Cornered
Chapter 4: Lust in the Dusk
The year had passed quickly, and Taichi and Yamato found themselves at the end of their university careers. The air lay thick with the expectation of job offers and relief at not having to see another classroom ever again.
Hikari approached Taichi and Yamato, weaving through the crowd between beaming parents and recent graduates. It was a black gown sea as she clutched her camera tighter. She strained towards her brother’s figure a few feet off. A final push and she found herself on the brink of the parking lot. “Oni-chan!”
Taichi looked vaguely around for the owner of the voice that called him; he stopped in time to see Hikari run towards him. She collided into him that sent him staggering a little back. He hugged her back hard, spinning her around in happiness. “Hikari-chan! Where’s everyone else?”
Hikari laughed and then frowned at the thousands of people on the field. “Probably lost somewhere out there.” She launched herself at her brother again. “Soo, how does it feel to be out of school?”
Taichi beamed, the best kid-in-a-candy store look he could muster. “Best feeling in the world.” He watched Yamato and raised an eyebrow lasciviously. “Well, maybe second best.” He laughed when Yamato gave an indignant snort and glared back. “So what’s going on at home?”
Yamato watched the scene between Taichi and Hikari in a strange mixture of embarrassment and envy. They were laughing and talking over one another while he just looked on like some statue. He carefully edged slightly away, letting his eyes skim over the thousands of heads. Takeru and otousan had to be her somewhere. The crowd was at least starting to dissipate, no doubt spreading out to celebrate in expensive restaurants, crowded bars and flashy clubs. He made his way towards the podium, the little wooden box where the President of the University had stood just an hour before wishing them luck.
He almost had that dreamy look on his face, knowing things were pretty much perfect at the moment. That is until he fuzzily spotted Sora off to his right. He could recognize the reddish brown hair anywhere. He hastily turned away. Things hadn’t healed between them yet; in fact, there hadn’t been more than three words between them since the conversation. He’d see her often enough, just coming out of buildings, across the quad, having coffee in the library. She’d seen him too; their eyes had met more than a few times. But things were so strained between them that they froze and then hurried away in the opposite direction.
He was almost sure the anger must’ve passed. Surely, she could at least talk to him, right? His lips were dry as he slowly began to turn back around. It was only a matter of time before he’d have to talk to her anyway, and this was as good a time as any. But then someone shouted his name behind his back and he cursed and sighed in relief at the same time.
Takeru ran faster, dodging around a few more students. “Yamato!” He vaguely looked back over his shoulder, seeing his parents following at a much more sedate pace. “Onni-san!”
Yamato watched Takeru run towards him with almost a smile. His brother was always happy, still as happy as when they were younger. “What are you so happy about?”
Takeru panted, coming to stop. “Why your graduation of course.” He took another over his shoulder. “Okaasan and otousan are just behind me. We were looking for you, but Taichi said he didn’t know where you were.”
“Yeah, he was talking to Hikari so I thought I’d go take a walk or something.”
“I know what you mean. When we got there, the Yagamis were taking millions of pictures; it was scary.”
Yamato laughed; he’d quite gotten used to how tight the Yagami family was, even if it was a little too perfect family for him. “I bet they were all hugging like a picture you see on the cover of some family magazine.”
Takeru nodded brightly, taking another look behind him. “Finally, here they come.”
Yamato watched his parents come up with mixed feelings; sure he’d gotten over the strain with his mother, but thins between them were always still a little weird, seeing as how they saw each other really only on the holidays. But today, she was beaming like all the other parents, chest puffed out with that maternal pride that nothing could deflate. “Yamato!” she called.
Yamato almost choked by the tight hug he found himself in. His mother hastily pulled away, watching him with those appraising looks. Was he healthy enough? Was he happy? Satisfied, she almost misted over. “I can’t believe my oldest son just graduated college. You’re already an adult.”
