Welcome to the very first Ken Ichijouji Week! A full week to praise our beloved blue haired detective/police officer, that will take place from January 22nd to January 28th.
The prompts are on the banner, but here are some ideas to help you:
Day 1 - Kindness/Greed/Selfishness: Tell us about your favorite moment about Ken being kind; what would happen if he kept his crest and used it the wrong way?; the time where he used to be the Kaiser, etc.
Day 2 - Wormmon and his evolutions: Tell us what's your favorite Ken and Wormmon moment; your opinions about their relationship/partnership. We love this duo just as much as they love each other!
Day 3 - Sports: They always have been a huge part on Ken's life, whether it was soccer or jogging. How do you think Ken got into soccer? Was it his first contact with a sport? What about jogging? Do you think he's a sports person? What other sport would he play?
Day 4 - Childhood: How do you think was Ken's childhood? Did he and Osamu get along well? How did he cope with his brother's death and how did it affect his relation with his parents and with himself?
Day 5 - Relationships: Romantic, platonic, friendship, familiar... you name it! Is he the type to make a move on a love interest or the first to start a friendship?
Day 6 - Career/Hobbies: How's Ken's daily routine as a police officer/detective? How did he become interested in investigating? What does he like doing in a day off or after work?
Day 7 - Free Day: A day to let your creativity or imagination run free!
Remember: These ideas above are just for help. You don't need to follow them.
if you still have questions about the prompts or the rules/FAQ, feel free to DM us or send an ask.
So grab your police caps and let's have fun! We can't wait to see all of your submissions! See you in January!
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: First Day At Work
Characters: Ken Ichijouji, Wormmon and Hikari Yagami.
Pairing: Ken/Hikari
Summary: Ken has his first day at work and later receives a surprise from Hikari.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken and Wormmon stopped outside the police station for a couple of minutes. It was their first day as detectives and the man was feeling a mix of excitement with anxiety. After years of hardworking in college, it was finally time to put his knowledge into action.
“Ken, aren’t you going in?”
“I am.” He replied, still staring at the door. “I’m just trying to assimilate everything first.”
“I see. It’s a big moment.”
“Yes, it is.” He took a deep breath and a step forward. “Alright, let’s go in.”
The noise from the inside of the office invaded Ken’s ears as soon as he walked in. Police officers were either talking loudly on the phone or to each other or walking around in a hurry, and no one gave him attention. Ken couldn’t help but wonder if that was a daily routine or something important and urgent had happened that day.
“Seems like a lot of work here. No one came to talk to us yet.”
“I guess it’s just a routine.” Ken shrugged and checked his phone. Him and Wormmon had been sitting for about an hour, waiting to be noticed by one of the police officers.
Only after another hour or so that an officer came to talk to them. He apologized and said things were chaotic that day. Then he took them to a room in the end of the hall and quickly went back to what he was doing previously.
“Looks like it’s just the two of us again.”
“I wonder what’s going on for everyone to be so stressed.”
“Why don’t you try to find out? Maybe you can be helpful.”
“You think so?” Ken looked at Wormmon. “If they needed my help, they would have asked for it.”
“Not exactly.” The Digimon said. “You’re the new employee here. I think you should volunteer to help.”
“That’s a very good point.” He walked to the door and looked over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”
They walked back towards what seemed to be the reception area. He couldn’t help but notice things were much calmer now and half of the staff seemed to be out. Still, he couldn’t find the officer who had talked to them earlier.
“You shouldn’t be here, sir. If you want to talk to a clerk, you should wait your turn.”
“Oh no.” Ken turned to a woman sitting on a desk, frantically typing on a computer. “I work here. Today is my first day.”
“Oh, are you Ken Ichijouji?” She looked away from the screen for a moment.
“That’s me.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m so sorry. There’s a been a massive situation and we’re trying to solve it.”
“That’s what I came to talk about. I was wondering if you needed extra help.”
“Didn’t you say it was your first day?”
“I did. But I thought I could offer to help if needed.”
“Hmm, we don’t usually ask newbies to get to the streets so fast, but I guess we can make an exception. Still, I need to check with my boss. I’ll be right back.”
“Alright.” He said as he watched the woman disappear in the hall.
The woman returned five minutes later with a piece of paper in her hands. She was distracted she didn’t even see Ken and Wormmon were still there until he fake coughed and she looked up.
“Oh, that’s right. I’m so sorry! My boss is willing to make an exception this time, but you’ll have to be very discreet about it.”
“Got it.” He said with a smile. “We’ll definitely be cautious about it.”
“Good luck.”
“Thank you. So what do we need to do?”
“These are the instructions.” The woman handed a paper and some folded clothes. “And this is your uniform, you’ll need it from now on.”
“Thanks.” He looked at his partner. “Let’s go, Wormmon.”
“Let’s do it.”
****
“This place scares me.” Wormmon said as he looked around. Everything was dark and had a strange energy. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
“That’s what it says in the paper.” Ken unfolded it again and looked at it. “Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m not getting a good feeling from it. Can we go back and try to find another mission?”
“I’m sorry, buddy, but we’ll have to do this. This is my first chance to prove I’m capable of being a good detective and I’m going to take it. You’re free to stay here if you want to.”
“No, I want to go. As much as I’m terrified, you might need me.”
“I can call you if I get in trouble.”
“I’m going in with you.”
“Then let’s go.”
****
Ken opened the door from his apartment later that day and quickly threw himself on the couch after taking off his shoes and leaving them by the door. He took a deep breath and looked at his partner.
“So, today was a good one, huh?”
“Absolutely! I definitely wasn’t expecting to be thrown into a mission in the very first day.”
“Neither was I. But I’m glad we were, so we could see what it was like.”
“Was it what you expected?”
“It was.” He looked at Wormmon and nodded. “What about you?”
“Same.”
Ken was about to say something when the doorbell rang, surprising him and his Digimon and making them look towards the door.
“Were you expecting someone?”
“Not really.” He stood up and went to open it. “But I have a feeling I know who it is.”
“Who?”
But he didn’t get his answer right away; it took a few more seconds until he heard Ken’s voice again.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” Hikari’s voice echoed. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, but I brought you food to celebrate your first day at work.”
“Thank you.” Ken couldn’t help but smile. “You’re not disturbing at all, please come in.”
“Thanks.” She walked in. “I promise I won’t take long. Hello, Wormmon. How are you?”
“Hi, Hikari. I’m good, what about you?”
“I’m good too.” The woman smiled at him and then turned to the bag over the sink, taking a few pots out. “There’s a whole meal here. Salad, main course and dessert.”
“That’s quite a lot of food.” He said surprised.
“I know. I purposely made more, so it could last a few more days.”
“Wow, I can’t thank you enough for this. You work all day and still managed to make this amount of food.”
“It wasn’t any trouble at all. I had to make it to myself too.” Hikari said softly. “So how was your first day at work?”
“It was quite busy, actually.”
“We went on our first mission today.” Wormmon said from his place on the couch.
“Really?”
“Yeah, we started in a rather chaotic day at the station.” Ken placed his hand in the back of his head and laughed a little awkwardly.
“Isn’t this a standard? I assumed people would already get into action on their first day.”
“Not on their own. First we follow more experienced officers before we have our own mission.”
“Oh I see. And how was it?”
“It was amazing, so thrilling. We had to go to a rather dark place.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It was a terrible place.”
“Wormmon was scared to death. He even suggested we should go back and get another mission.”
“You agreed to that, didn’t you?”
“He didn’t.”
“Thank you, Wormmon.” Ken was ironical with his partner and then turned to his girlfriend. “He’s a sensitive Digimon. It wasn’t scary at all, it was just a normal place. Besides, it was a big opportunity to me.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that. It gets me worried. It’s too risky.”
“Every job is risky.”
“Being a teacher isn’t.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Hikari.” He assured her. “I can take care of myself. Besides, if anything more serious happens, I have Wormmon with me.”
“I know, but…” Hikari looked away for a moment and bit her lower lip. She tried to look confident when she looked at him again. “Okay, I’ll believe you. But you have to promise me you won’t put yourself at risk if you can avoid it.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” She smiled. “Well, now that the food is here, I should go home.”
“Already? Can’t you stay a little more?”
“I wish I could, but I don’t want to get in the way of your routine. And I also have to work tomorrow too.”
“You’re right.” Ken said disappointed. “We’re both working.”
“Yeah, but the weekend is coming. We can definitely do something. I miss hanging out with you too.” She approached him.
“Are you sure you can’t stay a little more? Just half an hour, I promise.”
“It’s really hard to say no when you ask like that.” She looked up at him and smiled. “Okay, I’ll stay.”
“And then you put this piece over here.” Ken grabbed a piece from the board and moved to another position. “Check-mate.”
“I honestly have no idea what you do did. You explained how to play chess, but I can’t get my head around it. It seems so difficult.”
“It isn’t that much. It gets easier as you play.”
“I bet it does. Would you be upset if I wanted to do something else?”
“Absolutely not. It was getting boring anyway. So what do you want to do? Watch a movie?”
