#do you believe in me too? ; daisuke & rui [variouscolors]

[digitalworid]

@variouscolors, from here

"Of course we'll still be friends, Rui."

It had been some time since he felt quite this awful. Bitter, self-pitying, surprisingly hurt at the words of someone he barely knew. But what he felt didn't particularly matter.

"I understand - I'm easy, it's natural I'd seem like a safer alternative. But you're a handsome guy, you shouldn't sell yourself short."

He longed for someone who would tell him he was more than good enough, that they liked him, not because he was easy or weak, or simple to take advantage of.

But such a day it was not.

"So what kind of boy do you actually like? Ken's type? Or like Takeru?"

[digitalworid]

"...This isn't about underestimating him! An UltraGodzillamothramon the size of a city would be in danger too!" His temper was slipping again as the other boy downplayed his friend's safety.

"You're just using the fact that you're different as a shield from dealing with your problems!"

"Your partner is suffering right now! Are you really going to just take it easy because you don't want to deal with the fight you had!?"

Daisuke couldn't relate in the slightest. So it confused and frustrated him. He was someone who gave his all to other people, leaving himself second day and night. He couldn't even conceive of how Rui could hurt his partner more just out of fear.

"If you're really going to be so wishy-washy about it, just tell me everything you actually know about your partner, and I'll go find him! Someone has to take responsibility for him!"

He only ever cared to put up a fight for someone else being treated ill.

"Ukkomon is no ordinary digimon, he can do things on his own. I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you, especially when he can grant wishes..."

"...or take his eye out and magically put it in my face."

"…I would only be worried about this guy trying to force a partnership with him…" Rui sighed and frowned, "Because of the wish-granting part."

Ukkomon might still be angry at me for that... -- Rui thought. He really had said something insensitive that time.

"I WISH WE NEVER HAD MEET!!! BECAUSE THANKS TO THAT PROMISE YOU MADE, THESE DIGIMON ARE NOW GOING TO FIGHT AND DIE! I CAN'T EVEN GO HOME LIKE THIS! I'M… I'M AN ABERRATION NOW!"

He wished that. And Ukkomon granted him that wish, maybe...?

He took the digivice from his pocket and looked at it.

"It's ok, you can go home and the digimon might help me seek for him."

[digitalworid]

@variouscolors, continued [.]

"This is fun!" Daisuke declared obviously, with a smile which could've illuminated the starry sky. "You're good at this, if you say you've never danced before!"

Which is to say, good for a beginner. An almost scathing remark coming from a boy who was, in fact, quite bad for a beginner.

It was easy to surmise, if you had deductive reasoning skills, that he had asked Rui to be his dance partner because everyone else on his team knew just how bad Daisuke was at dancing.

Nobody else had wanted their toes stepped on.

"You know, when it comes to dancing, I'm kind of glad I'm tiny! I told Miyako that last year, and she said it was weird because I should want to be the leader. Can you believe her! What if I want a vacation from being the leader, y'know?!"

He seemed to have forgotten that he needed to actually listen to the music. As was the nature of Daisuke's rambling.

[digitalworid]

@variouscolors

A certain fluffball had been given an especially a hard time at work that day, and appeared before Rui with an especially forlorn expression.

Suffice to say, it was about to become his problem.

There was one thing and one thing only that Daisuke wanted when he'd had a bad day - carte blanche to be a clingy little bastard.

"Rui-kun rechaaaarge!"

And with that he pounced, hugging his partner as close as could be and burying his entire face in the other's shoulder.

[digitalworid]

"i want the k" [DaiLui pls........... no lewd pwease]

[ kiss roulette ]

19 - underwater kiss

It happened in a matter of seconds. One might consider it lucky that Rui wasn't rendered unconscious with shock of being barrelled into so abruptly - but the moment Daisuke thought of it, he knew he had to do it, or common sense would kick in and he wouldn't.

It wasn't a proper kiss so much as an impact as he slammed into his boyfriend and sent them both crashing into the ocean, though it turned softer as Daisuke melted into the salty makeout for the few seconds before they both broke up for the surface.

"So? I didn't break the rule of not kissing in front of the others, they can't see it underwater!" He says as if he did not at all just give his partner a heart attack. "Lets do it again!"