There was an amused exasperation welling up inside Yamato. He’d been an adult for years, just never in the eyes of his parents. Maybe they liked having someone to baby and be nosy about and thought evilly that TK would soon find himself in that position. “Yeah, can’t believe I don’t ever have to step inside another classroom again.”
His father chuckled and turned a little serious. “Any idea what you’re going to do?”
Of course Yamato didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do, but he thought better of the idea after looking at his father. He was always preoccupied with work and responsibility and things. And though Yamato could never begrudge him that (he did support them both afterall), he sometimes wondered if his father had ever really had any fun. As it was, a good vague answer that implied a solid job in the future was better than the truth. “Uh, one of my professors said he’d look into an internship for me. If I do well, I could probably get a job there.”
His father visibly relaxed, his interest showing through his work tired eyes. “Oh, where?”
“Kawakaji Communications.” Everyone knew that company; the biggest in Odaiba with contacts around the world. Of course, Yamato didn’t like the idea of an office job, and the line for jobs there was so long that he probably would never be able to get one anyway. But his statement had had its effect, his father nodded and smiling, beaming with his own kind of pride.
“That’s a great opportunity, Yamato. I’m very proud you’re thinking of your future.”
“But it’s very competitive there; I may not get a job there.” He desperately tried to cover his ass; no need to get their hopes up too much.
But his father nodded quickly, probably out of experience. “Of course, the job market is a hard one…”
Before his father could continue, his mother broke in again, probably seeing the serious possibility of this turning into a long, tiresome lecture. “Oh Yamato, we don’t have a picture of you yet, well up close anyway.”
Yamato winced inside; pictures always had the tendency to turn out frighteningly ugly. And all that posing and smiling… He shuddered. Resignedly, he let his mother lead him to the podium, with the school in the backdrop. And as he recovered from the first fuzzy light still burning in his eyes, another flash came. Then Takeru was at his side, and then his parents. By the time the world returned back to its right brightness, he found the field around them fairly empty. His mother was putting away rolls of film; no doubt she’d be able to keep a photo shop in business for months with the amount of pictures she took. But his alarm came from what was coming just over his mother’s shoulders. Sora walked slowly but purposefully towards them and he could feel the nervousness bubble back into his stomach. This was something he wasn’t looking forward to.
Sora stopped a few feet off, looking at him. He nodded and tried to make a normal excuse to leave, but his family had spotted Sora. Concerned glances shot between them all; everyone pretty much knew the non-relationship between Sora and Yamato since the wedding incident. He shook off their concern with a shake of head, trying to paste on a smile, and succeeding a little. Sora motioned with her head towards the soccer nets.
There was silence between them, not the kind that he shared with Taichi; this one was uncomfortable and anxious. Yamato heaved a sigh and took the plunge. “Sora…”
Sora waited patiently, face still unreadable. “Yes, Yamato?”
“Sora…” He left off at another lame pause and grew angry with himself. This was supposed to be simple; just tell her he wanted to be friends and let things roll from there. But his mouth had other ideas. “Uh, I…well…we haven’t talked since forever…”
Sora nodded and smiled a little. “It’s okay Yamato, you don’t have to say anything. I think I’ve finally forgiven you.”
Yamato must’ve gaped cause Sora was giggling. “Forgiven? Uh, great!” Vaguely he could feel his brain jumping for joy; it was so much easier than he had thought it might be. He realized belatedly, it was his turn to say something. “You know, Sora, I’ve missed talking to you.”
“Me too. We used to be able to talk for hours about everything.” She darkened a little. “We were really great friends; don’t know how I couldn’t have seen that was what we only were.”
Yamato sighed. “I’m really sorry Sora…I don’t know…”
She silenced him again, shaking her head. “I should be sorry for bringing it up again. I’m happy for you; I see you and Taichi together and I know that’s how it should’ve been in the first place. It was a hard pill to swallow but I had to stop being blind someday.”
