his head slowly, the heartbreak in his expression making Taichi’s heart ache. His throat bobbed visibly as he swallowed harshly, the emotion slowly leeching from his face.

“I…messed up, didn’t I? I should have thought about this more,” Daisuke whispered, slumping a little in Taichi’s grasp. Taichi glanced towards the exit, sighing.

“I wouldn’t say you messed up. More like…you found a way not to confess your feelings?” Taichi shook his head, frowning slightly. “But either way, Daisuke, it wasn’t the worst way to do it. I just think Ken was a little surprised. It was a little sudden.” Daisuke stiffened, his head tilting down. Auburn bangs dropped over his eyes, his lips trembling. “Daisuke?”

“Sorry. But I think I need to be alone for a little while,” Daisuke said, his voice soft and weary. He stepped away from Taichi, stepping forward and into the crowd. People parted for him with ease and he strode right through without glancing up, his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Taichi watched him go, sighing quietly. He carded a hand through his hair, his lips pulled into a frown.

“Think he’ll be okay?” Yamato asked, moving to stand beside him. Taichi glanced at him and then back at where Daisuke had left, shrugging.

“Not sure. But it’s Daisuke. I’m sure he’ll pull himself together in no time. Just gotta…let him be for a bit.” Yamato laughed, clapping Taichi on the shoulder.

“You’ve grown up a bit, you know that?”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing, nothing…oh fearless leader.”

The door to the apartment opened quickly and slammed shut, the walls shuddering from the force of the impact. Daisuke merely grumbled incomprehensibly under his breath, beginning to stomp angrily towards his door. His shoulders hunched, his hands were still shoved deep into his pockets, shadows crossing over his expression. His eyes were hidden by shaggy bangs, a dark scowl cutting deeply across his features. The door next to his bedroom cracked open, Jun sticking her head out curiously. Without even paying her a glance, he opened his own door and forced it shut behind him, ignoring the concerned stare he could feel aimed right at him.

His room was dark, the curtains drawn over the far window. He’d forgotten to open them this morning in his rush to leave, excited butterflies tickling his stomach. Jun had teased him as he left, calling for him to not come back until he had a boyfriend. Daisuke sucked in a shaking breath, his jaw clenching at the memory. A single tear traced down his cheek, one hand lifting to angrily scrape it away. Sighing, he walked towards his bed, letting himself fall face-first onto its plush surface. His arms encircled his head, fingers digging into the blankets draped haphazardly over the bed’s surface.

A soft knock sounded at the door, Daisuke’s shoulders tensing at the sound. “Go away, Jun,” he called, his voice rough. Silence followed his words, allowing the dark cloud that had settled over him to darken further. But then she knocked again.

“Are you alright, Daisuke?” Jun asked, her voice muffled by the door between them. “Would you like to talk about what happened?” Daisuke huffed at the question, his eyes squeezing shut. No, he didn’t want to talk. Couldn’t she just leave him alone to suffer by himself? His friends would. They understood. “Daisuke?” Growling, he pushed himself off the bed and stalked back over the door, throwing it open to glare at his older sister.

“What?!” he snarled at her, watching the hurt flicker across her expression before she frowned at him. “Can’t you tell that I want to be alone, Jun? So just leave me alone!” His eyes, red and damp, were narrowed, his golden irises etched with a deep pain. Jun frowned, her hands twitching before curling into fists. Her head turned sharply to the side, her eyes closing.

“I just wanted to check on you and see if you wanted to talk, but if you’re going to be rude then I’m just going to let you suffer! I see this is all that I get for trying to help my little brother out!” Daisuke winced at her words, his hand tightening around his door. Turning on her heel, she stomped away, Daisuke flinching at the slam of her own door. He sighed softly, closing his own door once more. Maybe…maybe he had been a little too harsh… Walking back to his bed, he shook his head, his expression softening some.

“Why…why would you say something like that?!”

Groaning softly, he planted his face into his pillows. Goddammit…He’s such a fucking idiot. Who just puts someone on the spot like that? Him, apparently. His hand dug into his pocket, pulling his D-Terminal out. Flicking it open, he glanced through the notifications as he rolled onto his back. Nothing was highlighted, no messages waiting for him to read. The device snapped shut with an audible click, his eyes shutting briefly. It creaked as his hand tightened around it, resisting the urge to just throw it across the room.

No messages… Not that he blamed Ken for not sending any… He probably ruined everything between them today…even their friendship. And he had no one to blame except for himself and his complete lack of tact.