At least that was more of a warning. Before Daisuke shoved him back into the ocean.

Rui would learn quickly that bouts of mania were part of the package, or he wouldn't learn at all.

[digitalworid]

💕 [Rui → Daisuke]

[💕]

"E-eh? Eh?" Daisuke startled and blushed, but didn't look particularly displeased about it.

"I mean, yes, but..." Despite this being round two of Rui's clear attraction to him, his sense of inferiority in that department was slow to settle. "You know...that you can aim higher, right?"

It hadn't escaped his mind into the world before, but this time was different. It was more than a kiss.

"...Honestly, it's not like our much prettier friends are way out of your league or anything! Am I really your type?"

[digitalworid]

[FISHIES!] [u know who]

[sender excitedly points out aquatic life to receiver from their boat]

"Really!? Where!?" Daisuke leans far out over the railing well beyond the limits of what is at all a safe amount of your body mass to have off-balance.

He's probably going to be taking a swim unintentionally unless Rui catches him. Perhaps it is simply his unwavering faith that his boyfriend will protect him from such a fate that allows him to be so childish and carefree. A bright, glimmering bravery that can only shine so brightly with someone else to support it.

"Look at how pretty they are, Rui...!" He says, and he reaches out to try and touch the water.

Perhaps there is such a thing as too much trust.

[digitalworid]

💋 [Rui → Daisuke :V]

[💋]

"...That being said, you're sure you want your first kiss to be with me?"

Rui had already said so of course, but he couldn't help wondering. There were much prettier and more likeable people in their friend circle than him. Rui probably got asked out plenty, didn't he? People liked mysteries like big eyepatches.

The other boy had lots of options, it didn't make much sense to him that Rui would settle for less.

But Daisuke was stalling. He shouldn't ignore a request.

"...You have to tilt your head a bit, Rui." He put his hand in the boy's hair to move it into the right position, and granted him a soft peck on the lips. Not very long, not way too short.

"Was that about what you were hoping for?"

[digitalworid]

"Of course you're not a baby..." Was all he muttered at first, sincerely confused at why Rui was saying that.

Then the boy recounted Ukkomon's apology, and he was even more confused. Confused was the load-bearing emotion with this kid.

"That's kind of a hard wish to grant I suppose...But anyways! We need to come up with a plan to find him! There's no way we can wait until your next birthday!"

Think, think think! The boy's face scrunched up in concentration as dozens of half-baked plans flitted through his head.

"Is Ukkomon cautious of his surroundings? Would he be hiding, or hanging out where he's easy to see? Tentomon is good at finding things through the grapevine..."

"Are you sure you can't just try wishing anyways? It wouldn't hurt. Maybe he can hear you through your magic eye..." It was as logical a possibility as anything else.

"Ukkomon is in danger right now by himself, no matter how special or different he is! And he's crying without his partner to comfort him. We need to find him no matter what, Owada!"

"Wh--"

Oh, Daisuke just... picked him up from Lighdramon and put him on the ground. With a pat on the head.

"..."

He's not used to people just being nice to him, so he keeps thinking that Daisuke is treating him like a toddler, he's pretty sure they're about the same age!?

"H-hey, I'm not a baby!!" Rui babbled, not angry, just embarrassed, "I'm ten! I'm... I can handle it myself...!"

But he was lying. Ukkomon had done everything for him so far. His homework, protecting him from being hit by cars on the streets, getting him ready for school and so many other things. Even though Rui was not aware that his parents...

"... I don't know how to do it," he replied to Daisuke's suggestion to try to summon Ukkomon by making a wish.

"... Ukkomon only granted me wishes on my birthday," he said shyly. Maybe it's safe to tell Daisuke that, right: "I'm a weird kid, I was born on a date that only happens every four years."

"… On my 8th birthday, he apologized for not making me friends with a kid who was already paired with a digimon."

[digitalworid]

An uncomprehending doe stared back at him, expressionless.

"...? Helping you!" Daisuke blinked, then resumed what he had intended, not waiting for any movement from Rui and picking him up off of Lighdramon's back, artless but careful enough to be safe.

"There you go!"

