Disclaimer: NOT MINE!
Warnings: Takari angst, though not as much as usual. Hints of Taito as well. Swearing, sex, abuse.
A/N: Yeah! My first Takari! Go Me! Seeing as this is my first Takari don't expect it to be mind-blowingly good, in fact except it to be mind-blowingly crap. But it's not up to me to say so; it's your call.
Comfort in sorrow
Hikari gave a start as someone knocked loudly on the door. Carefully she moved the sleeping Gatomon off her lap and walked over to the door, wondering who it could be. Her parents were visiting her grandmother and Tai was staying with Yamato. And the steady downpour was likely to be keeping anyone else inside. The person knocked again, a frantic hammering.
"Hold on!" Kari called, frowning at the impatient knocker. She unlocked the door and flung it open crossly, ready to start yelling. But the sight of tear filled blue eyes made the spark of anger die.
"Tk?" the brunette half-gasped. He glanced at her then looked down at the floor, water dripping off his hair and clothes. "Come in!" she stepped back to let her friend in. Kari closed the door behind Takeru and waited for him to take his shoes off. But when he did a considerable amount of water poured out onto the floor.
"I'm sorry! Urgh… I should help you clean up." The blonde ran a hand through his hair and Hikari frowned slightly at this; Tk only did that when he was really upset about something. She smiled softly at him.
"It's ok, I'll deal with it later. What happened to you?" He turned away from her and an uncomfortable silence drifted between them. Gently Kari placed a hand on Takeru's shoulder and steered him onto the couch and sat beside him, careful not to sit on Gatomon. Almost immediately the blonde drew his legs up to his chest and hugged his knees. Hakari's frown deepened; this was very unusual behaviour for her close friend. He was staring at the floor, water still dripping from his hair and down his face. They sat in silence for a long time before Tk spoke.
"You don't mind me being here, do you?" surprised at the question, asked so quietly, Kari took longer than usual to answer.
"No… no of course not. Why do you ask?" if the brunette had been surprised at the first question then what Tk said next frightened her.
"It's just… just that everywhere I go I'm not wanted." Kari stared wide-eyed at Takeru who still had his eyes fixed on the floor. How could he say that? This was Tk; funny, kind, caring, gentle, generous, handsome… she stopped herself from following that train of thought, just like all the other times. A small sound drew her back to her surroundings.
Tk was crying, his head held in his hands, his whole body shaking, though Hikari wasn't sure whether that was from the sobs or from the shivering. She shifted closer to him on the old sofa and hugged him tightly, wondering what on earth could get this sort of reaction from him. Takeru was freezing, literally. The rain that was pouring down her windows had soaked into the thin material of the blonde's clothes.
It took a long time for Tk to calm down and when he did both of them stayed where they were, comfortable in each other's company. Kari's mind was still in turmoil with worry over the tall boy half asleep in her arms. Taking a deep breath she tried to phrase the question she so dearly wanted to ask.
"Tk… please… what happened?" the blonde visibly flinched and started staring at the floor again. But Kari could be infinitely patient with her friends especially when they needed her to be. She watched as a few stray tears rolled down Takeru's pale cheeks. "It's ok, Tk. You can trust me."
"I know." They lapsed back into silence, but this time the absence of noise was comfortable rather than awkward. Only the steady pattering of the rain and the soft sound of their breathing could be heard. Suddenly, almost as if he was speaking to himself Takeru's unsteady voice reached Kari's ears.
"She told me this morning. I-I couldn't take it all in. What… what was I supposed to say? What is there to say to that? Remember when we all stayed over at Ken's?"
"Of course." Kari said, smiling. They'd had so much fun that night. She was starting to remember all the details when Tk began speaking again.
"Well, my mom she… she… he… they…" He took a deep breath, and then let it out as a shuddering sigh before continuing, pausing heavily between each word... "My mom, she got drunk. Called up some bloke she'd met… I don't know where they met, but they did… stuff." Hikari looked closely at her friend's face, his eyes were closed tight as if he was trying to stop the tears that inevitability trickled down onto his folded hands. Why on earth would his mother tell him this? She should have had the sense to keep it quiet. But Tk hadn't finished yet.
"That's-that's not all." the boy's voice was choked with tears and his whole body shook as he spoke. "She-she only told me because-because she's-she's… pregnant."