“No, I need to go soon. If we watched a movie, I’d probably fall sleep and stay the night here.”
“Would it be such a bad thing?”
“Considering my mom would freak out if she found out I slept here when we’re not even engaged, then yes.” Hikari covered her mouth and her eyes went wide as soon as she heard what she had just said. “Oh my God! I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I completely understand it.”
“You really didn’t get offended by it? I don’t want you to think I’m pushing you into proposing to me in any way.”
“I didn’t get offended at all. I think your mother would freak out too, so we better not push our luck.”
“Yeah…” She bit her lower lip and laced her fingers together nervously for a moment. “How about we bake a cake?”
“A cake?”
“That’s a great idea! I’d love to eat some cake right now.”
“That sounds perfect to me. Let’s do it!”
Ken finished putting the ingredients and bowls on the sink and went to get an apron for Hikari and one for himself.
“Is this all we need?”
“I think so. You’ve never baked a cake before?”
“Not completely on my own. I’ve helped my mother before, but never really bothered learning it. It’s not something I feel proud of right now, honestly.”
“Well, there’s always time to learn it and change things if you want to. Do you?”
“Absolutely, let’s go.”
“Alright. Then let’s start. First you need to put flour into the bowl and then…”
Ken and Hikari were looking at the oven to see if the cake was ready. She had a large smile on her face.
“Looks like it’s ready. It also looks beautiful, you did a great job on your first time.”
“Really?” He looked up at her with his eyebrows raised. “Can you tell just by looking at it?”
“Of course. I can tell it looks soft, which is a good thing. No one wants to eat a cake that doesn’t look soft.”
He couldn’t help but smile and looked at the oven again.
“You should really feel proud.” She grabbed the thick gloves on the sink. “Some people take months or maybe years to learn how to bake a cake. Some never do.”
“Did you?”
“At first, yes. It took me a few months to learn and a couple of them after I learned to mess it up again.” She laughed. “Until I learned for real. So getting it right the first time is a huge accomplishment. Great job.”
“I only did good because of you.”
“No, I didn’t do anything.” Hikari shook her head and said in a reassuring tone. “I was just guiding you. You did all by yourself and deserve all the credit for it.”
“Thank you.” Ken smiled at her. “You’re so amazing.”
“I know.” She bragged and giggled before opening the oven. “I think we can take it out now.”
“So, what do you think?” Ken turned to Wormmon when he finished eating his slice of cake.
“It’s so delicious, Ken! You’re such an amazing cook.”
“See? I’m not the only one who thinks so. I’m very proud of you.” Hikari ate some of her cake. “By the way, I completely agree with Wormmon. You’re an amazing cook.”
“Well, then I’ll have to bake cakes more often. That way you can come here more and spend more time.”
“Oh, so is that a bribe?”
“Absolutely not. I could never do that.”
“For the record, I wouldn’t need a cake as an excuse to come here. I already have enough of a reason to.”
“You two are so cute! I’m so happy you found each other.”
“Me too.”
“So do I.” She leaned over and kissed him briefly. “I hate saying this, but I really have to go now.”
“Alright.” Ken stood up and noticed she was collecting everything from the table. “What are you doing?”
“I’m pick the dirty dishes to wash them.”
“Absolutely not.” He picked them up from her hands and went to place them on the sink. “I will do that.”
“Are you sure? Cause I don’t…”
“Yes, I’m sure.” He walked to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with your mother for being at your boyfriend’s house more than you’re supposed to.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going.”
“I’ll walk you to the door.”
“Thank you.”
“Text me when you get home.”
“Alright.” She kissed him briefly. “I’ll see on the weekend.”
“Of course. Thank you again for the food.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Ken?” Wormmon spoke when his partner closed the door.
“What is it?”
“You do know that Hikari wants to get engaged, right?”
“I do.” He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. “And it’s gonna happen soon.”
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: Lilies and Arcades
Characters: Ken Ichijouji and Hikari Yagami.
Summary: Ken and HIkari have their first date.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken’s last stop was at a flower shop. He stopped in front of one and looked at the passenger’s seat of his car. There were a bunch of things, like chocolate and a gift, and he couldn’t help but wonder maybe it was too much for someone who was going to have a first date. But then again, he wanted to be a gentleman. He took a deep breath and stared at the wheels, contemplating whether he should go in or not. Eventually, he went with the first option. He made sure to get the most beautiful lilies in the story for the bouquet.
He arrived at the Yagami building about fifteen minutes later. Even if he was downstairs, his heart was beating strongly in his chest. He was minutes away from seeing Hikari Yagami. He was still having a hard time believing she had actually agreed to go on a date with him. He didn’t think she would, to be honest. A smile came to his lips when he remembered that moment again.
It was the end of a spring day. The weather was warm and the golden and yellow tones in the sky were reflected in the water. Both Hikari and Ken knew they were purposely and deliberately left alone together by the rest of the new generation of Chosen Children, under the excuse they either had to cook dinner or do school work. But they all have picked up all the small subtle furtive glances and not-so-harmless comments thrown around sometimes; most of them weren’t intentional though.
“Can you believe how obvious they were?” She asked, embracing her knees tightly.
“I know. I suppose they’ve had enough and purposely did this so we could actually do something.” Ken shrugged and shifted rather uncomfortably. A gradual song could be heard and he shoved his hand into his pocket to pick his phone up. “I really need to answer this. I’ll be right back.”
“Alright.” She looked at him for a moment and was about to stare at the water again when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. “Ken, you…”
But Hikari simply stopped talking and picked up the piece of paper he had dropped without noticing. She noticed there was something written on it, but she knew she shouldn’t invade people’s privacy like this, no matter how curious she was. Still, she tried to read it without flipping the paper around. Much to her surprise, she found out one of the words was her name and curiosity got the best of her. Though she knew it could be simply a noun used in a different context, she still flipped the paper up and her eyes went wide.
“Hikari, I’m sorry I…” Ken stopped dead right away as he realized she was holding his paper and saw the look on her face. “Where did you find it?”
“You asked them to do this?”
“I know it’s bad, but I wouldn’t be brave enough to do it on my own. I’m sorry. I will completely understand if you don’t want to, by the way.”
“I do.” She walked to him and kissed him on the cheek.
“So you’re not mad at me?”
“Maybe a little.” She confessed. “But I can also understand why you did what you did. So to answer your question officially, I would love to go out with you.”
“Are you serious?” Ken blinked, still trying to understand everything that was happening.
“I am.” Hikari confirmed with a smile. “I think we’ve waited long enough, to be honest.”
“Yeah.” He said quietly. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“Hi.” Hikari greeted him with a smile and a kiss on the cheek when she walked out of her building.
“Hey.” Ken returned the kiss even he was blushing and handed her the flowers. “These are for you.”
“Lilies.” She picked them up and smelled them. “They are so beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.” He intertwined his fingers with hers. “Do you want to take these upstairs before we go?”
“No.” She shook her head slightly and smiled kindly. “If anything I can leave them in the car, if that’s okay.”
“Of course, that’s fine.” He assured her. “So shall we go?”
“Absolutely.”
****
One of Hikari’s favorite things to was to go to parks during spring and simply enjoy the fully flowery trees and have a picnic sometimes. However, it wasn’t something she had experienced doing at night before, and she was thrilled at the possibility.
“Wow, the lights definitely make the flowers look different.”
“Yeah.” Ken looked around. “I didn’t think there’d be so many people here at night.”
“Now that you mention it.” She lowered her gaze. “There are a lot of them. I think they just want to enjoy the nice weather.”
“Hey.” She softly touched his arm. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine.”
“You’re bored, aren’t you?”
“No, not at all. Hey.” He searched for her eyes, to make sure she’d believe him. “I’m enjoying it.”
“Really? Because I know it’s not the kind of place you’d go for a first date.”
“It’s fine. I really don’t mind being here with you.”
Hikari couldn’t help but smile weakly and reached for his hand. “Come on, let’s sit under a cherry tree for a moment.”
Ken was nearly falling asleep being under the tree. Things were so peaceful and there weren’t many people around, so it almost sounded like a dream when Hikari spoke.
“Have you ever wondered?”
“What?” He raised his eyebrow and looked at her.
“How your first kiss would be like.”
“Oh.” He leaned back towards the tree. “I don’t think so. It almost never happens the way you picture it, so…”
“The way you said makes it seem like your expectations were crushed.”
“You can say that.”
“So you’ve had your first kiss already?” Hikari asked surprised.
“Well, yeah. I mean, sort of. I’m not sure I count it as a first kiss though.”
“Was it that bad?”
“It’s a nice way to put it.”
“Ouch.”
“What about you?”
“I wanted to, but I also wanted it to be with someone special. So I decided to wait.”
“Oh.” Ken didn’t know why he suddenly felt so tense. It wasn’t like Hikari was waiting for him to be her first kiss all that time. It was stupid to think that. “Waiting is good too.”
“Yeah.” She said weakly and sat down straight. “It’s getting a little boring here. What time is it?”“Uh, it’s almost eight. We should get going if we want to make it in time for the movie.” He stood up and offered her his hand.