Yamato strove to change the topic; somehow, he knew that even though she’d gotten over the wedding incident, the whole topic was still a bit raw. “So…you seeing anyone?” He knew he was treading on thin ice, but he couldn’t find anything else to say. Desperate times and desperate measures and all that. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t, as how that would mean getting over me.” He stuck out his chin in an exaggerated gesture of arrogance.
They both shared a laugh, Sora rolling her eyes. “Oh yes, no once could match your magnificence.” She brightened considerably. “Actually, I’m seeing this guy I met last month. He’s really great.”
“Oh? I’m glad. Is it serious?”
Sora reddened slightly. “Maybe; he’s really nice and kind and sweet.” She stared off dreamily for a second and Yamato knew she was halfway down the aisle already. He vaguely recalled that he never saw her look like that when they were together. He listened back in, realizing he’d missed a chunk of what she’d said. “And he doesn’t have a hot best friend, of any gender. Believe me, I checked.”
Yamato blinked a few times, before he felt the corners of his mouth rising. They laughed at that for a bit. “God, it’s been a while hasn’t it, Sora?” She nodded and they started to talk about everything that had happened, minutes dragging away in the blink of an eye.
Eventually Sora looked down on her watch and cursed. “Ah, I was supposed to meet my boyfriend 15 minutes ago!” The next moment saw her running across the field, shouting back at Yamato. “Call me! I want to introduce him to you and Taichi!”
Yamato nodded and waved as she disappeared around the math building. Damn, she’s fast. He stared after her a bit, before a familiar touch reawakened him. Taichi was standing off to his side, looking a little worried. “What’s wrong?”
Taichi looked towards the math building. “That was Sora wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Yamato smiled. “We just made up.”
“Really?”
“Yep. In fact she wants us to meet her new boyfriend.” Yamato swat at Taichi when he made a sick face. “I know, I know, but we have to be nice.”
Taichi abruptly pulled themselves together, skimming his lips against Yamato’s cheek. “I like being nice…” he almost trilled.
Yamato knew that voice and felt a little dirty. It was a good feeling. He touched the soft skin of Taichi’s neck, drawing them together. A kiss, a simple little thing that people did but miraculously never lost its specialness. Yamato drew back smiling. “So what should we do now?”
Taichi thought for a moment, starting to grin devilishly. “Well…” He leaned in close to Yamato’s neck. “We could go to a bar, get completely smashed and fuck till morning…”
Yamato shook his head in disbelief, snorting, partly amused by Taichi’s crudeness. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Fuck me?” Taichi’s lips begged, placing a small kiss below an ear.
Yamato smiled wantonly. “We can go to the bar and see what happens afterwards…”
Taichi almost pouted, pushing Yamato away. “Fine, but…” He paused and then snatched Yamato’s cap off his head, holding up the black square by the tassel. “You’ll have to catch me first!” Taichi ran a few yards away, holding up the cap in taunt. “Come on Yama!”
“I am not chasing after you.”
“Oh, scared you can’t catch me are you?” Taichi stuck out his tongue. “Come on Yama, afraid I’m too good for you? Are you Yama-chan? Ya-ma-chan!”
Yamato growled once before taking a mad dash at Taichi, just barely missing the other boy as he dodged. “Get back here, baka!”
Across the field, Takeru turned to Hikari. “I think Taichi’s a bad influence on Yamato”
Hikari nodded in agreement, watching the two twenty two year olds running and flailing across the grass. “I think so too.” The two figures eventually collided together, a mess of arms and legs. Hikari cleared her throat, as the two figures weren’t getting up. “Uh, you want to go find our parents, TK?”
“Yeah, why don’t we?” They hastily turned away from the unfolding scene and walked off quickly. Something things were better off not seen.
The sun skimmed the horizon, orange light bathing the two boys on the grass as they continued to make out. Hikari hoped fervently that Taichi and Yamato could make it back to their apartment before someone gets them arrested for indecent exposure.
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Author’s Notes: Hehe…finished. Thought I’d end on a happy ending. Sorry for the few curses, but Taichi can be quite crass when he wants to be. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading the fic!
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