I'll ramble away in the footer, but you, the dear, dear reader, should know two things here out.

First: This is going to be a DaiKen. Just a heads up. :3

Second: A Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, apparently. If I did... why would I be posting on Fanfiction? Silly disclaimers.

Anyway, enjoy the show. Er, I mean story.

"You what?" Takeru exclaimed, his mouth dropping open in surprise. Daisuke winced at the hurt he could hear in his friend's voice. He hated hurting his friends. Unfortunately this time he had no choice.

Beside Takeru, Ken's placid face slowly melted into one Daisuke might expect to find on a lost puppy, or perhaps a confused child. Slowly he stammered, "Daisuke, I..."

Daisuke put up a hand to stop him. He wasn't sure if he could take this. Hikari stood on Takeru's other side, her own expression a mixture of confusion and sadness.

They stood in a the jumbled crowds of a nearby fast food restaurant, trying to talk over the dull roar. Daisuke had suggested they gather there after classes. He had debated over the best way to drop the news, and decided that there was no best way. At least this way he would get to eat.

He grabbed one of the trays of food as Iori finished ordering and began the fight toward the booth Miyako had saved for them. They found their purple-haired friend glaring at a bird perched on the windowsill. The accompanying scowl and clenched fists made Daisuke fear for the poor bird's life.

"I sorry, guys," Daisuke continued as he plopped down in the cushy bench. "My parents just told me this yesterday. They nearly locked me in my room to get me to stop shouting at them." Daisuke managed to look slightly abashed. In truth he'd still be yelling at them through his bedroom door if his father hadn't threatened to take away his stash of chocolate.

"But Daisuke! You're moving! This weekend!" was Takeru's loud reply. Several people nearby turned to glare at him. He affected not to notice. "They didn't give you any warning?"

Daisuke shook his head. "I'm not sure what's going on. They won't tell me anything. My parents decided to move only a few days ago, I think, and they refuse to tell me where." Daisuke found it hard to control the anger in his voice.

"That's bull," Takeru muttered, punctuating the statement with a large bite of burger. Daisuke couldn't help but agree.

As they ate, Takeru continued to shoot questions at him from across the table, Miyako accompanying these with heated, wild glares at him and everything that moved. Of all his friends, Daisuke had expected the least amount of reaction from her. She'd proved him wrong by a long shot. It puzzled him.

"Alright," Hikari finally broke into her boyfriend's questions. "We obviously need to hold a going away party. And we'll have to organize it quickly. We have, what, four days?"

"We could hold it at Yama's apartment," Takeru suggested, gesturing with his burger.

"On Friday night," added Iori.

Daisuke grinned at them. A party, for him! At least he was leaving with a bang. A day with his friends would take some of the sting out of the abrupt change in his life. He hoped, anyway.

"Alright, then it's settled," Hikari nodded. "A party, for Daisuke.
The rest of the meal was spent in contemplation about Daisuke's parent's reasons for leaving. By the time they had come around to trouble with ninjas sent by the Japanese mafia, they had finished their meal, and one by one they peeled away to attend to chores or studying.

As the sun began set outside, Daisuke and Ken found themselves alone in the booth, garbage littering the table before them. They sat for a while in silence, both boys sitting slumped in the booth. Daisuke couldn't help but shoot glances at his best friend. His best friend had been silent for most of the afternoon's conversation, instead staring at his food with unusual interest. Ken's reaction had been the one that Daisuke had been most worried about. Seeing the sadness etched in Ken's eyes, and knowing that he was the cause of it... Daisuke would rather a knife tore his arm open then hurt Ken.

Finally Ken glanced up from the empty soda cup he had been staring at and met Daisuke's eyes. "Are you really...?" Ken asked. The defeated sound marring his voice told Daisuke that the question wasn't a serious one.

"I'll come back and visit often," Daisuke replied. "Don't worry!" He tried his best to sound upbeat.

Ken nodded.

"And there's only a couple more years until we're done high school," Daisuke continued the encouragement. "If I work hard, I might be able to get into the same university as you. Or one nearby. Or I'll find a job somewhere. You get the idea."

Ken nodded.

"And I'll write everyday," Daisuke added. "Twice even. We both have phones, too. Texts. Lots of texts."

"Daisuke," Ken finally interrupted Daisuke's rambling. A small tear dropped for his eye, and Daisuke felt his heart skip a beat. Ken simply wiped it away and continued, "You talk too much." He softened the statement with a small smile.