Daisuke dispensed another brief pat on the head before turning to observe the clearing around them. His partner devolved, exhausted, and plopped down onto the grass with a heavy sigh.

"Hey Owada! This tree looks good to sleep against! Tree are better to sleep on than rocks, because they have lumber support!"

...

With no reaction given, he just continued like it hadn't happened. "It's big enough that these roots can be like a little divider! So you could sleep here, and Veemon could sleep here, and Tailmon on the other side...Does Patamon perch? I think he does!"

Less than a mile away, a little orange blob sneezed.

"Anyways, with that decided," Apparently Rui's confirmation regarding the sufficiency of the tree was unnecessary, "You should make your wish to see Ukkomon again, right?"

"...Ok."

It seems that he cannot really tell anyone about it. After all, he's alone. Maybe too much information to handle? He doesn't know if he could explain things to someone else right now, if Daisuke wasn't... interested in it.

Better let it go then, Rui thought. He wasn't going to use a stranger he barely knew for a trauma dump. In light of the fact that Ichijouji Ken, the one who was called a tyrant, was somehow and suspiciously giving him comfort?

But the Kaiser wasn't after him at all, yet the digimon with evil rings attacked him for some reason. Maybe they went rogue? Who knows...

"... I'm just a burden here" Rui mumbled to himself.

He didn't expect Ukkomon to come back and forgive him for what happened.

"What are you doing...?" Rui just looked at Daisuke turning bacl and opening his arms.

D-do you think I can't get off a digimon...? Am I too small for you?!

He's not angry, but completely confused.

[digitalworid]

...

...Eighth grader syndrome? We're a bit young...

"...I just said you should tell Koushiro-senpai those questions." Brushing it off was better than treading dangerous territory. Silently he thought out an apology to his upperclassman.

"But anyways, we're here! The others are still coming, it looks like." Though he waved to the big orange dino as Lighdramon padded to a standstill nearby. "Come on! Lets pick out a good spot for you and our digimon to sleep tonight."

Swiftly planting himself on the ground, he turned back and opened his arms in offering to help Rui down before even really thinking about it. He stayed like that when actual thought followed, but wondered quietly about the sufficiency of his instinctive reaction.

"When… when I get a headache, I expect the stupid eye to start glowing, respond to the digivice, and 'whatever-happens' to happen."

At least this he was able to tell the other two.

"This is why I... get in trouble and cannot stay close to others. It's a warning. But..."

He looked at the digivice, "Maybe not this time. The Digivice shows no reaction. And the eye does not glow…"

"So it might be just... stress?"

He can't make promises, he was never able to keep them. But making Daisuke worry about him right now made him feel a little bad, so he smiled shyly and said:

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

"So you and your friends have to stop that other kid, right? He's forcing the digimon to form a partnership with him, and that's not the way it's supposed to work."

"I mean… Can you just force a Digimon to be your partner? Ukkomon didn't tell me that… He told me he would make more kids like me become my friends, and I think he meant…"

"...he was behind all this? He also said to be part of something bigger too..."

He did it, he managed to say it. It's too hard to break the news like this. But he felt that he could trust Daisuke. He sighed and poutted disappointedly.

"Ukkomon might have lied to me then..."

[digitalworid]

...Well, it wasn't impossible. In the case of stopping evolution, Koushiro had already figured out pretty early on that the towers amplified Ken's innate ability as a chosen, that all of them technically had. They could all stop the digimon near them from evolving if that was what they wanted. It wasn't an inversion so much as a different setting on the same power knob, apparently.

But unlike evolving digimon, partners weren't exactly something within their control. Vee had mentioned once again earlier that he had been picked out for Daisuke years and years ago. Ken hadn't picked his partner either. That wasn't really how it worked, right?

"...I don't think the how is nearly as important as how we're going to stop him, but you can ask Koushiro-senpai what he thinks if you're interested in that sort of thing."

Sometime in his personal conjecture, though, Rui had started mumbling something that he could barely make out and couldn't understand anyways.

"Owada, are you ok?"

He tapped Lighdramon's shoulderblade twice, and the digimon slowed to a trot, then stopping.

"Owada?"

"I see."

"Those dark rings are forcing the Digimon to become servants to that Kaiser guy... So he's forcing them to form a partnership with him maybe?" Rui thought. There were so many things he had hidden from Daisuke at this point.

