Author's Notes: Third in the AU series. Davis wasn't orginally this much of a clothes whore. I've been reading too much of Sugah's fics.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ken/Davis, Matt/Tai/Sora
Written: 2003 (I actually remember when I did this part)
Davis had decided that today was going to be a good day. It had dawned bright and cold. Cold enough that Davis had had to force himself to leave the warm covers of his cheap hotel bed behind. Cold enough that frost had formed crystalline patterns on the windowpanes. Cold enough to make Davis thankful he had brand new, really thick socks.
After the trip to his parent's apartment, he had gone shopping. Davis use to hate shopping. Shopping involved at least one of his parents and his sister, nagging and complaining, and would usually deteriorate into family fight before too long. The anger would last for a few hours, and was over by the time dinner was ready.
Things were different this time. This time Davis didn't have to worry about anyone but himself. There was no nagging about how that jacket wasn't sensible, or how those pants were too tight. No one told Davis he couldn't buy the red tank top that caught his eye because they were only shopping for winter clothes. Jun wasn't complaining because they hadn't spent more time in the shoe section, and his mother wasn't urging Davis to go ahead and find something so they could get back in time for dinner.
Most importantly, since it was his parent's credit cards that he was using, nothing was too expensive.
This meant that Davis had a brand new backpack full of brand new clothes, and not all of them were entirely practical.
Putting on new clothing was something Davis had never realized he'd enjoyed or missed. In the other world, most of his clothing came to him second hand. The town didn't offer him a large amount of money to maintain the lighthouse, so he had to be kind of thrifty at times. And while he had learned to mend and patch, actually making clothes was beyond him.
Besides most of the clothes on the island were made from plant fibers. Clothes in Japan were made of silk and leather and rayon and polyester and other stuff that seemed as fine as spider silk. To someone use to courser weaves, they seemed like heaven on earth.
But the best thing about the shopping trip, Davis decided as he paid his bill at the cheap hotel, was his new jacket. It was a leather bomber jacket. The lining was thick and warm, and it extended over the wide collar. The pockets had zippers, which was the coolest thing ever to someone who was constantly losing things.
It wasn't as cool as his favorite jacket had been. This new jacket was red and black with waves on the front and koi on the back, instead of being blue with flames along the bottom. Of course, the old jacket probably wouldn't fit him anymore. Davis sighed as he slung his backpack on.
Even though his favorite jacket had been tossed with the rest of his stuff, Davis had had his revenge. The jeans he was wearing weren't new. They were Jun's. In fact, every time his thoughts started to slide to something darker, Davis reminded himself of that fact. He could wear Jun's jeans. His sister had no hips. He could wear her jeans.
David had taken to singing that to himself under his breath. "I'm wearing your jeans. I'm wearing your jeans," over and over in a sign-song tone of voice. With every word, he could imagine the shocked look on Jun's face. It instantly made him feel better.
Outside the hotel, the sky was overcast and dark. It would probably sleet before the day was through. There were still people on the streets though because, well, there were always people on the street in Tokyo. So many people in such a small space set his teeth on edge. It was one of the things Davis had forgotten about the city.
He'd forgotten other things as well. How everyone seemed to be ruled by time here. How everyone seemed so impersonal and unconcerned with everyone else. How electronics and electricity and technology in general was everywhere, so much so that Davis found himself taking it for granted even though he'd spent six years without it. It was so easy to fall into old patterns and forget.
Davis had also forgotten how in Tokyo, if you walked around long enough, you'd eventually run into someone you recognized.
It was the hat that first caught Davis's attention as he moved through the crowd of people. There was nothing about the hat that should have caught his attention. It was a tan knit cap. They were pretty common on the streets at this time of year, but there was something that drew Davis to the person wearing it. Maybe something about the way they moved that was familiar to him.
When Davis was within a few feet of the person, he got a glimpse of pale hair and glasses. Recognition hit. "Yolei! Hey, Yolei!"
She paused, recognizing the name but no the voice. Then Yolei continued walking. Davis raced forward, dodging between people to get near her. He called her name again, and reached for her arm. Just as Yolei turned towards him, just as his fingers closed around her arm, Davis had the thought that this might be a bad idea.
After all, the last really clear memory he had of Yolei was of him bringing Ken's desk lamp down onto her skull.
"Let me go!" Those were all the warning Davis got before Yolei smacked him upside the head with her purse. True, those words should have been enough warning. Still when you hadn't seen someone for several years, the last thing you expected was for them to hit you.
"Hey! Ouch. OUCH!" Davis dropped to the sidewalk, ignoring the cold cement and shielding his head with his hands. Yolei continued to beat him. It dawned on him that he could probably defend himself if he needed. But this was Yolei, his friend. You just didn't attack your friends.
At least, you didn't when you were in control of your instincts.
"And don't touch me again, you pervert," Yolei yelled. She hit Davis one last time with her purse, and stalked off. A small crowd had gathered to watch the show. Staring at him on the ground. Davis looked up, laughed sheepishly, and said "I guess I had the wrong person."
