Chapter Text
Taichi
(Sunday, August 31st, approximately 5pm)
Sunsets were always so sudden in August. He stepped out from the office barely half an hour ago and hopped onto the next underground together with probably the entire fucking city. As he jumped up the stairs from the station, the last few rays of sunlight illuminated the darkening night sky.
Taichi took a deep breath. The scorching, humid heat of August was fading; summer was slowly gearing up to say goodbye.
The sidewalk was crowded as it always was, especially at this hour; he skillfully meandered between the people and soon fell into a comfortable half jog. Ah, it was always good to move around like this after having been confined to the office for eight hours straight.
It wasn’t that he hated desk duty, but he definitely enjoyed outside work more. Well, soon enough they would switch teams again and he'd be back in the field, with his fellow police officers, and go about protecting this city and its people.
On his way home he passed a superb Indian restaurant from which he'd ordered takeaway too many times to count. He was of half a mind to buy dinner, but then decided otherwise. Yamato was going to cook for him and Sora again. He smiled as he thought of his boyfriend and girlfriend. The three of them had been dating for roughly a year now and truth be told this past year had easily been the happiest of his entire life.
He just loved and adored them so goddamn much, sometimes he didn't know what to do with himself. The three of them, together, were just so fucking perfect and sometimes he wondered if he was in fact just dreaming, imagining a wonderful technicolour fantasy, but then he remembered that this was indeed real and his heart pounded hard inside his chest and he wouldn't stop smiling like the star-struck, stupidly smitten idiot he was. Yeah, he was a hopeless sap, he knew that.
He jogged past a supermarket, then a flower shop and he paused. Bringing a bouquet was a terrific idea. So he walked back and bought two bouquets, one red and one white, and hurried home. Good thing shops and supermarkets were also open on Sundays; life in Tokyo was easy like that.
He was only two corners away from the flat he shared with Yamato and Izzy, when he remembered the text Yamato had sent him earlier and he stopped in his tracks.
“Shit,” he breathed.
He was supposed to buy groceries! How the hell was Yamato going to make dinner without ingredients?
He looked down at the two bouquets, rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and then walked all the way back to the supermarket. An elderly couple chuckled as they saw his uniformed ass walking in through the entrance, all flustered and looking like a complete idiot, and he passed them a smile before he lifted his phone to his eyes. What was it again that Yamato needed...?
As he finally got home, there was noise coming from the kitchen. He kicked his shoes off and put them neatly into the crammed shoe cabinet on his right. He slid into his house slippers and then turned left into the kitchen, but first left the two bouquets on the desk in his room for later. Yamato was leaning against the counter, with his phone against his ear and gesturing a hello. Tai smiled and quietly placed the grocery bags on the table, before he changed into some more comfortable clothes. As he returned to the kitchen, Yamato was done with the phone call and inspected Tai's purchases. Taichi slid up behind him, wrapped his arms around his lean waist and pressed a kiss to his nape.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey,” Yamato replied and his smile was so obvious in his voice.
He sat down on one of the chairs and pulled Yamato closer, till he stood between Tai's knees. Yamato bent down and kissed him and the kiss was much too short for his likes, but he wouldn't complain; they still had the entire evening ahead of them. He leaned back in the screeching chair, furniture protesting not because Tai was heavy but because it was so old and used, Tai secretly admired that it was actually still standing.
The chairs had moved into the flat together with the three of them, right when Izzy had finished his degree. The chairs were wobbly now and had definitely seen better days, they should actually be replaced, but Taichi, Yamato and Koushiro were much too lazy to bother. Yamato kissed him again and they both lingered for a moment.
“Thanks for going shopping.”
“Sure. What're you gonna make tonight?” Tai asked curiously and played around with the loops of Yamato's jeans.
“Soba, sukiyaki and udon,” Yamato replied.
This was so him. Of course he'd make all of their favorite dishes for their little goodbye. Taichi knew that it was only going to be a month of not physically seeing each other – again – but it hurt, anyway. It always did when Yamato was back on tour with his band, Sora was out of town participating in training camps and Taichi was left alone.
He refused to think about it now, though. It was their date night and he wanted to enjoy the precious hours he'd get to enjoy with his two lovers and nothing and no one was going to ruin it for him. Not even himself.
