new chapter for Fine Art
Title: Fine Art: Botched
Setting: AU
Pairing: Eventual Daisuke/Ken
Rating: PG13/R
Warnings: None
Summary: Daisuke comes to terms with his past by accepting his future.
Freshman year had gone by in a flash - I must not have been paying attention, because all of a sudden it was spring again and my mother had to order me a new tie with the sophmore colors on it. One minute I was taking my freaking entrance exams, the next minute I was staring at the new arrival of sprogs, wondering how the hell they could be so short and still be high school students.
High school was as good (or maybe as bad, depending on how you looked at it) as all the shows and movies I'd ever seen on the subject. My uniform always felt tight around the neck, I had homework so hard I had to do homework for it in order to understand it, and my classmates walked around with dazed looks in their eyes, mumbling nonsense about tests and being ronin. I was able to let all that crap slide - not only did I have Hikari in my class to help me with homework, but I also was free from the irritating fear of college. Motomiya Daisuke was perch on the edge of super stardom, and everyone knows that superstars just don't have time for an extra four years of education. I had the soccer team eating out of the palm of my hand - I was practically guaranteed a position on real, major-league team come graduation.
The previous term been difficult, but otherwise not too noteworthy. The Digital World had finally reached some sort of equalibrium, and our visits there were more like mini vacations than quests. I was looking forward to smooth sailing; sophmore year had started out easy and was promising more of the same. With Hikari's smiling face to look forward to every morning, and Takeru's scowl awaiting me at lunch (haha, sucker! Bet you wanted to sit next to Hikari-chan, didn't ya?), there was no way I couldn't be psyched for my mandatory education (no way would my parents let my drop out of high school - they'd rather see me dead, those heartless bastards). And even if my uniform was a bit uncomfortable, I still cut a fucking handsome figure in it. Guys wanted to be me, girls wanted to be with me. And vice versa, because I was just that damn awesome.
I was fucking shocked that I didn't get a round of applause as I strolled into school, but I was willing to forgive the ignorant masses - getting my good morning from Hikari was infinitely more important than the mindless adoration of the mob. I didn't bother putting on my jacket or tying my shoes, just slammed as much as I could into my locker and hurried to class. Hikari was already there waiting for me, prim and pretty in her neat little uniform and neat little smile on her lips. She waved when she saw me enter and I waved back, dropping my backpack on my desk before sidling over. "Morning."
The sun was hours away from hitting its pinnicle, and it's light was still soft and sleepy and it bathed Hikari tenderly, a favorite nymph of the gods. Child of Light, and of glory and beauty, and she sat only seats away from me. "Daisuke, good morning!"
"What's up? Are doing homework in homeroom, you slacker? Are my habits finally rubbing off on you?"
"Hardly," she said with a giggle to soften the blow of the insult. "Actually, I was just looking over the club list for this year. I'm thinking about joining the astronomy club with Miyako-chan, but the tennis club looks good, too, and I know that Sora had a lot of fun with them." She sighed, blowing some strands of hair that had escaped her adorable butterfly barret out of her face. "Or maybe the art club. I've always wanted to improve my drawing."
"Damn," I said as I eyed the list, "Won't that make you too busy? Didn't you want to get a job, too?"
She sighed again and folded the piece of paper and tucked it away into one of the books she had stacked on her desk. "Well, I could use the extra money," she said slowly, "But, mostly," she paused and looked quickly around before lowering her voice. I leaned in to share her secret, inhaling the flowery scent of her hair. "I want to make the most of my free time, now that I - that we - have some. I want to make up for everything I missed in elementary school and junior high. We never really got involved with school. Last year I was so busy with homework that I didn't do much other than study, but I think I've gotten the hang of it. So now we have the chance to be normal kids. It's such a relief, don't you think?"
Her brown eyes flickered back to her paper and we both stared at it helplessly. I felt the vaguely unpleasant feeling of the foundation crumbling, an earthquake or a landslide, and when our class president motioned for us to take our seats, I bounded to my desk without answering Hikari and her question.
