[ AUDIENCE: TAICHI YAGAMI ]

[dormheads]

Comments

[darksubverted]

It's open.

[There's some new additions to the cork board and desk! Of course there is. A photo of Beau in a Naruto headband. And also an actual Naruto headband. And a red origami mouse.

He's here in the middle of trying to fold a baseball jersey in the air over the equipment bag that's opened on the couch.]

[goalsides]

[why did you do this to beau, jesus. he looks at the corkboard, looks at riku, looks at the baseball stuff and eventually just shuffles into the room and flops facedown on the bed while holding out nine vouchers.]

It's almost summer, right?

[darksubverted]

[WHY IS IT HIS AND MY FAULT MAYBE BEAU DID THIS ON HER OWN HELLO

Also, don't look at him like that. He shakes his head, and puts the folded jersey into the bag before zipping it up. And then he moves over to take the nine vouchers.]

Almost. I imagine Yamato told you what happened already.

[goalsides]

[because i don't trust you that's why

but also, yeah. yeah!! riku can have his nine vouchers and taichi can wait for the bed to eat him and drag him to hell i guess.]

Sort of. Yamato usually tells me everything, so. [...] Are you okay?

[darksubverted]

[STOP TAICHI

He'll turn around and sit on the edge of the bed beside Taichi.]

To be honest? Not really. I mean... I'm fine. I don't feel bad. But...

...

I don't like it is all.

[goalsides]

[TO HELL. WHILE THE DORM HEADS REVERT TO THEIR SCHOOL LIFE AUS....but riku sits down and taichi at least turns his head enough to glance at him.]

I don't like it either. It sounds like it's hit most of you so far. That's not exactly great for anybody. But we'll find a way to fix it so we don't lose you again.

[darksubverted]

[He drapes his arms over his knees and stares off ahead for a moment before glance down at Taichi.]

Wait... The others, too?

[His jaw hardens.]

[goalsides]

Ichiro told me it happened to Iris, and Nier said it happened to Annie. I haven't heard about Hugo yet...I talked to him earlier but only via text. He sounded like himself though.

[darksubverted]

[His sigh if heavy and a little hissy. He looks away so he can glare and scowl at the wall rather than do it at Taichi.]

...I'm tired of being used to hurt people I care about.

[goalsides]

I don't think anybody would ever want that. But we also wouldn't blame you. You know that. We're just gonna have to find a way to fix it somehow.

[darksubverted]

I know.

[But he trails off as if he's thinking about not exactly the nice ways that's looking like it's going to be.]

Just keep trying to pull me back. Even if it looks like it hurts. Don't let it last.

[goalsides]

Really wish people would stop saying that. [but okay.] ...how can we pull you back? What works? Do we just have to try everything?

[darksubverted]

[Listen.]

Yeah... [(yamato voice) just say sora's name] I don't know if it will be the same every time. I don't know... if it will get harder and harder to get us back.

Just try as much as you're able.

[goalsides]

[remember to be gay...]

...did either of us ever tell you about the reboot?

[darksubverted]

[He looks at Taichi, frowning.]

Reboot...?

[goalsides]

Yeah. The reboot to the Digital World. It happened not long before we came here...the idea was that doing the reboot would purge the Digital World of the corruption it was facing that was infecting the Digimon. But doing it also meant that the Digital World would start over...our partners lost their memories of who they were and all the things we'd done together. They didn't even recognize us when we found them again.

[darksubverted]

[Well, this makes him continue to frown! There's a kind of understanding in his glance even if some of this is strange to him.]

Is that what you meant... when you talked about saying goodbye?

[goalsides]

Sort of. We said goodbye to them the first time because we really thought we'd never get to see them again. But this last time...it was kind of weird. When we first met, they knew about us and we didn't know anything about them. After the reboot it was the other way around. Yamato says they got their memories back, but I didn't even know before we showed up here.

[...]

I guess what I'm getting at is I'm not going to give up on trying just because it'll get harder and harder to bring you back.

[darksubverted]

It's hard, but... I get it.

[He looks ahead of them again, but seems to be staring thoughtfully into the distance.]

I didn't give up on Sora either. [...] Naminé asked me if I wanted to seal the darkness and Ansem in my heart away. But to do it, I would have had to be like Sora... asleep in one of her memory pods. I'd forget... but I realized I didn't want to. I wanted to do it on my own.

Plus... I had to wait on Sora to wake up, and I had to help make that happen, too.

[...]

So I wouldn't give up on any of you either.

[goalsides]

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to do things on your own. Even if it takes a while. I probably would've made a similar choice if I were you.

[...there's a short, somewhat hesitant grin.]

Then as long as we're all willing to try, this won't be as bad as it could be.

[darksubverted]

[He... likes the sentiment because it's familiar, but he also... similarly, hates the sentiment because... it's so damn familiar.

There's a little--who knows?--longing? pain? in his eyes when he glances at Taichi, but he looks away really quickly and swallows.]

I know. We have each other to help us through.

[goalsides]

Just a few more weeks, right? Then we'll bust our way out and you'll get back to Sora and we'll get back to our friends. We can do this.

...too bad you don't have any more pictures of Sora and Kairi and stuff.

[darksubverted]

[He looks surprised for a second in the way you do when someone says a thing you hadn't considered. He glances toward the desk, and then lowers his eyes.]

That's okay. I don't need pictures, I don't think. My heart remembers what they look like, just like... their hearts remembered me.

[goalsides]

[...he tilts his head curiously.]

When you were Luke, you thought they were kids you'd only met once and never saw again. It's not really about remembering what they look like, but more about what they mean to you.

[darksubverted]

I know. I just mean... who they are--their looks, their voice, their hearts. [He taps himself on the chest.] It's... all in here.

Even if my memory isn't the same, if I forget... my heart won't. My heart will remember them. It'll lead us back together again.