“When's Sora gonna be here?” Taichi asked.
“I think in like an hour? She sent a text that she's on her way.”
“Hmmh...Need help with cooking?”
Yamato snorted. “Definitely no. We both know what happened the last time you helped.”
Tachi grimaced. Hey, it really hadn't been his fault that the salmon had caught fire and the rice cooker had exploded and the fire alarm had gone off and the entire flat had been filled with smoke and the terrible stench of burned fish and rice. Well...at least it hadn't entirely been his fault. He still remembered that resonating walk of shame as he'd gone up and down the corridor to tell their neighbours that no fire accident had happened and that they didn't need to call the firefighters.
“Alright, Imma take a shower then... But call me if you need any help.”
“You're the best help to me when you stay out of the kitchen,” Yamato smirked.
Heart-warming, as always. So Taichi left him to it, took a quick shower and then went to tidy up his room. As soon as Sora was here, they'd probably eat first and then watch a film or a drama and then cuddle and fall asleep in Taichi's king-sized bed that was honestly the perfect size for the three of them.
After he deemed the space tidy enough he moved to the living room and quickly got rid of the worst traces of chaos, namely convenience store food trash, half empty water bottles, soda cans and used socks – how did these end up here, anyway, and who the hell did they even belong to – and soon enough, the living room was perfectly presentable for his two loves.
He was about to move back to the kitchen to annoy his boyfriend some more and admire his beautiful ass in those skinny jeans, when suddenly a loud thud echoed from Koushiro's room. He frowned. Even Yamato stuck his head out from the kitchen, spatula in his hand, and cast him a puzzled look.
Tai cleared his throat, walked up to the door and knocked against the wood.
“Koushiro? You ok in there?”
“Yeah, everything's fine,” came the muffled reply. “That was Tentomon...”
Oh, so Koushiro's digimon partner was there to visit.
“Can I open the door?”
“Yeah...”
Koushiro had the largest room of their flat; he also paid the most rent, which Taichi and Yamato were eternally grateful for. The curtains were half drawn and let in the very last traces of daylight, but the sky was already dark above Tokyo. Koushiro's desk dangerously bent underneath the weight of his six computer screens, towering high like the man's personal barrier and screaming antisocial at everyone who dared to enter his hide.
Taichi's eyes landed on the small red bug-like digimon, which was currently tangled up in at least half of Koushiro's wardrobe. Koushiro was doing his best to free his friend from the mountain of fabric and to not hurt Tentomon's sensitive yellow antennae. The metal bar of Koushiro's closet was on the ground, which probably had been the dull sound Taichi and Yamato had heard just now.
“You guys ok?” Taichi asked and crouched down next to his friends and helped Koushiro untangle Tentomon.
“Hi Taichi,” Tentomon hummed, much too happy for the current situation.
“What happened?”
“Tentomon was waiting for me to finish up work so we could go for a walk,” Koushiro sighed. “He says that I need some fresh air.”
“It's good for your health. And I wanted to see if Koushiro has clothes that match my colour,” Tentomon hummed cheerfully. “He does! Look.”
With his pincers Tentomon shoved a red shirt under Taichi's nose. Actually Mimi had told him once that this colour had a specific name – was it Magenta? Hibiscus? Jam? - whatever – and actually, now that he thought about it, the shirt did look familiar...
A grin spread on Taichi’s lips and he handed Koushiro the garment.
“Isn't this the first shirt Mimi ever designed? You kept it?”
Immediately, Koushiro's cheeks darkened with fluster.
“That – it's –”
“Pfff, it's ok, you don't have to explain it,” Taichi cackled. “Go, put it on. It's Sunday anyway, why the hell are you still working?”
Taichi was a police officer, so working on the weekend wasn’t unusual for him, but Koushiro was an IT specialist, hacker, cyber security expert, programmer and whatever the hell else he put on his CV. Why would he need to work on Sundays?
“Because I have to,” Koushiro grunted, still embarrassed, but put the shirt on anyway. He looked at his computer and back. “But I'm pretty much done now, anyway. We can leave in a minute, Tentomon.”
“Koushiro, are you gonna have dinner with us?” Yamato asked and leaned against the door. “Hey Tentomon.”