“Let’s go.”
****
Ken hated to admit it, but he was feeling much more relieved when they arrived at the theater. Hikari said he could choose the movie, but he insisted on letting her do it. So she was eventually won over and did it. Still, she chose one that he’d enjoy as well. And then they went to buy some popcorn and beverage to go with it.
“What do you want to drink?”
“I’m fine with green tea.”
“Alright. How would you like your popcorn?”
“We’re not sharing?”
“Well, I thought you’d want your own one. But I don’t mind sharing it at all. Do you want anything on it?”
“Butter, is that okay with you?”
“Yes, it’s fine.” He smiled and turned to look at the line again. He couldn’t help but feel like this date would be a disaster if he didn’t something about it. “What if we ditch this movie?”
“Ditch the movie?” Hikari asked surprised. “You don’t want to watch it anymore?”
“Not really, and we haven’t bought the tickets yet, so… what do you say?”
“I’m in. I wasn’t too thrilled about the movie either.” She admitted. “Where are we going now?”
“I have an idea.” He stretched his hand towards her. “Do you trust me?”
“I do.” She grabbed it and smiled warmly at him.
“Then let’s go.” He stormed off through the mall.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been to an arcade. That was actually a very good idea.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Ken stopped in front of a gun booth. “Tell me which stuffed animal you want.”
“Hmmm…” Hikari looked at them all carefully. “The duck one.”
“The duck one? You can ask for a bigger one.”
“I know. I just think that one is really cute.”
“Alright then.” He went to the cashier to buy some chips to play the game and returned to where she was.
“Have you played this before?”
“No, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“Shouldn’t we go play something else? Something less dangerous.”
“It’s going to be fine.” Ken assured her as he grabbed the gun. “Besides, I’m gonna learn how to use one sooner or later.”
“I know, but it’s going to be in college.”
“This isn’t a real gun, it just looks like one. They wouldn’t be crazy enough to do that.”
“That’s true.” She gave a couple of steps backwards and watched him from afar.
“Alright, here we go.”
“So how did I go?” Ken asked while he handed her prize.
“You actually went pretty good.” Hikari replied with a smile when she grabbed her newest stuffed animal. “You’re gonna be a great detective or police officer.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m glad we ditched the movie, to be honest.”
“Me too.” He confessed. “I thought it’d be boring, really. And I didn’t want this date to be a failure because I really like you and want to go out with you again.”
“You want to go out with the girl who took you to a park for the first date again?” She teased. “You must be crazy.”
“I really must be.” He laughed. “But it’s true, I want to go out with you again.”
“Well, tonight is your lucky night then.” She reached out for his hand and intertwined their fingers together. “Because that girl also wants to go out with you again. And again, and again.”
“I get it. So it means it was a good first date.”
“Hmmm, it was an alright first date.”
“An alright first date? I’m disappointed.”
“I’m just messing with you.” She giggled. “It was a great first date.”
“You don’t need to set the bar so high. I promise the other ones will be better.”
“I’m sure they will be.”
“How about some ice-cream?”
“I’d love that.”
Hikari tried to hold her duck with her arm while she tried to take her phone out of her pocket to see who was calling her so insistently. She rolled her eyes and rejected the call.
“Do you need help with anything?”
“No, everything is fine.” She finished her ice-cream. “It’s just Taichi acting like an older brother.”
“Oh I see. So you’re not gonna answer him?”
“He probably just wants to know when I’m going home and things like that. I’ll just talk to him when I get home.”
“In that case I should take you.”
“You don’t have to, really. We can stay a little more.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” She nodded. “I don’t feel like going home right now. I want to stay here a little more. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“Sure, that’s fine with me.” He squeezed her hand a little. “Come on, let’s sit down for a while.”
****
“So how was it?” Hikari asked suddenly, avoiding having eye contact with Ken. “Your first kiss. I mean, if it’s okay to ask you that.”
“It’s fine. It was… weird and bad.”
“She wasn’t a good kisser?”
“No, no, she was. But I was so nervous I didn’t know exactly what to do and couldn’t think straight. So it was a disaster.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Nah, it’s alright. Most of first kisses are bad, because they are unknown. You get better with practice.”
Ken looked at her, trying to decipher if she wanted him to kiss her, but she still avoided looking back at him.
“Is it a good feeling?”
“Honestly? I think it’s an amazing feeling when it’s with someone you love. I don’t think I would be able to do it otherwise.”
“So you would only do it with someone you loved?” Hikari finally looked up at him when they were close to his car.
“That’s right.” He felt a lump on his throat. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to kiss her; in fact it was the opposite, but he wasn’t sure about how he was supposed to handle the fact he was going to be her first kiss. “I don’t see a…”
He never got to finish his thought, as surprise overtook him. He wasn’t expecting Hikari to make the first move, but deep down he was glad she did it. Ken wrapped his arms around her, unsure at first. He tightened them when he felt hers around his neck, and he responded to her kiss right after his initial shock passed. He decided not to use his tongue at the moment; there would be plenty of opportunities for that later. Their sweet and soft kiss came to an end after a couple of minutes and they stared into each other’s eyes.
“That was…”
“Was it that bad?”
“No, no!” Ken said quickly. “It’s quite the opposite, to be honest. I wasn’t expecting, that’s all.”
“Well, surprises are good sometimes, right?”
“Absolutely.” He reached for her hand with a smile. “This was definitely a good one.”
Ken stopped in front of Hikari’s building and looked at her. “So, I guess that’s it.”
“Thanks for bringing me home.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry for anything I may have done tonight.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Hikari assured him and looked down at her flowers and the stuffed duck. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”
“I’m glad to hear that. So do I.”
“Good.” She kissed him in the cheek and then turned towards the door. “I really should go now. My mom is probably beyond worried I’m taking too long.”
“Right.”
“So I’ll see you soon.”
“Of course.” Before he knew it, he was holding her forearm to stop her from leaving.
“Ken, what are you…” She looked over her shoulder and was surprised by a kiss. She placed the bouquet over her lags and closed the door before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down towards her.
Ken was actually shocked when her tongue slipped into his mouth, but quickly tightened his grip around her body. Their second kiss lasted a little longer than their first one, and they only pulled away from each other to breathe. Hikari couldn’t stop smiling.
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”
“There’s nothing else in the world I’d want more than this. Yes, I do.”
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: The Red Sweaters
Characters: Ken Ichijouji and Hikari Yagami
Pairing: Ken/Hikari
Summary: Ken and Hikari tell each other childhood stories.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken was sitting in the living room going through some boxes with things he bought from his parents’ house and came across an old photo album.
“What is it?” Hikari asked when she walked in and sat down next to him.
“It’s a photo album I found with pictures of me as a child.”
“Really? Can I see them?”
“Sure.” He went back to the first page and started going through the pictures again.
“Is this you?”
“Let me see.” Ken looked at the picture she was pointing. “Yes, that’s me.”
“You were a pretty baby.”
“Are you saying I’m not anymore?”
“You’re saying it, not me.” She smiled, still looking at it. “How old were you here?”
“I’m not sure… maybe eight months.”
“Has your mother ever told you stories about you as a baby?”
“As a matter of fact, she has.”
“Tell me one.”
“Okay, as long as you tell me one about yours later.”
“It’s a deal.”
“So what moment do you want to know about me?”
“About the day you were born!” Hikari pressed her hands together excitedly. “Has she told you about it?”
“Yeah, I think so. But it was a long time ago, I’m not sure I remember it. But I’ll try.”
“I’m so excited!”
It was a very hot summer day. The Ichijoujis had taken their son, Osamu, to eat some ice-cream in an ice-cream parlor near their house. Mrs. Ichijouji was eight months pregnant, almost nine, and it was just a matter of time until she got into labor. She was really hoping they had a daughter again, but she was also very happy with another boy. They were relaxing and enjoying their desserts until Mrs. Ichijouji winced in pain.
“Honey, what happened?”
“I think I’m having contractions.”
“You think?!” Mr. Ichijouji dropped his ice-cream while he was rushing to help his wife. “How far are they?”
“I don’t know, I’ll let you know when I have the second one. Maybe it’s just a false alarm, you know? My water hasn’t broken yet.”
“Still, isn’t it better to take you to the hospital? Just to be sure.”
“It’s not really necessary, everything’s fine.” She looked at him and saw his concerned look. “I can feel the baby, but it’s too important for you, we can do it.”
“It’s too important for me.”
“Then we can do it.”
“Thank you.” He helped her stand up and then grabbed Osamu’s hand. “Let’s go, son.”
“But you weren’t born then, were you?”
“As far as I know, no. I took a few more days for that.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Well, my mom had to stay a day or two in the hospital because her blood pressure was high. They had discharged her in the morning and she had to come back in the afternoon because her water had broken. And then…”
The baby almost couldn’t wait until Mrs. Ichijouji was taken to the OB section and into a room. As soon as she was placed in the bed, the baby started crowning. Five minutes later, she was already holding him in her arms.