Everything Rui had said was suspicious so far. His statements didn't seem to fit. Ukkomon's statements might not even match Daisuke's...!

"This is wrong... I didn't wish this..." -- He mumbled something --"I didn't wish all this... I wouldn't have made that wish when I was 4 years old if I knew the consequences..."

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry. Still... Not used to it".

I had no friends before, so I guess I don't know how to treat someone with respect and care -- He wanted to say, but he felt that telling that detail would just be like asking Daisuke to pity him when he was pretty sure that he was the reason someone like Ichijouji Ken was hurting the digimon and causing those fights.

All he wanted was friends. And Ukkomon had promised to make him friends with other children who were paired with a digimon.

"I have to find Ukkomon and tell him to undo everything," Rui sighed. He felt a mild headache now and it made him uneasy, "Ugh... Not now, stupid digimon eye...!!"

But this time it seemed to be just stress. He checked the digivice and there was no reaction. So is Daisuke trustworthy and safe to reveal his secrets?

[digitalworid]

"...Oi, Owada, you've hardly seen humans and digimon together to begin with. None of the other Japanese chosen have spoken to you." Except apparently, maybe Ken.

Rui had a habit of saying things which belied both utter obliviousness and total self-absorption. He didn't get how someone so clueless could be so confident saying wrong things.

"I'm not different. Everyone treats their partners with respect except Ichijouji - that's called being a normal person. How else would you treat your friends?"

He knew on an instinctive level that Rui had good in him, but when that boy said things that implied he'd never once cared about his best friend's feelings, his heart balked at the cruelty of it.

He was starting to feel bad for a digimon he hadn't even met.

"You don't know about the evil rings, either?" Why do you act like a know-it-all when you clearly don't know anything? He repressed. "He's been slapping those on all the digimon. It brainwashes them, we have to stop him."

He spent all his time going from village to village, didn't he? How had none of the digimon told him this? Did he just not care to listen?

Daisuke sighed and pat Rui's head again, letting his exasperation drain from his body.

"..."

He never thought if Ukkomon liked him before... But watching the relationship between Daisuke and Lighdramon... It felt like nothing he had ever seen before.

"Human and Digimon... being friends..." he murmured, as if trying to figure out why his fight with Ukkomon had ended so badly.

"I don't know if it would work though... If it were easy, it would be suspicious."

I have no idea how Ukkomon's powers work, so I can't just summon him or something -- That's what he wanted to tell Daisuke.

"..."

That's impossible, the Digimon are fated to fight to the death to protect their partners... -- He thought -- Partnering with a Digimon will lead to your downfall. Endless battles and the Digimon losing their freedom.

That's exactly what humans have done to each other and to some animals. What kind of world is this where humans and digimon can form a true partnership bond?

"... I had never seen a human who could treat a digimon with respect and think about their feelings before," he blurted out, out of the blue.

"The digimon that attacked me had... something that looked like black pet collars. And they came from that guy with purple sunglasses. They reminded me of Ukkomon, but... not sentient?"

[digitalworid]

Daisuke was almost amused by that question. It was the first time he really felt like the way he saw Taichi; the kind senpai with all the answers. Iori never needed his help with anything.

"Of course he is, Owada. His best friend who he loves more than anyone is mad at him." Pause for effect, "Lighdramon, if we had a really nasty fight and I told you I hated you and wanted you to go away, how long would it take for you to miss me?"

"...Three minutes." Lighdramon spoke a bit quietly, saddened by the thought, though he knew Daisuke's intentions.

"Even if it was that bad of a fight?"

"Three minutes if I was as mad as possible."

And Daisuke turned back to Rui again with a grin. "See how much you can learn just asking people for their feelings?"

"I'm completely sure Ukkomon is dying to see you! You should call for him as soon as we reach Greymon's area, ok?"

"...!!"

He... has never been patted on the head, except by his mother -- who suddenly changed out of the blue the day he first met Ukkomon. Usually, if someone touches him, he expects something bad to happen, since he's basically untouchable after getting that eye slapped in his face.