The crowd for the most part dispersed and Davis got up off the sidewalk. "Okay. Note to self: do not grab Yolei any more. She has issues." A few people gave him looks. Davis quickly left the area.
*******************************************
The phone booth was small, cramped and smelled vaguely stale, but was also out of the wind and away from prying eyes. The bright green the older phones that had caught his eye. He'd gravitated towards it, suddenly remembering Ken's phone number and realizing he could call Ken before he wound up on his friend's front step.
"Hello, Ichijouji residence."
"Hi, can I speak to Ken?"
"I'm sorry, Ken doesn't live here any more. May I ask who's calling?" Davis nearly smacked his head against the wall of the phone booth. Of course Ken's not living at his parents. He's probably got an apartment somewhere by now. Idiot.
"Uh... Mrs. Ichijouji, this is..." Davis almost gave his real name, but caught himself just in time."... this is Cody." He winced. I hope Cody doesn't call Ken that often. "I am an old friend of Ken's. I was hoping to catch him there because I've lost the number to his new apartment."
Please let this work. Please. Please.
"Oh! I was afraid you were a reporter. We still get a few of them calling now and then," Ken's mom said. Her voice turned more personable, warm and almost welcoming, the second Davis had identified himself as an old friend of Ken's. "Hold on a second, let me get his number."
Silence followed. Davis used the time to frantically search for something to write on and something to write with. A quick scan of the floor of the booth produced a ballpoint pen sans cap. Some vigorous shaking produced ink all over his hands. Davis said a number of not nice words in three languages, all of which he had picked up on the docks of the island. He was about to look for paper when Mrs. Ichijouji came back on the line.
Oh well. The pen wrote well enough on his skin. Davis copied down Ken's phone number onto the back of his hand and dutifully repeated it back to Mrs. Ichijouji so she could make sure he had it right.
"Is that going to be all?"
"Um... I was wondering if I could get his address as well? I have Sunday free and was thinking of going to see him," Davis lied. It was nice to know he hadn't lost his touch.
"That would be wonderful. Ken doesn't get to see his friends very often. Let me find his address." Davis could hear what sounded like papers being moved. "Here it is." Davis wrote this information on the palm of his hand with a mental note not to wash his hands before he could copy it down on a piece of paper. Once again he repeated it back to make sure he had the address correct.
"Thanks Mrs. Ichijouji."
"Your welcome, Davis" There was a moment of tense silence where Davis hardly dared to breath. She knows! "I'm so sorry. I haven't done that in years. My apologies... was it Cody?"
"Y-yes. Cody. It's okay, Mrs. Ichijouji. Thank you for the information." Davis hung up the phone, not wanting to hear any more apologies.
The first thing Davis did was dial the number on the back of his hand. He used a prepaid calling card he'd stolen... borrowed from his sister. It had lots of pink and what looked like a small winged, stuffed animal on it. Way too girlie for his taste, but it still had some minutes on it and that's all he cared about.
An answering machine picked up. Ken's voice came on the line and Davis' breath caught in his throat. "You have reached the Ichijouji and Izumi residence. We can't come to the phone right now so if you will leave..." Davis hung up before the beep. What was he going to say? What message could he possibly leave?
Davis found he was shaking, strung tighter than the strings on the mandolin he'd left at the lighthouse. His earlier encounter with Yolei had shaken his confidence more than he wanted to admit, even to himself. How was he going to do this? Should he even do this? What was he going to say to Ken? He couldn't even get up the nerve to speak to Ken's answering machine. Would Ken even be happy to see him?
"Now is a great time to be thinking about this," Davis said to himself. "You can't really just leave a message for him telling his slightly insane friend is back and wants to meet up with him. You've got his address. Are you going to go?"
Davis looked down at the numbers and letters on his hand. He shut his eyes and took a shaky breath. He remembered the afternoon before Yolei came over, lying in bed with Ken, hesitantly touching his best friend. Being allowed to touch Ken like that, his hands shaking with how good it felt, how right. Scared that he was going to mess it up some how with his usual clumsiness. Davis remembered how Ken's breath had caught when his hands had touched bare skin. How he'd made a soft, needy sound when Davis's hands had drifted lower.
Was he really going to just turn around and give all that up because he was scared?
"I'm going."
*******************************************
"Hello, Kamiya residence."
"Hey, Mrs. Kamiya. Is Kari home or is she working tonight?"
"Good evening Yolei. Kari has tonight off. Let me go get her for you." Yolei waited with cell phone against her ear. She heard Mrs. Kamiya calling for Kari in the background. Then there was the sound of footsteps and someone picking up the phone.
"This is Kari." Yolei could hear that Kari was slightly out of breath.
"Hey, this Yolei."
"Hi Yolei." Kari sounded genuinely surprised and happy to hear from Yolei. "I haven't heard from you in awhile. How are you?"