"WHAT!" Hikari screamed, waking up Gatomon, who, seeing no immediate danger, curled back up and went to sleep.
"…Pregnant…" Takeru whispered, almost in shock. His arms snaked around Kari's waist and he buried his head in her shoulder.
"Tk? How long were you out in the rain for?"
"Since this morning. I-I couldn't make myself go back. Not-not after what she told me."
"It's ok. I understand." Once again silence drifted between them as they lost themselves in their thoughts.
"Is-is she going to keep the child?" Kari's voice sounded strange and hollow even to her.
"I-I don't know. I ran out just after she told me. I haven't been back since."
"Oh Tk."
"Kari… what's going to happen?" He whispered, his breath warm against her neck. Subconsciously the blonde's arms tightened around the brunette's waist, seeking comfort. He was scared but he'd never admit it. Not even to her, but Hikari knew him too well. She tilted his head up, so they were eye to eye. A few tears were still falling from Takeru's baby blue eyes; Kari's own cinnamon orbs were clouded with a mixture of sorrow, anger and pity.
"Kari, can… can I stay here tonight?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"I can't go back. She hates me now, I know she does, just like she hates Matt."
"She doesn't hate you, either of you." Tk's eyes became, if it was possible, even more sorrowful.
"She does. She blames Matt for the divorce. And before I left this morning she blamed me for this whole mess." Hikari tilted her head to one side, she'd never known much about Tk's family, she'd never met his father and she hardly ever saw his mother. Neither of the blonde boys spoke about their family, in fact Kari often had to listen to Tai ranting about Matt never talking about his family, even to his best friend. But the girl had learned long ago that people would talk only when they were ready. A fact she had told her brother frequently, only to be given a despairing look by the older brunette.
Tk curled back against her, closing his eyes, and Kari smiled softly. There was something endearing about the way the boy trusted her so completely. It wasn't long before he was deeply asleep, worn out by all the flying emotions, Kari yawned widely, she knew she should stay up in case Tk's mom called… but she was so tried… a few minutes wouldn't matter would they? No…
&&&&&&
A soft greyish light filled the apartment when Hikari awoke. Tk was still sound asleep, as was Gatomon. The girl's eyes fell on the phone first; no messages or missed calls. She let out a small sigh of relief, her breath brushing Takeru's hair across his face. His baby blue eyes flicked open and he blinked rapidly before glancing up at Kari with a smile.
"'Morning." He said sleepily, pushing himself up.
"'Morning." Kari yawned in returned, stretching her arms behind her head. They spent a few minutes waking up their tired limbs. Tk offered to make breakfast for both of them; he'd been over enough times to know where everything was. Kari was staring into her glass of water, seemingly in the hope that it might hold the answers to their problems, when a huge crash came from behind her. Spinning round she saw an ashen-faced Tk surrounded by the remains of what had been two plates.
"Oh gods! I'm sorry Kari! I-I didn't… they just slipped… I tried to catch them…" he started to apologise but stopped when Hikari giggled and threw his shoes at him.
"Put them on before you walk over otherwise you'll get hurt." He did as he was told, still in slight shock. Takeru sat on the sofa watched curiously by the now very wide-awake Gatomon, he noticed her unwavering stare and shifted uncomfortably. The Digimon smiled kindly and jumped onto the back of the couch to watch Kari, who was now cleaning up the mess on the kitchen floor.
Eventually both teens were sitting on the couch, Gatomon had gone out, where? She wouldn't say, but as Hikari didn't seem bothered by that Tk kept quiet.
The brunette noticed that Takeru had taken up staring at the floor again, she leaned against him, just to let him know she was there, she told herself. But really she wanted to be close to him again, like the night before, despite the fact that she had been comforting him Kari had felt strangely safe in his arms. Without thinking about it Tk wound his arms around Hikari's waist in return. Needing comfort regardless of his best efforts to convince himself otherwise. They sat like that for a long time, savouring the closeness. Tk rested his head on top of Kari's and the blonde smiled into her hair, his breath parting it slightly.
"Kari… I, I want to tell you something…"
"What is it?" The brunette asked, wondering what else could possibly go wrong for her best friend.
"It's nothing…I was just being stupid."
"Come on, you can tell me anything."