“Daisuke?” a young voice mumbled sleepily, drawing golden eyes up to the pillow beside his head. Chibimon blinked back at him, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “You’re back early, Daisuke. Is something wrong? You were so excited leaving today. Did everything go like you wanted it to? Where’s Ken?” Daisuke’s eyes burned at the rapid-fire questions, Chibimon’s enthusiasm starting to bleed through his sleepiness. Not that he blamed the little guy. He’d get hyper too if he was stuck in a room all day.

Daisuke reached up and pulled Chibimon down off the pillow, cradling the small digimon to his chest. His head tilted down, pressing his forehead to the top of Chibimon’s head. He took a deep breath before releasing it slowly, trying to relieve that empty ache that had lodged in his chest since Ken had ran out. “Ken…Ken may not be coming by for a little bit, Chibimon. Sorry… I’ll try to fix it if I can,” he whispered.

“Oh...Is Ken alright? Should we go over there to see if he needs a friend?” Round, red eyes gazed up at him, blinking innocently up at him. Daisuke’s shoulders began to tremble a little, a hard lump forming in his throat.

“No, Chibimon. Ken…needs to be alone for a bit. Sorry, buddy. No playdates with Wormmon for a little bit.”

“Is something wrong, Daisuke?” Daisuke’s eyes flick down to Chibimon, finding an unwavering stare meeting his gaze. Huffing, Chibimon wiggled up, nudging Daisuke with his head. “Daisuke, I’m here if you need someone to talk to. I just want to help.” Daisuke looked away, his grip tightening on the small form.

“I-I know, Chibimon. But…not right now, okay? Right now, I just want to sleep. We can talk about it later. I promise.” The digimon studied him, those bright eyes narrowing a little before a sigh left him.

“Alright. We’ll talk later then! You promised!” Laughing, Chibimon snuggled down into Daisuke’s chest, practically purring in contentment. “Nap time with Daisuke!” Daisuke laughed, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Alright, alright. Nap time. Let’s both get some rest.” At his digimon’s grunt of approval, Daisuke rested his head more comfortably on the pillow, releasing a quiet sigh.

Maybe things would seem better after a quick nap…

Hikari picked at her breakfast, staring blankly down at it. Her lips pulled into a frown, she glanced up, her mouth opened as if to speak. Taichi sat across from her, loudly shoveling down his food. Her mouth closed slowly, her frown flattening in annoyance. Bits of food flew through the air, one landing on her forehead. Her eyebrow twitching, she dropped her hands to the table, scowling at her brother. “Taichi, if you actually woke up on time, you wouldn’t have to rush through breakfast in the morning,” she all but growled, her finger tapping on the table. Taichi looked up at her, his cheeks full of food. Blinking, he swallowed down what was in his mouth before smiling.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Hikari. A little bit of rushing around is good for the soul. Keeps me on my toes,” he responded good-naturedly, waving a single finger around. Hikari just rolled her eyes again, pushing away her plate. Laughing, he rocked back in his chair, grinning widely. “Aw, come on. Don’t be like that.” She stood, the chair scraping on the kitchen floor.

“Yea, yea. I’m gonna go finish getting ready for school. You know, so I won’t be late.” Running a quick hand through her hair, she shook her head before walking towards her room to pack her bag. The sun was beginning to filter in through the windows of the apartment, a single beam shining into the living room. Hikari paused, her gaze softening as she stared at the single spot. Her D-Terminal burned in her pocket, still as silent as it had been last night.

“Hey…Hikari. Has he responded yet?” Her hand moved to rest over her pocket, fingers fisting in the cloth. She took a slow breath, her eyes closing. Her hand slowly relaxed, dropping once more to her side. Shaking her head, she stared at the sunlit spot once more.

“No… I messaged him last night, but he hasn’t responded. He hasn’t contacted anyone, Taichi. I know he’s upset…but this has me worried… He’s never…not talked to us.” Taichi’s lips twisted in thought, brown eyes staring down at his decimated breakfast. Drumming his fingers on the table, he considered his options. Finally, he sighed, pushing his chair away from the table and standing.

“Alright… I’ll talk to him after practice today. See if I can get him to open up a little bit.” Hikari turned, her eyes wide and hopeful. Taichi smiled at her, ruffling her hair as he walked by. “Don’t worry, little sis. I’ll take care of it.”

“Just…don’t overdo it, Taichi. He’s a little more sensitive than he likes to admit.” He laughed, his hand dropping away from her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered. Things will be back to normal soon.”

Daisuke shoved his shoes into his gym bag, which laid open on the bench beside his locker. Still glad in a loose pair of exercise shorts, he was working on removing his sweat-laden shirt, the fabric clinging to his damp skin and proving to make the task as difficult as possible. Finally, the shirt slipped over his head, it too being thrown into his bag. His teammates kept shooting him looks, ranging from varied levels of concern to outright annoyance. They knew something was up, he knew they did, but nobody confronted him at least. He swung open his locker, sticking a hand in to shuffle through the mess to find his street clothes.

