Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

61) Requiem of the Hopeful

Takeru didn't know how long he had been sitting in the darkness. 

It wasn't as if he had much of an interest in keeping track of the time that went by. He had been cradling Seraphimon's egg close to his chest because of how comforting the contact was to him, and he swallowed dryly to choke down a wave of sobs. He had cried himself to the point of running dry multiple times, but he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do. It had only been a day, but the egg hadn't yet shown any signs of stirring. Takeru knew it was going to be a while before Poyomon started to break free of the eggshell, but he was still worked up and anxious about the situation, desperate for any signs of life. It had taken a few weeks before Poyomon hatched the last time he was reverted back to an egg, and Takeru had been alone and lost the entire time. He had put on a brave face and allowed himself to be soothed by the last words of his partner the last time, but there was no childhood innocence to save him from his own terror this time, and he hated it more than he could ever hope to describe.

Natsuko had been there throughout the afternoon of the previous day, one arm wrapped around her son's shoulders as he simply leaned against her body. The egg was still pressed into his grasp back then as well. He had a feeling that was going to ring true for quite a while. Takeru was simply happy school was still out for another short while; he didn't know if he would have been able to handle it if he was pulled away from the egg so abruptly in the midst of all that had taken place. 

Takeru had been forced to put on quite the show and convince Natsuko to the best of his abilities that morning. She was hesitant about going to work as long as Takeru was in such a state of grief, but when he pushed her in the right direction, she was able to get out the door. Natsuko was obviously uncertain about it, but Takeru wound up pushing her to try it regardless. She left with a sigh on her lips and a shake of her head, so notably worried that it left Takeru's chest with something that reminded him a lot of betrayal. 

The fact of the matter was that Takeru sort of wanted some time to be left alone for the moment. He knew it wasn't going to do a lot to help him, but he didn't want anyone to see him as long as he was working his way through so many grief spirals within the span of just a few hours. The other Chosen Children had called a few times to see how he was feeling, but he hadn't felt up to answering any of them, instead simply ignoring his phone as it continued to vibrate from its place on his bedside table. He was sitting next to his bed and had been for the last few minutes, the egg still pressed against his chest in the silence. It was slightly warm, and that was just the sort of comfort Takeru was looking for. 

Something in the greater area of the apartment shifted, and Takeru glanced up to the door of his room. It had been shut all day, and he hadn't bothered to turn on the light either. The only illumination streaming through the room was from the window, the curtains cracked ever so slightly to allow some light to splash upon Takeru's despair-ridden face. He didn't move as he tried to gauge just what he was hearing, uncertain as to what it was going to be. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he suddenly wondered if everything was falling even further out of his control than he thought. Surely it wasn't early enough for Natsuko to be back home from work yet. But if that was the case, then who could have--

"He isn't out here... He must be in his room."

The voice of Yamato was enough to pin Takeru in place immediately. He stared up at the door in surprise, unsure as to what he was meant to be saying next. He wondered if Yamato was alone or not, though he supposed that either way, it made sense that Yamato was the one who had managed to get into the apartment. After all, Yamato did have a key to the Takaishi apartment the same way Takeru had a key to the Ishida home. If Takeru had been ignoring phone calls and text messages all day, it was just a matter of time before Yamato made his way to the apartment on his own terms.