“Isn’t he cute?”
“He is, and he has blue hair like Osamu.”
“It’s true.”
Mr. Ichijouji turned to their oldest son and picked him up. “Osamu, meet your younger brother.”
“Ken.”
“What?” Mrs. Ichijouji asked, puzzled. “Are you choosing his name?”
“I think so. Is that what you want, son?”
“Ken.”
“I guess it is.” She looked back to the little baby again. “Hello Ken. Welcome to our family.”
“I like this name, to be honest.”
“I like it too. It suits him.”
“So your brother named you? That’s so sweet.”
“Yeah.” Ken kept looking down at the photo album. “I miss him.”
“I know.” Hikari rubbed his back gently. “I can’t imagine how that must feel like.”
“The first months were very difficult, but the truth is… it never gets any easier.”
“The ones we love never leave us completely.” She said softly. “I’m sure you still cherish the moments you spent with him and that he’s taking care of you from heaven.”
“I hope so.”
“You know, Taichi choose my name as well.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “He said my presence lighted up the whole room, so he thought Hikari would be a perfect choice.”
“I completely agree with him.”
“Of course you would.” She couldn’t help but smile. “So do you have any other childhood moments you’d like to share? If you’re comfortable with it.”
“I am.” He nodded and then went through a few more pages. “This is my first bruise.”
“Bruise?” She asked surprised. “That thing is huge! It’s so scary! How did it happen?”
It was Christmas day. The streets of Tamachi were fully white due to the snow that fell during the night. The temperatures were cold, but that didn’t seem to bother four-year old Ken that day. He had woken up early, desperate to find out what he had gotten from Santa.
“Mommy! Daddy!” He ran into their room and tried to wake them up. “Wake up, it’s Christmas day! We need to open our presents.”
“You woke up your parents because of your presents?”
“I was four years old, just so you know.” His tone was light and jokingly.
“That’s fair. Go on.”
“So they said…”
“Ken, we went to sleep late last night. Can’t you wait a little more for that?”
“No, mommy.” He pulled her blanket away and grabbed her hand. “Santa won’t wait much, he was other houses to go to.”
“I’m afraid he’s already gone, darling.”
“Oh no… so we won’t get any presents this year?” Ken ran to the living room to check.
A wide smile appeared on his face when he found quite a few gifts next to or under the tree. He ran to it and knelt down.
“Santa left presents for us! I knew he thought we were good children this year! Hey, Osamu, come open your present.”
“Taichi was always this excited for Christmas. He’d ask for a soccer ball every year, even though he already had a couple of them.”
“Did he get them?”
“Sometimes, yes. It was a good thing he had other choices of presents in his list, so our parents could buy something else.”
“I feel relieved for them.”
“Me too.” She laughed. “And then what happened?”
“Ken, what are you doing?” Osamu walked in, looking very sleepy and rubbing his eyes. “You’re gonna wake the whole neighborhood up if you keep being this loud.”
“Come open your presents, Osamu.”
“He’s just excited about it.” Mrs. Ichijouji said as she passed by him and went to join her youngest son by the tree.
“Look, mommy!” Ken said excitedly as he finished unwrapping his gift and showed her what he had gotten proudly. “Santa got my letter and sent me the soccer game I asked.”
“That’s great, sweetheart.” She gave him a warm smile. “But there’s more.”
“What?” His face beamed with happiness. “How do you know?”
“Santa told me.”
“He told you?” The boy was surprised. “That’s so cool! When did you meet him?”
“He made me promise to keep it a secret, so I can’t say.”
“Ah.” He was disappointed. “I wanted to see him.”
“I’m sorry, Ken. He was in a hurry and had to go to other houses. But he asked me to tell you he were a very nice kid this year and…” She tapped a large present next to her. “Also to give you this.”
“Wow!” His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. It’s yours.”
“How could Santa fit this in his bag?”
“He uses a powder that shrinks them, so they could fit. And when he arrives at a house, he uses another one to make them go back to their normal size.”
“That’s so cool!”
“Mom, you shouldn’t fool him. Why don’t you just tell him the truth?”
“The truth?”
“Don’t listen to him, he’s only joking.” Mrs. Ichijouhi said. “Come on, open it.”
The boy opened his second gift with quite some enthusiasm and very fast. He came across a white bike.
“Mom, it’s a bike! Just like the one I asked Santa.”
“Well, he got your letter after all.”
“Can I ride it?”
“Not today, son. It’s too cold. I’m afraid you’re gonna have to wait until the weather gets better.”
“Ah, okay.” He seemed a little disappointed, but it only lasted a few seconds. “Mom, can I write a letter to Santa to thank him for my gifts?”
“Of course, sweetie. He’d be happy to receive it.”
“And that’s it.”
“That’s a sweet story, Ken.” Hikari said with a smile when he finished it. “I have no doubt you were a good child. A great one, actually.”
“Thanks, Hikari. You I have no doubt you were a great child too. I’ve heard some stories about you.”
“Really? What did Taichi tell you?”
“He didn’t tell me anything.”
“He didn’t?” She looked at him surprised. “If it wasn’t him, then it was my… oh, I get it now. No one told you anything. It was a set-up to see if I shared some stories with you.”
“What?” He pretended he didn’t know what it was about, but couldn’t hide his laughter.
“Don’t play this on me. You know it’s exactly this.”
“Okay, fine.” He admitted. “So…?”
“So what?”
“Do you want to share any stories of your childhood with me?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She stood up and put two locks of her hair behind her ears. “I’ll be right back.”
Hikari returned about two or three minutes later with a photo album and sat back down where she was previously. She opened it and pointed to a picture where her face was painted in blue.
“What happened here?”
“It’s one of the many Taichi’s Christmas pranks.”
“What?”
“You heard that right. Every Christmas he’d pull a trick on me. Most of the times were harmless ones, but sometimes they were… well, this.”
“I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s okay. It’s funny now that we think about it.”
“That’s good. So since you’re comfortable with it now, I’d like to know what happened.”
“Of course. Taichi spent the whole Christmas’ week telling me Santa was only giving gifts to people who had their faces painted blue. Otherwise they’d be considered bad children. Needless to say I was beyond scared of that.”
“I don’t blame you. That wasn’t a very nice thing to do.”
“It really wasn’t.”
“And then what happened?”
“My mother freaked out when she saw me and lectured him before grounding him. Luckily, the ink came out very easily, for her happiness. And then Taichi never did anything like that again.”
“I’m happy for you.” Ken smiled at her.
“Thank you.” She returned the smile and then bent over to grab a wrapped box Ken hadn’t noticed she brought with the photo album, handing it to him.
“What is it?”
“It’s something I bought for you.” Hikari said simply.
“This I know. But why? I mean, it’s not my birthday yet and Christmas is a few days away.”
“I don’t need a reason to get you a present, do I?”
“That’s a very good point. But I didn’t buy you anything.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She assured him. “Right now I just want you to open this one.”
“Alright.” He said a little suspicious, but quickly changed the focus to the package in his hands. He placed it in front of him and started tearing the paper up. He came across a wooden box and raised his eyebrows.
“Come on.” The woman encouraged him to keep going when he hesitated for a moment.
“For some reason, I can’t seem to be. It’s like I’m paralyzed or something. I’m feeling nervous and don’t know why.”
“It’s just a gift, honey.”
“I know, I know.” He took a deep breath and pushed himself to open the box; his heart pounding so hard on his chest he was sure she could hear it clearly. “A sweater?”
“It’s not any sweater. Go on, pull it out and unfold it.”
Ken felt like his heart would come out his chest when he held the clothing in front of himself. He could barely believe what his eyes were seeing.
“Daddy?” He glanced at her and was surprised to find her walking back into the living room. “When did you leave?”
“Were you so shocked by the sweater that didn’t pay attention to your surroundings?” Hikari joked lightly and sat down by his side.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all.”
“I know. I have one too.”
“Really?” He looked at her again and saw she was wearing another red sweater, but with the word ‘mommy’. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it when you walked in.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised you missed it. You’re so attentive to these small details.”
“What does it mean though?” He asked while he put his on. “Are you pregnant or something?”
“No.” She shook her head. “At least I don’t think so. It may sounds mean now, but I was thinking of playing a trick for Taichi.”
“Let me see if I get this straight. You want to get him into believing we’re gonna be parents to get back at the prank he did to you?”
“I knew you were so smart! No wonder why you’re a detective.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“You’re right, it sounds mean.”
“Maybe I should just let it go.”
“I say we should do it.”
“What?” She blinked with surprise.
“It’s become personal now.” He winked and smiled at her.
“I like that.” A smile appeared on her face too.
“By the way, where did you get these sweaters?”
“I ordered them from Sora. She thought it was a cute idea.”
“Did you tell her your plan?”
“No, I said we were giving them as a gift.”
“What if we actually follow through with it?”
“You mean having a child? This sudden?”
“You don’t want it?”
“I do, but can we talk it through first?”
“Of course.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly.
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: Sporty Boy
Characters: Ken Ichijouji, Daisuke Motomiya, Takeru Takaishi, Hikari Yagami and Yamato Ishida.