When the morning routine of greeting our teacher and waving my hand to prove I had indeed fulfilled the requirement of attending class had finished, I glanced sideways at Hikari, who was scribbling away in a notebook and chewing on her bottom lip. Did she really regret all the time we had spent in the Digital World? Did she think it was time wasted? I slouched forward miserably and bit back a curse. To me, our adventures together were the best moments of my life. How could they not be? I blew stuff up, became friends with monsters, saved the world on numerous occasions. Because of the Digital World, I had best friends coming out of the woodwork. I counted them off on my fingers: Hikari, the love of my life, Takeru, Miyako, Iori, Taichi-sempai, Ishida-kun, and Vmon. And Izumi-kun, Kido-kun, Mimi-chan, and Takenouchi-san. And Willis.
Not bad. And even dozen.
And Ken.
I pushed myself back up to a proper sitting position, and stared at the three fingers I had raised to count the final members of my group of friends. Ken had gotten into a fancy-pants high school and used it as an excuse to avoid me at all costs, with the exception of the times I just invited myself over to his house to shoot the breeze with his mother until he came home. He was always glad to see me, at least, I always thought he was always glad to see me, and no matter how many messages I left on his cellphone or how many emails I sent him, he barely communicated with me. It was like pulling teeth, only less rewarding. At least when you pull teeth, you have something to put under your pillow (assuming that you believe in that sort of stuff). At least Willis called me back and sent me naughty postcards.
Maybe I was holding on too desperately to the past. Having a relationship with Ken as a kid didn't guarantee me one now that we were older. Maybe he wanted to let go of all that, like Hikari, and move on. Maybe the memories we had formed were weighing me down. Tying me up. Maybe they were an anchor, rather than a life jacket. Maybe I was drowning in them. Maybe staring at the bottle of water on NAME-sensei's desk inspired terrible metaphors.
I looked at Hikari again and nodded determindedly to myself. I'd join another club in addition to soccer. I'd let go of all that unnecessary crap that I'd been burdening myself with. I'd stop calling Ken.
Well, I'd limited myself, anyway.
Well, I'd stop bringing up the Digital World, anyway.
When classes ended, I'd march behind Hikari and into the Art Club's clubroom. I'd sit down and whip out a pencil and I would draw until my fingers bled. Motomiya Daisuke would not be defeated by some stupid memories.
No matter how good they were.
Setting: AU
Pairing: Eventual Daisuke/Ken
Rating: PG13/R
Warnings: None
Summary: Daisuke comes to terms with his past by accepting his future.
Freshman year had gone by in a flash - I must not have been paying attention, because all of a sudden it was spring again and my mother had to order me a new tie with the sophmore colors on it. One minute I was taking my freaking entrance exams, the next minute I was staring at the new arrival of sprogs, wondering how the hell they could be so short and still be high school students.
High school was as good (or maybe as bad, depending on how you looked at it) as all the shows and movies I'd ever seen on the subject. My uniform always felt tight around the neck, I had homework so hard I had to do homework for it in order to understand it, and my classmates walked around with dazed looks in their eyes, mumbling nonsense about tests and being ronin. I was able to let all that crap slide - not only did I have Hikari in my class to help me with homework, but I also was free from the irritating fear of college. Motomiya Daisuke was perch on the edge of super stardom, and everyone knows that superstars just don't have time for an extra four years of education. I had the soccer team eating out of the palm of my hand - I was practically guaranteed a position on real, major-league team come graduation.
The previous term been difficult, but otherwise not too noteworthy. The Digital World had finally reached some sort of equalibrium, and our visits there were more like mini vacations than quests. I was looking forward to smooth sailing; sophmore year had started out easy and was promising more of the same. With Hikari's smiling face to look forward to every morning, and Takeru's scowl awaiting me at lunch (haha, sucker! Bet you wanted to sit next to Hikari-chan, didn't ya?), there was no way I couldn't be psyched for my mandatory education (no way would my parents let my drop out of high school - they'd rather see me dead, those heartless bastards). And even if my uniform was a bit uncomfortable, I still cut a fucking handsome figure in it. Guys wanted to be me, girls wanted to be with me. And vice versa, because I was just that damn awesome.
I was fucking shocked that I didn't get a round of applause as I strolled into school, but I was willing to forgive the ignorant masses - getting my good morning from Hikari was infinitely more important than the mindless adoration of the mob. I didn't bother putting on my jacket or tying my shoes, just slammed as much as I could into my locker and hurried to class. Hikari was already there waiting for me, prim and pretty in her neat little uniform and neat little smile on her lips. She waved when she saw me enter and I waved back, dropping my backpack on my desk before sidling over. "Morning."