Daisuke returned the smile, glad to see that Ken wasn't devastated beyond repair. Daisuke hated the idea of leaving his friends, especially Ken. If Ken could manage, though, then so would he.

Daisuke duked a pop can that went hurtling at his face as he entered Yamato's apartment. Quickly regaining his posture, he searched for the assailant, and was mildly amused to find a very angry-looking Taichi glaring back at him. And relieved. Anger was so much easier to deal with than hurt.

"You bastard!" Taichi roared and hurtled himself at Daisuke, throwing them both to the ground. As the older boy pinned Daisuke to the ground in a slightly compromising position, Daisuke began to reconsider his preference for anger. Emotional hurt didn't break his ribs!
Yamato's blond head appeared over Taichi's shoulder and grimaced down at Daisuke. "Sorry. I've been trying to get this oaf under control for some tim- hey!" Yamato exclaimed in surprise as Taichi whirled on him and threw him back into the cushions of the couch. They struggled there for a moment before Taichi finally won out, leaving a slightly dazed Yamato amongst the cushions.

Returning to his primary target, Taichi seemed to take the less violent approach for a moment and crossed his arms. "You could have at least told me. I had to learn it from Hikari."

Daisuke threw up his hands to protect himself, half expecting the older boy to continue trying to upheave the entire living room upon him. "I'm sorry, I just haven't had much time to get away. When my parent's aren't slaving me over a zillion boxes I'm busy wrapping things up at school." He donned his famous puppy dog eyes and looked up at Taichi. "Forgive me?"

The internal struggle against the eyes was visible on Taichi's face, but in the end the eyes won, and with a spray of soda - somehow he'd obtained another can - Taichi melted into a fit of laughter on the floor. Daisuke smirked triumphantly.

"Ha!" He moved to the second couch, where Ken sat. Flopping down on the creaky-springed sofa, Daisuke turned to his friend. "So, what's on the agenda? Movies? Soccer? Unending beer guzzling contests?"

Sora came out of nowhere and took a swipe at Daisuke's head from behind the couch. "You're too young to drink."

"Aw, but-"

"No buts." Sora pointed a finger at Daisuke's nose before disappearing into another room.

"Hikari picked a movie to watch later on," Yamato said, answering Daisuke's question. "Other than that, there wasn't much time to plan anything."

"As in," Taichi added as he pulled himself from the floor, "we were to lazy to care."

"Aha," Daisuke said. Taichi's comment aside, Daisuke didn't mind that there wasn't any plans for the evening. His last true day with his friends, he wanted to just kick back and hang.

Taichi wasted no time in grabbing the nearest soccer ball and leading everyone out into the complex' back yard. The teams we're evened out - Daisuke and Ken being placed on separate teams, and Taichi changing teams on a whim - and they were soon weaving intricate patterns across the playing field, swerving between players, dodging prying feet, and shooting recklessly at the goalposts. The air filled with shouts and laughter, echoing against the surrounding walls:

"Daisuke! Daisuke, over here!"

"Aw, man, Sora! Great shot!"

"Jyou! What was that? Hold up, I'll get the ball."

"Ken, heads up! Here it- Crap, sorry Koushirou!"

"At least it hit my face and not my laptop!"

Hunger and exhaustion settled in some hours later. A pizza order later found everyone gathered in front of the TV, waiting patiently for Yamato to get the VHS to accept the raggedy tape. He spent more time cursing at the thing than trying to fix it, however, much to Daisuke and Taichi's great amusement.

"Bet it's some chick flick," Daisuke laughed teasingly as the tape finally slid in, and shot a look at Hikari. The girl sniffed indignantly.

"I happened to have chosen an action movie, just for you," she flicked her hair in mock irritability. A small smile gave her away, however.

The movie did indeed turn out to be an action movie - one of Daisuke's favourites no less. Games, snacks, and general enjoyment followed, and before Daisuke knew it he was crashed out on the carpeted floor, the apartment dark.

Daisuke stared up at the ceiling, his mind working too hard for him to sleep. The faint glow of numbers on the DVD player read 3:12, he noted with a sigh. Others had started filing away at midnight, and even Ken had finally crashed a little over an hour prior, everyone too exhausted from the soccer game and their own daily lives. Daisuke, however, was still brimming with energy, as usual. That and anxiety. Tomorrow would be his final day in Odaiba. The day after would be met with a new house, a new bedroom, a new city, and new people. Daisuke let out another drawn out sigh and rolled onto his stomach, letting his head rest in the crook of his elbow. He really didn't want to leave.

