---

#01 - Motion
They call him The Rocket and the title is the goddamn truth; Daisuke watches from the bleachers and practically salivates as Ichijouji Ken flashes by.

#02 - Cool
After the game, Ichijouji glides past his fans to the private car sent to being him to his next interview; while Daisuke would be sticky with sweat, Ichijouji just flicks his glistening hair back and slides into the distance.

#09 - King
He doesn't regret choosing to forgo a crown - it's a worthless brummagem, and he has worlds more power than a paltry king - but the glasses are imperative.

#03 - Young
That school boy would dare attempt to be his nemesis is so ridiculous that Ken can't even inhale a breath to laugh (that Motomiya Daisuke is his junior by a matter of months is a realization ignored).

#41 - Power
Power is poison: immortality is suddenly too cold for him, and his castle a mausoleum.

#04 - Last
On the wall of screens the Kaiser watches Motomiya until he forces a breath of air past his lips and uncurls his fingers from around his whip; after weeks of this madness, this should be their last meeting - the apex of their rivalry - but Ken can't yet end it.

#47 - Harm
"Down on your knees," the Kaiser orders, dragging the bend of the whip across his smirking lips, "Bow before your master."

#36 - Stop
Footsteps on the gravel, heaving breaths pounding a rhythm through the air, cries from the gawkers below, then absolute silence as Motomiya flies through the air and wraps his arms around the Kaiser's waist.

#32 - Eye
Daisuke grabs the Kaiser's shirt and draws his fist back again as the glasses slide off his opponent's face; a pair of icy violet eyes glare up at him, stunning him effectively as any attack.

#38 - Wash
His mother hovers at the bathroom door, but the Kaiser will not be disturbed; he scrubs at the blood on his pants for hours, until his hands are raw and the water turns icy - out, out damn spot!

#35 - Sudden
"No, no, I forbid -" but the weight in his arms suddenly disappears and he's embracing nothing; Wormmon is dead, dead, gone, and the Chosen Children watch as Ichijouji bows alone under the gravity of his crime.

#13 - Change
No one else seems to see it, but Daisuke's damn sure that Ichijouji - that Ken - is the piece that's been missing; status quo be damned!

#12 - Wait
Ichijouji doesn't even bother picking up his phone anymore - apparently he got sick of hanging up all the time - so in order to get an audience with the newest and most stubborn Chosen Child, Daisuke wheedles his way into the Ichijouji apartment and waits at the kitchen table with Ichijouji's mother, feasting on the cookies and cakes that she could never feed her sons.

#42 - Bother
"You're like a dog," Ken snaps and twists away, and Daisuke deflates and mopes slowly back to his apartment; by the morning he's forgiven Ken and appears at his doorstep with a soccer ball, metaphorical tail wagging.

#26 - Goodbye
Ken burns the cape alone, damp with sweat and determination, and the Kaiser dissolves into gold and scarlet; the smoke is purifying, and when it's cleared, Ken calls Daisuke and politely asks him to dinner.

#05 - Wrong
"You're wrong about Ken," Daisuke shouts and flings his chair back; he storms out, missing the concerned look that the other Chosen Children share (calling him Ken so soon?).

#24 - Now
Once upon a time, there was a lonely prince who lived in a tower so tall that no one could climb it, surrounded by vines with thorns too sharp to climb through, guarded by magic spells only a master magician could unravel - the knight who came to rescue him avoided such pitfalls by simply bulldozing his way in.

#50 - Believe
He doesn't really understand and he certainly can't explain it, but Daisuke believes with a fierceness that the other Chosen Children can't fight against: Ken joins them in the Digital World the next day.

#29 - Safe
The Chosen Children huddle together to whisper about his fate until Daisuke breaks free and grabs Ken's limp hand; even though he's wearing gloves, Ken can feel Daisuke's warmth.

#28 - Fortune
Their meeting was more than luck: Ken can feel the tug of the red string around his wrist pulling him back until he no longer tries to run away.

#18 - Attention
Ken doesn't just hear, he listens, listens like there's no sound in the world other than Daisuke's voice; staring at Ken's intent face, his attentive eyes, and pursed lips, Daisuke, for once in his life, can't think of anything to say.

#43 - God
The goggles are a gift from the god Taichi, and they've got super special powers, too: since he started wearing them, he hasn't died once - Ken goggles and tries and fails not to laugh.

#17 - Vision
"Be quiet and let me do it," Daisuke hisses as he and Miyako fight over the Ouija board (Takeru shakes his head, Hikari giggles, and Iori can't believe he allowed himself to be talked into such nonsense); when the "spirits" spell out "I-C-H-I-J," both turn tomato red and then refuse to speak to each other for the rest of the night.

#15 - Hold
"We all look nice," Hikari begins, but then pauses to step next to Daisuke and loops her arm through his, whispering conspiratorially, "But Ken looks the most handsome, right?"

#34 - Sing
Ishida's voice slices through the crowd's drone, and his lyrics pierce into Ken's thoughts against his will; for the blond claim empathy is an unbearable insult, but his comprehension is undeniable.