"Yeah I've been working a lot. Trying to save up enough to move out. My parents are driving me crazy," Yolei said. She walked around her room, pushing over one of the many stuffed animals that were left over from her childhood.
"So what else is new?" Kari said with a small laugh. "My parents are worrying and complaining about my older brother. Again. You'd swear he never moved out the way they talk about it."
"What is this time? Are they complaining about the fact he moved out of the city or country or... wherever it is he moved? Or maybe the fact that he's still hanging out with Sora and what's his name? Matt? The "friendly" friends of his," Yolei said. Kari laughed again.
"No. Nothing like that. This time they're complaining that he doesn't write or call or visit enough. Typical parent stuff," Kari said. "So what's up with you? You usually only call when something's happened."
"Hey! I call other times as well," Yolei protested. There was a pause as she wandered to the window of her room. Frost was already beginning to form on the outside of the windowpanes. "Okay, fine. There is a reason I called. I had the strangest thing happen to me today."
"Oh?" Ever polite. Sometimes Yolei wished she was more like Kari.
"I was walking down the street running errands for my mom. Anyway, I heard someone call my name so I looked around. There was this guy in this truly awful jacket. It kind of reminded me of the one Davis use to always wear. In fact a lot of things about this guy reminded me of Davis, but I didn't really know him. I turned to just walk away but he grabbed my arm."
"He grabbed you? Yolei are you alright?" Yolei blinked at the concern in Kari's voice. Then she grinned.
"Yeah I'm fine."
"What did you do?"
"I beat him up with my purse."
"Yolei!" Kari was suitably shocked. Yolei grabbed a blanket off her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders while Kari talked. "You beat him up there on the street? And nobody stopped to help you?"
"I think they were more worried about him, whoever he was. I broke the strap to my purse I hit him so hard and so often. Do you want to go shopping with me for a new purse?" Yolei asked. Then she laughed, feeling better than she had in years. "It was great."
"Yolei..." Kari sounded torn between laughter and disappointment. "That's awful."
"I know. I know." Yolei wandered to her desk, pulling out an old photograph. It showed all of them from when they were only twelve, before everything had happened. Ken, Davis, Kari, TK, Cody and herself all smiling and laughing for the camera. "But... I never got a chance to see Davis after he tried to kill me. They were too afraid I'd set him off again. I never really got a chance to say anything to him afterwards."
"Davis didn't try to kill you, Yolei. They don't even know if he recognized you when he attacked," Kari said. It was something she had repeated several times over the course of the years. "It wasn't his fault."
Then who's fault was it? It sure as Hell wasn't mine. Yolei bit her tongue. "He may not have meant to kill me, but he put me in the hospital for a three weeks. And I still say he knew who I was when he attacked me." I can't prove it, but I know he did.
Yolei flopped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Anyway, it felt good to beat this guy up even if it wasn't really Davis. Like... I finally got revenge after all these years. Don't even start Kari. I know I shouldn't have held a grudge against him all these years. It wasn't Davis's fault. It still felt good even if it is wrong."
"I'm not going to say anything to you Yolei." There was a frustrated sigh on the other end of the phone. Yolei made a face that Kari couldn't see. "I just can't believe that you beat some random person up because you were mad at Davis after six years."
"This wasn't some random person, Kari. This was some guy who grabbed me on the street. I was defending myself. Really."
"Whatever Yolei." Then Kari let it drop, turning instead to a more neutral topic. "So you need to go shopping for a new purse? I'm off on Sunday if you want to meet up downtown."
"That sounds great. We can go out to lunch while we're downtown." Yolei said. She stared up at the ceiling. The sun was already set by this time, and the only light was from the man-made lights outside. Light pollution blocked all the stars and clouds blocked the moon. There was no reason to look out the window, so she had a habit of staring at her ceiling. Once she had put glow in the dark stickers up, mimicking the patterns in the sky. They had fallen off long ago.
"Where do you want to meet?" Kari asked. Yolei considered it for a few seconds.
"How about the dog statue at Shibuya Station?"
"Sounds good," Kari said. "I'll meet you at 10 then. We'll get some shopping in before we eat."
"I'll see you there," Yolei said. The two girls said their good-byes and Yolei hung up the phone. Then she laughed.
There had been no explanation forthcoming when Davis had tried to kill her. Everyone kept telling her that he hadn't known what he was doing. That he probably didn't even know who she was at the time. That he was in the institution and they were trying their best to make it better.
That hadn't made her feel any better. Yolei kept wondering if it was something she'd done to make Davis mad. She'd known Davis for seven years and he'd never had a problem expressing his anger before. What made this time different?
Then there had been the whole thing about not being mad at Davis. How was she supposed to not be mad at him? He'd tried to dent in her skull! So what if he was crazy? It didn't matter.
Yolei sighed, but then grinned. Beating the Davis substitute had given her closure on the whole thing. It had also given her an excuse to go shopping and get a new purse. All things considered, she really had a lot to thank him for.