Trying to stay optimistic, Daisuke tried his best to find a bright side to his move. "I'll... get to meet new people," he whispered aloud, grasping at straws. A sudden snort beside him jolted Daisuke onto his elbows.

Ken, oblivious to the fright he had just given his friend, rolled over onto his side and continued to sleep deeply. He was so serene when he slept, his blue bangs falling over his pale, innocent face. A tear slid down Daisuke's cheek. If meeting new people meant he had to leave the ones he already knew, then new people could screw themselves.

Finally sleep overtook Daisuke, and as reality slowly faded away, his last coherent thought was that no matter what, he would see his friends again soon.

"Dai! Don't put that there! There're breakables in that box!" Daisuke's mother scolded, quickly removing the box of who-knows-what off the box of china. Daisuke simply shrugged sheepishly and began the trek back up through the apartment building. For years he had loved living on the top floor. Today, not so much.

Taking the creaky elevator - Daisuke had always been afraid it was going to snap at any moment, and usually took the stairs, but at that moment his legs felt like jelly from carrying out all the furniture earlier that morning - Daisuke waited patiently, attempting to ignore the horrid elevator music that streamed out from the sound box above the dials. By the time the elevator doors opened out onto the top floor he felt an intense sense of claustrophobia, and he very nearly leapt out, ignoring the amused looks people gave him as they passed. How in god's name do they stand that!

Around the corner and down the hall, Daisuke entered the small apartment he'd called home ever since he was four, the familiar scent of coffee and chocolate cake washing over him from the kitchen. Memories from his childhood sparked unbidden as he slowly roamed the freshly cleaned halls and now empty rooms. Memories of running excitedly on New Years morning, memories of tripping and smashing his head into the lamp stand, memories of staring out the window longingly on stormy afternoons. Memories of inviting Ken over for the very first time, and of staring at the white-plastered roof as he plotted ways to get Hikari to fall in love with him.

The goggle-headed boy weaved around boxes strewn about the floor to his own bedroom. A stack of boxes reached the roof in one corner, and the bed frame lay in the centre of the room, disassembled and ready for packing. Even the curtains around the window had to be torn down and thrown into a box. Daisuke grunted as he reached up to pull another box off his pile, and nearly jumped out of his shoes when someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

Daisuke whipped around to find Takeru standing there, an amused smile stretching across his face. "Want some help?" the boy offered. Nodding gratefully, Daisuke waited as his friend grabbed a box before heading back out through the apartment and into the main hallway.

Takeru shifted his box back and forth in his arms, saying, "Ken'll be here a little later on. His parents wanted him to come shopping for some reason or another. The others all want me to give you their apologies. Hikari and Miyako both have a huge History test coming up tomorrow, so they're stuck studying, and Iori's Kendo competition is next week and his grandfather has him practising day and night."

Daisuke nodded again, not trusting his voice. His throat felt constricted. Added with the strain of carrying a 40 pound box, and he was sure his voice would come out as a squeak. Or an irritated grunt.

Back in the parking lot where the moving van was parked, Daisuke and Takeru passed their boxes up to Daisuke's father and turned away. Daisuke yawned into the back of his hand. Man, he needed a break. His arms were sore, and his shoulders felt heavy. He was certainly not used to this level of exhaustion, even after a tough soccer match.

No sooner had they turned around, however, than Ken came rolling into the lot in his parent's SUV. The red vehicle glinted in the sunlight, obviously newly washed. The van pulled up parallel to the moving truck, and the passenger's door flew open to reveal Ken, blue hair slapping in the autumn wind. The small smile that played on his best friend's lips didn't seem to reach his eyes. Daisuke bit back a frown. Today was a hard day to truly smile.

Ken muttered something to his parents, then hopped out onto the pavement, the van departing behind him. He settled a pale hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "Today's the day, huh?" he said in an even quieter voice than usual. Daisuke nodded solemnly. The day he'd been dreading for the past week. The day he'd have to make his final goodbyes. The corner of his eyes caught the crease that split across Takeru's forehead. Chances were the blond knew what he was thinking. Takeru was good at reading your thoughts.

The day wore on, Daisuke wrapping himself in an uncharacteristic silence as they packed box after fifty pound box from his twentieth story apartment down to the moving van below. Throughout the day more and more people showed up to help as they became available. Koushirou appeared when he found time for a break in his programming. Jyou and Sora both arrived after finishing work at the hospital and flower shop respectively. Taichi, Hikari, Miyako, and Yamato all arrived shortly after Ken did, and Iori not much later. Before the sun had set the entire group was there to see them off, DAisuke's father wanting to be at a hotel near the new apartment by midnight.

