"One Step Closer"
Author: zuzsenpai(reliablejoukido)
Relationship: Taichi Yagami/Yamato Ishida
Summary: Yamato’s love for Taichi generally stayed at a steady and manageable level. He saw his friend, he felt a tugging in his heart as Taichi joked around with him, and Yamato went home feeling satisfied that his life was better for having seen him. It didn’t need to be anything different or beyond that.
It didn’t need to be, but he occasionally wanted it.
Rated T; romance, friends to lovers, spoilers for Last Evolution Kizuna
Notes: So I had a dream about Taichi and Yamato, big deal. Except it did end up being a big deal because I couldn’t get them out of my head. This one’s dedicated to my best friend who’s been a Taiyama shipper since the dawn of time and is probably shocked that I wrote this.
Major spoilers for Last Evolution Kizuna.
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liberty
characters: taichi and yamato
summary: while yamato is attending a space program in America for the summer, taichi comes to a realization.
a/n: this is an old draft i forgot to post; i haven't written anything new. stay hydrated and happy! also on AO3.
It had been twelve days and seven hours since he had last seen Yamato.
Not that Taichi was counting.
“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Yamato had said, an unusual sparkle in his eyes. Taichi couldn’t bring himself to argue with him.
As a result of hard work and excellent grades, Yamato had been awarded a summer internship at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. All expenses would be paid for, and Yamato couldn’t turn down a good deal.
Once the twelve of them had gathered in the crowded airport, Taichi had to fight the tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Yamato for what felt like the last time
It was only for the summer, he reminded himself.
Still, his heart strained uncomfortably in his chest as Yamato’s mop of blond hair slipped further and further away.
It had been twelve days and seven hours since he had last seen Yamato, and Taichi was about to crack.
The air conditioner hummed pitifully in the corner of his apartment. Though the one bedroom, one bathroom apartment had always been small, the rooms felt stifling in the summer heat. Listlessly, Taichi flipped through an old issue of Sports Illustrated. Across the pages, men that were having a lot more fun than Taichi flashed brilliant smiles. The sunshine didn’t bombard them, but embraced them, a thin sheen of sweat highlighting their rugged cheekbones and emphasizing the blueness of their eyes.
Taichi shook his head. Their eyes weren’t that blue. Yamato’s were more crystalline, shimmering with depth and hue.
Taichi shook his head again. The heat had gotten to him, turning his thoughts to mush and quickening his pulse.
Peeling himself from the comforter, Taichi dressed quickly. Basketball shorts and a tank top were all he was willing to put on underneath the harsh Odaiba sun.
Outside, birds twittered mockingly. Their melodious conversations reminded him of late-night talks with Yamato, their voices muffled by phone speakers and sleep.
Their first year in college proved to be tougher than either of them had thought. Together, they would hole up in Taichi's cramped apartment, boxes of take out stretching between them.
"You know," Taichi began one night, mouth loosened from alcohol or laughter. A half-finished midterm paper glared up at him from his laptop. "I hope all of this work is actually worth it in the end."
Yamato glanced up from his math worksheet. Numbers and letters combined in a way that made Taichi's head hurt, so he looked away, focusing on the way Yamato's eyebrows bunched together in thought.
"As long as you enjoy the journey, any outcome is worth it, you know?"
Yamato's eyes stared into Taichi's for a beat too long. An anxious fluttering erupted in Taichi's stomach, an oddly-placed cough doing little to ease his tension.
Something pulled in Taichi's chest, a gravity urging him closer to blue eyes and the whisper of a smile.
Instead, Taichi cleared his throat.
"Well, I'm glad math isn't a part of my journey."
His voice sounded faint in the otherwise quiet room. Yamato merely snorted, turning back to his worksheet, the moment passing by as Taichi struggled with his courage.
In the present, Taichi wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. Passerbys glanced at him, nearly-grown and half wild with regret. Sweat beaded at his temples, the throngs of people overwhelming his senses.
Taichi felt his sneakers guide him away from the sidewalk, leading him beneath the wide branches that caressed the edges of his busy district.
With shade providing minimal comfort, Taichi ran his fingers carelessly through his hair. Despite the heat, his body had too much energy; his mind was too cluttered to think clearly.
Taichi turned himself around, his tacky skin pulling against the clothes of strangers as he hurried by. Once his apartment was in sight, his tanned legs broke into a run, lips curled downward in concentration.
A weak wave of lukewarm air greeted Taichi as the front door swung open, but the heat was now his least concern.
Yamato, his Yamato, was a world away, probably spending his free time with a different, braver brunette who wouldn’t be afraid to kiss his best friend on the lips whenever he felt like it.
With a groan, Taichi hastily kicked off his shoes. The linoleum floor was cold against his bare feet, but he paid little mind.
A rickety desk stood cluttered in a corner. Yesterday’s clothes were draped over the chair, but there was no one else to mind. With a singular push, everything clattered onto the floor, Taichi rummaging through his drawers until he emerged victorious.
Though it was slightly stained with some mysterious liquid, the slightly-tattered postcard was exactly what he needed.
Messily, he scrawled his message, short and sweet, and stuck on the first stamp he found.
Braving the heat for a final time, the postcard was carefully pushed on its way, arriving safe, if not slightly damp, in a mailbox across the sea.
It had been seventeen days and ten hours since Yamato had last seen Taichi, but a smile threatened to stretch his lips as he read the words out loud.
"Come home soon."
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