Tentomon wiggled his antennae at him.
“With the three of you? Thanks, but I'll pass,” their friend said and stood back up. He offered them a wry grin. “It's your date night, I don't want to disturb your quality time.”
“It's not disturbing -” Taichi began, but Koushiro shook his head.
“Thanks, but I'm good, really.”
Tentomon stuffed the rest of the clothes back into the closet. Koushiro walked around his desk, grabbed his phone and wallet and shoved them into his backpack which was just the right size to fit Tentomon inside. It was the same backpack Koushiro used when he visited the digiworld to work on his top-secret, highly confidential research work for that government agency Taichi always forgot the full name of because it was a goddamn mouthful. Koushiro opened the strings at the top as wide as possible.
“I'll leave your share in the fridge then, you can just heat it up when you're back,” Yamato said, like he'd expected that response already, anyway, which he probably had.
Koushiro smiled at them: “Thank you. Have fun tonight and please say hi to Sora.”
“Sure.”
Tentomon buzzed up onto the desk and Koushiro gently lifted him up and placed him inside the bag. Taichi grinned at the funny display, Koushiro looked like he'd just won himself one of these giant cuddly toys from one of the countless crane machines in Akihabara. Ah, he'd visit Agumon tomorrow; he hadn't seen his friend in a week and he missed him.
“See you later.”
With that, Koushiro and Tentomon left into the evening.
Sora arrived half an hour later, looking like sunshine in human form, and Taichi's heart fluttered in his chest. He pulled her in for a hug and Sora smiled into their kiss. Then Yamato appeared next to them and Sora wrapped her arm around his neck and kissed him, too.
They stayed like this for a moment, tangled together and the air was filled with the sounds of kisses and soft laughter and giggles, till the two men released their beautiful girlfriend. Sora headed to Taichi's room to drop off her bag, before she joined Yamato in the kitchen. Tai came back to get chopsticks and bowls and Sora looked at the three pairs that he pulled from the drawer.
“Only three? Is Koushiro not going to eat with us?”
“He went out with Tentomon,” Taichi explained, before leaving the kitchen again.
“Ah, I still need to say goodbye to Biyomon before we're leaving.”
Koushiro was a genius and had made it possible for the digidestined to communicate with their digimon partners through texts, phone and video calls through their phones, which were connected to their digivices. Koushiro had once explained to them how he'd done it, but honestly Taichi hadn't been quite able to follow, but it worked and that was all that mattered.
And only recently, Koushiro had managed to open a portal to the Digiworld from his room. Now the digidestined and their digimon were also able to visit each other in their respective worlds, hence why Tentomon had been able to just come visit his human.
Taichi loved the arrangement. Ever since their grand adventures all these years ago he'd been adamant about keeping in touch with Agumon as much as possible. Even now, as they were adults with adult responsibilities, full-time jobs and all sorts of duties and tasks to fulfill, they all still made room for their digimon partners. Taichi, for example, visited Agumon in the Digiworld at least once a week, oftentimes they trained together or just hung out and he always looked forward to their time spent together.
He smiled as he remembered their reunion. They hadn’t physically seen each other for about a decade and to finally have Agumon in his arms again - ah shit, he was welling up again just thinking about it!
To be honest, he couldn't imagine a life without his little orange dinosaur-like friend and he was glad that Koushiro had found a way to make it possible for all of them to both live their own lives and still be together with their digimon, through all sorts of media available.
As Yamato was done cooking they settled on the large L-shaped sofa that Koushiro had bought. It had actually been meant for his bedroom, but the measurements hadn't matched with the rest of his furniture. He'd been too lazy to send it back, so he'd just placed it in their shared living room and that was how they'd effectively gotten rid of their old, worn couch that had been so uncomfortable in so many ways, nobody had even used it for sitting anymore – let alone for anything more naughty, but that was a story for another time. They cuddled together.
Sora
(August 31st , 7pm)
Sora was on her way over to Matt and Tai for their date night. It was their last meeting before her departure to a training camp in Hokkaido where she would stay for about a month. While she was looking forward to training and meeting new people, she was also a little worried about Tai, since she knew how hard it was on him whenever one of the trio had to leave. Now that not only she but Matt was leaving as well, Sora feared that Tai would feel neglected and lonely – after all Izzy wasn’t really the most social person to be sharing a flat with – and Sora promised herself that she would try to call Tai as often as possible.
