some Daikeru for the soul
okay here's the gist of it
Daisuke has been in love with Ken since middle school
Ken asks out Miyako in his 2nd year of high school (her 3rd year). They become a couple
When Daisuke finds out, he pretends to be supportive, but he stays late after school crying in an empty classroom
Takeru finds him and after a difficult conversation, discovers that Daisuke was in love with Ken, and that Daisuke is bisexual
Takeru is the only person who knows this. They become closer friends because of this
And learning about Daisuke's sexuality becomes a catalyst for Takeru's own discovery
Takeru spends their 2nd and 3rd years in high school trying to figure out his sexuality. He realizes he is generally attracted to men
Takeru tells Hikari. Hikari is super supportive and is the only person who knows about Takeru's sexuality, other than eventually Yamato, who is also supportive
They graduate, and a year or so goes by
The 02 squad have a picnic in the Digital World one day (they try to get together once per season) and Wallace is there too. Takeru notices that Daisuke is being kind of flirty? with Wallace? He's acting like has a huge crush on Wallace. This rubs Takeru the wrong way, because he has a feeling Daisuke is going to get his heart broken again
Sure enough, Wallace casually drops into conversation that he has a girlfriend (which is why he just can't flirt with Miyako and Hikari anymore)
Takeru watches the color drain from Daisuke's face, and Daisuke's entire peppy demeanor seems forced after that
A few days later, Takeru goes to a gay bar. He gets hit on by some men, but none of them are really his type (he has no idea what his type is, and he wants to find out).
To figure out what he wants in a partner, Takeru makes a Tinder profile. And... almost immediately finds Daisuke's profile. Daisuke's profile is sort of interesting-- he's got some sporty photos and some fun ramen chef photos and even some cute photos with V-mon. And his profile is entertaining and very "Daisuke".
Takeru swipes right on a whim, thinking that there's no way in hell Daisuke would ever swipe right on him. He doesn't even like Daisuke in that way. He just... wants to be a little chaotic and see what happens
A few days later, Takeru gets a notification that he has a match on Tinder. He's had a few dozen of these over the past few days, so he ignores it for about an hour
But THEN he gets a text from Daisuke like "WHAT GIVES???"
Takeru's like ?????
Daisuke: Why did you swipe right on my profile, dude!??
Takeru: The only way you could know that is if you swiped right on mine 👀
Daisuke: 😳
Takeru: 😂
Daisuke: Am I the only one taking this seriously?? Are you even like... you know... I mean you don't have to tell me, but...
Takeru: I'm gay, Daisuke. And your profile was fun. I wanted to see what would happen
Daisuke: Well what's happening is that your stupid fedora pics are now seared into my brain
Takeru: You CHOSE to swipe right, Daisuke
Daisuke: Whatever
Takeru: You wanna grab dinner or something?
Daisuke: I guess I MUST want to grab dinner 'cause I'm CLEARLY into you because I swiped right
Takeru: 🤔
Daisuke: Fine, let's grab dinner
They grab dinner
They talk about Takeru realizing his sexuality back in high school, to which Daisuke says he wishes he knew, because he could have used a queer friend back then. Takeru says it was kind of because of Daisuke that he started thinking about his sexuality. Daisuke has no idea what to do with this information
Takeru asks Daisuke to dinner again, just for fun, and Daisuke agrees. They go out a few more times, as friends, and nothing really changes between them (nothing that they notice anyway)
At one point, they go to that gay bar Takeru tried out earlier, but they never seem to want to talk to anyone but each other
Takeru doesn't know why he's doing this, other than that it's fun to spend time with Daisuke.
Then they have another quarterly picnic with the rest of the 02 gang
Takeru and Daisuke think they are being subtle/normal, but pretty much everyone notices them flirting
Hikari catches Takeru alone and says she's really glad to see Takeru so happy with Daisuke. Takeru's like ?????
Hikari's like... aren't you dating Daisuke? I'm sorry, but it's really obvious that you like him
Takeru has an epiphany that he does like Daisuke. Maybe he's liked him for weeks, maybe he's like him for years. The only thing he can think to do is surreptitiously text Daisuke while they're still at the picnic, asking him to come over after they all go home
Daisuke looks up from his phone, raises his eyebrows at Takeru, and then grins at him
Daisuke shows up later at Takeru's apartment and Takeru feels a magnetic attraction to him. Takeru immediately pushes him against the wall. Daisuke's like oh hell yeah, and they make out
Daisuke: Dunno what took you so long, man. I told you weeks ago that I was into you
Takeru: You did?
Daisuke: And they call me oblivious. I told you when we first matched on Tinder! I said... wait hold on lemme find the exact text... "I guess I MUST want to grab dinner 'cause I'm CLEARLY into you"
Takeru: That was you telling me you were attracted to me? I thought that was weird texting sarcasm!
Daisuke: Take it or leave it, man
Thank you for reading my weird Daikeru thoughts today