#08 - Thousand
Ken makes a numbered list of a thousand logical reasons why trusting the boy is nonsensical bordering on insane, but Daisuke grins and ignores them all and pulls Ken from the apartment.

#27 - Hide
They're already halfway up the Ferris wheel when they spot the thwarted Miyako below; their escape is a mixed blessing: silent expectations split them apart more than the third wheel.

#10 - Learn
He can barely see over the stack of science books and the weight is practically tearing his arms off, but Daisuke whistles cheerfully as he meanders toward Ken's apartment for some private tutoring.

#48 - Precious
Daisuke turns scarlet and shoves the box of chocolates before Ken can turn them down, runs away before Ken can catch him, and flings his phone into the river before Ken can call him (all of which are done rather foolishly: years later, Ken still has the empty box).

#21 - Fool
"He stood at the wrong street corner for three hours," Ken explains to his baffled mother as he dragged a drenched and dripping, practically delirious Daisuke into the apartment; Daisuke's hero freezes at the bathroom, suddenly paralyzed as his valor retreated and was replaced with dry-mouthed anticipation - Daisuke would have to be stripped and bathed.

#11 - Blur
Daisuke watches as the rain blurs the world outside their umbrella, and then inches closer to Ken under the pretense of escaping the wet.

#14 - Command
"Ok, Hikari, you pore the drinks; Miyako, you get the beach ball; Iori, you make a sandcastle; and Takeru, you wear a stupid hat," Daisuke stands on his towel as if it were the helm of a war ship, "And Ken, I'll rub on your sun screen."

#49 - Hunger
Daisuke steals the box of candy from Miyako and fishes through it to find the perfect piece, "Open up," he commands, and then, before Ken can move, pushes the chocolate between Ken's warm lips.

#06 - Gentle
He'd been practicing on his pillow for like weeks, but he can't contain himself, and instead of a gentle first kiss, Daisuke tackles Ken and crushes him with affection.

#25 - Shadow
He visits later, long after his parents have come, cleaned, and gone, expecting his brother's grave to be abandoned: Daisuke's there, defiantly holding wilted flowers; they stand in the shadow of the tomb until the sun sets and the shadow spreads into night.

#30 - Ghost
Daisuke squeezes Ken's cold hands tightly, almost painfully, as if he could exorcise Osamu's spirit through pure force.

#07 - One
The Dark Ocean sings as it rolls below him, calling Ken to its shores; it's no longer his dirge alone, however, and Daisuke's grip tugs him back from the edge.

#37 - Time
The sphinx guarding the entrance, Ken stands at his door to hear Daisuke's list, spilt frantically between gasping breaths: his game went into overtime and he couldn't miss the final goal, the bus was delayed and the he got on the wrong one, the newest issue of Action and Sports Manga with the latest episode of Super Prince Baseball Star came out, and so its totally not his fault that he's late and he's super sorry and is there any way he can make up for it?

#31 - Book
Daisuke inches closer and closer, a ninja sneaking toward his prey; "Daisuke, I'm trying to read," are Ken's last words before he's attacked and defeated.

#20 - Picture
Hikari had popped out of the bushes and snapped a picture before the two could untangle themselves; now everyone could see Daisuke's white grin and Ken's rosy blush.

#33 - Never
Willis crumples the letter and throws it wrathfully at the trash can, earning an odd look from a puzzled Mimi who glances down again at the photograph: "I think Ken and Dai-chan are sweet together."

#19 - Soul
"Lend me some money," Daisuke demands instead of requesting, but Ken pulls out his wallet anyway; Daisuke runs back with two cones of ice cream, strawberry smears around his grinning mouth, and Ken laughs until his soul rings.

#23 - Child
Daisuke stands naked in front of the mirror and strikes various poses: Ken will never be able to resist 100% pure studmuffin - yeah, baby!

#44 - Wall
They share a bed that night, but Daisuke falls asleep immediately and unperturbed, and flings his legs out in his sleep, flattening his bedmate against the wall and uttering most unromantic snores.

#16 - Need
Jun grabs a package of celery and stabs Daisuke in the stomach, Daisuke exacts his terrible vengence by jabbing at her with carrots; Ken stands at the end of the aisle, holding the eggs and fish that Motomiya-san needed for dinner, eying the display of apples and wondering how out of practice his throwing arm is.

#22 - Mad
Daisuke crushes a frigid snowball down Ken's shirt (fingers briefly touching the warm, silk skin), and Ken retaliates with a full-body take down; the roll down the hill in hysterics, wet and freezing and boiling inside and this is madness (this is love!).

#45 - Naked
Sweat slides from the shoulders to the spine, all the way down.

#39 - Torn
"He'd look damn good in dark red, but totally smoking in black," Daisuke stares at the two packets, torn between them; later, Ken opens the Valentine's day present and gasps in horror/awe: "Thongs?!"

#40 - History
Ken turns back: studying ancient events is an obsession, as if the glories and errors of the dead could form an armor around him; Daisuke pulls him out from history into the brightness of the present, and together they face the future.