Next to feeling a little worried, excitement rushed through her, though, as she knew the flatshare where Tai, Matt and Izzy had been living in for a few years was near. She was looking forward to seeing her boys – more like men nowadays, even though Tai still acted like a 15-year-old now and then – and hoped that they would like the dango (which were Matt’s favourites) as well as the daifuku which were more to Tai’s liking.
Sora had gotten up extra early so she could make each of them and still find time to go out jogging near the Naka River with her roommate Yashiro Minamoto. The 25-year old was probably the only one who could keep up with Sora’s running routine, seeing as she was a freerunner and also participated in parkour trials. Unfortunately Sora’s flat – which she shared with Yashiro and two other athletes, Sera Hiwamura, a 24-year-old successful shot-putter and 22-year-old weightlifter Kiriya Matsumoto – was rather far away from the guys current living space.
Sora wasn’t a fan of driving so she had decided to take the train from Edogawa to Setagaya, which ate up about one and a half hour of her time and forced her to switch lines every so often. Therefore, when she exited the Tokyu-Setagaya Line at Shoin-jinja-mae station she was relieved, looking forward to the short stroll that would take her to her loved ones. It was still a rather warm night as it was the last day of August and the mild wind kept blowing her shoulder-length hair around despite her attempts to put all of it in a ponytail that just didn’t want to keep in check.
Her rucksack in her arms Sora considered jogging towards her destination but decided otherwise as she didn’t want to break into a sweat – she would probably get her chance at that tonight. A few minutes later she arrived at her destined location, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. It was Tai who opened the door – because who else could it be, when she knew that Matt was probably doing his magic in the kitchen and Izzy barely ever bothered to come to the door when there was someone else around to do so. He beamed at her as if she was the reason for the sun to shine and ushered her inside.
“Baby, I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you,” Tai chirped and gave her a quick kiss. “Matt’s still preparing the food. We wanted this night to be special and since we knew you’d work hard to make our favourite sweets we thought it would only be fair to cook your favourite dish.” Tai added before taking her jacket.
“You mean that I would cook Sora’s favourite dish, it’s not like you’ve been much of a help. I even needed to practically beg you to simply set the table you lazy bum”, came Matt’s slightly teasing voice from behind them.
The trio shared kisses and a group hug before being interrupted by Tai’s reply, as their ‘fearless leader’ just couldn’t back down from a ‘challenge’.
“Yeah, whatever, we all know that’s not true, you’re just trying to make me look bad so you can have Sora all to yourself tonight”, came Tai’s rather cheeky – though in-character – reply and he started laughing.
“Just go and finish setting the table”, replied Matt, returned to the kitchen and started focusing on mixing the ingredients again.
While Tai made his way to the living room Sora took off her shoes, placed her rucksack in Tai’s bedroom – not before taking out the box with her self-made sweets, though – and headed for the kitchen to see if she could help Yamato. The kitchen was a small room close to the living room where the trio would have their dinner and watch a movie, which – hopefully – everyone would like.
It was usually rather exhausting trying to pick something that matched the trio’s taste; Matt and Tai were just too different sometimes and Sora often found herself in the middle of their differences trying to mediate. Finally entering the kitchen Sora spotted Yamato cutting up some vegetables.
“Hey, thanks for cooking again, it already smells great. With your cooking skills I’m always looking forward to eating. Next time I’ll come earlier and be more of a help, promise. Is there anything I can do right now?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, it’s not much work anyways, at least as long as Tai stays out of the kitchen”, he winked at her before they gave each other a short peck on the lips.
“So, where can I put the desserts, should I leave them in the kitchen so Tai doesn’t find them or put them in the living room already?”
“Just leave them on the kitchen table, I think both of us will be strong enough to hold him off until after dinner and Izzy would never touch someone else’s food so it should be safe for the time being.”
Tai entered the kitchen again. When Tai only picked up three pairs of chopsticks and bowls, Sora raised her brows at him. Thinking back to her recent conversation with Matt, Sora recounted, just to make sure, before wording her curiosity:
“Only three? Is Koushiro not going to eat with us?”
