Land of Puzzles and Streams

Disclaimer: This is a small piece of work that I wrote for the Takari Week that I could not post, but that I really enjoyed writing, so I decided to share! I love the family dynamics that we have in Digimon and everything about these two siblings’ relationship!  Enjoy!

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“Dad as always is going to come home late.” Yamato said while putting a hand full of spaghetti pasta into the boiling water pot. “Is mom home?”

“I think by now she is. But she must be locked in the office writing some article for the newspapers. You know, the usual.”

“Those two have more in common than they would ever admit.”

“I guess you have a point.”

Takeru took a sip from the tin the Coca-Cola Yamato had given to him. “Maybe that is the reason why they are no longer together; they are too similar to stand each other.”

“It can be.” Yamato laughed a bit. “I am very proud of you for being able to talk about it so openly now. Not a long time ago you would dismiss the topic and pretend you didn’t hear my comment.”

“I’ve been making some progress. As time passed, I think I just accepted the fact that some things would never change, and I have been trying my best to heal from it the best way I can. Writing my feelings down help a lot.”  

“I understand.” Yamato bent down and took out of a wood drawer a jar with the word 塩 (salt) written in hand, and another with the word 黒胡椒 (black pepper). “Your therapy is writing, mine is creating music. I would never admit it to them, but some songs I have wrote are inspired by them.”

“There is beauty in transforming pain into art. At least their story can be signified as such.”

“Exactly. You thought that line yourself?”

“I have been practicing.” Takeru smiled shyly noticing how Yamato observed his sentence.

“I can tell.” Yamato carefully put a pinch of salt and black pepper in the pot where the pasta was boiling. “You said you wanted to talk about something on the phone. What could it be?”

“Oh…that. Well, I think I may need some… dating advice.” Takeru said and felt a sudden urge to hide himself under the table out of shyness.

“What?” Yamato turned around quickly to face his brother with his mouth wide open. He was still holding the jars.” Who is it?”

“Ah…” Takeru looked away and started to tap his hand on the table insecurely. “Do you think Taichi is the jealous type of brother… or would he be ok if I…?”

“Taichi? No way!” Yamato quickly pulled the chair next to him and noisily sat down in front of Takeru. “There is no way you are dating Hikari!”

“Theoretically, I am not…Yet. I invited her for a date on Saturday… and she said yes.”

“I see…” Yamato was speechless. “I mean, congratulations! How… did that happened?

“It is a very long story. But the thing is, I have never been on a date before, I am kind of nervous. I don’t exactly know what to do, how to plan… “

“You never asked a girl out?”  Yamato interrupted him.

“If I never told you, it's because it never happened.”

“Make sense.”

Yamato let the idea sink into his mind. Not that it wasn't something he had already imagined, or even discussed with Taichi himself. But they always joked about it, he was not prepared to face it in real life.

“So…” Takeru broke the silence. “You are going to help me…?”

 “Let me… finish dinner first. A few minutes and I can answer you. Now I am too busy being surprised.” Yamato stood up and went turning off the pan.

Takeru rolled his eyes and kept drinking the Coca-Cola.

Yamato finished cooking in few minutes and served it, making slight jokes about the topic they were discussing before.

They expressed the typicalいただきます(itadakimasu) before anything else.

“Now that I am calmer.” Yamato started trying to look as serious as he could. “What happened? And please hide unnecessary details I don’t want to know.”

Takeru laughed at this and took a few seconds to summarize everything that have happened on this mind. It was still fresh and some things he would admit did not have processed yet. But one thing he was certain of: He could not be happier.

 “You know, I have been receiving love letters from girls at school, and many of them confessed to me. I think I told you about this already.”

“Yes, I remember.” Yamato took the chopsticks and divided them, listening attentively.

“In the quickest way I can summarize this, another one was too much for us to keep pretending we did not care about it. Hikari distanced herself and it was unbearable for me. I knew it was hurting her, and we talked about it after class. And we kissed. I mean, I kissed her.”

“Basically, we two just needed a good excuse to stop playing dumb about how you feel about each other.”

“I can confirm that.” Takeru followed his brother in the previous act. Divided his chopstick as well.

“Well, I don’t think you need to do something incredibly complicated for your first date Takeru, really. Your friendship with her naturally evolved into love and I think you should keep things as light as possible. Without pressure, you know her since you were eight, just trust yourself and your feelings.”

“Oh wow, I never expected to hear it from you.” Takeru seemed kind of surprised.

“I know, I know. But after several years in a relationship, you start to think about things differently.”

“I can see it.”

“Just take care of her and your relationship properly. Everything will be ok.”

“I… don’t want to commit the same mistakes mom and dad committed you know.”

“They are a good example of not taking care of a relationship properly.” Yamato said with as much sincerity as he could. “Dad was never at home, and mom needed to work and take care of us alone most of the time. He was always too busy working. And she needed support. Not financially, but all the other kinds, and dad just let it go. They had a very deficient communication. All I can remember were they screaming their problems at each other, frustrated and confused.”

“I remember that too. And for some reason, I remember blaming myself for it, most of the time. I think dad never expected mom to actually… leave.”

“I felt that as well. I blamed myself not just for the screaming, but for the divorce. Mom just couldn’t take that it anymore.”

“I don’t want to… be like them.”

“We are not our parents, Takeru.” Yamato smiled at him, reminding the time he started to date Sora, when he had the same mental dilemma Takeru was having.” We were there, we know what happened, and we have the tools to do differently. “

“I know.”

September 4

Having the small cute Digimon pose as plush toys is one thing, but having the Gotsumon pose as statues in the classroom? Not so sure whether it's a good idea...

Iori & Gotsumon (02x04)

Gotsumon (02x04)

The abrupt ending of ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’ is the wake up call. The soldiers and the audience get slapped in the face with the realization of what’s really at stake here. China is being invaded. Villages are burning, civilians are dying, and this isn’t going to stop until the country is conquered or the invaders are defeated. This is not a fun musical, this is a major crisis.