"I'm… I'm in love…" Her heart jolted with a mixture of hope, happiness and sorrow. What if he'd fallen in love with someone who wasn't her? But what if he had fallen in love with her?
"I've fallen in love too…" Kari found herself saying. Their eyes met, and fiery emotions charged between them.
"Who with?" they asked in unison, eyes never leaving each other's faces. Takeru smiled and leaned close to Hikari.
His warm breath tickled her ear slightly, she giggled and he whispered very softly to her: "With you." She gasped but the small sound was cut off as Tk pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Their lips melded together and the blonde ran his tongue over her lips, begging for entrance. She yielded and slipped her own tongue into his mouth, exploring, tasting.
Kari lost track of time while their kiss lasted. When they broke apart Tk was smiling, as was Kari when someone rapped sharply on the door. The brunette got up to answer it, and was taken a back to see Natsuko Takaishi standing there.
"Is Tk here?" the older woman asked. Kari's eyebrows shot up but she nodded and called back into the apartment.
"Tk! Your mom's here!" The blonde boy approached the door cautiously as if the woman waiting there might suddenly start shouting at him. Instead she smiled in relief at the sight of him.
"Tk! I've been so worried about you! Where did you go yesterday? I looked everywhere; I even went to your father's apartment. Your brother said that you'd probably be here."
"My brother has a name." Hikari looked back at Tk, he was glaring at his mother, anger the teenage girl had never seen before.
"Tk, don't be like this." Natsuko twisted the handle of the umbrella nervously in her hand, sending little drops of water flying in all directions. Kari ushered the woman inside, her protective side taking over. Once the door was closed Natsuko took off her coat and shoes and folded up the umbrella before turning to her son. Takeru had ignored her after the comment about his brother and was sitting on the sofa again.
"Would you like a drink?"
"Oh… some tea would be nice." She replied sitting next to her youngest. "Tk, I don't know why you're acting like this but stop it. I need your help now, you can't just walk out on me."
"I can't walk out on you? What's going to stop me?"
"Takeru!"
"What? You walked out on Matt."
"Don't bring that boy into this! This has got nothing to do with him!"
"Nothing to do with him? He's your son as well. What were you going to do? Not tell him?" Silence followed this last angry outburst. Hikari had never seen Tk this furious with someone before and it was quite frightening to see the normally kind boy shouting at his own mother. Natsuko reached out to take Takeru's hand in her own but the blonde boy pulled away from her.
"Tk, please… we should stick together. And I really will need your help during this time and I'm sorry for just dumping the news on you like that. But I didn't know how else to tell you." Tk continued to ignore her, staring stonily at the floor once again. Kari sat down in one of the chairs, handed the older Takaishi her tea and watched the two of them as they started bickering again.
"So you just said, 'when you were staying at a friend's I got knocked up and now I'm having the bastards kid.'"
"Tk, that's not what I said!"
"Well its almost what you said, mom you don't even remember the guy's name! Do you?" Natsuko looked at her hands, letting the silence speak for her instead. Suddenly Tk spoke into the silence. "Are you keeping the child?"
"…I think so… Yes." Hikari found it hard to stifle her gasp of shock. This last statement was obviously too much for Tk and he shot out of his seat.
"You're keeping it? Why! Gods why? Mom, how… how can you do this?" Without waiting for an answer the blonde raced to the door, flung it open and raced out.
"Tk!" Kari called after him but her voice went unanswered. The girl raced over to the door, pulled on her shoes and grabbed her coat before reached for the handle.
"You won't get him to listen to you, Hikari, he's to stubborn, gets it from that man."
"That man? I suppose you mean his father. What is it that you have against Matt and his dad?"
"They're bastards. Both of them, the only reason I married Him was because he got me pregnant. Yamato was just a mistake. They deserve each other." Both women started at each other for a few seconds but to Kari it felt like forever. She could hardly believe what she had just heard, how could this woman speak so uncaringly about her own son? without even a glance backwards the brunette shot out the door in pursuit of her recently acquired boyfriend.
A/N: Anyone want me to continue? I'm not sure if this is any good, as like I said this is the first time I've written with these characters as the main ones, so… it's probably a load of crap. I made this M-rated mostly because of what might happen in other chapters if people want me to continue. Please review it'd be nice to know if I can write with these characters again. Thank you! Tami.