“He went out, together with Tentomon”, was Tai’s reply, before he made his way to the living room again.
That made Sora think of her own beloved Digimon partner which she hadn’t seen in way too long.
“Ah, I still need to say goodbye to Biyomon before we're leaving...”
The last time Sora had seen Biyomon was when she had smuggled her from the guys’ apartment to her mother’s house which had been quite the spectacle. She had all but shoved Biyomon into her rucksack before hurrying towards the next underground station and making her way towards her mother’s house.
Biyomon hadn’t been pleased but had complied at the prospect of spending a whole day with Sora and her mother. They had cooked together, talked and afterwards Toshiko had shown them some of her ikebana skills which Sora secretly envied a little. Sora smiled to herself remembering that special day, before Matt pulled her out of her daydream.
“He told me to say hi to you. Still, I decided to cook something for him as well, if I didn’t he’d probably live on cup noodles and work. Probably only work, that workaholic”, came Yamato’s slightly exasperated answer.
“Still that bad, hm? I’m actually a little worried about him, he barely goes out nor meets new people, he’s practically been married to his work ever since his break-up with Yaeko.”
Both adults stayed quiet for a moment, probably thinking about their friend’s recent shut-in tendencies, before Sora added: “I also haven’t seen him in weeks, I think the last time I saw him was at our monthly meeting, so would you mind if I brought him the food you prepared?”
“Nope, you can do that when he’s back. Izzy’s plate is already in the refrigerator, you just need to heat it up in the microwave”, was Matt’s reply who always seemed to be looking out for his flatmates and friends, even if it was just supplying them with healthy - or at least homemade - food.
Matt’s eyes drifted back to the sizzling pans before him and Sora studied his profile. Leaning back against the counter she noticed that he had gotten another piercing stabbing through his ear cartilage. She liked his new haircut that didn't cover half of his handsome face for a change. The focused look on his face, all calm content and confidence, drew her in like a magnet, the way he always drew in an audience of hundreds and thousands at his concerts. She loved watching him do things that he was passionate about. The need to kiss him overcame her, but before she could act on her desires, Matt interrupted her thoughts - again.
“Also, Izzy’s gotten better since the break-up, he sometimes joins us for movie night and he’s also started gaming with Tai again. It’s not like Izzy’s a complete social recluse, but I do get where you’re coming from.”
Matt paused, taking the time to formulate a plan, which he shared with Sora: “I think I’ll try to get him to tag along to my next concert or something, but that still won’t change the fact that he looks like a goddamn ghost. Oh well, at least he’d get out again, so I guess it’s worth a try.”
“That sounds like a good idea, tell me when and I’ll be there to help and convince Izzy to come with. Maybe we could even invite the others, like Mimi, she’s been working a lot, too and she could really use the break as well.”
“Still trying to set them up, hm? Then again you’re probably just living up to your crest, right?”, Matt asked a little reproachfully but the smirk that accompanied his words told Sora that he was more amused than actually criticizing her.
Still, it made her blush slightly as she hadn’t been aware that she’d been that obvious about it until now. Well, obvious if you were anyone but Mimi – who was deeply in denial - or Izzy – who was buried too deep in his work and probably thought Mimi’d never be interested in him. Tai was also pretty clueless about it, but all things considered he just wasn’t all that great when it came to other people’s feelings in general.At least in regards to romantic feelings that weren’t his own. Otherwise he was a pretty perceptive person...just not when the topics revolved around love and heartache and rainbows and other people. Tai wasn’t even aware of his sister’s feelings for her childhood best friend but then again that was another story and tonight was supposed to be all about Sora’s own relationship with Matt and Tai so she wasn’t going to venture into other people’s love lives right now.
When Matt had finished cooking, Sora helped him carry the food into the living room where Tai was lazily lying on the couch. Since Sora couldn’t tolerate lazy people when everyone else around them was working, she decided to ask Tai to get the box of sweets she had brought. Tai of course couldn’t resist taking a peek and Sora saw his face light up in joy before he complimented her on her baking skills.
When the trio was just about to enjoy their food, Izzy returned. He peeked into the living room, muttered an absent-minded ‘Hey Sora’ in her direction and disappeared into his room.
Sora couldn’t help but voice her concern: “Is he ok? He seemed a bit glum...”