A shadow fell over him, the lockers clanging as someone leaned up against them. His lips pressed together, Daisuke ignored the newcomer, instead continuing to rummage through his things. Something flashed in the corner of his eyes, the familiar shade of blue bringing a groan to his lips. Turning slowly, he scowled at Taichi, his arms crossing over his bare chest. Taichi merely grinned at him, Daisuke’s shirt clutched in one of his hands. “You have Hikari worried,” Taichi informed him cheerfully, holding the shirt out for him on one finger. Daisuke grunted and yanked it from him, turning back to his locker.

“Well she could have come to talk to me herself,” Daisuke responded, tugging a towel from the bottom of the cubicle. Taichi sighed, watching as Daisuke slipped off his goggles to begin towel drying his hair.

“She would have, but it seems you’ve been avoiding her like the plague. Hell, you’ve been avoiding everyone like the plague.”

“Well, if they just left me alone, I wouldn’t be ignoring them.” Taichi tore his eyes away from Daisuke, instead looking up at the ceiling. His lips twisting into a frown, he allowed silence to fall between them for a moment. Finally, he glanced down at him again, brown eyes dark with understanding.

“You gotta talk about it eventually, Daisuke.” Throwing his towel back into the locker, Daisuke slammed it shut, his jaw clenched. His eyes slipped over to Taichi, narrowed to slits. His muscles were tense, their slight tremble masked by anger.

“And what if I don’t want to talk about it?” The words were snarled out, golden eyes burning in a molten glare. They stared at each other for several long, tense moments before Daisuke huffed and turned away, his eyes closing. “Look…Thanks for the worry, but I don’t need it. I’m fine. I’ll talk to everyone later.” Taichi hummed, shaking his head.

“See, that would have fooled someone else, Daisuke, but not me. There is a reason you’re called my little clone sometimes.” Releasing a long sigh, Taichi smiled. “But…I’ll let it go for now. Wouldn’t want you to get suspended from the team for jumping the old captain.” The tension drained slowly from Daisuke, his expression softening as his anger cooled. Taichi lifted a finger though, still smiling. “But! I do have another reason for being here.” Daisuke turned to lean up against the locker himself, the metal cool against his still damp flesh.

 “Oh?” he questioned, raising a curious eyebrow. “And that would be?”

“Koushiro messaged me last night. There’s apparently been some strange signals coming from the digital world.”

“Ah. So when are you guys heading out?” Taichi chuckled, reaching up to ruffle Daisuke’s hair. The pout on Daisuke’s face only made him laugh harder.

“We’re not heading out. I think you and your team should take this one. Koushiro wasn’t too worried about the signals, but they are worth looking into. Plus, we’ve had you guys benched for too long. Use this as a time to stretch your legs. And who knows, maybe you’ll get a chance to beat up some stuff.” Crouching by the bench, Daisuke dug through his bag, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He produced his D-Terminal, flicking it open and clicking around for a second.

“Got it. We won’t let you down, Taichi.” Taichi snorted, but his expression softened some.

“You guys never do. Just be safe, okay?”

The digital world was pathed in the pale orange of a sun just beginning to set, lengthening shadows stretching towards the group of children just beginning to sort themselves out. The buzz of insects saturated the air, soothing in its nature. A gentle wind blew through the rustling leaves of the forest before them, cool air tousling their hair. Daisuke sighed, staring into the depths of the trees, before turning towards his group, a small smile forced onto his face. Nobody bought it, but it made him feel better at least. His eyes flicked to each of his group, mentally assessing them before moving on. His eyes hesitated on Ken, surprise flickering briefly across his face.

Then, Ken looked away.

“Alright everyone,” he began, sighing heavily. “Koushiro set us down in the spot closest to whatever signal he’s talking about. It’s our job to check it out and tell him what’s up.” At the nods he received, he nodded in return, smirking confidently. “This’ll be easy. We should all be back well before dinner time. So let’s move!” He punched the air, turning and beginning to run into the forest. The others followed in suit, albeit a little hesitantly.

Daisuke’s smile faded the moment he turned around, the enthusiasm fading from his eyes. His thoughts were focused on that image of Ken from a few minutes ago, remembering the way the soft light danced from his hair, the way his skin practically glowed. He also remembered the bags beneath his eyes and the deadened look to his normally sparkling blue eyes, Daisuke’s heart sinking at the memory. His hands curled into tight fists, his lips pressing together.

Dammit…

This was going to be one long mission for him at least.