Finding himself facing a line of his friends, a hard lump formed in Daisuke's throat. He'd been dreading this. He'd promised himself he wasn't going to cry. He wasn't.

"Well," Jyou stepped forward, giving him a weak smile. "We didn't know each other as well as I might have hoped, but it was enough to make me regret having to say goodbye. Good luck, and remember, if you ever need any medical advice, my phone lines are always open. When I'm not in surgery." Daisuke returned the smile and gave him a tight hug.

Most of the other older kids had similar things to say. Sora and Koushirou both wished him luck, and told him to call if he ever needed anything and to visit lots. Mimi had apparently said a few words of encouragement and advice through an e-mail she had sent Sora, whom passed it on to Daisuke. Yamato ruffled his hair roughly and expressed how proud he was of how Daisuke had grown into his Crest of Friendship over the years.

Taichi completed the older group, stepping up nervously, his hands fidgeting behind his back. Daisuke raised his eyebrows at him teasingly, which earned him a soft punch on the shoulder. His long-time role model cleared his throat hesitantly, then began to trill a stream of quiet words. "You've been like a younger brother to me, you know. Always there to play a game of soccer, or watch a movie. I dunno what I'll do without you. Hell, it won't be the same." Taichi looked on the verge of tears for what seemed a second, then his face broke into a grin so quickly Daisuke was sure he had only imagined it. "But what am I blathering on about! This isn't goodbye. You'll come visit often." He nodded, the situation settled in his mind, and moved over to make way for the younger kids.

Miyako marched up and shoved her forefinger at Daisuke's chest, her face showing the strain of keeping a glare. "I won't get sappy for you, and I'm definitely not getting into goodbyes. Without you I'm unrivalled! Like Taichi said, you'll be back to visit often enough!" Her face finally cracked, her entire expression dropping like a bucket down an empty well. "You... you will, won't you?" She shook her head, as gave a surprised Daisuke a strong hug. "You will."

Iori had very few words to say. A solitary tear slid down his cheek as he smiled up at Daisuke. "We'll be waiting for your call telling us when you'll be back next," he said, and gave him a hug.

Takeru and Hikari both came up together, two pears in the same basket, two peas in a pod. Even here they seemed glued together. Takeru beamed at Daisuke encouragingly, a smile which suddenly turned maliciously evil. "Looks like I won." He gave Hikari a squeeze, then laughed when she smacked him on the chest. His face became serious then. "You will visit though, right? Don't think I haven't noticed your lack of reply to the question."

Daisuke gave him an anxious look. They knew his father had yet to tell him where they were going, and he had expressed his suspicions that they were running from something - most likely his father's debts to someone or another. "I'll damn well try."

Tears streaked Hikari's face as she and Takeru both embraced him tightly, Daisuke silently cursing them as he felt his own dam begin to give way. And the worst was yet to come. DAisuke felt his chest begin to constrict.

A blue-haired, fair-skinned boy stepped in front of him, face already betraying his pain. Not that Daisuke needed his facial expressions to tell what Ken was feeling. Not at this proximity. Not when the boy was feeling this strongly. After a moment of silence, with everyone else looking on, both teens felt their resolve snap, tears splashing down their faces as they grabbed each other as tightly as any lifeline.

"I'll miss you," Ken blubbered.

"I know," Daisuke replied shortly.

His father called to him then, and they were off.

All right, time to ramble!

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read. I appreciate it!

So this was an idea I drudged up from my steadily growing writing folder. I had the first few chapters written, and the general plot planned out, and I thought that I could have fun with it. The problem? I started writing it back in 2008. Now I don't know about you, but editing something I wrote years back is a bloody nightmare! You spend half your time wondering what idiotic waves were running through your mind to make you go off on such a pointless tangent, or add more adjectives to one word than you have nouns in the rest of the story. Gah!

Anyway, long story short, I started editing this thing at noon, and it is now just this side of midnight. I didn't spend that whole time editing, but I wasn't exactly slacking. Phaw. Oh well, one or two more chapters to edit, then I get to write the rest from scratch. Harrumph. At least the ending made me tear up a little when editing through it. That's always good, right? D:

I am glad that I'm finally getting something posted for DaiKen. DaiKen is my home fanbase. I remember scouring the internet for hours and hours in search of every last DaiKen story in existence. Now here, five years later, I finally get off my lazy bottom and write something. I guess I should be hoping that there still is a fanbase.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. I hope to see you in the next chapter. Until then... um... bye? :D