“Maybe it's just work,” Taichi shrugged.
She placed her chopsticks neatly on the chopstick rest and stood up. “I'll go and ask him...” She turned to Yamato. “His dinner's in the fridge, right?”
In accordance to Yamato’s nod, Sora made her way over to the kitchen, heated up the food and tried to think of reasons that would put Izzy in such a somber mood. She wondered if it had anything to do with his supposedly unrequited love for Mimi. Before she could come up with another reason the microwave’s ringing interrupted her thoughts and reminded her of her current mission.
She turned towards Izzy’s room and decided to ask him directly and offer him a chance to talk. As she opened the door to the flat’s largest room, which was filled to the brim with computer screens, she was greeted with a somewhat sober-looking IT specialist. The room was mostly dark aside from two of the six computer screens that currently lit up Izzy’s room. As soon as she stepped into the room, Izzy stopped typing.
“I’ve brought you dinner”, was Sora’s delicate try to strike up a conversation with her longtime friend, as she wanted to test whether he was willing to talk.
“Thanks, just place it on the desk to my right, please” was Izzy’s curt answer, who hadn’t even looked at her while speaking.
Meanwhile Tentomon was sitting on Izzy’s bed, wiggling his antennae at Sora but kept quiet otherwise as if he was about to fall asleep. Sora inwardly sighed, put down the plate on the desk and wondered how to best proceed. In the end she decided to take the direct route.
“You seem a little sad, is everything alright? You know you can talk to me or Tai or even Matt if there’s something going on, right?”
After a short moment of silence – Sora had begun to think she wouldn’t get a reply at all – Izzy decided to speak: “Everything’s okay, it’s just some stuff at work that’s got me stressed out a little. Thanks for asking, but I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do right now, I just need to deal with this myself.” He passed her a thin smile. “Enjoy your date night and promise me to have a great time at the training camp, okay?”
Despite knowing that Izzy was trying to deflect the conversation onto Sora it still warmed her heart a little knowing Izzy cared enough to keep up with her schedule and know about her daily life. He had even turned around and directly looked at her when he had answered her earlier question.
Sora knew he wasn’t speaking the truth right now and that there was something else going on besides work, but she didn’t want to press her friend for answers. If he wanted to talk he knew that there were people who would listen to him and even though Matt and herself would be gone for a month, she knew that Izzy knew that he had options. He could either contact them electronically or still talk to Tai who would probably be spending a lot more time in their flat and the digiworld, trying to catch up with Agumon.
Being the big sister she had always been to the group Sora couldn’t help but reply: “I will, as long as you promise to eat your food while it’s still warm.”
Her promise was accompanied by an expecting glance, her eyes directed at Izzy until he finally moved to pick up his plate and started eating.
“Hey Izzy, take care of yourself, I mean it. You’re important to all of us, so make sure you eat some healthy food once in a while, go out a little and don’t skip out on sleep”, was Sora’s final request before she patted her friend on the shoulder and left him to whatever it was he was currently working on.
Yamato
(August 31st , 7-8pm)
They hadn't decided yet on what to watch, but since Taichi, him and Koushiro were subscribed to pretty much every damn streaming service there was, they should be able to find something interesting soon, he was sure. He left his girlfriend and boyfriend alone in the living room and went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.
Tomorrow, him and his J-rock band Ghost of Exile would be leaving for another Japan tour. They would perform in clubs, bars and smaller concert venues all over the country and they would perform new songs, which was always an especially nerve-wrecking ordeal.
He loved being an artist, he loved the whole process – writing lyrics, composing, arranging, recording – but once he was there, on stage, before a crowd of people expecting things from him, sometimes, and recently more often than before, his brain just shut off and he forgot what language was.
It was weird and not something he could simply put into words and it was something he hadn't noticed at first, but lately...
When he was on stage, suddenly there was this voice in the back of his head, echoing, rippling through his thoughts in the most disarming way. Words of doubt would begin to fill his mind where seconds before only passion and joy had been, like parasites they dug into him and locked him inside a cage of fears and worries he hadn't known till now.
His stomach grew tight as he thought about it and at the same time he chided himself for thinking about that bullshit at all.