Summary: How Ken got into soccer and grew tired of it later on, wanting to try new sports.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful soccer ball one of the students of his school was holding. He really wanted to play, but he was a new student and too shy to ask. So he simply sighed and went to his locker.
The following days weren’t that different, until one day Ken was intently watching the soccer team from Tamachi Elementary School practice for a competition among classes. He was so lost observing them that he didn’t even see the coach stopping beside him.
“Too mesmerizing, huh?”
It was only then that the boy returned to his senses. He blushed rather heavily and avoided eye contact with him.
“Most of the boys out there had this exact same reaction.” He placed his hand on Ken’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly. “Why don’t you try to get into the team? You might earn a spot.”
“I don’t know.” The boy replied in such a low tone the coach could barely hear it. “I’d probably suck at it anyway.”
“Who knows? Maybe you won’t be as bad as you think. Come on.” The coach encouraged him to go for it.
The seven-year old boy was convinced. It would be just a test anyway. He shook his head and followed the man towards the field.
He effortlessly earned a spot in the team and quickly became one of the stars of the team. That lead to him being one of the most popular students at Tamachi Elementary School, though it made him uncomfortable cause he never meant to be popular in school.
****
Three years later and he was still the main player of the soccer team. But not only he was a star on it, he also excelled in all school subjects and other sports. In other words, he was one of a kind. All the attention he received deep down meant nothing to him, as he thought everyone else was in a lower level than him. He didn’t know exactly when it started, but it felt good. He was a genius without having to study or work hard. It was perfect.
However, he could notice his soccer team mates went quiet as soon as he walked into the field to start practicing and couldn’t stop looking at him. Ken realized right away they were afraid of him and a smile appeared on his lips. That meant he was respected among them. He’d often be one of the first boys to be picked for a team, when he was not the one to form his own.
He became a quieter and more closed-off person since Osamu died, but it had gotten worse since he began to go to the Digital World more often and his digivice turned black. He didn’t mind the color at all; in fact he loved black. The Digital World became his escape place and it was only a matter of weeks – maybe days – for him to think the Digimon were characters of a video game and started torturing them and turned them into slaves. Wormmon would often tell him to stop and Ken always yelled at him for that, when he didn’t whip him. He couldn’t believe out of all Digimon, he ended up with the worst one as his partner. Nothing or anyone was going to stand on his way and ruin his plans to conquer the Digital World.
****
Ken was sure he was shaking more by each step he took, so he purposely let himself walk behind Daisuke. The last thing he wanted was for his best friend to feel bad for him; he was feeling it for both of them already.
“Here we are.” The goggle boy turned to him with a grin, which quickly faded away when he looked at his friend. “What’s wrong?”
“I think this is a bad idea.”
“What are you talking about, Ken?” Daisuke couldn’t believe what he had heard. “You were doing so good when it was just the two of us.”
“Yeah… but it was just the two of us.” The blue haired boy looked away.
A month had gone by since BelialVamdemon was defeated and the Digital World saved once again. Ken wasn’t sure if he actually enjoyed playing soccer or it was something he was led to believe when he was brainwashed by Archnemon and Oikawa. He wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, but he should have known Daisuke would notice something was off and push him to say it. Then he got out of his way to help his DNA digievolution partner to find the sparkle that were in his eyes whenever he played soccer. He didn’t doubt for a second it was gone; it was just hidden.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“Come on.” Daisuke touched his shoulder. “I believe you. We can even be on the same team, if that makes you feel better. I’ll talk to the boys, I’m sure they will understand the situation.”
“Daisuke.”
“I have no doubt you can do this. It’s clear to me how much you love soccer. It’s not something that happened only because you were the Kaiser. You started playing before that.”
“That’s true, but the dark seed was already in my body.”
Suddenly Daisuke grabbed him by the hand and dragged him towards the field. “Come on.”
Ken went to his bag to put his soccer ball away after the match. There was a large grin on his face as he realized things weren’t as bad as he thought they would. It didn’t take long for Daisuke and his usual cheerfulness to join him.
“That was a good match.”
“It really was.” The blue haired boy sat down and took a long sip of his water. “We make a hell of a good duo, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely!” Daisuke said excitedly. “No one can stop us.”
Ken couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s right. Thanks for believing me and pushing me to go for it. If I wasn’t for you, I’d probably have turned around and gone home.”
“See, that’s why you needed me to be with you today. You didn’t turn around and actually had a lot of fun.”
“True that.” He nodded. “It’s all thanks to you.”
“Now you believe you actually love it and it’s not just something you did because of the Kaiser?”
“I do.” He stood up and put his bag over his shoulder. “I will definitely play again.”
“That’s the spirit!” Daisuke put his arm over his shoulders and they walked away. “By the way, do you want to sleep over tonight?”
“Won’t your parents mind it?”
“Absolutely not! They love you.”
“In that case, let’s go.”
****
“You’re so talented at it, you make it seem so easy. It comes so naturally to you.”
“All these years of practicing must count for something.” Takeru said when he landed on the floor after jumping to throw the ball into the basket. “It’s not difficult though.”
“You’re joking, right?” Ken asked shocked as he watched his friend walk to the ball and picking it up.
“Not completely though.” The blonde threw the ball at him. “The concept for basketball is pretty simple.”
“I know, but I just can’t get it into the basket.” The boy looked at it and then to the basket across him. “I guess I’m just not tall enough for this game.”
“There are short people playing basketball. In fact, there are short players on NBA.”
“Really? I thought there was a minimum height or something.”
“No.” Takeru couldn’t help but laugh. “There’s no such thing. Everyone is welcome to play, no matter how tall or short. I’m curious about something though.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you decide to learn to play basketball?”
“Oh, I wanted to try a different sport, I suppose. Soccer can get pretty boring after a while.”
“How long have you been playing it?”
“For about seven years, maybe.”
“That’s half of your life.”
“Exactly. Hence why it got bored. Not to mention that’s all Daisuke wants to play and he drags me along every single time.”
Takeru laughed again. “So typical of Daisuke to do this.”
“Tell me about it. You were lucky you already knew him and chose a different sport.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to take my chances.”
“On a serious note, why did you choose basketball?”
“Honestly, everything happened so fast I barely had time to process. I was playing alone one day while I waited for my brother to finish practicing with his band. The basketball coach had walked in to get something and saw me playing. He thought I was very talented and thought I should try to make it to the team. And I didn’t have a club yet, so… here I am.”
“That’s a great story. Do you want to pursue it professionally?”
“No.” Takeru shook his head. “I want to be a writer.”
“Really? That’s so cool! A novel writer?”
“Maybe in the future. There’s just thing I’m planning, but it’s a secret.”
“Got it.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright.”
Takeru stood up and started bouncing the ball. “So do you still wanna play or what?”
“Alright.” Ken followed him suit and got in a defense position.
“You should know I’m not taking it easy on you because you’re learning.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to.” He replied in the same playful tone, but failed to keep his friend from scoring a two-point ball. “See, this is why I shouldn’t play basketball.”
“Don’t say that, it’s only your first time playing. You’ll get better at it within time.”
“Sure, if you don’t mind wasting years with that.”
“Come on.” Takeru threw the ball at him. “It’s your time to score.”
“Okay, here I go.”
****
“Isn’t it too slippery?” Hikari asked unsure as she watched the skating rink in front of her. “It seems to be polished.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
Ken walked into the rink first and almost fell down. Normally she would have laughed about it, but that only made her more terrified.
“I’m so not getting in there.”
“Come on, Hikari, it’s not that bad at all.” He approached her and leaned over the rail that separated both sides. “See? I can already stand up.”
“Who guarantees you won’t fall down again? You’re holding onto this rail.”
“See?” He released his hands from it and skated backwards, holding his hands in front of his chest with their palms facing her.
“Can you tell him to stop trying to give me a heart attack?” Hikari begged Takeru when he stopped beside her to put on his own rollerblades.
“I could, but I actually agree with him.” He replied with a smirk and quickly stood up. It didn’t take him long to be seemingly floating on the rink. “Come on!”
“You two and your habit of wanting to try out every sport out there.” Hikari pretended to be annoyed, but laughed.
“You’re lucky Taichi isn’t here.” The blonde said. “It would be way worse.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She walked to the gate that led to the rink. “Okay, here I go.”
As she started to skate carefully around the rink, she thought it wasn’t as hard as she thought. That was, until Ken scared her from behind.
“What the hell were you doing?” She shouted when she turned around after she screamed so loud everyone else looked at them. “Don’t ever do that again!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, immediately holding her hand.
“We could have just gone bowling instead, but no one listened to me.”
“Skating is so much more fun though.”
“When you know how to.”
“It’s not a problem at all. We can teach you.”
“Okay, I guess.”
“I gotta say this place is really cool, Ken.” Takeru joined them after skating around the rink for a while. “I love this disco vibe… the neon colors and the music are amazing. I didn’t know you liked these kind of things.”