The sun was hours away from hitting its pinnicle, and it's light was still soft and sleepy and it bathed Hikari tenderly, a favorite nymph of the gods. Child of Light, and of glory and beauty, and she sat only seats away from me. "Daisuke, good morning!"
"What's up? Are doing homework in homeroom, you slacker? Are my habits finally rubbing off on you?"
"Hardly," she said with a giggle to soften the blow of the insult. "Actually, I was just looking over the club list for this year. I'm thinking about joining the astronomy club with Miyako-chan, but the tennis club looks good, too, and I know that Sora had a lot of fun with them." She sighed, blowing some strands of hair that had escaped her adorable butterfly barret out of her face. "Or maybe the art club. I've always wanted to improve my drawing."
"Damn," I said as I eyed the list, "Won't that make you too busy? Didn't you want to get a job, too?"
She sighed again and folded the piece of paper and tucked it away into one of the books she had stacked on her desk. "Well, I could use the extra money," she said slowly, "But, mostly," she paused and looked quickly around before lowering her voice. I leaned in to share her secret, inhaling the flowery scent of her hair. "I want to make the most of my free time, now that I - that we - have some. I want to make up for everything I missed in elementary school and junior high. We never really got involved with school. Last year I was so busy with homework that I didn't do much other than study, but I think I've gotten the hang of it. So now we have the chance to be normal kids. It's such a relief, don't you think?"
Her brown eyes flickered back to her paper and we both stared at it helplessly. I felt the vaguely unpleasant feeling of the foundation crumbling, an earthquake or a landslide, and when our class president motioned for us to take our seats, I bounded to my desk without answering Hikari and her question.
When the morning routine of greeting our teacher and waving my hand to prove I had indeed fulfilled the requirement of attending class had finished, I glanced sideways at Hikari, who was scribbling away in a notebook and chewing on her bottom lip. Did she really regret all the time we had spent in the Digital World? Did she think it was time wasted? I slouched forward miserably and bit back a curse. To me, our adventures together were the best moments of my life. How could they not be? I blew stuff up, became friends with monsters, saved the world on numerous occasions. Because of the Digital World, I had best friends coming out of the woodwork. I counted them off on my fingers: Hikari, the love of my life, Takeru, Miyako, Iori, Taichi-sempai, Ishida-kun, and Vmon. And Izumi-kun, Kido-kun, Mimi-chan, and Takenouchi-san. And Willis.
Not bad. And even dozen.
And Ken.
I pushed myself back up to a proper sitting position, and stared at the three fingers I had raised to count the final members of my group of friends. Ken had gotten into a fancy-pants high school and used it as an excuse to avoid me at all costs, with the exception of the times I just invited myself over to his house to shoot the breeze with his mother until he came home. He was always glad to see me, at least, I always thought he was always glad to see me, and no matter how many messages I left on his cellphone or how many emails I sent him, he barely communicated with me. It was like pulling teeth, only less rewarding. At least when you pull teeth, you have something to put under your pillow (assuming that you believe in that sort of stuff). At least Willis called me back and sent me naughty postcards.
Maybe I was holding on too desperately to the past. Having a relationship with Ken as a kid didn't guarantee me one now that we were older. Maybe he wanted to let go of all that, like Hikari, and move on. Maybe the memories we had formed were weighing me down. Tying me up. Maybe they were an anchor, rather than a life jacket. Maybe I was drowning in them. Maybe staring at the bottle of water on NAME-sensei's desk inspired terrible metaphors.
I looked at Hikari again and nodded determindedly to myself. I'd join another club in addition to soccer. I'd let go of all that unnecessary crap that I'd been burdening myself with. I'd stop calling Ken.
Well, I'd limited myself, anyway.
Well, I'd stop bringing up the Digital World, anyway.
When classes ended, I'd march behind Hikari and into the Art Club's clubroom. I'd sit down and whip out a pencil and I would draw until my fingers bled. Motomiya Daisuke would not be defeated by some stupid memories.
No matter how good they were.