This was not the time for that. It was their date night, and after tomorrow they wouldn't see each other for a whole fucking month – he should enjoy this, have fun, and not ruminate and ponder like a fucking idiot.
Yeah, he knew that he should talk to Sora and Tai about his problems more often, he should definitely let them in on his thoughts because once he did, he'd feel better – but at the same time, he didn't want to burden them with the knowledge that he was struggling.
Both Taichi and Sora were incredibly supportive of his career choice, they came to see his concerts whenever they could, they helped out whenever there was any need – be it setting up the stage, helping with the soundcheck or promoting them on social media or whatever – and they were always there to cheer him on, even when he was miles away from them. He could always count on them.
And yet...he didn't know where to even begin. How did one go about telling his two loves that he was being eaten up by doubt and that his mind was filled with so much fear and confusion and turmoil there were moments when he didn't quite know how to keep on breathing. There were these nagging questions that kept ringing through his mind again and again, like a broken record.
Am I doing the right thing?
Is this what I want to do?
Can I keep going like this?
What if we mess up?
What if we fail?
Yeah. Where to even fucking begin?
He tightened his fingers around the spatula. Might as well do what he always did; write a song about it and hope that it helped, although at this point he knew that it was just a temporary relief from an ongoing problem he'd rather run away from, as stupid as it was.
He sighed internally. He wanted to speak to Gabumon about it. Or Jou. Someone sane.
Sora helped him carry the sizzling pots and pans into the living room. Taichi watched them comfortably from his place on the couch because he was a lazy bum.
“Oh, Tai, could you get the sweets?” Sora asked.
“Leave some for us, don’t eat them all on the way,” Yamato smirked.
Taichi stuck his tongue out at him, stood up with a groan and got the requested bag from the kitchen. He curiously took the large box from the kitchen and opened it in the living room. Inside he found self-made dangos and daifuku, neatly organised and looking exceptionally cute and actually way too pretty to eat. He smiled. Taichi and him were fans of both – in fact, they liked all sorts of sweets and especially those made by Sora – and Taichi turned around to them and closed the box again.
“How do you always make them so beautiful?” he asked, astonished.
“Because I make them with love,” Sora grinned and winked at him.
His lovers turned back to the steaming food before them. He smiled when Sora and Taichi made these little sounds of pure joy as they tried it. Well, he knew that he was a decent cook, but he did put a little extra effort into it whenever he cooked for his incredible girlfriend and his trash boyfriend whom he both loved with every fibre of his being.
Seconds later, before Yamato had even had the chance to take a bite, Koushiro and Tentomon returned, but their flatmate offered Sora only a fleeting greeting before he disappeared into his room. Yamato searched for Taichi's eyes. This wasn't quite like him; although Koushiro was what other people would call antisocial and introverted, he did consider Sora his friend and usually he would readily spare a few moments to catch up with her. So this rather curt hello was pretty unusual for him.
Sora, bless her heart, never took stuff like that personally, though. She glanced from Taichi to Yamato and concern clouded her beautiful face.
“Is he ok? He seemed a bit glum...”
“Maybe it's just work,” Taichi shrugged.
She placed her chopsticks neatly on the chopstick rest and stood up. “I'll go and ask him...” She turned to Yamato. “His dinner's in the fridge, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, second compartment.”
She left the two men alone in the living room and Taichi mindlessly paused the film.
“Hey, can you play one of your new songs? You know, the new one I like so much?”
That made him smile. He grabbed his phone and searched through his music files. The song didn't have a fixed title yet – him and his band should probably work on that soon – but aside from that he was pretty satisfied with the outcome. It was an emo rock track, which Yamato had written entirely by himself, and then composed together with his lead guitarist, Yoshi, during an all-nighter at their band's studio.
He really liked the arrangement and he was glad that Yoshi had suggested double-tracking the chorus for more impact. The vibe was a mix between emo and alternative rock, with the lyrics being more emo than rock, actually, but he felt that they suited the overall impression of the whole song very well.
Taichi bopped his head and a smile spread on his lips and in that moment he looked so painfully handsome Yamato could just stare at him and his heart fluttered in his chest. It was a special sort of bliss that bubbled through his veins when Tai cast him that glowing look brimming over with joy. Maybe he should let Tai choose the title. He’d speak to his bandmates about it.