“Not exactly. I mean, it’s a cool place, but the music isn’t exactly my type. I figured you’d enjoy it.”
“I have to admit it’s really a nice place.” Hikari stated. “Okay, there’s something I need to say.”
“What is it?”
“I actually know how to skate.”
“What?” Ken asked shocked. “So was this all acting?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I wanted to know if you’d be a good teacher.”
“You knew about this?” Ken turned to Takeru.
“She’s one of the best ones I’ve seen. She bribed me not to tell you, by the way.”
“What the hell?” She jokingly punched him in the arm. “You said you weren’t going to say it!”
“I’m sorry, it slipped.”
“Well…” She skated away from them and then turned around, stretching her arms and smiling. “Who’s up for a small competition?”
****
The sun was starting to raise and it was a little after 6 a.m. that Tuesday morning. Most people were getting up at that time, and some were already out. That was Ken’s case. He had recently started jogging very early in the morning, as part of his preparation to be a detective. Being agile wasn’t a requirement for the job, but he thought it would be better to be safe than sorry. He’d usually do it on his own, but that day he had run into one of his fellow Chosen Children.
“Yamato?” He called his name when he was near enough. “I didn’t know you were into jogging.”
“Ken, hi.” Yamato looked over his shoulder when he got near. “Yeah, astronauts have to be in really good shape, so… I thought this would go well with gym and everything.”
“I see.”
“What about you, though? It will sound ironic, but isn’t it too early for you to be out here running?”
“It does sound ironic.” Ken couldn’t help but laugh. “My reasons are pretty much the same as yours. I mean, it’s not something obliged for us, but I thought it’d come in handy. Besides, turns out I actually enjoyed running so early in the morning and watching the sunrise, or sort of.”
“I know what you mean. Hikari didn’t want to come with you?”
“I actually didn’t invite her. She’s so busy with college and all, I didn’t want to bother her with this.”
“That’s sweet of you, but I’m sure she’d love to join you.”
“I know she would. I’m just not brave enough to invite her because of what I’ve just said.” Ken took a deep breath and drank some of his water. “What about Sora though? I heard she likes seeing the sunrise sometimes.”
“Yes, she does.” Yamato smiled. “Sometimes she comes with me, but today she wasn’t able to. She has a fashion show coming soon and wants to get everything started soon, in case something happens in the meantime and there’s time enough to fix it.”
“It’s good to be safe.”
“That’s true.” He also drank a sip of his water. “So I just thought of something.”
“What is it?”
“I think today wasn’t a coincidence. I think we were meant to run into each other, so I was thinking if you’d like to go jogging with me.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Absolutely! It’s much better than jogging alone. Besides, we’d keep each other company and that would allow us to get close. But if you don’t want to, it’s perfectly fine.”
“No, no, I’d love to. I mean, if you don’t mind getting bored with me.”
“I think it won’t happen at all. I can’t wait for it actually, I think we have a lot in common.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes. More than you think.”
“Alright then. I’m looking forward to it already.”
“You know, we can start right now if you want to.”
“Let’s go for it then. You should know, I’m very fast. I need to be home by 7 to get ready for college and see Hikari before I leave.”
“Sure. I can’t stay much longer as well. Sora will be upset if I don’t take her obentou to college. So let’s go.” Yamato took off, closely followed by Ken.
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: My Partner
Characters: Ken Ichijouji, Wormmon, Hikari Yagami, Tailmon and Hana Yagami Ichijouji (OC).
Summary: 5 moments between Ken & Wormmon throughout the years.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken lied on his bed after returning from the Digital World for the first time ever. He couldn’t get over how amazing it had been, even with the fact Osamu caught him right away and confiscated his digivice saying it was his. He didn’t seem to mind, because he knew exactly when Osamu had put it and it was easy to get it. He was so happy about meeting his partner for the first time that nothing else seemed to mind. He rolled over and slumber overtook him.
The Digital World was absolutely breath-taking. Ken had never seen such a cute city before in his life. The Village of Beginnings – which he found out what it was called later on – smelled like baby powder, even though there were no human babies around. The seven-year old boy felt like he was stepping on a cloud; that was how soft the ground felt like.
As he was walking through the fluffy green carpet, soft and low lullabies echoed all over. His digivice glowed purple and vibrated in his hand, so he brought it up and stared at it.
“What’s going on?”
He looked around him, hoping to find something that was reacting just like his digivce, and quickly spotted a digitama glowing in the same purple tone. As he was getting closer, the color on both things got stronger until they were both flashing in bright purple.
Ken knelt down and grabbed the digitama in his hands, which immediately stopped glowing. He looked around, hoping to find someone who could help him on what to do next. But there was no one around.
“How am I supposed to hatch this?” He involuntarily rubbed it and a small crack appeared on its shell. “I guess I have my answer.”
Seconds later the digitama was fully hatched and its shell had turned into a crib. On it there was a light green Digimon with a large leaf hanging over his head and something that looked like a pink pacifier.
“Hello, Ken. We finally met.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Leafmon, your Digimon partner.”
“What? My Digimon partner?”
“That’s right. Every Chosen Child has one.”
“Chosen Child?” Ken grabbed his digivice and stared at it. “You mean, there are other children who own one of this?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”
The boy put his digivice in his pocket and proceeded to pick his partner from his crib.
“Nice to meet you, Leafmon.”
“Nice to meet you too, Ken.” He grinned and snuggled on his chest. “I’ve been waiting a few months for you. I’m glad you’re finally here.”
“You were waiting for me?”
“I could only get hatched with your help.”
“Oh.” The boy was surprised by it. “I’m sorry for taking too long to come find you.”
“It’s okay. You’re finally here. That’s all that matters.”
Ken couldn’t help but smile and held his partner tight against his body as he stood up. “Let’s get out of here, what do you say?”
“I say let’s do it.”
****
The cold breeze messed with Ken’s hair when he stepped outside his building that morning. He didn’t seem to mind at all though. In fact, he was just relieved everything was over and the Digital World was at peace again, as well as the Earth. He held Wormmon close to him and they crossed the street ahead.
“Ken, where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to a place I used to go with my friends from school before…”
He never got to finish his sentence and Wormmon looked up at him, curious to know what had happened.
“Ken.”
“I’m sorry.” He opened his eyes after shutting them tight.
“It’s over. You’re not that person anymore.”
“I know.” Ken nodded. “It still haunts me from time to time. It will take a little while until it fully goes away.”
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t come back again.”
“Thank you, Wormmon.”
“So where are we going?”
“You’ll find out very soon.” It was all he said for the rest of their way.
The duo soon arrived to a public soccer field near the Ichijouji residence in Tamachi. As expected, it was empty because of winter.
“Here we are.” Ken walked towards it and stopped right by its border. “This is where I used to play soccer almost everyday after class. I can’t even count how many times my mother had to come all the way here and beg me to go home. I could easily spend all night here.”
“You don’t talk to them anymore?”
“Not really. I lost touch with them after I became obsessed with the Digital World and thought it was just a videogame.”
“Well, it’s never too late to start over. It hasn’t been that long since it happened, has it?”
“It hasn’t, but I just… I don’t know.”
“So you and your friends came here to play soccer?”
“Mostly, yes. We’d get to caught up on it we didn’t want to play anything else. Now I’m just not that sure if I’m actually good at it or it was because of the dark seed I used to have on the back of my neck.” Ken absentmindedly touched it, as if he was expecting to find it there or something.
“I’m pretty sure you’re good at it. You’re good at everything you do. I’ve seen it with my eyes.”
“Thanks, Wormmon.”
“Aren’t you gonna play?”
“No, it’s too cold for that. Besides, you can’t really play soccer alone.”
“You can call Daisuke. I’m sure he’d come here.”
“Nah, he lives far and is probably with his family. Let’s just go back home.”
“Alright. But Ken…”
“What is it?” He looked down at his partner.
“You can still play with Daisuke. I’m sure he will love to.”
“Maybe.” He looked back up. “We’ll see how it goes next time we see each other, whenever that will be.”
“So call him and change that.”
“I’ll think about it. Let’s go home.”
****
Ken stood in the sidewalk and looked up towards the campus. There were a bunch of stairs to climb to reach the building, but he decided to sit down and relax for a few minutes before going to class. He couldn’t help but notice there was a large number of people with Digimon partners, and some of them even brought them to class. There hasn’t been a single one of them who didn’t smile at him automatically when they spotted Wormmon with him.
“Ken, you have a lot of friends already.”
“They’re not my friends, Wormmon. They’re only smiling at me because of you, actually.”
“What?”
“That’s right. It’s all because of you, because we have a partner, something in common.”
“Ken?”
He immediately turned around when his name was called and saw Hikari coming up the stairs towards them. “Hikari? What are you doing here?”
“I made you lunch and wanted to give it to you before I go to college.” She smiled warmly as she handed him a pile wrapped in a green napkin.
“Wow, thank you so much.” He stood up after picking it up from her hands. “Aren’t you going to be late for class because of it, though?”
“No, don’t worry about it. I still have some time. College isn’t that far from here, as you know.”
