Part 6: Fireflies
Koushiro tapped away at his laptop, a droning noise compared to the audio excitement provided by nature itself. He hummed away at some popular song, seeming to be in his own little heaven.
"I don't see how this is going to help us back with the others...", Sora sniffed prissily, glancing at the red-headed bliss-engulfed boy.
Someone had to tell Sora to lay off him, but it wasn't going to be Mimi; she had to stay on her good side.
"Can't you just enjoy this transcendant day?", Koushiro said, half atenttively, still punching keys.
Sora, although wondering what "transcendant" meant, just "hmph"-ed, and turned around, mapping their course, or making a plan of action, or something Taichi would've done if he were here.
Mimi ran her fingers through her hair absent-mindedly, as she did about a hundred times a day. Her long strands of light brown hair would've fallen out already on any other person, but Mimi had a strange luck of resisting baldness.
Koushiro had glanced absent-mindedly away from his laptop for a moment, but soon resumed his glazed stare.
The rest of the day passed this way, for the group: uneventfully. Later that night, they fell asleep among the tall grasses, under the bright and milky stars. For everyone in the savannah at a small run-down treehouse, it was not the same...
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Yamato had ran away, after he first saw Taichi, ran back to safety in his "home". The brunette boy had follwed him, but had not gone inside. He stayed at the foot of the massive tree for a few hours. Jyou had stayed a little back, not wanting to get involved. It didn't seem like a nice encounter, anyway. Hikari just wanted to see her friend Takeru, and she was upset that Taichi and Yamato's problems were getting in the way of that.
She called up, in her sqeaky little girl voice, "Yamato!"
He peeked out, not enough for Taichi to see, but enough for her to know he had heard.
"Yamato!", she called again, "May I come up and see Takeru?"
He hesitated, then realized she could do no harm, "Yeah...you can come up. He's...he's sick though, so Jyou, maybe you can help", he replied.
Taichi felt a blow to his ego that Yamato didn't want his help. Of course he wasn't studying medicine in school like Jyou, but...
Hikari climbed slowly up the tree, hoisting her fragile body up the whole way. Jyou, on the other hand, just seemed to stumble up.
She walked gingerly over to Takeru, who was lying on the makeshift bed, a basin of water by his side, his cheeks flushed, and his eyelids hanging softly down.
She kneeled beside him and smiled, reaching her hand out for him to hold on to. Jyou kneeled beside her, touching Takeru's forehead and feeling his heart rate.
He looked downwards, and whispered to Yamato, "He doesn't look well at all".
Yamato looked about ready to cry. He had tried to take care of his brother the best that he could, and...and now he becomes ill. It was all his fault...
Hikari cupped her hands and gave Takeru some water to drink; he looked happy, having his friend there. She brushed a bit of his hair off of his forehead, and pulled the mat closer around him.
Yamato decided to go down to the savannah and confront Taichi, after all, his sister was doing all of this for Takeru. His lanky body, shirtless as always, slowly made it's way down the tree. Taichi almost didn't seem to notice him, until he heard the soft thud of Yamato hitting the ground.
A few awkward moments followed, then. Yamato glanced to his elft, he wasn't ready to meet Taichi in the eye. It was as if on cue all of the fireflies, hidden in the grasses, had come out and flashed their illuminations on. Both boys' faces were tinted orange in the new light, and Yamato's hair looked a deep red.
Taichi pushed a loose peice of hair back into place and sighed, "Won't you at least look at me?"
Yamato's eyes glistened a little, and he chocked back the lump in the lump as he lifted his head up and said, "I never thought I'd never see you again".
Taichi blushed, "Is that a sort of 'I'm glad you came out and found me Tai-Tai' sort of thing?"
"You wish", Yamato said, glaring at him, his tear-stricken eyes becoming slanted, "I left for a damn good reason. Don't think this is over".
Taichi was taken aback, "Come on...that was a long time ago. can't we just go back to the way we were"?
"What?...Go to hell Taichi", Those were the last words the brunette boy heard, as the one he still loved ran off into the suffocating darkness.
"Yamato!", Taichi screamed as loud as he could.
The fireflies came up again, the grasses illuminated orange. They hit the moon's glow, causing an explosiong of light. The wind came up with it, pulling Taichi's hair in all directions. He screamed again, as if Yamato were deaf.
He ran with all of his energy, to Yamato, jumping on him and knocking him to the ground. He then noticed the blonde boy's red eyes and pained expression.
"You...you don't love me. You never have", he choked out. "Goddamn you".
Takeru lifted his head at the sound of screaming. He felt dead inside, his body weak, and frail. A tear found it's way down his cheek, a tear that met with Hikari's, as she hugged him up.
"Don't worry Takeru...you'll be alright. You'll be free of this soon. Then you'll come back with the rest of us, as we find our way back to the real world", she whispered.
"Thank you Hikari", he mouthed.
Jyou, in the corner, shut his tired eyes, and drifted off into sleep.
Hikari closed her eyes too, uttering a silent prayer for Takeru's well being, finally bowing before the open sky, hoping that whatever God was reigning tonight would hear her small request.
Hikari bent down, slowly, silently. She made the sign of the crucifix, then clasped her hands together. "God, it's Hikari. I haven't come to you that often, but this is one of those times when I need your help. Takeru is sick...very sick. I'm scared that he'll get worse. Please, please God, don't let him die. That's all I ask. He's my best friend, and I don't know how I could live without him. My own existence would mean nothing to me if he wasn't here anymore. He means so much to me...so much", tears were now falling down Hikari's cheeks, glistening in the moonlight, bright, electrified. "And also God, for Yamato's sake. He loves Takeru probably even more than I do. I still have Taichi and all, but Yamato...he'll have no one. So now you see why this is so important that you answer my small prayer. Please God, I have never wanted anything so badly in my life than Takeru's well-being...", she buried her tear-streaked face in her small hands, her crying now muffled. She lifted up her face again, her eyes set on Takeru, "Amen."
Takeru lay in his bed, the heat creeping up his body, as he could feel the infections suffocating him. He hoped, or Hikari's sake, that he would get better. He couldn't crush her beliefs with his own demise. No, demise was a horrible word. Takeru decided to keep some faith, in a time like this, he just might need it.
The world stood silent, save an occasional breeze through the treehouse. Yamato and Taichi never returned that night. Yamato was off on his own yet again. And Taichi was left wandering, hoping to come across something of knowing again. Something that couldn't get away so quickly. Something that would admit itself. Something...that could love him.
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