After that a slower, more emotional ballad followed, titled 'Walking Shadows'. He'd written it after their bassist, Hiroto, had broken up with his fiancée, only a few weeks before their wedding. That had happened last year and Yamato still remembered the look of pure and utter devastation on his face, and how the light had left his eyes for months, till he'd finally been able to smile again.
Taichi scooted closer on the sofa and cuddled against him. He rested his head on Yamato's shoulder while listening and Yamato buried his fingers in Taichi's soft mane that always smelled like pinewood, clean cotton and starlit summer nights.
He turned his head and pressed a kiss to Taichi's hair. Taichi sighed.
“One month is such a long time,” he murmured.
To be fair, Yamato had been gone for longer before, so had Sora, so to him the time didn't seem like all that long. Yet he sort of understood; for him, time passed so quickly with all the travelling from city to city, club to club, but Taichi would be here in Tokyo where he'd always been. Of course it would feel different to him.
Which reminded him, he'd have to stop by Jou's office at TU tomorrow. He grabbed his phone and opened his and Jou's chat. Jou was horrible at texting back, but in this case Yamato was pretty sure that he'd reply; after all it had been Jou who'd asked him for two tickets to his Yokohama concert at the end of the month. He typed a short message.
[hey, what time are you in the office tomorrow?]
For Yamato, the next day would be filled with packing and coordinating the travel to their first stop, Shizuoka, where they would perform at a club Tuesday evening, so he hoped he'd be able to see Jou in the morning to avoid any unnecessary delay in the afternoon. They would leave tomorrow evening and drive through the night to avoid the regular weekday traffic.
Taichi’s fingers linked with his own. “Sora and I will come to the Tokyo concerts.”
“Hmmh, I know. I’ll make sure you’ll get backstage access. Also, the next tour starts in January,” Yamato said. “I'll be here until then.” He snorted. “You'll get sick of seeing my face every day.”
“I doubt that.” Taichi looked at him with rare seriousness glowing in his eyes. “You and Sora are everything.”
“...You're being awfully cute today,” Sora said behind them. “Are you ok?”
Yamato and Taichi moved apart to let her sit in the middle again. Sora cuddled back against the pillows and smiled from one to the other. She grabbed her chopsticks again.
“Hmmm, Yamato, the soba is perfect...by the way, don't you think Taichi is being oddly sweet today?”
He smirked. “Yeah. He even went shopping. And brought us flowers. And he tidied up the living room.”
“Hey, can't I be nice to my girlfriend and boyfriend for once?” Taichi retorted and crossed his arms before his chest . “I'm not gonna see you two for a whole month.”
“Taichi...,” Sora sighed and pulled Taichi into a tight hug. “It's just a month. We'll be back before you know it, right, Yamato?”
Yamato nodded and joined in on the hug, till Taichi was laughing again. They continued like this, cuddling, sharing kisses and smiles and teasing each other. The film and food were forgotten, and, for a short while, the voice inside his head was quiet and granted him a few blissful hours with his two beloved people.
(Monday, September 1st , about 8am)
The next day he was the first to wake up. He blinked into the dim darkness of Taichi's room and listened to Taichi's and Sora's quiet breathing next to him. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and squinted at the too-bright screen. Ah, Jou had written back, at not even 6 am, what a fucking ungodly hour.
[I'll be at the office from 7 to 12. Is that alright with you?]
[Sure. I'll be there around 9, see you in a bit]
He untangled Sora's arm from around him, careful not to wake her and Taichi up, and soundlessly slipped into his jeans and shirt. He wrote a short note that he would be back in two hours to say goodbye, before he grabbed his phone and headed to his own room to get his wallet and the envelope with the two tickets.
Before leaving he checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror and with smug pride he recognised the dark marks scattered over his throat and collarbones. Yeah, he looked like he'd gotten lucky last night and he so couldn't wait to see Jou's scandalised face once he saw Yamato shamelessly sporting his just-fucked look while prancing around Tokyo.
As was right and proper for a J-rock artist, in his opinion.
He pulled his headphones over his ears and chose the right playlist for his commute. Then, right before he jumped on the train to the Historiographical Institute of TU, located in the Bunkyo ward of Tokyo, he wrote a short message to Jou that he’d be there soon.