“I do. So I can take you and then come back.”
“No, you don’t have to. It’s perfectly fine, I can go on my own. Tailmon is in my bag in case I need her.”
“You brought her?”
“Of course.” Hikari opened her bag and showed her partner to her boyfriend. “She didn’t want to be alone at home. I mean, without me.”
“I see. Hello, Tailmon.”
“Hi.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to college?”
“No, I’ll be fine.” She walked to him and stared into his blue eyes. “But you’re definitely more than welcome to pick me up later.”
“I will do that.” Ken couldn’t help but smile and placed his hands on her hips. “If I let you go, that is.”
“Well, I guess I can stay five more minutes. But not more than that.”
“I’ll take what I can have.” His hands slid to her back and he pulled her towards him, meeting her lips halfway in a passionate and slow kiss.
After about five minutes Hikari had left to her college, Ken and Wormmon finally made their way upstairs towards his building. The green package gently swinging with his movements. He looked up at sky, paying attention to its light blue color and the few clouds kilometers away from him.
“Ken?” Wormmon called his name a few meters away and the boy looked down at him. “Aren’t you gonna come? If we don’t hurry, we’re gonna be late for your first class. I’m sure you don’t want this.”
“Right.” He looked down at the ground briefly and let out a warm smile. “Let’s go.”
“You seem happy.”
“You think so?” Ken bent down and picked his partner up and they walked in together.
****
Ken stepped into the grass with his bare feet. He didn’t really like the itchy feeling from it on his feet, but sometimes he’d let himself experience that sensation. That day was one of them. The fresh countryside breeze passed by him, messing his short blue hair gently. He inhaled the scent of dew from a typical fall morning in the woods and stepped further in the small green area in the back of the house. It didn’t take long for Wormmon to join him.
“The weather here is so nice, isn’t it?” He said cheerfully beside his partner. “It’s perfect.”
“Yes, it is. It’s refreshing. I didn’t know I need it until we came here.”
“So it was actually a good idea to follow Hikari’s suggestion, huh?”
“You can say that again.” Hikari’s voice echoed from the back porch and the duo looked over towards her. “It was hard to convince him to come here. He’s not really the type to get away for the weekend.”
“Okay, I deserve that.”
“It took the doctor to say it’d be good for our child and their mom to spare for him to agree to come.” She removed her flip flops and stepped into the bright green grass with a large smile on his face.
“Ken!”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly my ideal place to spare.”
“Then what’s it?”
“The city.”
“Your ideal place to spare is the city?”
“That’s right.” Ken nodded. “When I need to spare I go jogging for longer that than I usually do.”
“You could try talking to someone too.” Hikari sat on the grass and hugged her knees. “That’s also very helpful.”
“That’s the teacher talking.” He remarked with a grin.
“Well, my students love it. So I don’t understand your complaint.”
“I’m not complaining.” He grabbed a small rock near him and threw it away. “Isn’t it humid for you to lie down?”
“No, it’s actually perfect.” Hikari moved her focus from the light blue sky above to her fiancé. “You should try it.”
“Nah, I think coming here is enough for me.”
“Being in touch with nature is good too. Come on, try it.”
“Hikari is right, Ken.” Wormmon spoke. “You’re gonna have to give in into this eventually, when your child arrives.”
“I know.” He was reluctant for a moment and then lied down next to his fiancee. “Alright.”
“So how does it feel?” She looked at him while gently rubbing her slight growing belly.
“I have to admit you were right. It feels good.”
“Does that mean you’re willing to come here or any other place closer to the nature for a small trip?”
“I don’t know. There’s a possibility.”
“I have a feeling our son or daughter will love these places, so you don’t really have a choice.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to accept it then.” He turned his head to look at her.
“That’s right.” She stroked his cheek softly before leaning over and kissing him briefly.
****
“Hana, stay where we can see you.” Ken said when he noticed his four-year old daughter was going too far.
“But, daddy, the butterfly is flying away.”
“What butterfly, sweetheart?”
“The blue one that was on a flower. We need to go after her.” Hana ran to him and grabbed his hand, trying to pull him up. “Let’s go, daddy.”
“Wait a minute, Hana. We need to clean things up here first.”
“No, we can come back later. Please, daddy.” She looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Alright, let’s go.” He turned to Hikari when he heard her reacting to the whole situation and noticed a smile on her lips. “What?”
“She completely dominates you. She just look at you like that and knows she wins you.”
“She does not.”
“She just did.”
“I… I…” Nothing he said would prove her wrong.
“I knew you’d see it as well.”
“How can I say no to her? She’s our daughter.”
“It isn’t easy, but you’ll learn it eventually.” She stood up and looked at him. “We’re ready to go here.”
About five minutes later, the couple arrived at where Hana was with Wormmon and Tailmon. She was knelt down near a flower watching curiously the butterfly she was staring at earlier.
“Ken, look at this.” Wormmon said proudly and looked at his partner. “Hana loves bugs.”
“Yeah, I can say that.” Ken replied with a smile and knelt down beside his daughter. “Is that the butterfly you were talking about earlier?”
“It is. Isn’t it pretty, daddy?”
“It’s a beautiful one, yes.”
“Daddy, can we take it home?”
“I’m sorry, Hana, but no. This butterfly lives in the nature. We can’t take it away from there, it won’t survive.”
“So we’ll have to leave her here?”
“That’s right.” Hikari bent over and placed her hands on her knees. “It may not seem like it, but she’s much better here. Believe me.”
“Mommy, can we get a puppy?”
“I don’t think so, sweetie. Me and your father work all day and we won’t have time to take care of a puppy properly.”
“Daddy?”
“Hikari, can’t we talk about this?”
“Are you gonna take care of a dog?”
“I’m sure we can figure something out.”
“Not right now, I’m sorry. Hana is too young to take care of a pet alone. Maybe in a few years we can talk about it again.”
“Okay.” Ken picked the girl up and placed her on his shoulders. “A balloon would be good though, right?”
“Absolutely. A balloon is okay.”
“Can I get to choose which one I want?”
“Of course.” He looked up at her with a smile.
Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Title: Kindness (and the lack of it)
Pairing: Ken/Hikari
Characters: Ken Ichijouji, Wormmon and Hikari Yagami
Summary: Ken's relation with his crest, for better and worse.
Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN
Ken looked at the drawing of his crest in his hands. Kindness. It had been a few months since he had to use it to save the Digital World and a couple more since Daisuke and the others defeated the Digimon Kaiser, but he still couldn’t understand why he was given that crest. After all suffering and pain he had made a lot of Digimon and his now fellow Chosen Children go through, he didn’t think he was worthy of such a virtue.
“Ken, what are you thinking about?” Wormmon lifted his head beside his partner and looked into his eyes. “That’s a beautiful drawing. Did you draw it yourself?”
“No.” He replied quietly without taking his eyes from it. “Hikari did.”
There was a palpable pause, during which Ken bit his lower lip and contemplated to speak out what was on his mind with his partner.
“She’s good at it, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s very talented. Wormmon?”
“What is it, Ken?”
“If I ask you something, will you promise to be honest with me?”
“Of course. I thought you weren’t going to ask.”
“Wait, you knew I was going to ask you something?” Ken looked at him surprised.
“Absolutely. I know you better than you think.”
The boy couldn’t help but smile and felt like a lot of weight was taken away from his shoulders. When he thought about it, it didn’t seem so surprising that Wormmon knew it beforehand. It’s a known fact humans and Digimon partners had a strong bond.
“What were you going to ask me?”
“Do you think I deserve the crest of kindness?”
“Definitely. There isn’t anyone else worth of it than you. It’s perfect for you.”
“I’m not sure about it.” He shut his eyes hard and winced at the mere thought of hurting other Digimon in the past. “I captured Taichi’s Agumon and turned him evil. I made him fight his friends. I’m not worthy this crest.”
“Yes, you are.” Wormmon climbed on his body and stared into his eyes with determination. “They have forgiven you and you made peace with your past a few months ago. You’ve moved on and is trying to be a better person and to make up for what you did.”
“That’s true, but it isn’t easy to forget sometimes. It’s hard to look at them knowing it’s all my fault. I don’t deserve their sympathy.”
“They all know by now there was someone else behind the Digimon Kaiser. Everything changed and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until they trust you.”
“I hope so.”
“I have absolutely no doubt you will all be friends within time, and it’s going to be sooner than you think.”
“I wish I could be as optimistic as you are.”
“You will get there, I’m sure. But Ken… I never doubted you, not even for a second. I’ve always known this lovingly and sweet boy was hiding somewhere all along and now he’s finally here.”
“Wormmon.” Ken couldn’t help but smile kindly and felt his shoulders relax.
“I love you, Ken. I know you feel like some things were your fault, but they really weren’t. And if you need someone to hold your hand and help you go through it, I’ll be right here to go through it with you. I didn’t let go back then and I’m not doing it now.”
“Wormmon.”
“You deserve to be happy. No one should be punished for something they had no idea they were doing for the rest of their lives. They deserve the chance to move on and learn from them, if they truly regret it.”