A pat... Hadn't he and Daisuke been on bad terms just moments ago? Rui had tried to deny that he needed help. He had been extremely scarred by the environment and by stumbling into the Kaiser's armies after his clash with his own digi-partner.

"I don't know…" he looked down, "Ukkomon said he came to fulfill my wishes…" he felt more like a broken record, maybe… denial.

He saw how Daisuke and Lighdramon were different from him and Ukkomon. It wasn't any kind of jealousy, but he had a strange feeling of anxiety while watching this. Was he doing it wrong?

"... Do you think he... is lonely and sad...?"

He asked, but it was rhetoric. Rui had been with Ukkomon since he was four years old, BUT…

"..."

... he doesn't know Ukkomon enough to realize that he might have hurt Ukkomon's feelings.

[digitalworid]

A beat passed, and Daisuke twisted around to pat Rui's hair.

"That's fine and all, but you have to listen to what other people are saying. If you tell them 'that's dangerous!' and they say 'ok, I still want to help you!', then they've heard your worries about it, and you need to listen to what they're saying back!"

"You can't tell what other people are thinking, so the only thing you can do is ask for their thoughts and trust what they say."

Maybe it was forward to be giving his thoughts like this to someone who kept rejecting him, but that was just the way Daisuke was. "If you only live based on what you see happening inside your head, you won't be able to understand your surroundings. 'Why is this person being like this, I don't get it!'"

"Daisuke, sit properly or you'll fall off."

"Eheh.." He lingered for a moment before more safely repositioning himself and facing Rui from over the shoulder. "I'm Daisuke. I like helping people, and I don't like seeing people hurt, and I want to be your friend, so I want to protect you! Ok?"

"Ukkomon's probably told you that he likes you, right? So you should trust him about that. He's probably lonely and sad being without you."

"I... I don't think he would come back if I wanted him to."

No, he believes that Ukkomon dumped him after he snapped. He's pretty sure it was his fault. Somehow he keeps thinking that he and Daisuke do not get along at all?

That's what happens when you are bad at people'ing.

"I don't know much about Ukkomon and his powers, sorry," he tried to apologize. Somehow, he kept thinking that he was just a burden to that other kid. But he had felt that way for ages before? Then Ukkomon changed that... At least.

And now he's just... alone. Unattainable. You have to force yourself to break through this thick wall that isolates him from the world, the whole wall he built after he got this - and Rui says - 'curse'.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, okay? I've had enough, everyone's had enough..." he whispered to himself, still trying to act tough, but he was about to break.

[digitalworid]

"...I'll make a note of that." Daisuke replied, trying to keep from sighing at the utter lack of recognition to what he was saying. He supposed it was maybe hard to believe that your best friend could probably kill the whole world if you left him alone

"But if you say Ukkomon grants your wishes, doesn't that mean that he thinks you don't want to see him? If you prayed for him to show up again, maybe he'd just pop out of thin air."

Lighdramon rolled his eyes at Daisuke's wishful thinking, though neither boy could see it. "I've never heard of such a digimon, maybe they went largely extinct a long time ago, like me."

"Why do you think it's not a matter of you just not hearing about it?"

"I think the years the Dark Masters were storming around would've been pretty different if there was some wish granting digimon for them to go hunting for and use."

Daisuke looks questioning, but mutters something about asking someone named 'Taichi-senpai' later.

"Ukkomon is not an ordinary digimon, he's... special."

Or it was what Ukkomon himself had told him.

"He can grant wishes. And The reason I don't you and your friends near me is... Is this stupid eye-thing."

"I can't control it. When I'm in danger, it definitely starts glowing and reacting to the Digivice. It drives me crazy, it gives me a headache and I can't stand it, so I close my normal eye and suddenly something happens.

"When the headache is gone, I open my eye again and whatever or whoever was threatening me is gone. I have no idea what happens, though. I guess it just... eliminates everything that threatens me."

"I don't want it to happen again. What if it happens and it hurts you or your friends? I mean, I'd like some help, but..."

He sighed, knowing that this will not convince someone who has already shown himself to be a stubborn person who interferes in other people's business.

"If you insist, there's nothing I can do about it. Just... Don't come near me when this thing starts glowing and making me feel pain. It's a signal that whatever it's doing is about to happen."