“You’re right.”
“So if you need to, you should make peace with your past one more time. Maybe it’ll make you feel better about it.”
“I guess so.” He shrugged, unsure.
“Why don’t you get some rest? It’s late.”
“I’ll try.” Ken turned on his side and stared at the window across his room. “Good night, Wormmon.”
“Good night.”
****
“Ken?” Wormmon walked out his bedroom and joined his partner in the balcony. “What are you doing here? It’s too cold.”
“Is it? I haven’t realized it.”
“Here.” He climbed over the boy and put a warm blanket over his shoulders. “It’s not the ideal, but it should keep you warm a little.”
“Thanks, Wormmon.” Ken smiled gently at his Digimon and fixed the blanket over him.
“So what are you doing out here?”
“I was just thinking about the kids with the seeds. I feel like I have to do something. I can’t help but feel responsible for their situation.”
“But it’s not your fault, Ken. They are being used by Oikawa just like you were.”
“Another reason why I have to protect them no matter what. Who knows what can happen to do if he gets what he wants?”
“We’re not gonna let that happen, I promise. And I’m sure neither will the rest of the Chosen Children. We’re gonna find a way to turn things around.”
“I know, but…” Ken stopped talking and looked over his shoulder when something inside his room started making noise. He realized right away his phone was ringing and buzzing over his desk. He quickly grabbed it and sat on his bed. “Hello?”
“Hi, Ken.”
“Hikari, is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything’s fine. I just wanted to check on you. I’ve seen how much you were affect about the children.”
“We all did, to be honest.”
“That’s true, but you were more than us. Hold on a second.” Hikari did something on her phone. “I think it worked.”
“It did.” Takeru’s voice echoed in his bedroom. “Hello, Ken.”
“Hi.”
“Takeru and I were talking and we’re worried about the kids, so we decided to go talk to Noriko’s parents tomorrow. Maybe it will help.”
“That’s right. And we wanted to know if you’d like to come along.”
“You want to talk to her parents?”
“At this point we need to try everything we can.” Hikari spoke. “I’d rather try and fail than not trying at all and seeing Oikawa and his troupe get away with it without consequences.”
“If you don’t want to, it’s fine too.”
“Exactly. We understand it’s a tough subject for you.”
“No, no. I do.” Ken said firmly. “What time are you planning on going?”
“At 9 a.m. It’s not that early, but it’s not late either.”
“Great. Count me in.”
“Cool.”
“Eh.. Ken?” Hikari said unsure and bit her lower lip.
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I mean, you can count on us if you need. You know that, right?”
Takeru couldn’t help but smile. “It’s her way of saying she’s worried about you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“Alright. Have a good night.”
“Good night.”
****
Ken was making his way out of college that Friday. He was supposed to meet Hikari, so they could go Christmas shopping together. He was waiting for her when he spotted a woman seemingly being harassed by a few boys men in the sidewalk.
“Hey!” He said firmly and loudly when he approached them. “Leave her alone.”
“Mind your own business, old man.”
“What did you call me?” He grabbed the man’s collar and forced him to look at him.
“Chill out, man. We weren’t doing anything bad.”
“Do you even hear yourself right now?” He ground his teeth and hissed. “You all were harassing this woman.”
“Ken?” Hikari’s voice echoed in his ears and he loosened the man’s collar a little, but still held it. “What’s going on?”
“Hikari, it’s not…”
“Were you fighting these guys?”
“No, no.” He stood up and fixed his black shirt. “I was just warning them. Shall we go?”
“Sure.” Hikari pressed her lips together, clearly not believing a word he had said.
Hikari was quiet the whole way to the mall, but Ken knew quite well she was still thinking about what she had witnessed fifteen minutes ago.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. No, actually, I do. Those boys were harassing that woman and I couldn’t stand still and ignore it.”
“I get it, but did you have to beat them?”
“I didn’t beat them.”
“You were going to, had I not arrived at that moment.”
“I’m sorry. I lost my mind, it won’t happen again. I promise.” He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly.
“Okay, I believe you.” She smiled kindly at him.
“Good, because I don’t like fighting with you.”
“I don’t like it either.”
They didn’t realize they were staring at each other until the driver behind them honked and Ken turned his attention to the traffic ahead. Hikari couldn’t stop laughing at what had just happened, and it didn’t take him to long to join her.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Hikari asked when they walked into the mall together. “I know you don’t like Christmas shopping that much.”
“I like Christmas shopping, I just don’t like spending hours and hours choosing what to buy.”
“Well, today is your lucky day then. Your girlfriend doesn’t like it either.”
“That should make things easier then.” Ken placed a hand on her hip and touched her right cheek with the other one. “Once we’re done choosing each other’s presents, how about we go to the movies or something?”
“That sounds perfect to me.” She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I have a condition though.”
“What condition?”
“We’re gonna buy hamburgers, fries and milk-shake from a fast food store?”
“You want me to ditch my diet?”
“We can go jogging a little more over the week to make up for it. Besides, we barely eat junk food.”
“You have a good point. Alright, let’s do it.”
“Great.” Hikari stood on her toes and kissed him briefly. “We can meet in front of the fountain in about an hour and a half?”
“That sounds good to me. Try not to miss me that much.”
“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try.” She smiled.
****
Ken started going through some stores, looking for the perfect Christmas presents for Hikari. They haven’t set a price limit, but he decided to spend about 2500 yen on them. He thought it should be enough to buy two or three presents. So first he stopped by at a stationery store and bought her a very beautiful agenda he’s seen. She’d been getting a new one each year since she started college, so she wouldn’t forget her exam dates or assignments dates. He counted the change and had more than enough to buy her two more presents.
Next, he went to a clothing store to see if he could find something Hikari’d like. She loved wearing winter hats during the season and had quite a collection of them, but he still thought another one would be nice. He found a lilac one that would match her pink coat perfectly. He still had quite some money, so then he went to a bookstore and bought two books she’d be eager to read, but haven’t yet.
****
After buying everything he wanted to, he headed to the fountain to wait for her. There was a coffee shop near where he was and the smell of hot black coffee filled his nostrils. It didn’t take long for Hikari to arrive with a couple of bags too, as well as a bag from a fast food and two cups of milk-shake. Ken stood up the moment he saw her.
“You bought it already?”
“Yeah, I passed by one and thought ‘why not?’ Thank you.” She added when he grabbed the cups of milk-shake from her hands. “I hope I got the one you wanted, by the way.”
“You did.” He took a sip of his vanilla and strawberry drink. “I think we should take these bags to our car, so we don’t have to carry them around.”
“Oh.” Hikari looked at her hands, feeling a little stupid for not thinking of it beforehand. “I should’ve really waited to buy food. Now they’ll freeze when we go outside.”
“Don’t worry.” Ken grabbed the bags she was holding and then handed her his milk-shake. “I’ll take them to the car. I’ll be right back.”
“But…”
“It’s much warmer here. I don’t want you to risk getting sick.”
“Okay, I’ll be here.”
****
Hikari was spreading her Christmas’ presents under Ken’s tree when he walked in. She stood up the following second and smiled widely at him, holding a large package wrapped in a Holiday themed red paper.
“Can we exchange gifts now? I’m really curious to know what you think of what I got you.”
“How much was it?”
“What?” She blinked a few times, taken completely by surprised. “Does it matter?”
“I just wanted to know if it didn’t cost more than we established when we went shopping for them.”
“We didn’t establish how much we were going to spend on them. Why are you worked up with them, by the way?”
“It’s just money that could be well spent.”
“It was well spent though. It was spent on you. Also, what’s going on with you? You were never this greed before.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just thinking ahead.”
“Ken,” She put the package away and grabbed his hands softly. “I completely get it and agree with you, but it’s Christmas. It’s okay to spend a little more on yourself or on people you love. Of course you’ll have to be reasonable and not spend all your money, but it’s okay to let loose.”
“You’re right, you’re right. I feel stupid now.”
“Don’t feel. We’re all learning here.” She grabbed the present and handed to him. “Come on, open it. I think you will like it.”
“Okay.” Ken grabbed it and sat down next to the Christmas tree. He noticed she had done the same through the corner of his eyes. He tore the paper off and came across a full set of working out related stuff. “Wow, there are a lot of things to do exercise with here.”
“I know, I thought I’d put them all together in just one package. I thought they’d come in handy because you love jogging in the morning and in the ending of the afternoon too. Now you can have a suit just for that.”
“I don’t know what to say.” He put his hoodie over his thighs and looked at her, before leaning over and kissing her briefly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Hikari smiled and gave him the next gift.
“No, it’s your turn now.” He took it away and placed one of the presents he had bought in her hands.
“Alright.” She looked down and ran her hands through it. “I don’t even need to open this to know it’s a new agenda.”
“Sweetie, if you keep guessing it right before you open your gift will take away all the fun of it.”
“I’m sorry.” She laughed while she leaned over towards the second gift she got him. “I promise I’ll guess it wrong next time.”
“That’s much better.” He smiled and proceeded on opening his second Christmas present.
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